"For the last time, you are not sleeping on the floor," I sighed, rubbing my temples. As much as I appreciated Garmadon's good will, the debate over who would sleep where had been raging on for far too long, and I sincerely wished it to be over.

"Well, I'm not sleeping on the floor, either," Morro cut in defensively.

"Are you implying that we kick our host out of his own—"

"Of course not, I'm just making sure that I don't have to—"

"Boys, please," I sighed in exasperation. It occurred to me as an afterthought that calling Garmadon "boy" may have been offensive, but it wasn't my intent. "Nobody has to sleep on the floor. The bed is easily big enough for two people." The quarrel in front of me quieted.

"Oh," Garmadon said, somewhat awkwardly. "My apologies. I wasn't sure if—"

"Well, fine, then I call the couch," Morro said quickly. "I don't want to share a bed with either of you old geezers."

"Hey now, careful who you're calling old," Garmadon said, whacking the teen with the piece of paper I'm pretty sure he now only carried around for such a purpose. Morro flinched and then fled the room to claim the couch as his own.

I let out a sigh of relief, happy the argument was finally over, and went to close the windows by the bedside. The view outside was dark and stormy, and I had no intention of waking up to droplets of pain stinging my cheek.

I turned around, hearing Garmadon sighing heavily behind me. "I'm sorry for Morro," he apologized, although he'd already done so several times. "I hadn't planned on burdening you with him, but…"

"Please, don't apologize," I said, taking off my white lab coat and shrugging my shoulders in the (much more comfortable) shirt and leggings underneath. "I'm actually quite glad to have an opportunity to help out in the afterlife, given how much I messed things up in my first life…" I looked down, flashbacks of my time spent creating weaponry overtaking me. Before I could fall into any sort of pity trap for myself, however, Garmadon snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Believe me, I know exactly how you feel. I highly doubt I'd be in any mood to help that excuse of a man unless I knew I weren't equally as responsible for causing at least as much trouble in my lifetime." He glanced around the room briefly, looking for something. "Er… is there a washroom here?"

"Your body doesn't physically change here, so that isn't necessary," I reminded him. "Also, any sort of water indoors would be a horrible idea. But as for your first statement, are you not excused for your actions as Lord Garmadon? You were under the influence of a terrible venom, if I recall. And surely your days as Sensei provided as much light as any darkness you may have caused prior."

To this, Garmadon took to a long inner dialogue of which I could somewhat guess the contents of, having been through similar such conversations myself while in captivity. Finally, he spoke up.

"It's true that I was not at fault for the venom of the Great Devourer… and while I am grateful for all the time I was able to spend promoting peace and self-defense," he started slowly, "I do not believe that is enough. In fact, I don't think I will ever be so much at peace with myself that I will be fully capable of simply stopping the struggle to do what is right." He paused, and then laughed at himself a little. "But I suppose that this situation also gives me more of a chance to teach that little punk a lesson, so it evens out."

I chuckled softly. "Indeed. Morro is quite the character… To be honest, I'm surprised you don't hold more resentment for his behavior towards your son." I stopped myself from saying more, hoping I hadn't suddenly opened up a bad topic. However, Garmadon just shook his head.

"He got what he deserved… and, to tell you the truth—" here he lowered his voice— "when we first arrived here, the first thing he did was actually to find me and apologize, which makes me think there's still something redeemable in him. I wasn't going to help him, but then I remembered that if my son hadn't tried so hard to salvage what little good was left in me… well, I'd be a goner." He stood up straighter and lightened his tone a bit. "Besides, he was raised solely by my brother for most of his years, so no-one can really argue that he had the best parenting."

That last remark surprised me. From what I knew of Garmadon, he was rather fond of his brother, and seemed to hold him in high esteem. Taking my chances and a blanket from the bed, I asked:

"Isn't your brother responsible for raising most of the other ninja? I happen to know that my Zane was in his care since the day Wu found him."

"Oh, of course," he replied, waving off my question, "My brother is very open-hearted, and I'm indebted to him for taking in my son, and the other ninja… albeit, with an odd sense of timing." He coughed. "Nonetheless, I wouldn't give him credit for exactly raising any of them. Teaching them skills and spinjitzu, perhaps… but raising a child is something I'm afraid he was never quite prepared for."

I climbed into my bed, the blanket wrapped around me no longer sufficient to keep the chill off my old bones (metaphorically speaking). I motioned that it was all right for Garmadon to occupy the empty space next to me, although he seemed noticeably less disturbed by the temperature.

"I must admit, your stance piques my curiosity," I said. "What makes you say that Wu had no part in raising the ninja?"

The old man shifted into a more comfortable position, giving the question some thought. "Well, raising a child is more than just feeding them and providing them with clothes. Even as Lord Garmadon, I could've done that. But raising a child involves care, kindness, and compassion. It's about teaching them morals— right from wrong, shades of gray, and how to see things from other viewpoints. It's not just teaching them the skills they'll need to survive in the world, it's about teaching them how to use those skills to make it better."

"I'm quite impressed with your definition," I stated truthfully. "But Zane and Jay aside, the other ninja had very little time with an actual parent to raise them, and I'd say they all exhibit the qualities you're describing. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I'm proud of every one of them— the people they've become."

"I agree," concurred Garmadon, smiling.

"Then there must have been some parenting involved, don't you think? If Wu truly taught them nothing but Spinjitzu…"

"That's where you're making an assumption. The ninja had a good upbringing, but I think very little of that can be credited to my brother." He smiled. "Wu did not raise the ninja. The ninja raised each other."

I lied in the dark silence for a while, pondering the claim. From the time I'd spent with Wu, I knew him to be a very kind and usually wise man. However, the more I tried to rebuke Garmadon's statement in my head, the more I realized that, finding no fallacy in his argument, he must have known his brother better than I had.

Finally, I broke the silence. "Well, I'd like to argue your point, but… heh… it seems I can't find any good arguments!"

I could no longer see his face, but I knew Garmadon was smiling. A little competitive streak had never left him all these years— he still liked to win.

"But my question now, is," I continued, "at what point does a child lose the ability to be raised in such a manner as you've described?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well… say a child grows up receiving no proper parenting or care in the way that you've just described to me. Thus, they grow bitter or angry or cold or impulsive, and reject all forms of authority. At what point do you think it's too late to try and save them?"

There was a heavy pause in the conversation, as it became clear to both of us who the discussion was really about. A quiet pitter-patter washed away the silence as small drops of rain began to fall on the roof outside. Garmadon spoke softly.

"I don't truthfully know when it's too late. All I can hope is, not yet."

—

(A/N: Woops, I guess I'm continuing this fic... how much more will I write? Who knows. Maybe one chapter. Maybe 20. Either way, I hope you guys enjoy it! I've gotten a few comments that I love but also make me nervous about how you guys will feel about future chapters, but I have to remind myself that I can't please everyone "^^ I'm also nervous about the fact that SDLPC is now a published unfinished work, but... oh well, we'll see how far I can go with this. X'D)