Requested by: DeliciouslyDangerous1

Request: Lou/Misako

Warnings: None

Misako looked down at the address written on the scroll again, looking around the small village for the third time for the house. She received a request from someone who asked for a scroll that described the theatrics and dance of Ninjago in ancient times. She found it rather strange, since she normally didn't deliver scrolls to anyone, as well as the fact that the client remained anonymous.

She shrugged, and finally spotted an older-looking house with the address she was looking for on the door. She walked up and knocked on the door three times.

"Use the bell!" a man's voice called from inside.

Misako raised an eyebrow, looking to the side and spotting the doorbell. She nearly jumped back when she rang it, the voice singing "Welcome" startling her a bit.

The door opened not long after, and a middle-aged man stood in the doorway. His neatly groomed black hair and bushy eyebrows made her think she should know the man, but no specific name came to her. His brown eyes looked her up and down, and he grinned.

"Perfect timing! I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it!" he said.

Upon hearing his voice, Misako's eyes brightened. "Lou? Is that really you? I thought you seemed familiar, but I wasn't sure..."

"Wait, Misako?" Lou's smile went from polite to sincere. He stepped aside to let her in. "Come inside! It's been such a long time since we last spoke. Was it since you graduated high school? Heh, to think I was only a freshman back then. Anyway, come in!"

He's just as kind as ever, she thought with a grin, walking inside and letting him close the door behind her. The subtle smell of lavender greeted her as she walked in, and she looked around at the pictures hanging on the walls. Several were newspaper clippings, all with headlines describing something called "The Royal Blacksmiths".

"Remember when I told you I wanted to be a performer?" Lou asked, coming up to walk beside her. "Well, I am proud to say that I've achieved that dream! Singing, dancing, acting... I've had the pleasure of doing it all."

"That's wonderful!" she replied. She took another look at the walls, seeing shelf after shelf of trophies covering one side. "You must be excellent at performing to have gotten all of these awards."

He smirked, brushing off his shoulder in mock sheepishness. "Well, I wouldn't say that..."

"Daddy?" A younger voice sounded from the room ahead. Misako looked in, turning her head from side to side. She eventually looked down to see a chubby boy, around four years old, staring up at her, flinching a little when they made eye contact. His black hair was much unlike his father's; it was overgrown and hanging in his face.

She looked over at Lou, who merely smiled and walked up to the boy, bending down to lift him up into his arms. "I guess I should've mentioned I have a son now," he said. "This is Cole. Son, this is Misako. You can say hello."

Cole's wide green eyes stared at Misako intently, a frown upon his lips. "H-hi," he muttered, before ducking his head and hiding his face in his father's shoulder. Misako smiled at his shy behaviour, coming forward to pat him gently on the head.

"He's adorable," she said. "But aside from his hair colour, he looks almost nothing like you."

"Yes, he gets his looks from his mother," Lou replied, leading her over to the couch, setting Cole between them. "But he'll definitely be getting his performance skills from his father. Isn't that right, son?"

There was the uncomfortable look in the child's eyes again. Cole shrugged before climbing off the couch, walking with shaky legs over to the set of building blocks in the middle of the room.

"He's not very social, is he?" asked Misako.

Lou sighed. "I'm still working on it. I'm hoping he'll come around eventually. It won't do him good if he's an antisocial performer, now will it?"

Misako noticed that Cole kept glancing behind him to stare at his father, the same nervous look in his eyes. She wondered if he even wanted to be like his father at all. Did he even enjoy listening to the conversation they were having about Lou's career?

In an attempt to change the subject, she asked, "So, where is your wife? Cole's mother? Is she here right now?"

For once, Lou was silent, and he looked down at his hands. "Ah... You see, that's the thing. I'm raising Cole on my own."

"On your own? Why? Was she unsuitable as a mother for him? Was she abusive?"

"Oh, no, no!" he assured her. "She was nothing of the sort! In fact, she would've made a great mother!" He looked away again, his gaze fixed on Cole, who was stretching up on tiny toes to put the last block on his tower. "When she gave birth to Cole...something went wrong. She wasn't... S-strong enough to make it through."

She winced, just now realizing it was a poor subject to switch to. "I'm sorry, Lou," she said. "I didn't mean to..."

"No, it's fine. I'm just worried what will happen when Cole gets older, and he asks about her." He cast his gaze over to Cole, who had knocked over his tower of blocks and had his tiny fists raised in the air in triumph.

Misako put a hand on his knee. "I'm sure Cole will be able to handle it. I don't know why, but it almost feels like he's...stronger than most children his age." She was mainly referring to Cole's willingness to put up with his father pushing him to be a performer, but she didn't expect Lou to realize it.

Lou smiled. "Perhaps his mother gave him some of her strength," he suggested. "She always was a capable woman." He looked at Misako with caring eyes. "Like you."

She smiled back at him, and handed him the scroll. "Here. I have to get going. My own husband with be worried if I'm back too late."

"Of course. It was good seeing you again, Misako!" Lou put the scroll aside and crouched down next to Cole. "Say goodbye to Misako," he told him.

Cole waved at her as she left. "Bye-bye," he said, returning to his demolished block tower. Misako waved back, turning the doorknob and exiting the house.

As she walked back to the monastery where Wu and Garmadon were, she looked up at the sky, remembering how Cole and Lou interacted with each other, feeling a bit envious of the obvious adoration Lou had for his son.

I wonder if Garmadon and I will have a son one day. She grinned, deciding that all she could do at that point was hope.

Whew! The last oneshot for 2014! What a wild ride it's been!

Thank you, DeliciouslyDangerous1 for requesting this pairing! Stay tuned! And Happy New Year!