Like Me

Summary: Lil'Loyd and Luh-Loyd bond over shared worries about non-human traits.

Timeline: Shortly after the end of Grass is Greener.

World: Movie-verse.

Author's Notes: This was actually my first gift-fic for Sunny Lighter, but it contained so many spoilers I had to hold off on posting! Since this was written fairly early on, a few things will probably change between this and the eventual Grass is Greener canon. For now, enjoy!

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

"Have you ever growled at someone?" whispered my younger counterpart, shrinking in on himself in his slightly oversized green gi. "Like, really growled."

The little guy looked so ashamed, so embarrassed. He obviously was not speaking hypothetically.

"Yeah," I confessed. "A few times. I don't think anyone noticed, but it feels really weird." I held a hand over my chest, about halfway between my heart and throat. "From right around here, yeah? More of a vibration than necessarily a sound?"

His large green eyes widened in relief. "Yes!"

I had to laugh. "Dude, did your hair stand up?"

"Totally! Thank goodness -"

"I had my hood on," we finished together, and both started giggling.

Unfortunately, the little guy sobered all too soon. "Do you think -" he started, then hesitated.

"It has anything to do with our dads?" I finished. "Since I'm guessing you did what I did the first time, and looked it up. And saw humans aren't supposed to growl, not like that. All rumbly and deep in the chest."

"And nothing at all about the hair. Closest thing I got was the word hackles, but that refers to hair going down the back. At least we don't have those, right?"

"At least not yet?" I tried a bit of a sardonic joke. He giggled, so it worked.

"Man, I agonized about it for years," I added, leaning back on my hands and looking out at the ocean. We were sitting alone on the docks, just outside the Ninja Warehouse while our dads talked. "Studied my teeth every morning for fangs. Cut my nails super short, terrified they were going to become claws if I let them grow out. Eventually Mom put a stop to that and confiscated the clippers until she could trust me with them again."

I glanced over at him. Obviously the thought had crossed his mind, though hopefully hadn't passed into action yet. "Don't go there, Lil'Loyd. It's really painful and they bleed sometimes. I never did get claws or fangs, so I don't think you have to worry either. A lot of fear and self-loathing over nothing."

"You sure?" he whispered, and leaned a little closer. I wrapped an arm around him and pulled him all the way against my side.

"Yeah. Nothing to worry about."

"I know I should tell Dad. Or Uncle Wu. But I... I just..."

I hugged him tighter and sighed. "I never told anyone either. It's scary. At least we have each other?"

He nodded and snuggled even closer. "Tell me if anything like that happens?" he asked in a shaky whisper. "So I can, um..."

"Be ready?" I replied, in nearly as soft a tone. "Okay. And you return the favor, okay?"

He nodded, but seemed hesitant about something. "Are you sure there's nothing else?"

It was my turn to hesitate.

"Seriously?! We just promised!"

"No no no!" I quickly tried to head off what looked like a temper tantrum. "It's not like that! I've never seen it myself, just something that Kai told me once!"

"What?" he whined. "Come on! You promised!"

"He, um, he said sometimes my eyes look kind of weird."

My younger counterpart blinked, looking confused.

"Think of my dad's eyes and you'll know why that bothered me," I explained.

His mouth opened in a silent oh. The one biggest difference between his dad and my own, prior to his dad being healed anyway. The glowing, fiery eyes like molten lava.

"Did Kai explain what he meant by weird?"

I fidgeted. "He said they flash sometimes. He wasn't able to explain more than that and kinda looked like he regretted saying anything in the first place."

Lil'Loyd kicked his feet as he thought. "That is kinda weird."

"Gee, thanks," I grumbled, giving him a playful shove.

"No, I mean, my eyes glow sometimes, but that's when I use my power. And your Green is really different from mine." He looked up at me with a bit of an apologetic smile. "I was actually born with red eyes - they only turned green after I started training to be the Green Ninja. It really freaked me out at first, but I'm used to it now."

"Huh. My eyes were green from the day I was born. I've seen photos," I replied thoughtfully. "Though I've never seen anyone else with my shade of green, until we met anyway. I looked up eye colors on the Internet, but nothing looked like mine. I was worried for the longest time that someone would make the connection and I'd be outed as the Green Ninja, but no one ever did."

We stared out over the water for a while.

"We're kinda weird," said my little bro, more as a matter of fact than anything to be upset over. But I knew better.

I ruffled his hair. "Speak for yourself, kid!" I teased.

"I am!" he giggled. And what can I say? He was totally right. My giggle quickly joined his.

"Sometimes I wonder if we're really human," he mused, staring off into nothing.

"With Grandfather and everything? Yeah. Me too. Like, I know our moms are. And probably our grandmas. But, sometimes, Dad and Uncle Wu just seem..."

"Yeah. And I don't know about living that long. Like, won't everyone else be dead?"

I gave a sad smirk. "With our luck? Who knows. We could be the first to go. Even if we're not, we're not alone. Right? You'll just be stuck with me for a few hundred years. Maybe the Zanes too."

His eyes widened at the realization that one (two?) of our friends faced the same dilemma as us. As morbid as the thought was, it seemed to give him some hope.

"Maybe Meowthra and Ultra too!" he whispered, almost in excitement. "You're right. We won't be alone."

I hugged him to my side again. "You know, my mom's got this phrase. Don't buy trouble. I asked what it meant when I was around your age. She said there's no point in spending your time and energy on worries that may never come to be. That each day will have trouble, worries and problems and things that don't work out - so why 'buy' more of it and just make yourself miserable?"

He nodded. "My dad's got something like that. You know how he's trying to go pacifist with his new monastery and everything? The whole art of the silent fist? He came up with this: Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift - that's why it's called the present."

"That's deep," I murmured.

"I honestly think he stole it from a kung-fu movie."

We both started giggling, which soon developed into full-bellied laughter that had us gasping for breath.

My mom called out from back on land. "Boys! Who wants dinner? Your dads are craving sushi!"

We scurried to get up and rejoin our parents. Today was a gift. So we'd better enjoy it while we could.