THIS IS SO LATE, VERY LATE, BUT WE'VE REACHED THE END I PROMISE :'D

Merry (very belated) Christmas! I'm terribly sorry this is so late, but I've had a wild holiday - my winter quarter is in France this year, and getting ready for that took a lot more time than I was prepared for. Fortunately the campus is great for getting into a writing mood, and I've finally been able to devote that to this fic, so voila! The final chapter is finally complete. It's a little bittersweet, because it means the end of this fic, and I've had a lot of fun with it. But it also marks the longest fic I've ever finished (hurray!), and I wanted to send these kids off happy already, so here we are.

I've said it a lot, but I cannot thank all of you enough for sticking with this story for a full year! You're some of the kindest readers I've ever had, and every one of your reviews meant the absolute world to me :D Again, I say it a lot, but you guys make it so much fun for me to write for this fandom, and I hope to keep living up to your kindness. I hope everyone's had a wonderful holiday and an easy time back at school, and I'm gonna cut the rambling now - here's the final chapter!

(It's sap, you guys, it's all sap).

For all that his team tries to treat him as a baby — which, you would think, as their leader, they'd move past that already — Lloyd is very much grown-up.

…well, not like, entirely grown up. He's not as old as Kai, or Cole, and he's nowhere near as ancient as his dad, but he's still passed that 'child' stage, where it's okay for everyone to ruffle your hair and coddle you and forbid you from rushing headfirst into danger even though everyone else makes it a regular habit.

(…which may have something to do with his leadership methods, but he's not going to address that right now.)

At any rate, Lloyd isn't a little kid anymore. He is a mature, respectable adult, who knows very well how to take care of himself.

That being said — since the entire team seems to insist on still treating him like a child, Lloyd thinks he's perfectly within his rights to have woken up an hour earlier than the rest of them on Christmas morning for the sole purpose of dragging an entire speaker system into their room. He is also perfectly within his rights to be preparing to dive-bomb his poor, debatably-innocent older brother where he's sleeping peacefully, because he's the one who made the fatal mistake of saying "oh Lloyd, how I dearly miss your young, bratty childish self" the other night. He clearly didn't learn his lesson with the Christmas elves, Lloyd thinks, scowling at Kai.

He shakes his head, queuing up Mariah Carey on his phone, making sure it's synched to the speaker. His only regret to this is that he cannot, unfortunately, jump all his brothers at once, because there's only one of him. He's also slightly miffed that he can't jump Nya either, but she made the equally fatal mistake of spending the night in their joined room, so she'll get an earful of the music, at least, and that's good enough for Lloyd.

Now, if only he'd managed to sneak one into his uncle's room…

Oh well, Lloyd shrugs, watching the clock numbers on his phone change to a neat 6 a.m. The team's lucky he's feeling merciful today, because he had considered five in the morning. But, he thinks, grinning as Cole lets out a particularly loud snore. An hour later works just as well.

Carefully placing his phone on top of the speaker, Lloyd checks it one last time. Then, bracing himself, he flicks play, and bursts into a dead sprint toward Kai's bed.

The loud, screeching tones of holiday music thunder through their bedroom with all the force of Mariah Carey's vocals simultaneously joined by the startled screams of his family just as Lloyd lands on Kai, shrieking along with the rest of them—

"Wake up, wake up, it's Christmas!"

Just as planned, the resulting screaming is just loud enough to reach Uncle Wu's bedroom, and wake him up too. It even reaches his parents' room, who have also made a fatal mistake in staying here for the night, so despite the headlock Kai has him in, Lloyd considers Operation: Kill Everyone With Christmas a complete success.

So Christmas morning for them begins with a chorus of screams and half the household chasing Lloyd down until Wu intervenes, which as about as good a summary of their family as they're likely to get, Nya guesses. Cole refrains from actually strangling Lloyd when he finally gets his hands on him, though, and Kai's still doubled over laughing at Jay as he struggles to untangle himself from light cord he'd tripped over, so while Nya doesn't exactly pity Zane having to explain to Echo that the ship is not, in fact, burning down, she's in a good enough mood to help Pixal put on the coffee for everyone.

"Nya, sweet angel from above, I owe you my entire life," Jay breathes gratefully into the cup she's handed him, looking much more cheerful now that he's been freed from his Christmas light prison.

"You're very welcome," she tells him, settling in on the couch next to him and curling up under the knitted blanket. It's a new one, a gift from Mrs. Walker for for the team that should not have been opened before now, but she made it with that nice fleece fabric this year, so Nya's not complaining about having it a little earlier. Besides, she thinks in satisfaction, tucking closer to Jay and sipping at her own coffee, watching as her family slowly staggers into the living room at varying paces. It's not like she waited to show everyone her present.

"Okay, if we're all here — no, not yet, you're still in time-out," Cole snaps, smacking Lloyd's hand away from the pile of presents. Lloyd huffs, leaning back against the couch where he's seated on the floor, having been banished there for his stunt this morning. Granted, Kai's joined him, offering him the other half of his blanket as he absently chugs his own coffee, so it kind of defeats the purpose of the punishment.

But it is Christmas, Nya guesses, and they should all probably be grateful Lloyd didn't get them up at four, or something. Six is borderline generous, for him.

"As I was saying," Cole clears his throat, glaring at Lloyd. "If we're all here, we can start opening presents. But I don't see Pixal, so—"

"I'm here," Pixal says quickly, sliding in next to Zane on the couch. She's followed by Garmadon and Misako, both of whom look about as dead tired as Sensei Wu does right now, even if desperately trying to appear differently.

"Okay, okay," Cole says, stifling a yawn as he stretches, shaking his head. "If we're all here now, then we can start."

"How are we doing this?" Kai says, looking slightly more alive now that he's finished his coffee, even if his bedhead leaves him resembling a sweater-wearing hedgehog. "One at a time, or everyone dives in at once?"

"One at a time, of course," Zane says, just as Lloyd interjects, "Everyone dives in at once."

There's a stalemate as they stare at each other for a beat, eyebrows narrowed — before the distinct sound of tearing paper breaks it, both turning on Echo where he's in the middle of opening one of the brightly wrapped boxes.

"What?" he says, innocently. "It has my name on it."

Zane rubs a hand across his forehead, and Nya bites back smile. "Everyone dive in at once, I guess," he surrenders wearily.

That's the only permission they need. Zane's admission signals the charge for the tree, all of them grabbing for anything with their names on it. Nya scoops up her own presents, and just barely manages to snatch the end of her one for Lloyd before he gets his hands on it.

"Hey, that's mine," Lloyd reaches for it, half-heartedly.

Nya shakes her head. "I wanna watch you open it," she says.

Lloyd blinks, then narrows his eyes at her. "So it's that kind of present."

Nya simply shrugs at him, grinning, and Lloyd turns his eyes skywards, relenting. The rest of the room splits up, each intent on watching everyone open their own gifts personally. The sound of tearing wrapping paper is soon accompanied by happy exclamations, or, in some cases, loud snickering. Lloyd and Jay find it particularly hysterical that they've gotten each other the exact same thing, signed by the exact same person.

"You were my Ebay completion!" Jay accuses, pointing at Lloyd. "You're the reason I had to pay twice as much for these!" He brandishes the vintage Starfarer comics at Lloyd, who's flipping through his own copy with a grin on his face, shaking his head.

"How was I supposed to know you were spacefarer225?" he defends. "At least my username was obvious!"

"How is FritzdonnaCat any more obvious?!"

"No wonder your other dad laughed when I got him to write in it," Lloyd huffs. He immediately cheers up as he flips to the page Cliff Gordon has signed for him. "Hey, he wrote me a long one just like you!"

"Yeah," Jay says, his voice somewhat thick, eyes shiny as he reads his own inscription from his father. "Real sappy, too, h-huh."

Jay dashes quickly at his eyes, but he really doesn't need to bother, considering Kai's eyes are just as shiny over where he's swapping gifts with Zane.

"How did you find this," he croaks, as Zane frets over him in alarm.

"It's just a cookbook!" Zane says, bewildered at Kai's reaction. "It's really nothing big—"

"A cookbook in Ignacian, that my mom used to use—"

"Kai, it's Christmas, please do not cry—"

Kai definitely cries, right into the sleeve of the new sweater he'd gotten Zane, but Zane at least seems to regain control of the situation, rolling his eyes fondly as he pats Kai's back.

Nya's own attention is caught as Pixal opens her gift, because she's been nervous about this one. Pixal immediately lights up as she pulls the silvery bracelet from the wrapping tissue, her eyes lighting up in recognition.

"This is just like yours!" she exclaims, running a finger over the purple jewel set in the middle, which Nya has directly wired to the Samurai X mech. Nya runs a hand over her own bracelet, mentally reminding herself to thank Ronin again for the familiar weight on her wrist.

"Yeah," Nya says, pointing to the designs on the side. "It's connected to the rest of our radio system too, so you're always part of it. And um, it might have a tracker, that might be wired to Zane, but in my defense, it's been proven necess—"

Pixal cuts off her nervous rambling with a tight hug, before pulling back and beaming. "It's perfect," she grins, with a side-eye to Zane. "Tracker and all."

And for the most part, it goes much the same. Half of the gifts are ridiculously sappy, and others border on the edge of outrageous, because they all know each other too well, so actually surprising people requires creativity. For example, Jay gets Nya the prettiest earrings, that have been equipped to convert into little lasers that can double as a soldering iron, and it's the most thoughtful gift Nya's ever gotten, which she definitely does not show her gratitude for by tearing up like Kai does.

"It's okay, Nya, you haven't had your second cup of coffee yet, crying's in character," Jay tells her, while winding the hand-knitted scarf Cole's gotten for him around his neck.

On the other hand, some gifts do manage to surprise, like the one Lloyd's gotten for Cole.

Cole's mouth drops open as the wrapping tissue falls away, a look of dazed, almost-horror on his face. Before he can even react, Nya's caught a glance of what's inside the box, spotting the unmistakeable, brightly-labeled—

"Ooh, are those the Nutcracker ballet shoes?" Jay asks, sounding delighted. "That's way better than what I got you."

"Ballet? Nutcracker?" Kai is staring at Cole like it's Christmas morning eight times over.

Cole sputters, then turns his head accusingly toward Lloyd. Lloyd gives an impish grin, shrugging. "I did say I was gonna make fun of you later."

Cole makes a face, his expression warring, before finally shaking his head, laughing. "I'm not dancing."

"You say that now," Lloyd says airily.

While there are gifts for them, Sensei Wu and the Garmadons seem more than content to watch them all from the couch. Nya's willing to take a solid guess that, from the look on their faces, watching them open gifts is present enough for them, even long after they've been crammed on the couch when the other parents arrive.

And honestly, Nya has to admit to herself that even without the gifts she's been given, watching her family scattered around her, beaming and bright and happy in their home, is more than she could ask for herself. There's nothing quite like watching the look on Cole's face as Jay hands him the old music books his other father had saved, penciled in with Cole's mother's elegant handwriting, or the way Kai's face goes all melty and sappy when Lloyd hands him the dagger he's made himself, having finally mastered that particular feat of blacksmithing with help from their dad behind their backs.

But she's definitely conquered with presents this year, Nya thinks with satisfaction, as everyone gathers around Lloyd's photo album, exclaiming as they point to the different pictures.

"Look, that's gotta be your grandpa, Zane!"

"Oh my gosh, is that baby Lloyd, you were so fat—"

"Hey, Cole, look, there's our moms!"

Granted, she's also responsible for ninety percent of the teared-up eyes with that one, but the small, growing smile on Lloyd's face, happy and real as he traces the picture of him and his parents, makes it more than worth it.

Besides, Echo gets to learn about the happy kind of crying while handing out tissues, so it's a win-win.

The morning flies past in a whirlwind of wrapping paper and ribbons, and by the time most of them have started in on breakfast, Lloyd's wondering if he should've woken them up earlier.

Then again, he doesn't even know if he'd let himself live if he'd tried that, because if he's learned how to appreciate anything over the years, it's sleeping in. But Lloyd's also the kind of person who likes to think he can freeze a moment forever if he makes it last five more minutes, even though he's learned that doesn't work. At all.

Oh well, he relents, watching the morning sun glimmering off the fallen snow from the nearest window, listening to his family's muffled chatter from the over room. He'll take what he can get.

The others have all disappeared into the kitchen, either to help make food or test out Jay's new espresso maker. Lloyd's been in and out, helping clean up some of the wrapping paper. He's already through with half of Zane's Christmas cookies (and nearing the point of regretting the fact) when his father corners him in the side of the living room, tucked away.

His dad looks tired — likely from Lloyd's wake up call — but the corners of his eyes are crinkled in something soft and happy, and his mouth pulls into a familiar smile as Lloyd sits cross-legged next to him, and he ruffles a fond hand through his hair.

Lloyd almost misses the next bit, because his throat closes up and his eyes get dangerously misty for a moment.

But he can't — he can't help it. He resigned himself, a while ago, to never spending any kind of holiday with his dad again. To never spending any time with his dad at all, because he'd banished him to the Cursed Realm, and then had to face that fact all over again when the Preeminent had taken him for good. It had been the worst kind of pain Lloyd's had to swallow, knowing he'd never see him again, and then when Harumi brought him back — when he'd come back a hollow shell of himself who could only look at Lloyd with hatred in his eyes — it felt a whole lot like dying. Lloyd would know.

It was the bad kind of hurt, the kind he couldn't handle as easily. Like being ground into the dirt, bit by bit, until something in his chest snapped from all of it.

So now. Well, he kind of does hurt now, but it's not a bad kind. It's a being-so-happy-his-chest-physically-hurts kind, and he mentally thanks his dad for talking first, because if Lloyd opens his mouth right now, there's a very high chance that he'll just burst into tears instead.

"I—I have something for you," Garmadon starts, looking slightly awkward as he rubs the back of his neck, the fingers of his other hand drumming anxiously on the elegant box in his lap. "But I…" he exhales, looking anxious now. It's odd, because that expression usually belongs on Lloyd's face in this dynamic. "Thinking on it, there's nothing I can give that would — that could ever make up for — that could express—"

"Dad," Lloyd says gently, silently congratulating himself on sounding like the put-together one. The word seems to calm his father, and again, Lloyd is struck by the reversal of their positions.

Garmadon shakes his head, giving a quiet laugh. "I have this, for you." He looks down at the box, then back at Lloyd. "I'm not sure if I should give you it," he admits, slowly. "It's…well, the history isn't the best, but I couldn't think of anything else that would send the message."

Lloyd tilts his head curiously at that, carefully taking the box from his dad as he offers it to him. It's on older one, as long as his lap and slim at the sides, but the hinges are well cared for, so it clicks open easily beneath his fingers. Lloyd pulls the wrapping tissue inside away gingerly, then pauses.

With gentle fingers, he lifts the jacket from the box, the clothing unfolding as he does. He recognizes it almost immediately as a haori — an older style, almost like his gi. The fabric is black save for the green border that runs along the neckline and edges, and the threaded red lettering that runs down the left side.

Lloyd blinks. He's seen this before — or the same lettering, at least. Uncle Wu has one just like it, except his is a mix of black and white and gold, and this one is—

Oh.

"It was mine," his father says, quietly. "When I was an elemental master. Wu and I had matching ones, we did the stitching ourselves."

Lloyd swallows, running a finger carefully over the stitching. It's still shiny and crimson, the color of his eyes.

"The border used to be purple," Garmadon admits. "But I figured that might not be…the best color, anymore." He shakes his head, sounding rueful. "I'm no seamstress, obviously, but your mother helped me strip the old threading and replace it with green."

"I think it looks great," Lloyd says, thickly.

His father's mouth quirks up in a half-smile. "I remembered that jacket you wore when you were younger, the one that looked like me," he says, his tone so fond that something in Lloyd's chest buckles. "I wanted to give you something from the source, this time."

Lloyd slowly lifts the haori, pulling it carefully over one shoulder, then the other. It fits a little too big, hanging loose around his shoulders in a warm kind of comfort. The sleeves fall just over his hands, but the fabric is soft and it smells like incense and monasteries and home.

"It's not much," Garmadon says, almost anxiously. "But it's got our family name on it, right here, see? I — I wanted to give you something that was mine, so you can — so you'll know—"

Lloyd barrels into him before he can stutter anymore out, throwing his arms around his middle and clinging tight. Garmadon stiffens in surprise for a beat, then Lloyd feels him almost collapse, his arms coming up to hold tightly around him. Lloyd exhales on a shuddering breath, burying his face in his father's robe, just like he used to when he was a kid, when his dad was the safest place in the whole world.

For the first time in a very long while, Lloyd thinks he might be able to reclaim that.

"I get it," he whispers, his throat tight. "I love it."

The unspoken I love you, Lloyd hopes, is no less obvious. By the way his father simply tightens his embrace, he thinks he gets it.

And that embarrassing display is supposed to be the most emotional Lloyd gets this morning, end story, because his image has been thoroughly trashed this holiday, between spending half of it making sappy speeches and the other half bursting into tears every five minutes. Cole might've agreed to go halves on leading, but that doesn't mean Lloyd isn't leader anymore. He's gotta build his reputation back up before no one takes him seriously ever again.

But then Kai, stupid Kai — who hasn't given him his gift yet, and that really should've sparked Lloyd's suspicion earlier — takes his chance to corner him in the back hallway, and Lloyd doesn't have enough time to pull himself together for this.

"If this is something heartfelt and tear-jerking…" Lloyd threatens, carefully taking the large box Kai's shoving on him.

Kai scoffs. "Me, go for heartfelt?" He shakes his head. "It's like you don't know me at all. I'm way too cool for that, obviously."

"Obviously." Lloyd rolls his eyes, snickering under his breath. He lifts the box, frowning. "Did you mean to leave all the wrapping loose like thi— woah!"

The wrapping paper suddenly crinkles from where it's draped over the box, something inside it skittering and scratching. Lloyd looks from the box to Kai in alarm.

"This isn't a prank, is it?"

Its Kai's turn to roll his eyes, taking twice as long and twice the drama that Lloyd did. "FSM, Lloyd, just open it."

Lloyd huffs, gingerly pulling the wrapping away. "I'm serious, if you went and—"

He freezes dead, the rest of his sentence whooshing out in a quiet "oh". Lloyd's mouth hangs open, his eyes going wide as his present mews at him, tilting its head curiously.

It's the cat.

It's his cat. The little abandoned one from the shelter, the one Lloyd had resigned himself to mourning the rest of his life over, the one Kai definitely was not there to see—

How did—?

But there's no mistaking it. It's got the same scraggly, striped fur, the same spots over its left eye, the same devious look in its eyes as it bats at Lloyd's hand where it hovers over its fur, trembling. Lloyd blinks rapidly. He looks at Kai, then back at the cat. He blinks again.

"You have to be crazy strict with it, okay?" Kai says, grinning broadly. "I know it's like, a living, breathing pet, but I figured it'd be fine, 'cause you're pretty responsible when you want to be, and — oh, oh no, are you crying?"

"No," Lloyd croaks, even as he rubs his eyes on his sleeve, one hand tangled in the cat's fluffy fur, the other cradling it close to his chest.

"You are," Kai accuses. "No, Lloyd, stop that, you'll take me down with you—"

Lloyd launches forward, crashing into Kai and hugging him fiercely, the cat mewing in irritation where it's now stuck between their shoulders.

"You're my favorite person ever," he sniffles, clinging to Kai like he's a three year-old. But he can't find it in himself to care, because Kai went and got him his cat—

"Of course I did," Kai huffs a laugh, scuffing Lloyd's hair as he hugs him back. "You're my baby brother. I'd kill a man for you."

"You — no one's ever managed something like that."

"Killed a man for you? 'Cause I can get on that, if you want—"

"No!" Lloyd hits Kai in the shoulder, snorting wetly. "I just mean…pet. Cat." He shakes his head, blown away. "You...you actually convinced Uncle Wu. That couldn't have been easy."

"Yeah! Uh," Kai laughs nervously, glancing to the side. "Aha. About that."

Lloyd eyes Kai critically as his cat starts pawing curiously at a longer lock of blond hair. "You didn't ask him, did you."

"Hey," Kai throws an arm around his shoulder, lifting the other in the air. "Blame your little dance pal. She's the one who pointed me down this awful path of insubordination."

Lloyd pauses in the midst of scratching his cat's ear (who he ought to name soon, really, maybe after one of Zane's ill-fated cookies, like gingersnap, or something) and brightens.

"You talked to Rachel?" He blinks rapidly, pieces clicking into place. "Hey, that's why she already knew who you were!"

"Yup," Kai admits. "She had your cat all tagged and hidden away, waiting for you. She was pretty cool about it, actually. Got your little Darkley's friend in on it too."

Lloyd feels a bubble of warmth in his chest at that, and he beams. "See? I told you she wasn't gonna kill me," he says, taking an odd pride in that statement. "Not everyone's out to get us."

Instead of bristling in defense, like Lloyd had expected him to, Kai's expression just melts into something soft and gooey, almost like relief. He squeezes the arm around Lloyd's shoulders tightly, smiling brightly.

"Yeah," he says. "Guess they're not, huh."

If anyone had asked Cole, the best way to spend the later half of Christmas Day is always to relax, to kick back in your own home, maybe with a good movie and definitely with some good food, and spend the rest of the holiday doing absolutely nothing.

But no one asks Cole, so they all end up hiking to the town square through three feet of snow because someone apparently promised to show off fireworks this year.

"What? I got asked by a sick kid," Kai sniffs through the cold, pulling his sweater sleeves over his hands as he grins. "I couldn't just say no."

"Technically, Lloyd got asked by a sick kid, you're just helping out," Jay corrects. Kai tries to trip him in response, and they both end up with a face-full of snow.

"I think it's good that we're going to the gathering this year," Zane says, where he's linked arm in arm with Pixal and Echo, who are definitely taking advantage of the fact that he can freeze them a nice, solid path through the snow. "The city always invites us, it's about time we actually went."

"Gathering?" Echo frowns, sounding mildly trepidatious.

"It's an annual Christmas fair thing they put on," Nya says, huffing she helps yank Jay and Kai back to their feet. "The city sets up a big tree and a skating rink and vendors come and stuff, and a lot of people show up to celebrate."

Echo nods at the explanation, and Lloyd frowns, tucking his cat — and hey, Cole told him five times to leave that at home — further into his jacket, where its head sticks up above his collar. "Why don't we ever go to this?"

"Probably because we spend every other Christmas fighting for our lives," Kai mutters, as they finally crest the hill they've been hiking, the Ninjago City Town Square now in view, already crowded with people.

"Hey," Cole says, eyeing him in warning. "No depressing talk. We're dragging ourselves out this year, so we're gonna have fun."

"Oh, don't sound so miserable about it," Jay says cheerily, elbowing him in the side. "Look on the positive side — we're heroes, so they're gonna let us do everything for free."

Zane frowns at him. "I thought we agreed not to take advantage of the city like that—"

"Then you turn down free hot chocolate, and I will enjoy eight cups of it," Jay responds, before grabbing Nya's hand and darting off for the vendors. The others follow close behind, bounding through the snow drifts toward the snow-cleared ground ahead, and Zane sighs. He looks at Cole, who simply laughs, slinging an arm around his shoulder.

"It's Christmas," he says. "May as well let 'em be hellions this once."

To Cole's immense relief, the team does not immediately regress into wild hellions, though it's a close thing. Jay and Lloyd swipe entirely too much hot chocolate, and between Kai and himself the ice skating rink is definitely something they ought to have avoided, but it's really not so bad. They cause an immediate commotion when they arrive, of course, the gathered crowd growing steadily more excited as they realize who's just shown up in a truly hideous assortment of knitted sweaters, but most people make a noticeable effort to treat them as they would anyone else, and Cole can be grateful for that. The majority of the people who don't are children, anyways, and Cole doesn't mind if he's asked a couple dozen times by beaming little kids if he really is the Earth Ninja.

"That's me," he says, smiling back at the boy who barely comes up to his knee. The boy's eyes go wide beneath his knitted hat, and he turns, waving his arms wildly.

"Guys, guys, I told you, it's him!"

There's a rush of children toward him, and Cole feels a sudden sense of brief terror before a young girl shoves her way to the front of the group, waving at him.

"Mr. Earth Ninja!" she demands. "You didn't really teach them ballet, did you?"

Cole blinks, then looks beyond the girl at the other kids. He barks out a laugh, immediately recognizing two of them.

"Hey, they let you out of the hospital for Christmas, congrats," he says, holding up his hand to high-five them. The boy returns the gesture eagerly, and, after a wide-eyed beat, the girl does as well.

"Nobody believes us," the boy says, quickly. "I told them you knew all the positions and stuff, and taught 'em to us, but they said you're too cool for ballet."

Cole turns to look at the other kids, then scoffs. "Too cool for ballet? I make ballet very cool, thank you. How do you think I learned some of my best fighting moves?"

He makes a point not to demonstrate said moves at the moment, because he's already bit the snow face-first at least twice on the way here, but the kids all look suitably impressed anyways. The two kids from the hospital look overwhelmingly smug, and for a good minute Cole fears he's going to end up teaching another ballet class right here in the middle of the city square, before Nya and Jay come to his rescue.

"Sorry, kiddos, you can come back for him some other time," Jay tells them cheerfully, one arm linked through Cole's. Nya's got his other one, solidly leading him away from the kids' disappointed faces.

"Merry Christmas, be good, all that stuff!" he yells at them haphazardly as he's dragged away. He's rewarded with several bright calls back, and he figures that's good enough.

"Really," Nya shakes her head. "You're as bad as Lloyd. We'd lose you both to random townspeople in minutes if we didn't stick together."

"Yeah, and you lecture us for leaving the group," Jay chimes in.

"I'm being part of a proper society," Cole sniffs, in superiority. "Something you country bumpkins wouldn't know anything about."

Jay and Nya both go to step on his feet at once, and Cole, who knows enough to have been expecting it, makes sure they both stomp each other's feet instead. There's a brief moment of stumbling as they try not to trip over each other, before they finally right out, Cole snickering at them both.

"Cheap," Jay throws at him through narrowed eyes. "And rude. We're both excellent members of upstanding society."

"We're just not elite snobs like you," Nya adds, making a face.

Cole sputters. "I'm not a snob—"

"Dance lessons, buddy. You're the most cultured snob in the group."

"What about Zane?"

"Zane grew up in a forest in the middle of nowhere," Nya says. "Like, he's polite, but he's Zane."

They all glance over to where the ninja in question has finally given up fending off Echo and Pixal's pleas, and is sculpting massive figures of ice and snow from thin air, drawing larger and larger crowds of people.

"I mean," Cole tries again. "Technically, that's like the elite."

"Face it, Cole, you're the only one who could survive in proper society," Jay says, sticking his tongue out and catching snowflakes where they drift lazily around them.

"Well, thank FSM you guys aren't proper society," Cole sighs, watching his breath mist out in front of him. "Maybe you can fully corrupt me one of these days."

Nobody even brings up Lloyd and Kai, who are huddled over near the edge of the town square, looking terribly suspicious as they whisper to each other, the occasional spark emitting from Lloyd's hands before Kai nods, as if passing approval.

"That's going to end badly, isn't it," Nya remarks wearily, as she follows his gaze.

"Yup," Cole says.

"Oh, definitely," Jay nods.

They stare at them for a beat longer, swiveling between watching as Lloyd and Kai get more and more animated, and Zane's sculptures steadily growing larger the more excited Pixal gets.

"Wanna go get more hot chocolate?" Cole finally suggests.

Jay and Nya both nod in unison, and they turn, leaving their teammates to continue down their inevitable path of destruction on their own.

Sue him, it's Christmas. Both him and Lloyd can afford to take the day off.

The fireworks go off without a hitch, which is almost as surprising as how well the rest of the afternoon goes.

Cole finds it surprisingly pleasant being out in the city, laughing with the others and talking with the people in the crowds that recognize them, and some that don't. It's been a while since they've interacted this casually with the city, and Cole finally remembers how much he enjoys it, being a normal person for the day, even if his fingers and nose are practically frost-bitten by the time the sun's set.

It doesn't hurt that his family looks much the same, all easy smiles and bright eyes, a distinct lack of the shadows that have lived on their faces for so long. Even Zane seems to catch the feeling of reckless abandon, and Cole spots him more than once doubled-over laughing as Jay's team loses to them in a snowball war once again.

Lloyd and Kai join in, of course, but they're fully devoted to the idea of fireworks, and it pays off. Cole's known full well how talented his brothers have gotten at controlling their powers, shaping them and forming them to their will just like the rest of them — but out of battle and away from the usual tense, rapid pressure they're under, this is the first time in a while he's getting to appreciate just how far they've come.

"Oh, wow," Nya whistles lowly, watching the spectacular pinwheel of red and gold turn green, trailing off into intricate designs that branch across the night sky. "They're going all out, huh."

"I bet I could do better," Jay mutters under his breath, though Cole's caught a glint of appreciation in his eyes in the dim light more than once.

Another bright burst streaks across the sky, followed by loud cries of delight from their spectators. They fall silent, huddled comfortably next to the others as they watch, and it's almost nice enough for Cole to let it go.

Still, he can't resist.

"Sure you could, if you wanted to electrocute everyone."

Jay blanches. "I would not! Lloyd's probably gonna blow the whole city's lights out any second now, just watch—"

Cole cuts him off in laughter, shaking his head as another bright firework goes off.

The lazy feeling of relaxation doesn't leave him, not even after they've hiked the good few miles back through the snow in the dark to the Bounty, all shivering by the time they clamber through the door. No one moves to go to bed, or even simply leave the room, so they all end up in a messy sort of pile on the rug against the couch, which is more comfortable than it should be in the end.

An odd sort of quiet falls over the ship after that, one that's muddled with quiet conversations and rustling of paper, the whistling of the wind against their windows mixed with the low crooning of the radio about merry little christmases. It's an almost exhausted kind of quiet, tinged with the content kind of relief that often comes after battles. Like Cole's lifted a particularly heavy wall, and his arms are sore but it's the good kind of sore, because the wall gave way and his team didn't.

There's a part of him, one that he tries to ignore, that keeps reminding him how much the quiet sounds like the hospital, and the reminder crawls up his spine uncomfortably.

But then there's a screech of mewing and a startled cry from Garmadon, Lloyd yelping as he hurries over to free his father from his new cat, and Cole is reminded of the stark differences between that kind of quiet, and this one.

Jay gives a quiet snort from his side, shifting in his sleep, muttering incoherently before slipping back under. Cole feels a smile pulling at the edges of his mouth, and he can't find it in himself to be even slightly bothered that his left side has completely fallen asleep with Jay's weight against it.

No, he thinks, watching as Lloyd tucks himself back against Kai, murmuring happily to his cat as he lets it climb all over his lap. He can't find it in himself to begrudge the closeness. A while ago, maybe, it would have bothered him, his personal space being smashed to bits like this.

Now, it's just a confirmation that everyone's here. That they're fine.

Which they are, Cole reminds himself, and isn't that an odd sentence to run through his head with certainty. They're all fine. For the first time in a while, it doesn't feel like a lie.

Cole shifts in his seat, biting back a yawn as he forces his drooping eyelids back open. It's impossibly warm where he is, despite how cold it seems outside, and it's only serving to drag him closer to looking exactly like Jay right now. He shifts, blinking in the dim lights from the tree as he glances around the room.

He finally meets Sensei Wu's gaze from across the floor, where he's huddled over the photo album with his brother. Sensei smiles at him, wide and full, and Cole smiles back, nodding his head. He glances back down to where Jay's sleeping on his shoulder, then to Kai where he's taken up his other side, serving as a pillow for both Nya and Lloyd. Both look to be on the verge of dozing off, Lloyd dragging an absent hand through his cat's fur where it rests on his lap, both of them tucked under Kai's arm. Zane's at Jay's side, Pixal's head on his shoulder as he quietly swirls snowflakes in his hand for Echo to watch, but he meets Cole's eyes briefly to form a smile, his eyes tired but happy.

Cole feels something in his chest click into place, and he leans back against the couch, tightening his hold on his family. Some holiday, huh. It's never been exactly easy for them, but it's never gotten quite this dark before, either, and the memories of what he'd almost lost aren't going to fade anytime soon.

And he knows, despite the peace that's lingered over them this time, that it won't last. Sometime in the future, they're going to be in danger again. Him and Lloyd will have to navigate those impossible choices again, the Bounty's going to get destroyed again, and he's a fool if he thinks that no one will ever get hurt again.

But those thoughts are for another Cole, another time. He can make as many plans as he wants, he can wish himself silly for the future, pin fragile hopes on even more fragile hopes.

But right now, sitting in their home, with his family around him, alive and safe….

Well, that's all he can ask for, really.