Lana Del Rey
••• Season Of The Witch •••

and when i look in my window,
so many different people to be,
that it's strange, so strange,
it's very strange to me

•••••

TW: panic attack, light mentions of torture, blood

summer christmas pt. 1 B)

  "Lloyd and I will demonstrate a soundless fight," Garmadon announced to his eagerly watching students. "Pay close attention, as the Green Ninja will be extra eager to prove his worth now that he brought his girlfriend to spectate."

  Lloyd was unfazed by the taunt and the chuckles it brought. I, however, flushed awfully hot and had to stifle the urge to hide my face into my shirt. I had a feeling that I'd have to get used to being teased like this fairly quickly.

  Lloyd slid his foot back against the tatami flooring and raised his fists. "You think you're funny, old man?" His smirk was sharp as a viper.

  Garmadon eased into a similar position - two lions, taut to pounce. Humour glinted in his green eyes. "I know I am."

  They leapt before I could blink, wrestling in an art form that transcended time. Their fists blurred, their kicks swiped, they moved so fast that my brain had trouble keeping up. I had no idea who was winning or losing. The looks on each of their faces, the fierce razor-focus, chilled me to the bone.

  Who would ever go up against the ninja? Who would risk it? Outside the dojo, the fountain spluttered water. Drip, drip, drip. Even that was louder than the fight the two were engaged in - as silent as snakes, sure as the sunrise. My heartbeat thundered in my ears.

  And I thought my father-daughter bonding at the shooting range was intense.  

  My heart sunk as I watched the two Garmadons flit about the mat. If Jay was right in that I'd have to fight when this prophecy came to pass, I was thoroughly fucked. Powers or not, I could never get to this level of expertise. I could barely go a day without accidentally walking into something and stubbing a toe.

  What were they thinking? What was Fate thinking?

  In the middle of my own woe-fest, Lloyd had managed to overpower his father. The other students clapping politely brought me back to my senses and when I did, I found Lloyd sending me a smug smirk.

  "Impressed?" Lloyd asked. He was too quick to call the fight over, however, as Garmadon swept out his legs and his son dropped to the floor like a rock. He groaned.

  I turned my head so it could be level with Lloyd's. "I was impressed." Emphasis on the past tense.

  Lloyd rolled his eyes through his grimace. Garmadon guffawed at my retort in the way old men did and helped his son up to his feet. 

  "That was a dirty move," Lloyd grumbled. Garmadon hummed, brushing off some dirt from his shoulder.

  "Your enemies will try everything in their power to take you down," he said. "You must always-"

  "Remain vigilant and expect anything," Lloyd finished his father's sentence, sounding exasperated. "Yep, thanks, Dad. For embarrassing me. Twice."

  "You're most welcome."

  Lloyd ignored his father's jest and turned to me. "Your turn."  

  My phone buzzed - saved by the overprotective mother checking in on me. I pulled it from my pocket and shrugged helplessly. "I gotta go home."

  Lloyd tilted his head with a soft smile. He had barely even broken a sweat and I found myself attracted to his fitness. Damn. Maybe I should go for runs. I was no better than the average consumer of the female gaze, but alas, it was called the female gaze for a reason. He wouldn't be so attractive if his personality was shit.

  I decided that it wasn't my fault that the female gaze hinged on healthy personalities and being a genuine person, so I allowed myself to selfishly admire Lloyd and admire him as my own. He pulled me to my feet and we gave our goodbyes and when we stepped out into the privacy of the empty hallway, I pressed a kiss to his cheek.

  "What was that for?" Lloyd asked with a fluttery smile and a pink face.

  "For being amazing," I answered, and then promptly decided that my gaze was specifically watching his face grow redder in the wake of a compliment. That was something I could watch again and again. I lowered my voice. "And, uh, maybe start my training when there's not an audience? I already embarrass myself in front of you. That's mortifying enough."

  Lloyd snickered, cheeks still a cherry hue. "Deal."

  His face stayed red all the way through the flight back to my home.

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9 new messages from super secret club!!.

like nya?: im gonna say it. im gonna

like nya?: i told u so

ding butt: told us what????

the rock: ugh its too early to be cryptid

Zane: You mean cryptic.

the rock: its ALSO too early to be correcting me

like nya?: check the news. insta. literally any social media

ding butt: oh man its everywhere

zappy: oh no 🥲🥲🥲

1 new message.

Jesus💗:
dont worry sweetheart, no one knows its you. these things always blow over in a few days
Sent 8.33am

  What a mess to wake up to. I read and reread my morning notifications with a blank brain before unlocking my phone and reading them for a third time in the group chat. I was just coherent enough for a cool, nauseating sense of apprehension to swell within my stomach. Cold sweat began to collect on the back of my neck.

  I pulled myself up to sit. The duvet folded into my lap, dropping as my other hand came up to cradle my phone. I didn't want to check the media - I was stalling - and my gaze had gone fuzzy. Outside in the morning sun, a bird was chirping.

super secret club!!

the rock: u ok y/n?

  The buzz of the new message barely roused me, but it did the trick. With shaking hands, I slid my screen over to instagram. Sure enough, every other ninja fan account that I'd followed back in the days where I didn't know who Lloyd was were circulating the same few grainy, motion-blurred photos of two people on a bike. The Green Ninja's bike.

  Me.  

  My breathing grew shorter. But they didn't know it was actually me, right? Lloyd said they didn't, but what if they did? What if they found out Lloyd's identity through me? He would hate me, and I could never show my face around the city again. Dad would have to haul me back to his base until the chaos died down. Mum would have to give up her dream job, her better salary. It'd be all my fault.

  And then, coming right out of left field, a solid thwack of imposter syndrome hit me upside the head. I didn't belong in Lloyd's world - I was such an outsider that it was painful, and we all knew that I wasn't Main Girl Material. We all knew; everyone must've been thinking it, right? The prophecy was wrong - or I was wrong, and another, better, main-character girl was waiting to show up.

  I jumped with a gasp when the phone in my hands began to vibrate with a shrill ring, and my spiralling thoughts came to a screeching halt. Lloyd was calling.

  I tentatively answered it and held it up to my ear. The trembling device kept knocking against my jaw, thud thud thud.

  "Hi," I said, and it came out a lot thinner than I anticipated.

  "Hey, sunshine." There was a thick coating of guilt to Lloyd's greeting. "I'm sorry. This is my fault."

  "It's fine." My voice broke somewhere in the middle. Lloyd paused and, when he next spoke, he sounded resolute in a decision.

  "I'm coming over," he said. "Is that okay?"

  I couldn't stop thinking about the circulating photos and how screwed my life would be if I was found out. How people would point at me, calling me a faker, a liar - what even for? I wasn't sure, but my brain was convinced. "Yeah. Please," I choked. "Please."

  "Hang tight, baby." His breathing had grown shorter. He was running. "I'll be there in ten."  

  My hand fell back to the duvet. The phone slid from my fingers. Hang tight, baby. It was confounding - the fluttering of my chest from his words and the pit in my stomach from everything else. I wanted to wilt away. I pulled my pillow over my head to emulate the feeling.

  My head was spinning. I could feel the panic rising, building something solid in my chest, gripping my throat until I couldn't breathe. I sat up and tried to focus on the techniques Mum taught me. Ground yourself. Force your breathing to regulate, long and deep. Let your thoughts slide through your fingers like sand. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay.

  And now that I was okay, I had to cringe at myself. God, I sounded like a baby. Whimpering like that just because of a few pictures circulating the internet? Letting my overthinking run away on me? I'd practically begged Lloyd to come rescue me from my own anxiety as though I were a damsel in distress, as if he didn't have bigger things to worry about. How pathetic could I be?

  I pulled the pillow back over my head and groaned. My heart was still racing, neck still prickled with fear, but now I just felt ashamed. Lloyd already had so much to deal with. It wasn't fair on him to be yet another burden.

  By the time Lloyd was tapping on the window to my room, I had patted back my fear just enough to plaster a wobbly smile onto my face. I pulled back my curtains and felt my expression turn genuine at Lloyd's worried face and the sun's rays that trickled into my room from behind him.

  He ran to get to me when he head I was upset. How couldn't I smile? I slid the window up to grant him entry.

  "Good morning," I greeted, before clearing the residual shake of my voice with a cough. I had to be cool.

  "Hey." Lloyd, donned head-to-toe in his gi, slipped effortlessly inside and tore his mask off. He clasped my shoulders, gaze searching. A brief look of confusion crossed his face when he found none of the panic that he'd just heard in my voice before. His green eyes darted all across my countenance. "... are you okay?"

  "Yeah." I nodded reassuringly. "Like you said, it'll all blow over soon."

  Lloyd sent me a look like he didn't know whether to believe me. He held that uncertainty for another beat before softening into a smile and ruffling the hair atop my head.

  "Yeah," he said. "It'll be over before you know it. The media's attention never lingers for long." But then his smile slipped and he gathered my hands in his. He raised our clasped fingers to his lips and pecked them gently. "I should've known this would happen. I'm sorry, sunshine."

  My throat grew thick at his apology. It wasn't something I wanted or needed, but it was nice to hear either way. It was nice to be reminded just how much he cared for me despite the chaos his life must've been.

  "It's okay." I shuffled my way into his arms and tried to ignore the still panicky racing of my heart, before realising that he could definitely hear it. I accepted this with a sigh and continued on. "Are you busy today?"

  "I am," Lloyd replied regretfully, arms linking around my waist. My eyes slid shut at the pleased squeeze. "I have to meet with the back-up team and get their report. Do you have any plans?"

  Of course he'd be busy. I shouldn't be surprised, but still, disappointment shot through me like a silent assassination.

  "Not really." My lashes opened enough to watch the blurry edge of my room. "I might go shopping for Christmas presents."

  Lloyd stroked the back of my head. "That sounds more fun than what I'm doing. Wanna swap?"

  I pulled back to send him an amused look. "Do you know what to get my mother for Christmas?"

  "Not at all," Lloyd said confidently, "but I bet I could make a pretty good guess."

  I rolled my eyes. I had no doubt in him, but like I would openly admit that; his ego was a good enough size as is. It didn't need to grow.

  "So you're really okay?" Lloyd circled the topic back to the reason he'd made a hasty arrival. "You're not gonna go hermit on me, are you?"

  I shook my head, ignoring the feeling of being an imposter, a faker. "I'm fine."

  "Your heartbeat says otherwise."  

  My cheeks burnt. I knew he could tell. "Don't listen to it, Lloyd. It's a little liar."

  He didn't argue against my obvious deflection. Instead, he fell into a soft smile and pressed my knuckles to his lips. "I'm just a call away."

  I nodded small, blushing furiously. "I know."

  "Zane'll monitor the situation," Lloyd said. He lifted my wrist to place a kiss against my pulse. My breathing shuttered, and a tiny smirk played upon his mouth in response. "There's nothing for you to worry about."

  I felt myself hesitate at the mention of Zane. I recalled the day before, where he confronted me about my father's occupation and his very public and very negative opinion on the ninja. Zane was right about one thing; this was a delicate situation. One that would fester more the longer I kept quiet.

  My chest clenched with fear. How would Lloyd react? He and my father were already at each other's metaphorical throats without my messy relations to both thrown into the mix. Surely he'd understand; he had his own father's old reputation breathing down his neck.

  But what if he didn't? It was no secret that the military and the ninja hated each other. What if he began to hate me, too? It would kill me.

  "Hey, Lloyd?" I began uncertainly, words falling without pre-thought. I froze at his hum of response. My mind ran blank. How could I break it to him and yield the best possible outcome? I didn't know. I didn't know. There was so much I didn't know and it was consuming me.

  I turned my eyes downward. I couldn't tell him about my dad without a plan in place. I had to sketch it out, practise what I was going to say, avoid any instances of misunderstanding. I had to think it over more.

  "Yeah?" Lloyd asked again when I'd fallen silent for a touch too long. His worry had returned, colouring his voice thick.

  I cleared my throat and turned my gaze to his. "What do you want for Christmas?"

  Lloyd's brows raised slightly at my question. I knew well that he'd heard my hesitation, my unsureness, my change of topic. Whether he let it slid or chalked it up to fear over the circulating photos I'd never know, because he instead pressed his forehead to mine and shared with me a handsome smile. He took it all in stride.

  "A kiss," Lloyd answered.

  A matching grin crossed my lips at his charming conclusion. I pushed my ugly feelings aside and stretched my arms up and around his neck. "I think I can sort something out for you." When he went in for an early Christmas present, I jerked my head back sheepishly. "But not right now. I have morning breath."

  "I really don't care," Lloyd murmured, touching his nose with mine. He titled his head with a pout. "Kiss me? Please? Pretty please?"

  It was incredible, really, how fast he could make me crumble. I shook my head with a grin. "You're insufferable, you know that?" And I swallowed his whining retort with my lips.

  As his fingers dug into the flesh of my hips, disturbing the cotton of my pyjamas, I found myself glad that I sounded so pitiful on the phone that Lloyd dropped everything and ran. Wasn't that awful of me? To squash my own bad feelings and then take advantage of his hasty race across the city? I realised that I didn't really care. I couldn't - not when he played me just right, shepherding my nervous energy so perfectly.

  Kissing Lloyd was like balling all my worries and undesirable feelings and tossing them out of the window. It was as though he physically drew out my grievances. My body relaxed, fading into contentedness while my overworking brain directed all neurons towards the sensations sweeping over me - the softness of his hair between my fingers, the warmth of his hands on my hips, his breath against my skin, his unique, Elemental-Master demigod smell.

  And the internal sensations; the fizzling of my nerves, as though I'd dropped a mentos into a bottle of Coke, except the mentos were the size of minivans and the Coke was akin to a volcano. The shivering of my skin, the tingling of my scalp, like I'd received a faint shock. Knowing Lloyd, it was entirely possible that simile was legit. The thought seemed to draw me deeper into him.

  Lloyd's phone buzzed. The only response that he'd heard it was the clench of his fingers against my hip and, after a few more moments, it buzzed again. I slipped my hand into his pocket and drew the device out, tossing it onto the bed.

  "That's probably important," Lloyd murmured against my lips.

  "Then why'd you ignore it?"

  "Because you're deviously good at stealing all of my attention." His voice was strained, almost in pain, and trailed a line of kisses from my jaw to my temple. It made my heart squeeze tight for a beat before stumbling into a flutter. "You were right. You are a bad influence on me."

  "Please," I said dryly, "sing my praises more." At Lloyd's chuckle, I swiped his arm. "I'm serious. What do you want for Christmas?"

  "I don't mind." He shrugged. He began to massage the flesh of my hips in subconscious manner. "You don't have to get me anything."

  I groaned. "You're so difficult."

  His phone buzzed again, loud even hidden the folds of my unmade bed. Lloyd's red-green eyes darted in the direction of the offending item and dropped a slow, accepting exhale. His fingers slipped from my waist and he stepped back and I was suddenly overcome with the strangest sensation of feeling empty. My stomach tingled, pulling forth that pesky, familiar feeling of being tugged towards Lloyd.

  His face contorted, half-amused and a touch exasperated, making it clear that he'd also felt it. He sent me a warm, humoured look after retrieving his phone.

  "Damn prophecies," he said. I hummed in agreement. "I really gotta get going."

  Disappointment met me with a subtle twist of my chest. I walked Lloyd to the window (because that was now, seemingly, his usual mode of exiting) and leant against the window frame while he pulled his mask back on.

  "Have fun," I said.

  "I won't," Lloyd replied, teasing, as he lithely leapt onto the window sill. His gaze flickered down briefly before meeting my eyes once more. He leant forward to press one last nuzzle to my cheek. "Nice pyjamas."

  Initially I had stilled, breath caught in my throat in flustered response to his whisper that tickled the shell of my ear. A full second later, after my glazed eyes had sharpened and his words had registered, my head whipped down to stare at my old Disney princess-themed cotton pants. Warmth burst in a bright wave across my face, and Lloyd laughed in triumphant glee at my embarrassment, and then disappeared before I could throw my slipper in revenge.

  Dammit. My amusement faded as I watched his dragon soar across the city. How the hell was I meant to tell him about my dad?

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  "If I hear Mariah Carey one more time, I'm going to Mariah-murder myself."

  Naomi's disgruntled comment made me burst into laughter, briefly forgetting my jumpiness of being in such a crowded space. She side-eyed me with an accomplished smile. I had the vaguest of feelings that she could tell I was more anxious than usual since the start of our hang-out but had miraculously not said anything, only opting to distract me the best way she could; with her incredibly cynical sense of humour.

  As usual, it worked.

  The Ninjago City Mall was abundant with Christmas shoppers and loiterers, taking advantage of a wet day to remain under cover and prepare for the festive season. Naomi and I each had a list of people to buy presents for and despite meandering through the mall for the better part of three hours, we'd each barely made a dent into our required numbers.

  Another sensation of being watched had my skin prickling. There were too many people in the mall, and that meant too many people with eyes that could land on me at any time and activate my sixth sense of totalitarian terror. For the entire trip, half of my attention was focused solely on the possibility (however low it was) that someone would recognise me from the pictures circulating every social media site and beyond. 

  Was this what Lloyd and his team had to deal with every day? Did it ever get any easier?

  "I love Christmas," Naomi continued as we weaved our way through the loud crowd, barely saving our hips from bumping into multiple shopping bags, "but playing the same songs over and over again is literally counted as a torture tactic." She glanced at me. "But I guess you already knew that."

  I rolled my eyes in good nature. "Just because my dad's in the military doesn't mean he teaches me on the outdated tactics of torturing war criminals." I shrugged. "He just did that for fun one afternoon. No correlation."

  It was Naomi's turn to laugh loudly, because we both knew that my softie father would rather stick his own hand in a blender than inform me, his yellow-bellied daughter of fickle confidence, of the tactics his own troops were warned of.  

  My smile wavered. Did the ninja have any training on what to do in that kind of situation? The thought suddenly made me nauseous.

  "Let's check in here," I said, grabbing Naomi's arm and hauling her towards a random store. She squawked in surprise before rightening herself and following, but not before sending the shop a confused look.

  "Who needs kitchen appliances?" Naomi asked, before suddenly gasping. "Oh! Your Aunt Rose? Is she coming for Christmas? God, she makes the best homemade bread - I think it's the rock salt."

  "Yeah," I said, trying hard to focus on Naomi instead of my overactive imagination. Great, now I was juggling between the fear of being discovered and the fear of Lloyd and his team being... "Do you think she'll like this?"

  Naomi stared at the item in my grasp and shrugged. "... I dunno, man. Does she need another salt shaker?"

  I looked down at the plain white salt shaker in my hand and blinked. "Oh. Probably not." I put it back onto its display shelf and continued through the store.

  Naomi stared at the side of my face as I futilely tried to make myself look casual while glancing at every other patron within the shop. I had to make sure they weren't staring at me. I had to make sure they didn't know.

  God, this was making me insane. How did Lloyd deal with it? I'd have to ask for his coping mechanisms. I would ask my mother, and truthfully, she was the obvious choice, if it weren't for the fact that she didn't know that Lloyd was the Green Ninja.

  Another twist of unease had me visibly grimacing. I don't think I'd ever kept something as big as this from my mother before - we were always so close, always on the same wavelengths despite our clear differences. There wasn't much I kept secret from her, and definitely not anything as momentous as being in a prophecy and dating the Green Ninja.

  "You okay, dude?" Naomi asked and I flinched out of my heavy burden of thoughts. Naomi's worried frown deepened, her blue eyes searching my face. "You're kinda... jumpy."

  I turned to her and another wave of guilt crested over me. I'd never kept something as big as this from Naomi, either, and I think the reality of everything finally and truly settled in. I was keeping so many secrets, piled atop of one another like a precarious tower of jenga, close to toppling and burying me alive.

  But what could I do? Lloyd trusted me with his massive secret, and that was something momentous that warmed me deeply. He trusted me to not break and spill, so I wouldn't. I'd suffer beneath the weight of keeping his identity secret. If I had to keep it from my parents and my best friend, despite not usually being one to keep secrets, I would. I'd do it without complaint.

  But his wasn't the only secret I was keeping. Now, I was keeping my father's occupation secret from Lloyd (unintentionally, sure, but it was still happening) and I was keeping Claire's jab at me being boring from Naomi, too. I didn't want to rock the boat. Rocking the boat elicited a deep, instinctual terror within me that I just couldn't do.

  All these secrets were so exhausting.

  "I'm okay," I said, and put everything I had into making my smile reassuring. At her look of doubt, I doubled down. "Seriously, Nomes, I'm fine. Just trouble sleeping. Are you going to get something for Cole?"

  It was a weak attempt at changing the subject but it worked wonders. Naomi's face turned a brilliant shade of bright red and she fumbled, nearly bumping into a china plates from how she flinched. She sent the shelf a startled look before pulling me out of the shop. My amused grin grew.

  "What? Are you crazy?" Naomi said with a smile of incredulity, trying to keep cool but failing miserably. A bead of sweat had formed on her temple as we merged back into the crowd of shoppers, but I don't think it was because of the heat. "I barely talk to him."

  I shrugged. "It could be a good way to start talking to him. Maybe you'll get a Christmas miracle and find yourselves under some mistletoe."

  Naomi's blush worsened. "As if. What about Lloyd? Have you got a present for him, yet?"

  "No," I groaned. "I have no clue what to get him."

  "Did you ask?"

  "I did!" I said exasperatedly. Naomi pulled us into a tech shop and explored, attention split. I followed, absentmindedly staring at the displays. "He just got all sappy and said that all he wanted for Christmas was a kiss, which was super cute, but-"

  "Super unhelpful." Naomi finished my rant with a smirk over her shoulder. My eyes widened.

  "Exactly!" I shook my head. "He gave me nothing to work with!"

  "What does he like?" Naomi asked. "Besides, don't stress. You've only been dating for a few weeks, so it's not as if you can get him the perfect gift. You're still learning about each other."

  I gave a sigh. Naomi just always made sense. I tried to clear my head and thought back to the instances where Lloyd had gotten excited over something - but then another thought came to mind. "His room had a couple of comics-"

  "You've been in his room?" Naomi immediately cut me off. She lifted a shoulder and sent a suggestive look. "Scandalous!"

  I rolled my eyes but even my indignation couldn't stop my cheeks from burning. "He was just taking me for a tour around his home." His magnificent, magical home, a place ripped straight from a fairy tale. My heart ached with the fact that I couldn't even tell Naomi about his home, either. She would've loved the garden. 

  Mercifully, Naomi moved on. "What kind of comics?"

  "Starfarer and-" I gave a performative shudder "-DC."

Naomi nodded thoughtfully, appreciative. "Good taste."  

  My best friend and my not-quite-boyfriend are monsters, I decided.

  After forlornly shaking my head and earning an elbow to my ribs, sending the both of us into another giggle, Naomi led me to a comic store she knew of. The sign for Doomsday Comix loomed above in a striking, overdramatic font that told me it was a comic store from the early 2000s - even without the aged 'x' at the end of it.

  The store was moderately busy with a handful of customers lingering in the aisles. Shelves of books took up the majority of the space, naturally, while handfuls of figurines, knick-knacks and cosplay props took up the remaining areas. I tried to think of what runs I saw on Lloyd's shelf as I meandered my way through the shop while Naomi engaged herself with someone in a Doctor Who shirt.

  "Oh, hey," a familiar voice said, tilted with pleasant surprise. I turned from the shelf of Marvel figurines I got distracted by and found Kai. In his grasp was a pile of comics. "Funny seeing you here."

  I stilled in disbelief at having bumped into the Master of Fire and had to take a couple of seconds to remind myself that despite his infamous status and otherworldly powers, he was just like Lloyd - a normal guy out of the mask. A normal guy who also liked comics.

  "Hey," I managed to make myself say after ending my stupor. I squeezed my sleeve between my fingers and prayed that I wouldn't act like an idiot. Naomi, Naomi - where are you, Naomi? "Comic hunting?"

  "Yeah, with Jay." Kai, to my complete bafflement, seemed equally as awkward as I felt. "Christmas shopping. You?"

  "Same," I replied with a half-smile. "Naomi's here somewhere." I paused when an idea lit a bulb above my head. "You... wouldn't happen to know what runs Lloyd likes?"

  Kai broke into a smirk and relaxed. "Know 'em? I got that kid started on comics."

  I almost sagged with reprieve. "Oh, thank god."

  Kai chuckled at the relief on my face and started scanning the shelves. Jay found us a moment later, and my only warning of his approach was a high-pitched squeal.

  "Y/n!" Jay gasped in delight before barreling into me for a hug. I wheezed as I buckled, briefly winded, because despite his small stature his body was like a solid wall of cement. Kai yelped when the two of us stumbled back into him.

  "Jay, watch it!" Kai barked.

  "Sorry!" Jay squeaked, though his wide smile didn't falter, nor did he release me from his tight grip. When I regained my senses I noticed minuscule bolts of electricity zapping between his auburn curls. "Are you looking for Christmas presents, too?"

  "Uh... yeah." I didn't know what to do with my arms, so I tentatively hugged him back. His delight rose, as did the amount of static in his hair. I cast a worried look around the store for anyone who spotted his powers. Unlike Kai and I, Jay was completely at ease.

  "Awesome! So are we!" Jay chirped. He pulled out of the hug, making me sigh with relief. He was way more cuddly than I what was used to from acquaintances, hell, from even my own friends, though I wasn't averse. The static in his hair faded away.

  "Here ya go, spitfire," Kai said while handing me a pile of Nightwing comics. I brightened at the return of the nickname (I didn't realise we were close enough for nicknames!). "Nightwing is Lloyd's favourite. Sometimes he copies his moves." He rolled his amber eyes. "Loser."

  That's adorable. I chose to keep that comment to myself, instead sending Kai an appreciative smile. "Thank you so much! You're a life saver in more ways than one."

  Kai grinned at the hidden joke and patted the top of my head in response. Jay laughed and my confidence bloomed. Kai and Jay, I decided, were pretty fun to get along with.

  "Y/n, look what I found!" Naomi said as she turned the corner to the aisle we were in. She was holding a small, framed slip of paper with a scrawl of black ink. She faltered upon seeing Jay and Kai before continuing her sentence. "It's- it's an authentic Green Ninja autograph."

  I could already feel Kai and Jay's amusement simmering from them in thick waves. I prayed that my warm cheeks weren't too noticiable, or that they wouldn't relay this back to Lloyd. I was suddenly grateful that Claire and Aaliyah couldn't come - at least my mortification only had a small audience of three.

  "Oh." I cleared my throat. "Cool."

  Naomi was too distracted by our recent additions to notice the strain in my voice. She turned to Kai and Jay and allowed me to melt with embarrassment in peace.

  "So," Naomi said casually, "is Cole with you?"  

  My melting stopped at her question and I felt myself deflate with a sigh. Oh, Naomi. Naomi, my love, my best friend, my second half, my sister. You're so obvious.

  From the look Jay and Kai shared, I knew that they'd caught on. Twin smiles grew on their faces, smug and knowing.

  "Not today," Jay answered with an amused glint to his blue eyes. "He's busy working out."

  Naomi flushed terribly pink. Jay stole my gaze and grinned impishly. Of course they'd tease her at any given chance; they were a family of teasing one another. Even I wasn't spared from their wiles. I smiled helplessly at Naomi's glazed eyes.

  "Why you askin'?" Kai slyly added.

  Her blush worsened tenfold. "Just curious."

  Kai and Jay slowly nodded, though it was clear her deflection bounced right off of them. Naomi's blush was still rapidly growing darker and, feeling sympathetic, I spared her by changing the topic.

  "Lloyd likes pranks, right?" I asked.

  Attention suddenly stolen, Kai's grin widened at my unspoken insinuation. It was a touch mischievous and entirely evil. "What do you need help with?"

  Jay giggled gleefully. I held back a shiver at the eager edge in Kai's voice and made a mental note to not ever get on the Master of Fire's bad side.

🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃

  It was a rare, rare night of me falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

  Nights like those were once in a blue moon - I couldn't think of the last time I'd fallen asleep so fast (and at a reasonable time!). Just before my eyes closed for the night, satisified with how my day turned out and imagining how well-rested I'd be in the morning, I smiled, pleased.

  I woke at two.

  I gasped, bolting upright as a vicious tug on my gut cruelly ripped me from sleep. Panting in shock and whiplash, I held my chest in an effort to soothe my racing heart and wondered why the hell I'd been woken up so rudely.

  Another tug almost had me tumbling over the side of my bed. Only half-aware of my movements, my hands folded back the covers before my legs walked me out of my room and out of the house. 

  My bewilderment was so enormous that it took a few minutes for my sleep-addled brain to realise what was going on, and when it was, I became terribly frightened. What on earth was happening? Why couldn't I stop?

  If I had proper control of my body, I'd ring my mother to wake me out of my sleep walk (does this count as sleepwalking?) or call Lloyd to warn him. But every stilted movement that wasn't taking me in the direction that my tugging wanted to go was almost impossible. I could barely even turn my eyes.

  And I left my phone at home, so-

  Fuck!! I left my phone at home! Well, it wasn't as if I was in a state to use it to call for help, anyway.

  I felt my mind startle when my own listless reflection appeared in a puddle I passed by. If someone undesirable were to attack me, I'd have no way to defend myself. Why did this keep happening? Was it the prophecy? Why would it make me do this?

  I was having such a nice sleep, too.

  Small victories, I supposed, in that it was a clear night and I wouldn't get wet and sick again. A few people partying mingled throughout the city, some staring as I passed. I couldn't blame them - I was in my pyjamas without a coat or shoes, staring ahead as though I were possessed. My feet were beginning to hurt.

  Someone called out to me but I had no means of replying. I saw them shrug to their friends and turn away. This sucked.

  I turned into a gloomy side street and felt the back of my neck prickle. Shadows loomed like oceans of darkness, reaching out to caress and pull me into their depths. Goosebumps raised on my skin. I could feel eyes. There was someone in the street with me.

  Look around, please. I begged my misbehaving body to survey my surroundings less I got jumped, but it refused. I couldn't hear footsteps, but I could feel them, just out of my periphery. My heart raced.

  "Y/n!" Nya, donned in her ninja gear, dropped to the pavement before me. I would've flinched if I could, but my pace just carried on. I mentally sighed with relief - it was just Nya. Her baffled stormy eyes stared me up and down. "What the hell are you doing out here?"  

  Wish I knew. My mouth stayed shut.

  "Y/n?" She grabbed my arm when my body side-stepped her and then made a startled noise when I didn't stop, powering on despite her grip. "Whoa, there! What's wrong with you?"

  "What's going on?" Cole's voice rung out from the building above.

  "It's Y/n," Nya called back. She gave me another unsure look as she walked backward beside me. "She's... I dunno, possessed or something. Her eyes have changed colour."

  My eyes changed colour? Like how Lloyd's change? What colour? I hope it's cool.

  "Whoa, creepy." Kai popped out of nowhere and stared into my emotionless face, frowning through his mask. He waved his hand in front of my eyes before grinning. "Heh - watch this." He grabbed my chin and began speaking in a squeaky voice; "my name is Y/n and I'm sooo in love with-"

  I wished I could roll my eyes.

  "Stop it." Nya slapped her brother's shoulder with the back of her hand and he released me. "Go get Lloyd."

  "Why do I have to?" Kai whined.

  "Because you're annoying. Go!"

  Kai disappeared down the alleyway with a groan louder than a ninja should make. I hoped Nya could at least feel my appreciation, because there certainly was no way for me to currently thank her. This was embarrassing enough without Kai's teasing.

  Cole joined Nya on the ground silently, peering at me curiously as he matched pace. "This is the tugging thing Lloyd was talking about?" His nose scrunched. "Spooky."

  "I know, right?" Nya murmured. She clicked her fingers in front of my face. "I wonder if she's awake."

  "That would suck," Cole said sympathetically. He stepped closer to me and pulled on a bright smile that could be seen even through his hood. "Don't worry, Y/n! We'll take care of you." 

  Thank you, Cole! Naomi had good taste, clearly.

  He turned back to Nya with a grimace. "Talking to her when she's like this is really weird."

  ... thanks, Cole.

  Nya shrugged in understanding. But this was Ninjago, and they had surely seen much, much weirder then whatever was happening to me, right?

  "What happens if I just pick her up?" Cole wondered.

  "Don't-"

  Cole ignored Nya's warning and bent to scoop me into his arms. He jerked back with a yelp as soon as he made contact and held a hand to his head, eyes blown wide with shock as he stared at me. My walk continued, speed undisturbed.

  "What happened?" Nya asked in alarm.

  "I just got a massive headache," Cole said, baffled. "I wonder if it'll happen again-"

  "No-!"

  "Ow!" Cole leapt back and held both hands to his temples. He looked to Nya and blinked comically. "Yeah, it happened again."

  Nya released a sigh and wearily closed her eyes. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

  "It was a scientific study," Cole defended. "You can't just take one piece of data. Ask Zane."

  Nya was unconvinced. "Sure." 

  Miraculously, the tugging sensation began to lessen in strength and my walk slowed when we approached a warehouse. Cole spared it a worried glance.

  "We're getting pretty close to the fight," he said. "Where the hell is Lloyd? Can't the others handle themselves?"

  Nya frowned as she walked beside me. "There was a lot of them."

  "What do we do if she gets too close?"

  Nya shrugged. "I guess we let the prophecy do its thing."

  Cole cast a concerned look over me. "She doesn't even know how to fight yet."

  I mentally sighed. Yeah, he was right. I'd really hoped that Lloyd and I would at least get a few basic self-defence sessions in before something like this happened again, but alas.

  I stopped right outside the roller doors to the warehouse, the corner of it hacked at and curled upwards in an effort to break-in. The sounds of fighting spew from the gap. My body made no move to enter, which made Cole and Nya exhale with relief.

  After a short moment, four ninja deftly and silently slipped through the gap and the uncomfortable sensation in my stomach dropped away completely. Lloyd approached us, shoulders back and set like the leader he was, with Kai, Jay and Zane quickly following. Parts of their uniforms were ripped and frayed from the battle. Some went to the skin and were bleeding, though none seemed to be hindered from the pain.

  "What's happening?" Lloyd ordered as he stopped before us. He reached out to hold my cheek.

  "Wait, don't touch her!" Nya warned, making Lloyd sharply recoil his hands with a bewildered look her way. "She's got some kind of defence."

  "Headaches," Cole added, hand against his forehead in reminder.

  "What?" Lloyd asked with a confused shake of his head. Nya and Cole could only nod.

  "She didn't give me a headache!" Kai piped up smugly. "Must be because we're besties."

  Lloyd ignored Kai's comment. He carefully stretched out a hand and placed it on my shoulder and tensed, waiting for a reaction. The moment passed and he relaxed, sending Cole and Nya a questioning look.

  "Maybe you're allergic to Lloyd's girlfriend," Jay snickered. Cole glowered dryly at him.

  "Did you try to stop Y/n's approach?" Zane asked. At Cole's nod, he continued; "that could mean her powers did not like you interfering."

  "Y/n?" Lloyd said my name softly. He peered at my face, trying to catch my unseeing eyes. "You there?"

  "She's completely unresponsive," Kai said. He glanced around our spot in front of the warehouse. "I wonder why she stopped here-"

  All of a sudden, three things happened;

  A handful of people stumbled from another exit of the warehouse, speeding away with incoherent yells to their comrades as they departed the scene at an alarming pace.

  A gasp ripped from my throat as a surge of something unfurled from my chest like a flower in bloom.

  And then the warehouse exploded.

  I was tackled to the floor with a yell and I finally had the control to yelp in shock. A body pinned me to the ground, half-covering from the blast, but nothing could stop the sharp, overwhelming burst in my ears and the ringing it left behind. A cry left my lips. The body atop mine tensed.

  My head ached with a sharp pain that felt as though I were being peeled like an orange, a migraine so horrid and intense that it made me sob. Something must've hit my head - we were far too close, how were we not dead? We should've been killed, we should've been eviscerated from the rubble and flattened like pancakes and yet-

  "... holy wow."

  Jay's slow voice pulled the rest of the team up, standing easily despite the injuries they had to have gotten, because my head was killing me and I'd suddenly found it hard to breathe and surely I wasn't the only one hit? But they didn't make any grunts of pain or exclamations of horror, and that anomaly caused me to slowly raise my own watery gaze.

  I could see what had drawn them silent, now.

  A dome of some sort had drawn itself around us, piled beneath chunks of rubble that easily would've killed anyone standing at such close range as we. The dome was transparent, the colour reminiscent of the peach I'd eaten at lunch, and it was curling like smoke yet had to have been solid enough to withstand the blast. My eyes widened.

  Nobody said a thing for a short while, staring at the small blocks of rubble above our heads.

  I only moved when something warm dripped down the corner of my jaw and from my nose. I reached up with a shaking hand, touching my ear lobe, the bow of my lip. I held my finger out before me, trembling. Blood.

  "Ow," I whimpered, because I'd never felt a headache quite as cruel as this one.

  Just as quick as the explosion, our little group beneath the dome burst into noise and action. Zane touched the dome walls with a curious expression while the others clamoured around me, speaking too fast and loud for me to grasp their words.

  "- you okay?!"

  "-bleeding-"

  "What just h-?"

  "- Y/n-!"

  "Back off," Lloyd said with a swipe to his team. They dutifully stepped back, though nothing stopped their wide-eyed staring as I held a hand to my bleeding nose. It was quickly replaced with a cloth. "Lean your head back."

  I did as told, lifting my chin with a wince. Lloyd looked around at the dome while holding the rag to my nose in guarded disbelief. His eyes turned back to me, expression half-hidden from his mask.

  "Did you do this?"

  I gently shook my head. No, it couldn't have been me. I couldn't have done this. This kind of stuff was for Elemental Masters, for those that were strong and more powerful than I.

  "Well, it wasn't one of us," Nya retorted quietly. "It's the same colour as your eyes are now."

  I blinked slowly, frightened. Between this and the headache and the sores on my bare feet, I just - I just really wanted to go home. This was too much.

  There was a thrumming in my chest as though a purring cat and nestled right above my sternum, and I realised it'd been like that since the weird feeling in my chest burst just before the explosion. It was me. It had to have been.

  Bits of dust and particles began to spill from the top of the dome, and it was only Cole's quick stomp of the ground and a rising slab of earth that kept us from being flattene by the rubble resting upon it. The peachy-coloured walls slowly sunk towards the floor before slipping back into my chest. That must've been the blooming sensation. It must've burst from my chest like a parachute of magic.

  "... did you know about this?" Lloyd asked.

  I shook my head. I had no clue, and the overwhelming terror of almost being caught at an explosion's ground zero and the ensuing pain had tears stinging behind my eyes.

  "It is clear that some part of you did," Zane said softly, an effort to not spook me any further. I appreciated it, even if his voice did make my ears pierce with agony. "Lloyd. You should take her to see your parents."

  Lloyd quickly agreed with a nod. He slipped his arms beneath me and lifted me easily before sparing one last, spooked look at the decimated warehouse. It'd been completely flattened. Whatever the bad guys were doing, it was over now.

  "We'll stay to see if anyone got caught in it," Kai reassured Lloyd's hesitation. "You take Y/n home."

  Once again, Lloyd's only response was a nod. He picked his way out of the destroyed parking space and summoned his dragon, which crooned and whimpered with worry. It barely managed to pull a smile onto my lips as it snuffled my foot while Lloyd prepared to slip me onto the saddle.

  I leant back into Lloyd's chest as the dragon began the flight back home. My heart was still racing. His grip around my waist was almost bruising. I didn't speak up on it.

  I could feel the hundreds of questions lying at the tip of his tongue, waiting to pounce. I wouldn't know what to say, or if I could even speak at all. The explosion kept replaying behind my eyes, a burst of white and orange and the insurmountable terror that pinched my throat. It took me ten minutes to realise that I was shivering despite the heat he gave.

  Instead of saying anything, Lloyd just kissed the crown of my head.