Who knew that time could fly by so quickly? It was nightfall and a handful of snow fell upon Ninjago city. It was just like yesterday that the pair celebrated thanksgiving and now, here was the white haired girl, pouting as the window she was staring out of became blurry due to the room's humidity. Garmadon was beside her, staring out the exact window with an indifferent look upon his face. "Is something the matter, Rumi?" He called the silent girl and rubbed her arm in a reassuring manner. Harumi sighed and turned over to face the Oni.
"No nothing is wrong. I just realized that winter is arriving soon." She voiced out here inner thoughts. Ah winter, her least favourite holiday ever since youth. Being locked up in the palace of secrets all of her life, she didn't get a proper chance to see snow drop. Even from windows, Hutchins would always pull down the curtains since "a princess should be looking elsewhere." Garmadon tilted his head when she had said that. Why, did she not like winter? Was she not excited about snow arriving on Ninjago city? "Yes, it's lovely isn't it?" He commented, mainly to test out if his thoughts were correct or not. She was probably bottled up with so many feelings that se couldn't voice out properly her own excite-
Harumi's shoulders rose and she shivered. Garmadon snapped out of his thoughts and took the time to analyze her frail movements carefully.
"What's wrong?" He wondered, wanting the truth to be spat out without much trouble. The white haired girl bit her lip and stared back down at the window in her room. That's when the man began being impatient, no seriously, what was wrong with her? That's when he slowly came to gather all of the pieces,
Her white skin, her shyness and developing fear for the soft coat of white-
"Harumi, could it be-" he was interrupted by the girl herself. She stood up from the ground and extended her hands out, eyebrows narrowed. "Yes I'm afraid of snow! All of my life, funny huh?!" She giggled, kinda in self-pity.
Surprisingly, Garmadon didn't laugh at the pathetic excuse told you him just now. It wasn't generally a bad thing if a child didn't appreciate snow like others. It was up to him to change that, it was quite funny huh? An evil and menacing warlock teaching children how to enjoy the winter season. "It's not a bad thing, don't worry Harumi. Would you like to see snow for the first time in years?" He suggested, approaching the white haired girl. Harumi kind of chuckled when she realized Garmadon had his arms reached out for her. Hoping to grab her into an embrace and presumingly throw her out of the window—Harumi huffed.
"No no, that's alright, thanks-" despite her weakly formed protests, Garmadon shook his head and licked her up.
"Nope, I'm not letting you miss out on a fun seasonal time." He chuckled and stormed out of the small room they were in just now. Rather saltily, already dreading the thought that her body is gonna be frozen in a few minutes,
Harumi growled under her breath: "It would have been fun if you didn't kidnap me.." she muttered, still not losing count of the real reason she was here. Just what was Garmadon playing at? For a minute, he's nice and generous, the next, he's the evil warlord that she summoned weeks ago. The man, still carrying the little girl in his arms, swung her around every 2 minutes. It certainly earned a gasp from a startled girl, as he committed risky gestures. He was practically gambling on the fact that he might drop her.
"You know, I can walk.." Harumi tried to get out of his grasp. But as expected from an oni, Lloyd's father was absolutely stronger than a weak human like her, she didn't have any elemental powers either so Harumi was in a complete disadvantage from the start. "Don't worry, it's not a long walk, you don't have to ask such a request." Garmadon assured her that he didn't mind carrying her all the way to his planned destination. It was technically not out of Borg tower but not technically inside it either. Before he reached the lift, Garmadon stopped in his tracks when his eyes caught on the door for the storage room.
"Ah right, I'm sorry I forgot. You need to be all bundled up if you're gonna go out there." He chuckled and walked inside the storage room.
Harumi bit her lips, her nose crinkling in cringe. Snow, outside? Her in a snowsuit? No thank you. In a defensive manner, she attempted to slide out of the picture. The picture that might be hanged up in Garmadon's memory forever when he sees her freaking out over every little inch of snow outside.
She glanced over to where the man was and almost cursed under her breath when she saw him coming back to where she was. "What's all this?" She questioned when she saw him bring a stack of cotton-made materials.
Garmadon put the coat, mittens, boots, beanie and scarf down on the ground. Harumi almost felt her eyes melting off at the amount of clothes. She almost looked away in disgust and uncertainty. "Do you really need all these clothes when you go outside?" She questioned, almost comparative to a student learning a new subject for the first time. In this case, it was winter for Rumi.
The man nodded and started to put the massive long coat on her, Harumi could feel her bare neck become suffocated in the coat's fabric collar. It was a black coat, of course he'd choose that colour, Garmadon may not have liked stains on his clothing surprisingly. Harumi needed to get used to all these, worse part was that this was only clothing, she couldn't handle that? "And winter is about 3 months..." She grumbled, trying to act positive about all this when Garmadon arrived down to the coat's zipper. He zipped her up and she helped herself, not leaving all of the work for him. She grabbed the beanie from the ground and put it up. Her hair would be a disastrous mess after all this but it was somewhat worth it, well according to Garmadon. She had to slip the mittens next then slide in the boots. The man already helped her with the scarf.
When Harumi was all bundled up, she felt like a sumo wrestler, ready to tip over any moment now. Man, all of these clothes were really weighing her down. She waddled her way over to the lift before she turned around yo observe Garmadon's clothing. He didn't have any, Just his helmet I'd that counts. "You're not going to wear anything else?" She asked in almost concern. Of he ended up sick, it wasn't her problem in the end. But she couldn't help but feel bad if he did, Harumi would probably have a change of heart and take care of him when he's in bed and poorly. Though, the dark lord claimed: "I don't get affected by the cold weather." The Oni said unphased by Harumi's concern.
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The two made their way inside of the elevator and Garmadon pressed the button to the top floor, which was floor 11, the rooftop. Harumi restes her arms on te railings and sighed. She had a perfect view behind her of the snow-covered city. It was almost a gift for the broken down buildings be quite frank herself. They looked so atrocious that the snow did them a favour by covering them up. From shattered windows to squashed corpses under a skyscraper for example. Harumi shivered at the thought and remembered to ask: "Why did you pick the rooftop out of all places?" She inquired towards the man, whose eyes quickly found their way to hers. Garmadon shrugged. "I don't know, perhaps we'll get a better view of we stayed on the rooftop." He voiced out his reasons, albeit weak, but who was Harumi to talk?
The reasons for wanting to lick a different spit would probably be: "I didn't want to come here in the first place." Or "Ooh, I know a great place! Back inside in the warmth of night since I don't want to get sick." Yeah those are valid in more ways than one. "I'm just so nervous, I can't believe I'll actually see snow again, better yet, play with it.." Harumi placed her two hands together and smiled up to face Garmadon. Though, one sight shocked her. The man wasn't looking at her, no, those blood red eyes were looking up at the elevator's ceiling. The elevator slowly made its way all the way up and Harumi followed his gaze. Oh so that's why she had the impression that the lift itself was breezy inside. The hatch was still unfixed and there remained a massive in their ride. Anyone sneaky enough could sneak in to rescue her, Hmm...Garmadon might have to assign some of his guards to construction business.
"Please don't mind that." The dark creature excused himself and the mess created up in the ceiling. But Harumi knew perfectly well it was her fault why the lift ended up being frostbite temperature and why his eyes showed worry all of a sudden. The reason the hatch was opened like that was because Harumi attempted to escape one afternoon. What if she tries escaping again? This time jumping off the rooftop? No, he mustn't let that happen to her, it was his sole duty to not allow that to happen. When he snapped out his thoughts for elevator reparation, he glanced back at Harumi and realized that she had looked away too. He saw in the corner of his eye how she so figuratively stopped looking scared and instead shocked. Why was it that her emotions changed so rapidly? That's what he didn't understand completely from humans.
"We're here." He managed to bring her back from her inner conflicts and the girl found herself staring at him then at the doors opening. Harumi's beautiful white hair that matched the bundles of cold frozen water outside, wafted through the darkest of nights. The skies may be painted in navy, however, just because not many stars were present, it didn't mean that it wasn't the brightest of nights.
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The white haired girl opened an eye when she realized the soft breeze touch her cheeks oh so gently, she'll have to admit, it was slightly glacial. She wasn't used to such abrupt turn of events nor the temperature it brought along. "Wow, I never anticipated winter to feel like this.." the former quiet one could have burst into laughter if she didn't feel so afraid of the snow. Her hands tightly gripped onto the railings and without another warning, decided to stay there.
With a sulked expression, "I'm not moving." Harumi declared earning a growl from the older man. Oh come on now, she was certainly missing out. Look at all the snow on the rooftop, Garmadon could've considered it an iota amount that dropped for this fine night.
The man slowly stepped out of the elevator and bent down to capture some of the snow in his claws. Then, he stood back up and brought it over to Harumi.
The girl cringed and her grasp around the railings tightened over the maximum.
If she could, her own nails could've scratch along the metallic bars. "What are you trying to do?" Harumi's breathing accelerated and her guard was definitely raised back up. Garmadon showed no harm when he gently brought the pile of snow he grabbed from the ground over to her. His fingers opened and the white pile was exposed to her. The white haired girl backed away and tilted her head in confusion. Oh...it didn't try to freeze her yet, maybe it wasn't deadly?
"It's just snow, it won't do anything bad to you." The father-like figure et ended his arm even more. Well it can he helped, he just had to stay patient and wait until Harumi realizes that snow wasn't anything poisonous nor bad. It was a lump of frozen water, that's all. "What if it freezes me?" Harumi clenched her teeth, slowly bringing her own hand over to touch the refined coat of white on his hand. As snowflakes fall around them, Garmadon chuckled and even moved his hand that contained the snow in it in a wiggling gesture. "Who told you that?" Laughter was spat out of his mouth when he heard that response.
The girl was a bit apprehensive on whether to answer that question of his. Possibly because she didn't want to mention the people behind her fear for snow.
With a soft sigh, "My parents told me at the palace. Now that I think about it, they just wanted me to be a tight-minded little princess that just bowed down to dukes and duchesses, nobles of all kinds, welcoming them into Ninjago city."
She answered.
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When Harumi found the courage to step out of her comfort zone, she almost shivered at the abrupt change of temperature. It was just fine inside of the elevator, why was it so cold out here all of a sudden? Even with a proper snow coat, boots and some gloves, she kind of complained how cold wind touched her cheeks once more. "You'll get used to it," Garmadon voiced out her inner conflicts with a reassuring yet carefree look. "I assure you." Harumi bent down to cup the lumps of snow in the cotton-made gloves. The same comforted feeling returned to her, nope this snow wasn't going to freeze her alive. Soon, she put the snow back down and smiled a little. Snow wasn't dangerous after all, she realized that much.
Suddenly, heavy pressure was applied to her arm for just a second. Harumi's calm and composed state of mind was changed into sudden panic. Her eyes darted in the direction of the man. "Snowball fight!" Garmadon was huddled behind a snow-made wall that had peep holes on the top. Behind the wall, Rumi could only assume that there were mountains of snowballs that would be all ready to be thrown at her. Now that was completely unfair, he had time to prepare while she was trying to enjoy her first proper winter. With her dead lover's father, mind you. But even how hard she tried, she felt treating...like an actual child? Harumi was still a child inside of her, grew up eventually but without parental love. Somehow, she felt like she was receiving that all about now.
She gathered up some snow from the ground and threw them in Garmadon's wall. Not really having good aim, she couldn't really aim for the peepholes that exposed his vulnerability. With furrowed eyebrows, she got a bit closer, to close the distance between them. Garmadon raised two of his hands and threw about five snowballs right above her. Due to gravity, the snow fell back down to the ground, it was unlucky that when they were falling down, Harumi was getting closer. Therefore, the snow fell on her hair. She clenched her teeth tightly as snow ran down her back and that triggered her to destroy the snowall with her boots. She kicked the mountain of snow aside and used it as a stepping stone to reach the man. Garmadon didn't know she was planning this so he just stood still and watched how the girl lunged a small lump of snow on his forehead. "Take that!" The white tiger striked.
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When their snowball war was over, she sat down in the centre of the white carpet, hauling more snow in her direction and observing it. A bit further away but still on the merry rooftop, the Oni lord was gathering several round shapes of snow close together. Harumi couldn't help but suppress her laughter when she saw how he struggled to put the smallest one out of the two on top of eachother. "What are you doing?" Finally, the giggles spat out, one by one. With an undefeated growl, Garmadon lifted the snowball up with his two hands, he almost fell over. "Trying...to build a snowman.." he responded to Harumi before he forcefully threw the snowball over the snowball made for the base. Thankfully, it didn't break despite the dark lord's impressive display of strength. Curiously, the little made her way towards the man and touched the snowball. "Oh, it's amazing.." she remarked quietly.
Garmadon smiled and observed his creation. Well it wasn't completely completed, he has to admit. Just by looking at it, they were just two snowballs over one another. Overall, it was super plain. It doesn't even look like a snowman. That's why the man made his way towards the elevator to return back to the ground floor. "Give me a moment, Rumi. I'll go get some carrots and some pebbles." He alerted her. Harumi ran over towards the elevator just before the doors were closing. "What do you need those for?" Oblivious to how a snowman worked, the little girl wondered. Garmadon laughed and patted her head. She looked so adorable like that, a small little girl of his own..."Ahaha, it's to complete the snowman after all. He needs a smile after all! I'm guessing you still want to stay outside a bit more?" He asked.
Of course he could trust her on her own like this. After all, the former quiet one was a bit rusty from not training for a while. She'd feel too scared to attempt jumping from roof to roof. There was snow too, she could easily slip. Rumi nodded and captured a snowflake on her nose. "Yes, I'm fine out here!" She called out and waved out to Garmadon. The man nodded and the elevator doors closed for good. The lift started to descend and she sighed happily. Winter wasn't so bad after all, huh?
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The dark lord arrived at the ground-level, floor 1. He carefully strolled around, knowing that there were some SOG guards slacking off once again but he'll let them rest if he does find some since it was the start of the winter season. Not only that but because he was in a particularly good mood. He made his way to the kitchen to locate the carrots and steal a few pebbles from the potted-plants. Though, a sound caught his ears. He couldn't make it out right away but it did sound like a whimper? He approached where the sound was coming from. Another whimper and another...another and another...the sound led him to the front doors. Garmadon mentally prepared himself for the worse. What if it was the soft snoring of an SOG guard?
He had to find out. His four arms pushed the doors opened and greeted in front of the doormat, it was a white Pomeranian puppy, all curled up and all cool in the cold. The puppy was whimpering and Garmadon didn't understand why. Surely, It was cold, surely. "Hey hey, it's alright.." he cooed to the small creature and picked it up. The doors shut back immediately and he made his way to the medical room. Forget the carrots. When he picked up the dog for the first time, he soon realized the reason for such sharp whimpers. He felt his fingers be stained with something beneath the fur. The stomach most specifically was bleeding. Garmadon realized that much when he moved the dog to one of his lower hands and checked his top ones that formally touched the puppy. Yes, animal blood was stained on his fingers. "What happened to you?" He wondered with a tilted eyebrow.
The puppy just whimpered, not really being able to answer his question anyways. Garmadon sighed and just continued his walk. It was the holidays season coming soon and he had to think of what to give the white haired girl. What present would be good for a teenaged girl? He didn't know for sure since he was always used to buying planes for his little boy when he was younger. He wasn't sure if Harumi would appreciate a child's toy at her age. If he could heal this puppy, then it would make a splendid gift. Right, that's his goal now, he had to make sure this dog lived. He felt a bit guilty to leave Rumi on the rooftop all by herself but he'll surprise her with this gift later when she wonders where he had been.
Arriving at the medical room, he laid the dog down on its back and checked the stomach where the blood was sprouting from. He wasn't surprised to see that there was a small cut to it. His eyebrows lowered and he grabbed a cloth, poured it with alcohol and began to disinfect the blood from the wound. "What happened? Did you accidentally cut yourself?" He cooed to the small puppy. The Pomeranian growled at the acidic liquid touching its stomach. Garmadon had to try really hard to keep the dog in place. "Woah there I'm healing you! Calm down!" He held the dog's paws together and it kept barking. It wasn't really important but the dog turned out female, Garmadon caught a glance of it when the puppy was shifting around everywhere. "Well, aren't you a cloud?" He chuckled and wiped a bit more of the blood off. When he was finished, he rinsed the bloody cloth and picked the puppy up. It barked and barked and barked, Garmadon felt his ears explode. "Hey now, if you're gonna be Harumi's gift, you gotta be a bit more quieter than that." He patted the little puppy's head. Now that he thinks about it, this little girl needs a name. He was sure that he'd let Harumi decide but truth be told, just by looking at the small pup, he already had a name planned. "Be a good girl." He petted the white Pomeranian.
Now in his own room, he shut the door and put the dog on the bed. He checked his drawers and took out a red ribbon. 'Now the Pomeranian will look like a real present.' He thought and tied it around the white fluff's neck. The puppy barked slightly at the feeling of having something wrapped around its neck. "Don't worry, it won't kill you. It won't strangle you." Garmadon smiled and petted the dog's head once more. "Now you'll stay here to surprise Harumi, got it Cloud?" It may be a little selfish on his part but he thinks that "Cloud" suits the little one best.
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A/N: Hello! LillaSmolBean here and thank you for reading chapter 62 of Reconciled hearts! If you enjoyed and would like to see more, comment down below your opinions and leave a vote! Now now, what do you guys think of the new character?: Cloud! Congratulations to Jdizzle's friend for having the name she picked as Harumi's new puppy! Don't be too sad that your name didn't make it in, who knows? We might decide that more characters will be brought into the story! Anyways, that's the end of this author's note! Have a nice week, cya!