I don't know

why

this was so hard to write

screw you writer's block

ninjachief: This is it! Sorry it took so long. I got a similar request and wanted to try to incorporate them. It was... harder than it looked.

TheAmberShadow: Yay :D

Angel Star Ninja: Um... a bit too late for that. Eheheheh...

Samantha: Glad you like it :D

Windy: Thank you! Sorry I haven't been emailing, my memory definitely isn't improving and might be getting worse. I forget. ^ ^' And I'm praying for you.

Memories

"I give up!" Gin snapped, dropping her hands to her sides with a groan as the blocks she was supposed to be lifting clattered to the ground. "This is pointless! Why do I need to be able to lift blocks with my mind?! There's no point!"

"There is always a reason to hone your abilities." Sensei Garmadon replied quietly on the other side of the dojo, unfazed by her outburst. "Lifting blocks is not important, you are correct. This is just a start. When I first challenged Lloyd to do this, I was having him lift ten-ton boulders."

"Could he do it?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'm not Lloyd. He's a lot stronger than I am."

"Hence the half-pound wooden blocks." Gin sighed, reaching out and trying to lift the blocks again. On the other side of the room, Garmadon closed his eyes again, still except for his rising and falling chest as he meditated. The brown haired girl strained to lift the blocks for a moment longer before sighing and letting go again.

"Dad?"

"Yes?" Garmadon opened his eyes, meeting hers from across the room.

"I had… a kinda weird dream last night." Gin stared at the floor, twisting a strand of her hair between her fingers.

"Oh?"

"Well… it went like this: there was a woman who had powers like I do. And, there was some bad guy trying to take them. So she went to a friend and transferred her powers into her friend's daughter. Then the friend banished the daughter to the Cursed Realm. But, before she did, she said something. 'Anata wa watashi no gin no kibōdesu.'"

"That translates to 'you are my silver hope'." Garmadon cut in.

"Oh. Anyway, I think it was something real. Something that happened to me. 'Cause that's my name, Gin Nozomi, Silver Hope. And, I mean… it makes sense. I grew up in the Cursed Realm, I never knew where I came from. If that's real…" Garmadon was silent for a few moments.

"Then what?"

"I don't know. I just… it would be so great to know where I came from." Her adopted father crossed the room towards her, sitting down next to her and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"We may never know for certain where you came from."

"Probably not." Gin shook her head. "But that dream… it just seemed so real."

"Maybe it was." Garmadon agreed. "And until we have reason to believe otherwise, we might as well believe it."

"Makes sense."

"And as for your training…" her adopted father took her arm, lifting it in the direction of the blocks. "I'll tell you what I told Lloyd: the key is balance."

"…I'm sitting on the floor."

"Not that kind of balance. Focus your thoughts. Center your mind. Balance yourself. Try again."

"Nya says I shouldn't try too hard."

"She is right. Focus, but relax. A rigid mind will get you nowhere."

"'Rigid'?"

"Just lift the blocks."

"Okay." Closing her eyes, Gin let out a breath before focusing on the blocks a few feet away. After a moment, her father clapped his hands together.

"You're doing it! Look!" the brunette opened her eyes to see the clocks floating in midair. She gasped, and they clattered to the ground.

"Woo!" she exclaimed, pumping her fists in the air. "I did it!"

"Yes you did." Garmadon replied with a smile. "Come on, let's go outside so we can do some target practice."

Memories

"Hyah!" Gin flung a ball of silver power at the target on the Monastery's back lawn… and missed by four or five feet. "Uh… what happened?"

"Your new powers are going to take some getting used to." Her father explained. "They are, though mostly the same, much higher energy than your old powers. That means they will move faster and hit harder, which means you'll have to adjust your aim."

"Okay." the brunette charged another orb, and, carefully this time, threw it at the target twenty feet away. It nicked the edge, still not hitting it head on. "Better than last time, at least." She started to charge another ball, but sighed and let it vanish.

"What is it?" Garmadon asked.

"I just… wonder what my parents were like." She said after a moment. "I mean, my birth parents. You and Mom are the best parents I could ever ask for, but… you can't blame me for being curious, can you?"

"I can't, and I don't." her father shook his head. "Perhaps someday we will know everything about your past. Perhaps not. For now, we can only hope."

"Yeah." Gin charged another ball, then threw it. Miss. "Hey Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks for helping me with my training."

"Of course." Garmadon smiled. "It is the sort of thing a father should do for his daughter, is it not?"

"I mean… I'm a ninja. So it's hard to say." Gin shrugged. "But, yeah, something like that. Still, thanks."

"You're welcome." Her adopted father wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Try one more time, okay?" Gin nodded, turning back to the target and winding up again. Before she shot, Garmadon stopped her, adjusting her aim to the right. Then she threw it. A perfect shot. She turned to her father, raising an eyebrow. He shrugged. "I had quite the aim when I was younger."

"I see. I'm gonna go show Lloyd." Turning, Gin ran back towards the Monastery. Garmadon smiled after her proudly. He was so proud of his children. Both of them.

Again, I have no idea why this was so hard to write compared to, like, angst/fluff. I guess I'm just not used to it.

Well, hope you enjoyed this, despite it being kind of... idk. Off.

~FFF