Ninjago: Where Heroes Come From

Chapter Three: Fathers and Mothers

The dawn found Lloyd, Cole, and Wu sleeping in the back of the wagon, with Zane sitting up front steering the mule along. They had left Ftishi hours ago, and by the time the sun had risen and they were all awake, they were well into the Endless Desert, where Wu had told them the master of lightning would be found.

"Do we even know his name?" Lloyd asked, desperate to fill the long stretch of time with some form of conversation. Cole seemed very distant, and Zane was preoccupied with driving, so that left Wu, sitting on the back of the wagon with his legs dangling over the edge, watching the sand and dead trees pass by.

"No," he replied, "we don't know his name." He sighed and leaned back on the heels of his hands. "There is much I don't know about these men."

"How much do you know?"

Wu shot Lloyd an annoyed look. "I appreciate your enthusiasm," he said, "but I'm not in the mood for questions." He jerked his head in Zane's direction. "Why not talk to him? He seems decent."

"Fine," Lloyd grumbled, and clambered across the wagon to sit beside Zane. The ice ninja nodded and smiled as he sat down, and Lloyd couldn't help but smile back. It seemed strange that the friendliest teammate was also a robot, but he accepted it.

"You seem eager to meet the master of lightning," Zane remarked, and Lloyd nodded. "I like meeting new people," he said. "I like... I like adventures and surprises and new beginnings." He bit his lip. "Does that make sense to you?"

"It does," Zane said. "And it is very wise, Lloyd. I have met people whose lives were made miserable all because they feared change rather than accepting it." He looked down at Lloyd, his expression soft. "It is good to see an young boy such as yourself who is able to be brave."

Lloyd felt his cheeks flush. "I'm not that brave," he said quickly, gripping the wooden seat beneath him and looking straight ahead, refusing to meet Zane's eye. "I'm just... I'm curious, and I'm nosy." He nodded, as if this had proved something to him, as if he hadn't known this until he said it aloud. "I mean— maybe when I'm older, I'll be more like Wu, but until then—"

He broke off suddenly, the words dying in his throat. He'd been about to say it. He'd been about to let that secret slip.

"Until then what?" Zane asked mildly, looking back to the road ahead of them. Lloyd cleared his throat.

"Nothing," he muttered, "just... Wu always tells me I remind him of his brother."

"Your father?"

Lloyd nodded. Zane sighed.

"I won't ask where he is, for I sense you don't want to answer that question," he said, and Lloyd felt relief wash through him, "but I will say this— losing ones father, no matter in what way, be it through death or willful abandonment, is painful and difficult." He placed a hand over Lloyd's, and he felt a surprising amount of warmth in the touch of the ninja of ice. "Don't hold your emotions in, whatever they may be. Don't lie to yourself by lying to others."

Lloyd fell silent, staring out at the passing scenery, at the golden sand and the glaring sun. He felt his excitement deflating as he thought of what it would mean when the whole team was assembled. Training and fighting and being a hero. Remembering who his father was and what that meant for him. Having the ability to forget taken from him.

He closed his eyes and sighed. He swore to himself, every day, that he wasn't his father.

But it didn't seem to be working. Nothing seemed to work for Lloyd, the master of energy.

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"Fiona!"

The queen looked up from her novel and hastily hid it behind a stack of reports as she heard someone calling her name through the library. There was really no need to pretend to have been working; she knew of only one person who didn't refer to her as 'your majesty', and that was also the only person she knew who was even better at skiving than she was.