Nya was waiting in front of their modest home as they turned into the driveway, visibly angry and impatient. She charged for Lloyd as soon as he stepped out of the car, his eyes still wet from tears and looking happy but a little off balance.

She jumped on him, squeezing him tight. "Shame on you, Kai!" she announced over Lloyd's shoulder, as she hugged her honorary little brother tight. (Of course he was her little brother. She didn't know his birthday, but it was just a given. He needed protection and love. Thus he was her little brother.) "I wanted to be there! I wanted to tell him that we're the new Ninjas!"

"Wait, what?" asked Lloyd's confused voice.

Kai clapped a hand over his eyes and groaned. "Nya! We haven't gotten there yet!"

Nya paused for all of three seconds. "So I DID get to tell him! Yes!" She let go of Lloyd so she could punch the air victoriously.

"Elemental powers are inherited," explained Maya kindly. "We moved here so Kai and Nya could begin their training. But let's continue inside, shall we? I'll get Ray and we can have some tea and maybe something sweet to go with it."

Nya pulled Lloyd by the hand into the house, Kai trailing behind with a resigned smile. Before the door even shut, Nya was already making good on her claim that SHE wanted to tell him... apparently everything.

From the bewildered look on Lloyd's face, like his whole world had just flipped upside down and he wasn't sure if this was good, bad, or just completely crazy, he wasn't really able to comprehend much of what she was saying. He was still stuck on "we're the new Ninjas."

"And you didn't get any of that, did you?" asked Nya, sighing and relenting.

"YOU guys are Water and Fire?! New ones?!" exclaimed Lloyd. "That's so..."

"Wicked cool!" cheered Nya.

"Ninja. So ninja," agreed Kai, nodding.

"Dangerous! So stupidly dangerous! WHY?!"

"Okay, kids!" interrupted Ray, thankfully, peeking out from the kitchen. "Kai, Nya, we've got a lot to talk about with Lloyd. If you guys could give us maybe half an hour or so of privacy? We'll let you know when we're done."

"But-!" began Nya.

Ray just raised an eyebrow, rather like how Nya herself had a tendency to. She huffed and she and Kai disappeared up the stairs.

Ray turned to a green-eyed boy with way too many adult worries reflected on his face.

"Hey, kid," he greeted affectionately, stepping forward and ruffling that thick blond hair into a mess. And there we go, he looked like a pouty child again. He leaned over and gave Lloyd a quick hug, then gestured with his head for them to join Maya in the kitchen.

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

It felt good, sitting there in Water and Fire's kitchen. Ray and Maya, I mean - I have to get used to that. Though they said I can call them auntie and uncle - I may take them up on that.

Water, Auntie Maya, had taken out cookies and prepared the tea. For a few minutes, we just sat there and enjoyed each other's company, the tea, a cookie or two. I was grateful for the time to collect myself, get my thoughts in order.

"Okay," began Fire, Uncle Ray, setting down his teacup. "First things first, Lloyd. I'm sure Maya already conveyed our regrets, but I need to apologize as well. The ultimate decision to hide away in Jamanakai was mine. You don't need to reply right away-"

"I forgive you," I interrupted, unable to take the guilt on his face. Fire was supposed to be fierce and strong, protective and cheerful. Guilt wasn't a good look on him.

He blinked in surprise.

"You made the right decision. My dad would have, could have... Kai and Nya. He-"

I know I have a tendency to stutter when I get upset, but this incoherence was getting ridiculous.

"No. No, honey," said Water, reaching out and taking my hand. "That's just it. We don't think he actually would have. It just, it scared us. You were so badly injured, and we were so upset about that, I think it transferred to worry about Kai and Nya. Especially when they were threatened. I know you probably don't want to hear about that night, but I think we need to tell you at least a bit for you to understand."

"We'll skip over the mayhem," began Fire, that is, Uncle Ray. "You know we had to get him away from the hospital, that we fought him hand to hand instead of with mechs, that he very nearly defeated us that night. What you don't know, what probably no one knows is... well, he already knows who we are, Lloyd. He's known our identities from before he married your mother."

He what? What? That made no sense.

"And he's never. Ever. Not once. Gone after our families. He's never sought out our homes, our friends, our places of employment," added Water. Auntie Maya.

But... but I thought... isn't my dad supposed to be evil? The worst guy ever?

"Back to that night," prodded Fire. Uncle Ray. He gently took my other trembling hand in his, so he held one and his wife held the other. "Your father was on a rampage. We were having no luck trying to get him to back down. We were all terrified that any moment now you'd, well, that that would be it. We finally cornered him and, and he caught Maya by the mask."

Maya nodded, and leaned over to give me a reassuring squeeze at seeing the worry and dread probably written all over my face. "It's... well, we've never been sure exactly how the venom of the Great Devourer affects him. He's himself, but still not. Evil, but still our old friend. He's still capable of love, but every now and then he seems to just... lose sight of it. That night, when he yanked off my mask - it's like he was seeing me for the first time. Remembered who I was, that we were fighting, and... at that moment, he hated me. Us. All of us."

"He demanded to know why we were stopping him," added Uncle Ray wearily. "What we would do in his place. And, yes, he threatened Kai and Nya. Said if anything happened to you because we stopped him - which yes, is completely illogical as his rampage certainly wasn't helping you any - that he would do the same to our children."

My heart froze at hearing my dad's threat. I had been in the hospital. Dying in the hospital from poisoning, near drowning, a stab wound in my side, and being beaten and thrown off a roof. He threatened to do the same to Kai and Nya. That wasn't a vague threat of 'or else' - that was a threat of murder.

Auntie Maya came around from her chair to wrap herself around me, pull my head to rest against her shoulder, kiss the top of my hair. "Shhh," she hushed me, even though I hadn't said a word. "You mustn't believe he meant it. We certainly don't, even though at the time it scared us. I'm sure he was horrified once he came to himself, once he was informed you'd survived the night and looked like you'd be perfectly fine."

"But... but that he said something like that at all..." I whispered. "If I had died..."

"Think about that next morning," calmly instructed Uncle Ray, obviously trying to comfort me. He got up and pulled his and Auntie Maya's chairs close on either side of me. When Auntie sat back down, we still touched. It reminded me of our rooftop, being snug and safe between the two heroes.

"We weren't there," he continued, "but we can guess. Did he still seem angry? Do you really think he was about to run off and attack innocent children? Or was he scared? Like he didn't know what he'd do without you?"

"He was... he was really weird. Eerily polite to the medical staff, even as he insisted on taking me home. Not a single joke or threat. He carried me himself. And he... he only asked once what happened. He never asked again."

"He frightened himself," explained Auntie Maya. "He didn't actually want to know - because he was afraid of how he might react. Fighting Ninja is one thing. Even invading cities and villages is one thing. But that he had ever considered going after our children, even in his darkest moment, absolutely horrified him. That was a low he'd never sunken to before, and hopefully never will again."

We sat in silence for a couple minutes. I was struggling to wrap the revelation around in my head. Dad knew who the Ninja were, or at least had been. Had never gone after them personally. Even that night, as horrible as his threat was, he had never made any moves to carry it out. And, now that I was thinking about it, it did seem possible, even likely, that a good chunk of the weirdness about Dad that morning we left the hospital really was... shame. Regret. Not just being upset over me, or it would've still been anger. Not just relieved that I was alive, or it would've been joy. The only reason he would've been so quiet is if Uncle and Auntie were right.

My Dad wasn't evil. At least not all the way through. There were lows he refused to stoop to, people he refused to hurt, actions he refused to condone or support. He had principles, standards. Which I'd always sort of known, but had never really thought about. He'd always bragged about being pure evil, the very personification of the word. Everyone had always claimed he was the worst guy ever. It was a head spinner to be told by my heroes that he... wasn't.

"You are so special," said Uncle Ray suddenly, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and giving me an affectionate squeeze. "Your mom was right, you know. She always believed you bring out the best in Garmadon, remind him that he's human, that there's one person that loves him no matter what, and that he loves in return. If he didn't have you, Lloyd, he wouldn't care. He certainly would never feel ashamed, or have regrets. As hard as it was on you, kid, it was the right choice for your father. Imagine if she had taken you with her."

"He would've been all alone," I said softly.

"Sometimes, I think he's forgotten the old days," began Auntie Maya sadly. "Fighting alongside Wu and our parents, and later alongside us. Being a hero that saved Ninjago, not just from a warlord, but from monsters bent on wiping it from existence. When he fights the Ninja, I really doubt he sees them as anything other than something annoying in his way. He knows us, or knew us, rather. But at the same time... he doesn't. It's like the venom has blinded him, confused him, to nearly everyone and everything. Except you." She leaned over and kissed the top of my head again.

"And that's why you risked coming back?" I hesitantly asked. It came out barely louder than a whisper. "Letting Kai and Nya befriend me and come to the volcano, even? Because... you don't believe he's a monster."

"We'll never believe Garmadon's a monster, Lloyd. Even if the venom were to win someday. Even if one day it managed to blind him even to you," confirmed Uncle Ray. "Tell us, Lloyd, how was he at your sleepover?"

I groaned. "He was soooo embarrassing!"

"Like a normal dad?"

I thought about it, then nodded.

"Honestly, Lloyd, he knows elemental powers are inherited," chucked Uncle Ray, and he ruffled my hair. "It wouldn't be hard to figure out who the current Ninja are, if he ever bothers to notice they're not the same ones he's been fighting for decades. He knows eventually our powers weaken, as the time comes for the next generation to take over."

Uncle Ray held out a hand and a few strained sparks flickered around it for just a second to demonstrate his point. "He knows which of us had children," he continued. "It should be a given, the identities of all of them, except perhaps Zane. Garmadon was, well, not actively evil around the time all of you were born."

"At one time, you, Cole, Jay, Kai and Nya, all played together," said Auntie Maya sadly. "He knew all of you, all of them. He might not actively remember, not through the venom, but the knowledge should still be there. That he hasn't made any sort of connection is actually quite funny and sad at the same time."

"I never knew," I whispered. "I never knew any of this."

"I have photos," said Auntie Maya. "If you ever want to see them. Haven't looked at them in years. Just... we were all so happy back then. It hurt, when your mother left. When it all went to pieces."

I... I don't think I'm ready for that. I shook my head. She seemed slightly relieved, but also a little sad. I want to see them someday, just... not today.

I reached over for my teacup and another cookie. They did as well. We sat there a good five minutes or so, at least. Taking comfort in each other's physical presence. Enjoying the hot tea, it's pleasant fragrance and very slightly bitter taste as it went down. The sugary cookies to balance it out.

"You guys loved him," I finally said.

"Still do," replied Uncle Ray. "And we hope he'll come back one day."

"Maybe he's not gone?" I wondered aloud. The man they knew, the father I loved, were they really so different?

"And that's why we love you," said Auntie Maya with the most adoring smile on her face.