Phone Call

I found him leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. I stopped in front of him. "Are you okay?" I asked.

His eyes slid open. "Yeah." When he saw my eyes narrow he sighed. "I'm sorry."

I frowned. "For what?"

"For my mom being a pain."

I snorted. "I doubt you could do anything about that, Lloyd." I paused. "I honestly didn't expect everyone to get along."

He shut his eyes again. "She's the center of all the fighting. She's always picking a fight with Misako and I can't get her to stop."

I nodded even though he wasn't looking at me. "I know. But it's kind of hard to keep them separated on a battlefield."

"That's the thing! We shouldn't have to. She always goes on about how your Lloyd isn't being treated right. It's like..."

"She's forgetting she's in a sideways version of Ninjago," I finished for him.

"Yes."

I came here to spar with him but he needs to be comforted first. "Let's go talk to her."

He opened his eyes. "You really think that's a good idea?"

"Yes. I've never talked to her when Misako isn't around. So she'll be calmer."

"I suppose." He led the way to where she was training. "Hey, Mom."

She looked about. "Lloyd." Her eyes landed on me. "Y/n."

"Hey, I was wondering if we could talk for a little bit," I said.

She slid her sword into its holster. "Alright."

"I'm curious if you know that this Ninjago is a sideways version of yours."

She sighed. "This is about me fighting with Misako, isn't it?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay. I know that this is a sideways version of our world but it's hard to imagine someone abandoning their kid like she did. And for what? Research. Her should have been more important than that."

"I get it but I think she knew he was the Green Ninja. So she left to research about it for him. So, in a way, she was taking care of him." I thought for a minute. "Lloyd was actually pretty mad at her when he first saw her. But he calmed down and forgave her. He forgave his dad after everything Garmadon's done." I looked her in the eye. "And so have you."

"It took a while."

"But you still forgave him."

"Yes."

"Honestly, Garmadon's done worse stuff than Misako," I said.

She wrinkled her nose. "I suppose that's true. But for some reason, I can't help but hate her."

I thought for a minute. "Is there something else that bothers you about her?" 

"Well, she doesn't seem to worry much about her son when he goes out to battle."

My mouth twitched. "Haven't you noticed that she throws herself into researching right when Lloyd has a mission? It's her way of distracting herself from worrying. When he's hurt she worries too."

"Has he ever gotten hurt?" She asked curiously.

"Lots of times. He is the Green Ninja." I paused. "You know, I've always thought they should call him the Target Ninja instead because every villain almost always goes after him."

She looked at her son. "You don't think my Lloyd will become a target, do you?"

I saw other Lloyd scowl. "I can take care of myself, Mom."

I shook my head. "After the Garmadon from your world turned to the good side, has anyone attacked?" They both looked at me. "I mean other than Liam!"

Koko shook her head. "No."

"Then I think your son is fine. It seems like all the bad guys are focused in our world." My phone rang and I frowned. There was no caller ID. "Hello?" I said.

"Hello, my dear daughter," an unmistakable voice said.

I stiffened. "Liam." Both Lloyd and Koko looked at me. "What do you want?"

"I got your message and decided to call you. See, my messenger, didn't give you all of the message. He was supposed to tell you to turn yourself over to me or your dear mother-in-law dies."

My eyes widened. "You have...?"

"Misako Garmadon? Yes."

No, no, no! Shit, now what am I supposed to do? "How long do I have to decide?"

"Forty-eight hours." He hung up. 

I stared at my phone for a long time. Then looked at Koko. "When was the last time you saw Misako?" I asked her.

She thought for a minute. "This morning when you broke up our argument."

I groaned. "I'm so fucking stupid!" Misako had probably gone for a walk to calm down and when the messenger had come he had friends. That must have been when they got her."

"Y/n, what's wrong?" Other Lloyd asked.

I paced. "Liam was the one on the phone. Apparently, the messenger he sent didn't give me the full message."

"So what was the full message?" Koko asked.

I stopped pacing and shut my eyes. "He wants me to turn myself over to him. If I don't, he'll kill Misako." 

Other Lloyd's eyes widened. "Okay, you need to call a meeting. We all need to discuss this."

I shook my head sadly. "No, we don't."

He looked at me. "You aren't actually planning to hand yourself over, are you?" I looked at him and it was enough. "No! You can't! You'll be playing right into his hands."

"What choice do I have!?!" I cried. "He's going to kill her if I don't and I can't let Lloyd lose his mother!"

"Lloyd will turn feral again if you die," he said quietly. "His mom hadn't been able to stop him last time. Y/n, if he loses his mother he'll have you to fall back to."

"He could go feral if she dies too!"

"No, he couldn't. You know why? Because you calm him. Better than his mom can."

I stared at the ground. "Alright, we'll call a meeting. I have forty-eight hours to come up with a decision."

"So we have forty-eight hours to come up with a plan," Koko said.

I sighed. "I don't think we can come up with a plan to help her escape. I'm pretty sure it's all going to come down to me giving myself up."

"Your husband won't let you do that," Lloyd said.

I smiled sadly. "He won't really have a choice."