Chapter 5

Lloyd ran as fast as he could. The shapes of the trees blurred past him as he sprinted through the dark forest. The melody of owl hoots rang through the tall trees. And the sound of crunching, damp leaves, slightly rinsed by the evening dew, thumped against the forest ground.

Lloyd paused for a second to catch his breath. He put his hands on his kneecaps, and allowed himself to breathe. Then he looked up at the slight fog clouding the woodland. Everything around him was coated with a thin film of midnight blue. Nothing looked the same as it had appeared in the morning light.

"EMERALD!" Lloyd called. "WHERE ARE YOU?!" In response to his cries, a low, rumbling growl echoed through the forest. Lloyd dashed off again. After a few more minutes of running through the woods, Lloyd came across the lake he had been to earlier in the day. A jade green dragon stood by the pool of misty water. Its color was now a deep forest green due to the darkness of the night. Lloyd stared for a moment, then spoke. "Emerald," he sighed. "I know you've been having trouble with landing, but could you at least try to land somewhere other than the woods?" Emerald blinked, then held his head low and gave a small whimper. Lloyd patted his dragon's head. "It's okay, Emerald. I'm not mad," he said.

Suddenly, without warning, Lloyd heard the crack of a twig right in front of him. Startled, he gave a quick gasp, and then looked towards the source of the noise. It was Harumi, who looked just as shocked to see Lloyd as he was to see her.

"It's you!" the two said in unison. They then both paused.

"What are you doing out here this late at night?" Harumi questioned.

"Emerald flew into the forest again. I had to go get him," Lloyd said. "What you are you doing out here?"

"I came out here to look for my necklace," Harumi said frantically. "I lost earlier today!"

"Oh! Do you mean this?" Lloyd reached into his pocket, and pulled out the silver chain with a golden rose pendant.

"Yes!" Harumi exclaimed. "That's exactly what I was talking about!" Lloyd handed her the necklace, and she very carefully clasped it around her neck. "Thank you for finding it," Harumi said once the pendant was secure.

"You're welcome!" Lloyd smiled. "So… should we just go our separate ways now that we're done here?" he then asked, shrugging slightly.

"Probably," Harumi nodded. "But actually…" Her eyes darted around the area, making sure there was no one nearby, and that no one could hear or see them. She then stared at Lloyd mysteriously. "Okay, can you keep a secret?"

"What?"

"Can you?" Harumi repeated her words.

"Uhh, sure?" Lloyd replied, confused.

"C'mon, follow me. I wanna show you something," Harumi said quietly. She then took Lloyd's hand into her small, delicate palm. Lloyd blushed lightly as she did so, and she led him through the dark woodland. Emerald trailed close behind them.

After about ten minutes of wandering through the night, they came across a clearing with large shrubs around the edges. When Lloyd squinted his eyes a little bit, he could make out various kinds of berries on the bushes.

"This way," Harumi spoke suddenly.

Harumi led Lloyd through a thicket of bushes. Soon, the faint babble of a spring creek could be heard amongst the harmonious chirps of the evening crickets. Sure enough, the trio soon came to the banks of a restful, hushed river. The motionless and silent brook had smooth, glassy water. If waves were the cracks, then none showed in the water, which was, in the night, shaded to a magnificent onyx blue.

Lloyd just then realized that the sound of the crickets was gone, making the world suddenly peaceful, yet eerily quiet. The night was so shadowy and dark that Lloyd could barely make out anything. The only thing that shone brightly was the reflection of the luminous, gleaming, full moon. It had a silvery glow that shone brightly in both the blackened sky, and was reflected in the glassy smooth water of the river. Suddenly, Emerald gave an unexpected grunt. Lloyd gave a small gasp, as he had almost forgotten that Emerald had been trailing along with him and Harumi.

"Shhh," Harumi whispered. "Don't make a sound just yet." She then bent down low, and picked up a flat stone from the edge of the river. Slowly, the arm she was holding the rock in moved backwards slightly, as if she was going to throw the stone.

At that second, Lloyd saw ripples forming on the dark river. Harumi had not thrown the rock. She had skipped it across the stream. What he then saw next amazed him. Out of nowhere, a small, glowing green butterfly appeared. The skipping stone seemed to awake it. The stone didn't disturb or alarm it, only gave it a small push to awake from its slumber. Lloyd was surprised because he had never seen a green butterfly before. But just as he was observing the magnificent creature, another one appeared, this time a delicate purple. And then a gleaming, light blue one came into view. Soon, hundreds and hundreds of illuminated, differently colored butterflies appeared, giving an enchanting and beautiful aura to the grim and forbidden feel of the evening forest.

Lloyd stood there, stunned. He had never seen something so beautiful and magical in his life. He heard a soft buzzing next to him. He looked over, and saw that there were also fireflies. Some of them had their usual golden glow, while others, like the butterflies, had many different shining colors. Lloyd looked down into the river water, which was no longer a murky, inky blue. It was now a sparkling, vivid shade of light blue. He could see pearly silver fish swimming deep underwater, giving the river a warm, iridescent glow.

The whole scene was like something out of a storybook. Flowers shimmered on tree branches, and even the grass had a slight extra sparkle. What was once a mysterious, chilling forest was now something so radiant and extraordinary that Lloyd almost didn't dare believe that it was real.

Emerald gave an excited grunt, and then slowly walked towards a crowd of butterflies. He stood still, hoping one would land on him.

"This place is amazing!" Lloyd exclaimed. "How did you discover it?"

"I went exploring in the forest at night once, and came across this river. I stepped on a flat stone and decided to skip it across, and you know the rest," Harumi said. "Come here," she then spoke, while gesturing for Lloyd to follow her.

Harumi led Lloyd to an elegant, wooden bridge, which stretched across the wide river. It had vines with different kinds of flowers that gracefully decorated the bridge with majestic and artistic patterns created by nature itself.

Lloyd and Harumi walked up the steps leading to the center of the bridge. He folded his arms on the bridge's smooth wooden arch. Looking down into the water, he could not only see the glowing fish he saw earlier, but floating on the water, were green leafy lily pads with milky white flowers.

"I come here every now and then," Harumi said.

Lloyd looked over, and saw that she was standing next to him. She, too, had her arms folded and resting on the bridge arch.

"Whenever I need to get away from the world, this is the first place that comes to mind," Harumi said dreamily. "I haven't told anyone else about this place. You're the only one I've showed this to." She stared at Lloyd, and her voice now had a serious tone to it. "Promise me you won't tell anyone else about it."

"Promise," Lloyd nodded.

"Good," Harumi sighed. "It'll be our little secret."

"If it's so important to you that this place stays hidden, then why show me it?" Lloyd asked, curiously.

"Don't know. Just felt like it," Harumi shrugged.

There was a sudden pause after she said this. Then the two began to laugh.

"Do you just show all your super duper secret things to people when you just feel like it?" Lloyd said through laughs.

They both laughed harder at this.

After a little while, the duo managed to calm down a bit. Soon, their laughter was reduced to just giggles.

"Thank you again for finding my necklace," Harumi said once their laughter died down.

"No problem," Lloyd smiled. "It looks very beautiful on you."

Harumi giggled. "Thank you!" she said, grinning. "It originally belonged to my mother. Whenever I saw her wear it, I thought she looked like a queen." Harumi gave a tender smile while thinking about the memories. "It's one of the few things she possessed that I still have left with me." As she spoke, her face turned joyless and ashen.

Lloyd froze. "What happened to your mother?" He hated himself for asking this. He knew it was a very personal thing to ask.

"My parents both died in the Great Devourer incident. The building crashed down. I got away, because my parents sacrificed themselves for me." Harumi tried to keep her tears to herself.

"I'm...so sorry," Lloyd said sympathetically.

Harumi wanted to hate Lloyd for saying this. She wanted to scream out to him, you're not sorry, you just think you are! but for some strange, foreign reason, she just couldn't. "If only this world had a reset lever," she merely said. "Life goes on. And sometimes destiny gives us what we don't want."

"I understand," Lloyd agreed.

After a few seconds of an awkward stillness, Harumi then spoke. "Do you enjoy it?" she asked. "Being prince?"

"Oh. I guess," Lloyd shrugged.

"What do you mean you guess?"

"I didn't really choose to be prince. Sometimes it can be really easy, and sometimes it can be really hard," Lloyd replied.

"Well, I guess the destinies we didn't plan are something we have in common," Harumi said.

To two smiled warmly at each other a few seconds. Lloyd felt a few butterflies, like the ones around him, in his stomach. And Harumi looked away timidly. The two fidgeted with their fingers awkwardly before Harumi spoke again. "So, what do you want to talk about while we're still here?"

"Ummm…" Lloyd thought nervously for a moment. "What's your favourite color?" he asked finally. Lloyd immediately regretted asking this, for he knew it was a stupid thing to say.

"What kind of question is that?" Harumi laughed.

"I thought it was a commonly asked question!" Lloyd said, beaming.

"Green," Harumi stated. She giggled happily. "What's your favourite color?" she asked Lloyd.

"Same as you. Green." Lloyd smiled.

"Is that just because it's the color for your family, and you're the Green Ninja, and your dragon's green?" She and Lloyd stared at Emerald, who was statue still, and was buried in a rainbow colored sea of butterflies.

"Well, those are some of the reasons," Lloyd joked.

"But I think the reason why I like it so much is because it's the color of life. And it's a color that brings people together," he said, smiling at Harumi. And she smiled back.

After Lloyd had asked this seemingly silly question, he and Harumi began to ask each other all kinds of questions, drawing them both into a full-on conversation.

Time stood still as they stood there on the bridge, talking and asking each other things. Some of them were normal like, "What's your favorite food?" "What's your favourite book?" "What's your favorite animal?" Other questions were very random like, "If you could have the sky be any other color than blue, what would you have it be?" "Would rather eat necklaces or bracelets?" or "Have you ever drank a magic potion that made you grow orange horns, a blue tail, and itchy purple spots?"

At one point, Lloyd asked Harumi what she did for a living. Thinking quickly, Harumi managed to say she was a sales woman, and a huntress. She knew she technically wasn't lying about this. She just left out the part about stealing dragons and being the leader of a criminal gang.

The two continued to chat and tell one another stories and jokes. Suddenly, they both heard a giant snore from further down the river. They stared, and saw Emerald, who was fast asleep with a few remaining butterflies still sitting on him. The pair looked up, and noticed that the sky had turned from midnight blue, to a faint light pink with a tint of violet.

"Oh god!" Harumi said, shocked. "We've been talking all night! You should head back now," she urged Lloyd.

"Yeah, I should!" Lloyd agreed frantically. "It was nice talking with you, Harumi." He gave a soft smile towards her. Just as he was turning back, he heard her speak once more. Lloyd turned around to face her.

"First of all, please, call me Rumi," she beamed. "Second of all, do you want to meet again in the woods? Not today, but tomorrow evening? Maybe somewhere around seven?" She waited for Lloyd's response.

Lloyd beamed back towards her. "I'd like that very much!" He then raced towards Emerald, and gave him a small push. "Emerald! Wake up! We need to go!" The dragon lazily opened his eyes, and slowly got to his feet. Lloyd climbed onto his dragon's back, and gave him the motion to take off.

As they climbed higher and higher into the rising dawn, Lloyd noticed Harumi, who was still on the bridge. She gave a slight wave from down below on the ground. Lloyd waved back, a wide grin on his face. He was happy that he'd managed to make a new friend that evening. As Emerald soared quickly back to the castle through the cool, morning air,

Harumi faded into the distance until she was completely out of sight.

Later that day at training, Lloyd was extremely tired and drained. He almost fell asleep halfway through training.

"Are you okay Lloyd?" Jay asked. "Did you get enough sleep last night?"

"No," Lloyd replied groggily.

"Why don't you take a break and get some sleep?" Nya suggested.

"Did you know that if a person sleeps eight hours a day, they'll sleep over 229,961 hours in their lifetime?" Zane said.

The whole team stared at Zane.

"That's actually a pretty interesting fact," Nya replied.

"That's okay," Lloyd yawned, responding to Nya's suggestion. "Lets just keep trai-" Lloyd, who was standing up and leaning against his sword for support, was suddenly fast asleep.

The Ninja team proceeded to carefully move Lloyd to a bench in the shade, where they used a couple of towels for blankets.

"I think we should leave him alone for a little while," Nya advised. The team nodded, and the group slowly tiptoed out of the training grounds.

As he slept, Lloyd dreamed about earlier that evening when he and Harumi, or simply Rumi, had talked and asked each other questions, and laughed.

When Harumi laughed, it was cheerful and beautiful, and sounded like music. Her smile was brighter than a thousand stars shining across the night sky. "A sky," Lloyd thought to himself as he slept, "that would not be pitch black or onyx blue, but a radiant shade of sparkling purple." Lloyd blushed to himself while he was sleeping. He was very excited to see Harumi again.

Meanwhile…

Harumi collapsed on a cot. She was in the S.o.G. bunker. It was where every member of the Sons of Garmadon usually slept. It was empty now because most of the members were gone due to the search for the Oni masks, and the remaining members were awake, so they were doing their duties. Not Harumi though. She was absolutely pooped. Normally Harumi felt the cot beds were pretty hard and uncomfortable to sleep on. But now, because she was so exhausted and run down, the simple cot felt like the softest bed in the world. She rubbed her chocolate brown eyes drowsily, and then shut them tightly. She was not asleep just yet, but she was close. As Harumi dozed off into slumber, she thought about what happened earlier, and her chat with Lloyd.

You're supposed to hate him! Harumi thought.

But you don't! Her counter voice replied.

Harumi thought about Lloyd. He was kinda fun to be around, and he was actually pretty cute. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she was quite excited to see Lloyd again. And then, she fell fast asleep.

Yay! I got a new chapter out! This chapter was my favourite to write so far, and I'm really proud of the way it turned out! :) Not much else to say. :) By the way, happy October everybody! Anyone excited for Halloween? I am! I might rewatch Season 5 of Ninjago for the occasion! Hopefully y'all enjoyed this new chapter. Thank you for your continued support! :)

AuroraRain18: The Moment when Lloyd and Harumi begin to develop feelings, and Llorumi shippers rejoice… coming soon to a fanfiction site near you. Lol! :) seriously though, the romantic feelings are coming soon! Stay tuned!

Zach Greenwood: Here is the new Chapter out now for ya! Hope you enjoyed it!

Guest: Maybe that will happen, Maybe it won't! We'll just have to see! :) Thank you for your support!

Well, that's all I got for now. See you next chapter everybody! ~legocameragirl