A Ninjago Oneshots Collection

Kai's Sacrifice (small)TW 2/2

TW: APOCALYPTIC-TYPE SITUATION
Includes: Lloyd angst, ninja angst in general kinda, and no part 3 I'm sorry

"I see Lloyd!" Jay whisper-yelled to the others, pressing his finger into the glass, pointing down at a green and blonde blur running towards the building.

"Oh thank god, this was starting to get worrying..." Cole released the breath he'd been holding in.

"But... where's Kai?" Nya added, noticing that there was no red-brunette figure following Lloyd. Everyone shared some nervous glances.

"They probably decided not to go at the same time, like we did." Zane said, trying to not let the team's spirits lower even further through the ground, but everyone gave him a look. "Hopefully." He added.

They waited at the door of the apartment, breath held, waiting for a green note to be slipped under the door. It was a safety mechanism they'd implemented as any of them could be someone else's nightmare gone rogue. They all tensed up as they heard quiet footsteps and sniffling grow closer to the door, and then-- the green note.

Instantly Nya rushed over to the door first, unlocked everything as quietly as she could, and pulled Lloyd inside as she swung open the door. She deadbolted everything back to the way it was and then everyone's attention turned to Lloyd, who was leaning against a corner, puffing shaky breaths with tear-streaked cheeks.

"Lloyd, are you ok? Did anything happen?" Cole was the first to ask, everyone gathered around Lloyd.

"And where's Kai?" Nya, though she was worried about Lloyd, needed to know her brother was ok too. "Should we be waiting for him at the windows too?" She asked, taking glances at the window.

Lloyd didn't answer, he held his breath. He didn't want to break down again, no, he needed to be strong, tough, a good leader, especially right now. He wasn't going to let himself spiral until tomorrow night-- if Kai didn't return, that was, --he had thought to himself as he ran.

He took a good, although shaky, deep breath, and sighed. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and slowly looked up, but only at Nya. His look was so telling that Nya didn't even want to hear what Lloyd had to say but--

"He told me if he wasn't at the monastery by tomorrow night..." Lloyd gulped, turning away, rubbing his arm. Nya caught her breath.

"What does that mean? What happened? What'd he do?" Jay asked, walking over to Nya to wrap his arm around her. Lloyd hesitated, not sure whether he would be able to handle many more questions.

"He distracted the nightmares for me. We're not sure why, but there were at least ten of them just on the one street we were on. Maybe it's a popular hiding place or something, but anyway, it meant that going together would be harder, so..." Lloyd trailed off, not wanting to think about what could be Kai's last words for a while, before they fixed all this at least. Nya whimpered into Jay's shoulder, Cole crossed his arms and closed his eyes, and Zane was giving a very solemn look to Lloyd.

Lloyd pushed down his fear, and steadied himself, making sure to stand straighter and stronger.

"Let's not think about it until tomorrow night, ok guys? Kai's strong and will do anything to make sure he comes back to us, he knows how much he's worth right now-- screw that, how much all of us are worth right now. Being a full team at the moment is more valuable and important than anything. So let's just focus on getting out of here, out of the city, back home to regroup. We got this, right team?" Lloyd said confidently, though quietly, only because he had too. The others all switched to their brave faces, nodding in agreement, except Nya who was nodding without the confidence of everyone else. "Ok then, let's go."