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“Arin, are you sure this is where Lloyd told us to meet?”
“Positive!”
“Are you sure sure? Cuz I don’t see him anywhere.” Sora looked around the Crossroads market, with Lloyd and his green gi nowhere in sight.
“Maybe the line at a stall was too long, or he ran in to an old friend.” Arin suggested.
“Does Lloyd even have any friends outside of the other ninja?” Sora asked.
“I’m sure he does. I mean, maybe some old classmates from school?”
“Did Lloyd even go to school?”
“He went to Darkley’s boarding school for bad boys. His mom left him there when he was little, and then the ninja fought evil clones of themselves there with the students.”
“Yeah, and you know all of this how?”
“This is practically common knowledge, like most other things the ninja do. Did you not pay attention to Kai’s impromptu nostalgia trips?”
“No, because most of the time I’m knee-deep in a project. Speaking of which, what should I do with these new parts? If we’re separated from Lloyd because I took a detour to Kreel’s, I may as well know what I wanna do with what I found.”
“Always crafting, Sora. Never change.”
“Hey, those mechs won’t build themselves.” Sora nudged Arin in the arm. “Let’s see, with this I could- Hey!” A hooded man snatched Sora’s satchel and booked it down the nearest alleyway. “Oh no you don’t!” Sora instantly chased after him, with Arin fighting to catch up. He pulled his grapple off his belt, preparing to shoot at the guy when he turned the corner. To his surprise, when he made the turn he was greeted by the sight of the man being held against the ground by a hooded woman.“Sora!” Arin ran up to Sora who was once again holding her satchel.“I don’t know who this lady is, but she’s the coolest. She just 1v1’d this guy with her bare hands!” Sora whispered to Arin.“Are you two alright?” The woman walked up to them. She lowered her jade green hood, revealing white hair that reached just below her chin, with a slight wave throughout.“Us? Oh- we’re fine. Seems like this guy had no interest in harming us, only stealing our stuff.” Sora motioned to the now tied-up man on the ground behind the woman.“Well, that’s good to hear. These streets can be dangerous, especially for children. Where are your parents?”“Still clinging to a fallen tyrannical dictatorship.”“I dunno.”“Oh- uh, okay? So do you live together or…”“Well we were waiting to meet up with our master, then that guy came along and you know the rest.” Sora explained.“Well, where is your master now?”“Don’t know.” Sora said.“I told you, he’s probably talking to an old friend.”“He doesn’t have any friends.”“It sounds like you two are close. My name’s Rumi. Would you like to come with me to turn this guy in? I could help you find your master.”“My name’s Arin, and this is So-“ Sora grabbed Arin’s arm and turned him around.“What if this is all a setup?” Sora whispered.“Setup for what? She seems nice.”“Well yeah, but what if she and that guy are part of an elaborate scheme to trap us? What if they kidnapped Lloyd?”“Then we’ll bust our way out of whatever trap they set and free Lloyd. And besides, she probably just wants to help.”“Fine, but if we get locked in someone’s basement you’re doing the dishes for a week.”“Deal.” They both turned around to face Rumi again. “Sorry about that. Sora here isn’t the quickest to trust new people-““Especially when you meet said new people in an alleyway.” Sora added.“I understand, and it’s good that you two are cautious, especially on these streets. Let’s get this guy over to the authorities, and then we can find your master.”—————————————————————————“So, where can we find your master?” Rumi asked as they walked through the market.“Well, he said to meet by the noodle stall, but we waited for ten minutes and he hadn’t shown up yet.” Arin explained.“And why were you separated in the first place?”“I wanted to look for new parts for building. He told us to meet him there in thirty minutes or less, then he never showed.”“The crossroads can be busy, he probably just got caught up at a vendor longer than he anticipated. Do you know where he was planning to go?”“Let’s see… he needed more flour, salt, laundry detergent, and something else, but I forgot what.” Arin said.“That’s… a unique combo. Whaddya say we retrace his steps to see if we can find him?”“That’s a great idea! Let’s go!”“Or it could take us further away from him. How about we stay right here until he finds us.” Sora said.“Sure, stand in the middle of the street for possibly hours on end. It’d be better to follow his path, especially if he got stuck in a line like we theorized.” Arin said. They continued to walk through the market.“Say, what exactly is your master teaching you?”“Y’know, self defense, and how to protect others!” Sora said. She didn’t wanna disclose the fact that they were ninja (in training) just yet, especially if her originally theory was correct.“Hm, guess you guys didn’t need me back there.”“We’re still super grateful you helped us. How can we repay you?” Arin asked.“Oh, that’s not necessary. It’s the least I can do after…” she paused, glancing off to the side. “Oh, here we are.” The line at the dry ingredient vendor was short, with no sight of green.“He’s not here, on to the next stop.” Arin said.“Wait, let’s ask the vendor first.” Sora walked over to the stall, exchanged a few words with the man running it, then came back over. “He said he saw him go that way.” Sora pointed down another row of stands.“Okay, now onto the next stop.” Arin said, walking towards the other stalls.“What does your master look like?”“Uh… he’s about yay high, blonde hair, claims to have a beard but it’s only like one tiny hair.” Sora said.“That’s… helpful.”“Oh, he wears green! A lot. I… think it’s the only color he owns.” Arin said.Rumi chuckled. “I knew someone like that once.”“What a coincidence!” Arin said cheerfully. After checking the home goods stand, they went around every other stall in the hopes of finding a clue as to where Lloyd went. As the sun began to set, hope was starting to feel lost.“What are we gonna do?” Arin asked.“We could always just head home. Maybe he’s already there.” Sora said.“But what if he’s looking for us? If we leave he’ll probably think we got kidnapped.”“Maybe you two should contact the authorities.” Rumi suggested.“It’s not that we’re worried about his wellbeing, we know he can handle himself. By now he’s probably freaking out wondering where we are.” Sora said.“You know, if you’re so concerned about not leaving your master behind, you can stop by my apartment to-““I KNEW IT!” Sora exclaimed.“What?”“This whole time you’ve been acting nice so you can lure us to your home and lock us in your basement! Well I’m not falling for it!” Sora grabbed her sword off her back.“Sora, calm down! She just wants to help!” Arin said.“People who wanna help don’t drag you around all day! Now TASTE MY WRATH YOU BI-““Sora, Arin, what is going on?!” Both kids whirled around to see Lloyd running up to them.“Lloyd! There you are! Can you please tell Sora to stop before she attacks an innocent woman? Thank you.” Arin said.“Sora, why are you attacking random people?”“She was gonna lock us in her basement! She took us around the Crossroads all day looking for you and then offered to go back to her apartment when we couldn’t find you!” Sora motioned to a now speechless Rumi. “And she’s so shocked because I figured it out!” Sora turned to face an equally speechless Lloyd, who’d dropped his bags. “Uh… do you two, like, know each other?”“Lloyd? Is that…”“Ha- Harumi?”“Am I… missing something? This is really awkward.” Arin said.“Wait- your name is HArumi?” Sora asked.“It was- a long time ago, but my name is Rumi. Now, at least.”“I almost didn’t recognize you. You look so…”“Different, I know. After our last… encounter, I wanted to distance myself from my previous actions as much as possible, which included changing pretty much everything about me. Now I’m just a regular civilian, at least I’m trying to be, which does not include trapping kids in a basement I don’t even have.” Rumi gave Sora a side eye.“I was just trying to be cautious.” Sora said. “But I understand the whole “changing your identity” thing, and I’m sorry I thought you were trying to kidnap us.”“It’s okay.”“Wait a minute… you’re the jade prince-“ Lloyd slapped his hand over Arin’s mouth.“Yes, Arin.” Lloyd said.“Ninjago is a monarchy?” Sora asked.“Was. But, it’s… best we don’t get into that, at least not here.” Lloyd said.“I’ll tell you back at the monastery.” Arin whispered.“Thanks man.” Sora whispered back.“Lloyd, are these your kids?” Rumi asked.“Well they’re not my kids, they’re my students, who need to learn to meet at a rendezvous and stay there.”“We waited for ten minutes and then someone tried to rob me!” Sora exclaimed.“Yeah! And then Rumi stopped the guy and helped us find you!” Arin chimed in.“You… really did that?”“I told you, I wanted to distance myself from… everything as much as I could. I felt the only way I could mend my previous mistakes was by helping others, like these two here.”“Wow, that’s… very noble of you. You’ve come a long way since I last saw you.” Lloyd said.“So are you two like, exes or something?” Sora asked.“Yes.” “No.” They both said at the same time. “No.” “Yes.” They both shot each other irritated looks, before finally landing on “it’s complicated.”“Is this why we’re not allowed to ask you for dating advice?” Arin asked.“I can think of a lot of reasons as to why that’s a bad idea.” Lloyd mumbled.“Anyway, it was nice seeing you, but now we’ve gotta get going, before Kai calls the cops and reports us as missing, or something.” Lloyd said, reaching for Arin and Sora.“Wait! Lloyd, before you go, can I… speak with you really quickly? Alone?” Rumi asked, glancing at Arin and Sora.“Uh, sure? Can you two…”“Already on it boss.” Sora grabbed Arin and slipped away behind a nearby shrub.“Thank you, for… understanding my attempts to change.”“Thank you for doing your best to change.”“Look, I’m- I’m truly sorry for… everything I’ve done to you, and your family. But especially you.”“It’s okay, I’ve since recovered from that… kinda.”“But it’s not okay. I’ve done so many terrible things and it keeps me awake at night. You shouldn’t have anything to recover from, you should be able to live peacefully!”“I’m a ninja. Nothing about my life will ever be peaceful.” Rumi chuckled at that. “And, I can tell you’re truly sorry for everything, and are trying to make up for it.”“I just hope that one day we can maybe… be friends, or at least civil. Be able to get a bite to eat without worrying about the other pulling a knife out.” Rumi said.“I’m sure we’ll get there someday.” Neither acknowledged the fact that one of their fingers had interlocked with the other.“I’d like that.”“Me too. And just know that you’re welcome to visit the monastery anytime, if you’re ever in the neighborhood or just want to chat.”“That’s very kind of you, but…” Rumi separated her finger from Lloyd’s. “I think it’d be best if… for now… we spent some time doing our own things. For now, at least. I just…”“No, I get it. Take all the time you need.” Lloyd said. “I promise I’ll visit… someday.”“Someday.” Nothing else was spoken, just a hug goodbye.“Did you two kiss?” Arin called, peeking from behind the shrub.“Arin, shut up! You’ll interrupt them!” Sora shoved his head down.“I think that’s my queue to leave.” Rumi chuckled.“I’ll… see you again…”“Someday.” Rumi turned and walked off into the market.“Someday.” Lloyd said as his unheard goodbye.“Can we go home now?” Arin asked, walking up to Lloyd.“Yeah, let’s go.” Lloyd said, picking up his bags.Later that night, in a midnight gossip exchange…“She did WHAT?!” Sora cried, most likely waking half the monastery.