OMG! PLEASE NOBODY GIVE ME HATE! THIS IS UPLIFTING I PROMISE AT THE END! I do not want any hate from speaking from the heart… enjoy the one shot that will hit you in the feels...
Kai sighed, it had been a few months since the final battle and it was about the beginning of summer… but not only the beginning of summer, it was a day that had upset him for the past nine years…
"Daddy!" the eight year old boy called out as his father picked him up, tossing the young boy into the air as he giggled.
"Why are you here buddy!?" the man enthusiastically asked.
"Smithing day! Smithing day!" he jumped up and down, laughing as his six year old sister Nya entered.
Rubbing her tired eyes she asked,"Are you making swords!? Can I learn too!?"
"Of course, but you are a little young to be using swords! How about you sit and watch for now?"
"Fine, yes daddy." Nya huffed, sitting down and slouching as she watched the father and son.
"Okay Kai, remember what we do first?"
"YUP!" he smiled,"You need the right amount of metal, and lots of heat!"
"Good job!" his father's eyes shone as he looked onto his happy son,"We also need to remember to take our time and be careful with pacing.
"But don't we want it done quickly!?" Kai asked.
"Yes, but if done too quickly," he pounded the heated metal one last time before sticking it into the water bucket, Kai frowned at what came out,"It can lead to all of your hard work being simply erased." the sword was crippled.
"I understand." Kai recited.
"Okay! Now you try! I will guide you, first you have to-"
"HOU! I NEED YOUR HELP!" a blonde man came running into the shop.
"WU!? What-" he was cut off by the roars of engines. Several living skeletons came out of nowhere as the four-armed leader yelled,"ATTACK!"
"OH NO!" Hou stepped back.
"I need some weapons! We have to stop the army." he panted as his old friend tossed him as sword as he grabbed his own before turning to his son.
"Kai, I need you to watch over Nya, no matter what!" Kai nodded… they did not have their mother around for she had died after being found in an arsoned building, it was just Kai, Nya, and Hou.
"Yes father." he sighed, holding the crippled sword in his grasp.
Hou charged into battle, knocking down many skullkin as he yelled a battle cry. Kai's eyes widened as he saw the men spin into glowing tornados. Then… after fifteen minutes of fighting... he heard a yell of pain.
Kai, freaking out quickly grabbed the crippled sword next to him and charged out towards the direction of the sound of pain… only to find that it was too late.
Kai fell to his knees, taking in heavy breaths as he looked down at the body of his father…
He fell limp over the body of his father, seeing the skullkin retreat as the other man fended them off.
His chest moved heavily up and down as the tears flowed down his cheeks like waterfalls. He sharply inhaled and wept in exhales… whining his distress and woe. The eight year old looked down at the crippled sword…
A gasp was heard from behind him…
He turned to see Nya staring blankly at the man before them… Kai pulled her into a hug as she wept into his shirt.
Kai took in a heavy breath as he tightened his grip on his father's sword…
"The last sword you ever made… if only it were a good one... " Kai gasped in another heavy breath…"I promise, to keep this sword with me… and think of you, always… Happy, Father's Day!" He fell onto his sister as they continued to cry.
Behind them was a blonde man with a sad look on his face.
Meanwhile… someone was being scolded in the underworld…
"WHAT!? You killed Hou Smith!?" he stood up,"You mean to tell me that you not only went on a mission I did not organize, but you killed someone I didn't ask you to!?"9
"It is just another person gone my Lord… he does not matter… he attacked and well we are better off."
"That man had done great service to me in the past…" Garmadon turned towards the window that looked out onto a lava ocean.
Kai and Nya continued to weep, it seemed as if their tears were endless.
Now… the final battle was over, everything seemed okay. Kai sat in his room at Garmadon's monastery. Cole was at his father's house. Zane was with his father. Jay was with both of his parents. Lloyd just got his father back…
"I have nothing." He sighed as he stood up and walked towards his closet, picking up a case that contained an item of value to him. He walked out the door, he needed to clear his head, a nice walk should do.
He trecked through the streets of Ninjago City… minutes later he saw his sister waving towards him, before rushing to the red ninja.
"Can I come?"
"Always." Kai replied, his voice cracking a little bit.
They both began to walk towards a gloomy place as they looked at the sign…
"NINJAGO CITY CEMETERY." Nya read.
"Come on…" Kai sat at the gravestone… taking a crippled sword out of the case and carefully laying it down in front of the tombstone that read,"Hou Smith."
"I will keep my promise to this day, to think of you forever, and always… Hou, father mine, you shall never be forgotten. Even though you are not in any history books… you are the most important figure in my history.
He covered his mouth as a small whimpering noise escaped his mouth tears formed near the corners of his eyes as he took a breath and continued… "I l-love you, and I miss you with all of my heart… please… hear me giving my respects once again father… for I have failed you, I marched out to battle just too late. It is my fault, it should've been me!" he stood up.
"YOU HEAR THAT FATHER!? IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME!" his breathing got heavier as his tears fell down his cheeks quickly and all at once.
"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO!? TELL ME! Why did you have to leave me? Why?" he weakly finished… he could be heard for miles around, but he did not care. Nya put a hand on his shoulder as the siblings hugged.
"I miss him too Kai, I really do." Nya's lip quivered with each word.
"Why did this happen!?"
"It will forever be a mystery of why his time was right there and then… but I can't answer your questions… I want him back too you know!" she hugged her brother tighter.
"I still don't understand!? Why am I not over it!?"
"Why are neither of us over it!?" Nya replied, screaming loudly as her brother blinked away tears before turning away.
"I'm sorry…" Kai sighed.
"I'm sorry too." Nya choked.
"Lets go home." Kai picked up the crippled sword, and created a ninth slash on the gravestone. He sighed,"Nine years… he is still remembered, how long do you think until he is lost to time?"
"He will never be forgotten." Nya leaned up against her brother as Kai put the sword on his back. They both headed into the city.
They all looked around at the families eating in restaurants. They saw little kids skipping along their father's sides, as well as adults catching up with their own fathers… families, happy families of all shapes and sizes were having fun.
Kai inhaled sharply and slowly exhaled, walking through town square in silence for several more minutes…
"I hate father's day." Nya bitterly said.
"Don't say that." Kai bit his lip.
"BUT IT'S TRUE!" she yelled back,"Look at all the families having fun, all the boys and girls with their fathers… why can't we have that?"
Kai reached out to her, only for her to pull away. Kai pulled his hand back as Nya hugged herself, continuing to walk across the cold streets.
They walked in silence once again, until…
"Excuse me?"
The siblings looked up to see two figures both of them had warm smiles on their faces.
Kai sighed as he put on a fake smile,"Hi Lloyd, Hi Garmadon." he exhaled.
"We were on our way to lunch, and we were wondering if you would like to join us?" Lloyd asked.
Kai looked away for a moment,"I don't know, we wouldn't want to intrude…" Nya let Kai speak for them as she kept tears from falling out in front of the two.
Garmadon then approached them,"Come on Kai, you and Nya are already like siblings to Lloyd, so might I adopt you two just for the day?"
Nya looked up, a small smile forming on her face. Then, without warning she ran up and hugged the sensei.
Kai grinned and turned to Lloyd,"You know you really do not have to do this."
"I have to Kai, it means we're family!" he gave his older brother a hug before they began to walk off to lunch together…
It was not the same as the others… for that day, kai had paid his respects. After all those years he had reached the final stage of grief…
Acceptance…
He sighed, just because he accepted his father's death didn't mean that he wouldn't live on in his memories…
He would walk with him and be with him always as he had been for the last nine years… though Kai had thought him to be gone, he was with Kai from then on and forever… for Hou Smith lived inside of him. Nothing would ever change that. No battle, no experience… for his spirit would always be with his on… from then on and forevermore...
HEY! STOP CRYING!
So I wrote this in honor of my grandfather and I was just thinking today about if for my father was depressed, he thought he was gone forever, but I tought him this little lesson I never knew was inside of me… I got a little inspiration from a comic I saw a few years back and I just happened to remember it somehow…
I had always liked to imagine that at some point after the final battle, Kai and Nya got just kinda 'Adopted' by Garmadon and Misako...
So yeah! Look forwards to more from me soon!
I hope you enjoyed!
more to come…
-AwesomeAuthor13