Sharon Van Etten
••• Jupiter 4 •••

i've been waiting, waiting, waiting my whole life,
for someone like you,
it's true that everyone would would like to have met
a love so real

•••••

TW: accidental harm, blood

  It was a sunny, Sunday morning of putting out the laundry when a ninja landed silently behind me and scared my skeleton into orbit.

  "Hey, sunshine," Lloyd said into my ear, seemingly having appeared out of thin air. He looped his arms around my waist.

  "Jesus!" I squeaked, flinching so hard that I felt my heart rattle in my chest like a ping pong ball. I turned to send a maskless Lloyd (aka the Green Ninja, aka the boy I was dating) a scowl. "I know you're a ninja and everything, but please refrain from giving me heart attacks."

  He didn't look sorry. Instead, he pulled me tighter against him. "My bad," he said with a curt smirk. He didn't even sound apologetic, either.

  My arms found their way around his neck. His eyes lidded with delight and a pleasant trill trailed up my spine like the stroke of a paintbrush. I never thought I'd be looked at like that.

  "We have neighbours, you know," I said, eyeing the gi he wore that symbolised him as pretty much every teen's celebrity crush - and a vigilante against the common law. "And my mum's inside."

  "I'm just passing through on patrol," Lloyd said. The curtness of his smirk changed into something genuine. "I wanted to stop by and see my favourite girl."

  My already fluttering heart broke it down double speed. It'd only been a night since I took his mask off and we shared a kiss, and I could still feel it tingling on my lips. I think I was stuck in a state of shock. I think I was dying inside. His cute remarks didn't help my sanity.

  For someone who hadn't dated before and had the constant weight of fate dragging behind him, Lloyd was effortlessly smooth.

  It must've been part of his main character privilege. I'd thought about it last night after he left - kind, pretty, charming, powerful. He was a real life superhero and a real life protagonist. I had no idea how I managed to get myself caught up in his story.

  I looked towards the laundry basket at my feet, still half-full. "Do you think you can help your favourite girl with the washing?"

  Lloyd's expression morphed into a look of reluctance. Even the Green Ninja hated chores, it seemed.

  "I would love to," he said insincerely, "but I've gotta get back to my route."

  "Right," I said, grinning. I left his arms and picked up the laundry basket to continue my job. "Enjoy your patrol."

  "Hold on," Lloyd lightly chided and pulled me back around by the crook of my elbow. I giggled at his exasperated expression. "I didn't come here just to see your face." My brows raised in curiosity when he turned serious. "Now that you know, my family wants to meet you. Properly, this time. No masks."

  "Oh." I stiffly put down the washing basket. That was a lot of people. A lot of really powerful people. People that knew I hit Lloyd both with my skateboard and a car in the same day and probably thought I was a colossal screw up.

  "They already love you," he reminded, reading the fears on my face. "We'll do it slow, if that helps. Only three people at a time."

  "... okay," I hesitantly answered. Three people. I could do three people.

  "You'll be fine," Lloyd said as his hands lifted to cup my cheeks. "They're... well, they're a lot, but they're good people."

  I nodded.

  His nose tapped mine. "Can I have a kiss before I go?"

  A smile broke across my face and, after checking our surroundings just in case, leant forward and pecked his lips. Just a small, quick kiss. He had to go, and if Mei chanced a glance over her fence or Mum walked past a window, we were screwed.

  But kissing Lloyd was like sipping straight addiction, and, with my eyes still closed, I went for another.

  Only to fall into thin air. 

  My eyes shot open with a surprised squeak as I stumbled across the grass and almost fell flat onto my face. I rightened myself with a bewildered look around the empty garden. Lloyd's distant laughter floated through the air.

  My face dropped when I realised what happened. I turned back to my basket with a huff and continued hanging the laundry, cheeks warm.

  "Damn ninja," I muttered.

🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃

  It was a rare moment when Naomi was between babysitting and her softball training. We decided to go to a beach near the city, since it was one of those summer days when the sun was just a bit too hot.

  We strolled through the surf, hair wet and heavy with sea water. In the distance, the ninja's dragons flew through the air. I knew that if I retuned to where out bags laid, half-hidden between the rocks, I'd find a million-and-one notifications on my phone about whatever the ninja were fighting.

  Naomi shook her head again in disbelief. It'd been a little more than a few minutes since the last time she did.

  "I can't believe you kissed him."

  "I know." I smiled at the water pulling against our legs. "I'm still pretty shocked myself."

  "It was a good kiss, too," Naomi guessed. She gestured loosely to my face with an impressed smile. "You've got a glow. The 'I just kissed someone and it was really good' glow."

  "I didn't realise that was a thing."

  "'Cause I invented it - but that doesn't lessen its validity," Naomi said. I grinned at her matter-of-fact tone. She leant forward, sloshing water. "So? Are you two official?"

  I titled my head. "Official?"

  "Has he asked to be your boyfriend?"

  "Oh." That hadn't even crossed my mind. I was so busy being caught up in the whole Lloyd-Green Ninja mess that I hadn't thought of much else. "No, not yet."

  Naomi shrugged and wrung out her blonde hair. "Doesn't really matter, anyway."

  But now I was beginning to worry, thinking thoughts that didn't make much sense outside of my anxiety. "Are you sure?"

  "Yeah, man," Naomi reassured with a knock to my shoulder. "It's just a label. You guys are pretty much doing what couples do."

  That soothed me, but only a smidge. I watched the water with a furrow of my brows.

  "Don't look so worried!" she laughed. "It sounds like he's completely smitten with you. Lloyd's not the type to string you along if that's what's got you concerned."

  I looked up at her from the surf. "How do you know?"

  "We used to be friends when we were younger," she said. "Maybe twelve? Thirteen? A long time ago, anyway."  

  My eyes widened at this new revelation. I stopped walking, feet sinking in the sand. Naomi looked back and smiled at the baffled look on my face.

  "Really?" I crashed through the surf to catch up. "What was he like?"

  "He used to be a brat." Naomi rolled her eyes. We continued our stroll, shoes dangling from our fingers. "He mellowed out, though."

  I frowned as I watched the shoreline. He must've mellowed out when he learnt about his destiny. What a terrifying thing to learn for a kid - that the world that was already so big and scary was up to him to keep safe. The same world that hated him for his last name.

  It was a miracle he still grew to be as well-rounded as he was.  

  When the sun began to sink, Naomi and I went our separate ways. I spent the walk back home catching up on the ninja team's earlier fight - a ball of dull worry had been sitting at the bottom of my stomach ever since I saw the dragons in the horizon, but time with Naomi was so rare. Besides, it wasn't as if I could do anything for the team, anyway.

  "Hey." A man's voice pierced through my bubble. I bent my head down lower and quickened my pace. "Hey! Aren't you the chick who was with Garmaboy at the amusement park?"

  Against my better judgement, I looked up. The brown-haired ringleader's eyes widened when my face came into view.

  "Holy shit," Chen said from the sidewalk before me. A mean, angry grin tugged at his lips. "It is you. Do you know how expensive that shirt I wore was? Where's your boyfriend, huh?"

  Taking a step back, I set my jaw and looked for an escape route in the abandoned street we were on. I didn't reply. I didn't want to fuel any fire Chen might've had. The hate in his eyes was enough.

  "Hey! I'm talking to you." Chen continued to approach. I turned to walk back the way I came. "Not so tough without your master, huh? Tell me, what is about a maniacal tyrant's son that attracts you? Is it his dad's power? Sorry to break it to you, sweetheart, but his dad lost his powers years ago. Now the Garmadon's are worse than evil - they're nothing."

  I was tempted to roll my eyes. How could one person be so dramatic?

  "I'm trying to help you here," Chen insisted with a baffled laugh. "I'll even forget about the amusement park. I'm the good guy, you see? Lloyd - Lloyd will use you and discard you aside as soon as he's had his fun. That's what evil people do."

  Rage made me whip back around to him and he startled at the look on my face. I shoved his shoulders as hard as my anger could make me - another surprise, as I was never hands-on violent, either, and his eyes widened as he stepped back.

  "Do you not remember me telling you to shut the fuck up?" I asked venomously. "You don't even know Lloyd, so stop acting as if you do."

  Chen's gaping mouth curved into a smirk. "And you think you do, new girl?"

  I shook my head. "You're delusional."

  "'I'm delusional?'" he echoed incredulously. "I think you need to take a look in the mirror, sweetheart."

  I scoffed and turned to leave. Funny - when Chen was insulting me I didn't give a damn, but as soon as he mentioned Lloyd, a rage burnt bright and hot inside of me. That was certainly unusual. So I did inherit my mother's fierce protectiveness after all.

  "Hey, I'm not done with you, yet." Chen yanked my arm and hauled me back to face him. My stomach got left behind as I stumbled - but I couldn't tell if it was from the movement or from fright.

  I pulled against his grip with a scowl. My heart began to patter with fear. "Let go."

  "You think I'd just let you walk away?" Chen said. His grip tightened to something painful, fingers digging into the fragile tendons of my wrist. "You've picked your side."

  "God, did mummy ignore you as a baby?" I snapped and his furious expression deepened. I pulled harder against his grip. "I said let go!"

  Chen released my wrist just as I yanked against him again, and the momentum had me careening backwards. I instinctively stepped to steady myself and my injured ankle caved, sending the back of my head cracking against the brick wall behind me.

  The world flashed white.

  I gasped in pain and held where my head was hit as a vicious dizziness erupted behind my eyes. I was vaguely aware of Chen saying something but my ears were ringing too shrill to understand him. His palm clasped my shoulder. I was teetering too much from pain to shrug him off.

  He ducked into my swimming vision. There was a surprising amount of worry in his brown eyes.

  "Are you okay?" his voice pierced through the ringing. Warmth began to stick between my fingers.

  "What do you think?" I managed to choke out through a tight throat. Another round of agony had me closing my eyes again. Lloyd was right - I really was in the wars. Thank you, Ninjago City.

  Speaking of, a hard tug on my stomach had me feeling a mix of relief and mortification. Of course he'd fly in this direction after his mission, and of course the stupid nark of a tug would point me out like a beacon - how many times had Lloyd come to save me from myself? This was getting ridiculous.

  I didn't hear his arrival but Chen stepping away told me plenty. Another pair of hands held me - a cold one replacing mine over my head and, against any lick of better judgement I had left, I sunk into his familiar hold. 

  There was a beat of silence. I couldn't imagine Chen's face, and I almost didn't want to see Lloyd's (purely from the embarrassment that I'd managed to hurt myself again). I was just about to make even more of a fool of myself in lieu of cracking a joke to break the silence when the Green Ninja spoke. 

  "Did you do this?"

  Lloyd's low voice had me shivering. This wasn't just the voice of an eighteen-year-old boy, it was the voice of the Green Ninja who'd been wronged. It was a voice I'd never heard from him before. This was the Green Ninja his enemies saw. Lloyd was aways so at-ease and goofy around me that I didn't realise how terrifying he could be.

  "Wh- what?" Chen's voice turned high with fear. "No?! No!"

  "It was an accident," I mumbled, though I really had no idea why I defended him when he was being so awful. Chen looked at me, sharing my own bafflement.

  But Lloyd's gentle, gloved fingers picked up my wrist, where an unmistakable red mark marred the skin. I felt rather than saw him tense further, radiating a fury that had me sending Chen reluctant prayers. I'd never seen him so angry.

  "What were you doing to her?" he asked. His quiet voice was almost a growl, ripping against his throat and leaving his lips in spikes. If it weren't for his gentle hold on me, I would've shared the piss-scared look Chen was currently wearing.

  "N- nothing!" he stammered.

  "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

  Chen gave a desperate huff. "She's Lloyd Garmadon's girlfriend!"

  I sucked on my lips as Lloyd grew more rigid. He felt like a cat about to pounce, and yet the cold hand on the back of my head felt feather-soft. I peeked up at Lloyd and found red ringing the outside of his basil-coloured irises, gaze shredding the boy before him to the bone.

  "Don't lay a hand on her again."

  "You're defending her?!" Chen said incredulously. He clearly expected the Green Ninja to have very different ideals. "She's dating the son of your enemy!"

  Lloyd's sharp eyes dropped to me and softened. The red was still trying to take over, reaching out in thin strokes to his pupils. I made a mental note to inquire about them when my head wasn't killing me.

  "Are you okay?" he asked, voice leagues gentler. I nodded slowly.

  "Are you serious?" Chen's shrill voice made Lloyd close his eyes tight with frustration, and my own irritation grew. "She doesn't deserve your protection! There're people more loyal to you than Garmaboy's girlfriend!"

  I sent Chen a warning glare. Didn't he know when to be quiet?

  "Stop," the Green Ninja murmured.

  "She's just like Lord Garmadon's wife! She should be shunned and humiliated for affiliating with those demons!"

  "Shut up."

  "It's what she deserves for being with that freak-!"

  Lloyd grabbed Chen by the front of his shirt and shoved him against the wall before I even realised his touch was gone.

  "STOP TALKING!"

  A ringing silence settled over the empty street. I held my breath as I stared between them; Chen still and shocked, finally silent, and Lloyd trembling with rage. One of his gloves was damp with my blood.

  Chen clawed at the Green Ninja's wrists with an undignified whimper. His brown eyes were wide and rolling like a caught rabbit's, and his feet dangled a handful of inches from the ground. By the time my shock had faded, Lloyd was still holding him against the wall with a vicious snarl.

  I'd never seen Lloyd like this before. The look in his eyes wasn't himself - it was as if the night back when he punched the truck had been amplified exponentially, and I felt myself shiver at the blazing hate in his eyes. The difference between warrior and the mundane was suddenly and incredibly stark.

  But this was also not who the Green Ninja was supposed to be like. He needed to stop before he'd do something he regretted.

  "Hey," I whispered, placing my hand on Lloyd's arm. Chen's frightened gaze snatched to me and the Green Ninja's fist over the boy's shirt tightened. I tried again. "Hey. Stop. Please."

  Lloyd's blood-red glare didn't move. "He hurt you."

  "It was an accident," I reminded, though my heart did flutter at his protectiveness - I was a simple girl. "Let him go, he's not worth it."

  Lloyd's eyes dropped to me and lost their edge. I squeezed his arm in encouragement and, with a sigh, he released Chen's shirt. Chen staggered when his feet hit the ground.  

  I smiled softly at Lloyd in reassurance. But his expression was conflicted and tormented, as though a storm raged behind them, and were overflowing with regret. He looked confused by his own reaction.

  Chen caught his breath. He looked just as lost and baffled as Lloyd as he stared between us. "I... you..?"

  My ire burst. "Are you still here?" I bitterly asked. He was still unable to move.

  Another round of pain from the back of my head made me wince. I willed myself not to start crying, though my eyes did begin to sting.

  With a steadying, long exhale through his mask, Lloyd touched my chin. I turned at his gentle insistence and he inspected the blood beginning to mat my hair. I grimaced when his thumb carefully pried some strands from the wound, and my quiet gasp of pain had him faltering.

  "Sorry," he murmured.

  "S'okay."

  Chen looked between us, startled frozen. Something clicked for him, undoubtedly because of our comfortable familiarity, and his expression grew pale.

  "... Lloyd?" he whispered in horror.

  We both glanced up at him and my heart crashed to my feet. Chen scrambled backwards with trembling lips before taking off down at the street. I watched him go with fear. He knew.

  I turned back to Lloyd with a terrified, apologetic twist to my face. This was the exact thing I was afraid of.

  "I'm-"

  "Don't apologise," Lloyd said as he turned back to me. "No one will believe him. And if they do, we have safety measures. You think you were the first one to figure me out?"

  It was a weak attempt at a joke but I smiled nonetheless. The sombre tone was starting to get to me, and with the excitement dying down, the pounding in the back of my head was growing.

  Still, I pushed it aside. Lloyd looked rattled and lost. He didn't know what to do with himself.

  "Are you okay?"

  "Yeah," he breathed. His brow furrowed with deep-set confusion over his dark, maroon eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm not usually like... that. I don't know what's going on."

  "Your eyes..." I murmured.

  He turned away, blinking rapidly, until they were green once more. Before I could jump to say that I liked them, he was carefully turning me back around to survey the wound. He sighed.

  "Ice, fall in," I heard him mutter. Oh, great. Now I got to look like a bumbling fool in front of Zane again. I closed my eyes in shame.

  "How was the beach?" Lloyd asked in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. His cold palm cupped my head again.

  "How did you..?" I looked down at my beach attire and the sand stuck to my legs. "Oh. It was good. How was your fight?"

  "It was good," Lloyd murmured. He didn't sound entirely present. I decided to bring up my own topic and sneaked a narrowed-eyed look back at him.

  "How did you know I hurt myself?" I asked suspiciously. "Are you stalking me or something?"

  "No." Lloyd looked at me as though the mere thought was absurd. "I was passing by on my patrol when I heard you."

  I stared at him.

  "You heard me-?" My mouth dropped as a thought suddenly struck me. I lowered my voice to an incredulous whisper. "Do you have- do you have super-hearing?"

  Lloyd made a so-so motion with his hand.

  "Oh, my god." I laughed in shock and winced when it made my head hurt. "You're literally Superman. What do you hear right now?"

  "Your heart," he replied. "Racing really fast."

  I stumbled away. Lloyd stepped with me, hands outstretched in worry. I quickly backed up a few steps with wide eyes.

  "How about now? Do you still hear it?"

  "Y/n, you've hit your head," Lloyd reminded.

  "Just humour me!" I begged. He huffed at me before relenting. At his nod, I backed up even more. "Now?"

  "Yes," Lloyd said dryly. "Can I check you for a concussion, now?"

  "No," I said, and limped-sped to the end of the street. Lloyd watched me expressionlessly. "Now?"

  "Yes - Jesus, Y/n, you could really be hurt."

  "I'm fine!" I insisted, just as a wave of pain made me teeter. "Maybe not."

  I held my head with a hiss between my teeth as Lloyd crossed the distance I'd surpassed. He replaced his cold hand at the back of my head.

  "I oughta keep you locked up just so you don't get any more hurt," Lloyd muttered. He exhaled with a guilty look in his green eyes. "This is my fault."

  I peeked up at him, confused. "How?"

  "He targeted you because we were together," he said quietly. "I'm so sorry, Y/n."

  "Quite frankly, I don't think he's gonna target either of us anymore," I pointed out. "I'm pretty sure he pissed his pants."

  Lloyd didn't look amused. "Did I scare you?"

  I hesitated. There was one thing I really wanted to say and it could quite possibly be what he really needed to hear. But it was also embarrassing as hell, and I didn't know how much more embarrassment I could take before I withered away into a husk of my former self.

  Lloyd took my silence for something else and turned his head with a look of self-loathing. I bit my lip and weighed the pros against the cons - but ultimately realised that I would absolutely, at any time, sacrifice my dignity just to see him happy. Besides, it wasn't as if I had much of it left at this point.

  "I thought it was hot," I blurted.

  Lloyd's gaze snapped back to me in shock. Pink bloomed from the edges of his mask and my own face grew inconceivably warm. I couldn't look him in the eyes.

  "Violence bad, yes," I continued, voice a little more pitched than I would've liked, "but... yeah. It was kind of hot."

  Lloyd continued to stare at me and I felt my mortification ascend to levels I didn't even knew existed. Maybe that was a bad idea. Knowing Lloyd, he was going to make fun of me for admitting that as soon as things calmed down, and then I wouldn't get to live it down ever.

  Thankfully, a dark shape flying overhead managed to tear this startled silence. I glanced up and found a white dragon circling the street in preparation for landing. Awesome. Time for more embarrassment.

  Zane's dragon looked... kind of like how Zane felt. Refined, sharp and collected. The pearlescent beast was streamlined in a way that Lloyd's dragon wasn't, and looked more eel-like in build with massive wings that came to a sharp tip.

  And it came right for me.

  I stumbled back into Lloyd's chest and yelped when another dragon stuck its muzzle into my stomach for pats. The affectionate purr it made starkly contrasted the sharp shape of its eyes, but its pupils were fully dilated as it gazed hopefully up at me. I stared down at it in shock as it crooned and slowly blinked.

  "Uh." I looked up to Lloyd for an explanation. But, much like with his own dragon, he had none.

  "Interesting." A calm voice spoke from above. I glanced up and found Zane leaning down to curiously watch his dragon beg for pets from my raised hands. "It seems the element likes you."

  Before I got a chance to ask what that meant, a second person dropped from the back of the dragon.

  "Mum?" Lloyd said in surprise. I felt my heart sink for the millionth time that day, because of course his mother was here. Literally just kill me. End it now. "What are you doing here?"

  "We were collecting samples from the base of the Alps when you called," Misako said from behind her mask. She turned to me and her brown eyes softened with warmth. "Y/n, what a nice surprise."

  "Hi," I awkwardly greeted.

  "Y/n's hit her head," Lloyd said to Zane. "You're better than me with checking that kind of stuff." He sent a hesitant look Misako's way. "Mum, can I speak with you?"

  I watched the two Garmadons walk a few steps away before hesitantly looking back at Zane. The last time I saw him, he'd been cryptically quizzing me about how well I could keep Lloyd's secret while I mentally whittled away to nothing. I couldn't help thinking that I kept making bad impressions.

  The dragon disappeared with a burst of white mist and the ninja soundlessly dropped to the concrete. He approached, rifling through his packs.

  "Salutations," Zane greeted, before quickly checking my eyes for a concussion with a tiny torch. When he was satisfied, he gestured for me to turn and I quietly obeyed. He hummed after a moment of study. "It seems to only be a nasty knock."

  "Yep," I murmured.

  A hand stuck out beside me. "Chew this. It will help with the pain."

  I stared down at Zane's outstretched hand. On it was a single strip of wood. I blinked in bewilderment and picked it up, turning it for inspection.

  "It's... a piece of bark."

  "Indeed," Zane said. I winced when he began dabbing the blood from my head with a rag. "From the willow tree. It is a natural painkiller."

  "Uh... okay." I placed the bark on my tongue and chewed down on it. A sudden, overwhelming woodsy-bitter taste coating my tongue had me cringing and holding back a gag.

  Zane was amused when he spoke next. "My apologies. I should have warned you that it does not taste particularly well."

  "It's fine," I all but whimpered through my mouthful of bark. I removed it from my tongue and I cleared my throat, trying not to wince too much when he pressed a cloth against the wound to stop the bleeding. "Sorry we keep meeting like this. It's probably annoying."

  "Not at all," Zane countered. "You are pleasant to be around, Y/n. You are a warm person, and I should know."

  He should know? I edged my head to the side in confusion and Zane eyed me with a small smile, waiting for the pin to drop. My lips parted in surprise when it fell - did he just make a joke? Because he was the Master of Ice?

  His smile grew a touch when I weakly grinned.  

  My gaze turned back to Lloyd as he spoke with his mother, his pretty face pinched with concern. My worry grew. The anger he exhibited was nothing I'd ever seen from him before - even when Chen was heckling him to his face, he was resigned and managed to keep his cool. I was the one who'd snapped.

  "Is he okay?" I murmured, now fully aware that Lloyd could hear me even when I was having private conversations. "He... wasn't himself."

  Zane followed my concerned gaze and sighed softly. He seemed to understand what I was implying.

  "The Green Ninja is... different than the rest of us," Zane said quietly. "His path started him young and that fundamentally altered him. It is as though he is on a separate frequency than everyone else." Zane's eyes dropped back to me. "He may sometimes lash out, but he is getting better at learning to control it. He... did not get to grow like the rest of us. He may stumble from time to time."

  No kidding. I couldn't picture anyone being completely normal after getting the hand Lloyd had been dealt. A short temper was nothing compared to what could be.

  "Is there anything I can do?" I asked.

  "You are doing enough already." Zane's voice had warmed and my worry softened a little with it. "The Green Ninja is an enigma at best. I implore you to be patient with him - he is troubled, but he truly is the best of us."

  I turned my eyes back to Lloyd. Yeah, that made sense. He was a mystery.

  "Alright, enough gossiping," Lloyd said with a meaningful look Zane's way as he and his mother returned. "I'm gonna take Y/n home."

  "She can come back with us?" Misako eagerly suggested.

  "And give her more of a headache?" Lloyd pointed out. "No." He glanced down at me and backtracked. "Unless you want to?"

  My head gave another pound of pain and I thanked god that I had an excuse to avoid meeting a bunch of people I wasn't emotionally prepared for. Thank you, Hero. I inched a bit behind Lloyd. "Uh... next time?"

  "Okay, honey," Misako said warmly, and if she was put down by my tentative refusal, she didn't show it. She patted my cheek in a way that mothers did. "Heal fast."

  I smiled small. "I'll try my best."

  Zane and Misako soon left, leaving Lloyd and I alone. He summoned his dragon after a quick look around the street - still empty - and it burst into life with a bound towards me.

  "Ahhhhhi," I greeted the dragon nervously. It was already purring as it nudged me for attention, a massive, soft, puppy dog of a creature. I carefully patted its scaled nose and its purr grew into a thunderous crescendo. "Hello."

  "Are you made of dragon nip, or something?" Lloyd smirked.

  "You'd know more than me," I said. The dragon's tail began to wag, smacking into the building beside us and making the ground shake. I looked at Lloyd. "Uh-"

  "Yeah." Lloyd quickly gave me a leg-up onto the saddle before leaping up soon after. Still wagging its tail like a happy hound, the dragon launched into the air and made its way back to my place. 

  When we arrived in my backyard, I checked to see if the coast was clear of my mother and quickly ushered Lloyd inside after I found her in the living room, engrossed with her indoor plants. We snuck past - him far more silent than I - and made it safely to my room.

  "How are you going to tell your mum?" Lloyd asked after shutting the door behind us.

  "Oh, she's used to this," I said nonchalantly. Clambering onto my bed, I turned back and found him frozen, mask half-off. I grinned at his baffled expression. "You think I only became a danger magnet after meeting you?"

  He exhaled through his nose in humour before dropping the mask to my desk. I stared at it curiously from my bed - it was a symbol of so much to so many people, and he carelessly discarded it atop my laptop like it was no big deal.

  I felt myself smile despite the pain in the back of my head. I was lucky to meet him. I was so, so lucky. It made my heart thrum with appreciation and something a little more, something that spooked me a bit. I pushed the feeling away and decided to deal with it later.

  "Hey," I said, and held out my hands. Lloyd took them and stepped toward me when I reeled him in. I was suddenly bold - or maybe I had just really, really hit my head. "Lie down with me."

  Lloyd hesitated. He glanced around uncertainly while his cheeks grew pink. "On the bed?"

  No, on Mars. But my sarcasm was destined to remain in my head and my confidence was a fleeting thing. I tugged on his fingers again and quietly, shyly, nodded.

  Lloyd hovered for a second. He looked like he'd been given an instruction in an entirely different language and stared at the bed, lost and flushed.

  Just when I thought he was going to break down or flee, Lloyd took a tiny shuffle towards the edge of the bed. His gaze fluttered to me again before clambering aboard the mattress. He sat, perched like a cat with our hands still entwined, eyes wide as he stared at me.

  "Now what?" he asked.

  I glanced at the pillow and back at him. My brows raised in amusement. "Lie down?"

  "Oh." Lloyd leant backwards until his head hit the pillow. He stared at the ceiling as though he was afraid to blink. I bit my lip and tried not to break into a fit of the giggles.

  Statuesque, Lloyd looked at me, said "am I doing it right?" and that was when I knew he was pulling my leg. I shook my head with a snort.

  "Stop," I complained. "Don't make me laugh. My head hurts."

  "Sorry, doll," he said, and opened his arms in invitation. I felt my soul trill at the pet name and carefully laid beside him. Lloyd reached an arm around my head and pressed his cool palm to where I was sore, making me sigh in relief. "Better?"

  I nodded. He smiled softly and pressed his lips against my forehead. My lashes fluttered and I watched through foggy eyes as my fingertip traced the small, golden emblem that stuck out on the black of his suit. I wondered why he chose to have gold there, and why none of the others had gold on theirs.

  So many questions about the enigma of the boy before me. I should start writing them down.  

  We existed in comfortable silence for a second, and the only sound was our soft breathing, the sparrow on the tree outside my window, and the rare car driving past. My hand rested on his chest and my eyes grew heavy. I didn't know if I grew drowsy because of my head or simply because the smell of summer rainstorms and spring meadows lulled me into a state of peace.

  I let my eyes close. I could stay cuddled against Lloyd forever.

  "I'm going away next week," Lloyd whispered against my hairline. My lidded eyes opened a little at his comment.

  "Where?"

  "Don't know," he replied. "It's another one of my uncle's boot camps."

  I shifted my chin up to watch his face. His eyes were closed.

  "How long?"

  "A week." He drew my hand up to brush his lips against my knuckles. "A few other elemental masters will be watching over the city. I've told them to keep an eye out for you."

  The softness I was feeling drained away at his words. I lifted myself from his chest, wide awake. His hand slipped from me. "You didn't."

  Lloyd's eyes remained closed. My mouth dropped open.

  "Lloyd," I chastised through a soft laugh and pushed at his chest. His green eyes peeked open. "You're absurd."

  "What's absurd is how many times a week you get into trouble," he countered with a smirk. "You really take on the roll of damsel in distress."

  I rolled my eyes. "I'm gonna make you distressed soon."

  "With the amount of times I've had to save you? I live in a state of distress."

  Drama queen. I just sighed through my nose and dropped my chin onto his chest. His hand automatically returned to cooling the back of my head.

  "I'm gonna miss you," I mumbled. If this was me a month ago, I'd kick me for being so outwardly pathetic - but I couldn't help it. "What am I gonna do for a week?"  

  Merriment twinkled in Lloyd's eyes. He liked the fact that he'd be missed. "What you did before you met me."

  I groaned in heartbreak. "I can't go back to that." I rested my arm across his chest and raised my head with a tilt and a pout. "You've ruined me, Lloyd Garmadon."

  He smiled softly and ran a thumb over my jutted bottom lip. His fingers hooked against the corner of my jaw and drew me forward, and I let him. I'd let him lead me anywhere.

  "Guess I'll just have to kiss you better," Lloyd murmured, before sliding his lips over mine.

🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃

  Seeing Lloyd in casual clothes again was like being thrown back into last week. He traded his uniform for a branded shirt and pale shorts, and it felt as though we were just a regular couple, about to meet up with three of his regular friends.

  (Alas, his friends weren't regular. His friends were part of the vigilante group of super-powered teens that saved the world every other Tuesday)

  As much as I appreciated Lloyd in his form-hugging, flattering ninja gi - and trust me, I appreciated it - seeing him in everyday clothes brought forth a sense of relief. He didn't have to fight. He could relax.

  "Ready?" Lloyd asked when I opened up the front door to reveal him. I nodded nervously and took his outstretched hand.

  We were planning to meet three members of his team at a noodle shop - Skylor's, he said, because they all knew her and she knew them. I could barely sleep the night before. Meeting new people was bad enough, but meeting members of the ninja team? Meeting people Lloyd considered family? It was too much.

  My anxiety must've been palpable, because Lloyd squeezed my hand and dropped his lips to the shell of my ear.

  "You don't have to be so worried," Lloyd reassured as we walked down my street toward the city. "It's only going to be three of them."

  "That's still three really powerful people," I said.

  "You were fine with me."

  "Yeah, but that's because you were a dork and flirted with me," I pointed out. I turned to see Molly in the middle of pruning the rose bushes out the front of her house. "Oh, hi, Molly!" 

  Molly raised with a bright smile, only for it to fall in shock when her eyes landed on Lloyd. She quickly stuck her clippers into her belt and hurried inside. I frowned.

  "Joys of being me," Lloyd muttered. I glanced up at his downturned face and my frown deepened, so I rose myself onto my toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

  "A lot of people are blind to good things," I said quietly. "You're the best of things."

  He glanced down at me. "Did you get that from a book?"

  "Yes," I said, matter-of-fact. "It's called 'Lloyd Garmadon is the Cutest Boy Alive.' Thrilling read. Five stars."

  He couldn't help the laugh that escaped him. "You're such a moron."

  "A moron with a really good book," I mused.

  Lloyd laughed again, and my smile brightened. It was a good thing he liked my dry humour - I loved being able to make him laugh. It was a good skill to have during times like these. Moment over, we spent the rest of the walk mulling over what we'd order and arguing which dish was better.

  "Here we are," Lloyd said as we stopped outside of Skylor's Noodle House. He sent a soft look down at me. "Ready?"

  I stared at the door nervously. "No. Let's go." 

  With a quirk of his smile, Lloyd opened the door and ushered me inside.

  Skylor's Noodle House looked like most noodle houses, with traditional paints hanging overhead and booths lining the walls. What made Skylor's different, however, was the rolling escalator of fresh dishes that sat in the middle of the place.

  The delicious smell of noodles and other savoury delights hit me instantly and my mouth watered. Skylor's had quickly become a favourite place of mine, and the fact that she was friendly with the team was even better.

  "Can you believe a nineteen-year-old runs this place?" Lloyd asked as we scanned the booths for his team. "Makes me feel inadequate."

  I sent him a bewildered look. "If you feel inadequate, then what does that make me?"

  Lloyd turned his green eyes to me. "My favourite person?"

  I melted. Okay. Off the hook.

  One of the louder booths was filled with five teens and, when Lloyd spotted them, he tensed. With a short huff he beelined it over towards them. I followed after him slowly, hesitant and unsure.

  "What the hell?" Lloyd said in disbelief as he stopped before the table, face twisted with a scowl. "I said three. Not all of you!"

  'All of you' referred to the five vaguely familiar teenagers that lounged in the booth before us. I already knew Zane's face well, and Cole I was a little more aware of, but the other two brunets and the girl were completely foreign to me.

  "We tried to," the brunet with gelled hair and amber eyes said, "but then it got difficult to decide and nobody wanted to be left out, so." He shrugged.

  I half-hid behind Lloyd as I stared at the group. Aside from having eyes perhaps a shade or two too intense, they looked like completely normal teenagers. But I knew better. My stomach twisted with nerves.

  The girl with black hair - the water ninja - pushed herself from the seat and grabbed my hand to give it a firm shake. My arm almost popped from its socket.

  "It's so good to finally meet you!" Nya said as she pulled back, ignoring Lloyd's disapproving frown. She rolled her grey eyes. "You would not believe how many times I had to play damage control with this guy."

  "... oh?" I said.

  "You should thank me in your wedding vows," she added, dead-serious, and I'm pretty sure I blacked out for a brief moment in shock. The table laughed.

  "Nya!" Lloyd hissed, and I'm sure I was blushing just as much as he was. "Shut up!"

  "Aw, look at Lloyd's face!" Cole chuckled. "I've never seen him so embarrassed before."

  "Welcome to my team, Y/n," Lloyd said with half-hearted bitterness. He sent me an apologetic look while they snickered. "Sorry about them. I would've thought they'd know how to listen, but I guess they're all selectively deaf."

  I smiled a little. "It's okay." I am already well and truly overwhelmed.

  "Sit by me!" the curly haired boy with a face full of freckles said. He patted the seat beside him eagerly. "We're just about to order - oh, have you had their chicken gyoza? It's so good! And the donburi is, too! I prefer rice over noodles with my donburi but what do you like? Have you tried their spring rolls? They're so good and not as greasy as other places-"

  "This here is my boyfriend, Jay," Nya said after slapping her hands over his mouth. "He doesn't know when to be quiet."

  Jay whined behind her palm. She pressed a quick kiss to the crown of his curly hair and nodded towards where the other brunet was purposefully looking away from their affection, tongue stuck out in disgust. "That's my brother, Kai."

  "You already know Zane," Lloyd jumped in. The Ice Ninja lifted a hand in a polite greeting. "And the one on the end is Cole."

  Cole, who I faintly knew, beamed at me from over the menu his nose was just stuck in. Lloyd sent me an amused smile.

  "He's a foodie. If you have trouble picking something, he'll know what's best."

  "Foodie that can't cook," Kai muttered, only to be kicked from under the table. He yelped. "Hey!"

  I smiled despite the nerves rolling in my stomach. They were just like they were at the monastery - excitable, almost too-friendly, and hilarious. They really were just a bunch of rowdy teens.

  I did end up sitting next to Jay, and Lloyd took the other spot beside me. I quietly flickered my eyes over the team as I tried to work out which ninja was who - Zane and Nya were easy, but the other three had me scratching my head.

  I supposed it didn't really matter. What mattered was that they were having a discussion about the new Starfarer movie and kept asking for my opinion. Despite my stage fright whenever their eyes would turn to me, I felt myself soften beneath their attention.

  It'd been a long time since I felt included. It had a blossoming warmth blooming in my chest and I soon found myself smiling along with their loud laughter.

  Lloyd must've noticed this, too, because when I glanced up at him, he was watching his team with a grateful smile. He looked down at me.

  "Good?" he quietly asked.

  "Yeah." I nodded, and was content with just how much I meant it. "Good."