ForeverFictional: Can't wait for those books!

dragonsatdawn: Well, we'll see if you still think so by the end of this. XP Hopefully!
It's just an evil spirit from the forest, that's all the explanation I've got, unfortunately. It's the Cursed Forest, lots of evil beings in there. Physical and not.
Um. Well, uh, maybe that'll happen? Not while she's a kid though, good grief.
Thanks for the review!

Thalassa: Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoy it.

JustRandom: You're welcome! Again though, I doubt you're doing anything wrong with your writing, it's all down to individual readers' tastes. You can try to please as many readers as possible, but you don't have to. Depends on what your goals are.
Eh heh. To be fair, I'm not sure if this even lines up with "Father Always Liked You Best," this is taking place after the Serpentine Wars but Wu and Garmadon still feel like they're on pretty good terms. Even I don't know what the deal is. XP
Oh yikes. Yeah, you get that mind critter! Beat it up. Lilly will thank you.
Man, that hug really messed you up, huh? Aw. Sorry about that!
Heh, I guess? I'll admit I didn't really picture it as that cheerful or colorful! Just like, your normal little village. And admittedly I wasn't even picturing Jamanukai accurately, you just now reminded me of what it looks like in the show. Oops.
Nahhhhh, seriously, go ahead! There's zero harm in asking, worst-case scenario I'll just say no. But who knows, it might be fun, and then we'll both be happy!
Yeah, June. I think it's forever. It's . . . complicated. Life stuff. But right now I'd really rather not dwell on it, I just wanna write like crazy and try to be happy. ^_^''

"Focus, Lilly," said Wu. "Imagine your mind is an empty prairie."

Lilly shifted her weight, fighting back a sigh. You would think she'd be good at Wu's guided meditation by now, but today her mind felt more like a prairie full of crazed jackrabbits. She just couldn't focus. The incense stung in her nostrils, the cross-legged meditative posture felt all wrong, and her muscles ached with the urge to get up and run around in circles. The only good part was that the dark voice wasn't making an appearance, at least. That was better than some days.

"Focus," said Wu again, with a distinct stifled sigh in his voice. "Relax your shoulders, sit up straight. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in—"

"Hachoo!" The incense finally took its toll.

Wu couldn't quite restrain a sigh this time.

"Sorry," sniffed Lilly, rubbing her nose.

"It's all right," said Wu, although he still sounded tired. Lilly flinched, prickling with guilt. Wu and his brother had big important things to worry about; world-saving things. She felt bad that they took time out of their schedules to help her deal with the mind-creature, even if they assured her that this was just as important as any of their other jobs.

"Give it a rest, brother," said Garmadon from across the courtyard. He'd been warming up for training while Wu and Lilly meditated, and now he was leaned back against some of the equipment looking judgy. "Can't you see she's restless? Let her train a little, blow off some steam, then you can do your daydreaming."

Wu's lips pursed slightly at the jab to meditation, but he didn't take the bait.

"All right," he said, standing up. "We can do something more active. Lilly, choose a staff and we can do some stretches."

Lilly managed not to groan, but couldn't quite keep her head from hanging as she went to the equipment box. Staff stretches were her least favorite; they were slow and tightly-controlled, the exact opposite of what she wanted to do today.

"Come on Garmadon, this was your idea," said Wu from behind her. "You too."

Garmadon made an irritated noise. He was apparently not in the mood for staff stretches himself.

"Are you allergic to real action all of a sudden?" he said. "Or are you getting old and tired already?"

"You're older than me." Wu's voice was clipped. Lilly peeked over her shoulder anxiously. Now that she knew Garmadon's own dark secret, she was less amused by the brothers' bickering. She was no longer sure how much of it was just siblings teasing and how much was a sublimation of a deeper, grimmer conflict they didn't want to face.

She was just in time to see Garmadon reach over, whisk Wu's own staff out of his hands, and skitter back a few steps, holding the staff out of reach.

"Really?" Wu sounded well and truly done by now. "Grow up, Garmadon. Give that back."

Garmadon tilted his head as if considering it, then abruptly spun around and tossed the staff in Lilly's direction. She yelped, startled, but managed to catch it.

"Garmadon!" Wu's voice suddenly had that whipcrack quality again. He seemed to realize how harsh he sounded, because he lowered it to a milder but still sharp tone. "You're going to drag the child into this?"

For a second Garmadon tensed, and Lilly right along with him. After a second, though, he slumped, whipped.

"All right, I'm sorry," he muttered. "It's fine Lilly, don't worry. Just give it back."

Lilly clutched the staff, hesitating. She didn't know who she should sympathize with—Wu who was righteous but also self-righteous and boring, or Garmadon who was maybe only trying to have fun but was also maybe acting out of malice. After a second she took a wild chance and tossed the staff to Garmadon instead. He looked startled himself, but his reflexes were honed enough that he caught it automatically.

"Lilly!" said Wu, and for a second Lilly held her breath, terrified that she'd just pushed the brothers over the edge into full-out war. Garmadon also looked a little anxious, and was already moving to offer the staff back to Wu, to indicate he wasn't looking for any more escalation. After a tense second, though, Wu blew out an exhausted breath and laughed.

"Really? Both of you?" He gave Garmadon a resigned smirk. "Seems fair."

Garmadon's eyes brightened momentarily with relief, but just as quickly it morphed into mischief.

"Who said anything about fair?" he said. Wu weighed his options one last time, but finally laughed again.

"Well, if it's keep-away you want—!"

Garmadon backed away, keeping the staff out of reach as Wu swiped for it. They sparred lightly in a circle, neither trying particularly hard. It was clear this was something they'd both grown up doing.

"Give it to me, give it!" called Lilly, relieved that the situation had defused. Garmadon hesitated just long enough for Wu to tackle him; the staff clattered off across the flagstones as he stumbled. Lilly swooped upon it and scurried off, giggling.

"Lilly!" Wu groaned. "Not again. Come on, give it back."

Lilly weighed her options, then shook her head, grinning and clutching the staff closer. Normally she wasn't this rebellious, but if this was what it took to get out of staff stretches and meditation today—

"She's going to fight you for it," observed Garmadon. After a beat he noticed Wu scowling at him, and spread his hands elaborately. "What? Don't look at me, it's out of my hands now. Literally."

"When I get that staff back I'm tempted to use it on you," said Wu under his breath. Garmadon laughed.

Sighing, Wu stepped forward and sized Lilly up.

"So, this is how you want to train today, Lilly?"

She nodded, dropping into a defense stance.

"Well, so be it." Wu swung into a matching attack stance. "Let's see how you do, then. Your task is to keep the staff out of my hands at all costs. Begin!"

Lilly gasped as he attacked, leading with the opposite side than she'd expected. She threw herself aside by the slimmest of margins, squeaking delightedly when she realized she'd made it. Then she was already leaping away from Wu's next strike.

"Watch your footwork, Lilly." Wu apparently couldn't even horse around without lecturing. "Watch my eyes, not my feet!"

"Stop going easy on me!" retorted Lilly, ducking wildly.

"He's not going easy on you!" Garmadon called from his perch on some training equipment. Wu rolled his eyes, but smiled a little when Lilly laughed. He was using one-tenth of full force, and they all knew it. Seeing Lilly's enthusiasm, though, he eased it gradually up to one-ninth.

"You really are full of beans today, aren't you?" he laughed breathlessly, faking left and then trying to grab from the right. Lilly saw an opening under his arm and dove, earning a startled "Oh! Good work!"

Lilly whooped and nearly rammed into a wall in her excitement. At the last second she skidded and turned to ricochet in the other direction.

"Ah!" Wu blocked her path. She feinted another way and he blocked that as well. Too late she realized she had cornered herself; she looked around frantically and then up at Wu with a despairing giggle.

"All right little one, game's over—" began Wu, already stepping forward to retrieve his staff. Lilly didn't think twice—honestly she didn't even think once—by some kind of instinct her hand came up and swiped.

There was a dull, deafening grumble, and the ground lurched. A visible ripple heaved up around Lilly's feet and swept outwards around the courtyard. Wu went sprawling. Twenty feet away Garmadon barely caught himself. Flagstones bounced and clinked against each other wildly, some coming to rest out of place.

Then suddenly everything was still again. Lilly stood petrified in the corner, one hand still raised, her eyes wide.

"Lilly." Wu was already up on his elbows. "What was that?!"

Lilly started to tremble, the staff dropping forgotten from her hands. She had never done this before, but she knew what it was. She had inherited her father's elemental power of Earth.

And that meant the brothers would figure out who her father was.

"You moved the earth." Wu was slowly picking himself up, his voice hushed. "You're an Elemental Master."

"No!" Lilly made a frantic last-ditch effort at denial. "No, no, I didn't do anything, I—" She looked between the brothers' faces and realized the jig was truly up.

"Please don't hurt him," she choked, and began to cry.

"Lilly, wait." Wu's voice was gentle. He knelt to be at her eye level and took her shoulders. "Shhhh. Lilly, look at me. Nobody's going to get hurt. I promise. We just need to understand. Your father was the Master of Earth?"

Lilly kept her head down, still trembling as she tried to pull herself together. Wu cast a dismayed glance back to his brother, who had come to stand at his shoulder.

"She has to know," said Garmadon quietly.

"I know." Wu mouthed Father help me skywards and turned back to Lilly with a sigh, trying to choose his next words. She preempted him, hoping she could at least change the subject.

"I'm sorry I lied," she rasped, swiping at her eyes. "About—about being an orphan."

"Oh, we knew you were lying," said Wu. "We just . . . didn't imagine that this was the reason."

"You knew all along?" Lilly blinked, startled. "How?"

Wu and Garmadon exchanged a look. If Lilly had been in a stabler frame of mind she'd have recognized it as sheepish.

"Takes one to know one," mumbled Garmadon.

"We . . . did our own fair share, as children," admitted Wu. "So we knew you must have had some reason, and we didn't want to pry. But Lilly. What was your reason?"

The question was gentle, but Lilly cringed.

"Your father lives in hiding, doesn't he," said Wu quietly.

Lilly drew into herself a little, setting her teeth. If they tried to pry the location out of her, she was still pretty sure she wouldn't give it. Wu didn't ask, though. Instead, he said, "Did you ever think about why?"

"He told me why," said Lilly, sniffling. "Because if anyone found him they'd hurt him."

"Did he ever tell you why he thought they would hurt him?"

"Because . . . " Lilly couldn't get the words out. Saying "Because you're evil" just seemed incredibly ridiculous, standing here before these two young men who had been nothing but kind to her.

"He didn't tell you about his past, did he." It wasn't really a question. Wu groaned, sitting back. "Sit down, Lilly."

Lilly obeyed without question. She knew this was going to be awful. Wu never looked this helpless, except maybe when Garmadon was having an episode. Garmadon sat down beside him, looking equally unhappy. Anything that could unsettle these two confident, stable grown-ups so much must be terrible.

"I won't lie to you, Lilly," said Wu at last. "There are a lot of people out there who are very angry with your father. And yes, maybe they'd even hurt him." He chewed his lip, weighing how to begin. "Did anyone ever tell you about the Serpentine Wars?"

"N-not really," said Lilly. "I heard some people talk about them. They sounded scared."

"It was a terrible war, Lilly," said Wu. "Only five years ago. Garmadon and I, many other Elemental Masters, simple farmers and craftsmen—against ruthless, nearly undefeatable Serpentine. We almost lost. So many people died. Innocent villages looted and burned. Even Jamanukai."

"The burned buildings," said Lilly hoarsely. She remembered the charred husks at the edge of town, relics nobody had yet rebuilt.

"Yes," said Wu. "We barely stopped the Serpentine from destroying the entire village. The Elemental Alliance fought hard, but the snakes were strong. And we were not at full power either. A man called Chen, a . . . "

"A former Sensei of mine," said Garmadon steadily. Wu ducked his head in concession.

"He sided with the Serpentine. And he wormed his way into our side as well; he turned the Elemental Masters against each other. Some he brought over to the Serpentine's side." Wu sucked in his breath. "Your father was one of them."

Lilly stared down at the freshly-cracked flagstones at her feet.

"My father was a . . . " She fumbled for the word.

"Traitor," said Wu.

The world seemed oversaturated, suddenly. Lilly's breath seemed loud in her ears. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Out.

"Would they hate me if they knew?" she whispered. "Would they kill me?"

"I . . . " Wu searched helplessly with his eyes. "I don't know, Lilly. You are not your father. You only carry his element. None of what happened was your fault. But . . . you have to understand. Jamanukai village suffered immensely under a Serpentine attack your father participated in."

"Mr. Tang." Breathe in. Breathe out. "Ms. Mila. Their baby."

Silence.

She realized she couldn't breathe anymore. Her lungs were spasming out of rhythm; her skin burned.

"Lilly!" Wu looked on in alarm as his young pupil collapsed in on herself, shaking and hyperventilating. "Lilly, look at me! Breathe!"

At some point Lilly's gasps transitioned into sobs and she realized she was in Wu's arms, her face pressed into his shoulder and her fingers clenched around fistfuls of his gi. She held tighter, willing time to reverse and take her back to before she knew.

"It's all right, little one! It's going to be all right!" Wu sounded like he was dangerously close to falling apart himself. "Shhhh. Everything will be all right. You are not your father, Lilly. You're a sweet little girl who would never hurt anyone, you are not your father. You're safe. You'll be fine. We'll help you keep it a secret, everything will be all right."

Lilly burrowed in harder, inconsolable. Wu shuddered as Garmadon took pity and rested a hand on his shoulder, consoling him in turn.

"I tried—" he said helplessly.

"She's nine years old, Wu. There's no way she was going to take it well."

"But I couldn't just—"

"There was no way to avoid it either," said Garmadon. He cast a grim eye over Lilly's shivering form. "Let's just be glad we're the only ones who know."

They kept it between them. Wu insisted on training to help Lilly develop her Earth powers. She hated the thought of it, but couldn't argue with Wu's logic: if she didn't improve her ability to control Earth voluntarily, there was more risk that she'd invoke her powers accidentally and be discovered. The lessons came to her quickly and easily, despite how much she hated seeing her element at work. With every maneuver Wu taught her, she wondered if this same technique had ever been used to kill innocents.

She lived in constant fear of being discovered. The basketmakers were worried about her sudden change in mood, her evasiveness, but she didn't tell them anything. She couldn't. She could barely look at them without thinking of the baby her own father might have killed. How did she dare to stay here and continue accepting their oblivious kindness?

If they knew, they would kill you, whispered a voice in the back of her head. She didn't know anymore if it was the dark creature's or her own. She had almost come to own her unwanted guest; to accept it as part of herself. She still doggedly resisted the violent suggestions it gave her, but she no longer thought of it with horror or fear. In a grim, vaguely hysterical way, she thought it kind of made sense. Her father had been an evil man. It was only fitting that his daughter would become a vessel for evil.

Sometimes she would spot her reflection in the river or in a shiny piece of metal and suddenly be filled with loathing. Maybe she was melodramatic, but she was nine years old and had to face the knowledge that her father, who had raised her, whom she had loved, whom she had rushed out to defend, was abominable. A man rightfully hated by everyone who knew him. Wu's constant reassurance that she was not her father didn't particularly stick.

If they knew, they would kill you.

The village children also noticed that her standoffish behavior was even more pronounced now. She developed a reputation for being stuck-up. There followed the standard battery of ostracism, jeering, threats. No child wanted anything to do with her anymore, unless it was to beat her up. She accepted that. Her illusion of a beautiful world had been thoroughly shattered; she knew now that kindness only lasted until people knew you too well. The warmth and friendliness were for people of your own kind, people without secrets too dark for you.

If they knew, they would kill you.

Even the village tradesmen and farmers began to pick up on the change. The potter called her over one day.

"Lilly!" she said, waving. "I haven't seen you in forever. Why don't you come around anymore? Sit down and I'll teach you how to make a vase with handles."

Lilly stood rooted in the middle of the street, staring at the shining clay spinning on the potter's wheel. She remembered how she had loved the feeling of it sliding beneath her fingers, watching it mold flawlessly to her will. No wonder . . .

Her breath was hitching. As the potter watched in bewilderment, she spun on her heel and fled.

If they knew, they would kill you.

Wu, some decades later, faced with telling another girl she has elemental powers: Ehhhhhhhhh, I better wait till she's ready. Say . . . forty years or so?