Hey y'all! This is an old request from Serpentine King, who wanted to see Zane talk with the others about mothers. I wouldn't say this chapter embodies that prompt, but it is definitely inspired by it. Also, two Doctor Julien features in a row, who knew that was possible? Enjoy the chapter!

When Zane was only a few years old, he stumbled across a book that made questions spring up like weeds in his mind, making him pause his reading to ponder. Julien, who was preparing dinner only a few yards away, noticed this change in his son's behavior and put down his bag of walnuts.

"Zane, what's wrong?"

The android looked troubled, legs tucked under him in his plush chair.

"Do I have a 'mother'?"

Julien bit his lip before answering.

"No, you don't."

"Why?"

"Well, Zane, I chose to spend my time out here creating you than spending my life around the rest of civilization. As a result, you do not have a mother," The Doctor wished Zane would drop the subject, but his son persisted.

"I call you father, but is a mother? How are the two phrases different?" He inquired, and Julien sighed.

"I am your father because I am male. If I were female, I would be your mother," He stated simply, and this seemed to be satisfactory to the android.

"I see. Thank you."

A few weeks later, it was brought up again.

"Will I have a mother?" Zane dropped the question as he tended to the fire, sitting criss-cross in front of the flames with a metal pole to shift the logs within.

"Most likely not," Julien mentally cursed. He loved his son's curiosity, really he did, and he didn't want to dampen it by shooting down his questions. However, if Zane brought up his lack of a wife one more time he felt like he was going to burst.

"Why?"

There it was, that infamous question. Much like every toddler, his son went through a phase where everything had to have a reason, but due to his son's strange juxtaposition of knowledge and ignorance of the world surrounding him, he seemed to be lingering in it longer than the average human.

"Because, Zane," The words coming out harsher than intended. "I don't have the interest nor the time to spend my time on trying to find love. You are not going to have a mother, because I will not marry. Is that clear?"

The android blinked as he processed, turning his gaze to the floor.

"Yes, father."

Julien knew his words had hurt, but if he opened his mouth again, there was the chance of doing more damage, so he bit his tongue and watched his son poke at the fire in a melancholy manner.

"My apologies, father, I upset you. I did not intend to," Zane said with his chin resting on his knees, white long sleeve shirt bunching up under his skin. Julien felt a strong pang of guilt, walking over and sitting next to the android.

"You did nothing wrong, my son. You are merely curious, and there is nothing wrong with that. I shouldn't have gotten so angry."

"To prevent more misunderstandings, what did I say that upset you?" Zane turned his gaze up towards his father, and the Doctor's heart melted.

"Perhaps we should avoid the topic of mothers in the future, my son," Julien wrapped an arm around Zane's shoulders, and he nodded.

"Understood."

The two had very little conflicts over motherhood again, although agreeing not to mention it did nothing to sate Zane's curiosity.

"Jay, why do you have flowers? Is there a special occasion I should know about?" Zane asked as the Lightning Ninja walked by with a small bouquet.

"Mother's Day. I'm bringing these over to my parents' place," Jay held up a small card as well before slipping it into the middle of the flowers.

"Mother's Day?" Zane inquired, curiosity getting the best of him as he trailed behind his blue-clad companion.

"Yeah, you know, when you celebrate your mom, and-" Jay faltered, looking up at the Ice Ninja's face. "Yeah, I guess I forget I'm really the only one with a mom on this team, huh? Sorry man."

"No, I asked you, no offense taken. I suppose my father did not like to discuss motherhood, is all. I am just unused to the topic," Zane reassured his friend, who couldn't shake the feeling that he had done something wrong.

"You know what, do you want to come down with me? I'm sure my mom would be delighted. She considers you all her kids anyway," Jay smiled, but Zane bit his lip.

"Are you sure I wouldn't be intruding?" The Ice Ninja wrung his hands, but Jay rolled his eyes and grabbed Zane by the arm.

"Zane, you are the least likely out of all of us to be an annoyance, just come with me."

Zane sat next to Jay in his plane as the Lightning Ninja leisurely piloted, steering with his knee as he watched Zane nervously drum his fingers on his knees.

"Zane, what are you so nervous about?" Jay finally asked, exasperated. Zane startled, pulling his hands back into his lap.

"This is a much more relaxed setting than I am used to with your parents. I am afraid I never had much interaction with parental figures."

"My parents are people too. They may be loud, but they're all I've got," Jay chuckled, resting a hand in place of his knee to steer. "And you had your dad, what do you mean no interaction?"

"My father's relationship with me was abnormal. I remember everything, from the moment I was activated to now. When I was first turned on, I wasn't treated like a normal child. As human as I can appear, I still had to be tested for errors, so I was observed and treated more like an invention than a child for the first year or so," Zane leaned back in his seat, and Jay stayed surprisingly quiet, interested in the Ice Ninja's early years. "After a while, I began to feel more human, and he treated me more human. I love my father dearly Jay, but..."

Zane trailed off, hand resting in front of his mouth. "Sometimes I do still feel like an experiment more than a son."

Jay didn't know what to say. He sat still, trying to think of some way to comfort the Ice Ninja, but what did he know about feeling like just a machine?

"It's okay, you don't need to respond. I'm sorry I brought it up," Zane waved away the awkward silence, and leaned his head back in his seat. "I didn't mean to reach that level of emotion."

"You don't need to apologize, it's alright, really," Jay rambled. "But just so you know, if anyone tries to tell you you're just an invention, you have a whole team of family behind you ready to kick their ass."

"Thank you, Jay," Zane smiled, and shut his eyes, letting the faint hum of the engine lull him into a sense of security. After a few minutes, Jay checked his radar.

"Alright, we should be nearing the junkyard in about five minutes, so... Zane?" Jay turned, and saw the Ice Ninja asleep, lips pulled into a peaceful smile, having fallen into slumber with the thought of his own family at the front of his mind.