Lloyd's P.O.V.:

Ryder was settling in nicely with me. We learned a lot about each other and we actually had a lot in common. We both liked dragons and chocolate covered bananas, and he even tried his hand at the ninja course on the bounty. He still had a long way to go before he was ready to be a ninja, but he showed potential.

My mom and I took him to the mall and let him pick out some new clothes and some toys. He was very happy with the green dragon stuffed animal my mother bought him. It was nice to see him so happy and adjusting to his new life and family. I was just happy he was safe now.

It had been about a week since the whole Harumi incident and things were going pretty well. Ryder was still a little traumatized by the whole thing, but luckily slowly but surely he was coming around to the idea that not everyone was like Harumi.

He was a pretty shy kid so I was a little worried about him being around the other kids around his own age, but we were going to find out today. Hopefully his trust issues wouldn't get in the way of him making friends.

I was planning a surprise party for Kira and all of my friends came out to help and be with me. They had all taken time out of their work to be there, even Cole and Seliel were coming with their daughter to come see me. I was really looking forward to seeing them all again and getting to meet their kids.

All of the ninja had gotten real jobs now that the team disbanded. Kai and Skylor ran the noodle shop, Cole and Seliel had jobs as assistants for the Mayor of Nom, Zane and Pixal worked at Borg Industries and Nya basically ran a babysitting service for everyone while they worked. As for Jay he was in between jobs at the moment. As for me, I was a stay at home dad and proud of it. Finding a job wasn't my top priority right now, keeping my son safe was.

I was excited to see everyone again after being unconscious for 3 years, and I knew they were excited to see me as well. I also thought it would be a good experience for Ryder to get to know some kids that were around his own age.

We were going to have the party at the park because the bounty wasn't ready yet. It worked fine for now because it was just me and Ryder, but we were just getting the old girl back into shape.

I was catching back up with all my friends as they were helping me hang up the last of decorations around the pavilion. All of the kids were on the playground playing with each other. Ryder wasn't quite ready to go play with the other kids yet so he was sitting in my lap. He had been through so much and I just didn't want pressure him.

"It is good to have you back brother." Zane smiled.

"It's good to be back." I smiled and stretched my arms.

"So who's this little guy?" Skylor asked looking at my son on my lap.

"Oh yeah, guys this is Ryder." I looked at my son on my lap. "Ryder, you wanna say hi to everyone?"

Ryder cuddled the green dragon plushie my mother had gotten for him and leaned into me. That usually meant he didn't feel like talking.

"Sorry he's still a little shaken up after everything that happened." I said.

"We understand, Nya told us everything." Jay said.

"You're quite a brave kid Ryder." Cole said to him.

Ryder looked at Cole and gave him a little smile, then he leaned back into me.

"Ryd, don't be shy, it's ok." I told him. "Do you wanna go play on the playground with the other kids?"

He looked over and saw the kids playing on the playground. They were all running around the playground pretending to be dragons. Ryder always had a weird obsession with dragons since he was born. In fact, dragon was his first word.

"Will you come with me?" He asked me.

"Of course." I agreed.

I took his hand and walked with him over to the playground. The other kids stopped what they were doing and looked at me and Ryder. They were all a bit confused and Ryder hid behind my leg, cuddling his dragon plushy.

"Green ninja!" Blake pointed up at me.

"Hey kids, I'm Lloyd, and this is my son Ryder." I said pointing to him. Then I looked at Ryder who was still hiding behind my leg. "It's ok bud, they're not going to hurt you."

Ryder peaked out at the other kids and stuttered a tiny little "H-hi" before jumping back behind me.

"Ok so let's see if I can remember what your parents told me." I said trying to remember the kids' names. I saw a little girl with red hair and I pointed to her. "Amber?" Then I pointed to a little spiky haired boy next to her. "Blake?" Then I saw a little brown haired girl and black hair boy. "Lily and Jax?" Then I saw a girl who looked basically like a mini Seliel. "Allison?" Then I saw a kid that was made of medal kinda like Zane. "And you must be Alex."

"Good memory." Amber said.

"Hello." Blake walked up to Ryder and noticed his stuffed dragon. "Cool dragon."

"Thanks. Do you like dragons too?" Ryder asked.

"Yeah. We were just playing dragon tag." Jax said.

"Wanna play too?" Lily asked.

"Well I uhh..." He looked up at me and I smiled and nodded.

"Go ahead bud." I insisted. "I'll be right over there if you need anything."

"Thanks Dad." He smiled.

He gave me a hug and then went to play with the other kids. I went back to my friends at the picnic tables and watched as he played with them. He fit right in with all of them and he was running around and playing with the other kids. He looked so happy and I was so glad.

"I've never seen him that happy before." I said to no one in particular.

"I haven't seen Allison that happy before either." Seliel said to Cole.

"Yeah it's been so long since she smiled like that." Cole agreed. "In Nom we almost never get to spend much time with her."

"Are you guys thinking of moving back?" Jay asked excitedly.

"My dad isn't as young as he used to be." Seliel sighed. "It's getting harder for him to run the village by himself and I don't want him to do that alone."

As everyone was wrapped up in their own conversations, I noticed that Kai was awfully quiet. That's not like him at all. He said hello and that he was happy to see me again earlier, but he hadn't said a word since. I think he thought that I was still upset about what happened five years ago, but for once in his life, Kai was right.

Honestly I didn't want to marry Harumi in the first place. The only reason I did was because she was already pregnant with Ryder. After she "reformed" we agreed to take things slow, but she was so manipulative and controlling I had to do whatever she wanted and that's how we ended up with Ryder. It was never about me, she just wanted an Oni she could get to do her bidding. And since I'm part Oni, she figured my offspring would be Oni too. That's why she wanted to keep Ryder a secret from the world so no one would find him after she tried to kill me.

For two years I had played her games for Ryder's sake. All those years I was just falling for her stupid traps and all her lies, and for all I know she could've been torturing Ryder back then too. I was a terrible father for not seeing that, but now I got a second chance to be a great one.

"Kai? Are you ok?" I asked him.

"Can I talk to you over there please." He asked.

"Um sure." I agreed. "Nya can you please watch Ryder for a sec?"

"Of course." Nya agreed.

"Thanks." I said.

I walked over to another part of the park. I made sure I could still see Ryder on the playground from where I was and that he could see me.

"Lloyd, I'm so sorry." Kai frowned. "I shouldn't have been so selfish when you asked me to be your best man. This was all my fault."

"What are you apologizing for?" I asked. "For once in your life you were right, Harumi was just using me. I thought I was doing what was best for Ryder but he ended up suffering because of me. You were just trying to warn me and I should've listened to you."

"This is the one time I wish I wasn't right." He sighed. "I can't imagine what your son must've gone through."

"Me neither. But if Master Wu taught me anything, it's that we can't change the past, but we can effect the future." I smiled.

"Right." Kai smiled. "So are we cool?"

"We're cool." I smiled.

"Hey guys." Nya ran up to us. "Kira's on her way."

"We'll be right there." I said.

Kai and I ran back to the pavilion and we all jumped out and surprised Kira as she showed up. She was really happy and she looked surprised.

"What's all this?" Kira asked.

"I wanted to do something to thank you for saving my life and my son." I explained.

"Awe Lloyd, you didn't have to do all this." She said. "I was happy to help."

"I know but look at how happy he is." I pointed to Ryder on the playground. "If it wasn't for you, I would dead and my son would be forced to serve his mother forever and be miserable for the rest of his life. I know this isn't nearly enough to repay you, but it's a start."

"Plus he has a crush on her." I heard Nya whisper to Kai and he giggled. Hopefully Kira didn't hear that.

"Oh my gosh, you're all here." Kira turned to our friends and started to hug them each individually.

"Nice to see you Kira." Cole said.

"Hey you guys are back from Nom." Kira exclaimed hugging both him and Seliel.

"Yeah it's been a long time." Seliel said.

We continued with the party and we were having a lot of fun with cake and pizza and just catching up with my friends. I was so happy that they all could make it and Kira seemed impressed with the party.

Afterwards I was sitting on the bench watching my son play on the playground with the other kids. He looked so happy I couldn't help but smile. Then Kira came and set next to me.

"So your friends never mentioned you were a father." Kira said to me.

"That's because they didn't know." I admitted. "My ex-wife wanted to keep him a secret from everyone to keep him safe, but it was all a trick."

"Well if it's any consolation, I think you're a great dad." Kira smiled.

"A great dad would never let this happen to his own son." I sighed.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, it could happen to anyone." Kira put her hand on my shoulder. "The important thing is that you're here for him now. Not everyone is so lucky you know?"

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Well my father left for an adventure soon after I was born, when he didn't come back my mother went to find him, but she never came back either."

"She just left?"

"She left me to be raised by my grandmother, but she passed away when I was 12." She explained. "I did everything I could but I couldn't save her. I guess it was just her time."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I frowned.

"It's ok. It was a long time ago." She frowned. "After that I left to try to find my parents and I didn't have any luck. Then I discovered I had healing powers and I got a job at the hospital. My life's been pretty boring since then."

"So you've been all alone since you were twelve?"

"Yeah, but to be honest, I wish I could be a part of a family again."

"But you are, we're your family now." I smiled.

I pulled her into a hug. I felt so bad for her. At least I was lucky enough to have my mother and my son as part of my family, but I couldn't imagine what Kira's been through. I haven't known her for that long, but I knew she was nice, caring and cool under pressure. It's hard to believe that she had been through so much because she never let it show.

"Daddy?" Ryder ran up to me.

"What's wrong bud?" I asked him.

"I'm kind of tired." He yawned.

"Well it is getting pretty late." I looked at the time and realized we had been there for hours. "I should probably get him back home."

"Well thanks for the party Lloyd." Kira said. "This was the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"Well you deserve it." I smiled.

She smiled back and she was blushing, and so was I. I felt a sort of connection between us, it was ten times better than what I felt with Harumi. This one felt real. I could feel that she felt the same way, like a true connection.

"I know you just got out of a relationship, but would it be totally inappropriate if we could get dinner sometime?" Kira asked me.

'Oh god what do I do?' I thought to myself. 'I never had a girl ask me out before, at least not one as great as she is. I've never felt this way about anyone before.'

"Well I uh..." I stuttered.

"He'd love to." Ryder said for me. "Wouldn't you Daddy?"

'Did I just get set up on a date by my five year old son?' I said in my mind. "I'd love to but I don't have a babysitter for Ryder. He's not comfortable around many other people yet."

"Are you gonna be my new mommy?" Ryder asked Kira and she giggled.

"Ryder Wu!" I scolded.

"It's ok." Kira laughed. Then she looked back at Ryder. "We'll just see how the first date goes ok?"

"Ok." Ryder sighed.

"Hey bud, why don't you go say goodbye to your new friends ok?" I asked my son.

"Alright, good luck Daddy." He said as he ran back towards the playground.

"Kids say the strangest things am I right?" I looked at Kira and laughed.

"Yep." Kira giggled. "So if you still want that date, I'm sure Nya can watch Ryder for you."

"Not that that doesn't sound great, but I don't think I'm ready to leave Ryder on his own without me just yet."

"I completely understand." Kira said. "Keeping him safe should be your top priority right now."

We said our goodbyes and I took Ryder back to the bounty on my dragon. He was so tired he almost fell asleep while he was on the dragon, but luckily I never let that happen.

When we got back I carried him to his bedroom and tucked him into bed. He did a really good job in being brave and making new friends, but he had so much fun he wore himself out.

After he fell asleep I went into my room to think things over. I know the reason I turned Kira down was because I wasn't ready to leave Ryder with a babysitter yet, but maybe in truth, I was afraid of how Ryder was going to feel about me dating again. To my surprise he seemed more than ok with it, plus he seemed really comfortable around the Walkers so I'm sure he would be ok if Nya and Jay watched him for a few hours. I mean I deserve to be happy right?

I decided to text Nya and tell her about it:

————{{{Lloyd's Phone}}}————

Lloyd: Hey Nya.

Nya: Hey Lloyd, How's Ryder?

L: He's napping right now.
I actually wanted to ask a
favor from you.

N: Of course what is it?

L: Well after the party
Kira asked me out to
dinner so I was hoping
you could watch Ryder
for me Saturday night?

N: I KNEW IT! 😏

L: Don't get too excited,
she's just doing it to
thank me for the party.
Nothing more.

N: Sure it is. 😉

L: I guess it's kind of a date.

N: It is a date Lloyd!

L: You sound just like Ryder.
He wanted to me to go out
with her too. He even asked
Kira if she was going to be
his new mom. 😂

N: Awe! That's so cute!

L: Yeah. So can you
watch him please?

N: Of course! Just bring him
by Saturday. Oh Cole and
Seliel are visiting while Kai
and Skylor are going to be at
work, so Allison, Amber and
Blake are going to be here too.

L: Wait, are you really going
to take in all those kids by
yourself?

N: Yep I do it pretty much
every day. Plus I have Jay,
Cole and Seliel this time so
it'll be fine.

L: Ok. Well thanks
for watching him.

N: Of course, no problem.
And if you need any advice
on your date, I'm here to
help. 😉

L: Thanks, but I got
this. See you Saturday.

N: Ok bye.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I put away my phone and Ryder woke up and walked into the living room.

"Hey bud, feeling better?" I asked him.

"Yeah, all I needed was a nap." He replied. "So why didn't you go out with that nice lady?"

"Well I am going out with her, if that's ok with you." I said.

"YAY!" Ryder exclaimed. "Miss Kira is going to be my new Mommy!"

"Now I didn't say that." I chuckled.

"Aww." Ryder sighed.

"Are you ok with going to Jax and Lily's house for a little while on Saturday? A lot of your friends you met today will be there too." I asked.

"Sure Daddy, my new friends are fun." He smiled.

"I'm glad to hear that." I smiled.

I couldn't believe how well Ryder was adjusting to his new life after everything he went through with Harumi. I guess he liked having Kira around because she saved his life and he trusted her.

I called Kira to let her know the date was back on and she was pretty excited about it. Ok, maybe I was too. I just hoped this date was going to go well.