Echo is adorable. Seriously, I think I want a little brother now.
Almost the second Zane opened the door to his room, Echo zoomed up to him.
"Zane! I missed you!" he squealed, leaping into Zane's ready arms and squeezing tight. "How was school today? Totally awesome, right! Did you learn anything new about how to be human?"
Zane glanced at me, but this time he smiled instead of changing the subject.
"Humans love hugs!" stage-whispered Zane to Echo. "Whenever you see someone that looks sad, you can give them a hug and they cheer right up!"
Echo's glowing sapphire blue eyes, quite a bit darker than Zane's ice blue, widened in awe. "Ooh! Just like nindroids!"
"Yep! You should get lots of practice!" said Zane, setting Echo down.
"Ok!" replied Echo happily, and ran up to leap into my arms. I just barely got them up in time to catch him - thank goodness for spinjitzu trained reflexes!
"Hi, Lloyd! You look a little sad, so I'm going to give you extra hugs until you feel better!" And he snuggled close, making himself at home in my arms.
I think I'm melting.
"Oh, how precious!" squealed Zane's mom, and I heard the distinct click of a camera shutter. Which had to be deliberate, because I really doubt she uses that type of camera.
Dr. Julien laughed as he came up to shake my hand, which was a bit of a puzzle for a second since I'd been supporting Echo with both arms. I managed to get a hand free to greet him.
"You know you can put him down?" Zane's dad asked (offered?) with a smile.
"No!" complained Echo, tightening his rather formidable grip. Nindroid strength, I suppose.
"It's fine," I said, unable to hide my own grin. "I don't mind." I mean, he's kind of heavy, being made of metal and all, but nothing I can't handle.
And it's just, like, really nice. Being hugged by a cute kid.
I swear Falcon laughed at me. At the least, he made some sort of caw that sounded like a laugh and jumped from Zane's shoulder to Dr. Julien's.
"Dinner's ready, boys!" called Zane's mom. "I made pork fried rice, and have the usual sides of boiled egg and kimchi. And I just finished brewing some barley tea! Do you have any requests, Lloyd?"
"Nope, that sounds great, Zane's mom! Thank you!"
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
(Past)
"Lloyd? Lloyd! Where are you, little munchkin?" called out Koko, stepping into the kitchen of the Destiny's Bounty and looking around. She checked under the table and in the cabinets.
Since he'd learned to crawl, Lloyd had been impossible to keep up with! Seriously, she'd only turned her back for a minute to ask Wu something. She wasn't really worried though - the doors leading up to the deck were securely closed and locked for the night, and everything dangerous was up too high for her little one to reach. She'd made sure of that before agreeing to stay overnight on the Bounty!
"Lloy-oyd!" she called, and heard faint but oh so familiar giggling. Not in this room, but not too far. The kitchen was next to Wu's dojo, and the door was cracked open just enough for a toddler to make his way in.
It was dark in the dojo. Well, it was late evening after all, and Wu still had not upgraded to electric lights over his beloved candles and lamps.
A flicker of... green? Followed by more of Lloyd's giggling.
What could possibly be glowing green in there? Whatever it was, Lloyd was clearly having a ball with it.
She swung open the dojo's door all the way, and saw the outline of the storage closet in the back. A green glow was leaking out, occasionally flashing brighter or flickering.
Koko wasn't particularly worried. Wu had promised, had sworn up and down, that he had nothing poisonous or cursed on his ship. Right now, he only had some of his father's ancient relics that he would be leaving with tomorrow to hide away. It must be some sort of toy or something that Lloyd had found and was playing with.
"Lloyd?" she called, but the toddler was clearly too focused on his toy to hear, giggling and clapping.
She opened the door, and shrieked at the sight before her.
Her baby, sitting in the center of the room, glowing green with sparks and whirls traveling around his tiny hands and up and around his fragile body. Excitedly cheering as he stared at the golden weapons floating in a circle around him, connected by the same sort of green energy.
Koko charged forward, snatching up her toddler into her arms. There was a loud clatter as all the weapons collapsed to the floor, their terrifying connection with her baby broken. Lloyd started crying, confused by the loss of the playful energy, scared by his mama's shriek and trembling, alarmed that perhaps he'd been bad and didn't know how or why.
Garmadon and Wu charged into the closet, smashing the door right off its hinges in their panic.
"WHO HURT MY BABY?!" roared Garmadon, whipping around with his enormous broadsword already drawn and at the ready. Wu was at his side, and while not armed was certainly no less dangerous.
Wu frowned, taking in the sight before him.
"He's... it's... No, not possible! It's not fair! It can't be true!" gasped Koko incoherently, cuddling her baby tight in her arms. Lloyd was crying and complaining, confused and upset and with no clue what to do with his mom acting like this.
Garmadon, not seeing an enemy, sheathed his sword and ran over to hug his wife and child tightly, protectively shielding them from anything he could.
Wu knelt next to one of the golden weapons, the golden nunchucks that controlled Lightning. Hadn't he secured these to the wall? Had Lloyd been playing with them? It was impressive he could handle them, but then he was also a descendant of the First Spinjitzu Master, so it wasn't unheard of. Certainly not something to scream about, at least not in their family.
"He, he was, Lloyd was, and there was all this green and Lloyd-!" stuttered out Koko.
Garmadon and Wu exchanged looks. Of course there was lots of green. As usual, Lloyd was dressed in his favorite green pajamas. His green blankie and stuffed green dragon were on the floor where he must have been sitting when Koko snatched him up. Had her eyes played a trick on her?
"Sister, when is the last time you slept?" asked Wu, trying to be tactful.
"Oh, um, Lloyd was so excited about staying on the Bounty last night, and then he kept escaping the bed to go exploring so I - no! You think I'm making this up!"
"You're just tired, Kokes," Garmadon tried to comfort. "Nothing happened. You were worried about Lloyd, and stumbled on him messing with weapons and freaked out, but look, he's totally fine!"
"Dada!" called out Lloyd in a complaining tone, reaching out to escape his mama who was acting weird. Garmadon took the baby and starting whispering nonsense to him until Lloyd was giggling and squealing happily again.
"I think he's the Green Ninja!" whimpered Koko.
Wu and Garmadon froze. Garmadon's mood quickly turned dark, and Wu quickly hurried to intervene before this became a fight. Garmadon was still furious that the Ninja and Wu had thought him to be some great evil that would destroy Ninjago - conquer and rule, maybe, but he wouldn't destroy the world his child would have to grow up in!
And to even consider that HIS child could be the destined one to fight said evil!
"Why, Koko?" asked Wu, hurriedly. "You can't possibly have any proof for something as crazy as that."
Koko's mouth dropped open in hurt. "Of course I - we need to stop this! The, the gold weapons were floating and green and Lloyd was glowing and -!"
Wu was still holding the nunchucks. He stepped forward so his nephew could reach them. Lloyd happily babbled as he grabbed at the chain on the nunchucks, examining it with all the intensity of a fascinated toddler.
Nothing happened.
A baby playing, nothing more. No weird glowing. No green lights. Not even any sign of Lightning, which would at least make a little sense, considering the powers these relics were supposed to have.
"Let's get some sleep," said Garmadon gently. "I'll take tonight's shift, Kokes. You get some shuteye."
"He's the Green Ninja!" cried out Koko, sounding devastated. "We have to do something! You have to believe me!"
Wu sighed and started gathering up his father's golden weapons to lock them in a chest. Lloyd wouldn't be able to mess with them, and apparently the way he'd had them attached to the walls hadn't been secure. A wave or something must have knocked them down. Didn't want his nephew to get injured playing with them, even though the child was already pretty clever about avoiding sharp edges. Played with his daddy's sword all the time, though he was only allowed to when Garmadon was in the room.
Garmadon was getting angry. The shadows were flickering. "First you think I'm some prophesied great evil. Now you think our son is the one promised to destroy said great evil. Do you want to kill me off or something, oh wife of mine?!" he growled.
"No! I love you!" protested Koko. "That's why we need to stop this!"
Lloyd cried out and slapped his baby hands down on his dada's arms when they tightened a bit too much. "Dada! Dada!" he complained.
Garmadon looked down and instantly melted, hushing his baby. He turned back to glare at his wife. "Lloyd and I are going to bed. I recommend you do the same, Kokes, and maybe you can talk sense in the morning!" He stormed out.
"Mama!" protested Lloyd. "Bankie! Yu!" Wu gathered up Lloyd's things and rushed to catch up to Garmadon to pass them off. His brother didn't say a word, only snatching the blanket and toy, and then slamming the door to his, Koko's, and Lloyd's room.
Wu returned to the dojo, and then the closet. Koko was still in there, staring at the trunk Wu had stored the golden relics in.
"I know what I saw, Wu," she choked out. "There was this energy, and it glowed and..."
"Perhaps Lloyd can unlock the power in the weapons, is all," said Wu, though he sounded more like he was placating her than saying anything he actually believed. "Garmadon and I can both use them, so that's probably what you saw. If so, it is quite impressive at his age. I'll test him for elemental abilities when he's older, but he won't be a master even if he can use the weapons, so don't -"
"I know what I saw. It was Green. It wasn't any other element. Nothing I've ever seen before."
Wu sighed. "Koko, even if he was an elemental master, even if he was the Green Ninja, it wouldn't display until he was much older. You need rest, sister."
Koko turned broken eyes on him, then turned and slipped out of the room.
They didn't believe her. She'd have to try the other Ninja. Someone would believe her. Someone would help her. She couldn't let Lloyd be used like that by destiny, couldn't let her baby be manipulated and forced into battle with his own father. Couldn't let Garmadon become an unstoppable monster. She'd stop it. She would. Whether by interfering in the prophecy or curing Garmadon, she'd find a way.
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
(Present)
"Doesn't this bring back memories!" cheered Garmadon. "Reminiscing over baby paraphernalia - check!" And he drew out a pen and drew a check mark next to one of the boxes on a very long list. At the top was the title, "Things For Koko And Me To Do When She Comes Home!"
Koko blinked, realizing she'd been lost in the memory of that terrible evening, so long ago, for several minutes. Lloyd's stuffed dragon Yu was in her hands. She choked back a sob and hugged the dragon tight.
Garmadon set aside the green baby blanket he'd been holding himself and rushed to comfort his newly returned wife.
"Kokes! You okay? Those are tears of joy, right? Because we were so happy then? And we're going to be so happy again!"
"I'm sorry!" she sobbed, throwing her arms around Garmadon's neck, pulling him down for a kiss. "I'm so sorry!" she continued crying, hugging him tight and burying her head in his chest.
"I am so confused," mumbled Garmadon, not sure whether it was okay or not to be excited that she'd kissed him... in this particular situation. Yeah, probably not the time for lovey stuff.
Maybe it was too soon for reminiscing. He set aside the photo album he'd taken out. On the cover was a group of babies, including Lloyd, and their robot babysitter.
They could look through that another time.
At a bit of a loss what to do, he looked again at his list, trying to pick something that would cheer her up.
"Want to take the sharks for a swim?" he asked gingerly. "You can ride Gar?"
Koko swallowed, wiped her tears, and nodded.
"I could do with giving out some belly rubs," she whispered, trying to smile.
~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~
Author's Notes: Heh, sorry I didn't have more Echo and Dr. Julien for you guys, but I'm sure they'll be making a reappearance. Hopefully the Garmadon Family Drama was interesting enough to save me any complaints about that! For those that didn't get my hint last chapter, I made reference to this scene in chapter 13, during Wu's explanation of the Green Ninja. I don't currently have any more scenes that take place in the past planned, but I may decide to include some if you guys enjoyed it. And if it fits in with the story, of course.
Chapter 24 will not be Lloyd's sleepover at Cole's, I'm afraid. I've had a couple questions over that, and I'm afraid for plot reasons it's been pushed back to chapter 25. Chapter 24 WILL, however, include a much needed discussion between Wu and Lloyd, and maybe a bit of bonding as well.
Special thanks to Sunny Lighter for all her help with this chapter, as well as all the ones past and to come! The idea that Garmadon has a list of "Things For Koko And Me To Do When She Comes Home!" was all her! Though it's my idea that he has a much longer one for "Things for Lloyd, Koko, and Me To Do When She Comes Home!" It was supposed to be funny, but I ended up using it in such a sad scene, I suppose the joke is lost. Oh well. I believe she also came up with the idea of a certain robot babysitter! I'll probably go more into detail in that in the future.
Thanks also to Carrie2sky, Bookkeeper2004, CopperHillsGrizzly2010, EMPFangirl02, MasterOfMusic139, Pitch'snieceanddaughterofMew, Silvermags, and one anonymous Guest for reviewing last chapter! I'm so happy you all loved the Zane chapter! And, chatting with a couple of you, I've inspired some of you to draw the Ninja in kitty ears! I'm so excited! If at possible, I'd love to see any and all art based on my stories - even if you can't share them with me, let me know! It definitely brightens my day!