The Stone Roses
••• I Wanna Be Adored •••

i don't need to sell my soul
he's already in me
i wanna be adored

•••••

new cover!

  The night before Lloyd was supposed to leave (and the evening after our date to the lake), he arrived outside my window at precisely 1.34am.

  I was startled awake first by the loud ping my phone made with a text. I reached for it and squinted against the light of the screen.

Jesus💗
im outside
Sent 1.34am

Jesus💗
wait that sounds weird
Sent 1.34am

Jesus💗
i am in ur vicinity
Sent 1.34am

Jesus💗
thats worse
Sent 1.35am

Jesus💗
im outside ur window (in a non creepy way)
Sent 1.35am

  I stared at the screen with a blank expression.

  When the tapping on my window began, I groaned, dropping back down and pulling my pillow over my head. Adore Lloyd I did, but it was too early in the morning to be getting out of my comfortable bed, even for him. I took sleep meds for a reason.

  "Y/n," Lloyd whimpered from outside the window. "Sunshine? It's cold out here."

  I dragged the pillow down my face and stared at the ceiling.

  "Baby?"

  I draped my arm over my blushing cheeks. Not the baby. Was it weird to admit I was waiting for him to call me that? Now that he had, I was practically melting, which made me furious. I was having such a nice sleep, too. Those were rare.

  I got to my feet with a sigh. Lloyd beamed when I pulled aside the curtains, ignoring my scowl.

  "Do you realise what the time is?" I asked with a bleary glare as I pulled the window up. He slipped his legs inside and sat on the sill, wide eyes innocent and difficult to be angry at.

  "Kissy time?" Lloyd leant in, only to be stopped by my hand over his mouth.

  "Lloyd, please," I sighed. "I'm so tired."

  Lloyd pulled my hand away with a guilty smile. "Sorry."

  I sighed and returned to my bed. Lloyd's footsteps were silent as he slipped from the window sill and followed after me. The opened window let in a draft that had my skin raising goosebumps, so I slipped back under the covers and pulled them over my knees with a frown. He sat before me, crossed legged and painted by silvery strokes of moonlight.

  "Well?" I asked.

  "I've been overthinking."

  That's familiar. I softened. "Yeah?"

  Lloyd's fingers fidgeted, pulling at a thread on his socks. I'm pretty sure he was in his pyjamas. I'm pretty sure the faded t-shirt was a Batman one. My marvel heart suffered.

  "Can I call you while I'm away?" he hesitantly asked. 

  I stared at him, softness draining fast. "Is that why you interrupted my sleep?"

  Lloyd's shoulders rose to his ears in shame. "... yes."

  I slammed my pillow into his face. His eyes blinked, bewildered from the impact.

  "Are you kidding me?" I hissed. "You can ask that by text, Lloyd, not by hanging outside my window in the dead of night!"

  "Technically, I asked in your room-" he was cut off by another pillow to the face. He raised his palms in surrender. "I see your point."

  "Ugh." I collapsed back into my bed and closed my eyes. The mattress around me sunk as another weight crawled atop mine. My eyes opened to see Lloyd hovering above, brows piqued with cute innocence. My frown deepened. "I hate you."

  "You're mean when you're tired," Lloyd noted with a pout. I hooked my arms around his neck and dragged him onto the mattress beside me.

  "Please, shut up," I whispered, closing my eyes and pulling the duvet up to my chin. "I'm trying to sleep."

  Lloyd was tense beside me. I could feel it coming off of him in palpable waves, keeping me from truly relaxing. He exhaled slowly. Then opened his mouth again.

  "So... I can call you?"

  I clenched my eyes in irritation. "Yes."

  "Yay." He softly pressed a kiss to my hairline, and my frustration melted away as if it was never there in the first place. "Good night, princess."

  When I woke, the sun was bleeding over the alps and my bed was empty. Only when I pulled back my curtains did I notice the tiny statue on my window sill - a crudely made dragon, sculpted from rock. I smiled softly at the trinket and picked it up to admire it, sitting perfectly in the palm of my hand. A note was stuck to the bottom of it.

so you don't forget me :(
- hero

  I rolled my eyes, though my heart warmed and fluttered. "You're only going for a week, you dork."

  I pinned the note to my cork board (his handwriting was messy in a way that endeared me to him further) and placed the dragon sculpture on my bedside table. I affectionately patted a finger down its rough muzzle before shooting Lloyd a thank-you text for the dragon.

  "Morning," Mum greeted from her coffee and newspaper at the table. The sliding doors were pushed open, soaking the dining room in the morning warmth. Her eyes lingered on me as I moved about the kitchen. "You look happy."

  "I do?" I said, before patting my slightly warm cheeks.

  "Did you dream about your boyfriend?" Mum cooed. Her newspaper was forgotten, new target; embarrassing me.

  I mentally beat back the heat from my face as I turned to the coffee machine. "He's not my boyfriend."

  She snorted. "Could've fooled me."

  I chewed on my lip as I watched the coffee machine work. She was right, and Naomi was right from before - we did act a lot like a couple, an official couple. What was holding us back?

  Fear of commitment, most likely. Or a fear of asking and being vulnerable to rejection. Not that, realistically, I'd think Lloyd would decline (and I certainly wouldn't). But fear had a way of twisting the world around us.

  "What's your plans for today?" Mom asked.

  "Not sure," I admitted with a shrug. I grabbed my mug and an apple and took a seat at the table. "I might ask Molly if she needs help gardening, again. She was complaining the other day that her back was sore."

  Mum's face turned. Uh oh. It was only early in the morning and she was already gonna be doing a serious talk. I took a nervous bite of the fruit.

  "Shouldn't you be doing... teenager things?" Mum hesitantly asked. "It's your summer, sweetheart. You should be having fun, not doing chores for your neighbours."

  I frowned. "I am having fun." Lloyd was making this the best summer I'd ever had. "And I like helping out."

  "When was the last time you hung out with your friends?" Mum asked softly.

  My chest ached a little. It wasn't a lie that I'd been trying to get in contact with the group to hang out on the occasion. They always seemed to be otherwise occupied, which was starting to become a little bit suspect. It usually hadn't been this bad.

  "I spent time with Naomi, yesterday," I said. "And I met Lloyd's friends." I shrugged and stared down at my mug. "Sometimes people are just... busy."

  We both knew I didn't believe my words.

  "Are you sure they're not... trying to push you away?" Mum asked gently.

  "It's always been like this," I reasoned. "This is just the way they are. Besides, I don't mind. I like spending time by myself."

  Mum didn't know what to say to that. She took a sip from her coffee and I took a sip from mine, ignoring the concerned looks she'd send my way. My morning had taken a deflated turn, it seemed.

  After Mum left for work, I lounged on my bed and tried to focus on reading the book Lloyd had given me. My head was swirling with unsavoury thoughts, though, and when I pulled up the group chat with my friends and saw all the denials to my request to hang out, my heart sunk further.

  They'd been my only friends I'd ever really had. Jamanakai Girls held a few acquaintances, but nothing like the group. And then seeing Lloyd with his team, it began to make me think... if they were ever really friends with me at all.

  Aside from Naomi, of course. And Aaliyah and Claire, sometimes. But the others - I may as well not even exist.

  I turned onto my back and pulled the pillow over my face. I groaned into it. I'd ask when everything had gotten so complicated, but it always had been.

  My phone pinged from beside me. I ignored it, too busy in my own pity. But then it was followed by a mass of pings, and I dragged the pillow off with a frown to retrieve it. I was surprised to see a bunch of messages on my lock screen from some new group chat.

super secret club!!

(You have been added to the group)

like nya?: Y/N!!

ding butt: Y/N!!!!

zappy: Y/N!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

main guy syndrome: hey sunshine!!

Zane: hello :]

the rock: Y/N!!!!!!!

ding butt: WHO CHANGED MY NAME

  A surprised laugh left me, and I wiped away the pitiful tear from my cheek. The crushed feeling that had began slowly poisoning me was quickly replaced by something more elated and fluffy. Their timing was truly impeccable.

  My smile was genuine as I typed out my reply.

🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃

  Molly had been staring at me as we weeded out her rose bed. I'd been ignoring it for the better half of an hour, but it was soon beginning to make my skin crawl beneath her gaze.

  It's because she saw Lloyd and I. I wanted to sigh or snap or rip my hair out, but I continued to yank weeds from the ground, instead. Why couldn't people see how wonderful he truly was? Why was this city conditioned by such prejudice?

  When Molly wandered over with a homemade, freshly-squeezed lemonade, she handed the glass to me with a wary smile. I tried to keep my own smile content and grateful and not feel bitter about this new way she was behaving around me. It wasn't as if I had cooties. Molly was too old to worry about cooties!

  "Y/n, darling," Molly began uneasily as she hovered before me. I looked at her from my drink. "I... have some concerns."

Ah. Here we go. I took a sip from my drink.

  "What about?" I innocently asked.

  "Y/n," Molly chastised, brows drawn over hardened eyes. "I think you know." 

  I sighed and swirled my drink, watching as the opaque liquid spun. I knew this was coming, but I still felt unprepared. It felt as though I was getting told off - for what, though? For dating Lloyd Garmadon?

  Name me a city more obsessed about the life of an eighteen-year-old. This societal attitude was tiring.

  "Molly, I've heard enough from other people about Lloyd who don't even know him," I murmured. "I don't want you doing the same."

  "But you're such a sweetheart, and he's..."

  "A sweetheart," I said gently. I looked up at her with a soft smile, hoping she could see just how truthful I was being, how enamoured I was. "Lloyd's a sweetheart. He's nothing like what people say he is."

  Molly looked unconvinced. "But the stories... he's a devil's child, Y/n."

  I wanted to argue that he wasn't, that there was no way he could ever be born of such evil, but then I recalled his red eyes and fangs and Zane's explanation of Lloyd's short temper, and I guess I could see it. He looked like his dad at times. He definitely wasn't... human.

  But that didn't mean anything - Lloyd was sweet and attentive and cuddly. He left me trinkets and helped me when I was sick and worried over my injuries. Hell - he was the Green Ninja. You couldn't get any more morally sound than that.

  "They're just stories. He's good to me," I said softly. I paused, looking to the rose bushes. The words bubbled from my throat before I could stop them. "I... I think I love him, Molly."

  I heard Molly give a weary sigh.

  "I just hope this city treats you better than it does his mother."

  I felt my giddiness falter. I tried not to think too hard about that. Chen was the glaring reality of what I was going to have to deal with once we hit high school again, and the thought admittedly scared me. I liked being invisible at school. Being invisible was comfortable.

  The entire situation was frustrating. Why couldn't people see Lloyd the way I saw him? Better yet; why couldn't people just mind their own business?

  "I'll be okay," I reassured. She didn't look convinced but didn't speak up on it again. I returned to weeding with a frown.

  I really hoped I was right.

  The rest of the day was spent mulling around home and doing chores. My mind was heavy as I folded my laundry and my head spun when I did the dishes. There was nothing to truly occupy me, so my brain latched onto what Molly had said and held it steadfast.

  By the time Mum came home, I was in a right state. She watched me worriedly as I absentmindedly ate dinner and left for bed. It was only early, but I was exhausted.

  I hated that my life seemed to come to a stop. Did the others in my friend group feel like this, or was it just me? Was this a normal symptom of being in your first relationship? I didn't know what to do.

  My phone rung at 9.23pm.

  I looked down from my book that I wasn't even really reading and stared at the screen. Lloyd. Lloyd was calling.

  I sucked in a breath, suddenly nervous. Why was I nervous? It wasn't as if we'd never spoken before, it wasn't as if he were a stranger. But phone calls were so... harrowing. I couldn't exist in peaceful silence over a phone call in my experience, which meant I had to keep adding to the conversation.

  I answered. "Hello?"

  "Hey, sunshine."

  I melted into a smile at the sound of his voice. Why was I nervous, again? Never mind. "Hey, Jesus."

  Lloyd groaned. "I'll hang up on you right now, I swear."

  I giggled. "How was your day?"

  "Long and tiring," Lloyd said with a sigh. "I'd say the trip was nice but it went so fast that I didn't really get a chance to appreciate the scenery."

  "Where are you?" I asked. "Did you fly?"

  "On an island in the middle of nowhere," he answered. "We flew, but not with our dragons. On our ship."

  I paused. "Ship?"

  "Yeah." Amusement curled his tone at my bafflement. "The Destiny's Bounty. It's our ship."

  My brain was buffering. What flying ship was he talking about? "Like... a spaceship?"

  "No." He'd begun to chuckle. "A sailing ship. A flying boat."

  I stared at the ceiling. "... run that by me, again?"

  "The ship flies."

  I blinked. "The ship... flies."

  "Yes."

  "Like... the ship you can sail in, on water, can also fly."

  "Yep."

  I turned onto my stomach and stared at a loose thread on my pillow as I tried to compute what he was telling me. A sailing ship that could fly? That was stuff of science fiction at best. What world were they living in, Treasure Planet?

  During my silence, Lloyd's chuckles advanced to full-blown laughter. "You okay?" he asked.

  No. Yes - maybe? The boy I was dating had a flying ship. But really, this should've been the least surprising thing I'd learnt about him. Just the day before I found out he was basically Jesus (despite his protests).

  "Sunshine?" Lloyd snickered. "You still there?"

  "Yeah, I'm..." I trailed off. "That's... wow."

  He chuckled again. "Yeah. That's generally people's reactions."

  "Can I see it?" I asked.

  "Sure," he answered easily. "I'll take you for a spin."

  "No, thank you," I said quickly, getting flashbacks to the first time I rode on the back of his dragon. "Grounded is fine."

  Lloyd huffed with amusement. "You got it, princess."

  I smiled at the pet name and kicked my feet into the air. I felt like I was in one of those cheesy 90s chick flicks - I just needed a phone cord to twirl around my finger. "So, what kind of training did you get up to, today?"

  "Oh, you know, the usual," he said flippantly. "Moving mountains with my mind, n' stuff."

  "Yeah. The usual." I shook my head in disbelief.

  "The usual," Lloyd echoed with a smile to his voice. "My uncle's being especially hard on me. I've been distracted lately."

  I sucked on my lips with a blush. I knew what he was insinuating. "Whoops."

  "Yeah, 'whoops,'" Lloyd playfully scoffed. "Can you stop being so cute? You're getting me in trouble."

  The only response I could make was a flustered giggle. He hummed with delight.

  "That's my new favourite sound."

  "God, you're such a flirt," I accused with burning cheeks. He laughed.

  "How was your day?"

  "Not as fun as yours," I said. "I just spent it helping weed Molly's rose bed and catching up on chores."

  "You poor thing. Maybe next time I'll bring you along."

  "So I can distract you more?" I said dryly. "I'm sure your uncle would love that."

  "You'll just have to soften him up with your charming clumsiness," Lloyd said teasingly. "It's like watching a puppy trip over its own feet - adorable."

  I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, hero. I'm glad my near-fatal misbalance is cute to you."

  "Of course," he chuckled. There was a beat of silence, and then; "there's so many stars out here, sunshine. I wish you could see them."

"Aren't you the romantic," I mused. I tangled my feet in the sheets as I imagined stargazing with Lloyd. Maybe that could be our next date. "Are you going to woo me with talk about the constellations?"

  "If you find that attractive, I'll fine-tune my constellation knowledge," Lloyd pledged. I smiled softly at his promise before frowning when he yawned.

  "Are you tired? Do you want to go to sleep?"

  "I want to keep talking to you." His voice turned quiet and incredibly sincere. "I miss your voice."

  I buried my face into the pillows and squeezed the plushness with white-knuckled fists. The words I'd spoken to Molly earlier returned with force; I love him, I love him, I love him.

  I have to tell him.

  "I think I-"

  There was a sudden, loud scuffle on the other side of the line that made me stop. I bit my words back with an inhale, palms clammy, and smiled with confusion when a screech of laughter floated down the line followed by an indignant shout.

  "Hey, Y/n!" It was Kai, who I'd pieced together had stolen Lloyd's phone. "Look everyone, it's Y/n! Mwah mwah mwah-!"

  "Shut up!" Lloyd shrieked from the background. I broke into a laugh.

  "How ya doin', spitfire?" Kai asked between grunts as he kept the phone from Lloyd. The blond's complaints continued. 

  "I'm doing good, ding butt."

  Kai fell silent. My smile grew.

  "Kiss my ass, Y/n," Kai said. I laughed loudly and he followed soon after. It cut off with a high-pitched yelp and suddenly Lloyd's voice was back.

  "God, you guys are annoying!" Lloyd shot. Laughter from his team chorused in response to his jibe. I bit my lip with a grin and listened as a door squeaked shut and the background chaos quietened. "Sorry, doll. What were we talking about?"

  I love you. I love you too much for a guy I just met.

  "You know what?" I said with a bittersweet smile. "I can't even remember."

  Coward.

🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃

  My skateboard's wheels slowly took me through the empty streets of downtown as I sipped on a juice box I bought from the corner store. It was the only one I could afford.

  "I need to get a job," I muttered.

  It was another one of those cold summer days, so I wore Lloyd's hoodie and revelled in the fact that I didn't have to feel like I was criminal for doing so. It was late, too, which added to the chill. In my hand was a plastic bag of takeaway sushi Mum sent me out to grab for dinner.

  I rolled to a stop when I approached upon an alleyway with the sound of fighting coming from its confines.

Nope.

  Amazing how when it wasn't Lloyd, I didn't get that tugging sensation that forced me to walk into fights like an idiot. I turned my skateboard around and decided to take a back route home. See? I was smart. Sometimes.

  Didn't Lloyd say that there were going to be Elemental Masters keeping an eye on the city while the team was gone? I wondered which one was fighting back there, if it was one of them at all.

  Oh, well. I could ask Lloyd later on. I wasn't going back to check - I valued my body being undamaged and unhurt while I could control it, thank you.

  The sound of running footsteps behind me made me glance back just in time for a bolting man to shove into me - because surely fate had heard my comment and wanted penance. I grunted from the rough impact and fell, only to be caught by... nothing?

  "Good catch, Gravis!" Jay's chirpy voice cheered. I blinked in surprise as I was slowly rightened. Even my sushi had been saved. But not my juice box. R.I.P my cheap little juice box.

  "What?" I said. What just happened? Wasn't Jay meant to be with the team?

  "Get the runner, Turner, would you?" a familiar girl's voice asked. I turned to find six people donning ninja gis - all plain black, except for two; Jay and a girl in burnt orange.

  "You got it!" A rush of air zipped past me and made my hair fly. One of them had disappeared and, in my stupor, realised that he must've been the Master of Speed.

  "You okay, miss?" Jay chirped as he handed me my bag of sushi. I took it from him with wide eyes.

  "... aren't you meant to be with the others?" I asked, bafflement making my voice slow.

  Jay looked taken aback. He turned to share a confused look with the rest of the unfamiliar team, but they looked equally as lost.

  "Hold on - Y/n?" The girl in orange stepped forward. She pulled off her hood and revealed herself to be Skylor. "It is you. Lloyd was right - you do get yourself into trouble."

  "It seems my reputation precedes me," I grumbled.

  Jay's form began to shimmer before melting away to reveal a girl with bright purple eyes. I watched her transformation in horror. That wasn't Jay? That wasn't Jay. Christ on a bike.

  "Is this the one the Green Ninja told us to watch out for?" the girl who used to be Jay asked. She titled her head as she surveyed me. "She looks pretty normal to me."

  "I think you just gave me trust issues," I whispered.

  "Knock it off, Camille," Skylor chided with a swat of her shoulder. "Be nice. She's important to Lloyd."

  I cleared my throat. "Uh. Thank you. For- for not letting me fall." And letting me hurt myself. Again.

  I could already imagine Lloyd's reaction if he'd returned home and found me with a grazed elbow or anything of the sort - he'd smirk and call me clumsy, before flustering me by asking whether I wanted a kiss for each injury. Or... or he would be downright murderous, like how he'd been with Chen, and look as though he would hunt down the very person who'd pushed me and rip off their head.

  The latter thought made me shiver with something not entirely unappeased. I'd been reading too many romantasy books again.

  "That was Gravis," Skylor said with a nod to a man behind her. He held up a hand in polite greeting. I pulled myself back to reality and smiled in thanks. "He's the Master of Gravity. Then you have Camille, Master of Form, Shade, Master of Shadow-" she gestured toward the darkened edge of the street, where a man with ashy, grey skin stood with crossed arms and a scowl. Skylor leant in and lowered her voice. "Don't mind him, he's always grumpy. And-"

  "Nuero, Master of the Mind," the last man said. He had an aged look about him, clearly the eldest of the lot, but a shiver up my spine spoke of unimaginable power. "You were the one who got through the barrier."

  I blinked, looking quickly for Skylor. She smiled in reassurance at my apprehension. "... yeah."

  "Interesting," Nuero hummed. His sharp gaze assessed me, and I felt as though he were reading every secret I'd ever kept. "My illusions shouldn't be passable by anyone uninvited. How did you do it?"

  Oh, no. This was the one who made the barrier. The very barrier which was rendered obsolete in face of my tugging-mind-control wander through the forest.

  "I- I really don't know," I confessed. "I just... woke up on the other side."

  Neuro's eyes narrowed at my explanation. Skylor shuffled closer to him. "It's the prophecy," she whispered. "You know the one."

  My eyes widened. They knew the prophecy - sure, the same prophecy I was trying my best to ignore, but they knew it all the same. A flush of curiosity had me pushing aside my nerves and stepping forth.

  "The prophecy?" I asked, hungry eyes raking over the team. "What's it for?"

  Skylor sent me a sympathetic smile. "I have no idea. It was before my time, but-" her eyes jumped to Neuro. "He might know of it."

  My pleading gaze slid to him. I wanted to know what it entailed - if there was a way for me to avoid whatever battle it depicted and live the easy, boring life I'd hoped for. With Lloyd, of course... however boring of a life I could lead while being with him.

  "It is impossible to avoid prophecy, little one," Nuero said, crushing my hopes just as fast as they had risen. "And the want to avoid it is exactly why the prophecy has been cursed to be unspeakable. It is too important to the flow of time."

  I felt my heart sink. "It's cursed?"

  "Damn, kid," Camille murmured. "That's a toughie."

  "Wait - but if it's cursed to be unspeakable, then how do you know it?" I asked.

  "I read the scroll."

  "Then can I read the scroll?"

  Nuero's smile was genuinely sympathetic. "It was hidden away a few years back after an... incident."

  Incident? My head was spinning with all this new information. It was all so convenient to keep me from finding out more about the prophecy. Did Lloyd know all about this, too?

  "He is unaware," Neuro answered my unspoken question. I looked at him in surprise before remembering his powers.

  Before I could ask another question, a zip of air had my hair tumbling over my face again. The Master of Speed had returned with a body slung over his shoulder and a proud look about him.

  "Got 'em!"

  "Good job, Turner," Skylor said. Turner did a double take at his unmasked team before looking at me curiously. Skylor stepped forward to explain. "This is Y/n, Lloyd's girlfriend."

  I blushed in mortification. "I'm not his girlfriend."

  Skylor glanced at me in disbelief. Amusement kicked the edges of her lips up into a smirk. "Sure."

  I deflated. She was just like my mother - unbelieveing. Okay, please, be my guest and tell Lloyd that. I won't mind.

  Neuro stifled a smile and I felt myself deflate even further. Great, now even my inner thoughts were publicly embarrassing me.

  "I should make sure you get home safe," Skylor said, before picking up my skateboard and hooking an arm through mine. "You guys go on without me. We're having girl talk."

  "Gross," Shade muttered, before bleeding into the shadows and disappearing. Skylor rolled her eyes at his attitude.

  "See you back at base!" Camille said. She darted off after Turner and Gravis. After a brief moment of hesitation and a lingering, curious stare, Neuro left after them.

  "Where to?" Skylor asked. After I began leading the way back home, her brown eyes turned to me. "How've you been, miss Green Ninja? Lloyd treating you well?"

  I smiled softly. "He's amazing."

  "Yeah?" Skylor brightly grinned. "Is he still a noble, boring stiff or has he got his personality back?"

  My brows furrowed. "What? No, he's... funny." I looked at Skylor, confused. "He was boring?"

  Skylor shrugged. "When I first met him, he was. He was probably still getting used to being the Green Ninja back then. It was only a year or so after he took on the role."

  "Huh. Naomi told me that he used to be brat," I mused. Skylor laughed.

  "Yeah, Kai said the same," she said amusedly. "He's a pretty special guy. Been through a lot for someone so young."

  I watched the sidewalk as we ambled down the streets at a leisurely pace. Yeah, he had. And the more I learnt about Lloyd from the eyes of others, the more I began to piece the true image of him together.

  He used to be noble, stiff and boring? He used to be a brat? It all made him into who he was now; charming, teasing, and so, so good. It made me wonder who he'd be in another ten years. Would he be wearied and serious, or would he still have that mischievous spark in his eyes?

  I wanted to know. I wanted to be there with him.

  "How'd you meet Kai?" I asked.

  "That's a long story involving my crazy dad and a secret fight club island," Skylor said with a dry smirk. At my wide eyes, she snickered. "You get used to the craziness. It always follows us Elemental Masters."

  "I think I've figured that one out from Lloyd alone," I said. She chuckled.

  We turned onto my street. I felt my shoulders relax at the familiar sight of my suburb's cottages. Soon, I could crawl into bed, have my evening call with Lloyd, and sleep off all this new information.

  Skylor glanced at me. "Speaking of Elemental Masters, can I ask what your powers are?"

  I stopped shortly, daydreaming gone. "What?"

  Skylor halted, too, and found my lost look baffling. She shared my confusion and tilted her head. Her dark red hair looked burgundy at night.

  "You know, your... powers," Skylor said slowly. Her brown eyes were inquisitive, asking a million questions in the same way I knew mine were doing. "I can feel them in you. They're not like anything I've ever felt before. I can't access them."

  I shook my head. "I don't have powers."

  Skylor paused. She stared at me with narrowed eyes, as though discerning whether or not I was lying.

  "... yes, you do," Skylor said slowly. "It's dormant, but it's there."

  My brows knotted. I recalled one of the Sensei's saying something similar, something about a power, but I told them that I didn't have powers back then, either. Because I didn't. I didn't have powers.

  But Skylor was looking at me like she knew she was telling the truth with deep, deep certainty, and I didn't know what to think anymore. We weren't from any of the Nineteen Houses - I'd know if we were. There'd be records or family stories or my parents would've told me.

  Unless it's... not an element. Skylor did just say it felt like nothing she'd encountered before.

  I stared at her cautiously, half-sure she was either mistaken or a really good actress. "... what does it feel like?"

  Skylor stared me dead in the eyes as she replied, and I couldn't quite be sure whether or not she was grim or unsettled or both.

  "It feels old," she said stoically. "Really, really old."

🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃

  The next day passed slowly, punctured by the occasional text from Lloyd at random times. The training bootcamp had stolen most of his days, so I strived to read all the books I'd neglected to before he returned.

  I finally finished the book he lent me. The rest of it was filled with personal accounts of the old Elemental Masters and how they unlocked the highest levels of their powers (something called 'True Potential'), but there wasn't anything on Lloyd's powers himself. Nor was there anything about any other powers. Particularly old ones.

  Part of me wanted to go the museum to see if there was anything I could find about the other kinds of powers there were, since the historical documents I'd found online didn't mention them (or Elemental Powers in general) anywhere. But that would also risk bumping into his mother, and as much as Misako was lovely, I really didn't want to speak to her alone. Not when the last time we spoke at the museum was when I was on the verge of a panic attack.

  And the Ninjago City Library had... nothing truly historical. At least, not anything to do with the Elemental Masters. And it was infuriating that Zane was right - Lloyd truly was an enigma. One that I desperately wished to understand, because not knowing things frustrated me deeply. My so-called 'powers' further fanned those flames.

  I groaned and slammed shut another historial tome before rubbing my temples. It was late at night and I was waiting up for Lloyd's call. We'd fallen into a routine where he'd call to say goodnight, and I was too excited to hear his voice to go to sleep. And now I was too frustrated to, anyway.

  I buried my face into my hands with a sigh. Another big book of nothing I wanted. I looked at my stuffed toy monstrosity from the amusement park that sat at the end of my bed with a pout.

  "You understand my pain, don't you, Earl?"

  Earl did not reply.

  If only I could find a way to the legendary Library of Domu - sure, I was half-certain the place didn't exist, but I was also sure that Elemental Powers were only things of myths a few years back. If the true history and records of Elemental Masters were anywhere, then it'd be there. The mystical place had something on all kinds of powers - it had something on everything otherwise thought lost. The Library of Domu was the bCloud of tomes and prophecies fantastical.

  The hours ticked on until it was nearing midnight, and my sleeping medication was starting to kick in. Finally, it got to a point where I could no longer keep my eyes open, so I flicked Lloyd a text from behind a yawn.

Me:
good night hero, miss you :(
Delivered

  I put my phone on my bedside table, expecting nothing other than an 'i miss you too' to wake up to in the morning. I grumpily placed the tome onto my desk and curled into bed, before falling into a fitful sleep full of unanswered questions, cursed prophecies and an era I wasn't alive for.

  I woke up an hour later to tapping on my window.

  I froze, because while my mind immediately jumped to Lloyd, I was also fairly certain that he should've been somewhere in the middle of the ocean. Then the tapping started up again and, well, who else tapped on my window in the middle of the night?

  I slipped from bed in tired confusion and pulled my curtains back. Lloyd was perched on the
ledge outside my window with a goofy smile. I exhaled in mix of disbelief and joy.

  "Am I lucid dreaming or did I sleep for seventy-two hours?" I asked when I pulled the window frame up.

  "Option C." Lloyd slipped inside and immediately hauled me into his chest. I sunk into his hoodie, still bewildered, but finding comfort in his warmth and the smell of spring grass and summer rains.

  "Did you fly all the way here?" At his nod, I shook my head. "Why?"

  He shrugged. "You said you missed me." As if it were the most simplest thing in the world - flying a magic dragon for however long in the dead of night just because of one measly text I'd sent.

  I shook my head again, because I couldn't quite wrap my head around him. Then I laughed, because I was exhausted and Lloyd, who wasn't supposed to be back in Ninjago City for the rest of the week, was in my room in the middle of the night.

  "You're crazy," I sighed.

  "Crazy for you, baby," he hummed to the crown of my head. My cheeks warmed and I pulled back to find his gaze - green, like a lush meadow, and warm like an evening sun. His palms held my cheeks with a tired, gentle caress. "I missed you."

  I smiled, stomach churning with bright, happy feelings despite my own exhaustion, before snatching the front of his shirt and pulling myself into a kiss on my tippy toes. He was more than eager to return it, arms sliding tight around my waist and spreading fire with his touch. My heart raced in my ears.

  And it was like he couldn't get enough of me, nor I him. Like we were making up for the days we hadn't seen each other, and all the days before that. Like the only way to keep the earth spinning was to keep my hands tangled in his shirt and his lips on mine.

  And maybe it was a little dramatic, a little too romantic and cheesy, but I couldn't help it. Lloyd made me feel love - romantic love - for the first time, and the emotion was buzzing through every single thread of veins in my body. Every time I saw him, it was renewed.

  Lloyd pressed a long kiss the corner of my lips as I caught my breath. I didn't realise just how much I missed him until I was curling my arms around his neck and folding myself into him. It was ridiculous to feel this devoted - he'd only been gone for two days.

  But touching him was intoxicating - I never wanted to stop holding him when he made me feel so many wondrous things, when he introduced me to so many amazing people, when he brightened my life into colours I never thought possible. He pulled me out of a dull mundanity I didn't know I was trapped in.

I love you.

  I closed my eyes and dug my face into Lloyd's chest. I really, really did love him, and it was almost immobilising. Was this how all the protagonists of my books felt when they fell in love for the first time? How did the authors know how such dedication felt? Was it always this hard and fast and made them feel like they were knocked off of their feet?

  "I can't believe you're here," I whispered into his shirt. His fingers stroked circles against my hips and they left rings of goosebumps in their wake. "Are you ticking off a magic boy bingo card, or something? Because it's starting to feel like it."

  He chuckled, and I preened beneath the sound. Maybe he wasn't being just a flirt when he said that my laugh was his favourite sound, because his was certainly mine.

  "Maybe I'm just made that way," Lloyd murmured against my hairline, before pressing a line of kisses down my forehead. "But maybe I was just being selfish for visiting." He hauled me tighter against his chest and fell back onto my bed, and I had to bite my lip to keep my gasp from being too loud and waking my mother.

  My heart only raced faster when Lloyd snuggled his face into my neck. Our legs tangled over the covers, and every part of him that touched me felt aflame. I was sure my entire face was on fire.

  "Aren't you going to get into trouble?" I asked.

  "I already am in trouble." He smiled against my throat, and the brush of his teeth had my spine tightening. "But I'm the son of an ex-evil overlord, so can you really blame me?"

  "Leave it to me to corrupt a legendary good guy," I sighed, as though in woe.

  "So very villainous of you," he murmured with a sharp grin. I breathlessly giggled and tangled my fingers with the curls of blond at the nape of his neck.

  I pressed my head into his chest and relaxed. The opened window was cool, but Lloyd was warm enough for me to be content. In fact, it just made me have reason to dig myself deeper into him. His breaths against my hair fluttered loose strands and his heartbeat was beating only a tad fast - proof that, despite his charismatic, charming flirting, he was still just as affected by me as I was by him.

  It was reassuring, in a way. I wasn't the only one head over heels.

  "I bumped into your friends yesterday."

  Lloyd's hum of acknowledgement rattled through me. First I spoke of Camille's illusion of Jay, because that still had me a little freaked out. Then I relayed what Neuro told me about the cursed prophecy.

  Lloyd's eyes stared at the ceiling as he digested what I told him. Neuro was right. Lloyd really had no idea, either.

  "Always so complicated," Lloyd grumbled before shuffling down so he could rest his head on my chest, instead. "Things can never be straightforward, can they?"

  No. They really couldn't. I thought back to what Skylor told me of Lloyd; of how the mantle of the Green Ninja had pushed him to become someone without personality, and felt my sympathy rise.

  I couldn't picture Lloyd as Skylor knew him; his teasing and playfulness was what drew me in. Even now, with his easy jokes about his father's bad years and his stealing away in the middle of the night to see me. I doubted Lloyd-Back-Then would've made the same jokes or skimped out on his boot camp from what I'd heard.

  I carded my fingers through his soft hair and I felt him soften beneath my caresses. I wanted to protect him so badly, but I could barely even protect myself. And who was I, really, to think I could protect the Green Ninja?

  Nya's idea of me learning to fight was sounding better and better.

  "That's not all," I said quietly. "You know how one of your Senseis said something about me having powers?"

  Lloyd hummed.

  "... Skylor mentioned it, too," I slowly said. "But I can't find anything in any books. It's kinda freaking me out."

  Lloyd lifted his head with a knot between his brow. "What did she say?"

  I gave a helpless shrug. "Just that she couldn't access it. That's it's dormant and feels old."

  "Old?"

  "That's what she said," I mumbled. I dropped an arm over my head. "I got a headache trying to read through all these books. There's nothing on Elemental Masters, let alone whatever Skylor thinks is going on with me. It's so frustrating."

  Lloyd pulled my arm away with a soft smile, though confusion still coloured his gaze. "You're looking in the wrong places, sunshine. Nothing public would have any accounts on Elemental Masters. We were all secret until a few years back, remember?"

  I sent him a pitiful look from my pillow. "Then where do I go?"

  Lloyd shrugged. "Where do you think most legends live?"

  I rolled my eyes. "That's cryptic." Lloyd stared at me with a soft smile until my eyes widened. "Wait - you're a genius." I pulled myself out from under him and leapt to my feet, crouching before my bookcase and thumbing the titles. "I was so focused on finding historical records, I didn't even think to look in mythology! Why didn't I think of that sooner?"

  Lloyd watched from the bed with an amused smirk as I pulled out a few of my old mythology books. "Because you've got so much going on up in that smart head of yours that you don't give yourself time to stop and think."

  "Probably," I conceded and pulled my haul to my desk.

  "You're not going to read right now, are you?"  

  I paused. "... yes."

  Lloyd's eyes lidded with a grin. "It's two in the morning."

  I was already pulling open a cover.

  "I'll be gone when you wake up," he reminded.

  That made me stop and send him a horrified look. "How dare you make me choose between you and research."

  Lloyd shook his head and dropped himself onto his back with a short laugh. "Can't believe I'm dating a person who's a bigger nerd than Zane."

  "This is important."

  "Yeah, yeah." Lloyd grumbled and opened his arms. "C'mere, nerd."

  I hesitated.

  He exhaled through a grin of exasperation and amusement. "You can bring your book."

  I happily picked up my book and returned to bed. Lloyd pulled me back into his chest and, while half of me was innately and wholly focused on the way his arm draped over my hip, the other half was already engrossed in the first few pages of the book.

  "I'm gonna pass out," Lloyd murmured against my neck, as though we'd fallen asleep on my bed plenty of times before. I felt myself trill with giddiness before wrangling it back into something manageable. He kissed the crook of my shoulder. "Night, nerd."

  "Night, hero," I said quietly. His grip squeezed around me just once before slacking, and he fell asleep.

  I bit my lip with a smile. This was what my dreams were made of - books and Lloyd. Resisting the urge to disrupt his rest just to press a million kissed to his faint freckles, I returned my attention to the book.

  When I woke the next morning, my bed was empty and my book was on my desk, fixed with a bookmark that I didn't put there. Another stone statue sat on my desk. Another dragon. Another note.

  I rolled over to bury my elated smile into my pillow. I was so stupidly in love.