It’s the Thought That Counts... Right???
Here’s a short oneshot I wrote inspired by a discussion we were having about post MoTO Garmadon trying to understand holiday traditions.
“Would you like to come in out of the cold… sir?” a tavern keeper called, sticking her head through the doorway of a nearby building. She was staring at him. People always stared at Garmadon, even when he had hidden his oni form under a cloak or other manner of disguise. It wasn’t like it was his fault he was so tall and bulky. Or that he had an extra set of appendages.
He muttered a quick,
“Thank you,” – that was the term used to express gratitude, right? – before following her into the tavern. He couldn’t help but relax as the warmth from the fireplace on the other side of the room washed over him. Music softly played a song about someone named Santa. Garmadon didn’t know who that was, but the villagers must have, because several of them were singing along.
He wandered to a far corner of the tavern and seated himself in a booth. Might as well get comfortable while he warmed himself. Garmadon allowed himself a moment to simply listen to the music and empty his brain of the confusing thoughts and questions about life that so often filled his days. It was nice to relax and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of the tavern.
“So, stranger, can I get you anything?” the tavern keeper, who’s name tag read Mauve, asked him after a few minutes.
“I’ll take the strongest black coffee you have,” Garmadon answered. He could have ordered tea, he supposed, but it was far more fun to spite his brother. Even if Wu wasn’t actually here to gasp dramatically at his sin.
“Would you like any creamer or sugar?”
Garmadon shook his head in the negative. Mauve scribbled something on her notepad and disappeared into what he assumed was the kitchen.
As he waited for her to return, Garmadon glanced about the tavern. Mauve certainly had an odd taste in decor. The walls were lined with strands of greenery and little red berries. There was a tree coated in glittery froufrou near the fireplace. Why anyone would put a tree indoors was beyond him. And why decorate said tree? What purpose could it possibly serve?
“Here’s your coffee, sir,” Mauve announced, pulling Garmadon from his thoughts. She set his drink down on the table, and next to it, an oddly shaped white and red striped object. He stared at it in confusion.
“What is this?” he wanted to know. Mauve had the audacity to laugh as she replied,
“Have you… never seen a candy cane before?”
For the first time in a long time, Garmadon had a sudden desire to stab something. With immense self restraint, he decided to focus on the issue that was least likely to get him arrested – the nature of this… cane made of candy.
“Candy cane?” he repeated, trying to hide his curiosity. Mauve smiled at him.
“Yes. It’s a peppermint flavored sugar made in the shape of a cane. Candy canes are a Christmas staple.”
Christmas. Garmadon vaguely remembered overhearing talk of the holiday in one of the other villages he’d passed through. It was another mystery of the universe he had yet to unravel.
“Ah.”
“Well, if you need anything else, I’ll be over working the counter.” Mauve said, nodding her head towards the bar, where several families sat doing… something. Garmadon waited until she was gone to unwrap the candy cane and give it a tentative lick. Too sweet, yet somehow bitter at the same time. He wasn’t impressed. Taking a swig of coffee to rid himself of the taste, he stared out the window at the snowflakes that lazily drifted on the winter breeze. Most humans would probably say the view was beautiful. As much as he hated to admit it, he was beginning to see why they enjoyed the season so much.
15 minutes and an entire cup of coffee later, Garmadon meandered towards the bar. Staring out the window could only hold his attention for so long before he grew bored and now he was looking for something new to occupy him. Mauve glanced up from the papers she was folding.
“Ready for a refill?”
“Thank you, but no,” Garmadon told her, tossing a few coins on the counter as payment for his drink. The tavern keeper nodded thoughtfully.
“Would you like to join us in making Christmas cards, then?” she inquired motioning at the array of materials being used by several of the tavern’s patrons, “You don’t seem like the type, but I’m happy to get you the supplies if you’re interested.”
Garmadon eyed her skeptically.
“Tell me about these… Christmas cards.”
“You really don’t know much about Christmas, do you?” Mauve commented, more to herself than to him. He cleared his throat awkwardly.
“I…”
“That’s okay! We’ll teach you all about it!” offered the child sitting on the nearest stool, giving him a huge grin.
“You really don’t have to-” Garmadon began to protest. Mauve cut him off.
“Oh, no. Kelly is right. We’re teaching you how to make Christmas cards, and then you’re learning at least one Christmas carol.”
Garmadon groaned, but half-heartedly allowed himself to be taught the arts of card making. It wouldn’t be his best work, oh no, for he definitely wasn’t ready to admit that he maybe kind of cared about Lloyd – or for Lloyd to realize that he cared. But it was a start. After all, people kept telling him there was more to life than surviving.
______________________
Thunk! Thunk! Bang!
“We must have a visitor,” noted Lloyd just as a snowball hit him in the face. “Rude,” he complained. Kai sniggered, earning him a vicious glare from both his sister and the Green Ninja.
Bang! There was another knock on the gates.
“Perhaps we should call a truce and let whoever is out there in before they break the gates down,” Zane suggested before Lloyd could plan a counterattack. Cole nodded, dropping his own snowball as he spoke.
“That’s probably wise.”
The others sighed, but refrained from continuing their snowball fight. Their companions were right and they were curious to see who had made the icy trek up the mountainside to the monastery. Lloyd shot Kai his best we’ll continue this later and made for the gates just as another knock sounded.
“Could you be any more impatient?” he muttered under his breath. Giving one of the gates a tug inward, he was greeted by the mailman, who was looking at his wristwatch in annoyance.
“About time,” the mailman said, brushing past Lloyd without saying hello.
“Hello, Mr. Mailman! Would you like to come inside for some hot cocoa?” Zane greeted brightly. The mailman shook his head vigorously.
“No, no. I have lots of other deliveries to make, what with it being the holidays and all. Not to mention, I’m not entirely convinced this package doesn’t contain a bomb, and I’d rather not stick around to find out,” he replied hurriedly. The ninja glanced at each other.
“Why?” “Who’s it for?”
Cole and Jay asked at the same time.
“The package is addressed to the Green Ninja himself,” the mailman stated, shoving it at Lloyd with considerable delicacy, “if it is a bomb, please don’t bother filing a complaint with the Bureau of Mail Delivery and Package Sending. Remember. I’m just the messenger,” and with that, the mailman was gone.
“That was… odd,” commented Nya, raising an eyebrow. Lloyd hummed thoughtfully as he stared at the package the mailman had been so desperate to be rid of.
“It’s the mailman, sis. He’s always kinda kooky if you ask me,” Kai said, unconcerned. Silence fell as the group gathered around their brother to get a closer look at the package.
“It’s – it’s from my father…” Lloyd announced after a moment, completely shocked. No one knew quite how to respond to this news. The last time they’d seen Garmadon had been while Lloyd was still unconscious after the battle with the Oni. He hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye. And to be perfectly honest, no one was really sure they could trust the warlord not to continue his deceitful ways.
“Ah. Well, that explains the mention of a potential bomb threat, then,” Zane observed.
“Yeah…” Lloyd coughed awkwardly.
“So… are you gonna chuck it off the mountain and watch for a mushroom cloud? Or are you gonna open it and hope for the best?” Jay asked ever so tactfully. Lloyd thought for a moment before replying.
“Hhh… Kai, do me a favor and grab those tongs you keep in the forge. We’re gonna need em’.”
The master of fire was quick to follow Lloyd’s instructions and returned momentarily with a sturdy, and especially long, pair of tongs. Everyone took a step back as Lloyd set the package in a patch of snow away from anything important (his uncle would kill him if he accidentally set something on fire so close to Christmas). He gripped the tongs tightly and edged them carefully toward one end of the package.
“Here goes nothing,” Lloyd whisperer, snagging a flap of packaging and ripping it upwards. The seconds ticked by, but nothing exploded, beeped, or vibrated. He poked the package. Still, nothing. Curiosity getting the better of him, Lloyd pulled the rest of the dirty brown wrapping away from the contents of the package.
“Candy canes?” Lloyd couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Why on earth would Garmadon send him candy canes?
“There’s a card, too,” Nya said, plucking an envelope from the torn packaging. She passed it to Lloyd, who tentatively opened it.
“Dear Loyd,
The anoying villagers here tell me it is customarie to send cards to people you… people you’re related to. I don’t know why I’m alloweing them to dictate my life, but here:” Lloyd read aloud from the front of the folded piece of paper, struggling to make sense of the messy handwriting and questionable spelling. And, more so, struggling to understand what was happening. He had long ago lost any hope that he and Garmadon could ever go back to what they had once been. Had believed that their formerly loving relationship was permanently dead.
Biting his lip, Lloyd unfolded the envelope. The drawing inside was quite possibly the most hilariously insulting caricature of himself that Lloyd had ever seen. His initial shock at receiving a gift (?) from Garmadon was replaced with a squeak of laughter. He couldn’t help it; the image was simply too much for him to take.
“Are you okay, buddy?” Cole asked, concerned by Lloyd’s sudden change in demeanor.
“I-I don’t know,” Lloyd half laughed, half cried. He held out the card so the others could see.
“That’s sure… something else,” Nya commented.
“Yeah. I didn’t realize you had 4 arms, Lloyd,” Kai added, perhaps a bit too entertained by the interesting features Garmadon had given his brother. Nya viciously elbowed his side, but he shrugged unrepentantly. “What? It’s true.”
“Permission to laugh?” Jay asked. He was still ogling the image and Lloyd could tell he was only barely reigning himself in.
“I. Yeah, sure. Go ahead,” Lloyd relented, “I guess it is a pretty hilarious drawing.”
As Jay and Kai took full advantage of the invitation to let their true feelings show, Nya turned to Lloyd.
“Guess you won’t be forgetting this Christmas any time soon, huh?” she asked, a wry smile on her face. Lloyd laughed softly. Maybe this whole thing was a prank, maybe Garmadon had simply wanted to mess with him. But maybe, just maybe, his father was finally learning to care about someone other than himself. And that was a thought Lloyd could cling to on Christmas morning, when he felt the absence of those he had lost most keenly. A thought that gave him hope that perhaps someday, his family might possibly be complete again.
