"Alright Cloud, how about this one?" asked a white haired girl while nibbling on a candy cane. In her hand was a small puppy coat all clad in pink. Garmadon was nice enough to run by an abandoned pet shop to "borrow" a few things from the shelves. Some of them being a leash, some dog food and several cosmetics that he was sure Harumi would enjoy putting on her newly given puppy. The white haired girl waited for the dog's response, she chuckled a bit when she noticed how Cloud couldn't stand still for a few minutes. The dog barked and barked, ruffling up the bedsheets in its fangs.

She tried putting the small coat when she got close enough, the small paws of the dog slid in with a struggle and Cloud seemed uncomfortable when the miniature hood fell atop her small ears. She barked and attempted to capture the furry top in between her canines but failed miserably when she didn't recognize the furry object's taste. She spat it out then growled, thinking it was some sort of predator clawing on her back. "Now now Cloud, don't break it now." Harumi pet the dog's back worriedly that she might actually end up ripping the adorable coat to shreds. Well, it seems that this colour and style might not be for the Pomeranian. No worries, there were two more coats in the gift box. Harumi took out a beige coloured leather coat.

"How about this one?" She asked the pup. Not being able to speak, Cloud perked her ears up once more and observed the mysterious accessory in her owner's hands. Harumi laughed at the puppy's curiosity. "It's a coat, same as the pink one I made you try on minutes ago." She explained, more giggles escaping her lips. Cloud was hesitant at first before sniffing the beige coat swiftly. The reaction Harumi got was predictable but no matter what, this pup manages to find a way to impress her. Cloud grabbed the coat in between her fangs and tossed it aside. Atleast she didn't try to damage the accessory in some ways. The girl sighed, leaving her to the last coat in the box, the one that Garmadon was salty about. Just by looking at the colour of it, explained his frustrations.

It was a green coat, almost in the style of little red riding hood's cape. A ribbon that tied the dog's accessory to its neck and it didn't harm the animal in any way. Sure it may be basic but there were darker green flower prints to symbolise a pattern on the plain-looking fabric. Harumi tried the cape on Cloud with much ease, probably because she didn't have to stick any paws in tiny holes or worry about fur getting on her muzzle. Seemingly enough, Cloud liked the choice, much freedom for her little legs to run wild without anything getting in her way. Plus the cape that occasionally flopped onto the top of her head didn't look like it bothered her much. Cloud insisted on showing a peasant and satisfied expression. She barked once.

"I'm glad you like it too, Cloud!" Harumi explained, extending her arms for the pup to jump in her arms. A hug wasn't the only reason why she asked her dog to come in her arms, sure she wanted to keep the pup warm in her massive green sleeves however it was also for the secret walk they agreed on an hour ago. It was the beginning of the afternoon when they settled it and Cloud seemed delighted with the idea of going back outside with some company and protection. "Are you ready, Cloud?" She inquired before walking over to the glass window with little fear. If she were to do this alone, she knew her originally meek self would fail to do this simple task in the end. But with the dog in her arms and Ultra Violet's advice, she is very much determined to trust this.
The dog barked, raising her determination and courage.

"Alright..." She muttered and took a step even closer. Her window wasn't as big as she wanted it to be but that meant less shattered glass getting caught in their skin. Less injuries and less suspicions, that was a good call, right? "Alright, I can do this!" She yelled quietly, she knows for a fact that Garmadon was a floor above her in his throne room however, if she made too much commotion, she would be surely caught right off the bat. Cloud whimpered in slight fear but Harumi placed a hand over her eyes, possibly to cover the upside down world they'd be facing in a few minutes. She stood up on the ledge and stared out the window. This was one of the highest floors in Borg tower therefore she felt anxiety build up inside of her. "It's so high up.." she whimpered herself.

She could see the rooftops shooting down from the tallest of apartments, she could barely see the ground, her view showed her a perfect replica of a bottomless pit. But if it weren't for all of this snow, she'd really believe that she'd die on impact. But because of the white carpet, there may be a chance..
Harumi took a deep breath. "Alright, alright. Enough worrying. I'm doing this for Cloud...for myself too! My freedom...! I-I'm-" she interrupted herself by shutting her eyes, she charged directly into the glass window, using her arms to crack the glass and half of her head to help break through. "I'm fearless!" She yelled, feeling the cold air entering her mouth. She almost choked on it and felt tears run down due to the abrupt change of temperature.

Cloud barked and howled, whimpered at some times too but didn't slip out of Harumi's hold. "Hang on, Cloud!!" The girl screamed in complete panic for a second. Their fall was going quicker than she expected and not even five seconds in the air, they're already reaching the fifth floor of Borg tower. So close to the ground as well, she had to prepare to land. But whatever happens, she must protect her puppy first. Harumi reopened her eyes and observed the view given to her. Tall buildings enveloped the master and animal, as if they had eyes, they stared at them, astonished of their act. "Isn't it...look at that!" She gazed at the afternoon sun in amazement. The fact that she was falling, she was merely looking up at the illuminating star looking down on her.

A part of her was simply too accomplished to continue on at this point. She would be fine with staying mid air like this, float even! Just so she stayed close to the morning's warmth...it reminded her a bit of Lloyd actually. The sun—her sun. It was Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon, every simple aspect of it. Her back was now facing the ground and Cloud was tightly held in her arms. She could feel the dog tremble as the temperature perhaps got to her. "Hang on.." She whispered. She could have said more however, a loud thud was heard from behind her and she felt some sort of numb pain to the back of her head.
In those few seconds of speech, a white haired girl accompanied with a Pomeranian puppy, both clad in green, landed back first in a pile of snow.
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"Lloyd!" Terrified, the white haired girl was foolishly rescued by her lover. Just moments ago, there was a power struggle between Garmadon, the dark oni lord and the master of Absorption, Skylor. She found herself running for her life on the almost destroyed appartement in Ninjago city. She found an exit a few corridors away however it was the cries of a child, that would soon meet her exact fate, that defrosted her vengeful heart. She helped the family escape by showing them the route she found but sadly, Lloyd, the one who helped her try to escape was trapped when the building decided to crumble. Planks of wood separated the two lovers and tearfully, Lloyd beckoned that she runs away.

"Lloyd Im not leaving you!" She cried, even attempting to pathetically stick her hand out through the holes of the planks even to try and pull him to her sides. They both know that he'll never fit through a barricaded doorway. The green ninja assured her with a small smile, "Rumi, Im fine. I promise, just go." I'll see you when I get down, I promise." Yet he managed to stay calm and promise her such a depressing fact. He wanted to hide that he was about to be consumed by the debris of this building. But her naïve little mind still believed him, she nodded and began to run off down the stairs, begging to safety.

In the present, she found herself staring at the building collapse in front of her teary black eyes. "Lloyd!" She couldn't help but scream for her to return to her sides. "Lloyd! No Lloyd!" She watched as the building became the aftermath of a tower made out of dominos, a crumbling mess that children had to clean up. But in this case, no one was cleaning up a death. No one could be that dedicated to walk in the dust and claim his body. Perhaps Garmadon but even from down here, she heard how his father was bewildered of his loss. The way she watched there, helpless at his falling body crash down to the ground on impact, she couldn't help but sob even more.
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"Is the powerful quiet one crying?"

Eyes half opened, Harumi noticed that her view was now the cleared blue sky.
She stood up from the ground and felt her head hurting slightly. But no one could blame her for feeling such thing, she remembered where she was and what she just did. "I'm insane." She started to laugh and put Cloud down on the pile of snow she was currently standing on. The puppy barked in amusement but didn't start running away. "I just jumped like ten floors from Borg tower. I really am insane.." she kept laughing then turned down to face the puppy.
They can't stay here for long, or else they'd get caught by Garmadon's patrol allies. She beckoned the puppy to follow her.

The two leave the massive print of a fallen human body on the mountain of snow. Surely no one will notice such a thing right? Gives them another reason to leave the site as soon as possible. "Come on Cloud, I know somewhere we can go together." She said and smiled to herself when the puppy agreed to follow and recognize its new master. Now that just left her with questions in her mind, if Cloud manages to warm up to her quicker than Garmadon, did the puppy not enjoy the old man's company? Was he being harsh on her or something? The two began walking off from the towering structure a few miles away, leaving obvious footsteps in the white of snow.

Cloud barked and even ran ahead of Harumi sometimes, earning laughs from the green clad owner. "You're loving this already, aren't you?" She chased after Cloud for a bit before looking around the destroyed but snowy roads of Ninjago city. The puppy trotted everywhere but always kept herself close to Harumi, for FSM knows what will happen if she doesn't. They continued walking and Harumi remembered where she wanted to bring her new pet to. It was a park that was not too far from the centre of the city. She used to go there with her parents often so she wanted to reestablish her memories and just spend time in the free space for awhile. She wanted to bring Lloyd there as well, but now...

Cloud started barking in alert all of a sudden. Harumi snapped out of her thoughts. She immediately stood in front of Cloud and even raised her hands out at the possible danger, what a good owner. " What is it? What's wrong?" She inquired, keeping her eyes sharp as a fox in this situation. Cloud kept barking, her ears perked up in the direction Harumi was facing at the moment.
It wasn't until the girl noticed three small figures walk slowly in her direction. At first, she couldn't identity what those three beings were but they certainly weren't humans. "They're..." she gasped when she realized what species these individuals were. A sharp howl answered her questions moments too late.
Three dogs with spiked collars stood their ground and mainly had their canines out and tails raised. She gulped, "Cloud, run!"

Dog guards, that's what they were. They sure identified themselves as SOG dog guards. Were those bone-brains finally smart enough to hire sniffing creatures to track down scents and run-away princesses? A joke, a mere joke, that last one. But Harumi picked up her puppy and began running for a life. No, not like this, she couldn't get caught like this. She shut her eyes tightly and kept running. The momentum of her speed caused her green cape to envelop her white haired, keeping it hidden from any strangers and mostly those dogs.
"You know Cloud, Lloyd would tell me not to give up at a time like this." She remembered all of a sudden. The thought of him and his advice managed to encourage her to speed up. The dogs were still chasing her.

Cloud tilted her head in confusion, being scooped by her owner, she couldn't show much emotion. But Harumi noticed otherwise. "Yeah, because if I did, he'd get really angry. You know, the resistance never quits." She explained to her pet, looking around in a panic for any alleyways or shady sidewalks that she could hide in. There seems to be none at the moment. She inwardly cursed at the exposed spaces up ahead, no she couldn't hide like this. "Lloyd was a great guy, I love him, a lot." She choked on that one. Cloud whimpered and kept put in the girl's arms. "And that's why I cannot allow myself to be caught like this. My friends may have betrayed me but he surely couldn't have betrayed me, right?" She smiled a little and ran a little faster.

The dogs were now getting closer to her, having tracked down Cloud's scent.
Harumi screeched, letting even more cold air down her respiratory system. It hurt like sharp spikes down her throat but she needed to keep running. Or else Cloud might end up being livestock to the other dog guards. She wasn't too sure that she could handle that sight all too well. Abruptly, a bulldog charged at her with full speed and launched at her, attempting to snap away a part of her outfit. Harumi lowered a hand of hers, almost dropping Cloud and slapped away the other dog's muzzle. Of course, if it had a cute face, she'd feel bad however this was for her survival. She couldn't let these dogs catch her.
"Get away!" She punched the dog's muzzle even more so that it let go of her green cape. Due to the packed punch, one of the guard dogs whimpered and rolled down the other direction.

Harumi's fight wasn't over yet, she needed to keep going. But luckily for her, that's when she spotted a small abandoned house that she could stay it. Why choose that one out of everything else? It was because that street had solid built houses with actual doors and roofs. "There...There.." She panted, getting a bit tired. Cloud howled in victory, but this chase wasn't something that the puppy should be celebrating too soon. However, Harumi was thrown off her senses of direction when she charged head on into a figure, the hood being in her way, she couldn't see much. When she bumped into the figure, she couldn't stare up at the figure she just bumped into. The dogs were behind her and she pulled her hood up to cover her face. 'Sorry, I'm so sorry about that.' She spoke in her mind instead of pushing out audible words.

Harumi didn't apologize, well mentally and continued her chase. Cloud tilted her head and looked over Harumi's shoulder. She barked and jumped out of her arms. At first, the girl didn't really understood why but she looked behind her and noticed the dogs have halted when she bumped into the mysterious person. Had they given up? Well she certainly hopes so, her legs have seemed to do so anyways. Arriving under the roofed house, she panted and let her back slide down against the house's front. She sighed and petted her dog. "That was a close one.." She bit her lips and almost shivered when she felt herself transpire from running so much. Being this warm in a cold day wasn't really a good idea.

Though, before she could even go inside, she stared up at the sky to look for the sun—her sun—to find Lloyd, her lover. She wanted a sign that he was proud of her for surviving this far. Instead, she saw the source of darkness staring down on her. With a severe look, Garmadon, accompanied by four other guards menacingly glared down on her. "Just what do you think you are doing? Did you really think you could escape?" He questioned. Even with Cloud's barking protests, Harumi felt fresh fragile beads made out of her sadness burst from her black pupils that lost yet again another fragment of hope.
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A/N: Hi! LillaSmolBean here and thank you for reading chapter 66 of Reconciled hearts! Now first of all, I hope everyone had great holidays! I certainly had! Second, man was this an intense chapter, what did you guys think? It's simply not fair that Garmadon always ruins the fun for Rumi, huh? Even Cloud's first proper walk! How dare he and those guard dogs? Oh well, hopefully Cloud and Rumi will earn their payback for good and show overprotective Garmadad that freedom matters