She had finally managed to escape from the fortress in Nanda Parbat. But it hadn't been easy as she had to cut through all the assassins that were positioned in the base. As a result she was covered in blood and her hands were still clutching the two swords tightly.

In that state she couldn't take refuge anywhere either without raising suspicion and being handed back to the League.

So at first she hid in the forest, cleaning herself up in a nearby stream. Then tying her swords up securely, she thought of how she should go back.

She remembered the way they had come to Nanda Parbat and the people with whom their squad had stayed for some time on their journey. Ryuu had told her everything in detail and replaying his voice in her head, she managed to reach the caravan lodges where they had stayed.

Her feet ached from having to walk so long on foot and she reached the door, knocking against it tiredly. The door opened and she almost fell forward, unable to support herself any longer.

"Sayuri San," the man who had opened the door recognized her and quickly brought her in, making sure that no one had been following her.

He helped her sit down and called his wife to look after her. It was clear that she had been through a lot as she was in a very bad state. But they couldn't give her refuge for a long time either because if her enemies found out, they would have to suffer as well.

Out of compassion and basic humanity, they couldn't turn her out in a half dead state. So the man decided that they would keep her until she was able to leave on her own.

That night when Sayuri gained consciousness, she asked him if he could send her back to her country. To that request, he agreed eventually, telling her that she would have to hide in a trader's caravan that was leaving for the Far East early next morning.

Having no other option she agreed after a long journey from there, she finally reached Kyoto.

However she was dreading having to go back to the Ishikawa family's lodge because that place housed her most cherished memories with both Ryuu and Kai. She feared that if she stepped foot into that lodge, her heart would burst from all the pain and sorrow.

She had lost two of the most precious people in her life and being in a place that would remind her of them would end up causing her extreme pain.

So she decided not to go there and left for the only other place she was familiar with in that city. The Ninjutsu Academy.

The League would not be able to track her there if only she was able to persuade the authorities to let her stay at the academy. So until she had the means to go back Gotham, the academy could be the only safe place for her.

She was let in as she was a former student and she asked to meet the master of the academy. She talked to them saying she would take up any job available as long as she was allowed to stay in the academy.

Although they weren't agreeing at first as it could be risky giving refuge to the only surviving member of a rebel clan, they eventually agreed after much persuasion on her part. Thus Sayuri was employed in the academy's infirmary as the healer's assistant and was given a quarter that she shared with another female trainer.

She had given up her swords into the academy's treasury as well and ever since that day, she hadn't dared to touch a single weapon. She was staying there in hopes of getting some means if contacting her father and returning to Gotham safely.

But almost an year passed with her staying hidden from the League at the academy with no such luck of being able to reach out to her father and brother.

She did not even know whether they were alive or not and the only way she had of finding out was going back to Gotham herself. And for that too she had to figure out how she could reach that city without alerting the League about her whereabouts.

***

Jason had eventually come back to the Wayne family after almost two years of staying away from them. And surprisingly, Tim was the one who had convinced him to return.

He hadn't expected to be welcomed back with open arms and things were slightly strained between him and Bruce but the rest of the family accepted him wholeheartedly.

And as he was back with them, he was realizing that in all those years of vengeance and proving Batman wrong, he had almost forgotten what being with a family felt like. True, they were a dysfunctional lot and he had gotten into arguments with each and every one of them (except Alfred), but still they were his family and he felt incomplete without them.

The first change he noticed after coming back was that Tim wasn't the only addition to the team. A blonde girl with green eyes, around the same age as Tim, had also become part of their family.

Stephanie Brown was the newest addition but she wasn't adopted by Bruce, only staying with them until she would be able to get a place of her own and evoke the guardianship status from Bruce.

He hadn't interacted with her much because he felt she was the sort of person who could easily get on his nerves if they spent too much time in each other's company. However, Stephanie proved him wrong soon enough.

"Yo zombie bro," her high pitched voice reached him as he was coming down the stairs to go to the kitchen for breakfast, "you won't get your share if pancakes if you don't turn up sooner."

"Keep your hands off my share, knockoff Bubbles," he remarked, taking his seat by the counter and pulling away the pancake dish for himself.

"At least being knockoff Bubbles is better than being a half vampire. Oh and why are you even awake, it's morning and totally not your time."

"Zip it." Surprisingly, there was no one else in the kitchen for breakfast so he asked, "where are the other weirdoes?"

"Dick didn't come back last night because apparently some emergency came up for him in Bludhaven. Barbara has left for work already and Tim is probably knocked out somewhere around."

He shrugged, feeling like it was quite a normal occurrence and nothing to worry about. But then he asked, "and where's Bruce?"

"Chilling out with his bats in the cave, idk," she replied, pouring herself a cup of coffee, "y'know ever since you came here, he just avoids all of us."

"Don't put it like it's my fault."

She shrugged nonchalantly, "could be. Could be not. Maybe he feels guilty and doesn't wanna see you and be reminded of it all over again."

He shook his head in slight disappointment, "if you thought that would make me feel better, your calculations were way off."

"I'm not here to make anyone feel better, I'm just waiting for Tim to show up. Then Hasta la Vista, see you at dinnertime. Maybe not if you've got to go be a crime lord by then."

She was slightly annoying but not as irritating as he had expected. Perhaps he could get used to having her around often.

After all, he had gotten used to Tim too even though he had admitted to Richard before meeting him that he would make his Replacement's life hell. But so far he had done nothing of the sort.

Steph had stood up to leave, slinging her bag over her shoulder when she paused, turning to face him as if she had just thought of something.

"You know maybe what we should to get Bruce to stop being so moody is to remind him that things haven't changed that much. Maybe do something the two of you used to do in the past?"

He paused but then dismissed the idea, "not wasting my time on any of this. He can keep on feeling guilty about me for the rest of his life."

"Or what if I tell you about this prank I've been meaning to pull on him for a long time now," her eyes sparked in mischief as she offered, "and you could help me with it? In fact, you might be the perfect person to help with it."

"A prank?"

"Yup," she nodded eagerly, waiting for him to agree.

The offer was tempting. Pranking Bruce always ended up with hilarious results. So after a bit of thinking, he agreed.

"I'm in but don't you dare think I'm doing this for your whole uplifting B's spirits motto."

She laughed at the way he had put it, "obviously... You're only doing it to piss him off even more, I know that. But hey, that was your and Bruce's dynamic, right?"

And that day after she told him her idea of a prank on Bruce, Jason rethought his judgment on Stephanie. Perhaps she wasn't as inconvenient of an addition as he thought; she could be very useful in pranking people.

At first he had been just one person causing havoc on the Waynes, but partnered with Steph and her scheming machine of a mind, havoc would be merely an understatement.

***