the butterfly effect - Chapter 52 - samseaa (2024)

Chapter Text

Taylor Swift
•••Sweet Nothing•••

they said the end is coming
everyone's up to something
i find myself running home to your sweet nothings
outside, they're push and shoving
you're in the kitchen humming
all that you ever wanted from me was sweet nothing

"Concentrate, Y/n," Wu ordered as the branches above us rustled in the old summer wind. "You must be entirely level when you call upon your powers. They do not obey a scattered focus."

Eyes closed, I ushered at the energy of the world beneath me. It teased the edges of my mind, painting my corners with brushstrokes of headaches and a swelling beneath my chest. The addictive pull of power was mollified by the pain it promised, something powerful my body had yet to learn to contain. My brow twitched with the subtle sensations that crossed across me like the waves of an ocean.

Sitting before me was Lloyd. My hands laid upon his, a replicate of our position that night on the deck of the Bounty. I was more in tune with myself than I was back then. I could feel the weaving of force around him, the spirit of the world that tangled about his essence more than anyone else's, wavering threads that I could pluck and play with.

"Whereas our Elemental Powers respond to our emotional states, your powers rely on intent and commitment to be brought forth," Wu's low, wise voice continued. "Lloyd grounds you, he brings your mind still. But you cannot use him nor your ancestor's guidance as a crutch forever."

I gathered the energy that surrounded Lloyd and then found myself at a loss to do with it. What were my powers, really? What abilities did I hold deep within myself? I could protect with a shield and I could supercharge Lloyd's powers, but how on earth did they connect? How could I bring them forward at will rather than desperate need?

I was unsure. It eluded me still. My powers weren't like the elements; I couldn't bring a ball of energy to life like Lloyd, I couldn't conjure a sphere of water nor alight a flame out of nothing. I couldn't form something small and controllable out of what sat deep within me.

The leaves of the trees above us swayed within the wind. Inside the monastery, Kashu barked. I coralled my focus back to myself.

"Now, Lloyd."

"Easy, Y/n," Wu soothed. "Do not force it. You must forge a partnership with your abilities."

I was trying, I wanted to connect, but they were already tearing at me from the inside out. Lloyd released me at my first gasp of pain and my powers slid back into their unbreachable cave just as quickly. With a grunt, my hands slammed onto the ground to keep me from falling face-first onto the dirt. He caught me by the shoulders for further support.

I made a sound of frustration and hung my head. "It's notworking. My powers just keep hurting me."

Lloyd wiped his thumb beneath my nose with a frown. It'd begun bleeding again. I avoided his concerned stare with crushing disappointment. A blow of wind had a few maple leaves drifting to the ground around us, fluttering in the breeze. One landed on my knee.

Wu patted the top of my head in sympathy. "In time. You are making progress even if it does not feel like it. Every attempt is a step forward, no matter how small." He trod back from us and folded his arms behind himself. "We will leave it here for today."

I wiped my nose with my sleeve and lifted myself from Lloyd's hold. "I can keep going."

"I will not have you exceeding your limits and unnecessarily harming yourself," Wu said firmly. "Recover. We will return on Wednesday."

He turned away before I could argue. I watched him depart down the garden's path and enter the monastery with a dejected heaviness in my chest. Lloyd guided my head back to his and smiled softly.

"You're getting better," he reassured.

"No, I'm not." I laughed, weak and without humour. "I still can't replicate what I did at Stiix and I can't make a shield without you. I'm stuck in the same place I've always been."

Lloyd's smile faded. "Your powers are different than ours - and they'restrong.Be easy on yourself."

"How can I be easy on myself when we don't even know when the next prophecy will happen?" I picked myself up from the ground and brushed leaves and dirt from my shorts. Even the tranquility from the pond and the dragon-sculpted water features wasn't enough to calm my frustrated nerves. "What if I screw up, Lloyd? What if something really bad happens and it's all my fault? How could I ever live with myself?"

Lloyd stood and drew me into him. I submerged myself into his chest, sunken by the weight of his arms around me. I inhaled the smell of him; of rain on concrete and fresh forest growth. The garden couldn't relax me, but he always could.

"Thanks, hero," I whispered.

He kissed my hairline with chaste, and then kissed it again for longer. He kept his lips on me as if it would make the pain go away. Maybe it did. He always made me feel better, even at the worst of times. The hand that rubbed my back relaxed me further.

"Let's get you some painkillers," Lloyd said with tender warmth. He brought my face up to kiss my cheek.

My headache waned by the time school started the next day. Art with Lloyd continued to be the best start to my week, though he did prove to be a terrible student. He couldn't keep still.

I planted my hand on his knee so it would stop bouncing against the table and ruining my paint strokes. His smile was apologetic. It was cute.

I sat beside Naomi and Claire in English, and the latter's bad mood on Saturday was both not brought up nor unchanging. She did her work in cranky silence. Was it really because she broke up with Nathan, or was there something else? Naomi and I withheld from speaking to her - she didn't look to be wanting of conversation.

She barely missed shoving past Lloyd on her way out of class. Naomi and I followed her out with concerned frowns, and we all watched her march down the hallway and snap at a group of unfortunate students who she deemed to be in her way. It was like she was a dark, stormy cloud. Poke her and you'd get struck.

"Wow," Lloyd said.

"I know," Naomi agreed.

I sent them a hopeful, small smile. "Maybe she'll feel better tomorrow."

Naomi and Lloyd's gazes turned to me with indiscernible expressions. They then shared a look. My smile faded at their doubt.

"You see too much good in people who don't deserve it," Naomi declared.

"No, I don't!" I sent Lloyd a confused look. "Do I?"

He shrugged and made a so/so motion with his hand. So, a yes. I released a huff.

Weren't we always supposed to see the good side? Granted, the way people treated Lloyd and his family made itverydifficult, but then there were people like Chen and Molly, both of whom changed their ways. Everyone was capable of being good if you allowed them room to.

But maybe Claire was an outlier.

"Oh, Y/n." Naomi draped her arms around me and began to drag us toward the cafeteria for lunch. "You're too sweet for this cruel world."

Lloyd got shoulder checked by a guy in a football jersey and almost toppled sideways. A few of the footballer and his friends laughed and jeered, and I shot a livid glare at them from over my shoulder, one that would leave them all six feet under if it were possible. Naomi snickered at my furious expression.

"Most of the time," she amended. Lloyd's grin of amusem*nt made my ire soften.

I glanced up at him. "Can you tell me the surprise?"

Lloyd's smile dropped with amused exasperation. "For the last time -no."

The rest of the week passed similarly. On Wednesday I trained with my powers again and, to my mounting frustration, the result remained the same as before. The other afternoons were spent on my fitness, fighting, and katas - mainly taught by Lloyd, though sometimes by another if he had a mission. One of them was spent going for a run through the forest, accompanied by Kashu who could still outrun me even with only three legs. The evenings were spent doing homework, then I'd crash for the night. Rinse and repeat.

Only two things grew different throughout the week; my muscles were getting more and more sore by the prolonged, repetitive use despite my attempts to mitigate it - but I was definitely growing stronger. And Lloyd had grown a little clingy.

The PDA wasn't something I was uncomfortable about - I mean, I thought I would be, but that was before I began dating Lloyd (I'dnevercomplain about Lloyd being affectionate) - this was simply an observation I'd noted. I'd even encouraged it, really, because wasn't it me who first made a move on him in public when I kissed him on that first Monday morning? I was practically shouting from the rooftops that I wanted his affection at all times.

I enjoyed his clinginess. Immensely.

I just didn't knowwhyhe'd gotten more clingy - was it only him getting more comfortable with having a girlfriend at high school, or was there another reason? Was he upset about something and unable to confide in me? Was it due to his odd genetics and the way he called himself volatile around me? Maybe it was because of the surprise on Valentines that had him nervous? Or maybe he just liked showing off that he was wanted? Was there nothing to it and I was simply doing my age-old bad habit of overthinking? Was it? Was it?

There were always more than one reason for a boy like Lloyd. He continued to be an enigma, even when he was ducking his head into my shoulder when we sat together at lunch. Nonetheless, I scratched his hidden horn nubs and enjoyed it.

And then it was Valentines Day.

I woke to the sound of Lloyd and Mum's voices drifting up from the kitchen. It took me a moment to realise what was happening. Then, taken aback by his ultra-early and unplanned arrival, I shoved on a hoodie and raced downstairs while my brain was still in the process of booting up. Lloyd grinned at my startled arrival at the foot of the stairs.

"Is this my daughter or the scarecrow I stole from our neighbours in Jamanakai?" Mum asked in surprise from where she stood by the coffee machine. "You look like you've got birds nesting up in your hair."

Lloyd spun his truck's keys around his finger and caught them again. "I'm driving you in this morning."

"Is this the surprise?"

He chuckled. "Do you really think I'd bethatnervous about driving you into school?"

I pondered that. "I guess not."

"Hurry up and have some breakfast before you start running late," Mum said, so I shuffled my hair into something more presentable and began to prepare something to eat. "Do you want anything, Lloyd?"

"I'll never say no to food."

"Watch out, he'll eat us out of our home," I teased, before squealing when Lloyd tapped me in the back of my knee with his foot in retaliation. Mum rolled her eyes with a smile.

After we'd eaten, I took Lloyd by the hand and dragged him upstairs to my room. Before he could enter and spot my own little surprise for him, I placed his hands over his own eyes and told him to wait at the doorway. I picked up the vase from my desk and returned to the spot before him. Behind his hands, his grin grew at my giddy meandering.

"What are you doing?" Lloyd snickered.

I adjusted the weight of the vase into one hand and brushed the flowers into perfection. "So impatient."

"Says you."

I harrumphed, though couldn't argue. "Whatever. Okay, you can look."

Lloyd dropped his hands and smiled at my bright grin and the luscious bunch of dark red roses in my hands. His cheeks were already pink, his eyes shades darker, and the exhale of fondness that slipped past his lips fluttered the petals closest. He took the crystal vase and admired the flowers with a warm look. They were similar colours.

"Thank you, sunshine," he sweetly said. "They're beautiful."

My beam waned at his enamoured reaction. He was too calm. "You don't look surprised."

Lloyd smiled gently at me. "... baby, I could smell them."

I stared at him for a beat before the realisation finally clicked. My head dropped back with a groan. Ofcoursehe could smell the roses, he had the goddamn nose of a bloodhound. I'd been looking forward to seeing him be surprised by flowers so much that I didn't even stop to think for a second. Lloyd's amusem*nt rose at my annoyance as he placed the vase onto my dresser.

"That'ssounfair!" I complained. "I can't surprise you with anything!"

"Not true. I was surprised when I first noticed them." Lloyd latched his hands onto my waist and pulled me closer with a soft look. "I've never gotten flowers before."

I grumpily blushed. "I wanted to see you surprised."

"Keep them further away next time," he advised, only to slip his foot out of the way of my stomp with a laugh. I was satiated by a kiss to my forehead. "They're wonderful. Thank you, sunshine."

I melted beneath his words. "I'm glad you like them, hero."

"I love them." Lloyd guided me up for a sweet kiss before pulling back and smiling. "I love you."

He couldn't be that lovely and expect menotto kiss him some more. My hands slid up into his hair and pulled him down so I could lay my lips upon his. Morning breath be damned. Lloyd didn't care, if the tightening of his arms around me was anything to go by.

When I was beginning to grow weak and dizzy beneath his infatuation, I pulled myself back to catch my breath. He kissed down my neck and made my stomach twirl with butterflies. My skin shivered. My heart thumped quick and with adoration. I could've stayed like that in his arms forever, but time marched onwards.

"I need to get ready," I reminded.

His lips found the spot behind my ear. "Let's stay home today," he mumbled.

I laughed breathlessly at his suggestion. "I can't ditch! I've got a test in two weeks."

Lloyd dropped his head onto my shoulder and unhappily groaned at my disagreement. "You're too diligent."

"Okay,Green Ninja."

"That's different."

"Uh-huh." I picked his head up to give him one last quick kiss before pushing him out of my room. "You can tell me all about that on the way to class."

Amused by his disappointed frown, I shut the door on his face and got ready for the day. When I was changed, my hair and teeth brushed, and my bag packed, I rendezvoused with Lloyd and Mum in the kitchen. She looked very pleased about something. Lloyd was nervous again.

I crouched down to pull on my shoes. "What are you two talking about?" I asked suspiciously.

Lloyd shot Mum a very obvious 'don't say anything' look, which she heeded with an amused nod. Her secretive smile grew as she took a sip of her coffee. My fingers tying the laces of my sneakers paused at their odd behaviour.

"That outfit we picked will do you well," was my mother's cryptic reply.

She knew his surprise? My eyes narrowed at Lloyd, but he just purposefully avoided my sceptical gaze with an innocent smile. I grumbled beneath my breath.

As if to spite me, my morning classes dragged. History, while usually the class I loved the most, seemed to stand still in time. Art was spent itching to ask Lloyd what the surprise was. At interval I was stolen by Aaliyah, after which I had science, and then I found myself at the gym for my last class of physical education for the week.

P.E was more fun than I thought it was going to be - all this extra training was making me more energetic, and Nya always took me as her partner whenever we needed to pair up so I didn't have to worry about awkwardly approaching students that clearly already disliked me. Plus, Chen was in our class, and was even slowly warming up to us. Nya looked like she wanted to punch him only a little bit instead of a lot, which I thought was great improvement.

We jogged together during our training for the upcoming cross country event. Nya matched our slower pace and didn't even look out of breath, while Chen lagged just a little bit more behind me. The sun was baking. Our foreheads dripped with sweat. Even with our breathing laboured (aside from Nya - this was probably half as intensive as her warm up), we were still near the front of the pack.

"You know," Chen said between puffs, "I always wondered how you guys were all so athletic. Can you share your training plan?"

Fitter though I may have been, I still had lightyears to go if I wanted to come close to achieving Nya's abilities. Out of the twenty of our class, only she remained composed and unbothered at the end of training, leaning against the wall with a bored frown while the rest of us were bent over and gasping for breath. I was both wildly impressed and a teensy bit jealous. What a role model.

"Ugh." Chen huffed as he placed his hands on his knees and ducked his head. He was admiring Nya's stamina as much as I was. "She's inhuman."

My voice of agreement wobbled exhaustedly. I rose from my crouch and my legs staggered with fatigue, a near miss of falling to the concrete if it wasn't for Chen being in the way. He stumbled backwards with a complaint.

"Sorry," I apologised between breaths. He pushed me upright and held me steady until we were both sure I wouldn't fall again. I wiped my shirt against my sweaty brow with a mumbled thanks.

Nya frowned at me in thought. "Maybe I'll get Lloyd to take you for more runs."

My face crumpled in devastation at the thought of evenmorecross country. Chen laughed at my misfortune.

After quickly showering and dressing back into my normal clothes, I managed to walk my jelly-weak legs out of the changing rooms. I was so tired that I felt inhuman. My only good fortune was seeing Lloyd waiting for me outside the gym, no doubt having left his class a few minutes early to catch me in time. His constant presence was as unsurprising as it was heartwarming.

He dazzled even beneath the unflattering interior lights of the gym, the golden curls of his hair light and fluffy like whisked cream. His green hoodie matched his eyes and made his long, dark lashes stand out. When he looked up at my approach, his smile was warmer than the sun outside.

I was convinced now that half of the stares shot Lloyd's way lingered with sullen admiration. How could they not when he looked so beautiful?

"Hi," I happily greeted despite my weariness. Lloyd took my outstretched hands and lifted them to his lips to kiss. He smirked at the audible stumble my heart made. "How was class?"

"Couldn't tell you what we learnt even if I tried," Lloyd replied truthfully. "How was yours?"

"I feel like I'm going to turn into a puddle of human goo." My answer was equally as truthful.

He made a sound of sympathy and pulled me into a hug. "My poor little bookworm." He buried his face into my neck before abruptly pushing ourselves apart at arms length.

I looked at him in surprise before my brows furrowed at the quizzical expression he'd taken. He looked as if I'd just said something so obscenely absurd that he was at a loss, though I hadn't uttered a word. The hallway we were in emptied of the students that left for lunch. His green eyes searched my face before turning down in deep consideration.

My blood ran a little cold. He wasn't going to sprout his horns right here at school, was he? Iknewpractising would've been a good idea, of course it wouldn't only happen once! But he'd avoided the topic and I didn't want to overstep by suggesting it too many times.

"Hey." I laid my hands on Lloyd's. "Why do you have that look on your face? Is something the matter?"

Lloyd placed a hand on his chest as his disposition twisted with discomfort. I glanced around us worriedly before discreetly dragging him into one of the accessible toilets and locking the door. If his eyes were going to start glowing purple and his fangs growing into tusks, better do it somewhere privately.

When I dropped my bag and turned back to face Lloyd, I found him with hunched shoulders, watching me with a confounded look. I stepped toward him and cradled his head, brushing my thumb along his freckled cheek and horn nubs. They didn't feel to be growing again and his skin wasn't changing into scales. But his entire body was taut, like a horse about to bolt.

"Hero, what's happening?" I asked.

"There's a pressure in my chest," he answered. His voice was slow with unease. "It feels like it's gonna burst out my ribs."

My worry skyrocketed. "Do I need to call someone?"

"No, don't." Lloyd shook his head with a low exhale before sending me an odd look. "You smell weird."

I reared back, unsure whether to be insulted or plainly confused by his abrupt comment. "Excuseme?"

"No! No." Lloyd shook his head again, as if to clear his thoughts. His nose scrunched with intense displeasure. "You smell like Chen."

I stared at him in utter, silent shock. I pulled my neckline out and sniffed my skin but the only thing I smelt of was the basic scent of the school's body soap. Certainly not weird, anddefinitelynot like Chen. I sent him a lost look of deep confusion.

Lloyd still looked uncomfortable, rubbing his chest as if to relieve the ache. He craned his head away when I stepped forward to assist and I halted. His fingers were twitching.

"I don't know how to help you," I confessed.

"Let me try something," Lloyd murmured. He shucked off his hoodie and draped it around my shoulders before wrapping the arms snuggly around my neck like an unshapely green scarf.

He patted my shoulders in satisfaction. I watched him with disbelief.

"Have you gone mad?" I genuinely asked.

"At some point, probably," he admitted.

Oh, what I'd give to have this happen at the monastery instead of an accessible toilet at school. His parents would have a better idea of what to do than me. I adjusted the hoodie-scarf and nodded at where his hands had returned to folding in his shirt.

"How's your chest?" I asked.

Lloyd rolled his shoulders and stood upright. "Getting better." He stepped toward me and picked up a lock of my hair that had gotten trapped beneath a sleeve. He held it in front of his nose and visibly relaxed with a sigh. "Muchbetter."

I blinked at him. It was over just like that? What a swift and startling ordeal. Would I ever get used to Lloyd and his affairs or would they forever leave me one step behind? Even now, the more I knew him, the more there was left to discover.

I realised what just happened at the same moment Lloyd did. The lock of my hair slipped from his fingers.

"Oh," he said.

"Oh, my god," I whispered.

Lloyd buried his face into his hands with so much mortification that his ears went pink. "Oh, f*ck."

"Oh, mygod!" I began to laugh in shock. "Did you just-? Youmarkedme!"

Lloyd leant against the wall and dragged his linked hands to the back of his neck. I peeled the hoodie from around my shoulders and felt even more weak from the absolute shock of what just happened. He'dmarkedme as his like a cat! No wonder he'd always liked me wearing his clothes - it was his genetics telling him to all along.

"Stop laughing!" Lloyd whined. I buried my face into the hoodie to stifle myself, but all it did was make me tear up with horrified, hysteric amusem*nt. He closed his eyes in despair and hung his head. "My life keeps getting worse."

"I'm so sorry," I gasped between giggles. I had to plant my hand against the wall beside him just to keep myself from falling. "I'm so sorry."

Lloyd lifted his gaze to mine with a pout. He looked so flustered and adorable that it made me want to kiss him silly. My poor demigod, my precious cryptid. I burst into another round of teary-eyed laughter.

"Stoplaughing!"

I shook my head and wiped my eyes. "I'm trying so hard not to, I promise, I promise."

Lloyd hid back in his hands and sobbed with embarrassment. I slipped his hoodie on properly and wrapped my arms around him with a grin. He sunk his face into my shoulder with weary surrender.

"Poor baby," I soothed. My fingers carded through his hair in sympathy. "Is this my Valentines Day surprise?"

"No-!Stop trying to guess the surprise!" Lloyd's exasperated complaint was muffled by my neck.

I snickered. Then when a thought struck me, my amusem*nt died just as swift as it had arrived. "Oh, my god, did me smelling like someone elsehurtyou?"

Lloyd turned his head onto his cheek and pressed against the side of my throat with a sigh. "No. I think it just made me uncomfortable." He tightened his hold around me and groaned. "Puberty's the worst."

"It's the pits," I agreed. Lloyd had it far worse than most. "Guess I'll just have to keep wearing your hoodies."

Lloyd sighed. "Sorry."

"What are you sorry for?" I asked. "I get to wear my boyfriend's hoodies all the time? This is a total win for me."

He huffed at my attempt to lighten the mood. He lifted himself up and looked down at me with a smile warm in appreciation. I held his cheeks and lifted myself onto my tiptoes to kiss my poor demigod cryptid, and he relaxed at my affection.

"Does Chen really smell that bad?" I asked.

Lloyd rolled his eyes. "Not in the way normal people think."

"I'm gonna tell him you think he smells bad."

He titled his head to listen for passerbys outside before grabbing my bag, unlocking the door and pulling me out by my hand. "Be my guest."

I grinned. Lloyd led us to where the others were having lunch on the field and soaking up the last of the warm days we had left. Kai was reclined on his back and almost looked to be asleep, if it weren't for his bickering with his sister. Nya plucked yellow buttercups from the grass and placed them in Jay's curls, who leant against her and played on a Nintendo Switch. Zane was reading a book.

Lloyd immediately flopped onto his back with his arms over his face and a heavy sigh. I took a seat in the grass beside him. The others glanced at Lloyd with varying expressions of surprise at his weary attitude.

"Long day?" Nya asked.

"The longest," Lloyd grumbled.

Kai picked himself up to lean on his arms. "Probably just feels long because you have your date tonight." He smirked at Lloyd. "Or because of what you have planned."

Lloyd picked up his head to send him a glare. My attention zeroed in on Kai's smug face. "You know what it is?"

Kai raised his palms before lying back down. "Not telling."

"Please?" I begged. "Ihatenot knowing things!"

Kai chortled. "No way."

I groaned with despair. Idespisedsurprises. My relentless pursuit of the knowledge of everything had zero patience and surprises drove it wild.

"Don't worry, Sparky! You'll love it," Jay reassured, before he shrugged. "Or you'll hate it. Who knows."

"Jay!" Nya swatted his shoulder. "You can't say that about tonight. Lloyd's fragile."

"'Fragile?'" Lloyd sat up to send her an insulted frown. "I'm not fragile."

"A little," Zane said. He squeezed his fingers close for reference. "Truthfully."

"Really, Zane?"

Zane's eyes returned to his book. "You have been panicking about tonight for the past twenty-three days."

Lloyd's face went red with embarrassment. My focus latched onto something other than the brutal sibling humiliation he was receiving.

"Allof you know?!" I exclaimed in disbelief. I sent Lloyd a half-hearted, angry pout and grabbed his shoulders with desperation. "That's not fair! Tell me!Tell me tell me tell me tell me-"

"No way!" He kept me away by my arms with a laugh. "Can't you handle a few more hours?"

"The anticipation is killing me,Lloyd!"

"Then use this as an opportunity to work on your resolve," he said. "Aren't archaeologists supposed to be patient?

I gave up. Lloyd would never break. And he was right, after all - archeologists were supposed to be patient. I was just really, really bad at it.

I ate my lunch with a grumpy frown.

I was given two hours after Lloyd dropped me home to get ready for our date, which was both far too much and not enough time.

"Stop panicking," Mum said. She leant against the bathroom doorframe with her arms crossed and watched me frantically wipe off the eyeliner I ruined for the third time. "It's Lloyd. He's seen you when you looked half-dead and still thought you were beautiful."

I rubbed off the smudged black ink and tried not to cry from stress. Why was it sodifficultjust to make them match? "You don't know that."

Mum scoffed. "Yes, I do."

"But this isValentines." With a hopeless groan, I slammed my hands onto the bathroom counter. My doleful reflection stared back at me. "I give up. I can't do it. I'm going to look like a raccoon on our first ever Valentines Date and ruin Lloyd's plans."

"Oh, honey. You and your panda eyes won't ruin anything."

"Mum!" I complained. I dropped my head into my hands. "Why can't I do it? Why iseyelinerjust as hard as saving the world?"

Mum picked herself up from the doorframe with a fond sigh and lifted me from my palms. "You focus on your breathing exercises. Leave the make-up to me."

My eyes began to well with grateful tears. "Thanks-"

"Stop!" Mum held her sleeve over my eyes. "No crying."

I sniffled loudly. "Okay."

For the next half hour, I slowly breathed with careful intent while Mum dolled up my face and made me recite how my day went. I felt like a little kid as she brushed blush along my cheeks and picked out a lipstick to match my complexion. She laughed until she cried when I mentioned the whole 'marking' thing.

"That poor boy," Mum chortled as she stroked mascara up my lashes. "I hope his retirement will at least be peaceful."

In this world? Doubtful.

Lloyd's only hint about dress code was to wrap up warmly, so I pulled out my best pair of jeans and a fancy top that was reserved for special occasions. Mum let me borrow one of her chic winter work jackets. My hair was done up with the the old Sakura-styled kanzashi Lloyd gifted me for Christmas. Finally, when I zipped up a pair of boots I'd meticulously cleaned the night before, I was ready.

Now it was Mum's turn to look close to tears. She regarded me with wet eyes and a bittersweet smile.

"Why are you crying?" I asked in alarm. I'd only just managed to calm myself but her reaction was making my chest seize once again.

"Nothing! It's nothing." Mum brushed away a tear and chuckled. "You're going to have such a great time, sweetheart."

The doorbell rang before I could panic any further.

"Ah." Mum sniffled and spun a circle with her fingers. "Twirl."

I spun. Her face was soft and blotchy with motherly love when I stopped before her again.

"You look perfect," she sighed. "Alright. We shouldn't keep Lloyd waiting."

Timid and silent with nerves, I followed her to the front door. With her hand on the handle, Mum took a moment to compose herself before pushing it down and swinging the door open. The clear sky of the evening was slowly darkening. I paused at the sight of the man before us.

Lloyd stood on the porch, one hand nervously adjusting the pine-green tie around his neck and the other holding a magnificent bouquet of red roses, white peonies and small sunflowers. He wore black slacks, black loafers, and a white button up beneath a pecan-coloured windbreaker. He'd left his shaggy curls messy. He was the image of appeal.

His hand on the tie froze when he saw me. My cheeks felt just as hot as his had turned, and my heart fluttered further when his eyes went red. His soft gasp was barely audible.

"You look amazing," Lloyd said in awe.

My face ran so warm that I thought I was going to grow woozy and faint on the spot. "So do you."

We failed at conversing beyond that. So we could save a world together but talking in the face of a date was what stumped us? I searched for ice breakers and found that my mind refused to think.

Mum slashed through the awkward silence like the saviour of my life she was and took the bouquet from Lloyd's stiff hands. "I'll go put these in some water. Have fun!" She kissed my cheek and sent a wink of support Lloyd's way before disappearing to find a vase.

Lloyd met my gaze and shared a shy smile. My body was hot with embarrassment. I'd worn make-up in front of Lloyd before, sure, but nothing like this. I was afraid that I looked like a little kid playing dress-up, that the dolling of my face was unfit and unkind to me - but the way his gaze was concreted against me in reverence left my fears unfounded. Instead of unsure, I felt pretty.

And I could stand on the threshold of my entranceway all night and admire all the ways in which I found Lloyd handsome (quite happily, I might add) but the intrigue of his surprise and the suspense of it untangled my priorities. I forced my legs to move me out of the house and closed the door behind me. Our date had officially begun.

"Did you really panic for twenty-four days?" I asked.

"Twenty-three," Lloyd corrected, to which I smiled amusedly. He took my hand and led me down the porch steps toward the truck, which had finally gotten an external make-over and had an added tarpaulin over the truck bed. The new blue paint job gleamed in the setting sun.

"Thank you for the flowers."

Lloyd peeked down at me. His blush had yet to cease and I hoped it would stay for a while longer yet. "You should thank Dimitri. He grew them, I just picked them out."

I hadn't known Dimitri liked to garden. The thought of the strict head monk tending to a beautiful arrangement of flowers h'de raised from seeds made me smile. I needed to talk to him more often.

"You have a good eye, then." I squeezed his hand in gratitude when he opened the shotgun door for me. "I'll thank Dimitri when I see him next."

I expected Lloyd to shut the door and take his seat so we could resume the conversation, but he'd halted at my side. My eyes turned to his with confusion.

"You're wearing the kanzashi," he noticed.

My fingers reached up to carefully touch the hair pin. "Yeah... I hadn't found an opportunity to wear it 'till now."

Lloyd smiled softly. "You look beautiful."

The silence was heavy. Not with discomfort, but as if I laid beneath a weighted blanket. The sun sunk beyond the skyscrapers of the city. The heater box still rattled but the radio had finally been fixed, so The Cure surrounded us instead of being played from the speaker in the cup holder. It made me smile. The world was so cozy.

"Mum's going to a dig next month." Lloyd ended the silence with a gentle taper. "She wants to know if you'd like to go."

The tranquillity of the world suddenly snapped. I turned to him with wide, disbelieving eyes.

"Are you serious?" I asked. I leant toward him with earnest. "Yeah-yes!Obviously yes! I'd love to go!"

Lloyd laughed at my excitement. "I'll let her know."

I was buzzing. A dig - a proper, actual archeological dig! This was an experience that books could never give me. This would be unearthing history in real time, before my very eyes, perhaps even by my own hands. My heart fluttered. My greatest love, second only to Lloyd.

"Is this the surprise?" I giddily asked.

Lloyd rolled his eyes with a grin. "No."

"It may as well be." I sat back in my seat and watched the city pass with a bright gaze. "I have no clue how you'll top that."

That probably just made Lloyd nervous again but I didn't have the capacity to notice. I giggled with exhilaration. I was going to anarcheological site!

My excitement lasted until the truck pulled into a parking lot full of nice-looking cars. My focus on the upcoming dig was distracted by the elaborate design of the old-looking restaurant before us, which I stared at with amazement. Lloyd spared me a smile and slipped out of his seat.

"What is this place?" I asked in awe when he opened my door for me. The torii gate and bamboo stalks of the restaurant's entrance stretched high above us, almost as grand as the monastery itself. A small stream trickled beneath the small bridge we walked over.

"Shōten," Lloyd answered, amused by my wide eyes. He held the rice door open for us to enter. "It's one of the oldest establishments in all of Ninjago. I stole my parents' reservation."

I sent him a horrified look. "You didn't."

"'Stole' isn't the right word. 'Graciously accepted because Mum would gut me if I didn't' is closer to what actually happened." Lloyd chivalrously peeled off my jacket for me. "And no, before you ask, this isn't the surprise."

My gaze zeroed in on the ostentatious fish tank that stretched along the wall. "They have a mini shark."

Lloyd chuckled and circled his arm around my waist to lead me on. The host at reception lost his painted smile when he realised who Lloyd was at our approach, and though Lloyd didn't make any outward reaction at the open hostility, I still took his hand. I tried to not let my glare be too stony.

"Reservation for Montgomery," Lloyd said.

Montgomery?The host looked just as taken aback as I felt. With a reluctant look upon his tablet's screen, he gritted his teeth.

"Yes," the host drawled. He sent Lloyd an unhappy glare before giving me a look full of judgement. I stared back evenly. "Right this way... Mr. Montgomery."

The host took off at a pace that wasn't as slow as it should've been. Lloyd and I marched after him. I gazed at the decor of the place - string lanterns were tied to rafters overhead, threading through the branches of big, fake sakura tree and softly illuminating the low tables and zabutons stitched with the designs of dragons and ocean waves in gold. Every other patron looked to be on a valentines date as well, and all were at least twenty years older than us. A few stopped and stared, half in surprise, half in disgust.

We were seated at a semi-private booth and spared from the prying eyes that hungered for gossip. The host whisked away without another word. The lighting was dim and intimate, a soft ochre that softened Lloyd's features into something dreamy.

This was way more fancy than what I was used to and doubly more so than what I expected. I'd never related to the idiom 'a fish out of water' more than I did then, but it did make my heart warm that Lloyd would take me to a place so fancy and that his mother gave up her reservation for us - though I'd have to find a way to somehow repay her kindness.

I picked up my menu and peered at Lloyd from over the top. He felt my stare and met it with a curious smile.

"Montgomery?" I asked.

"My mother's name. We use it whenever I need to make a booking." He sent me a look that oozed sarcasm. "Everything's strangely unavailable whenever we use the name Garmadon."

"Strange, indeed," I muttered. I glanced at the tapestry that adorned the wall beside us, a piece depicting one of the many old wars in history. "You said this place is old. Have you been here before?"

Lloyd placed his menu down and leant toward me as if in conspiracy. I felt myself incline to him in response.

"This place is owned by the Elemental Master of Gravity's cousin," Lloyd divulged in quiet secrecy. "My parents have been coming here for centuries. Mum brought me a few times before Darkley's."

My brows furrowed in confusion. "What's Darkley's?"

Lloyd's face betook a look of trepidation, as if he'd spoken too much. His gaze dropped before he leant back in his seat, so suddenly and entirely disconnected that it took me by surprise. He lifted the menu as if it physically sever us from the topic.

"Nowhere special," he mumbled. Lloyd cleared his throat and sent me a practised smile. "Have you thought about what to eat?"

I confessed I hadn't and tried to turn my attention to the menu. My focus kept returning to Lloyd and the way he gnawed anxiously on his lip, as if battling a million wars behind his eyes. A sinking filling I wasn't entirely unused to began to consume my stomach.

Despite an influx of employees no waiter approached to take our order, so Lloyd rose to his feet to fetch one. I rattled off to him the first dish that looked appetising before watching him find a waiter that didn't look predisposed. I sunk in my seat while he was gone.

Darkley's.The name seemed familiar but only by vague passing. Google yielded the results of a boarding school whose website looked two decades too old.

It must've been the one Misako once mentioned him going to, though I recalled her never giving me the name. But why did Lloyd shut down like that at a meagre slip of tongue? Was his time there that bad?

"Luckily the owner was in," Lloyd chirped when he returned. I turned off my phone and placed it back in my pocket, matching his bright smile as he slid back into the booth across from me. "Staff can't ignore an order from him."

I decided not to bring the boarding school up. And by the end of our dinner (which was almost as good as Zane's cooking - almost), I'd even briefly forgotten about it. I wasn't allowed to split the bill despite my insistence that I really ought to have. Lloyd was stubbornly against it.

My suspicions only rose when we returned to the truck and clambered inside. I still couldn't even guess at what his surprise was, and answers eluded me still when Lloyd drove us out of the city and along the road toward Jamanakai. We were surrounded by nothing but desert and rock within half an hour.

"Where are we going?" I asked over the quiet music.

"Somewhere you'll really like. I just hope we'll get there before it starts," Lloyd answered.

I was left no more enlightened than before. Was it a show, a concert, a movie? But what would be performing all the way out in the middle of the desert? We'd left the only city close to us and every other settlement was miles and miles away.

Only one of my questions was answered; Lloyd guided the truck up a small mountain until we reached a flattened area with an old fire pit and a cliff face that stretched up to the mountain's unclimbable summit. The only thing keeping the world from being pitch-black was the powerful light of the moon that hung in the sky above. I slowly disembarked to stare.

Lloyd lit the fire with his powers while I gazed at the endless sea of stars. I'd seen the stars like this once before, back when I first used my powers by design rather than consequence. With no light pollution, they sparkled and shone, an inky black ocean awash with a muslin of gems and galaxies. I watched them until the sound of tarpaulin being pulled from the truck and hitting the ground made me turn.

I glanced at the truck bed. A mattress had been squashed into its confines, covered with a swath of cozy blankets and picnic pillows. The fire was large and crackled softly, reaching the stars with fingers that warmed.

Lloyd kicked the tarpaulin away and peeked up at me. "You said you liked to star gaze, right?"

Speechless, I could only nod. He smiled sweetly at my surprise and approached, taking one of my hands to kiss the back of. His gaze was unmoving from my own, as if stuck, as if content to lose himself. It made my heart race.

"I can't believe you remembered," I admitted.

Lloyd's eyes softened. "How could I forget?"

Breath escaped me. He was too sweet, too loving, too much but,oh, how I wished to drown in him.

Lloyd tilted his head in attention before turning to the sky. "Do you hear that?"

I shook my head before following his gaze. "Hear what?"

"Just wait." His smile grew. "Right on time."

I squinted, gazing amongst the stars while waiting for my eyes to see what his sharper vision picked out. The greyish haze was what I noticed first, then the first hints of green and turquoise that dashed across the sky. The light show grew, glowing stronger and stronger, a drifting cloud of dancing colours. My hand tightened over his.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from the shifting shades of greens and blues and purples, vibrant colours that I couldn't believe existed in nature. They swayed overhead, drifting solar wind, a flag that careened with the softness of the calmest breeze. I'd never seen them so potent before, so unobstructed and bright.

Lloyd's eyes dropped to me. "Do you wanna see them closer?"

My startled gaze turned to him. I nodded.

The brightness of Lloyd's powers and Bentley forming was almost blinding in comparison to the soft light of the aurora. Lloyd leapt onto the saddle before bringing me up with him, sitting me at the front instead of behind him. With one hand firmly wrapped around my waist, Bentley leapt into the sky and began to ascend.

I hadn't realised why Lloyd put me in front until my hands lifted to reach for the dancing lights. They surrounded us, a dazzling, quiet hum of an exhibition that coated us in luminosity. They were so close if felt as if I could touch them. I imagined them to be as silky as smoke, as clean as river water. I imagined that they blessed me until I was something pure and good. My delighted laughter crossed the vast sky.

Bright greens twirled into arctic blues, edges dashed with playful flickers of periwinkle. They drifted like jellyfish, swayed like tree leaves. Their dance was both calculated and entirely improvised, a composition of science and atoms that created something that could only be described as magic. I breathed them in. Only Lloyd's arm around my waist kept me from throwing myself into their pool of colour.

Up here, on the back of a demigod's dragon that flew us through the Southern Lights and the stars that accompanied them, I truly realised why he fought so hard to protect this world. Who wouldn't want to save all this? It was beautiful. Our whole world wassobeautiful.

Lloyd's warm lips found my ear. "Do you like it?" he asked.

I nodded, stunned dumb with fascination.

"Uchū made them for my grandmother," he continued, a companion tale to the light show we glided along. "A wedding present - or what they called a wedding back in those days."

He'dmadethem for hiswife. The beauty of the aurora grew tenfold to me, at the love they were born from. How stunning of a present.

Bentley's wings flapped. The glowing mist of him trailed behind us, mingling with the stars and the aurora. I let Lloyd's words sink in.

"But solar winds..." I began.

He kissed my cheek. "Isn't science just the explanation of magic?"

I turned to look at Lloyd. The wind was freezing but his hold was warm and comfortable. The aurora glimmered in his red eyes, a swirling reflection that enamoured me. He was coloured in the greens and blues that surrounded us, his golden hair dyed with it.

"He must've loved her so much," I whispered.

He smiled. Lloyd looked even prettier, like a benevolent god observing the nature of his world. Like a god gifting unimaginable beauty to his most cherished. "He did."

My breath caught. I wondered how it felt to be given something so beautiful. Was she in such awe as I? Had anything more exquisite even existed before Saisho's gift? I couldn't think of anything that rivalled these dancing lights.

"I've got something to show you," Lloyd said. "Do you want to go back down?"

I didn't. I could stay drifting along the valleys of the aurora forever, but something in the hesitant inflection of Lloyd's voice told me that this was important. I agreed.

Bentley began the descent to where the fire pit blazed. The sky continued to dance above, and I stared and stared as the dragon landed and disappeared. Lloyd guided me to the cliff face, where one rock in particular stood apart from the rest. It jutted up as if a natural monument.

In the flickering light of the fire and the soft illumination of the aurora, I could just make out the ancient carvings of old kanji that I was unable to read. The two lines of earthen literature were marked deep into the rock to avoid the erosion of time, the edges soft and tapered with the evidence of it. My fingertip curiously followed the engraving.

"What does it say?" I asked.

Lloyd took my hand and traced my finger over the lines and curves of the first passage. "My grandparents' names." He dropped our hands to the names below. "My parents."

I wasn't sure how much more shock I could take before my heart gave out. I stared at the names and noticed that Uchū and Saisho's engravings were far, far older than Misako and Garmadon's. How many centuries stood between us and when Lloyd's parents stood in this spot? How many millennia between us and his grandparents?

"You were right," I said breathlessly. "I do like this place."

"This spot is where it all began." Lloyd's finger followed his parents' kanji with a bittersweet wistfulness. "This was where I learnt who my father was."

My gaze drifted to him. "How old were you?"

"Five." Lloyd's red eyes met mine. "After Dad returned to us, this was where we had our first family reunion. No fate dictating us. No more missions or battles. Just us, on the same side for the first time."

I could see the dichotomy of emotions this place must've held. The fire snapped behind us. The aurora overhead faded and returned in an unpredictable cycle.

Lloyd stared at his lineage with an incomprehensible frown. The orange of the fire lined his back, the green of the aurora highlighted his hair. But the shadows still clung to him. They crowded his eyes and sunk in his frown.

How hard it was to imagine him at the tender age of five, learning that his father was the Lord Garmadon that had been poisoned by evil and craved destruction. How difficult to be told that his own father wasn't even aware of his existence. How painful and uncertain it must've felt to return to this spot with his father in tow, unsure if fate would tear them all apart again.

"Did it feel strange?" I asked.

"Yeah." Lloyd smiled fondly. "My parents didn't know how to act around each other after so long apart. It was so awkward."

My own smile was soft. I traced Uchū and Saisho's names. Did they know about Lloyd's fate? Did they know about the prophecies?

"Why isn't your name up on here?" I asked. Neither was Wu's.

Lloyd paused. I looked up and found him drawn-in, shy again and avoiding my gaze. I frowned with concern.

"Lloyd?" I stepped closer and cradled his freckled cheeks. His hesitant eyes lifted to mine. "What's wrong?"

His smile at my worry was as soft as the painted sky above. He leant into my palms with a velvety gaze. "Nothing's wrong, sunshine."

I frowned, unconvinced. If nothing was wrong then why did he kept acting the way he was?

Lloyd glanced up at the dancing sky before sighing. He placed his hands over mine and walked us toward the cozy truck bed. When we clambered aboard and were comfortable beneath the blankets, he took my hands again and stared at them.

"What do you know about the Yin-Yang Promise?"

I shook my head. "I've never heard of it. What is it?"

Lloyd leant back against the window of the cab and watched the aurora. The lights danced in his eyes as he searched for the words to explain. The stars sparkled back.

"It's an old practise," he began, voice slow and low with thoughtfulness. "It's mostly forgotten these days, it's kind of archaic, but my grandparents and my parents did it."

I followed his gaze to the stone.

"It's... it's like a vow of devotion," Lloyd continued softly. "It's telling your partner that you'll love them forever, that nothing will split you apart. They share half of a medallion - a symbol of Yin and Yang. Different apart but perfect when put together. Interconnected."

Like a betrothal. But something told me that this was far deeper than that. They way Lloyd spoke of this promise made me feel as though it was something kinder, something sweeter. Marriage was law, with assets and contracts and court and receptions, but this was a vow for the couple alone. This was a promise only the stars would hear.

Lloyd stared at my hands in his as he talked. His thumb brushed my knuckles in a motion that seemed to soothe himself.

"Uchū engraved his and Saisho's name in the rock to commemorate the occasion. My parents did the same. This was where they made their promises." Lloyd nodded toward their engraved names. "That's why my name isn't on there."

A small ancient medallion, caught on a leather cord. One half of a Yin-Yang. My gasp shook.

"You don't have to say yes - I know it's a lot." Lloyd began to speak before I could even think of what to say. His voice had risen an octave, shrill with worry. "Dad thought it was too soon, I just..."

He held my cheek with a hand and turned me up to face him. Lloyd stared at me with an implore that rocked the world beneath me.

"I know that we didn't get a choice. I know that we didn't choose to be in the prophecy, but I want- Ineedyou to know that Fate didn't make me love you." Lloyd lifted his other hand to hold me until I was cradled by his tender encase. "I chose to love you.Ichoose you. I want to spend everyday of the rest of my life with you."

His confession robbed me of any composure. I stared at him in shock. I stared at him until my eyes began to sting and water. I tried to find the words to reply with, to explain just how stunned I was, how grateful, if he was even sure of this, but my mind was blank. It just kept turning over the significance of his vow and the medallion he gifted me with.

He loved me. I never doubted him before, but I never knew just how much he did until now - he really,trulyloved me. My heart wouldn't slow down.

"Sorry." Lloyd laughed breathily at my prolonged silence. He leant back and rubbed a hand along his forehead with regret. "I knew it was too soon. sh*t, I'm sorry-"

I kissed him before he could talk himself into taking it back. No, he couldn't. I wouldn't let him. His regrets died just as swift as they had cultivated, a swan song sang with my lips over his. His grip found my waist and pulled me closer, bruising with relief. My arms slung over his shoulders. The cord of the medallion dangled from my fingers.

"I love you," I whispered against his lips. "I love you. I want it."

Lloyd edged backwards to send me a wide-eyed look of disbelief. "Really?"

"Yes!" I laughed. My heart swelled with so much joy that it leaked out from within me. I began to cry. "Yes, Lloyd. I want you, too."

His heavy exhale was imbued with relief and surprise. As if I could ever want a different future - prophecy or not, my life was already entwined with his. I couldn't see anybody else for me. I would never want anybody else.

Lloyd pulled me into his chest and enveloped me with his warmth. His hug squeezed the breath out of me, but I would never complain.

"Thank you," Lloyd whispered. He kissed my temple and held himself against me as if devout.

I should've been thanking him, not the other way around. Lloyd had turned my life on its head and showed me parts of myself that I'd never have known existed otherwise. He taught me to be brave and strong. He gave me something to stand up for, to be confident in. He gave me people to love, another whole family, and a steadfast partner in himself. He showed me magic.

Lloyd had once risked the world for me and I'd risked my life for his. He was my biggest supporter, my shoulder to cry on, my hand to hold when things got hard. How could he ever think that I would say no? This wasn't too soon. This was perfectly us.

"I love you," I repeated, quiet but with meaning. I held the medallion firmly and dug myself deeper into Lloyd until he was everything that surrounded me. He was more important than the aurora overhead.

He buried his face into my hair. "You're everything to me."

My tears came quicker, soaking into his jacket. This was a surprise worth waiting for.

When I managed to get control over my blubbering, I turned and leant against Lloyd's chest so I could admire my medallion. It'd been carved from white jade and engraved with the design of a dragon, almost completely smoothened over by age. In its mouth held a black sphere of Yang. The leather cord was soft and yielding, equally as old. Lloyd slipped it over my head until the medallian rested on my sternum, accompanied by my dragon pendant.

"Do you have the other half?" I asked.

Lloyd pulled his own medallion from beneath his button up and smiled at my delighted surprise at the revelation of him having worn it all evening. His was made of obsidian and was embedded with the white jade dot between the jaws of his own dragon. Even with how old they were, each half still fit perfectly together. I held both halves in my hands and dissected them by eye in delight.

"This Yin was my mother's and my grandmother's before her. Now it's yours," Lloyd explained, his murmur tickling my ear. I couldn't be more floored if he tried. He huffed in quiet amusem*nt. "If you hadn't guessed yet, we're a family that likes our hand-me-downs."

I shook my head slowly. "It's perfect."

He pressed his lips to the edge of my eyebrow. "... do you want to see what your name looks like?"

I looked up at his offer. My enthusiastic nod was immediate.

Lloyd helped me down from the truck bed. We passed by the flickering fire and beneath the aurora, approaching the stone engraved with the names of his parents and grandparents. Only Lloyd's hand in mine kept me from feeling unworthy of having mine join theirs.

He glanced at me with a smile that held a myriad of confessions and lifted his hand to the unyielding rock. It gave way easily beneath his finger, writing out our names as if it was as easy as writing in sand. The carvings ran deep to stand their own test of time.

I held my breath as I watched his scripture, following the lines and curves in the rock that his fingertip left. Did Misako feel as I did? Overwhelmed by the history and fate, the past and future of the boy that had engraved his name beside hers? Did she feel as if she was peeking into a world she wasn't born into yet belonged? Did she feel scared? Did she feel entirely in love?

I was scared. I was entirely in love.

Lloyd stepped back from the rock and admired our addition with a proud smile. It was a work of linguistic art, the symphony of our kanji matching so perfectly that it looked like one. Lloyd was so pleased that when he turned to assess my reaction, I caught him off guard with a kiss. I couldn't help myself. He made me feel so cherished.

Lloyd wasn't surprised for long. He kissed me back as if we'd both die if he didn't, trapping me against him in a cage of my own desire. My heart sung like the Southern Lights. My chest warmed like the fire beside us. My palms held his face in worship and I matched his ardent kiss as if in soulful repent.

Forever. I'd wake up beside him forever. I would take on the world just to keep him with me.

"When did you decide?" I asked when we parted to breathe. Our proximity was electric.

"When you found me in the meadow," Lloyd answered, his voice equally as hushed. He brushed some hair from my face and lined my jaw with feather touch. "When you weren't scared of me even though I was. When you didn't look at me like a monster."

I had to kiss him again.

My lungs burned for the air I refused, wanting to kiss him more than I needed to breathe, and I revelled in the fact that he was just as bad as I. His hand on my waist burned with an ache I delighted in, his other tangled in the back of my hair that he pinned me with. I wound his tie around my hand and held him hostage. My stomach twisted in knots of bliss.

But I had to pull away or else we'd never stop. I caught my breath while I traced the planes of his face, and he chased my touch with nuzzles. The aurora haloed his blond curls in shades of magic blues and beautiful greens. He looked mystical.

"Did everyone know?" I asked with a giddy smile. "Was this why everyone acted so weird around me?" I recalled an odd, misty-eyed look that Garmadon had sent me a week back, but in my naivety I'd chalked it up to allergies.

Lloyd nodded and pressed a kiss to my wrist. "This why I was panicking for the past three weeks."

I fell into an adoring smile. "Oh, hero."

"I wanted it to be perfect. You deserve perfect."

I looked around us with a laugh. "I think you succeeded."

Relieved at my glowing review, Lloyd just kissed my palm.

We eventually migrated back to the truck bed, curled beneath the blankets and tangled amongst each other for warmth against the desert's cool night air. My medallian laid in my hand. We pointed out constellations and the brightest stars, and Lloyd indulged me in the collection of tales of when the ninja had to fight Skylor's crazy, power-hungry dad. We watched the aurora drift overhead as he spoke about the tournament and the Elemental Masters, a collage of bouyant hues that put on our private show.

But as always, I ended up watching Lloyd instead.