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Okay, so… it could have been worse.
Way worse.
But it wasn't, thank the FSM.
I staggered through the door, a somewhat concussed Cole which took a lot, Cole has the hardest head of us all slouching against my side.
Jay and Kai came next, arms across each other's shoulders, stumbling forward like a couple of pals who had a bit too much to drink. Jay was listing from a sore ankle, Kai constantly shifting from aching ribs, making their progress halting, at best. Kai was frequently readjusting to put minimal pressure on his abused torso while Jay was hopping around like a peg legged pirate who'd lost their peg.
Nya came in behind us all, a small trail of red drying on her cheek from a cut on her forehead.
She was fuming.
We all knew why, we just didn't understand why it was a big deal. So the plan went south. It wasn't the first time, and quite probably wouldn't be the last.
She shoved Jay onto a couch, her glare backing Kai down to do the same. I calmly lowered Cole onto the couch next to them, wishing both that we had a bigger couch and that Zane hadn't left to spend the weekend with Mr.Borg and PIXAL. A well earned break from our chaos, if an ill timed one.
I could really use his empathetic wisdom when it came to Nya.
I stepped back, allowing Nya to pin all three boys with a death glare. Jay and Kai had the presence of mind to look chagrined. Cole was… out of it.
"Ahh, Nya, why the face?" He grumped.
"Everyone has faces, Cole. It's the new trend," Jay couldn't help teasing his friend, though it earned him another hard look from the master of water.
"Just get it over with," Kai moaned to his sister. "I just wanna go to bed. It's like, what, ten? Eleven?"
"That's early," Jay quipped. "What happened to Mr.I-stay-up-till-four-in-the-morning-and-still-put-in-a-full-day?"
"He has the day off," Kai grunted.
Nya's jaw ticked, her fists rising from her sides to perch themselves on her hips.
"Lloyd, go get the first aid kit. And take your time."
So. She didn't want any witnesses.
I turned to leave, pointedly not meeting anyone's gaze, knowing Jay, at least, would be begging me non-verbally to stay. They wanted witnesses. But I wasn't willing to risk becoming a target tonight, so they'd just have to tough out her tongue lashing.
I beat heat out of the room just as she tore into them.
"You idiots, didn't you hear a word I said when I briefed you before the mission?! I specifically said not to…"
Her voice faded the further I got, though I could still hear the angry tone filtering through the walls, even as I ducked into the infirmary to gather supplies. I was glad to not be privy to her explosion. I'd heard what she said about to and not to engage this new gang (they'd somehow got their hands on a weapon that could siphon the energy of off spinjitzu and blow it back at their opponent- Nya did all the research on it, she just told us not to use spinjitzu or elements, which was totally fine, these guys were easy to beat in hand to hand) and followed the plan. Maybe that's why I barely had a scratch on me and the three stooges were getting their lunch eaten.
I pulled the big kit out the cabinet and popped it open, rifling through it to make sure it had everything we'd need. The wrap bandage for Kai's chest, check. The ace bandage for Jay's ankle, check. The little medical penlight to check out the severity of Cole's possible concussion, check. Various antiseptic creams and rubbing alcohol for a variety of scrapes and cuts, check. The only thing missing were…
The band-aids.
Ri-ight. We ran out last week when Kai pulled that stupid stunt by jumping through a glass pane window. He was lucky to come out of it with a myriad of tiny cuts and not nick and artery or lose an eye.
And Nya sure made certain he knew that then, too.
I turned back to the cabinet, a small smile teasing my lips. It had looked cool, but I would never tell him that. More funny had been the grumbling as he spent the next few days covered in pink kitten band-aids. Yeah, Jay isn't allowed to shop for first aid stores anymore.
I found the box I was looking for near the back. Still sealed, so it should have plenty, and at least Kai had the decency to get the…
My hand froze, my gaze glued to the box.
Why? I don't know, it's stupid. Maybe it had something to do with the coffee I'd snuck the day before, keeping me awake all night so all the sleep I had within the last forty-eight hours roughly estimated to about three hours. Tops. Or maybe it was because emotions were running high from another sideways mission. Or maybe it triggered some emotional baggage I've been burying for years and my cruel brain decided to sideswipe me.
All I know is it's stupid. It's just some wording on a stupid box, it shouldn't mean anything of any significance.
Family size.
But, somehow, it does.
Just…I know that we're close. The other ninja and I. We train together, hang together, fight together, protect the world as we know it together.
I can remember a time when a scrawny blonde kid used to huddle in an oversized black sweatshirt at night and cry, wondering what it was he was missing. Seeing what the other boys had in that stupid school, and wondering what it would have been like to have a mom, a dad, a sister or brother, someone to visit him, to share a bond with him that ran deeper than prank alliances and cheesy facades.
He'd clung so hard to the legacy his father had because it was all he had. All I had.
So I pretended to have a father that was proud of me, that wanted me to be the next Dark Lord. That wanted me at his side. Underworld, that just wanted me.
Now, my memories are lighter, knowing where that pathetic kid was going. To do something stupendously stupid, but that ultimately led him to find his uncle, and his protectors and a big sister he never knew he wanted.
I have brothers now, and an amazing sister and friends I can trust my life with. I had my dad for far too short a time, but I had him all the same.
I have a family now.
Something plips on the box, trailing through the 'i' in Family, and I realize I'm crying.
"Hey, Lloyd," I hear someone come up behind me, embarrassment flushing my cheeks bright red at the thought of anyone seeing me like this. "Nya was wondering what was taking you so long. Cole started, uh, 'tossing his cookies', and since I'm the one with shoddy ribs, I got elected to come see what was holding you up. Not that you should need help, it's just- Lloyd?"
He's by my side as fast as his ribs allow him to be, running a hand across my forehead to brush my bangs away so he can see my face. Not that I make it easy for him, ducking my head like I was.
"Hey, hey, kid, what's wrong? You hurt somewhere? Do you have a concussion again?"
I huff a wet laugh, swiping at an eye.
"No, I'm- I'm okay."
"You're obviously not," Kai huffed. "Or you wouldn't be crying."
I tried for a shaky breath. Steady was a bit out of the question.
"No, it's… it's just so stupid."
"Try me," Kai challenged.
I sniffled, tears threatening even harder at the embarrassment reflecting off my bright red face. Then I held the box out to him.
Dumbfounded, he took it, looking it over.
"Are you upset I got the Starfarer edition band-aids? I thought you-"
"No," I cut him off. "No, it's just… family size."
The last part came out in a low mumble, one even I could barely hear.
"What?"
I sigh, rubbing tiredly at my cheeks.
"Family size."
Kai looked between me and the box a couple times, his expression even more bewildered.
"Um… yeah. Any smaller pack would only last one use. Family size is the only one that works for us…"
I shook my head, glaring at my feet, angry at the tears that won't stop coming.
"I told you it was st-stupid."
"Hey, woah. No. It's not stupid if it's making you this upset. Look," Kai took my forearms and guided me to a cot, and gestured for me to sit. He eased himself down next to me. "Tonight, I'm tired and, if you listen to Nya, I'm as dense as granite. Just… walk me through this. What's wrong?"
I'm not entirely sure what I told him. I just dissolved into a mass of overly emotional teenager, blubbering something about family and how much it meant to me that I can say I actually have one now.
And, by the time my babbling comes to a lurching stop, for all Nya calls him dense, he looks like he's connected all the dots.
"Oh."
That's all he says about it. All he needs to say, because next thing I know, his arms are around me, pulling me to his chest.
I wrap my arms as tight around him as I dare, all too aware of his sore ribs. I tuck my face into the front of his battle-worn gi and take a shuddering breath.
This is what it's like to have a big brother. Someone who's always trying to protect me and comfort me. Someone who will take defeat from me on a video game and show me how it's done on the training course.
Someone who's there for me when I need it and when I don't.
I don't have to wonder anymore, what it's like to have a family.
And that feels… amazing.
Kai waited a few minutes, before speaking up. I guess that wasn't all he had to say on the matter.
"I'm proud to call you my little brother."