Requested by: Guest

Request: Cole/Lloyd

Warnings: Yaoi

When Cole awoke that night, he could barely make out anything in the shared bedroom, even with the dim light of the moon filtering in through the window. He turned his head to look at the small alarm clock on the bedside table. Squinting, he was able to read the time as 4:25 in the morning. Groaning, he fell back on the springy mattress, staring up at the bottom of Jay's bed above him.

He always had trouble sleeping at night, even as a child, whether it was because of how rebellious he used to be or if he simply wanted to do other things, such as read, rather than sleep. When his father got him into dancing at the young age of six, a strict bedtime of 8:00 was set, and Cole always had to be extra sneaky when it came to staying up later than that.

Bedtimes, he thought with amusement, remembering that to be his least favourite part of childhood, minus running away and living on his own in the mountains for about five years at least. Good thing I don't have to deal with those anymore.

On the topic of his childhood, he lifted his head to stare at the only single bed in the room, where Lloyd, now aged up to be a young teenager at the least, slept peacefully. Cole watched the blond's sides move up and down evenly with each breath, feeling somewhat jealous that he seemed to be sleeping easier than him.

Lloyd shifted under the blankets, and bright red eyes suddenly opened, and Cole quickly shifted so it looked like he was still asleep, shutting his own eyes but keeping one cracked open ever so slightly, wondering what Lloyd would do next. He rose from his bed quietly, peering around the room as if afraid someone would hear him, then twisted his body around so his feet dangled over the sides without making so much as a creak from his bed. Lloyd inched off the mattress, standing up the minute his feet touched the floorboards, and tiptoed into the bathroom, turning on the light and shutting the door.

Cole raised an eyebrow, waiting for a few moments to see if he could hear anything, like a faucet being turned on or a toilet flushing. But no such sound came. He, too, crept out of his bed and to the bathroom door, opening it slowly so not to startle Lloyd, who he saw was leaning over the sink, staring into the large mirror in front of him. Unfortunately, the blond practically yelped and whipped around, his eyes wide with alarm. Upon recognizing who it was, however, he relaxed, his shoulders and eyelids drooping.

"Can't sleep either, huh?" asked Lloyd, rubbing at his eyes, obviously still bleary from sleep. "I don't know whether it's because I'm just anxious or if it's because I've aged up that I can't sleep anymore."

Cole smirked, ruffling his pale blond locks. "The anxiety and growing up factors are sometimes a package deal. If you're anything like me, there are more sleepless nights to come." He leaned against the wall, resting his hands behind his head. "Anything on your mind that you wanna talk about?"

Lloyd shrugged, not moving from where he stood. "It's nothing, just...personal stuff, that's all." Though the green ninja gave a half-hearted smile, Cole could tell there was more to it than he was letting on.

"Come on, Lloyd," he pressed. "What's really going on?"

Lloyd sighed, then turned around to face him. "The last time I saw my father, I was still a kid," he began. "I technically should still be a kid. But now I'm older, physically and mentally, and my father doesn't even know yet." Lloyd looked up at Cole in desperation. "How's he going to react when he sees me again? He'll know that the reason I became older so quickly is because of all of you. Surely it'll just make him want to come after you guys more, right?" He looked away nervously. "What if he ends up hating me?"

Cole didn't know what to say. Though he was often at a loss of comforting words whenever the others came to him for support, he felt the timing of his inability to reassure Lloyd was very inconvenient. He thought about what Lloyd had said, about how Garmadon would want revenge for changing his son so drastically without his knowledge.

"Then...I guess he'll just have to accept who you are," Cole said finally. "You always said that he never wanted you to follow in his footsteps, and that he wanted you to choose your own path and follow your destiny. If he can't handle the fact that you're doing just that, then..." He trailed off, not exactly knowing how to continue.

Lloyd nodded, folding his arms across his chest. "It's fine, Cole. I know you can't really understand what I'm going through. I'll be fine, trust me."

"I want to understand, though," he insisted. "My father never was that way. He always pushed me to do the things he wanted. He wanted me to follow in his footsteps, and he got angry when he found out I wasn't doing that. I mean, it's better now, but seeing you like this, worrying about whether your relationship with your father will be ruined..." He shrugged, fiddling with the sleeve of his pyjama shirt awkwardly. "It just makes me think about how I felt with my father, that's all."

Lloyd stared at the black ninja for a moment, taking in what he just said. Though Garmadon and Cole's father were as different as they could be, the former being evil and the latter being good, they were similar in that their treatment of their sons lead to the same outcome, with both boys worrying about their relationships with their fathers.

"I guess we both have dad issues, huh?" the blond asked, attempting to lighten the mood.

Cole smirked. "That's not even the half of it. Kai and Nya are orphans, Jay's parents are as weird as he is, Zane's father was also his creator..." He wrapped an arm around Lloyd's shoulders. "I guess we're all similar in our own weird ways, huh?"

Lloyd leaned into Cole's side, grateful for the closeness. "It sure looks like it."

The pair grinned at each other, the brightness in their eyes genuine for once, when Cole finally said, "We should get back to bed. We have training tomorrow, and Sensei Wu wouldn't like it if we overslept."

"Agreed."

Just before Cole opened the door, he turned to Lloyd with a reassuring smile. "And by the way, you don't need to worry about Garmadon coming after us more often for you turning older." He gave Lloyd a quick kiss on the forehead and winked. "We're more than ready to fight him off."

Lloyd blushed at the sudden contact, and returned the smile, albeit a bit sheepishly. "If you say so," he replied.

He followed Cole out of the bathroom, turning the light off and climbing back into his own bed. The black ninja let his gaze travel to Lloyd once again, and he noticed that the blond seemed to be hiding his face under the blankets, the way the corners of his eyes crinkled indicating that he was smiling.

Cole let himself grin at the sight, laying down on his own bed and pulling the blankets up to his chin. Goodnight, Lloyd, he thought. Everything will be okay, I promise.

As he fell asleep, the image of Lloyd's smile stuck in his head, he hoped that he was right, and that Garmadon wouldn't lash out at his own son just for becoming so much older without him knowing.

And then "Wrong Place, Wrong Time" happened and Garmadon became angry over Lloyd growing up. One thing led to another and a dragon of darkness ends up terrorizing the city.

This show is an adventure.

Anyway, thank you Guest for requesting this pairing! Stay tuned!