Tobi was injured again, a deep cut drawn across his left shoulder. I'm already cleaning it up; he breathes in sharply as I wipe the area down with alcohol.

"Tobi, please just get a job," I say.

He shakes his head. "It's too late now, no one would hire me."

"It's not like you've killed someone. You're just a thief."

He flinches when I say that, his blue eyes filled with shame. I regret what I said, but I don't apologize either. Tobi chose this life for himself.

"This is going to hurt," I warn, a surgical thread and needle in my hand. He nods, and I begin to stitch his wound.

He bites his cheek as I insert the needle through his skin, pulling to close it back together. A few more minutes and I cut the thread with scissors and tie it, five stitches embedded into his shoulder.

A knock on the door makes us jump. Tobi grabs a knife from his pocket and I grab the scissors from before.

With no response, the door bursts open, a man revealing himself outside of it.

"Who are you?" I ask, shakily pointing the scissors towards him.

Tobi shakes his head. "Stay out of this, El."

The man chuckles. "If you're going to steal our things, we figured we might as well steal your sister to make it even." My eyes widen in fear, anxiety boiling in my stomach. But I try to keep in down and look unfazed.

"No!" Tobi shouts. But the man had already lunged for me. I grab the scissors and swipe blindly across the mans face.

The man pushes me away, covering his eyes and head. Blood was gushing out of his dirty skin. I was frozen, I didn't want to kill a man. I was sure scissors couldn't do that, but the amount of blood that was bubbling from his head shocked me.

To u holds his knife to the mans throat and pushes him out of our door.

"Don't ever come back here," he spits, then slams the door in his face.

I look at the blood soaked floor and then to my hands. I drop the scissors in shock, blood dirtied my hands and finger nails, even my clothes and shoes. The metallic smell was so potent, I held my stomach to prevent from throwing up. I didn't know what to do.

-

I gasp, waking up suddenly. I check out my body and sheets to make sure there's no blood on it. After I made sure I was clean, my heart slows down to a normal pace.

"El?" Cole asks, making me jump. The five ninja were standing in my doorway, dressed and ready for the day.

"What are you guys doing?" I say quickly.

"We sent Cole to wake you up but he said you were shaking so we all rushed in here," Kai says.

"Sorry, it was just another dream," I respond.

"Another?" Lloyd asks, crossing his arms.

"Uh, yeah. Did I not mention that?"

"That you have nightmares? No," Cole says, looking at me with concern.

"I never said they were nightmares," I say, defending myself.

"You didn't have to," Zane responds.

"What are they about?" Jay asks.

"Just, flashbacks. I mean they are nightmares sometimes, but they're usually just flashbacks of things that happened in the past. Good and bad," I say.

"If you ever want to talk, we're here for you," Cole says.

"Yeah," Lloyd says, nodding.

"Thanks, guys," I say, smiling.

"Come on, morning stretches are soon," Kai says.

I change really quickly then join the rest of my friends on the deck, Sensei Wu already waiting for us. We bow in greeting and line up.

"What are they about?" Lloyd whispers.

"I told you, just flashbacks," I whisper back.

"There's gotta be more to it than that," Cole whispers.

"Quiet and focus!" Wu says. We stop talking for a moment.

"Can they be stopped?" Lloyd asks.

I scoff. "Trust me, I wish. They used to be worse but they've gotten better over time."

"How long have they been happening?" Kai asks.

I shrug. "A few years."

"A few years?" They all exclaim loudly.

"Ahem!" Sensei Wu says and turns around to face us.

"What is more important than my teachings?" He asks us angrily. We all look at the ground in embarrassment.

"That's what I thought."

-

I grab a pancake from the stack and go sit down in between Cole and Kai.

"Thanks, Nya," Jay says, smiling at Nya. She blushes.

"Oh, you're welcome," she says, smiling.

Kai rolls his eyes and I hit his arm.

"Hush, they're adorable together," I whisper.

"This is my sister we're talking about," Kai whispers back.

"And Jay is one of your best friends," I say quietly.

"Thanks, Nya. These pancakes are awesome," I

say, thanking her.

"Yeah, thanks," Kai mumbles.

"So, Sensei, you said something about my whole potential?" I ask.

"You're true potential. Each of you has the power to be something great, and you must find it within yourself."

"The four of us have found it already," Kai says.

"Yeah, took you long enough," Jay says. Kai glares at him.

"What about Lloyd?" I ask, looking at him.

He turns red and rubs his neck awkwardly. "Uh, not yet. I'm newer to this than you think," he says.

"Oh," I respond.

"Given time, you both will unlock your true potential. Everyone has emotional and mental obstacles that hold you back, and you must overcome them to find your true potential," Sensei Wu says.

"What's it look like?" I ask.

"Ooh, it's super cool! You get all glowy and you can do a bunch of cool things like fly or have super strength or-"

Cole scowls. "Dude."

"Oh, sorry," Jay mumbles.

"Point is, doing it for the first time feels amazing," Kai says.

"Describe amazing," Lloyd says.

"Like floaty, but you feel sorta powerful. But good powerful," Kai says.

"Like the adrenaline you get when you go down a rollercoaster," Zane says.

"I want to reach a true potential," Nya says. "This sounds fun."

"Patience, Nya. Your time will come," Wu says. Nya furrows her brows, deep into thought.

"I'm going to go beat Cole's high score," Jay says, standing up.

"Oh no you don't!" Cole says, running after Jay.

-

I face the wall, a blindfold covering my eyes. I grab my knives and throw one towards the target. I run and duck under a wooden peg I knew was there, and throw my other dagger.

I take the blindfold off to see how I did.

"Not bad," Lloyd teases. I turn around to see him leaning against the doorframe.

I knew he was just messing with me. His devilish smirk gave it away. "Just, not bad?"

He grins. "Could be better."

"Oh yeah, let me see you try," I say, and go grab the knives from the bullseyes.

I hand him the blindfold and tie it around his head. I put the daggers in his palms and step out of the way.

"Go."

He jumps on top of a peg then flips off, throwing the knife as he does so. He leans to his left, does Spinjitzu, then throws the knife. He takes off the blindfold.

Both daggers hit outside of the bullseye. He frowns.

"Maybe if you weren't so focused on showing off you'd hit the center," I say.

"Maybe you're right. For the record, I don't typically use knives," he says.

"We've arrived at Windy Hollow," Nya says through the intercom. "Everyone is needed at the bridge."

Lloyd and I run to the bridge, meeting with the rest of the ninja.

"Nya and I will watch the bounty. You all follow El to find the Daggers of Wind," Wu says. I nod and pull on my mask.

We climb onto the dragon and I take the reins since I'm the only one that knows my way around here.

I fly us to the docks and land him on the roof of the wooden building.

"It's a walk away, but there's nowhere else to land," I say. Everyone nods and hops off the dragon.

I jump off the roof and look around, remembering everything. I take a deep breath and continue walking. I take my friends through narrow alleyways and look at the ground, ignoring all the weird looks people give us. I couldn't blame them, though, they've never seen a ninja.

Finally, we reach my old neighborhood.

"This is it," I say, looking at the old house. My mother's flower beds long neglected.

They begin to walk up the steps to it, but I stay behind, taking a moment to focus on my breathing like Mistaké taught me.

"Hey, you can do this. We're here for you," he says. I nod and take a deep breath. I walk up the steps, Lloyd following closely behind me.

The house was eerie and quiet. The couches and tables were turned over and the windows were cracked, glass all over the floor.

"Who broke into here?" Zane asks.

I shrug. "Who knows. It's been vacant for six months now," I respond. "I have someone in my mind though," I mumble.

"Who?" Cold asks, flipping one of the couches back over.

"I don't know his name. But he hated Tobi and me."

"Who's Tobi?" Jay asks.

"Is this him?" Lloyd asks, picking up a cracked picture frame. He hands me the picture, and I frown at the memory.

"That's him," I say quietly.

We were young, standing side by side with our arms around each other.

"He looks a lot like you," Zane says.

"That's because he's my twin," I respond.

"You said you were an only child," Kai says.

"I am," I mutter.

"Oh." The air felt thick after that, you didn't have to be the Master of Wind to tell either.

"It doesn't matter. We have to find the daggers," I say, walking away from the pictures. But I stuff the one with Tobi and me into my pocket. I ignore the looks the others were exchanging with one another and walk upstairs. Lloyd and Kai follow closely behind me. We split up, looking for the daggers.

I stand in the doorway of Tobi's room, hesitant to enter.

"I can take this room if you want," Lloyd says. I shrug and walk in, him following behind.

"You guys were close?" He asks. I nod.

"He was like my best friend."

"You guys didn't fight?"

I shake my head. "We used to. But we learned to rely on one another as we couldn't rely on our parents. So we worked together, rather than arguing," I say.

"Oh," he mumbles.

"Come on," I say, grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the room.

I enter my old room, Lloyd following behind me.

"You sure I can come in here?" He jokes.

I roll my eyes. "Look in the closet," I say, pointing to the doors. He nods and searches the shelves.

I look under my bed, nothing to be found.

"You'll grow to be a strong beautiful girl."

"How do you know?"

My mother smiles. "You already are."

I shake my head and continue looking through my things.

"Not in here," Lloyd says.

"You can both protect each other," My father says.

"How?" Percy asks.

"You'll find it inside of you."

"My parents knew," I murmur.

"What?" Lloyd says.

"They knew I'd be a ninja. But they talked about Tobi too..."

"Maybe he had elemental powers," Lloyd says.

"Maybe," I respond, thinking.

Suddenly, I get up and run to my parent's room, remembering.

"El?" Kai says, standing in the doorway of the bathroom.

"I think she remembered something!" Lloyd says, following me. The rest of the guys appear in the doorway, watching closely as I dig through the closet.

"They have to be in here. I know it!" I say.

"Everyone look around," Cole says.

I open the closet's drawers and look under the shelves. I feel the wall in the back, looking for any spaces that could hide things.

My hand hits a handle, and I pull it.

"I think I found it," I say.

The boys stand behind me, waiting in anticipation. I open the latch and take out an old wooden box.

I bring the box to my lap and open it.

Inside were two silver daggers, the hilts decorated with swirls to look like wind patterns.

"Is that it?" Zane asks.

I nod. "The original Daggers of Wind."

"Let's get out of here," Lloyd says.

"Yeah, this place kinda gives me the creeps," Jay says, shivering.

We jog down the stairs and exit the door, only to be stopped by a man waiting outside.

"Come to say your final goodbye?" the man asks, his tone bitter.

I recognize him as the man I cut when I was fifteen, the man whose blood seeped all over my floor and body; I no longer feared him anymore.

"Nice scar," I say, smirking. In ran across his right eye and forehead. The forehead wound must've caused all the blood.

He snarls. "Where's your brother?"

"Waiting for me to deliver you to him." I say, jumping towards him, but Cole holds me back.

The man laughs. "You think dressing up as a ninja masks your fear? I could smell it as soon as you landed at the docks."

Cole lets go of me and nods.

"Ninjago!" I shout, a tornado of wind forming around me.

"I've gotten stronger since the last time we've fought," I say.

"Fought? You mean when you ran away?" He says, unsheathing a katana. "I've learned some new tricks too."

I take out my new daggers, the silver glistening in the sun.

He charges at me, swinging his katana. I block his blow with my dagger and jump behind him. I kick him in the back and he stumbles.

"You've gotten older," I say.

I push him to the ground and place my foot on top of him. The guys surround him, crossing their arms.

"What are we going to do with him?" Cole says, glaring at him.

"Give me your phone," I growl. The man spits at me. Lloyd doesn't hesitate to push a dagger into his side. "Give it to her," he snarls.

I have never seen Lloyd that aggressive.

Cole releases his grip on him so the man can reach his phone. He hands it to me and immediately tries to run away, only to be met by one of Kai's kicks. He groans from the blow to his rib.

I scoff. "How ironic! You, trying to run?"

I ignore his scowl and dial the police. "There's an unconscious man near twelfth street. I think he's a criminal too!" I exclaim, then hang up.

"I'm not unconscious, bitch!"

Cole kicks him in the face, hard. "Now you are," he grumbles.

The six of us leave the man in the dirt and head back to the dragon. I couldn't help but grin the whole way back.

-

We jump off the dragon and onto the bounty.

"That was awesome!" Jay says excitedly.

"Did you really give him that scar on his face?" Zane asks.

I nod and grin. "When I was fifteen."

We walk into the bridge and Wu turns towards us.

"We found the Daggers of Wind," Zane says.

"Nya! When she was fifteen she gave this guy a scar across his face with a knife!" Jay says. I roll my eyes.

"You did what?" Nya says, turning towards me.

Sensei Wu chuckles. "It was pretty bad, wasn't it?"

"You saw it?" I ask, surprised and confused.

"Of course. I had to make sure my future ninja would be okay."

"You knew we'd be the ninja?" Zane asks. Sensei nods.

"I'm glad you all learned more about El," Wu says.

"You better fill me in," Nya says. I nod.

"Nya, if you could please take us back to Ninjago," Wu says.

"Aye aye, Sensei."

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