So the story behind how this fic came to be is kind of crazy. It started with me noticing that there are basically no fem!Lloyd fics out there, which led to me deciding to write my own. The story started as a funny, light-hearted tale about Protective Big Brother Ninjas but soon morphed it a story about how quickly society is to sexualize young teenage girls and Lissy having to deal with it. So read at your risk.
Also, a big shout out to Kay Hau and Black' Victor Cachat over on FFN for beta-ing this fic and letting me bounce ideas off of them. They're great writers so go check out their stuff, you won't regret it.
This story takes place after the episode 'Child's Play' but before the episode 'The Stone Army.'
Kai
"Hmmm, can we get popcorn, soda, and candy?" Lissy asked, big ruby eyes staring up at him pleadingly.
Kai felt his lips twitch upwards but bravely turned away from the Green Ninja's puppy eyes —truly the deadliest of her abilities— to scan the menu board of the movie theater's concession stand. 'Damn, $25 for the triple snack package? That has got to be highway robbery!'
Maybe it made sense though. This place was a half-rundown second-run movie theater, in a not-so-nice part of Ninjago City, so they had to make their money where they could. The tickets were only $3.50, after all that was the only reason why he could afford to take Lissy here while still being able to buy snacks and the bus fare back to Dareth's dojo, where the Bounty was parked.
"Sorry, kiddo. I don't think we'll be able to swing that today," he said, shaking his head reluctantly. "We can get the two medium sodas and a medium popcorn, a single large soda and popcorn, or slushies and candy, or water and —oh... actually, scratch that. $4 for a water bottle? That can't be legal! I—"
"We can just get the large soda and popcorn to share," Lissy insisted, cutting him off with barely a hint of disappointment in her voice. "That's the best deal."
One of the most surprising things Kai and the other ninja had come to realize about Lissy after the younger girl had come to live with them was that, despite the occasional pouting and temper tantrum, she was a remarkably easy child to please. Once she'd stop looking at them with suspicion, and they stopped treating her like an ill-mannered, selfish brat, it had been painfully easy to get Lissy to soften up to them. All it took was a coloring book, a candy bar, or some junky little knock-off barbie picked up from a dollar store on the way back from a mission, and the girl would just light up like a Christmas tree.
It reminded Kai all too much of how excited a younger Nya would get when he managed to scrape together enough to afford to get some new shoes, or a nice meal at the only restaurant in Ignacia.
And, more importantly, whoever presented one of these gifts, would be safe from pranks for at least a few days.
"Can't go wrong with that, it's the classic combination," he eventually said with a grin, stepping up to the counter to place their order. "I'll take a #2 please, extra butter and salt."
He only got a grunt of confirmation from the bored chick behind the counter, who handed him the soda cup and turned to get their popcorn. 'Well, I think it's safe to say this place isn't known for their customer service.'
Kai passed Lissy the cup, "Here, why don't you go fill this up? Anything but orange or Mountain Dew; Zane is going to kill me for letting you have any as it, so let's not push it with the extra sugar."
With a cheery grin, Garmadon's daughter bounced off towards the soda fountain. Kai smiled as he watched her go, but it turned into a frown when Nya's old, yet still too-large sandals nearly slid off her feet, causing the girl to trip.
'We need to get her some clothes that actually fit,' he thought with a frown. 'Lissy can't keep just wearing her ninja uniform and whatever hand-me-down outfits Nya can cobble together. But we just don't have the—'
"Money, sir?"
Kai blinked and tore his eyes away from Lissy to look back at the concession worker. "Huh?"
The teenage girl popped her gum and drawled, "Your money, sir? The total is $17."
"Oh, yeah. Sure, sorry," he stuttered, fumbling for his wallet.
Kai winced a little when he handed over most of the cash he had. While none of them had full-time jobs anymore, Sensei had reluctantly allowed them all to take the occasional odd job for a bit of spending money. The Fire Ninja was sure that, while the old master would never admit it, Wu understood this was the only way any of them would be able to afford anything except the bare necessities. It wasn't that they were hurting for funds, per se, as Sensei Wu had apparently amassed quite the nest egg over his many, MANY years, but an endless war against evil got expensive, leaving them with only enough money to afford necessities, and not much else.
And that included fun day trips out, which became a problem when Lissy's new training schedule was created.
Kai would like to say that, for the record, he never liked her original one to begin with! Who likes getting up at 5:30 AM? Not him, that is for sure, and certainly not a nine-year-old girl! And ten solid hours of training throughout the day? That can't be good for a little kid! Even if Zane had, tentatively, okayed it after hours of research on the extremes a child's body could be taken to, he'd seemed as unenthusiastic about it as the rest of it.
Lissy hadn't liked it either, yet, despite her grumbling, she'd taken to just about every skill they introduced like a fish to water. Things that had taken weeks or even months for any of them to learn, took her only days to grasp... Right up until she didn't.
The incident with the Grundel and being doused in Tomorrow's Tea hadn't been easy for anyone, least of all Lissy.
Bless her heart, the girl was handling like a champ. But, despite the strong, confident front she was putting it on, it was excruciatingly obvious to everyone that Lissy was in constant pain. She refused to acknowledge it of course, and would brush off their attempts to talk about it. But they could still clearly see the upset and discomfort Lissy experienced when she fell off a balance beam because her center of balance was off, or knocked something off the counter because the girl still wasn't used to her new length of reach, or when Lissy realized that her skeleton hoodie no longer fit. Hell, Nya had even told him that she found Lissy trying to throw away the few toys and stuffed animals they managed to scrounge up for her. Thankfully, his sister secretly saved all of it from the trash, and they were now hidden in a box under Cole's bed but still...
So maybe it was watching Lissy tear up in frustration the day she fell over and over again, or maybe it was hearing her whimper as her new body was wracked with growing pains that made him and everyone else go to Sensei and demand a change. Or maybe it was the day that she got a migraine so horrible that Lissy hid away in her closet, unable to eat or talk to anyone. Or maybe it was the day she fell trying to get out of bed and ended up breaking down, sobbing, and refusing to be comforted by anyone. Instead, she just curled in on herself and screamed that she hated all of them —and hadn't that felt like an arrow to the heart to her— until finally falling asleep.
But, whatever it was, everyone came to Sensei Wu and announced that they'd unanimously come to the decision that this could not go on. Zane came with all sorts of data on the dangers of over-exerting a young, still-developing body and the importance of both variation and rest periods in training. Cole testified about all the overwhelming amounts of dance classes his father had forced him into, about how the pressure eventually caused him to snap and, "Do you want Lissy to come to hate spinjitzu, Sensei? Do you want her to run away and spend the rest of her life climbing mountains in the middle of nowhere? Do you want Lissy to start resenting you to the point that she doesn't see or talk to you for years? Because that is what will happen if you keep pushing her!"
—They'd sent Cole to bed early after that little outburst. He needed the sleep; the poor guy was under too much stress lately—
Jay, who undoubtedly had the most normal upbringing out of any of them, had pointed out that Lissy really needed more than just two hours of actual, academic book learning a day. As it stood, the future Savior of Ninjago was already a third-grade drop-out, and (while Kai was in no position to judge) that was just sad. What if someone asked Lissy to do long division on national television? Or officials asked her to read an important document? What if she needed to compete in a Spelling Bee, or list the stages of the rain cycle?
—Okay, those last ones were admittedly unlikely but Kai had seen too much weird shit to count anything out—
Kai and Nya just pleaded that Lissy's current regiment was breaking her.
Then they all flat out refused to keep training the girl unless things changed.
It was their destiny to protect the Green Ninja from anything and anyone that might harm her, after all —this included.
Sensei had resisted the idea of changing up his niece's training schedule, stating that the Final Battle was now closer than ever and she needed to be ready. They retorted that Garmadon didn't want to fight Lissy any more than she wanted to fight him, especially if he knew that training for it was hurting his beloved daughter so badly. Despite every negative thing Kai could say about the man —was he even a man anymore? Kai couldn't be sure— it was clear that he loved Lissy fiercely, and wanted her to be happy.
Eventually, the old master had given in, and the appropriate changes were made. The 5:30 AM wake-up call had been pushed back to 7:00 AM (and 8:00 AM on the weekends! FSM, it had been so long since Kai had gotten to sleep in so late!). There was an increased variety in training activities so Lissy wasn't doing too much of the same thing every day, coming to include more relaxing things like swimming, meditation, flexibility training, and increased leisure time. Additional lessons included Zane putting Lissy through First Aid training, and Nya and Jay teaming up to teach Lissy more about machines, mechanics, and all that technical stuff that went right over Kai's head.
It was also decided that, to ensure neither her body nor mind would overload, Lissy would be taking every Friday off from ninja training. She'd be spending the first half of the day doing her schoolwork, and then the second half of the day was special. Taking turns, Kai and the other guys would be taking Lissy out into the city for short little trips, usually to the park or something similar, but sometimes, if they had the money, to places like the arcade or zoo.
Overall, it was a good system for everyone. Lissy was under less pressure and got to have the fun she deserved while Kai and the other guys got regular breaks from their own training...weather and lack of Garmadon attacks permitting.
Today it was his turn and, when Kai had asked what she wanted to do that afternoon, she showed him an ad in the newspaper for a showing of Disney's Tangled at this dumpy little second-run theater. Kai initially had been resistant —he didn't like taking Lissy to this part of the city— but the Green Ninja had turned those big puppy eyes on him and pleaded, "Please Kai, I always wanted to see this movie! I didn't get a chance to see it at Darkely's; they didn't let us see anything where the bad guy lost at the end!"
So, of course, he melted, and here they were now.
Balancing the tub of buttery popcorn in his arms, he scanned the theater's lobby for Lissy. His eyes almost slid right over her, still used to searching for Lissy's tiny little hoodie-wearing child form, until Kai spotted her talking to one of the other concession workers.
He took a moment to glance over the patchwork outfit Nya had managed to throw together for her. When Lissy came into their care as a kid, —'She still is a kid,' Kai reminds himself furiously. 'No matter how she looks, Lissy is still a kid!'— it had been with just the worn clothes on her back, and a small backpack full of what seemed to be the pitiful sum of the girl's worldly possessions, including a little stuffed rabbit that she guarded furiously. They'd managed to get her some new(er) clothes, which seemed to delight Lissy, but much of that had been lost to the Great Devourer, and what hadn't now no longer fit.
Which created certain...problems.
Lissy could wear some of Nya's old stuff, but the two girls simply didn't have the same body shape and were still vastly different heights so not much actually fit. And, unfortunately, they just didn't have the money to buy the girl the new clothes she needed. They managed to get a few of the necessities thankfully; Cole had generously donated the cash his dad had sent him to get Lissy a few pairs of the bras and underwear she needed. The girl had argued against taking the money at first, only for the Master of Earth to just shove it into Lissy's hand, and send her off to the store with Nya to get what she needed.
The guys all loved Lissy, but that wasn't a shopping trip any of them wanted to be a part of!
Except that still left Lissy mostly wearing Kai's or the other guys' old clothes. Today it was a combination of Nya's too-large sandals, and an old pair of exercise shorts under one of Cole's giant t-shirts. Add a denim jacket from middle school that Jay had brought over from his parents' house, and a belt and you could almost call it fashionable, especially after Nya had done some crude tailoring. Kai's sister was far from being a professional seamstress but, after years of patching up both of their clothes, she had enough skills for little jobs like this.
That didn't make Kai feel any better about the fact they couldn't afford to properly clothe the future Savior of Ninjago though.
"Lis?" he called out, approaching the girl.
"Kai!" Lissy spun around to face him, positively beaming and thrusting a bag of candy out towards him. "Look what I got!"
'Atomic Firebombs?' Kai wondered, squinting down at the bag of his favorite candy. "Lissy, where did you get these? You didn't buy them, did you? You should be saving your money, kiddo."
The Green Ninja's face fell —which made Kai feel like an ass!— and she shook her head. "No, it's fine! He—" she pointed at the concession worker she'd been talking to "—gave me some candy for free! Isn't that awesome?"
Kai glanced at the worker, a skeevy-looking older teenager with stringy dirty blond hair and neck tattoos, and frowned as the guy shifted uncomfortably under his amber-eyed gaze. "Yeah, awesome. Hey, did you get the soda?"
"Oh sorry, I forgot. Give me one minute."
Once Lissy was out of earshot, Kai turned back to the concession. "What the hell, dude?"
"Sorry, bro, I didn't know she was taken." the guy chuckled, holding his hands up. "Can't blame me for trying though. We never get anything that sweet looking around here, and I like the innocent-looking ones.
"Those eyes are kind of creepy, though. I wouldn't take her to be the kind of girl to wear those weird contacts. Not that I mind, freaky chicks are always into the wildest stuff."
If Kai still had the ability, the worker would have been reduced to a smoldering pile of ash. Even now, he'd swear that he felt the popcorn bucket growing hot under his fingers.
"She is my baby sister," he growled out through gritted teeth. "And she is just a kid, so keep your mind out of the gutter!"
That got him a dirty, yellow-toothed smirk, "Pretty well-developed for a little kid, eh?"
The term 'white-hot rage' had never rung so true to Kai then it did at that moment and he was about ready to drop the popcorn, leap around the counter, and strangle the asshole. Sadly, before Kai could enact the proper vengeance for such comments, Lissy was back at his side.
"Kai? Why are you so pale?" she asked, big ruby eyes wide with worry. "Are you feeling sick? Do we have to go home?"
Forcing the rage down, Kai took a deep breath, still glaring daggers at the concession work, who shuffled away, and shook his head. "No, I'm fine."
"Then c'mon, the movie is starting soon!" Lissy said, tucking a hand around his elbow and tugging Kai towards the theater.
"Alright, alright, don't pull so hard, or you'll make me drop the popcorn."
As they stood waiting in line for the ticket taker Kai, was content to forget the entire confrontation with the pervy concession worker ever happened. At the very least, they'd gotten some free candy out of it! Though Kai was going to check over every box of candy carefully before letting Lissy eat any of it.
Then Lissy piped up, "What did that guy mean when he said I was 'well-developed'?"
It felt like Zane hit him in the face with an icy blast and Kai bit his lip, fruitlessly looking around for something...anything he could use to deflect the conversation. There was nothing though, nothing but the curiously look on his charge's face.
"It, uh, means he thought that you were... really mature for your age," he stammered. "It was a compliment."
The pleased smile on Lissy's face made Kai feel sick, and he felt regret come over him the very instant the words left his lips.
But what else could Kai have said? 'Oh, that dude was a total creep who wanted to sleep with you, even after I told him how young you were?'
FSM, no! Lissy already had enough crap to deal with as is, what with the whole 'destined to kill her own father' thing! Kai couldn't add to that by telling Lissy that she'd basically been targeted by a creeper looking to use candy to get on her good side!
"Cool!" the girl chirped, handing over their tickets. "You heard that, Kai? I'm all grown up now!"
Something squirmed deep in Kai's gut, but he forced a smile, ruffling Lissy's fluffy blond hair. "Oh, no you aren't! And even if you were actually fifteen, that's still not a grown up!"
She ducked away, "You're messing up my hair! It took Nya a whole fifteen minutes to do it this morning!"
Kai chuckled, tucking a few strands back into place behind Lissy's ear. "C'mon, it's our turn. The ticket taker is waiting for us."
'You're still a kid, Lissy. And if I have anything to say about it, you will be for a long time coming.'
If there was one thing nice about this entire place, it was the seats in the theaters. Well, they were actually rows of comfy couches and loveseats. While lacking in cup holders, they made it easy for Kai and Lissy to snag a quiet, private seat in the front of the half-full theater. It didn't take long after the lights had dimmed, and the trailers had rolled, for Lissy to snuggle up against Kai's side, her head on his shoulder, with one arm looped through his elbow, and the other clutching the large soda to her chest.
This was their usual routine when watching a movie together. When they were all gathered around the Bounty's TV for some relaxing family time, Lissy would smush herself in between Kai and whomever he was sitting next to —usually Nya or Cole, and snuggle up tight against his side. Despite the teasing he usually got for it, Kai never really minded. In fact, the first time he woke up after passing out on the couch to find little Lissy sleeping on his chest, it had actually been a great victory! Lissy was slow to open up to the ninja at first, so for her to leave herself so open and vulnerable meant she was finally starting to trust them.
The kid didn't like to talk about life prior to living with them but Kai got the feeling trust was something Lissy had much experience with, even before being betrayed by a bunch of evil snake people.
Kai watched the screen with only half-interest. It wasn't that the movie was bad or anything, he liked the characters well enough, and the animation was pretty, but this just wasn't his thing. So, as time passed, the Master of Fire zoned out, absent-mindedly munching on popcorn and fiddling with a lock of Lissy's hair that kept tickling his nose.
"Could someone ever really do that?" Lissy whispered, startling Kai out of his daze. "Lock a person they love up in a tower forever? Keep them away from the rest of the world?"
"Gothel doesn't really love Rapunzel, just her power," he whispered back.
Lissy frowned, "I know, but still... Could you ever do that to Nya or..."
She trailed off, not finishing her thought, but Kai understood all the same.
"Could you do that to me?"
In the back of his mind, some horrible part of Kai said yes, because, on more than one occasion and not just as a passing thought either, he had thought about it. Not so much the forced imprisonment thing, but taking Lissy far away from Ninjago City? From Garmadon? From her destiny? Yeah, he'd considered that before.
There had to be some beautiful island paradise somewhere out there that he could hide his baby sister away on! Someplace where she'd never had to kill the father she deeply, desperately loved. A place Lissy could spend her days playing on the beach, and being the little kid she never really got to be.
A stupid thought, Kai could admit, but a beautiful dream.
"Kai?"
Ever since that day in the volcano, the way Lissy looked at him completely changed. Now she looked at Kai like he was supposed to have all the answers in the world. Nothing had ever made Kai feel more important; like he was part of something greater than he could ever imagine, and nothing had ever left him more terrified.
"No. As much as you want to protect someone, taking away their freedom isn't love," he said. Then he glanced over Lissy's head down the row of seats to see a teenage boy staring at her. 'I'll have to keep you safe another way.'
He pulled off the hoodie he'd brought in case the theater was cold and draped it over Lissy's bare legs.
"So how'd you like the movie?"
"It was so good! I liked the songs, and how Rapunzel saves Flynn at the end instead of the other way around! And I really liked the horse! I bet that horse could learn spinjitzu!" Lissy chattered, undoubtedly on a sugar high from the soda. She'd crash hard tonight, that was for sure.
Almost on queue, the girl made a face and rubbed her stomach. "Ugh, my belly hurts."
Kai snorted and held up the nearly empty bucket of popcorn, rattling it. "Between all that popcorn, soda, and candy, I'm not surprised. You better be feeling okay by dinner though, or else we'll both be getting a lecture from Zane!"
Lissy huffed and gave him a playful shove. "What time do we have to be back at the Bounty?"
Glancing up at the big clock in the theater lobby, Kai clicked his tongue. "Soon. I'm going to use the bathroom real quick and then we'll leave, alright? Go wait over by the Pacman machine; I'll be back in a second."
That got him an exaggerated eye roll. "I'm not a little kid anymore!"
"Yes, you are!"
Kai should have known better than to leave Lissy alone.
The last time he'd done that, Skales had nearly kidnapped the girl from the apartment he, Jay, Zane, and Cole were working their asses off to afford, partly because it was supposed to have the best security system money could buy! And the time before that... He hated even thinking about it.
Exiting the bathroom, his amber eyes immediately zeroed on the Pacman machine where he'd told Lissy to wait, and his blood boiled when saw that she was talking to the skeevy concession worker again. The guy had her up against the side of the arcade machine, one hand propped upon it beside Lissy's head so he was leaning over her. Kai couldn't hear what they were saying —Lissy was giggling and gesturing excitedly, so the creepy couldn't have been anything too overtly gross— except then the worker twirled a lock of the girl's hair around his finger, causing Lissy's smile to briefly falter, and the Fire Ninja decided enough was enough!
Despite knowing well and good that Lissy could rip this guy's spleen out through his nose, Kai stormed over to his charge and her harasser. But, before he could shove the guy away, Lissy glanced his way and, the second their eyes met, the girl just brightened right back up.
"Kai!" she called, waving excitedly and —thank the FSM— stepping away from the worker. "Over here!"
At her enthusiasm and happiness, the young Master of Fire stumbled in his step and forced himself to take a deep breath.
'I need to be calm,' he reminded himself. 'I need to control myself. I can't let Lissy see me so upset; I don't want her to have to deal with this.'
"Ready to head out, kiddo?" Kai asked, forcing a smile and trying not to make it too obvious that he was eyeing the creep over Lissy's shoulder.
"Yeah, sure," she said hurriedly, all but bouncing on the balls of feet. "But Kai, Randy here—" she waved a hand in the direction of the worker "—was telling me how he managed to get his hands on an advanced copy of the new Starfarer video game and invited me over to his apartment to play it! I know it is getting late but can I go, Kai? Please?"
"Yeah, Kai. Can she go, please?" the creepy parroted, a mocking tinge to his voice.
Despite Lissy's pleading eyes, a hard "NO!" came easily. That didn't mean the crestfallen look on the little Green Ninja's face at his refusal didn't hurt though. It was always hard to see; he hated when he couldn't make Lissy happy, even when it was for the best.
He gave her arm a comforting rub and smiled, "I know you want to play, but..."
Kai trailed off when the snickering worker caught his eye and gave a nasty smirk. He mouthed the word, 'Play,' looked pointedly at Lissy, and brought two fingers up to his mouth, forming a V, and waggled his tongue through the gap.
Silently, he pushed right past Lissy and lunged, his fist slamming into his nose with an immensely satisfying 'CRUNCH!'
"I'm sorry, Sensei Wu, it was unbecoming of me to react in such a way, especially against someone I outmatched so completely."
Kneeling on the tatami mat of Sensei's private quarters, Kai stared down into the murky depths of his filled teacup and recounted the events of that day. Even after breaking the concession worker's nose, it hadn't been enough. He'd hit the guy at least three more times, his lanky body slamming against the Pac-Man machine again and again as blood splattered everywhere. His heart pounding in his ears, Kai hadn't heard the screaming from the crowd that had gathered nor Lissy's begging for him to stop. Except he'd certainly felt it when Lissy ripped him off of the creep, her enhanced strength easily rivaling Cole's.
Seeing her tear-stained, frightened face snapped Kai out of his rage and, after seeing everyone staring at them with slack-jawed horror, he'd grabbed the girl's hand and bolted out the door.
Sure, it wasn't exactly heroic but neither was having to get bailed out by his sensei.
"I know I shouldn't have done it," the young Master of Fire continued, staring down at his bruised, scabbed knuckles, "but that guy... the way he was looking at Lissy, the way he was talking about her... It made me sick! I just wanted to hurt him!"
Years ago, when they'd been helpless orphaned kids in Ignacia, there had been people who'd looked at him and Nya like that. Usually, they'd been travelers just passing through, and probably thought the two seemingly unsupervised kids would make an easy target. Had it not been for the vigilance of the other townsfolk who'd always gone out of their way to look after the siblings, who knows what could have happened to the two of them?
He wanted to be someone like that for Lissy now, someone who could protect and shelter her.
Master Wu closed his eyes and gave an understanding nod. "Your burning desire to protect others, especially those you love, is one of your most admirable traits, Kai. But you must always be wary of letting that passion consume you with rage, less love becomes hate. You know this."
"I understand, Sensei," Kai said, ready to accept his punishment.
"But, while as your master and guardian, I cannot condone you using violence against someone so much weaker than you, as Lysandra's uncle... Did you knock out any teeth?"
"What?" Kai blinked, startled and confused by the words that left the old master's lips. "W-what are you talking about, Sensei?"
"Did you hit him hard?" Sensei Wu asked, an expression of intense seriousness on his wrinkled old face. "Did you do any lasting damage?"
"This isn't funny, Master Wu! I could have really hurt that guy!" the Red Ninja exclaimed. Did he hit his head and fall into Bizzaro Land? "Aren't you supposed to punish me or something? Beating the tar out of some creep in a movie theater can't be how one of the protectors of Ninjago's future savior is supposed to act!"
"Oh, yes... of course," Sensei nodded, face falling into a solemn, serious expression. But then... "Did it feel good?"
.
.
.
"Yeah, it felt really good," Kai reluctantly admitted, fighting back his own amusement.
The old master chuckled, "Just hearing about it is immensely satisfying. However, you aren't to do it again...without my or Lysandra's express permission. As for your punishment...you are to do all of the dishes this week."
Kai frowned in confusion, "But, Master Wu, it's already my week to do dishes."
"Yes, well, don't remind anyone of that... Oh, and we will never speak of this incident to my brother. I don't even want to think about what Garmadon would do if he learned some ruffian making unpleasant advances towards his daughter!" Sensei Wu said, shaking his head as left the room. "Finish your tea, Kai, it will make you feel better. Then you may want to speak with my niece. I'm sure she could use some comfort and reassurance after today."
Of all the advice the old Spinjitzu master tended to offer, 'Drink your tea,' was usually pretty high on that list.
'Doesn't mean it's bad though,' Kai muses, swallowing down the rest, and trying not to think of the carnage Papa Wolf Garmadon would cause if he found out some skeevy teenager was trying to get with his underaged daughter.
'On the other hand, terrorizing creeps would keep him distracted... Maybe I should start keeping a list.'
Unsurprisingly, Jay, Zane, and Cole are all hovering by the door, and waiting to pounce on Kai with questions.
"What happened, dude?" Jay asks in the loudest whisper Kai ever heard. "Lissy ran right into her room when you guys got home. She looked really freaked out!"
"Yeah, did you take her to see a horror movie or something?" Cole chimed in, the humor in his voice in sharp contrast to the serious look on his face.
"What? No!" Kai shook his head, giving the Master of Earth a strange look as he pushed through his brothers to get to his bedroom. "You know as well as I do that Lissy is fine with scary movies."
Like, worryingly fine. Darkley's really messed that kid up.
"So what happened then?"
"There was..." Kai sighed, silently waving the other three into their shared bedroom and closing the door. Dropping his voice, not wanting Lissy to hear them through the shared wall, he explained. "There was this creep at the movie theater, one of the workers there, who kept... well, you know!"
Zane frowned deeply, brows furrowed. "If you are implying what I believe you are implying, then that is quite inappropriate! Even factoring in her physical age, Lissy is still considered to be too young for such advances. "
"Unfortunately, plenty of assholes out there don't care about that," Cole growled, looking very much like he wanted to go hunt this guy down himself.
"I know!" Kai explained. "So I snapped and beat the crap out of the guy after he tried to get Lissy to go back to his apartment."
"WHAT!?"
The indignant, protective rage of his three brothers gave Kai reassurance that his actions were not unwarranted; any of them, even calm and patient Zane, would have done the same thing.
"How did—"
"I can't believe someone would-"
"Asshole!"
"Be quiet!" he hissed, jerking his head in the direction of Lissy's room. "Do you want to freak her out more with all your screeching?"
In unison, Zane, Cole, and Jay all snapped their jaws shut, though the shock and anger were still clear in their eyes.
"So what did you do?" Cole asked, folding his massive arms.
Kai let out a long sigh, "At first I tried to get him to back off, then I tried to get Lissy away from him. When neither of those worked..."
He trailed off and wordlessly held his bruised fist.
Jay gave a low whistle. "You must have really wailed on that guy!"
"There was blood everywhere. I definitely broke his nose," Kai said, shaking his head. "We should have just left! I feel like a complete moron!"
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Kai," Zane soothed, already taking Kai's hand in his cool ones to check for injuries. "You were just trying to protect Lysandra; I would have done the same."
Cole and Jay both hummed in agreement, but Kai just shook his head again.
"Protect Lissy? I completely freaked her out!" he said. "She wouldn't even look at me on the bus!"
He was honestly surprised that they'd been allowed on the bus in the first place, considering the blood that had been splattered across Kai's shirt and knuckles, and a visibly nervous, young girl with him. But, then again, people from the big city were strangely apathetic to such things.
He should probably be concerned about that really, yet that seemed more for Future Kai to worry about. The last thing he wanted was to succumb to the apathy that seemed to infect city dwellers like a virus.
Jay shifted uncomfortably, "Do you think she understood what the guy was talking about? I mean, do you think she...knows about that stuff?"
A shiver went down Kai's spine and all of his brothers looked sick. Pushing down the nausea bubbling in his gut, Kai knelt down to look under Cole's bed.
"I don't know," he admitted. "But I'm going to find out."
Not infrequently, Lissy would bring up some incident or other for her time 'living' —her choice of words, not Kai's— on her own that made them all freeze and shove down their instinctual horrified reaction. Lissy was smart, and not just when it came to books either; she could pick a lock and slide a wallet out of a man's pocket without being noticed, and pick the best spot to survey a room from like it was second nature. But she was still a little kid and, despite her...unconventional upbringing, some part of Lissy was still naive. Some part of her wanted to see the best in people.
Maybe that made sense; if Lissy could see the best in her father, a literal evil warlord, then she could see it in anyone.
It kept Kai awake at night, thinking about the near misses Lissy had with people far eviler than Lord Garmadon. The things that could have happened to her. The things Lissy didn't even seem aware of.
'I know they say ignorance is bliss, but Lissy has to know about the kind of people who are out there,' he thought. 'If something happened to her because I didn't say anything, I'd throw myself back into that volcano.'
"Ah-ha!"
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Kai tapped his knuckles against Lissy's door, box tucked under his arm. When he got no answer, he knocked again, this time calling out, "Lissy? Can I come in?"
Still no answer.
'Is she sleeping or something?'
The door wasn't locked so, even though Nya would give him crap for 'disrespecting a girl's privacy,' Kai let himself in —opening the door slowly so Lissy could shout at him to get out if she was changing or something.
But she wasn't changing, she wasn't doing anything; Lissy wasn't even sleeping. Instead, she was lying on her stomach in bed, face turned to the wall, and rested on folded arms. Aside from her ruby eyes flicking in his direction, Lissy didn't even acknowledge Kai as he entered the room, closing the door behind him.
"Hey."
"Hi," she mumbled.
"Can I sit down?"
Wordlessly, the little green ninja sat up, folded in on herself. But, silent as it may be, the action was still an invitation so Kai plopped his butt down on Lissy's futon and settled the box on his lap.
"How are you feeling?"
The girl shrugged, "I don't know."
Kai bit his lip, "Are you angry with me?"
Another shrug. "I don't know. I thought that we were having a nice day, and then you just started beating on Randy! Why did you do that?!"
The Red Ninja braced herself at her accusatory tone. "Because… because he was acting inappropriately to you, Lissy. Very inappropriately."
Lissy gave him a confused look. "What do you mean? He just gave me some candy and wanted to play video games."
Drawing in a deep breath, Kai closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, he wasn't. You probably don't understand —FMS, I hope you don't understand— but he didn't do that to be friendly, Lissy. He did those things because he was interested in you… in a way he shouldn't have been."
Beads of sweat had formed on the young Master of Fire's forehead, but despite that, for the first time in a long time, he felt cold. He swallowed the lump in his throat, and forced himself forward.
"I lied to you earlier, Lissy," he admitted, the guilt returning. "When that worker called you 'well-developed,' he wasn't saying you were a mature young lady, he was talking about your body. He was…he was talking about your body in a way that no one ever should, especially not someone so much older than you. And if he'd tried that with Nya, she'd probably have hit him too. Just not as much as I did… Probably."
.
.
.
"Oh," Lissy whispered after a long moment, her face pale. "So it was about sex."
Something in Kai's brain short-circuited when he heard that.
"How did— What do you— Did someone?" he sputtered out. "Are you—"
Lissy cut him off with a bitter roll of the eyes, "I know what sex is, Kai! Darkley's did sex ed young. I mean, I don't know the specifics, but I know how babies are made!"
'I'm going to burn that place to the ground,' the teenager decided. He'd probably be able to get Nya to help. Heck, GARMADON would probably help! "Uhhhh, that isn't exactly the same thing, but do you…?"
Kai trailed off, unable to think of what he should ask.
Whatever he originally intended to ask was lost though, when Lissy spoke up.
"Did I... did I do something wrong?"
FSM, did that one simple question make Kai want to cry!
"N-no, kiddo!" he croaked out, crushing Lissy against him in a side hug. "Look, what that guy said... what that guy tried to do... That is all on him! Even if you were actually fifteen—"
"But I am fifteen!" Lissy insisted, cutting him off. Then she frowned, "Aren't I? I mean, I'm old enough to fight now, and if I can do that, shouldn't I be old enough for... other stuff?"
On one hand, that made sense. It was probably hypocritical for them to allow Lissy onto missions due to her physical age but still think she was too young for other aspects of growing up. But... it was different! Kai couldn't explain why but there was something different between being forced by circumstances into helping Lissy fulfilling her destiny sooner than expected, and throwing the girl to the slobbering, hungry, hormonal wolves.
"I- I wish I knew the right thing to say, Lissy," the young Master of Fire sighed. "But I'm not sure there is any right way to explain this kind of thing. What I do know is that, no matter how old you look, no matter how old you get, no one has the right to make you uncomfortable; no one has the right to treat you like a piece of meat! That isn't how relationships are built, and that isn't how guys, or anyone, should act! And, if I could go back to earlier this evening, I wouldn't have let you be ignorant of what the worker was after, Lissy. I didn't want to upset you, but ended up leaving you vulnerable, and I'm sorry for that, kiddo."
"It's okay," Lissy mumbled, squeezing his arm. "This is new territory for all of us, I guess. You couldn't have known how to handle the situation."
Kai fought back an amused snort and ruffled his charge's hair, earning him an annoyed whine. Then he added, "Well, I do know that you didn't have to throw away all of this."
With that, he opened the small box of Lissy's belongings, and put it in the girl's lap.
"I got rid of all of this," she said, staring down at the collection of toys and trinkets in confusion.
"Yeah, Nya saw you doing and saved everything," Kai explained with a shrug. "But why did you? This one—" he picked up a small, blue stuffed dragon with golden sparkles that Jay had won from a carnival game "—was one of your favorites! Why toss him out? I'm just glad you didn't toss out your bunny!"
Said stuffed bunny was currently peeking out from under a pile of clothes in Lissy's closet, its tiny button eyes somehow sad and dull. Kai's heart ached for the little thing.
"Because this is all baby stuff!" Lissy exclaimed, shoving the box away. "I don't need any of it anymore!"
Kai shook his head, "Oh, Lissy. Jay still sleeps with his favorite plush! Cole keeps his baby blanket in his trunk. When I was first learning blacksmithing, I made Nya this little... Well, it was supposed to be a heart but it ended up looking like a hockey puck, but she still keeps it in her jewelry box. We all keep things from our childhood because they make us feel good. You don't grow out of needing comfort."
Lissy bit her lip and looked up at him with big ruby eyes, "Even you?"
"Even me," he nodded, pulling something out of his pocket and passing it to the girl.
"What's this?" Lissy asked, turning the small, spade-shaped piece of metal over in her hands. "It looks like a fence spike."
"That's exactly what it is," Kai chuckled, taking it back. "When I was little, I used to watch my dad work in my parents' shop, and, one day, he was making pieces for a new fence. One of the posts came out wrong and the security spike—" he held up the metal piece "—fell off. It was still red-hot, yet I was, like, three years old, and didn't know any better, so I went to pick it up. I would have burned my hand really bad, but Dad grabbed it away. Thankfully, he was wearing gloves, but still got hurt. I remember feeling so guilty about it, only for my dad to just brush it off, saying that he'd rather deal with a little burn than see me in pain. Ever since then, I've held onto it as a sort of...totem, I guess, to remind me of how much my dad loved me."
"Wow," Lissy breathed. "Your dad sounds like... he sounds really awesome!"
"He was. My mother too," Kai said, smiling soft and sad. He didn't remember much about his parents, but he knew that for certain. "I wish you'd gotten to meet them."
"Me too," she said, dropping her head against his arm.
Sadness for the past, for what had been lost, and what could have been, welled up in Kai's throat. He forced it away though; now was not the time to face it, and picked up the blue stuffed dragon once more.
"What I'm saying is, we all have things from our childhood that give us comfort. Hell, I bet Master Wu has some stuff from his and Lor —your dad's childhood. So, if this stuff—" Kai gestured to her box of belonging "—makes you happy, then you'll never be too old for it."
Lissy said nothing, just stared down at the box of toys. Her hair fell loose, a long curtain of golden blonde waves hiding her face. Just as Kai was about to ask if she was okay again, the girl let out a sharp, high-pitched whine.
"I hate this!" Lissy said, curling back up into a little ball and clutching the box close. "I hate this all so much!"
"I know, kiddo. I hate it too," Kai said, pulling her close. "But I swear, I'll be by your side every step of the way."
I promise this isn't going to turn into a 'All Men Are Evil Pigs' so of deal. Plenty of predatory sexualization comes from women too.