ninjago imagines

i'll never know the love (your god has never shown) | lloyd g., kai s.

some blurb for yall : au if kai? following lloyd onto the ship in s8, everything plays out the same but this happens in between.

tw: blood and injury, use of knife, hostage situation. 

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"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Harumi says. Casual, like they're friends out for tea and he's just tried to sip a cup of too-hot water. Like she's not digging a knife into Lloyd's neck right now, a thin line of red drawn across his skin. Kai drops his hand from the katana, raises it into the air.

"Kai, just... go. Please."

His eyes fall to Lloyd, and he doesn't look scared, or betrayed, or angry. Just tired. And yeah, Kai knows the best plan of action right now is to run. Find the others, make a plan, jump back in at the last minute and save the world.

He's listened to Cole's lessons on rational thought and ran through countless scenarios on this. Harumi, terrible as she is, needs the green ninja for her plan to work. He should turn around, find his way out of this ship, run before they can take him too.

But it's Lloyd. And he can see it in Harumi's eyes, the glint of success before he's even surrendered. Please, Lloyd mouths at him. Stop. Run.

"Okay." He raises his hands back down to his waist, dragging out the blade. Lloyd's eyes widen, mouth opening to stop him, but Harumi's faster, flipping the blade around till the point is pressing into the soft part of his throat. One move, and there'll be nothing left to save, no chance of fixing the fatal injury.

Kai swallows. The katana screams as it slowly slides back into its sheath, a ugly screech in the thick silence. Harumi doesn't blink.

"If you kill him, there's nothing stopping me from coming after you. And I promise, I will." Kai means it, (even if he's never killed anyone before. She can be the first. He hates her enough for that.)

"Go ahead then, fire ninja." Harumi smirks, a ugly kind of smile twisted on her kios. There's nothing behind it, no malice or humor or hate. Just the suffocating knowledge that she has the upper hand. "Show your precious Lloyd here how little he really matters to you."

Kai looks at him, fingers twitching, desperate to pick up his blade and drive it into Harumi's chest. Fight his way out withLloyd right behind him. Every nerve is screaming at him to attack, throw the first punch, get that knife out of his little brother's face.

Kai does none of that. He turns, twists through in a practiced move through the gap in the crowd of crew mates growing around them, and in one swift move, dives off the ship.

He tumbled through the air, wind scraping against his skin as tears well up, pricking against the corner of his eyes (he convinces himself this is from the sharp hurt of the wind in his face, not him betraying Lloyd for his own safety.)

For the mission, he tells himself, and his mind doesn't leave it even after the familiar blaze of Airjitzu rushes through his veins and sparks are flying off his clenched fists.

For the mission, Kai repeats. They'll get him back.

They always do. 

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