Hi, Kiwi here. This is a quick one shot. My first one shot actually. I've had this floating around in my head since the summer of 2012, but I'd never written it out before. So, here it is. I'm going to get back to my other works soon. I just needed to pull myself out of a writing slump and decided to just do something short. And I think it worked. Please enjoy.

Also, the cover art of Laurie was done by Deathmark1999 on deviantart.

A shrill cry echoed down the hall, shaking him from his sleep immediately. He shot up in his bed, hands gripping the sheets tightly. The helpless, frightened scream was all too familiar, and as the man slowly got his bearings, he felt his heart ache. "Poor thing," he sighed, running his hands through his dark brown hair. "She probably had another nightmare."

"It keeps happening more and more lately," came another voice. The man turned to his left, seeing his wife turn over on her side. She looked much younger without her glasses on, fighting to purge the sleep that still clung to her eyes. "If she keeps this up, then-" Another cry could be heard, distinct from the first one. It sounded much younger, fueled by instinct rather than emotion. "And now he's awake too," she said, rolling back over and grabbing her glasses off of the nightstand nearby. "I'll try and calm down Laurie first before I handle Lloyd."

He place a hand on his wife's shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze. "Go and put Lloyd back to bed," he replied with a kind smile. "I'll see what's scaring Laurie tonight."

It felt like a weight had been lifted off of her. She smiled to herself, slipping her glasses onto her face before entwining her fingers with her husband's. "Thank you, Garmadon," she whispered, glancing over and locking her gaze on his crimson eyes. The venom inside of him might have been slowly consuming him, but Misako could see Garmadon's true nature shining through when others needed him.

"I can't let you do all the work," Garmadon smirked, throwing his legs off the bed. "The kids need to know that I'm the best parent in the world." With that, he strode out of the room, taking the hall down to the right. The crying had subsided a little, but he could still hear the strangled sniffles and rushed breaths of his daughter as he approached. Her door was cracked open slightly, the way she preferred, and Garmadon knocked a couple times before he entered.

The sharp gasp he heard pulled at his heartstrings as he pushed the door open the rest of the way. "P-Please, go away, monster," he heard Laurie cry, huddled underneath her blankets, quivering. "I-I don't taste good. You w-wouldn't like me."

Being addressed as a monster, even accidentally, punched Garmadon in the gut. He inhaled, pushing it to the back of his mind as he crossed the room, flicking the lamp near her bed on. "Well, you're pretty small and skinny. I don't think you'd taste good either."

Red hair poked out over the orange blanket, followed by a pair of wide, icy blue eyes. "Daddy?" Laurie's voice shook as she stared straight at Garmadon. "Daddy, you wouldn't eat me anyway," she said, tossing the blanket aside. "But thanks for scaring the monsters away."

"Is that what you were crying about?" Garmadon asked, moving the blanket to the other side of the bed before taking a seat. The mattress depressed under his weight, causing his daughter to lose her balance and fall into him. Her head was pressed against his arm and she closed her eyes, nodding. "It's like your mom and I always tell you: there are no such things as monsters."

"I know, I know," Laurie huffed, scooting away from Garmadon and crossing her arms over her chest. "Monsters could be real though. Just because you haven't seen one doesn't mean they don't exist." She reached behind her head, trying to pull the tie in her hair tighter, but it only made her hair messier. "Monsters aren't even the scary part though, daddy," she continued, hugging her knees to her chest. "It's the dark. If I could see the monster, I could beat it up, but if it's dark. . ." Her voice trailed and her skin paled further.

"Come here," Garmadon smiled, holding his arms out. Laurie scooted across the bed and sat in her father's lap as he protectively placed his arms around her. "You're going to be six soon, right?"

Laurie nodded. "Yup."

"So you don't need to be afraid of the dark. It doesn't hide monsters. It's not going to attack you or hurt you. It's just what happens when there's no light." He stroked Laurie's hair and she leaned her head against his chest and sighed. "My father use to tell me that darkness is natural. It's just part of the balance. We can't ever get rid of it, so we have to embrace it."

"Embrace it?" Laurie asked slowly.

Garmadon gave a lighthearted chuckle. "Just give the darkness a big hug. Then maybe it won't be so scary. In fact, the darkness could end up being your friend if you treat it right."

She blinked her eyes, lifting her head off of her father's chest and staring into his face. "Sometimes when Uncle comes to visit and he talks with mommy, I sneak around like a ninja and I listen to them," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "They talk about you and the darkness. So I always thought the darkness was a monster. They make it sound like it's gonna sneak up and eat you, daddy." Her heart was beating wildly in her chest. "So. . . I got scared. If the darkness was gonna try and get you, then it'd be easy for it to get me."

He felt his face harden. Wu would just come over and talk to Misako so openly about Garmadon's struggle? "You know that it's not nice to listen to grown up conversations in secret," he said, managing to keep the subtle anger building inside of him buried. "But you shouldn't worry, sweetie. The darkness is never going to get me and it's never going to get you, because it doesn't want to hurt anyone."

"I believe you," Laurie yawned, rubbing her eyes with the backs of her hands.

Garmadon lifted the young girl as he stood up from the bed, cradling her in his arms. "Well, if you didn't believe me, then we'd have a bit of a problem," he smiled, lifting Laurie up so she threw her arms around his neck. Using a free hand, Garmadon pulled the blanket back towards the foot of the bed before leaning down and lowering Laurie on to the bed. "But now, it's time for you to go back to sleep so you're not tired when your mom takes you to visit Uncle Wu tomorrow."

"Okay," Laurie whispered, pulling her legs up close and tucking her chin down towards her chest. She reached for the blanket that wasn't there, but Garmadon quickly fixed this, spreading the blanket out over the length of the bed. Laurie clutched the fabric tight in her fists and nuzzled farther into her pillow. "Turn the light out when you leave," she yawned again, "that way I can give the darkness a hug before I go back to sleep."

Placing his hand on the metal headboard, Garmadon leaned down and kissed the top of his daughter's head. "I'll be sure to turn out the light. I promise." He moved towards the lamp and clicked it off, sending the room spiraling into black nothing. "Goodnight, sweetie," Garmadon said, walking towards the hallway, hand gripping the circular doorknob.

"Goodnight, daddy," Laurie answered, allowing her eyes to slowly adjust to the darkness, feeling more empowered than scared. "I love you."

The door clicked shut and Laurie eventually drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

"What do you mean?"

Her mother's voice was louder than she'd heard it in a while. Laurie stood up, her bare feet padding softly on the wooden floor of her bedroom. She threw open her bedroom door, peeking around the corner. Well, it doesn't sound like mom's in Lloyd's room, Laurie thought, wondering who her mom was talking to so late at night.

"I mean he's gone," came a somewhat muffled voice, though one that Laurie recognized.

Uncle Wu? What's he doing here? Laurie quickly ran back inside of her room, turning off her lamp and kicking the stuffed dragons she'd been playing with underneath of her bed. Wading through the darkness, she stepped into the hallway and closed the door quietly behind her. She'd seen the clock on her wall before the lights went out. It was just after ten o'clock. She should have been in bed an hour ago, but she hadn't been tired. Does Uncle Wu always come over when Lloyd and I are sleeping?

Creeping down the dark hall, Laurie took extra care to make sure her footfall stayed silent. No need to get in trouble tonight. Not like she ever really got in trouble anyway. She'd gotten a lot better at sneaking around since her dad had told her to stop listening in on grown up conversations. She would be seven in a few months, she was practically a grown up already. Sure, Laurie didn't always understand what was being said, but it always made her feel better to know that she was keeping up with whatever was happening in the world. Grown ups knew everything and, by listening, Laurie knew everything. It was perfect.

"Lightning, Wu? Lightning struck him? Is he. . . is he dead?"

Laurie could hear her mom nearly choking on her words. The red head pressed her back against the wall and edged her way towards the living room, where soft candle light spilled out from the doorway. Someone died? Who died? She was right next to the living room's entryway now. Laurie had learned to keep low when trying to look into another room. It helped her stay hidden longer.

Her mom was leaning up against one of the sofas, her arms crossed over her chest, but her eyes focused on the floor. Uncle Wu paced the room, his signature walking stick resting on the coffee table. Laurie could see dark shadows etched into his features, something very unfamiliar to the young girl. "He's not dead, Misako. Garmadon's gone. He. . . fell to the Underworld. The ground beneath him opened up and he was swallowed by it." Wu paused and rubbed his temples, eyes drifting back to Misako. "He was trying to steal all of the weapons. I couldn't let that happen. I'd promised our father that I'd look over them."

"But what about looking over him?" Misako stressed, bitterness tinging her voice. "He's your brother, Wu. He's family. Why didn't you try and save him instead of just stopping him?!" Laurie could see her mother's hands clenched down by her sides. Light sobs erupted from her as she continued to stare at the floor. Wu closed the distance between them and pulled Misako into an embrace. She threw her arms around his neck and broke. Tears cascaded down her face as she buried her head into Wu's shoulder. "How did we let it go this far?" she cried, her voice barely audible. "How could we have stopped it?"

Wu rubbed Misako's back with a steady hand. "We couldn't have stopped it. This was always going to be the outcome. Garmadon was a ticking time bomb and the darkness finally consumed him."

Laurie felt her stomach tighten as she carefully watched her mother and uncle hug. Daddy's. . . gone? She pulled herself away from the scene in front of her, scooting back against the wall in the hallway. Uncle said he. . . fell and was consumed by darkness? Laurie's heart was pounding worse now. She'd read enough of her mother's mythology and folklore books. She knew what consumed meant. Her skin was growing clammy and Laurie wiped her palms on her pants, trying to calm herself down.

This couldn't be real. He couldn't be gone. The darkness was a friend. Daddy told me that the darkness wasn't scary. He told me that it wasn't going to hurt anyone. That it didn't wanna hurt anyone. The tears steadily fell, splashing down over Laurie's shirt as she gripped her head in her small hands. Daddy trusted the darkness. H-He said it just needed a hug.

Footsteps sounded in the living room. Laurie's head shot up and she quickly scrambled to her feet, trying to run down the hallway as quietly as she possibly could. The door to her bedroom was ajar and she tensed up as she crossed the dark room, heading straight for her lamp. With a single click, light flooded every corner of the room, setting Laurie's mind at ease. She quickly jumped into bed and wriggled her way under the comforter, closing her eyes to feign sleep.

"Wu, she's asleep," came Misako's voice from the bedroom door. Laurie focused on making her breaths come slower and deeper. She could see nothing, but the light from her lamp seemed to even ebb the darkness behind her eyes. "And Lloyd hasn't figured out how to climb out of his crib yet, though it's just a matter of time. He's always giving me trouble. Maybe you were just hearing things in the hall." Click. Laurie could notice the difference in the room without having to open her eyes. Her mother had turned off the lamp. A few seconds later, the sound of the door shuddering lightly against the door frame was apparent.

Laurie opened her eyes and struggled to breathe. The blanket of darkness clung to everything around her. She couldn't see anything and a sinister feeling crept up her spine, making her shiver violently. With every beat of her heart, Laurie wheezed. It was watching her, surrounding her. The darkness. It didn't want to be her friend. It didn't want to be anyone's friend. It had eaten her father and he had trusted it. If there had been no hope for him, then there was absolutely no hope for her. "Please. . ." the young girl squeaked, throwing the covers up over her head and sliding down to the middle of the bed. As the blankets settled down around her like a cocoon, Laurie pulled her knees up to her chest. "Please don't eat me. I-I don't taste good. . ."