(A/N: Hello, all! This oneshot series is a part of my attempt to spread platonic shipnames for Ninjago pairings, like the Voltron fandom has. Just for kicks, I'm going to theme each oneshot based off the platonic shipnames I [or you!] come up with. If you have a suggestion for a shipname [brot3+s are fine!], a request as to which oneshot you want me to write next, or headcanons about how certain characters would interact, feel free to leave them in the reviews! The current platonic shipnames are on my profile; if you have a suggestion for one that's undecided or one that I haven't listed, leave it in a review. Remember to keep everything romance-free and thanks for your interest in this project! ^_^)

(P.S. The platonic name for Kai/Lloyd [I believe it was pyrobroyd but I've altered it a little] was originally coined by a user on tumblr whom I can no longer find. If anyone knows who they are, let me know so I can give them credit!)

Platonic Pairing: Garden (Cole/Lloyd)

Set: After Child's Play

Lloyd was getting tired of tripping over his own two feet.

Sure, it was kind of cool to be suddenly closer in age to the other ninja. He could reach the top shelf on his own now, which pestered Jay (who was now ever-so-slightly shorter in stature than him) to no end, and his powers had gotten a lot stronger overnight. But when considering the constant clumsiness due to longer limbs than he was used to, regret over the loss of a childhood he'd never have, and the knowledge that he'd have to fight his father soon, Lloyd was pretty firmly set on the opinion that the cons outweighed the pros.

"Kai?" the now-teen called as he walked around the airship. The Destiny's Bounty had become unusually quiet after the recent events— or at least that's how it seemed to Lloyd. Maybe everyone just became quiet when he was around.

Blinking in the morning sun as he staggered onto the deck, the green ninja finally noticed where all the other ninja had gone: they were outside the Bounty on the grass below, performing some sort of training exercise under the watchful eye of Sensei Wu. Lloyd wondered why he hadn't been called to train, but quickly ducked out of sight when Wu turned his gaze towards him. Regardless of whether the others felt bad for him or just couldn't focus around him, he wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to skip a training session. He knew he had to be ready in time to beat his father, but… well, he didn't like to think about that. He quickly snuck off the deck and back into the ship, slipping through the back door to the other side of the Bounty. He could play back here for a bit.

"Lloyd?"

The green ninja spun around to see a muscular, black-haired boy looking up at him in confusion. It only then occurred to Lloyd that the only uniforms he'd seen training with Wu were red, blue, and white.

"Hey, Cole," he said, cocking his head. "Why aren't you training with the others? And— what's that?" He motioned to a watering can Cole was hiding behind his back.

"O-oh, this? It's, uh, just a different kind of training," Cole said, blushing. Lloyd had never seen Cole blush before. "It's got to do with my elemental powers and stuff."

"Uh-huh," Lloyd responded, not entirely convinced. "How does it work?"

"Oh, it's really boring, I'm not really sure… hey!" Cole yelped as Lloyd ran behind him and snatched the watering can, peering inside to see… some water. He probably should have expected that.

But then Lloyd's attention was caught by something a little further away. A bright patch of colors, hidden partially by the start of a thick grove of trees (the Bounty was parked right between a large clearing and a forest), interrupted the green and brown hues all around. Ignoring Cole's pleas not to, he started walking towards it.

"Flowers?" the blond asked, raising an eyebrow. An array of cheerful-looking flowers, most of which Lloyd didn't know the names of, were planted in neat rows by color. They swayed carelessly as a warm breeze blew past.

"Sensei Wu has you gardening?" he snickered. His little-kid attitude still popped through rather frequently, although he was getting the hang of being more mature… at least when the adults were around.

Cole sighed, apparently deciding it was no use trying to hide the facts anymore. "Yeah," he admitted, "and the worst part is, I actually kinda like it."

"What? Seriously?" Lloyd wrinkled his nose. "I mean, a lot of my classmates at Darkley's liked to play in the mud, but flowers are…"

"Girly. I know," Cole sighed, giving a sideways glance to his work. "I'll bet Kai and Jay and Zane have way cooler elemental chores than me."

"Elemental chores?"

"That's what Sensei's calling them," Cole explained. "We all have different tasks to work on 'getting in touch with our elements', or so he says. I don't think the others have started their tasks yet."

"Oh." Lloyd wasn't entirely sure what else to say. "But… your element is earth, right? Shouldn't you be, like, making statues out of rocks or something?"

"Sensei says plants are a part of earth, too," Cole said with a shrug. "So here I am, tending to a bunch of silly flowers while the others train. Even normal training would be cooler than this."

Lloyd shifted uncomfortably. He wanted to make fun of Cole, but he'd already done that— and now that he had, he felt kind of bad about it. What was it Uncle had always said? Put yourself in the other ninja's boots? What would it feel like if Lloyd's elemental chore ended up being something silly, like sewing?

"Well… flowers aren't that bad," Lloyd mumbled nervously. He crouched down to see the makeshift garden closer, but he couldn't find something to compliment. "Um… so… what do you like about them?"

"Well… mostly I just like that I'm good at growing them," Cole admitted. "Normally most of these species wouldn't be anywhere near full-grown yet, but they've all bloomed already. It's kind of a cool perk of my elemental power, although it's useless in battle, I guess."

That got Lloyd's attention. "Really? I mean, no— that's not useless, that's really cool! You could, like, shoot a tree up under an enemy's feet and launch 'em into the air!" He made a hand motion showing an enemy getting thrown into the sky.

"Heh. That would be cool, but my powers aren't that developed yet. I can't do anything with trees or bigger plants yet." Cole frowned.

"Well, you have to start somewhere," Lloyd said encouragingly. "Someday your powers will come in handy!"

Cole looked slightly hopeful. "You think so?"

Lloyd beamed back. "Yeah! You're the strongest out of all of us, and this will make you even stronger!"

The black ninja smiled at his younger brother. "Thanks, kid— Lloyd."

The blond sighed and rolled his eyes. "I know. I'm still getting used to it, too."

"Yeah… but hey, at least you're getting stronger, too." It was Cole's turn to offer an encouraging smile. Lloyd thought he smiled the most out of the ninja, although the others said he was the most stoic. Maybe he just smiled more around Lloyd. Or didn't smile as much in big groups.

"Thanks," the green ninja said, looking at the garden. "I should probably go tell the others I'm awake."

"You mean sneak back into the Bounty and steal something from your secret candy stash Sensei Wu doesn't know you still have," Cole clarified, grinning.

"Wha—?!" Lloyd exclaimed.

"Oh, come on, kid. The cake toppings I bought kept disappearing; you didn't really think I wouldn't notice, did you?"

"Maybe…" A mischievous glint of red appeared in the iris of the young boy's otherwise green eyes.

"Well, just as long as you leave my stuff alone from now on, I didn't notice," Cole said, smiling and pretending to zip his lips.

"And I didn't notice this," Lloyd said, gesturing to the garden. "Until you're ready to tell the others, anyway."

As the blond walked back into the Destiny's Bounty, he felt a little bit better about his age. After all, the flowers Cole planted had bloomed prematurely, but they all looked pretty good to Lloyd. Good by someone else's standards, of course, not his own. He didn't care about flowers.

(A/N: I know I know they still think their powers come from their weapons at this point in time but that never made sense to me anyway so just shhhh XD) (Also remember to leave comments/requests/suggestions in the reviews!)