4

Alora's POV

I wish I knew who those guys answered to. I would love to fight their boss. I lifted my head when I heard a scream and ran over to it. I watched a woman fight with someone. A little boy ran over to the woman. "Mommy, please stop," the boy begged. He had green eyes and brown hair. He looked kind of like Lloyd and Misako. There's a mix. Could he be Misako's kid?

The woman turned her glare onto him. "Don't tell me what to do!"

I took a step forward. "Ma'am? I advise you to stop beating that guy up. I'd hate to have to put you in jail."

She turned her glare onto me. "What happens if I don't?"

I sighed. How does the Ninja do this? "Then I will have no choice but to take you to jail."

She grabbed the boy and stalked off.

Ash's POV

Mom shoved me into my room. "No dinner for you tonight."

I gulped. "Okay." She slammed the door and locked it. I had seen the Ninja of Emotions. She had been so calm while she talked to my mother. I have no idea how. My mom is scary. I have two favorite ninja. The Green Ninja and the Emotion Ninja. They're both soo cool. I crawled up onto my bed. I wish they would save me. I shook my head. Hard. No, the Ninja will not save me. Mom's mean but they've never caught her doing anything illegal. My belly rumbled and I closed my eyes to fall asleep. At least in there, I'm safe.

In the morning, Mom opened the door and pulled me out of the room. She gave me cold oatmeal for breakfast. Then she drove me to Doomsday Comics and dropped me off. "Stay here, Ash," Mom said angrily.

"Yes. Ma'am." She doesn't let me call her mom. She left and I went over to the racks and looked to see if they had anything new. There were a couple of batman ones but they were on the third shelf. I stood on my toes trying to reach them but couldn't. Suddenly a hand grabbed them and handed them to me. I turn and it was the Emotion Ninja. I took them. "Thank you."

She took off her mask and smiled. "You're welcome."

"Do you like comic books?" I asked.

She chuckled. "Nah, but my friend does. Not that he knows I'm here."

"Is it his birthday?"

She shook her head. "I just like giving the other stuff as a thank you for taking me in and helping me through my hard times."

I frowned. "Isn't that what friends are supposed to do?"

She grinned. "Yup." She looked around and frowned. "Where's your mom?"

"Oh, she had errands to run. She'll be back later."

Alora's POV

She left him here. "It's dangerous to be by yourself. Especially someone so young," I said.

The little boy looked down. "As long as I don't leave here, I'm safe."

I smiled sadly. "What's your name?"

"Ash."

"How old are you?"

"Five."

I nodded. "Can I stay with you until your mom comes?"

He nodded happily and pulled me to the beanbag chairs. He tried to convince me that comic books were fun but I just couldn't get into it. Mother Doomsday came over. "We're about to close, Alora," he said.

I nodded and stood. I looked around. "Ash? Are you sure your moms coming back?"

Ash nodded. "She always does. Your name's Alora? What's your last name?"

We went and stood outside. "Drew. My name's Alora Drew," I said.

"Cool." A car pulled up and he ran into the back seat. The car sped off.

I jumped from one roof to the other until I got home. I found Misako in the kitchen. "Misako? can I talk to you?"

She turned. "About what?"

"Does Lloyd have a five-year-old brother named Ash?"

Her eyes widened. "How...?"

I sighed. "I bumped into him when I went to the comic book store to get Lloyd a gift."

She looked down. "Two days after he was born I went to the park with him in a stroller. I turned away for a moment because I was looking for something. When I turned back the strolled and Ash were gone."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Misako."

She smiled sadly. "Shall we tell Lloyd at dinner?"

"I could go tell him now."

She shook her head. "It would be better to have the ninja around too."

"Okay."

Lloyd walked in. "Hey. When did you get back, Alora?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Just now. Here." I handed him the comic books.

He took them and sighed. "How many times do we have to tell you that you don't owe us anything?"

I winced. "I can't help it."

He hugged me. "I know."

Misako set out dinner and waited until all of us had our plate half empty before saying, "Lloyd, I have something to tell you and the others."

Lloyd looked at his mom. "What?"

She told the whole story again. "Alora bumped into him today," she finished.

Lloyd looked at me. "You did?"

I gave Misako a dark look. "Thanks." I turned to Lloyd. "Yeah, I did. It was the eyes that made me think he was related to you. He's only five and his mother loves starting fights. But i didn't see any injuries on him so maybe she doesn't hurt him."

"Maybe?" Nya said.

I looked at my plate. "Well, he was wearing long sleeves and pants which would hide any injury. Though I will say he was thin and my medical power was telling me he was really hungry."

"So she starves him," Jay said.

I glared. "We don't know that! He probably just didn't eat anything yet."

"Is that what you really think, Al?" Cole said.

My glare disappeared and I stared at my plate again. "No," I mumbled.

"You think she cruel to him?!?" Misako said.

I winced. "Hey, I don't get to chose to feel other peoples emotions. It just happens and I could feel his fear and pain. When I was near her I could feel her rage and hatred." I sighed. "There isn't anything we can do for him unless we catch her in the act."

"So see Lloyd's little brother be beaten by her," Kai said.

I groaned. "We don't have a choice. I'm still a new ninja. Ninjago doesn't trust me yet. If we say I felt this stuff they won't believe it."

"She's right," Lloyd said quietly.

They all looked at him. "Are you sure?" Nya asked.

"Yes." Lloyd then turned to me. "If we see this and he's hurt I want you to heal him."

I stood and glared. "What? You think I'd just let him suffer?" I asked angrily.

His eyes widened. "No, that's not what..."

"Don't bother." I stormed out of the room and went to mine. Locking the door and flopping onto my bed.