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Pixal did not understand what the ninja were all talking about when it came to Lloyd.
In her data, Lloyd is a 16-year-old teen, a hero ninja from Ninjago, destined to fight his father from a prophecy foretold. He has blonde hair that lightly reaches his shoulders, and the colour of his eyes unknown because they changed so frequently. She barely had any information of him as a child, or anything in his past years, only some recollection of a ‘Grundle’ and some sort of tea?
This alarmed her, like the lack of information always did.
Every time she asked one of the ninja, the fewer facts she received.
They always grew fond smiles, stretched out onto their faces, and dazed eyes as if they were thinking of something else.
Pixal found this confusing, it was not in her data as to why they acted like this, and the only conclusion she came to was that they were unwell.
But that couldn’t be right either.
One night, after Lloyd had succumbed to sleep on the couch, Pixel brought the question up. They were all binge-watching episodes of Avatar- The last airbender (Jay’s suggestion), after another heavy fight that brought their shoulders down with burdens.
Lloyd had taken most of the hardest hits today, one of those days that went horribly wrong.
He had fallen asleep, head on Cole’s lap and feet kicked out onto Nya’s. Kai had one hand running through Lloyd’s hair, and Jay was holding his hand whilst Zane sat in front of Lloyd, a calming reassurance that he would not fall.
Pixal sat next to Zane, watching their placements carefully.
From left to right, Nya, Jay, Lloyd, Cole, Kai. Then on the floor, Zane and herself.
Why did they seem to protect him so much?
Pixal debated how to approach this, juggling options in her mind.
Jay had decreased the TV volume, following the softened hushed voices from the characters.
The ninja didn’t mind the gentle breathing that came from Lloyd, it grounded them from drifting off.
“You know,” Zane’s voice came out of the blue, soft enough that it didn’t startle anyone. “ Zuko reminds me a little of Lloyd.”
A hum came from behind her. Kai.
“Yeah, his character development. Much like his.”
Pixal frowned. Zuko is portrayed much as an antihero in the show. A villain in the first season, set on kidnapping the Avatar and earning the respect he had untimely lost from his father. But gradually becoming friends with him, learning that his father was actually the villain in this story and helping the Avatar fight him. He was arrogant and childish at the beginning, but calm, collected and mature as the story progressed.
Pixal only thought of Lloyd as the last bits, calm, collected and mature. She had no idea how the ninja could compare their leader to Zuko.
She heard Zane laugh lightly beside her, and she turned.
The TV reflected on his skin, his eyes set on it, but far away at the same time.
“Remember when he dyed all of my clothes pink?”
Nya snorted.
“Oh yeah, and when he switched out all the shampoo for green slime?”
Kai stifled his groan, and rubbed a hand down his face.
“I still have nightmares,” he stated, and Cole kissed his cheek, smiling in that way of his that Kai couldn’t help but kiss him back.
Nya groaned at the display of love, and Lloyd whined softly.
Everyone was quiet then, stopping all movement until he settled again, mouth open and drooling all over Cole’s pants.
Pixal looked at him pointedly, seeing if he was going to do anything. But all Cole did was sigh in relief and relax.
She couldn’t contain her surprise anymore, and instead blurted out her burning question.
“What are you all talking about?”
They all looked at her, confusion written on all their faces, but that was wrong! She was the confused one here!
“What do you mean, Pix?” Zane asked her, and she frowned at him.
“The only recollection of any data I have of Lloyd Garamdon does not include anything of his childhood, or anything about this mischievous behaviour!”
She looked at the other ninja, then at Lloyd.
“I do not know where you are all getting this from.”
It was silent for about three seconds before they all burst into stifled laughter.
Zane kissed her lips, when they formed into a pout, one hand caressing her cheek.
“Oh, Pix. Sometimes I forget you haven’t met him!”
“Met who?”
Zane grinned brightly.
“Little Lloyd!”
Pixal frowned. “This clarifies nothing.”
Nya giggled, pressing a hand to her mouth, as Kai dug for something deep in his pockets and Jay reached over to grab something from the table.
Two things were shoved into her hands then. A small photo and a frame.
There were two people in the photo that Kai gave. A younger version of himself, where his hair looked much spikier than it is now, and a grin so shit-eating Pixal felt herself smile. He had his eyes closed, one hand holding a peace sign and the other wrapped around a little boy’s shoulders.
Pixal looked closely at the child. He (very much a boy) had his own eyes open, a striking red so unnerving that Pixal had to blink and breathe for a second. The child had blonde hair cut in a bowl cut, that only seemed to make the kid more endearing. He was dressed in a green gi and had one hand holding Kai’s (the arm resting on his shoulders) and the other one making a very rude gesture to the camera. His mouth was open in a shitty smirk and his eyebrows were scrunched up in what he thought was threatening.
When she looked up at present day Kai, he was smiling softly at the picture.
“He got into so much trouble after we took that, but he kept on laughing and high-fiving me.”
Pixal looked down back at the picture. This was Lloyd? Child Lloyd?
She switched her gaze to the photo frame instead.
They were all there, in this one. All of the ninja in their younger years, with ‘Lloyd’ in the middle.
In this picture, Lloyd’s smile looked more genuine, more kind and soft around the edges.
He looked happy.
Pixal suspected this might’ve been taken a while after Kai’s photo, because Lloyd’s hair had started growing out a little over his eyes and the tips of his ears.
They all looked happy in that photo. Happy to be near him.
“This was taken on his birthday,” Nya informed her, adorning a smile of her own as she thought back.
“By then, it had already been a whole year since he had stayed with us.”
Pixal stared down at the little boy.
“This was Lloyd?” She asked again, not completely believing it.
Jay laughed, his voice tinkling as he did so.
“Yep,” he clarified. “That’s Lloyd.”
“Oh, he was such a little brat when he was younger,” Cole snickered, tucking a lock of Lloyd’s hair behind his ears and smiling when he hummed.
Pixal didn’t understand. It wasn’t humanly impossible.
Well she had her fair share of ‘impossible’.
“I don’t understand,” she voiced out loud. “If Lloyd was a child then, how is he this age now?”
She felt the mood dimmer slightly, and winced.
“There was an incident,” Zane started softly, voice fragile and eyes glazed over.
“Where Lloyd felt the need to protect us, rather than himself.”
He fell silent, and Pixal looked at him worryingly.
Cole put a hand on his shoulder and picked up where he left off.
“Something happened, on a mission, and the Grundle skeleton in the museum became real. We were attacked and Lloyd saved us by using a tea sort of potion that turned back time, extinguishing the Grundle, but also sending himself older.”
He paused when another lock of hair fell on Lloyd’s face, and Cole pushed it back.
“He may have the body of a 16 year old, but he is still only a child.”
Kai leaned his head against Cole’s shoulder.
“When we’d ask if he was okay, Lloyd felt like just because his body was older, that it meant he had to act 5 years older as well. That meant no more bedtime stories, no more ice cream runs, no more nightmare comfort, no more hugs because he had deemed all of them as childish. And he wasn’t allowed to act like that anymore.”
Nya sighed wearily after her brother spoke.
“We talked him out of it, of course. That it was okay to go slow. That he can act however childish he wants to with us, no matter what. Master Wu found that fit as well. But, you know, there’s no room for children in our adventures, and slowly, very slowly, the little kid we loved disappeared, and all that’s left is the mature adult that is way too young to be.”
Jay smiled at her.
“But sometimes, you might even be able to spot the little kid. When he gets overly excited about something, the spark in his eyes and how he jumps up and down. Or when he’s worried, he rocks back and forth on his heels. Or right now,” he gestured. “Sleeping like he used to when he was younger.”
“Or when he’s tired.”
They all turned to look at Master Wu, who was standing in the doorway, tired but smiling.
He clunked his way over to them all, sitting down heavily on a beanbag left out, eyes crinkling fondly as he looked over them all.
“When Lloyd was a baby, he would get fussy whenever he was tired and make these little whiny sounds, rub his nose, his eyes, and he would continue to do so until someone picked him up and put him to bed. He still does it now.”
Jay gasped.
“What? He does? I never noticed!”
Wu’s eyes sparkled.
“I have also noticed that he only seems to do it around me, and his father. Maybe it was old habits, or maybe it’s just instinct?”
Lloyd shifted, stretching his neck uncomfortably and whined, eyebrows scrunching up and displeasure.
Cole was quick to act, scooping him up in his arms and placing him on his lap, head resting on his chest, and Cole now leaning on Kai.
Pixal watched the exchange, and how nobody commented on it.
She eyed Lloyd’s hand warily, willing herself to reach out and hold it.
She did, and relished the warmth that radiated from him. His palms were soft and Pixal rubbed a thumb over his knuckles.
She looked back up at him, tilting her head and smiling.
He really did look like a child.
Master Wu watched tiredly, and Nya reached over to massage his shoulders. He took off his hat and nodded to her in thanks, before closing his eyes and leaning backwards.
Zane kissed Pixal’s cheek, before standing up and walking out, coming out seconds later with a GINORMOUS soft green blanket. He tucked it over Lloyd’s shoulders and stretched it out to the others.
Jay had gotten up as well, on an adventure to make hot chocolate, but he accidentally jostled Lloyd’s knee.
Lloyd hummed in confusion, eyes opening involuntarily, squinting blearly as he got up on Cole’s lap.
He rubbed at his eyes, yawning and Pixal saw the little nine year old boy they all talked about.
She saw it in the scruff of his hair, all sticking up from the awkward positions. She saw it in the trail of drool that plastered his chin. She saw it in the tiredness of his eyes, the sparkle of confusion from waking up somewhere else than where he slept.
Kai glared at Jay, who ran into the kitchen, before smiling gently at Lloyd, who still seemed to be comprehending where he was.
Cole kissed his forehead, and Lloyd hummed, before slumping back onto his chest.
Nya giggled, not stopping the relieving massage on her sensei’s shoulders.
Zane tickled his feet and Lloyd whined, seemingly nonverbal for a while.
“Do you want some hot chocolate, Lloyd?” Zane asked without a beat.
Lloyd blinked, and turned his head to look at Jay in the kitchen.
“With marshmallows…?” he asked Zane, voice soft from sleep and thick of childlike want.
Zane smiled.
“With marshmallows,” he promised,
Lloyd hummed and nodded his head, getting off of Cole and onto the floor, before collapsing back onto him.
Kai laughed.
“Why’d you get off of him even though you were just gonna go back?”
Lloyd stuck his tongue out at him before hugging Cole’s arm.
“Mine.” He stated and Kai narrowed his eyes.
“No, he’s mine. You can have Jay.”
“Uh excuse you,” Nya complained. “He’s mine.”
“Fine,” Kai shrugged. Lloyd can’t date until he’s 50 anyways.”
Lloyd sat up with a completely dignified squawk.
“50? What do you mean 50?”
Kai stuck his nose in the air and crossed his arms.
“You’re still a baby. No girls or guys or gals or pals until you’re 50.”
Lloyd nudged Cole’s arm and pointed at his boyfriend.
“Cole! Say something!”
But he simply laughed and crossed his arms as well/
“Sorry green bean, i’m on Kai’s side.”
Lloyd glared at him, before scooching over and sitting next to Nya.
Master Wu smiled at him and Nya nudged shoulders endearingly, but Cole and Kai gasped.
“Oh! We see how this is!” They stated and Lloyd shrieked before he was completely enveloped in their grips. They mussed up his hair and grabbed his sides until he was pleading mercy and his belly hurt from laughing.
Pixal watched, wondering if she could join in.
“HOW MANY MARSHMALLOWS DO YOU WANT LLOYD?” They heard Jay call from the kitchen and Lloyd beamed.
“Can I have 10?” He asked ecstatically to Kai, who gaped and shook his head frantically.
“No! Do you want to die! That’s way too many!!”
Lloyd pouted.
“Please Kai!! It’s not too bad! Ask Pixal. Pixal can I have ten marshmallows or will it kill me?”
He turned puppy-dog eyes towards her, and at once a hundred files flooded through her systems related to marshmallows.
The only effect may be the sugar but, just once.
“Of course you can, Lloyd,” she replied and Lloyd cheered.
“TEN PLEASE,” he called out to the kitchen.
Pixal accepted her cup gratefully, letting the drink warm her insides pleasantly.
Lloyd was sipping on his like a child, with great heaves in the middle and his legs kicking off the couch.
He poked a hole using his straw in one of the marshmallows and tried to catch it on his nose.
Zane attempted to throw one in the air and catch it with his mouth.
Nya passed a cup to Wu, who squeezed her arm and settled back. Nya wrapped an arm around Jay, who snuggled in close.
Kai and Cole watched along with Lloyd, cheering whenever he caught it on his nose.
The movie was left forgotten, just simply a source of comforting light to reflect on everyone’s faces.
She felt at ease here, at home.
Maybe they could be a family?
But as she watched the others interact with each other, the game of snap that Wu kept winning against Jay, or the competition of who can catch more marshmallows happening between Zane and Lloyd, she came to the conclusion.
They already were.