UUGGHH, I'm soooo sorry for being late, everyone! School is very dumb :/ Once again, I'm sorry I haven't replied to reviews yet, but I will as soon as I can!
Anyway, to make up for my tardiness, here's a super long, super angsty chapter! :D
HUGE, HUGE, HUGE thanks to RandomDragon2.0 for their idea for this chapter! Please let me know if you like what I decided to do with it! :D
Special thanks to Lexy Venzon, NinjagoMLP77, Wyrenfire, Spider-Man Super-Fan, RandomDragon2.0, ABCSKW123-IX, Peanut2196, xxXTheySayI'mEvilXxx, TheYellowNinja, Star, lloydskywalkers, ChristianWriter316, skylor chan, VoltageArt, Midnight, StoriesAreMagic, MorroAndJaylynn, PrairieSkies, imacrazyninjagofan, Nali Nali Nalina, and CHEESEPUFFfg for reviewing! You guys are amazing!
Replies to guest reviews:
TheYellowNinja: Why do you think Cole is my favorite? :3 Aw, you are so sweet! Honestly, I've been having a really tough time this semester, so your incredibly nice words are really just what I needed to hear! Writing and posting make me happy, so I try to whenever I can, but sometimes it's just not possible :/ Thank you so so so much!
Star: Aw, thanks! I definitely agree that Lloyd accidentally hurting one of the other ninja would be very upsetting :'(
VoltageArt: Aw, thank you so much! Cole and Zane are enormous softies :3 Great idea for Nya! I will definitely take that into consideration! :D
Midnight: Haha, yay! Cuteness overload achieved! :D Haha, I am a huge sucker for whump XD Thank you so much! :D
imacrazyninjagofan: Haha, I'm so happy you thought it was cute! Thanks for reviewing! :D
Nali Nali Nalina: I think Cole is definitely a good mentor! :D I'm so happy you thought Lloyd was cute :3 Aw, thank you so much for the encouraging words! I've been struggling, so something as simple as "It'll be okay" just means the world to me :D Thank you so much! :D
CHEESEPUFFfg: Aw, thank you so much! I hope you like this chapter as well :D
The first time they saved him, Lloyd was shocked.
Lloyd knew tensions were high. He knew they were all stressed. He knew he shouldn't have been bothering them when they were trying to discuss strategies and plans and worst case scenarios.
None of that stopped it from stinging when the ninja snapped at him in such perfect unison to "get lost" that Lloyd suspected they had practiced.
So, in a fit of anger, he had stormed off the Destiny's Bounty. Not that anybody had noticed. Or cared. Lloyd knew it was late, even if he didn't know the exact time. Too late for a kid to be wandering the streets of Ninjago City, but he was still too angry (and hurt) to go crawling back. Part of him was worried that if he went back now, nobody would even comment on his absence. Or worse, they would be disappointed he came back at all.
"What's a little boy like you doing out here all alone?"
Lloyd jumped about fifteen feet in the air, despite the admittedly limited ninja training he'd had. He knew he was supposed to expect the unexpected, supposed to sense those he couldn't see, supposed to be on high alert at all times… but all of that went out the window as soon as he saw the man meld out of the shadows of the alley directly in front of him. Suddenly, he was just a regular, dumb kid who didn't like they way the man smiled at him with stained teeth and certainly did not like how close they were standing to each other.
"I'm… on my way home now," Lloyd replied, making to walk briskly past the man. The man moved to block him, and Lloyd's heart started beating twice as fast. "They're-they're expecting me."
He almost applauded himself for adding that part, because surely now the man would let him go without a fuss… but his heartbeat tripled when the man's smile only grew.
"No… I don't think anyone's expecting you." The man stepped closer, and Lloyd stepped back, glancing about worriedly. The street was completely deserted. "A little boy out here all alone at this time of night? No. No one's expecting you."
And, Lloyd knew he was the Green Ninja, with unimaginable power at his beck and call… but the only thought in his head was an image of his dad appearing out of nowhere and beating this guy mercilessly for scaring Lloyd so bad…
The man took another step forward, and when Garmadon did not miraculously appear, Lloyd turned on his heel and started running-
A hand locked around his arm and yanked him backward. Lloyd tried to imagine a lightbulb exploding, but there was nothing here for him to use, nothing for him to do because he couldn't control his powers, and he couldn't think because he was so so so scared…
Dad! He tried to shout- but he couldn't for the cloth pressed over his face and suddenly he was drifting far far away, trying to follow his dad's voice that he swore he could hear but unable to find him anywhere…
Lloyd gasped awake- then started when he couldn't move.
It was dark. He was on the floor. His hands were bound behind his back- rope- and it all came rushing back to him- the alley, the man, the cloth-
Lloyd's breathing picked up, and he tried desperately, so, so desperately to stop himself from hyperventilating as he twisted his wrists back and forth, back and forth to try to wriggle out of the rope, grimacing as the the coarse material scraped his skin.
Dad will be here any second now, he reassured himself, sawing his wrists against each other as he tried to squirm out of the tight bonds. Dad will kill the guy who did this and save me and take me far away and-
Lloyd yelped when the door suddenly opened, letting light flood into the previously pitch black room.
"Oh, good, you're awake," the man said jovially, like he was greeting a house guest rather than his kidnapping victim. Lloyd saw that he was in some sort of coat closet. In the light, the man looked even grimier than he had in the alley, with greasy hair and dirty clothes. He towered over Lloyd and smiled down at him. "Though, I had hoped you would sleep a bit longer. Not everything's ready yet. I want everything to be perfect for you."
Lloyd's vision blurred slightly as panic suffocated him. Just imagine what Dad's going to do him when he gets here.
"I'm afraid you'll have to wait a bit longer," The man said regretfully, already shutting the door. "But, I promise it will be worth the wait."
Lloyd tried to swallow the sob in his throat as he jerked his wrists frantically back and forth against the rope. He did not stop even when he felt them break the skin; rather, this only increased his pace, as he took it as a sign that he was making progress.
Dad saved me last time. Dad always saves me. He'll always come for me. He comes when I need him, and he'll know that I need him…
It was entirely too soon when the door opened again. "Ready?" The man asked, as if Lloyd had a choice.
Lloyd burst into tears, yanking his wrists uselessly against the ropes.
"No, no, no, don't cry," the man comforted, reaching out a finger and gently caressing Lloyd's wet cheek with a knuckle. Lloyd cried harder and tried to pull away but his back was against the wall- there was nowhere to go- where was-
There was a loud thumping sound from outside.
The man stood suddenly, obviously not expecting the noise. Lloyd continued to weep, though now out of relief. "What the…" With brow furrowed, the man shut the door, leaving to investigate.
Lloyd held his breath, almost subconsciously twisting his wrists within the ropes despite the burning pain each movement now wrought in them, and listened.
Silence- then yes, yes, yes, breaking glass, grunts of pain, the swish of weapons, a fight, a fight, a fight, his dad had finally found him and saved him-
"Where is he?"
Lloyd froze.
Because… Because that didn't sound like Garmadon. That sounded like…
Jay.
"You heard him! Where is he?" Kai. "And, I swear, if there is so much as one scratch on him, I'm going to-"
"Not now, Kai. Our first priority is Lloyd's wellbeing, not revenge." Zane.
The closet door opened.
And some irrational part of Lloyd had still expected to see Lord Garmadon standing there in front of him, as if he had collaborated with the ninja to save him once again.
He did not expect to see Cole immediately sag with relief. "Guys, he's in here!"
His dad hadn't come.
Cole fell to his knees as the other ninja appeared over his shoulder, similar expressions of relieved elation taking up residence on their faces. "Lloyd! Thank goodness! Are you okay?" He reached a hand toward Lloyd-
Lloyd leaned away from him. He couldn't actually move backward, but the gesture carried enough meaning behind it. Cole retracted his hand, and the ninja peered at him with extreme concern and confusion now.
"Lloyd? What-"
"Wh-why did you guys come?" He asked. He felt weird; almost like he was outside of his own body, like he was watching this happen to someone else. Because his brain, his real self, was still trying to reconcile the knowledge that his dad would save him and the proof that the ninja saved him. The ninja he hadn't even considered a possibility, the ninja he hadn't thought for a single second would come to rescue him.
Cole glanced over his shoulder at his teammates, as if afraid he was missing something. When they only shrugged, he turned back to Lloyd. "What do you mean? Of course we came."
"But, you-you just think I'm a pain. You told me to get lost." Lloyd explained, staring back at them with wide eyes. "You don't- oh. Oh, right. Because I'm the Green Ninja. You need the Green Ninja for the prophecy. So you had to save me."
"Lloyd, it doesn't have anything to do with that," Kai argued. "But, yeah, you are a pain."
Lloyd felt more tears snake their way down his cheeks. He knew it.
"And, so is Jay, and so is Zane, and so is Cole, and so am I, okay? We all get on each other's nerves sometimes, but it's no big deal. That's just what brothers do."
Brothers.
"I-I'm…?"
Cole reached out to touch him again, and Lloyd didn't pull away this time. As he undid the knots around his wrists, he said quietly. "We came because no one messes with our little brother."
And then he was sobbing into Cole's shirt. Vaguely, he could hear the ninja- his brothers- saying something about his bloody and raw wrists, someone- Kai probably- threatening to kill the guy who did this to him. But, all of it was far away as Cole picked him up and all but crushed him to his chest as they took him away from this awful place and that awful man and took him- took him- took him home.
"Remember, Lloyd? This is our thing." Cole said softly as they passed out of the house and into the cool night air.
Lloyd couldn't speak but nodded wordlessly against Cole's chest, never feeling safer than he did at that exact moment.
The second time they saved him, Lloyd was happy.
The instant that they had arrived on the Destiny's Bounty after rescuing Lloyd, Nya had been there, peppering them with questions after his wellbeing and the perpetrator's identity so she could go teach him a lesson herself about messing with her family.
After seeing Lloyd's wrists, though, she had immediately ushered them into the cockpit where they had treated Jay before so she could wrap the injuries properly.
"This reminds me of when we still didn't know you were the Green Ninja, and I still had my assistant to help me out," Nya remarked mock-regretfully as she expertly tied another layer of white gauze around Lloyd's wrist. Lloyd knew she was only trying to keep his mind off the past few hours, but he was grateful for the distraction regardless. "It gets lonely now that you're always doing your ninja training."
"Hey, if you're hiring, I'm available," Jay joked, stepping forward eagerly. "I'm kind of sick of this whole ninja gig anyway."
"Oh, really?" Nya smirked as she began wrapping Lloyd's other wrist. "Even if you get paid in candy?"
"And, I get candy? That's- wait a minute…," Jay suddenly gasped with realization, turning to the other three ninja. "That's why our candy stash has been disappearing!"
"Ha! And, you guys blamed me!" Cole pointed out triumphantly.
"You were the most obvious suspect," Zane defended apologetically.
"Well, maybe if Jay had hidden it better, we wouldn't have had to blame you!" Kai accused, turning his ire onto the blue ninja.
Lloyd found himself smiling at their nonsensical arguing as Nya continued wrapping his second wrist. "I guess we're off the hook," Nya whispered, winking at him. "For now."
She tied off the gauze. "There. All finished." Bending down, she pressed a kiss to the top of his head- and Lloyd felt a sudden pang of longing for his mother, even though he had convinced himself he never wanted to see her again after she abandoned him at Darkly's. "I'm so glad you're safe, Lloyd."
He suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand to stop her from moving away. "Am I…?" He glanced at his brothers (they were now ganging up on Zane for some most likely false and totally undeserved reason.) "Am I… part of it now?"
The question was vague enough, but Nya seemed to understand. "Oh, Lloyd," She hugged him. "You already were."
The third time they saved him, Lloyd finally got it.
Kai had no idea how he got there first, considering he had a top bunk and had been totally asleep only seconds beforehand. Regardless, before Lloyd had stopped screaming in his sleep, Kai was there, pulling the Green Ninja into his lap and trying to calm him down as he hyperventilated.
"It's okay, Lloyd," he reassured as he ran soothing hands up and down Lloyd's back, thinking back fondly on the time they had been in a similar position and those same hands had been stuffing mud down the back of his hoodie. His other three brothers were gathered worriedly around Lloyd's bed, wanting so desperately to help but having no idea how. "We're all right here. We're sticking by you, remember?"
He felt Lloyd's grip on the back of his pajama shirt tighten but didn't receive a verbal response as his breathing remained short and labored.
"What should we do?" Cole asked.
"Perhaps getting Lloyd's mind off the events of earlier tonight would be most beneficial so early in his post-traumatic recovery process," Zane suggested.
Jay snapped his fingers. "Hey, I got it!" He dashed toward their closet, throwing random articles of clothing and various unmatched shoes haphazardly behind him as he searched for whatever it was he was looking for.
"There it is! I knew we had it somewhere!"
He held up his prize… much to the skepticism of the others.
"No way!" Kai complained.
"That's going to make Lloyd feel better?" Cole asked incredulously.
"Yeah! Remember when I was injured a while ago? Well, Lloyd and I talked a lot, and he told me that this always makes him laugh. No matter what." Jay explained, grinning in anticipation.
"I trust Jay's judgment," Zane volunteered.
"Fine, I'm in," Cole agreed, shrugging.
"No way!" Kai repeated stubbornly, glaring at the object in Jay's hands.
"Kai, it's for Lloyd!" Jay protested. "Look, he took care of me then, and now I want to return the favor. This is how I know I can help him." He looked at Kai pleadingly.
Kai grimaced. Then he thought about Lloyd, his baby brother, drenched in sweat and shaking like a leaf in his arms.
He groaned. "Fine."
"Okay, Kai, right hand…"
"Don't say green, don't say green…"
"Green."
"Crap."
"Kai, I've run every possible scenario and determined that it is physically impossible for you to place your right hand on green with your current positioning."
"Ha! I'll show you 'physically impossible!'"
"Guys, can we hurry up? I think Cole's about to pass out!"
"You don't think I'm trying? Oh, I got it! If I dislocate my shoulder…"
Lloyd leaned against Nya, who had the spinner, as he laughed, unable to hold himself upright any longer. He could barely breathe, because never in a million years did he think he would be lucky enough to bear witness to the four ninja playing Twister. Watching regular people tie themselves into knots was funny enough, but the ultra competitive, highly flexible ninja? The comedic possibilities were endless, and Lloyd was enjoying every second of it.
Nya was trying to cover up her own giggles as she said, "Kai, I think you've exceeded your time limit."
"Time limit?! There's no time limit in Twister!"
"There is when one of the players is turning purple! Breathe, Cole!"
"As I said before we began playing, there is no point in trying to win, Kai, because I will reign victorious."
"Zane, you are the worst at trash talk. How can I be intimidated when you say 'reign victorious?'"
"Perhaps I should buy you a dictionary for your next birthday. It would help you expand your vocabulary so the meaning of more advanced words are not lost on you."
"Oh, sick burn from the master of ice!"
"I can't take it anymore!" Cole suddenly gasped and collapsed. Because the four of them were so intertwined, though, the movement caused his brothers/opponents to collapse as well, one on top of another, until they were an indistinguishable pile of limbs and groans.
And Lloyd was clutching his stomach and pounding his fists against his bed as he laughed uncontrollably. Nya wasn't much better, giggling as she tried to ask them if they were okay.
"Thanks, guys," Lloyd gasped, wiping tears of joy from his eyes.
Suddenly, though, he remembered the events that had led up to the ninja playing Twister when they didn't really want to, remembered that it was three o'clock in the morning when they should be sleeping. So, because he didn't want to jeopardize this newfound brotherhood he had found by being a pain, he said quietly, "Sorry for making you guys do this."
"What? Why are you sorry?" Jay asked incredulously, disentangling himself from the ninja web. "We're going another round!"
"Huh? Really?"
"And, I'm totally going to kick all of your butts this time!" Kai declared, jumping to his feet. "Nya, spin it!"
"Okay, okay," Nya said, patting Lloyd's knee reassuringly. "Kai, right hand… green."
"Again?"
"Perhaps you could try not to play so terribly this time, Kai."
"Zane, I am this close to ripping out your hard drive or circuit board or whatever it is you have in there."
Once again, Lloyd had to gasp for air through his laughter.
Eventually, though, exhaustion got the better of them. Nya was curled up on her side on Lloyd's mattress, Jay was spread eagle on the floor, and Cole and Kai were still partially tangled on the Twister mat as if they had fallen asleep mid-game.
Lloyd, despite feeling his eyelids drooping, couldn't bring himself to fall back asleep where he would dream of that man and all the horrible possibilities of what could have happened to him had the ninja- his brothers- not arrived in time.
Then, he realized that Zane was still awake, sitting on the floor near Jay and leaning against the wall. He seemed to sense Lloyd needed someone to talk to, because the nindroid smiled invitingly at the young Green Ninja. Without saying a word, Lloyd moved to sit beside him on the floor, and Zane automatically put his arm around his shoulders.
"It's okay to be scared, Lloyd," Zane reassured gently. "You've been through a lot."
"It's not- well, yeah, but it's not that," Lloyd explained quietly, watching his slumbering siblings warily. "It's just… It's just… You guys saved me." He paused, dropping his eyes to his lap. "And, my dad didn't."
"Lord Garmadon would have stopped at nothing to rescue you if he had known what peril you were in," Zane stated confidently. "Just as we stopped at nothing to rescue you."
Lloyd chewed on his bottom lip, thinking.
Guessing the Green Ninja's thoughts, Zane added, "We are not trying to replace him, Lloyd." He sighed. "As a nindroid, you might think I don't know anything about love, but it is just the opposite. Because I am a nindroid, I know that love knows no biological bounds. Your family is who you choose to welcome into it, and it can be as large as you want to make it."
Lloyd started. He didn't know why the thought was so startling to him, but he supposed he had just never considered the possibility that he would have a family, or at least a family outside of his dad and maybe his mom, wherever she was.
He felt tears cascading down his cheeks again, but once again, they were tears of joy. "We're family?"
Zane squeezed him more tightly. "Of course," The nindroid smiled. "Little brother."
Jay started awake when he felt a weight settle onto his chest.
Looking down, he was surprised to find Lloyd had fallen asleep and slumped over onto him.
Behind Lloyd, Jay saw Zane shrugging apologetically. "I am sorry, Jay. He fell over. Would you like me to move him?"
And, Jay was just about to snap at Zane that of course he didn't want Lloyd sprawled across his chest while he was trying to sleep… but then he saw Lloyd's perfectly peaceful face, in such stark contrast to the sobbing, terrified expression that had been there only hours before.
"No, he's fine," Jay whispered, wrapping his arm around Lloyd to pull him closer. He closed his eyes again, somehow feeling more comfortable knowing his baby brother was happy and safe and here. "Goodnight, Zane."
"Goodnight, brother."
And that's the end of "Five Times Lloyd Was a Pain" :( I hope you guys liked it! I loved writing it! :3
Once again, I'm going to be taking a break of a few weeks before beginning to post my next Five Times so I can try to catch up on some writing. With all my school stuff going on, I'm not sure how soon it will be, but I promise I am not abandoning this project (or the Lost Soul sequel, which is very much alive even if I haven't had much time to work on!)
However, I need to know which Five Times to write next! From what I gathered from the suggestions left over time, here are VERY TENTATIVE AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE titles for the remaining Five Times:
Five Times Jay Cheered Someone Up
Five Times Zane Was a Nurse (in which he takes care of his sick teammates)
Five Times Nya Failed OR Five Times Nya Was Right OR Five Times Nya Was Wrong (still deciding on this one)
And bonus:
Five Times Morro Trusted Master Wu (takes place during Morro's childhood and focuses on his relationship with Master Wu rather than with the ninja)
Vote on which one you'd like to see next! Please FEEL FREE to suggest different themes as well! These are only working ideas and not set in stone!
Thank you all for all of the love this story has received! I apologize again for being late, and I will reply to reviews as soon as I can! Thank you, and I love you all! :D