"Why don't you say goodbye to your fans, Lloyd?"
Lloyd turned to his mother and sighed in exasperation. "I don't want to," he said wearily, "I can't understand how I got a sudden cult following overnight."
"They are not a cult," Misako scolded, gesturing to the small crowd of shrieking teenagers, "they're just fans. And you should be a good ninja and say goodbye."
Rolling his eyes dramatically, Lloyd slid off the barrel he was sitting on and dragged his feet over to the crowd. He was immediately emerged in the wailing, surging mass, as the teens begged for his autograph. Misako watched fondly, a smile on her lips. Her eyes glittered when she smiled. Like jewels, or scales.
"What about you, Lexi?" Misako asked suddenly, causing Lexi to jump. "Isn't there anyone you'd like to say goodbye to?"
Lexi had to physically bite her tongue to keep herself from snapping at her mother. The question was asked so innocently- she couldn't know how she felt. She couldn't be expected to understand that Lexi did not have any friends, or any family, to speak of. Lloyd and Fiona and perhaps Wu were the only ones that counted. She refused to acknowledge Garmadon as her father (she'd found that attaching herself emotionally to him could only result in heartbreak, time and time again).
"No," she said through gritted teeth, "there isn't anyone, Misa- Mum."
Misako chewed her lip, looking down at her feet. "I'm sorry," she said, "I- I should stop. I'm clearly making things worse."
Lexi frowned. "What are you talking about?"
Misako sighed, pushing her hair out of her face. Her eyes were shimmering with tears again. "I'm not stupid, Lexi. I know that my apology wasn't enough for you." She gazed at her daughter imploringly, her wide eyes begging for forgiveness that Lexi was unwilling to offer. "But can you blame a mother for wanting the love of her child?"
Lexi couldn't blame her, but she wanted to. She was sick and tired of putting up with emotional bullshit. She'd taken care of Fiona, she'd helped Lloyd and Cole and now she was supposed to let her own damn mother cry and whine while she pushed her own feelings aside?
"Yes," Lexi snapped, standing up and stomping below deck, "I can. I can and I will. I blame you for everything you've ever done, because you chose it all, and you never have a damn about me until now that I'm close enough to be a threat. I've lived my whole life without you, and quite frankly, it was better then."
Misako opened her mouth, maybe to cry, maybe to apologize, but Lexi didn't stick around long enough to find out which it was. She stormed down below, shoving her bedroom door open and slamming it closed behind her, relishing the way it rattled against the frame. Nya wasn't here, she was busy bidding Jay's parents a farewell, so Lexi had the room to herself. The whole ship was hers, really. Most of the ninja were out saying their goodbyes, even Cole. Dragons, Lexi hated the way she wished Cole was here. She hated the ache in her heart, the pounding in her ears, and the way she felt like she wanted him.
The room felt suddenly too small and too stuffy, and Lexi could not leave fast enough. She found herself above deck once more, allowing the cool sea breeze to waft through her hair and tickle her skin. She barely noticed when someone came up beside her, and she didn't stop them when they placed their own cold, marble-smooth hand over hers.
"I guess you wouldn't have anyone to say goodbye to," Lexi remarked, keeping her eyes on the waves. Zane laughed softly, shaking his head.
"The only people I need are the ones I keep in close company," he said. Lexi smirked.
"That's sweet," she said. "Everything you say is so sweet." She turned to him and frowned. "Do you like Misako?"
Zane blinked. "I... do not wish to answer that question."
"So you don't?"
"I believe her apology leaves much to be desired," Zane said carefully, "but I also know... deep down, beneath all her tears and suffering, she is a warrior. Her grit has been buried beneath years of heartache and misery, and she has undergone too much suffering and tragedy to fully understand that she is at fault."
"See? That's what I mean- you make to sound so lovely." Lexi scowled. "I can't stand her- and I don't care if that makes me a horrible person, or an even worse daughter. She abandoned me, and now she just comes waltzing back into my life, expecting to be welcomed with open arms-"
"It's normal to feel contempt for a parent," Zane interrupted, "and you are well within your right to be angry." His voice was calm, like the breeze that ripples across the surface of the water. Lexi might have allowed it to soothe her had she not been determined to finally speak her mind.
"I am angry," she snarled, "I'm angry, and I'm bitter, and I hate her. I hate the way she cries all the time, and the way she looks at me, like I'm some... some... some charity case, or a little lost puppy she's taken in. Misako is not my mother. She gave me up, she chose to leave me behind to start her own adventure, just like she did with my real mother. Her own sister, left behind for what? For a man- for Garmadon."
"It is unreasonable," Zane agreed, nodding slowly. Lexi slammed her fist against the railing, dissatisfied with the lack of pain. She wanted to feel it shooting through her arm- she needed to feel it-
She blinked, realizing that she was shaking, gripping the railing so hard that blood was beginning to leak through her fingers. She removed them instantly, hastily wiping the blood off on her pants, determinedly avoiding Zane's gaze. He was staring at her hands, a look of utmost care in his eyes.
"Lexi," he said softly, "I hope you know that I care for you, very deeply. And I consider you a sister, if not by blood then by bond."
Lexi nodded, refusing to look up. As close as they were, she didn't want Zane to see her cry.
"And Lexi..." she still didn't lift her head, but she could picture his face. Zane was looking down at her with love.
"Family is not forged by the flow of blood, but by the choice to love someone. Love, Lexi, is always a choice, and true love is never the wrong choice to make."
---------------------
"You know, when you told us we were using their blood to find the island, this isn't what I imagined," Kai grumbled. Lexi turned to him and scowled.
"What did you expect?" She asked. "You thought we were gonna spill our guts into the sea and follow the trail?"
"I thought you'd know where to go," Kai retorted, crossing his arms. "We've been sailing for nearly a day, and we're no closer to finding the island than we were back in Ninjago."
"Well, I'm sorry that I can't smell an island from miles away," Lexi snapped. "Why don't you stand around under the sweltering sun and try to sense darkness for hours on end, then you have the right to complain."
Kai and Lexi had been fighting like this almost all day. In fact, both of them had been butting heads with almost everyone since the moment the ship left the harbour. It might have been a combination of the heat, the constant smell of salt, and the rocking of the waves making them seasick, or it might have been something deeper. Regardless, no one wanted to have their head bitten off, so they kept their distance and simply let the two of them go at it.
"Maybe we should just do what I suggested," Kai was saying, "we sail West-- the direction the Dark Island is supposed to be-- and we'll eventually reach it."
"No, we won't," Lexi said, with patience so forced it couldn't be considered patience at all, "it doesn't work that way. You can't just stumble across the island, otherwise someone would have found it by now-- you need Oni blood to get there."
"Isn't that convenient?" Kai said mockingly, "and what a lucky thing we have you and Lloyd here with us. You know, maybe we shouldn't be bringing two literal canisters of dark energy to the guy who needs that very thing to escape-- just saying."
Lexi, of course, had a lot to say about being referred to as a 'literal canister of dark energy', and had no qualms about doing so in a very loud, very obscene manner. Nya and Lloyd, who were watching this all go down, cringing and glancing at each other awkwardly, turned away simultaneously and began their own conversation to try and drown out the noise.
"Can you feel anything?" Nya asked. She didn't need to elaborate on what 'anything' meant. "Are we close?"
"I don't know," Lloyd said helplessly, "I honestly don't feel a thing-- I doubt I will soon, either."
"What kind of an attitude is that?" Nya demanded. "We have to keep trying, Lloyd-- otherwise we'll never get anywhere!"
Lloyd blinked, shaking his head as though trying to clear it. "You're right," he said, his tone slightly bewildered, "I... I didn't mean to say that."
Nya frowned, then glanced around as if to make sure they were not being listened in on. Her gaze lingered on Lexi and Kai, arguing furiously, before it swiveled back to Lloyd. "Listen," she said in a low voice, "I think... I think we are close. I think we're really close, actually, and I think you guys do feel something."
"You mean I feel something, but I don't know it?" Lloyd asked in confusion. "How does that work?"
"Well," Nya said, "Lexi's been fighting all day, and she's just getting angrier and angrier as we sail. You've been dejected and you think we won't make it." She grinned. "Those are feelings, you see. You don't feel a connection to the island, but you do feel something-- the darkness is making you emotional."
"That... actually makes sense," Lloyd said, nodding slowly, "but that still doesn't tell us how close we are, or how to get there."
"We'll manage," Nya said confidently, "as Kai said, we're bound to stumble across it eventually, as long as we're going in the right direction--" she glanced over at Lexi, who was currently telling Kai that his hair made him look like he was being electrocuted "--which it looks like we are."
Indeed, for many hours more, Lexi's anger seemed to grow, and Lloyd felt more and more depressed. He eventually gave up on using his sister's rage as a GPS and simply told her what Nya theorized. At first, Lexi was skeptical, but after hearing her full explanation, she considered it a moment, then nodded.
"It does explain why I'm so annoyed at everything," she mused, "and it makes sense, I suppose-- anger and sorrow are feelings."
Despite this breakthrough, the ninja sailed into the night, and were still unable to find island. By this point, Lloyd was not the only one in favour of giving up.
"We should at least stop to rest," Jay begged, when Wu insisted that they continue to sail, "if we do find the island, it should be when we're at full strength."
When the other ninja voiced their agreement, Wu relented, but told them that he wanted them awake by five the next morning. This was met with a good deal of protesting, though it was silence by the suggestion of moving the hour up to three. The ninja hurried below deck to get some sleep, leaving Wu alone on deck.
Well, not alone. Zane remained behind, standing perfectly still, squinting at something in the distance. Wu frowned, turning to see what he was staring at. All he saw, however, were the inky ocean waves and the black sky.
"Zane?" He narrowed his eyes, struggling to see what the ninja was looking at. "What do you see?"
"It... I think it's a lighthouse," Zane said, "if we move forwards--"
Wu did not hesitate it rushing for the wheel and lurching the ship in the indicated direction. Zane remained where he was, staring dutifully at the same spot, until--
"There!" The lighthouse came into view, emerging as if from a thick fog. It would have looked abandoned had it not been for a single light that remained on in one of the upper windows. Wu frowned, studying it. It gave off no light, and there didn't appear to be any boats docked beside it. Whoever lived there had clearly been doing so for a long time.
"Go get the others," Wu ordered, "we're going to investigate."
The ninja emerged from below with a great deal of grumbling and moaning, but when they had all seen the lighthouse, all offences
were forgiven, and they were intent on exploring. This was how they found themselves standing before the looming building, waiting at the door after Zane had knocked it tentatively. The night was black and utterly silent, and for a moment, it seemed that there was no one there.
Then, the door swung open. It moved slowly, creaking open on old, groaning wood to reveal the man who stood inside. He was shrouded in shadow, his face covered by the darkness. There was a moment of silence, as the the ninja stared at him, and he stared back at them. Through the shadow they could see he was wearing glasses, which reflected agains the pale moonlight.
Suddenly, the man stepped forwards, gripping Zane by the arm with such force her nearly sent him staggering back. "Zane?" His voice was low and soft, a testament to his age. He couldn't have been younger than sixty. "Is it really you? Have you found me at last?"
"Who are you?" Jay asked suspiciously, but the others shushed him. They were staring at the man in awe, taking in his appearance. White hair, blue eyes, and eyes that glittered as he smiled.
"Julian?" Zane was gazing at the man with a look of indescribable amazement.
"Father?"