Author's Note: Merry Christmas, everybody! This is my piece for the Ninjago Secret Santa 2021 event on Tumblr. Pinkpandaslikehoney, I hope you enjoy! It's got nine chapters, and I plan on putting up one or so a day so as not to spam. Let me know what you think, everyone!
If there's one thing the ninja are good at, it's being loud, especially with each other, Lloyd thinks, and he smiles.
They've completed the new mural for the Monastery courtyard walls, and now they're celebrating the defeat of the Oni very loudly with all sorts of family, friends, and assorted familiar faces. Numerous Elemental Masters are present, as are plenty of Ninjago citizens from many different places and backgrounds. Lloyd is pretty sure he even saw the Postman comparing straw hats with a couple of poorly-disguised Skulkin.
To be honest, though, he doesn't really think it matters who all is present. What matters is that his family is present.
Well. Most of his family is present.
Lloyd shakes his head hard, trying to brush off the thoughts of his father disappearing so quickly after the battle, but he only succeeds in giving himself a headache. He forces the thoughts to the back of his mind as best he can and throws himself back into the party, following the task he gave himself once it became clear that things would be settling down for a little bit.
"You're saying you want to do what now?" Griffin Turner asks curiously.
"The Green Ninja says he wants to do nice things for Karlof and other friends," Karlof says, catching on a little quicker, ironically, than the Master of Speed. "He wants to give help like he got help with the Resistance."
Lloyd nods. "Yeah! After all everyone did for Ninjago, against the Sons of Garmadon mainly but against the Oni too, I feel like we should do something for everyone. So I'm offering favors."
"Party favors?" Griffin Turner says. "Like little noisemakers, or-"
Karlof laughs. "No! Kind favors!"
"Yeah, kind favors," Lloyd agrees. "If there's anything you need or want, let the ninja know. We'll try to make it happen."
"Karlof has everything he needs and wants," Karlof says. "Ninjago is safe again!"
"Yeah, that's why I was getting confused, I guess," Griffin Turner says. "Everything's cool, you know? And it's not like it was something we didn't wanna do, helping Ninjago out. It's groovy. You don't have to give me anything."
Lloyd nods. "Okay. But if something comes up later, let us know."
"I'll let ya know." Griffin Turner says, and he disappears into a flash of light that hurries to the buffet table.
Karlof grins. "Karlof not let you know, because nothing will come up."
"Think about it," Lloyd encourages, and he turns to search for the next person to talk to.
He doesn't have to search at all. Before he's even turned all the way around, Lloyd pauses as Dareth pops up beside him.
"Kid!" Dareth crows, swinging an arm around Lloyd's shoulders.
"Hey, Dareth," Lloyd says with a smile. "How are you liking the party?"
"Oh, fantastic, Lloyd, it's fantastic," Dareth says. "You know Gayle Gossip is here?"
Lloyd peeks to his left, where a woman in a bright pink suit is talking to a guy holding a camera set-up that might be larger than he is tall. Lloyd shuffles to the side to put Dareth between them and him, just in case they look over. "Uh. Yeah?"
"Fantastic," Dareth says again with a wide grin. "Just fantastic. You know, I actually saved her from the Sons of Garmadon?"
"Great job," Lloyd says. "That reminds me, you did a great job with the Resistance in general."
Dareth stands up straighter. "Yeah, I did! You can count on the Brown Ninja! Any time, any place, any trouble, I'll be there, with all my moves."
Dareth starts to shift his stance into one of his "animal moves," but Lloyd speaks up before Dareth can get too caught up in himself.
"Thank you," Lloyd says. "Because of everything the Resistance did, I wanted to do something for everybody, something nice."
"Is that why you were saying things about favors to the wall by the buffet table earlier?" Dareth asks, sounding very interested.
"Well, it was actually Mr. Pale, not the wall, but yes," Lloyd says.
Dareth waves his hands in front of himself. "Yes! Favors for the Resistance! And I was in the Resistance!"
Lloyd smirks. "You were, yeah. What would you want as a favor? Anything coming to mind?"
"Oh, something's coming to mind all right," Dareth says. "Ever since I saved her from the Sons of Garmadon, I've been talking to Gayle a bit. You hear that? I call her Gayle now, not Gayle Gossip, because we've been talking. And she's nice, and she's great, and I'm nice, and I'm great, and so we're going on our first date in a week."
"Really? Oh. Cool for you?" Lloyd says, trying to sound appreciative.
Dareth nods enthusiastically. "Very cool. But the thing is, I want to give her a gift before then, something to make her think that I'm the awesome kind of guy that I am. And since she's a reporter and all that…"
"You want to give her something to report on?" Lloyd guesses.
"Yeah! All of you!" Dareth says, pointing around the room at Nya, Cole, Jay, Kai, Zane, and back to Lloyd.
Lloyd blinks.
Oh.
Uh oh.
"It'd be a great favor," Dareth continues. "I know she'd love it!"
"I'll… I'll try to get others to agree," Lloyd says. "I'll ask them… Later."
Dareth nods. "Once the party's all partied out. I get it. I know they'll all agree, and I know it'll be a great interview. Gayle's been talking about wanting more of a 'day in the life' news, and a day in the life of a ninja would be right up her alley. Oh, I'm sure this is going to be great!"
Lloyd is pretty sure that it was going to be the opposite of great. But he'd told Dareth he wanted to do him a favor, so Lloyd resolves to try to convince the others. After all, it's not that bad of an idea, right?
"That is a bad idea," Cole says frankly.
"No, it's not!" Kai says, and he throws a couch pillow at Cole.
Cole catches the pillow easily, hauls back, and chucks it at Kai with what appears to be the majority of his super-strength.
Kai falls off the chair he's perched on with a betrayed yelp.
"It's not the worst idea we've ever had," Nya says hesitantly as Kai blusters angrily in Cole's general direction and Cole laughs him off.
"But it's pretty bad," Jay says. "An interview? What luck have we ever had with interviews?"
"They have helped us somewhat in the past," Zane points out. "We have been able to gain further public approval and funding through the use of media relations."
"Through the use of Gayle Gossip, however, we have not had such help," Pixal says with a frown.
"But it's not for her," Lloyd says. "It's for Dareth."
"Dareth can be a good ally," Wu says slowly.
"Most of the time. But this isn't exactly a small favor," Nya says.
"It may be a rather large one," Pixal says.
"Yeah, but think about this," Kai says, finally turning away from Cole long enough to give input. "It'd be cool."
"More like it'd be a catastrophe," Nya says.
Kai rolls his eyes. "Come on. What's so awful about it?"
"The idea of someone watching our daily lives and telling all of Ninjago our secrets?" Nya asks, raising an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound awful to you? Oh, wait, no, of course it doesn't. Because you're you."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Kai asks.
Nya grins. "You're you. You're a show-off."
"Because I've got a lot to show-off!" Kai says. He starts popping sparks from his hands, making shapes out of fire in the air. "Great powers, great siblings, great life!"
Nya laughs but doesn't argue.
Hopefully, Lloyd says, "So who's in?"
"I'm in," Kai says immediately.
"I believe I would be as well," Zane says. "It would assist Dareth, after all."
"And it could help Ninjago as well," Misako says. "After all of the difficulties recently, it might be nice for people to see something uplifting."
"And you think we're uplifting?" Jay asks skeptically.
Misako nods. "I do."
"Huh," Jay says. "I mean, I guess I'm in. If we'd be doing some good for Ninjago…"
"I think we've done enough good for Ninjago recently," Nya says.
"Yes," Cole says. "We've been putting our all into every mission, so much so that we even keep getting faked out on thinking each other have put so much into something they've died. Recently it was Kai and Jay and Zane and me, then it was me again, and then Lloyd!"
"Actually, I don't think it was a fake-out for me. I might've really died," Lloyd says thoughtfully. "You guys said I completely stopped breathing, even."
There's quiet for a moment then.
"Yeah," Kai says. "It wasn't good."
"Still not sure how we got you back," Nya says, squeezing Lloyd's hand in hers.
Lloyd smiles at her. "I'm not really sure either. I remember something about… Petals? And a dragon? And light?"
"Don't go into the light," Jay says helpfully.
"I didn't," Lloyd says, widening his eyes. "Because I came back. But for a bit there, I think I died. And while I was dead, you know what I realized I wanted to do if I came alive again?"
Cole groans and covers his face. "Don't say it."
Lloyd says it anyway. "Help others. Like Dareth. By giving Gayle Gossip an interview."
"Lloyd," Nya says. "Are you guilt-tripping us?"
Lloyd widens his eyes further. "Is it working?"
Nya laughs. "Yeah, okay, it is. I'm in for the interview."
"I can join as well," Wu says.
Pixal sighs. "I suppose it might not be detrimental to participate in part of an interview, if only to not seem detached."
"Lloyd," Cole says.
Lloyd looks at him.
Cole is peeking over his hands. "You really think this is a good idea?"
"I don't know," Lloyd says honestly. "But to be fair, are most of our ideas good ones?"
Cole snorts and lowers his hands, shaking his head. "Fair. Okay, sure, I'm in."
Lloyd grins. "All right. I'll tell Dareth that Gayle Gossip can come interview us some time in the next week or so."
"Just for a little bit, though," Nya says. "Right?"
"Right," Lloyd says.
"And not too soon, either," Cole says. "I think we need some time to recover. I plan to wake up tomorrow ready to rest and take it easy for at least a day or two after such a stressful mission, and I'd hate to get up and find Gayle Gossip is right there on the Monastery doorstep."
