Ninjago- "An ending is really just a new beginning"

Chapter 4

Harumi's P.O.V

"Rumi?". I buried my face as deep as I could beneath my palms.

I felt the bed slightly shift as the person sat next to me. I peeked from under my palms and my instincts were right. Lloyd. He was staring at me right through my peeked eyelids, his emerald-green eyes coaxing for my fully undivided attention. It almost worked.Almost. But I felt sick. Sick. Sick to my core. Why did I do all those horrible things? Like my life wasn't ever easier after the loss of my parents. I winced, shutting my eyes and trying to face away from him.

"Rumi?", Lloyd called again, this time gently shaking my shoulder,"Are you—"

"Don't ask that question! Just don't! I don't wanna hear that— that ridiculous question again, okay? I know you're probably thinking I'm not even trying, but I am trying. So, so hard. I'm so, so sorry Lloyd, but I can't—I just—can't." I snapped unintentionally. As soon as the words were out, my eyes bugged out as I instantly regretted saying them out loud. I didn't even want to see Lloyd's face. Not right now. I just needed some time. Alone. I got up from the bed, about to make a run for it, but a gentle tug on my wrist stopped me. My heart skipped. Sure, I could've easily slipped out of his grip as his hold wasn't too tight, but at that point, all my willpower seemed to crumble after that snap at Lloyd, of all people.

"Im sorry,"Lloyd whispered,"I should've known better than to ask a stupid question like that."

I nodded, still looking down.

"You still wanna yell at me somewhere else?", he asked in a soft tone. I shook my head vigorously, tightly shutting my eyes in regret. He let out a small, breathy laugh, easing the tension between us. I slowly turned to face him. He still didn't let go of my wrist. I was okay with that. He smiled at me, his bright eyes searching mine, and I didn't hide anything. Not this time. Not anymore. As I Iooked at him desperately, He immediately understood that I needed to talk.

"Come on."He said, dragging me away from the room. As we made our way to the courtyard, we found Nya still there, screwing pieces of a well structured weapon of some kind. She saw Lloyd and waved, easily ignoring me. I looked down, biting my lip. Lloyd's hand slipped through mine as he pulled me toward the monastery doors.

"Feeling better?,"he asked, as we both sat under the blooming cherry-blossom tree. The air around it smelled so sweet and fresh that I took a deep and content breath.

"Much better", I smiled at him," It feels like I haven't had the chance to breathe for years. Like I've been holding my breath for so long..."

Lloyd smiled gently as he closed his eyes and laid back,"Believe me, I know."

We sat there in comfortable silence, until Lloyd spoke, sitting up straight, looking at me right in the eye," Do you want to tell me what's going round your head right now?"

I pretended to think about it, just to mess with him,"Hmm, oh, ya. I was thinking about how nice this place is, how perfectly happy I feel, especially because I'm sitting with the most kindest, the most gullible person in all of Ninjago."

I smirked at Lloyd, who was, apparently, speechless. Though was I said was the truth, I couldn't help the fluttering in my stomach.

Lloyd cleared his throat as a light tint of pink touched his features. I was almost speechless myself.

"Harumi,"he chided half-heartedly,"Stop stalling—I want to know what's bothering you."

I took a deep breath. I closed my eyes as the wind whistled past, my hair swinging sharply to the right. When I opened my eyes to look at Lloyd, I realized that he was staring at me the whole time. His bright-green eyes gleamed. His blond hair tousled in the wind. He had a soft smile playing around the corners of his mouth, his face thoughtful. I looked away, ignoring the loud thumping from my chest. Woah.