Sing Street
••• Girls •••

When I got home with dad, I immediately collapsed face-first onto my bed. Mum followed, leaning against the doorframe with crossed arms.

I lifted my head to her with a tired gaze.
"Okay, Let's get this over with," I sighed, closing my eyes as if to brace for what was to come. "What are you going to make me do? Scrub the house? No internet privileges for a month?"
"Nope," mum shook her head as dad appeared behind her. "I'm hitting it where it actually hurts. No Lloyd for two weeks."
"Wha- MUM!"
Dad nodded. "That's good. That's great. Question; can we extend it to four years?"
"Dad!" I whined.
"Jamie," mum snapped. He raised his palms in defence and mum turned back to me. "Look, Y/n. What you did was foolish and you went behind my back when I told you to keep yourself safe. Do you know how terrifying it was to know that you were out with the ninja on some- some ghost mission and I could do nothing to keep you safe?"

I dropped my face back into my mattress and groaned loudly. I couldn't deal with anymore of Mum's guilt tripping. I was too tired to feel bad.
"And that's why we're keeping you from Lloyd," Dad said. "Because that boy gets you into danger like how Jonesy gets into the chicken nuggets."
Mum snorted. "Bad execution, but correct analogy."
I rolled myself onto my back and glared at the ceiling.
"Are you two just going to keep insulting our relationship or are you guys actually going to be heartfelt parents and leave me alone to sleep."
"We're not insulting," Dad scoffed. "We're simply pointing out the facts."

I propped myself up on an arm and sent him a glare. Dad raised a brow.
"Are you going to tell me I'm wrong?"
I faltered. Drat, I couldn't say that he was wrong. He hit the nail on the head.
"Well, it'll be good to have some space, anyway," Mum said, turning the conversation back on course before it could totally go off the rails. "Especially with school coming up. You two will be living in each other's pockets. Speaking of, when was the last time you saw Naomi?"

I stilled. A horrible feeling filled my gut - god, when was the last time I spoke to her? Before the little trip away on the bounty, I think. So a week and a half.
"I should talk to her," I mused, picking up my phone and turning to her contact.
"You should meet up when you're feeling better," Mum suggested. "You do have friends other than the ninja, you know."
"I know," I groaned, not in the mood for another mother rant. Dad turned away, grumbling. I was going to ask what his problem was, but it was pretty obvious. It was apparent that he had yet to accept the ninja, despite his words.

As much as that bothered me, I also knew that they couldn't drop a history of rivalry overnight. It warmed me to know that they were trying, though.

"How's Lloyd?" Mum asked, voice a tad more gentle. I sighed, sitting up and leaning against the wall.
"He's not talking to me about it, if that's what you mean," I mumbled. "I don't know how to handle this."
"It is a pretty unique situation," mum hummed in agreement as she took a seat on the end of my bed. "Maybe these two weeks apart will do you and Lloyd some good. Let things simmer for a bit."
"I'm worried that he's bottling it up, though," I said, turning to glance at mum with concerned eyes. "And then school starts, and we know..."
Mum made a contemplative sound at the back of her throat. Dad put his hands on his hips.
"If anyone talks bad to ya, you throw 'em onto the ground," he ordered. I snickered as mum shot him an irritated glare.
"Will do," I grinned.
"Don't you dare," mum snapped warningly before softening at my giggle. She patted my hand affectionately. "Get some rest, honey. You look tired."
"I'm always tired," I sighed as my parents left the room. I pulled out my phone and pressed dial on Naomi's number. She instantly picked up.

"Oh, my god," she cried down the line. "She lives! It's a miracle."
"Yeah, hardy-har," I grinned, wincing as a bruise on my arm brushed against the wall. "Hey, you wanna hang out sometime before school starts?"
"Uh, yes," Naomi replied excitedly, practically radiating energy. God, I wish that were me. "I'll tell Aaliyah and Claire right now. They just stayed the night - I called you last night, but you weren't picking up your phone!"
"Oh," I commented, painfully aware of the cold, metal rod stabbing through my chest. My stomach dropped, but I wasn't sure as to why. It's not as if it was anybody's fault other than my own, and we were in the middle of a battle. "Yeah - yeah, no, my fault. I... was grounded and... and stuff. Actually... can we just make it us? I've had- I've had a hell of a week."
Naomi faltered, taken aback by my exhausted tone.
"Of course," she said softly. "Yeah, of course we can. Is Thursday okay with you?"
"Yeah,"
"Cool," she replied. "I'll see you Thursday, then."
"See you Thursday," I replied quietly before ending the call and dropping my head back against the wall. "Stupid. Stupid, stupid. Stupid emotions," I groaned. My phone buzzed and I lifted it with confusion. Did Naomi forget something?

My eyes widened.
Oh. That was not Naomi.

I swallowed before replying.

Me

Park. Wednesday next week at 3.
Sent 12.48pm

🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃

The next week was spent dealing with nightmares and stressing about the upcoming Wednesday.

I didn't want to tell Lloyd what was planned. Every time I called, he sounded tired. Garmadon was right - a combination of the golden dragon fighting technique and being possessed really took it out of him. I didn't want to hinder his recovery about something I wasn't even aware of myself yet.
Yet, despite the need to be by Lloyd's side (I blamed the prophecy - the tugging was getting more annoying, I swear) it felt nice to just do nothing but lie around for the week as my body healed. I had a lot more injuries than I counted for, so having the ability to sleep in 'till noon was a gift.
Besides, space wasn't always bad. We both had a traumatic week; him more so than me. Space was probably a good thing, as mum had said.

One downside about sleeping all the time was that I had nightmares.
Kinda bad nightmares.
The wake-up-shivering-and-sweating-and-crying kind of nightmares.
I shrugged them off when mum queried, as I guessed it was pretty normal for me to have nightmares after what we all went through. It was normal for me to wake up sweating and shaking and crying.
That didn't give me a reason to not hate it, though. I loathed the nightmares. I cursed them. I woke up looking for a sign of Lloyd, just to make sure he wasn't still possessed and the fight against the Preeminent. And he'd call me at ungodly hours of the morning, sharing my problem.
We just needed to hear each other's voices.

Good news, I was told over the phone; Neuro successfully mind-wiped the citizens of Stiix of Lloyd being the green ninja. Even better news; Skylor and Neuro had found Axon's spellbook and destroyed it.
The bad news...
Axon's still out there.
I tried not to be too nervous about that.

But then Wednesday rolled around and I was setting off, stomach a bundle of nerves, anyway. The air was getting colder as Summer was drawing to a close. I could count the days of holiday we had left on one hand.
I sat on a bench in a more secluded area of the park, watching as the clock ticked closer to three. I nervously tugged on the cuffs of my sweater, rolling Lloyd's skateboard against the ground in agitation.
"Hey."
I jumped as I stood, whipping around to face the person. He held his palms up in a placating manner, an uncomfortable look on his face. He looked like he didn't want to be here just as much as I did.
"It's just me."

"Sorry if I'm a little on edge," I shot with narrowed eyes and crossed my arms. "Last time we were alone, you smashed the back of my head into a wall."
Chen winced, shoulders hunched in shame. A genuinely guilty expression crossed his face.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I- I know that I can't apologise my way out of what I did but- but I really am sorry."
My scowl lost some of its edge. I struggled to keep my face from softening.
"What did you want to tell me?"
Chen lifted his brown eyes to me. He looked spooked as he raked a gaze over our surroundings before turning back to me and leaning in.
"It's about Simon."

My eyes widened.

🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃

The park was dark by the time the green ninja appeared, his dragon disappearing as he found us, hidden in the bush. Lloyd pulled back his hood.

"Lloyd!" I sighed in relief, stepping forth and digging myself into his chest. "I missed you."
It was the longest week of my life.
"Hey, sunshine," he grinned. "Long time no see. I hope you know that texting a significant other 'we need to talk' gives them an impossibly large amount of anxiety. Also, if you're doing something like skipping the country or dumping me, please do it sooner rather than later so I can have time to adjust before school starts."
"I'm- I'm not breaking up with you. But we do need to talk."
"Right..." Lloyd nodded absentmindedly as I stepped back. I don't think he even noticed Chen yet and worry pinched at my chest. He's usually so observant. His eyes still had bags under them and I felt a horrible sense of guilt stab at my stomach for calling him out but alas, this was too important not to. "I'll find some candy in an effort to recover my poor heart."
"Lloyd, I'm serious," I said, holding my arms. He must of just noticed the shaken expression on my face because his teasing grin fell.
"Hey, are you alright?"
"It's about Axon."
A deadly serious look settled over Lloyd's face. His frown was grim.
"What about him?"

I glanced over at where Chen was leaning against a tree, avoiding looking at Lloyd. He followed my gaze and bristled.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Lloyd snarled, curling his fists as his eyes flashed a dark red. He took a few steps forward and I had to place my hand against his chest to keep him from jumping the guy. Chen sunk more against the tree. "You have some nerve-"
"N- no, Lloyd, calm down," I insisted. "This is important."
Lloyd huffed indignantly, sending Chen a withering glare before his gaze fell to me.
"Did he hurt you again?"
I shook my head. "I'm fine, but you should really listen to what he has to say."
Lloyd closed his eyes, stressed. He exhaled slowly through his nose before turning to Chen with crossed arms.

"Go on," he ordered shortly. Chen swallowed dryly, straightening against the tree.
"A... a few weeks ago I was approached by Simon," he began, hands deep in his hoody's pockets and shoulders tense. "He somehow found out that I knew about you being the green ninja. He wanted me to help him with something. He wanted you dead."
Lloyd's eyes narrowed. "We're painfully aware that Axon wants my head."
I shivered. A chill crossed the park.
"I didn't want to help him," Chen continued, staring at the grass. "I turned him down. I didn't want anything to do with you anymore."
Lloyd's cheek twitched.

"But... he's planning something," Chen finally said, glancing up at Lloyd with frightened eyes. "Something big. I'm not sure what it is yet, but it seems like he's been working on it for years. It was the plan b."
"And how the hell would you know that if you turned him away?" Lloyd growled. "Plan b? What was plan a?"
Chen swallowed. "Morro. Morro was plan a."
Lloyd's face dropped. "How do you..."
The boy before us tapped his hand on his leg anxiously. His breathing grew deeper, growing panicked. Lloyd eyed him with a steeled gaze, assessing his reactions. His red eyes widened in realisation.

"It was you," Lloyd breathed. "You helped him summon Morro."
Chen nodded.
"Do you have any idea the pain you caused hundreds of people?!" Lloyd spat, riled up like an angry ally cat. He was furious. "A whole town was destroyed! People lost their homes! We're lucky that nobody died! And it was you?!"
Chen flinched, scrambling back when Lloyd began advancing once again. I reached out for him, stopping Lloyd in his tracks.
"Wait," I murmured, sliding my hand into his and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Hear him out."

"I didn't know what it was," Chen said in a shaky voice, on the verge of tears. "Simon kept it from me until it was already done. All I knew was that it seemed sketchy."
"Why the hell did you do it then?!" Lloyd roared.
"Because he threatened my sister!" Chen snapped, eyes scared but angry. "He- he knew everything about me without me telling him anything! He knew my school, my sport, my family, my address. I was scared!"
Lloyd scoffed, stepping back and running hand down his face in harsh perturbation. He yanked his wrist from my hold.
"So, what?" he turned back on Chen. "You call us out here to confess your sins? Is this what it is? Can't sleep at night, huh?"

"Lloyd, calm down," I stepped in front of the fuming boy. "What's in the past should be left there."
"He caused so much pain!" Lloyd hissed, throwing a hand out in Chen's direction. "I can't just forget about it! He caused you pain, too, unless you've conveniently decided to forget!"
"This is so much more important than that!" I argued, glaring back at Lloyd. "If you'd just reel back your raging testosterone, you'd see that!"
"Fine!" Lloyd stepped back, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine. What is it?"
"We have a plan," Chen said. Lloyd dropped his hand in surprise, glancing between me and Chen with wide eyes.

"You two have a plan to catch Axon?" he asked in disbelief. Chen and I nodded firmly and he shook his head, baffled. "Now I really have seen everything."
"Where are the others?" I asked.
"Patrolling the park," Lloyd replied, crossing his arms again.
"Good, 'cause we're going to need them to hear this."
Lloyd eyed me wearily before holding his wrist, turning on the communicator.
"Fall back on my location," he said as we held gazes, mine determined, his suspicious. "Seems that we have a plan to catch Axon."

It wasn't long until the rest of the team arrived. Nya leapt onto me with a hug, yelling my name in excitement. Cole patted my shoulder. But the good mood only lasted a few seconds as they realised who else was with us.
"What the hell is this joker doing here?" Kai snarled, pushing Chen's shoulder. Chen straightened with a scowl.
"Watch yourself, Smith," he snapped.
"Nuh-uh," Jay spat, rounding in on Chen and holding a threatening finger to his chest. "This is our world. You don't get to shove us around like you used to. We don't have to act like pacifists around you anymore."

"Oh, my god, yes, we get it!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands into the air in exasperation. "Bad blood, weird history, can we move on? I apologise if this sounds selfish, but there is a guy out there who messed with my mind and wants Lloyd dead. Can we please hurry this up so we can all sleep at night?"
"Look," Chen said, clearly growing frustrated. "Simon told me some shit when we worked together - he talks forever - so I know the basic gist of what's going on. But what's important is that he doesn't know that Y/n knows about him not actually being her cousin."
That made the other pause.
"Why would he tell you that?" Zane asked, a frown on his face.
"He thinks I wouldn't tell you guys," Chen replied, a more familiar fire returning to his brown eyes, except this one held no malice. "Yeah, I hate you, but I'm not a fucking idiot. I know a bad guy when I see one and if getting him behind bars means that I have to suck it up and work with you, then so be it."

Chen dropped his head to the side with a scowl.
"Nobody threatens my family and gets away with it."

"So, what's the plan?" Cole asked. Chen placed a hand on my shoulder and I didn't miss the way Lloyd silently bristled.
"Bait."
"Excuse me?!" Lloyd bellowed in anger.
"Not alone," I reassured. "As far as Axon's concerned, I still think that we're cousins. Aunt Rose is still in the city and she'll be going back to Jamanakai soon. I'll just ask mum when they're meeting up again and mention for Simon to come with. He won't pull anything while my mother's there."
"Then you guys get the slip," Chen finished.
"That's crazy!" Kai argued.
"Do you have a better idea?" Cole asked with a raised brow. "Y/n's proven that she can handle herself if things get sticky. I think we go ahead with the plan."

"But Axon's crazy powerful!" Lloyd argued. "If things 'get sticky' it could risk him completely scrambling her brain!"
"More so than it already is," I laughed dryly before my joking grin dropped at the looks sent my way. "Sorry, bad timing."
"I say we go with the plan," Jay nodded. "It's the most obvious choice. We could be trying to find him for months and that could give him the time needed to do something even more dangerous."
"Having him come to us would be a lot more beneficial," Zane agreed. Lloyd groaned, rubbing his temples.
"I'm getting déjà vu," he grumbled.
"We should continue our patrol," Kai announced. "If he's keeping track of our routes, we don't want him getting suspicious and fleeing the city before our chance."

With a murmur of agreement, the rest of the ninja dispersed to continue their evening patrol. Chen tapped my shoulder.
"Hey... is Cole a ghost?" he asked. I sighed slowly.
"It is a long story."
When Chen left, it was just Lloyd and I. The sun had truly set and the shadows almost completely concealed him from sight. The only light came from a street lamp, whose warm, golden glow filtered the leaves and branches of the vegetation that surrounded us.
"I'll walk you home," Lloyd murmured. I shook my head.
"You should go home and recover," I insisted, grabbing his hands and squeezing them. "You still look exhausted."

"Let me rephrase," Lloyd said dryly, tone holding no room for argument. "I'm walking you home because of Axon still on loose."
I exhaled lowly. "Okay."
He slipped one hand from mine as we began making our way out of the deserted park. I eyed his masked face.
"Wouldn't it be smarter to take your dragon?" I asked, eyeing the streets nervously. "People will see you."
"Don't worry," Lloyd grinned from behind his mask, squeezing my fingers affectionately. "No rush, right? We'll take the back ways."
"Oh," I blinked. "Ohhh. You smart ninja."
He shrugged amusedly. "I have my days."
We quickly scampered across the street, slipping into an alleyway.
"How well do you know the city to know the back ways to my house?" I asked as we slowed back down to a walking pace. The night was chilly so I stepped closer to Lloyd.

"Like the back of my hand," he replied, our hands swinging between us. "We memorised the city ages ago. Same with most of Ninjago. It helps with missions, especially when we don't have time to search up where someplace is."
"Geography must be your best subject," I teased, bumping his shoulder.
"More like the only one I'm good at," he muttered and I giggled. "Teacher actually likes me, too. For once."
"Good taste," I raised my brows. Lloyd snorted. "How are you feeling?"
He hesitated. "... fine."
"Lloyd."
"Seriously," he reassured, bringing my hand up to press the back of it to his mask. "A few nightmares never killed anybody. It's not like you don't have nightmares, either."

"Yeah, but I didn't use a dangerous fighting technique, nor was I possessed for a week," I pointed out and he sighed, head rolling away from mine. I felt a frown spread across my lips. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"
He was silent.
"Of course," he replied quietly. "Of course I know that."
I stared at the side of his face for a few beats before turning away. I couldn't force him to talk. I could only offer my ear and wait for him to make the next move.

It's just whether he does make it which worried me.

Even with taking the longer way, we arrived at my home far too soon. I was reluctant to let him go, not wanting to have to spend almost another week without him.
"Only a few days," he breathed, mask pushed onto the top of his head. I muffled my whine into his shoulder.
"A few days too long," I complained. He chuckled tiredly.
"It'll be over before you know it," he promised, guiding my head back to drop his forehead against mine. "And then we can worry about school."
I groaned and he laughed at my crestfallen expression, arms looping around my waist.

"I have to go," he whispered. His breath tumbled warmly against my face. It briefly chased away the chill. "Do I get a goodbye kiss?"
"Who would I be if I said no?" I smiled, stepping up on my tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. He melted into me and I felt the butterflies in my chest exploded with warmth.

And then the door banged open.

We jumped apart, staring at my mother with caught, frozen expressions.
"Lloyd," she greeted, an eyebrow raised. Lloyd grinned nervously.
"E- evening, Mrs. L/n," he replied sheepishly, arms still wrapped tight around my waist. I closed my eyes in shame of being caught. "I was just... we were..."
"Discussing an important ninja thing with a friend," I finished, eyes shooting open. "He walked me home."
"Certainly doing more than walking you home, huh?"
We blushed. Lloyd abruptly stepped back, running a hand through his blond hair in agitation.
"I'll see you at school," he said with a tense smile, walking backwards and pulling on his mask. "Goodbye, Mrs. L/n."

"Bye, Lloyd," mum replied amusedly as he fled. Seems he can face a lot of scary things. My mother is not one of them. She turned to me and I suddenly wished I'd fled with him. "He's adorably idiotic."
"I know, right?" I replied with a grin. Mum opened the door wider, urging me inside.
"You're also in so much trouble."

I wilted.
"I know," I groaned sullenly.