"Happy Birthday!" Mum cheered when I stumbled, bleary-eyed, into the kitchen. I smiled lopsidedly at her, leaping into her outstretched arms for a hug. "I can't believe you're already an adult."
"That has the mentality of a child," I commented.
"Well, you and Lloyd have something in common, then," she teased before leading me to the dining room. "Your dad called but you were still asleep. I told him that you'll call later."
"Okay," I murmured, taking a seat and staring at the stack of pancakes with a grumbly stomach. "Those look delicious."
"Dig in!"
I smiled, grabbing a pancake and slid it onto my plate. Dad missing out on my birthdays wasn't anything new, but I didn't blame him. His job was far away and hugely important. He'd always make time for Christmas, though.

"So, what are you going to do today?" Mum asked, taking a seat next to me and grabbing her own pancake. She took the golden syrup when I had finished with it. I shrugged with full mouth.
"Dunno," I replied, voice muffled. "I think Lloyd's taking me somewhere, but he's been kinda secretive about it."
Mum hummed but didn't reply. As I chewed on my pancakes, I thought back to the month before, where Naomi found out about Lloyd being the Green Ninja. Initially, she freaked out (understandable) but she soon settled down. We had a long, firm discussion about keeping the secrecy just that, a secret. Then Lloyd slipped up and basically revealed that the rest of the group was also the others in the Secret Ninja Force. Dumbass. Adorable, yes, but a dumbass.

School since then had been... well, fairly mediocre. It felt so nice having Naomi in on the secret. We could finally talk without me worrying about accidentally slipping up about Lloyd and the Green Ninja being one in the same.
After Cole's interruption of Aaliyah and Claire a month and a bit back, they hadn't really directly spoken to me. It still stung, yeah, and good god it will take a long time for this wound to heal, but at least I could be reassured in the fact that they wouldn't try and build up on what they had begun.

As much as I didn't want him to at the time, I can't thank Cole enough for intervening and putting some reality back into my airheaded brain.
"Thinking about those girls again?" Mum said sniffily. I turned my gaze to her before shaking my head.
"No."
"You can't lie to me."
I dropped my eyes. "I know."
"What's up, sweetie? Don't be sad. It's your birthday!"
"I'm not sad," I replied, looking up from my pancakes to stare right into her e/c eyes. "Honest. I'm fine."

Mum didn't look convinced. It was probably because she could sense the heavy weight on my shoulders and the regret that sat in my stomach. Mother senses and stuff. It's tingling.
"Seriously," I insisted with a short laugh. "Everything's okay."
Before mum could argue against my words (I could tell that she was coiling up for a lecture), the doorbell rang. I quickly leapt up to my feet before clambering to the door with an "I'll get it!"
I threw open the door with a large grin. It immediately dropped when nobody was there.
I frowned, a bit iffy at the fact that we had just been ding-dong-ditched on my birthday. Just as I went to close the door, Kashu lying down alertly made me pause.

"Kashu?" I titled my head in confusion as I bent down to his height. He shuffled forward excitedly, snuffling his muzzle into my palms while staring up at me with those big brown doe eyes of his. "What are you doing here?"
My fingers brushed against something on his collar. Intrigued, I gently lifted his chin and to my complete surprise, found a necklace chain woven around Kashu's green collar (of course it's green because of course, he's Lloyd's). I unthreaded the necklace, resting the pendant on my finger as I lifted it closer for me to inspect it. A small skateboard charm. On the back of the board was a date- the date of about a month ago when Lloyd finally asked me to be his girlfriend.

I pressed the necklace against my chest and sighed emotionally, finding it impossible to ignore the growing, wobbly smile on my face. I released a short laugh, prompting Kashu to leap up and scramble into my lap for attention. I gladly gave it, scratching him behind the ears and hugging his face, taking extra care with his lost limb to not put too much weight on that side of his body.
"He's such a cliché charmer," I whispered against Kashu's forehead. He whined, pulling away only to lick my forehead and stumble from my arms again. He limped towards where Mum was in the dining room. I could tell that he made it when she let out an excited squeal.

Pressing back a laugh at my mother's reaction, I slid my hands behind my neck and pulling the necklace over my collarbones. I struggled with the clasp, finger slipping just as another pair of hands did the job easily for me.
I quickly twirled around with a shocked look, the second pair of hands unexpected. It just fell into an amused scowl when I realised who it was.
"Happy birthday!" Lloyd grinned excitedly, enthusiastically stepping into a large, comforting hug. "Do you like your gift?"
I touched the charm with the tip of my finger, smiled and nodded.
"It's beautiful! Well, it's stupidly cliché, but I'm still absolutely in love with it all the same."
"Ah, sweet," Lloyd chuckled. "That's what I was going for. Oh! I smell pancakes! Can I have some?"
I shrugged, still playing with the charm. "Sure, knock yourself out, Blondie."

Lloyd growled an excited yes before rushing into the dining room and taking my old place at the table and stacking about five pancakes onto my used plate. He drizzled the entire thing in golden syrup, lemon juice and sugar and began to scoff it down as if he had been starved. I watched on with disbelief. Good lord his poor parents must be so poor from how much that boy can eat.
Mum was on the floor and absolutely obsessing over Kashu, using her goo-goo baby voice to the max. Kashu was totally enjoying it, yipping his head off as if she was the most exciting thing he'd seen in years (even though he's only like,,, five months old).

"Hey, Lloyd," Mum greeted in between dramatic gasps and squeals. He grinned with a full mouth.
"Mornin' M/n!"
"Ew, Lloyd! Close your mouth," I squeaked. In retaliation, he leant in close and opened his mouth wider. My hands flailed against his chest, gagging as I tried to push him away between laughs. "Lloyd!"
He chuckled, finishing off his last mouthful before standing and brushing off his shirt.
"Ready to go, Princess?" he asked.
"Go where?" I raised a brow. He shrugged a shoulder.
"Nowhere spectacular," he replied. He glanced over at Mum. "Ready, M/n?"
"Just gotta brush our teeth!"
"Wait, my mum's coming, too?" I tilted my head in confusion. "What have you planned?"
"You'll see," Lloyd stressed with a small smile. "Stop asking questions and go brush your teeth so we can get going."
I groaned. "Fine."

After brushing our teeth, we made our way down to the monastery's minivan.
"Oh, thank god," Mum sighed with relief. "I thought we were going to have to ride on a dragon or something."
"No worries, M/n, I am quite the capable driver, too," Lloyd reassured. I hid a snort with the back of my hand, prompting an amused look from Lloyd.
We clambered in, mum in the back with Kashu and me taking shotgun next to Lloyd. I tried asking questions as to what we were doing and where we were going, but Lloyd kept snickering and shaking his head. I slumped back in my seat with crossed arms and an unaccomplished frown, staring out the windows as we drove through familiar streets.
Then it clicked.

"We're going to the park?" I asked, turning my head towards him. He paused before denying it, but that single hesitation was all the answer I needed. I smiled softly. I liked the park. It's where Lloyd and I first properly met. I mean, it was also where I found out that my old friends were betraying me, but I like to focus on the former.
Lloyd pulled the car into the parking lot and turned off the ignition. We piled out, Mum and I letting Lloyd take the lead since he actually knew where he was headed.

Mum slung an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. She kissed my check.
"I'm so proud of you," she said. I turned my gaze to hers.
"What for?"
"Because you've grown up so much since you've met Lloyd," she smiled. "You're growing up into a young woman. You've matured so much, taking initiative when it came to yours and Lloyd's fight, not turning hostile when that Claire girl pulled that shitty move, ignoring the kids at school when they teased you for going out with Garmadon's son. You're genuinely a nice girl, and I think that it's really nice that you've found a genuinely nice boy."
I blinked at her, taken aback. My surprise melted into a soft smile.
"Thanks, Mum," I murmured, resting my head on her shoulder as we walked. "I love you."
"I love you, too."

"Sorry to break up this beautiful mother-daughter bonding moment, but if I may?" Lloyd asked, holding out a hand for me as we approached the curtains of a large weeping willow tree. Mum pushed me forward, following after us as I slid my hand into Lloyd's. He smiled, squeezing me gently before kissing my forehead tenderly. Kashu stumbled in first, yipping excitedly.
He lead me inside, pushing aside the dangling branches with the back of his hand. We emerged under the umbrella cover of the ancient tree, where to my complete surprise, a whole picnic was set out. The others were all there, even including Wu, Garm, Misako and Demitri.
Naomi and Cole (who seemed to be chatting up a storm).

"Happy birthday!" they all cheered. I shook myself out of my frozen stupor and smiled stupidly, heart bursting with warmth and emotion.
"Oh! Guys! Thank you!" I cried, shocked and feeling #blessed. I'm sorry for that. Okay moving on.
"You didn't have to do this-" I tried to shake my head, staring around at the streamers that were dangling from the branches above, the large happy birthday! sign that wounded around the trunk and the massive spread of food. Cole was staring at the cake intently.
"Nonsense!" Misako waved me off as she approached and pulled me into a tight hug. "You're part of the family, we always do stuff like this for birthdays."

You're part of this family. Lloyd smiled giddily at me as Misako stepped back.
"I can't believe you're legally an adult now," Naomi scoffed, leaping up to tackle me into a rough hug. I giggled as she pummelled me with gentle punches. "But I believe it enough to not care as much as I'm caring about the look of that cake right now."
"Preach!" called Cole from the picnic blanket. I eyed it, all aesthetically circular with white frosting, pink edible roses and 'happy birthday Y/n' perfectly written on it in baby blue frosting.
"It does look very enticing," I agreed with a nod, to which everybody took as a signal to begin lunch - build-it-yourself sandwiches with a range of food galore. It was like a picnic version of a buffet.

Lloyd caught my arm before I could sit down.
"Cole made the cake," he said in a dark voice. I froze, face paling.
"Oh," I whispered. Kai snickered.
"Kidding!" Lloyd grinned. "Zane did. Do you really think that we'd let Cole make your birthday cake?"
"I am sitting... right here," Cole said slowly, frowning.
"Aw, don't worry Cole, you're still my second favourite," I reassured and took a seat next to him, making Kai, Jay and Nya complain a 'hey!' Zane and Dimitri just shared an amused look as Lloyd settled on the mat beside me.

"What would you like on your sandwich, your highness?" Lloyd asked regally, mocking a royal accent. I giggled before telling him what I wanted in it. He quickly slapped together a sandwich for himself that contained... pretty much everything there was to offer while I stared at the ginormous sandwich with an intimidated look. Bits of it spilled when Lloyd tried to hold it up to eat. Kashu licked them up eagerly as he scanned the whole area for tidbits and spillages.
Mum, Misako, Wu and Garmadon were sitting off to the side and quietly having their own conversation. Demetri, Naomi and Cole were arguing about which variant of Toffee Pop was the best (Dimitri was determined that the og was the reigning champion, while Cole was partial to the berry chocolate and Naomi preferred the caramelised white chocolate). Kai, Jay, Zane and Nya were collectively contemplating when they should bring the football out (before or after cake?). I leant against Lloyd, dropping my head onto his shoulder contently.

But not for long.

"Okay, football time!" Nya finalised, standing and clapping her hands. She glanced at me pointedly. "Just don't kick the ball into Lloyd's face this time, okay?"
"Oh, my god," I groaned, dropping my face into my hands. I completely forgot about that.
"Don't worry! I'm prepared for it now," Lloyd teased, getting to his feet and making me follow him along by our intertwined hands. We shuffled out through the weeping willow's drapey branches. "No balls shan't smash my face."
"Title of your sex tape," Jay hollered. Naomi almost died. I snorted violently while Lloyd turned bright red at his poor choice of words.

For the next hour and a bit, we kicked the football around (while Kashu attempted to attack it every time it got kicked). Everybody made a show of stepping back whenever I received the ball, which only made me scowl and purposely aim it at people's faces. It never met its mark, unfortunately.
When Naomi and I grew bored, she pranced over to me with a wicked grin. I was immediately terrified. But my lips curled into a matching wicked smile. I turned on my heel and cupped my hand against my mouth.
"Andy's coming!" I hollered. Immediately Jay, Kai, Nya, Dimitri and Lloyd fell to the ground. Cole and Zane shared confused looks. Kashu yelped excitedly, enjoying the new game. He went to attack Kai's still body. He tried so hard to not laugh.

It was safe to say that Naomi and I were literally on the ground and sobbing from laughing so much.

"What else can we do?" Naomi asked as she recovered, wiping a tear and flicking it away with her finger. "I'm bored of football. Sorry. Never been a big football fan."
I shrugged, not really caring for what we do.
"Whatever it will be, I'll suck."
"Title of your sex tape!" Jay pointed his finger at me and laughed. We stared at him. His laughter died awkwardly. "... sorry, I've been watching a lot of Brooklyn Nine-Nine."
"Y/n needs to challenge Lloyd to a skateboarding competition so she can actually beat him at something for once," Kai said, ignoring Jay.
"biTcH-" I burst, before stopping myself and sighing. "You right. I haven't got my skateboard, though. Unless I use the charm. But I have the faintest suspicion that it won't work."
"Yeah, probably not," Lloyd agreed to my theory with a nod. Zane picked up the football.
"How about a stroll?" the nindroid suggested.
"How about cake?" Cole offered as an alternative while wiggling his eyebrows. Naomi clicked her fingers in his direction.
"I like the way you think," she said.
"Cake it is," I shrugged, much to Cole, Naomi and Dimitri's utter delight. "We can go for a stroll afterwards."

Kai raced forwards before us, scrambling through the branches before we were even halfway there. I was too preoccupied by playing with Lloyd's fingers between mine to question it.
By the time we made it through the curtains of branches and brushed the leaves from our bodies, the cake was littered with candles that were already and waiting, tiny flames flicking from the wax sticks merrily. I smiled graciously, taking a seat on the blanket.
After a scratchy but heartwarming rendition of the happy birthday song, I shifted in my seat as I tried to think of a wish.

What to wish for when everything is remotely perfect right now?
My gaze flickered to my mum, leaning against the tree. In her hand was her phone, filming. She was probably going to send it to dad.
Dad. I miss him.
I wish dad was here. I wish he could meet Lloyd. I wish he could be here so mum wasn't without him, like every other birthday.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and blew out the candles. Cheers erupted around me, the loudest was probably Cole. I was handed a knife by Nya.
"Stabby stab," I joked as I cut the cake down the middle, gaining chuckles. Once everybody was given a piece, we all collectively took a bite and all collectively groaned in delight.
"Zane, you never fail to amaze me," I murmured, to which he grinned. Vanilla cake with buttercream icing! I really was spoiled.
"What'd you wish for?" Lloyd asked quietly, for only us to hear. I wiped away some icing from his chin and let Kashu lick it off from my finger.
"For my dad to be here," I replied, just as hushed. "I really want you to meet him."
"Honestly? The high-ranking military father of my girlfriend is something I'm not excited to face," he shuddered fearfully. "I can already feel the dissatisfaction and judgmental glares."

"So you, the mighty green ninja, can face ghosts, otherworldly beings, serpentine and maniacal overlords but you're scared to face the wrath of my father?" I said with an amused grin.
"Let me repeat," Lloyd stressed, staring at me pointedly. "High ranking military father. I'm not even ashamed to say that I am terrified."
My smile grew.
"Besides, I'd much rather lose all of Ninjago than lose you because your dad disapproves of me."
My smile fell.
"You do realise that if you lose Ninjago you'll most likely lose me too, right?" I pointed out blandly.
"Oh... it was supposed to be romantic."
"You are an idiot, Lloyd Garmadon," I snorted, shaking my head.
"Only for you, sunshine," he smirked.
"Gotta have a flaw somewhere," I rolled my eyes. I giggled when he dug a finger into my side.
"Get a room!" Kai called, causing all the attention to be diverted to Lloyd and I, cuddled close. Jay and Cole laughed at our red faces. I went to shuffle away but Lloyd just stood.
"We will," he stomped his foot and stuck his tongue out childishly. I raised my eyebrows at his attitude but was motioned to follow before I could question it.

"All to myself," Lloyd sang after we shuffled out through the branches. He enveloped me into a swinging hug as we stumbled around the grassy meadow. I snickered while we tripped and almost tumbled down multiple times.
"All to yourself?" I questioned. Kashu had followed us out, surprisingly speedy for a puppy with three legs.
"All to myself," he repeated, peppering my face with chaste little kisses. "I love you."
"I love you, too," I murmured, tightening my hold on him. He grinned, leaning down to properly press his lips against mine in a gentle, lingering kiss.
"Come on!" Lloyd leapt back, his vibe changing from tenderly emotional to energetic and childish so fast it gave me whiplash. "Let's go for a walk. Maybe if we stay away for long enough, they'll forget about us and we can live at the park."
"That's not necessarily something I'd want to do," I commented. "What would we do for food? Water? Surely we'll need at least some kind of shelter and warmth."

"I'll make you a little hut in the forest!" Lloyd pledged, holding a hand to his chest and holding his chin up regally. "I'll hunt for you and retrieve water. And during cold nights we can hold each other and let the rest of the world slip away."
I smiled, cheeks hot. My heart was bursting.
"Can't we do that in the comfort of our own homes?" I asked with a tilt of my head.
"I mean, we could," Lloyd replied sniffily. "But it won't nearly be as cool."
"You're such a dork! A lovely one though, I'll give you that."
Lloyd laughed. Our hands swung between us as we strolled. Meadow turned to forest. Beige stones paths began to be covered with orange leaves. Autumn was here. The foliage on the ground crunched beneath our feet while birds tittered above our heads. Kashu batted the leaves with his paws and yipped at the scuttling squirrels.

I was too preoccupied in my own thoughts to realise where we had aimlessly wandered to, until Lloyd froze. I was shaken from my stupor, glancing up before feeling my stomach sink.
Skate park. Claire. Aaliyah. Literally everybody else.
"Sorry," Lloyd mumbled, taking a step back. "I forgot that this pathway lead to this place."
"I want to talk to them."
Lloyd paused.
"What?"
"I want to talk to them," I turned my gaze to his. "I need to."
Lloyd blinked hesitantly, his worried green eyes flickering between the others and I. He swallowed before slipping his hand from mine.
"Okay," he said quietly.
"Okay," I echoed to myself, mostly for motivation.

"Do you need any morale support?" Lloyd asked. My lips lifted into an amused half-smile.
"Yeah. Yeah, I think I do."
A small smile graced Lloyd's face. He placed a kiss gingerly on my forehead. Kashu sat by Lloyd's feet and watched us patiently.
"I believe in you!" he cheered quietly. I huffed, not quite able to bring myself to laugh just yet.
I inhaled through my nose deeply, staring at the trees and willing the First Spinjitzu Master to bless me with some inner strength.
Clenching my fists behind my sleeves, I turned and walked over to the group. I could feel Lloyd's protective gaze on my back as he watched me approach.
A few stragglers from the group stopped what they were doing to stare. Claire noticed and glanced back, her face taking on an expression of surprise when she saw me at the edge of the skatepark pool.
I stared down at her, at the bottom of the pool with a small group of friends. I took a seat, letting my legs swing.

"Hi," I said simply. Claire widened her eyes briefly before sharing a bemused smirk with the boy next to her. I could hear the screeches of skateboard and bike wheels as the others halted what they were doing.
Claire opened her mouth.
"Before you say anything," I cut her off, because god knows that she can't keep her mouth shut. "I want you to know that I forgive you."

Her face went slack. Aaliyah, at the top of the halfpipe, lost her board. It skidded down the ramp.
"I mean, yeah," I shrugged, sending an annoyed look out above her. One day I hope Lloyd punches you square in the face. "You're a bitch. I'm not denying that. Anymore, that is. You know, I tried so hard to convince myself that you were a good person? But god, you just kept on getting worse and worse."
I stood.
"But I'm not going to let you make me into something you are," I said sternly, staring at her straight into her dark eyes. "I respect myself. I respect who I am. You... you don't. So I'm going to be the bigger person and forgive you. And I'll forever be the person that you couldn't turn into a copy of yourself. I'll move on happier. I have better people in my life."

"I'm-" Aaliyah began to say from the top of the halfpipe, but a piercing glare shot her way by Claire silenced her. I turned my gaze back to Claire.
"Thank you for showing me how bad of a person you really are," I smiled ruefully. "It really made it easier for me to drop you."
Claire's jaw dropped.
Then I gapped it before she had a chance to recover and spit curses at me.

"You're a savage!" Lloyd exclaimed in an excited whisper. "But like, in the nice way! I'm so proud of you!"
"I can't believe I just did that," I breathed with a racing heart and buzzing limbs, glancing back at the pool. Claire began to clamber out, a look of pure hell on her face. "Oh, shit, she's coming run!"
Lloyd grabbed my hand and we darted off the path, dodging the trees as we ran off into the forest. We laughed (and Kashu barked) over the sound of Claire yelling.

"Are we going to live in the forest now?" I giggled.
"Absolutely!" Lloyd chortled, slowing to a walk when we were sure that Claire was out of eye and earshot. "We'll live off of the squirrels."
"Nooo! Not the squirrels! Also that's... that's really gross!"
"Yeah, yeah, you're right," Lloyd nodded in agreement before gasping and pointing at me. "The bunnies. I can teach Kashu to hunt them!"
"Lloyd, no!" I laughed, snorting. "I'm not going to eat bunnies when there's perfectly good food at home."
Lloyd chuckled, picking up Kashu and leaping up onto a large boulder before helping me onto it. I settled beside him, sighing through my nose. Kashu scrambled onto our laps and stretched out as if he were a cat. I began to scratch his head absentmindedly. His little tail began to slowly wag leisurely.

I leant my head on Lloyd's shoulder while our legs dangled over the side of the large boulder, watching as the afternoon sun illuminated the browning trees, giving the leaves a warm, glistening bronze finish. Lloyd dropped his head on top of mine and found my free hand with his. They comfortably interlinked and god. This right here is a moment I want to last forever.

"Thank you," I murmured quietly, staring out at the forest of autumn leaves. Winter was approaching. You could tell by the faint nip in the air. Lloyd hummed, glancing down at me.
"What for?" he asked.
I huffed, smiling. What for? What not for would've been easier to answer. All my life, I thought I had it all figured out. School, uni, job. But then this dorkweeb entered my bubble and messed it all up. He turned my entire life upside down, showed me that there was more to my future and my surroundings than just school, uni and a job.
Lloyd proved to me that a little hecticness, a little lack of plan, a little craziness, it wasn't something to be afraid of, but to be embraced. Who cares if people don't agree? Who cares if people don't like who you are or what you do? Life is full of ups and downs. It teaches you to grow, to be stronger, to mature and gain experience. This is my life. That's your life. We can do whatever we want if we just want it enough.
Yes. Lloyd and I have been to literal hell and back. Yes, we've almost died probably more times than I'd care to count. But god. Wasn't it worth it? The pain, the fear, the fighting, the craziness. It all lead up to this.
And this was perfect.

"For everything."