Flames of the Past #2: Beginning of Chaos (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 3

"Laurie, no!"

Lloyd leaped forward to catch the vase just in time. Sighing in relief, he placed it back on the night table. He whipped around as he heard Laurie squeal and found her struggling to climb out the window.

Eyes rounding, Lloyd sped over to her and grabbed her off the windowsill. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

Laurie squirmed in his grasp, pointing out the window. "I'm a cat!" she claimed. "Like Kitty!"

Lloyd followed her finger to see the kitten prowling around the rooftop. "No, you're not a cat," he scolded, shutting the window.

"Then I'm a princess!" Laurie giggled, slipping from his arms. She ran out into the hallway and into her room next door.

"Laurie!" Growing exhausted, Lloyd ran after her.

He gasped to find her tugging at her curtains, giggling. He darted over, trying to get the curtain from her grip. "You can't take the palace's curtains!" he told her.

He yelped in alarm as the curtain rod broke and dropped on his head. He hurriedly caught it before it hit Laurie, too, and staggered backward. He blinked rapidly to try and clear his throbbing headache as his daughter sped away again.

Just great, he thought as he stared at the broken rod. Rubbing the top of his head, he placed it on the ground and turned to look for Laurie. The girl was kneeling in front of her night table, searching through the drawer.

Lloyd walked over to her and knelt beside her.

"Look, Daddy!" Laurie pulled out a string of jewels, wrapping it around her forehead. "I'm a princess!"

Jaw dropping, Lloyd took the jewels from her. He inspected them, finding they were real. "Where did you get these?" he gasped.

Laurie only giggled, eyes shining mischievously.

"Did you take these from the princess?" Lloyd realized.

Laurie tried to take them back, but Lloyd pulled them from her reach. "You can't keep stealing people's things, Laurie," he said in exasperation. "Especially expensive things like these."

"But I wanna be a princess!"

"Ugh, can't you just..." Lloyd scooped her up in one arm and rose to his feet. "...color or something?"

He dropped her on the floor beside her crayons and coloring book. He took her eye off her for only a moment as he put the jewels in his pocket and looked back to find her already coloring all over the wall.

"No!" he groaned, pulling her hand with the crayon away from the wall.

"Hey!" she shouted, trying and failing to fight his grip.

He forced her hand on her coloring book. "Color on the paper, nothing else," he growled.

"I don wan to!"

Lloyd gripped his hair as Laurie began to throw a tantrum, slamming the crayons all over the floor. She dove for the book but Lloyd grabbed it before she could throw that, too. That, of course, only upset her more and she started to cry and scream.

"Laurie, come on..." Lloyd hissed through gritted teeth, scooping her into his arms. He tried to calm her down but she refused to, kicking at his chest. "Laurie!"

She eventually broke free and ran for the crayons again. Lloyd was too drained to stop her as she went to color on the walls once more. She quieted down as she did and Lloyd ripped his fingers through his hair, struggling to control his stress. Oh, whatever, he thought in defeat as he paced the floor. I'll just clean it up later. He glanced at the curtains on the ground. And fix the curtains. As long as Laurie was happy.