I know, I know, I'm *gasp* LATE! I'm so sorry, everyone, I just came off the worst week in my entire life, and I honestly was unsure I would even be able to post at all! I know I haven't replied to any reviews yet, but I'm going to do so right after posting this (if Fanfiction's not being too glitchy :/)! Sorry again for the delay!

This takes place shortly after the last chapter. I used Guest's and MidnightStarHunter's suggestions in this chapter! Please let me know if I did them justice!

Special thanks to MorroAndJaylynn, Tex1412, ABCSKW123-IX, xxXTheySayI'mEvilXxx, SpitfirewaterNinja, Wyrenfire, RandomDragon2.0, Spider-Man Super-Fan, DarkRed101, Star, StoriesAreMagic, Peanut2196, Midnight, SnowNinjaAJ, TheYellowNinja, Lexy Venzon, lightning ninja, PrairieSkies, person, and Nali Nali Nalina for reviewing! I love you all! :D

Replies to guest reviews:

Star: Yay, I'm glad you liked it! But, yeah, the topic of Lloyd basically having to kill his father is sad any way you spin it :'( Thanks for reviewing!

Midnight: Zane is a big sweetie :3 Aw, I'm so happy you liked all the feels! :D Obsessed?! What an honor! I hope you like this chapter just as much! Thank you so much for reviewing! :D

SnowNinjaAJ: Really?! Tears?! That makes me so happy to hear! Yay, I can't wait to see the cover! :D Oh my gosh, AND I've inspired you!? Your review just made my whole day! With regards to your story: DEFINITELY POST IT! Believe me, I know it's scary, but I promise you won't regret it! Even if you do get some constructive criticism, I promise you will regret not posting more than you will regret posting (if that made sense XD) Might as well put it out there! And no worries, everyone on here is super nice :D Thank you so much for reviewing!

TheYellowNinja: Zane really is awesome :D Being forced into the Green Ninja role must have really been hard on Lloyd, especially at such a young age, and I don't think we see enough of that in the show :( Unfortunately, I did not get around to catching up on Season 8 (as I said above, worst week of my life and all) but I can't wait to watch it! Especially with all this buzz about Cole finding some mystery baby :3 Thank you so much for reviewing! :D

lighting ninja: Um, I don't even know how to respond to your review, but thank you for making me laugh XD

person: Haha, thank you so much!

Nali Nali Nalina: Haha, I'm glad you liked Zane just popping up places! Writing that made me laugh so much XD Aw, I'm glad you liked those aspects of the chapter! I tried to balance humor with the feels, so I'm glad I succeeded! Thank you so much for reviewing!

The first time Cole took him out to eat, Lloyd didn't want to go.

"Ugh, I'm never going to get this!" Lloyd complained, glaring at the lightbulb in his hand with enough malice to make it shatter from intimidation alone. "I give up!"

"C'mon, Lloyd, you have to think positively!" Jay encouraged. "It lit up a little bit the last time you tried it."

Lloyd pouted. "No, it didn't."

"Well, it almost did."

"Lloyd, whether you think you can or you think you can't, you are always correct," Zane stated wisely.

"Thanks. Next time I need a quote off an inspirational poster, I know who to call," Lloyd grumbled sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Alright, being a little snot about it is not getting that lightbulb any closer to lighting up," Kai remarked, planting his hands on his hips.

"I'm not-" Lloyd stopped himself with frustrated huff, deciding not to give Kai the satisfaction of arguing.

"At least try it again," Jay said, this time in exasperation.

Lloyd groaned. "Fine." He glared at the glass ball in his hand. He tried to visualize the lightbulb glowing in his hand like the others had told him. He tried to feel the energy flowing in his veins that the golden weapons were so sure that he had inside him. He tried to imagine himself overflowing with all of the Green Ninja's power, as his father's son, as the First Spinjitzu Master's grandson, and…

Nothing happened.

"Ugh!" Lloyd groaned again, throwing the lightbulb on the ground in frustration where it immediately shattered.

"Lloyd!" The others shouted reproachfully as he stomped off toward their shared bedroom. He didn't care, he didn't care about being a stupid ninja with stupid powers with stupid lightbulbs that wouldn't just light up already!

In the bedroom, he threw himself face first down on his bed, yelling into his pillow.

It was only a matter of minutes before he heard the door open behind him.

"Go away," he muttered into the pillow so it was almost completely incomprehensible.

He received no response- and jumped when he felt something land on his back. He flipped over and half sat up to see his black hoodie in his lap.

"Get dressed," Cole stated simply from where he was standing by the dresser and pulling out his own civilian clothes to replace the black gi he was currently wearing. "We're going out."

"No thanks," Lloyd grumbled, letting himself fall back onto his pillow.

And stupidly, he thought that would be the end of that. He certainly did not expect to feel two hands on his waist that picked him up as easily as if he was a paperweight and tossed him onto a rock solid shoulder.

"It wasn't a question," Cole laughed as Lloyd struggled in his grasp.

"Hey, let me go!" Lloyd yelled as Cole carried him out of the bedroom and down the hall. When he caught sight of the other ninja, he cried out. "Help! I'm being kidnapped!"

"Sorry, Lloyd, too busy cleaning up a lightbulb someone smashed!" Jay teased from where he was crouched on the floor with dustpan in hand as Zane sweeped up the broken glass.

"We'll be back later!" Cole called over his shoulder.

"I hate all of you!" Lloyd yelled as the door shut behind them.

"Oh, c'mon, don't be like that," Cole said as Lloyd continued to pout. His arms were crossed, and he was turned slightly away from Cole and toward the window, the picture of silent protest. He didn't even look up when Cole placed the tray with the hamburger on it down in front of him. "It's not every day you get a free lunch."

They were currently in one of Cole's favorite fast food restaurants in Ninjago City, seated in some cherry red booth in the back. Cole had carried him the whole way there, even down the sidewalk of Ninjago City despite the many odd stares they had received. Lloyd had seriously debated using the "help, I'm being kidnapped" strategy again but quickly decided that he'd probably be in a ton of trouble if he had to call Master Wu to come bail Cole out of jail.

"Why are we even here?" Lloyd grumbled, still refusing to even look at the burger.

"I was hungry," Cole replied simply.

"Fine, then why am I here?"

Cole said nothing. There was an awkward silence, and Lloyd knew that Cole was just trying to get him to look over. But, there was no way that Cole would get him to break that easily, so he would just continue staring out the window like he had-

Unable to take it any longer, Lloyd turned to look at Cole.

And was met with a straw wrapper to the face.

Lloyd sputtered as Cole started cracking up. Realizing Cole had done the classic "rip the end off the straw wrapper and blow so the paper flies off and hits the other person in the face" trick, he frowned. "What are you, five?"

In response, Cole ripped the end off another straw wrapper and did the same thing again, nailing Lloyd in the eye.

"Stop-"

He did it again.

"Alright, that's it!" Lloyd grabbed a handful of straws (Cole had brought a ton to the table to stock up his arsenal apparently) and started blowing the wrappers back at Cole.

It wasn't until they had amassed a pile of about fifty straw wrappers and fifty unused straws and the manager came over to their table and told them as politely as possible that if they continued to waste so many straws that they would have to leave, that they put an end to their war.

Lloyd could barely breathe through his laughter, and Cole was clutching his stomach and leaning back against the booth seat to try to compose himself.

"Okay, okay, fine, I admit, that was kind of fun," Lloyd conceded, finally taking a bite of his hamburger. "But, why did we do it?"

"It's to help with your training," Cole answered, vacuuming up his own hamburger.

Lloyd grimaced at the reminder of the rebellious lightbulb. "How on earth did that help with my training? I wasn't even trying to use my elemental powers."

Cole reached across the table and flicked him directly in the center of the forehead. "Exactly." He shrugged. "You can't try so hard, Lloyd. Nothing's going to happen if you force it."

Lloyd frowned, rubbing his forehead. "How else am I supposed to do it?"

Cole pondered this, thoughtfully swallowing the other half of his hamburger. "Think about it this way. Your elemental power is already a part of you, so you don't need to force it. Just… let it happen."

Lloyd raised an eyebrow. "Let it happen?"

"Elemental powers aren't a thinking thing. They're a feeling thing, so next time…," he shrugged again. "Just let it happen."

The second time Cole took him out to eat, Lloyd still didn't want to go.

Just let it happen. What did that even mean? Lloyd glared at the light bulb in his hand once again. The ninja were gathered around Lloyd, trying to coax his dormant powers out of him… again.

"Lloyd, stop thinking about it," Cole instructed. "Take a deep breath, and relax." The other nodded and murmured their agreement.

Rolling his eyes, Lloyd obeyed nonetheless. He closed his eyes, breathing in deeply and relaxing his shoulders. He tried to clear his mind and 'feel it' instead, as Cole had suggested. He focused on the weight of the lightbulb in his hand, ran his thumb over the ridges in its base, felt the coolness of the glass against-

"It's lighting up!"

"Huh?" Lloyd's eyes flew open, immediately wrenched out of his almost meditative state. For a split second, he saw why Kai had shouted: a glowing lightbulb. Excitement caused his heart to skip a beat, and he felt a sudden surge of energy through his body like nothing he had ever experienced before-

The lightbulb shattered in his hand.

They all cried out, but then Kai hissed in pain, grabbing his eye and doubling over.

Lloyd froze with cold horror when he saw blood leaking out from beneath the red ninja's hand.

Blood- Kai's eye- Kai's eye- he was- he was-

Lloyd had blinded him.

Jay and Zane were immediately at Kai's side, trying to get him to move his hand so they could inspect the damage- but Lloyd didn't want to see, didn't want to see what he had done, didn't want to see the eye he had permanently injured when he was trying so hard, so hard, to be good and just not hurt anybody anymore- so he turned away and tried to run toward the bedroom so he could hide under his covers for the rest of his life.

He almost made it too, but then Cole was there in his path, grabbing both of his shoulders to stop him from running past.

"Lloyd, Lloyd, stop! It's okay!"

"Let me go!" Lloyd yelled in his panic, struggling valiantly albeit uselessly against Cole's super strong grip.

"No, Lloyd, look, look, he's okay!"

Lloyd gasped and hesitantly peeked over his shoulder to see Kai's bleeding- cheek, his cheek, not his eye, not his eye.

"Kai, you must hold still," Zane instructed calmly, not concerned in the slightest about the rather superficial cut as he tried to dab at the blood with a napkin.

"Ouch! Quit it!" Kai snapped, flinching again.

"Stop being a baby," Jay laughed.

Lloyd blinked in astonishment, unable to process the lighthearted, achingly normal scene going on in front of him after being so certain that he had just blinded Kai in one eye.

Cole pat him gently on the shoulder. "See? It's-"

He stopped mid-sentence when Lloyd suddenly dove forward and wrapped both arms around his waist, burying his face in Cole's gi as he trembled with guilt and fear and, most of all, relief.

"Hey, hey, it's alright," Cole reassured softly as tears slowly but surely soaked the front of his gi. Lloyd wordlessly shook his head, not ready to let go quite yet.

Suddenly, he felt Cole grab both his upper arms and easily pick him up, setting Lloyd on his hip instead. "Okay, we're going out," he announced.

The other ninja absentmindedly called their goodbyes, still preoccupied with Kai's "wound" and confident in the fact that Cole could handle Lloyd's fragile emotional state.

On the other hand, Lloyd whined, "No, Cole, I don't want-"

Cole cut him off with a laugh, "Still wasn't a question."

"I paid two dollars for this ice cream cone, Lloyd, and you're going to eat it if I have to force feed you."

Lloyd, pouting, accepted the ice cream cone but didn't lick it. They were sitting on the curb outside the ice cream shop, and Cole was happily slurping up the remains of his strawberry scoop.

"I told you I didn't want one," Lloyd grumbled, watching a drip of chocolate ice cream slide down the slope of the cone in his hand.

"Ice cream will make you feel better," Cole sang, nudging the kid.

"It's not going to make me feel good enough to change my mind," Lloyd stated, grimacing when the melted ice cream made its way onto his fingers. "I told you, I give up. I'm not cut out to be the Green Ninja."

"Lloyd, it lit-"

"I almost blinded Kai," Lloyd snapped, finally turning to glare at Cole. He turned away again quickly, scared he might start crying again. "Look, it's either… it's either too much or not enough. I can't control my elemental powers, and no amount of ice cream is going to change that."

"You think this is about elemental powers?"

Lloyd slowly turned to Cole, whose cone had completely disappeared by this point, and raised an eyebrow. "Uh… yeah?"

Cole shook his head in exasperation. "It's not about powers. It's about what you said just now."

Lloyd racked his brain, confused. "What did I say?"

"You said, 'I give up,'" Cole pushed himself to his feet, pacing in front of Lloyd. "That's your problem. You can control your elemental powers, but you keep giving up and that's why you don't."

Lloyd scoffed, turning away. "Nobody asked you."

"You're right. Nobody did ask me," Cole crouched in front of Lloyd, poking a finger in his chest. "But, I'm going to buy you as many ice cream cones as it takes to get it through your head, and you know why? Because ninja. Never. Quit." He punctuated each word with a poke to the chest. "That's why you're not the Green Ninja yet. Because you quit. Not because you can't control your powers."

Lloyd stared incredulously at Cole for a moment, noting the dead serious expression on his face, the steadiness of his voice, the conviction in his eyes. In that moment, it looked like Cole was capable of anything, like he could make a mountain move because he wouldn't give up until it did.

Lloyd took a small lick of his ice cream cone. "I… guess I could try one more time."

Cole grinned, ruffling his hair. "Sometimes, that's all it takes."

The third time Cole took him out to eat, Lloyd finally got it.

"Lloyd, you mustn't get frustrated," Zane called from where the four ninja were gathered a safe distance away as Lloyd attempted to make the lightbulb glow in his hand.

Lloyd was just about ready to throw the very dim, dark, not glowing lightbulb on the ground again. "Yeah, and why not?"

"Because, you can do it."

Lloyd looked up, surprised. "You really think I can?"

"Yeah, I mean you did it once before. Hello?" Kai tapped his the bandaid on his cheek. "Besides, I knew before anyone that you were the Green Ninja, so of course I know you can do it."

"You'll get it, Lloyd!" Jay encouraged. "...eventually. Preferably before Lord Garmadon's reign of terror begins, but-" The blue ninja was cut off by Cole's elbow in his ribs.

Lloyd stared at them.

They believed in him. They thought he could do it. No matter how many times he had given up and acted totally immature about the whole thing, they still believed in him. And, they would keep on believing in him, because ninja never quit.

Lloyd felt a completely foreign, warm kind of… glow inside him- and the ninja gave a collective gasp.

"Look!"

Lloyd's eyes darted to the lightbulb- stay calm, stay calm…- that lit up and shined brightly, almost to the point of bursting… then dimmed and went out.

There was a moment of silence as they all stared at the lifeless lightbulb in Lloyd's hand in wonder.

Then the four ninja were gathered around the kid, laughing and cheering and clapping him on the back and Lloyd just kind of stood there speechless because… he did it.

"This is cause for celebration!" Cole announced, squeezing Lloyd's shoulder. "We're going out!" He turned toward the door, and the others made to follow, complaining about being starving.

"Wait!" Lloyd called out, hurrying to set the lightbulb down on the nearby table. The other four ninja turned toward him, and Lloyd felt suddenly self-conscious. "Cole, aren't you going to…," Lloyd blushed, scuffing his foot against the floorboards. "Aren't you going to carry me? I mean, I thought it was kind of our thing."

Lloyd could feel the heat rolling off his face in waves- stupid, stupid, stupid- and he was about to apologize and try to change the subject really quickly before anybody could tease-

He gasped when he felt Cole's strong hands grab him and easily maneuver him onto his shoulders. "You're right. It is our thing." Lloyd laughed, immensely relieved, especially when the others didn't mock him but just shared mildly amused smiles with each other. "So where to, Lloyd? You get to pick this time."

"Hm…," the Green Ninja tapped his chin. "How about Mr. Chen's Noodle House?"

"Yes!" Cole cheered and jumped into the air in ecstasy, nearly dropping his charge.

"Oh, c'mon, that's so unfair!" Jay complained from behind the pair. "Why did you have to pick that place?"

"Because I like noodles," Lloyd replied offhandedly. Then, lowering his voice so only Cole would hear, he said, "And, to say thanks for… not giving up on me."

Lloyd couldn't see Cole's face, but he could tell he was smiling. "Never."

I hope you guys liked it! Next up is Lloyd's chapter (obviously. XD) Now, I'm going to go reply to some reviews XD