Wu/Garmadon/Misako/Lloyd

Lloyd's lineage is questionable in my mind. He is super young to be Misako's son and he does not look like either of his parents when they were younger. He looks like Wu... So Misako, Anything you would like to tell the rest of us? Well this is my take on their family and there may be a conception difficulties trigger, abuse trigger, and an unnamed character death. So... This one is more bitter sweet.

Wu smiled sadly down into his tea. He had always thought Misako would be his, right up until her wedding with Garmadon. He had not been jealous though. He really was happy for the two of them. Especially because it seemed when Misako was around, Garmadon was that much more himself. It seemed the beautiful vibrant woman was the salve to sooth the bite of the Great Devourer. Now, the wise man felt naive for believing the venom could be fought that easily. It was almost like he was in his own honeymoon phase for the first few years of his brother's marriage.

It could not last however. Wu had been traveling the far west, getting to know the dragons living there better since he still did not know too much about them even after all these years. It was such a relief when he finally arrived at Garmadon's home at the base of Mount Creation.

The air of the sparse thicket was laden with the pungent smell of rich soil. The trail to his brother's house was well worn and pointed straight to the unlit building in the dead of night. Wu could have missed the quiet refuge had it not been for the dim reflection of the crescent moon glinting off of the otherwise darkened windows. Though Garmadon's house was nothing like the monastery, it still felt very much like home to his younger brother.

The dirt path made a gradual progression into a stone walkway that led straight up to the wooden planks at the stoop of the front door. Wu let out a content sigh as he mounted the steps to the tranquil building and did not hesitate in entering the sleeping dwelling.

The traveling man would always be welcome here and if he stayed outside all night like he had shortly after the house had been built, the couple who owned the place would surely give him an earful when they found out. Wu would not be making that mistake again.

The tightly woven mats carpeting the floors made a pleasant reprieve for sore feet, exhausted from walking miles on hard packed ground. The tired man trudged quietly through the familiar halls until a narrow beam of dim flickering light peeked up at him from the gap between the master bedroom door and the hard wood floor. Wu raised a hand to knock when a whimper forestalled the movement.

"Garmadon- you're- hurting me-" Misako gasped haltingly leaving the younger brother frozen outside with wide eyes. Garmadon... Hurting Misako?

"Be quiet woman." Garmadon growled venomously. "If you'd stopped disobeying me, this wouldn't be happening still. Now, give me a son!" Wu paled at the command. He could hear the two... He wanted to stop this but it was not his place. Misako had chosen the man and there was nothing Wu could do.

The woman cried out in obvious pain and the eavesdropper could clearly hear the sound of a hand striking bare flesh. "I said stop it! You're doing this on purpose and I will not allow you to deny me a child any longer. I must have an heir!"

Misako sobbed quietly at her husband's cruel words.

Wu backed away from the door slowly, feeling the heavy weight of guilt in each step. He closed his eyes and tried not to hear any more of the couple's private matters remembering how the two had calmly confided their difficulties in conceiving a child to him nearly a year before. Garmadon had taken the matter in stride then but now... Wu could hear the venom's taint staining his brother's words. Garmadon was getting worse and Misako was left, taking the brunt of his temper.

Wu turned away and strode right back out of the house feeling the burn of tears threatening his eyes. He dropped his traveling bag on the raised wooden deck and sat on the steps leading up to the door. He could have stayed behind but it would not have helped. They were fighting a losing battle and the high price it cost them was his brother. Wu tried to remember a Garmadon without the venom but he feared the memories might eventually leave him for good.

"Wu- it is good you're back. I fear I may have hurt Misako." Said man did not turn to look as his brother approached from the house some time later. He sounded repentant but Garmadon had gotten more and more manipulative throughout the years.

When the blond did not respond, the dark haired man drew nearer and sat next to his brother. Garmadon took a shaky breath before continuing. "She is sleeping now. I'm not sure I'm good for her, brother. I can no longer control myself. I don't want to lose her but... I fear it may be for the best." A small breathy sob slipped from the older man's mouth and Wu finally looked over at his brother.

Garmadon was in a comfortable dark robe with his shoulders hunched despondently and dark bangs obscuring his red eyes. The strong man flinched intermittently at what Wu assumed was the pain he confessed to when he had to fight tooth and nail for control over his own mind. The man looked broken. Garmadon had always wanted a son to teach in the ways of the ninja but not if it meant hurting the woman he loved.

Wu had no idea what to say. Their separation would be both a blessing and a curse for the blond man but he could not decide what the proper response to his brother's lament might be. The two sat in silence until Garmadon finally spoke again. "Take her back to the monastery. There is somewhere I must go. Somewhere no one can accompany me." Glowing red eyes did not waver as they looked out to the peaceful woodland surrounding the isolated house.

Wu had to look away to answer, for fear that his sibling might read something in his eyes the traveler did not want him to see. "Garmadon, you cannot just leave your wife. I know it is unfair to ask of you, but you must shoulder your responsibilities. Actions must always be accounted for. I'm sorry brother. She is yours to care for, not my responsibility."

Clack! Garmadon struck the boards making up their seat, causing the wood to splinter. "Do you think I don't know that?" He growled out loudly. "There will be a time in which I can no longer love my wife and if I stay here, it will come on the morrow." He bit out with an angry tremor in his voice.

Wu remained silent. He could not possibly take Misako away. Perhaps if he just remained mute on the matter, Garmadon would give up, go to sleep, and forget the whole conversation by dawn.

As though he knew his brother's thoughts, Garmadon grumbled lowly, "I must leave tonight brother. Either you will do this for me, call it payment for retrieving that sword of yours if you like, or Misako will be left on her own until I am able to come back to her. It is your choice. You could leave before morning as well if you don't intend to accompany her to the monastery."

Nothing could be said to dissuade the elder brother. Garmadon departed that night, without so much as a word to his wife that he was leaving.

A tearful Misako rose in the morning like the sun. Her beauty was mangled by dark bruises that spotted her body and dried blood cracking at her neck and on her robe. It was all Wu could do to tell the woman of her husband's intent. She cleaned herself up while her brother in law packed for the journey. Together they set off for the monastery, not saying a word about the man they both loved so dearly.

They had no idea it would be three long years before they next saw Garmadon. It seemed like a miracle, when he showed up one day at the stream feeding into 'their lake' while Wu and Misako were doing laundry.

A scream was Wu's only warning before he was knocked off his feet by a ragged looking man who ran by, scooping Misako off her feet and hoisting her high. Panic was quickly replaced by laughter as the rugged man with long messy dark hair spun his wife around gleefully. His skin had not been so tan in years. If not for his red eyes, Wu would have thought his brother was cured that day.

For decades, Garmadon would live a good life with his wife. He never again mentioned children to Wu. Occasionally, Garmadon would have to leave for a time when the venom became too much for him to fight on his own. The occurrence was sporadic at first but grew more frequent as the years ticked by.

Everytime the elder brother would return, his skin was of a deeper hue and he got more paranoid and evasive about where he disappeared to. His loved ones knew it for what it was. Dark magic.

Wu and Misako managed to follow him once, not all the way but at least into an old grave yard. There, Garmadon conjured a path into a dark world they knew only the venom inflicted man could traverse.

After his brother disappeared into the void, Wu took Misako back into the town's inn. They took a room together for the first time because neither wanted to sleep after seeing the terrible things Garmadon had to endure to stay with them for a short time more. Both cried that night. For the first time in ages, they actually feared losing the tainted man.

Wu woke in the morning to Misako already dressed in her stout traveling garb and bustling around packing with a roll hanging from her mouth that she would occasionally take a bite of. Wu smiled until the graying woman tossed his bags onto his chest with a vacant grin. He forced himself to smile back knowing they would be each others' only support in this. Garmadon had enough to deal with on his own without worrying about their feelings For his gradual demise.

The pair departed with strained good spirits. The journey back to Misako's house was a quiet one, filled with solemn contemplation until they spent a night in the last village before their destination. They rented two rooms as was usual for them and Wu could remember the weariness he felt that night. All he had wanted to do was roll up into his bedding and let the weightless dreamworld whisk him away.

The aged man was never really sure if he ever fell asleep that night. It all started with a crash of shattering glass in the room next to his that made him give a start. Wu sighed and laid his head back down, knowing Misako's room was on the other side. He relaxed back on his pallet and calmed his nerves. Accidents happened.

A pained whine made Wu glance back towards the crash where he could now hear a woman's agonized sobs. Wu grabbed his walking stick and crept out into the hallway on high alert. He paused at the door for just a moment, wary of intruding on a private affair, but another pronounced whine from the woman convinced him to throw open the door and defeat her enemy.

Wu gaped. He had seen battlefields soaked in less blood than the woman's bed sheets. She had her legs pulled up to her chest with a baby's head hanging down from her feminine parts limply. She groaned shrilly through gritted teeth as the child inched out a little more.

Wu dropped his weapon in a hurry and rushed to the site of the action. He had never seen anything like this before but the way the baby's head hung down concerned him. The mother barely acknowledged his existence as Wu gently cupped the head of the child and lifted it for closer inspection. The lifeless face was already purple and well on its way to turning blue. This could not be how infants were supposed to look coming out.

The warrior's wrinkled and calloused fingers slipped over the slick body as both shoulders appeared from the woman's stretched orifice. Then, he saw it. It looked like a cuff around the child's neck and he could see the other side of the ribbon still caught up in the desperately panting mother. Wu swallowed against the bile rising up in his chest and tried slipping a finger between the baby and the tube that was choking it. The thing would not budge. He glanced around in a panic, looking for something to cut the cord with in the rented room. Nothing. Another cry from the woman prefaced the fleshy rope loosening it's hold a bit and Wu turned back to the child, determined to get the thing off of it.

"Wu?" A familiar voice questioned from the hall.

"Misako- it- I think it's dead!" He could hear the panic in his own voice as he beckoned his friend over.

Now, with a bit of slack, Wu managed to pull the cord away from the babe's neck and slip it from around the child's head. Wu could feel a familiar heat burning at his eyes when he noticed the baby was still not breathing. His hands shook beneath the sticky slippery head. It was so small, not even the size of his palm, and there was nothing he could do.

Misako put a hand on his shoulder and another on the woman's lower belly. "You are almost there, when I give the signal, you push with all you've got, okay?" The older woman told the would be mother. The young woman whined but nodded and when the baby seemed to be slipping out, Misako gave the command. "Push!"

Under Misako's guidance, the child finally slipped out and the mother collapsed back as her work was finally over. Wu cradled the still born in trembling hands as his sister in law moved to the other woman's side to hold her hand and speak kind soothing words to the girl. She really was just a child in her own right. She was a sliver of a woman with light tangled hair matted against her reddened face.

The seasoned ninja felt his jaw quiver as he looked on at the motionless body in his grasp. It would have been a boy, he noted. He retracted a bit from the women, as far as the child's leash would allow and he scooped up a discarded strip of cloth to wipe the red from the baby's face. Without the coating of blood, the boy was a pale little thing. Wu frowned and cleaned up around the child's nose before dipping the soiled cloth down to his mouth and gave a start. The babe's mouth had opened and now had not only the cloth in it's hold, but one of Wu's fingers as well.

Wu let out a shaky laugh and rushed to the women's side. "He's alive! He's sucking on my finger and he's alive." As though to prove it, the child's face scrunched up discontentedly.

The mother gave a weak smile as Wu handed her the baby. "So he is. Oh Lloyd- if you could see us now." The child whined when she took away the cloth. She quieted him with a teat and he dug in with gusto.

Misako and Wu shared a warm relieved smile over the happy pair. Once the baby was happily occupied, the woman's sac slipped out easily and the cord was cut with only a small amount of leakage. While it may not have been a conventional child birth, Wu was rather proud of his role in the young boy's new life.

"Sir? Young mistress Brianna wished to see you before your departure. You and your companion." The inn's maid explained after catching Wu by his arm as he tried to move along the next morning.

"Mistress Brianna?" Wu parroted, looking owlish with wide confused eyes.

The red head bobbed her head in agreement. "Yes, yes. The young woman who bedded next to you during the night. She sounded earnest sir."

Wu patted her arm reassuringly. "Oh yes, mistress Brianna. She seemed well this morning, I hope?" The maid nodded vehemently once more earning a smile from the older man. "Very well, I'll see to her now. If you see Misako, please send her up."

Wu climbed the stairs in a rush, hoping beyond hope the child was still in good health. He knocked at the young woman's door. "Miss Brianna? It's me-the man from last night."

"Please come in. I'm afraid my hands are a bit full at the moment." Wu did as he was told, instantly smiling as his eyes caught on the babe slumbering in his mother's arms. "I wanted to thank you sir." She explained looking oddly chagrined. "I'm afraid I don't have much to spare but if you'd like, please accept my husband's shaving kit as a token of my gratitude."

Wu blushed and threw his arms up as if to ward off an advance. "Oh no. I couldn't. There's nothing I could possibly accept from you other than your thanks."

"I heard you asked for me?" Wu sighed at his life long friend's voice behind him. Misako would know how to handle the girl. The older woman gasped and Wu glanced back at her frightened face. "My dear, are you alright?" Misako questioned worriedly.

Brianna smiled tiredly and Wu finally noticed her dull pallor. She was pale, even when compared to the baby in her arms. The young mother smiled though, "I'm just tired ma'am. It seems like ages have passed since I last rested." With the admission, the woman's glimmering green eyes slipped shut and her breathing slowed.

The older woman drew near to lay a palm across the slumbering girl's brow. "Wu, I think she's sick. She's searing hot."

Emerald eyes fluttered open as the baby boy began to cry. "Shush, we have company." She whispered to her son before turning to her two older companions. "I'm sorry, I've just been so very tired. I've never felt so tired." Tears slipped past her lashes to spill down her cheeks.

Misako laid her hand over Brianna's holding the babe up. She smiled, "And what is his name dear?" She asked quietly.

The young mother grinned through her tears. "I can't choose without his father. Lloyd said he'd be back. He never leaves me alone for long." Brianna's head lolled to the side and her son began crying louder.

Misako frowned and lifted the upset child from his mother's loose grasp to coo at him. "Hush little babe, everything's okay.

"Sleep through the night, until you see the light.

"No creeps to slither, down by the river.

"As long as we're together, everything's alright."

As she sang softly, Misako ran her fingers over the now quiet boy's head. The pair of travelers wrapped him up snugly and left the mother to sleep. Misako kept the boy firmly in her arms, trailing Wu everywhere he went as he readied their bags to leave.

When they went down to eat breakfast in the common room, the innkeeper caught Wu by the arm. "So, that's the girl's babe?" At the answering nod, the man sighed. "Mai said she's caught a fever. Said she was delirious this morning, expecting her beloved."

Wu frowned and responded, "Why, where is her husband?"

The innkeeper turned away, "She said he's been gone quite a while. When she arrived, she wasn't even certain he was the father. They'd been ransacked by a brigade some time ago. He... Didn't make it and her captors were... Insatiable." The man looked as though he might become sick at the thought. "She's been bedridden over a month now. I fear this babe will become the town's burden."

"No!" Misako's outburst disturbed the sleeping boy momentarily before he quieted down again. The graying woman moderated her tone as she absently rocked the child. "He is not going to grow up an orphan. I won't allow it." She whispered sharply.

The inkeeper glanced sideways at the resolute woman. "Sorry to disappoint your fine sensibilities madame but none around these parts would risk bringing a kid like that into their home. He could grow up to be just like his father and if he was one of those bandits-" His thin hair swayed as he shook his head bitterly.

"I'll take him." At first, Wu had thought Misako spoke up but he was shocked to see the woman staring at him as wide eyed as the innkeeper.

The round bellied man scoffed. "You have no idea what he's got in 'im. He could grow up to be just like his vagabond father. Just leave him, you'd be better off."

"No." This time it was Misako who spoke. "We'll take him. If Brianna-" She swallowed back her tears. "I know darkness, and there is no darkness within this child." Tears freely streamed down her trembling face as she stormed back up the stairs.

It was days later when the pair finally left that inn. Wu forced a smile as he handed over the rent and an envelope. He did not mind paying the ever increasing amounts to rent a room. It was the letter he had written that had been bothering him. The round bellied innkeeper gave him a terse nod and the older man released a breath he had not realized he was holding.

"Just make sure she gets it when she leaves." Wu requested around a sickening lump stuck in his throat. The man nodded again and the ninja made his way upstairs to see the girls.

He paused in the doorway, hearing Misako's caring voice as she stroked the other woman's hair. "Just keep your strength up dear. We'll see you again when you recover."

Brianna's tone was even weaker than it had been the past couple of days. It was clear the girl would not be recovering when she spoke. "And Lloyd's going with you? Where is he? Lloyd?"

The child made an annoyed sound and began to squirm in his mother's arms. Misako took him quickly and softly bounced him to calm his distress. "He's right here dear. I've got your man right here. Want to kiss him good bye?" She asked forlornly.

The sickly girl nodded with a dazed half smile and placed a gentle kiss to her son's head when he came into range. "I love you so much Lloyd. Soon, you'll see our beautiful son." Her eyes slipped shut as she drifted into another feverish dream. She looked so peaceful and Wu smoothed her light hair away from her face. It was too bad she could not tell her son from her husband now.

Misako looked as though she might cry when she nodded in resolve and lead Wu on their way with the babe safely in her grasp. Wu kept pace warily, unsure of how they would explain this to Garmadon.

"Sleep, sleep, slumber and dream.

Drift in the world of honey and cream.

Sleep, sleep, slumber and dream.

Fate brought you here in a marvelous scheme.

Sleep, sleep, slumber and dream.

Take me away to our secret stream."

Wu could fall asleep to Misako's beautiful words. Increasingly so, it seemed she missed Garmadon. She would mention him and things like their stream when she sang to the baby. Wu just hoped his brother would not be angry when he returned. He jumped when he heard his brother's warped voice.

"Sleep, sleep, slumber and dream.

The king has returned to an heir and his queen."

Garmadon was smiling down at Misako, his skin nearly as black as coal now. He reached for the babe with a soft expression Wu could remember on him when he was a child handling an injured animal. Misako handed the six month old over without a second thought. "Hello there little one, and who are you?" He whispered sounding oddly demonic despite his kind appearance.

Misako stood next to her husband, brushing long gray mottled lock of hair over her shoulder before stretching up to place a chaste kiss to his unshaven cheek. "He hasn't got a name Garmy. I wanted to see what you thought of the name I picked out before making the decision."

"His name will be Garmadon," The red eyed man announced with a stern nod.

Misako whispered, her words caressing the child's face as gingerly as her milky fingers. "I wanted to call him Lloyd." She looked as though she might cry and Wu understood. They had been waiting for the child's mother to arrive or send word for half a year.

Garmadon frowned down at the boy in his arms with a furrowed brow. "How about, Lloyd Garmadon? It has quite a ring to it. Almost like Lord Garmadon." The venom inflicted man laughed darkly as he carried Lloyd into the kitchen. "Misako- Wu- Why is there a goat eating our flour on the rug."

Wu winced. It looked like his brother had noticed Bella, the goat they had gotten to feed Lloyd. She certainly had a penchant for tearing apart the flour sack.

Lloyd bounced energetically on his goat's back and pulled on poor Bella's ears when he spotted the old man approaching the house. "Daddy! Daddy! Somebody's here to eat me!" He cried dramatically, making his uncle snort with good humor.

Garmadon rounded the corner of his house with a wicked saw propped on his pitch black shoulder and a scowl on his face before his eyes lighted on his younger brother. "Wu!" The shirtless man dropped his weapon and rushed to throw his powerful arms around his aging brother. Garmadon looked fantastic for a man over sixty. "How were the beasts old man?" The older brother asked tauntingly.

Wu shook his head as Lloyd stumbled over to hide behind his father's legs. He puffed out his mustaches in irritation at his nephew's odd behavior. "They've parted ways it seems." He crouched down to get a better look at the boy. It had to have been a year since he last saw any of them. "Come now Lloyd, you must know who I am."

"Yep!" The boy chirped cheerfully. "You're a canble!" He accused with a finger pointing straight at his uncle.

Garmadon gave a deep hearty laugh at that but Misako did not find it as funny. "We need to have a serious talk about what is an appropriate bed time story for our son." The woman reprimanded from the stoop of their porch. "It's good to see you Uncle Wu. Dinner's going to be on the table in fifteen. And Lloyd, be nice to Uncle Wu. You too Dad." With that, the woman turned on her heel and headed back into the house.

Wu had been summoned by his brother by letter. Garmadon wanted to go heal himself before he had a chance to corrupt his son and now that the boy was older, Misako would have trouble keeping up with him by herself. Three years olds were energetic as it turned out.

It was a tearful goodbye when Garmadon departed. The venom infected man acted odd when he had to leave but Wu could not put a finger to what was different. About a week after his disappearance, Wu was still pondering his brother's behavior late into the night.

"Uh- Uncle Wu?" A small voice called out from the foot of said man's bed.

Wu bolted upright, unused to children disturbing his rest. "What? What is it Lloyd?" He asked in a rush.

Lloyd reached up expectantly and Wu acquiesced by pulling the boy up onto the bed with him. "Uncle Wu, where do babies come from?" He asked so innocently.

Wu groaned and fell back on the bed. "I don't know! Maybe we can ask your mom in the morning." He surmised, throwing an arm over his face.

Lloyd tugged at his sleeve insistently. "But Uncle Wu!" The boy whined. "The kids in Jumukai said I was adopted! What's that mean?"

Wu lunged forward again, pulling the boy into his lap in the process. "They said what?" He asked, concealing his outrage.

Lloyd looked troubled. "They said I was adopted and that Mom and Dad don't love me. Is it true?"

Wu felt sick for deceiving the child but the words slipped out so naturally. "Lloyd, I saw you being born. Your parents love you very much. They would even if you were adopted."

"But what's it mean?"

"It means you have other parents that couldn't keep you. If you were adopted, it means your parents loved you so much they picked you out of all the kids in the world to be theirs. I know that if your parents had a choice, they'd choose you every time." he nuzzled the blond's hair playfully. "I know I would."

Lloyd giggled at the tickles and hugged and kissed his uncle before settling into the man's bed. "I'd adopt you too Uncle Wu. You and Dad and Mom. Let's all adopt everybody!" Wu chuckled and kissed the boy's forehead before laying down beside the child. "Good night Uncle Wu. I love you." Lloyd whispered into the darkness. The boy fell asleep so quickly, his uncle was not sure his own good tidings were even heard.