Lloyd felt a warm tear run down his cheek as he stayed silent, raising his hand up to wipe it away.
"Hey..." Garmadon called, his son turning to meet his eyes. "I never got to tell you that you have more of Wu's wisdom than I have... Thank you for being you."
Lloyd ran into a tearful hug between himself and his father.
"I love you so much."
"I love you too, dad..." Lloyd responded, his tears falling to the floor. "I'd do anything for you…"
"I know," Garmadon said, rubbing Lloyd's back. "I know you'd do anything for anyone.
Lloyd held onto his father, slowly letting the tears flow down his face. "I'm sorry..." Lloyd said. "I can't seem to feel any better…"
"It'll get better," Garmadon said, holding his son tight as they embraced. "It'll get better, son, I promise...it will..."
Nodding, Lloyd closed his eyes, and he clung to his father, feeling his soft kimono against him. "Please don't leave..." Lloyd whispered.
"I'm not," Garmadon whispered back. "Whatever happens, I'm not leaving. I'll always be here with you."
With a few tears on his face, Lloyd hugged his father tightly again. "Dad...I love you so much, please don't leave me…."
"I'll always be with you," Garmadon reassured, holding his son into a tight hug. "You know that, right? I'll always be with you."
"I know that, dad…" Lloyd said, his voice muffled against his father, "Just please don't leave me…"
"I'll never leave you…I'll never leave you…" Garmadon assured, brushing his fingers through his son's shoulder-length hair. "I'll always be here with you. I'll always be right beside you, and we'll get through anything together."
Now, Xenudah looked up at his father in complete certainty that his father would not leave him. A sob broke out from his lips as he embraced his father, his tears drying quickly. "I love you so much, Dad... I really do…"
Yakunan smoothed back his son's hair. "You've been through a lot, I just...can't stand the thought of you being hurt anymore..."
"You don't get it!" Xenudah snapped back, out of emotion. The weight of grief from holding his emotions back for so long had finally crushed him. "I hurt you, father! I wanted you gone! I wanted..." Xenudah choked up again and started sobbing uncontrollably into his father's chest like he was a little boy again.
"X-Xenu... I'm so sorry... I'm sorry I wasn't there... If I was, you wouldn't have gone as far as you did... I'm sorry, son... I'm so sorry..." Yakunan hugged his son as tightly as he could, making it feel like there was nothing left for him to apologize for. "I love you, Xenudah... I just want you to be happy..."
"And...you've been gone for so long! I've missed you, father!" Xenudah's voice cracked. "I...I really, really missed you! I'm sorry for anything I've put you through! I'm sorry for making you go through anything because of me! I just... I love you so much, father... I never wanted to hurt you like this..."
"You've done nothing wrong..." Yakunan whispered through his tears into his son's ear. "Nothing at all. I'm sorry for everything... I missed you too much... I'm just so sorry..."
Xenudah's body shook with grief. Yakunan wondered how he could have made Xenudah live through that. He wanted to apologize until Xenudah could feel happy again...until he could feel anything again. He loved Xenudah so much...and that was why he had to do what he had to do. He held him so tightly that he felt like he might break him.
They both held onto each other in silence. After what seemed like a thousand years of crying, Xenudah finally started to slow down. Xenudah could feel his father's stoic warmth against him and started to calm down. Somehow, he just knew that he was not going to be let down again. The warmth against him was not going to fade away, not this time.
"I'm sorry, father," Xenudah said, his voice calm but weak. "I'm sorry for everything I put you through..."
"Shhhhh..." Yakunan said, a single tear falling onto Xenudah's hair. "You've gone through more than anyone should ever have to, Xenu..."
"I know." Xenudah started to laugh, feeling awkward and weak. "I would have thought anything worse would be impossible... just...I'm sorry, father, I never wanted to make it like...that... I..."
"Shhh..." Yakunan tried to hold his son as tight as he could. "I know..."
"Why do you still love me when all I've done was hurt you? I don't get it!" Xenudah looked past his father to the ground.
"Because I always hoped that even after everything, you would still be the same boy I raised... Because I always hoped that when you had come to your senses again, you would still love me. I would never let go. I love you too much to let you go."
"Still the same boy?" Xenudah scoffed. "I'm not the same person you knew! That's the problem." He looked into his father's eyes. "And...and I'm not sure I can ever forgive myself for the way I acted... If I could take it all back, I would."
"Maybe you can." Yakunan tried to smile. "If anyone can change, I know you can."
Xenudah shook his head. "I don't know how..."
"I know you can." Yakunan looked into his son's eyes. "Xenu...really, believe me. I know you loved me...and you still do."
Xenudah was quiet for a few moments. "I don't know why you would believe that after what I did, why you–"
"Because you've done nothing wrong." Yakunan hugged him. "You were just misguided, is all. I know that it's different for everyone, but you don't need to worry about it. There's nothing it's too late for now."
"Thanks, father." Xenudah hugged his father back. "For forgiving me… For believing in me… Even after what I did…"
"No." Yakunan shook his head. "I still have faith in you. That's why I'm going to stay here until you can believe in yourself again. Because you deserve to be here with me. After all you've been through, after all I have put you through, you still deserve to be happy… And I will help you get there."
Sobbing, Xenudah hugged his father again. "I love you so much, dad."
"I love you too, Xenu." Yakunan closed his eyes. "I will never stop."
A period of silence fell again, and Xenudah finally decided to disrupt the peace. The quiet, the peace, the understanding had driven him mad. He was feeling so much, so many things at the same time: sorrow for his father, happiness that his father was there, fear that he couldn't possibly get through all this, and incredible guilt that he was even thinking that way.
He couldn't let go of his emotions anymore. "I don't know what to do... I hurt...so many people. I don't know what I did to deserve this. I-I don't deserve this... I only want to fix it. But... It's so much to deal with... I don't know what I can do..."
"It is a lot..." Yakunan said, carding his fingers through Xenudah's hair. "But you still have me. And there's nothing I won't do for you."
"But what about the others?" Xenudah couldn't help but sob again. "The others that I hurt... The things I did to them... I... I did that to them... I don't know how to face them... ever... They all know what I did... How can they forgive me?"
Yakunan didn't say anything for a while, but held his son tighter. "It's different for everyone. But I think that if you can show them that you're not the same person that hurt them, they can forgive you. But it's going to take time."
"And there's more, father." Xenudah started to cry a little again. "The things I did to you..."
"They were lies." Yakunan closed his eyes again. "You didn't mean a single one of them. They don't hold any power..."
"But I… I still don't know why I did it..."
"I think you're just realizing it now," Yakunan said, looking straight into Xenudah's eyes. "You're just finally getting the right answers. I'm sure it will take a while for you to understand, but eventually you will."
Xenudah was silent for a while. "I-I could have gone another fifty years without you... I can't even imagine." It was the only thing he could think of to say, but by this time he was crying so hard he didn't know.
"But you didn't have to." Yakunan hugged his son tighter. "Because of that, I know you can do anything. You can become the man I raised you to be."
No response. Just sobbing.
"We will work through this together." Yakunan held his son gently, not wanting to hurt him anymore. "I will stick with you until you can see the light again."
"But...how can I..." Xenudah cried harder. "Everything I did was so horrible. I don't deserve this..."
"You don't deserve the tragedy, but you do deserve so much more than that. You deserve to have the chance to change things." Yakunan looked down sadly. "And I know you will."
"You're so...so strong." Xenudah burst out. "Even if I'm...so weak... You're so strong to still do all that you do for me. You should be..." He hugged his father tightly.
"Happy?" said Yakunan. "For you, I am." He smiled sadly.
Xenudah continued crying. "I want to change so much. I want to change so it doesn't hurt anyone else... But I don't know how..."
"You can." Yakunan smiled again. "Just...please stay with me, son. Don't give up on yourself..."
"I'm so sorry, father." Xenudah finally broke away from his father's arms.
"No, son." Yakunan reached out and held Xenudah gently. "I am. I'm the one that's sorry for what happened between us."
"I never meant to hurt you. Everything I did was wrong...so wrong... But I never meant to hurt you."
"I know." Yakunan closed his eyes, a tear falling onto Xenudah's hair. "I know."
"I let some people down." Xenudah tried to explain. "Some people...that I could have saved. I never stopped to think about how they were feeling. The guilt I feel... It's so...so..." He was crying now.
"It's not your fault." Yakunan carded his soft, wrinkled fingers through his son's hair. "It's not your fault."
"But... I tortured them, father..." Xenudah started sobbing again. "And now I have no one! I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"
"Shhhhhhh..." Yakunan pressed a kiss to the top of his son's forehead. "I know you're so scared, my son… It's alright..." He looked into Xenudah's eyes. "I know it may not seem like it, but you have so many people who want to help you...so many that care about you. But right now, you have me and that's all that matters..." He smiled. "We will get through this together."
"Don't leave me, father..." Xenudah pleaded.
"I will never leave you." Yakunan promised. "I will be here, in your life, for whatever it may be, until I am no longer able to."
"I just want things to be how they were..." Xenudah started sobbing again.
"I know, Xenu..." Yakunan whispered. "I know."
"I want it all to go away…" Xenudah cried, his arms releasing his father, his hands grabbing the sides of his head. "I want it all to just go away... I want them to know why I did what I did... I want them to know everything... Everything... All of it... I want it all to be over... I want them to be happy... I want them to forgive me..." He began shaking.
"Shhhh..." Yakunan kissed the top of Xenudah's head. "Shhhhhhhh..."
"I need to help them..." Xenudah sobbed uncontrollably now. "I...want to be like them... But I can't... I want to be like everyone else, I want to heal... I want to be the one that heals them..."
"Shhhhhhhhh..."
"I'm scared..." Xenudah whispered, his chest heaving, his tears falling.
"I know, my son." Yakunan reassured. "You will not lose me. As long as you hang on, I will always be close." He smiled again.
"I need you..." Xenudah's tears rained down on the arm that lay on his shoulder. "I need you, father... I..."
"Shhhhhh... You're safe, my child... You're safe..." Yakunan held his son close, his arms wrapping around the boy's body. "You'll be okay…"
And Xenudah, deep within, knew it would be.