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He woke up in a panic. His body jolted as he sat up. He felt cold. sweat dripped from his face as his chest rose and fell rapidly.
When it felt like his breathing calmed down a bit Lloyd brought his knees up to his chest at wrapped his arms tightly around his legs. Remnants of his nightmare lingered in his mind as tears prickled in the corners of his eyes.
He didn't quite understand why he kept getting these reoccurring nightmares. The only thing he really knew is that he wanted them to stop.
Lloyd sobbed, a little too loudly. But he couldn't care less right now. He was scared. Scared of going back to sleep, scared of having to relive the same nightmare, scared of being alone.
Right now he hated being alone. But there's another thing Lloyd is scared of, confiding in other people. He always felt like a burden so he would rather not bother the rest of the monastery residents with his minuscule problem. The other ninja already had so much to deal with, they didn't need to be worrying about Lloyd than they already do, which in Lloyds opinion, was way too much.
In the midst of Lloyds cries, there was a faint knocking sound coming from his door. Lloyd panicked for a second, scrambling to wipe his tears and make it look like he hadn't just been crying.
"Lloyd? It's Kai, everything all right in there?" genuine concern plagued his tone. "Uh- y-yeah I'm alright" Lloyd sniffled. "Can I come in?" it felt as if Lloyd didn't really have a choice, he didn't want to be rude and dismiss him but he'd rather not have him in his room, trying to provide comfort.
Kai already has enough on his plate. Lloyd thought to himself. "Uh yeah I guess.." quietly giving in to Kai's brotherly instincts. The fire ninja shuffled in quietly, closing the door behind him with a soft thump.
"Hey buddy. Sorry, I was about to get some water from the kitchen, then I heard you wake up..." Kai chuckled softly, even though he was definitely worried for the younger boy. "Oh yeah uh... don't worry about that, it was nothing I swear." trying to swerve away from the subject, Lloyd hid away from Kai, laying down with his back turned to him. Trying to use it as a cover up for his tear stained face.
"Lloyd...You don't seriously think i'm buying that for a second do you?" Lloyd felt the empty side of his bed dip under Kai's weight. "No matter what it is, I'm here for you. You can talk to me about anything." Kai's words lingered in the air without a response for a moment "But don't feel like you're pressured to tell me anything at all. Like I said, I'm here for you no matter what." Kai added.
The room went silent.
Kai shifted his body to sit on top of the bed facing the other ninja, gently placing hand on Lloyds shoulder. "Lloyd please tell me what's wrong, You're obviously not fine if you were crying five minutes ago and now just completely unresponsive." Kai pried.
Lloyd tensed the shoulder that was being held on to and pulled away hard. He was frustrated, but not with Kai.
He felt what he did was mean, but, he didn't want Kai knowing what was truly bothering him. So all he did was lie there, not saying a word.
Kai sighed, getting ready to get off of the bed, But when he tried to stand up, a hand quickly shot out to keep him in place.
Kai turned around to see Lloyd with his eyes puffy, and a tad bloodshot. A small hitch in Kai's breath at the sight of a crying Lloyd definitely did not go unnoticed.
Lloyd sniffled audibly. " I- " he began. "I had a nightmare. It's this reoccurring one that- It's- It's uh- really bad." Lloyd revealed, finally looking Kai in the eyes.
Kai's gaze softened as he stretched his arms out a little for a hug which Lloyd quickly reciprocated. "Do you want to talk about it?" Kai asked.
"No!- no, please, I- I'd rather not." the grip on Kai's back tightened. "Alright, no worries."
Kai was so gentle when it came to Lloyd, which was kind of shocking to the other ninja. He guessed the hot-headed, impulsive ninja they all knew him as didn't really seem like the nurturing and or patient type.
"Kai... I don't want to be alone tonight. can- can I sleep in your room tonight?" Lloyd asked sadly. "Yeah- yeah of course. I know it's really late but I could put on my tv if you'd like- just something to help you fall asleep, y'know?" "yeah, I'd like that..." Lloyd said while giving a ghost of a smile.
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Kai brought Lloyd into his own room. Kicking some clutter aside to make better walking room. "Sorry for the mess haha, I'm uh- usually more coordinated than this." Kai turned to the smaller boy with a sheepish grin. Lloyd didn't mind. He was already grateful that Kai cared enough about him to let him stay the rest of the night in his room.
Kai flicked the tv on with the remote on a near by dresser, immediately lowering the volume that was way too loud considering what time it was. Lloyd crawled into Kai's bed, not being used to the now colder sheets.
Walking over to his bed, Kai grabbed the blanket that sat at the edge of the bed and wrapped it over Lloyd, tucking him in like he was a little boy again.
"Wow, this is bringing back some memories" Kai joked, reminiscing from when Lloyd was a small boy, with a big smile and an awful haircut. A small laugh was heard below the fire ninja, his gaze averted to Lloyd as he stared adoringly. He pulled Lloyd in for tight hug, already messing up the blanket that he just smoothed out.
Lloyd smiled as bright as he could for how tired he was, looking like he already was about to fall back asleep.
Kai walked over to the other side of the bed, getting under the covers.
"Thanks for this Kai, I feel a lot better now" Lloyd yawned quietly at the end of his sentence. Kai pulled Lloyd in closer, rubbing comforting circles into the boys back. "Any time, Kiddo, you know I would do anything for you." Kai whispered. Lloyd just replied back with a content 'hmp' which made Kai smile brightly.
The fire ninja felt himself slowly drifting off but before he was completely asleep, he held onto Lloyd just a smidge tighter, just to let him know that he's always there for him