It's time for some Lloyd and Wu and Sensei G angst (and character analysis) today boys
Lloyd follows his father everywhere.
At first, it had been his brother, Lord Garmadon, who had been the follower. Wu knew from the shadows he had seen in the spirit smoke used to check on his nephew from time to time. Lloyd would usually talk to his father about his day and the pranks he'd pulled and his day in general and Garmadon would laugh and praise his son.
"Why do you always go places where I can't follow?" Lloyd would always whine before he went to bed.
"There are some places you cannot follow, Lloyd. It's dark and dangerous where I reside," The dark lord replied.
Lloyd was four. He would never understand. But, when he turned ten, his father had stopped visiting him due to his banishment.
So, Lloyd left to follow in his father's footsteps. Lloyd had a strong wanderlust that Wu admired.
Wu compared Lloyd to a baby duck who follows its mother around until it has grown and able to live on its own. Except, the Green Ninja has never grown out of that wandering baby duck phase as a child would. Wu notices these things, he's an observer. That's how he prefers to fight his enemies.
Never once had Wu seen Garmadon without his bear cub around, as long as his papa bear was in the same room, he never left. The sensei hadn't really thought of Lloyd as the 'clingy' type, and neither had the ninja, but Garmadon never minded. Then, when the Tomorrow's Tea incident, wherever Lord Garmadon went, his son followed.
Once, Wu had found Lloyd sitting outside on the Bounty's deck, just staring into the night sky.
"He always goes where I can't follow," Lloyd said without taking his eyes off of the stars. In his hands, he held his cloak that he used to wear when they first had met. "I don't like it."
Wu said nothing but let him continue.
"Wish I could go, but destiny hates me," Lloyd ran his hand through the fabric's hole that had grown after washing it numerous amounts of times.
"Yes," Wu agreed, he sat down. "Destiny is indeed cruel to our family."
"What do you mean?" Lloyd furrowed his eyebrows.
"Who do you look up to the most?" smiled Wu. "To put it simply, who do you most admire?"
Lloyd's face flushed and he looked away. It was common for him to do this, Lloyd was nervous and shocked. It was clear who he looked up to, but Wu wanted to hear it from himself.
"You'll laugh!" Lloyd mumbled as if someone was listening. "Besides, you wouldn't like it anyways, and then I'd get in trouble,"
"Young nephew, I promise you that I will not laugh nor will I judge you," Wu hummed. "Instead, you'd be surprised to hear what I have to say as well,"
Lloyd looked down for a few seconds. He hesitated.
"You promise you won't throw me out to the streets or dump me at another boarding school, or-" Lloyd stopped himself from ranting and cleared his throat. "Okay, it's my dad, I miss him."
"It's funny, because I, too, have looked up to your fatherーmy brother," Wu said. "There's a saying that says that younger siblings tend to look up to their older siblings,"
Lloyd laughed. A real laugh. A good laugh. Then he cried.
Wu wished that he had known how this would affect the two of them later on.
"Where are you going?" Kai's voice echoed through the hallways.
Wu stopped meditating to listen to the conversation.
He heard Lloyd's soft cries.
"I-I can't! I have to go!" Lloyd's frantic voice made Wu want to go confront him instead of Kai. "I don't want to do this, I want my dad!"
"Lloyd, it's okay, everything's okay," Kai soothed while Lloyd only made muffled sobs and a loud thud sounded on the floorboards. "You don't have to leave,"
Lloyd didn't say anything after that. He just cried.
The Alpha wolf and his wolf pup sat together for lunch from a distance, the wolf pup lay his head on his father's shoulder while the Alpha stared off into the distance. They didn't talk, they just kept close for each other's comfort. It wasn't that rare of an occurrence for them to be sitting together.
Neither of them said a word.
Wu watched from afar, just as he preferred it. He watched his brother shift slightly and his son following afterwards. He realized that Lloyd must have fallen asleep because his head was on Garmadon's lap now and the latter just smiled and let the boy sleep.
"Never once have I seen Lloyd and Garmadon separate from each other," Zane said from behind to observe the two.
"Yeah," Jay was next to speak. "Is it just me or it Lloyd overly clingy to just him," Wu glanced at him. "Not that it's weird or anything, it's just weird weird, you know?"
"Maybe it's emotional support?" Kai interrupted.
Wu smiled and walked towards his brother.
"It's a nice afternoon, isn't it, brother?" Wu asked Garmadon. The latter was running fingers through his son's hair, humming a familiar tune.
"Yes, yes it is," Garmadon replied.
"He missed you," Wu chuckled and sat down next to the two. "He often talked about how fond he was of you when you visited him at the boarding school, he said that you brought him gifts for his birthday before you were banished,"
"I had the Skeleton Army bring him candy and small toys when he was much younger," Garmadon laughed. "He loved it, and he never stopped talking about them. Lloyd told me that the other children and teachers were very much jealous when he received them."
The two brothers then fell silent.
"Thank you, for taking care of my Golden Child," Garmadon thanked him. "I know that he was already a handful when you first met and keeping him around...it was a good idea, Wu,"
Wu just nodded and looked ahead of him. He had nothing to say. It was no secret that Garmadon loved his son.
"He's very feisty," Wu overheard Misako say. His brother and his wife were washing Lloyd in the bathtub. He heard the sounds of rushing water. "Lloyd, sweetheart, don't splash your father!"
Lloyd's little giggle was cute.
"I think he wants you," Misako laughed. "He always reaches his arms out to you,"
"Maybe he just loves me better," Garmadon wrapped Lloyd in a bundle and lifted him up. "Perhaps I'm the better parent,"
"Oh hush," Misako lightly tapped him in the arm."You're so mean!"
Lloyd and Garmadon laughed, Wu joined in softly.
"That's why you married me,"
"Of course it is, my love,"
That's when he noticed that Garmadon was a domestic house cat and Lloyd was his small kitten, Lloyd's laughs were like small meows.
How cute.
Lloyd was leaving again. Wu knew this, so he followed his nephew. Lloyd seemed aware but just kept going. After Garmadon's death, Lloyd hadn't really handled it well. Wu knew that it hurt physically and mentally to them both. Lloyd is not the best at talking out his own feelings, neither was he.
"Don't go," Wu grabbed his arm. Lloyd stared. They had met at the end of the mountain where the Bounty was located.
"Why not?" Lloyd huffed, under his arms, he carried Clouse's spellbook.
Wu wondered where he got it.
The old sensei could tell that Lloyd was searching for answers on his face but furrowed his eyebrows when he saw his uncle's expression. In his eyes, Wu could still see his brother. They looked so much alike.
"You just can't-" Wu whisperedーchoked out.
Lloyd's face relaxed.
"I'm sorry," He mumbled. "But I have to, he needs me,"
No. That's not it. Lloyd wanted to curse himself. Wherever Garmadon went, Lloyd followed. Lloyd looked like a lost puppy.
In comparison, Garmadon was a huge Rottweiler guard dog and Lloyd was his small toy dog apprentice, barking at everything he saw threatening to the bigger dog.
"Please," Wu begged. He did not need another family member lost to whatever crazy destiny his father had come up with this time. "Do not leave me just as my father and brother did, I can't lose you too,"
Wu bowed his head, his hat covering his face.
Then he heard a soft chuckle from Lloyd.
"I guess today is just not my day," Lloyd hugged him. "I'll try again another time,"
Wu sighed and hugged him back. Lloyd had a strong wanderlust that consumed him. Wu couldn't stop him. But instead, they just hugged.
At least he was learning how to fly while the raven took off. He'll be back again soon.