A Garmadon Family Christmas
AN: I got inspired by Tommy Anderson Garm family christmas headcannons. I don't own Ninjago. Enjoy!
Things had changed in Ninjago since Lord Garmadon was a changed man, thanks to his son, Lloyd. It was safe and peaceful since the attacks had stopped.
Koko and Lloyd were willing to allow Garmadon to come back slowly into their lives again. They started doing things together as a family, like going to the movies, eating out, or just hanging out in the apartment. Sometimes, Lloyd would go and visit his dad in his volcanic lair, which made Koko a little nervous, but Lloyd assured her there was nothing dangerous going on. It was great spending time with his dad. Garmadon showed Lloyd some interesting things like his mech hanger, shark tank (he still had one because he loved sharks), and other cool things about the volcano itself.
Things were better for Lloyd at school too. Now that everyone knew Lloyd was the green ninja, the kids treated him better, although Chen was still Chen, but not quite as bad as before. Sometimes, Garmadon would give Lloyd a ride to school in one of his mechs, which Lloyd really enjoyed. Garmadon enjoyed the looks on people's faces when he would pull up to the school in one of his mechs-it always surprised them.
It was now December, and soon Lloyd would be on Christmas break for two weeks, and there was talk about Christmas plans. Koko had invited Garmadon to stay with them during the holidays, which he happily accepted.
The three of them were sitting together over hot chocolate one Saturday morning talking about what they wanted to do. It was going to be Garmadon's first Christmas with his family and he wanted it to be special.
There were the decorations to put up; Christmas shopping to do, baking, and getting a Christmas tree, going caroling, and Ninjago had a very nice Christmas market that Koko said they should go to.
"Sounds great," Lloyd said, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. It was chilly out, but not so much that you couldn't enjoy the outdoors.
"I can help with the decorations and getting the tree," Garmadon put in. "I've got some decorations in my lair."
"You have Christmas decorations in your lair?" Koko asked, raising a brow in surprise.
"Yeah, of course! I mean who doesn't like to celebrate Christmas?" the warlord shrugged. "I may have been evil, but I wasn't heartless." He turned to Lloyd. "You want to come with me?"
"Sure!" Lloyd agreed.
Koko smiled. She was going to put in her vacation request today. She loved Christmas.
Garmadon and Lloyd found the decorations in the lair and had brought them back to the apartment. Koko had gone out for some errands and left them a note. She had also left out her boxes of decorations.
"Okay, son. Let's get started," Garmadon said, opening the boxes.
Lloyd decided to put on some Christmas music. He then joined his dad where the boxes were and looked inside to find it was full of sharks.
"Uh, dad, are you sure these are okay to put up?" he asked uncertainly. "I don't think mom would approve."
"Ah, it will be fine! Your mom will be surprised!" Garmadon smiled as he grabbed some sharks.
"Oh, she'll be surprised all right," Lloyd said under his breath. He decided he'd work on putting up his mom's stuff too, and maybe she wouldn't notice?
About two hours later, they were done, and Koko had returned.
"Oh, hey, Koko!" Garmadon called from the couch he and Lloyd were sitting on. "What do you think of the place?"
Koko took a long look around. "Garm, are those really sharks hanging from the ceiling?" She asked, her hands on her hips.
"Um, yeah?" the warlord answered with a lopsided grin.
"Take them down!" Koko told him and walked into the kitchen.
Lloyd gave his dad a 'I told you so' look, but Garmadon wasn't fazed. He had a better idea. He went around and put Santa hats on all of them instead. Koko then didn't have the heart to ask him to take them down.
Next Garmadon took on the task of selecting the perfect Christmas tree. Lloyd was at school, and Koko at work, so Garmadon said he would take care of it.
'I'll get you a tree that will knock your socks off,' he had told them. It couldn't be too big, since the apartment was small and didn't have tall ceilings, but it had to be big enough.
He went out into the city in search of the right tree. After looking for what seemed like hours, he finally found what he was looking for; it was perfect. He wanted a live tree, since Koko said she loved the smell of pine. He would have to cut it down, but that was easy for someone like him.
Garmadon got the tree into the apartment and put it in the tree stand that Koko had gotten earlier and added water to it. He stepped back to admire it. There was just enough room at the top to place the star. Wait until Koko and Lloyd saw it! They would be impressed!
Lloyd came home first. "Dad, I'm back," he called. He walked through the kitchen, hanging up his backpack. "Did you have any luck with the tree?" he asked as he came into the living room.
He then caught sight of the Christmas tree. It was amazing!
"Hey, Luh-loyd! What do you think?" Garmadon grinned at him.
"It's perfect!" Lloyd replied. He was impressed that his dad had found such a nice tree.
"Do ya think your mom will like it?" Garmadon asked.
"Yeah, she will. Where did you find it?" Lloyd asked.
"Oh, I have my ways," Garmadon replied evasively.
Lloyd raised a questioning eyebrow but said nothing more.
Koko came home a couple hours later and got to see the tree. "Oh my gosh!" she gushed. "Where did you find a tree like that?"
"Heh, when I say I'll deliver, I do," Garmadon replied, not directly answering her question. He was thrilled with his conquest for the tree, especially with how happy it made his family.
After dinner, which consisted of Koko's dumplings, they decorated the tree together with lights and ornaments. Lloyd did an impressive jump to put the star on top. It was truly a sight to behold. They stayed up late to share some past Christmas stories and then they curled up on the coach to watch some Christmas movies. All in all, it was a good night.
The next morning, the family was sitting at the table watching the news, and it was reported that someone had their pine tree cut down out of their yard, and anyone with information should contact the Ninjago police.
Koko and Lloyd looked pointedly over at Garmadon, who was drinking his coffee. He looked up at them, with a seemingly innocent expression on his face.
"What?" he asked.
Lloyd was now on Christmas break and it was two weeks before Christmas day. Koko had also taken time off work, so they decided to visit the Ninjago Christmas market. It was down by the pier.
When they got there, it was beautifully decorated with Christmas lights, a large, decorated tree in the middle, giant snowflakes on the lamp posts, along with tinsel. There were plenty of people there, including Lloyd's friends. After asking his parents if he could hang out with them, which they were fine with, he ran off to join them. There were all kinds of stands to visit that had different kinds of foods to try. There was also the traditional Ninjago Christmas cake, which was a light sponge cake, covered in a layer of whipped cream and decorated with ripe strawberries.
Garmadon and Koko walked around slowly, looking at everything. They visited the stands, trying the different foods. At one point, Koko reached out to hold Garmadon's lower hand, which surprised him.
"Koko?" he asked, feeling a bit uncertain. They hadn't had any physical contact in quite some time, and he wasn't going to be the one to initiate it.
"I'm really happy right now, Garm," she said, leaning her head into Garmadon's shoulder.
Garmadon felt warmth spread throughout his whole body. He was happy too. They continued to walk hand in hand.
There was a choir singing carols and the couple went over to listen to them.
Lloyd was happily catching up with his friends and listening to their Christmas plans. He caught a glance at his parents, standing close together, with their arms around each other. He smiled.
After a while they headed back to the apartment. It had been fun filled day.
AN: This will be a 3-4 shot short story. Reviews are always welcome!