Cole

It's been over a month since Nya passed and things have never been quite the same.

I hardly ever see Kai nowadays. He's usually either beating the crap out of a training dummy or moping around the Bounty.

I think Zane just misses her and the spirit our team once had, like me.

Lloyd blames himself. We've told him even if he had seen it he couldn't of done anything. Of course he doesn't believe us, so he's always giving it his all when we train him. I guess he thinks that if he had paid more attention before than he would have been able to do something.

Jay never got the chance to propose to Nya, he had a romantic evening planned out and a beautiful blue topaz ring encrusted with diamonds. He never jokes around anymore, it's weird seeing him without a smile on his face.

I miss the old days...

Kai

The smell of Zane's cooking fills my nostrils, I think it's chicken. Shame I'm not hungry.

Hearing footsteps approaching, I look up.

"Zane told me to come get you. He says dinner's ready."

"Tell him I'm not hungry," I say, lowering my head.

"You always say that, you need to eat something!"

"No."

"But Kai-"

"Lloyd I'm not going. Just leave."

I listen to his footsteps leaving the room and the soft thud of the door closing, before getting up off the wooden floor of our shared room and climbing into my bunk.

I broke my promise...

Cole

Lloyd enters the room and takes a seat at the table.

"Where's Kai?" I ask him.

"He says he's not hungry."

A sigh goes around the room.

"Why isn't he eating?" Lloyd asks no one in particular.

"Because he has depression." Zane answers while serving out the food.

Jay frowns at the comment and stares at his plate for a moment before slowly eating it, piece by piece. He does that a lot, taking each thing- each day- one at a time. It's better than Kai's 'Work, work, work, sit in a corner, repeat' theory, but I guess we have our own ways of dealing with the grief.

I pick at my food for a bit before eating it, I'm not that hungry myself. Sensei excuses himself. He feels guilty because he wasn't there, but we weren't either. It was all a trap...

It's ironic that Nya was always trying to prove that she didn't need protecting, and in the end... she did.

Lloyd

'I hear a loud thump.

"What was that?" Nya asks me.

"I dunno. Maybe something fell down?"

"I don't think so Lloyd, we're not moving..."

"Wind?" My voice squeaked a bit, nerves setting in.

"Hmm... I can't hear anything. Could you go check, Lloyd?" I nod and she turns back to the bridge's control panel, she's been fiddling with that thing all day and it still doesn't work.

I take the stairs two at a time, landing on the deck with my fists raised. I glance around before lowering them slightly and moving slowly below deck. I search all the rooms and find nothing.

Starting back up the stairs onto the deck, I try to recall the exact sound I heard. "Huh... I swear-"

Gasping I nearly fall back down the stairs. There was about seventeen serpentine staring at me with their weapons raised.

"SSSStay where you are boy!" One of them hisses. With wide eyes I yell at the top of my lungs, "NYA! SERPENTINE!"

I take a step back down the stairs.

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?!

I think back to those horrendously long training sessions. What the guys had taught me? I can't remember any of it! Why do I have to forget at the time I need it most?!

The angry serpents close in on me. Whimpering, I take another step back, peering over at the bridge. I watch as Nya flips off the top of the stairs and brings her daggers down on two Venomari soldiers, kicking another she spins around and thrusts her blade into a Hypnobrai's chest.

By now they have all turned their attention to her and have begun a planned attack. I slip around them to grab some shuriken from the weapon closet we have on-deck.

Picking a bunch up I aim for one of the serpentine closer to Nya.

I hope this doesn't hit her...'

Hurling the small metal disc I watch it spin through the air and embed itself in the neck of a Fangpyre.

"Yeah!" I fist-pump as he falls to the ground. Grabbing a dagger I spinjitzu myself over to Nya, so that I'm standing back-to-back with her.

There are only eleven serpentine now.

"You're doing great Lloyd, keep going!"

Nya's so encouraging! I'm so grateful that she's here, I don't know what I'd do without her!

...

My heart is beating rapidly and sweat is dripping down my face, we've been fighting these guys for nearly an hour now and I'm exhausted! I think I'm gonna give out soon.

My vision is a bit blurry and muscles are screaming for me to stop, but I can't. We've still got four more to defeat. 'I can do this! Just a little bit longer...' panting I move forward a bit and throw my last shuriken at a fleeing serpent.

Now I've just got my chipped and bloody dagger. Sucking in a breath through my clenched teeth I survey the deck- piled with bodies- for my next target.

"LLOYD! ON YOUR LEFT!"

Time seems to slow as I turn my head to see an arrow being released from a Hypnobrai's bow. I watch, stunned as Nya leaps in front of me, protecting me from the inevitable.

The arrow pierces her heart, she staggers back, shocked by the impact. My jaw drops, I can't breathe. The battered dagger slips from my grasp.

"Nya..."

She falls to the ground. The remaining serpentine sneak off while I'm distracted, I don't care, I need to save Nya.

"Lloyd... You did g-good. I'm p-proud of you." She smiles softly at me.

"Tell Jay I love h-him, and t-that I said yes." She coughs "And tell Kai th-that he did protect me... in the end..." She trails off and stares at the sky. "So pretty... I just wish... I... had.. .more," a tear falls from her eye. "Time..."

"Nya... Don't go!" The moisture in her eyes dries slowly.

"Don't go..." '

Jerking awake I feel tears streaming down my face, it's always the same dream from that day...

That horrible day when what I'd learnt...

...

Wasn't good enough...

...

What I'd learnt...

...

Couldn't save lives...

...

How do you save a whole planet, when you can't save one person?