#stressed kai (ninjago)

[al-luviec]

(+ bonus thing)

[saline-coelacanth]

Final Fight Part 1

Nothing will stop me from posting Purified Au, nothing at all /hj

But yeah, finally ACTUALLY getting into the final battle. Technically this is gonna be three parts, so yeah, I'm looking forward to showing off the rest of what happens.

Also I find it kinda funny how Oliver can only do spinjitzu when he's feeling evil

Next

[lady-of-lyon]

I have a headcannon about Kai’s stupid eternal bandage

No further questions your honor

[demigod-of-the-agni]

something something Ninjago/HTTYD au can actually be a thing because they both deal with characters who want to live up to expectations but end up finding their own way to achieving wondrous things

also dragons? pit to fight dragons in? dragon riders?

[figs-oliomedley]

darlings, broskis, I know yall love angst, but there is basically no precedent for Kai's greatest fear to be him hurting the others

it would make more sense that his greatest fear is the others getting hurt without him being able to protect them or something

[basicallyjaywalker]

I'm headcanoning rn that the ninja all have anxiety tics and they flare up at various times

In the same way that tics will make you involuntarily jerk or speak, theirs involve involuntary power use

Nya has had to stop the entire place from burning down when Kai accidentally flings a fireball

Jay has surged multiple appliances while trying to use them normally

Cole has accidentally made holes in the nearest surfaces including walls, floors, and furniture

Zane has frosted himself on accident

Nya has had to apologize for squirting water on someone

Lloyd has gloves he wears when he has bad periods because the damage from multiple energy balls in a row was just too much

[scribbles-ink]

WAR IS OVER AND ALL THAT SHIT !!!(made concrete lloyd n brad designs)

[goldenavenger02]

i'm stuck between my anger and the blame i can't face

“Lloyd doesn’t blame you, none of us blame you. How were you supposed to know that he would get possessed by a teenage ghost with a vengeance?”

“I know that they don’t blame me, but..” Kai swallowed, rubbing his eyes on his red, dirty sleeve to keep the tears at bay, “I just wish I had gotten a really, really good punch in.”

‘Morro is so lucky that he’s already dead,’ Kai thought to himself as he chewed on his already raw lip and the bitter taste of coppery blood coated his taste buds.

He was aware that it was swollen with how many times it had broken open in the last day along with the fact that his hair was falling out of place due to the crusted salt water coating his scalp but compared to Lloyd, Kai had never looked better.

Despite the fact that it had been caused by their Sensei’s former student, the master of fire was painfully aware that there was no one to blame but himself for what had happened at the museum just a few weeks ago.

The misstep the team, especially himself, had made in letting Lloyd go by himself had now led to the youngest of the bunch being admitted into the hospital for an array of injuries and symptoms after collapsing against Nya’s armored chest when they had arrived at the harbors in the small riverboat.

And despite everything, Kai was all but forced to stay put in the tiny waiting room, biting at his fat lip to keep from blowing everything apart with bursts of burning flames from sheer anger and if some of the sinking guilt exited through it, that was fine by him.

But, he knew he had to keep it inside so no one else got hurt because the last thing he wanted was to hurt someone else even if Morro really deserved it right now.

“Hey, Kai?” Nya’s hand was soft on his shoulder as he was brought out of his thoughts to see his little sister with hair in a similar state of disarray that his own was and a water bottle in her hand, “you need to drink this.”

“I don’t want-”

“Take the water, dumbass,” Nya insisted, pushing the water bottle into his hand, “you and Jay are both dehydrated as hell and I do not want someone else getting admitted into the hospital tonight,” Kai couldn’t fight with her on that and screwed off the small plastic lid, washing away the bloody taste in his mouth with the cool, refreshing liquid, “and don’t chug.”

Kai pulled away the water bottle from his lips, wiping the drips off of his chin with his sleeve before feeling exhaustion pull at the genuine smile he offered his little sister, “I’m proud of you, the whole true potential thing.”

“Thanks,” she smiled briefly, her hand going to the back of her neck in a moment of timidness that Kai hadn’t seen in a very long time, “but, we all did great today. I just wish I had actually hit Morro after everything he did to Lloyd.”

Kai couldn’t stop himself from nodding; he knew that as the ninja, they were supposed to take the high road and not stoop down to the level of their enemies, but at the same time, the enemy had gone too far this time.

It felt as though even Lloyd had given up the golden power that the Overlord had coveted, he still had a massive target on his back just by existing.

“Kai, you’re zoning out again,” Nya spoke up, bringing him back to fluorescent lights and the pit of worry deep within his gut, “get another drink.”

He knew better than to fight with his little sister when he could see the worry reflecting in her brown eyes and as he sipped at the water again, he couldn’t stop himself from sending up a quick prayer to The First Spinjitzu Master or whoever else was listening.

‘Please help Lloyd heal.’

…

Lloyd’s cheeks were slightly flushed in the soft glow of the fluorescent lamp illuminating the room just enough for the hourly vital checks that the green ninja was being subjected to until he improved.

Kai could have focused on any number of things when he was finally let in to see Lloyd after Sensei and Misako left to get some much needed sleep and Nya was satisfied with his water intake.

The mild bruising around the IV site he could see just starting to creep out from the bandage  that covered the back of his hand, the oxygen mask that looked way too big for his face being held on by two elastic straps going over his ears, the dark purple and reds that made up his under eyes, or even the pale tint to his skin everywhere but his cheeks.

But all he could focus on was the light flush that told him that he was no longer possessed, that he was alive and that he would recover in time.

The reassurance of the pink cheeks along with the steady breathing despite the wheeze when he inhaled was enough for Kai to pull his eyes away from his unmoving body and distract himself with his phone since he knew that there was no possible way he would be getting sleep tonight.

He wasn’t sure how long he was scrolling mindlessly to distract himself but it did mean that he was looking at the screen when the screen dimmed to a black screen and the vibrations started to reveal a phone call from Skylor.

“Hello?” He couldn’t stop the yawn from escaping his lips as he spoke.

“Hey, I was getting ready to close for the night and I saw the news. Is Lloyd okay?”

Kai swallowed as he glanced at Lloyd with the large oxygen mask obscuring most of his view of his face before he managed a response, “we’re at Ninjago General, but he’s been pretty stable for the last few hours.”

“Okay,” Skylor paused for a moment and Kai heard some rustling in the background that he couldn’t place, “is it just you and Lloyd?”

“Yeah, the others needed sleep.” Kai confirmed, keeping the thought of ‘they were actually able to help’ to himself, knowing it would just worry her more.

“Do you want some food? I can be there in ten minutes.”

Now that he thought about it, noodles sounded good to his stomach that hadn’t had anything but water since right before they had made their way to Stiix that afternoon and just the thought of food made his stomach growl.

But he couldn’t leave Lloyd by himself, again. ‘Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.’

“Kai?” Her voice came back and he could hear the concern etched in it even through the distortion of his cell phone, “I said I can bring it to the room if you want me to meet you there instead.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that works,” Kai agreed, the relief filling him quickly as he added, “he’s on the pediatric ward, on the second floor, room eleven.”

“See you in fifteen.”

…

Kai had watched Skylor cook before; keeping customers calm and collected while simultaneously putting ingredients together based on the recipes she had grown up cooking and eating on the island her father had been banished to; for her, it was all she knew but for him, it was the ultimate comfort food.

It tasted like home, it tasted like the first time he and Nya had enough money for more than new materials, power bills and seeds to grow their own food, it tasted like the the two of them ordering off of the one dollar menu for the very first time, it tasted like finding a speck of light in an otherwise suffocating darkness.

That first time they had gone, Kai had ordered the seemingly simple noodle soup but when he had brought the spoon to his lips for the first time, he was overwhelmed with how fantastic the flavors melded together. Bok choy, rice noodles, spicy shreds of chicken, green onion, chili paste and ginger all swimming in a golden, rich, chicken broth; it was the first time he had found comfort in food, and it wouldn’t be the last.

Even now, sitting face to face with Skylor as she tried to coax him into eating some of her puffy potstickers and chocolate-covered shell peas, all he could do was try and breathe in the comforting smell of his soup while simultaneously try to drown out the light hiss of the oxygen mask and the consistent beeping of the various monitors.

“Nya tried to keep me updated on everything, after Garmadon…” Skylor’s voice was quiet even while breaking the silence, “but after telling me that you four had lost your powers, she kind of ghosted me. I know that you two don’t usually check your phones while you’re preoccupied, so I was waiting for her to text me back again.”

Kai nodded, still unable to find his voice which gave Skylor the chance to keep talking, “after all, it’s only been a couple of weeks since she sent me that message,” ‘it had only been a couple of weeks?’, “but when I saw the news coverage, and I saw how sick Lloyd looked, I had to find out-”

“It’s my fault.” He spoke before even fully thinking about what he was saying, stopping Skylor in her sentence; but once the dam burst, he couldn’t stop talking, saying exactly what had been on his mind since that night where he fought the one he swore to protect outside of Steep Wisdom.

“I let him go without backup after I promised him that I would watch out for him. I broke through to him twice and I couldn’t get him back either time. I let him get dragged into the Cursed Realm-”

“Kai,” Skylor’s hand was soft against his glove; while it effectively cut off his rambling, it didn’t stop the tears that had started to build in his eyes and blur his vision, “Lloyd doesn’t blame you, none of us blame you. How were you supposed to know that he would get possessed by a teenage ghost with a vengeance?” 

“I know that they don’t blame me, but..” Kai swallowed, rubbing his eyes on his red, dirty sleeve to keep the tears at bay, “I just wish I had gotten a really, really good punch in.”

Skylor squeezed his hand tightly, her familiar smile gracing her face for a moment before morphing into a more empathic expression as she spoke, “I think the only person who blames you is you and the only person who can forgive you is you,” she stopped to hand him a puffy potsticker, the light scent immediately hitting his nose with a wave of comfort, “but you really have to eat more than dollar menu soup so you can get some sleep. Lloyd is going to be asleep for a while.”

Kai never claimed to be an expert on anything, but he did know when it was better to just do as he was told, especially when it was from someone who had a much clearer state of mind, so he ate the potsticker, took a long drink of water and finally let himself relax in the armchair next to Lloyd.

He wasn’t sure when Skylor left, but he did know that at some point he felt a blanket being tossed over his legs and a soft kiss being pressed to his cheek before he succumbed to the mind-numbing darkness.

…

Kai woke up to chaos.

The sun shone in his eyes, the blanket that had been put on him had fallen to the floor at some point while he was sleeping and he could hear rapid, loud beeping.

Rapid, loud beeping. In a hospital. Where Lloyd was hooked up to so many monitors. Where any number of things could go wrong.

He stood up before he fully had a chance to process anything that was happening around him, his hands reaching out in fists to either fight someone or to let go of his palms in order to figure out what had happened while he had stupidly let his guard down and slept.

But when he blinked, he saw Lloyd looking right at him with a tired smile, his oxygen mask now replaced with a nasal cannula, as a doctor continued to fiddle with the monitor with her face pressed into mild frustration.

“Sorry for waking you up like that,” Lloyd muttered quietly, his voice just above a whisper while he continued to smirk, “The monitor got unstuck.”

“When did you wake up?” Kai asked, still trying to shake away the adrenaline that had thoroughly encased his under-caffeinated mind.

“He woke up a few times last night, but only for a few minutes at a time,” the doctor supplied, seemingly content with the monitor now that it was reattached to Lloyd’s body and beeping steadily, “this is the first time he’s really been awake.”

“Finally got caught up on sleep,” Lloyd added, his tired smile widening before turning to the doctor, gesturing to the tubing around his face, “when can this come off?”

“I’d like for your oxygen levels to go up just a bit more before we take you off of supplemental oxygen completely, but that’ll be in a few hours at the most if it stays on this time.”

“Anything to get this itchy thing off of my face,” Lloyd agreed before seemingly remembering some sort of manners and adding a “please” at the end which Kai couldn’t help but smile at given that it had been awhile since he had seen his childish nature.

“Okay, I’ll be back in a couple of hours to check your vitals again.” the doctor told him, disposing of the gloves she had been wearing in the trash can before walking out of the room, leaving Lloyd and Kai by themselves and the guilt slowly started to creep back into Kai’s mind.

‘What are you smiling about when you caused all of this in the first place?’

“You can go get some tea or something,” Lloyd mumbled, his eyes shutting halfway while pulling in a not nearly as wheezey inhale like the ones Kai had fallen asleep to the night before.

“No, I’m okay,” Kai insisted, finally sitting back down in the armchair next to Lloyd and watching as Lloyd reached over and put his hand on top of Kai’s, “are you?”

“Mmhmm, just sleepy,” Lloyd managed a quick nod and a slow blink before asking, “does mom know?”

“I’ll tell the others. You stay awake for a few more minutes,” Kai insisted, pulling out his phone to send a picture of Lloyd to the others, only for Lloyd to stick out his tongue in retaliation right as the photo snapped, “do you really want me to send this,” he stopped to turn the phone screen toward him, “to your mom?”

“They don’t need a picture,” Lloyd huffed, his joking mood completely erased in just one moment that made Kai’s stomach twist with a mix of guilt and worry, “I’m going back to sleep.”

Despite the need to ask and the need to press further, Kai kept his mouth shut; he pocketed his phone and used his free hand to run a hand through Lloyd’s matted hair, feeling him relax into sleep as he did.

After all, he was the one to blame; even if the others didn’t put him at fault, he knew one thing that was true, even if Lloyd only thought it deep within his subconscious.

‘Why would he ever trust me again?’

…

Kai would be lying to himself if he had said that he needed a break from the hospital room.

Even now that Lloyd was awake every few hours and managed to keep conversations going for more than a few sentences with the others, the room still made his stomach turn even before he factored in any of the guilt that hit him whenever Lloyd’s misty, green eyes made contact with his own.

So when Misako, Sensei and Zane had arrived, supplying the fact that Cole and Jay got sidetracked with a robbery, Kai knew that he could safely step out without anything happening to Lloyd.

‘Not that you’re strong enough to stop it regardless.’ His inner voice sneered as he went down to the first floor to find either the cafeteria, fresh air, or the vending machine.

Admittedly, in his search for caffeine so the mild throbbing in his temples would be quelled, he knew he made a wrong turn when he ended up in the waiting room where the hellish nightmare of the last twelve hours had started.

“Anything yet?” Kai couldn’t stop from panting after running straight from The Bounty into the entrance of the hospital, more than likely scaring the receptionist. That or it was the combination of three exhausted ninja, a literal ghost and a Nindroid. 

But, if the woman behind the counter was scared, she was fantastic at keeping it to herself as she turned to the computer and asked “name?”

“Lloyd Montgomery-Garmadon.” Nya spoke up, her brother only now realizing how shaky her voice sounded.

“He’s still being treated,” the woman announced as she continued to type away, “immediate family only.”

“We don’t have time for this! His family situation is complicated between the Great Devourer and The First Spinjitzu Master, not even to mention the whole Underworld thing-!”

“Jay!” Cole shouted, effectively cutting off his obviously dehydrated ramblings before giving the woman a polite smile, “what he’s trying to say is that we’re practically his siblings.”

“Take a seat.” The woman responded before turning back to her work, effectively sending the group of six to the chairs that signaled uncertainty.

“I’m gonna go get some water bottles.” Nya announced before she even had a chance to sit down. Zane followed closely behind her to help her carry them, but Kai knew that he was also watching over her to make sure that she also didn’t collapse from the exhaustion of the night. 

And while Jay leaned against Cole’s ghostly shoulder, his eyes already shutting with exhaustion, Kai’s stomach turned harshly as he thought about Lloyd and all the unknowns that came along with being unable to see him.

“Kai?” 

He should have expected for Nya to find him in the waiting room. 

She had always been good at knowing when he was struggling and where he would retreat to when he had the chance, even in an unfamiliar location to the both of them.

“You okay?” She asked, her gloved hand landing on his shoulder.

“Yeah, just looking for some caffeine.” He lied through his teeth, but he should have known better than to try and fool the one who knew him best.

“Vending machine is over there,” she gestured with her hand to the illuminated, refrigerated box in the corner, “what’s really going on?”

“I…I can’t tell you.” Kai stuttered, wincing when he saw Nya’s concern turn into confusion.

“Kai-” she started, seemingly trying to coax him into letting her in, but he cut her off before she could even begin and the fear that had been at the back of his mind for so long that it had become part of his subconscious finally broke free from his lips.

“You won’t see me the same way if I do.”

And with that, he backed away from her, watching as the hand that had rested on his shoulder fell to her side before walking out of the automatic doors and into the streets of New Ninjago City.

He didn’t know where he was going, he didn’t even know where he would end up. All he knew was that he had to get out of that place with its white walls, the stench of rubbing alcohol and the guilt that threatened to swallow him whole.

He made it a street over when he realized that he had left Lloyd again. He made it two before his conscience started screaming at him to ‘go back to the hospital and tell Nya everything.’

When he made it three streets over, the feeling of sterilization left his bones and was replaced with the familiar but loud sounds of the city around him.

It would be comforting if the voice in his mind wasn’t taunting him with thoughts of ‘you left Lloyd again, traitor,’ and ‘if it isn’t Morro, someone else will hurt him. All because you aren’t there. So much for the “Master of Fire”.’

Kai’s feet stopped moving in the middle of the sidewalk; he could feel the citizens of the city shoulder check him or just walk around him, faces moving coming into and disappearing from view in a blur and he was paralyzed, forced to stand on the designated pavement. 

His breath hitched and he was suffocating on air. His chest hurt and he couldn’t feel his hands. His back hit the wall of a building as his eyes burned with hot tears and his head wouldn’t stop echoing “your fault, your fault, your fault”-

“Kai? Kai, can you hear me?”

He tried to nod to the distorted voice but his vision wouldn’t focus on the blur of red and orange and his neck felt stiff so he reached a hand out, hoping that the figure would grab onto it; when he had spent weeks with a white bandage covering his right eye and couldn’t find the strength to open the left one, he had found comfort in tight grips around his hands and identifying them based on how hard they squeezed back.

Sure enough, when the person returned his grasp and said something about “try to slow your breathing”, he focused on their hand to see if he could find familiarity in the grooves.

The small piece of callous sticking out of their right thumb was all he needed for his vision to focus and his chest to slow its heaving, but in its wake left a deep seated exhaustion and he had to use all of his strength to keep himself from falling face first into the sidewalk.

“Come on,” Skylor’s voice was soft as she wrapped his arm around her shoulder and wrapped her arm around his side, “let’s get you inside.”

…

After taking a much needed nap on Skylor’s futon and eating two full bowls of ramen, Kai finally had the strength to air out everything he was feeling; it never came this easy when it came to the others, but with her, he had the opposite problem where he couldn’t stop talking.

“-and I know what you said last night, that the only person who can forgive me is myself,” Kai stopped to pull the orange throw tighter around his shoulders before looking back into Skylor’s amber colored eyes, “but I don’t even know how to do that.”

“It’s not easy, and it’s not linear,” the hollowness in her voice nearly matched his own, “it’s easier when you first acknowledge that it’s going to take a while for that to happen, self-forgiveness.”

Kai couldn’t help but wonder what Skylor herself felt guilty for, but he also knew better than to ask; if it was anything like his own situation, he’d much rather she told him when she was ready to.

“Has Wu talked to you six about guilt?” She questioned, moving to sit beside him on the futon and resting her hand on his shoulder, giving him permission to put his head against her, “about how to cope with it?”

“He always says that guilt is a good thing, means that we’re aware of what we’ve done even if it’s a mistake,” Kai sighed, trying to grasp onto the words of his sensei when he had been sick with grief over Zane, “it’s when you start to hate yourself because of your actions that it becomes a problem.”

“Do you?” Skylor asked, her hand running through what would usually be a spike but had fallen down around his scalp.

Kai took a moment to consider it, but ended up shaking his head, “that’s not what this is. I just wish I could have done more. The others had really helpful weapons, Nya’s powers defeated the Preeminent and I…” he swallowed, feeling the stinging tears start to make their appearance, “I had a headband.”

“You felt useless.”

And that’s when it finally hit Kai directly in the chest. 

He had always echoed the sentiment that Wu had given them, that they were not just their powers, but after having those powers for a little under two years now, he had let the element take away his sense of self and now that he had it back, he wasn’t sure that he was even worthy of it.

“I wasn’t good at anything before I started training under Sensei,” he let a tiny flame flicker in his hand, a reassurance that Lloyd was okay, “But me and the others, our destiny is to protect Lloyd and when I couldn’t do that…It makes me wonder if I’m good at this at all.”

“You’ve done so much, for Lloyd and for Ninjago,” Skylor insisted, gently pressing a kiss to the top of his head before holding him tighter, “but, self-doubt is a bitch and something I know a thing or two about.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Not as intensive as being one of Ninjago’s sworn protectors or anything, but going from being a pawn in a tournament designed to steal powers to running an entire noodle empire,” Kai could hear her light hearted smirk as she spoke, “let’s just say it’s a massive adjustment.”

“How’d you…you know.” Kai couldn’t find the words as yet another nap threatened to drag him into sleep.

“Learn how to live with it? I brushed myself off, told myself that one angry customer wasn’t going to destroy the entire business and moved on. It wasn’t easy at first, but now? I’m kind of an expert.”

Kai absorbed her words and tried to apply them to his own situation; he knew that the guilt was normal and even expected, but at the same time, he knew that even if he had been at the museum that day, Morro wouldn’t have abandoned his plan when he saw him. He’d either plan a different attack or worse, hurt both of them before taking Lloyd.

Just as an angry customer wouldn’t bring down Mister Chen’s Noodle Emporium, the day at the museum wasn’t going to tear apart his team. ‘So why should it tear me apart?’

“You should go back to sleep, hot shot,” Skylor insisted while maneuvering the comforter so it covered both of them, “I’ll text your sister and let her know you’re safe.”

Kai nodded and shut his eyes, letting the sound of Skylor’s heartbeat lull him into sleep.

The hours passed around him in a blur; he’d wake up, take a drink of water and fall back to sleep. Sometimes Skylor would be there, other times he was all alone. Sometimes the sleep would just be peaceful darkness, but the rest of the time, he was forced to be a fly on the wall as he watched himself go through everything that had happened in the last few weeks.

“Don’t worry, big shot,” pressing his hand into Lloyd’s golden waves, holding onto his arm so he couldn’t escape, “I’ll watch over you from now on.”

That one moment of happiness that was tinged in melancholy grief and the fear of the unknown. After that, all he saw were flashes of himself against the ghost who started all of this.

‘Foolish ninja! Why would you try and take me on all by yourself?!’ rough hands gripped the promotional t-shirt he was wearing, but despite the fear of what would happen to him running through his veins, his fear about Lloyd was stronger.

‘Because I promised to look after Lloyd,’ he maneuvered so his hands were pressing onto his “brother’s” neck, holding him tightly, ‘I know you’re in there, Lloyd. Fight him!’

‘The staff is getting away! Let go of me!’

‘Only when you let go of Lloyd!’

That’s when he heard his voice, raspy and gravely like every word hurt him to say, ‘Kai. Help me!’

The world swirled around him. He was no longer outside of Steep Wisdom, he was on the small boat from Cloud Kingdom, trying to best the sword of sanctuary and destiny at the same time all with just a single aeroblade.

‘I guess both our fates are tested, the only thing is that I already know how mine will end!’ Morro jeered as he engaged in hand to hand combat before stealing the aeroblade with his free hand, leaving Kai backed against the wooden side, ‘now I know how yours will!’

But before he could strike him down, his body stiffened and he nearly fell to his knees as Lloyd’s strained voice broke through, ‘take the sword, Kai! I can’t hold him much longer!’

Once again, the scenery changed. He was no longer in the snow, but rather, in a freezing cold river. Lloyd’s weight was heavy in his right arm as he paddled with his left, desperately trying to avoid going over the waterfall just like the realm crystal.

His cheeks were hot and he could feel a tiny bit of drool on his chin when Skylor finally woke him up for good, pressing a hot mug of tea into his palms once he was sitting up and setting a plate with a couple of pancakes on the coffee table without being asked.

“Thanks, for all of this.” Kai finally said after taking a few sips of the tea, “I really appreciate it.”

Skylor just shrugged in a “it’s nothing” way as she took a bite from her own plate, only speaking after she swallowed, “Nya said that Lloyd got discharged. Do you want me to drop you off at The Bounty after you eat?”

‘You can’t hide from this forever.’

“Yeah, that sounds good.” Kai agreed, savoring the subtle sweetness of the tart blueberries that had been mixed in with the pancake batter, “I’m sure you’re welcome to stick around for a bit afterwards.”

“That’s sweet,” Skylor started, but he could tell by her tone that she was rejecting his offer, “but, I have a lot of reservations at the flagship location today, investors. I’ll drop by for a visit soon though.”

Kai knew that her agreeing to visit soon was the best he was going to get and dropped the topic to finish eating breakfast and run some cold water over his face before they left her apartment.

He was glad that she drove him home, he didn’t feel steady enough to take the wheel and given that Lloyd had just gotten out of the hospital, it would be best if he didn’t get himself admitted in his place.

The drive was silent aside from the sound of the R&B music he seemingly always heard her playing, whether that was in her apartment or in her car; it sounded like everything he loved about her from the small smile that would grace her lips every time she giggled under her breath to the way her hands always knew just how to move in his hair to put out the fiery walls of anger that he more often than not surrounded himself with.

But, the silence was welcome after the chaos of the last few weeks. For Kai, it gave him the chance to breathe and to feel without tears pricking at the corners of his eyes or fire trying to force itself out of his palms. 

He could just be, and for that twenty minute drive, that was okay because while the others meant well, she never tried to force the information out of him. She was content to hold his hand and wait for him to be ready and she always knew exactly what to say.

Kai didn’t know if they would last forever, between their busy schedules and his inability to call her when villains arose as everything went to shit, but in these moments where she drove with her left hand and kept her right clasped against his left, he felt like just focusing on the now was enough for both of them.

So when they arrived at The Bounty and he took off his seatbelt, he was fully prepared to just get out of the car until her hand reached out, making him stop.

“You’ve got this. Don’t let them make you talk about it if you don’t want to, okay?” 

“I know, Sky.” He nodded, leaning forward to press a kiss to her soft cheek as a good-bye, “I’ll text you in a bit, promise.”

“Okay,” she agreed and let go, waiting until right before he shut the passenger side door to say with a wink, “see you later, Hot Tamale.”

And with that, she drove off; back to the city where her home and her job were, forcing Kai to turn around and board The Bounty, his heart pounding in his chest as he did. 

It wasn’t that he was scared of his teammates, his family, but more so that he was worried about the glances that Jay would give Nya, trying to pry information and the questions that would inevitably be asked about why he had left.

He wasn’t surprised to see that the deck was empty. Given the fact that Lloyd had been discharged, he knew that they would all be below deck, probably watching some bad tv show or playing video games.

Sure enough, when he arrived in the living area, he wasn’t shocked to see Cole, Jay and Zane sitting on the floor as they played Fist to Face 2 and he knew that Wu and Misako were more then likely somewhere that was more quiet aboard The Bounty as they finalized the last of the documents from selling Steep Wisdom.

But what he hadn’t expected was to see Nya sitting on the couch, her controller long abandoned as her right hand rested on Lloyd’s shoulder that was under what looked suspiciously like the red and orange blanket that belonged to Kai and was always haphazardly draped over the edge of his bed.

“Hey,” Kai whispered, getting Nya’s attention as he sat down next to Lloyd’s sock covered feet, not wanting to be loud enough that he would open his green eyes, “how is he?”

Nya’s smirk filled her face for a moment as she gently moved her hand up and down the boy’s shoulder, “he’s doing better. He tried to play for a bit but he’s still tired, poor thing,” she looked away from his peaceful face to meet Kai’s eyes, “are you doing better?”

And as Kai around the room for a moment, taking in the familiar glow of the television, the sounds of Jay cheering a bit too loudly only to get shushed by Zane and the pure relaxation that covered Lloyd’s sleeping face despite the signs of exhaustion still being there, he found the strength to meet his sister’s eyes and speak.

“I’m getting there.”

[dress-and-impress]

I’m in my Ninjago faze and I’m not ashamed to admit it-

I can’t believe I slept on Kai bro he kinda hot (lol get it cos he the fire ninja)

[froginninjago]

Day 123: sketch of Kai and Wyldfyre for the soul?

(NOT A SHIP)

[hiphopcherrrypop]

getting over covid yippee👍👍

[razzle-zazzle]

Whumptober Day 25: Surgery

Being monitored

2177 Words; Betrothal AU

TW for injury mention

AO3 ver

Jay floated back to consciousness much like a dead fish floating to the surface of a lake.

He felt about as bloated and gross, too, the sweat between him and whatever he was lying on one of the first things he registered. The world spun into being around him in a wobbly, maybe drunken fashion, shapes and colors and sounds all kind of mish-mashing together until Jay’s brain sorted itself out enough to start differentiating between them all.

He felt funny. His head really hurt, and there was a strong sense of nausea in his throat, like something was caught there that he couldn’t cough out.

Okay, Jay, time to think. The thought was kind of watery, a bit insubstantial—oh, was he concussed? Concussion. Concussion. Conk-ush-un. What a funny word.

Okay, yeah, definitely concussed. Or maybe drugged—his limbs felt kind of floaty in the way they did that one time his appendix burst and his parents took him to the hospital and he’d been on painkillers—

The point was that the feeling was vaguely familiar, even if Jay couldn’t consciously place it.

He was lying on what might have been a stretcher or might have been a cot, a gentle pressure on his wrist resolving itself into a leather cuff. The room he was in was mostly bare stone, with a small counter with a sink off to one side and a single cabinet. There was a guy in a funny-looking outfit leaning against what was probably the door, but Jay couldn’t tell if the guy’s eyes were open or not. Everything was just a little blurry—that wasn’t normal, right?

Oh, yeah, concussion. Conk-cussing. Ha! Jay giggled, amused with his own thoughts. The giggle turned to a hiccup turned to a cough, and he thought the guy by the door must have shifted because something about them looked… different.

Or maybe it was the concussion talking.

But what had Jay been doing before… before he got here, because he was pretty sure he’d never been in this room before—he’d been doing something important. Something stressful, something that made flashes of sand and lightning pass through his mind. Something… Cole had been there, hadn’t he?

Cole had… it was something important about Cole, Jay was pretty sure. Something to do with—with snakes, purple snakes slithering across bare skin—

The tattoo!

It hit Jay like a—well, like a lightning bolt. The alliance. The accusations against Chen. Chen’s response, the search for tattoos—

Cole had an anacondrai tattoo on his back.

Was that—was Cole the spy? But how? Why? No, no, that couldn’t be it—

“Awake, I see.” Jay’s train of thought careened off a cliff into oblivion at the new voice, and he turned to look. A wave of nausea punished the motion, and Jay’s vision swam as a guy approached—wait, that was that mage guy, the one who always followed Chen around—Clouse!

Jay attempted to say something, either a complaint about his accommodations or some pithy line he didn’t have—his voice came out kind of garbled, random syllables mishmashed together as his tongue struggled to remember that it was a tongue.

“And clearly still out of it.” Clouse drawled, hands folded behind his back. He sighed, and Jay finally found his voice—

“At least I’m not ugly.” He snapped, which wasn’t what he meant to say.

Clouse sighed again. “Maybe you are well enough to work in the factory, then.” He suggested, making Jay balk, the cuff tugging on his wrist—or was he tugging against the cuff?

“Um, wow, is the room spinning for anybody else? Haha wheeeeee I’m so dizzy, you totally shouldn’t trust me around heavy machinery—”

“Silence.” Clouse hissed. Jay’s rambling petered out slowly, his vision blurring as his headache surged. Clouse looked him over, then—

“One more day’s rest.” He decided. “If he isn’t in a state to work by then,” he shrugged, “so be it.” With that, Clouse left, leaving Jay alone with the cultist from earlier.

Ugh, this sucked. Jay made some attempts to talk to the guy, but—no dice. His headache kept coming and going in waves, his thoughts scattering in circles.

A flash on something gold in his memories, something important—something about Cole, that Jay needed to remember. But all he could remember was the shift of moving earth, the thud of rock against sand and the buzz of lightning through his veins—lightning he didn’t have anymore, dammit Chen—

But there was something important Jay needed to remember, through the fog and haze and pain of his concussion (ha, it had the word cuss in it!). But he just—couldn’t.

After a few hours, Jay laid back down, letting unconsciousness take him.

+=+=+=+=+

The atmosphere in the cafeteria was subdued. And no wonder—nobody had gotten much sleep on the bunks the night before, and now it was early in the morning. Plus the whole attempt to get all the elemental masters together in an alliance had ended in failure, thanks to—well.

Kai scowled into his breakfast. Getting the gang together had been a mistake. Beside him, Lloyd was morosely picking at his own breakfast, while Garmadon carefully ate what little the cafeteria staff were willing to give him. Cole was nowhere to be found—none of them had seen him since his fight with Jay the night before. Which didn’t bode well for Cole’s apparent status as a spy working for Chen—

“I can’t believe it.” Kai muttered. “We trusted him!” Who he was talking about went unsaid, but Lloyd and Garmadon understood it perfectly.

“But…” Lloyd started, clearly deep in thought. “Why would Chen tell us about the spy? I mean—” He gestured loosely, “Wouldn’t that just defeat the purpose of having a spy?”

“Chen can be impetuous in his manipulations…” Garmadon mused, clearly reminiscing.

“It broke up the alliance, that’s why.” Kai suggested. “Chen traded his advantage in order to get rid of ours.” He crossed his arms, leaning back. “We did kinda put him on the spot.”

Lloyd hmmed. “I don’t know…” He pulled his mask from his pocket and fiddled with it. “Something about it just doesn’t seem right. How would Chen have even convinced Cole to side with him?” He tossed his head back, considering. “I mean, it’s Cole.”

“He has Zane.” Kai pointed out softly. “Maybe that’s how he got Cole.” He sat up, crossing his arms. “What I don’t get is that pendant. Like, you all saw it, right? That was half of a yin-yang pendant, right?”

“That is a very confounding element, yes.” Garmadon agreed. “That he felt it important to show Jay means it must be related, but…”

“But how?” None of them had any idea what a yin-yang pendant had to do with anything. None of them had even known Cole was engaged—well, assuming it was a yin-yang pendant and not something else.

Kai’s shoulders hunched as he fought back to that fight. He hadn’t been able to hear what Cole and Jay were staying, from up in the stands, but he had been pretty sure that they were reconciling sometime after Cole pulled out the pendant—though Kai couldn’t begin to fathom why Cole would have a yin-yang pendant—

And then Cole had suckerpunched Jay with a rock. It just didn’t track with the Cole that Kai knew—

“Hey.” Well, speak of the rain, and the sky will open. Or something like that. Kai looked up to see Cole standing at the edge of their table. He looked like… a mess, actually, dark lines under his eyes and hair messier than normal. Now that Kai was looking, he could see a chain around the sides of Cole’s neck leading somewhere under his gi—the pendant?

“Cole!” Lloyd greeted. “Where have you been?”

“Throwing rocks around.” Cole responded, deadpan. “Can I…” He gestured towards the other side of the booth, at the empty space next to Garmadon, something sheepish in his eyes.

Kai’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell, Cole.” He led off with, which maybe wasn’t the best choice of words, if the way Cole’s shoulders hunched was any indication. Well, whatever. Kai was too tired to be gentle. “I want an explanation.” He demanded.

Cole nodded, still standing. “I—” he started, gaze darting to the floor, “There’s something I should have—” whatever Cole was going to say was cut off by a sudden clatter behind them, making them all turn to look at the source of the noise. Skylor was standing up slowly, sheepish look on her face as she offered a hand to help Shade and Paleman up. Neither took it, standing on their own and moving away from Skylor, clearly annoyed. Paleman went to go grab a new tray, while Shade left the cafeteria entirely, disappearing into the shadows and leaving some of the spilled food clinging to him behind.

Kai winced in sympathy. That had to be embarrassing for Skylor—the idea that she might have done it on purpose to copy Shade and Paleman’s powers simultaneously never even occurred to Kai.

“That’s awkward…” Lloyd was also wincing, while Garmadon’s expression was more reserved.

Cole, however—

“Really?” He muttered, face twisted in a mix between annoyance and disbelief. The lack of sympathy for Skylor, who was sheepishly trying to take care of the worst of the mess on the floor, irked Kai deeply. Maybe Cole really was the spy, then.

Skylor looked up, flashing Kai a quick smile—shit, how did she make being covered in bits of scrambled egg and syrup look good—before her gaze slid to Cole, who stiffened as her eyes narrowed. As Kai watched, Cole’s eyebrows did a complex dance, several emotions passing through his face too fast to parse, as though he and Skylor were having some kind of silent conversation.

Oh, right. Because the whole debacle with Jay and Nya during the robot apocalypse apparently wasn’t enough. Kai glowered as he remembered the way Cole had made Skylor laugh, or the way he’d seen them almost flirting at the skate rink—

(And wasn’t Cole supposed to be engaged? What was going on?)

“Cole?” Lloyd prompted, snapping Cole out of whatever silent battle he was having. “You were gonna explain…?”

Cole sighed. “This isn’t a good place.” He said softly. “Too many eyes.”

“Wh—” Kai stood up, “That’s it? We don’t see you at all all night and that’s all you have to say?” Maybe Cole was the spy. Maybe there was something else going on. Kai didn’t care about maybes—he couldn’t put his hopes on maybes. What Kai knew was that Cole had an anacondrai tattoo on his back and suckerpunched Jay with a rock to the face. Something wasn’t adding up, and Kai was done being led around by the nose. “Just leave, Cole. We don’t need a spy hanging around.”

Cole shot them all a helpless sort of look, before tearing his gaze away. “Whatever.” He said, with no energy in his voice. And then, in a slightly softer tone, “If you really wanna know… the answer’s in my room.” With that, he left—

—and Kai knew they were missing something.

+=+=+=+=+

Ugh, this was getting annoying.

The cultist hadn’t left, except for when another cultist came to trade places with him. Presumably, it was in case Jay hurt himself somehow—at least, that was probably how the cultists or Clouse would justify it—but Jay knew why they were really there: to keep him from escaping. He didn’t doubt that the factory would have similar supervision.

Being cuffed to this stupid cot sucked ass. Having a concussion and no elemental power sucked ass. Being constantly watched by some hardass who wouldn’t entertain joining Jay in conversation sucked FUCKING ass!

That Jay still couldn’t remember events in full also sucked ass, but in a much worse way. He knew something important had to have happened in that fight, something related to the coiled tattoo across Cole’s back and Chen gleefully admitting to having a spy among the competitors. Something to do with a golden teardrop shape—

But all Jay could recall were bits and pieces of the fight. He could remember zapping Cole with more volts than was really safe, and he was pretty sure Cole had socked him in the jaw for that. He knew they had thrown their elements around, that there had been sand on the arena floor—

But what had Cole said to him? How had the fight ended—when did Jay get hit hard enough to get his concussion?

Jay buried his face in his hands and groaned as another wave of nausea passed through him, vision blurring. He couldn’t remember. He couldn’t remember, and it was going to drive him insane.

Assuming this whole “locked alone in a room but for a guard that actively ignored him” thing didn’t drive him insane before that.

Ugh, he missed Zane. He missed him so much—

Was that why Cole had an anacondrai tattoo? Because of Zane? Jay didn’t know. He didn’t fucking know!

He was no closer to answers when Clouse came by the next day and had him hauled off to the factory, either.

[dontlookforme00]

All personal vendettas aside, I am fucking LOVING Tthe RGB Siblings content in this season. Perfect amazing. Give the people what they want

[dark-twist-fairytales]

Okay, contradiction headcanon that I have:

Movie Kai has tourette's, mainly physical tics, but a few verbal ones.

I say contradiction because I don't know which one I like for Movie Kai more: Lennox-Gastuat or Tourette's.

[xylofondue]

Yes, especially since Jay was acting like he knew Nya the best, and the only one who like truly missed her, talking to HER BROTHER, WHO LITERALLY RAISED HER.

I have a personal head canon of mine that Kai went to go teach students because he wanted to care and help younger kids like he did with Nya because he missed her.

Another note is that I don’t even think that s4 of Jay vs Cole was that serious, you could tell they were holding back but that seen in s16? They were for SURE ready to murder each other

I think the most insane part of Crystalized is the fact that Kai and Jay would've fucking killed each other had Nya not shown up when she did.

Like when you look at that fight, there was intent to either kill or seriously injure from both of them. Kai was aiming his fireballs at Jay and Jay was aiming his lightning at Kai, and neither of them were holding anything back. There was murderous intent from both of them there. Kai caused an explosion bad enough to set off the sprinklers, something explosions from their mechs don't even do. Had Jay not jumped out of the way, he would've either been in the ER or in the Departed Realm. To remind everyone, this fight started basically because Kai didn't like how Jay was coping with losing Nya. Since the first 12 episodes of Crystalized were released, people have been complaining about Kai's grief vs Jay's grief in Crystalized; this fight addresses it. This fight wouldn't have started without Kai being upset, angry even, with how Jay's grief presents. It's consistent throughout the first 3 episodes of Crystalized too; Jay thinks he's the only one who remembers Nya because he's experiencing a psychosis and Kai progressively gets more and more annoyed, culminating in Kai and Jay trying to kill each other in the hangar bay.

Can. Can we talk about this more. Like Jay and Kai have always had some level of conflict between them, but they've never fought with intent to kill each other with the exception of their fight in The Shape of Nya, which was caused by differences in how they were grieving. I. I really don't think we talk about this nearly as much as we should

[lazyollie]

Ninjago headcanons- They made you cry

Some angst for my readers:c

Warning: bad grammar, typos, cringe, angst, might be your trauma get triggered

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Lloyd

°× Lloyd was gaming on the coach with a console in his hand. Mostly you don't have a problem with is but today was different.

°× You really wanted to talk with him but when you asked him he just said wait 5 min.

°× 5 minutes later you tried again, placing your hand on his shoulder but he just shove it off.

Hey stop! Don't touch me, I will lose! I told you to WAIT!

°× Your look saddened as you slowly backed away from him silently. He didn't even look away from the screen as he kept playing.

°× Tears formed in your eyes as you walked out of the room. You left him behind. You just wanted love and attention from him.

°× After a few minutes of suspicious silent he paused the game looking around, searching for you.

°× But when he realised you left the room he instantly felt bad about ignoring you.

°× He turned off the game and went after you into the bedroom. When he opened the door he found you crying on the bed.

°× Oh how guilty he felt. He hates seeing you sad, but he even more hates making you sad.

°× He crawled into the bed carefully snugging closer to you. He wrapped his arms around you from behind.

Y/n..honey..I'm so sorry. I was so focused on the game that I haven't realised how you might feel...I'm so sorry..What do you wanted to talk about, my love? I'm here and I will listen.

°× You turned around, finally facing him. You hugged him burring your head into his chest.

°× He carresed your hair letting you cry into his chest. He didn't even cared about you soaked his shirt.

°× After a while you pulled your head from his chest looking at him with a weak smile. He just smiled back at you kissing your tears away.

°× You talked with him the whole night. He made sure you felt heared.

Kai

°× He was stressed and mad when he came home from a mission.

°× He was more irritated and got impatient.

°× You didn't know what happened and tried go comfort him, but he closed off.

°× You decided to make him his favorite meal. It turned out well, but when you wanted to plate it out you accidantly dropped the plate what broke into pieces.

°× It was the last drop of water for him to spill. He started yelling at you for being that clumsy to drop a plate like that.

OH MY GOD Y/N! YOU MESS UP EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME. I CAN'T EVEN GIVE YOU SIMPLY CHORES TO YOU!

°× He was so stressed that he didn't realise that he was yelling at his lover. His only one.

°× When he finally snapped out of it, guilt was on his face.

°× Seeing your face is covered in tears, your body is shaking and how you backed away from him made his heart ache.

°× How could he make his lover cry? Just because he had a bad day he shouldn't take it out on you like this.

°× He slowly walked to you hugging you to his chest. Apologising constatly.

Oh love..I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to... I had a bad day, I shouldn't have do that..

°× Later that day he treated you like a princess. He cooked and tugged you in the bed. Cuddling the whole day.

°× He felt really bad about making you cry.

Jay

°× You were both guys making jokes and tease the other. Nothing really what would hurt you.

°× But the more jokes you had make the more hurtful jokes Jay made about you.

°× He made jokes about your insecurities even though he knew about them.

Whener you laugh you put your hand in front of your mouth. What are you trying to cover? Your ugly smile?

°× Jay immediately put his hand over his mouth shocked by himself.

°× Tears streamed down you face sobbing while you tried to wipe them away.

°× He's never regretted something that bad like this. He knew damn about your inserities and he just made a joke about it.

Y/n...Please don't cry.. I'm sorry..I didn't mean it, you know I love you...Can I hug you?

°× You hesitatingly nodded and he hugged you close, placing your head in the crook of his neck.

°× One of his hands was carresing your back and the other one your hair.

°× When you calmed down he apologised again. Ressauring you that he will never do it again.

°× So he did. He'd become more attentive with your insecurities so he won't make the same mistake.

Nya

°× Your relationship with her started tearing apart itself.

°× You had a lots of fights and arguments. You couldn't stand each other. Always hurting each other on purpose.

°× One night both of you were fighting again yelling out your opinion at each other. So maybe one day you will understand each other.

°× Nya at a point started to really get mad and we know what happens when she's angry.

°× She can't hold her anger back and telling and doing things what she regrets later.

I TOLD YOU I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT YOUR STUPID SHITTY OPINION, YOU NEEDY BRAT!

°× Your eyes widened as tears formed in them. That's when Nya realised she went too far.

No, love..hey..I'm sorry

°× She carresed your cheek with her thumb. Her eyes full of regret as she took you in her arms.

°× When you calmed down she kissed your forehead, carrying you to the bedroom. She placed you down onto the bed and went away.

°× Later she showed up with snacks in her hand and then you guys watched a movie together.

°× The next day you both guys talked out your views and opinion. This time she listened and tried to understand. As you did.

°× She just realised how much she loves you and she needs you. She really wanted to fix your relationship.

°× This argument made you both to make effort to work this out together.

Zane

°× Zane is a very caring boyfriend. He always know when to talk when to be silent. What to say or what to not say.

°× He refuses to hurt you ever. Your his life and the living proof that he has feelings. Because he's deeply in love with you.

°× He wasn't even the reason why you started crying.

°× You arrived home looking troubled. You were not yourself. You were much more quiet and mostly you just stared into nothing blankly.

°× He was hesitant to ask you what's wrong but he eventually did what caused you to burst into tears.

°× He gently grabbed your hand leading you to the couch, seating you down.

°× Zane wasn't sure how to help you. He didn't even know why are you sad, why are you crying. But he wanted to know.

Heyy y/n...What's wrong? Tell me how can I help, dear?

°× You hugged him and he wrapped his arms around you understanding that you need affection.

°× You told him what disturbed you and he listened carresing your back, your waist. He hummed as a sign he understand you.

°× He ressaured you what ever made you upset that "It's alright! You did your best.."

°× Even it wasn't his fault he started to check up on you and your mental health more.

°× You're really important for him and he must protect you. Take care of you, because he just wants you to be okay.

Cole

°× He's also a pretty good boyfriend. He has a lot of patient and always attentive towards you.

°× But there are times when the perfection slips and mistakes are made.

°× You and him were in an argument. You moved your arms agressively to prove a point, but he didn't even raised his voice at you.

°× He knew about your past and promised to himself to never treat you the same.

°× But after a while he couldn't take how you didn't even listened to him. So before he would notice he snapped at you.

JUST SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE AND LISTEN TO ME! DAMN IT!

°× Silence fell on you as you teared up. You looked away immediately apologising from him quietly.

°× His eyes widened in shock by his self, by your reaction.

My flower..I'm so sorry..

°× He slowly approached to you cupping your face into his hands. You looked up at him tears dropping from your eyes.

°× You put your hands on his hands gently as he placed a kiss onto the top of head.

°× The rest of the day filled with cuddles and you even watched a movie together to calm yourselves down.

°× The next day you started the converstation again, talking out your minds calmly.

°× This time both of you paid attention to the other ideas and problems.

°× He promised to never raise his voice at you and you promised that you will listen his side too.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

I saw this headcanon idea from another fandom so I decided to do it on my own in the Ninjas fandom. I have a lot of ideas.

Maybe I will make a vote what headcanons/oneshot should I make first, but I'm not sure.

So be prepared. Love y'all<3