Not this time

chapter 4

"But I think I know how my father managed to hide it for so long."

"What do you mean Sensei?" Jay asked with confusion.

"I will explain in the morning, it has been a long day. We should all get some sleep. As determined as Morro is, I doubt he has followed us for now."

Lloyd sighed. He couldn't sleep now. Not when it was obvious that Kai knew so much more than any of them. Ever since they went to the museum, things were weird. The questions and statements the fire ninja made were unusual for him.

Kai had never been one to turn down the fame he got from being a ninja. And now he doubted everything? No, this made no sense at all.

"Sensei is right. Sleep will be good for us. In the morning, we will make a plan to help Kai and stop Morro" Zane said.

As the others began to make their way back towards the bounty, Lloyd didn't move away from the fire. He had too much to think about. There was no way he would find peace tonight.

"Lloyd, you coming?" he heard Cole ask.

The blond shook his head, refusing to move. "You guys go ahead. I'll stay here for a little while" he tried to smile at his friends but failed miserably.

"I don't think it would be good if you stayed outside alone. Maybe Sensei is right, but Morro is still after you" the earth master said, sitting back down in front of the fire.

"Indeed. It would be unwise to leave you alone" Zane smiled, sitting back down himself.

"Fine, another night without sleep" Jay shrugged.

"Thanks guys" Lloyd smiled.

It had always been this way. He could always count on his brothers to save him from that deep hole that ere his own thoughts. Ever since he found out that he was the green ninja, Lloyd stopped being a child, being himself. He threw everything he had been away to be the hero that Ninjago needed.

He never asked for anything in return. But he wished that he would get a break sometimes. It hadn't even been a month since the whole ordeal with Chen, and he once again found himself as the target. And sometimes he wished that time just stopped ticking.

"What's bothering you? Beside the obvious" Cole asked.

"I don't know. Things just seem wrong. Kai knows too much about everything that's going on right now. How did he know about all of this?" Lloyd asked mostly himself.

"Now that you say it, he has been very eager to answer the phone first" Jay mused, crossing his arms.

Lloyd looked at the lightning ninja in surprise. He did? He hadn't even noticed himself. But now that Jay said it, it was true. Kai had practically run over to the phone the second it began ringing. Did he know what was going to happen? No, there was no way.

"Yes, and he knew about the clues on the staff. Like he has experienced it before" Zane mused.

"Before? Zane, you don't think..." Cole cut himself off, glancing at the green ninja who didn't remember the last time they had traveled and manipulated the flow of time.

"I do" the nindroids nodded. "It is highly possible that Kai has traveled through time from the future and landed back here. But how he has done this, I am not sure."

"Through time? You mean he really did know about Morro already?" Lloyd pressed.

"It would be the only explanation."

"But that would mean that he changed time. Sensei said it was never good to change time. Why did he do that?" Jay asked.

"Because he knew Morro was after me. He knew something bad happened in the museum" the blond answered. "If Kai hadn't come with me, then I would've been alone with Morro. And since I didn't know how to handle a ghost, it definitely didn't end well. Morro said it himself; he planned on using me."