Fractured | Ninjago AU (EXAMS RIGHT NOW THEN ILL UPDATE)

~ Part 17 ~ | Waving Goodbye

Nelson clutched onto Cole anxiously. "Is Rodrigo right? Is that boy haunting us?"

The tall boy shook his head and didn't answer, his mind whirling as he bent and squinted at the picture, in hopes of finding answers. The frame was ornate, made of light cedar wood and carved into waves and dragons along the side. It had been painted over with gold but the metallic paint was flaking off, revealing the bright tone beneath. At the very bottom of the art piece were two names written on a metal plaque. The letters were a little faded and the sip of metal was rusting but Cole could read it loud and clear.

Wu and Morro Garmadon

Cole blinked in surprise, a million questions floating in his mind as he looked back at the two figures. The two didn't look related. Wu had dusty blonde hair and warm almond-shaped eyes. His cheekbones were high and his skin was a little tan. While Morro had much bigger gaunt eyes and a very pale complexion. If he was biologically connected to Wu then he must take after someone else. Cole wasn't particularly concerned about that part. People can often look very different from their families. But what Cole's mind was stuck on was the name, Morro Garmadon, insinuating that Wu was a father.

The headmaster had always been very mysterious. He didn't like to dwell on the past and it was obvious that family was a little messy for him (cough cough Garmadon) but Cole would have thought Wu would've mentioned being a parent. He always seemed proud and fatherly towards Lloyd. Wouldn't he want his nephew to have a cousin? Wouldn't he bring in every positive influence he can find for Lloyd to embrace?

"Has Wu ever talked about a Morro to you?" Cole asked. When Nelson shook his head he sighed. He wasn't expecting the boy to know. If Wu hadn't told the older students he certainly wouldn't talk to a blabbering kid. If anyone knew about Morro, it would be Lloyd, Cole thought to himself.

How had Lloyd gotten ahold of that sweater anyways? Cole thought back as much as he could. He remembered the soft snip of blades as Lloyd squirmed nervously in a chair. The boy had clearly been uncomfortable with putting his appearance in Nya's hands. He recalled the smell of dust and mothballs and Jay's content sigh. Cole envisioned Kai's confused expression as he looked at the crude scribble on the side of the box.

"Uh... here's one labelled tomorrow, whatever that means."

Cole's eyes widened. None of them had been particularly good at reading Wu's penmanship, as tidy as the man seemed he really needed to work on his printing. To add to it, Kai wasn't the best reader to begin with. Once Kai messed up an assignment because he had mixed up "doe" with "dough." It made for an interesting presentation on pizza in the middle of a biology unit. What if the brunette had mistaken "To Morro" for "tomorrow!"

"Cole?" Nelson's little voice brought him out of his thoughts. The young man looked at him, a strange look in his deep brown eyes as he stared intently at the name on the painting.

His brows furrowed in determination. "Kid, I'm going to need you to help me find a box."

****

"Wu?"

The old man couldn't help but jerk up with a gasp. His eyes flew wildly around the room, searching for a boy shuffling into the room with bright green eyes and a new question on his serious lips. Before his brain could even finish painting that picture in his mind the fog cleared away just as the sun tears through clouds. The beautiful memory he conjured in his head was taken from him in the blink of an eye and Wu was faced with guilty disappointment when black turned to blonde and pale turned peach.