Written for Ninjago's 10th anniversary - I hope you enjoy!
Lloyd had never really liked his eyes. Sure, they had come in handy when he was still dedicated to leading a life of villainy and he needed to look scary to keep the other kids from picking on him. But now they reminded him too much of the father he'd never really gotten to know. Of the legacy his family had been cursed with. Of the way his family had been ripped apart as a result of the Great Devourer's venom.
He really hadn't expected the Golden Weapons to react to him. After all, he definitely wasn't Green Ninja material. Kai would have been a much better choice. He had that comforting, protective big brother presence that Lloyd found himself clinging to after all he'd been through in his admittedly short life. And he'd actually wanted the title. Unlike Lloyd himself, who would rather hide in a cave for the next decade than fight his father.
It had been a shock. A big one. And even the initial surprise (and terror) of being labeled as the Green Ninja was nothing compared to the way he felt when he glanced in the bathroom mirror early the next morning and noticed that something had changed. His eyes, which had always managed to stay consistent in color up until now, were green. Green. Not blue,or brown, or some other color that he could live with while pretending the whole thing had been a sick dream, but green. Inescapable proof of the destiny that had been thrust upon him.
Lloyd's breath caught in his throat. This couldn't be happening. It was too much. He scrambled backwards, away from the mirror, and tripped over a snag in the carpet. His elbow bumped against the floor as he fell and he let out a cry of pain. That was going to leave a mark. But that was the least of his problems. He lay on the floor for what felt like hours, unable to rouse himself from the mantra of this can't be happening that repeated itself over and over in his head. Pathetic.
Creak…. Somewhere on the Bounty, someone moved, causing Lloyd to sit up. If anyone saw him like this… no. The others already worried about him enough as it was. Lloyd couldn't handle having to talk about this. Not now. There would be too many questions. What if they decided it was a sign that he was meant to fight his father here and now? After all no one else's eyes had changed colors when they'd discovered their destinies. Well. No one would be able to notice the change if they didn't see him at all. He'd just have to hide so good that Kai and Nya, and the others, wouldn't find him.
"You're fine." Lloyd told himself quietly as he stood up. It was definitely a lie, but he couldn't afford to acknowledge that. He crept towards the kitchen – he'd need supplies if he were going to pull off this vanishing act – and tried not to think too hard about anything involving the color green. He already knew exactly where he was going to go; it didn't take long to snag a box of animal crackers and a bottle of water and make his way down to the engine room. The motion activated lights flickered on. There, behind some pipes and machinery Lloyd couldn't name, was his query. The perfect hiding spot. He'd initially discovered the hollow they formed while exploring the Bounty when he'd first arrived, but Nya had called him away before he had the chance to really appreciate it. He crawled and squeezed his way to the furthest depths of the hollow and prepared to settle in for the long haul.
"You look like I feel…" Lloyd dejectedly told the caged lion on the front of his box of animal crackers. And then lights went out and he was left in total darkness.
"Has anyone seen my son?"
Everyone glanced up from their pancakes when the warlord spoke.
"Um, no," Nya said carefully, "we thought he was still asleep. He's had a rough few days."
"That is what I had hoped, but I checked his room just now, and he wasn't there." Garmadon stated. He looked worried.
"That's strange." commented Kai, frowning. The others nodded. After just narrowly escaping the Serpentine yesterday, they had all assumed he'd want to surround himself with family and forget the experience. Not hide away somewhere.
"Perhaps we should look for him. He's quite good at getting himself into mischief." Zane prompted, getting up from the table. Everyone was quick to follow his lead, feeling extra protective of the small boy.
Knowing his habits better than anyone, except maybe Kai, Nya began searching Lloyd's favorite hiding places. First was the little alcove beneath the steering wheel, then the Bounty's roof. A few dead leaves drifted lazily on the breeze, a bird screeched in the distance, but Nya found no sign of human life. She called Lloyd's name several times. There was no response. With a frown, she clambered down from the roof. Where else would he go? Neither the training room, where Jay was digging through the cupboards where they stored weapons, nor the living room, where Cole and Kai had pushed the couch away from the wall, yielded any clues to Lloyd's location. They were running out of places to look.
"He can't have just… disappeared," she told her brother, attempting to hide her worry. She collapsed onto the couch while she tried to think of anywhere they might have forgotten to check. Kai sat down next to her and gave her shoulder a squeeze.
"He's gotta be here somewhere,"Kai agreed, "Lloyd's not stupid enough to go wandering off on his own again so soon, and I think we can rule out kidnapping – Garmadon said there were no signs of a struggle when he checked Lloyd's room earlier."
"That's promising, I guess." Nya admitted with a sigh. The small boy wouldn't have gone anywhere without a fight. Which meant he had to be here. Somewhere. But why couldn't anyone find him? Why would he hide from them?
"You don't think he would've gone into the engine room by himself, do you?" Kai wondered aloud. Nya stared at him. Oh.
"Has anyone checked there yet?" she asked. He shook his head. "Kai, it's not safe for him down there. There's all sorts of broken machinery and old pipes, and the lights haven't been working lately…"
"We need to get down there before he hurts himself." Kai decided, standing. Nya leapt up behind him, praying they would find Lloyd unharmed. Tetanus shots were the last thing she wanted to deal with.
The walk to the engine room took far less time than it normally would. Kai and Nya sped down the hallway to the stairs before edging their way down into the dark room. Nya powered on the flashlight app on her phone.
"See if you can get the lights to turn on. They usually start working okay if you poke them with a broomstick a few times." She instructed as she wandered deeper into the engine room to look for Lloyd. Kai grabbed the broom that was leaning against the wall by the stairs and got to work poking the light with a bit more force than was truly necessary. When Nya had made it about halfway across the room, the lights flickered to life. Finally.
Satisfied that the lights weren't going to go out on them too soon, Kai joined her in looking under and behind the variety of machinery and junk that cluttered the engine room. Together, they hunted for the small boy, certain that he had to be hiding somewhere in this mess. They searched behind the engine itself to no avail. Next, they looked in an old chest. They even pried up a loose floorboard to see if he had somehow gotten himself stuck underneath. Alas, there was nothing there.
"Maybe we were wrong. Maybe he did get kidnapped by Pythor or-or-" Nya choked on her words, anxiety mounting. Anything could have happened to Lloyd.
"Nya stop." Kai insisted. He drew her into a side hug. "Maybe the others found him while we were down here."
She allowed him to guide her back towards the staircase, trying to understand how Lloyd wasn't where they had been so certain they'd find him. Just as they reached the first step, Nya heard a small voice whisper,
"No. Come back. Please don't leave me down here."
"Lloyd!" Nya cried, wrenching free of Kai's grasp, "Where are you?!"
"M'stuck…" came the muffled reply.
"Where?" Kai repeated. There was a rattling in the corner of the room, and Lloyd spoke again.
"Over here behind this… this whatever this piece of junk is. The lights went out and I got stuck…"
The siblings glanced at each other and followed the sound of his voice. They could just barely make out his shadowy form inside of the hollow he'd been hiding in. He looked so small, curled in on himself and facing away from them. One of the pipes had toppled over, blocking his way out.
"Oh, Lloyd… what were you thinking?" Nya asked softly as she and Kai began tugging away the pipe. She wished he would turn around so she could make sure he wasn't hurt, but he stayed frozen in place.
"Just get me out of here." Lloyd begged. The resignation in his voice sliced through the air like the katanas he was always begging to play with.
"Something's wrong," Kai stated, saying what they were both thinking. Nya nodded in agreement. Whatever had happened, Lloyd definitely hadn't come down here for fun. The pipe finally came loose, opening up a path of escape for the small boy. Only, he didn't move right away. It was almost as if he were trying to avoid them.
"You can come out now." Kai prompted. Lloyd seemed to pause for a moment before scooting backwards towards them. He shakily made his way out of his hiding place, to the relief of his adoptive siblings.
"Thank you," he said to the floor. Nya scooped him into a hug. She could feel him beginning to relax.
"Do you have any idea how worried we were?"
"I…. It was stupid, I know." Lloyd admitted, still not looking at either of them. He tugged his hoodie down to cover his face. Why was he acting like this?
"Lloyd, honey, please. Talk to us. What's wrong?"
Lloyd sniffled. "I don't wanna talk about it."
"Okay," Kai told him slowly, "we don't have to talk yet. Do you need something to drink? A snack?"
The boy gratefully accepted the bottle of water Kai held out to him. They sat there, together, not saying anything for what felt like an eternity. Nya leaned against the wall while Lloyd quietly sipped his water. Kai hummed absent mindedly. The engine whirred in the background. Eventually, Lloyd sighed.
"It's my eyes." He told them so quietly they almost didn't hear him. Nya blanched.
"Your eyes?"
Lloyd let out a small whimper as he removed his hood and looked at Kai and Nya. "there's something wrong with them."
They stared at him in surprise. For the first time, since they had found him, Nya could clearly see his tear streaked face and the source of his distress.
"They're definitely… different," Nya began carefully. Oh, First Spinjzu Master! How was she supposed to handle this? "but that's not necessarily a bad thing."
"Yeah! There's no reason to freak out." agreed Kai, flashing him a weak smile. Lloyd didn't seem to believe them.
"Guy's. It's because I'm the Green Ninja. Isn't it?"
"It could be." Nya offered. In all honesty, it was the most logical explanation for the striking emerald green color his eyes had taken on. Lloyd's lip trembled.
"And if it is… what if it's a sign? What if the universe wants me to take down my father, like, right now."
Yep, there it was. Nya was pretty sure she had figured out exactly why Lloyd had resorted to hiding down here. He hadn't wanted to be pushed into another hopeless situation. She caught Kai's eye and nodded. Kai turned to Lloyd and asked,
"Can I ask you something, Lloyd?"
Lloyd shrugged, but didn't answer. The master of fire continued anyway.
"When Zane first found his true potential, he started being able to freeze things on command. Do you think we suddenly decided he was the world's most powerful ninja and sent him off on the most dangerous solo missions we could think of?"
"N-no... Of course not."
"What about when Cole started bench pressing twice as much as before?" Nya added, "Or when Jay learned how to charge his cell phone with his elemental powers? Did we push them into situations they weren't ready for?"
Lloyd cringed, clearly not missing the point they were trying to make. He looked back down at his feet and muttered a soft, "no,".
"Then why would we treat you any differently?" Kai wanted to know. Lloyd's heat snapped up. His voice wavered as he replied.
"I'm the Green Ninja. It's my destiny to-"
"Screw destiny!" Nya cut him off, frustration filling her voice. She wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all. "You're just a kid, Lloyd! The color of your eyes doesn't get to dictate when you face your father – you do!"
It was then that she realized that he was crying. Poor Lloyd. He hadn't even made it a full 24 hours on the Bounty before trauma had struck again. Nya took a deep breath. She gathered Lloyd into another hug before he could protest and began brushing away his tears. Kai joined her, and, together, they held him as he continued to cry.
"We won't let anyone make you do anything you're not ready for." Nya promised, ruffling Lloyd's hair. He didn't say anything, but his breathing began to slow from the near hyperventilating it had been moments before.
"Nope. Why else would we have these cool powers?" Kai added. He winked at the small boy.
"They are pretty cool," Lloyd admitted with a sniffle. As the small boy started to relax, Nya and shared a smile of relief with her brother.
"You're safe with us, kiddo. Always."