CHAPTER SIX

VIGIL

A set of measured footsteps paused outside of the closed door, and Lloyd looked up as it creaked open, before glancing back down at the unconscious Morro as he lay on a small cot near the couch. Garmadon's steps crossed the room and he stood next to Lloyd in silence for a few seconds.

"Son? May I sit down?" he spoke up after a bit.

Lloyd gave a small nod, and Garmadon sat next to him on the couch. For a moment, he joined Lloyd in watching the ghost, and then the green ninja spoke up.

"This is my fault," he muttered quietly. "I shouldn't have hit him like that... I shouldn't have reacted like I did when he phased through me..." He was silenced as Garmadon settled a hand on his shoulder, then turned him to look him in the eye.

"Don't blame yourself for what happened, Lloyd. You cannot help the way what has happened to you in the past has affected you. Neither you nor Morro were taking that into consideration... Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to put the two of you against one another so soon," he sighed, and rested his arms on his knees, releasing Lloyd's shoulders.

"I'll say," Lloyd responded, gently reaching out to touch Morro's forehead, but the ghost had become intangible in his unconsciousness and Lloyd's hand simply passed through. The green ninja shivered a little, even now. "I hope he'll be alright... What does poison do to a ghost?"

Garmadon shrugged slightly. "I do not know. I do know that because it is liquid it has burned him as well, but other than that I am not certain. I hope so as well. But please... don't think that this happened because of you. It was a mistake. You couldn't have known that he was carrying poison..."

Lloyd swallowed. "Th-that's the other thing," he admitted. "I didn't know that, I didn't expect that. It doesn't make sense, and I'm... I'm scared he was just lying... what if he really planned to do something? I wish I could trust him, especially since he saved you..."

"Shh," Garmadon pulled him against him, resting his hand on his son's head. "Don't think about that. Either way, we won't know until he wakes. There is no reason to worry over it." He gave a bit of a smile as Lloyd nestled into his side, and then he frowned again, watching Morro closely. The ghost wasn't moving at all. Garmadon knew that he wouldn't need to breathe, but it was still eerie.

Morro himself was in a state of limbo, slipping between complete nothingness and a vague awareness in which he could hear muffled voices around him but do nothing to respond. And then there were the other moments, where he relived parts of his life in the form of dreams. They shifted and changed around him, and Morro began to wonder what they really were like, he wondered if he actually remembered things correctly. But just as soon as he began actively thinking he'd slip off into nothingness again.

He didn't move for days, and neither did Lloyd. Lloyd remained sitting next to them. Sometimes his father, mother, or uncle would join him, and occasionally one of his brothers. But for the most part, Lloyd was alone.

Wu slipped into the room, carrying a pair of tea cups and wearing a set of deepstone gloves—the only way Morro could be handled in his state of intangibility. Wu set one of the cups in front of Lloyd. The green ninja gave him a tired look. "What's this?" he asked quietly.

"This tea is for you, because you seem to be exhausted and have had very little to eat or drink. The other is a healing tea. Zane analyzed the poison, and we discovered what it is, if not the source. It is designed to be a fast killer, a neurotoxin. But it kills by freezing the muscles of the heart. This is why Morro has not yet vanished—because he was dead to begin with, and lacks a heartbeat. The toxin itself still affects him, so I've brewed this tea in hopes that it will bring him back." Wu positioned himself besides Morro's head and tilted it up, carefully parting his lips and pouring the drink down his throat. Morro's form gave a little twitch and then went still once more. Wu gave a sigh, looking toward Lloyd.

"You should get some rest."

Lloyd nodded, though he didn't really plan on following through with it. Wu left after a few moments, leaving the two former enemies alone once more. Lloyd watched Morro, but there seemed to be no change. Finally, he turned and lay on his side. His face was fairly near to the ghost's ear like this.

"I'm sorry, Morro," he whispered. "I didn't mean to do that. I just wanted to stop you, not to hurt you. I know we're not... like... the best of friends... but I'll never forgive myself if you die again because of what I did. Please be alright. I'll... I'll try to get over everything that happened between us."

Then he swallowed a bit, looking over Morro, catching sight of the burns on his side. "I need you to wake up... at least to tell us what happened. Why did you have that poison in your pocket? I really need you to wake up, so you can tell us you weren't planning to use it on anyone here, or anyone at all... I really want to be sure you've changed. I know I saw good in you... even with all the awful things you did."

Lloyd reached his hand out, hovering it just above Morro's arm. "Come back, alright? You might not think you need anyone, but you can be stronger when it's more than just you. I wasn't sure about it, I'm still not... but I want you to come back. I want to really give you another chance. It'll be hard, but I'm willing to try, if you are. We're not really so different. You just didn't have someone to guide you. Now you can. I'm sorry for hurting you..."

His voice trailed off after a bit, and his eyes slipped closed. It had been three days since Morro's injury, and Lloyd could barely even keep his eyes open. He hadn't slept since then.

At about midnight, Garmadon came back into the room to check on him. He gave a relieved sigh when he saw Lloyd soundly asleep, one hand still resting on the edge of the cot, with a half-finished cup of tea on the floor next to the couch. He smiled, and lay a blanket over his son's sleeping form. "I love you," he whispered, kissing the top of Lloyd's head. And then he left the room.

Lloyd remained in the room for most of the time, but after that, he'd been persuaded to leave for a few hours each day while Wu sat with Morro instead. He usually spent those hours training with the other ninja, and just slept at night next to Morro. It had been two more days, and Wu had continued with the tea, but there still seemed to be no change in Morro. Lloyd was a bit worried, but he managed to push the worry to the back of his mind while with his friends.

"Hey, so... why are you so worried about him anyway?" Kai spoke up after a bit. "I mean... yeah, I know you're not feeling good about how you broke the phial, but why are you sitting there next to him all the time? Weren't you guys just fighting?"

Lloyd put down the katana he was practicing with. "Yeah. We were... but I just want him to know I'm not angry with him anymore. Maybe if I was there when he woke up... and could apologize... I want to let him know I never meant to actually hurt him."

Kai frowned. "I guess... are you sure you want to trust him though? I mean, the reason he really got hurt was because he lost his cool and was carrying poison..."

"Yeah... I'm gonna ask him about that," Lloyd agreed. "I want to trust him. He saved my father." He shrugged. "And I think he wouldn't lie. He'd know I'd be able to tell. I've been in his head, you know?"

Kai sighed and shook his head. "Yeah, I guess. Just be careful, alright?"

Lloyd nodded. "Oh, I will," he agreed. "But Morro deserves a chance too. I mean, look at who I was when you first met me? And I turned out to be the green ninja."

"That is true, you were a knucklehead," Kai snorted, ruffling Lloyd's hair, which earned a "hey!" from the younger ninja. After that, the subject was dropped, and they continued training.

-o-o-o-

It seemed to be an eternity, and Morro's condition barely changed at all. However, he slowly seemed to be recovering. Nearly a week after he'd first been injured, he showed signs of movement, his eyelids flickering, his fingers moving just slightly. But after that his recovery seemed to almost stagnate. Lloyd found himself worrying. What if Morro never did recover?

It was one morning just after dawn when he finally felt something cool brush against his arm. Lloyd blinked, still sleepy, having slept deeply that night and not especially fond of early mornings. He gasped a bit and sat up quickly as he saw Morro's hand fall back to the side of his cot. The ghost had turned his head a bit and was looking at him, seeming to be drowsy. Then his lips moved, but almost no sound came out at all.

Lloyd frowned, fixing his gaze upon him. "Wh-what, Morro?" he asked.

"Do... do you hate me?" came the reply, a little louder but still barely audible.

Lloyd looked away, then back quickly. "No... no I don't... I don't hate anyone... yeah, I don't like some of the things you did, but that's in the past and I shouldn't have let the past get to me like that... I shouldn't have hurt you..."

Much to his surprise, Morro gave a faint chuckle at that. "W-well... a-at least... we're even now," he whispered in response, the slightest of smiles on his semi-transparent face. "I almost killed you... you... almost killed me..."then he paused before continuing, "Of course... I-I guess almost destroying... a realm is worse."

Lloyd grinned. "Yeah, but like I said, it's the past. If you'll forgive me for hurting you... I can try even harder not to be angry at you anymore."

Morro nodded slightly. "Yeah... I-I forgive you... you don't even need to apologize, I deserved it..." He frowned a little bit, glancing down toward his side, which still ached horribly from the spilled poison. He was such an idiot, he should have just told them about it from the beginning.

Lloyd chose this moment to ask. "So... what... what was it for?" His voice seemed hesitant , tentative. Morro quickly glanced up at him.

"It... it belonged to the one that killed the boy in the alley... I wanted to... see if I could figure out what it was, who it belonged to... so I could bring him to justice..." he told the truth, seeing no reason to lie now—after all, his hiding things had nearly gotten him killed... again.

"Oh," Lloyd heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! I was... I've spent all this time afraid you might have been..."

Morro's eyes widened, and Lloyd clearly didn't need to finish before the ghost shook his head. "N-no! Not at all... I wouldn't... I wouldn't do that anymore... I feel so bad that I got you so upset..."

Lloyd seemed so relieved that he leaned forward and gave Morro a hug around his shoulders. The ghost was shocked, but accepted it, looking at Lloyd with a puzzled expression as the green ninja drew back. "What... wh-what was..."

"I'm so glad..." was all Lloyd responded. "How... how do you feel anyway?"

Morro glanced around briefly. "I feel dead," he muttered, then gave a small snort. "No, really... I just feel weird. My side hurts a little, but not too much. And I'm kind of feeling pretty weak... like I have no energy left."

Lloyd nodded. "But... you're okay. I'm going to go get Sensei. Tell him you're up... he'll want to see you too. I'll be back soon!" He turned and left, looking for Wu. After a few minutes, he went up on deck. "Hey, have you guys seen Sensei Wu? Morro's up."

They shook their heads. "Nope," Jay replied, "Haven't seen him all morning."

Lloyd frowned, and it was just a moment before Zane confirmed, "He isn't anywhere on the ship."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

To Be Continued...

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REVIEW RESPONSES

FirstFandomFangirl - He wouldn't have listened anyway lol.

Zena1421 - Thankee!

Purplecatlover93 - Yes, in fact, it is.