Archive of Our Own ^beta

When she imagined a family, she never thought it would be like this. Misako loved her boy, she really did, she just wished she could share the moments with the man she loved. She knew Garmadon wasn’t the one who wrote the letter. It was fairly obvious, Garmadon’s vocabulary was not that large. But no letter could have swayed the love she had for him. Although, the idea that he had his sensei help him craft it was all too amusing.

She still remembered the way Wu ran to her with it in his hands, his little legs so excited to deliver the message. Yet she knew Wu wasn’t little. He was now a teenager with his own thoughts and opinions, who was no longer content with following his big brother around. She could still recall the jealousy when she would visit the monastery. “He’s MY big brother!”  

The fan hummed as she sat overwhelmed at her desk. Scrolls dawned the floor, mountains of notebooks sat on her desk, and millions of pencil shards layed around. Misako thought about her last interaction with Wu. Right after she had learned of her husband's banishment.

“Why didn’t you do anything?”

“There was nothing to be done!”

She didn’t want to admit it, but maybe he was right. She knew about the venom, yet Misako foolishly hoped that her love would be enough. And maybe it was, she remembers every moment with him. 

“I must take you to meet Ray and Maya’s new baby. Apparently he’s already a fire starter. When we have a kid, Koko, I hope he looks just like you.”

“Have I told you how beautiful you look today?”

“Maybe I’m just dramatic, but I am BLINDED by your beauty today.”

Her favorite memories were the ones of him with their boy. He was so excited to be a father. And although he had his doubts, she always made sure he knew just how great of a father he could be. 

“What if he inherits it? What if he ends up like me?”

“There is nothing I want more than for my son to be like his father.”

“Hear me out, Koko, a green nursery. I just have a feeling he will come to love the color.”

The two ended up spending hours painting the room, leaving small dragons to decorate the walls. She thought about that nursery she left at the monastery. By now, Wu must have painted it over, preparing to fulfill that damn prophecy he spoke so highly about. Now she sat alone at her desk, in an empty apartment in the middle of Ninjago City. 

Well, not completely alone.

She heard the bedroom door creak, opening just enough for her to see one little eye and messy blonde hair. It seems all her work had woken the little one. Although Garmadon had been worried her whole pregnancy, their baby boy ended up looking just like his father. The only difference was one being a brunette and the other a blonde. When she looked into her son's red eyes, her husband stared back. She stopped what she was doing and gave her boy her full attention. 

“Mama? I can’t sleep…” he coughed out the words, and her heart sank a little.

She was a single mother, in the big city, trying to work a job, and now her four year old was sick. Oh, and worst of all? She was trying to prevent a prophecy that foretold either her husband or son would fall at the other's hands. Memories of her argument with Wu resurfaced without being welcomed. 

“I refuse! He’s my baby, you have to help me prevent it!”

“The scrolls have been written. There is nothing I can do.”

“Then I will work to prevent it. Destiny can’t take my son away, they already took my husband.”

She had packed up her things that night. Taking her newborn and just enough clothes to last them long enough to reach a friend. Somehow, she ended up at the Elemental Master of Earth’s house. A little boy had answered the door, his black hair nearly covering big, brown eyes. His orange pajamas were just a bit too big. Yet not as big as his personality. He eagerly called for his mother, Misako and Lily had a long conversation, before she had left with just enough money for a hotel.

“If there's anything I can do before my time is up, I’d rather it be done for a friend.”

That was the last time Misako saw the Master of Earth. 

Misako stood from her desk and made her way over to her own boy. He was just a few years younger than Lily’s had been. She bent down to his level, and calmly took his hands into her own. “Still not feeling good, huh?” Lloyd shook his head no, and immediately launched himself into his mothers embrace. He wrapped his little arms around her neck and rested his head on her shoulder. Misako gracefully embraced the hug. Even though her boy was sick, she had to admit she loved how clingy he would get, regardless of how it sometimes prevented her from getting any work done. 

She stood up and readjusted the hood on Lloyd's onesie. It was a black skeleton onesie, perfect for the upcoming Day of the Departed. A holiday where she had too many to mourn. Lily had succumbed to her illness, Libber was missing, Ray and Maya were missing, and Garmadon... was gone. She pushed the thought aside, she had to stay strong for her baby. The baby that her husband hasn't seen since he was just a few weeks old. If only he could see his son now.

Lloyd was... not an easy child. He definitely had his father's sweet tooth. FSM, Misako could barely keep count the amount of times he had to pry sugar from his little hands. Recently, Lloyd has been on a "why?" rampage. Why is the grass green? Why do birds fly? Why are my eyes red?

"Why isn't daddy here?"

Lloyd noticed his mother no longer paying attention to him, so he grabbed her face, basically forcing her to look at him. Misako laughed a little and then gave him a big kiss on the forehead. She carried Lloyd over to his small bedroom, and sat on the bed cradling him in her lap. Lloyd looked up, "Mama tell me a story." She shouldn't be surprised, of course he wanted to hear a story, how his dad used to love telling stories, Lloyd loves hearing them. If only he could hear his dad's. They were much better than mom's. 

"What story would you like to hear this time, love? Another serpentine tale?" Lloyd pondered for a moment, his little brain thinking hard. He looked back up at his mom, "Can you tell me about daddy? What was he like?" No matter how much pain rehashing memories would bring her, Misako couldn't deny her baby of anything. She took a deep breath. "Daddy... daddy was... strong. He was the strongest man I knew." Lloyd's eyes lit up brighter than ever. "How strong?" 

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. "Stronger than snakes and skeletons. He could fight any battle and win. But he was strong in other ways as well." Lloyd's head tilted at the thought. He was trying to process what that meant, and was failing. She smiled at her son's adorable expression, he really was perfect. "What made daddy so strong, was the fact that he always fought for his loved ones, never himself." Lloyd's smile returned to his face, "did he fight for me?"

"Yes, Lloyd, he fought very hard for you."