Chapter Text
It had been two months after the funeral, and it was Kai's turn to do dinner, he wasn’t the best at cooking, but he sure was better than Cole, so it did the job.
He went for something very simple: tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. He got everything from the fridge, tomatoes, garlic, butter, cream, etc. he also got the bread and the cheese for the sandwiches.
As he cooks everything, he remembers the last time he prepared this specific food, Lloyd saw it on a TV show and wanted to try it, so he asks Kai to help him with it, to which of course he accepted without hesitation, they almost burn down the entire house because neither of them knew how to use the oven, but it was worth it, they both enjoyed his meal, even if it was a little over cook… at least until Zane reprimand them for making a mess in the kitchen and make them clean everything up.
Still one of the best memories tho.
He almost didn't realize the soup was already done because of thinking about that. He now places everything on the table, the plates for the sandwich and bowls for the soup, and as he is serving it, he calls his friends to come to eat already. “Guys, dinner’s ready!”
They all went to the table quickly, they were starving, but as soon as their eyes fell on the table, they noticed something pretty obvious.
“Kai, aren’t you missing something?” Nya was the first one to ask.
“I don’t think so, I double-check every ingredient, but if you feel like it’s missing salt you can add it yourself” He sits at his usual chair, waiting for them to do the same, but they don’t, they look even a little concerned. “Guys, is something wrong? Because if you don’t want to eat this I can do another thing”
“No, it just seems like you forgot something” Jay clarified, but Kai still looked at them without knowing what they were talking about.
“You forgot a plate, dude” Cole says, pointing to where used to be Lloyd’s place.
Kai looked at the spot on the table, it was, in fact, empty, but he didn't answer immediately, at first, they thought he was in shock in how could he forget something like that, but no, they realize it was something they could never expect.
“No, I did not” He replayed, looking now at everyone “We only need five plates, so I only serve five plates, and I only made five rations of food, so come here before it gets cold”
They sit in their regular places, still looking preoccupied at Kai.
“Why?” Nya ask
“Why what?”
“You know what we meant Kai, don’t try to act like you don’t”
Kai sighed, he was trying to avoid the topic, but it seemed impossible now “Look, I love Lloyd, and that’s something that isn't gonna change, but he is dead, he doesn’t need for us to do his meals, he doesn’t need for us to buy his candies, he doesn’t need for us to do anything for him anymore” He tried to hide a sob, but it was pretty obvious that he wanted to cry. “I know that we all want to keep him alive somehow, but we can’t do it this way, every single night we throw away food because we do more than what we need, every fortnight we throw away an intact bag of candies because no one else likes them, we haven’t even trained in two months.” Jay tries to say something, but Kai cuts him before he can. “Don’t use the elemental powers excuse, we can use them with the golden weapons and we know it. I get it, no one wants to accept the reality, but we need to, Lloyd would want us to keep living like this, he sacrificed himself so we could have a chance.”
After he finished, there was a pretty long silence, everyone looking at each other, and everyone now crying, they knew what Kai said was true, even if they didn’t want it to be.
“Sometimes… sometimes when I hear the door, I still hope it’s him, just returning like nothing happened”
“Yeah, I’m the same, just hoping that he was on a secret mission and he needed to fake his death and that’s why Misako wasn't at the funeral” Cole replied to Nya.
“Lloyd is gone, but he gave us a second chance, let’s use it” Zane commented before began to eat.
They all follow him, chatting while eating.
“Oh, I forgot to ask you, at what time is the ceremony for Lloyd’s statue? I wouldn't want to miss it”
Nya smiled before answering him and continued chatting, it wasn’t like before, and it could never be like before, of course, they missed Lloyd’s jokes and his conversation about his comic books, but this was his new normality, and they had to accept it.