The Wolf and The Dragon (Book 2)

25 - My mother is a Dragon

2 years after Garmadon was banished by Wu

-"Lloyd, where are you?"
-"I am here Mom..." the nine years old come out of his bedroom, with a comic book in his hand.
-"Darling we are packing this evening, we are going on a field trip that should leave tomorrow early in the morning."
-"where are we going this time?" He jumped, sitting on the worktop of the kitchen, and started to unpack the groceries out of the bag she has just placed there.
-"We are going south, all the way down here..." she grabs a map and shows the inquisitive boy their destination.
-"what will we be looking for?"
-"Some locals reported a landslide revelling so kind of ancient settlement, to be honest, I am not quite sure what to expect."

Mother and son have grown extremely close to each other in the last 2 years since his father left on a secret mission and hasn't returned. He is sure there is more to that than she had told him, but every time they touch the subject she holds back the tears in her eyes, and he doesn't want to see her crying, again.

He hopes his father will return one day, he missed him dearly, and she seems to hold the same hope.

They have moved away from Garmadon's monastery to a small flat in Ninjago city centre, close to the Science and History University of Ninjago where Misako used to teach history before.

She had to adjust her working schedule to one of single mother's routine, she no longer has fixed lectures at the university, instead, she does field trips, where she can always take him with her, the fact that he is home-school means he also can be with her wherever she goes.

-"Where is Mistake?" The crazy old lady from the tea shopping nearby, normally keep an eye on Lloyd if she needs to leave him alone for a while.

-"I don't know, somewhere watching TV.... Mom I don't understand why you ask her to look after me, she can badly look after herself."

-"that is what you think, appearances can be deceiving, darling, trust me she is far more than you can see..."

-"You should always listen to your mother young Garmadon... and please put your Lego away. I almost broke my feet."

-"Lloyd..." his mother gave him a look, and he knew he should go tidying up his toys.

As the boy leaves the room, Misako talks to Mistake.

-"Thanks again for watching over him."

-"It is ok, he is no trouble at all, but I still think you should have Wu around, the boy needs some male figure around him, and Wu can also training him, would be good if he learned how to defend himself, he is an elemental you know that, you are protecting him too much."

-"Garmadon was clear, Wu should be my last option..."

-"because he has always been jealous of his brother... anyway, He isn't here anymore, and he isn't not coming back, at least not the man you once knew."

-"I still trust him, he would do anything to protect Lloyd."

-"well... suit yourself, I go back to my shopping. When are you coming back?"

-"around 2 weeks time, I will let you know once we are back. thanks again!"

-"Have a safe trip, make sure the boy have some interaction with other youngsters, I know you are always with him, but at his age, he needs to play with other kids."

-"ok...I will..."

The crazy old lady exit the flat, leaving Misako thinking about everything she just said.

Maybe she should enrol Lloyd on a local school where he can make some friends, but just the idea of leaving him out of her sight for longer than necessary is enough to make her shiver, what if they come after him, how would she protect him?