lloyd + harumi swap places, she's the green ninja, and he's a revenge-seeking prince

❝ And when you hold his hands, it doesn't feel like flying

And when you take his breath away, he might as well be dying

♪

And you're dying to breathe, you're trapped in his cage

And it's shrinking ❞

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Maybe I was Boring, Wilbur Soot

1:08 ━━━━━━━━━ 13:06

interpret these lyrics however you like with this oneshot lmao

♪

"Come on Jay, I wanna go play the fishy game!"

"Kid, no, no, no, come back—" Jay wailed, sprinting off after his charge.

Kai sniggered, turning away from Jay's chase to walk with Zane and Cole towards the Ferris Wheel. Over yonder, Nya was cheering on Master Wu's undeniably impeccable aim. All five flimsy cans were punctured neatly through one of the snakes' eyes, and the old sensei lowered his toy gun calmly.

"Not bad old man," Kai commented with a smirk. Sensei Wu rolled his eyes and passed the gun and some coin over to Kai.

"Please, test your training, Kai."

Kai narrowed his eyes, the smirk disappearing as he concentrated, raising the shoddy eyepiece up to aim. The gun reverberated four times, seconds apart, but faltered on the last shot as the rubber bullet passed over the top. Wu smiled reverently and went to collect his ginormous duck plushie. Kai got nothing, pulling an immature face at the booth worker before striding off, hands in the pockets of his red gi.

Jay raced past after a green blur, a giggle thrown in the wind as the lightning ninja finally managed to capture the kid.

"What have we told you about running off?" Wu reprimanded his niece sternly, bending his knees to get on eye level with the girl. "Being the Green Ninja is no small feat, Harumi. Responsibility, I'm afraid, falls on your young shoulders earlier than most."

Harumi's face split with her naive grin. "Don't worry Uncle! Imma train untiwl I'm da best."

"No chance, kiddo," Kai ruffled her white-blonde hair with a smile. "Kai Smith is always da best."

Harumi skipped away, hand in hand with Zane, carefree as a little kid could be at ten surrounded by toys and games and fun amusement park rides. But when Kai met Wu's gaze, it wasn't one of pride or soft, old man love. It was concern. Troubled. Like he could see into the future when Harumi was no longer a little girl they babysat, where she lived a life full of grief and pain.

"Master Wu, is anything wrong?" Kai touched his sensei's shoulder gently.

Wu shook himself slightly, his long beard lifting as his smile returned, saddened, this time. "Everything is alright."

"You sure?" Kai pressed in concern. Cole, Jay and Nya went after Harumi and Zane, laughing as they ran and avoided bowling over little kids.

"I'm sure," Wu clarified, but it almost seemed like he was trying to convince himself of that fact. "Harumi will be fine. She will face hardships in her life, of course, but the worst..."

Kai frowned. Rumi was like another little sister to him, so the thought of a doomed future for her was not reassuring. "The worst?"

Wu spoke his next words quickly, walking away.

"A broken heart."

five years later

"Harumi, I'm sorry," shouted the blond boy who clutched the jagged dagger. "Gods, I'm so sorry I didn't think I'd—"

"What, Lloyd? You didn't think you'd what?" Harumi yelled, her throat raw with pain and hurt. "Think you'd fall for me? Pretend to be my friend? Say that you loved me?"

"YOU KILLED MY PARENTS!"

"I WAS TEN," Harumi sobbed, the ball of energy forming in her hands shining bright. "I was ten and I was young and I didn't think about collateral damage and I'm sorry I was a kid pushed into a fucked up destiny I never wanted."

Lloyd paced around the stone column protruding from the middle of the raised platform. Purple light washed in and out of the cavern, always circulating back to the Oni Mask. Lloyd threw a rock at the barrier and watched, his expression motionless again as it dissolved in seconds.

Lloyd Huntington Brassard.

Son to two simple-living parents, who were now dead.

Son to the Emperor and Empress of Ninjago, who were also dead.

However, he hadn't planned the first death. Apparently that had been Harumi's work trying to save the city from a massive snake called the Great Devourer. One of several apartment buildings that had been destroyed was Lloyd's childhood home, little more than rubble turned to a shopping complex now. He'd rigged the Palace himself with Blast Sap bombs. He'd slid into her life with a charming smile that she now saw are cunning and lethal - like a panther hunting.

Gods that smile had been endearing at first.

He'd laughed with her, kissed her, said he loved her, talked with her about their crushing responsibilities and cried to each other when it got too much.

And here he was.

The Quiet One.

Who was trying to bring her father, Lord Garmadon, back to life. And as much as Harumi wanted to run and hug him and bury her face in his robes smelling like petrichor and old books, she knew better.

You don't raise the dead.

Lloyd glared at her, swallowing hard as he pointed the tip of his dagger towards the Mask and then towards her. "Give it to me."

"I'm not going to give it to you! Are you crazy?"

"Why don't you understand? I'm bringing back your father, for gods' sake, Rumi!"

"Don't fucking call me Rumi."

"You—you don't understand, he's the only one who can fix this. Fix all of the pain that you caused, Harumi. He. Will. Fix. Your. Mistakes."

"I have made many mistakes," she admitted, blinking back the burning tears in her eyes. The energy building behind her back grew, pulsating with power only she could feel. Lloyd swept dirty white hair out of his eyes - smudging caked blood and dirt and sweat, eyes widening as he noticed the green glow building behind her.

"But I think my worst was letting myself love you."

❝ We both remember that day in the summer,

Where you were sat on me and we cried

♪

Oh how we cried,

In that moment, we've never been so happy ❞

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For Memories, Wilbur Soot

4:00 ━━━━━━━━━ 13:06

one month earlier

"Have you ever been to a theme park?" she suddenly asked, blushing at the awkwardness of the situation. Lloyd was perched next to her in a tiny cranny of the Bounty. One that allowed them to gaze at the moon and the stars, something that felt very much like a date.

But Harumi didn't date.

Oh no, if you were the Green Ninja, dating was not an option.

Harumi had had countless suitors declare their love for her - not as many as Kai did (honestly, how was the population of Ninjago so egg headed to have a crush on fire porcupine?) - but there were a few she had seen herself with. A future where she wasn't alone, romantically, at least.

And then she'd found a scroll in her Uncle's bunk. One dated from way before he disappeared, from when she was a child unaware of what her father had done.

-- Rise of the Snakes --

Mega Monster Amusement Park was a strange bonding experience, despite our past adventures there. Jay and Nya appeared to be unperturbed by their memories. I would have thought such a traumatising event might have changed their perspective on this place, but they had fun. They rode many rides and spent some time apart from the rest of us. I believe Jay was so flustered his cheeks were as red as Kai's gi.

Cole went off rather quickly, heading for food booths and restaurants where, I'm afraid, he 'flexed' (a word the ninja have taught me. In this instance I believe this is merely a synonym for Cole abusing his power status as the Earth Ninja) his powers and gained an unhealthy amount of sweet and savoury food.

Zane spent the majority of his time in the 3D show experience. It appears that he was rather entranced by the abilities of technology. The workers forced him out after the 'hundred and forty sixth time this idiot has been back there', as quoted from an employee. I did not appreciate such an insult to my pupil but my staff was restrained by Zane. He carried on with other rides.

Kai was a different story. In fact, people could not stop pulling him over for 'selfies' (an act in which one poses, often with a 'peace sign' holding a phone to take a picture of yourself. I find it rather egotistical, but Kai adores selfies) which annoyed me slightly, but at some point he banned selfies and had real fun on the rides. I beat him most supremely in Guns n' Gallotts, five clean shots for myself, and four for Kai.

I have trained them all well.

But that brings around Harumi. It has been two weeks since her identity as the Green Ninja was revealed, however, she does not seem to realise the importance of this - that she will fight her father. My brother.

Today, I received a vision.

They come and go, and I cannot control them, but I caught a glimpse of a few scenes.

Of Harumi and another boy, whom I hope shall never walk into our lives for the pain and damage I saw in those precious seconds. It took just that for me to garner the anguish - that and her tears. Her heartbreak for that boy will be the worst hardship she will ever face.

So she must not meet this boy under any circumstance. Yet the problem remains; who is this boy?

And what will he do to break her in a million pieces?

The scroll was the reason why she had been so stiff towards Lloyd at the start. And then, talking, walking, dancing, singing with him had warped her vision. There was no way someone so kind, someone who loved her, who had said he loved her would be the boy in the scroll, right?

So she let him in.

The barriers she'd built for her countless admirers came down. Lloyd found his way in. Small smiles she treasured, nights staying up discussing their next move in their lives and in battle.

"Uh, no, never been to a theme park," he admitted, shyly hanging his head. "I couldn't."

"I'll take you someday," Harumi said brashly. Lloyd's head whipped around. "When this is all over, when...when we can rest."

"You promise?" Lloyd titled his head, smiling.

"I promise." she said.

Maybe she should have seen how the smile grew when she turned away, trying to hide her excitement. The way his lips stretched and he tipped his head back, laughing silently to himself. The way his eyes seem to flicker purple as he gazed at the stars.

The way he realised he'd caught her hook, line, and sinker.

❝ But I can't say that I, wasted my time,

Cause I'm built by you,

and I can't say that I'm glad it is over,

♪

Cause that wouldn't be true

So thank you,

Oh thank you ❞

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For Memories, Wilbur Soot

3:13 ━━━━━━━━━ 13:06

a/n: okay so when yall asked me for good harumi oneshot i don't know if this is what you had in mind, but if it was (aka angst, toxic llorumi and manipulative lloyd) hooray, if not sorry? I mean at least it started out happy and stuff but whenever wu speaks it's a bad omen. Special thanks to wilbur soot for the lyrics (sorry if you got bombarded with them i couldn't choose which ones to cut so deal) i feel like this kinda sucks but I've kept it from yall for long enough lmao

Until the next moon when i post here,

-dommie out