Alright, just sayin it now. This is an angsty one. Buckle in, ladies and gents and others out there. TW: The second ending, I guess? I wrote two endings since the first of them didn't feel quite right. If you want the *slightly* happier ending, read the first one. If you're going the extra mile to feel sad, skip to the second. Or, go ahead and read both. I'm not gonna judge. Here we go!}

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*AU where Zane didn't make it after the Overlord's Battle*

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Pain.

The only feeling reading on Zane's sensors. Memories whizzed by, faster and faster until he was unable to distinguish them from one another. But through the whooshes of colors and sounds, one stood out to him even more than the others. His and Pixal's first date a few days before.

~~~

They'd flown around on his dragon and went up into the clouds, where he'd made it snow. The look of joy and awe on her face had made it worth the incredible amount of energy it had taken to do.

He'd never forget her smile when a snowflake fell on her nose. "Thank you. For giving me something so simple. It is... what is it you say? Awesome." She'd told him, to which he'd responded by taking her hand for the first time and smiling at her.

~~~

For a few seconds, he reveled in the memory with a hint of a smile. Until he was ripped back into reality with a spike in energy to his already-strained heart. Something snapped inside him and he knew... he wouldn't be taking her on another date.

"No!" He screamed in agony and threw his head back as another wave of energy made him shake harder. He couldn't leave now. Not when he'd finally found someone who completed him. Literally. She had the other half of his heart.

"I can't leave! Not yet... please... not until I can say goodbye..." He whispered to the sky, where it was blizzarding. Tears flowed from behind his metal facade, which half of blew off immediately after, allowing more tears to escape. A cruel twist of fate, perhaps, pulled his gaze to one side, where his new partner was standing.

He saw how she shook her head in disbelief. How she reached out to him and screamed his name, which broke his fractured heart even more. He had no idea if she was actually capable of tears and hoped he didn't find out. "I'm sorry." His broken voice muttered.

He hated his cruel fate. But if him doing this would save her from any more hurt, even if he never got to see it, he had to do it. For her. For Ninjago. "I am a nindroid... and ninja never quit! Go, ninja... GO!"

~~~

Pixal reached out towards him after he mouthed, "I'm sorry," to her. "ZANE!" Her voice broke and she choked back a sob.

"GET DOWN!" Nya's voice came from beside her and she was tackled to the ground as a bright white flash enveloped her vision. The temperature dropped drastically within a few seconds and slowly they came back up.

She gasped and pressed her hands to her mouth, looking up. "Snow." Zane's snow. But where was HE? Before Nya could stop her, she bolted down the stairs and out onto the street.

The rest of the team and a few brave citizens were trickling out into the draining flurry, but she ran ahead of all of them. She had to reach Zane first, make sure he was okay. Help fix him back up and make sure nothing like this ever separated them ag--

She froze. A torn white gi strip fluttered in the dying breeze under a piece of Golden Armor, almost impossible to see in the building piles of snow. Merlin, Zane's falcon, circled above with screeches now and then, looking for his owner.

A rough hand tugged at Pixal's arm, trying to get her to talk and stay still. Breaking free with a harsh yank, she yelled, "Do not touch me! I must get to him as soon as possible!" Then she ran forward to where the strip now laid on the snow next to the Armor.

"P-p-pix-ix-al," came a muffled, stuttering voice from under the Armor, "is that y-y-you?" She shoved over the heavy metal with help from the other ninja and crawled through the debris into the small space it provided.

It was too heavy to move all the way. Not even Cole could move it more than a few precious inches, which she took advantage of as she squeezed through it to find her lover in the dark, cramped crevice.

"Yes, it is. We must move you out of these perilous condi--" She tried to tell him but he cut it off with a finger to her lips.

"P-p-please, I do not h-h-have much time..." The damage done to him was clear. The whole bottom half of him was crushed under the Armor, wires everywhere while his left arm and half of his face were missing. Everything was sparking and his chest compartment was open, exposing his rapidly fading glowing blue heart that pulsed with what could be a heartbeat.

"No, you don't understand! I can fix you, we can--" She couldn't talk. These... emotions, they were overwhelming. He shook his head.

"No. Please, P-p-pixal, I need to t-t-tell you something." He paused and gently took her hand with his less-damaged one, continuing, "I know I w-w-won't make it. You know as well, I-I-I can see in your eyes." He reached up and caressed her cheek, then continued. "You c-c-captured my heart the day I met y-y-you.

"You're beautiful, intelligent, a-a-and my brothers appreciate y-y-your company as much a-a-as I. When I...pass, I want you t-t-to take this. You m-m-must keep fighting as if I will be w-w-with you." He brought her hand to where his exposed heart was, now dimmer than ever as his stutter got worse and the pulsing slowed. Every few seconds, his whole body seized with the electricity running through him in waves.

"What? No! I cannot! That would imply... you will... die." Pixal's words ended in a whisper and she shook her head desperately. "I... I cannot go on without you! We... we are compatible. You said so yourself. One must have the other to survive." Her hand grew warm, sitting between his hand and his heart.

Zane gave her a sad smile. "I am a-a-almost out of t-t-time. I have o-o-one final request." He wasn't scared of death, just sad he would be leaving her behind. "Anything," Pixal promised earnestly. "May I... k-k-kiss you?" He squeezed her hand and met her gaze. She nodded, adding, "Of course, anything for you," in a quieter voice.

It was the best kiss ever, both thought, even though they'd never been kissed before and probably wouldn't ever again. Pixal leaned down and helped lift his head up by slipping one hand behind it. The other hand was occupied threading between his fingers and squeezing.

Both sets of their metal lips fit together perfectly, chilled in temperature yet inviting to the other pair. The salty rivers of tears only added to the waves of emotions crashing through both of them. Pixal released his hand to run a hand through his hair once and he copied her through her silver curls.

Finally, they pulled away. Ice blue eyes met electric green, and one final phrase was breathed out with a soft smile by the former before his pair slid shut. "We are... compatible."

Pixal broke into sobs once his hand fell from hers and she wrapped him in a hug, tears finally falling freely onto his once-pristine white gi. A crackle like that of ice breaking sounded after a few seconds and she sniffled before looking for the source. It didn't take long to locate.

His heart.

He'd said he wanted her to have it if he... she refused to finish that thought and gently pushed the panel open further. The heart instantly glowed brighter when she brushed it and she gasped softly, pulling her hand away.

"Forgive me." She hesitated, then reached in, pulled it out all the way, and it glowed even brighter. It started pulling her hand towards her chest where its other half rested. She pulled her own panel open and--

{This is where the endings split. I wrote 2, so proceed with caution}

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{Ending 1}

--held the halves close to each other. The glow became so bright she had to shut her eyes before letting go and letting them snap together, like a magnetic force was pulling them together.

She gasped and her eyes flew open as the halves connected. Flashes of his life ran in front of her eyes--audio, visual, everything, all merged together, all up until a few moments ago.

His memories. They were all here. The most important ones, at least. "He knew." He'd wanted her to not be alone, to have these memories to live with. A surge of warmth flooded her chest and she smiled sadly, despite it all. Slowly, she leaned down and pressed a light kiss to his chilly forehead. "Compatible, my heart."

She dug into her jacket's internal pocket and pulled a dried, delicate-looking purple flower {A/N: I originally had "Compatible" and "Pixalonilis Zaneicus" in the same universe, but decided against it at the last second. So yes, this could be the flower, but it also could be a coincidence. However you want to think of it is fine.}. The flower she'd received from him not even a week ago, on their first... and now last... date.

She gently tucked it into his platinum locks and brushed the stray hairs away from his too-pale face. "Always." There she stayed until Nya called for her outside the debris. Pixal slowly crawled out and the others rushed in after she exited, one by one once they could move the Armor.

Everyone but Nya, who seemed to already know. She waited with open arms and teary eyes. Pix collapsed into her waiting arms and finally broke down while both women sunk to the ground in a tight embrace.

Her life's heart was gone.

~~~

{Ending 2}

-- hesitated for a second before reaching in. The half she had inside replaced her original power source, so removing it would mean powering herself off. She laid down next to Zane and pulled his less-damaged hand around her waist so it was wrapped in hers.

Then she closed her eyes and whispered one phrase. "Compatible. One cannot survive without the other." She squeezed his hand... and pulled the half heart from her own chest. Both halves fell from her other hand, shattering as they hit the ground and its soft light illuminated their still, metalloid features.

There they would stay as both nindroids powered off together in the dark, snow-covered crevice...

...until a brave Fire Ninja crawled under through the same path Pixal had taken and found them in the frozen embrace of death's grip, snow burying them.

Although... it was impossible for snow to have fallen from the sky through the debris. Unless, perhaps, the Ice Ninja had never really left at all. Though, would anyone ever really know?

~~~

{A/N: Ta-da! Fun fact, I wrote both of these in the span of 3 hours one night before I went to sleep. I was going to connect them but ditched that idea after I finished writing this one. I actually wrote this one before the fluffy one, but this one is almost 600 words longer, whoops.

Anyway, please tell me if I need to put a trigger warning for anything! I take requests, also, but no guarantees I'll end up writing anything. Schedule reasons, mainly. Also! Soon, I'll be putting a Jaya book out for oneshots, headcanons, and basically being a copy of this one! So keep a lookout! Don't forget to hit that vote button and don't be afraid to comment! Bye lovelies!}