"Are you going home for mid-year break?"

I glanced up at Violet and smiled. I was in the middle of packing a small bag of my essentials for the two week holiday, a charger in one hand and a jacket in the other.
"I am!" I replied brightly, tilting my head to the side. My eyes opened as I stared curiously at her, taking in her usual mess of a half-dorm. I kicked a shirt of hers from my side of the floor towards her. She caught it easily with one hand, her other tucked under her head as she stared blandly at the ceiling. "Are you?"

"Nah," Violet replied sourly. "My family sucks."
Her nose twitched. I'd been around her long enough to know that a nose twitch was one of her tells. But nevertheless, Violet's an adult. She can make her own choices.
"Oh," I murmured awkwardly before shaking my head and brightening. Nothing could bring me down! I was going home! "Well, okay! I'll see you next semester then."
Violet waved a lazy hand in response, staring holes into the ceiling. I swung my bag's straps over my shoulder and quickly left our dorm.
I inhaled through my nose and exhaled happily, feeling a giddy smile curl up on the corners of my lips. Finally, after four months I'd be able to see Lloyd and the others.

After Naomi and Demitri visited, the search for Wu became top priority. I agreed with it, even though it meant that Lloyd would be too busy to ever visit. However, he was taking a day off so he could pick me up from Uni, which I was both grateful for (as first years weren't allowed cars) and relieved that Lloyd would finally get a break. He hadn't told me much, but if I knew him - and I do - he'd be overworking himself like something crazy trying to find Wu.
I hummed happily, unable to ignore the excited warmth in my stomach while I skipped to the entrance. It'd been four months. I'd felt like eternity. I couldn't wait to kiss his soft cheeks and hold him close again.

I took a seat on the sidewalk and soaked in the warm rays, too jittery to sit still. I gazed at the clouds while my knees bounced against the concrete. I checked my phone. Ten to ten. Lloyd and I agreed on ten, and he's never late.
So of course, he was late.
An old, black GMC ute pulled up and parked in front of me. I stared dubiously at the tinted window until it was pulled down to reveal a widely grinning Naomi and an equally ecstatic Cole.
"Check out our new ride!" Cole grinned smugly.
My gaze widened and I felt my chest bubble with joy. I leapt to my feet and launched at the door to hug Naomi through the window.
"Nomes!" I exclaimed, trying to ignore the heavy disappointment at the lack of Lloyd. "I've missed-!"
"Shh!" Cole hissed with a smile. He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the back seat. "Lloyd's sleeping."

What disappointment? There's no disappointment! I felt my heart squeeze as I glanced over Naomi's shoulder and spotted Lloyd dozing in the back, cheek pressed against the window. A little drool was dribbling from his lip while he snored. I snorted, catching my snicker with my palm before I grabbed my bag and quietly leapt in the back.
"He did an all-nighter following up on a lead," Cole whispered as he pulled out from the curb. "He insisted that he was fine to pick you up-"
"He was swaying on his feet," Naomi interjected with a subtle eye-roll. I inhaled through my nose with a soft smile. Dummy.
"He wouldn't let us go without him, though," Cole finished with an amused grin. "He's been excited to see you for weeks."

My soft smile turned loving, turning my gaze to Lloyd just as a particularly loud snore ripped from his nose. It took everything in us all to keep from laughing.
"Was the lead any good?" I asked. The mood sombered.
"Nah," Cole shook his head and plastered on a large, fake grin. "But it's okay. We'll find him. We won't stop until we do."
Naomi sent him a sympathetic frown and interlaced her hand with his.
"You'll find him," she encouraged softly. "I know you will."
Cole returned her tiny smile with a genuine one of his own. He leant over to kiss her forward tenderly.

I averted my gaze, feeling awkward and caught in their moment. Lloyd's snores had calmed. A silence settled around us.
Haha oh. Oh wow. This is some... this is some solid third-wheeling.
I turned my attention to the desert we were passing through. Unfortunately, deserts weren't all that interesting and all I could see was sand. Riveting. Astounding.
I sighed and leant my forehead against the glass. Boring.
"Ow," mumbled a voice softly. I glanced over as Lloyd stretched out his neck and blearily blinked his eyes. He stared ahead. "Did I fall asleep?"

"Yep," I replied with a small smile. Lloyd turned his gaze to me and yawned.
"Oh," he murmured. "Oops."
He shifted his position until his head was lying on my lap. He quickly fell back asleep. Naomi, Cole and I snickered.
Lloyd's eyes shot open. "Y/n!" he exclaimed and swiftly sat up. His mouth was ajar and eyes were wide in shock. "Hi!"
"Hello!" I giggled. Wide awake, Lloyd all but tackled me into a hug with the limited space we had, digging his face into my hair.
"I've missed you!" he cried, planting a million kisses over my face. I held him close, pressing an emotional kiss on his lips to get him to still. He settled, threading his fingers through my loose, tumbled hair, eagerly reciprocating until Cole playfully smacked Lloyd's calf and chortled. He yelped.

"Down boy!" Naomi sniggered. "We're here, too, y'know."
"I know," Lloyd shrugged and leant down to continue. I laughed, placing my hand over his mouth and gently pushed him away.
"I missed you, too," I murmured featherly.
Lloyd dropped his head into my hands and smiled goofily. I pecked his nose, making it scrunch up.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, taking solemn note of the bags under his eyes and his unruly hair that was more of a mess than usual. His smile dropped into a tired frown and he pushed his face more heavily towards me.
"Woebegone," he sighed.
"Stop being dramatic," Cole grumbled from the driver's seat. "And quit using words that I don't know!"

Lloyd cracked a weak, amused grin. I smiled softly, pushing one of my hands gently through his hair. He melted into it.
"Do you want to sleep some more?" I asked.
"I wanna talk to you," he languidly slumped.
"Let me rephrase that. You should sleep."
"I don't wanna."
I pursed my lips. He sheepishly grinned become settling down with his head on my lap.
"Okay, yeah, I'm a little tired."
He closed his eyes. And instantly began to snore.
"Yeah," I rolled my eyes amusedly. "A little."

An hour and a half into the drive back to the Monastery, I noticed Cole pulling into a street that wasn't the way home.
"Where are we going?" I asked as I pressed my cheek against the cool glass.
"A ceremony," Cole replied. "Another reason why Lloyd shouldn't have done an all-nighter last night."
"What for?"
Naomi and Cole shared a secretive grin. Ew. Was Lloyd and I that sickly sweet?
Actually yeah, we probably were. Whoops.
"It's a surprise," Naomi teased with raised eyebrows.
"Oh, worm," I whispered, because generally Naomi's surprises ended up with me injured and/or embarrassed in some way.

She scares me sometimes.

🌪💚🌪

After another hour and a half of driving, with me dozing and Lloyd dead asleep on my lap, the car finally pulled to a stop. I pried open my bleary, sticky eyes and rubbed them with the back of my palm.
"We're here," Cole announced in a shout, loud enough to jolt Lloyd awake and grab my arm in surprise. The black haired-ninja pulled off his jumper to reveal his gi and pulled his mask from his pocket. Lloyd followed suit, shaking his head occasionally to fight off the drowsiness as he got suited up in his ninja gear.

"It's a ninja thing?" I asked, helping Lloyd brush back his floppy fringe. By chance, my gaze jumped to the scenery outside the car and I accidentally yanked on Lloyd's hair in shock.
"Ow!"
"What are we doing here?!" I asked in a high-pitched voice. Lloyd untangled my fingers from his locks and held them between his hands. A small smile began to play on his lips in giddy humor.
"For the ceremony!" Naomi joked. I ignored her and threw myself out of the truck, marveling in my familiar surroundings and feeling an excited bubble expand in my chest.

"Y/n?" a familiar voice asked. I glanced over my shoulder to see a middle-aged man wearing a tattered black singlet and camo pants before my mouth split into an even wider grin.
"Jonesy!" I squealed, leaping around to launch myself into a hug at my old friend. He oof'd, barely managing to catch me and keep himself upright, before breaking into a happy, though baffled, laugh.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, peeling back from the hug and ruffling my hair. His stubble was glinting in the sun, and his weather worn copper skin was still as covered in grazes and scrapes as ever.
"Um! I'm not actually really sure! It was a surprise!" I edited the truth with a practised smile before bouncing on my feet. "Where's dad?"
Jonesy snorted. "Where else would the Sargent Major be at noon on a Saturday?"

I clicked my fingers and pointed them at him.
"The kitchen, of course!" I grinned goofily. "Silly papa."
"I see age hasn't matured you," Jonesy noted with a piqued brow.
"Hasn't been kind to you either, cookie face," I teased. Jonesy rolled his eyes before he caught sight of the others behind me.
"Oh!" he said in collected surprise. "The Black and Green Ninja have finally shown up. I suppose I'll lead you over to the hall, then. Let's move it."
Jonesy began making his way across the military site. Lloyd quickly caught up to me as we trailed behind the bulky man with a rifle strung across his back.

"How do you know this guy?" Lloyd asked, falling in step with me. I hummed nostalgically, remembering blistering hot days that'd make me sweat buckets, and getting blisters from shooting practise.
"He's my dad's best friend, and my godfather," I replied, walking probably a little too close to the Green Ninja than I should be. "He took care of me when I used to visit for the summer holidays. He'd train me, too."
"What'd he teach you?"
"Oh, the basic stuff," I shrugged nonchalantly. "Combat training, how dismantle guns and put them back together in ten seconds, target shooting, combat scenarios, how to defuse a bomb."
"How to- a bomb?!" Lloyd spluttered, sending me a slightly terrified look. "Why is this the first time I'm hearing about this?"

"You don't talk about Darkley's, I don't talk about this," I replied. Lloyd hesitated.
"Touché," he caved. "You know, if I stayed there and continued trying to be just like Lord Garmadon and with your skills, we could've been one hell of an evil power couple."
"We can still be a power couple, doofus, we're just affiliated with good," I chuckled. Lloyd glanced at me. Merriment twinkled in his lemongrass eyes.
"Did you just call us a power couple?" he grinned wolfishly. I blanched, face red. I whipped my head around to face him.
"You said it first!"

"Ah, the Green Ninja! Big fan."
I gasped at the sound of the voice ahead of us. A man with a million medals and a confident leader stance that had Lloyd running for his money grinned at us from behind a pair of black sunglasses. His gaze jumped to Cole and Naomi before resting on me. His grin dropped in shock.
"Y/n?"
I broke into a wide, excited smile.
"Hi, Dad!"