Chapter Text
*** Present Time ***
Lloyd stared, horrified, at the girl with vibrant red hair before him. She snarled, and launched another attack. But it wasn’t with fists, or weapons, or anything he could handle. It was fire. Fire that looked so similar to his brother’s that all he saw was Kai’s smiling face and his bright red eyes.
But it wasn’t him. It was a kid.
Lloyd redirected her slightly crazed attack, then grabbed her arm and pinned her to the ground. She let out a furious shout and squirmed, but Lloyd refused to be shaken off. Not until he had answers. Not until the sinking feeling in his stomach was gone.
“Why can you control fire?” he asked over her shouting.
“I just can!”
“No machines?” Lloyd asked, voice growing a pitch higher. “No tech or weapons or anything?”
“No,” she snarled, trying to look at Lloyd. “Get off me! If you wanted to fight you shouldn’t have kidnapped me!”
Lloyd shook his head. “I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not the enemy.”
“You look like one,” she snapped, and the glare she sent his way was so Kai that Lloyd was stumbling away, heart racing in fear.
“I’m in disguise,” Lloyd said, trying to keep the tremble from his voice. “I’m not here for you.”
The girl stood, still glaring hard at Lloyd, but it didn’t look like she’d send any fireballs his way, so the green ninja decided to continue his questioning.
“When could you start controlling fire?”
The girl shrugged, her messy hair bouncing.
“I don’t know. Couple years. Why does that matter?”
Lloyd was finding it difficult to breathe, but there was still a chance. Kai couldn’t be-. He didn’t let himself finish the thought.
“Before you could use your powers,” Lloyd began, desperation edging his voice. “Did you meet anyone? A man? With brown hair and a red gi?”
The girl thought for a moment before shaking her head and shrugging.
“I only met people like me when those idiots kidnapped Heatwave.”
Lloyd felt his entire world crumble. There was no possible way for Kai to transfer his powers to someone he hadn’t met. And there could only be one elemental master of fire at a time. So if the girl before him was the newest master, then Kai….
Lloyd had to fight the tears that sprang to life. His entire body was racked with tremors, and he bit down on his hand to try and regain his composure.
“You’re sure?” He asked, voice breaking.
The girl was no longer hostile, now just confused.
“Uh, yeah? I don’t forget things easily, especially if it’s weird.”
“He-” Lloyd had to stop, take a deep breath, as the image of his brother flashed in his mind. “He could use fire too.”
The girl’s eyes widened in shock, but she still shook her head.
“I would definitely remember if I met someone like him. I don’t know him.”
And now Lloyd was sinking to his knees, tears silent despite the roar in his head.
There was no way. There was no possible way he could be dead. Kai was his older brother, the one who was always there no matter what. He couldn’t- he couldn’t be dead.
But there was living proof standing right in front of him.
The girl began to shift uneasily on her feet, and it was obvious she had no idea what to do with Lloyd. Not that the green ninja cared. He wanted nothing more than to crawl into a ball and sob.
But then Nya’s devastated face was all he could see and Lloyd physically recoiled. His sister didn’t know. She didn’t know her brother was dead. And Lloyd would have to tell her.
“Uhhh, who is he?” the girl asked.
Lloyd wiped the tears from his face, and looked at the fiery girl before him. With a voice empty of emotion, he said, “He was my brother.”
Was.
Not is.
It would always be “was” now.
***
Nya wouldn’t listen until the girl, Wyldfyre, used her powers. Arin and Sora were busy showing her around the monastery. When she had shown her powers, Nya had frozen, and Lloyd was leading her away before the kids saw.
Now they were both in Kai’s room, curled up together on his bed, crying as quietly as they could.
They would have to tell Zane eventually, if he hadn’t already figured it out after meeting Wyldfyre. But for now, they needed to be alone.
Neither spoke. They didn’t need to. They had dealt with the deaths of each other several times before. But Kai was gone. Forever.
They had lost their older brother.
***
*** Multiple Realms Over ***
***
He walked through the halls of his palace, enjoying the quiet that could only be achieved in the halls of this place. He had hated it at first, thought it was a sign something horrible was lying in wait to kill him. But now it was the only place he could find time to think.
And there was much he had to think about.
There were at least a hundred issues he had to deal with regarding the neighboring realms and their want for treaties and trading and all kinds of other things. Then there were the issues within his own realm, with the budding villages and civilizations finally able to walk on their own two feet. And he couldn’t forget the millions of monsters he had to maintain.
It was times like these, when the moon was high in the sky and no one was around to bother him, that he missed his old life the most.
He was still waiting for the chance to go home, but for now it felt as if he couldn’t leave. Like if he tried, everything he had done would be for nothing. Though, as his only friend liked to point out, maybe he was just afraid to go home.
It has been nearly four years after all. People change in that time. Especially with the Merge.
Kai certainly had.