Chapter by: LillaSmolBean
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Lloyd wasn't sure if his eyesight was failing him at the moment or if he was actually dead from smacking into that streetlight, we never knew, his skull could have been fractured. The green ninja rubbed his eyes and blinked twice when the three individuals in front of him didn't disappear. This went on for the next five minutes before Hutchins snapped his fingers, earning Lloyd's attention. "What are you doing?" He questioned, his voice loud and clear. That single phrase right there confirmed so many of Lloyd's thoughts, "So I'm not dead?" He asked in response to what Hutchins had just said.

The man laughed, turning over to the emperor and empress. "Ofcourse not. We found you lying in the middle of the street." He affirmed to the blonde, who looked way more confused than he should of. Lloyd moved his hand to rub the back of his head. "What happened?" He inquired after hearing Hutchins' side of the story. In fact, the green ninja's story wasn't even clear to him. He was running, the hurt in his heart not leaving him one single bit. Yes, he remembered now. Garmadon has been giving him false affection once more. Tea of truth or not, his father always seemed to get to him.

"You slammed into a street post thus becoming unconscious." The empress explained, refraining herself to not laugh a single bit at the matter and keep the formalities. She was the empress of Ninjago after all. The green ninja flinched at te explanation, so that's what happened to him afterwards. Well, he owes the royal family a 'thank you' for not just leaving him the hands of potential SOG guards. He pulled off his best smile for them- despite still being conflicted over his father's words. "I thank you guys for saving me." He told them sincerely. In response to that, the royal family lowered their heads.

"How did you not see where you were going though? Were you in a hurry that you suddenly didn't pay attention to your surroundings?" Hutchins asked, he was curious after all. Silence was present in the room they were in when Hutchins asked that. Not because Lloyd refused to answer them, but rather, he was contemplating whether or not he could trust the royal family with this problem after all. His eyes lifted to face the three adults in front of him. The emperor had his arms crossed, the empress looked concerned and Hutchins was simply waiting for a response. Lloyd bit his lip.

"I was running away. From my father." He gambled with his luck and went with the choice that involved less suspicion. Lloyd winced, witnessing the very second where the royal family's eyes widened upon processing that thought. "You mean Lord Garmadon? He's back?" The empress looked more worried than before. They knew his father was one of the most dangerous threats to Ninjago city and to think, all of this occurred because their adoptive daughter couldn't control her anger towards him. Lloyd shook his head, no, he must hold off the real story behind Garmadon's return for...probably never. The thought of Harumi getting scolded at would hurt his heart. He's supposed to protect her despite her being in the total wrong here.

He exhaled. "Yes he is. Me and the resistance are planning to stop him and his army." The green ninja explained, trying to regain his courage. He shouldn't move around all day because of simple words. He needed to be stronger. The emperor spoke up, leaning forward on the chair he was sitting on. "Who is this resistance you speak of?" He questioned. Now this was information that could be easily shared without a doubt, Lloyd had to be very careful of which words he uses to refer to the current apocalypse going on. "The resistance? A team created by me and Nya. You know, a band of heroes all teamed up together to rebel against the current emperor of Ninjago city." He explained, earning a slight twitch from the emperor himself.

He refrained himself from speaking however for it would cause unwanted havoc. Lloyd took this opportunity to look around at his surroundings. The walls had a droopy colour to them, the flooring planks were all scattered across the room, the furniture had dust clouds all over them, not to mention the light bulbs weren't working. "Where are we?" The blonde questioned, thinking that he shouldn't be in an environment like this. Hutchins chuckled and stood up from the chair he was sitting on. "Please relax. It's nowhere dangerous. We just brought you to the closest house we found on the block." The guard said. Lloyd calmed down at that, he was safe.

"Hutchins, how are you and the emperor and empress alive? I thought the palace burned down because Ha-" he stopped himself, he flinched at his mistake. If he revealed that their daughter was the one who burned the jewel-filled castle to ashes, it would only give them more problems. He couldn't afford that, not now out of all times. "-because the evil SOG caused chaos in there. Definitely." He caught himself in his words, see? That proved his previous affirmation right, he really had to be careful of what he says. Hutchins paced back and forth around the room. He clapped his hands, "Well Master Lloyd, let me tell you how we escaped in that case."
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The green ninja gave wary eyes at the man standing in front of him. He had the prominent mask of deception in his hands at the moment. The boy couldn't help but gulp, this was bad, this was really really bad. Currently, a few street punks from Ninjago city have ambushed the residents and visitors of the Jade palace. What were they after? It clicked to him afterwards, the so called enemy was after the masks. Lloyd recognized their intentions after Hutchins told him so. Yet,

"Take this. I entrust you with the mask as well as the princess." The man with the golden helmet told the green ninja while giving the orange relic to the green ninja. Lloyd wasn't so keen on the idea of fleeing immediately despite being stuck in a vortex of flames. He grew even more nervous when the white-haired princess intervened with a saddened look. "But what about my parents?" She questioned worried. Hutchins shook his head and his eyes directed to Lloyd. "I'll assure you, they will make it out of here alive." He told the princess seriously before urging her to leave at once.

"I was wrong about you." The blonde stepped up, holding the one mask in his gloved palms tightly. However, "Just go!" Hutchins scolded the boy before turning his back on them. Harumi and Lloyd glanced at eachother out of regret and did what they were told. Whilst running, "Lloyd! We can't just leave my parents and mr. Hutchins!" She cried out, her palm clinging onto the blonde boy's. Due to their situation they were in, she refused to let go. She refused to burn. Lloyd gritted his teeth, he hated these type of situations. He was the green ninja- he was supposed to save everyone. Not leave a few citizens behind in a scorching hole. "We'll have to trust Hutchins' word, Rumi! Come on!" He urged her to run faster.

Hutchins watched from afar how the two individuals clad in green distance themselves from the thrones belonging to the emperor and empress. He sighed and made his way behind the emperor's throne. What was seen was a lever behind it. Not many were aware of the location of this switch, not even the jade princess herself. Hutchins flicked the switch, thus the ground opened up slightly, enough room for someone to descend downstairs towards the basement. The man silently walked down, making sure to close the door behind him.

Once inside, the individual was doused in complete darkness. The only source of light they had was an oil lamp. Hutchins made his way towards the centre of the room, where mattresses were found. Two more individuals were seen sitting on the, upon closer examination. "Did you send her off?" The voice of the empress asked Hutchins. A nod was all that was needed at the moment. No one really wanted to talk at a time like this. Ofcourse not. Staying in this room until the chaos upstairs was over was their only hope.
The empress clung onto her husband, embracing him as tears escaped her. "My precious daughter.." she sobbed, not knowing if she would see her again. The royal family have escaped the SOG's invasion. But, it seems that the princess have escaped from the family's arms.
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Lloyd listened attentively to the story. His silence was remarked the entire time by the empress. The minute Hutchins was done explaining how they used the palace's secret basement as their refuge throughout the night, the green ninja was prompted with a question coming from the emperor. "Where is she?" He questioned, trying not to sound too direct. He didn't want to seem desperate to find his beloved daughter- in reality, he really was. The green ninja reassured them however, that Harumi was safe and sound. "Don't worry, your majesty. Your daughter is alive and well. She's actually been a big help to the resistance. We're glad to have her." He smiled to himself.

The emperor and empress couldn't believe their ears, they glanced at eachother at once. "Oh dear oh dear, our sweet princess belongs to the battlefield now? Hold me, I think I'm going to faint." The female ruler exaggerated a tad on that comment. Good thing though, she didn't actually faint. Lloyd sighed. "Yes she is, but don't worry, she seems to be a natural warrior." He explained, hoping to calm down the empress. "See? I told you, your majesties. The princess seems to have a wild side." Hutchins stepped in.

Silence filled the room for a brief two minutes before the emperor spoke once more. "We need to get out of here. We need to get the green ninja back to his resistance." He mostly addressed to the royal family members. In which, both agreed without hesitation. "We need to find our daughter as well." The empress brought up then walked over to Lloyd afterwards. "Do you have any injuries?" She asked the boy. Lloyd thought for a moment, did he? Aside from a broken heart, no. He shook his head and stood up from the couch he was lying down on. "No I don't," he responded much to the empress' delight. "We need to get out of here then, follow me." She gestured Lloyd, the emperor and Hutchins to follow her out of what seems to be the living room.
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The four individuals headed out of the apartment, they ran off towards the centre of the city. "The bounty is parked above one of the buildings. If we go out to the centre of town, we can easily find it." Lloyd explained to them who,e leading the way.

On the other hand, two girls were seen talking to one another from across the building the royal family and the blonde just came out of. One was searching inside of an alley-way while the other was talking to her companion. "Any sign of him anywhere? Nya?" Rumi questioned, upon seeing the water ninja walk back to her. Unfortunately, the raven haired girl shook her head. "No there's nothing. Lloyd...where could you have gone?.." Nya sighed in slight defeat. They have already searched two streets and found absolutely nothing. Where was he? Hearing that only disappointed Harumi even more. "Lloyd...please be ok.." she whispered to the skies before shutting her eyes.

"Come Nya. Let's go search towards the junkyard." She took lead of the searching excursion from here. Hearing that, Nya lifted a brow. "The junkyard? Why would Lloyd possibly be there?" She wanted Harumi's reasoning on that. "Well the ninja did say that they would be searching the shops back in the East of the city. The junkyard is all the way to the south. It's Lloyd remember, things don't always go his way. That goes for locations too." She smiled lightly, new determination sparking inside of her.

The two girls ran off towards the south of the street. Not realizing that they went in the opposite direction in which Lloyd and the royal family ran off to.
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A/N Hiya! LillaSmolBean here! and thank you for reading chapter 38 of Reconciled hearts! If you enjoyed, please leave a vote and comment down below what you think so far of the story. Theories, ship opinions or feedback on the lore. I'm writing this on a Tuesday(Well look who's advanced.) and no joke, this chapter took around 3 hours to write. Probably due to writer's block and thinking on a reasonable way for the Royal family to escape. I hope it wasn't too cliché..Kidding aside, it really was. I realize it too. However, that wraps it up for this author's note. Cya guys next time! Goodbye!^^