Koko needed to talk to Lloyd. Had to set some things straight. Explain herself to him. Let him know she wasn't demanding anything from him. She wasn't going to force anything. But she wasn't just going to walk away again either.

At Garmadon's insistence, despite her worries, she'd left him alone last night. But he hadn't come down to breakfast, and it was a school day...

She timidly knocked on his door. Dead silence.

"Lloyd?" she called. She knocked again and spoke a little louder. "Lloyd?"

Garmadon brushed right past her, casually opening the door and going right on in.

The room was empty. Granted, it was a very large room, between the study/entertainment area, the actual bedroom, the walk-in closet and the attached bathroom. But the doors to the closet and the bathroom were wide open and the whole place was silent.

Garmadon scanned the room, not particularly worried, and went on over to the neatly made bed and the letter sitting right in the center of it. He read it over.

"No big deal, Kokes! He just ran away is all!" he said casually.

"No big deal!" exploded Koko, grabbing the letter, eyes desperately taking in every word.

[Dad,

Running away again to practice being evil. Don't worry. Will call or text to let you know I'm ok. Won't skip school.

Lloyd]

"He's practicing WHAT?!"

"He does this from time to time, like I said, no big deal!" commented Garmadon, trying to calm his wife down. "He's entitled to be his own man and practice being evil all he wants! Long as he lets me know, so I don't think he was captured by the forces of good to be used against me!"

Koko was staring at him, mouth hanging open at how easily he was taking Lloyd's stupid excuse. Obviously Lloyd was NOT practicing being evil, though she was perhaps more horrified at Garmadon's casual admission that this wasn't even the first time.

"C'mon, Kokes!" whined Garmadon, wanting to go back to the flirting and giddy happiness of last night, before Lloyd came home. "I made sure he could beat the crap out of pretty much anyone, except maybe my stupid brother, so he's totally fine! And, and look, see!" He pointed at the last sentence of the letter. "He's not skipping school, so nothing to complain about!"

He hadn't slept here last night. It had been over twelve hours since they saw him. Anything could have happened. It was a big city. A sometimes dangerous city. He was just a kid. He was special, important, so so good and she might have lost her chance to make things better because she scared him off and now -! What if he was starving?! What if he was wandering the streets, sleeping in alleyways?! He could've gotten mugged or attacked or kidnapped or or -!

"CALL HIM!" Koko actually screamed, on the verge of a panic attack.

Garmadon quickly obeyed, fumbling for his phone. "Fine! Fine, I'm calling him! See, being a responsible dad and calling him! But I'm telling you, nothing's wrong!"

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

Lloyd was having breakfast with his new Auntie and Uncle and Kai and Nya when his cell rang. He was feeling much better after a good night's sleep and some food in his stomach. Plus just having his best friends near made a huge difference, even with them carefully not asking anything. He'd said all he wanted to say last night, before he fell asleep.

"You can answer that here, if you want," Maya said gently, giving him permission to not have to leave the room. And the people that were basically his safety blanket in his crazy family situation.

He nodded a little stiffly and hit the answer button. Not the video button, just the regular phone.

"Hey Dad," he said. He paused as he listened to the other side. "Yeah, I'm cool. Stayed over at Kai and Nya's." He rolled his eyes at whatever his dad said next. "Yes, my 'first minions', that Kai and Nya."

Kai and Nya giggled into their bowls of cereal.

"Yes, I'm going to school today."

"Uh-huh, all caught up on my homework."

"No! FSM, Dad, of course I'm not recruiting Serpentine again! I learned my lesson a long time ago!"

"No. No, Dad. I ran away. Why would I want to talk to her? Tell her I'm practicing being evil."

Ray and Maya exchanged worried glances.

"She wants to talk to WHO? No! Why would I -"

Ray tapped his shoulder and held out his hand.

Lloyd stared at the hand, his eyes slowly traveling up to his Uncle Ray's firm face. Without even processing why, he obediently handed over the phone.

Kai mouthed "papa power" to Nya, who nodded. Their mom could do that too.

"Garmadon? It's Ray, Kai and Nya's father. Yes, he's fine. He's having breakfast right now, actually. May I speak with Misako?"

"Yes? Yes, that would be fine. How about noon at the warehouse? Alright. Yes, I'll bring Maya. See you then." He hung up and passed the phone back to Lloyd, who looked confused and slightly betrayed.

"We're meeting Misako at noon, Maya. At the warehouse. Are you alright, Lloyd?"

Lloyd wouldn't look at him, staring down at the phone in his hands.

Maya took one of his hands in her own. "We're not taking sides, Lloyd," she promised gently. "This is between you and your mom. We won't force you to go home, certainly not as long as you have your father's permission to be out."

Lloyd mumbled something.

"Sweetie, I didn't get that," prodded Maya gently.

"She's gonna make you send me back!" Lloyd yelled, then his eyes widened and he covered his mouth with his hands. He hadn't meant to yell.

"She can't 'make' us do anything, kid," comforted Ray firmly. "You know us better than that, Lloyd."

"But, but she -"

"What?" asked Maya, short and simple.

Lloyd fiddled with his phone, not sure what to do. What to say. Why he was even upset. What exactly he was so scared of. He couldn't even explain it to himself. How could he explain it to his auntie and uncle?

"Do you want to come? To hear for yourself that we won't betray you?" asked Ray gently. "I can either pick you up from school or we can reschedule with Misako right now."

He shook his head. No, no, that wasn't what he wanted. He didn't want to see her. To be anywhere near her. She, didn't she, it was probably about -

"The Green Ninja thing," he finally mumbled, shrinking in his chair.

"That shouldn't have ever had anything to do with your relationship with your mother," said Maya firmly.

"But I -"

"I'm going to tell her you're not ready," interrupted Ray. "I'm not promising her that I'll send you back, or talk to you, or anything. I will be telling her to write you a letter. A sealed letter, only between you and her. And you only have to open it if and when you want to. Ok?"

Lloyd hesitated, but reluctantly nodded.

Maya reached over and hugged Lloyd. "You don't have to forgive her," she whispered, right in his ear so the others wouldn't hear. "But I wish you would hear her out, one day. Not for her - but for you. So you can be at peace. So you aren't the one running and hiding and feeling miserable." She kissed his forehead, then got up to finish packing lunches for all three of her kids.

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

I stared at my hands after Auntie Maya kissed my forehead. Was that what I was doing? Running and hiding, because I didn't want to hear her, Koko, out?

Didn't want to listen to her excuses for leaving Dad and me?

Didn't want to be forced to hear any crap about a foretold Green Ninja?

Or just didn't want to face the fact that... she was back.

She'd left. I had been fine with that. I'd never really known her anyway. She had her reasons, I'd always been sure, though at the time I just figured she didn't want to be married to an evil warlord. Couldn't handle being hated by basically everyone.

Basically my whole life, I didn't even know if she was dead or not. She'd made no attempts to ever contact me. I rarely thought about her, even with Dad bringing her up fairly consistently. Your mom this, Koko always that.

I just figured she'd left because we weren't important. I wasn't important. She hadn't loved him anymore, and she didn't love his evil spawn enough to take me with her - if she'd ever loved me at all. I'd been fine with that. I had my dad to love. No matter what, I've always loved him. And he's always loved me. I was glad she left me behind.

I was happy, even as the city hated me. Maybe I hated going to school, cried about how people misjudged me and were just so cruel - but all that always took a back seat the second I got home and he asked about my evil day.

Dad was always there, food on the table. A smile on his face. Arms open wide for a hug. Bedtimes. Mealtimes. Movie nights. Spinjitzu training. We had a routine. I was comfortable with it.

Was I scared? Not that she would hurt Dad or me... but that she wouldn't? That she might stay? Why did that thought fill me with such dread?

Did I just not want change?

But my life has already changed so much, and all for the better. Kai and Nya. Cole and Zane and Jay. Now Auntie Maya and Uncle Ray. They were all huge changes in my life. Huge changes in my thinking and feelings and even daily routine. I'd certainly never checked my phone as often for texts as I do now, happily grabbing at it every time it buzzes!

But I am scared. Auntie's right. I'm terrified. I still don't want her in my home. It's not home with her there. I don't want to see Dad so happy with her there.

And I just heard my own thoughts. I don't want Dad to be happy? That's terrible. He deserves all the happiness in the world. Just maybe not at the world's expense, but that's another topic.

Maybe I'm a little jealous? Oh, crap, I'm a daddy's boy, aren't I. The typical child of a single parent, trying to sabotage their parent's relationships. Dad has always loved his Koko, but she'd never been... real? So it had never mattered before.

I am so confused.

I just want a normal day at school. A new normal, with no bullies and my new friends and hanging around in mech club and very pointedly not mentioning my dad or her.

Too bad for me, the mayor accepted my dad's challenge to a golf tournament.