Author's Note: Hello everyone! I am happy to announce that I was able to finish another chapter before I head back to college on Wednesday. "Chosen" takes place just after Lloyd is rescued from the fire temple and Kai finds his true potential. It is record breakingly long for me, partially because I had lots and lots of ideas for how I wanted it to play out, and I really had to pick and choose what to include. It took awhile to get everything smoothed out. I hope you all enjoy it.

Replies to Reviews: Wow! I got so much positive feedback for the last chapter! Thank you so, so much for all the support.

RandomDragon2.0: Sibling fluff is the best - I really love writing it. I feel like there's a lot of room to showcase the little changes Lloyd goes through during the show. Starting out as a bratty wannabe villain and then slowly embracing his cinnamon roll side and becoming the Green Ninja we all love. Thank you so much for reviewing. I'm so glad you are enjoying "Of Milk and Cookies".

A Huge Fangirl: I'm so happy to hear that you enjoyed that last chapter. The sibling fluff between characters is super fun for me to write, so I'm really glad you think it's coming out well. I hope you like this chapter too – not sure what my update schedule will look like, but I'll do my best to update this story over the school year!

Guest: I hadn't even thought about the whole Green Ninja bet until you brought it up! I just had to add it into "Chosen". I hope you enjoy it!

Guest: Thank you SO much! Emotions are weird, so I'm glad you think I'm conveying them effectively. I love Kai and Nya's sibling bond, and I don't think it gets as much attention as it should sometimes. It's super entertaining to write those two – and Lloyd of course. I hope to keep this going through all of the seasons, it mostly just depends on what sort of inspiration I find. I already have a few ideas for later in the series.

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Life had been an emotional rollercoaster of insanity for Nya Smith lately. First, Lloyd had stupidly managed to get himself captured by the Serpentine – an issue which she had failed to resolve by herself, much to her frustration. They had discovered Zane's family history and uncovered secrets that Cole probably would have preferred they never find out about (though she heard that he was a truly exceptional dancer). Jay had finally asked her out, even if their date had ended disastrously – the mere fact that it had happened at all was enough to make her heart beat faster. Everyone had learned her secret identity – which, she thought, they had responded to with far more understanding than she'd expected. And just when she'd thought things couldn't get any crazier with her over emotionally invested, obsessive, hot head of a brother being convinced that he was the Green Ninja, Lord Garmadon himself had shown up. Which had been completely awkward. At first, she'd been concerned that Lloyd's father was going to take him back to whatever dark and dingy hole he'd crawled out of and that she'd never get to see him again, but now, she was simply glad he was alive.

Those moments at the fire temple when it seemed as though she was about to lose both Kai and Lloyd had been heart wrenchingly horrible for her. Like, probably the worst minutes of her life. Watching the others come out without them. Waiting, hoping that maybe by some stroke of immense luck, they'd somehow managed to survive. Wondering how she was supposed to go on without her last remaining relative. Kai had raised her pretty much by himself. It had been just the two of them for so long that she could barely remember her parents, couldn't imagine having to live life without his overprotective guidance. Without him chasing off nearly every boy who showed interest in her. Giving her his cocky grin before epically failing at some stupid stunt. So many memories had flashed through her head. Nya was close to crying by the time she finally, finally saw the comet like ball of flames surrounding her brothers come into view. And then came the relief, the tears of joy when they touched down on the deck of the Bounty. They weren't dead after all, thank the First Spinjitzu Master…

But now, as she held out several of the golden weapons, Nya hated herself. If Kai was right, if Lloyd really was the foretold Green Ninja, then everything was about to change – and Nya wasn't sure it would be for the better. As impressively mature and selfless as Lloyd could be, he was still a child. A child. One who already had enough emotional baggage without being forced to fight his father one day. It wouldn't be fair to expect that from him. He deserved a normal childhood. Not more trauma. But the colorful reaction of bright lights reminded her immediately that life wasn't fair. Please, someone tell me this isn't happening, Nya begged silently in frustration. Under different circumstances, the sight might have been considered breathtaking, but not here. Not now. Only hours ago, Sensei Wu had entertained the possibility that she was the Green Ninja. Now, she'd give anything to take that burden away from the person she viewed as her baby brother. Someone speaking brought her back to reality.

" The battle lines have been drawn, brother. Sadly, our family has only become more divided. Brother versus brother, and now, son versus father."

Lloyd looked shaken at this. Nya tried to send him an encouraging smile, but wasn't very successful. Looked like she wasn't the only one feeling upset by this revelation. When Jay interrupted the moment by asking about the Fang Blade, Nya seized the opportunity to usher Lloyd from the room. He didn't need to be overwhelmed any more than he already had been. Kai caught her eye and nodded. Good, her brother understood what she was up to. He'd keep the others from noticing their absence before Lloyd had a chance to decompress. Hopefully his father would be as understanding.

/\/\/

"Where are we going?" The small boy asked as Nya guided him down the hallway. She answered without stopping, desperate to steal Lloyd away before too many people came looking for him.

"The kitchen, of course. You look like you haven't eaten a decent meal since you got captured, and to be honest, I doubt you wanted to stick around anyway…" She had a point. All this green ninja stuff was super overwhelming, and Lloyd wasn't sure he wanted to deal with it any more just then.

"I guess, but... Isn't everyone going to wonder where I am? I mean, I'm sure I'll have all sorts of new responsibilities now that…"

"Later – Kai's gonna cover for you for awhile. For now, let's just celebrate the fact that you managed to survive getting shot out of a volcano." The samurai replied as she opened the door to the kitchen. Lloyd's shoulders sagged in relief. Getting him away from the others had obviously been the right choice.

"Now, any injuries? Do I need to grab the first aid kit?" She asked, examining him with the eye of someone who had patched up numerous injuries – ranging from paper cut to concussion - throughout the years. Lloyd found himself a seat at the table.

"Nah, I think I'm OK. Nothing a couple bandaids won't fix…" She looked relieved. Having Lloyd injured in top of everything else simply wouldn't do.

"Good," She said as she located the cookies – healthy food could wait until after damage control had been performed – This was her baby brother they were talking about.

"I guess that means I can skip straight to telling that you are so grounded for at least a week-" Did Nya even have the power to do that? Probably? Lloyd wasn't sure.

"But-"

"Seriously, do you have any idea how worried we've been?"

"Uh, Nya? Didn't we already talk about this?"

"I don't care! I thought you were going to die." Nya cried, adding, "Kai too – I'll have to yell at him later…" as an afterthought.

"Sorry, mom. Next time a group of snakes kidnap me and take me to an active volcano, I'll be sure to remember to ask you first…" Came a sassy retort. Had he really just called her mom? Nya raised an eyebrow, but relented with a sigh.

"Sorry… I'm just glad you're alright. I would've killed Kai myself if he hadn't gotten you out of there…"

"That was pretty cool how he got all flamey and flew around and stuff."

"Yeah. It was." Suddenly, Lloyd frowned.

"Kai's not mad, right? That I'm… You know, the Green Ninja?" So much for distracting him.

"No, Lloyd, of course not. Why would you think that?" Asked Nya. He reached for a cookie.

"He just… made a kinda weird face when… that stuff with the weapons happened… and… and I know how much he wanted it to be him…and I…" Yep, there were definitely tears in his eyes. She scooted her chair closer to him, giving the small child a side hug. "No one's mad. A little worried and upset maybe, but not angry. If anything, he's frustrated that these expectations are being thrust upon you. Kai and I both care a lot about what happens to you. We don't want to see you hurt. Learning that you are the Green Ninja upsets us, because if it were our choice, we'd kidnap you and hide you somewhere you wouldn't have to worry about being hurt ever again. Right now we feel like we won't be able to protect you as much anymore – and that thought scares us." Lloyd leaned into the hug, glancing up at her.

"I guess… If I have to be the… you know… At least I have you guys here to help me…"

"And we will, as much as possible, I promise. " Nya assured him.

"Thanks. I think I'm gonna need it."

"I know. But ninja never quit, and neither do you. You're waaay too stubborn."

"Yeah. You're right. " He agreed.

An entertaining thought struck her.

"Though I'd love to see Kai's face when he realizes that the deal the guys made turned out to be true…" Lloyd gave her a confused look.

"They all agreed that whoever found out who Samurai X was first would become the Green Ninja…" Oh, now he understood.

"Aaaand, I technically figured it out first, because I knew before you even finished the suit… Man, he's gonna freak when he finds out…" The laugh that followed was weak, but Nya knew it was a step in the right direction. She hesitated for a moment, before asking the question she knew needed to be asked. How she wished she could put it off. Why did she always have to be the one having emotional conversations with the small boy? She took a deep breath.

"So… I can totally change the subject if you need me to, but how are you feeling about all of this? I mean, I know it can't be easy." Her charge didn't answer immediately, considering whether or not to take the out he had been offered. Knowing that it was probably better to talk about it, he replied.

"I dunno… It's just a lot, I guess. Doesn't feel real. I never asked for this, and…" he sort of trailed off.

"Now you feel like everything's gonna change?" How was Nya so good at reading minds?

"Yeah. Pretty much. Everybody has these huge expectations for what the Green Ninja is supposed to be, but like, what if I can't do it? What if I can't be what they need?"

"You're still a kid. It's okay if things don't automatically come to you on the first try. We're not gonna let anybody make you do something you're not ready for. Trust me. We'll beat the living daylights out of anyone who tries. And we'll be there every step of the way until you are ready. "

"Believe me, I know... And I'm really, really grateful for that…" Lloyd said, sinking back into Nya's hug, "But still… why couldn't destiny have chosen literally anyone besides me, when… when…" He couldn't continue the sentence.

"When it's your father you'll have to fight." Nya finished. Lloyd didn't reply, instead burying his face in her shoulder, a sob escaping his body. She hugged him tighter.

"Hey." She started awkwardly, "Look. I wish I could tell you that everything's gonna be OK, but I can't, because I don't know how it will all work out in the end. I wish I could promise you a happy ending, or that you'll never mess up, but I can't do that either. All I can do is tell you that I am here for you, and that I've seen first hand that your father loves you very, very much and that this scares him just as much as it does you. He doesn't want to fight, doesn't want to hurt you. And it's okay to be scared and confused. It's fine with me if you want to scream at the sky and question why life has to be so unfair. You can go throw rocks off the side of the deck later if you think that'll help. Heck, I'll do it with you – and I'm sure the others would too. Whatever you think is gonna make you feel better about this. Just remember that you have lots of people here who want you to be happy and will do anything they can to make sure you're ready for whatever happens next. Don't think you're alone in this, because you're not, and you never will be." The sobbing slowly began to dissipate. "I told you I wouldn't give up on you when you very first got here, and that's still true." She ruffled his hair affectionately and handed him a napkin (in place of cleanex) as she finished. Was this how Kai felt all those times he'd had to comfort her? Worth it, Nya decided. Not that she'd ever tell him that.

Eventually, the small boy unburied his face long enough to blow his nose. At Darkley's, crying had been considered a sign of weakness. A reason for the other boys to torcher him. Even now that he was away from the horrible school, Lloyd still didn't particularly like doing so. It made his eyes puffy and his head ache. But, it seemed, tears were something he was going to have to get used to. Kinda like how he would have to get used to the prospect of being the Green Ninja. He flinched as the thought entered his mind, but was surprised to find that it didn't bother him as much as it had a few minutes ago. Maybe, with time, this whole chosen one thing would be okay after all… It couldn't possibly be worse than anything he'd faced so far, right? At least he had friends, people to guide him this time. He wouldn't know unless he tried. They'd just have to figure it all out along the way. Lloyd took a deep breath.

"So… Thanks… For putting up with all of this," he gestured vaguely, "I'm not really sure what I'd do without you, Nya." The girl gave him a watery smile. Moving forward wouldn't be easy, but at least they were on the right path.

"Oh, you know, go insane, probably." She teased.

"Seriously, though. Feeling better?"

"A little…" He admitted.

"Glad to hear it."

"Yeah, me too."

/\/\

Later, as she watched Lloyd, sitting next to his father as the ninja animatedly explained everything he'd missed over some of Zane's delicious cooking, Nya could almost pretend that it was a normal family scene. Well… Aside from the four armed man and the nindroid demonstrating some of his newfound abilities, that is. Surrounded by family, the boy was only a shadow of the depressed, angry child he had been when he first arrived. The laughter and teasing made that clear enough. It was good to see the way the others had accepted him into their bizarre family. Good to see his brighter personality shine through. Yes, things were certainly different now, but maybe, that would turn out to be a good thing.

"Think he'll be alright?" Her brother asked quietly, placing his hand on her shoulder. Nya looked at him for a second.

"I sure hope so… We talked about it a lot earlier, and I did my best to help, but only time will tell..."

"Well, if anyone can get through to him, it's you. The rest of us may have warmed up to the kid by now, but he's still gonna come to you first when he needs guidance. The two of you have a special connection. And besides," Kai said encouragingly, glancing towards Lloyd, "I don't think you have much to worry about. Look at how happy he is right now." Nya was relieved to see how relaxed the newfound Green Ninja looked.

"You know what? I think you might be onto something, there."

"Course I am. I'm not the great and powerful Fire Ninja for nothing."

"Part of me still wants to snatch him up and take an extended vacation to somewhere far, far away, though…" Nya sighed.

"If it reaches that point, I am so with you, sis. Just make sure you pick somewhere with plenty of sunny beaches and cute girls… " The two shared a smile. They didn't often have reason to hatch plots like this anymore.

"I know… Thank you for getting him out of there…" Nya said earnestly.

"What was I supposed to do? Let him die?" Kai looked incredulous.

"Of course not! I knew you'd come through. I didn't have a chance to congratulate you on finding your true potential, though, so…"

"Eh, don't stress it. I figured you'd remember eventually. Awesomeness like mine can't be ignored."

"Whatever you say… Still. I think mom and dad would be very proud. I know I am…" Kai leaned over and gave his sister a hug.

"Thanks."

/\/\/

Well, that's it for now. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Not sure when I'll be able to upload more, what with college starting. As always, feel free to leave constructive feedback. Thank you for reading!

-GwenBrightly