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If you had told Garmadon nearly a century ago that he would soon be a father, he would’ve vehemently denied it. Even if he did want kids, the evil coursing through his veins brought an ever present fear of hurting any offspring, or worse, passing it on to them. And yet, when he met Misako, he knew she was the one.
He wasn’t proud of how he earned her affection. Stealing his brother’s love confession and branding it as his own. His head spiraled with alternate realities where he used his own words to confess. In some of them, he succeeded while in others he failed. He didn’t like thinking about the ones where her rejection sent him into a rage.
‘There was no point thinking about the past’ he told himself. After a while together, the idea floated around about having kids. Misako wanted to be a mother and how she lit up at the idea made him want it too.
A naive part of him hoped maybe a family would be the cure to his ailment.
Of course, complications arose. As much as Misako wanted a child, her work was far too dangerous to be pregnant. The good news was there was a solution. Dragon and Oni mating were much different than humans. Dragons laid eggs regardless of sex, while Oni procreated by merging the blood of two Oni to create a new one. With the combined genetics of Garmadon’s design, they could have a child without jeopardizing Misako or the baby’s health.
But doubt, as it always does, crept in. He wondered if this was the best idea. If he produced the egg, there may have been a higher likelihood of the child being born with the Great Devourer’s venom. He’d be subjecting an innocent soul to his same fate. He feared bringing it up to his love, feared she would be disappointed and hate him.
She didn’t.
She held his hand and looked at him with unconditional love, “Even if that happens, we’ll still love them. You can teach them to cope with their ailment, just as you have.”
“But what if it becomes more potent with them? What if it kills them? What if my wickedness causes me to hurt them?” He sighed, the thought filled him with grief for this unborn child. Misako shook her head.
“And what if it doesn’t? What if everything you just described is just your anxiety?” She smiled, “I know my husband. I know, deep down, you’d never hurt them.”
He wasn’t fully convinced, but her reassurance gave him enough confidence to proceed.
Everything before was simple. It was only when they entered the candling phase that Garmadon’s anxieties grew more and more. He watched the egg like a hawk whenever he wasn’t training with his brother.
Misako and Wu seemed to find it amusing, occasionally telling him to rest and let them keep watch. His logical half told him to listen, but his instincts were too strong. What if something went wrong while he wasn’t looking? His mind filled with increasingly paranoid disaster scenarios.
No, he needed to watch the egg.
Still didn’t stop Misako and Wu from occasionally taking the egg while Garmadon was overtaken by sleep. Misako was fascinated by it, observing her unborn child like a specimen, logging every slight change. Meanwhile, Wu would simply sit with the egg on his lap while he drank tea. Seeing that no harm came to the egg, Garmadon let them be, but still kept a close eye so he wouldn’t miss anything.
He was devastated when he learned he missed the first movements because he was sparing. The egg was a few months along by this point and under a light they could see something growing, moving. Garmadon looked upon the blob with wonder. It seemed all his anxieties–all his wicked thoughts and instincts–melted away when he gazed at the form. He swore he’d never miss another milestone.
Misako had heard of mothers reading stories or playing music for their unborn children, mostly from the other elemental masters. Lilly and Maya both gave excellent advice. Lilly gave Misako disks of music she played for her baby while she was pregnant. She also gave advice on what to do with certain hunger cravings before being informed that wouldn’t be necessary. Maya was probably the most helpful. After having had two kids of her own, she seemed to be an expert, even if Garmadon and Misako’s situation was unique to say the least.
The two women had gotten the chance to see the egg once before life got in the way. Maya and her husband, Ray, went missing while Lilly’s health started to rapidly decline until she was bed ridden.
It made Wu, Garmadon, and Misako sad to know they wouldn’t be there when the child was born.
Eventually, that day came. It started as any other would, Garmadon sitting at the desk with the heat lamp. The egg was gingerly perched on pillows and blankets, its own little nest of sorts. Misako stood close, reading scrolls and humming along to the calming music they had on.
The egg moving had become a common occurrence. Sometimes it would just shiver, other times it would jolt so violently it almost knocked itself out of its nest.
But this time was different.
This time there was a cracking sound.
Garmadon and Misako’s heads snapped towards the egg, wondering if they just misheard. Until it made that cracking sound again.
They started small, almost unnoticeable. After all the time spent with it, memorizing every inch of it, Garmadon could tell the difference. Tiny cracks on the shell.
“It’s happening.” Misako gasped, dropping the scroll she was holding, “I’ll get Wu.”
She ran out of the room, leaving Garmadon to panic as the egg wiggled back and forth, popping and cracking. His mind was racing. Now? Why now? Was he ready? No, he could never have been ready for this moment. Did they need help? No, that might cause complications. All he could do was sit helplessly, watching it.
The first thing to come out was a foot.
The cracks made way for a hole, a little leg popping out. Fluid dripped from the entrance down the soaked appendage. Garmadon watched in amazement before the limb sunk back in. He had to keep reminding himself not to intervene.
Another kick, attempting to widen the hole. After a few attempts, there was enough room for a head. The body flopped after attaining freedom before screaming startling Garmadon out of his seat. Wu and Misako emerged at that moment, Misako quickly taking the sobbing newborn while Wu helped his brother.
“It seems we missed all the action.” Wu sighed, turning to Garmadon before the dragoni hybrid growled .
“Where is she taking them?” He tried to push past him before Wu grabbed his shoulders.
“It’s alright, Brother. She’s taking care of him.”
Him.
A son, Garmadon had a son.
Seeing his shocked expression, Wu laughed, “Did she not tell you? It’s a boy.”
Well now Garmadon felt silly. He’d watched the egg–his son–all waking moments and he never even noticed. He turned back to the broken shells, a longing filling his heart.
“I need to see him.” He pleaded. Wu seemed sympathetic but shook his head.
“Patience, brother. You will.”
The brothers moved to the living room while Misako took up the bathroom. After what felt like an eternity, but was actually only a few minutes, Misako emerged holding a green bundle in her arms.
“It… It was the only one I could find.” She seemed a little shaken, her grip tight on the infant and worried that if she let go he would vanish. Garmadon stifled a laugh. And they thought he was the paranoid one. He didn’t understand why it would be a big concern what colour a blanket was.
“Please, let me see him.” He begged, holding out his arms.
Misako hesitated, looking at the child and then back at Garmadon. Seeing his face, his yearning, her expression softened and she handed him off.
“Be gentle.” She urged.
He nodded. He wouldn’t let the venom in his blood taint this moment. He was both heavier and lighter than Garmadon expected he’d be, but the moment he left his mother’s arms he started crying again. Garmandon panicked. Did the child know? Did he instinctively know his own father was evil and might hurt him? His heart shattered. He tried gently rocking him, shushing softly and comforting him.
Just as he was about to give up and find Misako–who seemed to have disappeared with Wu to talk about something urgent–the baby scrunched his face before opening his eyes.
In that moment, all of his fears, all of his nightmares that he would infect his kin, they all vanished. His eyes weren’t blood red like Garmadon’s after being bit. No, instead what stared back at him were two big, curious green eyes. It wasn’t an overwhelming shade, but the soft greens of a springtime meadow. The green leaves took upon rebirth. When the light hit them just right, they seemed to glow with warmth and life.
It felt like he was holding the world in his arms, that nothing else existed except for them in that moment. As he looked at his son in wonder and amazement, a melodic sound came from his mouth. Giggling. He reached up with his tiny hands, untouched by the world’s cruelty, and grabbed Garmadon’s robes.
Garmadon genuinely thought he might cry at that moment. He held his son closer. He suddenly understood Misako’s protectiveness. The evil coursing through his veins didn’t direct anger at the child like what he feared. It instead was directed to the world. His evil side swore that if anything happened to him, he’d burn it all down and take himself out with it. He wanted nothing more than for his child to be safe. To understand how much he loved him.
When Garmadon looked back down at the child, who had drifted into a peaceful slumber, he examined his features. Having seen infant portraits of himself and Wu, he was amazed by the resemblance between his son and him. They looked nearly identical minus two major details. His eyes, of course, and the pale blond, almost white of his wispy hair and eyelashes. That seemed to have been inherited by Garmadon’s father, as well as from Wu. Unless this was one of those things Libby had mentioned long ago about a child’s hair getting darker as they aged. Whatever the case, he didn’t care. He loved him all the same.
There was just the trouble of names. For his own sanity, he couldn’t just keep calling him his son or the baby. Misako and him had discussed names before, Wu even pitching some but in that moment, he knew exactly what to call him.
“My son. Lloyd.”
It wasn’t very often Misako came to visit the monastery. Her life and work required her to be constantly moving around. Even now, after all of her previous studies were resolved, she still craved knowledge.
She did enjoy visiting Wu and his students, particularly her son. While things began icy, the two managed to scrape together a bond that only intensified after the death and later resurrection of Garmadon. Part of her ached remembering her now ex-husband. She punished herself with the bad moments and caught herself yearning for the happy times. He tricked her into loving him, but her love was still real.
He was too different now. Despite being redeemed, he was not the same man she fell in love with.
When she was younger, she let herself daydream of a different life with Wu. What if the letter had been signed correctly? What if Wu didn’t step aside? What if? What ifs flooded her mind. However, one thing always led her back to Garmadon.
“Hey mom.” Lloyd called out to her, holding a box of her stuff. That’s why she came here. The ninja were doing some spring cleaning and they found Misako’s old things from what felt like forever ago.
Her son. Her strong, kind, brave, perfect baby boy. Except, he wasn’t a baby anymore. He hadn’t been a baby for a long time. Even if he didn’t use tomorrow’s tea to save the other ninja, he would be on the cusp of adulthood. She still carried guilt all these years later over missing so much of his life. She didn’t get to watch her baby grow up. From her perspective, one moment he was a soft and innocent toddler on the steps of Darkley’s Boarding School, the next he was a teenager wearing the gi that haunted her.
She was so afraid of his future that she erased herself from his present. If she could go back in time, she’d slap herself, beg her younger self to find a different solution. Maybe if she was better, she wouldn’t have had to let him go. She was so tired and stressed. Every morning she had to drag herself out of bed, her sole motivation for getting up was finding a cure for her husband and avoiding fate. A hyperactive toddler with zero self preservation instinct did not help her in the slightest.
In her desperation, she turned to the only place she thought she could. That forsaken school, the only place that would accept the son of an ancient evil. She was at her wits end. Some naive part of her hoped that maybe, if he was raised to be evil, destiny could be diverted, or at least slowed down. Though, looking back, it was a ridiculous assumption. Her son could be emotional and bratty like any other child, but he was so naturally good. Like goodness was an intrinsic part of his nature.
Of course it was. He’s the Green Ninja after all.
Misako smiled, “Thank you, Lloyd.”
She took the box from him. She wanted to reach over and give him a kiss on the forehead, but as always she held back. She still didn’t feel like it was within her rights to initiate physical affection.
He was taller than her now. When they met at the museum he was the same height as her. Another reminder of how much he’d grown. His hair was longer too, waves of platinum blond falling like feathers just above his shoulders. His eyes, which had always been green and the first sign towards his destiny, were now even brighter than before. They had an unnatural glow attributed to his powers. His face had lost its baby fat over the years, sharpening his facial features.
He was all grown up.
Misako’s grip tightened on the box.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t snoop.” He said urgently. The ever present bags under his eyes did not go unnoticed by her. Her son was never an easy sleeper, but the tribulations of being a ninja likely did not help.
Her expression softened, “If you don’t mind, perhaps we could look through them together.”
Lloyd’s eyes widened. His hand instinctively reached up to massage the back of his neck, a nervous tic. He looked back at the monastery. He stood like he was waiting for someone to jump out and tell him to get back to work. When no such person came, he let himself relax.
“Sure, if that’s ok with you.”
Misako sat down on the monastery steps, Lloyd taking the spot next to her. She opened the box and a flood of nostalgia ran through her.
It was very well organized, no doubt Wu’s doing. A journal she’d misplaced sat on the top of the pile, carefully bound shut by string. She took it out, placing it between her and Lloyd. There was a green baby blanket, some classical music DVDs and vinyls, a heat lamp, and underneath all of that was her old camera and a few photos, also tied together with string. She unraveled the string with a somber smile.
Lloyd leaned over her shoulder to look, so she began to explain each photo one by one.
“This one is of my family when I visited for the holidays.” She pointed at individual people, “That is your grandmother, your aunt and uncle, and some of your cousins.”
She laughed when his face wrinkled slightly when she pointed at one in particular. Lloyd was as distant from Misako’s side of the family as her. They were all normal people, not associated with any elemental powers, dragons, oni, or gods. She sent periodic updates on her life and they sent back updates in return. Misako went to funerals and weddings but remained allusive otherwise.
Misako was barely Lloyd’s mother, so she had no expectation that he would ever be interested in her family. However, he once insisted he come along to one family gathering with Misako. It was fine, if a little awkward until a certain cousin realized who Lloyd was and everything went to hell. He resolved himself to cards he’d send through Misako after that.
“Ah, this one is of me and your father going on one of our first dates.” Looking over her shoulder, she saw a sad smile paint her son’s face, “He took me on a picnic and tried to impress me by catching a fish with his bare hands.”
“Did he?” He asked.
“Yes. Then it slapped him in the face with its tail and swam away.”
They both laughed. She remembered how humiliated Garmadon was, but she found it charming and sweet. He looked like an angry wet cat after he emerged from the stream. Life was so simple back then.
“What’s that one?” He asked, pointing at one picture in particular.
A fond smile painted her face at the memory. Garmadon was fast asleep, leaning against a desk next to a rather large egg in a nest of blankets and pillows. The scene was bathed in the warm light of a heat lamp pointed towards the egg.
“That’s you and your father.”
Lloyd squinted, clearly confused. Misako chuckled and pointed towards the egg.
“That’s you.”
She could see the gears turning in his head. His eyes widened.
“What?!” His voice jumped the octave.
Misako laughed. She gave him the photo and looked around the box, “I kept the shells, I hope Wu didn’t throw them away.”
While her son was still reeling that he was, in fact, born from an egg, Misako found a bag. Bingo. She pulled out the bag and undid the tie. Sure enough, inside were the old shell bits.
“You kept it???” He asked, panic rising in his tone again. Misako smiled and nodded.
“Of course, I admit… I was curious about Oni and Dragon’s reproductive processes.”
Her son didn’t like being reminded of his inhuman heritage, especially after the incident with his Oni form during the battle with the Crystal King. A pang of regret rang in her chest. Maybe this was a bad idea. Humans don’t come from eggs. The process to create Lloyd was much different than creating a human fetus.
“This is…” he breathed, “You were studying me???”
“This was a mistake.” She said, “I’m so sorry.”
Lloyd shook his head, “No! No, I’m just… a little in shock.”
“I was too when Garmadon first proposed it.” She smiled softly, unable to hold herself back from tucking a few strands of his hair behind his ear, “It may not be the most… conventional method. But it made you.”
To her surprise, he leaned into her touch, “I just… I can’t believe it.”
“The egg part was the least interesting part of the process.” She chuckled, “To make it, we had to—“
“Ok mom!!” He panicked, making her laugh even more, “Thank you for that but I don’t need to hear about… all of that stuff.”
“Alright, alright.” She calmed down from her laughing fit. The two sat in a comfortable silence and continued looking through her old photos, the shell bag resting over her journal.
She had many regrets, but having Lloyd was never one of them. She would do everything all over again if it meant she could hold that fragile baby boy in her arms again. If she could see the unabashed joy and love on his father’s face when he held him.
Time was unkind with its movement, never slowing down for a moment, but those memories were firmly planted in her mind.
He was her son, and she would love him no matter what.