Mamoritai 2 - A Llorumi Story

6. The Wesley street river

Notes: I'm slowly crawling out of my writer's block, so here ya go!

Words: 1520

"Well... you see after the devourer attack, me and my family had to live here. We were really poor at one point, but we got out of it. I guess I haven't healed those memories, instead I pushed them down and let them rot... So now I'm pretty sensitive about the subject." I explained. "And then Lloyd said the thing about living with rats... Ugh he can be such a teenager sometimes..." Nya said, annoyed. I raised my gaze to look at her. She looked agitated. "So now you think he doesn't like you because he made a comment like that about your past?" She asked me, turning her head to look at me. I nodded. She huffed. "He can be such an idiot sometimes, but don't get used to it. You still gotta stand up for your rights, you know. Don't let him treat you like a second choice." She told me. "Yeah, but does it matter if he doesn't even like me?" I said. "He just had a bad moment. I think you should talk to him." Nya answered. "Yeah, maybe..." I responded. Then we sat in silence. "Thank you." I smiled at Nya after a while. "Oh it's nothing, Rumi. You're one of us now and we stick together." She said with a smile. We sat there for ten more minutes. Then the door opened again. We turned around to look at the door. It was Lloyd. He smiled at me. "What's going on out here?" He asked with a chuckle. "Oh nothing, but I'm feeling sleepy so I'll go back to bed." Nya said, pushing me. Ugh she wants me to talk to him. I was fighting every soul in my body, not to stand up and walk to bed as well. "Okay, night Nya." Lloyd said. "Good night Nya." I said to Nya, who walked back into our room. Lloyd sat next to me.

The moment was awkward. We hadn't had awkward moments in forever. The last one was actually here, as well. I decided to be silent, until Lloyd would say something. "Are you okay? You seem more quiet than usual?" He asked finally. "Yeah I'm just..." I could hear Nya scolding me in my head. Talk to him. Her words floated around my mind. "I may know why you're acting like this. It's what I said earlier, right?" He said suddenly. "About living with the rats?" He continued. I nodded "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. I was just so angry. I'm tired of all of this." He said. I wanted to yield. Say that it was okay, even though it kind of wasn't. Stand up for yourself. Nya's words floated in my mind again. "I know, I'm tired too. It still didn't feel nice, I guess I really haven't processed all that happened in my childhood, so now I'm pretty sensitive about it. It's not your job to process it for me, by the way. It's something I have to do myself." I explained to him. "I'm so sorry Rumi. You're the last person I want to offend or hurt... or lose." He said, smiling at me and taking my hand into his.

This... this is a clear sign right? Right? I'm not just imagining. I looked at him. His hair was messy, he had bags under his eyes and scars on his face. Still he looked perfect. The moment felt like forever. I stared into his eyes and he into mine as we held hands. Should I kiss him? No. Yes. Ugh, I don't know! Then he glanced down at my lips again. The moment felt right. I placed my free hand on his cheek. He scooted closer. He had a weird look on his face. Was it... love? I inched closer to his face. I closed my eyes and gave him a kiss on the lips. He kissed me back, gently. The moment felt perfect. The kiss felt perfect. I felt a heavy blush creep on my cheeks. I moved my head backwards, leaving his lips. I opened my eyes to look at him. He had a blush on his face, with a big smile. "Was that okay?" I asked removing my hand from his cheek. "I-I... It was... Yes..." He stuttered out. I chuckled. Did I just do that? YES! I DID IT! YOU RULE RUMI! I celebrated in my head. Lloyd looked at me with the same look he had at the speech, when we met for the first time. The look my mother has described as 'love at first sight'. The look he had on in the jungle. The look he had on everytime we were alone. The look I loved. I nudged closer to him, resting my head on his shoulder. He carefully placed his hand on my waist. I took his left hand into mine and then we just sat there. I listened to his every breath, it was like music to my ears.

I don't know how long we sat there, it felt like hours. We talked about everything that came to mind, it didn't even have to make sense. He talked about his friends, and the dumb things they had done. He told me, when he stole candy, the other guys sent him back to bad boy school. He told me, when Zane had to be the pink ninja for a day. I told him about Val and our adventures together. How we had gotten 'married', and got a stuffie for our wedding gift. How I rescued her from an awkward first date. We laughed and then silence fell between us again. I felt safe in his arms. Then my eyes started to feel heavy. I nudged my head into his shoulder. "I'm a bit sleepy..." I said to him. "It's okay, I'll carry you inside." he answered. "No, let's go to sleep. The sun is rising already. You need your sleep as well." I said, trying to keep myself awake. I stood up, leaving his warm arms. "C'mon. Let's go to sleep." I said to him. He got up and we walked into the room. We smiled at each other and then went to bed. For a moment, it felt like the whole world wasn't falling apart. It felt like my mother and his father weren't our enemies. It felt like we were the only humans in the world.

The rest of the day went by fast. Me and Lloyd woke up late, everyone looked at us with smirks and Nya gave me a wink. Unfortunately, me and Lloyd's bubble got bursted pretty fast. It was back to survival mode. Now the sun was setting again. Nya had left to inspect the streets and we were eating. The door opened. "It's chaos out there, but we're safe for now." Nya returned. "All right, it's been almost 24 hours. Now, are you gonna tell us how you turned into a rat?" Lloyd asked. Mystake slurped tea loudly. Sigh... "A rat is easy. How about this!" She said and started to wave her hands around. Ahh! She had the face of an old man! "Not too shabby for an old woman!" She said and turned her face back to normal and giggled. Omg. She's a shapeshifter. Aka, she's an Oni. Okay this woman is either really cool or completely crazy. Or both. "You're an Oni." Lloyd said, shocked. "But we were told Oni are dangerous. All they wanna do is destroy." Dareth said, pouring tea into Nya's cup. "We are. You don't want me on your bad side." She said intimidatingly and Dareth backed down a little. "How did you get here? When-" Nya asked. "During the time of the legend, when she crossed over in pursuit of the First Spinjitzu Master. When he fled the Realm of Oni and Dragon." I cut Nya off. "Hmm, you listen well, young one." Mystake answered and glanced at me, then Lloyd. "Since your grandfather was born of both worlds, our mission was to follow him into this realm, and turn him to our side, or destroy him. But he wouldn't return, and I fell in love with this world he had created. My fellow Oni wanted to complete our mission, but I turned on them. And I have helped the First Spinjitzu Master ever since. Didn't you ever wonder how master Wu and Garmadon have lived so long? It is our Oni blood." She explained. Jeez. That was something.

"How have you kept this secret for so long?" Skylor asked her. "Transformation is a powerful ability." She answered. "But if I'm part Oni, why can't I do that?" Lloyd asked. "Transform? You've been doing it your entire life! From a bratty child, to the destined Green Ninja, and now to our great resistance leader. But to endure your father, you must transform again..." Mystake explained. "Into what?" Lloyd asked. "There is but one final step for you, young master. Have Faith. You will figure it out." She answered. Ugh this woman really loves her mystery.