The Master of Nature

Aftermath

Everyone was so exhausted from the adventure that they immediately went to bed when they arrived back at the Bounty. Hope woke up quite late the next day.

Sleepily Hope went to the dining room still in her pyjamas and with messy hair. Everyone else except Lloyd was at the dining table.

"Morning, Hope," said Zane. "I'm afraid that you will have to make do with cereal. We are running low on breakfast food."

Hope shrugged as she poured Coco Pops into a bowl. Zane was slicing a banana for Lloyd's cereal. Lloyd liked cereal with fruit in it.

"I hope that... Not you, Hope, that Lloyd doesn't suddenly decide that he doesn't want fruit in his cereal anymore," said Jay. "I saw him refuse that comic. I'm starting to think of reading the Starfarer comics myself."

"Is Lloyd still in bed?" asked Hope.

"Yeah. He complained of being too tired," said Kai. "I guess that getting aged up takes a toll on you."

After breakfast, Hope was getting dressed for the day when there was a knock on the door. It was Alyssa!

Alyssa had a few shopping bags with her. "Hi Hope," she said. "I have bought clothes for you." She showed a pink T-shirt with a fairy on it, a beautiful lavender dress with flowers on it, and a pastel-coloured winter outfit.

"Oh Alyssa, this is sweet," said Hope.

"Oh, I have also bought some clothes for Lloyd," said Alyssa. She pulled out a green sweater with a dragon on it with some jeans. "Where is he?"

The ninja stared at the clothes. They would have fitted child Lloyd perfectly, but there was no way they can fit him now.

"Actually..." said Hope. "Lloyd has... Grown a little."

"I'm confused," said Alyssa.

Just then, a very tired Lloyd walked into the room. "What time is it?" he asked drowsily.

Alyssa gasped. "Is that Lloyd? How is he your age?"

"He got hit with some magical tea," said Hope. "It's a long story."

Lloyd suddenly collapsed and Kai quickly ran to catch him.

"Lloyd, you're burning up!" said Kai. "You need to go back to bed."

"But what about training..." started Lloyd.

The ninja looked at each other in concern. Really, Lloyd had grown way too fast.

"I'll explain to Sensei," said Cole. "Clearly the Tomorrow's Tea had some unexpected effects on you. You need to rest in bed."

Kai and Cole managed to help Lloyd into bed. If Lloyd was still little it would have been so easy for the ninja to carry him to bed.

Meanwhile, Hope told Alyssa about how Garmadon had turned the ninja into kids by mistake and how Lloyd had sacrificed his childhood to save his friends.

"I can't imagine losing my childhood in a flash," said Alyssa. "Is Lloyd okay with this?"

"I don't think so," said Hope. "He kept bumping into things all the way home. His new body is taking some getting used to."

"I wish that I could help," said Alyssa. "But I'm not exactly an expert in these kind of things."

Just then, an idea sparked in Hope. "Alyssa, maybe there is something you can do."

"What's that?" asked Alyssa.

After looking around for a few moments, Hope whispered, "Find Lloyd's mother. I mean, you're good in detective stuff, right?"

Alyssa looked confused. "What?" she asked.

"Listen, I know that Lloyd sort of resents his mother at the moment, but he needs a parent right now. Can you track his mother down? If you can find my childhood home, surely you can find Lloyd's mother."

"Okay," said Alyssa. "What's her name?"

"I don't know," said Hope. "Lloyd said that she had brown hair, but that's all he could remember."

"Well, it shouldn't be too difficult to find out the name of Garmadon's wife," said Alyssa. "Should I talk to your Sensei about her?"

"That isn't a good idea," said Hope. "I asked him about it once, but he went quiet. He has a bad habit of keeping his past to himself."

"Well, I'll try," said Alyssa.

~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~🌷~

Lloyd had to stay in bed the whole day. Although he was asleep seventy percent of the time, he was really bored when awake.

In the evening, Hope came into Lloyd's room with a bowl of soup. "Hey, Greenbean, feel any better?"

"A little," said Lloyd. "I have never been sick like this before."

"Don't worry," said Hope. "You're an unusually healthy child. I'm sure that you will be back on your feet before long."

"I'm not a child anymore," said Lloyd sadly.

Hope sighed. "Lloyd, I know that you're scared right now. Especially since it looks like the final battle is now a few months away instead of many years."

Lloyd looked away at that.

"The point is that you don't have to give up everything that made you happy. You can still be childish if you feel like it. The others and I decided to let you relax a little bit between training."

"Really?" asked Lloyd.

"Spending a day as kids made us understand you a bit," said Hope. "Now finish your dinner, take your medicine and get some sleep."

"Okay," said Lloyd as he took his soup.