BEFORE, LLOYD HAD been pretty cool with not being a Jedi.

Now?

The Academy building alone was enough to convince him. It seemed to tower on upwards out of his eyesight, puffy white clouds swarming above them. Grand marble and white quartz highlighted with lots of greenery and dark wood made up the majority of the building in front of him. One word? Breathtaking. He was a bit jealous now that Morro got to learn in this gigantic fancy school. The campus seemed to sprawl on for ages with beautiful building after beautiful building.

Back on Vareena, the highschool there was adjacent to the younger kids' room in their Mark, and Lloyd certainly had never learned in a classroom like this. They had a large blackboard faded with Vareenan insults still stuck there and a cranky old projector for their school room. So this certainly was an upgrade - just looking at the building, Lloyd knew his parents hadn't been lying.

This looked like a proper academy. Also, one he wouldn't be learning in.

"The school year starts the day after tomorrow, in which the rest of the families and students will be arriving and settling. Down there," Wu gestured downhill where the path split off again. There seemed to be droids worked on furthering and developing the road. "Is a village for the families and workers of Ninjago."

"How come there are so few people here?" Astra blurted out.

Wu glanced to Lloyd's father, hesitating for a moment. "Ninjago was uninhabited before my brother and I purchased the planet."

Purchased. A. Planet?

Astra was thinking the same thing, pointing a finger at their father and uncle. "You two bought an entire planet. Off what income?"

"From our father. And previous work before we had kids." Montgomery replied, thin lipped. He was bristling at his daughter's outwardness and did not appreciate it. "No more questions, Astra."

"No, no, I think that if we're being shipped off to a new planet to visit a school we don't even go to, we deserve some answers. Right Lloyd?"

"Uh, yeah, we want answers. For the people, and all that." Lloyd agreed hastily, not wanting to be knocked to the ground by the more violent of the twins.

Wu sighed, another silent conversation passing between all three of the parents this time. What was it, a parent only super power? After a solid minute of muted arguing between the elders, which Lloyd, Astra and Morro took as a sign to poke around the bus, the kids were called back.

"Astra and Lloyd may meet me in my study so I can answer their queries and qualms. Morro will guide Montgomery and Misako down to the village - Mo is driving, not you, Morro, where he will show you your accommodation and help you unpack. I'll see you for dinner in the Lightning Chicken Inn?"

"Of course, Wu. We best be going, Morro, Monty, we've got lots to do." Misako gently took the others back to the bus, and Wu turned towards Lloyd and Astra.

"Follow me." His uncle instructed, striding off into the Academy.

The ten foot metal-reinforced wood doors threatened to shut on the twins, so they dashed inside after their uncle and ran to keep up with his brisk pace. Wu was quiet as they walked on a balcony that wrapped around a giant circle in the middle of the entrance hall. In the middle, it dropped down all the way at least four or five floors before ending in a lush green landscape below.

The rush of cool water met his ears as they continued down a long corridor, the ground level opening out into more open spaces and classrooms. This place was just as huge as it appeared on the outside. Would there really be that many students?

"In the future, my brother and I hope that these halls will be filled with the chatter of students. Morro and I have been out for a few years searching and recruiting prospective students, so there will be a sizable number starting out." Wu stopped down another corridor that was much smaller and more private than the others.

The dark wood doors had a golden plate nailed to the front reading Headmaster Wu Garmadon. Lloyd spun around and found an identical pair of doors except this one's plate said Headmaster Montgomery Garmadon. So his father and his uncle were co-headmasters of this Jedi Academy. A former farmer and a - Lloyd didn't even know what Wu's previous job was. He knew that little.

What other secrets are they hiding from us, Lloyd? Astra seemed to have reached the same conclusion as they sat in plush, deep purple armchairs in front of Wu's desk.

He didn't respond, watching his uncle carefully carry over a tea tray. When he set it down and sat as well, the teapot began floating and pouring the tea instead of any of the three handling it. Astra's expression was tight as she watched Wu take a long sip.

"Are you and Pa both Jedi?" she asked, leaving her tea alone.

Wu refilled his cup using the Force again, "Of sorts."

"Cut the cryptic—"

"Please explain," Lloyd interrupted his sister. He was holding the hot cup between his hands purely for the warmth; it sort of felt like drinking hot coffee back home, except the cups weren't this fancy.

"Jedi have tolerated many wars, in which our numbers have decreased significantly with every battle. After...such significant events, Jedi were believed to be entirely wiped out. They thought wrong. We still exist, scattered, but alive. Most of us were exiled from the Jedi Order because technically, we aren't allowed to have relationships."

Oh.

Oh shit, echoed Astra's thoughts.

Wu continued without stopping, like he was afraid of stopping and never talking about this again. "My brother fell in love with Misako quickly after he saw her around the Jedi Temple. She's not attuned to the Force, but she was on a months-long research trip and required the use of our archives. She caught his eye quickly. Before, he had quite the string of girls behind and after him."

"They told us they met at a farming convention." Lloyd spluttered. "That is not a Jedi Temple."

"Maybe it was a farming convention at a Jedi Temple." Astra snarked, glaring at Wu. "Carry on, Uncle."

"The Order found out eventually, no matter how hard Mo and Misako tried to hide their relationship. No matter the times I covered for my brother. The Order and I haven't always agreed on some of the rules they believe in. I was reluctant to see my brother's partial exile from the Order, but I had important work to carry on with. A while after, I...fell in love with someone, so I too, was thrown out."

"Partial exile?"

"We agreed with the Jedi Council that we would stay away from everyone and relinquish our connection to the Force. It almost fizzled out of us, for lack of better word, until...sixteen years ago, when I found Morro on my doorstep, and it was like I had never been exiled. I could use the Force once again. It happened to my brother as well, when you two were born."

This is crazy, Lloyd spoke to his sister doubtfully.

A whack tale like this has to have some truth at least. I want to hear more about this so I can grill Ma and Pa later.

"Why start a Jedi Academy? You could have just lived peaceful lives after all the wars. Also, how were you able to live so long? It's crazy." Lloyd breathed out, slowing down his jabber. Wu chuckled lightly, some books and papers on the bookshelves rearranging themselves. The Force, again.

"As per your last question, Jedi live longer lives because of our blood, if we stay alive in battle, that is. The more powerful you are, the more likely it is you'll live longer. And to your first, once our full access to the Force returned, my brother and I noticed... things that set us apart from other Jedi had come back, as well. Another reason as to why the Council were hesitant to completely cut us out. It's rare - more often than not it's due to hereditary genes, actually, which is why it's rare, that a phenomenon called the Elemental Knights which you—"

Wu was cut off by loud ringing on a holodeck which he accepted quickly, sitting up straight. The hazy image of a Bothan male, who looked shorter than the twins at about a meter and a half. The Bothan had long ears that pointed towards the back of its head and ended in sharp points. He also had almost lionish features - a long nose and shaggy hair around his face. He looked a bit surprised to see Wu which was strange since he'd called him, hadn't he?

"Headmaster Wu. I trust the Garmadons have arrived safely?"

"I was just speaking to them, Zaven," Wu's tone took on a more urgent tone as he glanced at the twins. "What do you need?"

"I am currently awaiting the SPS with the next group of Forceborn. I shall contact you once we have arrived in Ninjago."

"May the Force be with you, Zaven."

"May the Force be with you, Wu." And those were Zaven's last words before the holodeck ended the call.

"Zaven is another Jedi coming to teach at the Academy. You would do well to respect him, even if you aren't attending the school."

"Yeah, about that, what are we supposed to do while these Forceborn are doing Jedi stuff?" Astra finally took a sip of coffee and looked pleasantly surprised by the taste. It was actually good stuff, a big caffeine kick in it.

"Attending the local school in the village. As I mentioned before, there are other families that are close friends of the Academy, as well as student's families. Ninjago is slowly growing, but it's a difficult process to get a pass to live here due to the...nature of the planet being dedicated to a Jedi community. A safe haven. My brother and I go through every single application to check if they are trustworthy."

"Woah, that's..."

"Extreme," Astra commented, but she had a very thoughtful expression on her face. Lloyd was still trying to process all of this. "Well Lloyd, we better get back to the village to help Ma and Pa. Later, Uncle Wu."

"Headmaster Wu!" he called as they ran out the doors. "It's Headmaster Wu."

A/N: i just ate noodles, feeling good. I also joined NaNoWriMo but like...not with the months challenge thing? Just wanted a progress tracker and NaNo seems pretty cool. You can find me there literally the same name: dommiewrites, very original. Anyways, just wanted to remind yall that this isn't exactly star wars or ninjago canon (like it's not exactly to every fact cause this is just for fun) have a good day!

- dommie out