The Enchanted DVD Player (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 7 - Nightmares

Lloyd falls asleep almost immediately. I guess it must be nice for him to finally have an actual bed, instead of sleeping on the ground like he has been for the past little while. I want to ask him a bunch of questions, like how long he was out in the wilderness by himself and why he released all the Serpentine tombs, but I haven't gotten the chance. I don't even know if it's something he wants to talk about. 

I close my eyes, unconsciousness finally claiming me, but then I hear a whimper. I turn to Lloyd's bed, and see him shaking. It looks like he's crying in his sleep.

"Lloyd, wake up," I say, poking him. Our beds are close enough together that I can reach across from where I'm lying down to nudge him.

"Huh? What?" he whispers. There's water glistening beneath his eyes.

"You were having a nightmare."

"P-please don't tell my uncle," he says. "Or the other ninja."

"I won't," I promise, but his jagged breathing doesn't improve. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah. I was just thinking about Pythor." He shudders. "Sorry if I woke you."

Wow. I didn't expect him to be this... sensitive. The Lloyd I know from the show never cared about others at first, but now the Lloyd lying down in the bed next to me just apologized for waking me up?

"No, you didn't. Do you want to talk about it?"

He takes in a rocky breath, then shakes his head. There's an expression on his face that looks like he wants to talk, but he's afraid of being judged.

"You know, you don't have to hide your feelings. Keeping them in only makes things worse."

Lloyd sighs. A few minutes pass.

"I never should have trusted Pythor," he finally says. "He was wrong about everything."

"It's not your fault, Lloyd."

"Yes, it is! The Serpentine would still be locked up if I hadn't let Pythor convince me into releasing all of them."

"You... what? How did he convince you?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Uh, yeah, it sort of does. Did he threaten you? Did he hurt you?"

He swallows. "Well, no. Not really. He just... he said that only the son of Garmadon could open the tombs, and I wanted... I wanted to prove..."

I move to Lloyd's bed so I can give him a hug.

"It's not your fault," I say again. "You were manipulated. Besides, everything happens for a reason."

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"If you hadn't released Pythor, we wouldn't have taken you in. And if we hadn't brought you aboard, then you would have never become... oops."

Damn, I'm really bad this.

"Become what?"

"Never mind. You find out yourself one day."

To cheer him up, I tell Lloyd some funny stories about life on the bounty. He laughs a few times, and I'm glad. I ask him what he does for fun, and he says he likes to play pranks.

"Do you have any pranks planned for the ninja?" I ask.

"Not yet. Have any ideas?"

I think for a minute, and then I remember something that I really, really want to see happen live.

"What if we put Zane's gi in the wash with Kai's?"