Unpredictable

Chapter 37--Monkey's Wedding

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Monkey's Wedding (noun)
Meaning: simultaneous rain and sunshine (S. African)
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Kai's POV:

My fist dives into the skin of a sand bag. The thick fabric hardly hides the almost stone-feeling of the sand, pushing into the flat part of my fingers above my knuckles. I bounce on my feet, shifting and correcting my position. I dig my toes into the mat, then let the force power through my leg. My hips and shoulders turn, thrusting my arm forward. The knuckles of my index and middle finger plunge into the bag. The bag absorbs the energy, jolting back.

Then I do it again, and again, and again. I make small corrections each time: the rotation of my hips, the angle of my arm, the destination of my fist. I pant, each breath in time with the quick heart beat in my ears. I can smell myself, hear the thump of my fist on the bag. My core aches from the sit ups earlier, and my hands sting.

I'm doing my best not to think about it, but Mystake's words are always there, lingering on the edge of my conscious. The others are the same.

Cole came in to lift a couple times, and we small-talked about cake and video games and Zane's goofy apron. Old, go-to jokes that speak to the silence more than to each other. Our eyes never met. I haven't seen Zane or Jay, but I know where they are. Zane's in the kitchen, and Jay's helping Nya on a new project in the belly of the ship. They don't know what to do about any of it, either. Lloyd's been in and out of Rose's room since he got back.

I told Aquila that we'd chase after her if she ran. But just how far will we have to go?
The door creaks open. I pay attention for a moment— identifying the padding of the feet as Lloyd's (he walks quick, but not as quick as Jay, and soft, but not as soft as Zane)— then zone out again.

A towel lands on my face, knocking me out of my zone. I whip around, clutching the towel they way I would a weapon. Lloyd dodges. I stumble back, eyes widening at the sight of him. The thrum in my veins jitters, and my heart slows.

His shoulders are hunched. His cheeks are red, rubbed raw, and his eyes are glassy. He looks away from me. "Rose is up. Be... be nice, okay? None of this is her fault; I don't care what anyone says."

"Have you been crying?" I grab his wrist. He slips out easily— I'm all sweaty, my grip is like a slip-and-slide.

"I—I, um, yes," Lloyd shifts on his feet, holding his hand close to his chest, "but that's not the point. We're talking about Rosie, and how she's obviously a victim of circumstance, and why you shouldn't be mad."

"Who hurt you?" My fists ball.

He saw Katara earlier, it could be her— HA! I knew Ninjago only had room for one fire elemental! Now she's going around, making Lloyd cry... my stomach boils, my nails dig into the wrap around my palm. I'm going to strangle Katara!

"No one hurt me." Lloyd purses his lips. Liar!

Lloyd looks down to the ground. His toes point to each other, and he shrugs. "...I mean, I think I hurt myself. I was the stupid one. She said no, but I was the one being stupid. I was just so sure after... and I wasn't thinking... It's my fault."

I stop in my tracks. My posture falls. ...oh. Girl troubles. I still want to strangle Katara, but whatever. This is more important now. Fated lovers and all.

I put one hand on Lloyd's shoulder. "You're going to have to back up, kiddo."

"Don't call me a kid!" Lloyd jerks away, eyes wild and livid and he stumbles back.

My fists clench and my teeth grind against each other. Then my shoulders collapse, and I sigh. He's not mad at me. I know he's not mad at me. Age has always been a low point, but he's never snapped before.

She really did a number on him, didn't she?

I point to Lloyd. "You stay here. I'm going to go grab some candy, and when I get back we're going to stuff our faces and complain about all the crap that's hit the ceiling recently, alright, brother?"

I walk out of the room, towel around my neck. I know that he'll stay, if for nothing else, for the candy. Rose can wait.

I tiptoe into the kitchen and shuffle through the back of it. We used to keep candy back here, when he really was a kid, as a reward for him being extra-good on training days. Sure enough, I find a bag of hard candy— the good ones, not the grandma ones that Zane almost bought— and some homemade taffy. I'm pretty sure the taffy is Jay's, actually, from his mom... he won't miss it. I'll tell him Cole ate it.

I hold the bags in each arm and head back into the training room. Lloyd sits on the edge of the baby-blue mats. I plop down next to him, and lay our treats in front of our feet. I open the container, and the sweet smell of sugar mixes with the salty sting of sweat in the air. I grab a taffy and chew it, then sip from my water bottle.
"So, what's up?"
"The sky." Lloyd rolls a blue hard candy around his mouth. He grins, but it's as fake as the flavor we're tasting.
I ruffle his hair. "That's lame, go back, try again. If you're gonna be sarcastic, you've got to do it with style." I pan my hand out, grinning and looking at him out of the corner of my eye.
Lloyd elbows my side, half-smiling. "I have style. I'm the Green Ninja." He freezes, then scootches away from me. "Sorry."
I shrug and pat him back. "S'alright. I told you then, and I'll tell you now. I'm meant to protect you, not be you. And part of protecting you is being there for you. You can lean on me."
Lloyd sucks on his candy, nodding. His hands fold in his lap.

"I... it started when I found out Rose was, you know, the Rose, I guess. I mean, I thought she was pretty before, and she clearly knew a lot about dragons, which I thought was cool. She challenged me, you know? None of that hero worship stuff I get from most fan girls. I was interested, but not in that way until..."

Lloyd pauses. His eyes drift to the ceiling, and his chin tilts up. He comes back down. I rub circles into his knee, and he stares at my hand.

"There was this moment, when she came out as the White Rose. And I just saw her. She's so much more than she thinks she is, than she pretends to be. She hides so much. I can't really describe it, but I was fascinated by it. By her."

Lloyd talks with his hands, gesturing forward as if a goddess was in front of him. Gosh, this kid. I continue my comforting with one hand and pick out another taffy with the other. I set the wax paper aside.

"The more I found out the more I... you know. Her friendship with Aquila, her love for Kit, her determination to do what was right even when she had to go against her family. She just... she felt so much like me in all these ways, but exactly different at the same time, and I formed this stupid crush really fast. I thought I had it in the bag,  and I went in hard but she didn't... she doesn't feel the same way. She just wants to be friends."

Lloyd picks up a taffy. It's green on the outside and white in the middle. He fingers the wax paper, then sets it aside for later.

"She told me we barely know each other. I guess she's right."

Well, I expected that to go differently. I barely noticed our little Lloyd had already fallen. All this time, we thought we'd need to push him... but Lloyd did it all on his own, and he went down hard, too. I would've given him some killer pickup lines if I'd known.

"Broken heart, then?" I sigh.

"Yeah."
I look at him out of the corner of my eye, gauging the turn on his lip and the tilt of his shoulders. "Those are the worst."

"Yeah."
Lloyd shrugs. He sniffles, then wipes his nose with his sleeve. His eyes water. I lean over and scoop him into a hug. I tuck his head into my chest, hold his shoulders, and let him cry. His nose presses into my collar bone, and his slow, quiet tears wet the front of my gi.

I grit my teeth. He's hecking twelve. Mentally and physically older, sure, but he's only got twelve years of experience. He didn't know any better than to not lay it all on the line. He didn't know not to give his heart away until he was sure she would take it. First crush, and she flat out crushed him. My fists tighten on Lloyd's shoulders, and he whimpers. I release him, just a little.

But this can't be over yet, can it?

I'm trying to think. These two are fated lovers, so I'm not going to lay him off and tell him to pick up a new girl (my usual advice). But telling him to pursue her regardless would be stupid, and it would only get him hurt.

Yet, there's the whole added dimension of her being 'the Betrayer who Brings Death,' so should I just ignore the prophecy and tell him to get over it? Won't she only bring him pain? Plus, with her tendency to leave people high and dry when they need her most, she can't be the healthiest person to be in a relationship with.

Pure love. The prophecy said pure love. That's got to mean something, doesn't it? That's worth pursuing, isn't it? Or in this case, waiting on.

I rub Lloyd's back and hold him tighter to my chest. He curls closer. I say what I can, but I know it falls short.

"Love is hard... sometimes... Sometimes love hurts, because sometimes it breaks."

Aquila and Rose come to mind. Aquila was furious at Rose. Even Rose and Kit. Rose has dropped Kit off at schools for forever, always leaving her behind. But, in the end, Aquila came back to save Rose. In the end, Rose vowed to stay with Kit (Kit told everyone at breakfast, trying to claim victory and use it as leverage to braid Sensei's beard. Sensei declined).

But it doesn't always work out like that. My parents left me and Nya as a kid. They didn't come back. Yet, I wouldn't be the brother I am today, to Nya or to my teammates, if they'd stayed. I'm not glad that they left, and I'm not going to turn it into a big, giant positive aspect of my life because it's not. The good doesn't always outweigh the bad, but that doesn't mean there's not good, either.

Flowers grow out of dirt, don't they?

"But, love doesn't ever stay broken. It finds a way. Maybe not the way or timing or intensity that we'd intend or wish— but it's always there, in some form or another. Love is inevitable."

That, at least, I can say with confidence. Man, I feel like Sensei. I need to write that crap down and sell it in a book.

Lloyd pulls away from me, sitting back on his haunches, legs tucked under his knees. He hugs himself now, and looks at me through teardrop-dotted blond eyelashes. "I don't want to push her into something she doesn't want."

"That's not what I said. I just meant that— man, Lloyd, just have a little hope. She said she wanted to be friends, right?" I wipes away his tears with my thumb. His cheeks are warm and smooth to touch, the skin pulls with my thumb like putty.

"They all say that." Lloyd ducks his head.

Oh, come on, Lloyd. This is Rose. "Rose wouldn't say that if she didn't mean it. So, be her friend. Love is more than romance. Maybe she needs a friend more than a boyfriend right now."

Lloyd looks up at me, lips parted. He mouths my last statement, as if committing it to memory. Pure love, huh?

I stretch, raising one eyebrow. "Besides, it sounds like she's just starting to get her crap together anyway, and you gotta have you house in order before you invite someone in and all that jazz. You deserve better than that."

Lloyd gives me a blank look. "But I could help her with those things. Isn't that the point? To complete each other so that we're fixed?"

"I can't tell you what the point of a relationship is. But I know that the only person that's responsible for fixing Rose is Rose. In a relationship, you're there for the other's ups and downs, and you help each other through all of it, sure, but you're not ultimately responsible for them. Don't ever feel responsible for someone else's emotional crap show, hear me? That's how you get hurt."

I lick my dry lips and look at the ceiling, time to tell it to him straight, "Listen, Lloyd, between her commitment and trust issues, she's clearly not in a healthy enough place for this kind of bond with someone. Being on our team seems like it's strain enough."

"I... yeah. That's true." Lloyd stands up. He dusts his legs off and wipes at his cheeks and eyes. Then, his shoulders stand at attention. He chuckles to himself and grins at me. It's all a facade, I know it is, but it'll take time. Broken hearts hurt. "Do you think she'd want to make friendship bracelets? Like, as a peace token?"

The 180 makes me pause. It takes me a moment to realize that Lloyd is not being sarcastic, but is, in fact, 100% serious. Well, I guess that's one way to deal with being regulated to the friend zone. Fake it till you make it, brother.

"I dunno, but I'd pay to see her wear one of those." I play along and snicker at the thought: Rose, in her usual all black, except for a small, ugly braided thing on her wrist complete with those tacky beads.

Lloyd smirks. His cheeks are still pink from crying. "...How much?"

I narrow my eyes. "A solid twenty, but it'd have to be by the end of the week. And not something that she just throws away, either— she's got to wear it for at least a full day. No, a full week."

There's no way. The big, bad Black Rose? Wearing a friendship bracelet? Come on, Cole is more likely to stop eating cake than Rose is to wear one of those dingy string bracelets, unless...

Wait. My eyes widen. "And Kit can't make it, offer it to her, or help you in any way! That'd be cheating."

Lloyd's eyes glimmer, and for just a moment, there's something real there. "Deal."

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Fay Fun Fact:

The Fayan court can be split into two separate hierarchies, male and female. The male side, known as the Virilous Court; and the female side of the court, known as the Seelie court. Both operate in the same fashion but have different roles, though certain positions can be interchanged between courts regardless of gender, such as a Luni, who is a healer that serves a specific person. 

At the top of each court is the head Royal, King or Queen. Then come the children, whose ranking is decided by their favor with the parent in charge. After that, the aunts, uncles, and cousins of the royals. All make up the top tier of the court.

The rest of the court is each royal individual's entourage. The two most important individuals in the entourage are the Headwind and the Wing.

The Headwind is the individual's mentor. Often a scholar or person of renowned wisdom (supposedly), these individuals are brought in when the royal is born and guide them through life, like esteemed advisers. If the royal becomes a King or Queen, however, they must let their Headwind go and never communicate with them again, as a Headwind is thought to be too powerful an influence for such an important figure.

The Wing, on the other hand, is someone groomed to be a best friend and companion to the Royal throughout their lives, much like a lady-in-waiting but deeper and less servant-like. They share in the duties of the Royals. Once Kings and Queens become crowned, a new Wing is chosen via Court Seer (prophecy elemental) to go along with the old Wing. This new Wing is traditionally from a lower class family, not the court. So, Kings and Queens have two Wings.

Luni are typically assigned to every entourage.