Lloyd POV: When Cole came back and said we still had to wait and hear from Kai I had to leave, using the excuse that I needed to use the bathroom. But really I had to be alone to really think through my thoughts. I know that I was being pushy and stubborn about this. And I know that I wasn't making it easy on anyone. But I just hate being kept in the dark like this. Kai is my brother and one of my best friends, and he's clearly in pain. No one's said anything and Kai has been trying to hide it. However, I could see it in his eyes that something was bothering him. In a really bad way, too. Which was the part that was eating away at me. I walked through the halls for so long that it was dark outside and I found myself in front of Kai's door.
I know that he's sleeping at this time and I wasn't planning on talking to him when he wasn't ready. So I don't know why I was here. I sighed deeply and rubbed my face. I feel so stuck about all of this, and the chill that I felt back in the labyrinth isn't helping. It's been going away, a lot slower than I would like, but it hasn't helped my nerves. Or patience in general. But I need to stop driving myself crazy like this. I just have to trust that he'll talk when he's ready.
It took a few moments for me to actually walk away, but I stopped when I heard something. Something that sounded like whimpering coming from Kai's room. Everything inside me went cold and I opened the door without even thinking about it.
He was on his bed, sleeping with a disturbed look on his face. He was panting and tossing around. He was having a nightmare and it looked like a bad one. We all have nightmares from time to time and we all know how to handle them. I relaxed a little and walked over to him. I tried to wake him up gently by tapping his shoulder.
But the second I touched him jumped up frantically and scrambled to the corner. He was panting even more and scratching at the wall and bed posts. I just stood there with my hands up. Trying to not appear threatening since he was panicking, despite being a little panicked myself.
"Kai, it's okay. It's me, Lloyd. You're okay." I said, quietly and gently.
But it wasn't working. He was still freaking out and trying to move further into the corner. His eyes were clouded, like he was still in the nightmare. Which wasn't good and I had to help him.
"Kai, breathe. You are okay. It was just a nightmare. It wasn't real." I tried again.
This time he started to breathe more normally and he slowly relaxed, but he stayed right where he was. Eventually he looked at me and said, "Lloyd?"
"Hey, you good?" I responded, sitting down on the bed.
He didn't say anything right away. He just looked and hugged himself. I didn't push it, given how he just had a nightmare. That's the last thing
I just moved myself to the wall and said, "Mind if I stay for the rest of the night?"
"You don't have to. I'll be fine." he said, but I wasn't going to leave. I was too worried.
Though that will make him defensive, so instead I said, "It's fine. I just don't want to walk back to my room."
I could see that he knew I was lying, but he nodded and we both relaxed. He took the side that he was on and I took the other. He passed out fast after he got comfortable, but I stayed awake for a bit.
I would be an idiot if I didn't realize that this was connected to everything else. There's no way that it isn't and this only made me want to know more. But that doesn't matter right now, I'll get answers sooner or later. Right now I just need to sleep.
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Nya POV: I didn't really get a lot of sleep last night. Mostly because I couldn't stop thinking about Kai and his scars. And what he could have done in that year he was gone. I always believe that he told me the truth and now I know that it wasn't. It was eating at me to say the least.
When I saw light coming out of my window I got up to check on him. No one else was walking around in the halls, meaning that it was still early. And I, as quietly as I could, opened Kai's door. And was surprised to see that Lloyd was in his bed. They were both snoring a little and I noticed small bags under Kai's eyes. Something must have happened last night and Lloyd must've handled it. I'm going to have to ask him when they wake up, but I'll let them sleep.
I closed the door and walked out to the deck. The Bounty was parked above Ninjago City and there was a nice warm breeze in the air. I leaned over the edge and took a deep breath. The stress of all of this was really weighing me down and I just hoped that something would happen so that I could start really helping my brother.
I stayed out there for a while, and that allowed me to see Zane coming back up from Borg Tower. He stayed down there to watch over Kai's results. And he was back. I waited a little impatiently as he boarded, and saw that he was a little surprised that I was here.
"Nya? I thought that you would still be sleeping." he said as he walked over to me.
"I was too restless." I answered, trying to not start off with questions. I didn't push to seem pushy.
"Was Kai alright when you two returned?" He asked, and I nodded.
"He was tired when we got back, but it didn't seem too out of it." I explained, and he nodded back as we walked towards the kitchen. Though it looked like he was holding something back.
"What about the tests? Is everything fine?" I finally asked.
He didn't answer right away. And when we got to the kitchen we started to make breakfast. It was his turn and I needed something to do, so I helped him as I waited for him to answer me. We ended up making waffles and bacon since it was the easiest thing to make. He was handling the waffles and I was making the bacon since that worked for the best for us.
Finally, after a long time, he started to say, "Are you aware of his scars?"
"Some of them. He mentioned having more." I responded.
"I see… they were all healed, though the marks are permanent. However, there was evidence of other injuries." He explained, not going into detail of how many scars there were. Which I am grateful for, but other injuries?
"What do you mean?" I asked, stopping what I was doing.
He paused before saying, "The advanced scan showed he had previous broken bones and sprains that didn't heal properly. As well as evidence of damage to bones that point towards severe beatings that nearly broke others. And…"
The hesitation made me really nervous, but I said, "Zane, what is it?"
"...There was some… internal damage to his lungs that suggested that he experienced drowning a couple of times. Along with other evidence that he has been strangled more than once." he answered, almost whispered.
Everything inside me froze over and I took a shaky breath. Nothing that he said was good and I was almost crying. But strangely I wasn't as surprised as I thought I would be. If anything it just explained everything that I've noticed so far. And this just made me mad at myself for only noticing this because of some guy's stupid labyrinth.
I shook my head a little, which didn't get rid of the cold feeling, and said, "Is he going to need any medical attention going forward?"
"I would like to do further tests to make sure, but as of this moment I don't believe so." he said, which did relieve some of my stress.
"Good. That's really good." I whispered, mostly to myself, but he nodded in agreement.
But it was far from over. I still need to talk to him about this, which won't be easy. Plus there's Jay, Cole, and Lloyd and telling them everything. And how we were going to take care of… this going forward. But as long as my brother can get better I don't care. I just want him to be okay.
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Cole POV: Nya and Zane had no idea I was outside as they were talking about Kai and his old injuries. And I was more than just a little shocked.
Of course I knew something was going with him, but this? This was… way more than I thought what had happened to Kai. Just hearing everything made me shake.
There's no way things aren't going to change after this.