alirxi I TOLD YOU THAT YOU WERE NEXT-

So this is essentially a oneshot about Morro getting out of a correctional facility and Ali going there to pick him up 😂

Also, if anyone's wondering, yes, I'm promoting self-love and acceptance through these oneshots LOL I'm becoming some sort of a weird cross between a Jesus follower, a life coach, and a fitness guru, and it's...interesting :p

AND PLEEEEEASSSSSSSE TELL ME IF YOU DON'T LIKE HOW YOU'RE PORTRAYED IN A ONESHOT! Sometimes, I feel like a low-key read way too much into people!

***(Ali's POV)***

I pull into the nearest public lot and select a parking spot, slamming on my brakes. Tires squeal and my car lurches. My skull thwacks back into my headrest.

Three months. He was in prison three months, I couldn't even bear to visit him, and now I'm stuck picking him up.

We're broken up. Why did he even try calling me to come get him?

Because he knew I'd come. After all, I'm here, aren't I?

I slam my car door open and shove both feet onto the smoldering blacktop, pain spearing up through my left heel at the force of the impact. I've always been a stellar student, but I suppose I temporarily forgot Newton's Third Law - every action is met with an equal and opposite reaction. And the earth reacting to the force I applied with my foot hurts.

I compose my mouth, twisted in a pained scowl, and primly close my car door. I start to walk away, professional heels click-clacking against the ground, before I remember that I need to lock up my vehicle. After all, this is the shady side of Ninjago City.

"Why does he have to be so stupid?" I mumble, removing my keys from the pocket of my pressed cardigan. "He has a great mind - great potential." I pat my pockets for a tissue, then swear softly as I realize I forgot my Kleenex stash in the car (***okay, what brand of facial tissues do YOU all use?!***).

So instead, I swipe the back of my hand under my nose and hope nobody sees.

"Why did he think selling drugs was a good idea?" I swallow, marching straight for the facility's door. "He knew the mayor's anti-drug policy. He knew the consequences. He knew - "

Someone shoves past me, and I'm jumbled out of my anxious thoughts. I glance behind me to see a young woman grin and flip me the bird. She looks like a regular teenage girl, minus the fact that her neck is covered in hickeys.

I scowl at her, trying to resist a few choice insults. I'm here to get Morro, not to make trouble.

But then, Morro is trouble.

The girl laughs - a deep belly-laugh enhanced with the scratchiness of cigarette-use - and points her middle finger straight at me. "What are you doing here, Miss Hoity-Toity?" she challenges, t-shirt tightening over her muscular shoulders.

I huff. I do a power yoga class four days a week at my local gym. She's not the only tough one here.

"I'm picking up an old friend," I reply, planting a hand on my pencil skirt-clad hip. "And I suppose you just got off a six-month sentence?"

She hitches a shoulder, placing her hand by her side. "Nah. I just like to play tease with the staff until they let me see my boyfriend." She wiggles her eyebrows.

"O-okay." Nice to know she has ways of getting what she wants. "Well, if that's all, I should be getting inside. I don't want to - "

"Those earrings look expensive," she cuts in, nodding toward me.

I frown. "I...don't understand what that has to do with anything." My hand comes up to finger my earlobe, and I wonder if wearing my silver studs was the best choice for a correctional facility.

"That's where you're wrong," she smiles in a catlike way. "It has to do with everything."

I raise my eyebrows. "I hardly see how that's applicable to - "

Someone suddenly shoves into me from behind, and I topple forward onto the unforgiving asphalt. My palms splay out in front of me to break my fall, and I feel them scrape against the ground in a frenzy.

I wince in pain just before someone lands on top of me, writhing wildly. The air vanishes from my lungs like an 'A' average after a failed test, and I sputter for breath and a grasp on reality.

What is going on?

My small purse is suddenly ripped off my shoulder, and I realize that I'm being mugged.

And no one - I repeat, no one - mugs Ali Rei Gold. I might be a Tiny Elf, but power yoga has taught me that-

The weight on my back is suddenly lifted, and I flip over, fists clenched and ready to fight. My well-trained internal survival instincts blaze as my eyes look wildly about me for my enemy.

Surprisingly, all I see is Morro standing above me, suspending a clean-looking middle-aged man by the shirt collar. It vaguely registers that Morro must be incredibly ripped to hold this guy up, but I honestly don't know why that's important right now. I'm more concerned about what the heck just happened.

"On the count of three, I'm going to set you down," my ex-lover rumbles. "And if you don't get the heck out of here as soon as your toes touch the pavement, you'll wish you were buried neck-deep in the Cursed Realm." His snarl is fierce, the flare of his nostrils a warning of themselves.

I try to scramble up off the ground and catch my breath. "Y-yeah," I manage. "And I'm - I'm going to make you wish you - " I wheeze for breath.

Yep. I may have over-exaggerated my fighting skills just a bit.

"Breathe, Ali," Morro orders, eyeing the offensive teenage girl from earlier.

She lets out a haughty laugh before speed-walking away.

"On the count of three," Morro growls down at the man he's subdued. "One..." he starts off.

"Two..."

"Three."

And he drops the assailant to the ground. The man gulps and stumbles forward before breaking into a sprint and hightailing it away.

And I...did nothing to save myself. I had to depend on others...again.

Morro swears, then swivels toward me abruptly. "Ali..." He braces his hands on my shoulders, eyes assessing me with care.

His protectiveness touches me, but I shove him off. "Thanks for the help, Morro," I swallow, trying to keep my tone even. I sound like a squeaky mouse.

"Are you okay?" he questions, replacing his hands on my arms.

I push him away again. "I'm f-fine," I reply, sniffling. "I could've handled that."

He gives me a skeptical look. "There's nothing wrong with asking for help, Elfie." He slings an arm around my shoulders and takes one of my skinned hands in his, fingering it gently and kissing my knuckles.

I try not to shudder. "There's - I can - I take power yoga classes!" My voice heightens in pitch even more, making me sound like a little girl. "I could've t-taken care of myself!"

"Power yoga isn't self-defense." He releases my hand gently. "Thanks for coming to pick me up, Ali."

I take a cleansing breath. "I...you're welcome." My cheeks blush madly. "But I didn't need help. I've been perfectly happy without you for the past three months."

"Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart." He readjusts his arm to pull me tighter against him.

I clench my eyes shut. "Stop. Stop right there, Morro. The last thing I need in my life is that kind of pride. That's why we never worked out - you never believed in me enough."

He lets out a low, sad chuckle. "The reason we never worked, Ali, is that you never believed in yourself enough."

I open and close my mouth, searching desperately for words.

He's so full of it! He thinks he knows everything about me! He's so - just - ugh!

He sets us in motion, walking toward my white convertible. "Until you accept that, Ali, you'll never know what it's like to be free of the pressures you put on yourself."