THE SMALL VILLAGE Wu had spoken of was actually much larger than he let on. What people around them had called 'Little Ninjago' was fairly sized and looked to be about two Marks big to Astra. From slipping and sliding down a rocky path towards the village, she'd made the observation that Little Ninjago's layout appeared eerily like a maze.

Upon entering one of the four gates in the walls (which looked like they could move and expand on rotoscope engines), Astra and Lloyd were immediately met with a guard at the gate. Wu hadn't been lying, they took security here seriously. After giving their names and being face-scanned as well as fingerprint scanned, the guard deemed them safe enough to enter, and they walked into Little Ninjago.

Luckily, there were plenty of signs in the maze-village, so their journey turned out less confusing than she'd predicted. First, they had to wander to the central part of the village, and the heart of the maze. Like all typical little villages, there was a fountain smack bang in the middle of the centre, spouting clear water from the top, constructed in a way that created a simple water show.

Under the shade of some trees in a square of grass in the corner of the village centre, Astra found a helpful holoboard which gave her information about their new home.

"Welcome to Little Ninjago," read out a cool AI voice. A video played out with her speech, showcasing the village and the planet with cinematic shots. "You are now in the centre of the village. Around this courtyard you may find the Little Ninjago Hall, the Lightning Chicken Inn, Star Grocers, Kali's Meds; doctor and pharmacy, Hyper Post, and the general necessities. Please take a map and familiarise yourself with Little Ninjago."

A small tray stuck out of the holoboard, offering a map each for the twins. Astra took hers and flipped through it quickly, seeing it had all the buildings in the village listed, facts, information and other stuff printed in a neat font.

"Hey, where could I find the Garmadon establishment?" Lloyd spoke up, prodding at the holoboard.

"Establishment?" Astra snickered at his fancy wording.

"Please memorise or take a photo of the route I am now showing. The Garmadon residence is approximately two kilometres away from the town centre. Would you like to walk or take the LN Buggy?"

"The what now bug?" Astra parroted, wheeling around. All she saw were the three other freshly mowed quadrants of grass in the corners of the paved courtyard. They too had trees and benches.

"I think she meant that one," Lloyd turned her back around and pointed outwards.

Astra saw a little hovering buggy flying over to them, slowing to a halt and throwing open the doors on each side.

"Yeah, we'll take the buggy."

o o o

The Little Ninjago Buggy dropped them off exactly at their house, or so Astra assumed by the boxes outside and frantic yelling. Their new house was certainly nicer than the last - with two upper floors, pretty flower boxes outside the windows and a relatively new-house feel to it. She wasn't sure what the feeling was since she'd lived in the same house her entire life.

Please rate your ride! the buggy's screen flashed. Astra pressed the green smiley face and watched as it zoomed back towards the direction of the town centre.

"Lloyd, Astra, come inside and help!" yelled their mother from behind a stack of boxes. Astra didn't even know they had this much stuff - packing it certainly seemed less than unpacking it all.

Astra picked up the closest box and staggered inside with it, the large front door held open by a door stopper named Morro.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be helping?" she panted after her fourth round trip with another box.

"I am," Morro replied casually, "I'm holding the door open."

Astra purposefully dropped a box on his foot and scrambled away from his enraged yells, sniggering as she climbed the winding staircase. Without tripping on the wide stairs, Astra arrived at the top and began snooping through the bedrooms. There were four bedrooms - a master, two smaller ones and a guest room.

Lloyd, we're getting our own rooms!

No way.

I swear, come upstairs.

Morro is pretending to cry though.

So? Let him cry. Salty bastard.

Coming, Lloyd replied, mentally laughing. Astra heard his footsteps before she saw him - and a very loud ow! as he tripped over the stairs.

"Woah...which one's mine?"

"I dunno, you pick," Astra offered.

Lloyd raised a suspicious eyebrow. "O...kay? Am I about to die?"

Astra shook her head, following him as he inspected the two smaller rooms. Both already had basic furniture inside - beds, desks, chairs and storage space, but one was bigger than the other; which had one of the windows out front.

"I'll take this room," Lloyd declared in the bigger one. "You haven't set up booby traps, right?"

"Swear on the Third Moon I haven't." Astra promised truthfully. "We have to finish up before Morro snitches on us."

"Is there even a third moon here?" Lloyd asked quizzically, throwing himself onto his new bed. "I'll be down in a second."

Astra left Lloyd in his room, beginning to haul up her own boxes to her room. There were only a few, mostly clothes, school stuff and personal belongings. Someone had already put fresh sheets on her single bed, so she pushed it up into the corner opposite her window on the same wall as her door.

A small nightstand with drawers for her Pod Daily magazines stood by it. Astra opened the window, letting in cool air and a nice breeze. She put away her clothes (some were a little crumpled but Ma didn't have to know about that), rearranged her room so her abnormally long desk was under the window (it fit perfectly), straightened the carpet and then finished up with the bits and bobs.

Astra could tell from the bumping and loud noises from Lloyd's room that he was also putting all his things away. It would be strange not living in the same room as him anymore, but she couldn't say she hated the prospect of having her own room. Shortly after her contemplation, Misako found her on her bed and instructed both Lloyd and her downstairs to finish the rest of the unpacking.

For the next four hours, the Garmadons (and Morro, who was no longer a doorstop) busied themselves with housework. First they had to clean the rooms not done, which were all on the lower level, and that involved a lot of mopping and scrubbing. Astra caught her father using the tiniest bit of the Force to wash the windows.

"So Uncle Wu isn't lying," she said, arms crossed. The sponges flopped to the ground and her father turned around, heaving a huge sigh.

"He isn't. Astra, binir, it's a lot to take in, for both you and me. The Academy was an inkling of a dream when we were Padawns, and to see it finally starting up is amazing. If you have more questions, I'm an open book."

"In some cases," she answered bitterly, knowing full well there were secrets this 'open book' could refuse. "But I just want to know for now, why did you risk loving Ma if you were exiled?"

"Sometimes love just can't be ignored, Astra. Everytime I look at her I feel like a star is exploding in my chest and suddenly my stomach is doing gymnastics. You can't just ignore that." he replied wistfully, staring out of the window and across the road to their garden.

"Oh."

"One day you'll find someone who makes you feel like that, Astra. If you want someone like that." his eyes were still fixated outside where Misako was chasing Lloyd around the garden, laughing her head off. "Iskava allou."

"Binir mynea, Papa."

o o o

Astra, Lloyd and Morro spent five minutes shamelessly trying to convenience Misako and Montgomery to let them use the LN Buggy Service instead of walking to dinner. The parents did not budge an inch, pushing the protesting kids along the road whilst they argued.

"You need exercise."

"I exercised plenty at home and we've been unpacking and cleaning all day." Lloyd groaned from next to Astra.

"After dinner we can ride it back. Morro, I believe you're staying up in the Academy dorms? Will your father be taking you back?" Misako inquired kindly.

Morro shrugged, stuffing his hands further into the pockets of his ripped leather jacket. "I dunno. He's got a lot of work since school starts in a day."

"You could stay over at ours until it starts? Get out of his hair?" Astra's mother suggested. Morro's eyes lit up a little at the prospect of a sleepover.

"I'll ask him!" Morro exclaimed just as they arrived on the doorstep of the Lightning Chicken Inn. The sky had turned a dusky blue, dotted with stars and shooting streaks of light from hyperspace travel and natural comets.

The Lightning Chicken Inn was one of the larger buildings in the village centre, with two floors and a very rustic, old approach to its decoration. As the Garmadons entered, they were met with a pretty quiet crowd and music playing in the background from a speaker. The bar was to the very left of the door, made out of the same polished wood Astra had seen all around Little Ninjago, the native species to the planet.

The round tables on the bottom floor had a few customers clustered around it, all speaking softly and enjoying the movie playing on the holoscreen. Astra spotted a staircase up to the second floor, which was barred off with a gate, and a trapdoor which probably led down to a cellar of sorts. The barkeep - innkeeper - whatever, set down a cleaned beer glass and gestured to a large table in the back.

"Master Wu is waitin' for yeh, Monte," the gruff half human, half Ferroan (at least Astra guessed by his faint blue skin) said. His long, black hair was pulled back into a ponytail and he twisted to holler at an almost hidden door at the very back of the dining room. "Marie! New customers!"

Out came a girl carrying two trays whilst balancing a third in her hands. Maybe his daughter, older than Astra, and very light on her feet as she deposited plates, bowls, and cups at other tables. Astra sat down with the rest of her family, greeting Uncle Wu who already had a drink in front of him.

"I've ordered us all a round of lamb stew and some sides. I'm afraid I'm very busy finishing the last details for the Academy tonight; Zaven has just arrived and I need to help the new students into the temporary lodgings before they move into the Academy on Monday." the old man sighed long and hard with exhaustion.

"Morro can stay with us until next week, and I'll be up there tomorrow to help you. It's Sunday, tomorrow, right?" her father double checked. The food arrived in steaming wooden bowls, a pot of extra stew and rice in the centre alongside a salad. Astra gave the food a quick run down with her eyes - the consistency, colour, and contents before digging in happily.

"That's perfect, Mo, we should be able to have everything finished by then. Misako, would you also be able to help? All your courses are set up but there are still some things to finalise."

Misako pursed her lips and glanced at the three kids, "I'll admit, I'm a little reluctant to leave the kids on their own"

"Oh, they'll be fine," Wu dismissed it easily, wiping his mouth free of stew, "Your neighbours will appreciate the help, I'm sure."

"That empty house next door? Who's moving in?" Astra piped up in interest. They'd be living next to them for who-knows how long in the future, so it was important to decide if they were foe or friend.

"I believe you know them quite well, Astra. The Smith family?"

A/N: oh yes give em the smith family content (i promise ray and maya aren't as distant in this fic, they work outside ninjago BUT AT LEAST THEYRE HOME FOR ALL THE WEEKENDS DAMMIT) anyways, hope you enjoyed a little more worldbuilding, and some stuff revealed about garmadon and wu! (monty is a misako simp in sod, and he will continue being one here in naj. Fight me.)

- dommie out