Winds of Change {A Ninjago Fanfic}-Book One in the Four Winds series

Chapter Nine: Revenge Heals Nothing

Lloyd carefully removed Aira from the back of his dragon. She had cried herself to sleep on the flight back to the monastery. Lloyd knew how she felt. He had lived through this pain more than once.

He carried her inside. This immediately brought a chorus of concerned filled questions.

"Lloyd, what happened," Jay asked.

"What's wrong with Aira," Cole chimed in.

"Is she injured," Zane asked.

"Shhhh," Lloyd shushed them.

He ignored their questions and carried her upstairs. He decided that she needed more sleep so he laid her in his bed and pulled the blankets over her.

When he came back downstairs there was another round of questions.

"Quiet," Lloyd whispered. "Do you want to wake her up?"

There was a round of 'no' and 'sorry'.

"What happened, son," Misako asked quietly.

"Uncle Wu was right," Lloyd said. "He sent me to check on her because she hadn't arrived to work on time. I flew to her house and found her sobbing. She was lying in her mom's bedroom-"

"Okay okay! Get to the point," Jay whisper shouted, "I can't take the suspense."

"Her mom had been murdered while Aira wasn't home," Lloyd said sadly.

"Why?" Kai asked, "we haven't even met her mom. Aira said she was always home sick."

"I don't know," Lloyd said shaking his head. "She didn't know either. I didn't look around because I was more worried about Aira. Zane could you-"

"I will leave immediately," Zane answered. "Cole you will be able to check smaller spaces easier. Will you please come with me?"

Cole hesitated and then nodded sadly and followed Zane out the door.

"Everyone else needs to be quiet," Lloyd said. "I put Aira in my bed to sleep. She needs to sleep."

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"Why did you kill that woman?" Amaya asked. "She didn't have anything to do with the ninja."

"She is the mother of Aira, master if wind," Alita answered. "Also she had an artifact that I required."

"I thought we were going to give the ninja a blow?"

"We did," Alita explained. "Her daughter works for the ninja. She is friends with the ninja."

"Ooooohhh, I get it now," Amaya said. "What did you get?"

"The Blade of Eyal."

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Aira opened her eyes and sat up. Where was she?

She was in a bedroom obviously. The blankets were green and actually so was most of the things in here.

Then it hit her full blast. Her mom was gone. The only person she ever had was gone. Aira gathered the blankets tighter about her and began to cry.

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"Wu," Misako said poking her head into his meditation room.

"Yes?"

"Maybe we should have Aira stay with us," Misako said. "I don't think she should be alone. Especially since we don't know who murdered her mother."

"Lloyd already approached me about it," Wu answered. "He offered up his room for her. He is going to sleep in Kai's room for now."

"This wasn't just a random murder was it?"

"No."

"Wu, are you going to tell me who she is?" Misako asked placing her hands on her hips.

"No," he answered. "Lloyd!"

Misako heard a thud and then footsteps running down the hall. Lloyd came running into the room, "yes, Uncle?"

"Go check on Aira," Wu commanded.

Lloyd bowed and ran upstairs. He stopped in front of his bedroom door and listened. He could hear movement but nothing else. He carefully slid his door open. Aira was sitting upright on his bed with her knees pulled to her chest. She had her head down on her knees and the blankets wrapped tightly around her.

Lloyd wasn't sure what to say but she spoke first, "train me."

"What?"

"Train me," she said again looking up at him. Her face was streaked with tears.

Lloyd came and sat on the edge of the bed, "Aira, I know your pain. Believe me I really do, but revenge heals nothing."

"But-"

"Do you really think hunting down your mom's killer will help you heal?"

Aira thought for a moment and then shook her head, "no, but that doesn't mean I can't be someone who can stop things like this from happening in the future."

Lloyd thought long and hard, "I'll train you but I don't think right now is the best time to use your powers. The powers fluctuate with emotion when you first begin to use them. Also I don't think now is the best time to reveal who you are. Not to mention I'm going to get a lot of rap for knowing about it."

Aira just nodded and then asked, "what do I do? I don't have any family. I don't have anywhere to go."

"That's already taken care of," Lloyd said. "You will stay here. You can have my room till we come up with a more permanent arrangement."

"I should've guessed this was your room," she said trying to lighten her mood. "It's so green."

"Hey," Lloyd said placing a hand on her shoulder. "Your gonna pull through this. Your stronger than you think."

"Thank you, Lloyd."

Next: Chapter Ten: The Blade of What?