Chapter Text
“When's Lloyd getting back again?” asks Kai as most of the Ninja gather round the table for lunch.
Lloyd and Misako had gone on a mother-son bonding trip, a mission to Kyoshi’s labyrinth where they were planning to explore an abandoned temple looking for some old artifact.
“Still one more week Kai,” groans Nya, “are you going to ask this every meal?”
Kai gives a small huff.
“What? Is our company not good enough for you?” teases Cole.
“No. I just wanted to know when he's back! It feels like he's been gone forever.”
The door to the dining room slides open to reveal Lloyd and Misako. “Aw, did someone miss me?” says Lloyd with a grin, but something about his voice is off, nasally, scratchy.
Kai was already closest to the door, but he gets up to greet Lloyd.
“You're back early.” says Wu with a frown. “Did something happen?”
“I guess you could say that…” says Misako. “Lloyd is sick.”
“It's just a cold… I'll be fi-” Lloyd's face freezes as he fights the urge to sneeze, but he isn't successful, body jerking forward as the sneeze sprays Kai, at the same time a small amount of green sparks form on his hands and shoot into the floor.
“Ew, gross!” moans Kai wiping his face.
Wu stands suddenly, knocking the table loudly as he does. He stares at Lloyd for a moment, eyes full of fear, before turning to look directly at Jay. Jay meets Wu's eyes, frowning slightly, utterly confused about why he had been singled out when Lloyd and Kai were the ones making a scene.
Wu turns back to the newcomers. “Misako, please take Lloyd to his room, and wait for me there.” His voice is stern, and laced with fear.
“Uncle… did I do something wrong?”
“No… just, it might not be a regular cold. Please, I'll explain everything, but I need you to leave this room.”
Lloyd and Misako leave, no one else moves, put on edge by Wu's sudden change in demeanor.
“Kai, go and take a shower, put all those clothes in the wash.”
“Can you tell me what's going on fir-”
“NOW!” bellows Wu.
“Fine…” says Kai before also leaving the room.
Wu takes a deep breath, running a hand down his face. “Pixal, Zane, I want you to disinfect everything Lloyd has touched since he got back.”
“But Sensei, we don't know what he has touched?” asks Zane.
“Then just disinfect everything!”
The two give each other a concerned look but start to stand.
“We can help.” offers Cole, also beginning to rise.
“No.” snaps Wu. “You three will go directly to the courtyard and wait for me there. I'll come and see you after I've checked on Lloyd.”
“At least let me finish my lunch.” says Jay as he lifts a fork towards his mouth.
Suddenly the fork flies across the room, struck by Wu's staff. “Not. One. Bite.”
Jay gulps, accepting the fact he is going to need to abandon his lunch.
“Lloyd's going to be ok right?” asks Nya as she also gets up.
Wu lets out a sigh. “I believe so. I will explain, please wait for me outside.” He glances at Jay again before leaving the room.
~~
Outside three impatient ninja try to pass the time. Nya is pacing, Cole is bouncing pebbles off the wall. Jay is sitting on the steps, leg bouncing away.
“Did anyone else see the way Wu looked at me back there?” asks Jay. He was used to being the subject of Wu's rage, but he normally knew why he had earned it. Breaking something, stuffing up training, running his mouth. But this time he just can't figure out what he did.
Cole cocks his head slightly. “Yeah… he did seem a little fixated on you now that you mention it.”
“Forget Jay for a moment!” says Nya, lifting her hands energetically.
“Hey!” complains Jay.
Nya ignores him. “Does Lloyd have the plague or something? Zane and Pixal are nindroids, that's why they're the ones cleaning right?”
“Better them than us.” says Jay, folding his arms.
Nya let's out a frustrated growl. “Could you think of someone other than yourself for a second!”
“Hey!” Cole steps between the two. “We're all freaked out ok, but can we try not to panic until after Wu gets back?” Jay gives a small huff and Nya crosses her arms. “I thought you two were meant to be in love or something?” Cole says with a roll of his eyes.
“That doesn't mean we can't fight!” say Jay and Nya in unison, before staring daggers at each other for a moment. Even when they were bickering, they were somehow still in sync. Nya lets out a huff and goes back to pacing.
A knot of uncertainty twists inside Jay's stomach.
It doesn't take long before Wu comes out to see them, he is wearing a half mask, which is unusual for him.
“Thank you for waiting.”
The three ninja line up to face him.
“What's going on?” asks Jay.
“Is Lloyd going to be ok?” says Nya over the top of him.
“Shhh, let him speak.” Says Cole, pushing his way to stand between the two before they glare daggers at each other again.
Wu clears his throat. “Unfortunately my assumption has proven correct. It seems that Lloyd has somehow contracted elemental fever.”
“Never heard of it.” says Jay, frown spreading on his face. It still felt like Wu was looking at him more than the others.
“Is it dangerous?” asks Nya.
“Yes.” says Wu. “For elemental masters it can be quite dangerous indeed, some more than others.” He glances at Jay again, and Jay swallows nervously.
“Why? What does it do?” asks Cole.
“It is a type of infection, the main symptom of which is a high fever for multiple days. It is usually accompanied with a cough and other flu-like symptoms.”
“So it's just a bad cold?” asks Jay hopefully.
Wu shakes his head. “For elemental masters it also has the unique effect of reducing control over one's element, and also severely reduces immunity to one's element.”
“Is that why you keep looking at me?” asks Jay.
Wu nods. “Lighting is the worst pairing with this disease, while it is dangerous for everyone, for you… the chance of death is much higher.”
“Death??” Squawk Nya and Cole in unison, Jay is too stunned to speak.
“You sure Lloyd is going to be ok?” asks Cole with worry.
“I believe so.” says Wu without hesitation. “His element, well, it won't be pleasant, but he should be fine. He is also part oni which will help.”
“What about Kai??” says Nya, “Lloyd sneezed right on him!”
Wu sighs. “After Jay, Kai is the one I am most worried about, hopefully that exposure is not enough to transfer the illness. We will just have to wait and see.”
There is an uncomfortable silence as the three ninja process Wu's words.
“What now?” says Jay, finally breaking the silence.
“You will go and stay with your parents until this is all over.” says Wu to Jay.
“You want me to run away?”
“I want you to stay safe, staying here… the risk is too great.”
“And the rest of us?” asks Nya.
“Pixal and Misako don't have an element, they are fine to stay. Zane is a nindroid, so I am hoping he will be immune. Kai… well unfortunately he has already been exposed, so he should stay here for monitoring. You two are free to stay or leave as you choose. Your elements are less risky than the others.”
“ They get to choose?” grumbles Jay.
“Yes.” says Wu.
“But I don't get any say?”
“No.” Wu looks him dead in the eye, the intensity is fierce, a mix of rage and sadness.
Nya lifts a hand out to Jay's shoulder. “Surely staying with your parents for a few days won't be that bad?”
“Yeah? So you'd be fine going to stay with yours then?” snaps Jay. He knew Nya had been struggling to bond with her mum since they got back. He watches her flinch and immediately regrets it. “Sorry…” he says more gently, placing his hand over hers. “I think I'm just a bit freaked out.”
She nods.
“If you stay, none of you will be permitted to see Lloyd, and contact with Kai should be minimised. I would recommend playing it safe.” says Wu.
“I'm sure my parents would be thrilled to have you at the junk yard.” says Jay to Nya. “You know… if you wanted a different option?”
Nya hesitates, thinking it over. Eventually she lets out a sigh. “Fine, I guess it doesn't make much sense to stay here.” she finally admits.
“You'd be welcome too Cole.” adds Jay.
Cole looks deep in thought. “Nah, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of you two lovebirds. I think I'll stay for now, but I might go see my dad tomorrow.”
Wu nods. “Would you mind packing a bag for Jay?” he asks Cole.
“What, I'm not even allowed back inside?”
“No, you are not.” says Wu sternly. “If I catch you inside these walls before the illness is gone, you will be expelled as my student.”
“But-”
“Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes master.” says Jay sadly.
“Now, I must prepare some tea for Lloyd.” Master Wu turns around to head back inside.
“He's joking right?” asks Jay to the other two.
“He seemed pretty serious…” says Nya.
“I was not joking!!” bellows Wu from inside the building.
“I thought hearing was meant to get worse with age?” complains Jay.
Cole snorts. “I'll go pack your stuff.” He grips Jay on the shoulder, “don't worry, I won't forget Mr. Cuddlywump.”
“Mr. Who?” asks Nya.
Jay groans in frustration.
~~
Lloyd waited fearfully in his room with Misako for Wu to come back. Wu had asked lots of detailed questions about how the illness had started, and what exactly his symptoms were. It felt like an interrogation. At the end he had instructed Lloyd, “Under NO circumstances are you to leave this room until I get back.”
He sounded scared, which meant this was serious.
“It's going to be ok.” assures Misako, putting an arm on his shoulder, obviously sensing his worry.
Lloyd sighs, unconvinced. He didn't feel great, but no worse than a bad cold. Hopefully Wu was just freaking out over nothing. But Wu usually made a molehill out of a mountain, not the other way around.
The door slides open revealing Wu with a tray of tea.
Lloyd pushes himself up from where he was leaning on the headboard. “Uncle, what's going on?”
“I think we are all in need of some calming tea.” says Wu.
Lloyd sighs again, he wanted answers, not tea, but takes the cup as it is offered, staring down into his lap.
“I'm sorry if I seemed panicked before…” says Wu gently, “you are going to be ok Lloyd.” Lloyd lifts his gaze up to Wu. “You have elemental fever. This disease is more dangerous to some elemental masters than others, but for you… it won't be pleasant, but you're going to be fine. I promise.”
Lloyd nods. He feels the comforting warmth of the tea in his hand. “What about Kai?” he asks. There was a reason Wu had ordered him out of the kitchen, why he had dashed off after the interrogation. If he wasn't worried about me, then he must be worried about someone else.
Wu hesitates, and Lloyd's stomach flips. “Hopefully that brief exposure isn't enough to catch the disease.”
“And if it is?” Misako asks, her worry also evident.
“Fire could be tricky.” admits Wu.
“Why? What even is elemental fever?”
“Elemental fever is an infection that reduces the victim's ability to control their element, and also takes away their immunity to their element. Kai, well he is likely to set fire to things and may burn himself. All while running a high fever.”
Lloyd looks down at his arms. Green sparks had been periodically forming on them, running up or down, but it didn't hurt, at least not yet.
“Kai isn't who I'm most worried about.” admits Wu glumly. “So just be thankful you didn't sneeze on Jay.”
Lloyd frowns at that, mentally running through each of his friends and how dangerous their element would become without immunity.
Ice. Well that would be more of a problem if Zane was human. A nindroid getting too cold didn't sound like a permanent problem.
Water. Nya would what? Just be wetter than normal? That didn't sound too bad.
Earth. Lloyd somehow doubted that elemental fever would be able to make Cole throw a boulder at himself.
Fire. He could see the dangers with that, as Wu had explained.
Lighting. Exposure to electricity could cause a heart to stop. Even if it didn't, it was extremely painful, could cause burns, affect the brain… Lloyd swallows nervously.
“Jay and Nya are going to go stay with his parents until this is all over.” says Wu, and Lloyd feels himself relax slightly. “You weren't in the room for long, and I ordered them outside straight away. I highly doubt he has contracted the disease.”
“I'm sorry…” says Lloyd. “I brought it here.”
“You didn't know.” says Misako, putting an arm on him again.
~~
The next morning Cole bumps into Kai in the hallway. “Aren’t you meant to be in your room?” Wu had put Kai on lockdown.
“But I’m fine!” hisses Kai, trying not to be too loud and grab Wu’s attention.
“Come on man, it’s only for a few days.” Kai huffs and grumpily folds his arms. “I know, how about we move the TV into your room?” asks Cole.
Kai softens slightly. “Ok fine.”
The two go and grab the TV and game console, cables dragging along the ground as they take it to Kai’s room. Kai sits on the bed as Cole fights with the mess of cables, trying to get things to fit on Kai’s desk. He had tried to help at first but quickly realised that this was a situation where more hands weren’t actually helpful, so had backed off, sitting there, giving deliberately bad advice to try and annoy Cole.
“Have you tried the blue one?”
“There isn’t any blue one!”
“What about the purple one?”
“Seriously dude, are you colour blind or what? Maybe that’s why you thought you were meant to be the green ninja…”
Kai chuckles at that. “Oh burn… and here I thought I was the master of fire.”
“Aha! Finally.” Cole attaches the last cable and the TV comes to life, displaying the menu for the game they had last been playing.
“What is going on in here?” Master Wu is suddenly at the door looking at them both disapprovingly.
“Kai was bored.” says Cole, “so we were setting up the TV.” He is unsure what they have done wrong, were they not meant to move it?
“Kai is meant to be in lockdown.”
“I’m in my room, just like you asked.” says Kai defensively.
Wu groans, running a hand down his face. “The point of a lockdown is to keep you separate from others who might not be infected yet.” Wu gestures to Cole.
“But I’m not sick yet!” says Kai. “I thought the point was to keep me away from Lloyd?”
“I was just setting up the TV.” adds Cole. “Wasn’t going to stay and watch a full movie.”
“I would hope not.” says Wu sternly. When no one moves he adds, “Out!” glaring at Cole, while pointing to the door. Cole sighs and leaves the room. “Kai, if you need anything else, I’m sure Pixal would be able to assist.”
Kai sighs, falling backwards onto his bed.
Cole goes back to his room and starts packing a bag. He wanted to stay and try to support the others. Comfort Lloyd, try and keep Kai distracted, but if Wu wasn’t even going to let him be in the same room as them, well, Nya was right. There really wasn’t much point in staying. “I can call Kai from my dad’s place just as easily as the living room.” he mutters to himself. And maybe my absence will help Wu stress a little less.
~~
Lloyd is laying in his bed shivering. He clutches his comforter, but it isn't enough, he still feels so cold, even though he knows his body temperature is higher than normal right now.
He coughs, feeling the familiar tingle of his powers as they circulate through his arms. Wu is sitting beside him sipping at a cup of tea.
“Times like this I kinda wish I knew more about my powers…” says Lloyd.
“What do you mean?” asks Wu with curiosity.
“Like I'm the green ninja, but what even are my powers? Green isn't an element?”
Wu looks at him dumbfounded. “You mean to tell me you have been using your powers all these years, and you don't even know what they are?”
“Well you never told me!”
“Well, I didn't think I needed to? Didn't your father explain it to you?”
Lloyd sighs, pausing as he endures another round of coughing. “Back when it was golden he explained a lot of things… but gonna be honest, I wasn't very good at listening back then, and half of it didn't make sense anyway.”
Wu chuckles. “Ah yes, you've grown a lot since then.” He pauses, taking a long sip of his tea. “What do you think your powers are?”
“Um, Chen called it power. I'm master of power? But how is that different to lightning? I did think I was the master of green lightning for like a week after that, but watching Jay… it's quite different.”
“Different how?”
“I dunno, my power isn't as, um, jittery? It stays closer to my fist? Travels straighter?”
“So kind of like Kai?”
Lloyd laughs, “yeah, which is why after I ruled out green lightning I thought it might be green fire, but that didn't fit either.”
“There is only one of each element.”
“I know that now! So what is it, what's my element called?”
Wu strokes his beard. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
“What?”
“You don't need to know the name of something to understand it.”
Lloyd sighs, “but it would be nice to know what to call it.”
“Hmm,” Wu strokes his beard again, “yours is hard to describe, but the closest approximation is probably life.”
“Life? I'm the master of life?” Wu nods. Lloyd pulls his hands out from the covers and watches as the green glow passes through them once more. “Is that why it doesn't hurt?”
Wu nods. “Your power comes from within, it won't hurt you.”
“Wait… does it not hurt other people either? When I shoot off an energy blast, am I like healing them?”
Wu laughs, “What? Not at all. Your life energy is no good to anyone but yourself. Also your status as green ninja means you have a special connection to some of the other elements. When you use your powers you control it, transform it into energy, into a weapon. Right now you can't control it, so it's stuck circulating as raw ‘life’.”
Lloyd lets out a sigh of relief. He decides to rest his eyes for a bit as he was so tired. After a few minutes they shoot open again. “Wait! Does that mean every time I use my powers, I like age? Or use up some of my life??”
Wu pauses before answering. “I don't think so?”
“You don't know? ” This was honestly scarier than having elemental fever. Lloyd could feel his life, or rather every time he had used his life, flashing before his eyes.
“Honestly, the thought had never crossed my mind. But Lloyd, even if it does, the effect would be very marginal. And even then, you are part oni, your lifespan will be long, you have nothing to fear.”
“You're sure?”
“Pretty sure.” Wu reassures. “But I'll look into it for you, see if I can confirm.”
Lloyd closes his eyes once more. “Ok uncle…” he mutters. He was going to have to worry about that later. Right now his body needed rest.
~~
In the junkyard Jay had made some dummies out of scrap and was training, mostly with his element. Shooting lightning at them from lots of different angles and positions. Control. It takes away control… Lightning was already difficult to control. It wasn’t like Kai’s fireballs, it didn’t travel in a straight line. Jittering this way and that, looking for the quickest path to ground, which was unfortunately usually through Jay himself. Although it had become second nature, it took a great deal of effort to block the lightning’s path down through his legs and force it out of his hands towards his targets. It had taken him a long time to master, he had shocked himself quite a few times during the early days. But even then you had immunity… If this disease could weaken his control, then he needed to make sure it was as strong as possible to start with.
Nya comes back into view and hangs up her phone. Jay finishes the set then goes over to her. “Any news?”
She sighs. “Not really. Unless Kai being bored out of his mind counts as news.”
“So he's not sick yet?”
Nya shakes her head. “Not yet.” he watches her hands fiddle with the phone, eyes distant, mind churning.
“And Lloyd?”
“The same. High fever, powers going a bit haywire, but he’ll get through it.”
Jay sighs. He hated this, hated just waiting and doing nothing. He was glad that Nya was here with him, if he had been here on his own, well, his anxious thoughts were prone to spiralling.
“I just wish there was something we could do.” says Nya, as if she could read Jay’s mind.
“Yeah.” agrees Jay. “I’ve never been good at waiting.”
~~
Misako gently wipes the sweat from Lloyd’s forehead. His fever had continued to get worse.
“Sorry.”
“What for?” croaks Lloyd before coughing, green sparks running along his arms.
She waits for him to finish before answering, concern resting on her face. But Wu was sure he would be fine, they just needed to wait it out. “This probably isn’t the sort of mother-son-bonding you were looking forward to.”
Lloyd shrugs slightly, shifting the blankets around him. “Not exactly… but it’s nice, you being here.”
Lloyd didn’t have much experience with being sick. He would watch colds bounce through the rest of the team, but most winters he got through with barely a sniffle. Now that he knew that he was part oni, he wondered if that had something to do with it. It was not like he had never been sick, he could remember a couple of times when he was much younger, but it was uncommon for sure. He sighs, remembering his time back at Darkly’s.
“You alright?” asks Misako.
“Yeah, just…” he is interrupted by another cough, “I don’t get sick very often.”
“That’s a good thing, right?”
Lloyd pauses, deciding if he should tell her what was on his mind. “Um, when I was at Darkly’s, I tricked a sick kid into spitting in my drink.”
Misako blinks, “Whatever for?”
“Well, um, when the other kids got sick, the school would call their parents. Sometimes their parents would take them home for a few days, or they would come and visit, or at least get a phone call…”
Misako looks down guiltily. “Right… so you tricked a kid to spit in your drink?”
“Yeah.” Lloyd laughs, triggering another small cough. “I couldn’t just ask him to do it, that would make me seem super weak, so what I did was plant the idea for a way to prank me, make the other kid feel like he got one over on me, when actually it was exactly what I wanted. It also gave me the perfect reason to prank him back. Win-win.” Lloyd sighs. “Didn’t work though, I drank the whole thing, and, nothing! Perfectly fine.”
“Why didn’t you just fake being sick?”
“You think I didn’t try? Ha! That poor nurse had to put up with almost every kid trying to pull a sickie every other week. She knows her stuff, no way you can trick Brenda.”
“I’m sorry, I should have been better at staying in touch.”
There is a pause before Lloyd answers. “Yeah, but you’re here now, right? I’m not hallucinating from the fever?”
Misako smiles, wiping down his brow once more. “Yes, I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“The point I was trying to make was, well, this still counts as mother-son-bonding.”
Misako chuckles at that. “I suppose it does.”
Lloyd closes his eyes, thinking back further through his memories, to a time when he was feverish as a young child. Misako was there beside him, he was lying in a lukewarm bath, and he felt awful. She had given him some medicine and they were waiting for it to work, waiting for his fever to go down.
‘Mum, tell me a story?’ he had asked, desperate for a distraction.
‘What kind of story?’ she had asked.
‘The one with the hero…’ Misako often told him stories about an unnamed hero. Lloyd loved to imagine that the hero in the stories was his father. The reason that he wasn’t around very much was because he was off doing important hero things.
‘Once upon a time, there was a brave hero…’
Lloyd opens his eyes again and looks up at his mother. She catches his gaze. “I thought you might have fallen asleep.”
“Do you remember those stories you used to tell me? About the hero?” asks Lloyd.
Misako smiles warmly. “Now that takes me back…”
“The hero didn’t have a name, but the way you told the stories made me think you knew who he was?”
Misako lets out a small chuckle, “I guess you could say that.”
“It was dad, wasn’t it?”
Misako turns to look at him with slight surprise. “Actually… it was supposed to be you.”
“Me?” Lloyd can’t help but cough again. He shudders, feeling the green energy circulate. It still didn’t hurt, but it felt weird. A part of him moving about in ways it shouldn’t.
“Yes, the hero I always knew you would become. Kind, and brave, and strong. A role model that you could look up to, because I knew your parents weren’t doing a great job at being that role model… I-” she pauses, letting out a huff of air. Lloyd reaches out a hand towards her, and she takes it. “I’m so proud of you Lloyd, you’ve become a fine hero, even without me there to guide you. A hero that so many look up to, one that I’m sure gets mentioned in bedtime stories to kids all over Ninjago.”
Lloyd coughs again. “It’s a lot to live up to…”
“Such is the life of a hero.”
They sit in silence for a moment, still holding hands.
“Mum?” asks Lloyd. “Tell me a story?”
She looks down at him, small smile on her face. “Once upon a time, there was a brave hero…”