•🐉•👑•🐉•👑•🐉•

•🐉•👑•🐉•👑•🐉•

~Come, come one, come all
You must be this tall
To ride this ride at the carnival

Oh, come take my hand
And run through playland
So high, too high at the carnival~

•🐉•👑•🐉•👑•🐉•

"The Green Ninja and the Jade Princess. Not too shabby for a dude who's falling in love for the first time."

Lloyd felt his lips twitch up at those words. He would never admit it out loud but he liked how those two different titles native to two different people seemed to harmonize perfectly. It sounded so much like those classic fairytales where true love reigns supreme and dreams come true.

As soon as those words had left Kai's smirking lips at training earlier that day, Lloyd's heart had fluttered till he could hear it pounding in his chest. He was sure he had broken out in a blush on the spot otherwise Jay wouldn't have been making kissy faces at him.

Even though he had totally freaked out when "Lloyd and Harumi sitting in a tree" was sung in four off-key voices (minus Zane who only smiled), the young blonde warrior half wanted it to be true– not him and the princess having a moment in a random tree but her reciprocating his feelings.

Lloyd mused on, distractedly pulling at the tassel hanging from the hilt of his katana, his back to the open balcony door. He had managed to make himself comfy on the sturdy patio rail, one leg propped up as a support for his elbow while the other dangled over the edge.

He gazed down at the palace gardens where guards patrolled the cobbled pathways. The sight should've given him a sense of comfort since now his team had backup in case the Sons of Garmadon did decide to show up.

Instead, it reflected the real reason of him being in the Palace of Secrets: the protection of the Royal Family and the Mask of Deception. How could he even think of having a chance with the Jade Princess when his importance here was equal to that of a mere palace guard?

Just a few more days and then the gallivanting tales of the ninja and the princess would be nothing more than meaningless whispers of the night. Lloyd sighed dejectedly. It was like the Emperor had said; his duty lied in the safety of the Mask. His heart must not interfere.

"Lloyd?"

"Gah!" The Green Ninja felt himself slip from off the railing, the katana jumping out of his hand. Instinct screamed at him to grasp the wooden ledge and lean back, preventing his dangerous fall from the sixth floor. If it weren't for his quickness, he would've broken more than a few bones.

However, this action led him to fall backwards instead. He reacted by yelping and landing on his back on the balcony floor. The posterior of his head collided with the solid ground, making him hiss in pain.

"Oh my Dragon, I'm extremely sorry!" called out the voice that had startled him in the first place.

Lloyd forced his eye-lids to open. His vision blurred as a slight vertigo took over. His green eyes immediately blinked back into focus when an upside-down face swam into view. It was the princess, her painted features etched with a horrified expression as she looked down at him.

Prioritizing impressions over pain, Lloyd twisted his face into a goofy grin. "Rumi!" he blurted out enthusiastically as if this was a perfectly normal way for friends to meet. He flipped onto his stomach so that he looked less awkward but, honestly, it wasn't doing much good.

There was a clatter from below and a surprised cry from a guard, indicating that the katana had ungracefully reached the ground. Lloyd cringed, making a mental note of retrieving it later.

"Are you okay?" Princess Harumi spoke up, ignoring the improvised suave look plastered on Lloyd's face. She moved to reach out a hand towards him which he took without hesitation.

Wanting to get off the floor quickly, the blonde didn't think and unknowingly pulled on her hand while getting up. This compelled Harumi to stumble forward and her forehead struck painfully with Lloyd's. 

"Ow!" the two cried aloud in unison.

Lloyd, who was just getting used to the throbbing at the back of his head, now had an ache in the front as well. It wouldn't have been that bad if he had actually come in contact with Harumi's forehead rather than the gold diadem which she wore around her white hair.

"Ugh, my head is not having it today," he mumbled tiredly, massaging the point from where the pain emanated the most. He stopped tending to himself when he noticed the princess rubbing her own forehead, her face contorted in pain. Lloyd immediately shuffled closer to apologize.

"I'm so sorry," he repeated over and over again once the aching had subsided. He helped Harumi reset her diadem which had been shifted to the side a little due to the accident. The girl kept telling him it was okay and smiled comfortingly to confirm her acceptance of the apology.

Harumi laughed when she spoke again, pulling her white tresses back into her jeweled hairclip. "Are you always this clumsy or is it just around me?"

Cheeks burning red, Lloyd grabbed the back of his neck and tried to his best to appear nonchalant. "Uh, why would I only be c-clumsy around you, Your Highness?"

Harumi shrugged, stepping up next to Lloyd and leaning against the railing with her hands clasped over it. "Well, despite your being a ninja for several years, I still had to save you from falling down that building yesterday night." She smirked triumphantly, giving Lloyd a side-glance.

The gesture seemed to make Lloyd smile rather than pout at the beration of his ninja abilities. "I didn't really know it was you, Rumi. So technically, it doesn't count," he replied confidently, standing up straight.

"Excuses," Harumi sang in a teasing tone, giggling at Lloyd's frown.

The Green Ninja suddenly leaned in closer and playfully narrowed his eyes at the girl. "Oh yeah? Well, answer this. Do you always act helpless or is it just around me?"

This time it was Harumi's turn to be caught off guard. Her sapphire eyes widened and she began stuttering as if trying to cover up an almost-revealed secret. "What– I'm not . . . How did you–"

"I've never seen a princess sprinting on rooftops with an entire bag of food. Not that I've met any princesses before you but still," Lloyd smirked, placing a hand on his hip, the other arm resting on the balustrade. Turning the tables felt so satisfying at times.

Harumi looked almost relieved at finding out what Lloyd really meant by his question. She let out a forced chuckle, attempting not to appear too tensed up. "I guess when you have a Master at Arms like Hutchins as your babysitter, you pick up a thing or two."

"So, you know how to fight?"

"No!" the princess exclaimed rather immediately. She noticed the look of bewilderment on Lloyd's face and quickly regretted losing her composure. She tried again. "I mean, no, I don't. I'm a total scaredy cat in that department. I just enjoy running about and roaming free."

Lloyd stared at her in silence for a second before nodding and turning away to gaze back at the far-off roofs of the city buildings. "I guess that's understandable when you're stuck in a palace the entire day."

"Yeah," Harumi whispered back frantically. Lloyd didn't seem to notice that there was something off about the way the princess was acting. His mind was elsewhere at the moment. It wandered back to the sparring session the Ninja had that morning.

"If you like this girl, you need to step up your game."

"It means one's ability to charm. You need to convince her why you are the most logical mate."

"If you want to impress her, you gotta act tough. Like, flex your muscles and stuff. Break things."

"No way! You gotta make her laugh."

"You just gotta act cool. Like you don't even care."

"Look, just be yourself. It's so much more easier than trying to be someone you're not."

Be himself. That seemed like a more suitable course of action.

Nya always had the right thing to say. He just had to be himself and charm the princess in his own way. It wouldn't feel like lying or behaving in a foreign way that's sure to overwhelm him. It was simply doing what he did best.

He just needed to be Lloyd.

"Would you like to go on another run?" the Green Ninja offered effortlessly and without a moment's hesitation.

"A run?"

Lloyd shifted and now his back was pressed against the railing. He glanced at Harumi, arms folded and eyes sparking with hope. "You know, a trip on the rooftops. We can go out into the city and maybe even see the remaining New Year celebrations."

The girl uncertainly observed the city from the view the balcony provided. The sun was now no more than a shrinking ball of orange, going lower and lower below the horizon, making the buildings erupt in silhouettes against the coral evening sky.

"The sun's almost down," she pointed out, endeavoring to sound disappointed. "It'll be dark soon."

"So?" Lloyd shrugged with a smile. "We'll just roam around for a little while and be back before dinner. It'll take your mind off all this Sons of Garmadon stuff."

"And what about Hutchins? He'll have your head if he sees I've run off with you again."

Lloyd winced at that possibility. But he wasn't going to let a grumpy, old master at arms stand in the way of 'stepping up his game'. Though that did seem like a very un-warrior like thing to do.

The blonde gestured up at the Jades' royal residence. "It's a pretty big palace. You could be anywhere. And if your room doesn't look ransacked like it did before, I'm sure everything will be fine."

It took a while but Harumi finally agreed with Lloyd's proposition just for the sake of amusement and frolic. And maybe even a little bit of sweet rebellion.

"Very well," Harumi said, already moving towards the balcony door. "Give me a moment to remove my makeup and change into a more casual attire."

Lloyd hopped onto the banister and crouched to still stay level with the princess. "Great! Take all the time you need. Once you're ready, meet me on the roof," he instructed before leaping up and out of sight.

Harumi smiled when she heard a whispered "Yes! Nailed it!" from somewhere above the wooden canopy and she could imagine Lloyd punching the air in triumph.

•🐉•👑•🐉•👑•🐉•

Have some candy!

🍭🍬🍭🍬🍭🍬🍭🍬