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The sweet, peaceful life of a ninja never lasted long, interrupted by various disasters, power-hungry villains, or simply people who had nothing better to do than make their lives miserable. An example of such a person was the beta that the ninja knew very well, the one they had to endure because of Lloyd and Master Wu.
Fortunately for the warriors who didn't like women, Misako had no desire or need to be around Lloyd, often preferring to hang out with old things or grumpy archaeologists and travelers. Although there were times when the green ninja's mother would appear out of nowhere to start acting like she belonged at the temple, annoying almost all the residents, only to disappear again after a while, filling the monastery with relief that her visit was over.
"Misako called to say she'd be visiting us today." Master Wu stated calmly, and the ninjas grimaced, losing all desire to continue the training their sensei had interrupted just to announce it.
“How long will she stay?” Zane asked.
“She didn't mention anything, so it'll probably be a bit longer.” The older man replied, deepening his students' despair.
“Great.” Lloyd muttered dissatisfiedly, kicking a lump of earth and avoiding surprised glances from the rest of the team.
“Aren't you glad your mother will show up?” Kai asked, pausing for a moment at the woman's inappropriate description in his opinion.
“Not really, considering she has no idea about my status.” The dissatisfied boy muttered, and the rest nodded in understanding, perfectly remembering Misako's attitude towards Kai as an omega, which only caused everyone's dislike towards the woman.
It was Wu who brought order, opposing the woman for the first and last time and making it clear to her that no one would tolerate her intolerance and treating the fire master as someone inferior. From that moment on, the woman and the team, minus Lloyd, who had not been privy to all of his mother's crimes, had been waging a cold war, right under the noses of Master Wu and the Master of Energy.
The fact remained, however, that Misako had contempt for the omegas, known to all around her.
“Hey, everything will be fine.” Kai rushed to comfort the depressed pup. “If Misako says one thing that offends you, upsets you, or is just plain wrong, I’ll gladly talk to her.”
“Kai, you’re not allowed to threaten Misako.” Sensei Wu sighed.
“It’s not a threat.” Kai announced happily, then added more quietly. “It’s a promise.”
“Kai’s right, if Misako isn’t a complete idiot, she’ll ignore the whole omega thing with you.” Jay added, wanting to be helpful, only causing Zane to decide to zone out for a moment, and Cole to slap himself in the face.
“Jay!” Nya hissed, shaking her head.
“Maybe she’ll even give up her prejudices?” the lightning master continued, undaunted.
“Yeah, and then all the bad guys will send us apology cards.” Cole scoffed.
“I don’t think this would be a pleasant conversation. She’ll hate me immediately and that’s it.” The sad green ninja shrugged.
“What are you talking about, Lloyd?! You’re impossible to hate!” the fire master immediately became indignant, hugging his friend and starting to fix his hair.
“Tell that to our enemies.” Lloyd replied.
“For some reason, our enemies are losing to us, right? No one stands a chance against the best heroes of Ninjago.” Jay threw out, comforting the younger and hugging him from the other side.
“Jay's right about that. Family always supports each other, and if Misako can't appreciate that, then she doesn't deserve such a phenomenal child.” Zane declared, coming back online.
“Nicely summed up, snow princess.” Cole smiled, hugging the blond, and Wu sighed.
“I see you won’t be concentrating today at training. Be polite to Misako as long as she behaves.” the old man said, walking back to the monastery, wondering when the woman he and his brother had given their hearts to had changed so much.
“Yes, sensei.” the chorus of voices answered the man.
“Do you really think my mother won’t hate me?” Lloyd asked his friends quietly.
“Of course not, young one.” Nya shook her head. “Otherwise Kai would have murdered her.”
“Nya!” Cole snapped.
“No, Nya’s right.” Kai replied with a vengeful smile. “She can say whatever she wants about me, but if she even looks at my child in a bad way, I’ll kill her.”
“Huh?” Lloyd repeated uncertainly, not allowing himself to get excited by the red ninja's words, thinking he had misheard, while the others looked at the fire master in surprise.
"What?" Kai asked, seeing the others' gazes focused on him.
"You said 'my child'." Nya explained, barely hiding her smile.
“What? I meant my pup, of course.” Kai quickly began to explain, but no one but Lloyd believed him.
“Thanks Kai, but I hope that won’t be necessary.” Lloyd said with a faint smile, running to his room and wondering if he should hide the nest before his mother arrived.
“Well, Kai, I didn’t know you were already moving forward with adopting Lloyd.” Nya laughed as the blond disappeared from sight.
“Did I really just say that?” Kai asked nervously, wrapping his arms around himself.
“Yeah.” Jay confirmed with a smile.
“Hey, it’s nothing bad.” Cole said, hugging his partner.
“I don’t think that’s entirely true.” Zane muttered, watching the fire master from under a frown.
“What do you mean?” Nya asked, tilting her head.
“Zane’s right. If my instincts really do treat Lloyd like a child, and I have too much evidence that they do, then things could get ugly when Misako shows up.” Kai groaned.
“Why? I mean, I know you’ll defend him if she acts crazy, but why is that a bad thing?” Jay asked.
“Because what if she behaves okay? It may be naive to think that about Misako, but what if she actually behaves well and I feel like my position as a parent is threatened? What if my instincts get out of control?” Kai began to panic slightly, biting his nails nervously.
“That's what you have us for, and we'll help you.” Jay stated boldly.
“Yes, but I seriously doubt Misako will give you any reason to worry. At best, she'll behave like she always does. And she'll be gone before we know it.” Nya snorted.
“I hope you're right.” Kai sighed, dreading this visit as much as Lloyd.
~~~~~~~~
Misako, as always, appeared with a backpack full of maps and scrolls, declaring that she had found something interesting and starting to tell what she had been up to since her last visit. The woman didn't even pay attention to the ninja, directing her story mainly to Master Wu. And this seemed to irritate Kai more and more for some reason.
“Or maybe instead of talking about your ‘achievements’ you could take an interest in what your son has been up to lately?” Kai snapped at some point, unable to listen any longer as the woman discussed everything she had managed to accomplish.
“Hm? Of course I'm curious about Lloyd, I just wanted to present what I discovered first. Not that someone like you would understand.” Misko replied, only lowering the last part of her statement considerably.
“Someone like me?” Kai repeated, guessing what the woman was talking about.
“Kai.” Master Wu spoke, immediately turning to his youthful love. “Misako.”
The woman only snorted, but said nothing more, only stating that she was tired, she went to her bedroom, and the green ninja said nothing, only watching as his biological mother left. As a beta, she couldn't tell from the smell that Lloyd was an omega so early, so the boy spent the whole day wondering how to tell her. However, her short exchange of words with the master of fire, made him not want to tell her anything anymore, even though he knew he had to do it soon, because if the woman found out on her own, it would be worse.
"Kai, could you please not provoke Misako?" Wu sighed.
"It's not my fault!" the red ninja snapped. "She's the one who visits us every once in a while, expecting us to worship the ground she walks on, because she brings us a few pieces of old paper and doesn't even pay attention to her child for a long time."
"Nevertheless, I ask you to keep up appearances, if not for me, then for Lloyd." Master Wu replied, and Kai reluctantly nodded, leaving the room, the younger ninja running after him.
“Kai?” the green ninja spoke uncertainly, following his friend to the training ground.
“What is it kid?” the fire master asked, only then realizing he had company.
“How horrible is my mom?” the younger asked in response, causing Kai to stop in his tracks. “Before you ask, I’m not stupid, and you don’t act with that much hate towards most villains.”
“Kid, you shouldn’t listen to bad things about your mom.” the fire master shook his head.
“Kai, please, I want to know. Mainly what I have to prepare for.” the green ninja admitted.
“Lloyd... Alright.” The ninja sighed, sitting down on the stairs and patting the spot on the ground next to him, which the boy quickly took. “Well, when we met your mother, we didn’t really have time to pay attention to her behavior, because of the stone warrior, or maybe she didn’t notice that I was an omega. However, our next meetings were filled with rather reluctance on her part and consisted mainly of avoiding me.”
“So why is it so different now?” Lloyd asked, moving closer to his friend.
“Misako didn’t realize that the four of us were dating.” Kai said, waving his hand in the direction of the monastery. “I suspect she thought Cole was my partner. But she found out when she accidentally stumbled upon me and Zane. She then started yelling at the top of her lungs, stating, and I quote, ‘All omegas are like that!’ Treacherous, worthless, only interested in sex...’ prostitutes, to put it nicely and not to repeat Misako.”
“But you all date.” The energy master replied.
“Yes, Jay was happy to tell her about it, but then Misako started claiming that I had them all fooled and stuff like that. And then I went a little overboard.” The red ninja admitted, hugging his pup.
“Why what?” the teen asked.
“Because she said there should never be an omega on the team, that I didn’t deserve to be a ninja and it would be best if I disappeared. The guys immediately started yelling at her, but I chose a more effective way to shut her up.” Kai laughed mischievously, scratching the back of his neck.
“Please tell me you didn’t hit her?” Lloyd laughed, trying to imagine it.
“Right in the face. I broke her nose. Which Zane forbade me from mentioning with pride, but I know Jay copied that memory from his memory, onto a hard drive and now has it on phone.” The red ninja admitted. “I definitely shouldn't have hit her, but I was sorely tempted.”
“No wonder she doesn't like you.” Lloyd commented, not at all angry at his friend.
“Yeah. She proved that to me perfectly after Zane died.” The red ninja snorted.
“What did she do?” the green ninja asked in horror, knowing full well that this was a sensitive subject for the entire team.
“As you know, after Zane died, the team fell apart, and Cole, Jay, and I... We had a little break. Misako found me in a bar, where, in addition to illegal fights for money, I was getting drunk, which wasn't very smart, I admit, but I can't turn back time. Misako found me, just to tell me that I deserved to be alone and that I should have died instead of Zane. And as you know, I agreed with that statement especially then.” Kai explained, suddenly feeling the urge to get a drink from the aforementioned bar.
“I'm sorry.” Lloyd said, throwing himself at his friend and hugging him.
“Hey Lloyd, it's not your fault, besides, I can't be mad at you.” the ninja sighed, returning the hug.
“I still feel like it was indirectly my fault too.” the devastated teenager admitted, to which Kai immediately straightened up.
“Don't ever say that again.” the red ninja snapped, surprising the younger one. “It was never, is not, and never will be your fault that Misako is a prejudiced old hag! And don’t you ever even try to suggest that again. You’re better than her, much better.”
“Thanks Kai.” the green ninja only replied, hugging him tighter. “I’m glad I have you.”
“I feel the same way, puppy.” The red ninja smiled, ruffling the younger one's hair.
~~~~~~
The next morning Kai woke up first, which didn't happen often to him, and although he wanted to use it to cuddle with his partners, he decided to go to the kitchen to make himself some coffee or chamomile, remembering that Misako was currently in the house. He reluctantly crawled out of the nest and headed to the kitchen, immediately starting to prepare chamomile to calm him down.
“I just hope you're not pregnant. That's the last thing this monastery needs.” The reason for his nerves snorted, seeing the red ninja pouring boiling water over the herbs.
“Thank you for your concern Misako, but luckily I still don't want to be out of the team for almost a year.” Kai spoke calmly, turning to face the woman and suppressing the impulse to throw the cup at her. Zane probably wouldn't approve.
“You should just disappear from it forever.” Misako snapped, looking into the fridge to get some milk for her coffee.
“That won't happen.” the red ninja replied, starting to drink hot chamomile, feeling that he was starting to need it. “Luckily for the two of us, you'll probably disappear again on some expedition soon.”
“And here's a surprise for you. I'm going to stay for a long time.” the woman confessed, making herself breakfast.
“Yes?” Kai asked, interested and maybe slightly irritated.
“I've recently done some calculations and discovered that Lloyd is currently in the process of growing up.” the woman explained with superiority in her voice.
“Well done, you discovered what we all know by living with him.” Kai snorted, rolling his eyes. “What about that?”
“Well, I have to be there when he becomes an alpha, to explain everything to him and teach him everything.” the woman said.
“Wait. You're a beta, how are you supposed to teach him how to be an alpha? Where did you even get the idea that Lloyd would be an alpha?” he began asking Kai questions, not wanting to reveal that Lloyd was an omega until the boy was ready to admit it himself.
“Well, the alphas living here clearly don't know anything about anything, since they let themselves be wrapped around the finger of a little prostitute like you. And considering that Lloyd is a master of energy, I think it's obvious that he'll be an alpha.” Misako snorted, and the master of fire stated that in the case of this woman only herbs wouldn't help, but her next sentence was the last straw. “Besides, I don't want you to use my son for your perverted fantasies as well.”
“You!” Kai couldn't help himself and grabbed the woman by her shirt, pressing her against the wall and ignoring the screams of the rest of the team, who started to appear in the kitchen and his own burning eyes.
“Kai no!” Lloyd shouted, running up to the ninja and pulling him away from his mother, while the rest of the people in the room seemed disappointed.
“What was that about?” Nya asked curiously.
"Nothing, I just announced that I'm staying here until Lloyd finishes puberty, becoming an alpha so that a certain someone won't molest him." Misako said with superiority as Kai tried to fight with himself so as not to seriously hurt her. The red ninja was grateful that Cole and Nya were holding him down.
“Mom... I'm an omega.” Lloyd confessed, considering this moment as good as any.
The entire kitchen fell into a deathly silence. Even the clock, frightened, stopped working, waiting for the events to unfold. Misako's surprised face, however, did not stay that way for long and quickly changed to one of anger.
“Do you think this is funny?! Don't joke about things like that.” the dissatisfied woman screamed.
“No mom, I'm not joking, I'm an omega.” Lloyd said, starting to play with the sleeve of his sweatshirt.
“That's impossible! There's no way I gave birth to some little whore.” Misako whispered to herself, devastated, and Lloyd flinched at the words.
Before the woman could add any more colorful remark, Kai punched her in the face without the slightest resistance, panting furiously and not caring that his fist was burning at the moment of impact.
“Don't you dare talk to my child like that!” the red ninja growled with a slight look of madness in his eyes as Cole began to comfort Lloyd, but hearing the words of the fire master, his partners froze.
"Your child?! I gave birth to him!" Misako screamed.
“But I was the one who took care of him longer than you. I was the one who was there for him after Garmadon's sacrifice, instead of flirting with his brother like you were. I was the one who helped him when he discovered he was an omega. I was the one who saved his life, I was the one who made sure nothing happened to him. I'm his real parent, not an open mockery like you!” Kai spoke louder and faster, so he could shout the last sentence straight into the woman's face.
“Do you consider me your kid?” Lloyd asked quietly, which made the red ninja realize where and with whom he was.
“Lloydie... Yes. I understood it not so long ago, but yes. I'm sorry...” Kai started to explain, but Lloyd interrupted him by jumping into his arms.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” The happy green ninja began to repeat, crying into his friend and/or parent's shoulder.
“This is probably an open mockery.” Misako growled, looking with hatred at the fire master and her son.
“No. This is a sign for you that it’s high time you left this monastery.” Zane suggested coldly.
“Exactly!” Jay supported his partner, sticking out his tongue at the woman.
“I think you know where the door is.” Cole added as Kai hugged the puppy tighter, not believing his own luck, as the woman watched displeasedly running out of the room.
“She flew to Master Wu, right?” Nya asked quietly, and Zane nodded.
“Does it matter? Lloyd is here and safe and no one will insult him.” the red ninja purred, hugging the energy master further, who was starting to resemble a small sun with happiness.
“I can't believe you want me as your kid!” Lloyd confessed excitedly.
“Lloyd, you were my child long before that.” Kai said in a gentle tone, playing with the young Garmadon's hair.
“Awww... You look so adorable!” Jay announced with a smile.
“Jay, give them a moment.” Cole laughed, nudging his partner in the side, and Zane looked around the room.
“We'll have to take care of Misako... And officially adopt Lloyd.” The nindroid said thoughtfully, walking over to the boy, marking him with his scent, quickly kissing Kai and getting lost in thought.
Seeing his actions Jay and Cole also rushed to leave their scent on the young energy master, also tending to their contented partner. Lloyd began to giggle at the love and concern surrounding him from every side.
“As adorable as this is I think it’s time to move on because I can hear Misako and Master Wu coming towards us.” Nya snapped and Kai growled pulling his son closer.
“You guys go and we’ll take care of this, okay?” Cole suggested. “You two can spend some time with the changed dynamics or something.”
Kai reluctantly nodded smiling at Lloyd and led him straight to his nest. He didn’t even have to invite the teen inside and the boy was already lying there waiting for the older one to join him.
“She hates me though.” Lloyd whispered.
“So she’s dumber than I thought.” Kai snorted as he entered the nest, resting his chin on the younger's head, hugging him from behind, applying his scent to the teenager.
"B-but were you serious? About all that?" the teenager asked quietly, looking up at the red ninja with hope.
"About me considering you my son? Of course I do!" Kai immediately confirmed, burying his nose in the blond's hair with a smile. "And as for Zane's suggestion about adoption... that's up to you."
"Kai... I can't imagine anything better than having you all as parents." Lloyd replied contentedly, closing his eyes.
“That's the main thing taken care of.” The fire master laughed as his partners entered the room in rather somber moods, which improved slightly when they saw the omegas entwined in an embrace.
“What's up?” Lloyd asked worriedly, seeing their expressions.
“Nothing you need to worry about right now, little pup.” Cole replied, stepping closer to ruffle his hair.
“Actually…” Zane began, but Jay quickly nudged him, shaking his head.
Kai raised an eyebrow at this, but decided to wait for further explanation later, while the rest of the ninja jumped into the nest surrounding him and Lloyd. The boy immediately began to radiate happiness like a little sun, especially when all the boys started leaving their combined scents on him, marking him as a member of the family.
After some time, Lloyd fell asleep surrounded by his family, feeling completely safe and surrounded by love. At the same time, Kai, who hadn't let go of him even for a moment, looked more seriously at his partners.
"Speak." the red ninja ordered, knowing that he might not like the next words.
"Misako said that she had no intention of allowing degenerates like us to take care of the child she gave birth to and lead him down the same path of sin that you are walking." Jay replied quickly.
"I guessed that much. What did she decide?" Kai asked.
"Maybe give me Lloyd back?" Cole suggested, knowing that the fire master might explode upon hearing the news, and Zane even leaned towards taking the pup from the omega's hands.
“She decided to send him to a training center for omegas to be properly and well-mannered trained, so that later on she could sell him as a wife to someone who would make sure Lloyd would do his duties properly, as Misako put it.” Jay explained with disgust, and Kai handed the sleeping Lloyd over to the nindroid without hesitation.
“What?” the angry fire master hissed, barely controlling the impulse to go after Misako and murder her in the most brutal way possible.
“Wu of course reminded her of how stupid it was and that Lloyd was a green ninja, to which she shrugged and said that in that case they would pay her more.” added the master of lightning.
“Where. Is. She?!” Kai growled quietly, not wanting to wake his sleeping son.
“Wu threw her out, saying she must have gone mad. And she said she would come back here with the proper authorities, since Lloyd is not yet of age.” Zane replied quietly.
“He'll be eighteen in a little over three months!” Kai growled further, enraged, imagining himself tearing the woman to shreds.
“That's why we need to talk to Lloyd and see if he would agree to the adoption. If we presented the case well, we would have a chance to win.” Zane replied.
“Well, at least that's out of the way, because I already talked to Lloyd about it and he's all for it. Now we need to arm ourselves with a good lawyer. And no way Dareth, no offense, but he's a terrible lawyer." Kai muttered, slowly calming down.
"I totally agree." Jay nodded.
"I'll start looking for someone then." Zane stated, nodding.
“I will not let this woman hurt my child, nor take him away from me.” The fire master declared seriously with such passion that everyone immediately believed him without hesitation, but the truth remained that it was not up to the red ninja alone.
“We will not let that happen either, Firefly, neither will we.” Cole repeated as the four of them turned their gazes to the teenager sleeping peacefully between them, not knowing that a terrible vision of the future awaited him outside the room.
However, the ninja weren’t going to let that happen.