Promises (Ninjago's Kai x Reader)

Episode 4 - Fear

I wake up early the next morning, too excited to stay asleep. The first thing I do is creep over to the boys room and shake Lloyd awake.

"Tasha?" he says, rubbing his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to tell you something."

"Okay." He sits up. "What's up?"

I hold out my left hand, showing him the gem on my ring finger.

"Oh my god. Kai proposed?"

I nod vigorously, smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.

"Oh my god. Oh my god!"

Lloyd throws his arms around me and we rock back and forth.

"I can't believe it. You're engaged!"

"I know!" I say, forgetting for a moment that the others are asleep.

"Be quiet. It's 3 in the morning," Jay groans.

"Actually it's almost seven."

"Same difference."

"I'm so happy for you, Tash," Lloyd says.

"Me too," I say, but then my smile falters. My father's laugh is ringing in my ears again.

Lloyd frowns. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it," I say, smiling as bright as the sun.

He stares at me a moment, narrowing his eyes. I know he can see through my mask. He's always been so good at that.

"Tasha, tell me what's bothering you."

I sigh. "Let's go get breakfast."

A few moments later, Lloyd and I each have a plateful of food and are seated at a ridiculously long table in the dining hall. For a while, we sit in silence, enjoying the delicacies the Royal Family provided us.  It's too bad Cole gave up dessert because the coffee cake is to die for.

"So," Lloyd says, wiping his mouth with an ornately decorated napkin. "What's got you so stressed out?"

"I had a vision."

He nearly chokes on his orange juice. "What? When?"

"About a year ago," I say. My knee is bouncing a million miles an hour. "It was the last one before the voices stopped."

"What did you see?"

I tell him everything. Kai bursting into flames. Him and Mom being crushed. Lily and Cole being massacred. Jay and Nya's strangulation. Zane and Pixal's deconstruction. Uncle Wu blaming me before choking on blood. Our father returned with four arms, laughing at all the destruction. And then me. How I had ebony skin and glowing purple eyes. How I joined our father on his thrown. How the energy that swirled around my fingertips was as black as the night sky.

"And there were these creatures Lloyd," I say. "They were as tall as Borg Tower with horns sticking out of they're heads. They were the voices in my head. They told me it was my destiny."

Lloyd sits back in his chair, rubs his jaw. He stays silent for a long time. My heart hammers in my chest. I shouldn't have told him. He must hate me now. He's gonna have to lock me up to make sure this never happens.

Finally he speaks. "This doesn't sound like any of your other visions."

Well, I was not expecting him to say that. "No, it wasn't."

"Are you sure this wasn't just some vivid nightmare?"

"Why would I dream about something like that?"

"Well," he says, drumming his fingers on the table as he thinks. "You were under a lot of stress."