the other side | ninjago

true identity

A few days had passed

Nya and Sadie were finally getting along. Nya was able to set her hesitations aside for the sake of Lloyd and the team. Everyone could see Lloyd and Sadie's feelings for each other growing. This was yet another reason Nya had to accept her. She was aware of how much she meant to Lloyd, and she could not prevent his happiness just because of her stress. 

Lloyd's track record with these types of relationships had not been stellar. Everyone else had someone. Jay and Nya, Kai and Skylor, Cole and Vania, and Zane and PIXAL all had each other. He'd never felt so alone. His entire encounter with Harumi left an impression. The team truly believed that if it hadn't been for her, none of this would have been such a big deal.

He had a habit of falling quickly. He was aware that this was not a desirable trait, but he couldn't help himself. There was just something about her that felt familiar which made it even easier for him to fall for her. He felt his guard drop, which most people never could get down before. This however, make him nervous. With his guard down, he and the team were more vulnerable to danger.

Sadie joined the team as they practiced on the deck. Nya saw her fight and knew that with more practice, she could be good. Despite her lack of power, she could still provide some fighting power to compensate for the loss of Zane and Cole.

To train, Sadie and Kai went back and forth, throwing punches at each other. Sadie was able to deflect all of his and knock Kai off his feet by the end. This impressed Sensei Wu greatly. She not only contributed technical knowledge to the team, but she could also be useful in the field.

As another bank robbery was taking place, the bounty's alarm went off. The ninja were perplexed as to why any of these smaller criminals bothered anymore.

Sensei had an idea. "Lloyd and Sadie, you two go!"

"Wait, me? But I—" she said, getting cut off quickly.

"Give it your best shot. Lloyd will be behind you," Wu responded.

She nodded, and the two began walking out the door.

"I'm nervous," Sadie admitted as they dashed towards their destination.

"Don't worry, I'm right behind you," Lloyd said, looking over and smiling.

"You know, on days like this, it would be much easier if I could just use your real name," she said back, laughing.

"Soon," he responded. He knew he couldn't keep this secrecy up for much longer.

They dashed into the bank, only to be met by two people wearing ski masks and staring back at them. They each took one of them, fighting them off and preventing them from fleeing. Lloyd dispatched his with ease, while Sadie trailed slightly behind.

She was eventually successful in bringing her criminal to the ground. They both laughed as they made eye contact from where they stood. But it wasn't long after they had apprehended the criminals before one of them got the better of Lloyd while he was distracted. They took out his legs, and knocked him off of them before he tied them up. They drew a knife from their pockets and aimed it at him. Lloyd didn't want to use his abilities because he didn't want anyone, especially Sadie, to get hurt.

The two fought back and forth while Sadie held down her person tight. 

Lloyd backed up to avoid being slashed as the criminal swung his knife at him. Because he couldn't take Lloyd alone, the criminal reasoned that it might be more useful to take Sadie and try to free his friend before continuing. Lloyd grabbed his arm and flipped him back his way as he tried to run over to Sadie. The criminal swung his other arm around and landed a hit on Lloyd, knocking him to the ground.

Lloyd shot back up quickly, but not before the criminal had gotten behind him and pressed the knife against his throat. Lloyd kicked his leg back and took out the criminal's leg. But as he fell to the ground, they grabbed his hood and pulled it off. He was avle to knock out the criminal, but he was completely oblivious to the fact that he was now standing directly across from Sadie without his face being covered.

They both remained silent and stared at each other. He dashed over and put back on his hood, but it was clearly too late. He now, more than ever, hoped she could be trusted because his true identity was now out in the open. He felt though as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He no longer had to hide this from her. 

They handed over the criminals to the authorities and started home.

"So you've been to the coffee shop before," Sadie said, giggling, obviously recognizing him.

They remained quiet for a split second. 

"Hi Sadie, I'm Lloyd."