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Lloyd stared at the wall, knees hugged tightly to his chest. In celebration of finding out Lloyd was the green ninja, and everyone reaching their true potential, Wu had decided they'd have a special meal with drinks other than just tea and they'd even be allowed to play video games and eat candy after dinner.
Shockingly, not even the promise of candy tempted the young boy. He mentally prepared to put on a grin and fake happiness at this less than ideal revelation. However, he thought about it and realised that there was no point. These people, who he'd once been convinced were the immoral ones, had been there for him more than his mother or father ever had been. All his parents taught him was disappointment and lying to make others happy (or unhappy.)
Lloyd heard footsteps and quickly stood up, pretending to be doodling on his small notebook he'd been given by Zane. "Lloyd! Dinner is ready, come on greenie!" It was Cole. Lloyd looked over at the oldest ninja, somehow unable to hide his fear. He had grown close to Cole, looking up to him as an older brother, or even father figure. "Hey, kid, what's wrong?" Cole knelt beside the tween.
"I don't... I don't know." Lloyd pursed his lips. "I just... I never liked my parents. But the thought that I'm everything they never wanted me to be..." he frowned. Cole simply offered him a hand.
"Zane cooked a feast. You like their food, right?" Lloyd nodded quickly. He adored the nindroid's cooking. So, he was leaf to the dining room by Cole, hiding behind him shyly.
"There's our greenie!" Nya smiled warmly at Lloyd. She had always been so kind to Lloyd, she'd always give him one of her red skittles and would out an extra sugar in his tea. She'd also comforted him after nightmares, as well as repairing his cloak after it would get torn or frayed too much.
As they all sat around the table, passing around food and chattering, Lloyd looked around. This was what he'd always wanted. People who just wanted him... to be him.
"Uh... can I say something?" Lloyd piped up.
"Ooh speech time." Kai teased lightly.
Wu glared at the master of fire before smiling slightly at Lloyd. "Go ahead, Nephew."
"When... when I was little-er, about 4.. I was playing in my father's room. I wasn't supposed to go in there. I accidently slammed the door and one of his bottles of... something fell onto the floor and smashed everywhere. My mother came in and I told her everything." Lloyd didn't dare look at anybody.
"I thought she would yell, o-or... uh... do something more extreme. But instead she told me what we'd tell father. We'd say we weren't even home whilst he was out, that we'd been out shopping and in the park all day, and didn't even know about that bottle." Lloyd took a shakey breath. "She told me it was our word against his."
"-uh... cool story." Jay was understandably confused.
"I'm not finished. So, I hid screw ups from my father and pretended I had friends to please my mum. Whatever made the steak taste better, whatever kept the waters calm. I kept all of their secrets, so they would keep mine." Lloyd dared to look at his uncle. He knew of his mother's affair, knew why his father's brother stopped visiting and why his parents fought.
"As i grew up, I just got dumber. Three times I nearly wrecked my life, three times I've risked bringing Ninjago to ruin. And I thought about what my parents might've said. We never knew the serpentine were real. We'd never go somewhere so cold! We haven't touched our map in years, so we don't care what you might find. It's our word against... theirs." Lloyd sighed. "It doesn't matter the cost, whether money or people...we could erase any inconvenient truths."
"Earlier tonight i suddenly became aware, how would my parents react to... this? What would they have said if Pythor killed me? Or me living with all of you?" Lloyd gulped, looking around. "Our son Lloyd? No he's at Darkly's. He's very happy there, or so we hear. He's always been such a trouble maker, the years go by and now we barely see him. Our son Lloyd? You mean the boy we raised as if our own. We loved him so much he felt like our child but eventually we had to send him away. And it would be their word... against nobody's."
"We're sorry to hear that Lloyd... but is there a meaning behind you opening up to us like this?" Zane asked, they didn't mean to be so blunt.
"They would lie and cheat and hurt anybody to make their lives easier. They never carer about me. We never had family meals, the only late night noise I'd hear would be their arguments. Whenever i asked, they called me stupid and crazy." Lloyd started crying. "Thank you for showing that I can be part of a real family."
Instantly, sets of arms wrapped around the kid, soft comforting words from Cole and Nya. Lloyd let out soft sobs that soon turned into gentle laughter. "Thank you...so much."
Finally, the dog pile disbanded. "Now let's eat before all of Zane's hard work goes cold." Jay grinned, ruffling the blonde's hair. They all enjoyed their meals, and that night was spent as a real family.