Lloyd's POV
I ran forward deeper into the water, shouting something but I wasn't sure what. Just as I was about to go further than the knee-deep zone, I felt a hand grab my arm.
"Don't be stupid," someone said, and I regained my senses again.
I stopped fidgeting and turned around to see Morro, who gave me a quick shake of the head and began leading me back to the shore. His expression was strange and kind of hard to read, neither angry or worried or scared or exasperated, but a mixture of all four.
"There's salt and it stings," he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world and I apparently didn't know.
I pushed his hands away. "Then what about Rumi?!" I was on the verge of shouting, "Wouldn't it sting her? Aren't you the least bit worried?"
"Look, the water or whatever is in there wants her. It wouldn't kill..." Even as he said that, there was some doubt in those words. His voice faltered. Morro turned around.
"Nya," he began, and she jumped a little, looking slightly taken aback.
"I didn't do anything, if that's what you're implying," Nya said, almost immediately regaining her composure and taking on a defensive tone.
He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "No, don't worry, that's not what I meant," Morro said, "Okay, here's the plan. Nya, we're going down there, and you're gonna have to make an air bubble so we can breathe. I know this sounds ridiculous, but it's the only thing that'll work. I guess you gotta eat. We don't want you to be debilitated. Here," he passed her his entire basket, "Help yourself. And I know this 'plan'," he made air quotes, "is stupid but whatever. I came up with it off the top of my head."
Nya shifted a little on her feet as she digested the information, and after glancing around at all our faces, slowly took the basket from his hands. We watched as she picked up an apple and took a bite out of it. A few moments of silence passed by.
"Would you stop staring?" she muttered, "Suddenly I have the weight of the world on my shoulders, so uh, thanks."
Everyone quickly averted their gazes.
"Okay, so," Morro said after a few moments of silence. "First of all, it's been made clear already that the Shadow Knight has informed whatever is in the water of our arrival. Or he's bewitched the water in some way. Anyway, if we show up underwater, our mere presence is probably gonna attract them, so we wouldn't have trouble finding whatever took her. But they will try to attack Nya, since you're basically the one keeping us alive. So, powers at the ready, we have to attack anyone who approaches us."
"Except for Rumi." I pointed out.
"Except for Harumi," he tilted his head towards me, then continued, "We'll set up camp over there, where the water won't reach us. Once again, I assure you, she is fine."
I took a deep breath and nodded. Something told me not to argue. We would find her tomorrow.
Yet while I hitched the tents along with everybody else, something was wrong. Something felt wrong. If the Shadow Knight knew the Crystal Blade could defeat him, all he had to do was enchant the waters and have her drown. But Morro said she was fine. And from what I knew of Morro, his instincts had never been wrong before. But still, what if the what if's were valid?
I looked back at the waters, now sparkling in the setting sun. It was hard to imagine that only earlier they had swallowed Rumi. Turning back around, I watched as Jay shoved more food into Nya's mouth even before she swallowed the previous bite.
I went into the tent soon and could not sleep. Feeling restless, I crawled back out, only to see the black outline of a dark silhouette. The person seemed to have heard me approaching, for they quickly turned around.
"It's just me," I said as I walked, not even knowing who I was speaking to.
"Aren't you going to sleep?" The person asked in a sweet, feminine voice. Ruby.
"I can't," I murmured, crouching down beside her. It was far enough from the shore so I wasn't going to almost die again. My hand scooped up some sand, then dumped it back down with a flick of my wrist.
She hesitated. "Won't you be sleepy?"
"Nope."
"So you're just gonna stay out here the whole night?"
"Well, yeah, I guess. Isn't that what you're doing?"
"I'm just thinking," she muttered, "About stuff." Ruby sounded almost irritated, but if I'd interrupted Uncle Wu in the middle of a meditative session, he would definitely tell me off for it.
She got up and headed back into the tents. I continued to sit there, staring out at the dark waters. How I had managed to stay awake for so long remained a mystery. I only knew that I was awake, staring, the entire night.
Nothing happened. I didn't expect anything to.
Harumi's POV
I felt the water pressing in on me in every direction. Part of me wanted to shout out, to tell someone where I was. But when you're somebody who was suddenly stupid and had the waters drag you down, you couldn't really go back up. Somehow I could breathe. The Shadow Knight must've told the inhabitants of my arrival. But why didn't they kill me?
I didn't, or couldn't, open my eyes. Chains bound me tight to a sort of stone. My head lolled back and forth. I must've looked as stupid as I felt.
Then came another one of those head pains. I scrunched up my face, but it did nothing to help. It was like something was pressing my brain inward, mashing up all the thoughts. This was excruciatingly painful. I screamed, though no one was there to hear me. I thrashed, but the most exciting thing that happened was that the chains cut into my body, ripping some of the fabric. I didn't care. Nobody could see the mess that was me.
Guess I had to wait for a knight in shining armor to come save me...
And suddenly I was falling. Falling, dropping, plummeting. I opened my eyes and saw a swirl of color. There were vague images of people and events around the hole I was falling in, but I couldn't make them out. Weightlessness. Queasiness. Lightheadedness.
Was I finally going to go to the Departed Realm and realize that all this was some plot device to torture me for my crimes?
Then I couldn't see anything anymore.
...
I found myself in a pile of rubble and cement. For some reason the landing wasn't the least bit painful.
Then I heard voices. Very, very familiar voices.
"Is nobody gonna clean that up? It's been two and a half weeks already." My heart leaped into my throat as I recognized it as Jay's.
"They say it's cursed," another voice joined in, and this time it was Kai's. I immediately had a flashback to the funeral and felt my chest tighten. Was I in... Ninjago? But that wouldn't make sense...
"I mean, Harumi died here," Nya said. She emphasized my name bitterly, and all the memories of how she didn't care for me then liked me then hated me came rushing back.
"Okay, can we leave already?" I held my breath, now that I could tell Lloyd was the one talking. "The event starts in an hour."
"Yeah, but we're not old grandpas, we can get there in fifteen minutes," Kai said, "But okay, I get why you wanna leave. And besides, we get ambushed by fans all too often." He let out a sigh that sounded as if he was trying to not sound sad.
"And whose fault is that?" his sister asked. Even without seeing his face, I knew the Fire Ninja was grinning. He always had a big ego, even in the short time that I'd known him.
I glanced around quickly, trying to find a way out. Right now I was somewhere in the middle of the pile of debris, and I could see the three boys clad in blue, red, and green plus a girl in maroon at the bottom of it. As quietly as possible, I crept in the direction away from them, heart pounding. I held my breath so that they wouldn't hear me, but of course my attempts were futile.
"Wait, I think I just saw something move up there," Lloyd muttered, turning in my direction. There were enough building remains to hide me for the most part, but if I stirred, he would surely notice.
"Bet it's just a bird. Nobody in their right mind goes up there," Nya brushed him off, but Lloyd began stepping towards me.
"I thought you wanted to avoid that place," Jay said, confused. Kai pressed his finger to his lips, his eyes on the Green Ninja.
I didn't know what came over me, but as if possessed, I jumped out into the light. "It's me."
Lloyd's face paled and his jaw dropped as the others instantly pulled out their weapons, dashing up to where I was and surrounding me. I threw up my arms, immediately regretting my decision to come out into the open. The Green Ninja stood frozen in place and I held his gaze, neither of us blinking.
Nya jammed her spear in my side, and I resisted the urge to flinch.
"Where. Did. You. Come. From?" she hissed, saying every syllable with probably as much hatred as she could muster. I sucked in a breath.
"I... thought you were dead..." Lloyd stammered.
"Lloyd, why don't you go?" Kai said, his eyes never leaving me, "We'll take care of her ourselves."
"Betcha thought we died, huh?" Jay sneered, his normally smiling face twisted into a frown. "Well, surprise!"
"Wait―" I said, but before I could finish, three blades were at my throat.
"Don't. Even. Think. About it." Kai spat through gritted teeth as his eyes narrowed, "Lloyd, go."
The blond turned to leave, and remembering that I should be dead anyway, I got to my knees, feeling the sharp ends of their weapons scrape against my face, but it didn't matter. Before the three Ninja could react, I leaped down in a few steps so that I was right next to him.
Lloyd formed energy balls around his hands, tightly creasing his eyebrows. His eyes were glowing green again, and I realized he must've gotten his powers back.
"Stay away from me," he warned shakily.
"I'm dead already!" I shouted, feeling the gashes that Kai, Jay, and Nya had made sting. A drop of blood trickled down to my lip, and licking it, I felt the taste of iron on my tongue. "I can't hurt you anyway!"
By now the others had caught up. The Fire Ninja yanked my arm backwards. "Leave. Him. Alone." he snapped.
"I'm unarmed!" I exclaimed, raising my hands above my head. My chest rose and fell rapidly, and my throat felt as if something was blocking it, making it hard to breathe.
"Trust me, that doesn't make her any less dangerous," Nya muttered, "Or manipulative."
"Please, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for everything!" I pleaded, but their expressions didn't change, except for Lloyd's, which hardened.
"Yeah, no, I'm not falling for your mind games," he said, breathing just as heavily as I was.
"I know you won't believe me, but I. AM. DEAD. I don't know how I got here, but if I'd been strolling down the streets, someone would've seen me," I tried to explain, gesturing to myself.
Jay rolled his eyes. "You're smarter than that. If nobody realized you were the Quiet One after so long you must've done a lot of sneaking around. Duh."
"How'd you survive?" Nya demanded. Out of all the Ninja, her tone was the most poisonous.
"I. Didn't. And I know you're thinking I'm lying again, and I can't exactly prove it to you. But if I'd been alive after all this time I wouldn't just be in hiding."
"She's going at it again," Kai said, a bored expression on his face, "But uh, we've noticed that your clothes have changed," he turned to his sister, "She was wearing her Quiet One outfit when she died, right?"
"Yeah," Nya confirmed, her dark blue eyes glaring at me through slits so thin I could barely make them out. My heart thumped so loudly in my chest I could barely hear anything clearly.
"We should at least take her away someplace else before we attract too much attention," Lloyd said after a long pause, glancing around.
"Who's gonna carry her, then?" Jay asked.
"Ha, imagine if we stuck her on top of our weapons like a pike," Kai laughed.
Nya made a face. "Okay, that's too gruesome, even I wouldn't do that. And I think it's safe to say I hate her more than any of you do."
"It was a joke," Kai assured her.
"Wait," Lloyd said, "Knowing her, she wouldn't jump out into the open for no reason. Maybe she wants us to take her in."
I groaned internally. Of course they would be second-guessing every one of my actions.
"But we can't just leave her here," Jay pointed out.
"Do you have anything to say?" Nya said coldly, "Any message to deliver?"
"Nothing I say is going to be believable," I muttered.
"This must be some new tactic," Kai said, "Let's just send her to Kryptarium but keep her away from the other Sons of Garmadon. Like in isolation."
"Okay, I have something to say." Four pairs of eyes turned to me at once.
"I'm sorry for everything I've done―" I began, but Jay cut me off.
He stuck his fingers in his ears. "There she goes again. Blah blah blah I'm so sympathetic and I―"
"Shut up and listen to me!" I roared with my hands in fists, annoyed that now that I had decided to say something Jay just had to interrupt.
Now the Ninja were quiet. Nya rolled her eyes and defensively put an arm around her boyfriend.
"After my parents died, I―I couldn't think straight. I was... I guess you could say insane. The emperor and empress never talked to me about my feelings and said that a princess was supposed to be perfect and now that I had everything I had no right to feel sad. They didn't let me do anything I wanted if those things weren't princess-y. I blamed you guys for putting me in that position."
"I was scared and stupid. It wasn't your fault the Great Devourer was so big, and I'm sure it was because of you, Lloyd, that your father was willing to help out in the first place. I was so caught up in my revenge that I never sat down to think about how my actions would impact others. It was only the other day, in this exact same building, when I saw another boy about to become like me. I saved him, but there wasn't enough time to save myself. Now that I think about it, even though I saved his life, I still ruined it. He and his parents could be homeless, or who knows... I guess what goes around comes around. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for all the destruction I've caused and how much I hurt you."
"Likely story," Kai scoffed, then looked at Lloyd to see his reaction. The latter's face remained blank.
"Actually, I think I heard about this kid..." Jay began, but Nya jabbed him in the side with her free hand and he was quiet.
"I'm calling the cops. We don't have time to deal with her today," Nya announced, pulling out her phone. My heart rate began to speed up. I didn't know how I got here, but what if I couldn't get back? How was I even supposed to get back? Only one thing was for sure, I did not want to deal with the Sons of Garmadon. Their loyalty to me had weakened the week before my death; it wasn't like I hadn't noticed.
"Don't, please," I said, feeling nauseous at the thought of them, "I'm begging you."
"That's it, I'm calling the cops," Nya said, beginning to dial the number.
"Wait," Jay held up a hand, "She might be trying to trick you so that she could reunite with her minions and figure out an escape plan, because now that she said that she expects you to want to send her to Kryptarium even more!"
"Or she would expect us to think that so we actually do have to send her to Kryptarium!" Kai argued.
"Make up your mind," Nya muttered.
As Kai and Jay argued amongst themselves with Nya watching as she kept a firm grip on my wrists that was so tight it hurt, I directed my attention to Lloyd instead. He stared at his feet, but when he realized I was watching him, he met my gaze.
"What?" the Green Ninja snapped, frustration written in his eyes.
"I'm sorry," I said again, and felt Nya's nails digging deeper into my skin. How they could be so sharp even underneath her gloves, I would never know. "All you've ever done is try to help me and I just couldn't let go of the past. I'm so, so sorry. I won't blame you if you don't believe me since I've hurt you so much in the past. I understand if you'll never trust me again."
"Stop," he said, his voice quivering. I vaguely saw many passersby watching us with curiosity, but Lloyd didn't seem to notice. Jay and Kai even stopped their argument to listen to our conversation.
"I wish we could start over. I'm sorry for everything. I wish that I could've sat down to think about what I was doing and realize how wrong and insane I was being. I was a psychopath. If I just... thought about stuff, things might have turned out differently. You're sweet, brave, selfless, and I'm just the opposite. I wish... I wish I could just―"
"I released the Serpentine," Lloyd blurted out, his face bright red. He quickly covered up his mouth, but he'd already said it.
"What?" I hadn't been expecting that, and felt Kai and Jay's hands tightening around my arms.
"I released Pythor and... and... it was because of me that your parents died," he gasped, his hand clenching into fists at his sides, "I was trying to make my dad proud, but in the stupidest way! I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry!"
I felt anger begin to boil in my stomach. So it was because of him...
"You did that?" I whispered, my legs feeling numb.
Lloyd bit his lip and nodded, his face twisted in shame, his entire body shaking. The red of his ears starkly contrasted with his blond hair, and instead of getting angrier as I would've expected, I only felt the fury cease. He had been like me, and I suddenly felt a rush of sympathy for him.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I'm no better than you. I should've apologized earlier, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I'll never forgive myself for what I did when I released the Serpentine. I didn't know what I was doing, but that's not an excuse. I'm so sorry, Harumi. I'm sorry for everything I've done to hurt you, and I should've at least been empathetic when I realized you were the Quiet One. But I wasn't. I only focused on how I was the victim, but in reality I was at fault too."
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked, feeling lightheaded.
"Because I should've ages ago. It's haunted me for so long. And besides, if you tried to attack me then I'd know that you haven't changed..." he looked up at me, "And I know after hearing the second reason you probably really want to punch me, but I promise 99% of the reason for telling you this is because of the first..." Lloyd trailed off.
"You're still different from me. You've been doing everything you can to correct for your past mistakes. And I―" At first the words sounded cheesy, but then I realized they were true.
"You never got the chance," he said, still unable to look me in the eye. Then he finally glanced up.
I felt my heart race, with so much force it was as if it was slamming itself against my chest. Then all of a sudden there was a tingling sensation in my feet, and looking down, I realized they were starting to become translucent. Lloyd followed my gaze and gasped.
"Y-your feet..." he stuttered.
"I guess I don't have much time left," I said with a small smile, "I'm sorry, Lloyd, I wish we could've started over."
The Green Ninja gaped for a bit, then blinked and closed his mouth. He took a deep breath and sighed. "I guess it's time to move on. It's not like we can be together," Lloyd laughed a little, "Well... yeah."
He bit his lip again and looked down at his feet, reminding me of the boy who had been a little shy when I'd first met him. My legs were already beginning to fade.
"It was nice talking to you. Kai, Jay, Nya, let go of her."
The three Ninja reluctantly released their grip on me, still with their weapons ready in case I did anything. I looked down at my arms, which had red finger marks on them. None of them looked sorry, and I didn't blame them.
Nobody said a word as I slowly vanished until the last second.
"Goodbye, Rumi."
(Ninjago) Lloyd's POV
My skull banged against the headboard of my bed. Groaning, I rubbed the back of my head and glared at the alarm clock. I threw an energy ball at it and yanked my covers over my face. That was a weird dream. Somehow that felt a lot more real than most dreams. If I didn't know better I could've sworn it was Harumi's spirit talking to me. But regardless of whether the stuff she said was true or not I stood by my words and knew I shouldn't dwell in the past and prepare for the future instead. And besides, it was probably my subconscious mind trying to teach me a lesson.
Anyway, I was going to move on. The past shouldn't continue to haunt me, though I did have many regrets. I wished that I had told her how I felt and that I was sorry, but there was no turning back. Sometimes I still imagined what could have been, but now wasn't the time to dwell on it. Past mistakes should be learned from and not a cause of depression. If someone like Harumi ever appeared in my life again I would know how to treat them in a way that was much better than how I had treated her. And if she had felt the same way about me, which a part of me still stubbornly believed, she should move on as well.
I went back to sleep and was shaken awake minutes later by an impatient Kai.
"I just had the weirdest dream last night," I said before he threw the covers off me. But even as I tried my best to grasp the details of it, everything was slipping away faster than I could recall. All I knew was that somehow, in some way, Harumi had been in it. At the thought of her I felt my chest tighten.
"I did too," he said, "I dreamt that Skylor somehow got herself wrapped up in a Puffy Potsticker."
"Well, that's... interesting..." I sat up. "Were you the knight in shining armor?"
Kai avoided the question. "What did you dream about?"
I shrugged it off. "To be honest, I already forgot."
I wasn't lying.
A/N: Sooooo this, in my opinion, is an... interesting chapter. I wanted Lloyd and Harumi to mutually apologize to each other in some form, but it still had to align with the canon. I do wish the poor green bean got to have closure tho, but he had to forget :(
I've rewritten this chapter more than any other since the previous versions sucked to say the least, so I hope you guys liked it!
I just had my first chemistry test on Wednesday, and... well... at least my summer assignment carried my grade so it's still an A XD
Thanks for reading!