HELLO YES I AM ~ALIVE~
...so... sorry I haven't been updating, I've been feeling... uninspired.
but! I am back to writing after some kind of weird emo phase that lasted about 3 days
I don't have time for review replies. But take this fluff.
"So we'll take both Nyas." Kai 1 gestured to both water ninja, who were standing along the far wall. "The Lloyds and Gin can hold off any attacks while we're gone." He glanced around to make sure the others were following along, then continued. "We'll cross the desert tomorrow night, as quickly as we can, then rest until the next evening. Then we'll storm the city and take Bansha. But we'll have to be careful not to kill her. If she dies, she'll just come back.
"Once she's captive, the Nyas will sweep the city like they did with Stiix, once we bring Bansha to a safe place. It will be harder since there's no ocean handy to draw water from, so all ghosts will stay behind so there's no risk of them getting killed. Any questions?" Kai glanced around for a moment before Mira spoke up.
"Will we bring Bansha back to Stiix or lock her up in Ninjago City?"
"Bring her back to Stiix once the city is secure. Ninjago city, despite its size and location, isn't as great a stronghold as Stiix, a city literally surrounded by a ghost's worst nightmare." The red ninja gestured at the ocean through the window. "Anyone else?" Silence. "Great. Lloyd 1, you can come if you want, but I feel like you might wanna stay and keep an eye on Morro 2."
"Yeah, I do." The blond boy nodded.
"Okay. Anyone else wanna talk about going slash staying behind?" Silence. "Okay, then it's settled. Now let's see about lunch. I'm hungry." The group dispersed, some hanging around and discussing their plans while others left to do other things. Lloyd was one of the ones who left, heading down to the prison to check on Morro 2. It was the day after the former king had tried to kill himself, and the last time he checked the ghost wasn't improving at all. He wasn't in terrible pain anymore, at least.
Lloyd opened the door to the jail, and peeked in to see that Morro was asleep, curled up on the floor of his cell. Heh. Quietly, the blond slipped through the door and closed it behind him. The ghost didn't wake. Taking the keys from their hook on the wall, Lloyd unlocked his cell and stepped inside, kneeling next to him and touching his bandaged arm. Instantly, Morro's eyes flew open, and he let out a snarl as he jerked upright. As Lloyd jumped back in surprise, however, the former king crumpled back to the ground with a pain-filled groan.
"Stupid… reflexes…" he choked out through clenched teeth. "What… are you doing here?"
"I came to check on your burns. Sorry I startled you." The blond lifted his arm again, gently pressing on the bandages but stopping when Morro let out a hiss of pain.
"What do… you mean, 'check'?"
"See if they're infected. I don't know if that can happen to a ghost, but it would be really bad if it did."
"I… deserve it… probably…" Lloyd looked up at him with a frown. Was he… admitting to wrongdoing? That was out of character. Lloyd waited for him to go on, but the wind master just closed his eyes with a quiet sigh. Whatever, it was probably best not to bother him about it.
"Does it hurt more or less than yesterday?"
"A little… more, I think…"
"Oh." The blond frowned. That couldn't be good. "I can ask Andreea to try to heal you."
"She… she won't. Even if y-you don't hate me, she… does." Something was definitely going on with him.
"Still, I can try."
"No good."
"If I could get her to, would you let her?" Silence.
"…yeah."
"Then I'll try. In the meantime, I'll change these bandages." Standing up, Lloyd left in search of medical supplies, leaving Morro's cell unlocked – he doubted the ghost could get far in his current state, and the small gesture of trust might help their relationship. It was a couple minutes before he located the medical supplies, and when he came back, Morro hadn't moved an inch, lying quietly on the floor with his eyes half open. For a while, neither of them spoke as Lloyd replaced the ghost's bandages. The old ones looked fairly clean, but he wasn't taking any chances. As the blond started on his head, Morro spoke up quietly.
"Last night… the Preeminent spoke to me." Lloyd stopped.
"What did she say?"
"She said… she said she saw me try to escape. Called me a fool for thinking I could get another chance." So he was right. The Preeminent wouldn't take Morro back. "She… said I would never amount to anything ever again." Morro's voice was raw. "She said I would stay here, f-forever, rotting in a prison cell w-with no one else in the world, with everyone h-hating me…" The ghost's voice broke, and he curled up a little bit more, squeezing his eyes shut.
"Morro…" Lloyd rested a hand on his shoulder, but he didn't respond. "Morro?"
TheDarknessReturn
No, no, no, no, no no no no no no. He couldn't cry. Couldn't show weakness. Definitely not in front of Lloyd. Why had he thought it was a good idea to talk about the Preeminent? He was a stupid, worthless idiot.
"Morro?" Lloyd said a third time, his hand tightening a bit on his shoulder. He had to make him leave. He had to scare him off before he saw him cry.
"W-what?" He spat with as much venom as he could muster. It still came out sounding pathetic.
"I don't hate you." Carefully, the blond reached down and wrapped his arms around him from behind, lifting him up and resting his chin on his shoulder as he pulled him back against his chest.
"W-what are you d-doing?" the ghost stammered, feeling a lump rise in his throat. "S-stop it! You h-hate me!"
"No I don't."
"Yes you d-do!" Morro couldn't hold back a sob. "Y-you h-have to… e-everyone does…"
"The Preeminent lied to you. I know you've done bad things, but that doesn't mean you can't change. And it doesn't mean you can't be forgiven." Lloyd hugged him tighter. "It's okay." The ghost covered his face with one hand as he started to sob. He couldn't even control his emotions. "It's okay to cry." Lloyd murmured.
"No it's n-not…" Morro pressed his hand over his eye, staring at the ground with the other as he shook with sobs. "Crying is... a-a s-sign of w-weakness. I'm s-supposed to be s-strong…"
"Crying's not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of being in touch with your emotions. Which is a good thing."
"B-but-"
"Shh. Don't talk. Just let yourself cry."
"But-!"
"I said shh." Morro gave up, lifting his other hand up to his face and sobbing into his hands. Lloyd didn't let go of him, rubbing his unhurt shoulder a bit. Neither of them spoke as the ghost cried, shaking in the green ninja's arms. When he finally stopped, his body didn't stop shaking from both leftover misery and pain, but he did feel better. And Lloyd's hug wasn't… completely unwelcome. "Feel better?" The blond asked, his chin still on his shoulder.
"A… little, I guess." Morro mumbled.
"Good. Do you want me to leave?" He started to say 'yes', but… he didn't really want to be alone.
"…no."
"Okay." Lloyd rested his forehead against his shoulder. He was so… calm. How could he just sit here with him and comfort him, his greatest enemy? It didn't make sense. There's no way he could fake this. He just couldn't. Lloyd was a terrible liar anyway. They sat there in silence for a while before Morro worked up the courage to say,
"Thanks."
"You're welcome." Lloyd replied without missing a beat. "Are you still in a lot of pain?"
"Kinda…"
"Okay. I'm gonna go talk to Andreea." Letting go of him, the blond lowered him back to the ground before standing up and leaving, locking the cell behind him and leaving the room. Morro rolled over on his back, staring up at the ceiling. That was… surreal. Just… being so close to Lloyd, and not… hating it. Or being hated. They had shared a body before, which was pretty close, but there was always contempt directed towards each other. Always.
Even when they were apart, even when Lloyd was asleep, Morro could still feel hate radiating from him. Now… he was so calm around him? Even when he snapped at him and insulted him he didn't get mad, maybe a little sad, but never angry. Probably because he was so close with his Morro. But why? Hadn't the other him possessed him and hurt him too?
There were too many questions, ones he didn't have answers to, and he hurt too much to ask them. So he would wait. Closing his eyes, Morro blocked the pain out and let himself drift off to sleep.
~The next day~
Lloyd: we had a bonding moment! I cradled you in my arms!
Morro 2: nope. don't remember that. didn't happen.
In other news I've kinda had this self-insert fic in my head where I show up in ninjago around the beginning of season 5 and think "holy crap I can break the universe" and completely mess everything up
would anyone be interested in reading that
~FFF
P.S. I again have not proofread this so please excuse any typos or errors