Trying To Be Good - Garmadon x Reader (Platonic)
Warnings: None
"Wonderland is far away but there's others, they say anyone could change if they wanted to."
Garmadon was over the idea of conquering Ninjago. He'd given it up when discussing the concept of human life with a guest on the bounty, the time the oni tried to conquer Ninjago. He simply believed for the longest time that his only purpose was carnage and chaos, as he was a manifestation of the worst version of himself. A reanimated clone. He was disgusted, prehaps discomforted by the idea of caring about anyone, being his own son or wife, or brother for that matter.
Harumi had simply created her ideal version of Garmadon, when her and The Sons of Garmadon took over Ninjago. Lloyd's father was long dead, lost a long time ago to the preanimet. And upon realising that, he believed it was all pointless. Why be there if he was only the wrong image, and host of the space created in Lloyd's life? He'd come to this conclusion when Vinny, of NTV News, had described the purpose of life: simplicity and usage of the undetermined time we are gifted.
Despite choosing to not feel as if he was a plague in the life of his "son",he still cared. It felt wrong to enter the picture as his father's replacement. So he didn't. He left.
He refused to return to Kryptarian, and explored the very land his so-called father created. And so in that journey, he met Y/N. He only ever addressed them by their first name, and deemed them foolish. In some ways, they reminded him of his "son", but only less stubborn, less guarded, prehaps a little naive or stupid. But it was good company, so he didn't complain. Garmadon was unsure how exactly he found himself acquainted to them in the first place, why he followed them, simply observing, or why they didn't run, at the visible knowledge he was an Oni, let alone a reincarnation of one of the most evil forces of the realm.
One day they were sat around a campfire. 6 weeks had passed since their first encounter, travelling across the realm. A mutual journey to find anywhere but the city.
"Y/N." Garmadon started. They looked up at him, pausing the discussion of a topic of interested.
"Ya?"
"I have a query."
"Go on." They shifted themselves and straightened their posture on the log they sat on around the campfire, across from Garmadon, both pairs of hands folded around each other.
"Why is it you haven't ran away?" The question made Y/N pause. They hadn't really considered it. They knew Garmadon had a bad history and anyone in their right mind, or better judgement, wouldn't choose to willingly accosiate with him, but they did it anyway.
"People change." They shrugged. No extra specification, or prehaps additional reason. People change.
"Not everybody is capable of such simplicity." He grunted, red eyes glancing onto the fire, and siding back to his travelling companion, or whatever they called it.
"You know, you could have corrupted me, killed me, gone back to being evil, but you haven't. Why is that?" They countered. Garmadon's eyes widened slightly. They made a seriously good point. Even that oni questioned why he hadn't conquered the land yet during the march, all those months ago. Why hadn't he taken the many chances presented to him to create chaos?
"Touche." Garmadon simply replied. He was now asking himself the question, dwelling. He simply didn't believe in the idea of someone changing for the better, espically someone such as himself. He was manifestation of evil. An oni. A creature that exists only to undo everything.
"You didn't answer my question." That broke his train of thought.
"I don't have an answer for you." Garmadon replies gruffly.
"Fair enough." Their simple reply eased. He liked their simplicity. Everything they said was put plainly, like it was very obvious, a state of fact even. His small smile rose for a second, before setting back into the cold demeanor that sat on his face ever since he was summoned.
"But what is it you envision for me? I'm only designed for the force of evil." Y/N looked up.
"You may think you can't change, but change is inevitable. Happens to everybody for the better or worse. It's something we fear despite how beautiful the capacity runs." They gave him a small smile, watching his hands release each other, a small, unnatural smile forming on his face. To anybody else, it would look as if Garmadon had conjured a new scheme to conduct, to risk the lives of many in the realm. But it was a smile of satisfaction, at the sheer possibility that in his mind, change was too generous to be true.
"I think you need something to care about if you still think you're unworthy." They continued. "Like an object, a person, an animal, it can be anything. When you learn to care for something, you find compassion. It'll come naturally, trust."
Shortly after, Y/N put out the fire and said goodnights, laying out their sleeping bag from their travel bag. Garmadon replied shortly after. For the ongoing hours of the evening transitioning into the night, he didn't sleep that night. Oni didn't need sleep anyway, but Garmadon made use of his time by considering the provided options, perhaps beyond that. He looked over to Y/N, asleep, perhaps he was already caring for something before he finally realised.
Thanks for reading! :D Recently finished DRS1, this is the best since the Oni Trilogy I fear... I might write for Arin soon, even though Sora is my fave character, nearly up to date on current Ninjago lore we cheered!!
Anyways I finished Crystallised last week and the thing with Vinny prompted me to finish this, which may be evident in this piece, but I also had this idea from March of The Oni and I really wanted to focus on an idea where Garmadon goes on a Journey to find an identity for himself as like i stated in a previous post, I believe Garmadon is dead and that the reincarnation is just a false version in the form of an oni, which I also added at the start of this lol. Anyways hope u enjoyed, have a good day/afternoon/evening <33
Also I was inspired by this song for the title btw:
