The Life of Livana Garmadon

August 7th, 2023

I've always wanted to go to school, but to be honest, I'm also scared of going.

Darkly's Boarding School has left me with more scars and trauma than any little girl has to go through and I'm sure that other schools are nothing like that. I can't help but be afraid though, since I know that the schools around here aren't perfect either. If I went to school now, I'd be in 7th grade. Dang, 7th grade.

"Hey, Liv?" I heard a knock on my door and I looked up to find Mom standing there, her hands picking at the split ends at the end of her gray braid as she offered me a small smile.

"Hi, Mom. What's up?" I asked her, getting up from my seat and walking over until I stood in front of her. She smiled and stroked one hand through my hair.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." Mom whispered and I blinked before I nodded my head slowly. It's not that I didn't want to talk to my mother. It's just that Mom and I haven't gotten much of a chance to talk throughout the past few days, since I've been in and out of the monastery and never truly got a break from everything.

Once we settled in the living room, where it was thankfully quiet and unoccupied, I turned to Mom. "So, what do you want to talk about, Mom?"

"You've just been growing up so quickly." Mom murmured, stroking my hair. "I love you, you know that? I love you to the ends of the galaxy and all the way back."

My heart sank as I grabbed my mother's hand and squeezed it gently, "Mom. Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Mom blinked, startled. "Nothing's wrong, my love. What makes you think something's wrong, dear?"

"You're talking like something bad is about to happen. Did you already have this whole speech with Lloyd?" I asked and my mom let out a small laugh, shaking her head.

"Oh, no, Livvy. Nothing bad is happening, don't worry about it. I'm just admiring how much you've grown." Mom smiled softly at me and the fear that had wrapped around my heart slowly eased its claws out.

"Are you sure that everything's okay, Mom? You know you don't have to hide anything from me. I'm always here for you." I said to my mother, who shook her head with a smile.

"Your poor thing. Nothing's wrong, I swear to you. You don't need to worry so much." Mom stroked my hair again and I relaxed, letting all the worry that had built up inside of me release.

"So, what did you need to talk about? Or did you just take me here to talk about how much you love me? Sorry, that sounds wrong, but-" I quickly bit my lip, cutting myself off before I could ramble on and make everything worse. My mother didn't judge me, instead smiling even wider with amusement and affection.

"Darling, Nya came up to me yesterday and she told me about how you wanted to enroll yourself in a school. You wanted to go to school as your part time occupation, is that correct?" Mom asked me, and I swallowed.

"Um... yes, it is. A regular school where I can just... go." I finished off awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck. "I want to be able to learn things and have the experience of a normal 13 year old. But that's not... really possible, is it?"

"Why not?" Mom asked, "I can enroll you in a school."

My heart leapt with excitement but I quickly stamped it out. "Because I'm a Ninja. I have to fight for Ninjago and protect it. Imagine how hard it would be if I was in the middle of classes and I suddenly got pulled out because Lloyd and the other Ninja needed my help saving the world. Wouldn't that be awkward for me? So, it's fine, Mom. You really don't need to enroll me in a school. It's too stressful."

"I want you to be able to experience school, though." Mom tapped her chin, thinking. "Maybe I should research if there are any schools that only do half the day. Perhaps that will be more convenient for you."