Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Lloyd Garmadon?”

Lloyd opened his eyes a crack at the incredulity in the unfamiliar voice. The guy with the overly spiked hair was back. He was staring down at Lloyd, lying exactly where he’d first fallen among the trash bags, with shock written all over his face. Guess he didn’t realize who he was saving, thought Lloyd. Figures. Obviously he wouldn’t have bothered if he had known.

The guy seemed to deliberate for a moment over what to do. Then he turned tail with urgency and ran back down to the mouth of the alley, out into the open street, and disappeared as he turned a corner. Though his head still felt foggy from the first blow (and he was pretty sure it was bleeding too), Lloyd’s thoughts suddenly sharpened as a wild idea occurred to him; could the guy be going back to fetch his attacker? Hey dude, my mistake, sorry for stopping you from beating that kid with a metal bat by grabbing it and running away, I hadn’t realized it was Lloyd Garmadon, wanna go back to take turns finishing the job?

Scrambling to find purchase in the lumpy trash heap, Lloyd flailed his arms and legs to get up, only to regret it instantly when his right shoulder – which had received the brunt of the batter’s rage while Lloyd had protected his head with his arms – sent a sharp bolt of agony to his brain.

As Lloyd cried out from the pain, an approaching voice saying, “This way, Nya. Come on, quick!” came to him from the alleyway entrance. Carefully he slumped back down into the trash bags, panting a little. Under the fringe of his bangs he saw two figures running up to him, one the spiky-haired guy again, the other a girl in a leather jacket. Spiky knelt down in front of Lloyd, so that he saw his face clearly for the first time, but the girl’s legs faltered as she got close enough to see him.

“But… Kai, this is-”

“I know, I know,” said Spiky, shuffling tentatively to Lloyd’s right side and reaching for his arm. “But… we can’t leave him here. He’s just a kid.”

The girl only hesitated for a second before following his lead and coming around to Lloyd’s left. “Alright, um… we can take him to the hospital. They have a walk-in clinic-”

“No!” said Lloyd, more shrilly than he’d meant to, perhaps in part to ward off Spiky from touching the arm attached to his bad shoulder. “No hospitals. Please, they’ll… they’ll call my mom.” To get me out of there as fast as possible. “I don’t - … I don’t want her to worry about me.”

Typical that the one day he’d decided to walk from school at street level rather than parkour across the rooftops like he usually did, would be the day that someone who’d happened to have been carrying baseball gear in a bag and a sore grudge against Lord Garmadon would happen to spot and recognize him on the way. It was bad enough that his mom couldn't do anything about all the bullying from his peers and unfairness of his teachers at school, without her having to know about the potential dangers of just getting to and from there.

“That’s kind of what moms do, mini Garmadon,” said the girl. At the nickname she called him by, Lloyd whipped his head to glare at her in reproach. In that glance he took in the facial similarities between her and Spiky – same olive-toned skin, same eye shape and color – and off-handedly wondered if they were siblings. The girl peered at him in concentration, her eyes flicking from the bleeding split in his temple to his torso to his legs. “But now that I look at you, I think we might be able to take care of you at home.”

Take care of…?

“Home?” said Spiky, eyebrows raised. “Ours? Take Lloyd Garmadon home with us? That might not be the best idea, sis.”

That’s right, thought Lloyd. Who in their right mind would bring the son of Lord Garmadon into the safety of their own house, even if he was injured?

“Hmm, yeah, you’re right,” said the girl. “That would spell trouble. Our parents are pretty anti-Garmadon.” She straightened up and tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Well, dad will still be at the shop. Mom might be home, but… the garage will most likely be empty.”

The boy nodded, his overly gelled hair quills remaining stiff despite the movement. “Okay. Sure, yeah. The garage then. Feeling up for walking, kid?”

It took a second for Lloyd to realize the question was for him. “Uh, yeah. I think so.” His legs felt fine, thankfully.

“Great,” said Spiky. “Here, let’s get you up.” And before Lloyd could protest, the pair had taken hold of him under the arms and lifted him up from the trash bags.

“OWWWW OW OW!!” he yelled, twisting away from the brother, who promptly let go of his arm as though he’d touched something hot.

“Woah what! What is it? Your arm? Is your arm broken?”

“I don’t know… It hurts. Bad.”

“Sit here,” said the sister, nudging a discarded wooden crate under him with her foot. Lloyd dropped heavily on to it, gritting his teeth. He made to grip his bad shoulder with the other hand, but the pain flared up again just from the brush of his fingers. The girl shooed her brother aside and knelt down beside him. “Let’s see it,” she said, and carefully peeled back Lloyd’s jacket, then the neck of his shirt, over the lump of his shoulder. When he dared to look Lloyd saw the skin stretched over the area was skin-burn red, and weirdly shaped.

“It’s dislocated,” the girl confirmed in a hushed voice. She looked up at Lloyd’s distressed face, and her eyes seemed to harden. “Someone did this to you? Why?

What were you doing?”

As soon as Lloyd heard the accusation in her voice – because of course he must’ve done something wrong, if Lloyd Garmadon got hit with a baseball bat hard enough to dislocate his arm it must be because he deserved it – his heart rate spiked through the roof, recognizing that he’d fallen right back into danger, only at the hands of different people.

“I… He…” he stammered. Suddenly, between the pain that was impossible to ignore and the onslaught of fear that claimed him, Lloyd was finding it hard to breathe. “He knew… who I was… He said his mom got hurt… in last week’s attack…”

The girl pressed her lips together at that. She glanced over Lloyd’s head to share a meaningful look with her brother, who nodded in understanding. When she next spoke, her tone of voice was grim and serious, making Lloyd’s insides turn cold.

“Sit up straight. Hold your breath, you don’t want this to hurt worse.”

No, thought Lloyd. No he didn’t. But his shoulder was on fire and the girl was gripping his wrist firmly, holding it away from his body at a perpendicular angle. Her brother had him from the other side, restraining him by the uninjured shoulder. Though they were not much older than him, both pairs of hands felt callused and strong, and lightheaded and frightened as he was, Lloyd knew he wouldn’t be able to escape from them and whatever torture they were about to inflict. So he took the girl’s advice and tried, he tried very hard, to stop his gasping breaths and brace himself for more pain, screwing his eyes shut, though when he felt something being shoved into his mouth and heard the brother order with a warning in his voice, “Bite down on this and don’t let go,” effectively gagging him as well, he thought he might actually pass out with fear. Lloyd was used to harassment, he was used to being ridiculed, cussed at, pushed, tripped, kicked, pelted at with projectiles ranging from mostly harmless to bruise-inducing. But he’d never experienced anything like what he was going through today, the deliberate intention to maim rather than humiliate.

“On the count of three,” said the girl. “One – ”

Abruptly, the pain came before she’d even said two, before Lloyd could calm his panicked thoughts, as she suddenly lifted her leg and braced her foot against his ribs and pulled his arm sharply at the same time. Lloyd’s scream was muffled by whatever was in his mouth, and he felt his teeth wedge into the material as he bit down HARD against the pain.

Reflexively, as he felt his arm being lowered slowly against his side, he opened his mouth and took deep, shuddering breaths. A hand pulled the object out of his mouth, dislodging his teeth from it. Hot tears poured down his cheeks. Another hand wiped them away with a crumpled tissue.

“Hey, you’re okay. That’s better now, right?”

Lloyd looked wildly towards the girl, a plea for any further torment to stop ready at his lips, before he registered what she’d said and focused his awareness on his shoulder. It didn’t hurt. That is, it still throbbed dully, in a way that told him he was going to develop the mother of all bruises later, but the screaming fiery pain he’d felt before was gone. More than that, his arm felt normal again, no longer like it was a door twisted on its hinges, but fit into his shoulder like… well, like a ball and socket.

“Damn,” said the brother, and out of the corner of his eye (he couldn’t turn his head, as the girl had gripped him by the chin so as to finish mopping up the tears from his face) Lloyd saw him unfolding a leather belt and examining the holes Lloyd’s teeth had made in it. Where he’d bitten it, rather than his own tongue. “That was awesome, Nya!”

“Thanks for the assist,” said the sister. “Actually, I’m pretty relieved it worked, haha… my heart was pounding in my chest.”

Mine too, thought Lloyd, though now that he understood the danger was past – in fact that he hadn’t been in any danger at all, at least not from these two – he could feel his heartbeat slow back to a normal rate. He blinked rapidly at the girl still holding his face in a no-nonsense way, studying him as though she were critiquing a painting. She had a mole near her right eye, and dark hair in a bobcut to her chin. Noticing him looking at her, she suddenly seemed self-conscious and quickly let him go, crumpling up the tissue she had been using and throwing it into the dumpster in the corner without looking. She crossed her arms and regarded him thoughtfully.

“Were you scared?” She sniffed. “Guess I should’ve told you what we were doing.”

Lloyd understood the insinuation behind her words immediately. Were you scared? Good. Cause that’s how we feel every time Lord Garmadon attacks. Count your blessings that you only had to experience it for a few seconds rather than years.

Lloyd jumped as a hand landed on his good shoulder. “Alright!” said Spiky. “Let’s go. We’ll ice that and make a sling for you when we get home.” He gestured to Lloyd’s right arm. Once again the pair stood to either side of Lloyd and carefully lifted him up from the crate. When they saw him stand and take a few steps on his own, they withdrew and walked a bit ahead, leading the way out of the alley.

Lloyd followed them down the streets of Ninjago City, through the lesser crowded areas that lead away from the large buildings to the suburbs on the outskirts. He felt nervous the whole way, wondering if he shouldn’t just slip down a side street and try to walk home on his own, which was in the other direction. But the possibility of another angry civilian seeing an opportunity while his arm was incapacitated made him think twice about abandoning his new companions, who, miraculously, seemed to be intent on protecting him; the girl kept turning her head left and right, on the lookout for would-be attackers, and Spiky kept looking back over his shoulder at Lloyd, making sure he didn’t fall behind.

Or maybe, thought Lloyd, that’s just what I want to believe they’re doing. They could just as easily be so alert because they didn’t want to be seen with him. He hung his head glumly, cradling his arm to his middle.

A warm hand gently pressed against his back.

“Don’t worry,” said Spiky next to him, minding his bad side. “We’re almost there. You’ll be home before dinner.”

Lloyd sensed, rather than saw (as he still had his head down), the older boy grin down at him reassuringly. And despite everything he’d been conditioned to believe his whole life, he found himself thinking: Maybe I can trust them.

Chapter Text

“This is gonna sting a little.”

Though it made him feel ashamed, Lloyd couldn’t help the whimper that escaped his lips as he flinched away from Spiky’s hand, which was approaching the cut on his forehead with a pair of tweezers and cotton soaked in alcohol. Seeing this reaction, the older boy pulled his hand back. He regarded Lloyd with something almost akin to grim satisfaction. But his voice was soft as he spoke again.

“Hey, Lloyd?”

So strange was it to hear his name being spoken without malice by someone who wasn’t his mother or uncle, that Lloyd made eye contact with the boy for the first time, green eyes locking on deep brown.

“I won’t hurt you,” said Spiky. “Promise. We don’t hurt people for no reason.” He said this last pointedly, and again Lloyd understood the deeper meaning behind the words: Unlike Garmadon.

Lloyd blinked at him a few times. Then he nodded.

He winced as the cotton was pressed to his temple, but he held still. Spiky silently swabbed off all the blood, then reached for a large plaster from the first aid kit next to him. At the other end of the garage, which seemed to serve as an amateur metal workshop for one or both of the siblings, his sister was fashioning an arm sling out of a pillowcase, with needle and thread.

As Spiky carefully smoothed the plaster on his forehead, Lloyd said,

“…but you’ll help them for no reason?”

With the plaster secure, Spiky pulled an ice pack from a cooler at his feet and gave it to Lloyd, guiding his hand to press it to his bared shoulder. “You don’t need reasons to help someone who needs it,” he said.

“Even someone like me?” asked Lloyd quietly.

A shared glance with the girl across the room. Lloyd was fascinated by how often they seemed to sync up like that. Perhaps it came naturally to siblings. “Well-l-l…” said the brother, “we don’t really know you personally now do we?”

“No…” But why did that matter?

The sister appeared at his side, shaking out the completed arm sling. “Actually, we have you at a disadvantage,” she said, looping the strap of the sling over Lloyd’s head and adjusting it on his left shoulder. “We know your name at least. But we haven’t told you ours.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” said Lloyd quickly, and not because he'd heard them call each other by name several times already. He slipped his arm into the dip of the sling as she held it open for him.

“Why? You don’t want to know?” Spiky grinned in amusement, leaning back in his swivel chair.

“No. I mean, I do. But… if you don’t want to…”

After a beat, the girl suddenly pushed her brother aside so that his chair rolled away from Lloyd – “Hey!” he protested – and stood in front of him straight on, leaning down so that they were almost eye to eye.

“Would you tell Garmadon who we are and where we live? Tell him we kidnapped you instead of taking you back to your mom?”

“No!” said Lloyd, shocked.

“Then…” she continued more tentatively, “would you tell him to maybe… skip over this neighborhood the next time he goes on a rampage? Since we saved you and you’re really grateful?”

“Nya…” chided Spiky.

“I can't…” said Lloyd, “I mean, I would if I could. I’d tell him to stop attacking any neighborhood… if I could actually talk to him.” He dipped his head bitterly.

“What, scared he’ll spank you for standing up to him?” scoffed the girl.

“Nya-a-a come on. How would you like to have Lord Garmadon as your dad? I mean our dad hardly listens to half the things we say and he’s not an evil overlord.” Spiky scooted his chair back to Lloyd, nudging his sister aside with his sneakered toes. “Anyway I bet your volcano mansion is so big it’d take you the whole day just to meet with him in the same room, huh?” he joked to Lloyd.

“I don’t know… how big his lair is,” said Lloyd hesitantly, afraid of admitting something that would upset his two nurses. “I’ve never been there. I live with my mom, in an apartment in Ninjago City…”

Looking up, he saw both teens looking at him with surprise. Huh, he thought. Did everyone think I’ve been living with Garmadon this whole time? He supposed there was no reason why they wouldn’t, if all anyone knew was that he was his son.

“Oh… well, I guess that explains why you go to our school,” said Spiky. “But you still see him every day, right? Or at least call him or…?”

“My father…” - Lloyd felt reluctant having to use the word -  “doesn’t even remember I exist most of the time. The last time he called me was five years ago. He sat on his phone.”

“Are you serious?” said the sister.

There was a minute’s silence. Lloyd wondered if he’d said too much.

Abruptly, Spiky said “My name is Kai. Smith. And this is Nya.” He cocked his head at her. Lloyd wasn’t sure how to respond, since they already knew his name.

Nya supplied the answer for him. “Now you say, ‘Nice to meet you’.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lloyd parroted meekly.

“’And thank you for helping me.’”

“Oh, uh… thank you for helping me.”

Then, remembering what he was thanking them for, he felt the need to say it again. He bowed his head slightly. “Thank you… so much.”

The siblings looked taken aback by the feeling in his voice. Then the brother – Kai – grinned widely, a large dimple appearing at the corner of his mouth.

“No problem dude!” His tone hardened as he continued. “Son of Garmadon or not, anyone who’d do that to a kid your age is trash.”

Ridiculously, Lloyd felt a little miffed that the other boy kept calling him “kid”. It almost sounded like he thought he was ten years old. He wasn't that much shorter than him. “I’m fourteen,” he said defensively.

Kai seemed to take this as confirmation of his claim. He nodded sagely. “Just a year younger than my sister. Trash. Screw ‘em Lloyd. Them and anyone else who tries to take things out on you.”

“If I fight back… then I’d be just like him.”

“Self-defense isn’t what Garmadon’s doing, min- Lloyd,” said Nya. “It’s common sense to protect yourself.”

“But no one would believe me… No one ever believes me.”

He hated the self-pity in his voice, but it was the truth. Case in point, he felt the pair exchange another, uncomfortable look, and knew what they were thinking when they didn’t declare their own belief in him; he could be putting on an act right now. Playing the victim. How would they know?

“No one really knows you, Lloyd,” said Kai apologetically. “Just like we didn't. But, if you're okay with it... we're open to getting to know you.”

Lloyd looked to Nya uncertainly. She still had her arms crossed, and she didn’t look very forthcoming. Then, as she caught his eye, she gave him a crooked smile, one that formed a dimple at the corner of her mouth exactly like Kai’s.

Once again, Lloyd didn't know what to say. Kai laughed at his dumbfounded expression. Then he slapped his hands on his lap and stood up. “Welp, guess we better head out. I did promise you'd be home by dinner.” He nudged Lloyd to stand too, then steered him to the garage entrance. Over his shoulder he said to Nya “You'll cover for me, right?”

She must have nodded – or maybe answered using sibling telepathy, Lloyd would not have been surprised – because she made no reply and Kai didn't wait for one. Lloyd thought about saying goodbye, but Kai had already led him down the driveway out of sight.

“So… you wanna tell me why you were following me today?”

Lloyd nearly tripped in surprise.

“I wasn’t…”

“Sure you were.” Kai’s voice was light and cheerful. “Since we left school. I went into the back alleyways while Nya was checking on her motorcycle at the mechanic, just to be sure, and you were behind me the whole time.”

Lloyd grimaced. Guess his ninja footsteps still needed work.

“Then when I noticed you were gone and doubled back, I heard that d-bag wailing on you. Guess he was taking a shortcut from the batting cages.”

Lloyd stopped in his tracks, forcing Kai to halt and turn to look at him. “You helped me even though you knew I was following you?”

Kai shrugged. “Like I said. No reason not to help. Didn’t realize who you were but I was curious about what you wanted.” They were still in the city outskirts, and the cobble-stone road they were walking down was free of pedestrians. Nonetheless, Lloyd couldn’t help looking around for potential eavesdroppers.

“So?” Kai pressed.

“It’s… it’s a little hard to explain.”

“Try me.”

Lloyd took a deep breath.

“I… well I’m… I’m a ninja.”

Kai blinked at him, eyes wide. “Okay that’s definitely gonna need more explaining.”

Might as well go all the way at this point, thought Lloyd. “Would you… would you come with me, somewhere?”

“You mean other than to your apartment...?”

“I swear I’m not trying to get you into trouble or anything!” said Lloyd hurriedly. “I just want to… I want you to meet someone.”

Thinking back to when he’d seen Kai and Nya at school as they’d passed by him on the way to the gates, he added, “Actually I would’ve liked your sister to meet him too, but I guess she doesn’t like me very much.” Not that liking him was any requirement for what he needed her and Kai for.

Kai waved his hand unconcernedly. “She’s just more cautious than me. But yeah agreeing to follow Lloyd Garmadon to some unknown place to meet a mysterious stranger is definitely the kind of thing she would NOT do.”

He leaned down a bit to grin right in Lloyd’s face.

“Which means I definitely gotta do it now,” he said cheekily.

“Really? You’re sure?” Lloyd honestly hadn’t expected him to agree.

“If this was all just a scheme to get the drop on me for whatever nefarious reason,” said Kai, “it sure is a convoluted one. Besides, your shoulder really was hurt. And…” He scratched the back of his head. “The way you thanked us earlier… sure didn’t sound like an evil mastermind to me.”

He bowed his head dramatically, sweeping his arms towards the road. “So, lead the way, Lloyd. You got my interest now.”

Lloyd wasn’t prepared for the rush of warmth that flooded his chest then. Earlier as he’d followed the Smith siblings to their house, he’d felt like he had taken a daring jump off a cliff allowing himself to trust them.

He hadn’t realized how much more it would affect him to have someone else give him their trust in return.

Chapter Text

“Master Wu! It’s me! Sorry I’m late.”

Lloyd Garmadon called out into the big warehouse as soon as he’d bolted the doors behind them and turned on the overhead lights. His voice only echoed a little, because there was actually quite a lot of stuff in the spacious room to muffle the sound.

“Woah…”

Kai let his gaze wander over all the equipment in the room: the floor mats, the punching blocks, the balance beams, the climbing walls… even swinging death scythes! “Is this like, the secret headquarters of Fight Club?”

“Ideally I would have liked a monastery,” an unfamiliar voice answered right next to him, making him jump a foot in the air. “But we must make do with what we have. Speaking of which…”

And Kai suddenly found himself nose-to-nose – almost literally – with an ancient-looking old man in a Kasa hat, with the longest beard he’d ever seen.

“Wh- hey! Boundaries!” However even when he leaned back, the old man only leaned forward to close the distance, peering at him with shrewd, dark eyes.

“Hmm. Is this who I think it is, Lloyd?”

“This is Kai,” said Lloyd, pulling Kai aside by the sleeve to back him away a few steps from the old man, who thankfully didn’t pursue. “I bumped into him at school. Sensei, when I looked at him, I saw…” Lloyd glanced at Kai self-consciously. “I guess what you told me I’d see. Potential.”

At school? thought Kai. Then he remembered; yes, he’d accidentally pushed Lloyd on his way to Nya at the school gates, knocking his bag off his shoulder. He’d immediately stooped to pick it up and give it back to him, apologizing. Lloyd, as was usual for him, had had his hood up, completely covering his distinctive blonde locks of hair, the fringe pulled down practically over his eyes, making him less recognizable at a glance, and Kai hadn’t really paid attention in his hurry to leave school anyway. Lloyd had apparently seen something in him though, in that brief meeting… something strong enough to make him decide to tail Kai there and then. To do… what exactly?

“Oka-a-ay why is this starting to sound like I’m being recruited into a creepy cult?” said Kai, trying to keep his voice blasé but feeling nervous on the inside. Maybe this all WAS some kind of convoluted plan to make me a Garmadon henchman after all.

“This is not a recruitment, young man,” said the old man. “It is your destiny.”

Kai only then noticed he was carrying a bamboo staff, as he started tapping it solemnly on the ground while he paced. “I told Lloyd he would find you. Naturally it would take the son of Lord Garmadon to find and unite those who possess the power to defeat him. All he needed to do was lift his head up for once to pay attention to what was right in front of– Lloyd! What happened to you?”

The old man stopped his rambling and halted in his tracks as he finally caught sight of Lloyd and the state he was in.

Lloyd opened his mouth, made a vague noise, and slowly closed it again.

“Some jerkwad messed him up with a baseball bat,” Kai translated.

At his words, the old man’s whole demeanor shifted. Where up to this point he’d carried himself with self-importance and gravitas, now his expression crumpled to one of shock, sympathy, and heartbreak all at once. His posture was no longer ramrod straight, his shoulders dipped slightly. He stepped towards Lloyd, and with his free withered hand, cupped the side of the boy’s face.

“Oh Lloyd,” he said sadly. “I’m so sorry. Does Koko…?”

“No,” said Lloyd heavily. “And you can’t tell her. She’d never let me go anywhere on my own again. I’m okay, really. Kai and his sister fixed me up at their place.”

“Did he now?” The knowing smile returned to the old man’s voice. “I see…”

Kai, for his part, felt himself relax a little as he watched this exchange; evil ninja instructors surely wouldn’t show this much compassion for their evil ninja student, would they?

The old man abruptly whirled around, rapping Lloyd's legs smartly with his staff on the turn. “Well, you’re certainly not going to be doing any training today! Go wait for me in the infirmary while I deal with this one.” He tapped the end of the staff against Kai’s chest.

Lloyd bowed his head sheepishly. “Yes, Master,” he said, and he headed in the direction of a door in the far corner of the room.

“I have some tea leaves that are good for relieving sore muscles,” the man called after him. “They're in a labeled box. Don't open anything else.”

Lloyd cast an uneasy glance over his shoulder.

Kai was feeling no less uneasy as the ninja master turned his attention back to him.

“So!” he declared. “Kai.”

“So,” said Kai, and gestured at the old man pointedly.

“My name is Wu,” the man supplied. “But you, from now on, can call me Master Wu, or Sensei.”

“Right,” said Kai. “Because you’re going to teach me to be a ninja, so that I and some other guys can defeat THE Lord Garmadon. Did I get that right?”

“That is correct.”

“And you chose me, because Lloyd saw… potential in me?”

“What Lloyd saw in you was your latent Elemental ability.” Wu walked over to a table set against the wall and started fixing together some things in a teapot. Kai followed. “Should you undertake the proper training, you will be ready to unlock that ability.” He plugged in a small burner stove and turned the dial on it so that blue flames appeared. “A mystic power,” he said, gazing into the flames, “that will serve you well in protecting the people of Ninjago.”

Kai crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “Yeah I’ll be a real superhero,” he said, humoring the old man.

“You may joke,” said Wu mildly, setting the teapot on the fire, “but it seems you’ve already displayed your aptitude for heroism today. If you ask me,” he turned to look Kai in the eyes, “that, more than anything, is what drew Lloyd to you. And you have my thanks for that.” He put his hands together, palm over fist, and bowed his head in Kai’s direction.

Kai shifted uncomfortably. “I only did what anyone would do,” he mumbled. “Or what anyone should do, anyway.”

“The fact that you believe so is another testament to your character. Now, more importantly.” Wu opened the doors to a closet next to the table, and after a moment of rummaging around, emerged with a set of clothes similar to his own: a white practice gi and obi. “Put these on, and we can start your training.”

Kai slowly reached for the clothes, but Wu pulled them back just before he could touch them. “This is a commitment,” Wu warned him. “You will dedicate four hours of your time every day for training, here with me and Lloyd.”

“Free ninja classes,” smiled Kai, “sure, why not? I got nothing better to do. I’ll tell my parents I joined an after-school club. They’ll like that idea.”

“Three hours after school,” corrected Wu, “one hour before.”

“Before school? What, you mean at 5 AM?” asked Kai incredulously.

“If that’s inconvenient for you…”

Kai snatched the gi out of his hand. “Whatever,” he said. “I’ll get used to it.” He pulled off his red jacket. “So, uh… Lloyd’s training to be a ninja too?”

“Indeed. He only precedes you by a few months. You’ll catch up to him in no time.”

“That’s a promise,” grinned Kai, unbuckling his belt (which still had Lloyd’s teeth marks in it) and pulling off his jeans. Once he’d fully dressed himself in the gi and tied the obi around his waist, he bounced on the balls of his feet, raring to get started.

“Alright, Sensei,” he said. “What’s my first lesson?”

“For now you only have one simple goal,” said Wu. He walked over to a comically large button in the wall and pressed it with his staff.

In the center of the warehouse, there came a loud mechanical noise. The seams of a large circle appeared in the floor, and the whole thing sank into the ground, with everything that had been standing on it. Then, the circle flipped over to the other side and rose up again, a whole new array of wooden and metal equipment now filling the space instead.

As Kai gaped, Master Wu settled himself down on a pillow at the edge of the (once again invisible) circle with a cup of steaming hot tea in his hand. He inhaled deeply, then commanded:

“Finish this training course before I finish my tea.”

“Ugh,” Kai groaned, lying on his back on the ground.

“Yeah,” said Lloyd, “that sounds about right.” He offered him his hand (not the one attached to his bruised shoulder, although it was out of the sling now), and pulled him up to sitting position.

“Today you failed,” said Wu, refilling his teacup from the kettle. “Tomorrow, you will try again.”

“Can’t wait,” muttered Kai. He accepted his clothes back from Lloyd, but wasn’t in the mood to change into them. He decided he’d keep the gi; by all rights, he’d earned at least that much. He could change in the garage at home.

“Lloyd, you’ll continue your training tomorrow as well. I trust my tea leaves have been beneficial?”

“Yes, Sensei. Thank you.” Lloyd had removed the bandage from his temple as well. Thankfully the cut was not large, and easily hidden under his hair.

“Then be off with you two.” Wu turned his back to them and waved them away. “Look after my nephew, Kai.”

The two boys exited the warehouse. As soon as they were outside Kai rounded on Lloyd.

“Nephew?!”

“Yeeeah…”

“Mom’s side or dad’s?”

Lloyd made a face. “Dad’s.”

Kai shook his head in amazement. “You gotta sit me down and actually explain your family history to me one day.” They started walking, side by side.

One day. Because, apparently, Kai was going to be seeing a lot of Lloyd Garmadon for some days to come, perhaps months. He was surprised to find that the idea didn’t really bother him. Despite the exhausting first day, Kai had enjoyed his training session. Lloyd had gotten sick of waiting for Wu and came out of the infirmary halfway through Kai’s third try around the obstacle course. Like his uncle he’d sat cross-legged on the outer edge, and simply watched, neither ridiculing nor encouraging. Whenever Kai had looked his way, the only thing he’d been able to discern on the younger boy’s face each time was fascination.

And, oddly, that felt kind of good. Not to be big-headed but Lloyd Garmadon, the second most infamous man in Ninjago City, was fascinated by him, Kai Smith.

The boy in question evidently still had more to say now before they parted.

“Are you really going to be here tomorrow?”

“I said I would, didn’t I?” said Kai, without annoyance.

“But… why? Being a ninja is hard you know. Harder than school even.”

“Yeah, but the results are cooler, aren’t they?” Kai grinned.

Lloyd still looked serious. Well, he’d looked serious the whole day since Kai met him. “You didn’t really agree because you have nothing better to do, did you?”

So he’d probably heard Kai’s whole conversation with Wu. Kai finally became solemn in return. “Well… yes and no. School’s boring, and I’m not really particularly good at anything. I always figured I’d just end up working at my dad’s shop, you know? I never imagined I could do something… different. Important. What your uncle said about this whole thing being my destiny?” He exhaled a short laugh. “Honestly, that didn’t sound strange at all. I feel like I’ve been waiting my whole life for something like this. No way am I saying no.” He grimaced a little. “It does suck that I’m going to have less time to play video games, though.”

Lloyd scuffed his feet against the ground. “I could… bring my console to the warehouse. You could play during breaks. Master Wu won’t mind.”

“For real? That’d be awesome!” Thus relieved, Kai paid attention to their surroundings for the first time. They’d reached the edge of the city proper, the houses morphing into skyscrapers as you followed the line of rooftops to the horizon. “You want me to walk you home before I head back to my place?”

“That’s okay,” said Lloyd. “My arm feels good enough.”

“Alright. Be careful then. See you tomorrow.”

For whatever reason, the words caused Lloyd to freeze in place for a moment, staring back at Kai like a deer confronted with headlights. His eyes even shined a little, pale green in the orange of the setting sun.

“S-… See you,” he croaked.

Then, without warning, he jumped up onto a closed dumpster, scaled the length of a drainpipe against the side of the building, leaped from there on to the window ledge of the building opposite, and backflipped up on to the roof of the first building. Craning his neck, Kai was just able to catch the head of blonde hair whipping past the far edge of the roof, presumably disappearing to the next rooftop over.

Kai whistled in appreciation. “Boy, can’t wait until I learn how to do that.”

Chapter Text

Throughout that week, aside from sleepy ‘good morning’s, no words were exchanged between the two ninja novices during their training sessions before school, as Master Wu kept them busy with their forms. When the hour was up, they would rest for a bit, again mostly in silence, then Kai would usually leave first, saying goodbye or “see you later”. In the afternoons, Lloyd would often arrive at the warehouse before Kai, even though they both came from school, since Lloyd took to the rooftops again. Though the sessions were longer there still wasn’t often time for them to speak much; Master Wu would keep them hard at work, usually separated, each with their own training. There were a few times they sparred against each other, and during one of their breaks Kai boldly asked Lloyd “Couldn’t manage to sneak out your video games, then?” to which Lloyd just shook his head apologetically; what excuse could he give his mother for taking his console out of the house, let alone the tv? Kai then pressed him for what games he had, but Lloyd wasn’t very forthcoming with his answers, claiming he couldn’t remember the titles.

In truth though, most of the reason Lloyd found it difficult to talk to Kai was just because he was afraid.

Not of Kai necessarily – since they’d met, the older boy had never displayed any aggression towards Lloyd, never made any slights at his expense, never even mentioned his father. What Lloyd was afraid of was breaking that passivity and tolerance, by saying anything, revealing anything about himself that would prove all the things people said about him right.

The morning of the last day before the weekend though, Lloyd steeled himself to ask Kai about something that had been on his mind.

“Um, Kai?”

“Hah?” said Kai through a large yawn.

“Do you think you could ask Nya to join us here? I also saw… I mean she also has potential… to, you know…”

“Nya? Oh yeah, I remember you mentioning that, the day we met.”

Lloyd nodded, then waited, not knowing what to say and not wanting to be annoying by prompting him again.

Kai took a moment before answering, seeming deep in thought as he unscrewed the cap of his water bottle. After he’d taken a drink, he finally turned to Lloyd. “Why don’t you come with me and you can ask her yourself?” he said.

Lloyd started. He hadn’t expected this. “Come with you to school?”

“No, back to my place. I sneak out to come here; my parents would be suspicious if they thought I left for school this early. So I’ve been doubling back every morning to make it look like I just woke up. Nya will still be there. We leave together.”

Lloyd was feeling just a little panicked suddenly. “You want me to come with you to your house?” He’d never been inside anyone’s home but his own.

Kai looked at him and seemed to understand. His gaze shifted aside awkwardly. “Well, it’s probably not a good idea to come inside, with my parents and all… but I won’t take long. Just need my mom to see me grab my stuff and me and Nya will meet you outside. We can all walk to school together.”

“Oh… um.”

“Unless you’d rather go alone. I understand.”

“No, I- ” Lloyd took a deep breath and let it out. “I’ll come.”

“Nice.” And, much to Lloyd’s surprise, Kai reached out and ruffled his hair.

Lloyd hung around by the garage door, out of sight of the windows. True to his word, Kai only took all of eight minutes to come back outside again, dressed in his usual school getup of a red jacket over his shirt and red jeans, and his spiked hair re-gelled. Close behind him came Nya, book bag slung over one shoulder, hand in the pocket of her leather jacket. She didn’t slow as she noticed Lloyd approaching them from the side of the house, the hood of his favorite skeleton hoodie pulled up. “Oh, so that’s why you were in a hurry,” she said, watching Kai pull up beside Lloyd to tug the hood off his hair (“This just makes you look more suspicious, dude”).

“Um, good morning,” Lloyd said to Nya.

Nya’s mouth turned up in amusement at his formality. “How’s the shoulder?”

“It’s good,” said Lloyd, rolling it unconsciously. “Thanks again.”

“I hope you got it looked at just in case. I’m hardly a professional.”

Neither was Wu he was pretty sure, but Lloyd decided the tea leaf treatment he’d received from his uncle qualified enough as being “looked at”, so he just nodded.

The siblings soon set a brisk pace, walking familiarly down the cobblestoned road of their neighborhood towards Ninjago City, and Lloyd tried to keep close without bumping elbows with them. He wondered if he should say anything to Nya while they walked, or wait until they arrived at school. But then she’d surely want to leave him as soon as possible before any friends of hers saw him with her… He wished he’d insisted Kai be the one to “recruit” her, to use his word.

It wasn’t long before Nya opened the topic herself though.

“So Lloyd, you regret getting Kai hooked on your secret ninja club yet?”

“Hey, I’ve been an awesome ninja so far,” said Kai. “I beat Lloyd both times Master Wu let us spar.”

“It’s true,” said Lloyd, smiling even though, truth be told, his pride had hurt a little at those losses.

“Hear that? What do you think, sis? Your big brother beat THE Lloyd Garmadon in a fight! Impressed?”

“He probably let you win,” said Nya, pushing Kai’s face away. “Isn’t that right?” She winked at Lloyd.

Lloyd’s smile became more genuine.

They continued in this way as they passed through the busy streets of the city proper, casually dodging other pedestrians, the siblings teasing each other back and forth, beseeching Lloyd to take a side after each slight. Understanding that they were only playing, Lloyd found himself grinning in agreement with each of them in turn.

“Well, you’re not even one to talk, Nya,” Kai said. “You haven’t even done any ninja-ing to know if you could beat me.”

“I don’t have to to know I could,” she answered loftily. “I’m good at everything.”

I think I believe that, Lloyd thought, then caught Kai looking at him intently and realized a second later he’d been given an opening. He had to ask her now.

“Um, Nya-” he began.

“Are you hungry?” asked Kai.

“Am I… what?” said Lloyd, nonplussed.

“Breakfast,” Kai clarified. “I skipped mine, so I’m starved. Nya?”

“I could eat,” she said. “You thinking the gyoza place?”

“You read my mind.”

Lloyd hadn’t been able to do the same apparently. He shook his head.

Seeing his hesitation, Nya said, “It’s alright if you’d rather go on to school. Don’t let my brother force you.”

“No, um.” He definitely wasn’t in any hurry to get to school, though he tried as much as possible never to be tardy; he didn’t want to give teachers any more excuses to punish him than they already did.

Just then a very loud rumbling sound emitted from his stomach.

To his embarrassment, both the Smith siblings started laughing. “Pfft hahaha! I guess that answers that!” chortled Nya. It was the most he’d seen her smile so far.

And before Lloyd knew what was happening, Kai had put his arm around his shoulders and steered him towards a shop across the street, where an appetizing smell was wafting out through the open door.

It being so early in the morning, there were only a few people inside – construction workers on break and an early-morning jogger, and even another student, judging by their backpack – sitting on high stools lined against the walls. Kai left Lloyd with Nya and went straight up to the counter, not bothering to peruse the menu – evidently picking up food here on the way to school was something they’d done before. “Two chicken gyozas, six pieces, and - ” Kai turned back and called to Lloyd. “Lloyd, what do you like, chicken, beef, or shrimp?”

As Lloyd was about to answer, his eyes met that of the shop owner behind the cash register, and too late, he realized he’d forgotten to pull his hood back up before coming in. In the millisecond their eyes made contact, he saw the cashier’s widen in recognition, and then his whole expression transformed from one of neutral patience to disgust and rage.

“Lloyd! Lloyd Garmadon!”

The cashier’s voice rang out loud enough in the small room for every customer to turn their heads.

Lloyd felt his blood freeze in his veins. He took a step back.

Kai, still leaning against the counter, realized his mistake and scrambled to play it off. “Wh- no, no, this is a different Lloyd, he’s my little brother-”

We look nothing alike, thought Lloyd dumbly, vaguely aware of Nya inching closer to his side, returning all the angry glares in the room with a warning look of her own.

“Gettim outta here!” the shop owner bellowed. “I ain’t sellin’ anything to the likes of him! You wanna ruin my business, boy?”

“Look, we’re not trying to start any trouble, we just want some food and then we’re gone-”

Kai was cut off by the sound of Nya shrieking and Lloyd gasping in surprise. When Kai whipped around it was to find Lloyd drenched from head to chest, blinking in shock. The jogger, with a sneer on her face, was standing next to him, opposite to Nya, holding a paper cup like a weapon.

“You heard the man!” she snarled at Lloyd, getting right in his face. “Get out of here, you animal!”

And she actually reached into her cup, pulled out the remaining ice cubes inside and flung them at him.

In a flash Kai had put himself between Lloyd and the woman. “Hey, BACK OFF, lady!” he growled at her.

Lloyd, meanwhile, was still frozen in place, breathing hard. The water had been cold, but that was definitely better than if it had been a hot drink. He wiped his hair out of his eyes and belatedly realized Kai and Nya had put themselves on either side of him, indignantly shouting down the strangers converging on them. With the loud thumping that started to resound in his ears, Lloyd couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but he knew if things escalated any more they would turn ugly, and he could not, could not let the siblings get in trouble because of him, and so he quickly pulled his hood over his head once more, grabbed a red sleeve in one hand and a black leather sleeve in the other, and pulled them with all his might. For a few seconds the siblings resisted, then turning their heads as one to see Lloyd’s desperate expression, they allowed him to pull them back out through the shop door (though not before Kai had flashed a rude hand gesture behind him).

Outside, Lloyd kept walking, taking right and left turns at random, not really paying attention to his surroundings. Finally as he slowed down, he felt a hand close over his, and gently but firmly pry his fingers open. “Okay, buddy,” said Kai. “You can let go now. We’re good.”

Lloyd looked down at his hands in surprise, still gripping a sleeve in each, then unclenched them both, freeing Kai and Nya’s arms. He stood there breathing hard, head bowed so his eyes were hidden under the fringe of his hood.

He squeezed his eyes shut. He felt so stupid, so ashamed. Something as simple as getting a quick bite to eat became a whole ordeal because of him. He had to apologize, he had to let them know he hadn’t meant for it to happen.

“I’m so s-”

“I’m sorry, Lloyd,” came Kai’s voice. Lloyd opened his eyes, lifted his head. Kai was looking at the ground regretfully.

“I forgot… I mean, I get why you always use the rooftops instead. I shouldn’t have made you walk with us.” He hunched his shoulders a bit, like he was trying to make himself look smaller. "You’re so normal I mean… I forgot. I’m sorry.”

Nya rubbed her arm and looked aside. Both of them seemed unable to meet Lloyd’s gaze. “Me too. If we’d thought about it for a moment… we should’ve known what would happen. I’m so sorry.”

Lloyd’s breaths had slowed down. He stared at them, stunned.

“Forgot…? You mean you forgot I was…?” He couldn’t say it out loud, but he could see he didn’t need to. “You think I’m… normal?”

Nya and Kai looked at each other. They looked at Lloyd.

Nya crossed her arms. “You’re disappointingly average, actually.”

Kai smirked. “Pfft. Yeah, you’re not that special. Don’t know what all the fuss was about.”

Nya came up to him and gently tugged his hood back down off his head. From her book bag she pulled out a napkin and, without a hint of self-consciousness, started drying Lloyd’s hair with it, gripping twists of golden locks (now darker brown) and squeezing the moisture out of them. Lloyd felt his cheeks going red. He quickly grasped the napkin without touching her hand. “I- I can do it.”

“You shouldn’t have to deal with that every day the way you do, Lloyd,” said Kai, his tone solemn once more. “You’ve never done anything to deserve it. Have you.” He didn’t phrase it like a question, but like a conclusion that he’d reached some time before and was only just now voicing aloud.

Lloyd combed the napkin through his hair and didn’t answer.

Kai huffed. “Guess we won’t be going back there again,” he said.

“I’m sorry!” said Lloyd quickly, “It’s my fault if the owner doesn’t let you guys come again-”

“It’s his own fault, Lloyd,” Nya interrupted, handing him another napkin. “But what Kai actually meant was that we won’t be eating there again anyway, even if they did let us back in.” She scowled to herself. “No way are we gonna support a place that treats people like that.”

Not people, thought Lloyd. Just me. The woman’s voice calling him an animal echoed through his head. “If you wanted to avoid every place that treated me like that,” he said slowly, “I don’t think you’d be able to go anywhere in Ninjago City…”

When neither of them responded, he looked up to see them both staring at him, with such sadness on their faces that he quickly turned away again in discomfort. Well, it’s true, he thought. He hadn’t been in every store and business in Ninjago of course but he was pretty sure none of them would react any more kindly than the gyoza place. Everyone knew who he was, what he was.

“Then…” said Nya contemplatively, “I guess, you’ll just wait outside.” And she turned on her heel and entered a restaurant a few feet away, a neon sign (turned off) reading “Chen’s Noodle House” above the door.

“I only have my lunch money,” Lloyd mumbled, to which Kai’s only response was to put his hand on his head and grip his fingers in his hair affectionately.

Ten minutes later, Nya came out of the restaurant holding three cup noodles in her arms, promptly handing one to Lloyd (“Hope you don’t mind fish cakes for breakfast”), and nudging Kai to take the one pressed between her forearm and side (“Come on, come on, it’s hot!”) From the plastic bag hooked on her wrist she handed out chopsticks. “Let’s go,” she said, shifting her bag more comfortably on her shoulder. “We’re gonna be late.”

“Isn’t it bad to walk while we eat?” said Lloyd.

“No one’s gonna care,” said Kai, already lifting a forkful of noodles to his mouth. “More like we don’t care if anyone does. Eat up, buddy.” They walked side-by-side with their noodles in hand.

Maybe I don’t deserve to have water thrown in my face, thought Lloyd, savoring the warmth of the cup in his fingers and the food in his mouth. But I’m sure I haven’t done anything to deserve this either.

That day at school, class was interrupted by an emergency news bulletin. The screen in the corner of the classroom blared with aerial shots of Ninjago City, while Gayle Gossip, the local news reporter, faced the audience in front of them. “Citizens are reeling from the latest Garmadon attack today,” she said, “which ravaged the district of ------."

“Thanks, Lloyd!” the entire class – including the teacher – chorused in disgust. Lloyd sank deeper into his folded arms.

“People are advised to steer clear of the area while rescue and clean-up crew take care of the damage.”

The aerial shots were replaced by on-the-ground footage of the debris and destruction of the named street, showcasing some of the buildings and establishments that had been destroyed.

“Hey I was there today!” one of the kids called out, standing up in his seat and pointing. “That was where Garmadork was kicked out of!”

Lloyd felt his stomach drop. He lifted his head to see the kid – Brad his name was – giving him a dirty look, still standing on his chair.

“Cried to daddy to get revenge for you, huh?”

Lloyd blinked in confusion, trying to process what he'd said. He flinched as a crumpled-up ball of paper hit the side of his head, and became aware of the low hisses and boos of the other students. The teacher unenthusiastically called everyone to settle down, turning off the TV screen.

Revenge… was that what everyone would think? If it became known that Lloyd had coincidentally been at that gyoza shop just this morning – and he wouldn't put it past Brad to spread the news all over school – would the logical conclusion be that he had somehow let his father know about it, and that Garmadon had then targeted the area on purpose?

Given that Kai and Nya had not been aware that Lloyd wasn't in contact with his father, it would be safe to assume that everyone else was the same.

Kai… and Nya…?

Lloyd suddenly felt very, very sick.

Of course, he hated being hated. He hated that people thought he was evil. But on the whole, if he was asked whether he truly cared what his classmates thought of him, Lloyd would probably say no; if he ever wished that people at school wouldn't think of him as demon spawn and blame him for every evil thing his father did, it was only because he wanted to be left alone.

But somehow, imagining Kai and Nya hearing the news and thinking the same thing as Brad, Lloyd felt far worse than usual. He didn't want them to think that about him. He didn't want them to believe that of him…

But they would. Surely they would.

Which meant that Kai wouldn't want to train with him anymore.

Lloyd slumped his head on his desk. He couldn't pay attention to anything for the rest of the day.

When school ended, Lloyd immediately dashed down the halls to an empty classroom, to escape through a window rather than leave through the school gates. He didn’t want to be held up by all the angry people, but most of all he didn’t want to run into the Smith siblings; he didn’t think he could stomach the sight of them looking at him the way everyone else did.

Like he was an animal. Like a piece of trash.

It’s fine, Lloyd thought to himself, as he leaped, climbed, and flipped across the canopy layer of Ninjago City. It’s fine, it’s not like you’ve lost anything. This was bound to happen anyway. You’ve still got Master Wu, you’ve still got ninja training. You’re still going to fight, when you’re ready, who cares if you’re alone?

He stopped abruptly, sinking down on the edge of an apartment high-rise, letting one leg dangle while he hugged the other, and heaved a big sigh. He pressed his forehead against his knee, screwing his eyes shut against the despair he’d been  fighting all day, ever since Brad had thrown his accusation at him.

“Cried to daddy to get revenge for you, huh?”

If I could, would I?

Supposing he DID have the influence to sway the direction of Garmadon’s rampages, would he use it? Was it only the fact that his father barely cared enough about him to remember he even had a son, that kept Lloyd from exacting revenge on the whole city? And if so, did that make him evil?

If I did have that kind of power, he thought bitterly, don’t you think I would’ve used it on this stupid school a long time ago, Brad? And you’d probably celebrate afterward, wouldn’t you? I mean who hasn’t fantasized about their school getting destroyed?

But it was all a moot point, wasn’t it? What had happened today had been a coincidence, a freakish coincidence, but because of it, the only two students in the whole school whose opinions Lloyd did care about now thought the worst of him.

He had to go to the warehouse. He had to see Master Wu. His uncle was very wise, and had helped Lloyd lots of times whenever he was feeling at his lowest. Not to mention he’d be mad if he was late.

But… he didn’t want to go back to solo-training. He didn’t want to face the disappointment of Kai not showing up, and knowing that meant he wouldn’t be coming back again.

He sat for a little while longer.

“Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon, where have you been?” Master Wu didn’t sound too angry, but he tapped his staff against his hand menacingly. “Don’t tell me you were attacked again?”

“No, uncle,” mumbled Lloyd. “I just… wasn’t feeling too good.”

Wu sniffed. “Well, maybe now you’ll ‘feel good’ enough to join your teammates in training.”

Teammates? Oh no. Did he mean…?

But when Wu stepped aside to allow Lloyd to step further into the warehouse, he was met with the sight of the Smith siblings – both of them – on the obstacle course. Nya carefully maneuvered over a forest of stakes, the ends of which barely had enough room for her to put her toes on, and Kai was sliding in and out between the swinging death scythes (evidently he’d gotten more courage after Lloyd had told him the ends of the blades were blunted). Both of them managed to clear their respective obstacles, and gave each other a high five when they met in the middle.

It was Kai who noticed Lloyd first.

“Lloyd!” He waved him over. “Where’d you run off to?”

Lloyd approached them slowly, staring from one to the other. “I… What… Why are you guys here?”

Nya uncapped a water bottle. “Huh? We’re gonna be ninjas, remember?” She drank deeply. “Or was that a mistake?”

“No, but… Didn’t you guys see the news at school?”

“The Garmadon attack? Yeah, man, that’s why we’re here,” said Kai. “The faster we train, the faster we get to actually stopping something like that from happening again. That’s why we’re doing all this, isn’t it?”

“But, that shop we went to this morning,” said Lloyd. “It got destroyed! After they kicked me out! That’s not suspicious to you?”

What was he saying? It was almost as though he wanted to convince them he’d done it.

Kai and Nya exchanged a look, and in it, Lloyd saw that the thought had crossed their minds; there was a touch of guilt in their eyes. But then they both turned to Lloyd, their expressions set and determined. “But you had nothing to do with it, right?” said Kai. “You were at school the whole day.”

“Well…” Lloyd floundered, “yeah but, I could’ve messaged my dad on my phone or something… You don’t have any proof that I’m not on his side!” Without realizing it, his voice had risen, echoing a bit against the high corrugated ceiling. “How can you trust the son of Lord Garmadon so easily when you don’t know anything about me?”

“Because you’re not the son of Lord Garmadon,” said Kai.

Lloyd blinked up at him. “I’m not… huh? Yes I am!”

“You’re not,” said Kai firmly, folding his arms. “You wanna know who the son of Lord Garmadon is? He’s the guy we’ve grown up our entire lives hearing about. The kid who steals people’s things, uses his dad’s henchmen to terrorize people, and revels in destruction. The son of Lord Garmadon doesn’t constantly try to hide his face to keep out of trouble, he is the trouble. He doesn’t feel bad that he can’t pay someone back for a cup noodle, or - ” Kai smiled an oddly sad smile, “or feel this upset about an average joe like me believing all that crap about him. That’s not the son of Lord Garmadon I’ve always known.”

He pressed his fist against Lloyd’s chest. “You’re just… Lloyd. Right?”

Lloyd looked up at him in utter confusion. He could feel his heartbeat pounding against his ribcage, fit to bursting with all sorts of emotions he couldn’t name, and he wondered if Kai could feel it too.

“We’ll decide who we put our trust in, Lloyd,” said Nya. “And that’s sure not going to be in any rumors. Not anymore, anyway.” She stretched her arms over her head. “So come on! Show us what you can do! I want us to be able to ninja over buildings to get to school like you do.” She returned to the obstacle course. Kai nudged his fist into Lloyd before following her.

Wu had come to stand beside Lloyd. Without looking at him, Lloyd said “Did you know? That they’d be like this? When you told me to find other ninja.”

“Well,” said Wu, eyes crinkling as he smiled under his beard, “I did hope of course.” He patted Lloyd’s back before walking past to instruct his new students. “Yes, I hoped you’d find good people. Like you.”

Chapter Text

“Who is Super Starwalker and how did he beat my high score??”

Lloyd turned to look at the TV screen, in front of which Kai was sitting on a cushion and holding a controller. Lloyd had finally found an opportunity to sneak his video game console and games out of the apartment to bring to the warehouse, while Kai and Nya had supplied the television monitor. It was an old, second-hand relic that Nya had wanted to use for parts but never got around to dismantling. Apparently she’d gotten a good deal on it from a scrapyard, after she’d spoken to the owner’s son, who, according to Kai, ‘was practically drooling from the moment he laid eyes on Nya’. True to what Lloyd had said, Master Wu had allowed Kai and Lloyd to use it to play games during their breaks from training, though Lloyd quickly found that playing against Kai was an exercise in humility; he got dusted by him pretty much every time. It was okay though, as Lloyd was more into comic books anyway. Plus, he'd never had anyone to play two-player with before, and the experience alone was… well, a lot of fun.

The screen currently showed a chart of names with numbers next to them, at the top of which, sure enough, was written “SUPERSTARWALKER”, just above “FIYASMITHNINJA”.

Kai jerked his thumb at the offending title indignantly. “This can’t be Master Wu can it?” he asked.

Lloyd shook his head slowly. “I don’t think so… It must be one of his other students.”

Kai put down the controller, switched off the TV, and got up to stand in front of Lloyd. He made a time-out sign with his hands. “Hold on, back up. Other students? I thought you, me and Nya were the only ones. Has he got a side gig going?”

“I don’t know why he’s training them,” Lloyd said shiftily, “but they’ve been coming here almost as long as I have. Sensei tried introducing me to them when he first brought them here.”

“Tried to?”

“I stayed inside the infirmary,” Lloyd admitted. “I was too afraid to meet them.”

Kai gave him a long look.

“I mean, they’d only hate me!” said Lloyd defensively. “They might even have just turned around and left.”

“I don’t hate you,” said Kai seriously. “You know that, right?”

Lloyd avoided his eyes.

Kai didn’t take offense. “You gotta give people a chance, Lloyd. I know most of them are jerks, but not all of them are.” He stretched his arms above his head and switched gears. “So how come we haven’t seen these other students? What are they, ninja?” He chuckled at his own joke.

“They come at later hours than you two,” Master Wu put in, joining them with a light thump of his staff. “I had to insist since Lloyd refused to train with them.”

“I didn’t refuse, they would have-!”

“You of all people should know not to judge others before you get to know them, Lloyd.” Wu gave his nephew a stern look.

“Yeah, you hear that Lloyd? Get to know people!” Kai thumped Lloyd on the back (a little painfully). “These guys can’t be all bad if they like Ninja Destroyer.”

“Excuse me, fellow student. Where might I find my class schedule?”

Lloyd turned around at the sound of the voice and almost tripped over himself in surprise at what he saw. Someone very tall stood before him, almost blocking out the sun with his straight-standing hair, but what really startled Lloyd was the fact that the boy’s entire body was encased in a swirling icy blue aura, like a self-contained blizzard. He blinked the vision away several times, quickly trying to acclimate his mind to what he was seeing. Another one, he’s another potential Master, and he just walked right up to me.

What were the odds that he’d find another Elemental Master just by waiting around the school’s courtyard for that exact purpose? He almost didn’t want to tell his uncle about this one, just to avoid hearing the inevitable ‘I told you so.’

“Are you alright?” the boy asked, and this time Lloyd was able to focus on his face. He had a deep but kind-sounding voice with a slightly accented lilt, and large ice-blue eyes in a square-set face. Everything about him was snowy pale, from his skin to his hair – lighter even than Lloyd’s already rare shade of gold – to his neatly pressed clothes, which spoke of a person who took proper care of himself, with the collar buttoned up and shirt tucked under a warm grey vest. Both straps of the boy’s backpack were adjusted to equal lengths, and both were securely slung over his shoulders, a sight almost unheard of at high school, where everyone favored one side over the other to carry bags. If he hadn’t been so big, it would’ve given him a child-like appearance. As it was, he smiled good-naturedly and expectantly down at Lloyd as though waiting for a treat.

Lloyd blinked slowly back up at him, at a loss. “You’re asking… me?” he said finally.

“Yes!” said the boy cheerfully. “You are the only one standing alone, and I thought it would be rude to interrupt other people’s conversations.”

Lloyd looked around the courtyard, knowing what he said was true without having to check, but doing so anyway, on the lookout for an audience trying to stay out of sight while they watched the fun of a new Garmadork prank. “I’m confused.”

“As am I,” the boy intoned feelingly. “It is my first day at school. I am relieved to know it is not just new students who feel this way.”

Lloyd decided being direct would get results faster. “No, I mean, I’m confused about why you’re asking me. Is this a prank?” And, feeling self-conscious about how arrogant the question sounded but feeling it necessary to ask anyway, “Don’t you… know who I am?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! You are absolutely right, I should have introduced myself first. My name is Zane Julien. And you are?”

Lloyd stared at the strange boy. This was either definitely a prank, or he quite literally has been living under a rock.

“Lloyd. Garmadon.”

“Oh, like the name of the evil overlord who attacks the city periodically,” Zane said happily. “What a coincidence!”

So not completely under a rock then.

“Yeah, well.” Lloyd scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “He’s um… I’m his son actually.”

“Ahhh then that makes sense!” Zane nodded sagely. “I am also named after my father. Though perhaps he is not as well-known as yours,” he added, bowing his head slightly as though in apology.

Lloyd looked around half-heartedly again, but the courtyard had mostly emptied as everyone had entered the school building. Tentatively he returned Zane’s friendly smile. Zane’s face brightened at that.

“So Lloyd,” he began again, “are you able to help me? I wouldn’t like to be late for class on the first day.”

“Um… Sure, uh.” Lloyd actually didn’t know where new students were meant to go to receive their schedules, but he felt reluctant to hand Zane off to someone else. Never had he had the chance to make a first impression to someone who didn’t already know all about him, or at least think they knew all about him. While the possibility that the large boy could be messing with him still wasn’t off the table, somehow his overall demeanor made it hard to believe he had a dishonest bone in his body.

Maybe those with ‘potential’ were naturally nice people? It would be convenient for Lloyd if true.

For now, Lloyd beckoned Zane to follow him inside, walking with his head held up as though he knew exactly where he was going. Zane kept pace just behind him, his loafers making a precisely timed rhythm on the floor.

Lloyd weaved through the groups of students standing or walking down the halls, trying to remember where the teacher’s assistants could be found. He quickened his pace a bit past the staff room door (it was never a good idea to be caught wandering by a teacher so close to the first bell), and felt absurdly relieved to see the plaque on the next door proclaiming it to be the Student Council’s room.

A girl in a tight ponytail answer his knock. Her greeting smile disappeared almost immediately when she saw who it was, replaced by a look of distaste.

“Hi, um, could I-” was all Lloyd managed before she slammed the door in his face. Lloyd sighed. “Should’ve let you knock instead,” he said aside to Zane.

Zane only blinked in confusion.

“It might be better if I’m not here, you can try again af-”

The Student Council door opened again, and another girl stood before them. “Lloyd.”

“Nya?”

“Hey.” Her mouth dimpled slightly as she gave him her sideways smile. “You were the one who knocked just now?”

“Uh yes.”

“Hmm.” She pressed her lips together in a thin line, displeased. “Sorry about that.”

“It is what it is,” mumbled Lloyd. “I didn’t know you were in the Student Council.”

“I’m not, but I help them out with stuff sometimes. Their printer was busted and I’m good with machines.”

“Oh, cool.”

“Do you need something?” Nya’s almond eyes glanced over at Zane.

“Um, well this is Zane. He’s new and doesn’t know where to go. Could you… Would it be possible to get his class schedule?”

“What grade are you?” she asked Zane.

“I believe I am to be put in the tenth grade level,” Zane answered.

Like Kai, Lloyd thought, then mentally shook his head.

“I’ll see what I can do. Wait ten seconds,” said Nya, and ducked back into the room.

She returned almost literally ten seconds later, closing the door behind her and holding a paper in her hand. She gave it to Zane with a triumphant flourish. “Here you go.”

“Thank you so much!” said Zane warmly.

Nya’s smile broadened at his enthusiasm. “It’s no biggie. I can help you to your first class if you want, it’s on my way.”

“That would be most appreciated. People are so helpful here!” He inclined his head towards Lloyd. “Thank you as well, Lloyd Garmadon.”

Lloyd felt a warmth expand in his chest. “You’re welcome.”

“See you later, Lloyd,” Nya called as they turned to leave.

“Bye, Nya.”

Even after the duo had turned a corner and he lost sight of them, Lloyd took a few moments to just stand there, basking in that warm feeling of having done something for someone and actually being recognized for it. He’d even completely forgotten about the fact that he’d found another potential Elemental Master.

He was woken from his reverie when the door to the Student Council room opened again and the person coming out bumped into his back.

“Hey!”

“Oh, sor-”

“Move out of the way, Garmadork!”

Lloyd hurried out of the way, down the hallways until he came to a less crowded area. He leaned against the wall and sighed. Well, back to reality. The first bell would ring soon anyway.

“Come on, come on, hurry up!”

“Now? You wanna do it now?”

“Quickly, while there’s no one looking!”

Lloyd turned his head in the direction of the hushed voices, and nearly slipped down the wall to the floor in shock.

No way.

There was just no way.

On the other side of the hallway, bent double and keeping to the walls, were a pair of boys quickly making their way to a door labeled ‘Broadcast Room’ on its opaque window. At least, Lloyd assumed they were boys, as all he could really see as he stared at them were their silhouettes. One was a figure made of brown dust clouds and rocks, veined with glowing lines of lava, the other of blindingly bright, twining bolts of crackling lightning.

“Hurry, unlock it!”

“I got it, I got it.”

As he watched, the smaller of the two figures, the one made of lightning, handed something to the other, who then bent over the lock of the door.

The visions had only just started fading away to reveal the actual people beneath, when the two boys got the door unlocked and quickly slipped in, one after the other. For a moment Lloyd deliberated, then ran across the hall to put his ear to the door. He wouldn’t have a chance to talk them right now, and he hadn’t caught what they looked like, but maybe he could catch their names and find them later. Seriously, what were the odds that all five of the Elemental Masters he was supposed to be looking for had been going to his school this whole time? Well, Zane had just started today, but that was an even bigger coincidence that he’d run right into him!

A loud whine and crackle blared from the speakers all over the halls. A few of the scattering of students that still hadn’t gone to class raised their hands to their ears.

“-working now? Oh, sh-!” The echoing voice full of mirth cut out, and a few seconds later, guitar music filled the air instead. Lloyd thought he recognized the song.

“They sa-ayy, go slo-ow, and everything just stands so still.”

“Ugh, this band sucks,” a student scoffed as he walked by. Lloyd smiled to himself, still leaning against the broadcast room door.

“What do you think you are doing?”

Lloyd startled as a woman in a gray blazer, skirt, stockings and heels came marching towards him, arms held at her sides furiously. Quickly he straightened up as she halted in front of him. “Miss Principal, ma’am?” he said nervously.

“Lloyd Garmadon, I might have known. Who’s in there?” The woman jerked her chin at the door.

“I don’t-”

Suddenly the door banged open (inward, thankfully, or it likely would’ve nailed Lloyd in the back of the head) and the two guys shot out of the room at the speed of lightning, sleekly dodging between Lloyd and the principal. The larger of the two, black haired and stocky, sang along with The Fold as he ran.

“Jump up, kick back, whip around and spin!”

“Whooooooo!” crowed the other boy, clapping the other’s hand in a high five, neither of them breaking their stride as they burst through the double doors at the end of the hall to the school’s backyard.

The principal stared after where they’d gone with wide, affronted eyes, then said stiffly, “I’ll find out who they are later. As for you Garmadon, you’re getting detention.”

Lloyd’s amused smile at the pranksters’ getaway dropped fast. “But… it wasn’t me, you just saw-!”

“Don’t act as if you weren’t keeping lookout!” snapped the principal. “In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if it was you who put them up to it. You’re a bad influence on everyone, you know that? Now get to class.” She pointed down the hall severely. Lloyd shouldered his bag and did as she said.

Perfect. And it had been so long since his last detention too. Well, hopefully those two guys earlier would also get caught and he could talk to them. At least then it would be worth it. Even though, as was usually the case, Lloyd thought bitterly, he hadn’t even done anything.

Lloyd hadn’t needed the reminder that he had a detention to look forward to at the end of the day, but he got one anyway during class from the principal’s assistant, much to his embarrassment, the derision of his classmates, and exasperation of his teacher (“Why am I not surprised, Lloyd?”).

It did remind him however that this time he had a means of letting Master Wu know about it (his uncle did not own a mobile phone, preferring to go old-school). At final bell Lloyd dashed to the school’s front courtyard and scanned the tops of people’s heads, looking for the tell-tale gelled spikes. When he saw them he called out loud without thinking. “Kai! Kai, wait up!”

Only when Lloyd had pulled up to him did he realize too late that he was accompanied by someone else, who abruptly stopped talking as Kai turned to Lloyd.

“What’s up, Lloyd?”

“U-um.” Lloyd froze at the sight of Kai’s friend’s expression of confusion turned shock, as he looked between Kai and Lloyd.

Kai took notice of the source of Lloyd’s hesitation. “See you tomorrow, then,” he said to his companion, lifting his hand in a friendly enough gesture that clearly also meant the friend was dismissed from the conversation.

“Sure…” The guy walked away with suspicion in his eyes.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have-” Lloyd began.

“Don’t worry about it, dude. What is it?”

“Could you tell Master Wu I won’t be able to make it today? I have… something important to do.”

“Sure man, no problem.”

“Thanks. Well, then… See you. Tomorrow.” Lloyd turned back to the school.

“Can I ask what it is?”

“Huh?”

“The important thing you have to do,” Kai clarified.

“Oh… It’s kinda… Master Wu will understand when you tell him, it’s something I do at least once or twice every month-”

“Garmadon!”

Lloyd cringed at the voice of the principal, loud and clear even from all the way back at the school’s front steps.

“I hope you’re not thinking of skipping your detention!”

Lloyd felt his face redden as people laughed and jeered around him. He couldn’t make himself look up to see Kai’s reaction. “Anyway thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He quickly walked away.

“Right,” said Kai glumly, though Lloyd had already gone out of earshot.

Lloyd already knew which room he was expected to be in, as well as which teacher would be sitting in on his detention. Neither of these bits of trivia made him feel any more prepared than usual for the dull drudgery that awaited him for the next few hours.

Or the greeting he would get from Mr. Missioner.

“Ah, little Garmadon. Back again, are you?” the man sneered in his slightly growly voice, his large grey mustache quivering at the tips.

Lloyd knew from experience there was no point in making excuses, so he stayed quiet and just entered the room.

Unfortunately even his silence seemed to induce affront in Mr. Missioner. “Think you’re too good to talk to me, do you? Hmph! Go sit yourself down then. Your little minions are already here.”

“Minions? What? Of who?”

Lloyd startled at the (slightly too loud) voice, and looked up to see two guys already seated a few desks apart. One had short reddish brown hair, freckles, and a surly expression, the other had a mop of dark black hair, thick eyebrows, and a large build. The latter was leaning back casually in his seat, looking slightly bored, while the former had his forearms braced against the top of his desk in indignation. Both boys looked slightly surprised as Lloyd walked past the front row of desks.

“Woah, Lloyd Garmadon,” the black-haired boy commented.

“WHAT?” shouted the freckled boy. “That’s outrageous, I came up with that plan, ME! What’s he told you? ‘Cause whatever it was it’s not true, I’m nobody’s henchman!”

“Give it a rest, motor mouth,” said the black-haired boy, rolling his eyes.

“All three of you better shut it, before I get old-fashioned on your asses!” barked Mr. Missioner. “You’re not to utter a single peep while you’re here, understand? Just three hours of sitting and thinking about what you’ve done.”

“Oh I am thinking about it,” said Freckles smugly, crossing his arms and settling in his chair like it was a throne. “I am picturing it all in high definition in my mind, and it is still just as glorious!”

“Eh, honestly I think it was a little cliché as far as pranks go, don’t you?” Black Hair cocked his head slightly at Lloyd, who’d seated himself between the two of them one row back.

“Me?” he asked.

“I said QUIET!”

The three of them fell silent.

And the silence persisted, with hardly any of them even shifting position in their seats, for the next hour or so, while Mr. Missioner sat at the teacher’s desk with his feet up and watched them, scowling.

Eventually he got out his phone and fiddled with it for awhile. Then he lifted it to his ear, waited for a bit, and said “Hello? Yeah, hi… ‘bout what you can expect, you know. You?...” As he continued to talk to whoever was on the other end, he got up from his seat and exited the room, closing the door behind him. His footsteps could be heard echoing down the hall.

When thirty minutes had passed and he still hadn’t returned, Black Hair broke the silence at last in a low voice. “Uh, is he going to be out there all day?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Lloyd answered, also keeping his tone low.

“Cool, so we can just go then!” Freckles said at normal volume, which still sounded loud in the empty classroom.

“Well, he’ll be back to check on us before we leave,” said Lloyd.

“Done this a lot, have you Garmadon?” Black Hair noted evenly. Lloyd flushed and sank lower in his seat.

“Agh it’s so boring!” Freckles exclaimed, flopping dramatically over his desk. “I can’t just sit here for three hours! What do you do for fun then?” The question was directed at Lloyd. “Don’t tell me you really just wait here the whole time.”

“Nooo, um… I practice.”

“Practice what?” asked Black Hair.

“A sport,” said Lloyd evasively.

“Kicking puppies? Haha!” Freckles snorted loudly. (Being loud seemed to be his natural state.) At the look on Lloyd’s face, he hastily added, “Um, I’m kidding. That was a joke. Don’t uh, don’t hate me. Hey, I think Lord Garmadon is cool! The four arms and all? Badass. You know if it wasn’t for the whole destroy the city thing…”

“You’ll have to excuse Jay, he doesn’t know when to shut up,” Black Hair said.

“You shut up!” Freckles – Jay – stood up in his seat in a fury and pointed a warning finger at his friend. “Seriously, don’t tell him my name!”

“Jay Walker, president of the non-existent video games club, lives at Ed and Edna’s Scrap Yard–” Black Hair listed off eagerly.

“Stop talking!!” Jay suddenly launched himself at Black Hair – clearing the two desks that separated them – and started pummeling him as they crashed to the floor. “What is wrong with you!?”

“Get off me, blabbermouth!”

“You’re the blabbermouth in this situation you colossal di– !”

“Excuse me? Is this where the Ninjago history class is?”

All three boys froze in place and turned their heads in unison towards the classroom entrance, where a tall boy with platinum blonde hair stood holding a paper inquiringly in his hand. Jay scrambled to his feet (trodding on Black Hair’s hand as he did and eliciting a kick to the shins from him in protest), staring at the unexpected visitor with incredulous eyes. Black Hair stood up to join him, a similar expression on his face.

“Is that?”

“No way. No WAY! Zane!” The two rushed towards the doorway in excitement, Jay greeting Zane with a whack to his arm. “My man, what are you doing here??”

“Jay? And Cole!” Zane broke out in a large smile as he looked from one to the other. “My friends! It is so good to see some familiar faces!”

“Look at you buddy!” The black-haired boy, Cole, who stood nearly as tall as Zane, thumped him appreciatively on the back. “Out and about in the world! Homeschool not doing it for you anymore?”

“My father finally relented to me joining a normal school to meet more people my age. I was very pleased!”

“Annnd?” needled Jay. “What do you think so far?”

“It is hard to say,” Zane said in an apologetic tone. “I have had trouble getting to all my classes. Speaking of which, is this the Ninjago History classroom?”

“Uh, maybe during school hours,” said Cole, “but right now, it’s Detention.”

“Detention? Isn’t that what you get when you break the rules? What did you two do?”

“It was awesome, tell me you heard it!” said Jay excitedly.

“Heard what?”

“The-"

“Oh, it is Lloyd Garmadon!” Zane waved to Lloyd and pushed between Cole and Jay to enter the room. “We meet again, friend!”

“Friend?” said Cole and Jay simultaneously.

“Yes! He helped me find my class schedule this morning.” Zane smiled conspiratorily at Lloyd, who hadn’t moved from his desk as he’d watched the three friends’ interactions with fascination and dawning comprehension.

“Is that so?” Cole folded his arms skeptically as he looked at Lloyd.

“This is wonderful!” said Zane. “My first new school friend is already friends with my old friends.”

“Uh, we’re not exactly friends, Zane.”

“Yeah, uh, we don’t…” Jay seemed to struggle with himself, as though tasked with explaining a very basic and logical fact of life and not quite knowing how to begin. “I mean, no one’s friends with Lloyd Garmadon. You know?”

“Why ever not?” asked Zane curiously.

“Because he’s, you know, the son of Garmadon!”

“And?”

Jay raised his hands in a beseeching gesture. “And Garmadon is EVIL!”

“But, what does that have to do with Lloyd?”

“Well, obviously he’s evil too!”

“Is it usually the case that sons are always exactly like their fathers?”

Both Jay and Cole were at a loss for words at that.

“Heh. No,” said Cole quietly, smiling a small, strangely pained smile. “No way. But it’s not just that, Zane. It’s… I mean if you’ve heard anything about this guy-”

“Why don’t we just ask Lloyd directly?” Zane suggested. “I think he is feeling uncomfortable with us talking about him when he is sitting right here.”

And before Lloyd knew it, the older boy had come right up to his desk, looking down at him expectantly.

“Are you evil, Lloyd?”

Lloyd considered him for a moment before glancing at Cole and Jay, watching them uncertainly.

“… I try not to be.”

“I see. Then that should suffice,” said Zane kindly.

“Come on Zane, he could be lying. Cause he’s evil!”

“I do not see any indication of that. He is telling the truth.”

“What, you got a built-in lie detector in that thick skull of yours?” scoffed Jay.

“Well–”

“Alright Zane, I’ll believe you,” said Cole, coming up to Lloyd’s desk beside Zane. “Since it’s you.” He turned his gaze to Lloyd, his dark eyes probing. “You really helped my friend out this morning?”

“I just helped him find his class schedule,” Lloyd murmured.

“Then why’d you miss your classes, Zane? You’re usually very punctual.”

“I am told you must follow all orders when at school,” Zane explained. “So when I asked some fellow students for directions to the second period classroom, and they said to ‘get lost’, naturally I had to comply.”

Jay burst into laughter. “Ahh Zane, never change.”

“Let’s stick to just listening to teachers from now on, buddy.” Cole patted Zane’s shoulder. “Wait for us tomorrow to help you.”

“Yes, I will do that.” Zane folded the schedule he’d been holding and put it carefully in his pocket. “Then, I suppose I should leave you three to your detention and return home. My father is probably wondering where I am.”

“Ah come on Zane, hang out with us awhile!” Jay rushed over to his other side and shook him by the shoulder cajolingly. “It’s so boring here. Maybe you could come up with something to entertain us?”

“Well, if I were you two, I would be using this time for train–”

“Shhh!!”

“Woah, WOAH!”

Both Cole and Jay smothered Zane’s mouth with their hands. They looked at Lloyd.

“This is not suspicious at all,” said Cole.

“Can I ask you guys something?” said Lloyd.

“Depends…” said Jay slowly, neither he nor Cole removing their hands from Zane’s mouth. “Zane’s not allowed to answer though.”

“How did you all meet?”

Evidently they hadn’t expected this question, as both of them let go of Zane (who now had his lips pressed together in a tight line). “Oh. Well, Jay and I are old friends. We live just a few blocks apart.”

“I saved him from some bullies on the way to school,” Jay added, “back when we were in the third grade.”

Cole gave him a disgusted look. “What? Jay, I saved you!”

“Did not, you were crying like a baby because you got beat up–”

“What about him?” Lloyd interrupted, quickly learning that this was the only way to stop them from going on once they started arguing.

“Zane? We met him… at a gym.” Cole nodded. “Yeah, we all go to the same gym.”

“Well, it’s not really so much a gym as–” Zane started to say, before Jay clamped his hand over his mouth again.

“And that’s that!” said Jay. “So now we’re all good buddies who are very good at keeping our mouths shut around certain people.”

“Why do you ask?” Cole wondered.

Lloyd dropped his gaze shyly. In truth he’d wanted to confirm something that had been on his mind since he saw the other two recognizing Zane… but after watching them all together, he had another reason too.

“You guys… seem very close. I just wanted to know how you make friends like that.”

“Oh.”

“Huh…”

Jay and Cole exchanged a look like they were surprised to hear their relationship described as such.

Zane answered for them. “If I may … in my opinion, friendship is not something you need to learn. It is something that happens without you realizing it.” He peered intently at Lloyd until the green eyes met his blue ones. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

Lloyd suddenly felt a sadness grip his heart. An old sadness he was usually good at ignoring, but had now surfaced at the sight of a reality he could never have for himself. “Then why has it taken so long?”

“Maybe you weren’t looking before.”

Lloyd met Zane’s eyes again and was reminded of Master Wu.

“Uhh I don’t know what you two are talking about,” Jay cut in. “But if we don't do something actually fun soon I think I might lose it.”

Lloyd hesitated for only a moment before getting up and climbing on top of his desk.

“Uh, what are you doing?”

“I've had so many detentions in this room,” he said as he reached up to the ceiling panel directly above him, pushing it with the tips of his fingers so that it lifted, “I started keeping a stash of comics and stuff to pass the time.” Grappling around in the darkness in the ceiling for a moment, Lloyd dislodged a stack of comic books, tipping them through the opening in the ceiling so that they fell around him on the desk and floor. Jay picked up a few at once and fanned them in his hands to look at the covers.

“You guys like Starfarer?” asked Lloyd, carefully stepping back down.

“Are these seriously first editions?” asked Jay in a hushed voice. “Dude… where’d you even get these?”

“Online competitions, mostly.”

“Wait wait wait wait.” Jay laid the comics aside and grasped Lloyd by the shoulders. “You are not telling me you’re fritzsuperfan11040?”

“Yeah! That’s me!” said Lloyd excitedly.

“WHAT? Lloyd GARMADON is THE number one fan of FRITZ DONEGAN?!”

“My ears, Jay!” complained Cole.

Jay ignored him, shaking Lloyd back and forth. “Do you know there was one time I was this close to winning a limited edition Starfarer captain’s pin and still lost to fritzsuperfan by a couple of seconds? Oh man I was so mad that day I threw my controller and broke it.”

“That’s why it wasn’t working?” said Cole. “You jerk, you made me think it was because I dropped it!”

“Is this Starfarer comic really so good as to deserve such a degree of passion?” asked Zane.

“It’s okay,” sniffed Cole. “I think it’s dropped off a lot since the movies came out.”

“No it hasn’t!” Lloyd protested, at the same time that Jay shouted, “That’s a garbage take and you know it! You don’t even think that, you just wanna be different ‘cause it’s cool–”

“Will you all pipe down in here!”

Mr. Missioner stormed into the classroom. In a flash the four boys had swept the comics away, some in Lloyd’s bag, some in Jay’s jacket, some behind Cole’s back.

“Sit your sorry butts down, this isn’t a slumber party!”

The boys all rushed to their respective seats. Zane took one in the front row, folding his hands neatly in front of him on the desk. Mr. Missioner glared at each of them in turn, then did a double take. “Wait a minute. Were there four of you the whole time?”

“No sir,” said Zane, “I do not have detention, I was simply late for class.”

“Late for-?”

Zane stood up from his seat. “So I will just be leaving now. It was nice to see you all my friends!” He waved as he walked to the door. “And I will see you two later, Jay and Cole.”

“Right, Zane,” said Cole, grinning stiffly.

“See ya buddy,” said Jay cheerfully.

“What kind of social call is this?” spluttered Mr. Missioner, his mustache flaring. “These boys are here to be punished, sonny, so hurry up and get out!”

Zane rushed out of the room, his arms and legs swinging at his sides. Lloyd stifled a laugh at the sight.

“Think this is funny, Garmadon, do you?” Mr. Missioner rounded on Lloyd, his cheeks slightly red with anger.

Lloyd quickly schooled his face. “No sir.”

“Get your kicks out of causing others misery, don’t you? You know nine times out of ten I’m only wasting my time here after hours because of you? These boys wouldn’t even be here if you hadn’t pulled them into your schemes.”

“We didn’t get pulled into anything, that whole prank was my idea!” said Jay indignantly.

Mr. Missioner only sniffed and shook his head. “Even got them covering for you. What have you threatened them with, huh?”

“Threatened?” said Cole. “We’ve literally never even talked to Lloyd before today.”

“How do you even know Lloyd was behind everything?” Jay demanded.

“Cause he’s behind everything!” exclaimed Mr. Missioner. “Any trouble, big or small, you can bet it’s got something to do with Lloyd Garmadon. Can’t help himself I expect, can he? Evil is just in his blood. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“You’re wrong.”

Mr. Missioner’s attention snapped back to Lloyd. “What’s that?”

“I’m nothing like my father.” Lloyd spoke in a low, tremulous voice, eyes cast resolutely down at the surface of his desk.

Mr. Missioner chuckled sinisterly. “Oh yeah, devil’s child? Could’ve fooled me.”

“I’m not evil.”

“Hah! I thought you were supposed to be good at lying!”

“I’m NOT lying,” Lloyd raised his voice. “I’m not evil, I’m not like my father, and I didn’t do the prank!”

“Then who was it, boyscout? Come on, spill the beans!”

“It was…”

Lloyd trailed off. He bit his lip. He told himself Cole and Jay would never trust him or want him as a teammate if he snitched on them, and stayed quiet.

“Go on, sell out your fall guys, do it. Wouldn’t be the worst thing you’ve ever done, so why not just admit it?”

“Ugh ENOUGH!”

Jay slammed his fists down on top of his desk. Both Lloyd and Mr. Missioner jumped in surprise and turned to him.

“How many times do I gotta say it?! The. Prank. Was. My. IDEA! You guys made Lloyd Garmadon my fall guy, you hear me?!”

There was a long moment of stunned silence. Jay huffed and slumped back in his seat with his arms crossed sulkily. “I want it on my permanent record, you can even call my parents, heck announce it to the whole school. I didn’t go through all that trouble of snagging the keys to the broadcast room just for Lloyd to get all the credit just because he happened to be there.”

“You stole the key to the broadcast room?”

“Oh, yeah, I still have it,” said Cole. He got up from his seat, taking his bag with him (into which he surreptitiously slipped the Starfarer comics he’d picked up), and casually walked up to Mr. Missioner holding the key out in front of him. “Here,” he said, then pointed at the clock on the wall, “also our detention’s up, so I’m gonna go. Have a nice day, Mr. M.”

Jay scrambled from his seat too, his bag also laden with comics poking out, and sped after Cole without a word.

Lloyd looked to Mr. Missioner uncertainly. The grizzled man seemed to wrestle with the half of himself that wanted to continue chewing Lloyd out, and the half that really wanted to go home as much as Lloyd did. Finally he jerked his head in a dismissive gesture, and watched Lloyd hurriedly exit the room with glaring eyes. Lloyd didn’t look back.

Out in the hall, Cole and Jay were still in sight, walking side by side. “My parents already grounded me anyway, so I won’t be coming,” Lloyd heard Jay grumbling before he caught up to them and called out “Hey! Wait a second!”

The two boys stopped and turned around. Lloyd faltered a bit at their wary faces, but cleared his throat. “Thanks for… just now.”

Cole just shrugged, but his mouth was turned up in a small smile. Jay scowled a little at the floor. “Don’t get me wrong,” he said, “I really did just not want you taking the credit for my work.”

“I didn’t mean to, honest.”

“Yeah, I could see that.”

Jay pulled his bag around to his front and pulled out the comic books. “Here, take these back.”

“You can keep them,” said Lloyd. “I’ve read them lots of times.”

Jay’s eyes grew wide, clearly pleased. “Seriously? Dude, are you sure?” When Lloyd nodded he quickly stuffed the comics back in his bag. “Then, I’ll get you some issues with special arc storylines. They’re super rare, I found them in a toolbox someone threw out in my parents’ junkyard.”

“Really?” Lloyd felt a lightness in his chest. “You don’t have to, you know –”

“Ah ah ah,” Jay cut him off, wagging a finger. “Rules of comic collecting say I have to, it’s only fair.”

“Then… thanks. Again.”

“We’ll see you around, then,” said Cole, lifting his hand in farewell.

“Yeah, see ya,” said Jay.

Sooner than you think, thought Lloyd.

“What do you mean they’re not coming?” said Lloyd in disappointment. "Why not?"

“How should I know?” snapped Master Wu irritably. “Seems everyone’s got something better to do than training today!”

Oh, Lloyd thought suddenly, remembering Jay’s words to Cole earlier, could it be that all three of them got grounded for getting in trouble?

“Why do you now want to meet my other students when you were so against it before, hm?” Wu asked him.

“Because I already met them,” admitted Lloyd. He shot Wu an accusing glare. “You didn’t need me to find the potential Elemental Masters. You already knew who they were!”

“Perhaps,” said Wu, stroking his beard, “though my knowing who they were wasn’t the point. You had to find out for yourself who they are. Did you?”

Lloyd reflected on the events of the day.

Overall, he thought he had.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t that Kai didn’t acknowledge Lloyd at all while they were at school. Since they were two grades apart, they didn’t share any classes, and there weren’t many chances for them to cross paths in between. Whenever they did though, Kai would openly smile and wave at Lloyd when he caught the other’s eye in the halls (which wasn’t often given that Lloyd pretty much always walked between classes with his hood up and gaze lowered to the ground), and once even thumped him on the back as he passed by him standing in line at the cafeteria. Usually he’d be with someone else, if not Nya – presumably friends of his or classmates – so Lloyd assumed he sat with them during lunchtime and breaks.

The Monday after their first successful ninja mission however, Kai made a beeline for Lloyd at his locker. After weaving through the throng of students on their way to class, he came up from behind him and pulled his hood down.

On reflex, Lloyd, without even turning around to see who it was, made to bolt away from Kai before he got out the words “Hey Lloyd-”, and Kai ended up having to grab the back of his backpack to stop him. His own reflexes had improved without him realizing, given all the ninja training.

“Woah hey, Lloyd it’s me!” he said, pulling Lloyd backwards into a headlock.

Lloyd stopped struggling abruptly. “Kai?” he said in amazement.

“The one and only.” Kai made sure Lloyd got his balance back before releasing his hold. He grinned reassuringly at him as the younger boy turned around, still looking as though he couldn’t quite believe whom he was seeing.

Kai leaned against the locker next to Lloyd’s, hands in the pockets of his jacket. “So did you get any sleep yesterday?” he asked. “’Cause I was so hyped up I couldn’t get a wink.”

Lloyd slipped his backpack from his back and hung it in his locker, smiling tentatively back at Kai. “I think I passed out as soon as I got into bed,” he admitted. “That was… really cool, wasn’t it?”

“SO freaking cool!” Kai seemed fit to bursting with excitement, his grin widening even more. “The way you and Nya cornered that guy, and then how I came drop kicking in, like wham! Augh, that was fire! I can’t wait to get out there again. We’re like vigilantes! Like that superhero, what was his name?”

He stopped when Lloyd closed his locker, and his face took on a sudden cold expression. “What is it?” asked Lloyd.

Kai’s lip curled in disgust as he said, “Don’t they ever wash this?”

He was looking at the door of Lloyd’s locker, which was covered almost entirely in graffiti. Scrawls of spiky insults in black marker and spray paint were splashed all up and down the metal surface: ‘freak’, ‘evil spawn’… ‘Garmadork’ was the most popular epithet, but there were other obscenities that were far worse (and definitely not allowed at school), as well as a few death threats. It had been awhile since Lloyd had really looked at them carefully. For some reason, he felt embarrassed that Kai’s attention had been drawn to them, even though they were clearly visible for everyone in the hallways to see. “I used to,” he mumbled, “but there’s no point. New stuff appears again before the day even passes.”

There was a moment of silence between them in which Kai simply gazed at the locker, eyes roving up and down and up again. Finally he shook his head slowly. “This is messed up, man…”

Lloyd shifted uncomfortably. “It’s okay,” he said, trying to sound offhanded. “I’m used to it. It makes it easy to find, haha.”

Kai barely heard what he’d said. How many times, he thought, have I walked past this locker and never questioned it?

“Listen, Lloyd, um…” He fumbled for a way to say what he wanted to say without sounding meddlesome. “I know you can take care of yourself, but… if anyone tries to bother you from now on… let me know okay?”

“What for?”

Kai looked aside, feeling frustrated. “Forget it,” he muttered. In a normal tone, he said, “What class do you have now?”

“Uh, biology I think.”

“Nice! I have chemistry. We’ll be heading in the same direction then.” He pulled Lloyd by the shoulder, turning him away from the locker. “So I was thinking, we should practice some combo moves! You know like, wouldn’t it be cool to be able to just say something like, ‘maneuver seven!’ and then immediately pull off a sick team attack?”

“I’ve… thought of some before, actually,” said Lloyd, trying to ignore the way heads turned in his peripheral vision as they walked. “Some of them are from Fritz Donnegan movies, though. I always thought it’d be cool to do some of the stuff he did in Starfarer.”

“Who’s Fritz Donnegan?”

“Oh, um, he’s the hero in these comics I like…”

“Ohh those ones you’re always reading at the warehouse? What’re they about?”

As they continued talking in this way, threading through crowds of people and climbing the stairways to the science classrooms, Lloyd felt his nervousness slowly melt away. It felt strange to be moving out in the open with his hood down, much less to be walking with someone else, but the comfortable ease with which Kai spoke to him gradually took its effect, calming him in turn. He was almost disappointed when they turned into the hallway where their classes were. Kai walked with him all the way to the biology classroom door, then with a “See you later!” loped backwards to the classroom opposite, slipping in past another student, whom Lloyd recognized as one of the friends Kai usually sat with at lunch.

The friend frowned after Kai before looking back at Lloyd with a suspicious expression. Lloyd quickly dodged into his own class, pulling his hood up over his head.

The next hour passed in typical fashion – with Lloyd doing his best to concentrate on the lesson without actually looking at the teacher or the board, shoulders hunched against pelted bits of paper and spitballs from several different directions. Once the bell rang, Lloyd got up immediately to be the first out the door, before anyone could try to corner him at the entrance.

No sooner had he crossed the threshold than he heard Kai’s voice calling him. He looked up to see the familiar red-sleeved arm raised in greeting. Behind Kai, the boy he’d brushed past earlier side-stepped around him with narrowed eyes.

Years of experience alerted Lloyd to what would happen next.

Paying no heed to anything else, Kai eagerly made his way towards Lloyd, not watching his feet as the boy hooked his ankle around Kai’s, pitching him forward. It was a loud and spectacular fall, landing Kai smackdown on the floor, his books flying from his hand.

“Oops,” the boy said coolly, shoving past Lloyd, who’d been about to offer Kai a hand up. “Sorry, Smith. Thought you were someone else.”

By the time Lloyd had pulled Kai to his feet the guy was gone, and the rest of the students had milled around them, a few snickering and whispering at Lloyd handing Kai his books.

“What the hell was that for?” Kai growled angrily, rubbing his head, which smarted a bit pink.

“I don’t know,” said Lloyd, while a heavy weight pressed down on his stomach.

They had to part for their next few classes, to which Lloyd was secretly grateful. Come lunchtime though, after he’d gotten his food (which the lunch lady had spat in without preamble, just as she did every day, forcing him to section off the contaminated bits with his spoon), Lloyd arrived at his usual table at the very back of the cafeteria, next to the trash bins and rest rooms, which no one else ever sat at, even if there were no other place to sit, and found Kai already sitting there with his tray. He felt his heart lift a little and felt irrationally embarrassed again; both at the fact that Kai knew where he sat (of course he knows, Lloyd told himself, the whole school knows where NOT to sit), and at how relieved he felt that Kai hadn’t been scared away by the incident earlier.

“Hey,” Kai greeted him. “You don’t mind if I sit here, do you?”

“No,” said Lloyd honestly, trying to sound casual about it, as though this weren’t the first time anyone had ever asked to sit with him.

While they ate, they talked – about their classes, their teachers, the amount of homework due (“How do you find the time to catch up while training?” “Actually I finish most of it during break times.” “Dude. They’re called breaks, and it’s homework. Why would you do that to yourself?” “To be free after school?” “… Would you consider doing mine too? I’m kidding, I’m kidding!”), but mostly of course the conversation turned to ninja training. Kai questioned Lloyd about what he’d actually seen in him that told him he had the potential for Elemental ability, “whatever that is.”

“Master Wu says it’s a mystic power that some people are born with,” Lloyd explained. “As an Elemental Master, you could potentially be able to use a certain element in combat.”

“No way,” said Kai, his voice hushed. “You mean like, controlling the weather?”

“Something like that,” said Lloyd, enjoying his rapt attention, despite not fully understanding what he was talking about either. “When I saw you, that day, you looked… like you were made of fire.”

“Fire?” Kai’s eyes actually seemed to light up in flames themselves. “I’m gonna control fire? Dude, you’re messing with me!”

“I’m not, really. You were literally on fire.”

Kai leaned across the table and shoved him playfully. “Don’t make it sound lame! Fire is the most badass power ever! This is so cool!”

Lloyd’s grin suddenly dropped and he stiffened, looking to just above Kai’s head.

“What’s up, Lloyd?”

Kai received his answer in the form of a shower of garbage, spilled over his head from two guys standing behind him, each holding a tray up high. Lloyd had a split-second to take in this scene before his vision was obstructed by another cascade spilling on top of him, trickles of milk and soggy mashed potatoes dripping over his eyes.

“Don’t mind us, Garmadork,” came the jeering voice from behind him. “Just throwing away our garbage where it belongs.”

In the next few seconds, Kai’s chair had clattered to the floor as he flung himself at the two perpetrators behind him, one of whom Lloyd recognized as his classmate from that morning. He saw Kai tackle them both to the ground and heard punches landing, though he couldn’t tell where, and he thought he heard the kid behind him demand him to call his “minion” off, before he left Lloyd’s side of the table to help his friends. Shaking himself out of his stupor, dislodging some stray straw wrappers out of his hair, Lloyd too leaped to his feet and rushed around the table to the skirmish, which had already attracted the attention of a cafeteria monitor.

“Alright break it up, break it up!” The teacher roughly pulled Kai up by the scruff of his jacket and shoved him aside, putting out a hand against the chest of one of the other guys as he made to go after him. “Smith, get yourself washed up and take a walk. You three, clean all this garbage up!”

Having glared down the protestations of the trio, the teacher then turned to Lloyd. “Garmadon,” he said in a low, venomous voice, “get out. Now.”

Lloyd didn’t need telling twice. Abandoning his half-eaten tray of food, he sped past all the tables, ignoring the background noise of laughter and booing, and exited the caf. Finding the hall outside empty, he leaned against the wall, catching his breath.

“Lloyd.”

He turned at the sound of his name. Kai was standing a few feet away, still wearing bits of food in his hair. He was red in the face with anger.

“Kai. I-”

“Come on,” said Kai, taking him by the arm. “Let’s clean off this crap and get out of here.”

The restroom was empty, thankfully, the only three stalls ajar, and the two of them washed off in silence. As Kai grabbed some paper towels from the dispenser, Lloyd noticed something on his back. It was a piece of paper, stuck on with tape. Written in thick black marker was the word:

TRAITOR

“Lloyd?”

Lloyd quickly arranged his face to seem normal. “Yeah?” He hoped against hope Kai wouldn’t see the note on his back in the mirrors as he turned to him.

“If anyone tries bothering you again,” Kai said through gritted teeth, “tell me. Got it?”

“Kai…” Lloyd hung his head. “It’s okay… you don’t have to-”

“It’s not okay!” Kai’s voice echoed in the small room. “Stop saying it’s okay… This isn’t a world where something like this should be okay.” He exhaled slowly, ran a hand down his face. “Let’s just go.” As he passed by, Lloyd snatched the note off his back, taking it with him to the trash can and crumpling it up with a paper towel before tossing it in. He quickly followed Kai outside.

So, Lloyd thought to himself, that’s what’s going on. He was only hanging around you because he thought he could ward off bullies.

But it didn’t work. Lloyd hunched in on himself as he followed Kai down the halls, letting him lead them to the school’s inner courtyard to wait out the remaining time for lunch. All that happened was that he became a target too. Because you’re just THAT poisonous and hateful. Even his own friends turned on him just for sitting with you.

As they sat together on the steps outside, Kai already groaning about his next class as though nothing had happened, Lloyd made a decision.

We can’t be friends at school, he told himself firmly. We can’t be friends, period. He just feels sorry for you anyway. It’s not worth it if it means people will hate him too.

The following day, though he acted as normal during their morning training session with Wu, once he was at school, Lloyd made sure not to interact with Kai. It was mostly easy to lose him in the throng of students going to classes in the hallways, and even when Kai would call out to him he’d pretend not to hear and wouldn’t respond. During lunch at the cafeteria, Lloyd hung back until he saw Kai give up waiting for him near the lunch line with his tray. Then, when Kai sat at Lloyd’s table, Lloyd walked all the way around the room to the opposite end to sit somewhere else (the students who’d already been sitting there very conspicuously moved to the far side of the table, even though he’d made sure to sit at the very edge as far away from them as his tray would allow). When he’d finished his lunch, he didn’t leave until he saw Kai get up first, sullenly returning his lunch tray and stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets.

For once Lloyd was glad to go back to class.

Kai, meanwhile, had certainly not missed that Lloyd had sat somewhere else at lunch, nor that he’d been purposefully ignoring him all morning. And, frankly, he was starting to feel a little pissed. What had he done for Lloyd to give him the cold shoulder like this?

When the bell for first break rang he stalked off aimlessly, not in the mood to talk to anyone. As he wandered near the library entrance, he caught sight of Lloyd, standing a few feet away, looking around in the opposite direction.

Looking around… for me? No, Kai realized, Lloyd was on the lookout for him, so that he could run away again.

Determinedly, Kai marched over to Lloyd. When he reached him he didn’t stop, but grabbed the kid by the scruff of his hoodie and pulled him along with him.

“Wha-, Kai- stop!”

Kai ignored his protestations, steering him around an out of the way corner of the school building and halting him against the wall, blocking his path so he couldn’t run away.

“What are you doing?” Lloyd demanded.

“That’s what I want to know!” Kai threw back.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t give me that, you know what I mean. You’ve been avoiding me all day, what gives?”

“What, you don’t have other people to talk to?”

The question startled Kai, because it had been uttered without an ounce of sarcasm that he could detect. Lloyd was genuinely surprised at the idea that Kai wouldn’t rather talk to others over him. “Well, yeah… but that doesn’t mean we can’t even say ‘hi’ when we see each other. I mean… shit, I kinda thought we were friends now.”

Lloyd’s eyes widened. “You do? Really?”

Kai frowned at his confusion. “Well, yeah. What else would we be? I mean… unless, you don’t want to be. Is that it?”

“No!” said Lloyd hurriedly, looking upset. “I mean I do too. Think of you as a friend, I mean.” His voice became quiet and solemn. “You’re the first friend I ever had. I care about you. A lot.”

Once again the complete genuineness of the statement caught Kai off guard. He couldn’t remember the last time his own sister or even his parents had stated something so affectionate in such a straightforward way. He felt his face heat up rapidly and realized he must actually be blushing. Geez, this kid… he really wasn’t used to interacting with people was he, saying something like that out loud? But despite that, Kai found it wasn’t out of embarrassment that the blood had rushed to his face at Lloyd’s words.

He felt… touched.

Momentarily befuddled, Kai scratched the back of his head as he unsuccessfully fought off a smile. “Heh… Thanks, man. I care about you too.” He cleared his throat firmly. “Which is why I’d like it if you actually talk to me.”

“I would! I want to, but that’s… it’s not good.”

“Not good?” said Kai, thoroughly confused now. “Why?”

“You saw what happened yesterday,” Lloyd said miserably. “Everyone only treated you bad because you were talking to me. They put a note on your back too, calling you a traitor. I don’t want people to hate you. Being hated… it doesn’t feel good.”

Kai felt something like a knife cut through his heart. Lloyd had been ignoring him… to protect him from other people’s animosity. The animosity that Lloyd himself felt every single day, all on his own. For a moment, he couldn’t think of what to say. Thank you? Sorry? Screw those people?

Maybe not that last one. But something close to it.

“Hey, look at me.”

Lloyd met his gaze with reluctance.

“I would rather be avoided and hated by people whose opinions I couldn’t care less about,” said Kai, putting as much earnestness in his words as Lloyd had, “than to not be able to talk to you. I like talking to you.”

Lloyd seemed to consider these words carefully. “What about your real friends?”

Kai snorted. Real friends.

“You give me too much credit, dude. Aside from my sister I don’t actually hang out with anybody here. But even if I did, I wouldn’t consider people who would hate on a guy just for who his dad is as ones I’d want to be friends with.”

“Not everyone would agree with you there,” mumbled Lloyd.

“Yeah? Well, we’re not like everyone, are we?” Kai flashed a big grin down at him that was so infectious, Lloyd felt himself smiling a little in return.

“No. I guess not.”

Kai bent down a little so that they were eye level, his expression a bit more serious.

“You don’t have to be alone all the time, Lloyd. Even at school.” He grimaced. “Especially at school.”

“Right. Yeah, I…”

To his horror, Lloyd felt his eyes prickle and his vision blurring. His breath hitched and he hastily brought his hands up to his face as the tears began to fall.

“Sorry,” he croaked.

“Don’t worry about it, man,” said Kai gently. “No one’s here but us.”

“No I mean… I’m sorry I ignored you today. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I do want to keep talking to you.”

Now Kai did feel a little awkward. He supposed the directness with which Lloyd spoke about his own feelings – likely owing to the fact that he'd never had anyone his own age to share his feelings with before – was something he’d have to get used to. He knew Lloyd wasn’t trying to make him feel guilty for turning this into a whole thing. He really was just sorry.

He didn't need to be. Had he told Kai that he’d have rather they didn’t act like friends in public, he would’ve been fine with it. If it was what Lloyd really wanted. But, secretly, he was glad that wasn’t the case. Actually, more than a little relieved. He wasn’t sure how long he could’ve handled going about his days at school while pretending he didn’t know or care about the kid who got bullied by everyone almost every single day.

And he’d meant what he’d said. He did enjoy being with him.

“Ah it’s not that big a deal. Don’t worry about it.” He put his arm around the younger boy and hugged him to his side briefly. Once Lloyd had calmed down Kai nudged his jaw affectionately with his fist. “Come on, classes will start again soon. But I’ll see you in the next break, yeah? We’ll hang out.”

“Yeah. Definitely.” Lloyd nodded eagerly.

And for the rest of the day, knowing that he had a friend waiting for him, a friend that wanted to spend time with him, Lloyd found himself able to get through his classes relatively easily, for the first time in… ever.

Chapter Text

“Kai?”

“What’s up, buddy?”

Kai and Lloyd were sitting at the top of the bleachers next to the soccer field. It was first break, but Lloyd had brought his stuff with him outside. Kai only had the handheld game he’d borrowed (he claimed) from Jay. Lloyd suspected he was planning to avenge his high score back at the warehouse.

“Do you think you could help me with my math homework?”

Kai looked up from the game, saw Lloyd holding some papers in his hands, and winced. “Oooh, uh. Sorry Lloyd, homework’s not really my thing. Especially the math kind. I only barely manage to pull a C. But you know, you could ask Nya. She’s an A+ student and all.”

“Would she…?” Lloyd somehow still felt trepidation at asking Nya for favors. Not because he thought she would refuse, but because she didn’t seem to mind dropping whatever she was doing to help him – or anyone – in any case, even if what she’d been doing looked important to her.

Kai sensed his hesitation. “I’ll ask her for you.” He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted across the field, “HEY NYA! GET OVER HERE!”

Lloyd only then noticed Nya had been sitting with Zane at the edge of the grass. At Kai’s call she turned her head slowly (as did several other people in the vicinity), seemingly said something to Zane without looking at him (he nodded his head in assent), then gathered her books into her bag with one arm-sweep and stood up in almost the same motion.

Kai, smiling unabashedly, watched her march around the soccer field and stomp her way up the bleachers. When she reached him she crossed her arms and loomed over him.

“You are such a menace,” she said, her tone clipped and even. “What is it?”

Kai jerked his head at Lloyd, still standing on the step next to him, his mouth slightly agape. “Garmadon Junior wants homework help.”

Nya turned her gaze to Lloyd. Lloyd internally shook off his bemusement and went straight to it. “Are you good at math?”

Nya put her hands on her hips. “The only people who aren’t good at math are those who don’t do anything useful with their time. Exhibit A.” She cocked her head at Kai.

“Fine,” said Kai, standing up. “I’ll go do something useful. Like finish this level on Ninja Blaster. Good luck Lloyd!”

“Shoo.” Nya swatted the air behind him as he jumped down the steps. After he’d walked off to take her place with Zane (who accepted the exchange of one Smith for the other smoothly, despite Kai clearly showing no interest in whatever schoolwork Zane had been discussing with Nya), Nya pulled Lloyd down to sit beside her, slipping her bag off her shoulder.

“Okay, what’ve you got for me?”

“Well, I answered all these questions already,” said Lloyd, indicating the papers he’d been holding, “I just want to know if I’m doing them right or not.”

“Give it here.”

One by one they went through each question. Unlike when his mother would help him (the rare few times she had a bit of spare time and wasn’t too tired), Nya didn’t demand Lloyd’s textbook or notes to refresh her memory on the concepts. She asked Lloyd to explain his reasoning and steps for his answers, and corroborated them with a nod or a ‘good’. When he asked for clarification on a few questions, she promptly rewrote each step again on the back of the paper, and explained each one. In the end, he really only got two questions completely wrong, and Nya assured him they had been particularly tricky in any case.

“You’re actually not that bad Lloyd,” she said when they’d gone through all the questions, flipping through the stapled pages to double check. She scoffed as she added, “In fact if we’re just taking the student body at this school as a sample size, you’re practically above average.”

“Really? Great.” Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief.

Nya was still flipping through the papers, frowning slightly. “This doesn’t really look like homework though. It looks more like a test paper. Did you get this from a junior?”

“No. I mean…” Lloyd realized too late he’d fobbed his chance to give a convincing lie.

“Wait, this IS a test paper,” said Nya, zeroing in on the markings of a previous staple on the top right corner of the first page. “The cover page has been removed.”

She turned her frown to him. “Lloyd, how did you get this?”

“The teacher passed it back to me,” said Lloyd quietly. “Like everyone else’s.”

“But it’s not corrected.”

Lloyd knew she must be thinking he’d somehow stolen the test before it was graded, to fix his mistakes. “This is after it was checked,” he assured her. “I… I got a grade on it and everything.”

“Well let me see it.”

When Lloyd didn’t move or respond, Nya’s voice turned hard. “Lloyd.”

Wordlessly, Lloyd reached into his bag and pulled out a crumpled page with the test title and score on it. Its corner was ripped where he’d pulled it from the rest of the test. He gave it to Nya.

Her voice was quiet and strained as she read out the grade written in red ink at the top. “A D minus..? But… you only got two wrong. This should be an A. Did your teacher just give you this grade without checking any of your answers…?”

Lloyd looked aside, unable to meet her gaze for the shame and embarrassment he felt at admitting this, for the first time out loud. “That’s how they’ve always done it. Since middle school. They’ll give me enough to pass so I won’t be with them again next year, but I’ve never gotten anything higher than a C.”

“What.” The word shot from Nya’s mouth like a bullet, laced with surmounting disgust and outrage. “This… This isn’t right. Who’s your math teacher?” she demanded suddenly.

“No Nya, please forget about it!”

“This has to be against school policy Lloyd, they can’t get away with-!”

“You think my mother hasn’t tried talking to the school board many times before?” Lloyd couldn’t help the note of anger in his voice. “It’s no use Nya! They’re all in on it! I’ve accepted it a long time ago, it’s not a big deal-”

“It IS a big deal, Lloyd, your grades could affect your future-!”

“WHAT future?!” he exploded. “Even if my transcripts told the truth, do you really think, after I graduate, that there would be a SINGLE person in Ninjago who would hire me?”

Nya stared at him in shock, and Lloyd realized he’d been shouting and regretted it. It was in fact the loudest Nya had ever heard him speak. He slumped down in his seat, avoiding her gaze.

Nya looked down at the test paper in his hand. “Then why…?”

“I just wanted to know,” said Lloyd in a small voice, hoping she understood the rest without him needing to say it: to know if I’m actually stupid or not. “And now I do. That’s enough for me.”

“You don’t deserve this… You’re a good kid.”

For some reason, that made him smile. He recalled Kai saying something similar before. It was something his mother had said more than once as well. You don’t deserve this.

“There was awhile, last year,” he said, “where I just stopped going to school. No matter what my mom said, I refused to leave my room. I figured, what was the point you know?”

“How long did this last?” asked Nya, wondering if she’d even noticed.

But Lloyd shook his head dismissively. “Barely a week. My uncle, he told me something that convinced me to try again. At first I thought he’d say ‘ninja never quit’ – it’s kind of his motto – but instead he told me something like… fate doesn’t put a load on a person heavier than they can carry.”

At Nya’s confused look, he explained, “It means that whatever I go through, even if it feels bad, I’m strong enough to take it. I’m stronger than the people who don’t have to take it, stronger than my teachers or my classmates, or anyone else at this dumb school. It doesn’t always stop it from feeling bad of course… but it does make it feel like it means something.”

He looked at her and his smile grew. “And if I had quit going to school, I wouldn’t have met you and Kai. That alone makes it all worth it.”

Nya gazed at the boy feeling something she’d never felt for another person before: admiration. Lloyd was the strongest person she’d ever met, but under that strength she knew he was still just a boy her age who craved a normal life, one where he didn’t have to be strong, where he could bring home a test paper with a grade his mother could be proud of. She still remembered the day she and Kai had mended his shoulder – in fact she thought about it more than either Kai or Lloyd would’ve believed – and the way Lloyd had practically hyperventilated with fear when he’d thought they planned to hurt him worse… Yes she’d known that’s what he’d thought, she’d seen it in his eyes, and she’d purposefully let him believe it until the moment she’d wiped the tears from his face. He hadn’t begged, he hadn’t tried to bargain, he’d just accepted whatever would happen to him, maybe because a part of him believed he deserved it, but maybe also partly because he knew he would come out of it alright.

Knowing Lloyd as she did now, Nya had regretted the fear she’d made him feel ever since that day. But she knew, somehow, that he wouldn’t want an apology from her.

So instead, she gently pulled his test paper back to her lap, fished around in her bag for a four-colored pen and pressed the red tab down, and page by page, drew large quick circles around all the answers he’d gotten right.

Then, with a white out pen, she carefully blotted out the large D- on the cover page, blew on it to dry it out faster, and firmly wrote a bold A on top of it.

She rummaged in her bag again, pulled out a stapler (always bring your own supplies was her motto), and carefully stapled the cover page back to the test.

Lloyd watched her do all this in silence, a small, sad smile on his face.

After capping the white out pen with finality and putting everything back in her bag, Nya handed the corrected test back to Lloyd. Then she pulled him towards her, wrapping her arms around his neck in a tight hug.

“If you ever need anything,” she said into his shoulder, “anything at all… just ask. I’m here for you.”

Lloyd lifted his arms and tentatively put his hands on her back. Was this okay? he wondered. He’d never been hugged like this before by anyone other than his mother. Certainly not by a girl only a year older than him.

But it didn’t feel awkward at all. It felt right. Like he was a discarded puzzle piece that had finally found the place where its edges fit perfectly. He let himself relax into her hold and gripped the back of her shoulders.

“I will. Thanks, Nya.”

Chapter Text

“Do you have a crush on that girl?”

Kai snapped his eyes away from the red-haired girl several tables away, at the other end of the cafeteria hall. She was dressed in amber yellow sports clothes and eating noodles out of a Tupperware with chopsticks.

“What? What girl?” said Kai, knowing he sounded completely unconvincing.

“The one you keep staring at,” said Lloyd.

Kai groaned and rested his head against his propped up fist. “We’ve gotta teach you how to ease in to conversations like that, kid.”

“Oh, sorry,” said Lloyd, sounding sheepish enough but still smiling a small, playful smile. “I just thought this was the kinda thing people talk about during lunch? Girls..?”

This kid definitely spends too much time reading comics, thought Kai. Out loud he said, “Sure, I guess, but you could be a bit more delicate about it.” He sighed and glanced back over his shoulder at Amber girl. “I mean, it’s hard to say I have a ‘crush’ on her when I hardly know anything about her and she probably doesn't even know I exist.” Aside from the fact that she really seemed to like noodles, given that she had them for lunch every day.

“But you are interested in her,” Lloyd pressed.

‘”Yeah… She’s pretty. Cool.” Kai added quickly. “Pretty cool. Pretty and cool. She’s pretty cool… ugh.”

Lloyd chuckled.

Kai smiled at this reaction; he rarely ever heard Lloyd laugh. “I’m glad my inner romantic turmoil amuses you,” he teased. “What about you, Romeo? Ever had your eyes on somebody?”

Immediately (to Kai’s regret) Lloyd returned to his default somber state, before he answered slowly. “No… I mean, I’ve never really thought about that kind of stuff before.” Lloyd frowned. “In fact when I was little I think I kinda hated girls, for some reason.”

This time it was Kai’s turn to laugh. “I think most of us did.”

Lloyd was still contemplating the question. “But even if I did think about it it’d be pointless,” he said miserably. “I mean, who would want to be with me?”

Kai didn’t know what to say to that. Much as he wanted to refute this sad fact, he knew that at this school at least, it probably WAS impossible; most of the girls (and the guys too, to be fair) were shallow like that. Even the red-haired Amber girl likely wouldn’t go near Lloyd with a ten foot pole. Thinking of that, he felt uncomfortable. Assuming he ever even had a chance, would he want to date a girl like that? Or would he excuse that behavior because it was Lloyd Garmadon and everyone treated him that way? Everyone who didn’t know him anyway. Kai found himself imagining introducing Amber to Lloyd and trying to convince her he wasn't a bad person.

Lost in thought, he almost didn’t hear when Lloyd spoke once more.

“I hardly even know any girls anyway… I mean, aside from Nya.”

Kai nodded absently, then registered what he’d said. Nya? Why mention his sister in a conversation about gir–… Oh, well, aside from the obvious. Kai put down the slice of pizza he’d been picking at on his tray. “Uhh, did you just… I mean do you..?”

“What?”

This is so awkward, thought Kai, why did this have to become awkward? “You don’t, like… like Nya, do you…?”

Lloyd’s face brightened with joy. “Sure I do. I love Nya. A lot.”

Kai stared at him for a few seconds. “Okay since it’s you, I’m going to assume you don’t get what I mean and ask again: do you have a crush on her?”

Lloyd’s smile dropped. He looked completely stunned at the thought. “Oh… No. I don’t think so. Nya is like…”

“What?”

Lloyd seemed reluctant to say, almost squirming in his seat. “Forget it, it doesn’t make sense anyway. I wouldn’t know what it’s like, so how can I say it?”

“Know what what’s like?”

Lloyd hunched his shoulders and blushed. He looked as though he were trying to retract his head into his hoodie. “…Having a sister…” he finally mumbled. When Kai didn’t respond he said, “Sorry, I know it’s dumb. She’s your sister, not mine.”

“It’s not dumb, Lloyd,” said Kai affectionately. Lloyd’s answer had caught him off guard, but the answer itself, when he thought about it, was… well, very sweet actually. Better than having to watch Jay be an idiot, anyway. “She’s helped you a lot, hasn’t she.” Lloyd nodded fervently.

Kai picked up his pizza again, considering. “You know, I think Nya thinks the same about you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah… You know I’ve pretty much taken care of her her whole life, since our parents were always busy. Not that she’d admit it, heh… So I think she’s enjoying having someone else to look after for a change.”

He grinned widely at Lloyd. “I’m happy for you, man! Having a sibling is great.”

“Thanks, Kai. I think.” Lloyd shook his head. “Okay even I’m starting to think this conversation got kinda weird.”

“Hey this still counts as talking about girls, technically,” Kai pointed out.

There was a moment of silence, during which Kai finished the last of his pizza (sans crust), though he wasn’t particularly hungry. Really, talks with Lloyd always went in ways he didn’t expect.

Lloyd broke the silence again. “Do you… do you also feel that way?” he asked hesitantly.

Kai paused with his juice box halfway to his mouth. “Huh? About the red haired girl??”

Dear God, he hoped he hadn’t put the wrong idea in Lloyd’s head.

“About me…” said Lloyd very quietly.

Kai put the juice box down. “About you..?”

“Because I do. Also. About you. I mean it’s not just Nya. I… I think of you as my big brother, too.”

Kai’s eyes grew to twice their size. He blinked several times, staring at the boy only two years younger than he was sitting nervously across from him, fiddling with the straw of his milk box, blushing furiously into his lap, and looking for all the world like a child half his age awaiting a deserved scolding.

Suddenly what Kai wanted more than anything in the world right then was for everyone in the cafeteria to disappear, so he could get up, walk around the table, and give the lonely boy he'd grown to care so much about the biggest hug. Realizing the hypocrisy of this wish – after all he had told Lloyd that he didn’t care about what other people thought, and yet now he couldn't make himself do what he wanted so much to do in front of everyone – Kai grimaced in dismay before he could stop himself. Thankfully Lloyd wasn’t looking at him, too embarrassed himself to see the reaction his admission had elicited.

But Kai had to say something in return. Knowing if he stayed silent any longer that Lloyd would take it in the negative, and forever feel like a nuisance around Kai after this, Kai loudly scraped his chair back to get Lloyd's attention, then leaned across the table to look him straight in the eyes.

“Lloyd,” he said seriously, “you’re a pain in the butt, a huge downer, you suck at talking to people, and you’re a worse ninja than me.”

He smiled and tousled his hair, something he knew Lloyd couldn’t stand.

“And all that makes you the best little brother I could’ve ever asked for.”

The brief annoyance that had appeared on Lloyd’s face at having his hair messed up immediately dissipated with that last sentence. He stared back at Kai with his green eyes wide and shining. Then a glorious, mile-wide smile spread across his face, lighting it up in a way Kai had never seen it before.

“Gross, someone’s making a move on Garmadon.”

Kai rolled his eyes at the passersby’s comment, but then quickly shot back into his seat away from Lloyd as the speaker of the taunt (at least he hoped she was the one who’d spoken, rather than the alternative) passed by with the red haired girl he’d been staring at earlier at her side. For a brief moment his eyes met with Amber’s as she passed, her expression closed-off, her eyebrow arched slightly. Then her eyes passed silkily over Lloyd, and she and her companion were gone, exiting through the caf’s back doors.

Kai groaned loudly as he slouched down onto the table, unable to shake the image of how he must’ve looked to his “pretty cool” cru– … the girl he was interested in.

Lloyd, the little twerp, laughed at his discomfort for the second time in an hour.

“Oh yeah,” said Kai irritably. “You’re a little brother alright.”

Chapter Text

On the one hand, the walkie-talkies Jay had gotten them did help immensely in letting them coordinate themselves in a more organized way while separated. On the other, Lloyd didn’t like that it meant everyone felt more comfortable separating.

Specifically he didn’t like that Kai felt more comfortable separating from the team.

“I’ve got him in my sights. It’s a dead end. I can take him.”

“No, Kai,” said Lloyd frustratedly, quickening his pace as he jumped the rooftops, trying to get to the alley where Kai had chased the Garmadon mook that had broken away from the others while everyone had been distracted. “You saw those new weapons they have, it’s dangerous to take them on yourself. Wait until I get there!”

“This one doesn’t have a weapon, there’s no danger!” Lloyd could hear Kai’s eagerness through the static, but he could also hear his slight impatience, and knew that Kai was annoyed that Lloyd thought he couldn’t handle himself. “I’m turning this thing off now, you’re distracting me.”

“Kai, wait, don’t–!” The talkie went silent. Lloyd shoved it back in its clip on his utility belt and raced to the edge of the building.

When he’d dropped down from the landings of the fire escapes to the floor, it was to find the alleyway empty. The moonlight only just managed to filter through into the space between the buildings, reflecting off wet puddles on the floor. Lloyd didn’t stop to think about what liquid they could be and splashed through them to the end of the alley, looking left and right, trying to decide which way Kai and the mook could’ve gone. He received a clue in the form of the sounds of a pained grunt and shout, and rapidly retreating footsteps, and he quickly tore down the left side.

“Kai, I told you to wait for backup! Why don’t you ever listen–”

Lloyd stopped short when he saw Kai turn slowly towards him at the other end of the alley. Something was wrong; he’d pulled his mask down, and he was gripping his abdomen with both hands.

“Kai? Kai, what’s wrong?”

Kai lifted his head up very slowly to look at him, then swayed a bit on his feet. Before Lloyd knew it, he’d crumpled to the floor, falling first to his knees, then face-forward.

“KAI!” Lloyd raced towards him, sliding to his own knees at his side and pushing him onto his back. He pulled his mask off so Kai could see it was him. “Kai, hey, what’s wrong, what hap-”

Then he saw; sticking out of Kai’s middle, just below his diaphragm, was the handle of a simple switchblade. In the darkness the color wasn’t visible, especially against Kai’s gi of almost the same hue, but Lloyd could see a frighteningly dark stain under Kai’s hands clasped loosely around the base of the knife. As Lloyd shakily pulled them out of the way he felt a sticky wetness on them. Before his eyes the stain spread out across Kai’s stomach and sides.

“Oh no… No no no…”

Lloyd gingerly pulled the knife upward, as straight as he could, gritting his teeth at the length of the blade as it was revealed coated in blood. He put it down by his side and pressed his hands over the wound. Kai’s eyes were open, but were clouding over even as they met Lloyd’s. His breathing was labored, and Lloyd could see his lips part slightly in an effort to speak. “Kai, Kai can you hear me? Stay with me okay, we’ll get help!”

Shifting his hands so he could cover the knife wound with just one of them, Lloyd pulled his walkie-talkie out and jabbed the button. “NYA! ZANE! EVERYONE GET OVER HERE NOW, KAI’S DOWN!”

Nya answered him first. “What? Lloyd-”

Followed by Cole cutting her off firmly. “We’re on our way, Lloyd. Nya, come on.”

“I’m coming.” Jay, voice wobbling.

“As am I. Over.” Zane.

Slightly assured at knowing the rest would be here soon, Lloyd calmed down his breathing and focused on keeping pressure on Kai’s wound. He locked eyes with him again, willing him to stay awake. “Kai, just hang on okay… We’ll get you help soon. Kai?”

Kai’s intakes of breath had slowed, and his eyes were drooping closed.

“No no no no no. Kai, wake up! Please, don’t-…”

His chest fell… and didn’t rise again. His head lolled to the side.

Lloyd felt an unnatural coldness spread through his whole being.

“No… You can’t… You can’t leave me… Kai…!”

This couldn’t happen. This couldn’t happen to him. The possibility of ever losing someone had never before been a fear Lloyd had ever had to entertain, let alone face head-on like this, because there were so few people in his life he loved enough to be so terrified of losing. His mother was too much of a constant, a normality and a safe haven, his uncle too capable and reclusive; despite how much he relied on both of them to keep himself going the idea of either of them being in danger of leaving him forever was a foreign concept to him, so out of line with how everything was supposed to go and had played out for his entire monotonous, predictable existence, and so not one he’d ever seen the use in pondering. It was almost fitting, then, that the person who’d first brought changes to the status quo of his reality should also be the first to introduce him to this visceral adult fear, and so suddenly, catching Lloyd as unprepared as the day he’d entered his life.

And now he was leaving. Kai was leaving him. Unless Lloyd did something his big brother was going to…

From deep within his soul, Lloyd called up that power that even Master Wu hadn’t been able to properly define. He channeled energy into his hands, driving it into Kai’s wound, not even knowing what it was he hoped to accomplish but acting on instincts he hadn’t known he’d possessed.

“Please please please please please...”

He was focusing so hard he didn’t notice the others arriving until they were right next to him.

“Lloyd!” called Nya, running towards him. “What’s happened to Kai, what- Lloyd?”

“Woah…”

She and Cole stopped short at the sight of Lloyd, crouched on the floor by Kai. He was… glowing. Glowing a rich, warm green, from head to toe.

Jay came up and stood beside the other two. “Uh, guys, what’s happening…?”

“Is this…” Zane said as he joined them, “Lloyd’s Elemental Power?”

No one knew how to answer him, and for the next few seconds, they all just stood and watched in awe as the glow dimmed around Lloyd but flared even brighter at his hands, lighting up Kai’s gi and the blood staining it in emerald. Lloyd felt, rather than saw (for he had closed his eyes in concentration), the edges of Kai’s wound heating and expanding inward, closing in on each other. He felt a strong force coursing down his arms into his hands and working through the cells of Kai’s body, galvanizing them to work at high speeds to multiply and heal.

And then Kai inhaled sharply and groaned.

“Kai?” Nya bent down by his head, cupping his face in her hands. “Can you hear me?”

Kai didn’t respond, his eyes remaining closed, but he was breathing regularly again.

“Lloyd! Are you alright?”

Jay and Zane darted down to catch Lloyd as he sighed and swayed backward on his heels, the light fading away from his hands. He slumped in against them, eyes rolling. He put a hand to his forehead and pressed against it. “Yeah…” he said weakly. “I just… feel low on energy.”

“Kai!” Nya had only just seen Kai’s body fully and gasped at the tear in his drenched gi. “Oh my- is all this blood his??”

“Wait Nya.” Cole bent down beside her and pulled up the edge of the tear, peering closely. “His wound is closed.”

“What?” She put her hand through the hole in the cloth and pressed it against Kai’s skin, which, sure enough, seemed to be unbroken despite the blood. Well, unbroken, but not unblemished.

“It’s true…” she said slowly, a chill crawling up her spine. “I can feel a scar here.” She turned to Lloyd, eyes wide with shock. “Lloyd… Did you heal him with your power?”

“I… I don’t know. All I was thinking was that I… I couldn’t let him go.” Lloyd tried to sit up, but his arms shook as he braced them on the floor and he slipped back against Jay and Zane.

“Easy, Lloyd.”

“Come on guys.” Cole pulled Kai’s arm around his shoulders. “We shouldn’t stay out in the open like this. Let’s get Kai back to Master Wu.”

Zane and Nya helped lift Kai up onto Cole’s broad back. Jay put his arm around Lloyd’s side and pulled him to his feet. “Come on, buddy.”

Supporting each other, the ninja team trudged through the night back to their secret base.

When Kai woke up, it was to find Nya, Jay, and Sensei Wu’s faces hovering above him, and the heady smell of incense drifted past his nose.

“Ugh…”

“Kai?” Nya smiled with relief. She and Jay braced their hands against Kai’s back as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I got punched in the gut by a cannonball,” he groaned, wincing and pressing his hand to his middle. His gi was gone, replaced by clean white robes that he recognized as spares of Wu’s. “Shhhit, I think I’m dying- oh, hey.”

He looked down in surprise at his sister hugging him tightly under his arms, face buried against his chest. He put his hand on her head and gently rubbed her back with the other.

“Nya?” he said softly. “Hey, I’m okay. I was exaggerating.”

Nya squeezed him a bit tighter, then as she pulled away she pecked his cheek. Kai was stunned but pleased, smiling crookedly at her.

“Do you remember what happened to you?” asked Wu.

Kai frowned, tracing his finger over the scar on his stomach, which had already faded to a faint pink. “Well I thought I was knifed, but… I don’t seem to have any wounds.”

“You did though,” said Nya. “It’s just that Lloyd healed you.”

“Huh?”

“It’s true,” said Jay. “There was… a lot of blood, it must have been deep. But apparently Lloyd was able to use his powers to close the wound.”

Kai whistled. “That’s… um… scary?”

“You’re telling me,” muttered Nya.

“We’re very relieved you’re alright, Kai.” Wu patted his shoulder before standing up, moving to put out the incense.

“Thanks… Um, so where is Lloyd?” Kai looked around the small infirmary despite already knowing Lloyd wasn’t there.

“He’s out there, training with Cole.” Jay pointed to the doorway leading out to the rest of the warehouse, where the echoing smacking sounds of fists on wood could be heard.

After assuring Nya he felt perfectly fine, Kai got up and headed out, barefoot. He wasn’t even dizzy, and confidently made his way around the obstacle course to the other side of the room where Lloyd and Cole were battering some padded striking poles with their hands and feet. Zane sat cross-legged nearby, meditating.

When Kai had come close enough both of them stopped, Cole grinning widely in welcome, Lloyd turning a carefully neutral expression on him.

Kai nodded at Cole, then turned to Lloyd. “Hey Lloyd. Heard you were the reason I’m still kicking. Sweet powers you got, huh? Thanks a lot, buddy.” He hit Lloyd’s arm playfully.

Very deliberately, Lloyd crossed his arms and turned his face aside with a scowl. Kai’s smile dropped.

Sulking? Was Lloyd sulking?

“Ah…” Kai felt guilt wash through him as he realized why Lloyd was upset. “Are you mad because I didn’t listen to you?”

Lloyd said nothing, his scowl deepening. He didn’t look at Kai but he blinked furiously against the moisture that had built up treacherously in his eyes.

Kai noticed and his shoulders sank. “Then… you have the right to be mad. I’m sorry about that. Honest I didn’t think anything would happen.”

He took a cautious step forward. Lloyd didn’t back away. “Lloyd… you okay?”

Now the water in his eyes was definitely clear to see, and Lloyd begrudgingly turned his head back towards him. He glared at the floor and huffed. “… I thought… I thought you were going to-” He gritted his teeth as a tear finally escaped. Dammit. Why did he have to be so weak?

But Kai just nodded, voice low and soft as he spoke. “Yeah, I know… So did I.”

“I thought I’d never get to talk to you again, never get to-…!” More tears fell down Lloyd’s cheeks and he shook his head, now more angry with himself than Kai.

Kai reached his hand out to him. “Hey hey, I’m okay. I’m fine. You saved me. Come here buddy.”

He pulled Lloyd against him. He was vaguely aware of Cole watching them, but he didn’t mind as he hugged Lloyd close.

“Don’t ever do that again…” Lloyd’s voice was muffled as he pressed his tear-stained face against Kai’s shoulder. “Promise me!”

“I promise, Lloyd.”

Like he had done for Nya, Kai rubbed Lloyd’s back comfortingly and patted his hair. He was aware of some of the others, he didn’t know who, watching him with Cole, but they all kept tactfully silent, so the only sound in the large warehouse was Kai’s murmured assurances to the boy in his arms.

“I’m sorry for worrying you. I’m sorry… sorry…”