Ninjago: Future

Chapter 3: Time Flies When You're Mourning

It had been five years since the Merge. Five years since the Ninja had disappeared into the storm. Five years since... Harumi had gone with them.
Yue, who was now 19, was somberly staring at a picture of Harumi. The frame was surrounded by flowers and paper hearts.
Lloyd walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"We all miss your mother." he muttered to her. She frowned.
"Yeah, and yet, all of you gave up on her." she replied.
"What...?" Lloyd queried.
"She's been gone for five years. FIVE. YEARS. And none of you have even tried to look for her," Yue began, "And you're supposed to be the 'love of her life'. Some husband you are."
"Yue, sweetheart-"
"DON'T 'SWEETHEART' ME!" Yue exclaimed, "YOU HAVEN'T EVEN TRIED TO LOOK FOR HER! SHE'S ALIVE, AND I KNOW IT! Don't act like you're the only one who misses her."
Lloyd was shocked. Yue had never snapped like that before.
"Yue, we all miss her," he replied, "It's been difficult without her."
"Pfft. That's rich. As if you'd understand," she began, "She was my mother..."
"AND SHE WAS MY WIFE!" Lloyd shouted, "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND HOW HORRIBLE I'VE BEEN FEELING!? WE WERE TOGETHER FOR FIFTEEN YEARS! FIFTEEN. YEARS. I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE MY LIFE WITHOUT HER! And you think you're the only one who's been struggling..."
"Hey, hey, what's going on here?" Kyle frantically asked as he walked through the doorway.
"Oh, nothing. Just Dad acting like he's the only one who misses Mom." Yue explained.
"Sis, calm down," Kyle began, "The three of us aren't the only ones who lost people that day. All of our friends lost their parents. And, anyway, you think I don't miss Mom, too? Even though we weren't very close, that doesn't mean I didn't love her."
"We all still do." Yue remarked.
"And we always will, no matter what happens." Lloyd said to his children with a smile. Yue sighed, before smiling back and giving Lloyd a side hug.
"Right, now, let's get back inside. I'm sure everyone is dying to know what we're having for lunch." Yue said jokingly. Her brother and father smiled, before they all headed back inside of the Monastery.

With Arin

Arin had just finished telling the story of how he had been saved by the Ninja during the Merge to some Guard Dogs at his local recycling centre. He took out something from the brown satchel that was hung around his neck. A green hood. Lloyd's old hood. He had found it after the Merge. He pulled it over his head until it covered his face. He swung one of his arms up in the air and did one of those hero poses, similar to ones from typical action movies.
"Arin, not to insult the dreams of my one and only friend, but... you are so not a Ninja."
Sora. Arin's roommate and current best friend. They had met a few years after the Merge, once society had gotten used to their new environment. They met after they found out that they were going to be living together as roommates in a penthouse within the Crossroads; a place where anyone and everyone from anywhere in the merged realms could call Home.
"I can't hold them off for much longer," Arin began, "Have you found what you need?"
"Just give me a second..." Sora replied, "Aha! Here it is! Now, let's get out of here!"
They both sprinted past the Guard Dogs and towards the exit. However, they were put to a stop by three Security Robots.
"Arin, I need you to distract them so I can hack into them." Sora whispered in Arin's ear.
"Alright," he replied, "NINJA-"
"You're not a Ninja, buddy." Sora reminded him.
"WANNABE NINJA, GO!" Arin exclaimed, whilst pretending to do Spinjitzu. However, he was met with a strange golden glow surrounding him. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. He was consumed by the tornado that was rotating around him. He managed to make one of the Robots fall over using his newly-found power. After he had stopped himself from spinning, he fell down on his face.
"Wow, that was..." he began, whilst slowly sitting up.
"-awesome!" Sora continued, "You never told me you could do that. I guess you might be a Ninja, after all." Arin simply smiled at her comment.
"Alright, 'Wannabe Ninja', go ahead and do your tornado thingy in front of those robots." she instructed. Arin nodded, before sprinting at top speed towards where the Robots were facing. He did Spinjitzu again, which gave him the Robots' attention. Once they were fully distracted, Sora jumped onto each of their backs one by one, attempting to mess with their programming. Once she backed away, she was met with a group of three dancing Robots.
"Wow. I'm still shocked that you can hack things so fast-" Arin said to Sora.
"Well, I guess being around a ton of tech as a kid payed off," she replied, "And, anyway, if it wasn't for my hacking skills, we wouldn't be able to get all of the parts that we need to build our mech. What we need to make it easier is money, but there's no way we'll be able to: 1. Get jobs before the race and 2. Earn enough dough even with jobs."
"True," Arin began, "Now, let's head home. We need to get as much sleep as possible so we can finish the mech before the race on Saturday. There's only two days left. If it's not finished before then, we won't have a chance at winning the cash prize! Let's go!" Sora simply nodded in response, before they both ran out of the exit and headed towards the workshop.

With Lloyd

Lloyd walked out of the entrance to the Second Monastery and sat on the stairs. He was holding a cup of tea, and he took a small sip of it.
He was thinking about Harumi.
All of the time they spent together before she disappeared.
He thought of every moment he could remember, like the day they defeated the Overlord...
"Well, if you're fighting for the one you love, you might as well save his life one time or another."

Her voice echoed through his head, and a single tear streamed down his cheek.
He wiped the tear off of his face and decided to go for a walk around the Monastery, to help him calm down. He slowly and steadily walked down the stairs until he arrived at the empty forest below. He took a look around, and something caught his attention.
Is that what I think it is...? he thought to himself. He sprinted up to what he had seen and, sure enough, his guess was correct.
It was half of the Bounty.
He quickly jumped onto it and began walking around, attempting to find any sign of, well, anything.
Just then, he heard a noise.
Then, a dark figure appeared.
He swiftly used his Spinjitzu and launched himself at the dark figure. He threw the mysterious person across the ship, before coming to a sudden realisation.
"Lloyd, buddy, it's me!" the person spoke.
"KAI!" Lloyd remarked, "Sorry. I guess I didn't recognise you."
"It's fine. Anyways, it's so good to see you again!" he replied, before they both pulled eachother into a hug.
"I missed you." Lloyd whispered in his ear.
"Me, too, Lloyd." Kai replied.
"Where've you been!?" Lloyd exclaimed.
"It's a long story... I'll tell you on the way up to the Monastery," Kai began, "LAST ONE THERE IS A ROTTEN NINJA!"
Kai quickly sprinted up the stairs towards the Monastery, and Lloyd followed close behind.

With Arin and Sora

"Wow," Arin began, "I never thought that the Crossroads could look so beautiful at night."
"Neither did I," Sora replied, "But, anyway, we have to get home fast. We have to get to the workshop early tomorrow to finish off our Mech. And we have to get home before midnight. It's currently... 11:59-"
"Race ya!" Arin exclaimed, before sprinting up to the entrance to himself and Sora's penthouse. Sora followed close behind. She kicked the wall below the house, which caused a ladder to fall down. She began climbing up as fast as she could.
Arin, however, had other plans. He dug through his satchel, taking out a large orange grappling hook. He fired it into the penthouse, and he allowed himself to be dragged along with it.
"Last one there is a rotten egg!" he exclaimed as he flew past Sora.
"Hey, that's cheating!" she replied angrily.
"See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!" Arin called out as he reached the penthouse.
"Arin, be careful! Don't crash into-" it was too late. The only thing that Sora could hear coming from the penthouse was:
"DANGIT-"
"...the window." Sora continued with a sigh. She climbed all the way up and looked over at the Crossroads from the opening of the penthouse. Arin followed close behind.
"Sora, don't take this the wrong way. I love living with you. You're my best friend!" Arin began, "But..."
"But... what-?" Sora queried.
"Don't you think that there are places to explore outside of the Crossroads? I mean, it's a great place and all, but don't you think we both need a little more action in our lives?" he asked. Sora shook her head.
"Arin, I've told you this already. Places outside of the Crossroads are dangerous," she replied, "I should know..."
"You know, you still haven't told me why you escaped from Imperium." Arin reminded her.
"That's cause it's... private," Sora began, "But, I'm telling you, don't be fooled by how places outside of the Crossroads look. They're dangerous. More dangerous than you could ever imagine."
"Are you trying to scare me or something? Cause it ain't working." Arin replied.
"No, I'm not. You're not afraid of anything. There's no scaring you. Just... take it as a warning. Staying here is safer."
Arin sighed, "Alright, alright. Now, we should get some sleep. We have to be awake super early tomorrow so we can be the first ones at the workshop."
"Alright," Sora replied, "Night, Arin!"
"'Night!" Arin called out, before they both headed towards their bedrooms.