Lloyd woke on a soft bed.

At first he thought this was some sick, cruel joke Scales was plying on him. His chest no longer hurt, he could breathe normally, and he was home, on the Destiny's Bounty.

As he looked around, though, he realized Scales could never pull something as realistic as this off. The snake had never even been on the Bounty. Lloyd starting noticing little details that he'd never really acknowledged before now, like how Zane's bed was perfectly made, and Cole's was partially made, while Jay and Kai didn't even bother. And his bed was placed in the exact middle between the two bunks. He even saw the ends of a burn mark on the wall sticking out behind a painting.

Lloyd smirked at the memory. He was still little, Pythor had yet to awaken the great Devourer, so the Ninja still had their elemental powers, and he'd woken up an oversleeping Kai by placing the alarm clock right next to his ear and setting it off. The startled Fire Ninja had woken up fist burning and started blasting everything. If Lloyd hadn't ducked in time, his head would've been fried instead of that wall. In a poor attempt of hiding the mark, Kai had placed the painting over it.

Wait, if I spotted the edges of the mark, Sensei's sure to have. I wonder why he let us off the hook.

Lloyd swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand, but his legs were wobbly from disuse, and he had to grab the bedframe or support.

Whoa, okay. How long I was asleep?

After he got used to supporting his own weight again, he took a shaky step forward. He didn't fall, but it took a while for him to make it over the bedroom door.

He stumbled along until he reached the bathroom. He stared, shocked, at his own reflection in the bathroom mirror.

Nothing was wrong with him, all his wounds were healed and gone. It was the stubble along his jawline that surprised him.

Now I really want to know how long I was out.

After grabbing a spare razor and carefully shaving his face, Lloyd made his way onto the deck. Just as he expected, the four Ninja were there training.

"Hey, guys." Lloyd winced at the sound of his voice. It was raspy and quiet from the disuse as well, so none of the Ninja heard him. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"Hi, guys."

All four of them jumped and stopped what they were doing to turn and look at him. All of them looked shocked and relieved at the same time.

Suddenly, he was swarmed by them, and all of them started talking at once.

"OhmyGodLloydyourawake," Jay shouted, talking at a million miles per second.

"Thank goodness you're alright." Cole gave him a quick hug.

"We were starting to think you'd never wake up. You've been sleeping for nearly three weeks." Zane patted his shoulder.

"We missed you, kid!" Kai gave him a noogie.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, back up," Lloyd took a step back. He was feeling a little overwhelmed. "Three week? I've been out for three weeks? That's, like, a month!"

"We know," Cole said. "Like Zane said, we were starting to worry you'd never wake up."

"You were pretty banged up," Kai said. "You almost died"

"Correction," Zane said. "You did die. You stopped breathing for a minute and thirty-seven seconds."

"Yeah, and then Sensei put you in some weird voodoo trace that didn't allow you to wake up until your body healed. It took a whole month, even with the help of some magic healing tea." Jay's explanation, as always, involved a bunch of crazy hand gestures.

Lloyd's head swam with all the new information, but he had to ask. "What happened to Scales? Is he–"

"Dead." He jumped at the sound of his father's voice. He and Wu were descending the stairs that lead to the Bridge.

"Who–"

"I did. He should still be rotting away in the desert, if the vultures haven't gotten to him first."

Father and son stared at each other for a while. Then Lloyd ran and jumped into Garmadon's arms, catching the older man slightly by surprise, but quickly returned the hug.

"I'm glad you're finally safe," he whispered.

"Me, too, Dad," Lloyd whispered back.

Garmadon pulled back and held his son out at arms-length, top hands on his shoulders, bottom ones on his waist, and studied him. Suddenly, his face fell, and his were filled with remorse.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Lloyd was very confused. He was safe, now, right?

"I'm so sorry, son," his father said at last.

"Sorry about what?"

"The scars wouldn't heal." Garmadon looked away.

"What sc...Oh..." Lloyd's back involuntarily tensed. He could feel the ruined tissue stretch. The marks of the Hypnobrai and Constrictai were still there, and would remain there for the rest of his life. He smiled nonetheless.

"It's alright, Dad, it wasn't your fault," he said, pulling his father into another hug.

"But I could've stopped it all from happening," Garmadon cried, releasing his son. "If my stupid, stubborn pride had allowed me to say yes when Scales had confronted me the first time–"

"It wasn't your fault," Lloyd insisted. "Even if you did meet the demands, Scales probably would've kept me anyway. I'm valuable leverage against you guys."

Garmadon muttered under his breath, but Lloyd still caught it.

"That's exactly what Wu said."

Lloyd couldn't help but laugh. "If two people have told you the same thing, maybe you should listen to them. Especially if those two people are your brother and your son."

The look on his father's face when he said that was priceless, and made the Green Ninja laugh harder. "Besides, I'd still forgive you anyway."

Garmadon gave him a huge grin, his entire face lighting up. But that look soon turned to horror as he was enveloped in a golden aura. Lloyd scrambled back, and even Wu took a couple steps away from his brother. When the light faded, everyone's jaw dropped to the ground.

Garmadon was still standing there, but he had changed. His skin no longer was black, it was now the normal yellow color, and his second pair of arms had vanished. His jet-black hair had lightened into a grey, and he was wearing an old purple and white robe.

Cole recovered his voice first. "What...just...happened?"

"I...don't know." Lloyd had never seen his uncle at a loss for words. His father was just staring at his hands, flexing them.

"I feel...strange." Garmadon looked up at them, showing off his slightly wrinkled face. "It's a good strange. I no longer feel the impulse, the little voice at the back of my mind, pushing me to do the stuff I did. I'm...free."

The grin returned. "The Devourer venom is...gone. I'm not evil anymore!" His grin was contagious, and Lloyd felt one of his own tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"I don't know how or why this happened," Wu said, approaching his brother again. "But it seems that Lloyd's willingness to forgive you and love you, even if you caused him great pain, triggered some sort of...reaction. Your son...cured you, brother."

Garmadon looked at him, still grinning. The whole group was; even Nya; Lloyd could see her behind the wheel.

"Now we can be a proper family," the former Dark Lord said, the grin turning more shy. "I-I-I mean, i-if you w-want to–"

Lloyd pulled both Wu and Garmadon into one last hug. "I would love that."

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Kai couldn't help but smile. The three of them just looked so...happy. The only family he had left was his sister. His dad had died only a few months before Wu 'recruited' him to be a Ninja. His mother had left just after Nya was born. She really was all he had.

Suddenly he was pulled into a group hug by Cole. "Come 'ear, everybody. I'm glad to have you all as a part of my family."

Nah, who was he kidding? Nya may be his only biological remaining family, but Cole, Zane, and Jay were just as much a part of him now. After working, training, and fighting crime alongside them for about three years now, he knew them like the back of his hand. He loved them like the annoying brothers he never had. Now Lloyd, and maybe even Garmadon, have been adopted in.

This really was about family after all.

THE END