Chapter 1

"And I can't help but stare

Cause I see truth somewhere in your eyes"

Mirrors, Justin Timberlake

3 years later

Lloyd Garmadon had to bite his tongue in order to avoid a groan of annoyance from escaping his mouth as he listened for the eighteenth time to Jay's plan for Nya's birthday party. It's not that it bothered him that they were holding a small party for their friend, it's just that Jay had somehow managed to change his opinion over where they should hold the celebration in the span of the five minutes Nya had taken to get ready.

Next to Lloyd, Cole exchanged a look with him, smirking slightly at the blond's distress before deciding to intervene.

"I don't know, Jay, I could cook something and we can celebrate Nya's birthday here in the 'Destiny's Bounty'" the laid-back ninja proposed. Jay gaped at him.

"And have all of us die of food poisoning? No thanks!" Kai cut in, face paling at the mere thought of having to eat Cole's food. Lloyd couldn't help but snicker at their expressions as the three ninjas started a loud debate regarding the restaurant and Cole's cooking, with Zane giving some hilarious insight on the Black Ninja's infamous cuisine.

Deciding to put some order in the room before Nya came back to find them discussing where should they eat, Lloyd loudly cleared his throat to gain their attention.

"I have a better idea," he said before proposing, "How about we let Nya decide? She is the birthday girl, after all. And considering that she has memorized our food preferences, I'm pretty sure she'll pick a good restaurant"

"Lloyd has a good point, there are at least five restaurants that Nya is most likely to choose that fit all of our favorites, two of them being close to the ship and the other three in the heart of the city" Zane declared.

A small silence took reign in the room as Jay, Kai and Cole thought about it, with the former two giving each other a look of agreement.

"Fine" they both said. Lloyd silently thanked the FSM as the room fell once again in silence, the only noise being Zane, Cole and Jay quietly discussing where they should go looking for Sensei Wu once the birthday celebration was over. Lloyd only caught bits of the conversation, something regarding mountain monks in the far northern mountains of Ninjago, when a slight tap on his shoulder gained his attention. Turning around, he found Kai looking at him with slightly worry.

"Are you okay?" the usual hothead asked. Lloyd blinked.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine" Lloyd answer with some slight confusion.

"Is just that… you look a little tired, man" Kai pointed out.

"Oh"

Great, now Kai was looking at him with the famous Smith sibling look: 'Tell-me-or-I'll-shake-it-out-of-you-no-I-won't-drop-it'. Lloyd gave out a small sigh.

"I've been a little busy keeping Ninjago City safe" the blond started to say, "And I may have gotten some small sleeping time" he said the last part a bit slowly, knowing exactly what would be the Red Ninja's reaction.

Indeed, when Kai finally processed what Lloyd had said, he had immediately taken him by the shoulders.

"What?!" Kai hissed, "Have you been eating at least? I know we all agreed that you'll would stay protecting the city while we looked for Wu, but just because we're not here 24/7 anymore doesn't mean that you should neglect basic human needs!"

"Okay, first of all, I said I was getting little sleep, my eating habits have stayed the same. Second, it hasn't been on purpose!" Lloyd felt the need to defend himself, "I've… been… doing some research myself… listening to the news and all" he said a bit lamely.

Kai raised an eyebrow, clearly stating that he knew Lloyd wasn't giving him the whole picture. Lloyd turned away before his best friend could press further, noticing that Zane, Cole and Jay had both stopped their on conversation and were now looking at him with shared concern.

"I'm fine" Lloyd said with a dead-pan stare.

"If you say so…" Jay muttered as Nya came back from below deck, putting an end to the conversation.

"So, are you boys going to tell me where we are going, or it's my decision to make?" Nya wasted no time in asking, as she put her hands on her hips and an amused expression on her features.

"Yours" the four boys responded. She rolled her eyes, but never the less gave out a little chuckle.

"Thought so" Nya said, "Come on, I know a place where we can get good food, fair prices and great service"

"Happy Birthday, Nya!" Skylor nearly tackled the Grey Ninja with a hug, "Hello, boys" she greeted the other Ninja entered the famed Noodle House that now belonged to her.

"Hi, Skylor" replied the five of them, while Kai gave her a shy wave, which Skylor returned before addressing his sister, "Food's on the house today, and I'll make you that cake I know you guys enjoy"

Lloyd, Zane, Kai and Nya immediately started to protest, but the Elemental Master of Amber waved them off, "Oh, please, consider it my birthday gift. Plus, I own the place, what are you going to do?" the red-head challenged as she lead them to a table before disappearing into the kitchen.

"She didn't have to do that" Lloyd said as he opened the menu. Beside him, Jay huffed at him with some slight indignation.

"We got free food!-

"And cake!-"

"-I don't see what's bad about that" the Blue Ninja replied. Nya punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"I'm starting to think that your mouth was replaced with your stomach" she scowled her boyfriend, but everyone could see that she was fighting back a smile.

"Um, Lloyd?" Zane called for the blond's attention from the other side of the table, "Won't Misako join us?" the Nindroid inquired. Cole and Kai frowned, "Yeah, she's not coming?" the latter asked.

Lloyd felt himself go tense at the mention of his mother, but forced his face to not give away his emotions as he debated to whether or not tell his friends the current situation between him and Misako.

"No, mom's not coming" he prayed to his grandfather that his voice came out calm as he intended, "But she did wished for me to give you her regards, Nya"

Cole, Zane and Jay seemed to buy it, but the Smith siblings were giving him not-so-convinced looks. Lloyd decided that the best course of action was to hide his face on the menu and pretend to look over the options despite already knowing what to order, his mind wandering to the past months.

Sensei Wu, his uncle, the last family member Lloyd actually felt that genuinely cared for him, had been officially missing for six months. In time. Which could be anywhere and… well, anytime. Lloyd knew that destiny had not really been all that kind to him, aside from allowing him to continue living, but losing his uncle in the space-time continuum seemed to be another reminder that his life was somehow destined to be an angst-ridden opera.

A terrible written one, to add insult to injury.

He knew the Ninja missed the Sensei too, having been a strange combination of a father figure/weird uncle to all of them. No one had yet to have lost hope that Wu could be found and brought back home. It had been Lloyd's first order as a Master to organize a search party in the common grounds of Ninjago to see if Wu had been around there. At last, February became March, and the Ninja, Maya and Ray Smith, Misako and Skylor all came back empty handed, without even a rumor to follow.

Around the end of March, the four original Ninja had all decided to go on divide themselves on small groups to try once again. Lloyd, as much as he had wanted to go and join them, stayed behind, knowing that someone should remain in the city just in case. Nya, on the other hand, had gone with her parents back to their village, and Lloyd didn't argue against it. Even he knew that his honorary-older sister wanted to go back to her birthplace and spread a little of her new powers. Before they parted ways, they all agreed to re-group once a month to discuss their next move.

The April meeting came and went with the same results as the first quest.

The May meeting, held on Kai's birthday, had some improvement, with news of a John Doe in the outer villages of Ninjago having reached Zane and Cole, but it had not been Wu, the man in question being the lost family member of a wealthy group in New Ninjago.

On June, Lloyd started to notice that crime had taken into observation the Ninja's general absence in Ninjago, and so in the next meeting it was decided that aside from looking for Wu, they would also try to keep the criminals at bay, and so beginning Lloyd brand new headache and primary reason for lack of sleep.

And now here they were, in July, celebrating Nya's sixteenth birthday after sharing another round of disappointment in the morning. The only thing that brightened Lloyd's mood was Kai's announcement that he would stick around in the city for the next month.

(There was a bet already between Zane, Cole, Jay, Nya and Lloyd that he was sticking around for Skylor)

But even so, Lloyd was starting to fear that maybe his uncle would never be found, and his growing anxiety over the lack of good news in the searches was starting to get to him. That, and Misako's behavior in the past month-

"LLOYD!"

Kai's loud voice took the young ninja out of his thoughts, nearly making him jump out from his spot in surprise. Lloyd winced internally when the loud POP! of a light bulb in the street reached the restaurant.

"Yes?" he replied once he managed to calm down. Nya and the rest of the guys were looking at him with a combination of expectation and worry.

"It's your turn to order" Kai said as he looked past Lloyd's line of vision.

"Right, right, um, sorry…" Lloyd mumbled as he turned to his right, expecting to see Skylor giving him a look of amusement.

But it wasn't Skylor who was waiting to take Lloyd's order. It was another guy whom the Green Ninja failed to recognize. The waiter looked around the same age as him and the other male Ninja, with light brown skin and dark chocolate hair. But the trait that caught Lloyd's attention were his hazelnut eyes. They were bright, like a child's when you tell them they can pick any type of candy the wish in the store, and yet they possessed a haunted look on them, like they had seen some horrors they would like to put behind. It was a big contrast to the somewhat patient look on his face, probably already used to customers who took way long in ordering their food…. Kinda like how Lloyd was doing at the moment. Before he could stop himself, Lloyd found himself asking:

"Are you new here?"

The waiter blinked, a look of amusement painfully similar to Skylor's and slight confusion soon taking over his face, while Lloyd mentally slapped himself.

That's not what he intended to order.

AN: I'm writing this with a cold, I'm feeling like a superhero. Also, yes, the chapters will include a lyric from a song as the "Chapter Titles"

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the official chapter one, the destined one to pull the story forward. Leave a review to let me know if you like the chapter!