Warning: Harumi goes into a fit of a sort in this chapter and some people may feel uncomfortable by it. Just wanted to make sure everyone was forewarned. :)

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"We have to live up to a role that was bestowed upon us"

- Harumi

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Harumi and the team tiptoed around each other. It was like they were walking on eggshells, every conversation was short and said with distant voices and suspicious glares.

The words of the girl, Nya, echoed in her mind and preyed on the doubts forming inside of her. Harumi felt lost in this world like she had walked into a forest without a map. Lloyd tried hard to make sure she was comfortable, ensuring she took her medication and did everything the doctors' orders. But for some reason, he made no efforts to jog any memories.

No pictures were ever shown to her, no stories were told, she didn't have any family that came to visit her. The faint remnants of a dream lingered in her mind. Two figures, out in the distance, she tried to get to them but they were always just out of reach. A steady mantra kept echoing in her mind and she couldn't shake it off. It left the girl even more scared and confused.

Finally, Harumi concluded that she could no longer wait for answers. She'd have to pursue them herself.

"What was I like before?" Harumi suddenly asked Lloyd. She had approached him when he was crawling around to get the chicken out from beneath the table. Caught by surprise, the green ninja jerked upwards, accidentally slamming his head on the bottom of the table.

"Uh... you were- you were cool. Interesting. A-a complex person. Yup. Um- why do you ask?" Lloyd turned towards her, stuttering as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well...I have nothing about who I was before. No pictures, no family members, nothing to try and jog it all back. I want to at least know a shred of who I was." Harumi watched him intently.

Lloyd leaned against the tabletop and pressed his lips into a thin line. "I don't know how much I can tell you, Harumi." He sighed. "It's a difficult situation."

Harumi rolled her eyes. "I know it's a difficult situation! I'm living in it! All I want is answers! I feel like this outsider in this world I don't even remember!"

"You were taken by someone and brought back to life." Lloyd reminded her, surprisingly calm. "We don't know how much trauma you could have suffered. We don't even have all the answers now which is why all progress is placed on pause. Until we get those answers we'll just have to wait, okay?"

Harumi let out an irritated exhale but nodded. "Okay." She tried not to appear disappointed and slowly left the room.

There was a tired sigh before Lloyd spoke up. "Rumi."

"What?" Harumi turned around and glanced back in confusion.

Lloyd's lips pulled into another one of his sad smiles. "That's what I used to call you. Rumi."

"Rumi." She tested the name. It didn't do anything. No memories flashed before her eyes. There was no sense of familiarity. But it was something. "Why do you call me Harumi, then?"

Lloyd hesitated. "I... don't know."

"You can still call me, Rumi, if you want..." The blonde-haired girl told him tentatively.

The young man slowly nodded. "Maybe I will."

The girl gave him a warm look. "Thank you."

Lloyd gave her another nod and she ran out of the room, her step feeling much lighter than it had before. Lloyd's face fell as soon as she rounded the corner and chewed at his lip nervously.

"Lloyd?" His eyes flicked upwards to see Nya frowning at him. "Are you okay?"

Her brow furrowed and she carefully looked him over. Nya's watchful eye gauged his expression as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just... tired," Lloyd told her with a shrug.

Nya's eyes narrowed and she glanced away. "I know you're hoping for something miraculous to happen, Lloyd. Just... don't be blinded by the light. Sometimes excuses aren't enough... sometimes people do things and you can't always forgive them- not without hurting yourself in doing so." 

Frustration filled Lloyd and he couldn't push aside the anger. It was dark and cold in his mind, suddenly it was hard to hear his voice of reason. He abruptly stood, brushing off her hand without meeting her gaze. Lloyd ignored her hurt expression and started to leave. "I know what I'm doing, Nya." He told her sharply. "You just have to trust me."

"I do trust you!" Nya exclaimed. "I just don't trust Harumi!"

"I-" Lloyd massaged his temples with his right hand as dark spots dotted his vision and he staggered out the door. "I'm going to sleep, okay? Don't bother getting me for dinner. Make sure Harumi eats." Nya flinched at the harsh tone.

She watched her friend sadly, her fists clenching as the master of water waited for him to leave. With a huff, Nya swiped out a hand, knocking over a vase on the table and stormed out of the room.

The chicken clucked from beneath the table, peering curiously as it watched the group exit. With an empty-eyed blink, it moved to peck at the contents of the vase that had fallen onto the carpet.

*****

"Harumi," The girl blinked as a beautiful woman stared into her eyes, lips turned upwards in a smile. Her brown hair was twined into a twist around her head and her eyes were filled with a deep affection Harumi had never seen before. "I almost didn't see you there, my quiet little mouse!"

Harumi giggled and squealed when strong arms wrapped around her torso and flew her through the air. She looked over her shoulder to see a tall man with long ginger hair grinning wildly at her.

"Your little mouse? She's my beautiful princess!" The man cheered, throwing her lightly and catching her.

"Careful!" The woman scolded, eyes amused as he placed Harumi back on the floor.

Harumi beamed as they stepped back, the man wrapped his arms around the woman's waist and looked down at her sweetly.

A soft rumble sounded in the distance, breaking into the peaceful dream. Harumi's eyes darted around, the floor shaking beneath her feet with each tremble. "Mommy!" Harumi cried.

They both slowly glanced back at her, their gaze sad as the world began to fall apart around them.

"We'll see you when we get down... I promise." The same line that she had been repeating her head over and over was echoed once more.

Harumi felt fear course through her veins as the walls crumbled around her, the ceiling collapsing, and the terrified faces of pet parents disappearing behind fallen concrete and dust...

A horrified scream ripped from her lips, hands grappling at thin air where the couple used to be. The world then faded away into another scene.

Harumi felt older, her height grew and the sense of delusional bliss had faded into something dark and bitter.

A kind boy with a tender smile and gentle spirit looked to her with his bright green eyes. Harumi only felt a small stab of guilt as she watched him but when he turned away she remembered the pain that bled from her soul. Her fingers tightened on the knife in her pocket and she imagined plunging it through the boy's naive heart.

A sick smile spread across her face, fingers running along the leather on the dagger's hilt.

"Spider's in the house, sleep sleep. Spider bit the mouse, sleep deep. Don't wake up or else you'll find a spider in your mouth."  Harumi sang softly as she skipped along the halls of The Bounty.

Darkness clouded the scene and a voice spoke into the emptiness.

"It looks like you were wrong. You weren't the one that got away."

Familiar green eyes stared into hers, sad and shocked as Harumi slowly began to fall into the black void...

Her eyes flew open and she yelled out hysterically, tears pouring down her face as her body trembled. The fear was sadness was suffocating, wrapping around her lungs and making it hard to breathe. She hyperventilated through her sobs and everything felt so much darker. Reality was slipping through her fingers, the world weighing down on her like mountains, and her mind could hardly comprehend what was happening.

"Rumi!" A voice exclaimed, hands gripped her shoulders and the haunting eyes stared into hers.

Panic filled her and overtook her senses, all right of mind flying out the window and she screamed. She was barely aware of her hands shoving him backwards and pinning him down, violently shaking him in her terror.

"Who am I, Lloyd?" Harumi shrieked, unaware of how her nails caught him in the face. The green ninja was frozen as she continued to grab him by the fabric of his collar. "TELL ME? WHO AM I?"

Shouts filled the room, the stampede of feet sounded, and arguments were being thrown but she could only focus on the fear. There was only fear. Fingers gripped him tighter, eyes narrowing dangerously, a dark expression crossed her face.

"STOP!" Someone tried to drag her back. "YOU'RE HURTING HIM!"

When Harumi refused and continued screaming at him. A blow caught her in the cheek and she went flying back into another's arms. They restrained her quickly and Nya glared at her, fury igniting her eyes, but her body was shaking.

"Stay away from him!" Nya snarled.

Harumi's eyes flicked to Lloyd, who just laid there in shock. A cold feeling washed over her, all rage drained away, and startled guilt replaced it. "Oh my gosh," she choked out. "No. No, no, no, no, no."

"Lloyd, are you okay?" Kai said urgently, hands cupping his face as he examined the cut.

"I'm sorry," Harumi cried, sight blurring as wet droplets fell like rain onto the floor. "I'm sorry."

"You should be sorry!" Nya pointed a trembling finger at him. "No matter what everyone thinks, you will never change! You may be hurting but that doesn't mean you can hurt people! Look what you did to him!"

Harumi didn't reply, only continued sobbing.

"Nya..." Jay warned slowly, shifting his grip on Harumi's limp arms.

"LOOK AT HIM!"

"Nya! Stop it! I'm fine! Leave her alone!" Lloyd's voice was stern and he struggled to sit up. "It's okay. She was scared. It won't happen again."

Nya paused for a moment before she slowly shook her head. A bitter smile spread across her face and a withering stare was fixed on the green ninja. "You are so... so..." her fists clenched. "Selfish!"

"Nya, I suggest you calm down and save this conversation for tomorrow," Zane told her softly.

"No. I'm going to say this here and now." Nya's tone was steady. "I know you're hurting. I know you're suffering. But I am too. Do you think she doesn't haunt my dreams too? She took my family away from me! I thought they were dead. Yet here she is, right beside us like nothing is wrong!"

Nya paced the room, pressing a hand to her head as she talked. "I want to support you but she is a danger to us Lloyd! She is still The Quiet One! I love you, Lloyd! I don't want you getting hurt! You may be all fine and dandy with putting yourself in danger but what about everyone else? One day it's you but who's to say that it won't be Cole next? Or Kai or Jay? You keep saying it's just one slip up but it only takes one more for her to kill someone!"

"Enough!" Wu barked.

"Nya." Lloyd's eyes flicked to Harumi. She barely seemed conscious, just shaking and crying.

There was best as they just stared at each other. A battle of wills. A war of emotions.

The master of water's eyes were piercing, her tone equally as venomous. "Keep her all you want, but I can't bear to watch you self-destruct. Just know that you are endangering us all."

*****

Harumi sat quietly in her room. Her eyes empty as she stared at the computer she had carefully slipped from Cole's room. She typed in the code (it was 'password') and clicked on the search engine. Taking a deep breath, the girl leaned forward. Her finger hit the 'T' then the 'H' and then the 'E'. Slowly she spelt out what she needed. After a heartbeat's hesitation, the girl clicked enter.

See results about: The Quiet One

author's note*****

Wow. That was a bit of a crazy chapter! I tried to get into more perspectives than just Harumi and Lloyd's.

This situation is very scary for Nya, the person that was partly responsible for the supposed death of her family was living in her house! I wanted to show her side of things even though it may have come out as harsh, she is simply bringing up some important things for Lloyd to hear.

Harumi had a panic attack that soon turned into a bit of a mental breakdown. For someone suffering from so much trauma, it's to be expected that she may end up snapping at one point. (There's another word for it and I spent quite a few hours looking for the word but I can't find it)

I'm no doctor so I can't guarantee complete accuracy or anything. If any of my writing is offensive please let me know! The last thing I want to do is hurt someone!

This is all terrifying for the whole team who is living with Harumi and since it is an odd situation where Harumi was formerly a dangerous villain they don't know exactly what to do. That can be very scary for everyone.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'll try and get a new one out soon I just need to update some other books as well! :)

LuckyBugBooks 🐞