Chapter 1

"I'm never taking this off!" The smaller of the girls, Dalila, gasped.

"Did you make these?" The older one, Farah, asked.

"Yes I did. Just for you," Harumi smiled. "They match your eye color." She added.

The two girls looked down at their bracelets, then up at each other, and then down at the bracelets again.

"That's true!" Dalila gasped, paddling her feet in place excitedly.

"This is the best gift!" Farah launched into Harumi's arms.

She was just able to keep herself kneeling, but once Dalila hug-attacked her as well, she tipped over to her butt.

"Careful, girls! You're tackling her!" Salma chuckled, sitting around the dinner table.

"You got a good tactic, but your form needs a little work," Harumi chuckled with the two girls laying on top of her.

"And here comes the tickle monster!" Dalila lifted her hands in the air dramatically and then started tickling Harumi. Farah mimicked her sister and tickle-attacked Harumi as well.

"NOO! Not tickling!" She yelled dramatically, squirming around and laughing. Harumi lifted her hands and started to tickle Dalila and Farah, who both started twisting and squirming.

Farah quickly got off of Harumi and backed away so Harumi couldn't reach her anymore. Dalila looked over to her sister and mimicked her.

"Does your hand have a tickling mode?" Dalila giggled, out of breath.

"Not yet, but that's an amazing idea," Harumi chuckled, also out of breath. She looked at her prosthetic arm, the black plastic gleaming under the living room lamp. She stood up, realising that she was still laying on the floor, Dalila and Farrah sitting a little further away from her. Harumi glanced at the time. 6 pm. She sighed, knowing that she had to leave now.

"Thank you for dinner, it was delicious as always," Harumi smiled at Nadim.

"Nooo, we know what that means!" Farrah protested, quickly standing up from the floor. She sprinted towards Harumi and grabbed her leg.

"You can't leave yet! We didn't even get to play shop!" Dalila whined as she crawled towards Harumi's other leg.

"Hey, girls, that's not nice. Let go of Harumi's legs," Nadim told them off.

"But if we do, she'll leave!" Farrah argued.

"But if you don't, you'll have to come with me and all that left over Meskouta will be eaten by your mom and dad," Harumi said with a pondering expression.

Dalila let go immediately and crammed into Salma's lap as she remembered the cake's existence. Farrah paused for a longer period, glancing over at the dinner table, then back up at Harumi. Then she let go of her foot with a sigh and walked over to the table.

Harumi smiled at Nadim, who smiled back at her, showing a thumbs up.

"Besides, it was your ingredients that made the meal, so thank yourself for dinner," He smiled.

"But you used your magic and made them into, yet again, the most delicious meal I've ever had so..." Harumi shrugged, walking over to the table and grabbing a small piece of Meskouta.

"How about a tie?" Salma prompted, to which Harumi and Nadim agreed.

Dalila yawned loudly, nibbling on the cake in her hands.

"That's my cue," Harumi said, noting the girls' decreasing energy levels.

"I'm not tired!" Dalila protested.

"Yes you are," Salma said, petting her daughter's head.

"It's just because of that nightmare..." Farrah said and finished her cake piece.

Nadim shook his head and gave a stern look to Farrah, which Harumi couldn't ignore.

"Sorry..." Farrah apologised, looking over at her sister who was practically falling asleep in her mom's arms.

Harumi smiled at the scene, how Dalila tried her hardest to keep eating the Meskouta, but her blinks were increasingly longer. She probably felt so safe in her mother's arms...

"Thanks for having me again, good night girls," Harumi said and walked towards their entry way.

"Good night, Harumi," Farrah said, and Dalila mumbled. Salma also bid her good night, and a "safe drive".

"I'll walk you out," Nadim said, standing up from his chair.

"I really need that soup recipe, it's so delicious," Harumi said, as she zipped up her jacket.

"My lwalida would kill me if I gave away her recipe, but maybe I can make an exception for you," Nadim chuckled. "You've done so much for our family..." He said with a sigh.

It felt like a sting in Harumi's chest. Like a scabbed wound was being picked at. She knew Nadim didn't mean it as such, but that was how Harumi's mind twisted it.

"I... it's the least I can do," Harumi said simply, seeing Nadim's smile dampen slightly. He dropped his gaze. "Is everything okay with Dalila? Is she having nightmares?" Harumi tried to change the topic, but just returned to her own thoughts.

Her own nightmares flashed in her eyes, but she breathed out and barricaded them in her mind.

"Uh... yeah. It's been happening for about a week now. She... she keeps having nightmares about..." Nadim suddenly stopped and sighed.

"About what?" Harumi asked, worry spreading to her expressions.

"I don't want you to worry..." Nadim tried to hide his sad expression with a smile. "Please, tell me. Maybe I'll be able to help her?" Harumi prompted.

Nadim looked into Harumi's eyes. He sighed. "She keeps having nightmares about her family being taken away from her..."

The scabbed wound was ripped open.

The stinging in Harumi's chest shocked her whole body.

"Oh," was all that she could get out.

Harumi slumped down onto her bed. Staring at her ceiling, her hands open in a starfish position. Her ceiling was white, but right now a million things flashed in Harumi's eyes. Her room was quiet, but her ears were filled with noise.

She closed her eyes. Closed her fists slowly, clenching her right one hard. "It's not my fault. I can't blame myself. I can't change what has already happened," She whispered. "It's not my fault. I can't blame myself. I can't change what has already happened," She repeated, but her body rejected the words. Rejected to listen to her.

Harumi opened her eyes and unclenched her fists, her right hand starting to shake. She needed to talk, right now.

She ripped off her jacket and onto her floor. She left her own room and walked a familiar route to another room.

"Lloyd, are you in there?" She asked, leaning against the frame of his shoji. Her heartbeat was fast, her palm sweating.

She heard shuffling and in just a few seconds Lloyd's shoji was open and he stood in the doorway. He was in his sweats and a green hoodie, his hair tied up, worried look on his face.

"Can I come in?" Harumi asked, her voice shakier than she would've liked.

"Obviously," Lloyd answered, glancing down at Harumi's right hand.

Harumi walked in, grabbed the tangle from his desk and flopped down to his beanbag chair.

"Distraction or discussion?" Lloyd asked, closing his shoji and switching off the big light in his room. The small lamp on his nightstand emitting light, as well as his galaxy projector.

"I need to vent," Harumi said simply, crossing her legs and focusing on the tangle in her hands.

"Let it all out," Lloyd said as he sat down in front of Harumi.

Harumi stopped for a moment, staring at Lloyd's ceiling. She needed to organize her loud thoughts.

"I was over at Idrissi, and everything went great. Nadim cooked, I played with the girls, we ate, I gave the girls their bracelets and I left without a temper tantrum," Harumi started, turning her attention back to the tangle in her hands. "But then, in the damn entry way, I had to get curious..." Harumi closed her eyes, the tears making their way to her eyes. "Dalila has been having nightmares... about her family being taken away from her," Harumi's voice cracked, a tear escaping her eye.

She could hear Lloyd's "oh no" and sighing.

"I thought I was getting better..." Harumi wiped the single tear, lifting her gaze back towards the ceiling. "But I just can't convince myself out of this one. I feel horrible. I feel like I'm responsible for that poor little girl's nightmares..." A set of tears rolled out of Harumi's eyes.

"Gimme your hands," Lloyd said softly. Harumi turned back down to look at him, his warm hand wrapping around her right hand, squeezing lightly. He looked Harumi right in the eyes. "You are not responsible for her nightmares. If someone is, it's Ultra Violet. You can't blame yourself for that. You can't even be sure if it's because of what happened. Kids that age see nightmares all the time. You mean so much to those girls, they have never held anything over you, never resented you. Even their parents, they have never held anything over you either. Because there is nothing to hold over you. You can't blame yourself for what happened, because you weren't yourself. That version of you isn't here anymore, you are here now. And you have done your damn hardest to be the best version of yourself. Everyone knows how hard you've worked, and we know this will take time. You can take all the time you need, because you deserve it. You deserve it all, Harumi."

His words were like a balm to Harumi's open wound. Harumi's breathing calmed down, her hand stopped shaking. She was breathing at the same time as him, with him. She was present again, the voices in her head were more quiet, the pictures in her mind at a stop. Right now all that mattered was that she was here. It's not my fault. I can't blame myself. I can't change what has already happened, she repeated in her head. And now, her body accepted those words.

Lloyd let go of her hands and she lifted her right one to wipe away her tears. She sniffled and a small smile spread across her lips. "Thanks," she said.

"Anytime," Lloyd responded, a wider smile on his lips.

Harumi looked around his room, her eyes landing onto Lloyd's TV. "I know it's not a Monday, but... would you mind if we watched a movie?" Harumi asked, turning her attention back to Lloyd, who was already looking at her.

"Uh, of course I mind quite a lot," he said with a sassy attitude, which made Harumi chuckle. "Hey, I'm being serious!" Lloyd protested, making Harumi snicker even harder. Lloyd sighed. "Guess I'll just go and grab the snacks, since you bullied me into this..." he stood up dramatically, but a small smirk was seen on his lips.

They started watching "13 going on 30", a romcom. Harumi picked it from Lloyd's movies, thinking it would be mindless enough. Turns out, it was just that. A lighthearted romcom. But Harumi couldn't help herself, as the main couple exchanged looks that were a tad too long or he laughed with her like with no one else.

She couldn't help but to turn her attention towards him.

"What do you think you'll be doing at 30?" Harumi asked, looking over at Lloyd's focused expression.

"That's a good question," He sighed. "With this lifestyle, you'll never know, but..." he paused to think, turning his gaze away from the movie. "If all goes well, maybe... maybe I'd have some students of my own. The monastery would be filled with people, filled with my family. And maybe..." suddenly he stopped and chuckled. "Maybe I'd have someone special in my life..." He turned to face Harumi.

A light blush spread across her cheeks at the thought. The thought that she knew couldn't happen, but wished it to be true. That she could be that special someone. To him. That they could be that to each other. But that wasn't going to happen...

"Why 'maybe'? Someone like you should have no problem at finding a partner," Harumi questioned, wanting to uplift him and secretly compliment him at the same time...

Lloyd chuckled. "I mean, it's not like anyone is up for this kinda life. Not many can keep up with the mental and physical aspects of this life, and I don't want to put that burden on any outsiders," he explained, turning his attention back to the movie.

"I'm not an outsider, I can keep up with this life, all I want is you," Harumi wished she could say.

Instead she sighed, turning her face away from him. "Yeah, that's true I guess. But I believe there's someone for everyone," Harumi turned back to look at him.

The tv's faint glow shone on his face in white, while his projector added a purple hue. His hair was messy and untrimmed, his bangs falling over his eyes. He had an old hoodie on with sweatpants. But Harumi swore he looked like an angel.

His magical green eyes looked back at her. Harumi was mesmerized by them once again, then her eyes dropped down to his lips.

They looked soft, inviting. Oh, what she would give to kiss those lips. She would savor that kiss like nothing else. She would never forget it, would never want to forget it.

There was a brief silence between the two of them, until Lloyd chuckled and turned his attention back to the movie.

"That's why you're the best," he smiled.

A hot blush spread across Harumi's cheeks. She really was an idiot. An idiot undeniably, without a doubt and by all means, in love with the green ninja...

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lloyd tightened the fabric around Pixal's head. "Is it snug?" He asked.

"Yes," Pixal answered simply.

"Good, we can begin," Lloyd breathed out and walked over to the porch of the Monastery. He glanced over to the mural.

The last painting, all of their hand prints around a black circle. He looked at that mural a lot, and each time a blanket of depression was cast upon him.

But now he had to focus.

He looked around at the other ninja surrounding Pixal and nodded. "Begin!" he yelled out and folded his arms behind his back.

No one moved for a moment, anticipation growing with silent breaths and quick glances.

"Remember to-" Lloyd's words were interrupted as Jay quickly approached Pixal with his nunchucks in hand. "To your left!" Lloyd yelled, and Pixal quickly took a step back, listened to Jay's step and swept her leg to trip him.

Jay face planted on the ground with a grunt. "Good one, Pixal!" Lloyd cheered.

Kai started approaching her from behind, as well as Cole from the right. "Kai behind and Cole from right!" Lloyd yelled and Pixal reacted. She took a step to the left, extended her arm and grabbed Kai by the waist. As Cole approached her, she spun around and threw Kai towards Cole, knocking them both down!

"Nya right!" Lloyd yelled, as Nya ran towards Pixal. Cole and Kai grunted on the ground, Jay finally standing up. Pixal tried to step to her left, but Nya had jumped and landed on top of Pixal!

"Jay is up! Use your legs, knock Nya off and defend for Jay!" Lloyd tried to coach.

Pixal struggled as Nya sat on top of her trying to pin her arms down. She then quickly bumped her hips up, grabbed around Nya's torso, and locked her left arm and left leg. She rolled to the left, tapped Nya's chest and stood up. Jay approached her, she ducked and grabbed his legs. She threw him over her shoulder.

"You're doing amazing Pixal!" Lloyd yelled as Zane approached her, as well as Kai and Cole getting up. "Three targets, all from behind!" Lloyd informed.

Pixal listened to their steps, then at the right time, ducked down, Cole faltering, Kai falling down and Zane quickly dodging. Pixal quickly got up and backed away, now Cole and Zane in front of her. Cole approached first, Zane right behind him. "Cole first, Zane second!" Lloyd instructed.

Pixal once again listened to them, waited until the last minute, turned 90 degrees to the left and wrapped her right leg around Cole's torso, kicking him back! Cole stumbled to the ground, but as Pixal waited to grab Zane, he ducked and grabbed Pixal's feet! He threw her, Pixal grunting as she hit the ground.

Lloyd panicked. He tried to clear his mind, focusing on giving instructions. "Roll out!" Lloyd yelled and Pixal listened. She tried to roll to her left, but was grabbed by Cole's arms! Cole, who was still lying on the ground as well, spun her from his left to his right and climbed on top of her, trying to pin her hands.

"Knock him off!" Lloyd yelled, desperately trying to succeed, squeezing his hands together behind his back.

Pixal grunted as she tried to replicate what she had done to Nya, but to no avail. Lloyd should've known that wouldn't have worked... Cole pinned Pixal's hands to the ground and in the split of a second, Lloyd unfolded his hands and shot Cole off of Pixal.

Cole grunted as he hit the floor, Lloyd immediately realizing what he did.

"Lloyd!" Jay whined, as he stood from the ground.

"Sorry! I panicked, I didn't mean to! Are you okay, Cole?" Lloyd ran towards Cole and helped him off the ground.

"It's alright, didn't fall that hard." Cole grunted as he took Lloyd's hand and stood up. "But I thought masters weren't supposed to partake?" He smiled, rubbing the spot Lloyd had shot him.

A frustrated huff left Lloyd's lips. He wasn't frustrated at Cole, he was frustrated at himself. "No they're not, I'm sorry. That was my bad. Pixal was doing a great job, and I interrupted," Lloyd scolded himself, seeing that Zane had taken off Pixal's blindfold.

"It is alright, Lloyd. I was losing either way, but maybe next time I could lose myself?" Pixal said with a small smile, a little bit of mischief in the corners of her mouth.

But that mischief felt like a whip to Lloyd. Lloyd's already sour face dampened even more.

"I'm sorry, won't happen again. I promise," He said, his tone serious and pleading.

"It is okay, Lloyd. It was an accident," Pixal smiled comfortingly.

"You knocked three of us out, that's a good score!" Nya said, walking towards the others.

"Thank you," Pixal smiled. "Your coaching has also improved," Pixal smiled at Lloyd.

"Shouldn't have interfered..." Lloyd said quietly.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, you made one mistake. Besides, Pixal did way better than last week. You're going to be a great master," Kai smiled, patting Lloyd's back.

Lloyd sighed. Everyone left the courtyard with happy chatter and laughs, leaving Lloyd behind. He glanced over at the mural again, at that specific painting.

The same blanket tucked him in again.

Lloyd went into the training room and let out his frustrations on the poor punching bag the ninja had named "Ronin" after he had imprisoned them a couple years back. Lloyd had started his "Master training" a couple of months ago. It was actually started by Harumi's initiative. She had asked Lloyd to train her, but not like he was trained. She told him she didn't think she could ever hurt another person, but she wanted to be able to defend herself. Lloyd immediately knew what he needed to teach her. The Art of the Silent Fist. His... father's fighting technique. Wu had noticed Lloyd's and Harumi's one training session and proposed that Lloyd should start his "Master training".

He had trained himself to be in the best shape he had ever been in. Now he was training Pixal alongside Harumi, trying to get his actual teaching skills up. Wu told him that eventually he would take students of his own and become "Master Lloyd"...

Lloyd punched "Ronin" until Jay knocked on the door and announced that the showers were empty. Lloyd quickly showered, feeling a little better afterwards. Tonight was game night, but as he waited for everyone to return from their errands, he decided to read comic books in his room. He wanted to calm down further, and Harumi wasn't home yet so, comic books it is. Even though he wasn't concentrating that much...

His mind was troubled by a lot of thoughts, but there was one question. One question that had troubled him for half a year. But now, or more like a week ago, the question had gotten more urgent somehow. Took over his other thoughts. He couldn't concentrate, couldn't eat, couldn't even sleep without the question taking over his dreams.

That's when a red spot zoomed by his open shoji.

"Kai, wait up!" Lloyd yelled out.

"Waddup?" Kai took a couple steps back, stopping before Lloyd's open shoji. His brow was quirked, hands in his pockets.

"Can I talk to you for a second? Before we head into the living room?" Lloyd said, the question in his mind begging to be acknowledged.

"Sure, everything cool?" Kai walked into Lloyd's room.

"Can you close the shoji?" Lloyd asked as he moved to the edge of his bed, putting away his comic book.

"Aight," Kai closed the shoji and sat on Lloyd's bean bag chair.

Lloyd tried to find a way to bring the question into the conversation smoothly. As if it wasn't basically crawling its way out of his brain. To be expressed to someone. How should he even start a conversation like this? What if Kai thought this was weird?

Lloyd almost laughed out loud at that though. Lloyd definitely shouldn't worry about talking to Kai about this. A) he was the one with the most experience in this field and B) he was a big brother figure to Lloyd.

"Am I just going to sit here and count all the posters on your wall, or are you going to tell me what's going on?" Kai prompted, Lloyd realizing he indeed hadn't said anything in all this time.

"Right um, well..." Lloyd started but then stopped.

"Oh, come on just spit it out! I have a Harumi to beat in Monopoly," Kai said annoyedly, crossing his arms.

"If you keep that up, I'll never tell ya," Lloyd said with a serious expression.

"Sorry, sorry..." Kai raised his hands in the air and leaned back in the bean bag chair.

"So um... Are you and Skylor like officially... a couple now?" Lloyd decided on an opening, and immediately regretted it. He knew they were together, and he knew Kai knew that he knew...

Kai's expression changed from annoyment to confusion. "Uhm..." He cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'd say so. Is this what you wanted to talk about? Me 'n Skylor? 'Cause that's a long fuckin' conversation,"Kai chuckled.

"No, no. Not in its entirety. I just..." Lloyd looked for the right words. "How do you feel when you're with her?" he asked awkwardly.

Kai looked taken aback, once again. "Uhhh, do you mean like... horny?" He said confusedly. "Do you want me to give you the 'birds and the bees'- talk," He snorted.

Lloyd rolled his eyes. "No! Can you for once think with your heart and not with your dick..." Lloyd crossed his arms.

"Okay, okay!" Kai laughed. "Well... If I have to think with my heart... I'd say... I feel... safe. I feel safe with Skylor," He started. "Like she's never going to leave me. Like she knows every single thing about me, the good but also the bad, and still chooses me everyday," Kai stopped to think, now shifting to look out of Lloyd's window. He smiled to himself. "I feel lucky. Lucky that she chose me. Lucky that everyday I get to call her mine, lucky that I get to... love her. And I feel... indescribably grateful. Grateful that even though there have been rough times, we chose to work through them. And that we came out stronger than ever before," Kai described and it was like Lloyd finally felt heard and understood. "Everyday she makes me a better person, everyday she teaches me something new. It's like she's this missing piece I've tried to look for everywhere. She just gets me, and I get her. It just feels like she's..." Kai stopped, now realizing that he was smiling widely. "Fuck..." He cursed to himself with a chuckle. "I feel like she's my... soulmate or whatever," Kai smiled up at Lloyd.

Lloyd had no words. There was a smile on his lips as well. But it wasn't just because he was happy for his brother. It was because that description fit every single one of his thoughts. He could relate. He could see her smile, hear her laugh, smell her lavender fragranced shampoo. He could see her rolling his eyes at him, feel what she felt like in his arms.

"If this was an elaborate plan to humiliate me, I will kill you and not feel an ounce of guilt," Kai said, his expression changing into nervousness as Lloyd hadn't said a word.

"No, no!" Lloyd quickly said, snapping out of his own thoughts, again. "I just..." Lloyd now tried to get the question out of his mouth, but something was stopping it. It had just been bursting to come out and now it was hiding somewhere in his throat.

"You just?" Kai prompted, lifting his eyebrow. "Wait, shit!" Kai's expression lifted into an excited one. "Lloyd, do you have a girlfriend we don't know about!?" He said excitedly, basically jumping out of the bean bag chair.

"NO!" Lloyd yelled, embarrassed that Kai knew him too well. That Kai had basically said the question. That Lloyd hadn't had the balls to say it out loud first. "I... ugh!" Lloyd got frustrated at himself. "I just think I might have those kinda feelings towards someone, and I don't know what to do!" Lloyd blurted out.

It was quiet for a moment. Lloyd looked up at Kai, who wore a cheeky smirk on his lips.

"It's Harumi, right?" Kai said cockily.

"H-how did... How d-did you-" "Lloyd, everyone knows." Kai said, which sent Lloyd into a new crisis.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN EVERYONE KNOWS!?" He yelled out, not really realizing that anyone could've heard that.

"Chill, bro!" Kai laughed. "She doesn't! You're both idiots, but apparently you are a bigger one. Are you telling me you realized your feelings just now?" Kai questioned with an amused look.

"Well... I finally put my finger on it last week... But I've realized they've been present ever since I... met her..." Lloyd revealed, embarrassed at his own stupidity.

"Oh jeez. You are unbelievable. You've been in love with her for seven months and you haven't done anything!?" Kai questioned.

"How could've I, when I didn't know what I was feeling!?" Lloyd argued.

Kai sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Well, now that you finally realized, you're going to do something about it, right?" Kai crossed his arms again and leaned back.

"Well, of course I want to! But I don't know if it's smart..." Lloyd pondered.

"Why wouldn't it be smart?"

"She's been through a lot, and she probably thinks we're only best friends! If she doesn't share my feelings, I don't want to put her in that situation. One that I know she'd be incredibly uncomfortable in." Lloyd explained.

"Lloyd, bruh. You cannot be this blind. SHE IS IN LOVE WITH YOU TOO!" Kai said exaggeratedly.

"You think?" Lloyd said with much optimism in his voice, as if a flame of hope had been ignited within him.

Kai looked at him and then rolled his eyes. "Next time, pay attention to how she looks at you. How she touches you so much, intentionally. How she laughs at your jokes, way louder than anyone else. And please, for the love of god, pay attention to HOW SHE'S LITERALLY IN LOVE WITH YOU!" Kai yelled.

"ENOUGH WITH THE YELLING!" Lloyd yelled. "I'll pay more attention. To those things. And if you're right, I will do something," Lloyd sighed.

"Thank fuck, we're all losin' our minds looking at the two of you..." Kai rolled his eyes and chuckled. He stood up from the bean bag chair.

"I'm so going to steal all your properties for this..." Lloyd warned and walked behind him, out of his room.