a second chance

advice

lloyd's pov

"hey, pix? we're gonna need you to come pick us up."

  im sitting in my car with nya, jay, and harumi well we wait for pixal and zane to come pick us up with the destiny's bounty. it's pretty quiet. nobody's in a good mood.

  ugh, i can't believe we let garmadon get away! if we had only refueled on stupid gas before we left! and now he's out there in who knows where doing who knows what. could be bringing the sons of garmadon back together. or destroying ninjago city. or the monastery! i never wanted to see him again, and now i have to fight him. great.

  i try to distract myself.

  i glance back at jay, harumi and nya. harumi looks very uncomfortable between nya and jay. jay and nya look the same.

  "one of you can move up to the front seat, you know." i say. i can tell jay doesn't want to leave nya alone and nya doesn't trust jay to not be prying.

  eventually it's harumi who climbs up to the front seat.

  it's pretty silent for a while more until jay and nya start quietly chatting in the back.

  "why did you come with us?" i eventually say to harumi.

  "oh, im sorry!" harumi quickly says. "i didn't mean to intrude or something. i can go back once our ride gets here-"

  "no!" i cringe. "i mean, no, you don't have to do that. i just meant- why do you care? you could have just let garmadon escape."

  "im not sure," harumi replies. "last time i was so sure, but now... i dunno." she stares out the front window at the sunset over the desert.

  we're quiet for a little bit more.

  "i think..." harumi says after awhile. "after my parents died- my birth parents- i was so set on revenge." she rested her head against her hand. "i thought garmadon was like some celebrity, and you all were idiots." she looked away from the sunset for a bit and met my eyes. i stared back into her carmely brown ones. "but then i... almost died, and i started ignoring everything that has happened to me. it's like i said before, i wanted to be normal- like nothing had ever happened." she sighed and turned away again. "but that's not possible. it's not realistic. i've done so many terrible things. im in jail for life. i can't just escape punishment for all the things i've done."

  she seems genuinely lost, and i feel sorry for her, so i decide to try to lend her some advice. im no master wu, but i've got some experience with dealing with stuff.

  "look, you may not be able to forget everything that's happened," i say. "but you can move on. and you can do something about it." i meet her eyes again. "you can't go back in time, but you can reset the clock."

  harumi smiles. "wise words, master lloyd."

  i laugh. "i try."

  "so... you do feel guilty?" i ask. "about the whole sons of garmadon thing?"

  "yeah." she replies. "yeah, i do."

  part of me believes it, and the other part wants to. i really, really want to believe harumi. but i just can't. i can't let myself fall completely for her again. maybe i should just take my own advice? i can't just forget everything that harumi's done to me, but i can let her start anew. and maybe, hopefully, that could work.

  i look over at the jade princess. the quiet one. harumi, as she stares out the front window. the light from the sunset looks amazing gently illuminating her hair. she looks so calm. at peace. i don't think ive ever seen harumi like this. i like it.

  she catches me looking out of the corner of her eye and turns her head. i feel a blush spread across my cheeks. she smiles and... is she blushing too?

  "i think you were right." harumi says.

  "about what?"

  "me needing to move on." she says. "i need to stop trying to prevent the past and start impacting the future."

  "now who has the wise words?" i tease.

  she laughs. i love the sound of it.