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A bright tornado of pink with white highlights flew across the floor of the monastery. “Good, Sora! Stay steady now!” Lloyd called out to his student as the tornado began to flicker and wobble.
“I’m trying-” Sora shouted back before shrieking after she tripped over her own foot, breaking the tornado and flying off to the side. Lloyd jumped over to his student, catching her before she could fly into the wall. The blonde set her down. Checking his student over in order to make sure she hadn’t scraped herself. “Thanks, Lloyd. Even though I managed to do spinjitsu when we were last at Imperium, I can't hold it for more than a minute or so.” She sighed. “I feel like I’m regressing.”
Lloyd gave her a look, concern flashing across his face. His ears twitched “Sora, you are not regressing. It takes time to perfect new skills, sometimes there will be good days and sometimes there will be bad days. Besides, what do we say?” Sora looked up at her teacher, a laugh creeping out. “Ninja never quit!”
Lloyd chuckled, grabbing Sora by the shoulders and roughing up her ponytail. She giggled “Come on Lloyd! Knock it off!” as the Master began to guide his Student back into the monastery kitchen, his tail swishing behind them. The two were greeted by Lloyd’s other student, Arin. He had been sitting at the island waiting for his pie timer to go off and doing some light reading. “Whatcha got there bud?” Lloyd asked, planting himself beside the teen as Sora left the room. “Just an old comic I found on a shelf. It’s about this guy named Fritz Donnagan and-” “You found my old Starfarer comics!” Lloyd chirped excitedly, as Arin started laughing. “These were yours? I thought the only things you read were century-old scrolls!” The blonde chuckled, gently taking the comic out of Arin's hands, careful not to lose his spot and gazed fondly at it. “Yeah. These were my favorites for years. I guess I just ran out of time to find them again after the merge.” Arin looked at his mentor, his shoulders slumped, a warm but tired look to him as he returned the book.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Lloyd and Arin watched as it swung open, and Arin could feel his mentor stiffen. “Mom? Is that you?”
Lloyd watched as his mother rushed over to him and pulled Lloyd into a hug. “Lloyd! How are you, dear? Have you grown? You are eating well, yes? How long has it been since our last letters?” Lloyd pushed her away, overwhelmed by Misako’s flurry of questions; with Arin sitting dumbfounded next to him. “Mom, I… What are you doing here?” Misako took his face in her hands and kissed his forehead, rambling about discoveries and whatnot. “Hello? Lloyd? Who is this woman?” The young voice called out and Lloyd realized that he had forgotten all about his pupil who had absolutely no context on anything. “Oh!” Lloyd gasped, clasping his hands together and facing Arin; “This is my mother, Misako.”
Lloyd watched as his student studied the newcomer. Misako gave him a warm smile and pulled Arin into an awkward side hug. The teen forced a chuckle as Misako introduced herself; “You must be new! I’m Lloyd’s mother, you can just call me Misako dearie”.
Lloyd pulled his student away gently, “Arin, can you go tell everyone else that my mother is here please? I’m sure they will be glad to see her again.” Arin nodded before bounding out of the room, hollering Sora’s name. Lloyd watched his mother study the boy, contemplating the idea of children living in the monastery, before she finally returned to the blonde and wrapped him into a hug again. “It’s been so long Lloyd. I was left in ninjago city with no idea where any of you were, and as time went on I was sure you were dead. I wished that I had come sooner…” “I know mom.” Lloyd whispered, clinging to Misako’s jacket and feeling like a scared child again. “It’s been hard… and we’ve only just now been fully reunited.”
His mother turned to look at him, rubbing his arms reassuringly, and gazing into her son’s eyes. “I know my boy, especially with your Uncle’s death-” Lloyd averted his gaze, pulling away from the older woman. But he isn’t dead. Misako called out; “Lloyd? Is something wrong?” He couldn’t answer. When Lloyd looked back at his mother, she studied his face and gasped. The blonde startled back as Misako jumped forward and grabbed his face, staring at the new markings that sat right below his eyes. He knew that Misako must be startled by the change, he was still getting used to them himself. The new swirl patterns stretched from each edge of his eyes, and while they weren’t too noticeable, they can’t be unseen once discovered.
“Mom please, it’s not-” The blonde tried to object before the older woman interrupted. “Lloyd… what happened to you?”