Dreams and Desires

Chapter 1

Awakening

*I own nothing and any similarities with any other works are purely coincidental.

She burst through the door and ran out onto the roof. Off to her left, she saw the Colossus looming in the distance. It was slowly moving towards her, terrorizing the citizens on the ground below as it went by. She frantically looked around; hoping to find a path for escape, but there was nowhere to run. Then it reached her. The stone warrior slammed into the side of the building, sealing her fate as the foundation shook beneath her. She saw another building far in the distance and stared over in shock at the figures perched on its roof.

He sensed her gaze and slowly turned his head around. He looked over and saw her standing upon the doomed building. Their eyes met; her face a mix of panic and sadness. Her eyes were practically pleading with him, begging him for his forgiveness. His face went pale and he was barely able to hold back the tears welling in his eyes.

"Rumi…"

Lloyd woke with a start, finding himself back at the Monastery of Spinjitzu completely drenched in sweat. It had been 6 months since Harumi's sudden death and he still couldn't get her off his mind. He berated himself for it; he was beyond frustrated with his lingering feelings. Lloyd had every possible reason to despise her; she had resurrected Lord Garmadon, tried to kill his friends, and taken over Ninjago. She had manipulated him; toyed with his emotions, and then shattered his heart. And yet he couldn't make himself hate her. He still loved her, and seemingly no amount of self-deprecation or belittlement would change that.

The nightmares however, were a more recent development. Lloyd had dealt with bad dreams before, but not at this scale, and not since his father was banished to the Cursed Realm. He found himself completely incapable of getting a full night's rest, and it had now been going on for nearly two weeks. He had been waking up from that exact same nightmare, over and over again for the past fortnight. What does it mean? he wondered. Why do I keep seeing her die again?

Lloyd groggily got out of bed and went to get dressed for the day. His reflection stared back at him from the mirror on the closet door. Lloyd no longer resembled the happy, boyish teen he had been just a year ago. The bags under his eyes, paler skin, and gaunter body all added to the look of a much more broken man. His relationship with Harumi had seriously scarred and haunted him, and yet he still longed for her. Why do I care? he asked himself. Why can't I just hate her? Lloyd still couldn't make any sense of his confused and muddled emotions, and it was really starting to get to him.

He sighed and looked over at the clock hanging on his wall. The hands on the clock lined up to say that it was 4 in the morning. Lloyd finished changing and then trudged out into the hallway. Rubbing his eyes, he made his way over to the kitchen. To his surprise the lights were already on and he saw Zane starting to prepare breakfast. "Don't tell me today is sunrise exercise." he yawned.

"Your assessment is indeed correct Lloyd. It is Wednesday after all."

Lloyd groaned and walked past Zane to get to the cupboard. Reaching up, he snatched the coffee maker and several espresso shots. He started up the machine and waited for his much-needed caffeine to be ready.

"Lloyd?"

"Yes Zane?"

"I have noticed that several of your regular behavioral patterns have recently been altered. You are tending to wake up earlier than previously normal, and your energy levels have been significantly lower, which indicates that you are probably not receiving as much rest as you need. Your decision to switch out your caffeinated beverage in favor of espresso coffee also supports this hypothesis. At the same time your feelings of aggression and stress have been heightened lately, yet there is not any new danger or threat. I cannot find a suitable explanation for these sudden changes."

"Huh. So someone actually noticed." Lloyd mumbled under his breath. "I could hear that Lloyd. You may remember that as a Nindroid my hearing is enhanced far beyond normal human capacities."

"Yeah, right. Well, if you must know I have indeed had some trouble sleeping lately." he responded.

"How interesting. There was a 73% chance that issues with sleep were somehow involved, but I could not propose any explanation for why your normal sleeping patterns would be disrupted. There is no logical reason for you to be any more stressed at this time. We are currently at peace, and there has not been a significant threat against our realm for half a year." Zane pondered this briefly before asking "Do you have any theories as to what is causing your heightened stress Lloyd?"

Lloyd froze. He hadn't told anyone about his lingering feelings for Harumi, and he wasn't quite sure how they all would react. He was worried that Kai and Jay would probably make fun of him, and he was concerned that Zane would simply find his feelings to be irrational. However, he thought that Cole or Nya might be a bit more sympathetic and understanding. Regardless, Lloyd didn't feel like chancing it right now. What if they think I admired, or had even turned to, her evil side? Or that I was somehow still being manipulated?

"No." he lied.

Zane was skeptical but didn't press the issue. "Well, if you require any assistance or further advice, I will be more than willing to help you. I believe that statement would apply equally to the rest of the ninja as well."

"Thanks Zane." he said. He stood around and waited until he was able to grab his finished coffee. Sitting down at the nearby table, he started getting his fix. He honestly wasn't sure if he would be able to cope with his nightmares without the help of caffeine.

The rest of the Ninja all filed in for breakfast about an hour later. Although none of them were fond of the early start, they were very all glad that Zane had cooked. Lloyd got some minor chills just thinking about Cole's meal from the previous day. Zane had prepared everything to be finished when the ninja were supposed to wake up, but Lloyd ended up with his breakfast earlier than normal. Which meant that Lloyd left the table pretty much right after the Ninja arrived and his silence seemed pretty strange to them. While Lloyd was never the most talkative of the group, he was usually at least willing to indulge in their conversations. Not today though.

"Not much talking coming from our royal prince today." Kai remarked. He and Jay had begun jokingly calling Lloyd a prince in regards to his former relationship with the Jade Princess Harumi, and they found it to be funnier after they had separated.

"I have also found Lloyd's reluctance to socialize today quite puzzling." Zane said as he walked over to join the rest of the ninja. "I had previously noted that Lloyd appeared to be sleeping far less than usual, and that his aggression and stress levels were higher than normal. He did confirm that he was having some difficulty with sleep, but he would not answer what it was that was stressing him out more than usual. I do believe that he was hiding something from me due to his increased heart rate and the long time it took him to answer but I have no leads as to what exactly it is he could be hiding."

"Well, I'm sure he'll talk to us about it if he needs to." Nya said. "Lloyd knows that we're here for him, and I'm sure we'll be able to help him with whatever's bothering him if he needs us too."

"It's probably nothing to worry about. Maybe the prince has found himself a new lady friend!" Jay chuckled.

"Guys, you should stop calling him that. Lloyd has said that he doesn't like it, and I'm very sure that he doesn't want to be constantly reminded of Harumi." Cole said.

"That's what makes it so funny!" Kai laughed.

Well regardless of his reasons, I will be making an effort to pay closer attention to Lloyd." Zane said. "I hope he will be able to explain to us what's concerning him at some point, but if he feels it is his business then I will have to respect his wishes."

"That sounds like a good plan Zane. Now, we don't want to be late for training do we?" Cole asked.

"You don't have to remind me of the last time we made Master Wu wait for us." Jay said with a grimace. "Race you there!"

All of the Ninja immediately ran out towards the training equipment, and in their rush they missed a very important detail. A very distraught and conflicted Lloyd had been sitting right outside of the room, listening to their conversation. He slowly got up and walked after them. If only they knew…

The Ninja ran through the halls of the Monastery towards the training area. At first they all were following the same path but Cole took a detour and cut through a different hallway. Jay looked back and saw, but didn't care since he was still in the lead due to him starting the race. Kai was shoving him, desperately trying to get past him, but Jay kept cutting him off. They soon made it to the exit door and Kai tripped Jay up. "Hey!" Jay yelled as he tumbled and then skidded towards the door. At the same time Cole came running over from the adjacent hallway, and he got his legs swept out by Jay. Kai then hit into Cole, and they both got knocked down. Seeing the blockade, Nya and Zane just kept running down the hallway towards the next door. Lloyd then calmly walked up and tossed Kai at the other wall, as well as kicking Jay completely out of the way.

"Ow! What the hell man!" Kai yelled.

"Yeah, that actually did hurt Lloyd." Jay added.

"You should know not to remind your Prince about Harumi." Lloyd said in a scathing but slightly hurt tone before walking out and claiming his victory in their race.

"I told you so." Cole exclaimed.

"You know, I think I now see what Zane meant when he said Lloyd was acting more aggressive" Kai said sheepishly.

"Yeah, we might not want to make jokes around him anymore or the Prince could get his feelings hurt." Jay said mockingly.

Kai, Jay, and Cole all got themselves up and exited to the training area. Not surprisingly Zane and Nya had beaten them, but they were really only annoyed that Lloyd had somehow swooped in and won a race he hadn't competed in.

"Cole, Kai, and Jay, you are all late. Sunrise Exercise began at 5:00 sharp, and you three arrived here at 5:01." Master Wu said.

"But Master Wu!" Kai whined. "It was Lloyd's fault that we were-"

"I did not ask for excuses for your tardiness. You were late, and that was the only relevant information. You three shall stay behind and mop up the floor once today's lesson is concluded."

Lloyd smirked slightly at the trio, which set off Kai completely. Kai jumped up and lunged at Lloyd, igniting his fist with his elemental fire. "You goddamn son of a bitc-" "Kai!" yelled Nya. "What are you doing?" Lloyd watched Kai's incoming attack with a very bored expression and calmly stepped out of the way of his punch. Kai's punch instead hit the wall of the monastery, and he set the mural ablaze. Nya quickly cooled off the painting, but it unfortunately did not cool off Kai. Kai spun around and began to charge up his fire once again.

"Enough!" yelled Master Wu. "Lloyd is your brother and you will apologize at once."

Kai stood blankly for a moment comprehending his actions and their repercussions before releasing his power. "I-I'm sorry Lloyd. I don't know what came over me."

Lloyd nodded his head. "I forgive you Kai. But if you're going to try and kill me, I would prefer that it be for a better reason than simply having lost a race to get to our daily exercise."

The group erupted with laughter as Kai just looked around sheepishly. "Now that's our Lloyd!" Jay laughed. Lloyd smiled weakly, and then took an overdramatic bow. He still felt quite distracted and stressed, but nothing was better for clearing his head than spending time with his friends.

Unbeknownst to the ninja, a mysterious stranger was watching their training. The stranger was donned in a green cloak, covering their face and obscuring their identity. They were peering over one of the ledges of the Monastery, mesmerized by the Ninja's complex training regiments. It was ultimately of no consequence to them however. Because despite what Zane may have thought, there was indeed a threat to the realm.

But not a new one.

I know I left it on a bit of a tease there, but I hope you all are intrigued with what I've set up here. There's a lot more I have planned for with this story, and it will get a ton more complex than it may seem here. This is my first fanfiction ever, so yeah.