Tormented Rescue (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Part 3

TW: Swearing

As soon as the officers were far enough away Kai looked down at the ground again, letting go of his breath. Lloyd gazed at him with sympathy. He rubbed Kai's hand with his thumb, making him look up. Lloyd smiled, and Kai felt himself on the verge of tears again. God, again. He was so tired, exhausted, drained-- so fucking tired that he didn't even want to let his emotions out anymore.

He stepped a little closer to Lloyd and rested his head on his shoulder, trying to keep himself steady. Lloyd let go of Kai's hand and wrapped his arm around Kai's shoulders.

"Let's go home, yeah?" Lloyd suggested quietly, not wanting to ruin Kai's peace. Kai realised that he'd almost fallen asleep on Lloyd's shoulder and quickly stood straight and nodded, attempting to hide his blushing face. Lloyd giggled. "We can sleep together tonight if you'd like," He winked at Kai, making him blush harder and fan away his outstretched hand. Lloyd laughed and Kai smiled; it was nice to hear such a happy sound in all of this doom and gloom.

He took Lloyd's hand and yanked him away from the ambulance and towards the others.

"Hahaha, ok, ok! Now stop dragging me!"

The others had all expected Kai to ride with one of them on the way home, but Kai had refused all of their offers and took his own dragon. He knew he would fall asleep if he were sitting up against Lloyd or Nya all comfy, and despite being totally embarrassed by it, he did in fact want to fall asleep with Lloyd tonight, all cozy in bed. After everything, some peace is all he wanted.

When they arrived home though, Kai had almost regretted not riding with Lloyd and falling asleep, because now he had to deal with Wu as well.

Kai loves his friends and sensei Wu, they're like family, but god were they worrywarts. It wasn't all as bad as they were making it out to be. Right?

"Kai!? Oh my god, Kai! You found Kai! Kai, are you ok!? Oh thank the fsm you're alive!" Wu ran up to Kai as they landed in the courtyard, hugging him tightly. By now Kai felt better with the hugs, knowing there wasn't a way around them anyway, but he still wished that people were less touchy.

When Kai didn't answer, and all he did was give a weak hug back, Wu let go and inspected him. The others, obviously understanding his concern, filled him in on what went down.

"Kai still hasn't said a thing though, and he hasn't even been that clear about his yes and no's! Which that kind of matters, Kai!" Cole exclaims.

"Really? I think he's been quite clear, he's been smiling for yes, and smiling for no! The difference is quite obvious, Cole." Jay joked, waving his arms around in exaggeration. Obviously Nya had told him about Kai's wish for less attention, and so he was trying to make the situation lighter. Kai appreciated it and he chuckled along with the others.

"Ok... Well, Kai, I'm glad to see you in one piece, all of us are, but I'm sure they've already proven that to you," Kai smiled and the others nodded, Nya putting an arm around Kai. "So then, are you hungry Kai? Do you need a drink? Or do you just want to go to sleep?" Wu asked, as they made their way inside.

"Or! All of the above?" Jay added. They settled in the living room. Kai contemplated his options. He was hungry, he had to admit, but it was 2am and cuddling with Lloyd still felt like the best option. He glanced over at Lloyd hoping he'd get the hint to speak for him again. He gave a confused look at first, but then blushed a little.

"Oh uh, we wanted to go to sleep as soon as we got home, besides eating at 2am would ruin breakfast." Lloyd answered. Wu nodded.

"Yes I agree, I think that is for the best. Goodnight then, all of you deserve some extra rest, don't worry about training tomorrow." Wu says, walking off to his room, waving goodnight. They all answered a quiet goodbye back and turned to face each other, just sharing exhausted looks.

Kai took his chance.

"Thank you, you guys, for everything tonight." Kai said, looking down and shuffling his feet. The others all caught their breath, not having expected to hear Kai's voice. And all of Kai's worries about his voice sounding terrible ended up being for nothing, it only sounded dry and tired, not like a messed up frog that Kai had imagined

Kai had thought about what he'd say the entire flight home. He realised he had to get over his stupid complications and pretending like everything was fine, especially now knowing just how much they all knew from their explanation to Wu.

He looked up from the ground and took Lloyd's hand.

"You really helped me, not only to get out of there, but also to feel safe and... it's-- it's been a while, since I've felt that loved and cared about... so thank you." Kai finished with a sincere smile, looking around at his friends who wore the same sort of happy and relieved look.

"Of course Kai," Zane was the first to answer.

"Yeah bud, we're all here for you." Cole clarified. Jay nodded furiously in agreement, giving him a goofy grin.

"And thanks for reassuring us that your voice box isn't broken," Nya nudged his shoulder and they all laughed. It was the perfect moment; even with all of the shit that had gone down.