Tormented Rescue (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Part 10

Lloyd came back to the dining room and sat down with a sigh.

"Oh, you're back?" Jay asked confused.

"Uh yeah, he's asleep..."

"Asleep?" Cole repeated.

"I guess he's just really tired after everything," Lloyd explained.

"Mm, yes, he also wasn't able to eat well in that time, and he isn't eating well now, which will definitely be affecting his energy," Zane added.

Nya looked down sadly. She wanted to help Kai more than anything. She decided she'd talk to Lloyd when she got the chance to.

"I'm going to call the police to tell them Kai won't be able to do it today, it'd be too mean to force Kai out of bed for it," Lloyd said, getting out his phone. The others nodded silently in agreement.

The ninja were playing some games on the TV, although not very enthusiastically, they just needed a distraction from the heavy vibe around the monastery. Nya noticed that Lloyd had not joined in and so she took the opportunity.

"Hey Lloyd, I need to talk to you, can we go outside?" Nya suggested. Lloyd looked up from his phone with a blank expression but then shook himself out of it.

"Uh, sure? Let's go," Lloyd slid his phone into his pocket and stood up with Nya, and they left the others alone.

Nya leaned against a post with her arms crossed and Lloyd sat against another post half facing her.

"This is about Kai, isn't it?" Lloyd said quietly while Nya's eyes were closed. She opened them and glanced down at Lloyd and sighed, sliding down the post and sitting in the same position as Lloyd.

"I want to help him, Lloyd, more than anything, I can't just sit around and let you do all of it... no-- no offence, or anything like that, I-- I just..." Nya quickly added, realising that had sounded more mean than she'd wanted it to.

"No, I get it, don't worry, I would have felt the same way had it been the other way around..." Lloyd paused, thinking about what to say. "If I'm honest Nya, I have no idea how to help him. You know him better, you should be able to help him more anyway."

"I... yeah... I-- I guess, but he doesn't want my help, does he? He wants you," Nya said quietly.

"What makes you think that?" Nya gave Lloyd a look.

"Lloyd. I'm his little sister, he's not gonna let me see him upset by choice..." Nya grumbled. Lloyd gave her a sad look.

"Yeah, that sounds like Kai... but-- Nya, that doesn't mean he doesn't want your help! It just means he doesn't want you to see him in a bad state, you could still help!" Lloyd attempted to reassure Nya.

"How? If I can't comfort him while he's crying then how can I help him?" Nya pried. Lloyd looked to the side in thought.

"You-- you could check in on him, y'know? Make sure he's eating and drinking well, that he's changed his bandages and... and isn't-- doing anything... stupid..." Lloyd trailed off, his eyes stinging at the thought so he quickly shook it out of himself. Nya stuffed the ball of anxiety down her throat. "And, you could-- tell me how to comfort him? Not that I don't know how, but you know things about Kai that I don't, and maybe it's important for me to know them to help him better," Lloyd suggested, looking back up at Nya. Nya blinked the glisten in her eyes away and slowly nodded.

"Those... those aren't bad ideas..." Nya said with a smile. Lloyd smiled back.

"Mhm, but y'know I think you should try talking to Kai, about him hiding his emotions around you the way he does. It's not healthy for him or for you, and it's not going to change without more confrontation." Lloyd insisted, not dropping his gaze from Nya. Nya didn't look away either, she let tears gather in her eyes.

Eventually, she blinked them away again and let go of a breath.

"Let's talk with him together, when he wakes up. Yeah?" Lloyd asserted, and when Nya didn't say anything in response, Lloyd took it as a yes. "I promise things will work out," He added with a smile to Nya. She took a deep breath and smiled back.

"Yeah. Yeah..."