before the sky split [ninjago next generation]

a birth and a death on the same day

They picked a bright day to do it.

Zane laid down on the bed in the soothing warmth of the Monastery. Despite his insistence that he was a nindroid and felt only a mere imitation of comfort or physical displeasure, the ninja had insisted that he not give up his life on a workbench. At his behest, the ninja agreed not to preemptively dress themselves in mourning clothes. Maiya pressed into the room after her parents and moved to stand along the back wall with the other children in the room, Yuzhen and Yuming, her cousins. Her Uncle Kai and Aunt Skylor's kids— just a year her juniors— often stayed at the Monastery during winters and summers. Yuzhen smoothed out his wrinkled orange changshan, which he matched with his twin. Yuming brushed a hand across the freshly-shaved sides of her red hair as she studied their Uncle Zane intently. Her suspicious gaze flicked back and forth between Zane and the lifeless nindroid shell seated neatly on the other side of the bed.

Their Aunt Pixal sat with her husband as Cole, the last one into the room, closed the door behind him. The ninja team, their masters, and the children were the only ones in the room. Zane's falcon perched on the tree outside the window, as it had for as long as Maiya could recall memories.

"So," Jay began, "I guess I'll start."

Nya squeezed his hand, clothed in her best red dress, the one with embroidered golden waves and phoenix feathers.

"Buddy," he began. Already, his voice cracked and Maiya's heart sank as her father accepted a tissue from her aunt. "You're the best friend a ninja could ask for. It's just- oh, no. I thought I got this. I don't."

"It's alright," Nya whispered. She held his shoulders as he stepped back from the bedside.

"It's quite alright," Zane said pleasantly. "You don't have to make this an occasion for speeches."

"We want to," Jay insisted. "I just can't- I just can't."

"What I think he's getting at," Cole suggested, "is that you're the best friend a ninja could ask for. Even though you've always been a big hardass, you've always been our brother. Honoured to have been your friend."

Jay blew his nose and nodded as Kai stepped forward. Yuming turned her head to stare at the defunct falcon droid instead of the room. Maiya could have sworn she saw her lip trembling.

"Zane, you're always the first to give your life away. It's going to be hard to accept that you're going to be gone for good this time, but I can't say I haven't prepared. If any of us four was going to be the Green Ninja, it should have been you, buddy," Kai smiled sadly. Jay, Cole, and Zane chuckled as Maiya searched Yuzhen's downturned eyes for any sign he understood the joke. "We'll miss you, man."

"My heart will live on in Jade," Zane said calmly. His ever-stoic expression broke and his eyes softened. "Thank you."

"Yeah. What they both said," Jay spoke up again. "Knowing you has been a roller coaster of feelings. First, I thought you were just all serious-type, then we realised that you were a robot and your funny switch hadn't been turned on. Then you were all shiny, and then you were less shiny, and now- now you're ready for the wonders of parenthood. Shoutout to Maiya. Oh, man, what am I saying?"

"It's alright, Jay," Nya murmured. "I'll miss doing maintenance on you, Zane."

"Surely, I'm not the only thing in Ninjago that requires constant fixing. You have a brother," Zane said coolly.

"Was... that a joke just now?" Kai asked, flicking the body of his metal arm with his finger for the strange sound. Zane smiled mischievously.

"You decide."