#its ninjago: raising kids after all
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what i love abt the ninjago fandom is that the moment we knew cole went missing in the merge we expected him to come back as a dad
and we were RIGHT
#ninjago#ninjago dragons rising#ninjago cole#dragons rising spoilers#levi's ted talks#having dad cole brainrot rn#i cant wait to see jay too. my level of being a jay stan is high and it will fucking explode when he's revealed#dad cole and badass jay at ONCE???? THANK YOU DRAGONS RISING ????#if jay comes back with a kid too im not gonna be suprised#its ninjago: raising kids after all
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what if instead of Wu Time Twins found Morro
#im planning on making a small au where its just these two taking care of morro since he was little#theyd raise him to be truly evil >:)#i had a thought of nix being his adoptive father but if i think abt it they both would raise him#hed call them twin uncles hehe#my art#traditional art#ninjago#lego ninjago#lego ninjago fanart#ninjago acronix#ninjago krux#ninjago young krux#ninjago time twins#ninjago morro#ninjago kid morro#i guess?#also dont @ me if it all happened after they got rid of the time blades im still p new and dont know in what order things happened 👍
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in-universe explanation under the cut 😘
Lloyd:
- On the news CONSTANTLY
- Whenever the ninja are talked about, it's Lloyd's picture thrown up there
- He does all of the official public speaking for the team, so of course
- He's notoriously the sweetest to his fans
- Compilations of him being the nicest person ever are all over YouTube
- He doesn't ever post anything on Instagram, but he has the most followers anyway
- Isn't and doesn't want to be verified on TikTok, he's just a scroller, but trying to find his account has become a huge internet conspiracy
Kai:
- Posts on TikTok & Chirp DAILY, he has huge followings everywhere
- Everything from charities to his work out routines to Q&As to thirst traps
- Even has some vulnerable inspirational videos that are like "keep going. you'll be okay, i believe in you" that are honestly tear-jerkers
- Interacts with fans the most
- If anyone is curious about what the ninja have been up to, Kai's pages are the place to go
- Also attends the most events bc he's an attention whore
- But has also raised the most money and attention for said charities as a result
Jay:
- He doesn't host Ultimate Ninja Warrior anymore, but it kept going with his permission and a contract, he visits as a special host during the finals every year
- He's also on the logo of the show lol
- Occasionally posts stuff on Chirp when it means a lot to him
- He's bad at ignoring haters tho so not online as much as Kai
- At the same time, he gets really emotional when fans tell him how he's inspired them
- He's the funniest at interviews and really likes doing them with the other ninja
- His compilations are either "the blue ninja being HILARIOUS" or "the blue ninja secretly being a genius for 10 minutes"
Nya:
- She's only on social media to bother Kai during his livestreams and talk shit on his posts. also gives Jay's haters nasty comments
- But she does have a few workout tip videos to empower girls who look up to her
- Everyone has a crush on her
- Does volunteer work for publicity to the organization
- She's lowkey aggressive on her social media though, like, half of her posts are going after terfs and nazis to get them canceled
- The ninja's social team has a heart attack every time they hear that she posted something lmao
Zane
- The most Memed Ninja, like it's ridiculous
- He's every reaction image
- You know how supernatural has a gif for everything? There's a Zane gif for everything thanks to his interviews, media, fan events, etc
- His fan base is AGGRESSIVE for some reason, though
- His fan base is the K-Pop fans of the ninjago world, even though there's not as many of them.
- Maybe that IS why though. The few. The strong. They're the ones who, like, solve crimes through the internet and shit
- There are compilations of "every time the white ninja remembers he's a robot" that's just Zane, like, being shook when fridge magnets stick to him and when metal detectors go off around him
Cole:
- He has zero internet presence
- A whole ass mystery
- There are conspiracy theories that he's not even real and its a running gag
- There are accounts dedicated to posting blurry pictures of him like he's a cryptid
- They were clear pictures before, but they were edited to be blurry lmao cause it's a joke but some people have genuinely began to wonder
- Like some of them will literally be a blurred picture of him sitting with everyone else at an interview
- Cole isn't in on the joke though and is confused every time people meme at him (he's not an internet kid TuT)
#rip my boy cole I'm sorry bby your still the fav in my heart#zane is bad at posing#lloyd can't he a smol boi 😭😭😭#this was a fun project lol#not me trying to render oml don't look actually#art#ninjago#ninjago art#lego ninjago art#lego ninjago#my art#lloyd garmadon#kai jiang#kai smith#jay walker#nya jiang#nya smith#zane julien#cole brookstone#lloyd montgomery garmadon#fruit ninja#ninjago headcanons#its funny bc lloyd is the most famous but also has tony hawk syndrome#so as long as he not wearing green in public no one can recognize him 😭😭#ninjago lloyd#ninjago kai#ninjago nya#ninjago zane#ninjago jay#ninjago cole
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I am at school with a migraine at the moment, so here is how some characters deal with them (batfam stuff first)
Bruce acts the same as when sick. It would take everyone who has ever lived or will live to stop him from going out unless he physically can't .
Dick "Drama Queen" Grayson is out for the count, if he goes out he will make it everyone else's problem.
Jason has a reputation to uphold. He will go out guns blazing still. According to him "papa ain't raise no bitch."
Tim is responsible and takes medicine, but that's the end of his responsible actions, as he still does case work
Damien is the same as Bruce, until Bruce's "dad sense" goes off, and Damien is benched for the night
Stephanie stays home and sleeps
Barbara relaxes and takes medicine
Duke uses his power to keep light out of his eyes
Cassandra is the same as Bruce but no one knows she has one
Alfred rests as the others (try and usually fail) to do work for him
NOW NON-DC CHARACTERS STARTING WITH NINJAGO BECAUSE MY COUSIN @journeytothegirlkissing GOT ME BACK INTO IT!!!
Kai is one stubborn mother fucker, he wont admit he has one but its obvious he does.
Cole takes meds and takes it easy on training
Jay is so chaotic and loud that his thoughts are loud enough to cause discomfort.
Zane is a nindroid. He doesn't get migraines (the envy i feel rn)
Nya is actually responsible and rests, drinks lots of water, and takes medicine.
Lloyd sleeps in wearing Starfarer pajamas (let him be a kid at heart i will fight anyone who doesn't. That's not a threat but a promise)
I WISH TO DO OTHER FANDOMS SO MOVING ON TO OWL HOUSE
Eda sees rest as for the weak. She takes a potion to help and powers through
King is still a child, so he sleeps all day in a dark room
Hooty doesn't get migraines, HE IS THE MIGRAINE
Luz reads to distract herself after taking medicine (or potion if available)
Amity was taught that showing weakness is bad and thus no one can tell (exept Luz with her "Girlfriend Sense) (is this one just made because i hate Odalia? I plea the Fifth)
Hunter is the same as amity (Luz and Vee can sense it because of "Sibling Sense" and Camila can with "Mom Sense") (yes i hc that Hunter was adopted by Camila, fight me)
Gus uses his breathing exercises taught to him by Willow to help
Willow just relaxes in a garden with plants and tea
Lilith is used to dealing with it because of her time under Belos (insert something hating on Belos im too tired to care at the moment)
(Note that all these people exept Lilith hit Hooty when he engages with them)
#dc comics#headcanon#jason todd#dick grayson#bruce wayne#batfam#damien wayne#cassandra cain#stephanie brown#barbara gordon#duke thomas#alfred pennyworth#lego ninjago#ninjago kai#ninjago lloyd#ninjago cole#ninjago jay#ninjago nya#ninjago zane#the owl house#luz noceda#Lilith Clawthorne#edalyn clawthorne#toh hooty#king clawthorne#hunter toh#amity blight#gus porter#willow park
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Ninjago little sister AU, pt. 3~ Jay's turn!!
This is kinda longer than I thought it would be but I hope yall like it anyways <3
Hope you all enjoy 🤭🤭
Gwendolyn "Gwen" Gordon
She hates the name Gwendolyn with a burning passion, so most people just call her Gwen.
Jay calls her Lyn most of the time
So basically Gwen had no idea that Jay existed up until the space of time between Possesion and Dotd
(To make space for when Skybound would've taken place)
Gwen was born a year after Jay, and their mom decided to leave Jay at the junkyard because once she divorced Cliff, she wanted to keep them both
Unfortunately she wasn't able to take care of two young children by herself and made the difficult decision to give up her eldest child
She was leaning towards keeping Jay at first, because he was the one who inherited her elemental powers
She ultimately decided to keep Gwen, bear in mind her taking the children wasn't agreed between her and Cliff
So "Johnny Law" (as Kai calls it lmao) got involved and Libber was forced to hand custody over to Cliff, whom Gwen has lived with ever since
Up until he died obviously
Yes he did still die even though Skybound technically didn't happen
Anyways, Gwen grew up in a very fortunate household, though her father was distant due to his job and because he'd much rather hang out with other random women, models, etc
So she's raised by herself, more or less
Nothing really special happened in her life before she met Jay. She goes to school like any normal kid would, she also becomes a fan of the ninja (like any normal kid would)
Just like her dad, Jay was her favourite (but she didn't know he was Cliff's favourite because its his son ofc)
But one thing stood out throughout her younger years and it was that she wished she was taken by her mom, not her dad
Because he never paid attention to her
When Cliff passed away, she got a hold of his will and was a little confused as to why half of it wasn't in her possesion
She wasn't actually living in the mansion when he passed, by this point she had gotten an apartment of her own (with her dad's money 😭)
Meanwhile Jay still gets the letter that his dad died
Only this time he knows it's not Ed, it's Cliff
So Ed and Edna give him the key to his mansion, at the same time, Gwendolyn also makes her way to the mansion and unlocks it first with her spare key
Jay shows up afterwards and explores the mansion for a bit, looking at the places he hadn't already been to, before finding Gwen's old room
Little did he know that she was already in there
When he opened the door, Gwen grabbed a replica of his nunchucks and threatened him lol
Because she was confused as to why there was another human in her dad's house
Jay explained that Cliff is his birth dad and he was left at a junkyard blah blah blah
By this point Gwen realised she was related to the Lightning Ninja and she actually squealed
Poor Jay is so confused but Gwen explains that she's Cliff's kid as well, and she's lived with him for most of her life
So they hug and Jay cries bc hes emotional like that
Gwen takes him on a little tour of the house, she doesn't know that Jay's already been here but anyways
They go back to her apartment and she tells him all about her crappy childhood with basically no father
Jay cries some more because he then realises that his sis had to grow up with essentially no family
He offers to take her to visit Ed and Edna, and she agrees
(Yes this is still happening between DotD and Possesion)
The Walkers feel so bad and basically become her second parents
She still lives in her apartment, but she would come over to visit them a lot during the events of DotD and HoT
So after Wu gets lost in the time stream, Jay and Cole go looking for him
But before Jay leaves, Gwen gets to meet each of the ninja first because her bro wanted to flex that he's got a little sister
Even though she keeps telling him they're only like 14 months apart
When she was introduced to Cole she nearly had a heart attack
She has the BIGGEST crush on this guy
Once he left she wouldn't shut up about him and that really pissed Jay off
She met Nya last, and Jay at first introduced her as one of his friends
Jay left the room they were all in for like 5 minutes and thats when Nya explained that her and Jay were actually dating
Gwen didn't mind but then after that they became besties hehe
Gwen and Jay stay in touch while he's away looking for Wu, and she's the first person he visited when he got back
During that time she had become a Mechanic like Ed
They played video-games for like 3 hours straight
At the beginning of Hunted, Gwen joins the resistance as a mechanic
But she was kinda bitter about the whole thing because at first she thought her bro had been squashed like a bug by Garmadon
He was ok but still after that she just stopped admiring the fact that he was a ninja
She hated the idea of her only birth family left being in constant danger
Ed and Edna tried talking to her but she always refused to visit the monastery
So whenever they wanted to meet up it had to be somewhere in Ninjago City or at the junkyard
Nya texted her when Jay got sucked into Prime Empire, having a literal meltdown
Then the rest of the Ninja (minus Zane) get sucked in
Gwendolyn was pretty pissed off and she stormed right up to the monastery, yelling at Master Wu, who had no idea what the hell was going on
But then Zane explained she was Jay's little sis and she got even more pissed off when he said "little"
She basically cussed him out for letting him get into all this trouble and him being in danger all the time
After Gwen calmed down Wu explained how it was completely Jay's choice but this girl didn't give a shit
She ended up helping them out anyways lol
When Jay returned she gave him a big hug and he got all teary-eyed bc he missed her sm 🥰
Just before the Ninja got the letter about Shintaro, Gwen tried to ask Cole out on a date with Kai and Jay's flirting advice
The silly guy didn't take the hint and she was friendzoned
She considered herself pretty good-looking and approachable, and was severely humbled by this
Jay didn't stop laughing about it until Nya told him to stfu
By the end of crystalized, Gwendolyn is the same age as Jay!
Time for more facts hehe
Gwen has brown hair, but she dyes it blonde
Because of this most of the time no one would think that she and Jay were siblings, but if you look closely, you van definitely tell, mostly because of their freckles
Nya and Gwen both do impressions of Jay whenever he's around as a joke
Nya also told her about the events of Skybound, and she's the only other person who knows about those events
Gwen hasn't got any elemental powers, however she, like Jay, is immune to electrocution (meaning it can't kill them, but it can hurt them)
She she has a lightning ninja-themed hoodie that she wears almost everywhere
Whenever the ninja want to have parties (that aren't under Wu's watch) they always go to Gwen's apartment
This basically means whenever they want to have alcohol at a party they always go somewhere else bc Wu's banned alcohol from the monastery 😭
Whenever Cole talks to her she goes really pink in the face, which Jay always teases her about
If someone ever calls her by her full name, her left eye will start to twitch out of irritation
Ed and Edna bought Gwen this blue teddy bear plushie for her birthday, and from then on she never went to sleep without it
She decided to name the plushie "Jaya" after Nya and Jay 🥰
That's everything!! This one was kinda long heh, also sorry if you find any typos in this-
Lloyd is next, prepare for a tragic ending lol
#lego ninjago#lloyd garmadon#ninjago fanart#ninjago#ninjago fandom#ninjago fic#ninjago headcanons#cole brookstone#nya jiang#zane julien#jay ninjago#ninjago jay#jay walker#jay gordon#jaya#jaya ninjago#ninjago nya#ninjago libber#libber gordon#cliff gordon#skybound#ninjago skybound#ninjago oc#ninjago au#au ninjago#oc ninjago#ninjago original character#jay x reader#jay x nya#ninjago x reader
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hello everyone :) I'm Corvid/Icarus/Shark, pronouns they/them!! Tone tags appreciated!!! Artist and writer, working on fics :D I don't have one main fandom I have FOUR do you like plastic ninja and turtle ninja and Minecraft block men because boy I do (Ninjago, ROTTMNT (I don't really know any other version I'm sorry guys), Life Series, Hermitcraft) I also really like Dreamzzz but I've just started that series so I have less feelings about it /lh Do YOU like silly little aus about Ninjago and Rise because I have many if you're interested I have a list I'll put them under the read more with their name, tags, and a short description :) ITS LONG IM SORRY LMAO Also yes there is shipping in some of these, not really in any of the Rise aus but in the Ninjago aus there's some, most of the time it doesn't really affect most of the story but I'll mention if it does
RISE OF THE TMNT
Initium Novum (#inau) Told from the perspective of an OC (lost turtle sibling called Masaccio (Acie)), takes place during the show and has a lot of other OCs in it if that's not your jam
What Do You Do When You Fall Into Heaven? (#fihau) Told from multiple perspectives, takes place during/after the movie and is a hurt/comfort. The same cast as Initium Novum, with some additions :) I really wanted to write the future guys man they all show up at some point
Who's That Hamato? (#wthau) Kind of an au of Initium Novum, it's what if Acie was also taken in by Splinter. Explores a different facet of them, explores how their relationships would be different in a different situation.
We Have Got To Stop Meeting New People Like This (#snpau) Another Initium Novum/WDYDWYFIH au but this one's Ninjago :) Similar to House of the Rising Sun (Shells) in that the Merge caused their world to join the Merged Realms, they all explore this new world and Acie gets to go nuts.
Boys of Summer (#bosau) Non-OC au, it's another separated au throw the confetti throw the sparkles- Leo focused, he's still with Splinter but Draxum is there as well and has been redeemed, the others found their own ways out of the lab and ended up in different places.
Rise from the Dead (#rftdau) Non-OC au, puts a ghostly spin on the story. The turtles are all ghosts that only April can see. There's no yokai and no mystics, but multiple yokai characters are still in the story, just as humans.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Critters (#tmncau) Sort of Minecraft au but not really, I just really really love the fanon Minecraft hybrids so I made the turtles into them :). They're mutants still but they've got distinctly Minecraft hybrid traits I've put sooo much thought into the traits for all the different hybrids it's so fun
Shell From Another Realm (#sfarau) A Rise/Ninjago crossover au, takes place post-Rise movie and post-Crystalized pre-Dragon's Rising. The turtles, April, and Casey end up in the world of Ninjago and try to find their way home while also trying to figure out this new world.
House of the Rising Sun (Shells) (#hotrsau) Another Rise/Ninjago crossover au, completely separate from the previous one in that this takes place during Dragon's Rising instead. When the Merge caused all the Realms to collide, Earth was one of them, and everyone ended up scattered across the Merged Realms. The Hamatos decide to settle in the Crossroads and meet some young faces.
NINJAGO
Some Assembly Required (#sarau) Completely rewrites the entire thing, based on the question "what if the bite from the Devourer didn't turn Garmadon evil and instead made him sick?" Garmadon is good and raising his children, the kids aren't really as in tune with their elemental powers, and I made a bunch of lore for it around the dragons and the other elemental masters please ask me about it please please /lh (has a couple ocs but not very many) (pretty shippy, a lot of poly relationships)
Web of Destiny (#wodau) Spiderman au, all six main ninja are a group of heroes, with Pixal as a vigilante. Other characters from the series feature as villains. The Dragons Rising cast also features.
The Dragon's Samurai (#tdsau) Crystalized ending rewrite, Pixal focused. Asking "what if their golden powers went haywire after they sent them to Lloyd, causing them to lose themselves? Also what if Nya got a golden form I'm so sad she didn't get one" Basically they get taken over by their powers and Pixal has to go talk some sense into them I lOVE PIXAL SO MUCH DO YOU UNDERST
Abnormal Reaction (#arau) DO YOU GUYS LIKE THE BIZARROS BECAUSE I DO this is entirely me wanting to have a Bizarro au they don't die after getting dusted they just regroup somewhere else and decide to go do their own thing after Garmadon gets defeated
A Different Vision of the Future (#advotfau) I'm lowkey embarrassed about this one lmAO it's a Genshin au,,,,, I probably won't write a fic for it like I will with the others but I wanted to draw it and explore the concept I don't even play Genshin anymore I'm crying
Ready Your Triforce, It's About To Have More Sides (#rytau) Do you guys like Breath of the Wild :) I like Breath of the Wild :) BotW/Ninjago crossover au besties they all end up in different points in time and get to interact with different pEOPLE lots of me messing around with dynamics
staring up at the sky (and hoping to see your face) (#suatsau) Veeeeery self indulgent self discovery au. Everyone but Lloyd is this almost godlike ruler of different concepts and they give him the chance to leave everything to come join them, and he has to make that decision.
Ninjas & Normies (#nanau) They're all just normal college students who like to play D&D, they each get a chance to run a campaign once they're taught how to play. Each campaign is based off a plot point or season from the show.
Departed and Service (#dasau) BASED ON Five Nights at Freddys NOT ACTUALLY A FNAF AU I don't know NEARLY enough about the fnaf lore to make an actual au with it but they're all animatronic characters from a very popular kid's TV show and Morro and Pixal are employees at their party place :) A bunch of side characters show up in this (Dragon's Rising cast also appears)
SPINJITZOON! (#spinau) It's a Splatoon au they're all having fun Ronin is basically Grizz he messes with their weapons and makes them more powerful (Dragon's Rising cast appears)
Pokemon Spin and Pokemon Whip (#pspwau) Pokemon au!!! There's two different parts to this, the first one starring Kai Nya and Lloyd, and the second starring Arin Sora Wyldfyre and Euphrasia! They all go on their adventures and in the second part Kai Nya and Lloyd see themselves in these kids and want to help them go farther
Adventures of the Dragon (#aotdau) Another D&D au but this one is them just living in a D&D fantasy style world :) silly things ensue this one's more just art than fully written story
Shapes and Colors (#sacau) Minecraft au! They're a group of friends who play on a server together and some of them are streamers and youtubers who record these sessions and put it out there for their fans, some of them do lore while some of them have no idea what's going on any of the time. Other elemental masters and Dragons Rising characters appear. (shippy, but mostly with their little characters that they made for the lore)
Lights, Camera, Action! (#lcaau) Silly actor au! Not much else to it
Song of the Sirens (#sotsau) Mermaid au, some of them are pirates and others are mermaids. Just some fun dynamics with some human/nonhuman shipping :)
Mobs of a Feather Flock Together (#moafftau) Another,, another Minecraft au this one is like Adventures of the Dragon in that they live in this world and also they're all different Minecraft hybrids I got really really into Minecraft hybrids man I just really like to draw them,,,, Dragons Rising cast is included
Ninjagoing Going Gone (#gggau) Sort of Scooby Doo-esque mystery au, kind of a blend between movieverse and showverse. Starring Arin, Sora, Wyldfyre, and Euphrasia, they're looking for the old heroes they used to hear about as kids who completely disappeared years ago. They find Lloyd and force him convince him to help them, even though he's not so sure he can.
These Problems Are Multi-Faceted (#tpamfau) Gem au! Like from Steven Universe! Except it's not a Steven Universe au, it doesn't follow the plot of the show at all. Super quick synopsis is Pink Diamond grew tired of the way things were on Homeworld and so rebelled, escaping with his fellow rebels to a planet already under his control. After lots of fighting and the establishment of a shaky truce, an Emerald and his crew are sent to the planet to try and bring Pink back.
#im so sorry this is so long#i have so many thoughts all the time#please ask me about my aus i love talking about them
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So……… citrus child Arin?! Explain. Elaborate. Enlighten me.
You know that new lil' dude from the United trailer?
This is Arin, rumored to be the possible new Master of Wind.
But in the HJ AU, Wind and Water ARE Elements of Creation. And in the case of their last living chosen dying before passing on to their kids/protégé, the Elements will legit conjure a new chosen out of nowhere.
For Wu, this was how he gained Morro. Wind didn't have a living chosen, and seeing as Wu was looking to raise his own child, Wind whipped a baby into existence and left them on Wu's doorstep.
So come to post-Possession's alternate ending. Morro accepted his father's help and joined the team as a spirit, went through the Rift with Cole, and finished his redemption as a human.
Echo joined in S2 as Dr. Julien couldn't leave his oldest (yes, Oldest) son. Echo helped Morro in his redemption, and the two gained a admiration for each other, and eventually fell in love.
But the issue of children arose, Morro and Echo saw all the little terrors running around the Monastery and began wanting their own. But Morro being a Man, and Echo a Nindroid, neither could conceive. They thought about going the Zeke route and building their own child-
But Wind intervened, pulling Morro around until he conceded and followed it. He kept going until until he got dragged to the Ninjago City Urbans, and was met with Arin.
Arin lost his mom and had no dad to take him in, so he was put into the Ninjago childcare system. When he was met with Morro and a tug from the Wind, it's discovered soon after that during Morro's ghostly return- Wind was searching for a new living person to pass its power onto.
So Wind found a new Chosen, Morro got his successor, and him and Echo adopted Arin as their son.
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Fang-llo has never been like the other serpentine. They all tell him he's too much of a human, even if that's a blatant lie -- he knows his eyes are red like a Hypnobrai's and his fangs are as sharp as any other Fangpyre's. He's serpentine through and through and he hates humans just like the rest of them. They're all the worst, including the nice girl and her brother who just don't know how to leave him alone. The absolute worst, you hear him? or: Lloyd Garmadon, raised by the Fangpyre his entire life, never saw any good in humans beyond maybe their candy-making skills. Now, he finds himself struggling between balancing his loyalty to the serpentine and his growing fascination with the multi-colored humans who keep crashing into his life.
🐍 Lloyd & Kai & Nya, Lloyd & Nya 🐍 ns1 setting 🐍 friendship, enemies to friends, fluff and angst 🐍 9462 words, complete 🐍 written by @21st-century-ninja @dumbfandomdoodles and @blanket-ruler13 🐍 read on ao3 here
Heyo everyone! We can finally reveal one of our telephone fics for @ninjago-wip-telephone and we’re so excited for you to read it! I (Fabro) wrote the first part of this fic, dumbfandomdoodles the middle, and blanket-ruler13 took us to the finish line :D hope you enjoy!
excerpt:
They're still following him. At first it was funny, hearing them stumble behind him, his expert serpentine tracks invisible to them, especially with the after effects of the smoke bomb, but now he's tired.
They're just so fast. He presses his back against a tree, tail slipped out from its confines and wrapping around the branch underneath him.
"I'm sure he was kidnapped, Kai." Nya’s voice echoes below, "He might have lived in those houses."
"Kidnapped or not, he'll lead us to wherever they've taken over next." The boy responds, and Fang-llo’s breath hitches. Of course that's what they want. A tiny part of him hoped that maybe they were just trying to make sure he was okay, but that was well and truly quashed now.
He didn't even get his candy.
He reached into his bag, hoping for a net bomb, or even another venom bomb, really anything that would ensure the safety of the tribe. His fingers scraped around the bottom, scrambling in the emptiness. No luck.
"I can't find a trail, we should just get back to town. We know what the kid looks like now."
"But Kai- what if he's in danger?"
read the rest on ao3!
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I posted 677 times in 2022
That's 309 more posts than 2021!
117 posts created (17%)
560 posts reblogged (83%)
Blogs I reblogged the most:
@modkatisbacc
@memories
@strawbebbynya
@gen-incorrect
@jaakkola
I tagged 387 of my posts in 2022
Only 43% of my posts had no tags
#ninjago - 122 posts
#cool art - 54 posts
#warcraft - 32 posts
#rwby - 26 posts
#world of warcraft - 20 posts
#signal boost - 18 posts
#pixal borg - 14 posts
#lloyd garmadon - 14 posts
#gen:lock - 12 posts
#yeah - 12 posts
Longest Tag: 131 characters
#also if u have kids and they happen to find a version of cooking mama on a random website please verify that it's not petas version
My Top Posts in 2022:
#5
More Fair Maidens AU!
Pyrrha: So, we are in a mutual agreement!
Penny: Oh, of course!
Jaune, walking into the room: Pyrrha, what were you and Penny talking about in here?
Pyrrha, trying to cover a giggle: Oh you know, just girly things.
Penny, raising her voice excitedly: Like murder!
50 notes - Posted March 30, 2022
#4
“And you cheated your way into Beacon!” Love that line, gotta be one of my favorite lines now. Not because of its direct context, though.
We learn a few things about this line:
1: The rest of team JNPR were told about Jaune cheating to get into Beacon (They were chill with it tho,, means he’s just as chaotic as the rest of his team)
2: While Yang seemed surprised at Rens outburst, she wasn’t at the information, meaning team RWBY was also told at some point (They r bestie teams that is all)
3: The hidden context behind this,, Ren doesn’t think Jaune is terrible or anything obviously,, but something tells me JNR never sat down and even TALKED about Pyrrhas death. They never dealt with it, and just pushed past it. All Three of them pause for a moment, Jaune doesn’t even argue back, BECAUSE GUESS WHO THE FIRST PERSON WAS THAT KNEW HE CHEATED HIS WAY INTO BEACON?
If he would have said anything else on the subject they would’ve just shut down.
I’ve been THINKING of this for MONTHS, actually. They’re SCARED, Ren has so far gone along with everything just FINE but he’s literally the “We need an adult” meme at that point.
They should be in CLASS, not saving the literal world from an immortal Grimm witch!!!
Jaune just deflates afterwards, and Yang gets angry, it’s just,,, TALK.
51 notes - Posted April 1, 2022
#3
I don’t think they’re getting rid of Pixal. They are deliberately keeping her out of the trailers for a REASON. And that’s because she has this EPIC COOL SIDE PLOT ALL FOR HERSELF. BOOM PROBLEM SOLVED. I CRACKED THE CASE.
53 notes - Posted June 20, 2022
#2
That moment in season 3 when Garmadon and Lloyd come across a nest with some kinda bird baby inside and Lloyd picks it up and Garmadon said “It’s going to know someone has touched its young”
And the when Lloyd asks who IT is, he says “Daddy” and yes people in the comments were laughing bc of how he said it, but WHO other than Garmadon would know that feeling more than anyone else in the show? When he was trying to turn Ninjago into his own image, and when the serpentine suggested getting rid of Lloyd he snapped at them and threw them off the ship/locked them up. The only reason the venom didn’t take him over entirely was because the love for his son was THAT strong. It took Ninjgos first and greatest evil to truly corrupt him.
LISTEN I JUST HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT HIM AND THE BIRD
99 notes - Posted May 13, 2022
My #1 post of 2022
In the intro of TLOVM, there’s this snowy place they’re apparently going to in the future, and I am super excited to see whatever it is because the lighting and just how the background looks for it?? BEAUTIFUL?? It’ll probably be a ways off, with them being arrested and all.
SPEAKING OF WHICH, Is the King still under control? How are they gonna Roll themselves outta this mess? (See what I did there?)
Also I love that when the guards get there, after already shooting the driver, Percy just stands there getting surrounded by guards, and honestly its a cool shot but he is gonna have some EXPLAINING to do to EVERYONE. Considering the others look mighty surprised by what’s happening, he hasn’t done THIS before. Also did I mention I really like his plague Doctor mask? Super cool.
116 notes - Posted February 2, 2022
Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →
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I posted 2,866 times in 2022
That's 14 more posts than 2021!
19 posts created (1%)
2,847 posts reblogged (99%)
Blogs I reblogged the most:
@universeshards
@altroquinine
@spinaroos-47
@ministarfruit
@bellaleaf
I tagged 252 of my posts in 2022
#save - 16 posts
#liz speaks - 15 posts
#liz draws - 13 posts
#resource - 12 posts
#ninjago - 11 posts
#rise of the tmnt - 11 posts
#lizrottmnt - 9 posts
#rottmnt - 9 posts
#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles - 9 posts
#lego ninjago - 8 posts
Longest Tag: 140 characters
#when me and a friend stopped by after summer school the same lady recongized me and went :D hi! and remembered exactly what i always ordered
My Top Posts in 2022:
#5
See the full post
45 notes - Posted November 1, 2022
#4
Jay believes in fine modes of transportation (being carried by his partners)
Anyways I love this moment in The Island.
57 notes - Posted November 1, 2022
#3
See the full post
68 notes - Posted November 2, 2022
#2
all im saying is the childhood friends Cole and Jay hc is incredibly great but its even better and writes itself when you consider the facts:
Jay very clearly was bullied when he was younger (his whole not good bc he was raised in a junkyard and insecurities and all of that)
Cole canonically got in trouble because he fought a bully at school as a kid
Look all I’m saying is these two details add up and I am so insane over the fact this writes itself and i have so many thoughts abt what this hc means for their friendship
116 notes - Posted October 27, 2022
My #1 post of 2022
See the full post
582 notes - Posted November 1, 2022
Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →
#tumblr2022#year in review#my 2022 tumblr year in review#your tumblr year in review#my most popular posts are all ninjago... wow
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I’m a little embarrassed to share this so,,,, be nice hahaha
Now before I go into WHY I made DILF Oni Cole and why he’s in LMK, I’m gonna go into the au I invented in my head. under the cut haha bc its... a lot
This AU takes place a few decades since the beginning of the ninjago series, the ninja are all retired. Jay and Nya have a family. Zane and Pixal run Borg Industries and are effectively the parents of all modern androids. Kai runs his own Dojo, and probably runs a smithy in a joint building. I can’‘t imagine him having kids, or starting a family. He visits the other ninja frequently and has a small family of employees at his dojo and smithy. Lloyd is still physically younger (being Oni/Dragon) and didn’t retire. He manages a new ninja team, taking Wu’s place as master while Wu is retired with his new tea shop.
Cole also ages slower than the rest of the ninja, because in this he’s also an Oni. I figure before the ninja settled down, but after they decided to retire, they did a world round trip, exploring different continents and whatnot. Cole ended up falling in love with the forests and mountains nearby Megapolis. He is visited monthly by the rest of the ninja, and calls them bi-monthly.
NOW.
Cole lives there, built his own cabin and became a bit of a lumberjack again. As an earth elemental he has a lot of outdoor furniture made of earth/rock/etc. He also creates statues as a hobby, fine tuning his powers while also working his creativity. He also makes place for rock climbing and goes on lots of hikes.
I also decided that it’s the same forest that surrounds Monkey King’s temple in that episode where MK tries learn focus.
So.... Monkeys! He feeds and talks to the monkeys. And oddly, after years of doing this, the monkeys actually entrust him to babysit and take care of the babies. So obviously this is where the DILF part comes in. He’s doing his part to Monkey society and raising generations of adorable little baby monkeys.
The Monkeys name him “Guardian”, for he guards the young and feeds the hungry.
Humans know him as several different Cryptids, but I haven’t really gone into details on how. He just never leaves the forest, and occasionally goes into the outskirts of town for supplies, and to use a payphone.
now. Why? I hear you ask. Why make this au? Why have you done this? Was it just to make Cole more of a Dilf than he already is? Is that it? Yeah kinda. Also I’m going to have Sun Wukong himself find him and imagine a 100,000 word slow burn roccshipping fic.
Cole can be the stubborn solid rocc to Wukong’s constantly rolling around pebble.
uuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh I’m losing steam and have to get ready for work but he’s an uncle to MK after MK and Mei decide to investigate where Wukong is constantly disappearing to when he misses training. Turns out he found the forest cryptid aaaand- conversations with MK and Cole are very quiet mainly bc Cole is very quiet unless monkeys or kids are around, then his dad instincts kick in and he interacts with small creechur. It’s only after he learns MK is training to fight and basically be a hero that he offers MK a shred of his dad instinct and he helps with meditation and tells him to follow him rock climbing and spars and stuff.
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guysguysguys what if pixal came back with a kid that she adopted??? or kids even???
she would help all kids that lost their family to the merge 100% all while girlbossing n being badass as hell
#ninjago#ninjago dragons rising#ninjago pixal#pixal borg#levi's ted talks#its ninjago: raising kids after all😎 everyone comes back with a kid#i might write smth abt this but im still gathering ideas#but i also need to focus on ch3 of atypb aghh
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Ok iv been needing to make a new pinned post so here it is :D
Hi! I'm Kari but i also go by Fluff.
I'm a minor running a multi fandom blog that posts mostly Ninjago, Tmnt, Batman, AVM and AVA, Transformers, and basically anything about heroes or ninja. Very rarely I'll reblog voltron, rwby and bnha tho I don't really interact with those fandoms cuz they kind of scare me lol.
I also like astronomy, the colors purple and blue, cats, cooking and lots of other cool stuff.
Other blogs that I'll associate with me are my writeblr that i'm trying to revive and also needs a new intro, my witchblr and my crafts blog.
a list of my aus;
-ripples au
Basically what if Lloyd and Kai unlock their elements early and Kai gets kidnapped in the pilots instead of Nya because of it, you can read the unfinished fanfic on my ao3 @/hikari_hikari though im planning a rewrite rn
-hybrid smith siblings au
Au where Ray is a demon and Maya is an angel who fell in love and went to ninjago in disguise to be together after bwing shunned by their society
this results in their kids gaining demon/angel traits as they grow older with no knowledge of what's going on
-polyninja fam au
The ninja decide they're done with saving the world and run away, they then adopt Lloyd, turn him back into a kid with yesterday's tea and go live in the light house for a bit, finding echo and also adopting him.
They all eventually start dating while co-parenting Echo and Lloyd
They all get different jobs that they enjoy and Nya, Pixal and Skylar also end up in a relationship and are motorcycle aunts
Brad and Gene also make up with Lloyd and now the poor ninja have 2 extra kids that aren't theirs constantly over and eating all their food XD
Ronin and Dareth are also there as everyones favorite uncles who teach them to fun games and (whenever ronin can get away with it) how to steal.
-poly ninja high school au (with @/lloyd-garma-gun and @/strangermask)
Basically Zane is pastel goth, Jay is a jock, Kai is a nerd, and Cole is grunge and they're all in highschool
I think this all started with the idea of cottage core Morro and goth Echo but I can't remember if they're in this au
Polyponytail are all apart of a chess club
And Lloyd Genenand Brad are all cheerleaders.
-nindroid jay au
Jay is Dr.Julian's first nindroid prototype who's power source doesn't work so he's sent to the junkyard, ed and edna find the weird looking robot cute and decide to put him by the junkyard entrance instead of scrapping him, one day he gets struck by lightning -which is actually the element of lightning because this is the same day Libber died- and comes to life
Ed and Edna raise him like their own and also since his parents are inventors he adds a bunch of cool stuff to himself like jets/gliders so he can fly and a welding torch and stuff
Paranormal youtuber's au (with @/wojira, tho I think they deactivated or something idk)
Its not really my au i just agreed to write it (though when I'll get to it idk) Here's the au info though
-evil ed and edna
Ed and Edna are assassins/inventors who turn their son Jay into a living weapon (think cyborg) they trained him to follow orders exactly and replaced how limbs with mechanical ones with different functions.
One day that find the skeleton army's weapon maker (dr.julain) ad get the blueprints for a nindroid they could improve and make better then Jay they decide he's no longer needed.
They leave him in a forest to rot telling him that they'll be back (they won't)
Eventually Nya and Kai find Jay and Nya fixes him up a bit with her then rudimentary but lastly growing knowledge of mechanics.
Jay then decides to stick around these kids/adopt himself into the smith family lol
Eventual technoshipping
-bnha crossover
Turns out some people in the cloud kingdom fucked up some peoples life's accidentally.
the cloud council or whatever decide to compensate said people by reincarnating them.
So harumi, morro and garmadon all get reincarnated into bnha with all their former memories
Harumi as hatsume mei's quirkless twin sister
Morro as izuku's adopted older brother
And Garmadon as a martial arts instructor
-manipulative morro au (with @thebluelittlewitch2-thesequal)
Lloyd never gets turned older and since morro isn't about to possess a scrawny useless little kid so instead he manipulates lloyd into stealing the realm crystal for him.
- wings au
Once an elemental master gets to a certain stage they grow wings that have the same traits as their elements.
They're also very bird and catlike
- seven deadly sins au
Idk I haven't really developed this one beyond;
Lloyd is envy
Jay is lust
Kai is wrath
Zane is sloth
Cole is gluttony
Nya is pride
And Morro is greed
Evil mer au
Ninjago but mer-people and also the ninja are all evil with abandonment issues and either Wu is also evil and keets them later or Wu and morro are the good guys I haven't decided yet
Overwhelmed au (made with tex @ninjaslegosmains)
What if being an elemental master came with horrible consequences? Well that's the au every basically. element has horrible drawbacks
Gamer kai au
Kai hears that you can make bank as a streamer and even tho he hates newer technology and he sucks at video games he starts streaming so that the ninja can eat.
occasionally the other ninja make appearances but not often because they kick Kai's ass and the people of ninjago take much joy in Kai learning how to play the games they suggest for the first time
S.H.I.E.L.D's babysitter au
Morro is apart of shield and is tasked with training ultimate spiderman and his team and keep them from running off but ofc Morro was also a rebellious teen once so he low-key enables them.
YJL au's;
800 purrs
Crack Au where aquaman and aqualad have an army of cats because they smell like fish, and conner has already named them all things like 'stray' and 'lil kitty' and given them little leather boots so now they have to keep them.
I'd love asks about any of them!!!
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things i remember about ninjago:
there are these 4 guys who are red blue black and. white (?) and theres a uhhhh ninjitsu monastery? and the old guy is definitely from the monastery but the guys arent or something. like two of them break into it and then. fight the others?? maybe?? oh theres something about like a marketplace and a caravan and they like get one of the guys from there. wait wait that was an episode where they traveled back in time or something right?? and there was like heavy machinery and a temple and something got torn down. anyways the four guys meet master wu and he trains them to be ninjas and use spinjitzu and they go to the woods (and at some point theres a mountain and a lava place and they have to jump on the pieces of floating stone over the lava lake). theres a big floating pirate ship that they drive around everywhere. at one point they're in a town and the blue one is doing something. at one point uhhh the girl shows up. only woman in the whole show. also the white ninja is either a robot or gets turned into a robot
anyways lord garmadon is the evil guy from the shadow realm and also he has a kid. the kid is younger than the other ninjas and he trains with them and hes a brat and at some point they do training exercises on the ship and he like hides under a bed or something. maybe breaks a lamp. theres a big legend about the Green Ninja and He is the green ninja but thats a surprise for later. ALSO THE GOLDEN WEAPONS there are golden weapons and they have to be very special to use them
theres a big thing with four or maybe five dragons in the city and its a big season finale thing, possibly where they kill garmadon? but also before or after that i know that theres the whole "the green knight is this kid and this kid is garmadons son !!!!!" thing. they also know lloyds mom and she owns a museum. theres like something with garmadon where for a bit he isnt evil and hes just some silver fox salt and pepper guy who probably tries to raise lloyd right and fails
alsooo one of the episodes i remember most clearly is the one where they meet coles family and he has to like teach them how to be in a band so he can impress his parents bc theyre city slickers and they dont respect the ancient art of spinjitzu
after the thing with the dragons, at the beginning of the next season, one of the ninjas is like injured and he crawls out of a garbage truck and joins this awful phony martial arts place run by a weird elvis impersonator-like man. also around that same time, maybe before the dragons ?? theyre all like superheros and they train to protect the city or something. at one point before the dragons and the city they're in this junkyard and Oh yeah they all have their own like motorcycles. at one point there are these groups of snake/scorpion/reptilian anthros who are all running underground crime syndicates and theres like sewer system war tactics and a lot of drama
at one point they go to the dark world where garmadon is and theres this biiiiig face of between master wu and garmadon AND AS I WAS TYPING THAT I REMEMBERED they used to be best friends?? it was a whole thing?? and master wu says something about Before time even existed... we were besties... we existed in harmony or something idk. but yeah that was a thing. and im pretty sure garmadon killed master wu then and there. the more of this i recall the more it sounds like star wars by the way did anyone else pick up on that. also the red ninja's name is jay
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It Started With A Tickle {@sicktember}
AO3 l!nk in comments
Ships: Morro/Kai
Rating: G
Warnings: None
Description: Somehow, Morro falls ill and now Kai has to find a way to care for a ghost.
{Sicktember 2022 Day 26: Tickle in the Throat}
It started with a tickle-like feeling. A cough here, a short clear of his throat there. It really didn’t bother Morro at first. Then the coughing became harsher and louder and more frequent.
He brushed it all off as being nothing but a change in weather. Maybe the monastery was particularly dusty lately. After all, it couldn’t possibly be a sickness. What ailment could a ghost even catch? It sounded ridiculous to even give thought to the concept. He was already dead and gone, what diseases could possibly affect him?
But he had been living in Ninjago for a while now. He wondered… no. It was ridiculous. There was no way he was sick. He ignored the tickle in his throat and kept on.
However, the tickle soon turned to pain as every cough felt like sandpaper knives cutting into him. The heat didn’t help. He wasn’t sure what heat. It was winter and had been snowing for almost a week. In fact, even in the hottest months, the mountain top never lost its faint chill.
It wasn’t till the heat had begun to make his head spin that he realized his head was the source in the first place.
Morro quickly reached out to grab at a wall to steady himself only to lose tangibility and fall through it. He floated in the wall between the dining room and the kitchen for a moment, attempting to regain himself. He thanked The Master that no one had been around to see that.
“You havin’ fun there?”
Damn it.
Morro pushed himself out of the wall and forced his feet to the ground. He didn’t feel as firm as he would have liked. He looked over to the other and frowned at him.
Kai raised a brow at the other with a knowing smile. “What was that about ghosts not getting sick?”
Morro scoffed. “It’s impossible. It makes no realistic sense.” His words being punctuated with a sharp cough.
“Since when did anything in Ninjago make realistic sense?” Kai chuckled as he walked over to the other. “C’mon, you should go lay down.”
“I don’t need you to coddle me like an infant.”
Kai shrugged. “Whatever you say. I just didn’t think you wanted to get stuck in any more walls.”
Morro squinted at the other. He didn’t make a sound as he walked past, towards the bedrooms. Kai followed after him with a satisfied smirk.
When they got to his room, Morro sat on the side of his bed and looked up to the other with a raised brow. “Please don’t tell me you plan on nursing me back to health.”
Kai gave a little shrug as he plopped down onto the desk chair. “Why not? I could get one of those Halloween nurse costumes, you know the ones,” he said with a cheeky grin. “I think it’d be fun.”
“You disgust me.”
Kai gave a shouting laugh. “Really though, even if I did think you’d let me I wouldn’t know how. It’s not like you eat so not sure how well meds would work. Can’t exactly cool down a fever with a wet rag, either.”
“Not unless you want to burn a hole into my face.” Morro let out a sigh that fed into a coughing fit. He aimed the sounds into his elbow only for the force of them to make him double over, grabbing at his chest. When the coughing subsided he let out a groan.
Kai moved off the chair and sat next to him on the bed. “When Nya or I got sick as kids our mom sometimes gave us massages. Especially if we were in pain.”
Morro didn’t respond at first. He just rubbed at his chest. Kai waited patiently for any sign of a response. Finally, one came in the form of Morro solidifying his form.
Kai pulled Morro to sit up by his shoulders and turned him so they were facing each other. He put his hands around the others neck, first checking for any swelling.
A chill at the touch faintly passed through Morro. Ever since his fever had started up he’d felt hypersensitive to the sensation of touch. It was almost a welcomed occurrence even if the only thing he’d felt the past few days was pain. He hadn’t felt real sensations since he died.
With his skin so aflame and sensitive, Kai’s touch came in loud and clear to his senses.
“Your hands are warm,” he mumbled.
“You can feel them?”
Morro nodded.
Kai gave a snort. “Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. I run pretty hot. Master of fire ‘n’ all that.” He located the swelling and gently pushed his fingers into the skin and around it. He went slow and concentrated on not putting too much force in. Just because choking a ghost wasn’t exactly possible didn’t mean it would be any less uncomfortable.
“My mother used to do this as well,” Morro said after a while.
Kai looked up from his hands to the other’s face. “You remember your mom?”
The spirit gave a pause. “A little. She left when we were very young. But I was old enough to keep a few memories,” he admitted. “When either of us were sick she often would rub our backs to comfort us as well. I remember her telling me to do so if Jay was ever sick or upset while she was away.”
Kai watched the other’s face as he talked. Morro’s eyes losing focus as if he were chasing something far, far away. Kai moved his hands to a different position to continue his ministrations.
Morro suddenly jerked away from the other and slammed his face into his arm as his coughing returned with a vengeance.
Kai quickly moved his hand to the ghost’s back. He felt the other’s form go in and out of tangibility with every harsh sound. When the coughing subsided, Morro’s form solidified again, allowing Kai to actually run at his back.
Morro let himself fall forward against the other, into his arms. Kai only smiled down at him. He let his hands continue to rub his back as well as run up and through his hair. The green strands mixing into the black like scattered grass.
“He’s a lot like her,” Morro said, seemingly out of nowhere. “Our mother, I mean.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” His voice was so many things, Kai almost wasn’t sure which emotion to focus on. A fondness, a longing, a sorrow, a hope.
Kai smiled. “I think he’d like to hear that.”
Morro hummed. “He would. One day I’ll be able to say that to him.”
“It’ll be worth the wait.”
#ninjago#kai smith#ninjago morro#morro#destinyshipping#sickfic#sicktember#fan fic#fan fiction#mywriting
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wait
(storm section inspired by @ambrosial-tea)
Prompts: Home and Memories
Word Count: 5,901 (hey i think i'm actually starting to get these back to a more reasonable number XD)
Characters: Lloyd and Garmadon
Timeline: Between episodes 13 (Day of the Great Devourer) and 18 (Child’s Play) with some flashback scenes
Trigger Warnings: Abandonment
Summary: Lloyd’s not so great at being patient. It’s not his fault though- maybe he would be better at it if waiting didn’t always end up being so disappointing- if people actually kept their promises. But this time’s going to be different, he knows it. His father will come back for him. And Lloyd’s going to wait.
As long as it takes.
Since I already got two bingos on the sparks board, I decided to switch it up and change to the warm board!
Read on FFN.net
Read on Ao3
Tumblr work under the cut
In the aftermath of the battle, Lloyd only had one thought on his mind.
Cheers and whoops from the citizens of Ninjago City- and the ninja themselves- rang through the air as the realization that the Great Devourer was dead hit them. Lloyd hardly noticed, though. Gripping the handrail at the edge of the building, he peered out over the city. He was around here somewhere. He had to be.
“We did it!” Kai cried, grabbing Lloyd’s hand and raising it high in the air. “We saved the city! The Great Devourer is dead!” We? Lloyd glared at him, although the fire ninja didn’t even seem to notice. My dad was the one who seemed to do all the saving.
“Ultra!” Cole cried as the dragon landed on the street near the foot of the building. Racing towards the fire escape, the ninja hurried down the stairs and over to the dragon. Cole threw his arms around Rocky’s snout, the others not far behind. “You’re safe, bud!”
As the ninja and Nya laughed and caressed the dragon, Lloyd hung back, feeling lost. This wasn’t right. They couldn’t go on celebrating when someone was still missing.
“Where’s my dad?” he burst out, his voice sounding a lot shakier than what he had hoped for. “I don’t see him anywhere.”
The others exchanged glances. Lloyd hated the way they looked at each other, trying to decide what to tell him, because he obviously wasn’t good enough to know what they were really thinking.
Nya walked over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder and bending over slightly to put herself more at his level. Her eyes sparkled with regret. “Lloyd-”
“Sensei Wu?”
Jaws dropped at Cole’s exclamation, and they jerked their gazes towards where he was pointing. Sure enough, Uncle Wu was sitting in the middle of the street, in a pile of green Devourer goo, looking lost as he pushed himself to his feet. Lloyd closed his eyes, letting his breath out slowly. So at least one of his mistakes had been fixed.
“He’s alive?” Jay gaped. “He’s alive!”
Kai grabbed Lloyd by the wrist, half-dragging him over towards their sensei as the ninja tackled him into a hug. Lloyd reached out to put a hand on his uncle’s back, but paused. He had no place here. Don’t get me wrong, I love the ninja, but… I was never supposed to be part of this. I’m only here because my uncle is their sensei, because I’m their beloved green ninja.
Wu pulled back from his students, grinning- only for his smile to falter as his dark eyes met Lloyd’s red ones. He tilted his head in that odd, knowing way of his. Lloyd wanted to break the contact, but couldn’t.
“Your father is gone, isn’t he.” Not a question, but a statement.
Lloyd let his gaze drop to the ground, remaining silent. His uncle reached a hand out for his shoulder but stopped short when Lloyd flinched away.
“Yeah, and with him, our golden weapons,” Kai growled. Nya elbowed him, hard, and he yelped, rubbing his side and scowling at her.
“Weapons or not, we will see him again,” Wu told him, “of that I am certain.”
“Yeah, only because your dumb prophecy says so.”
Wu flinched. “Lloyd-”
“Do I really have to fight my father someday, Uncle Wu?”
He sighed. “One day, nephew, that time will come. But I can hope that it is not for many, many years to come, when you are much older and stronger and wiser. Until then, we must not linger on the future. You ninja have done well today. You should be proud of yourselves, celebrate your victory for a little while.”
“Don’t worry, bigshot.” Kai ruffled his hair. “You’re the chosen one. And we’re the best teachers there are! You’ll be more than ready by the time the final battle rolls around.”
Lloyd clenched his teeth. Why couldn’t any of them see? He didn’t want to fight his father. He couldn’t. His father had come back for him when the Serpentine had trapped him, even when everyone else had lost hope. His father had been the one to comfort him about their futures, the one to protect him, the one to fix his mistakes with the Serpentine. So what if he had taken the golden weapons? If it weren’t for him, they’d all be inside the stomach of a giant snake right now. Were the ninja really so quick to forget that?
They didn’t know him like Lloyd did. Even his uncle had never seen the side of him Lloyd had seen. His father was a good man who had made bad choices. Couldn’t the same be said for Lloyd? If he had changed, why couldn’t his father?
Don’t worry, dad, he vowed silently. I won’t fight you. I’ll find a way to fix this. To make this right.
You see if I don’t.
---
Lightning illuminated the small room, dazzling Garmadon’s tired face as he carried the blanket over to the couch. Sitting down, he gazed out the window, the pattering sound of rain against the glass both comforting and incredibly lonely at the same time.
He sighed, turning towards the hallway. “I know you’re there, Lloyd.”
A small boy slipped into view, a stuffed dragon hugged tightly against his chest and his wispy, whitish-blond hair a mess as he blinked shyly up at him. “I’m scared of the storm, Daddy.”
Garmadon shook his head, scooting over on the couch and patting the space beside him. Lloyd needed no further encouragement, running up to him and hauling himself up to sit beside him. Lloyd burrowed himself against Garmadon’s side, and he made sure to pull the edge of his blanket a little tighter around his son.
Thunder rumbled loudly, and Lloyd whimpered, gripping tighter onto Garmadon. He waited a moment for the boy to relax before speaking.
“So. Mind telling me what it is you find so scary about storms?” Lloyd fidgeted. “They’re so loud! And the lightning- I don’t want it to get me, Daddy.”
Garmadon chuckled. “So you’re scared of a little noise and lights, eh? Somehow, I didn’t quite expect that from you.”
Lloyd yelped as another rumble echoed through the air, this one seeming to shake the house with its ferocity. Lloyd’s dragon slipped out of his grip and he quickly snatched it back up.
“It’s just a process of nature, son. There’s no need to fear it. We are safe here.”
Lloyd glanced up at him with wide eyes, and Garmadon sighed.
“It’s like a dragon, Lloyd. The storm is a big, restless dragon who’s bored and wants to play. The thunder is his roar, and the lightning is his fire breath.”
Lloyd’s eyes glowed, and he shuffled anxiously against Garmadon’s side. “Well, maybe it’s not that scary anymore…”
Garmadon huffed a laugh. “Dragons. That’s all it ever takes with you, isn’t it?”
Lloyd murmured something inaudible, nestling his head in Garmadon’s lap. They sat there together in the silence of the room, and long after Garmadon had thought his son had fallen asleep, he suddenly spoke.
“Daddy?”
“Hm?”
“Why did you and Mommy fight?”
Garmadon breathed out slowly. “Lloyd, you know it’s not nice to listen to people when they don’t know you’re there.”
“Sorry.”
“Look, son. There are some things in this world that are more complicated than you will ever know.” Seeing the confused look on the boy’s face, he elaborated. “Sometimes, people say things they don’t mean. Sometimes, mommies and daddies need to take a little break from each other.”
“Is that why you’re sleeping on the couch?”
“I suppose so. But it’s only for one night, Lloyd. We’ll sort things out tomorrow.”
“Oh.”
Garmadon gazed out the window again, running a hand through his thick hair. He tried not to think about the dark roots he had spotted there earlier, staining his deep chestnut hair the color of darkest night.
That was something no one needed to know about yet. The red eyes had already been hard enough on Misako, especially when their son had inherited them. He tried not to think about what that meant, either. The venom wasn’t hereditary, was it? Lloyd showed no signs of the snappishness he had felt as a youth. On the contrary, the child was pure of heart and bright of soul, one of the sweetest people he had ever met. Garmadon couldn’t understand how he had gotten so lucky.
“Did I do something to make you and Mommy fight?”
“What?” Garmadon started suddenly. “Heavens, child, no.” Taking Lloyd’s chin in his hand, he titled it towards him so that they were looking each other in the eye. “Honey, none of this is your fault. This is Daddy’s mistake, not yours. We both love you very much, you know that, right?”
Lloyd nodded, sniffling as he wrapped his arms tighter around him. “Can I stay with you tonight?”
Garmadon rested a hand on his head. “Whatever you need, my son. I will always be here for you.”
---
“Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon, what were you thinking?” Kai ripped the sword off of his back, sending it to the ground with a clatter. “We told you to stay on the bus, and what did you do? Go after a bunch of pirates?”
“Yeah, kid.” Cole crossed his arms over his chest. “You could’ve been seriously hurt.”
Lloyd glared at them. “I was only trying to help! You never let me do anything!” “Because you’re not ready!” Kai put his hands in his hair, yanking on it in frustration. “Augh, can’t you see? We’re only trying to protect you! What good is all this training if you don’t even make it to the final battle?”
“Lloyd,” Zane said more gently. “You need to take things one step at a time. One day, you will be ready to fight beside us. One day, but not today.”
Lloyd looked away, pushing down the bubbling anger inside of him. This didn’t matter. None of this mattered. If the ninja wanted to treat him like a baby, fine. It didn’t matter what they thought.
All he cared about was his father. He needed to impress him. Make him proud.
“Lloyd? Do you understand?”
“Yes, Zane,” he muttered, avoiding the nindroid’s gaze and instead choosing to kick at a rock. The ninja exchanged hesitant glances, but they didn’t press him further.
Nya sighed. “It’s been a long day. What do you say we get back to the Bounty, and-”
“Sorry! You snooze, you lose!”
The group whipped around towards the Bounty, where the thrusters were powering up as several Serpentine peered at them over the guardrails- as well as a familiar dark figure.
“Dad,” Lloyd breathed, lunging forward- only to be stopped by Nya’s strong arms. He squirmed against her, but she wouldn’t relent.
“Lord Garmadon!” Kai cried. “He stole our ship! I can’t believe he stole our ship!”
“Come on,” Jay groaned. “We just got it back! Can’t it go five minutes without being taken?”
“The Bounty belongs to us,” Cole warned. “We fought for it, fair and square. Give it back, Garmadon.”
The Dark Lord gave a dry laugh. “Like I’d give anything to you.”
Lord Garmadon’s head turned- freezing as he made eye contact with Lloyd. The same eerie red of his own eyes reflected back at him. He longed to say something, anything- but his mouth was dry and words refused to come. He hoped his father could tell what he was thinking, anyway.
Please don’t leave. Stay here. We can work something out. We’ll fix everything between us.
Please don’t leave me again.
For a moment, something that looked like doubt flashed in his father’s eyes, and Lloyd felt hope soar in his chest. My dad might actually- he could-
“You’re getting stronger, son,” Garmadon said, “but never strong enough to defeat me. Give up and turn back now, before it is too late.”
No. Lloyd felt himself fumble as the Bounty rose into the air and flew away, taking his father further and further from him. No, he couldn’t be leaving him again, this had been his one chance to get his father back, to earn his love, but Lloyd had blown it.
I’m sorry, dad. I wasn’t good enough. I let you down.
It won’t happen again. Next time, I’ll try harder.
Next time, I’ll make you proud.
---
Their apartment was quiet that night. As Kai and Nya washed dishes in the kitchen- it was their night for clean-up duty- the others crowded around the TV in their tiny living room, playing video games with the volume low. Their usual yelling was diminished to nothing more than hushed whispers.
Behind them, Lloyd was curled up on the couch, already out like a light even though it was only seven pm. The boy was undoubtedly exhausted from the fight with the pirates earlier in the day, Kai thought crossly.
It took him a moment to realize Nya was staring at Lloyd, too. “Kai,” she asked slowly, working her jaw. “Is Lloyd okay?”
“Why,” he asked quickly. “Is he hurt? Did something happen? Man, I told him not to-”
“No. I mean… do you think he’s been acting a little… odd, lately?”
Kai frowned, turning to look at the boy. His brow furrowed as he slept, the corners of his mouth twitching downward slightly. “I guess. He’s probably just tired from all the training. We’ve been working him pretty hard, as of late.”
“Yeah,” Nya nodded, although she didn’t look like the answer truly satisfied her.
If Kai was being honest, it didn’t feel right to him, either.
---
Misako stormed into the room, dropping Lloyd into his lap with a huff. “That’s it, he’s your problem now.”
Garmadon looked up at her questioningly. “What happened?”
“What do you think happened? He bit me again! So, get him to stop.”
“What makes you think I would be able to make him stop?”
“I don’t know, but the fangs come from your side of the family, so it’s your responsibility now.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know, you’re a smart man, you’ll figure it out! I’m going to go make some tea. Good luck.”
Garmadon stared after her but was pulled out of his thoughts as something sharp chomped down on his hand. He glanced down at Lloyd. “Oh, mister. What are we going to do with you?”
---
When Garmadon returned home the next day, there was a plump green dragon plush stuffed beneath his arm. He handed it to Lloyd, who was sitting on the floor, playing with his wooden blocks as he sucked on his pacifier. “Here. Next time you feel the impulse to bite someone, bite this instead.”
Lloyd eyed the plush with interest, reaching out for it with grabby hands and clutching it around its middle, pulling it close. Spitting out his pacifier, he began to babble to the dragon, blocks forgotten. Garmadon picked up the pacifier, eyeing it closely and sighing as he caught sight of the puncture holes.
When he glanced at Lloyd, the boy was chomping down on the wing of the dragon. Garmadon rolled his eyes, crouching down next to him. “Hey, what is it with you and biting things you like? C’mon, bud.” He gently pried the wing out of his mouth. “You’re going to hurt him- uh, it- hey, don’t you think your little dragon friend needs a name?”
Lloyd stared thoughtfully at the stuffed animal. “Buhbuh.”
“No, no, no, he needs a noble, dragon-ly name! Like Blaze, or Windracer, or-”
“Buhbuh,” Lloyd said firmly.
“..Buffy?”
“Buhbuh.”
Garmadon sighed. “The fierce and mighty Buhbuh? That’s what you want?”
Lloyd cheered, hugging the plush tight. “Buhbuh!”
The name wasn’t the only thing that stuck. Over the following weeks, Lloyd fell in love with that dragon. Everywhere the toddler went, Buhbuh wasn’t far behind. In his playroom, in the crib, in the car, at meals, even in the bathroom. Misako had spent twenty minutes one night trying to wrestle the toy away from him before he took his bath.
It had solved the biting issue, at least, although Misako often muttered that he had just traded one problem out for another. He dismissed her worries, telling her that Lloyd would grow out of his dragon phase eventually.
Although, that certainly wasn’t happening anytime soon. As Lloyd got older, he only got more and more intrigued by the creatures. Suddenly, everything had to have dragons- his pajamas, the shows on TV, his pull-ups, and his many, many toys. While his biting habits faded, as soon as he learned to walk, he was tottering around the house, roaring and flapping his arms like wings. Even as his collection of dragon toys and figurines grew, however, Buhbuh was always his favorite.
Garmadon should’ve known better than to think the carefree times would last forever, though. Ever since Lloyd had been born, he had been so much happier- and he was certain that the presence of his son was slowing the spread of the venom. But it wasn’t gone. It was a curse that the damned snake had forced him to bear forever.
He wanted to put it off as long as possible, though. He was happier here than he had ever been in his life, and he didn’t want to lose all this.
He knew if anyone could help him, it was his brother. Wu understood how much he loved his wife and child. He knew how badly he wanted this. He would do whatever he could to help. His teas and meditations had always been helpful in the past, and he hoped this time wouldn’t be any different.
“Do you have everything, dear?” Misako asked, helping him slip on his coat.
He lifted the duffel bag in his hand. “All in here. I’m ready.”
A sharp tug on his pant leg distracted him. He glanced down to see Lloyd, sniffing miserably. “Daddy, why do you have to go?”
Garmadon crouched down next to him. “It’s only for a few days, pumpkin. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“Why?”
Garmadon sighed. “Daddy’s been feeling…” he glanced at Misako, at a loss, but she only shrugged. “… A bit under the weather lately. I’m going to pay a visit to your Uncle Wu so he can help me with my… impulse control.”
Lloyd blinked at him, and Garmadon smirked, realizing that every word he had just said had gone straight over his son’s head. He ruffled his hair, standing again. “Don’t worry about it too much. You’ll be fine. Your mother will take good care of you.”
As he turned towards the door, he stopped at the sound of sniffling. Turning back to Lloyd, he wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeve. “Hey. It’ll be alright, okay? Daddy will be back soon. You can even call me tonight.” Glancing around, he spotted Buhbuh sitting on the end table and grabbed him, pressing him into Lloyd’s arms. “Buhbuh will take care of you when I’m gone, okay?”
Lloyd hugged Buhbuh tighter. “Okay.”
“Don’t worry, Lloyd. Buhbuh is the best protector there is. And remember, I’m the one who bought him for you. Whenever you see him, you’ll know that I’ll always come back.”
---
“Lloyd, steady!” Jay cried. “We’re wobbling too much!”
Kai yelped, gripping onto Cole’s leg, where he was struggling to balance on Zane’s shoulder. On the nindriod’s other side was Jay, and on top of Cole, Sensei Wu balanced, unfazed. Below them all, Lloyd stood, trembling under all their weight.
“Uh, guys, are you sure this is a good idea-”
“Ahhh! Watch out, we’re going to fall!”
The ninja screamed as they fell to the ground, landing in a tangled pile of limbs. Lloyd quickly wriggled his way out from underneath them, and the others extracted themselves more slowly, groaning.
“You gotta find your balance, Lloyd,” Cole said, rubbing his shoulder where Kai had landed on it. “You have the strength to lift us, but you’re not focusing enough.”
“Well, maybe I’m trying!” Lloyd snapped. “I don’t see you down here lifting all that weight!”
Kai frowned. “Lloyd, Cole is only trying to help.”
“Well, maybe I don’t need help. You’re putting too much pressure on me! I could do way better on my own!”
Sensei Wu put a hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “Perhaps it is time for a break. Let’s get you a drink of water and rest for a bit, then we can try again.”
Lloyd begrudgingly shuffled after his uncle, grumbling under his breath. Kai watched him go with a furrowed brow.
“What’s got the kid acting so irritable lately?”
Jay shook his head. “I don’t know. But he’s starting to get on my nerves. It feels like he’s just being stubborn for the sake of it.”
Zane frowned. “Maybe he’s right. Maybe we are putting too much pressure on him. Supporting the weight of all of us is probably asking too much for a nine-year-old boy, green ninja or not.”
Cole shook his head. “This is the same kid who put a crack through Dareth’s floor. If he can do that, he can lift us. I know he can do it. But he just seems… distant.”
“We’ll keep an eye on it.” Kai waved his hand, turning back towards the training space. “But we don’t have time for his moodiness now. Lord Garmadon is out there somewhere, and he’s not going to wait around for us to sort out our issues.”
---
“Uh, come on boy, we gotta catch up with the ninja, I’m not gonna fall behind again- woah!”
Ultra let out a mighty roar, careening forward with a mighty flap of his wings and sending the reins shooting out of Lloyd’s hands. He only just managed to snag them before they hurtled over Ultra’s heads.
“Easy boy, easy! Look,” he sighed, letting a hand rest gently on the dragon’s off-white scales. “We’re never gonna win this race and save the dojo if you and me don’t learn to work together. Besides, I’m the green ninja. I’m meant to ride you, anyway. Imagine how impressed the others will be if we come back and I’m riding you like a pro! We can rub it in their faces what a natural I am with dragons, heh. What do you say?”
Flame’s head snorted, letting out a puff of smoke, which wasn’t the most reassuring answer.
“Hey, wait a minute.” Lloyd squinted, staring at the vehicles racing through the canyon below them. There was the familiar shape of the Ultra Sonic Raider, but above it-
The ship appeared to have undergone some design changes, but there was still no mistaking the vast, furling sails or the dragon figurehead. The Bounty was in the race.
His father was here.
Lloyd’s heart skipped a beat. His father was here- he could see the black figure now, helping some of the Serpentine to point a cannon at the Ultra Sonic Raider.
Ultra tensed beneath him, but Lloyd hesitated, holding the mighty dragon back.
His dad was trying to hurt his friends. Lloyd didn’t want to get in his father’s way, but…
He couldn’t let him do this.
Lloyd gritted his teeth, digging his hands into the reins. “Okay, Ultra. Let’s put a stop to this.”
Ultra roared, diving towards the Bounty so sharply that Lloyd had to grip onto the saddle for dear life to keep himself from flying off. “Get out of the way!” he yelled at his father. Garmadon lurched back from the cannon, eyes widening, but it was too late. Ultra was already slamming into the ship, sending both himself and the Bounty spiraling.
Snapping up the reins, Lloyd pulled back, steering Ultra up, narrowly avoiding crashing into the ground.
“Woooo! Nice going, Lloyd!”
Kai’s cry sent a flare of warmth through his chest, but it quickly dissipated as his gaze fell on his father, who was barking at the Serpentine as they hurried to get the ship going straight again. He had made the right choice- the only choice- but at his father’s expense.
A wave of panic suddenly hit him. He couldn’t mess this up. He had been given another chance to make his father proud of him, and he couldn’t let this one slip between his fingers.
“C’mon, Ultra, let’s show ‘em what we got!” With a jerk of the reins, the dragon was shooting through the air like a bullet. Lloyd steered him up, and Ultra did a graceful loop through the air, followed by a swift corkscrew.
Lloyd blinked, surprised at how easily his dragon was listening to him. Usually, Ultra was as stubborn as possible, but apparently he enjoyed putting on a show as much as Lloyd did.
“Quit fooling around, Lloyd!” Cole cried from the Raider. “We gotta win this race, and we need your help!”
Lloyd glanced back at the Bounty, but his father wasn’t even looking at him, just waving the Mega Weapon around as he yelled at the Serpentine. Lloyd sighed, guiding Ultra towards the guys. This obviously wasn’t working.
As the Raider sped over the rocky ground below them, it slowly shifted into a softer, lusher landscape- and then came the snow. Lloyd stuck his tongue out, letting a flake land on his tongue.
“Birchwood Forest!” Kai cried. “Oh, we’ll never get through all these trees to catch up!”
There was a roaring of an engine behind him, and Lloyd glanced back to see his father coming in the Bounty, not too far off. I still have a chance! I can still impress him!
“Let me find a shortcut,” he called to the ninja. “Ultra! Up, boy!”
Scanning the woods below, he quickly eyed out a path, then swooped down with Ultra, racing through the trees. “Follow me!”
The turns were sharp, and Lloyd barely avoided crashing into the trees on more than a couple of occasions. But he didn’t, Ultra’s movements swift and precise below him. Lloyd let out a whoop of exhilaration. He was finally getting the hang of this! Ultra was listening to him! Taming a dragon was no easy feat, his father would have to be proud of him now-
Suddenly, Ultra let out a pained cry, and before Lloyd could process anything, the dragon was being yanked backward and plummeting towards the ground. Lloyd screamed, clutching onto the saddle, and Ultra threw his wings around him, sheltering him as they hit the ground with an almighty crash.
---
Lloyd groaned, blinking stars from his eyes as something bumped against his cheek. When it finally came into focus, he saw Wisp’s head staring at him, grunting in concern.
“I- I’m fine, boy,” Lloyd huffed, grabbing at the dragon’s muzzle for support as he pushed himself to his feet. “What in Ninjago just happened? We were doing so well, now we’re going to lose the race!”
Ultra groaned, raising his left foot and shaking it, where chains clanked loudly.
“No, no, no-” Lloyd raced over, examining the cuff and finding long, curved bones secured tightly around Ultra’s ankle. “The Skulkin! They sabotaged us! Those scheming, no good boneheads!” Lloyd yanked desperately at the chains, trying to get them to budge. “Augh, now we’re never going to win the race, and my father will never-” Lloyd cried out as his hand scraped against the sharp edge of the bone. Immediately, Flame’s head was at his side, nosing him away from the cuff and whining softly as he gently licked Lloyd’s scratched hand.
“I… I just wanted to make him proud,” Lloyd sniffed, burying his face against Flame’s scales. The fire dragon felt comfortingly warm in the cold of the snowdrift.
Rocky’s head butted him softly, before carefully taking the edge of the cuff between his teeth and crunching down on it, shattering it into a dozen pieces. Lloyd sucked in his breath, giving Rocky’s muzzle a quick hug before clambering back onto Ultra’s back.
“If we hurry, we can still catch them now! C’mon, boy, we have a lot of ground to make up for!”
---
Lloyd didn’t win the race, but by the time the finish line came into view, he could see the ninja crowding around the golden winner’s cup, cheering. In front of them, Garmadon was yelling at the referee, insisting that he had won and that the ref had made a faulty call.
Lloyd’s breath caught in his throat. His father was right here. Closer than he had been since the defeat of the Great Devourer. Part of Lloyd wanted to run up and hug him, but he knew he couldn’t. That wouldn’t last. He needed something more permanent.
His eyes strayed to the Bounty, resting a little way behind the Dark Lord. With his father out yelling at the ninja and the race staff and all the Serpentine left behind in the Glacier Barrens, the ship was empty.
If Lloyd took it back- his father wouldn’t be able to fly away again. He’d have to stay. They could talk, work things out. As soon as he could get his father to stop running and just listen, he knew he could get through to him.
Lloyd eyed his father warily, but Garmadon was too distracted to notice the giant dragon behind him, as were the ninja. Quietly, Lloyd instructed Ultra forward, and the dragon padded across the ground, climbing up onto the deck of the Bounty.
“That’s not even street legal!” Garmadon was yelling. “My ship was clearly-”
“Your ship?”
His father whipped around, and Lloyd froze as they stared at each other for a long moment.
Please. Please, please, please. Lloyd reached a hand out. “Dad-”
Police sirens sounded behind them, and suddenly two officers hopped out of the car. “Alright, Garmadon, you’re coming with us.”
“Wait!” Lloyd cried, slipping off of Ultra and landing on the ground mere feet from his father. “Dad, it doesn’t have to be like this. You can-”
A screeching of tires, and suddenly Skales was pulling up in his bus. “Look who needs who now!”
Garmadon scowled, turning to go. Lloyd’s brain screamed at him. This was his one chance to stop him. If he did nothing, who knew how long it would be until he got to see him again?
Lloyd lunged forward, grabbing Garmadon’s wrist. The man looked back in surprise. “What are you-”
“Dad. Please. Don’t go.”
Garmadon fell silent, staring at him for a moment. Time seemed to stand still.
Then Garmadon was yanking away, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, son. We both know I can’t do that.” In two steps, he was aboard the Serpentine bus and speeding away.
No. Lloyd felt tears well in his eyes. There were others here, and Lloyd hadn’t cried in front of anyone in a long time, but he couldn’t bring himself to care anymore. His father had been right here. He had touched him.
“Way to go, bud!” Kai whooped, running over to him, the other ninja close behind. “You got the Bounty back- hey, woah, what’s wrong?”
Lloyd quickly tried to cover his eyes, but Kai was already crouched down next to him, pulling his arms away and gently wiping at his tears with the sleeve of his gi.
Jay put a hand on his back. “You’re not hurt, are you?”
Lloyd shook his head, sniffling. “I just… I thought… my father, I thought he would… I thought if I could make him proud, he would stop leaving…” Lloyd choked on a sob, burying his face in Kai’s gi. “Why does he keep leaving? Why does everyone leave? What did I do wrong?”
“Oh, bud,” Kai whispered, running hands through Lloyd’s hair gently. “This is what’s been upsetting you, hasn’t it?”
Lloyd whimpered miserably, and Kai hugged him tighter- his grip so firm, so protective, that it made Lloyd think maybe everything could be okay again, eventually.
“You look at me,” Kai demanded, tilting his chin up. “None of this is your fault. You hear me? None of it. All the people that left you were jerks who didn’t appreciate how amazing you were. They don’t deserve you. We don’t deserve you. But you’re our true family, Lloyd. We will never, ever do what they did.”
“You hear that?” Cole punched him lightly in the chest, his voice sounding suspiciously choked up. “You’re one of us, now, green bean. You can’t escape us, whether you like it or not.”
“Your father will never understand this, Lloyd.” Jay gestured at the group with his hands. “I wish it didn’t have to be this way. You deserve a father who will be there for you, one whose love is not clouded by dreams of vengeance. But that’s how things are. So you’re stuck with us, instead.”
“I’m sorry he couldn’t be here, Lloyd,” Zane murmured. “But we are. And we love you. So if there’s ever something bothering you, talk to us about it. We want to do everything we can to make you feel wanted.”
Nya crouched down next to Kai. “You and me against the world, bud. Remember that? We’re not giving up on you. Ever. So your father can stuff it-”
Zane elbowed her, and she grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. Now’s not the best time for that. But you get my point. I’ll fight stupid destiny for you, Lloyd Garmadon. We all will.”
Lloyd’s eyes welled up again, but this time the tears were happy as he collapsed against them. Five pairs of arms hugged him back, warm and strong and safe.
His father had left again. But that wasn’t what was important right now. His true home was here, with the ninja.
And he had hope it always would be.
---
Garmadon gazed down at the bundle in his arms. His posture was stiff and unnatural, his rough hands as gentle as possible as they supported the weight.
This was easily the most precious thing he had ever carried.
Lloyd stared up at him with wide, curious eyes. Every curve and inch of him was perfect- and he was his. Garmadon could see himself in the curve of his son’s nose or the outline of his jaw, Misako in the shape of his eyes or the hue of his skin.
He still couldn’t believe it.
It had taken Misako hours to convince him he wasn’t going to hurt Lloyd, and now, here he was, carrying his son for the first time.
His son. He loved the way that sounded.
Garmadon shifted his grip slightly, and suddenly Lloyd began to fuss. Garmadon glanced to Misako for help, but she simply shook her head, smiling.
At a loss, Garmadon cradled Lloyd closer to his chest. “Shh, shh, Lloyd, it’s okay. Daddy’s got you.”
Lloyd stopped almost immediately at the sound of his voice, cooing in wonder as he reached a chubby little hand out. Garmadon bowed his head, closing his eyes and letting Lloyd trace his fingers gently across his face.
Garmadon felt the tension ease from his shoulders. This was a person. A living, breathing being, and he and Misako had created him.
Nothing in the world could’ve ever prepared him for the wonderful gift of fatherhood. This was one thing in his life he vowed not to mess up.
“You’re safe, little one,” he murmured. “I will always be here for you.”
#ninjago#ninbingo#my fic#rosie writes#ninjago lloyd#ninjago garmadon#and... there goes my fluff streak#XD#im sorry for those of you who like garmadad because i keep running him into the ground don't i#i do like him i swear#it's just... the angst is too tempting#maybe i'll write something fluffy for him one day#i actually cried writing this one oops#thanks for reading!#reblogs and comments greatly appreciated!
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