Darkness from Within #2: Tension Rising (A Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 17

The next morning, Wu and Garmadon were sitting at the dining room table, going over all that had happened.

"Okay, so," Garmadon began, "I talked to Lloyd last night."

"I bet he was frustrated," Wu murmured.

"He was," Garmadon affirmed. "His room was a wreck, as if he had been throwing things around in his anger. When I came in, I found him sobbing."

"Lloyd was crying?" Wu raised an eyebrow.

Garmadon nodded. "I've never seen him so upset," he continued. "He didn't want to talk to me at first, but eventually I got him to spit it out."

"Good, good," Wu said. "What did he say?"

"Turns out, he was only angry because his feelings were hurt," Garmadon murmured. "The whole secret thing made him feel unloved."

Wu laid his hand on his forehead and sighed. "And we were only doing it because we do love him. Boy, did we mess things up." He lifted his head again. "Did you tell him the truth?"

Garmadon shook his head. "I didn't get around to it. Besides, I wouldn't want to cause trouble for the others just to patch up our relationship."

"You know he's going to ask about it sooner or later," Wu warned.

Garmadon scratched his head. "Do you think he's ready to know the truth?" he asked. "I don't know how he'll take it."

Wu shrugged. "We'll wait and see how he acts now that he got his feelings out," he said. "Then we'll decide if he's ready or not."

The two sat in silence for a bit.

Then Garmadon broke it. "How is Kai doing?"

Wu hesitated. "It's hard to say," he admitted. "He's had quite a shock. He hasn't come to his full senses yet." He sighed, rubbing his beard. "I should've known it would come to this."

"What are we to do?" Garmadon questioned.

Wu shook his head helplessly. "I've never dealt with something like this before," he confessed. "But I'll look into it. For now, we have to let him do what he needs to do to recover. And we should... probably... for the best..." His voice trailed off.

Garmadon stared at his brother. "Keep Lloyd away from him," he finished for him. "I was afraid you'd say that."

"We don't want Kai to sink deeper into his trauma," Wu stated.

"I know." Garmadon bit his thumb. "I just don't know how to tell that to Lloyd," he sighed. "I don't want him to get hurt again, but he has to know the situation—"

"It's okay."

The senseis turned at the sudden voice to see Lloyd standing near the entrance. He looked at his feet. "I understand," he murmured. "I don't want to cause any more trouble than I already did."

Without another word, the green ninja turned and headed back up the stairs.

Garmadon and Wu looked at each other.

Wu's eyes twinkled. "He's ready."

Garmadon gave a chuckle. "Hold up, Lloyd!" he called. "You're not getting away that easily!"

* * *

The senseis found Lloyd halted by the entrance to his room. He blinked at them. "What?"

"Come, sit down." Wu herded the ninja into the room and closed the door. "It's time we set some things straight."

Lloyd and Garmadon sat side by side at the edge of his bed, while Wu sat on a chair nearby. Lloyd frowned. "If this is another pep talk about 'why it's so important that I can't know the truth', you can skip it," he scoffed. "I'm so over it."