AN: Beta'd by Sunny Lighter. This is a late Valentine's Day one-shot that I just had to write for Dinogaby on Deviantart. Warning: reading this fic may cause tooth decay. Enjoy the fluff!

Valentine's Day was coming to Ninjago in just a few short days. It was a time for romance; flowers, chocolates and sappy cards. Various shops had even put up hearts in the windows and rose petals on the sidewalks for effect. There were signs for sales of various kinds of things you could buy the special someone in your life.

In his volcanic lair, Garmadon sighed deeply. It was going to be the first Valentine's day that he was going to celebrate with his family in a very long time. Turning over a new leaf to 'be good' wasn't easy for him. Old habits die hard, and he struggled with his conquering tendencies. He had promised Luh-Loyd and Koko that he wouldn't attack Ninjago anymore, but that didn't mean the desire was just gone. At least his son seemed to want to believe in him and actually wanted to spend time with him. He had come to the volcano a few times and they had fun playing video games (Garmadon prided himself on having an awesome holographic gaming system) and they had even gone fishing. Koko, on the other hand, was slower to warm up to him. She was still skeptical of his reform, not to mention what he had done in the past. Not that Garmadon could really blame her. Still, he did really want to connect with his family and especially with her. He wanted to try at least to start to make things right.

Which brought him to his current predicament. He had invited his family to come to the volcano for Valentine's Day. He was hoping that Koko would come if Luh-Loyd was with her, as then it wouldn't be as awkward and to his surprise, she had agreed, even if she had sounded uncertain. Garmadon really wanted everything to be nice and special, but not too over the top. Just because he had been a ruthless warlord, didn't mean that he wasn't romantic, especially when it came to Koko. She had such a way about her, that he just couldn't help himself. And he could be quite the charmer when he wanted to be. Garmadon's eyes took on a dreamy look as he thought about Koko. He was still very much in love with her and he hoped that one day, she would let him back into her life again. For now, he needed to decide what to do…

When Valentine's Day came, Koko and Lloyd found themselves waiting at the dock for one of Garmadon's General's to pick them up and take them to the volcano. Lloyd was wearing some nice black pants with a nice green shirt. (his favorite colors) He had wanted to wear something nicer than his green hoodie. Koko was wearing a nice looking dress (which she didn't wear often), but it wasn't too fancy. She didn't want to give Garmadon the wrong idea. Her hair was pulled up in its usual style.

Lloyd wasn't exactly sure what his father had planned, but he thought it was nice to spend some time together as a family.

"I still can't believe I'm doing this," Koko remarked to Lloyd as they waited.

"Well, it can't be all that bad, can it?" asked Lloyd. "He's trying at least."

Koko sighed. "Yeah, I guess so." In truth, she was a bit curious to see what the former warlord had planned for them. She wasn't sure exactly what to expect and it made her feel both nervous and...dare she admit it...excited? She was glad Lloyd was with her though. She wasn't ready yet to be alone with Garmadon.

A General with a stingray looking boat came up to the dock, bringing Koko from her thoughts. "Come abroad, Lady Iron Dragon, and Lloyd Garmadon," he said.

Lloyd and Koko exchanged glances at the formal address, but Garmadon had probably instructed/threatened him to be polite. They climbed on board and off they went.

As they got closer to the volcano, Koko began to get butterflies in her stomach. Why was she feeling like this anyway? This wasn't a big deal, and yet she couldn't shake the feeling. The General pulled into the hangar bay and helped Koko out of the boat, with Lloyd following behind her.

He then led the pair to where Garmadon must be waiting for them. As they looked around, Koko and Lloyd both noticed that there were Valentine shark decorations (sharks that had hearts on them), all hung up, along with heart-shaped balloons and rose petals along the floor. Seemed like Garmadon had gone all out for this.

The General stopped short of their destination. "Lord Garmadon said he would meet you here. I will announce you."

Koko and Lloyd looked at each other again. Well, this was interesting.

Speaking of the said warlord, Garmadon suddenly came bursting out of the door to greet them.

"Koks, Luh-Loyd!" He looked at Koko's dress. Wow! "You look...beautiful Kokes," he told her, making her blush slightly.

"Thanks."

Lloyd coughed, bringing them back to the present. "I...uh...have something special to show you!" the former warlord recovered. "Come on!"

Koko and Lloyd had no idea what to expect from Garmadon, but they followed him into a very large, open area that had a circular opening in the floor, and as they got closer, they saw that it was open to the ocean under the volcano.

The group stopped by the edge of the opening. "Watch this," Garmadon grinned, as he reached down and slapped the water a couple times. It didn't take long for a bunch of great white sharks to appear, swimming fast as they made their way to over to him.

Lloyd watched in fascination as his dad interacted with the sharks. They wagged their tails in excitement as the former warlord reached out to pet them one by one. He had seen his dad with the sharks before on a previous visit, but it still amazed him.

"All right," Garmadon said, speaking to the sharks. "You know what to do."

The sharks (nodded?) and swimming around, they made a heart formation, showing off their spray-painted hearts on their sides. Koko couldn't help but smile. For once being a vicious warlord, Garmadon sure had some crazy, but interesting ideas.

"Wow, dad!" Lloyd finally spoke. "You trained these sharks?" he asked, reaching down and petting one, as he had done before on previous visits.

"Naturally," Garmadon boasted.

Koko seemed a bit nervous as she watched Lloyd carefully. "Is it safe to pet them?" she asked.

"Of course." He beckoned her over. She came and knelt down near the edge of the water. Garmadon was petting one of the sharks and encouraged Koko to do the same. She tentatively reached out and started touching the top of the shark's head. It immediately got a contented look in its eye and then rolled over to show its belly. Koko looked to Garmadon.

"He wants a belly rub," Garmadon told her. "Like this." He put his hand on top of Koko's showing her how to rub the shark's belly. Koko blushed at the contact, but he took his hand off, once she got the hang of it. Why was she so flustered? The shark meanwhile, was in heaven, wagging its tail happily. Koko came to the conclusion after petting a few of them (because they all wanted belly rubs) that these sharks were more like dogs than the killers of the sea. Garmadon had even named all of them, which he gladly told her all of their names. (Marina, Finn, Marco, Cordelia, Rio, Maya, Wade and Casper.)

"Wow, Garm, I had no idea you had a way with sharks like this," Koko told him. He felt flustered by the compliment.

"They are seriously misunderstood creatures," he answered, gazing at the sharks with understanding. "A lot like me," he added quietly.

Something about that statement pulled at Koko's heartstrings. She hadn't really thought about it that way before.

Garmadon suddenly shook himself out of his thoughts. "I have something else really cool to show you. Watch this!" He pulled out a remote control device and pushed a button that caused heart confetti and sparklers to start shooting at them from all directions. At first, it was great, but then it was getting out of control and the sharks got distressed and started splashing, getting water all over the three of them, before swimming at high speed back to the ocean.

Poor Garmadon tried to stop it, but the button wasn't working. "Let's get out of here!" he said, leading Koko and Lloyd out of the room and into the hallway. Pulling out his radio, he demanded one of his nerds to fix the problem immediately and for his Generals to clean up the mess. He sounded angry.

Lloyd and Koko exchanged glances.

When he got off the radio, Garmadon looked sheepishly at them. "I can't believe that happened. I wanted everything to be perfect. Now it's ruined." He sighed in disappointment.

Koko gave her ex a smile. "It's okay, Garm. It's the thought that counts. It was quite amazing what you did."

"But I really wanted this night to be special and now I don't know what to do."

Lloyd thought this might be a good time to give his mom and dad some alone time. He needed an excuse to leave without making it obvious. He had an idea.

He pulled out his phone, pretending to read an important message. Then he looked at his mom. "I'm sorry, but something's come up and the Ninja Force needs me right away."

"You're leaving?" Koko asked, a worried look on her face. She wasn't totally sure how she felt about this. Garmadon was still too distraught to pay attention to what was being said.

"Don't worry mom. You'll be fine. You're more than capable of handling yourself," Lloyd smiled at her. At this Koko looked flustered. "Besides, I think it's exactly what you two need." He winked at her, making his mom blush at the implication.

Before she could protest, he left. That boy is too much like her father, she thought wryly. Turning back to her still distraught husband, she put a hand on his shoulder. "Garm, why don't we go to Omakase for dinner?"

Garmadon looked over at her. "Hey, that's not a bad idea, Koks. But what about Luh-loyd?"

Koko giggled. "He had some Ninja business come up and left just a minute ago."

"Did he, now? Well, how inconsiderate of him," he grinned, getting the idea that his son wanted them to have some time together. Smart boy. "In that case, shall we?" he asked, holding one of his arms out for her to take.

Koko smiled warmly and took his arm.

The couple soon found themselves sitting at a familiar table at Omakase. Their carved initials in a heart shape were still on the table, even after all those years.

Koko looked at the carving. "I remember when we carved this," she said, wistfully.

Garmadon looked at it too. "Yeah, me too. It wasn't long after we met that we came here to check out Ninjago...for…" he trailed off. It was painful to remember those times.

Koko reached out and put a hand on one of Garmadon's, much to his surprise. He looked into her eyes. "I know." She met his gaze and swallowed. It was painful for her to remember those days too. But here they were, now after all those years. She wanted him to know something. She took a deep breath.

"Garm, I want you to know that I appreciate what you did tonight. It was very thoughtful. It doesn't matter about the malfunction. It was kind of funny if you think about it, and...It was the most fun I've had in awhile."

"Really?" he asked, tentatively putting one of his hands on top of hers.

"Yes, really. I've forgotten how much fun it is when we had our adventures together and I…" Koko trailed off. It was hard to admit her feelings...could she be vulnerable with him? She decided to risk it. "I...I've missed you." There she said it.

"You have?" the former warlord asked, not believing what he was hearing, but really wanting to. She nodded. "I've really missed you too. And I wanted tonight to be perfect for you."

She smiled at him. "I could tell. What you did was very thoughtful."

Garmadon felt the heat rise in his cheeks. She still had that effect on him after all these years. "I-I...got you something," he blurted out suddenly.

"Oh?" she asked, curious.

He pulled out a plush shark that had a red heart on the side of it, along with a card. "For you," he said, shyly.

Her cheeks turned pink. "Oh, Garm, you shouldn't have," she told him as she took the gift.

"Of course I should. You're always worth it, Koks," Garmadon told her, his smoldering, red eyes looking sincere.

Koko blushed even more. "Stop it," she giggled, punching him playfully in the arm. She opened the card. It had a shark holding a rose and big red heart that read, 'Just one little love bite. Be mine.' She shook her head in amusement. "Thank you, Garm," she told him, smiling warmly.

"You're welcome," he gave her a wide grin back and put his other hand on top of hers, just like he did all those years ago.

She felt a little guilty about not getting him anything. Then suddenly without thinking, Koko drew in closer and gave him a tender kiss, shocking the warlord completely, making him blush like a madman when she pulled away.

He blinked a couple of times. "Koks?" he asked questioningly, looking flustered.

"My gift to you," she answered, with a playful look on her face. "Happy Valentine's Day."

Garmadon recovered and gave her a charming smile. "Happy Valentine's Day."

AN: This was based off a conversation Dinogaby and I had and picture she drew. You can find it on Deviantart under her name. I do like some good 'ol Garmadon and Koko moments. Sunny Lighter came up with idea that Garmadon has a holodeck gaming system in her fic, "In Need of Polish." And I love Kay Hau's idea that Garmadon has a great way with sharks and has them as pets! Thanks for reading!