It is the day before mother's Day and Lloyd is doing the dishes with master Wu.
"You are seeing Misako tomorrow?" Wu asks.
Lloyd sighs, "yeah."
They keep washing in silence for a moment.
"Are you not excited to see your mother?" Asks Wu.
Lloyd sighs again. "I guess it will be nice to see her, but do you ever wonder about what could have been?"
Wu pauses to think. "There are many things in my life that have not gone as planned. It is natural to try and imagine what could have happened if things were different."
"And do you ever imagine what would have happened if my father hadn't tampered with your letter?" Asks Lloyd. "You could have had a wife, we could have been a normal family."
Wu interrupts him. "No, if that were the case you wouldn't even exist, and I can't imagine a world without you." He places his hand on Lloyd's shoulder. "One letter doesn't make a relationship. That letter might have opened the door, but Garmadon did manage to earn her heart."
They go back to washing dishes.
"Thanks uncle Wu, thanks for looking out for me, even when my parents weren't around."
"You might not be my son, but you are my family Lloyd."
The next day Lloyd goes to meet Misako at a busy family pancake restaurant. It is full of young children with their families.
Lloyd pokes unenthusiastically at a pancake stack with a chocolate syrup smile.
"How is it?" Says Misako, "you used to love this place when you were younger."
"It's fine." Says Lloyd. He felt a bit silly being in this childish place.
"So, how long are you in town for?" Asks Lloyd.
"Just a couple days, I want to get back to the dig as soon as I can, we are finding some really interesting things."
"You didn't have to come all this way, it's only Mother's Day." Says Lloyd while continuing to poke half heartedly at his food.
"I wanted to. I am your mother after all." Misako says warmly.
Lloyd sighs.
"Is something wrong?" Asks Misako.
"Do you ever wonder about what would have happened if things were different?" Asks Lloyd.
"Of course I do." Says Misako. "I have always wondered what our family would look like if your father had never been bitten by the great devourer."
Lloyd looks disappointed in her answer. "What do you think about?" She asks.
"I wonder what things would have been like if you stayed. If instead of leaving me at Darklys, we could have got an apartment in Ninjago city. You could have made my favourite dumplings for my birthday, and given me advice when I got bullied at school. I wonder, would I have turned out different, if I had a mother growing up?"
"You know why I had to leave," says Misako, "I was researching a way to prevent the battle between you and your father."
"Yes, I know why you left, but understanding why doesn't take away the fact that you hurt me. I needed you, and you weren't there. You put me in a boarding school for bad boys! You could have at least left me with Wu."
"I was trying to prevent you from becoming the green ninja, trying to prevent you from having to carry that burden. Leaving you with Wu wasn't an option as it would have pushed you firmly down that path. I didn't expect my research to take so long, I thought I would only be gone a year, two tops, and being at Darklys would keep you from your destiny until then."
"Well after being bullied at Darklys for years, I ran away and released the serpentine because I was so desperate to have even a single friend."
"And look at all the good that has brought," says Misako warmly, "the serpentine now live peacefully in the city."
"It wasn't good back then, when the serpentine captured me, and forced me to run through booby trapped temples. This was back before I had any powers or ninja training by the way." snaps Lloyd.
"I had no idea that happened." Says Misako.
"I know." Says Lloyd getting more agitated, "because you weren't there! But you know who did come to help me? Oh that's right, it was my father, Lord of darkness who put his evil plans on hold, and travelled between realms, just to come and save his son." Lloyd pauses to chuckle. "It's funny right? The lord of darkness has been a better parent to me than you."
There is an awkward silence as they realise some of the other patrons are looking their way.
"You're right." Says Misako. "I let you down. You are right to be upset."
"Oh I'm not done." Interrupts Lloyd, "and then, when you finally did come back, it wasn't for me, it wasn't to check up on your son, no, it was to set up a museum exhibit of stone warriors. You were at the museum and I just happened to be there! And you saw me all grown up and wearing green, I can't imagine what you must have thought."
"I must admit, your age surprised me. I never expected Wu to use tomorrow's tea to speed up your ageing. I thought I had more time."
"Wu didn't use the tea, I did. I grew up because I had to. The team needed me, Ninjago needed me, and I stepped up. I gave up my childhood, because I needed to, but you couldn't give up your research when I needed you. Even after all those years, all your research, it didn't even matter. The most useful piece of information you managed to get on your travels was 'why don't we return the helmet?' but it didn't even work! I went through all of that for nothing."
"I also helped Dareth to control the stone warriors." Misako added weakly.
"Right." Says Lloyd with sarcasm, "like we wouldn't have figured that out without you."
Misako looks sad. "If you felt this way, why didn't you say something sooner?" She asks softly.
"Because I was scared." Says Lloyd. "Scared that you would leave again. Scared that I would break up my family just like my father did. Scared that I would be alone again."
"I think you've made enough friends that you will never be alone." She pauses for a moment. "Is that why you are telling me now? Do you want me to stop being your mother?"
"No, of course not, I already lost you once."
"Do you want me to apologise?"
"No, well, yes, but that is not quite right either…" Lloyd is getting flustered.
"Then why?"
"I don't know!" He snaps. "I think I just want you to know, to see just how much you hurt me. I'm angry, and I'm sick of hiding this pain."
Misako reaches out a hand to Lloyds. "I see you, I see your pain, and I'm sorry."
He looks up at her hopefully. "And if you could go back?" He asks nervously.
Misako pauses. "If I could go back, I would still try to save you both."
Lloyd pulls his hand away with disappointment.
"But," Misako continues, "I think I would leave you with Wu, make sure you were safe, and had someone to nurture you." Lloyd looks a little happier. "And I would definitely visit more. You deserved so much better than me, I think you're right, I'm not a very good mother."
"But you are my mother, and I don't want to lose you again." Says Lloyd before getting up and offering a hug. As they embrace he says "happy mother's Day."
When they stop hugging he adds, "next year, let's get dumplings instead."
"Of course." Says Misako. "You can point out which ones are your favourites."