A Ninjago Oneshots Collection

Lloyd Wants His Dad 1/2

Includes: platonic Greenflame, comfort fic ish, Kai being the best big brother omg, Lloyd angst and Kai angst kinda as well, and general wholesomeness
(I genuinely think platonic Greenflame is a billion times better for this fic than romantic Greenflame so like, please don't make it romantic in your head ;-;)

Kai stared at Lloyd for a while, wondering what could be going through his head. His big brother instincts seemed to be calling to him and in this instance, he didn't like it. Kai inspected him for a little longer before Lloyd glanced at him and noticed him staring. Kai let his expression drop a little and he silently drew his breath as he lifted his hand and placed it on Lloyd's arm. Lloyd's gaze followed Kai's hand with a very confused look. He half laughed.

"What are you—"

"It's ok," Kai interrupted Lloyd, catching him off guard. Lloyd drew his breath and blinked in surprise.

"What— what...?" Lloyd glanced between Kai and his hand. Kai let go of his breath, his gaze not dropping from Lloyd.

"Something's wrong, I can feel it. It's— it's ok, y'know? Everything will be alright, c'mere," Kai's expression grew more and more concerned as his heart felt more and more pained. Kai gently pulled on Lloyd's arm.

"Woah! Woah, Kai?" Lloyd fell into Kai's open arms and held his breath with shock. Kai shut his eyes and hugged him tighter.

"I promise, everything will be alright..." Kai whispered, rubbing Lloyd's back. The longer they stood together, the more Lloyd's heart grew warmer. Lloyd allowed himself to relax and let go of his breath, but that only made him aware of his eyes starting to burn. Lloyd's breath grew deeper.

Even he hadn't realized how much it had mattered to him that his dad had decided to leave with Misako. He has hoped his dad would stay and become like a second sensei to the ninja, but no. He left. Lloyd had felt upset, but he knew there was no point in crying about it. He'd hidden the pain from himself so well, he couldn't believe that Kai had been able to see right through him. Lloyd started choking up but he was still confused.

"Shhh..." Kai quietly hushed Lloyd, moving his arms into a more restful position. "It's ok, you can cry." Kai opened his eyes a sliver to find Lloyd's head, and he started to play with Lloyd's hair as he pressed his face into Kai's shoulder, trying to stifle his soft sobs. "Shh..." Kai gulped down his tears, seeing Lloyd in tears had triggered his own. Eventually, Lloyd was able to calm down and slow his breathing. He took a deep shuddering breath and gulped, slowly turning his head on Kai's shoulder to look at him. Kai's eyes met his and Kai gave him a small sincere smile. Lloyd thought for a moment.

"How... how'd you know?" Lloyd asked in a whisper. Kai continued to stroke Lloyd's head. Kai hesitated.

"After years of looking after someone, you start picking up on the small things," Kai gave him another soft smile. "But what's up? Why've you got this many pent-up tears?" Kai asked, his expression dropping to concern once more. Lloyd hesitated, looking away. Eventually, he sighed and hid his face again.

"My— My dad. I really wanted him to stay... but— but he left with mum and..." Lloyd felt his throat closing up and he gulped in an attempt to stop the tears from coming out again. Kai nodded understandingly. "I just want to have a normal family life..." Lloyd shut his eyes, he felt like a terrible person for thinking like that, he felt like he should appreciate what he had, but he found it hard to appreciate something he barely saw around.

"I know the feeling... But I— I think your dad— you should talk to him. Misako's job is obviously going away, which kind of sucks, but there's not much to be done especially considering there have been many times when her explorations have been helpful. But your dad, maybe he thinks you don't want him here? Did you ever tell him that you wanted him to stay?" Lloyd thought back to before his father had left. He remembered his mum coming over for a cup of tea and she, Garmadon, and Wu all talked for ages. Eventually, Misako left, and she called back to Garmadon as she was leaving, "Meet me at the dock at seven! No later, because it's a four-hour trip," Lloyd and the others were all confused, Zane was the first to ask about it, and Misako explained that Garmadon had agreed to go on an expedition with her. It took the ninja by surprise but none of them said anything outright, other than Jay who laughed. Lloyd felt he remembered that he had said something, but he couldn't tell apart his dreams from reality anymore. He'd regretted not saying anything so badly that he'd imagined every way he could've gotten at least his dad to stay, and each time in his nightmares, his dad only left for longer. Lloyd let go of his breath and lightly shook his head.

"No... I... I didn't say anything..." Lloyd whispered, ashamed of himself. Kai nodded in thought.

"Well... when do they come back? Do you know?" Kai asked. Lloyd sighed and let go of Kai, separating their hug, but Kai still held his arms.

"I... I think in two weeks. They left three weeks ago, and the entire trip is ten weeks, but they come back for supplies halfway through..." He thought aloud. Kai lit up, his mind whirring with a solution to Lloyd's problem.

"Ok, so... then the best thing for you to do, would be to talk to him when they come for supplies in two weeks." Kai grinned, but Lloyd was sceptical.

"But how? I can't just go up to him and plead him to stay, that's weird," Lloyd half laughed. Kai shook his head, chuckling along.

"That's not what I mean, and anyway, he's your Dad, Lloyd! If he knows that you need him, he'll stay," Kai said matter-of-factly. Lloyd raised his eyebrows.

"Right. 'Cause you have experience in being a father," Lloyd rolled his eyes. Kai gave him a look and crossed his arms. Lloyd blinked confusedly. "What? Do you?" Kai sighed.

"No, but it's just like I said earlier, when you spend enough time looking after someone... it becomes hard to not feel like you raised them," Kai looked off into the distance, and Lloyd thought that over in his head. He was probably talking about Nya, which made sense, though was a little sad. Lloyd's expression dropped a little, making Kai glance at him, noticing the change in the tension. He smiled to change the mood.

"Enough about that. So, when your Dad comes back with your Mum, you should catch a moment when it's just you and him, and then make small talk. Like, ask if he's enjoying the expedition so far and whether he'd prefer to stay and not leave, and then at that point you can mention that you'd like for him to stay," Kai thought aloud and Lloyd nodded as he listened. He couldn't imagine it going smoothly, but it was a good shot in the dark. Lloyd looked back at Kai, inspecting his eyes for sincerity, and like always he found it. Kai noticed Lloyd's staring and grinned. He stepped up to Lloyd and ruffled his hair.

"Hey!" Lloyd laughed as he shooed away Kai's hand.

"We better go back inside, I don't think leaving sugar-high Jay in the hands of Cole was a good idea," Kai chuckled as he nudged Lloyd's shoulder and started heading back towards the door. Lloyd hesitated but ran forward quickly after Kai, and he hugged him from behind. Kai almost tripped up over his feet but was able to steady himself. Looking over his shoulder, he smiled. He carefully turned himself around and hugged Lloyd back.

"Thank you..." Lloyd's voice was muffled, his face buried in Kai's gi. "I love you so much," Lloyd said tearfully, hugging Kai tighter. He didn't know it was possible to be so grateful for someone. Kai found himself catching his breath and smiling to himself, hugging back tighter as well.

"I love you too."