unlike y/n, lloyd did not learn to surf the waves of grief.
that's not saying he had an easy childhood - quite far from that. the absence of his parents, one of them being an evil overlord, affected him vastly - and it was because of his fate, because of the destiny he was pushed to fulfill, that he never got to experience the joy of a birthday party. or going to a parent-teacher conference. or even reading harry potter.
but it was exactly his lack of experiences that made him so unprepared for what happened to the ninja. lloyd never had anything to miss because you simply cannot miss something you've never had.
lloyd couldn't miss the feeling of having a birthday. lloyd couldn't miss the feeling of going to a parent-teacher conference.
but y/n? y/n knew the feeling of being cared for. she had two supportive parental figures that she took for granted. and even if her relationship with harumi was all fake, she could only yearn for the attention.
so there lloyd stood in the storage room, letting the waves crash all at once.
"lloyd!"
"h-huh?"
"go again. we're not gonna look for lunch until you can defeat pixal."
dareth kicked his feet to the ground and stood on the first row of the bleachers. "actually, nya, every restaurant is closed. i checked this morning, remember?"
nya scrunched her eyebrows, visibly irritated. "we'll find something. i promise. now go!"
almost immediately, the mech threw its metal arms to the ground. nearly striking the green ninja, well, former green ninja, he ducked to the right while trying to figure out how to regain his abilities. but what can you do with a blank mind? becoming desperate, lloyd started running slow laps around the facility, only traversing across pixal's suit every so often.
to nya, they looked like tom and jerry.
slurping some leftover noodles from the night before, she yelled in frustration. "embrace your power! before you can use it, you must find it within!"
"come on..." taking her words literally, lloyd put his hands together and attempted to create an energy ball. but his efforts were useless as the samurai wrapped him in chains for the third time that day.
"fight it, lloyd! be stronger than what holds you back!"
not even moving an inch, he rolled his eyes. "let me out."
