Flames of the Past #1: The Man in the Mist (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 2

A scream rang through the monastery.

Lloyd pressed his pillow over his ear, repeating the same words in his mind over and over again. I hate myself. I hate myself. I hate myself.

Footsteps swept past his room. Probably Nya. Lloyd shut his eyes and gritted his teeth, unable to handle the overwhelming ache of guilt inside of him. Cole's nightmares weren't nearly as often as they used to be, and he'd only wake up screaming every few months or so. But on the occasional nights he did, Lloyd would never fall back asleep. He couldn't with the despairing feeling of knowing he was the one who did this to the black ninja. In the mornings, Cole would act as if it had never happened. But the rest of the day after a night with a bad dream, Lloyd couldn't help but notice the black ninja was a bit uneasy around him. And why shouldn't he be?

Lloyd knew he deserved it. Cole kept assuring him that he didn't blame him for his nightmares, but the green ninja didn't believe it. Who else was there to blame?

And I can't even do anything about it.

The first few times these things happened, Lloyd had tried to help the black ninja, but he only made everything worse. Just seeing the green ninja after a nightmare sent Cole into an intense panic attack. Lloyd had learned to just back off, but he felt horrible not doing anything. The others had to fix the mistakes he made, because he didn't even have the choice to do so himself.

With a sigh, Lloyd sat up in his bed. He glanced out his window. It was probably around midnight. He looked down at his hands, twiddling his fingers around. What did I do to scar Cole this badly? he thought with another pang of regret. Again, he wondered how the ninja had accepted him as their teammate.

Quiet whimpers reached his ears and Lloyd lifted his head, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. Peering through the darkness, he gazed at the small bed at the other end of his room, where Laurie slept. He spotted his daughter shifting back and forth in her sleep, her face screwed up. Concern rained down on the green ninja and, throwing off his covers, he headed over to her and sat at the edge of her bed.

"Laurie," he murmured softly, laying a hand on the girl's arm. He shook her gently as she went on whimpering. "Laurie, wake up."

Her eyes flew open and she jerked, gasping in alarm. Her round gaze drifted up to her father and her eyes welled with tears.

"Laurie, what's wrong?" Lloyd asked, inching closer to her. She began to cry and he took her in his arms, holding her close to him. "Shh... it's okay. Don't cry, I'm here."

She wrapped her little arms around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder. "I-I don't want you to leave me, Daddy," she wailed. "Don't let him take me!"

Lloyd's eyes widened. "Laurie, what are you talking about?" He unlatched her from around his neck so he could stare into her eyes. "No one's going to take you."

The girl sniffled, wiping her hand across her nose. "I-I had a bad dream," she whimpered. "Th-there was a scary man and... and he took me away from you and... and..."

"It was only a dream," Lloyd comforted, pulling her in for another hug. "You're okay. Daddy's here. Daddy's here."

Laurie pressed against him, her sobs eventually breaking and quieting. Lloyd held her safely in his arms, wondering what made the young girl have such a traumatic nightmare. He ran his hand down her long hair, gazing downward at the frizzy red curls. He continued shifting his fingers through her hair, struggling to ignore how achingly familiar the curls were. Laurie was almost an exact replica of Ariana. Frizzy, blazing red hair. Deep blue eyes. Lloyd felt his throat tighten and he buried his face in the child's mess of hair, closing his eyes. His heart ached with grief as he thought not for the first time how much he missed his wife. Guilt weighed on his shoulders every time he relived the battle—the blast from the Overlord, the sacrifice of the one person he had loved most in the world. There must've been something he could've done. He must've been able to save her somehow.