A/N: This is the end. This one is for Zena Ariale, who wanted Lloyd and Garmadon fluff from the very beginning.

Epilogue

Life went on, press meetings blended into press meetings, and Lloyd got some time to breathe in the middle of the whirlwind whenever he visited the guys and Nya at Wu's schoolhouse or went to see his mom and dad. Their relationships grew, little by little, by and by.

He stood beside his father, the tall grass waving around them in a slight breeze, one warm summer morning.

"You know," Garmadon said, looking regally over the grounds of his new dojo, "everything was happening so fast, I never got to ask you…"

Lloyd looked up when his dad trailed off.

Garmadon stepped back and looked Lloyd over, feet to head. "How did you get so tall?" he asked in a new tone. "I swear I was only gone for about five weeks."

Lloyd couldn't help but grin. "Uhh...magic...tea?" he shrugged.

Garmadon shot him a look of surprise. It twitched into a lopsided grin just like Lloyd's, and then the older man broke into soft chuckles that made his shoulders quiver.

Lloyd had hardly started to laugh before he lunged forward and hugged his dad tightly, his head under Garmadon's arm.

Garmadon gave a little huff of a laugh. "Hm. Still doing that, are you?" he asked, pushing Lloyd off of him gently.

"Still doing what?" Lloyd asked, and then he choked on his breath.

His dad had pulled him in for a tight, swallowing hug. Lloyd couldn't breathe.

Oh. Oh man. Oh man oh man oh man. Lloyd freed his arms and wrapped them as tight around his dad's ribs as he could, grabbed fistfuls of his robe, and almost lifted his feet off the ground so that Garmadon could hold him before he remembered what a bad idea that was.

Still, Garmadon had bent over him a little further, and that was even better.

Lloyd stuffed his face into the crook of Garmadon's neck and nuzzled against the white fabric of his collar. "I missed you, Dad."

"And I missed you, Lloyd." It rumbled in his chest and sounded so warm.

Lloyd didn't want to let go, never, not ever. Not for all of Ninjago. But one thought did come to him out of the blue, and he muttered into Garmadon's shoulder, "You gave better hugs when you had four arms."

Garmadon yanked backwards for a second, shot a delighted look at Lloyd, then threw his head back and howled in laughter—close to his evil old cackle, but so clean and light and carefree that it was like another person entirely.

Lloyd felt himself shaking, and then whooping, shocked laughter forced his eyes shut. Before he could lean on his knees for balance, Garmadon grabbed him tight, kissed his head, and tucked him under one arm to rub his fist into Lloyd's skull.

"Argh! No! No, not the noogies!" Lloyd protested, squirming and failing to get free.

"Lloyd!"

Lloyd looked up at the new voice calling his name in the distance. "Mom!"

When Garmadon released him, Lloyd ran to hug Misako. She smiled warmly at him and kissed his cheek, which he wiped off with a laugh.

Garmadon wasn't far behind. "Hello, Misako," he said, extremely stiff and civil. "How's work?"

Misako shot him a soft glare, still hugging Lloyd.

Lloyd looked at one, and then the other, and then groaned. "Can we not do this today?"

"Oh, all right," answered Garmadon. "For your day off, I guess we can hold off the age-old rivalry."

"Lloyd, tell your father to stop being dramatic," said Misako, not taking her eyes off of him.

Lloyd gave a stupid grin and leaned on Garmadon. "Dad, Mom says—"

"Yes, yes, I heard," he groused.

Misako gave a warm chuckle.

As they headed towards the front doors of the dojo, Lloyd ran his hands absentmindedly over the tall grass, feeling the tips scratch his palm and fingers a little. He let his thoughts drift, and they started wandering backwards to old adventures and memories...

The shrill sound of a grass whistle made him jump, and he spun around in surprise. Garmadon was standing close behind him, looking skeptically at something in his hands.

"Y-you know how to do that?" asked Lloyd.

"Of course." Garmadon almost sounded offended. "I was one of two children living isolated in a monastery surrounded by nature. Why is everyone so surprised by this?"

"Oh, well...it's just that..." Lloyd couldn't finish. Grass whistles made him think of someone else.

Garmadon was quiet for a moment, but then he offered Lloyd a kind, cautious smile. "Someone told me you enjoy these," he said.

Lloyd stared at him for a moment, letting that sink in. He came out of the funk slowly, and felt himself grin. "Yeah. I-I've been practicing!" He ripped the tip off of a tall blade of grass and began to blow on it.

"Don't puff out your cheeks," instructed Garmadon.

"Right." Lloyd felt a little sheepish. "Got it."

Then again, he had wanted his dad to teach him...

Lloyd eventually got the hang of it, and he and Garmadon both began a cacophony of whistles that were probably supposed to be two different songs played badly and smooshed together.

Misako, who was walking ahead, finally turned around. "What are you boys doing?"

They turned and blew a loud wheeeeet at her at the same time. Lloyd looked at his dad's silly face and then doubled over laughing, and Garmadon joined him.

Maybe it was the laughter, or the feeling of pride, or the sun on the back of his neck and the weight of someone he cared about close beside him, but all of the sudden it brought him back to that beach all that time ago, and Lloyd laughed so hard that it mingled with his tears.

His dad's laughter was faltering. "Everything all right?" he asked, smiling at Lloyd though his white eyebrows were scrunched together.

"Yeah. Just..." Lloyd swiped at his eyes, staring at the little blade of grass, and managed a bittersweet smile. "Remembering."

Garmadon did that thing where he searched Lloyd's emotions with his eyes, then smiled. He wrapped his arms around Lloyd's shoulders. "As well you should."

They walked on towards the dojo, Misako in the lead. Lloyd rubbed the blade of grass between his thumb and forefinger, just like he did every now and then, when he was alone outside traveling from one press tour to another.

If he was out in the country, and there was a wide green field and rice paddies stretching out between the road and the blue sky, he'd pluck a little blade of grass, fit it between his hands, and blow softly. The whistle note would ring out a little clearer every time.

Lloyd smiled.

THE END

A/N: *WHEEZES* IT'S OVER

IT'S DONE

Thank you guys so much for sticking with me all the way here! I can't believe this turned into the project it did—over 25,000 words and several months of working and waiting, writing and rewriting, coming up with and stealing ideas, heh—but I'm so proud of it. This goes out to the wonderful Dr. Julien fan club on tumblr who wanted to see what Lloyd thought of our beloved Doc last fREAKING YEAR LOL

So, ah...I can't promise that it's coming out very soon, especially since I want to devote more attention to my Captain America fanfics, but...if, by any chance, anyone would be interested in a "deleted scenes" one-shot collection of outtakes from Grass Whistle, I guess you can let me know in the reviews!

Want some good music to listen to while you reread the fic? I made a playlist~ Add this after the youtube URL, and delete the spaces: / watch? v= 20Q-N_Vv_ R8&list= PLDD3N_ iDe5b6cailb8PrVzYCV_ gLj4sTv

Also if you're on tumblr, hit me up at eloquenceassassinated or send me a pm or something 'cause I wanna talk about my baby X-3

Man, it's been a ride! I'm so ecstatic to be able to present this story to you guys in full! To all of you who have stuck with me since day one and all of you who will read this story long after it's finished, thank you for your support, and for being in this wonderful fandom!

REVIEWS ARE GRASS WHISTLES!