"Papa!" You giggled, clinging onto your father's leg. "Come play whith me!"
Your father smiled, picking you up and spinning you around with a hearty laugh. "I wish I could, my little photon, but Dad is busy. I need to get this prototype done soon or I won't be able to show it off at the alliance meeting."
You climbed onto the stool, peering over his shoulder as he worked on some kind of invention, screwing things with just his mind. You had always loved that trick. "Ith the bulb is too... Too.."
"Dim?" Your father offered, smiling as he thought of words for you to explain your thoughts. He always did always let you try first though. "Yes, if the bulb is too dim then it means there isn't enough Elemental Energy flowing through the machine. That means it doesn't have any power stored, but I have to find a way to store enough Elemental Power, if I don't do this then Ray might get overworked to a critical point. I don't even want to imagine what that could do to his little ones..."
Nodding, you pointed to a corner of his circuit board. "That too close? Shiny bit not straight and- and.. and doesn'th- it doesn'th.. it doesn't... It's not good." You settled on, not sure how to completely vocalize your thinking process.
The door opener with a small creak, and your mother walked into the room, her hand full of groceries. "Where's my baby?" She laughed, placing the bag down, and opening her arms wide.
You glanced back to her, smiling and waving. "No hug! I buzzy helping out Dada!" You puffed out your small chest with pride.
"Magnus?" Your mom accused, walking up to him. "I thought you had agreed to stop with this alliance business, but here you are, doing it again." She sighed, pressing two fingers to her nose bridge.
Your father exahled, crouching down to your level. "How about you go into your room and try to do model 174 in your kit? That's the next one to do, right? I'll come in and help in a few minutes."
"Oh yeah!" You squealed with delight, running into your room. Grabbing the kit from your desk, you started taking parts out and flipping through the instructions.
You were too excited to notice the door shutting behind you.
You were too excited to notice the voices getting louder in the kitchen.
You were too excited to notice when the yelling started.
But you noticed when it ended with a door slam.
Standing on your tip toes, you wrapped your small hand around the doorknob, turning it and walking into the living room, where your father was sat alone.
His scruffy face was propped onto his hand as he stared to the ground. The creak of a floorboard surprised him, causing him to look up. "Y/n.. oh Y/n.." Your father's gaze began to cloud up, his eyebags filling with water.
You ran forward, climbing onto the couch, putting your tiny hands on his lap. "Don't cry papa! Why are you and mama upset?"
"It's- it's nothing for you to worry about, little photon... Hell, you're only five.. You- you need a stable life.." He pulled you into his lap, wrapping his large hands around your delicate skull. "A.. a stable life.." He pressed his hands harder into your temples, creating a buzzing noise inside your head.
Jerking your head, you pulled back from his touch. "Papa! That hurt! Why- why Dada crying?! Why is Mama not home?" You asked, the memories of what had just happened clouding up into the back of your mind...
Opening your eyes, you raised a hand and hesitantly touched it to your cheek. "Why- why did you show me that?" You whispered, judging the saline solution on your palm. "That.. I don't remember any of that happening."
That was the plan. Remove the memories and you would have stable life. That was only the first.
You shook with a sob, wiping your eyes. "What do you mean 'only the first,' how many times had he.. had he changed my past?"
Too many.
The Samurai X cave blared a buzz, the main entryway opening to unveil the Ninja walking through. They smiled, waving as the crossed the long bridge to the main area.
You stepped up beside Lloyd, wiping the last of the salty tears from your face. Sighing, you met his gaze, his look to you was asking if you were okay. With a slight shake of your head, you held a hand up, telling him you'd talk later.
"So how do we stop these things?" Cole asked, his bushy eyebrows furrowed.
Wu sighed, looking from the computer to the rest of the team. "We've found out that our enemies have a weakness. They may be impervious to Elemental Powers, but they aren't to the 'Oni Form.'"
Biting the inside of his cheek, Jay rocked from side to side. "Like.. Like what happened to Lloyd after me and Kai fought?"
The former nodded, looking from you to Jay. "Right. But more powerful."
"How do we know this though?" Kai asked, his eyes widening as he recognized the footsteps behind him.
"From me." Garmadon announced, walking up from behind the 4. Their hands all glowed with their signature color, earning a mocking scoff from Garmadon. "Really..? This again?"
Jay leaned over to you, whispering. "Where'd those other two arms go..?"
Wu nodded, motioning to his brother. "We saw him use the Oni Form against the Crystal Warriors. It was most effective. And Lloyd can become demi-Oni, so who says he cannot achieve a full Oni Form? Garmadon might be able to teach him how to achieve his Oni Form in whole."
Lloyd's hand twitched beside you, swinging around you grab ahold of your own. He had been given a choice.. right? "While you all know I'm not.. in the healthiest or happiest of situations to be doing this, it may be our only choice. I saw Garmadon use it against them, and it worked."
"The Crystal Island drains the power from your vehicles," Wu continued, "the Vengestone Army nullifies your Elemental Powers.. leaving us defenseless."
Garmadon laughed, clasping his hands behind his back. "I understand your mistrust. But I have changed since last we met. And I shall do my best to be a kind and patient teacher towards Lloyd."
He sighed. "Right, we'll start soon, but I need to talk with my girlfriend quickly." Lloyd sneered, pulling you to the side, behind your bike. "What happened?"
Gasping, you suddenly recalled what had been happening before the Ninja had come back. "The- the voice in my head.. it asked if I wanted to see a memory. It showed me one of me, my father and my mother. But I didn't remember it. In it, he and my mother argued, and it ended in him grabbing my head and somehow.. I don't know- erasing my memories?"
"Okay.. breathe.." He mumbled, grabbing your flailing wrists and pulling you to the ground and into his lap.
You turned around facing his bright green eyes. "I dont-" you gasped for air. "I don't remember anything about my life with my dad.. I don't remember his favorite color, or any of his friends, or his- his middle name- I don't remember my grandparents, or if he had any siblings- I don't remember him ever showing me his powers even though apparently he did. I- I- don't even remember his- his eyes! What color were his eyes?!"
You begged, sobbing into his lap. You had always thought you'd known everything about your favored parent, but he was as much as an enigma as your mother's morals. And he was dead, so you couldn't learn any of these things anymore.
Lloyd pressed his lips into your head, rubbing between your shoulder-blades. He shushed you with a soft hum. "I'm sorry.. I don't know exactly what happened, but maybe we can think of it as him trying to protect you. While it wasn't the smartest choice to leave me in a boarding school, my mom thought it was good enough so she could try and protect me from my father and vice versa. You just have to hope it is a similar situation."
Pressing into his gentle touch, you were able to calm the sobs and gasps of your voice. He never told you to use those stupid counting methods, or the box breathing, he was just there, and understood you. That was all you needed. "Now.." he started, his voice lowered to a rumble, "how about you go get some rest while I start training. You look exhausted."
With a nod, you stood up straight. "Yeah.. you're not wrong about that. I'll go rest.. Good luck. And- please don't die.."
He smirked, shaking his head. "Not planning to anytime soon, I swear. Now please, for my grandfather's sake, go to bed."
An airy laugh ran out your mouth, before you went to go to the Bounty. Turning your head down, you hid your face, pushing through the team and speed walking to the ship.
You climbed up the makeshift ramp, and climbed into the cabin. Settling into your cubby-bed, you sighed, finally letting your eyes close.
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You groaned awake, feeling someone pushing against you. "Mmhghm?" You murmured, squinting your eyes open. How long had you slept?
Lloyd was adjusting himself beside you, wrapping his arms around your torso. Then be nestled his face into the space between your neck and your pillow. "Sorry for waking you.." he whispered into the pillow.
"Lloyd..? What happened to training with Garmadon?" You asked, gently resting your cheek on his.
He wrapped a leg over yours, inhaling, then exahling with a shattered breath. "He's being ridiculous. He tells me to do something, then tells me to do the opposite, then compares me to Harumi, then claims I'm the one not trying!"
Reaching out a hand, you intertwined it into his golden locks. "I'm sorry he's being like that. Have you mentioned it to your mom? I know she was quickly visiting the library looking for clues, but maybe she could help calm him? Like how I do for you?"
"As if.." He grumbled, rubbing his face further into the crook of your neck. "Garmadon stopped caring -or at least showing that he cared- about my mom long ago... I could care less what he wants."
You sighed, rubbing his hair between your index and thumb. "I'm sorry."
He nodded, pressing his lips together, giving your jaw a small peck. "It's not your fault."
"I'm still sorry, even if it isn't my fault."
Taking a deep breath, he kissed the sensitive skin of your neck. "It's never your fault."