The Life of Livana Garmadon

August 21st, 2023

"You fight like there's a second chance after this." Lloyd taunted me as our swords clashed against each other, our gazes clashing as well. I glared at him before I pulled my sword down, ducking as my brother sliced at me.

"And you fight like a first year." I shot back, "If you think for a second that you need to go easy on me, don't bother. In fact, I've been going easy on you-" I ducked when Lloyd's sword swung at me and I retaliated back, "-this whole time."

"Oh, please." Lloyd smirked, "Then you wouldn't have needed to duck when I attacked, wouldn't you?"

"Measures are taken to protect yourself sometimes." I retaliated, spinning around and then sweeping Lloyd's legs out from under him. My brother flipped and I grinned. He thought I wanted him on his feet, but that was not what I was aiming for.

When Lloyd was in the middle of a flip to land on the ground, I grabbed his collar, twisted him upright, and then yanked him towards me, pointing my sword at his throat. My grin grew wider and I lifted an eyebrow at Lloyd, "Do you yield?"

Lloyd's eyebrow ticked just a bit and his eyes widened. Then, he chuckled and lifted up his hands, dropping his sword onto the ground. "Fine. Fine. I yield."

I sheathed my sword and then picked up Lloyd's from the ground, tossing it to him. "Here. Thought you might appreciate that."

"Thank you." Lloyd sheathed his sword and then looked over at me, "I've got a quick question for you."

"Uh-huh. What is it?" I asked, taking a sip of water.

"At Mount Tamashii," Lloyd frowned, "what happened to you up in the mountains? And how did you manage to get down?"

I nearly spurted my water out and instead, I forced myself to swallow painfully. "Um," I looked over at Lloyd while I capped my water bottle, "I got stuck in a cave after the avalanche, and then I woke up and climbed my way down."

"Did you really?" Lloyd asked me, "How'd you get out of the cave?"

"I dug myself out of there with my bare hands." I lied. I can't get my brother to worry about me. I know how overprotective and how crazy he can be sometimes. I don't want to worry my brother. Besides, it's not like the mysterious savior can be anyone important... right?

"How did you manage to climb down the mountain? That must have been exhausting." Lloyd pressed on further.

"What is this? An interrogation?" I asked, "I'm fine, Lloyd, and I got out of there with my bare hands. I might have almost died, but that's in the past. Don't worry about me. I don't need you to worry about me."

"It's the way that you don't tell me things that make me worry." Lloyd protested, "Stop being so secretive. As your big brother, it's my duty to worry and care for you. You know that I love you, and I don't want anything happening to you. You getting down that mountain by yourself... and then hiding about it... it's suspicious.''

"Oh, so I can't get down a mountain by myself?" I raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you're worried. What are you hinting at here?"

"Nothing." Lloyd quickly realized what he had said and amended. "I meant nothing, Liv. But please. If there's anything you're not telling me, then I... I need to know."

"You already stress yourself enough." I said firmly, "Let me worry about my own problems. Let me deal with my own freaking life. Let me fight my own battles. I'm 14. I can deal with everything I'm dealing with."

"Sometimes, the things you deal with are too much for a 14-year-old." Lloyd retaliated, "I know that your anxiety gets really high sometimes, and that's understandable. I just want you to know... that I'm here for you. Do you understand that?" He asked gently.

Something inside me deflated and oh, how I wanted to tell my brother about the mysterious rescuer in that moment. But something else inside me forced that secret down. I only looked up at my brother and I nodded, "I understand that, Lloyd. I'll-" Bile nearly rose as I lied, "I'll tell you everything, okay? You have to trust me."

"And I do trust you." Lloyd murmured, "I don't want you to get hurt. Ever."

"And..." My stomach cramped at my lie. How much would it hurt my brother if I continued lying? What if he found out? This was the thing I hated about lying. You risk everything, but potentially... you gain nothing. I swallowed thickly and then said, "And I don't ever want to see you hurt either."

"No secrets?" Lloyd asked, holding up his hand.

Oh God. No. Please don't make me shake on it. I am struggling to keep this secret already. I breathed in and out to fight back the nausea and my fingers trembled slightly as I reached up and took my brother's hand in mine. "No secrets."

"Good." Lloyd hugged me around my shoulders and then smiled, "Let's go see what our other brothers and sisters are doing, yeah?"

"Video games?" I asked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Oh, you know it." Lloyd grinned.

-:-:-:-:-

"YES!!" Popcorn spilled all over the table as Lloyd threw his hands up, leaping onto his feet as his name blared across the screen. "I beat my own record! Again!!"

"How?!" Cole demanded, tossing his controller onto the sofa.

"You all are video game nerds." Nya drawled from an armchair, playing with Jay's curly hair as he groaned and put the controller down, slumping into the couch's soft cushions. The Yin-Yang necklace glowed on her neck, and I saw Jay finger his, too, as if he was still waiting on the promise.

"Amen." I said from the bean bag I was sitting on.

"This is great." Lloyd grinned, "Now there's an even less chance that you can beat me, Cole. Haha!"

Cole stuck out his tongue and muttered under his breath, "Yeah, but not long before your bed gets covered in cockroaches."

I barely managed to muffle a laugh in time when Lloyd said, "What?"

"Nothing." Cole grinned innocently, even though there was a glint of deviousness in there somewhere.

"Uh-huh..." Lloyd narrowed his eyes suspiciously in Cole's direction before he continued celebrating his victory, making both Nya and I shake our heads with a matching smirk.

"Alright, nerds. Settle down now before things get messy." I teased, and both Cole and Lloyd shot me a matching look of shock. I was so surprised that I burst out laughing, hugging my middle and falling onto the ground.

Once I had finished, I sat up and straightened. Zane arched an amused eyebrow at me, "Are you alright, sister?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." I laughed, wiping the corner of my eyes. "I'm just a little breathless right now. You two both shot me the same look at the same time and it was-" I burst out laughing again. "It was too funny."

"Okay... So she's a little delusional." Kai whispered and I threw a pillow at his face, still laughing.

Kai drew back, pressing a hand to his chest in mock offense. "How dare you!"

"I dared. And how are you gonna stop me?" I asked, sticking out my tongue. A pillow came flying towards my head and I squeaked, ducking down onto the ground, letting the pillow sail over my head and then hit Nya on the back of her head.

Nya turned around and then glared at the both of us. "Oh, you two are so dead."

She launched a pillow at us and Cole yelled, "PILLOW FIGHT!!" Within minutes, the ground was littered with pillows as we whacked each other. I leaned back and then grinned. This was what a family should look like.

Laughing. Kind. Happy.

United.

And... for a second... the guilt gnawing at me from keeping my secrets faded.