Let The Past Die [Ninjago x Reader]

wounds never truly heal

We began the rooftop chase after the hooded man. Barely making a sound, we flipped and jumped onto various roofs. The man turned around to look over his shoulder, and if I hadn't pulled Lloyd down, he would have spotted us. We waited a few moments until continuing. After a while of running, we landed on a flat roof. The gap was too large to jump across, and all that stood between us and the roof over were wires strung from two buildings. Lloyd's shoulders slumped in complete disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me."

The kidnapper was getting away, and if we didn't act now, we'd lose our lead. A small smirk crawled onto my lips. This was in my element, I was in complete control. 

"Try not to scream this time, 'kay?" I said with a wink. Without warning, I grabbed Lloyd's arm and jumped off the edge. Lloyd let out a yelp as we fell fast. Wind blew through our gis, and the rush of adrenaline and excitement pumped through my veins. The smirk never left my lips, but Lloyd looked utterly terrified. "Reality," I willed the ground to soften,"can be whatever I want!" Like a trampoline, we shot up into the sky. From my hands, sparks of purple burst from my fingertips and propelled us forward; it gave us enough of a boost to get to the other side. I landed gracefully as Lloyd struggled to keep his balance. Before he could fall, I pulled him back up and began at a run. 

"Come on--" I bumped into someone at full force. Lloyd gasped as the man removed his hood and helped me up. Wait...she was no man. "Princess?" gaped Lloyd. I narrowed my gaze. "We thought you were kidnapped," I seriously said, "and that was quite some feat you put up." I thought it to be weird how she was able to scale all those buildings. A Princess, who's pampered by various servants probably wouldn't even know what life is like out of the palace walls. That only brought up another question: Who trained her?

"I -- we were trying to save you." admitted Lloyd. He pulled off his hood, pink tinting his cheeks from embarrassment. "Was that what that was?" She placed her hands on the large bag of...something. "From my point of view, it looked like (Y/n) was the one saving you." Lloyd bit his lips, a habit him and I shared. "Then...who's in the bag?" he questioned. "You mean what." corrected Harumi.

She untied the knot and yanked open the sack. "Food. For the less fortunate. Even though I'm confined to the palace, I still try to give what I can." she explained. My expression softened, but I still had a feeling that something wasn't right. 

Lloyd furrowed his brows and said, "But your bedroom was ransacked Princess." I vigorously nodded in agreement. Harumi smiled sheepishly. "Yes, I can be quite a slob." she spoke slowly, as if she were thinking of the proper words to say. "Thank you for noticing." She gave Lloyd a teasing smile as she placed her hands on her hips. 

"I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean--" Lloyd was so flustered that I almost felt bad.

"The Princess is gone! Find her!" 

Harumi's gaze met the castle's worriedly. "They can't know I left the palace. You both have to disguise yourselves. Hurry!" She threw matching gray sweaters to Lloyd and I. I pulled it on and kept my face hidden under the hood. And again, we began running. "How much running are we going to do?" I complained to Lloyd. He sent me a smirk. "At least you'll burn off all the cake and ice cream you ate with Jay."

"Are you saying that I'm getting fat?"

"What if you're already fat?"

I pinched his cheek and ruffled his hair. "You'll pay for that. Mark my words." 

---

The city was as bright as ever, yet dim in the cloak of night. Lanterns hung from houses and boats in the canal. It was just enough to make out the slums of the city. I grimaced. I knew Ninjago City was big, but I hadn't realized it to be so big that I missed this important detail. People coughed on the streets, some had missing teeth, nearly a fourth of them had children. I suddenly felt my heart ache for these people. It was sad, especially since it doesn't seem like the Emperor and Empress are doing much to help.