Chapter Text
Waking up to the sunlight in his window was not pleasant, grumbling he rolls over in some futile attempt to keep the bright light from scorching his retinas with a rude wake up call from nature itself. His hopes of sleeping in however were quickly dashed as his ears were quickly attacked by the piercing sound of his alarm clock. With a heavy groan Lloyd sits up and squints his eyes after nearly blinding his eyes from the sunlight once more.
With one quick swing, the alarm clock hits the floor. Finally, quiet.
Standing up the blankets that draped him in warmth were discarded to the floor next to the clock. The cold quickly seeps into Lloyds skin as he walks over to his closet in a half hearted attempt to keep to his routine. “God, couldn’t school start later in the day? Give some of us AP students a break from our lives…” He quietly grumbled to himself.
Slipping on his cardigan his nose scrunched up as the smell of wax and paint fill his nose. Covering the lower half of his face he tries to look around for the source of the scent that assaults his senses to no avail. With a scowl he puts his hair up in a ponytail and starts smoothing out all the loose hairs as the scent grows stronger.
By the time he makes it out of his room he’s gasping for air that doesn't make his nose burn and his eyes cloud up with tears, finally he makes it outside and he gets a taste of clean air.
After taking some deep breaths Lloyd relaxes before making his way to his first class of the day. As the day passes and Lloyd goes from class to class, he for the most part sticks by his brother during the school day until he decided to go to the cafeteria for lunch.
Running from his bullies in the cafeteria was like a nightmare he couldn't wake up from on loop, having done this multiple times a week. His heart is pounding in his chest and his lungs burn. His eyes dart around for an exit to the cafeteria as Lloyd run's from them- As he tries to turn the corner Lloyd can hear Kai, one of the people who targeted him the most, catching up to him from behind. Tears start to stain his cheeks as panic wells in his chest. His eyes desperately dart around, looking for Leviathan- or an adult- or anyone to help him!
Kai’s harsh voice like the burns already on his skin from Kai’s other attacks- Lloyd feels himself wince, his limbs tensing as he hears Kai get louder, a sign that he’s catching up. He can smell the burning smell of charcoal and smoke that always accompanies Kai. It is an assault on all of Lloyds senses as teas prick his eyes.
He sees an old tea shop across the road, a chance of shelter and aid from someone. Taking a breath, his lungs sting from all the running he’s already done and his panic. Taking this last chance he seems to be given at getting away from Kai- He make's a break for the old looking building.
The air around him starts to taste funny, a mix of a metallic taste and a sharp taste of gasoline. It started to fill his lungs with the panic that running for his life caused him. He could barely hear the cars around him above his heartbeat and rushing mind. The world seems to slow to a halt as he nearly makes it across the road and to the door. He is about to make it over before he hears a loud honk and light starts to envelop his vision.
Waking up was harder then usual, the bright hospital lights burned into his retinas like tiny sun bursts happening all at once. His body ached like he was hit by a truck, even attempting to it up only made it worse, his ribs burned with a pain that feels almost unfamiliar, through he’s sure he’s felt worse. Who he can only assume to be the doctor speaks up, her voice light and melodic.
“Whoa there dear, you can’t be pushing yourself too hard. You just woke up after all, you got banged up pretty bad so you should lay back down, we don’t want to open the stitches.”
Attempting to open his eyes burned, but it didn’t stop him as he looked over to the doctor, blurry vision however didn’t help hide the fact the woman looking down at him looked almost uncanny. She resembled someone he used to know, even if he couldn’t remember his name-
‘Did he ever know that boys name?‘
His thoughts tiredly drift away and to the one thing he could remember, that smell of wet earth and flowers he knew from anywhere. The smile as well was a dead give away. Maybe Arin was right when he said he’d die from being the conduit and he just died. That doesn’t matter however, he saved the Merged realms and thats all that matters.
As the woman gently lifts up Lloyd’s face he smiles up at her, she leans down to meet his face the smell of the wet earth and flowers getting stronger now. She keeps the smile on her face as she scans his face, seemingly looking for something. Placing his head back down on the pillow, Lloyd coughs roughly as he weakly attempts to speak up.
“D-did it work? Is everyone okay?”
Lloyd could just barely make out the sympathy in her eyes, even as she injected a needling into his arm, and he felt drowsy, that warm smile she gave him the first time never left his face. Quietly, she finally responds as she gently moves his shoulder.
“… You did good kiddo, you did amazingly. Your shoulder is a bit hurt, but thats okay. You’ve been through a lot.”
Feeling a shooting pain through his side, he groans quietly, trying to turn away from the woman and the bright light to ease his shooting pain. However he can’t the woman gently grabs his shoulder and pulls him back towards her, making him lay flat on his back.
“Sorry honey, I can’t let you do that. I need to be able to see your wounds in full. Just take a few deep breaths through your nose and you will feel a whole lot better. I promise.”
That is the last thing Lloyd heard before finally knocking out with a few deep breaths. Even as he did, the smell didn’t seem to go away, instead staying by his side in an almost comforting manner. Washing over him in a bubble of protection and warmth. For what it feels like the first time in what may be forever, he feels safe.
He sitting in this room felt almost like a slap to the face, his cheeks still burning from the hot tears that streamed down them just moments before. Torture, that's all this is. This is absolute mental torture. His family are all gone, he feels all alone now. He is stuck in an ugly beige bedroom that he hates and apparently himself before the coma designed himself. He would’ve rather stayed in the hospital room, the lights in the room almost blinding him would’ve made it impossible to see the emptiness of his room.
His “parents” were awful, everything in the house he was taken to looked minimalistic. Why did it have to be minimalism? His bedroom wasn't much better, he almost did a double take when he saw the bedroom, the only thing in it was a bed, a desk and a bookshelf with “classics he's read since he was 5”, whatever that meant.
Being in ’his’ room felt weird. There's no personality, did he not have any personality before his ‘coma’? Even a poster would be nice, or some sketch books. This can't be what his whole new life is gonna be. He won't let it, maybe he can get some money to get paints or markers- at least some new clothes. It's all dress pants, shirts, and the odd sweater vest that look god awful and itchy as all hell, weirdly most of the sweater vests have a logo that he swears he knows from somewhere.
He missed his family, his friends- hell even Garmadon! As bad as he was after his revival. It doesn't feel like it's his; these people who claim to be his family, his friends, his loved ones. They aren't the ninja, they aren't his uncle, they aren't even his students. They're all random people he doesn't even know the names of, the only people he learned the name of was the doctor and his “brother”.
The doctor, ’Lily’ is what her name tag read, was a kind woman. She reminded him a lot of Cole, she had long black hair tied back into a braided bun and her eyes were uncanny alone, they were so green it was almost like he was looking at a plant vine when he looked in her eyes. She had said he'd been in a coma for a little under a year. On top of that he is still recovering from several broken ribs and his shoulder was fractured on top of it all. She at the end, just before he leaves puts a gentle hand on his shoulder and softly mentions that all the head trauma he endured may make him forget things. Important things.
But he remembers everything, sure it’s not what they want him to remember, but he still knows who he is! He remembers his friends, family, his life! He knows who he is but the medical workers who say his name is Lloyd “Gardenia” are wrong. That's a stupid name, a stupid, stupid name made for someone who isn’t him. Someone who is a scrawny 19 year old with scruffy blonde hair dyed poorly a shade of brown and Gray eyes. That isn't him. It just isn’t.
Sure, his memories are fuzzy but that isn’t the point! He isn’t some lanky kid with poorly dyed hair, his hair was stained a muddy shade of brown that looked dry as hell— He could almost hear Kai cringing at how dead his hair looks now, the poor dye job made it look dry and ready to fall out at any moment. Pushing through the splitting pain in his shoulder and ribs he slowly made his way to the shower and got ready to take his shower.
He looks down at the discarded hospital garb on the floor. It smells like sanitizer and cleaner. He misses the smells of the monastery. The clear air, how the scent of the group’s garden floated on the light breeze, how he was able to smell the ash from the wood burning within the forge, the burning of incense, the tea his uncle brewed.
Sighing deeply he feels the pins and needles within his lungs, the bandages tightening and constricting his movements, he almost wishes he could just go back to sleep, but they didn’t let him.
They said he'd been in a coma for a little under a year, and all the head trauma he endured made him forget things. Important things. But he remembers everything! He remembers his friends, family, his life! He knows who he is but the doctors say his name is Lloyd “Gardenia”. That's a stupid name, a stupid, awful, horrid name made for someone who isn’t him. Someone who is a scrawny 17 year old with greasy blonde hair and pale grey eyes. That isn't him. It just isn’t.
He missed them all so badly, he could never see them again and it felt like someone was stabbing him in the heart repeatedly. He hates his new life. If he can even call it that. It doesn't feel like it's his; these people who claim to be his family, his friends, his loved ones. They aren't the ninja, they aren't his uncle, they aren't even his students. They're all random people he doesn't even know the names of.
He looks in the mirror from where he sits on his bed and almost cries, he misses his green eyes. The vibrant green ones that showed subtly the energy flowing around him. Flowing and bending to his will when he gently tugged on the things most can't see. He misses being able to see. He feels almost blind to the world around him, he can’t smell anything but bland sanitizer, that false lemon scent that made his stomach churn with the faded memories of hospital visits.
Looking down at his hospital garb, his nose is burned with the smell of bleach and antiseptic before looking away, even then the smell didn’t entirely go away as he turns his attention back to his reflection.
The colour’s, oh, how he missed those. He knows that he can still see them but in a place like this he almost felt colour blind, only able to see greys and beiges. The vibrancy of them from his life before was almost a night and day difference, his room used to smell like incense and mint. Now everything is in grey and beige. If he didn't hate those “colour’s”; he did now. The adults around him made it look like an office hellscape. It smells like an office too, sterile and bleak.
The only scent that didn’t make his eyes burn in this entire place was his bed, which smelt like cotton. So it was logical that after his shower, he flops into his bed face first and just lays there. It didn’t help with the pain in his shoulder but it at least was better then the constant onslaught of bleach and hand sanitizer.