Five Times Wu Trusted His Team

6. Alone

Aaah, I'm so sorry for how long this took to update. I hope it will be worth the wait, because this chapter is actually something I'm pretty proud of. It's kind of a two-parter, with a time skip in the middle. I feel like it might be overly dark, but I'm risking it.
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"Garmadon, please."

Such an innocent phrase, something Wu might have said to his brother any time. Please give me my book back. Please grab that off the shelf for me. Please let me borrow your katana.

But recently— no, for the past years, Wu's pleas to his big brother had grown to be different. Please don't marry Misako. Please listen to me when I tell you how to life your life. Please leave your family.

And now, please leave me, too.

Garmadon stood with his back to Wu, his shoulders hunched, his head bowed. "Wu," he growled, the noise sending deep shudders running down Wu's spine. They used to say each other's names with such live. Now Wu said his with fear and Garmadon with hate.

"Brother," Wu began, but Garmadon whirled around suddenly, stalking towards him, four arms held outwards threateningly, his red eyes blazing with fury. "What?" He snarled, looming over Wu, shaking with rage. "What more can you ask of me? I've abandoned my family for you, I've run from everyone I love—"

"I'm sorry," Wu said, his voice soft, "This is my fault and I should have been bitten."

Garmadon froze, staring down at his little brother, his eyes seeming to soften. His shoulders sagged and he bowed his head, staring at his brother— his baby brother, who he'd loved and cared for all his life— with a look that brought back a tidal wave of memories that made Wu want to cry. He recognized him. He loved him.

"Wu?" Garmadon took his brother's hand in his, tears shining in his eyes. "I... I'm so sorry."

"Me too," Wu whispered back, trying to lean in for a hug (he'd never liked hugs, but Garmadon loved them, and he only ever wanted to please his big brother), but Garmadon pulled away.

"You're right," he said, his voice brimming with raw emotion, "I have to go."

"No!" Wu cried desperately, reaching for his brother, but Garmadon moved too fast, and he darted for the teapot that sat at his feet. It contained travellers tea, and it would ferry him to the realm of chaos, where he would be utterly alone, consumed by shadow.

Wu could not follow him there. He'd followed his brother across the world, throughout all of life, and up this mountain to plead with him to stay, because he didn't want his brother to go, but he couldn't follow him any more.

"Please!" Wu screamed, but it was already too late. Garmadon vanished in a whirl of grey smoke, gone, maybe forever. For now that he was there, Wu knew that his return would mean doom for the world.

It would be years; ten and a half, to be exact, before the brothers saw each other again. And when they did, Garmadon would not recognize Wu as his little brother, the man who he'd grown up with, who he'd fathered when their own father died, who he'd loved more than anyone or anything. Wu would look upon his brother, or the demon that had taken his place, and he would swallow his pain and his longing and his heartbreak. He would force himself to forget that this was his brother, his big brother who he loved, and he would put the world and the greater good and morality first.

He didn't want to admit it. He didn't want it to be true. He even let his guard slip, just once, and tried, but it failed and he was forced to accept that his brother was now gone. He could not trust Garmadon anymore. He could not trust anyone anymore.

Garmadon was changed. Alex and his mother were dead. Ray had vanished years ago. And Misako had hidden herself from him, along with everyone else she had once loved. Maybe she did still love him, maybe there was still someone from his team out there who he could find and trust, but until then, Wu was utterly alone.

And he could not shake the feeling that this was how it always should have been.