So I've been re-reading Eldritch Sun's season 5 AU fic Murphy's Law (which is fantastic and you should all go read it) but it's slowly killing me with that good angst so I ended up writing fluff to counter it.

…mostly fluff. I tried X'D

It's not strange, per say, that Lloyd goes missing again, but that doesn't mean it worries Kai any less.

It's only normal, Zane reminds them, that Lloyd would want to be alone occasionally. It's only been a few weeks since the…well, Kai doesn't want to say disaster, or fiasco, maybe more like…ordeal? Whatever the proper term is for "we got out mostly alive but now we're emotionally out for the count" is.

Lloyd's the only one who's really out for the count, though. Even Cole is bouncing back remarkably fast, though he does relapse occasionally at the reminder of what he is now. But the difference is that Cole talks about it - he's stopped internalizing it and pretending he's fine when he relapses. He talks to his brothers or Sensei Wu when he does, or he smashes a table, and then talks to one of them.

Lloyd just disappears, which as far as Kai is concerned is a terrible coping method, because he's spent the last few weeks with Lloyd's absence a wound in his side anyways, just to have to deal with that absence again. And yeah, he gets that people need space, and healing takes time, but he gave Lloyd enough of that after Garmadon died the first time. Lloyd's given himself plenty of space running off like he has, but Kai is going to draw the line at sneaking out during the worst of the summer storms.

And sure, his little brother is pretty capable of taking care of himself, but it's also Lloyd. He could be slipping in a puddle and falling off a cliff by now, or getting jumped by some random maniac out for revenge, or being lured to his death by more homicidal ghosts.

So maybe Kai's a little overprotective, but this is Lloyd. And Kai didn't spend the last few weeks going out of his mind with worry just to lose him to a little wind and rain.

Okay, a lot of wind and rain, Kai decides, as he squints through the torrential downpour around him. Man, he should've brought Nya. Or an umbrella. His poor rain jacket isn't enough to protect his hair, Kai thinks dismally, swiping at the little streams of water making their way down his face.

At least he's almost there. He can feel the subtle influence Lloyd's power brings to his own a bit stronger now, even if the usual green glow feels slightly dimmer than usual. Kai squints through the rain again, the outline of the abandoned tea shop taking shape in front of him.

Or, rather, the outline of Garmadon's old monastery.

Kai bites his lip. It'd be nice if Lloyd had decided to go inside, where it's warm and dry and…not wet, but Kai only has so much luck. Sure enough, he catches a flash of green though the rain, removed from the main house. Kai sighs, and begins trudging toward it.

Lloyd is sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest, curled up on the porch of one of the boarded up houses, barely sheltered from the storm. He doesn't seem to even notice Kai at first, staring out at the storm with a blank sort of look. It's not until Kai sits down beside him, dripping rainwater everywhere and pushing grumpily at his hair, that Lloyd murmurs a quiet hey, scooting over a bit so Kai can sit comfortably next to him, never taking his eyes off the rain.

Kai sits there in silence next to him for a bit, the sound of the rain loud against the wood of the roof, the winds occasionally blowing little sprays of raindrops on their faces. Kai sneaks several long looks at Lloyd, trying to decide if this is a "I got possessed so I'm sitting in the rain miserable and alone" kind of situation or a "my dad is dead so I'm sitting in the rain miserable and alone" kind of situation. Or maybe it's a "being the Green Ninja sucks and so does everything else" kind of situation, though Kai really hasn't run into that one since the Overlord was around, but who knows.

Maybe it's all of them.

"How are you?" Kai finally asks, smashing into the question without preamble. He's never had to be guarded around Lloyd, though. That's just how they work - they tell each other everything, and if someone doesn't, they drag it out of the other with all the delicacy of a wrecking ball.

(Okay, that last one might just be Kai, but still.)

Lloyd shrugs. "If I say 'fine', are you going to go off again?"

"Eh," Kai says, even as he winces internally. As much as Lloyd needs to stop blatantly lying, Kai's reactions are probably doing more harm than they are good. But he's worried, okay? "I'll probably just drag you to the couch and force you to watch some super sad movie until you cry all over the place."

"That's low."

"It'll probably be about an animal, or something."

"You wouldn't."

"A dog, maybe, one of those ones where it dies in the end-"

"Shut up," Lloyd says, shoving him in the arm. It's a light touch, though, that barely moves Kai. Lloyd leans back, his head turning back to the horizon. A flash of lightning streaks though the yellow sky, followed by a cracking boom of thunder that rattles the old monastery walls.

"Hey, Kai?" Lloyd says, quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever…" Lloyd takes a breath. "What do you think would have happened, if it wasn't me?"

Kai frowns. "If what wasn't you?"

"The Green Ninja," Lloyd says, his voice even quieter. "What if I wasn't it? What if I was just…just me?"

Kai's frown deepens. He doesn't like the way Lloyd says that sentence. "I mean…we would've been in trouble, I guess," Kai says. "Can you imagine if it had been, like, Jay? We would've toast-"

"That's - that's not what I meant, and you know it," Lloyd says, glaring at him.

Kai shifts a bit guiltily. "Okay, then tell me what you do mean."

"When…he was in my head, he-" Lloyd breaks off, blinking angrily and glaring forward. "No one wanted me before I was the Green Ninja. So if I - if it hadn't been me, I would've been just like him, right? A-alone, with nowhere to go, and-"

"Okay, hold up," Kai says, trying to throttle multiple emotions at once before they turn into something that will likely scare off Lloyd. "First off, who put it in to your head that no one wanted you before you were the Green Ninja? Was it Morro? Because I am open to going to the Departed Realm and kicking some ass-"

"Kai." Lloyd looks up at him, his eyes hollow, the dark rings beneath his eyes even more pronounced.

Okay, Kai thinks. Ouch. Okay, backtrack. Lloyd's mom left him. Lloyd grew up at an asshole school. Lloyd has abandonment issues. All very understandable reasons for him to think this, even if it kind of breaks Kai's heart that Lloyd still doesn't trust him-

No, no, that's not it. Nya needs reminding that it's okay to fail. Cole needs reminding that he's not a disappointment. Jay needs reminding that he's liked for himself. Zane needs reminding that he's not just a machine.

And Lloyd needs reminding that he's wanted, that's all.

"I wouldn't throw my life on the line for the Green Ninja," Kai says, at last. "I'd do it for Lloyd, though."

Lloyd starts, looking up at Kai with wide eyes. "Huh?"

"I don't care about any of the prophecy stuff," Kai says, firmly. "I care about my family. I didn't save the Green Ninja from the Fire Temple, I saved my bratty little brother. He's the one I'm looking out for. I don't care if you've got the power of the First Spinjitzu Master or if you can't even land a hit on Jay. I want Lloyd - you know, my squeaky-voiced brother who wakes me up at two am because he snuck a cat on board and it tore up the couch? You're stuck with me, no matter what."

Lloyd's eyes are watery, and his lip quivers. Kai shakes his head, and grabs Lloyd by the shoulder, pulling him in and trapping him firmly against him. Lloyd hugs him back almost instantly, clinging to him like he's afraid Kai will slip away if he lets him.

Kai ruffles his hair, glancing up at the pouring rains and ignoring the slight wetness seeping into his shirt where Lloyd's got his head pressed against him. He takes a shaky breath of his own, blinking hard.

He's really, really got to stop almost losing this kid. Maybe he should lock him up somewhere, like in a giant bullet-proof, ghost-proof, overlord-proof safe. Maybe they should buy a house several hundred miles away and all move to the coast, and the next time some power-hungry enemy shows up trying to hurt his brother he won't even find him, because they'll all be suntanning and eating Cole's terrible cooking and they'll never have to worry about losing each other again-

Kai swallows, and snorts instead. Lloyd would probably find a way to drown going fishing or something, anyways.

Lloyd's breathing finally evens out, and he shifts his head so he's no longer buried in Kai's shirt, staring out at the storm instead as the cool wind dries the wetness on his cheeks.

"My voice is not squeaky," Lloyd finally says, his voice nasally.

"Uh-huh," Kai says, grinning as he squeezes Lloyd a bit tighter for a second.

The wind picks up, rustling through the trees around them as they buckle and sway against the gales. Droplets of rain fleck against Kai's cheek, and he shivers. Beside him, Lloyd closes his eyes, the wind pulling at his hair and whipping it around his head like a blond halo.

"You sure you're okay out here?" Kai asks, as the wind howls.

"I like storms," Lloyd says, quietly. "I like the wind."

"Okay," Kai says.

"I'm not going to let him take that from me, too."

Kai glances at him. A slight smile tugs at his lips as he watches the stubbornly determined expression on Lloyd's face.

"Okay," he says, shifting slightly and adjusting his arm around his brother, watching the storm blow past.

They'll be alright, Kai decides.

Eventually.