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Cole isn’t entirely sure how he got into this. He was just doing his normal visit to the monastery, the kids didn’t come this time, and Geo was down in the Crossroads before it got too dark, so Bonzle had stayed behind to watch them.
Lloyd, on the other hand, had not expected this conversation. Like. At all. Honestly, if anyone was going to say something, he’d thought it would be himself. (Not that he’d had anyone to ask for five years, but if he’d had.)
Kai is utterly starstruck with himself that he finally got the words out of his mouth.
“How do I…dad?”
-
Kai watches as Lloyd trains his kids. The gentle way he critiques them, that positive attitude he’s tried his best to uphold since he was little. (The kid can be a pessimist at the best of times, Kai can attest, little Lloyd used to pout about something daily.) The way when they turn their backs he might clutch at his heart dramatically while making eye contact with Kai, usually signifying how insane he thought his own kids to be. Or sometimes, when the anxiety truly overwhelmed him, he’d release a long breath as the kids sipped up water from their bottles Zane kept in the fridge of the monastery.
It’s like second nature, the way Lloyd acts during their training. For all his faults and doubts as a teacher, it can’t be said that Lloyd isn’t trying to do what's best for the kids in his care. Even when he trains Wyldfyre and Frak, there's something in the way he moves that Kai hadn’t seen when he was around kids before.
Honestly, aside from the news kids, Kai can only really account for the time Wu had been a baby. And no one had really known what to do with a baby. Cole, for all the fatherly love he exuded, was pushing his skills to their very limits of what he knew, but it definitely seemed to kick start a train of thought in the man from then onward. (Kai saw the books, or when he’d take a peak at the man’s tabs over his shoulder, and the way he stared when they were on patrol.)
When he first saw Cole again, it hadn’t been with his kids. Hell, Kai wasn’t even aware he had kids until someone finally told him. Which, rude, can’t a guy know he’s an uncle x6? (He counts Bonzle, no matter what anyone says. And Frak is obviously attached.)
The guy was so dedicated to them, to making sure they were safe, that he got totally zombified. Kai knows they’re ninja. Knows that it's not like they haven’t all made sacrifices before. But after his time in the Land of Monsters, he’s a little wary on who he’s ready to make them for. So, with his new mindset, to see the drive and the way it had affected Cole to see his new family like that? Kai got all the information he’d needed.
When he put the pieces together, he knew the man had made use of those books and tabs and whatever else he’d found on the internet all those years ago. That it was something he’d wanted to protect.
Cole and Lloyd had kids they wanted to protect.
And so did Kai.
He doesn’t even know when it started.
He’d been so against Wyldfyre at first. She was much too like him. Elemental powers that seemed impossible, a fiery attitude, irrational moves, and even more so when he got to know her. Infiltration theme songs, visceral rage in order to protect, devotion to them like no other. Kai saw so much of himself in her that he almost was scared of it. If he went along with Lloyd’s request, started training the girl, was she bound to end up like him? Is he even someone a person should idolize? His fans from Ninjago had been one thing. Never close enough to see where he failed, or criticize his stupidity, always at a distance that was behind a screen or a near death situation.
It felt like when he was a teen, in a way. He was so unsure that he was someone Lloyd and Nya could look up to and be proud of, so he did his best to always be the best. And now, he knows he’s not the best, but there are another set of eyes looking at him.
Kai wants to be there for Wyldfyre. Wants to show her all the coolest moves, give her advice when she is feeling down, and be the first person she calls after a new achievement was made.
Just like Lloyd and Cole.
Just like…Lloyd…and Cole..
Just like the team's two newest dads…
Holy shit.
“I want to be her dad.”
“Who’s dad?”
“Wyldfyre’s.” He replies to himself. Wait. Himself?
“What are you talking about? You think just anyone can be my dad?”
He jumps as he turns towards the door to his room.
“Wyldfyre! Hey! Uh, what- uh, what are you doing here?” He tries to ignore the words he’d last heard.
She knows she knows she knows she knows-
“Looking for you, duh. Are you coming to train today or not? I’ve got some people to set on fire if you don’t. Or I’ll go to Roby’s. He says he built something to surprise me again.” Her eyes light up at the mention of her boyfriend, and Kai has half a mind to roll his own.
“Yeah, no yeah, I’m coming to train,” he sounds out of breath. FSM, he needs to get a handle on that.
Wyldfyre looks him up and down, her eyes narrowed. He doesn’t know what it is she wants, but she crosses her arms and moves forward into the room, before laying on his bed.
“Ya know, it's really hard to be a dad to someone as amazing as me.” She starts.
“Yeah?” Kai asks from his seat at his desk. It's neat, he doesn’t use it much these days so there's not many things to clutter it with other than old photos and trophies on the shelf above. He has his teaching certificate from a few years back, he doesn’t know if he’ll get it renewed, but it's a good memento. He doesn’t turn away, and instead keeps eyeing the knicknacks as Wyldfyre talks.
“Yeah. So, I guess that means you're pretty cool, or whatever.”
"What?” Kai asks softly. Like, so softly, he didn’t even know he could be that quiet.
“You’re my dad, so that means you’re cool. But only because you're my dad,” she reiterates. She sits up from the bed to find Kai’s starstruck gaze staring at her.
“We’re not related…” Kai whispers.
“You think I’m related to all the dragons in my pack? Do you even know how many of them take on abandoned hatchlings? How do you think I met Heatwave? He’s my dad too.”
“You actually want me to be your dad?” Kai asks. Finally, he's louder about it, and he stops his voice from wavering. He wants to hear it again, maybe, or he just wants her to be sure. He doesn’t really know.
“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” She glares at him.
Kai laughs to himself, it's stuttery, and his eyes might be watering, but no one needs to know.
“Yeah. Yeah you did,” he stands from his chair and raises his arms to stretch upwards. “Come on Kiddo, let's get that training started, yeah?”
“YEAH! Finally!” She shouts, and as Kai turns towards the door he hears feet and then almost falls with the force at which Wydlfyre jumps to cling onto his back. “Onward to the battle!”
Kai can’t handle all the emotions in his stomach, and stumbles forward towards the training yard laughing his head off. He passes Lloyd and Arin on the way. “I’m your dad, not a dragon!”
“Heatwave is both, so you are too. Now move faster!”
Right, he’s coparenting with a literal dragon.
“Whatever you say kid.”
-
He wasn’t prepared for the spiral he’d go on after that.
He’s not sure what he’s supposed to do. Wyldfyre is pretty late on in her teens, probably around 17 years old, there's not much he knows to do at this stage. He himself had been pretty reckless, constantly saving the world, emotions that kept fluctuating at deaths, and betrayals, and rebirths. He can’t say he had the healthiest of teen years.
He’s terrified. He’s worried the moment Wyldfyre is going to need him, he won’t be able to live up to her expectations. That he’s going to fail her the way he’s done so many times before for so many others. That his ego is going to get in the way again, and his trek back from the Land of Monsters is going to mean nothing in relation to who he’s become since then.
So, he does the only thing he can think of.
He gathers Cole and Lloyd into his room. He himself returns to his spot on the desk and chair, this time he’s sitting on it backward with his arms propped on the back, and his brothers sit side by side on the bed. Everyone has had dinner, the kids are wrapping up whatever tasks they want to get done for the day, or relaxing with each other until they’re inevitably wrangled to sleep.
Cole is the first to speak.
“Kai? You good?”
Kai groans into his hand.
“How do you guys do it?” He asks them directly.
“Do…what?” Lloyd questions.
Kai fumbles over himself a few times. “You- how- I mean you’re really good at it an-”
“Kai?” Cole asks.
He lets out a frustrated noise. Of course now he’s having trouble saying it.
“You guys…you took on kids when the Merge happened.” Both men nod. “Right. Anyways, it's just. You’re both really good with them. Like, Lloyd always knows when to get Sora to stop tinkering, and when Arin saying he’s going to bake a pie is actually code for Arin saying he’s stressed out of his mind or upset. And Cole has two kids that never run out of energy and honestly remind me of Lloyd, and you always go back to them at the end of the day with a smile on your face, and they really care for you. And both of you have kids who had shitty parents but now they trust you so innately its like you were there since they came out of the womb, and don’t even get me started on Cole’s relationship with Bonzle-”
“Woah woah woah, slow down Kai,” Cole stands up and puts a hand on Kai’s shoulder, “Thanks for the compliments, but what are you trying to say?”
Kai breathes in heavily, before exhaling, “How do I…dad?”
They give him the most wide eyed stares, and complete silence. Kai is pretty sure he has the exact same look on his own face as he looks back towards them.
The silence is broken by the sound of snorting from Lloyd’s direction.
“Lloyd!” Both Kai and Cole scold at the same time. It only makes Lloyd start laughing out loud.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry but-” he pulls himself together, “You’re like, one of the biggest ‘dads’ I know!”
“What?” He asks, lost.
Cole takes his hand off Kai's shoulder, goes back to sitting on the bed next to Lloyd, and lightly punches his shoulder.
“Horrible way to put it, but the kids rights.”
“Hey!”
“Right, but, how exactly is he right?” Kai questions.
“Well, before that, what made you ask us?”
“It’s about Wyldfyre isn’t it.” Lloyd says. Kai doesn’t respond, it obviously wasn’t really a question.
“Do I make it that obvious?”
Lloyd rolls his eyes, “Do you mean before you ran around the training ground with her on your back shouting ‘You’re slow as hell, Dad!’ or after? Because the answer is still yes.”
Cole laughs as he pictures that, Lloyd whispers in his ear, Kai thinks he makes out the word ‘picture’ before Cole starts nodding along.
Kai rolls his eyes. Why did he even try asking them? One is his youngest sibling who’d take any chance to make fun of him, and as an older sibling himself, he should’ve known exactly how Cole would react to his question.
“But seriously, why are you worried about that?” Cole asks, always observant.
“Isn’t that obvious too?” Kai asks, when both shake their heads ‘no’ he sighs, “I don’t know how this whole dad thing works. I never had one until I was practically an adult, even after we’d found our parents we didn’t see them often, and honestly, I’m not really the best idol for a kid.”
Lloyd looks far more confused than Cole does, and it catches Kai’s eye, but he’s not the first one to speak.
“I think all of that makes you even better as a dad.”
“How could that make me better?”
“You know what not to do. You wouldn’t be worried about it if you were bad dad material. The worst parents are the ones who go into it thinking it’ll all be easy. You already know it isn’t. You know that your parents not being there affected you and Nya growing up, you know the insecurities you had without them to reassure you, and you know what you shouldn’t have had to do as a kid. Now, you know more about yourself too. You know where you were reckless, you know where your responsibilities lie, you can work with others and communicate well, and honestly? Every time I’ve heard you scold Wyldfyre, you’ve done well. You hold her accountable, you make sure she takes care of her injuries, you stop her from accidentally hurting others, and the eye you keep on Roby any time he’s around is a certified overprotective dad look.”
Kai laughs at that last point. It does make him feel better to hear though. Cole had always been a natural with kids growing up, so getting his approval? It was like the highest form of praise he could think of. He’d always admired the man’s ability to take hold of a situation involving civilian children.
“Okay, but if I want some extra help?”
“Then I’d be happy to, or, ya know, you could read some books. There were a lot in the Lost. I think it's a lost art, honestly. I know I’ve seen some books around here, so I’m assuming you read some too Lloyd?”
The blonde nods his head, but he doesn’t take his eyes off Kai. Said man smirks.
“What’s on your mind, Boogers?”
He laughs at the way Lloyd wrinkles his nose at the nickname. Lloyd finally darts his eyes away before speaking. “I never really thought you were a bad dad growing up…” He says it quietly, and the blonde notices the way Cole’s eyes widen a little before they return to normal and a soft smile graces his face.
“Growing up?” Kai asks, “You mean when you were young?”
Lloyd nods.
“What do you mean by that,” Cole rolls his eyes at the man's obliviousness.
Lloyd rubs his hands together before looking back towards Kai, “I know I never really told you, but when I was young, I really saw you as a kind of parental figure…”
“Really!?” Kai’s jaw drops and his eyes are wide.
“I know Nya did too. We used to talk about it a lot, back before I got hit with the tea.”
“Nya too?” Kai asks gently.
Lloyd nods again.
“Its kind of why I laughed at you, earlier. Sorry.” He scratches the back of his neck sheepishly.
“So I’m one of the ‘biggest dads you know’ because-”
“I kinda already put you in that category a long time back?”
“Jeez kid, and you never told me?”
Lloyd shrugs, “Didn’t seem important.”
“Not important!?”
Lloyd looks at Kai’s shocked face again, and all of a sudden he relaxes entirely, laughing at him.
“Well, it didn’t seem like it was! All I knew was my dad was too busy trying to take over Ninjago, and you were the one to risk the city just to save my life! Then, you and Nya kept checking on me and it all just kept piling up until you were this brother-...dad-...guy!”
“Brother-dad-guy,” Cole whispers.
“Lloyd, I was horrible back then!”
“You were the best I had!”
“That’s horrible!”
“Well I was pretty happy.”
They stare at each other.
All three of the men in the room started laughing.
“But seriously. I can say from personal experience Kai, that you did a lot for me when my own dad couldn’t. You guys all played some part in making me who I am today, but you were always there. You were always right where I needed you to be. You never gave up, you saw this bratty little kid, saved his life, and kept him in your heart.”
Kai is not getting teary eyed, it's just dust!
“I can’t think of a better guy to be a dad to Wyldfyre. You’re perfect for her. You’re what she needs. Why do you think I asked you to train her?”
“Because you thought she was a fire elemental?”
“Because I saw my big brother in her. Nya sees it too. You’re so devoted, and loyal to us, there's no one else we’d rather run to to celebrate the latest win, or to tell a stupid joke, or to complain about someone else in the family. Kai, I don’t know where any of us would be without you. Nya would’ve been left alone to fend for herself, I’d be left in a volcano with no escape, Wyldfyre wouldn’t trust a thing out of my mouth half the time. You made mistakes in the past, and you’ll continue making mistakes. It's a part of growing up. A part of being a parent.
“Can you honestly say, out of the three of us, that our parents are perfect?”
Kai winces at the thought. Cole laughs boisterously.
“Exactly. And when you’re not sure, Cole and I will be happy to step in and answer any questions, but I think you know what to do....But the books are a great idea, big help for the sudden adoption of a bunch of emotional kids.”
Kai might be crying. ‘Might’ being the key word. And Cole might be hugging him in one of those big bear hugs you can’t get out of unless he deems it so, and Lloyd might be wiping a few stray tears from his own eyes at seeing his big brother cry.
But no one has to know. It’ll stay in this moment forever, as Kai gets up to hug his youngest brother, a whispered ‘thank you’ the only sound as the blonde squeezes tighter.
Kai thinks he likes being a dad.
(Extra:
“What do you mean you said ‘we’re not related’? What does that have to do with anything? She literally was willing to destroy all of Imperium because the dragons were her family. And besides, if that kind of thing mattered, I probably wouldn’t have stayed with you guys back when I was a kid. Instant runaway.”
“What about Wu?”
“Like I said, blood relation doesn’t matter. Except dad’s. His kinda mattered.”
“I’m starting to think it's a dragon thing.”
“A what!?”
“Wyldfyre said the exact same thing you did, I’m thinking the adoption might just be a dragon thing. First you adopt us as your siblings, then me as your dad, then two kids of your own-”
Wyldfyre, who was watching them chimes in, “It is a dragon thing. Its pack. Thunder. Whatever you people call it these days…is Lloyd a dragon?”
“Yes-”
“Kai!”
“And he obviously can’t stop his adoption instincts so someone's gonna have to watch him from now on.”
“You’ve got like three kids!”
“I can’t hear you, Boogers.”
“Kai!”)