Lloyd first met the Ninja after a failed assignment when he was just thirteen years old. So, three years after that fateful Friday. Mr. Ignoble had assigned the class to work for various criminals around Ninjago for "practical experience". Lloyd had been forced to work with some cultists and while stealing from a convenience store, the police had arrived. Lloyd, wanting to avoid violence, offered himself up as a distraction while the rest of his group escaped. It had worked – no one had got hurt. Except Lloyd, who got a few scrapes and bruises from when the police had tackled him to the ground.

Did Lloyd get a pat on the back for his selfless actions? For sparing both sides of injury? For lowkey preserving the group to do more bad on another day?

Nope. Darkley's had a very strict policy on matters regarding getting caught. Rot there. Either your parents bail you out or you break out by yourself. No one is coming for you.

As Lloyd was only thirteen, the police had called his guardians as soon as they arrived at the station. Of course, Lord Garmadon wasn't going to suddenly show up and bail Lloyd out. The thought alone was ridiculous. And surprise, surprise, no one could locate Lloyd's absentee mother.

So who had been called?

Uncle Wu.

Since Uncle Wu wasn't his official custodian, Lloyd would eventually have to go back to his actual custodians – the school. BUT. No one said he had to go back immediately. So, Lloyd was offered a chance to stay the night on the Bounty and after much debate, Lloyd (reluctantly!) agreed. Which was how Lloyd got to meet his uncle's colorful entourage of idiots.

The Ninja had been waiting outside the police station for them. Nya wasn't there, since she wasn't a ninja yet and at the time, she was probably making sure the Bounty didn't crash into a cliff or something. The four Ninja, on the other hand, had made it a priority to come along. They just had to see Garmadon's spawn for themselves.

It had royally sucked, meeting them. A lot of teasing and mocking. Lloyd had immediately taken a disliking towards them, declaring them his archenemies on the spot. That had just earnt more mocking laughter.

At least Nya was nice. Once they were on the Bounty, she had given him warm smiles, as well as milk and cookies. Maybe Lloyd was bold enough to say he even found her to be likeable.

That didn't stop Lloyd from being a brat though and causing chaos on their ship. At the first chance he got, Lloyd rigged up as many traps (pranks) as he could think of, before escaping to Darkley's by himself (because nothing would be more humiliating than having real life good guys bring him back to the school. Gene would have a field day.)

If Lloyd had had his way, he wouldn't have crossed paths with the Ninja ever again. Or at least, not for a few more years.

This was not what happened.

A few weeks after meeting Uncle Wu and his students, the Ninja had been invited to a tournament of elements. Lloyd only found out about it at Uncle Wu's memorial service. It wasn't even a funeral: They had no body to bury. Just the service and a commemorative statue outside Borg Tower, reminding everyone of what Uncle Wu had done for the city.

Lloyd remembered hearing it on the radio: the approaching Anacondrai warriors, coming to take over Ninjago. It had been a strange moment. No one at Darkley's had known who to cheer for. They had all kind of hoped that "Master Chen" would lose, but no one had dared voice it. No one had dared cheer for the heroes. It was the first time in a long time that Lloyd found himself questioning what he was learning at school.

Listening to the reports flying in, Lloyd had actually felt compelled to go and help. He hadn't. He hadn't dared leave the school to be a good guy. He'd instantly be expelled. He simply couldn't risk it, not without knowing more about inter-realm travel. But that feeling, the desire to help, had still emerged. And now, sitting in city hall during a memorial service dedicated to his uncle's sacrifice, Lloyd really wished he hadn't ignored it.

He doubted he would have made a difference if he had been there, but he also knew he hadn't done all he could do to help. And maybe his help would have made the difference. Now his uncle, whom he had barely known, was dead and gone. Even if Lloyd had been of no help… At the very least, Lloyd could have apologized to his uncle. He could have apologized for being a brat when his uncle - who'd had no reason to help - had come to bail him out. Had invited him into his home. Had offered him food and a place to sleep for the night. Uncle Wu had actually been kind to him. And what had Lloyd done to repay that?

Nothing.

Kai was surprisingly the only one that noticed Lloyd at the memorial service. Lloyd had been hoping to turn up and then slip out without ever being seen. But somewhere in one of the long speeches, Kai had spotted him and as soon as the speeches were over, as soon as Lloyd had made to leave, the master of fire had come running after him.

Perhaps it was Lloyd's fault that of all the Ninja, Kai had recognized him. Before leaving the ship, Lloyd had laid the most traps (pranks) for Kai, since the master of fire tended to react the most. (Lloyd had quickly noticed how easy it was to get under the red ninja's skin). Perhaps if Lloyd had not been quite so enthusiastic, Kai would have forgotten his face, instead of, you know, instantly recognizing it as something to kill on sight.

Kai grabbed him not too gently and dragged Lloyd into a quieter corner of city hall, where they wouldn't be disturbed by onlookers. He all but threw Lloyd against the wall. Up until then, Lloyd had actually not recognized Kai, dressed all in black and without a hint of red in sight. So, he was very stunned and shocked that some guy had suddenly attacked him in a crowd. He did nothing but stare for a moment.

"What are you doing here?!" Kai demanded. Recognizing the voice, Lloyd finally realized it was "just" Kai and his own fuse lit up. He rubbed his back, willing the pain away.

"What do you think? I'm here to say bye to Uncle Wu," Lloyd snapped. "I'm his nephew. It's my right."

"You don't belong here. You shouldn't have come."

Lloyd grit his teeth together. He shouldn't have come? If he had just gone when he felt he should have, they might not even be here. Lloyd wanted to argue back but found he didn't really have anything to say. Truthfully, he already knew he shouldn't be there – it was why he had been hoping to slip out unnoticed.

"You don't even care about him!" Kai continued, "The last thing you did when you saw him, was break his teapot and feed his collection of teas to pigeons. And that's after he got you out of the police station!"

Yeah, well, in hindsight… No, that was still pretty funny.

"So what are you doing here? Are you here to just- just ruin everything? You gonna, I dunno, deface the statue? Put poison in our food and drink? Set off some explosives?! What?! Why are you here?!"

"I'm not– I'm not here for any of that! I'm not doing any of that! I'm just here to say bye! What don't you get about that! Why would you even think- I would never-" Lloyd argued, becoming more uncertain as he spoke. "I just… I… I need to…"

"There's no way you came here, just to pay respects! You don't even know what respect means! You're the son of Garmadon, what do you know about anything good?!" Kai snapped at him.

And at that, Lloyd did something he had never intended to do again. It was just too much for a thirteen-year-old: his uncle dying, hearing about how great his uncle was, knowing that he could have maybe done something, knowing he had no right to be there, getting told he shouldn't be there. Lloyd couldn't handle it.

He felt his eyes sting. He tried to suppress the feeling, but that just made it worse. His vision blurred. Then the first tear rolled down his cheek. He angrily rubbed it away and looked at the floor, like that would help. More tears came and before he could stop it, a steady trickle of tears flowed. It was humiliating. He hadn't cried in years. At least, not without a good reason (like stubbing his toe on a door). He was expecting Kai to mock him now, since that was what people did to crybabies. But Kai didn't. He just looked bewildered, like he wasn't expecting this to happen at all.

"Uh… I, uh…" Kai managed to sputter out, and for some reason, that made Lloyd completely lose his self-control and the steady trickle turned into an angry rapid of tears that wouldn't stop. He hadn't allowed himself to cry in such a long time and there was a lot to cry about. He buried his face in his hands, trying to hide it, to force it to stop; Maybe if he just rubbed his eyes hard enough, but the tears kept coming…

"It's, uh… it's ok. You don't have to leave?" Kai half-asked, awkwardly patting Lloyd's shoulder. Lloyd knocked the hand away. The touch brought him back to reality. He was crying his eyes out in front of a ninja. This was unacceptable! Although he couldn't stop crying, he did regain enough self-control to snap at Kai.

"Just shut up. I know I'm not wanted. I know it's my fault! If I had just…! Just, let me go! I don't belong here, I get it," Lloyd snarled, trying desperately to dry his eyes and move passed Kai. Kai blocked his way and said something very unexpected: "It's not your fault."

It made Lloyd freeze.

"What… did you say?"

Kai looked uncertain, like he wasn't convinced himself, but he said it again anyway.

"It's not your fault."

Lloyd stared at Kai, unable to understand the words.

"But it is. If I had…" Lloyd stuttered out, but Kai interrupted.

"Sensei… Your uncle. He sacrificed himself. You being there wouldn't have made a difference."

There was a moment's pause, only filled by Lloyd's sniffles. The two were staring at each other, like it was the first time they had even seen each other. Then Lloyd looked away and mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?" Kai asked.

"… should… me…" Lloyd mumbled again.

"Try again, buddy," Kai said. Lloyd didn't like being called buddy, but he repeated it anyway.

"It should have been me," Lloyd stated clearly, looking up, face scrunched up in anger. Kai's eyes widened in surprise, but when he failed to respond, Lloyd continued, "Uncle Wu's done so much good for Ninjago. You heard what the commissioner said! What everyone said! And he- he brought you and the other Ninja together. He trained you. He…" Lloyd paused. "And me? I've just… I haven't done anything. It should have been me. At least I would have been useful for once…"

It was silent for a few more moments. Lloyd had gone back to looking at his shoes. The tears had slowed down to a trickle again. That was more manageable. But this was just… awkward and thoroughly uncomfortable. Lloyd didn't like being this open, but Kai wasn't actually making fun of him for crying, so maybe… maybe it wasn't sooo bad…

Kai placed a hand on Lloyd's shoulder and Lloyd didn't slap it away.

"You're wrong, Lloyd," Kai said. "You're, what… ten years old?"

"Thirteen," Lloyd corrected, still not looking up. Kai tried to suppress his surprise, but he was a terrible liar. He cleared his throat.

"Do you know why we fight, Lloyd?" Kai asked, not questioning how Lloyd could possibly be so small at thirteen. When Lloyd shook his head, Kai answered: "We fight for people like you. So that you don't have to. And, you know. What's the point of us if we can't protect the little guys that are gonna take over after us?"

"After us? You're a teenager too," Lloyd argued, looking up at Kai. Kai smirked.

"Yeah, but I'm a grown-up teenager," he answered. "My point is, it would be so stupid of you to sacrifice yourself for us, because we're fighting for you. It just doesn't work."

Lloyd was back to looking at the floor again.

"Yeah, but I'm Lord Garmadon's son, remember? Why would anyone fight for me?"

Kai once again hesitated. Then he actually had the audacity to ruffle Lloyd's hair.

"Maybe you're not as bad as we think you are. Maybe you're not as bad as you think you are." Please. I know how bad I am. That's my problem, Lloyd thought, but didn't say. "I'm sorry I… thought you were gonna try and pull something. You're welcome to stay. I'm sure sensei would have wanted you to."

Lloyd finally pulled away from Kai.

"Thanks, but I know when I'm not wanted," Lloyd said, moving back towards the exit. "See you around, ninja," he added, then hurriedly left, before Kai could stop him again. He didn't look back, but as he left, he managed to hear Kai mutter "Man, I think I blew it," to someone. Lloyd briefly wondered what Kai could have possibly messed up, especially in such a short time, but he then dismissed it. It wasn't his business.

Thanks for the reviews. Glad you're enjoying it. :)

Also, sorry that I keep slipping between American and British spelling. I'm trying to stick to American vocab and grammar for this, but old habits die hard.