A/N: This WOULD be the happy ending for the Garmadon family if SOMEONE *glares at Misako* wasn't a DUMPSTER FIRE who required calling out. Angst ahead. You've been warned.

It was over.

The Golden Power came all at once. Lloyd could never have expected it—it made him forget himself, and at the same time feel unbelievable courage and excitement, to be wrapped up in the bright golden light that lifted him right off his feet and healed every ache and pain in his body with a rush.

He faced down the Overlord unafraid, because for the first time, it wasn't his unstable and limited power against unmatchable evil, but he was a tiny channel for something far bigger, far more powerful than himself.

The Overlord roared in defeat as it dissipated in a flash of white light. The black haze on Ninjago fled away with a blinding white wash, and everything looked clean and new and young.

Free.

They were free.

Somewhere on the field where the tower had been, Cole helped Zane to his feet and hugged him fiercely. Kai and Jay ran to Nya's side—she was back to normal, to Lloyd's relief—and they both hugged her at once.

The Ultra Dragon landed and Dr. Julien slid off its back, assisted by Misako and whooping with laughter. Dareth joined the rest, raving about how well they'd all done—together.

Lloyd saw it all from the sky. He floated down on a golden dragon summoned by his own new powers, and was greeted with shouts of his name and cheers from his friends.

They gathered together. They laughed. They bantered. They congratulated Lloyd.

And just like that, Lloyd realized that his dad was dead.

He'd killed him.

It had been easier than he'd thought it would be. The giant purple abomination of a dragon taunting him on top of the skyscraper had been easy to think of as the embodiment of evil and something that had to be defeated.

But now—it hit him that his dad was inside that monster. Now...he was dead. And it was Lloyd's fault.

Misako seemed to catch his expression. She set her hand on his shoulder and whispered, "We'll all miss your father."

How did she always seem to know what he was thinking?

He hadn't come to tears—yet. He knew they'd be coming once it sunk in. Lloyd searched his mom's face for comfort—something, anything to make this any easier. He found nothing, and felt his head drop.

Misako gently tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear.

Lloyd ignored the scraping and clattering of rubble behind him until an eerily familiar voice rasped, "Lloyd."

The pressure at the back of Lloyd's eyes suddenly disappeared. He, Misako, and Uncle Wu turned to look. A man was limping toward them—all authority and stoicism, with grey hair, subtle wrinkles, and a black robe with purple lining and a golden dragon curling on the back.

Wait.

The stranger looked around. "What...what happened?" he asked.

That voice.

"Garmadon..." Misako's voice was hardly above a whisper. "Is it really you?" She didn't sound so sure.

Lloyd didn't have a doubt.

For a moment, they all stood frozen—the stranger looking at them, they all looking at him. Lloyd couldn't get his leaden feet to move. His voice stuck in his throat.

"Dad?" he finally croaked. He felt a smile spreading on his face.

The tiny laugh that came out of him was half a sob. "Dad!" He practically screamed it, and ran towards the man, almost bowling him over in a hug.

It was the grin that convinced him. Sharp teeth and black skin aside, no one but his dad had ever smiled at him quite like that.

Misako's voice was full of emotion too. "Every ounce of evil and venom is...gone." She wrapped her arms around them both.

Lloyd couldn't hear what was said next until he caught Jay's quip, "Should we dogpile 'em?" He kind of hoped they wouldn't, but he couldn't pay attention to anything beyond the weight of Garmadon's arm on his shoulders and the warmth of his mom and dad on either side...

His family.

Lloyd could feel the tears he'd held back dripping off of his face and onto his dad's robe, but he didn't care. The three of them moved off to a quieter part of the field, leaving the others behind.

"I can't believe you're alive," Lloyd gasped out as he grabbed the front of his dad's robe, giddy with joy. "I didn't hurt you. I didn't...!"

He'd saved the world, and his dad was okay. It was more than he could ask for.

Garmadon chuckled. "Well, I don't know about that." He pressed his hand against his lower spine as he went on, "You sure did a number on—"

Lloyd felt his face drop in horror. No, no...he'd blown up the Overlord, but it had hurt Garmadon? How bad was the damage? Was he okay?

Garmadon stopped. His gaze seemed to be digging into Lloyd, picking apart each of his thoughts and examining them closely. Lloyd would have felt uncomfortable under a look like that—if he didn't know the man behind it.

The scrutinizing look on Garmadon's face spread into a warm smile. "No. No, you didn't hurt me." And then, he was hugging Lloyd again. "You saved me. Thank you."

Lloyd buried his face in Garmadon's collar. "I love you, Dad," he choked out. Man, oh man, had he ever been waiting a long time to say that.

"I love you too, son," was the answer.

For all the millions of times Lloyd had imagined it, he couldn't have imagined how good it felt to hear.

Misako took Garmadon's hands in hers. "Now our family can return to how it was," she said with a smile. "How it was always meant to be,"

Garmadon's smile back at her looked...tight. Almost forced. The man brushed his thumb over Lloyd's cheek, pushing away a tear. "Lloyd, I'm sorry," he said gently. "Could you give your mother and me a minute?"

Lloyd couldn't hold back his surprise. He felt a little hurt. It didn't look like his mom and dad were just going to kiss or something. What didn't they want him to see?

"Oh. Okay," was all Lloyd said, and then he walked as far away as he dared to leap up one of the spires of rock left by the Overlord's tower. His curiosity was still nagging at him—and to be honest, he didn't get completely out of earshot. At all.

"What is this about, Garmadon?" asked Misako.

"I think you have a very good idea," the man answered gruffly.

Lloyd risked a glance over his shoulder. Garmadon stood with his back to Lloyd, hands on his hips, and Misako faced him with her arms crossed.

"It had better not be about the helmet," she said.

"No, no, not just about the helmet," sputtered Garmadon, "but it's the principle of the thing. You tricked me, Misako." He sounded hurt.

"I did what I had to to stop you." Anger flashed in her calm eyes like fire in a pool of water. It was like she still saw him as evil...

"But it was betrayal nonetheless!" he cried. "Misako, I opened up to you. I trusted you."

She stepped back, head turned to her shoulder, shaking it slightly. "I couldn't negotiate," she said. "There was no redeeming you while evil was still in your veins."

Even without seeing his face, Lloyd could tell Garmadon was enraged. His voice was deathly quiet. "Is that what you told yourself when you got so close to Wu?!"

The last word was shouted, and Garmadon stepped up and towered over Misako. She cried out in fright, lifting her arm over her head.

Lloyd sat bolt upright, his eyes wide and frantic. A thousand things blasted through his head at once—the day Misako watched Wu leave with the buckets, how his dad would feel about that, the fact that his mom was in danger, panic, anger, was he going to have to fight his dad again—?

Garmadon growled and staggered backwards, one hand to his face. He shook his head, panting, and croaked out in a different voice, "I'm...I'm sorry. I shouldn't—" He pressed both heels of his palms to his eyes and bent over.

He looked so broken. Frustrated, angry, and confused.

Garmadon stood up a little straighter. His voice was thick with anger and emotion. "I will do my best," he said. "But let me be clear—there is no simply going back to the way things were. Not anymore."

Misako, her hands clasped and fidgeting a little in front of her, nodded. "I understand."

Lloyd...didn't know how to feel. On one hand, the danger was over—but what had he just watched?

Garmadon lifted his head and sighed. "I know you heard that, Lloyd. What do you think?" he asked, turning to face him.

Lloyd opened his mouth to answer, but the words caught in his throat. Tears pushed at his eyes, and he bit his lip to keep them back.

Garmadon's expression was compassionate and sad. "Come down."

Lloyd leaped nimbly from one rock to the other, even as his vision began to blur. He stumbled into his dad's arms, guided by the warmth, and clutched onto Garmadon's robe as the man hugged him back.

"W-what do you mean by that?" Lloyd's voice sounded horribly unsteady.

"Mean by what?" asked Garmadon.

It was almost too painful to say. "'Th-there's no going back to how it was'..."

"Oh, no no no, Lloyd, that's just between your mother and me!" cried Garmadon. He took Lloyd's chin in his hands and gently turned his face upward.

It didn't hurt any less. Lloyd could feel wet tracks carving down his face.

Garmadon opened and shut his mouth a few times, as if he couldn't find the words he was looking for. He gave a humorless laugh. "You know," he tried to joke, "if we really went back to how it was, you and I, I'd be going back to the Underworld and you'd be—" Horror overcame his expression for a second.

Then he covered it with affection and wiped Lloyd's tears. "Listen, Lloyd," he pleaded, "I can be here for you now. I'm beginning to realize that, save for my banishment, I always could be. That was my fault." His voice was low, almost a pained whisper. "I'm so sorry."

Lloyd couldn't stop himself from all-out crying. It was pathetic, the little hiccuping sobs, but he couldn't stop them.

Garmadon pushed Lloyd's head down and under his chin and murmured, "You're not in any danger from me anymore. I can be here for you, and I will." He sounded almost hurt as he went on, "I can't promise much to you...not as much as you deserve...but I promise to do my best."

Lloyd gave a little sniff and tried to smile. It wasn't really the words, but what his dad meant, that made him feel better. "Th-that's all I want," he stammered, leaning on his dad's shoulder to smile up at his face.

He just wanted a father. It had been far, far too long.

Garmadon, for his part, looked like he wanted just as much to laugh as to cry. He kissed Lloyd on the head, held him close for one more moment, and then spun him around to face Misako, wrapping his arms firmly around Lloyd's chest and planting his chin on Lloyd's head. (It still boggled Lloyd that he seemed to be the only person still tall enough to do that.)

"And what can your dear mom promise you, then?" asked Garmadon. His words sounded pointed—but not at Lloyd.

Misako glanced over Lloyd's head to shoot an unsure look at Garmadon. Lloyd felt unbelievably uncomfortable. On one hand, he was getting a hug. On the other hand, his parents were fighting, and he was stuck right in between them.

Misako sighed and gave a strained laugh. "Well, it will be hard to show your father up," she said, warmly (and somehow still pointedly) addressing Lloyd. She stepped forward. "I...do still have my job. But I promise to be there for you as much as I can too."

Lloyd smiled at her. He didn't want her to feel any worse than she already did. "Thanks, mom."

She pulled him down gently by his shoulder so that she could kiss the top of his head.

A commotion back by the main group made the three look up in surprise, and Garmadon released Lloyd.

Lloyd could see in the distance that the guys, Nya, Uncle Wu, and Dr. Julien were posing in front of a camera on a tripod and urging Dareth to run to join them after he pressed the shutter button. Dareth...wasn't getting there very fast, although he ran with all his might. It was all kind of funny, actually.

Misako turned to Lloyd, a sweet (and, considering everything, uncanny) smile on her face. "Shall we join them?" she asked.

Lloyd...didn't feel too sure about that. He hesitated. "G-give me a minute," he said, not meeting her eyes.

He saw out of the corner of his eye that she gave him a sympathetic frown, then looked up at Garmadon—and whatever she saw there made her leave immediately.

Garmadon stood in his place while Lloyd walked to the edge of the overhang of rubble on which they'd been standing. After a moment, Lloyd heard his footsteps turn and follow Misako's too.

Lloyd just stood there for a while, looking at the quiet and rubble-lined city streets below, and feeling the gentle wind messing with his hair. He figured he should try to think his way though his emotions, but he was just coming up blank.

All he knew was that he loved his mom and dad. He had already forgiven them for everything. All he knew was that they didn't want to forgive each other. Try as they might to assure him it wasn't his fault, or really about him at all, he felt absolutely terrible that he could save all of Ninjago—but apparently, not his mom and dad's marriage.

He let out a heavy sigh. Maybe he should just forget about it and celebrate with the guys for now. That would be easier. Simple.

Still...somehow he knew that forgetting about this wouldn't make it go away.

He kicked a rock and watched it skitter down the side of the overhang—click, click, click—before he turned and walked back towards the others.

Saved the world and still walking places, he thought.

Some movement caught his eye as he passed one of the spires. Sitting at the base of the column of rock was Garmadon, chin in hand and apparently deep in thought, but he looked up when Lloyd almost bumped into him.

"Oh." Lloyd felt a small smile rising in his chest in spite of himself. "What are you doing here?" There wasn't any judgment in the question, just curiosity.

Garmadon cleared his throat and stood to his feet, dusting himself off. "Well, you asked for some privacy," he answered gruffly, "but I didn't want you to be entirely alone for the walk down—you know, if you didn't mind the company—er, that is—"

Lloyd's smile came right out of his chest and onto his face. He let it.

"Lloyd..." The serious tone in Garmadon's voice wiped that smile right away. Garmadon took a deep breath and went on. "I'm so sorry I shouted at your mother in front of you. That was wrong of me."

Lloyd blinked in surprise and shrugged. "It's fine," he said. "You asked me to leave anyway."

"I'm not asking you to make excuses for me." Garmadon's voice suddenly went hard, and he pulled Lloyd closer by his shoulder. "I'm asking you to forgive me."

Lloyd bit back a squeak, staring full on into green eyes just like his own. "Y-yeah. I forgive you," he stammered.

Garmadon did that thing were he searched Lloyd's brain though his expression again, and then—the older man gave Lloyd a timid smile.

Whoa. Now that was different. A grown-up worried what Lloyd would think of him.

Lloyd smiled and bumped his shoulder against Garmadon's, urging his dad to follow him. "C'mon," he said, walking ahead. "Let's not keep them waiting."

Garmadon looked like a deer caught in the headlights for a second before he followed Lloyd. "You've got a lot on your mind," he remarked. The words were gentle, even if the tone wasn't. "Sure you'll be able to muster a smile worthy of a photograph?"

Lloyd tossed him a small smirk over his shoulder. "I think I'll manage."

He was the Gold Ninja, after all. He'd done harder things.

tbc...

A/N: I think this is the first time I've ever felt compelled to say this.

I love Lloyd.

I do. I love him.

I've done it! Writing this fic has successfully made me fonder of a fictional character than I was before!

Doesn't change my hatred for Misako, though.

Reviews are reunions. The good kind.