Chapter Text
Morro called later that same week, sounding in good spirits. He said the weather had turned, the rain leaving in favor of crisp, cool mornings when he claimed he could see all of Ninjago from the mountaintops. Lloyd couldn’t bear to break the news to his cousin. He’d dithered about it all week - should he tell Morro? If he had really left in anger, Lloyd didn’t want to get dragged into that. But his cousin deserved to know. Maybe he could give Lloyd some advice. Maybe he would come back - or maybe he’d come back only to be angry at Lloyd instead of Wu.
So despite having spent nearly a week going over it in his mind, Lloyd went the entire phone call without saying anything. Morro must have noticed something was up before he hung up, because he asked if Lloyd was alright. Lloyd made up something about a school project, guilt eating at him while he did it.
Two weeks later, Lloyd got a thick envelope in the mail – no return address, but once he opened it he knew it must be Morro. It was a scrap of canvas, about three by eight inches, with an oil painting. The painting must have been done at the top of the mountain range, because it showed Ninjago from above.
Pinned to the back, beneath a scrawled signature reading Andrea, Mountain of Impossible Height, was a note - Met a hermit painter yesterday. Helped save one of her goats from drowning so she gave me a painting.
Lloyd smiled and pinned the small painting up, wishing he could thank Morro. He’d have to next time his cousin… called…
Lloyd remembered the news he had yet to break to Morro, and sighed.
For once, Morro was in an actual town when he called Lloyd.
It had roads, and buses, and gas stations, and pay phones, and everything a real town had. It was nothing like the city, of course, but Morro had been hiking through Ninjago’s wildest corners for over a year, so to him it felt like a technological marvel. Even if they were still so far away that the phone signals could be a little spotty.
He’d been here for a few days, picking up odd jobs so he could restock his supplies. Three nights ago, the first time Morro had been here, he’d called his cousin. Lloyd had thanked him for the painting, and they’d talked, but Morro had the same sneaking suspicion that something was wrong with his cousin.
He’d pried a little harder, this time - poking at Lloyd, asking about school, his training, his teammates… Morro hated being so far from his cousin, even if it was for Lloyd’s good too, in a way. Wu had been clear - and Morro would find a way to make this prophecy happen, damnit.
But Lloyd, once again, had blown smoke about this and that and ultimately refused to answer the question. The reception had worsened steadily over the course of their conversation, and eventually Morro had let it go and given in to the battle against the phone.
Morro was going to call again tonight, and this time, he’d make Lloyd open up. Just because he couldn’t be in the city right now didn’t mean he couldn’t still support his family.
He found a pay phone in a secluded corner and fed it his coins, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes. If he concentrated, he could pretend he was standing in Aunt Koko’s kitchen, and Lloyd was standing next to him.
“Hello?” Lloyd’s voice answered, after only one ring.
“Hey, Lloyd,” Morro said.
“Morro!” Lloyd’s voice hushed a little, and it sounded like he was walking. “Hang on, one second. Guys, I’ll be right back!” He hollered. “Okay, we’re good,” he said a few moments later. “We’re training in the warehouse right now.”
“Oh,” Morro said, shifting. “Is Wu there?”
“Nah, not right now,” Lloyd said. “How are you? You never call this soon after, are you-”
“I’m fine,” Morro reassured. “I’ve been in the same town for a few days.”
The phone cut out and Morro had to repeat himself twice. They continued their conversation.
“That’s good,” Lloyd was saying. “Nice to have a break-”
“Yeah, Lloyd, look,” Morro finally interrupted. “Is something wrong?”
Lloyd took far too long to answer. “No,” he said finally. As if it dawned on him that he wasn’t fooling anyone, he continued, “I mean, I’m just tired, yknow? Lots of training, and Wu is hard to understand sometimes, and having friends is new too,” he babbled, laughing nervously like he always did when he was trying to pull one over on Morro. The connection sputtered again briefly, cutting off whatever else his cousin was trying to say.
“Uh huh,” Morro said dryly, once Lloyd’s voice was clear again. “Look, Lloyd,” Morro cut him off gently. “You know you can always talk to me, right? I’m in your corner, even out here.”
“Well… yeah,” Lloyd said, sounding hesitant. His voice trailed off again though.
“C’mon, kiddo,” Morro cajoled. He wished he was there , so he could - could hug Lloyd, squeeze his shoulder, ruffle his hair. Anything other than pressing his head helplessly into the side of a phone booth on the other side of the world. “Is it your new team? Or… fighting your dad? Nobody’s forcing you, yknow-”
“No,” Lloyd said hurriedly. “My team is great, I just…”
Silence again. “Lloyd,” Morro said gently. “You can tell me anything. Anything . And I’ll still love you, and try to help you.”
“Anything?” Lloyd said after a moment, sounding a little winded.
“Of course,” Morro reassured.
Suddenly Lloyd was speaking quickly again, racing to get the words out in a babble of nervousness. “Even, even if it made you mad? Like, really mad? And, and I should have told you last week … when I found out, but I didn’t, so I’ve kind of been lying to you, and I didn’t want to I just couldn’t … out how to say … but I-”
“Lloyd, Lloyd,” Morro said, trying to cut him off and having to repeat himself several times. He smacked the side of the phone box in frustration. (It did not help.)
“Lloyd, come on, I could never be mad at you,” he soothed. “Just tell me, okay? I promise. I love you, buddy.”
“O-okay,” Lloyd said. Silence again - Morro could almost picture his baby cousin screwing up his courage. “Last week, Master Wu talked to me about the ninja, and said a bunch of stuff I didn’t really understand, and he told me about elements,” he said finally, in a rush, and between the hurried words and fritzes of static Morro felt the first inkling of a terrible horror rising in him. “And, everyone on my team has an element, even Nya and Master Wu said he hadn’t expected that? But he told me that my element was just the color green, and that I’m something called the Green Ninja, and he said… that was why you left.”
Morro was gobsmacked, shocked into silence for a precious few seconds.
And, of course, to his horror, in the moment it took for him to begin to rally himself and - and deal with that kind of revelation - the call clicked and ended, beeping a helpful connection broken recording at him before going silent.
Morro had tried to call Lloyd back three times before giving up and storming - literally, he’d noticed some suspiciously strong gusts of wind as he left - out of the phone booth.
He was staying in the cheapest inn he could find, so Morro returned there to… process.
Lloyd. Lloyd was the Green Ninja .
And evidently thought Morro would hate him for it, or something. Something Wu had said?
Morro groaned. Of course Wu would think that - that Morro had left in anger . Well, okay, he’d been pretty upset when he’d left the Bounty. But , it was more than warranted - Wu had taken Morro in, had trained him his entire life , to be the Green Ninja - and then suddenly decided that Morro wasn’t good enough .
And that… hurt. When Morro ran away, he had only been thinking about his failure , how upset he was that he wasn’t enough for the first person to ever see something in him. But after, once he’d started to cool down… Morro had known that even if he wasn’t the Green Ninja or whatever, there were other ways to save Ninjago. There were relics, and powerful ones, out there. Morro might not be destiny’s ace in the hole, but he would change the deck of cards if he had to. And he’d been looking for something that could do that ever since.
Because being the Green Ninja wasn’t just about being good enough for his father - it wasn’t just about the honor. It was a responsibility , terrible and heavy, to all of Ninjago . It was forever, it was servitude, it was the laying down of his own life to save Ninjago, if need be. And Wu had - had raised him, trained him, ever since that fateful day when he took Morro in, to submit to that responsibility, to be prepared for the toll and the weight of it.
So even though suddenly Morro wasn’t the prophesied savior or whatever, he still had the… need, he supposed, to save Ninjago . He still felt that responsibility acutely. And if he couldn’t save Ninjago from her intended doom the prophecy-on-crumbling-parchment way, he’d save it the storm-the-cloud-kingdom way.
But now… suddenly the game had changed again.
The Green Ninja had been found - and it was Lloyd , no less.
Suddenly, all that weight, honor, responsibility… it was Lloyd’s burden to bear now.
And Morro found himself faced with a terrible decision.
He could continue his quest - the mission he’d worked towards for so long, and try to prove himself right. Morro could feel the draw of it - to keep - keep sulking , in a way, he realized. To hold onto his anger, his hurt , the betrayal he’d felt when Wu had said It’s not you, Morro , and to force destiny to bend itself for him.
Or… he could die to himself, put his hurt and the part of him that wanted Wu to know he’d been wrong , to the side, and go help his baby cousin. His baby cousin who was now saddled with the destiny of fighting his own father , albeit a terrible one, but still. Lloyd, fighting to defend a city that hated him. Lloyd, alone. His little team wasn’t good enough. Wu with his cryptic word games and his expectations wasn’t good enough . Lloyd needed Morro .
So, when it really came down to it…
Morro’s mission… it was important to him. It had felt like redemption - the chance to tell Wu look, even if I’m not the Green Ninja I’m still good enough . But suddenly, he had new information. The situation had changed. Now, it was a question of what was more important to Morro. His own pride, his out hurts, his own redemption, or his cousin - who had been so worried to tell him, so scared to lose his cousin, when his cousin had… already abandoned him.
With the best of intentions, perhaps, but abandoned all the less.
It was too late, Morro realized. Too late to save Lloyd from this responsibility. All he could do now for his cousin was to return, to support him to the best of his ability, to give him the best odds possible. Wu’s approval be damned - Morro was a grown man, he could figure it out or deal with it. Lloyd was more important to him than this quest.
That decided, Morro set about packing. He could catch a ride down the mountain tomorrow, and a train from there - straight back to Ninjago City.
Lloyd was sitting on the roof of his apartment complex with his head in his hands.
Two days ago he’d told Morro about… it . And it had gone… well, it had gone.
He groaned.
Lloyd’s mom didn’t know what was wrong - she didn’t know about any of the Ninja stuff. But she knew something had happened, and she was trying to make him feel better, but it just felt kind of suffocating so he was maybe-hiding on the roof. Maybe-hiding because his mom was a ninja and probably knew where he was but was opting to give him some space.
Lloyd had such a great mom.
He held in another dramatic sigh as he watched the skyline. Usually he’d go for a run to clear his mind - there was something soothing about roof-hopping through the city, seeing and hearing people’s lives without being seen or heard. Lloyd could see families, friends, parties, dates, greetings, small talk - all the little things that made life, and Ninjago City, worth protecting. It made it easier.
But he felt drained. Morro was probably furious; or worse, devastated. And Lloyd couldn’t even call him , or send a letter , or go - run away and find him, or something.
Lloyd had only seen Uncle Wu once since that fateful conversation - he hadn’t been… avoiding him, per se. Lloyd had been busy , completely organically and with no cause for alarm. But when he’d seen him, he couldn’t get thoughts of Morro out of his head. Morro, who was mad at Wu, and now maybe Lloyd; and Wu, who missed his son so desperately; and Lloyd, who was caught in between.
Lloyd closed his eyes, and listened to the slowing-down evening bustle of the street below.
Maybe he could just stay up here forever, and not deal with any of it.
Lloyd heard the gentle snick of the rooftop door and inhaled, trying to pull himself together a little bit.
“Look, Mom, I’m really okay,” Lloyd began, making to turn so he could give his mother a smile.
Morro stood on the roof, wind tossing his hair to the side playfully as he looked at Lloyd.
Lloyd froze.
“Morro,” he stammered, and stopped, because before he had a chance to finish that thought, Morro had surged forward to wrap him up in a hug.
“Lloyd,” Morro said forcefully, hands pressing Lloyd’s face into his shoulder. Lloyd was slack with surprise - at seeing Morro, at the hug, at everything - but it was nice, to be wrapped up in his cousin’s arms again.
“Morro?” Lloyd squeaked. “You’re… here?”
“Of course,” Morro whispered passionately. “Of course , Lloyd - I’m sorry I didn’t call back, I left as soon as you told me.”
“...really?” Lloyd asked hesitantly. “You- I thought you were- aren’t you upset?”
“Not with you,” Morro promised, finally releasing Lloyd and grasping his shoulders to look him in the eye. “Never with you.”
His cousin’s angular face was much as Lloyd remembered, though his hair was shorter - back to his older chin-length preference, so he must have cut it recently. His eyes held an intense seriousness, though. It forced Lloyd’s panicking mind into a halt.
“Really? Even with…” he trailed off, unable to say it. “Uncle Wu said you were mad - and you’ve been gone for so long,” he said.
Morro didn’t break his eye contact. “I was mad,” he admitted. “But mostly I was hurt, and… confused. It’s a long story. But I haven’t been mad, at least about that, for a long time. Wu doesn’t know everything ,” he joked weakly.
“I left after Wu told me I couldn’t be the Green Ninja,” Morro said, releasing Lloyd’s shoulders, and the weighty command of his gaze. “Because I wanted to find another way to protect Ninjago,” he said. “A way to change destiny, if you will,” he smiled faintly at a joke Lloyd didn’t get.
“And I stayed away, in part, because…” he swallowed. “I was hurt, Lloyd. Wu and I…” he trailed off. “I’m staying,” Morro said. “I’ve made up my mind. And I guess Wu and I will need to reconcile sooner or later. We have things to hash out - I guess… we both made mistakes.”
“Wu misses you,” Lloyd managed to bite out, and he wondered why that was what his brain allowed him to verbalize. “A lot .”
“I know,” Morro whispered. “Aunt Koko told me when she sent me up here.”
Lloyd’s head spun briefly.
“Anyways,” Morro said. “I was - I still am, sometimes - upset with Wu. But I don’t need to be the Green Ninja to protect Ninjago,” he said. “And if… if you’re the Green Ninja… then I want to protect you .”
Lloyd swallowed. “Really?” he said. All this time, all this worry…
“Really,” Morro said, with absolute surety in his voice. Suddenly, he dropped to a knee, one hand gripping Lloyd’s. “I vow,” he said, and suddenly the words had a terrible kind of potency to them, “to protect you, to support you , no matter the cause, no matter the opposition, in battle and out.”
“Woah- wait,” Lloyd said, backing up a little.
Morro stood back up, slowly. Lloyd’s cousin was always earnest, but this was a new level of intensity from him.
“Just… just how serious is this Green Ninja stuff?” Lloyd asked.
Morro snorted. “Pretty serious,” he admitted. “I’m sure Wu is itching to tell you all about it.” He tugged Lloyd into a side hug and dragged the both of them back into sitting positions, gazing out over the city. “But I’m here, and I’m never leaving again,” he promised. “That was a vow of fealty - it’s an ancient tradition, not that I expect a delinquent like you to care,” he teased. “It means, in fancy words, I’m on your team. Forever, no matter what, for everything.”
Lloyd swallowed. “You don’t have to do that,” he said softly, leaning into his cousin’s side.”
Morro exhaled softly. “You’ve got big things in store, kiddo,” he said, voice regaining just a tint of graveness. “And I’m gonna be right beside you to fight whatever darkness is coming.”
“Thank you,” Lloyd breathed, twisting to hug his cousin again. “I love you,” he added.
“Me too, Lloyd,” Morro said. “Me too.”