Lloyd closed his comic book and placed it on his lap. He looked to where Lyn was and saw that she already had two comics down and was on her third.
"Wow, you sure read fast," he said to her. It took a few seconds for Lyn to respond. She closed her reading material before turning her head.
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
"I said, 'You sure read fast.'" Lloyd said once more. Lyn simply flashed a smile.
"What? They were awesome!"
"Anyway," the Green Ninja continued. "Why did you reveal yourself to Mother Doomsday? I thought you were undercover." Lyn looked up as she leaned her head on the chair.
"Well, he seemed like a good and trustworthy person. I get that you two know each other."
"Yeah, me and Rufus go way back."
Lyn nodded. "You obviously trust him and it seemed that he didn't tell on you, otherwise you wouldn't be here."
"Wow, you can read people pretty well," Lloyd said in impressed tone. Lyn shrugged her shoulders.
"Not always. Sometimes people tend to be an open book. Besides, since he's allowed us hang out here, I thought it would be wrong to betray his trust, you know?" Lloyd rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. He remembered how he treated the other ninja, still keeping them in the dark even after everything they discussed. He needed to change that.
"Hey, you okay?" He heard Lyn ask him. "You kinda disappeared for a while there."
"Uh yeah, I'm okay. It's just that I've got something in my mind lately. My teammates."
"Is something wrong? Did you guys argue or something?"
"Argue's more like it. I kinda haven't told anything about you yet."
"What do you mean by that?" Lyn changed her position from sitting to lying on her belly on the bean bag chair to face Lloyd properly.
"Well, ever since we met..." Lloyd paused. For some reason, telling her this stuff made him feel awkward. He took a short breathe then continued. "I kinda never told the guys about you. Every time we'd hang out, I'd sneak out of the Bounty to see you." The air became silent. Lyn didn't know what to say. It felt weird yet relieving to be "the mystery girl."
"Why… didn't you? I mean, I'm sure you had your reasons, but…"
"Well, I kinda… well, knew that they would immediately assume you're my girlfriend or something." Lloyd said this while fidgeting with his fingers. He felt the heat rise from his neck to his ears and cheeks. Lyn too felt her cheeks heat up. She buried her face in her arms.
"What did you say to them?" She asked, taking a peek at the Green Ninja, who was turning his head around.
"Well, I said uh-… That we're just… friends." There was a long silence between the two. Both were in a state of embarrassment and awkwardness. It's true that they saw each other as friends. So why would they feel this way? Now neither knew what to talk about. The brunette was first to break the tension.
"Well, they do seem like interesting characters." After saying that she then proceeded to change the topic. "So, what's going on with you, nowadays? I heard that the press have been chasing you nonstop." Lloyd groaned at the memory.
"Ugh, don't remind me. That was torture. I'd rather clean the training deck for a month than live through that again."
"It was that bad, huh?"
"Yup. Speaking of which, what about you? You said that Caroline's trying to get you to spill." Lloyd shifted his weight on the beanbag chair to face the girl properly and leaned his head on his hand.
"Jeez, yes! After the Gala, my phone's been flooded with messages from her, Selene and Bianca."
"What'd they say?" Lyn pulled her phone from her pocket and ran through her inbox with her thumb.
"Things like 'OMG Lyn! You're friends with the Green Ninja?', 'You should introduce us sometime' or 'How'd you two meet'.." the list just continued. Lloyd leaned back and rested the back of his head on his hands as he listened.
"They even went so far to say 'Is the Green Ninja your boyfrie-!" Lyn stopped reading midsentence. She felt her cheeks heat up again. Lloyd also flinched and felt the warm reach his ears. He shook off the feeling, remembering that the press asked him the same questions. He let out a chuckle.
"So I guess the guys are not the only ones who thought so," Lloyd stated.
"Yeah, I'm not reading that last one again," the girl replied as she tucked her phone away.
"So they think you and I are," Lloyd commented as he gestured with his hands.
"Apparently. But why? We're just, friends. Right?"
"Right."
"Ok, enough about the press and the suck ups," Lyn said. "Tell me what's been going on in the Bounty. What's it like up there?"
"Well, since you ask, nothing much," Lloyd replied. "All we do is train. Day in day out."
"What about your show?"
"Oh, yeah. We do that in a filming studio. We normally do that on weekends."
"Isn't today a weekend?"
"We ended early today. When we're not busy, we usually hang out in the Bounty playing chess, video games, or simply chilling."
"Must be nice, having friends like yours," Lyn said dreamily. "To have friends who take you for who you are, no pretenses, and just have plain old fun."
"Yeah, the guys are alright. Hey, if you want, I could introduce you to them," Lloyd told her. He might regret it later on, but he knew how desperate Lyn was for real friends, and he knew the other ninja would never hurt her.
"You mean it?" Lyn asked, her eyes twinkling with excitement.
"Yeah, I mean it. Besides, they want to meet you too." A laugh escaped Lyn's lips.
"Alright, the next time we meet, let's all hang out then."
"Deal."
"How'd you get so lucky to have such awesome friends?" Lyn continued. She was obviously green with envy at Lloyd's relationships. Growing up with kids who didn't really care made her childhood not really all that memorable. She decided to focus on her studies and took any outdoor trip she could with her family and relatives to escape the environment.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better," Lloyd replied. "I never really met them until I left Darkley's Boarding School for Bad Boys. My life wasn't always like this."
"Yeah, you told me about the tea that made you older."
"Did you know it happened at this very store?" Lyn's eyes went wide.
"No! Really?"
"Really."
"Doesn't it bother you? I mean coming back here? The place where you lost your childhood?" Lloyd shrugged.
"It's not all that bad. Sure I had to sacrifice several years of my life, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. My friends were in danger and I was willing to do anything to help them. Besides, I got to save my dad, save the world. And I got to meet you." Lloyd felt himself blush once more as he said the last part. He hoped that it didn't sound romantic. He was just being genuine.
"Yeah, I'm glad I met you too," Lyn said with a smile. "If we hadn't met, I wonder what would've happened to me that day." The girl then thought of something. "Hey, speaking of which, how old are you exactly?"
"Huh?"
"If the tea made you older, how many years did you accelerate?"
Lloyd scratched his head. "I honestly don't know. I never really gave it that much thought. I was ten years old at the time, and I think it accelerated my age about five or six years. And that was almost three years ago. So I'd say I'm eighteen or nineteen years old at this point."
"Ah, I see. Well, I'm nineteen years old. I'm a freshman at the Ninjago City University."
"Ninjago City University?"
"You've never been to NCU?" Lloyd shook his head.
"But you know what college is, right?" Another shake of the head. Lyn facepalmed.
"That's something I definitely did not expect. Tell you what: when summer rolls around, just before class ends, I'll take you to see it."
"Okay," the boy simply replied. "Wait, what is 'college' exactly?"
Before Lyn could answer, the door opened with Rufus on the other side, startling both of them.
"I'm sorry, kids, but I gotta close the shop." Lyn glanced at her watch. It read 7:30 pm.
"Sorry, Mother Doomsday, we kinda lost track of time." Lyn said. "We'll get out of your hair now." She and Lloyd got up, grabbed their comics books, thanked Rufus, and left the store.
The pair walked side by side through the streets of the city, the lampposts lighting their steps. Both were still in their disguises, but Lyn had put her hair down from her cap and turned it into a side braid. They were both headed for Lyn's building after Lloyd offered to accompany her back home, saying he was concerned for her safety.
"You don't have to walk me home, you know? I can get home by myself," Lyn said to the Green Ninja. "It's a safe street anyway, and it's not that far."
"We're just being cautious, okay?" Lloyd told her. "There's nothing wrong with being too careful."
Lyn just shrugged. "Whatever you say."
"Hey, so what is college?"
"Oh right. College is the next step after high school. You choose a course that you want to learn, which will help you land a job after you graduate. Some courses take three years, while others take four." Lloyd listened as much as he could. He was so intrigued, knowing that he hasn't entered school in a long time. "You take different sets of classes, choose your own schedules, have projects, all that stuff."
"And what course did you take?" Lloyd finally asked.
"Well, I'm taking business management, so that I can prepare in taking Dad's place when he retires. Or at least, that's what he wants me to do."
"What he wants you to do? What about you? What do you want to do?" The blonde asked her. The brunette stopped walking to think.
"I never really thought about it. I'm actually quite content with where I am. Well, except for the socialite suck ups."
"Huh, seems like you and I aren't all that different after all," Lloyd replied as they continued walking.
"How so?"
"Our destinies seemed to have been chosen for us, and we kinda just accepted it."
"Huh, you're right. If I didn't accept it, Dad would have to sell his business or hand it over to someone else if I don't step up."
"And Ninjago would fall into peril if I didn't accept the role of the Green Ninja."
"You just have to accept the responsibility."
"Or suffer the consequences."
"Oh! We're here!" The pair stopped in front of the glass skyscraper. Lyn turned to Lloyd to say goodbye.
"Well, thanks for walking me home."
"Don't mention it. I'm glad I got to see you home safely. See ya." The Green Ninja turned to go.
"Lloyd, wait," Lyn called after him. Lloyd turned around to face her.
"Thank you for today," the girl told him. "I really needed it. Can't wait to hang out again next time."
Lloyd simply smiled. "You're welcome, Lyn. I enjoyed today too."
"Good night, Lloyd," the girl said before entering the building through its huge glass revolving doors. The Green Ninja turned and left. 'So we aren't entirely different,' Lloyd thought to himself. Lyn and him may be a 'world' apart, but their worlds were similar in some ways. He thought he was the only one who had a responsibility to carry on his shoulders. Apparently, someone else does too. It may not be as heavy as his, but at least it's something both of them can voice out to each other, and that made him happy. As his thoughts circulated in his head, he headed for an abandoned alleyway before summoning his dragon and flying home to the Bounty.
Happy Holidays everyone! I hope everyone is having a blast as the year comes to a close.
Just to clear up some things: the part where Lloyd talks about how much time had passed since season 1, that's just a headcanon of mine. This story takes place after the season Skybound and the events of DotD may or may not affect this story.
Thank you again for your reviews. It really keeps me going and it reminds me that there are still people reading this story. Happy Holidays once again! ~ SnowflakeShard