The Titanium Ninja

Hope

Let's have some Lloyd and Sensei Garmadon bonding time!

Right hook, left hook, uppercut, uppercut.

Kick, jump kick, roundhouse.

One, two, three, Spin!

Lloyd could feel the familiar energy swirling around him, flowing through his veins, as he created a green tornado around his spinning body. A grin grew on his sweat covered face as the elemental tornado enveloped him, finally he felt in control of something. It's been a month since the team had split up, and the only communication from Lloyd's former teammates had been envelopes of donations every week or so, but none of them had a return addresses. He had tried to contact each of his brothers by phone but no one had picked up, Jay had later sent a text briefly explaining that he had been busy with recording multiple episodes. Why did they have to leave? Why did they have to abandon him?

Lloyd's legs suddenly wobbled, his eyes widened as he lurched forward and smacked face-first into the punching bag, his spinjitzu tornado dissipated at the loss of focus. He collapsed onto the ground as a warm liquid flowed down his face, blood dripped off of his chin and onto the training mat.

"Ow," he groaned, quickly removing his gloves to cover his bloody nose. He stumbled to his feet and grabbed a wet towel, pressing it against his face.

"You lost focus, son," Garmadon said as he leaned against the doorframe. "Something clouded your mind and broke your concentration. What's troubling you?"

"Oh, uh, it's nothing," Lloyd said as the bleeding slowed to a stop. He quickly cleaned up the blood on the mats and hurried back to the sink, washing the towel clean.

"I don't believe that "it's nothing", otherwise it wouldn't have distracted you," his father replied, entering the room. "What's really troubling you?"

Lloyd sighed, setting the soaked rag on the bottom of the sink, "It's the fact that I can't find Kai, Cole or Jay, and none of them respond to any of my calls."

"I know you miss them, son, but they need to follow their own paths. When the time comes, you'll be able to find them."

"But what if I can't?!" Lloyd cried. "What if a new threat comes and they decide not to come back?! What if I'm the only ninja now?! What if I can't handle being the only ninja and I fail?!" He started shaking at the thought of being alone again, of being overwhelmed by darkness, as his anxiety kicked in. "I can't handle that kind of pressure! I can't be alone again!"

"Lloyd! Deep breaths, focus on me. Focus on me," Garmadon said firmly, holding onto his son's trembling shoulders. "Deep breaths in, deep breaths out, focus on me. You're not alone, you'll never be alone. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out."

After a few minutes, Lloyd finally calmed down, taking in shuddering breaths as his father held him against his chest, rubbing his back in a soothing manner.

"It's alright, I'm right here," he soothed. "You're safe, everyone is safe, there is nothing to fear right now." Lloyd took in a deep breath and relaxed, Garmadon looked at him and asked, "Are you feeling better?"

He nodded and took a step back, rubbing the nape of his neck subconsciously, "S-Sorry you had to see that, dad."

"Do not apologize, I can understand the panic that you feel. It's not easy being the chosen one, but you should never think that you'll be alone. I will always be with you, and so will your teammates," he said.

Lloyd nodded and gave a watery smile, "Thanks dad."

Two Months Later:

Lloyd was flipping through the channels, waiting for Nya to return from the Samurai X Cave so they could travel to Shihon for the day. As he was flipping through, a bright voice called out, "-Loveable ninja! Here before the Gauntlet of-!" Lloyd jolted, he'd recognize that voice anywhere! He quickly flipped back and gasped, it was Jay! By the time he had made it back to the channel, the contestant had already failed the course, Jay was right by his side, chatting to him about trying again next time.

He continued to watch the episode, watching Jay's expression as he chatted with each of the participants. Lloyd could see through his smile and layers of makeup, Jay hadn't been coping well; he had bags under his eyes, his hands shook slightly, he looked thinner, almost as if he was starving himself. At the end of the episode, Jay waved at the camera and winked, "Check us out next time to see who Ninjago's next hero is!" Lloyd wrote down the address of the studio, making a mental reminder to visit him as soon as possible.

Suddenly the front door slammed open, Nya shouted excitedly, "Lloyd! You'll never believe who I found!"

"Who?" Lloyd asked, turning around.

"Cole! He's a lumberjack in the Forest of Tranquility!" she exclaimed, a bright smile on her face.

"That's great! Now we know where Jay and Cole are! All we need is Kai and we can arrange a meeting with them!" Lloyd chirped, grinning. He finally felt hope, he would be able to see his brothers again, maybe even convince them to come back to the team!

"Maybe Jay knows where he is, we'll have to ask when we see him," she said.

"Why don't we go visit him now? We're already heading to Shihon, might as well stop by the studio to see him," he replied.

"Let's do it!" 

Nya and Lloyd couldn't stop smiling, for the first time in months, they finally had hope.