A Pure Heart

Chapter 26

"Can I still fight?" Lloyd was asking, as Dr. Julien bandaged his leg. Hikari was watching as Nariko waited with the ninja without her usual sarcastic manner.

"I'm sorry," Dr. Julien replied, shaking his head, "that leg will take weeks to heal."

Lloyd looked at him, worried. "We don't have weeks!"

He bit his lip in pain as Dr. Julien continued bandaging his leg. Several feet away, the ninja, Sensei Wu, Misako and Nariko were speaking. "The final battle between good and evil will be decided today," Sensei Wu said with a sigh.

"And we can't even GET to the fight!" Kai snapped, "much less get off this island."

He moodily chucked a rock into the water, as Jay sadly sighed. "I wonder if I'll ever get to see Nya again..."

Zane put a hand on his shoulder. "Perhaps it's best to think of our friends as how we remember them in our hearts... not as they are now."

Lloyd hobbled over, one arm wrapped over Hikari's shoulder. Even with these grim situations, the two teenagers couldn't help but blush a little at having so much of their bodies in contact with one another.

"But... I don't remember my father any other way," Lloyd responded, as Hikari shifted her weight subtly so that Lloyd was more comfortable.

"Your father loved you," Misako put in, "it was the evil of the Great Devourer that corrupted him."

"Sensei," Kai picked up, "I don't understand. The prophecy said the Green and Purple Ninja would defeat the Dark Lord." He threw another rock, which skipped across the water's surface. "Why didn't we win?"

"I... don't know," Sensei Wu said simply.

"Don't know? But you're SENSEI! You always know! You have a white beard!" Jay protested in a splutter.

Nariko took a deep breath and sighed. "Well... I mean... good can't always win on the first try. I mean, if you did, there would be no evil, would there?" Even saying this she sounded rather tired.

Kai shook his head slightly. "There must be... some message to learn," he said, "a lesson... a word of wisdom! Just a word?? Something!"

"For once, I'm afraid there is nothing to learn. Only that... evil has won," Sensei Wu said with a sigh.

"Well, if Sensei doesn't have a lesson," Lloyd huffed, "I think Hikari and I do."

He and Hikari walked a few feet away, slowly. "I used to be nothing but trouble, and then Hikari and I met you guys! You took us in. Showed me the importance of being brave..."

"The importance of being strong," Hikari agreed, "and most importantly, for Lloyd mostly but for me as well, being good."

"When this battle first began," Lloyd said, "the First Spinjitzu Master fought the Overlord, and had his back against the wall, and he knew it was all over, did he QUIT?"

"Nope," Hikari picked up again, "he found some way to keep the fight going. He passed his elemental powers to all of us! Us, of all people, a bunch of teenagers who can't even control their tempers, sometimes, let alone some of the most powerful elements!"

Nariko let out a bark of laughter as Lloyd continued, "But there must have been a reason he chose us. I'd like to think it's because he knew we would never back down, we'd never give up! We know the ancient ways of the ninja--"

"And ninja never quit!" Hikari finished. She had this determined look on her face as her eyes sparkled.

Kai nodded. "They're right-- if that means we have to swim the sea in order to get off this island-- well-- then so be it!" He started wading into the water, very reluctantly and slowly.