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It was dark. Which is a very astute observation to be made, considering it was literally pitch black. But dark will suffice. Zane could slowly feel his systems turning back on. Which was an odd feeling, considering he thought he was, you know, dead. But he has to admit, actually being alive is something he could wake up to, even though he has no sense of physicality or whatever.
“Zane…”
He hears something. Glad to be able to have at least one sense usable, he focuses on the noises.
“He… Sacrificed himself… For us…”
Oh, oh no… Zane immediately tuned everything else out. He could not stand hearing his brothers worry over him. His selflessness would be- No, was, the death of him. He tries to envision the area where the fight occurred. He would be around the main tower of the city…
Right. Zane had a plan now. It would only be a matter of time.
Grief affects people in various ways. For Cole that meant isolation. As soon as the ninja disbanded, he did what he always does. He ran. He did not know where to go or what he was doing half the time, just… Anything to be away from something that could remind him of Zane. He knew it was futile, that eventually there would be something that could bring him back to the ice ninja’s kind smile, knowing looks, fantastic cooking- We are getting off topic.
Being secluded away in the mountains with a bunch of lumberjacks and being able to utilize his super strength felt appropriate. He did not have easy access to technology so that being a reminder was not an issue, and he felt useful… That was always a plus. It was easy to talk and make relationships with the new people in his life. Slowly, the gap in his heart was being filled by smaller and smaller parts. His life felt like it might even be getting, what the kids call, better. If not monotonous. However, it was good to have a schedule imposed on him. Cole was awful at keeping a routine unless it was important for school or training.
But life never quite felt the same. There were times where he missed Jay’s dumb quips on something or Kai’s ignorance to a plan. He missed those two, but he would never say anything about it. Everyone would ask “Who are you?” and “Where are you from?” all Cole would do is ignore. Ignore, ignore, ignore until it goes away. And eventually it did. The questions stopped and Cole was left to himself. He would catch himself going into thinking traps, about how this whole mess is somehow his fault and he needs to fix things, which he would have done if he was not so incompetent.
And then there are times he thinks of Zane. The first time it happened, Cole resorted to thoughts of suicide. But the memory of his bright blue eyes and worried face when he would come back from a mission even slightly roughed up snapped Cole into reality. He needed to stay alive, for Zane.
Zane… The one he had been pining over for a long time. The one who is dead and will not ever come back because that is in fact how death works. When Zane had discovered he was a robot, Cole thought he would lose him from emotional distance, or Zane would abandon them, but he did not. Zane had remained a constant in Cole’s life for years and years, and now he was just a memory. Someone who he can not even love, he is a robot after all. Only a fool would love a machine more than another human.
I guess that makes me a fool then… Cole laughed as he walked down the streets of New Ninjago City. The cold night air was oddly nippy that night. But one thing was certain, Lloyd wanted him to talk at Chen’s Noodles. It was nice, he has not eaten there in ages, he missed good food, like Zane’s cooking. And how he would wear a dumb frilly pink apro- Once again, off topic.
Upon entering the dimly lit and oddly empty restaurant, he noticed an oddly familiar head right in front of him, “What do you mean we have to wait?!” They complained, the person next to him was just as familiar as the first person,
“Jay calm down, it will onl- Oh hey Cole.” Lloyd stopped himself mid-sentence just to greet Cole, and that just irked him off more. Why does Jay have to be here?? Of all people…
“Cole?!” Jay whipped around to look him in the eyes, and how Cole missed his gaze. He could feel himself start to tear up, but immediately hid it with a furrowed brow and an annoyed tone,
“Wow. Could’ve warned me that he would have been here.” All of the anger from their previous arguments returned in full force. It was funny, how when you are apart from someone you only remember the good things, but once they are there, you do not even care, “I’m leaving.” Cole turned around, about to open the door.
“No wait!” Lloyd grabbed Cole’s arm, leaving him stunned, “You can’t leave yet, we haven’t eaten! Also, we need to see Kai.” Lloyd was both desperate and stern. Had it been anyone else, Cole would have just walked away anyways. However, he could not say no to Lloyd. No one could. Both Jay and Cole sighed and gave each other that knowing look and sat at a booth. Both lured in by the food reached for the conveyor only to be scolded by Lloyd, “No food until Kai arrives.”
Both groan, but they all wait patiently for the fire ninja to show his face. “Maybe he didn’t wanna show.” Jay scoffed, but as soon as he said that, Cole and Lloyd saw a large mess of hair that could only belong to Kai. He did not even try to change it in the time that he was gone. Then again… None of them did. They all look the same. A wave of nostalgia and melancholy washed over Cole as Kai slowly took his place next to Jay. Everyone stared at each other, their voices becoming muffled to Cole. He just stared now at an empty space that should not be there. Sure, he participated in conversation, but he does not even remember what he said. It was all unimportant.
Then shouts came from the front of the store, seemingly snapping everyone back into reality. It resurfaced an urge that Cole thought he had dropped entirely. He took a deep breath, and was about to stand when Kai and Lloyd already were on the case, leaving Cole and Jay behind. The glanced at each other and Jay smirked the way he always does. They way that made Cole want to punch him in the face and then apologize after and send him to the ER because he loves his friends. Cole nodded and immediately started to assist the duo in apprehending the robbery.
Cole could feel himself going back to the past. Every punch and dodge felt like second nature. It was obvious that these people were no amateurs, this was no normal robbery. Cole could feel himself getting angrier when they tried to run away. He ran after them, not caring about the other people in the shop, Kai right at his side. They threw the back door open and all they were met with was an empty area. The chilly air returned to Cole’s face, and he scrunched his nose. Kai groaned next to him,
“God… They got away…”
“No shit Sherlock.”
“Well Watson,” Kai turned to him, smirking, “Looks like they left something behind.” He thrust his thumb to a shrine with candles, “I think they were luring us here…” Kai approached the shrine cautiously, Cole following behind. The door opened and closed behind them,
“Did you find them?!” Jay called, running over to Kai, out of breath. Kai seemed… Distraught, to say the least.
“No… But there was this.” He ripped the paper off the wall and showed everyone. It was a drawing of… Zane. It was simple but definitely him. It read If you want to see your friend again, come to Chen’s Island and win the tournament of elements! Come to the docks at midnight, or else! Don’t tell anyone.
“We have to go.” Cole said flatly. He had already made up his mind. Of course they were going to go. It was Zane their friend who should be dead but is not. That makes sense right? It makes sense.
“This makes no sense” Thanks Lloyd, we just established it does, “Zane should be gone… This is fishy if anything. Who is this Chen guy anyways? The noodle guy? Same Chen??”
“Same Chen. There are only a few Chen’s out there.” Kai said, hand rubbing his chin. His face seemed so worried, “But if he really does have Zane, we should check it out right?”
“And if he doesn’t?! We’re dead! Or worse dude. Also? Tournament of Elements?? What does he even mean by that?” Jay snapped, “Are there other elemental masters out there? What could possibly be an element? Water?”
“Yeah, and lightning is an element.”
“Shut up Cole.” Kai and Lloyd were just snickering in the background at this, “Whatever, let’s at least check out the suspicious looking thing that is clearly a trap with some knowledge.”
“I’ll ask my father about this Chen person. We’ll see what’s up with it, alright?” Lloyd had everything planned out, so they had to agree. Everyone went their separate ways, and Cole took a deep breath, leaned against the cold and rough brick of the Chen’s Noodles and took out his pack of cigarettes. It was a habit he picked up from the lumberjacks. He did not want to at first, but he did it once and never looked back. He sighed looking at the nearly empty street in front of him, disregarding Jay sneaking up next to him. He pinched out the spark, causing Cole to retch in surprise.
“What the hell Kai?” He cried, scrambling for his lighter again. Kai laughed and leaned next to him.
“You’ll die quicker the more you do it you know.”
“Hypocrite. I told you that last time I saw you with one of these out.” Cole scoffed, carefully lighting it back up. Kai shrugged,
“You know? A cigarette never tastes the same once it's relit.” He said, looking all philosophical and wise like some Sensei Wu wannabe. Cole was about to laugh, but Kai was not wrong. He sighed looking to Kai,
“You ready to meet him, Kai? He might be different.”
“No, but you’re not ready either. I can see it, how serious and distant you are when he’s brought up. You two were close, you were close with Jay too. And you two fought over what? My sister? Cole, you don’t like girls.” Kai was the second person Cole told he was gay, first being Zane. Cole glared at the ground, mad at Kai for being right, “When you see him again, tell him how you feel. Don’t relight a friendship with those feelings inside of you.” And without another word, Kai left, leaving Cole with his words.
Cole was tired. He hoped that going into the prison would make it easier to find Zane, but if anything, it was harder. Without his powers, he felt completely useless, and being chained to the others only made him feel like a literal burden now. If Jay and Kai could see him now, they might even laugh… God… Jay. Cole sighed, about to cry. Jay hated him because of a silly compatibility test that did not even make sense. Like? A computer should not be able to decide whether or not your chemicals in your brain are making you like the perfect person. Cole does not even like Nya that much! He is all serious because he wants to focus on training and… Other things.
Cole was lucky he was always last. He made sure he was the slowest to get to the cuffs, but still thought he was lucky for it. Cole always struggled against the cold metal against his wrists, and always failed. He knew it was futile, but he felt that not trying would just be giving up. Groaning he was about to give up, when he heard something come from the typically silent cells. He strained to listen for the noise,
“Are you sure this is going to work Pixal?” Wait. Wait. Cole immediately headed for the cell, grabbing onto the bars on the window. He suddenly did not care about the other inmates or behaving. What he cared about was Zane. His best friend… His dumb stupid crush.
“Zane?!” He called into the cell desperately. He knew he had to be quiet but he stopped caring, “Zane are you in there?” Cole felt his heart drop with each second of silence. Maybe in his frenzy he just hearing things and Zane was still dead and they just fell for Chen’s stupid plot and-
“Cole?” It was Zane. But… Not. He was silver, and looking more obviously like a robot than last time. His bright blue eyes glowed in the dark, and he looked so… Small, as if he was hiding. Cole smiled bright, and Zane returned the favor. Oh how it melted his heart, he felt like he had gained his powers back and would break Zane right on out of there with everyone else. But he knew it was impossible,
“I’m so glad to see you! You look great!”
“Thank you, I am glad to see you too.”
“I’m going to break you out of here. Just give me some time. Tomorrow I should have a plan, alright?” Cole reached out a hand through the bars, and Zane met it. Cole could feel his heart race, and face heat up. He wanted to hold it there longer, but he knew that the guards would reprimand him at any moment, so he wave goodbye and went back in line, smirking at the guards, then whispering, “Karlof, I’m breaking out of here as soon as possible.” once they were out of earshot.
Getting Zane out was easier than Cole expected, and once they had some down time after being chased by the second biggest snake they had ever seen, the duo sat together, a comfortable silence washing over them. Cole bit his lip, looking away from the boy next to him. He knows he cannot keep doing this, but he almost wants to,
“H-hey Zane,” God why did he have to start. Zane looked to him, as if expecting him to speak, “I have some things to talk to you about if that’s okay I mean it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about things and just sit in silence actually I would almost prefer that I just-”
“It’s okay Cole. What’s bothering you?” Cole stared at how relaxed Zane seemed to be, and could feel his face burning. It almost took him by surprise how easy this seemed to be. Taking a deep breath, he looked ahead, away from Zane.
“I think… No, I know. I have been… Harboring feelings for you for… A long time. And I just… I don’t know… Kai told me to tell you so I just went for it? I didn’t want our friendship to be ruined over something trivial like this so if you don’t feel the same way that’s fine. I know you like Pixal and she’s in your head now anyways so-”
“Cole.” Cole tensed at his name being said. It felt like being scolded by an adult, and he hated it. He knew that Zane would never feel the same way about him since he is dating Pixal anyways so why did he even bother, “Look at me. Please, Cole.” Cole wanted to cry. He slowly looked over to Zane and felt something cold caress his cheek. Zane was right there, so close. Cole felt himself stop breathing, his chest tight. And then Zane closed the distance. It felt cold, yet comforting, and tasted like iron. But Cole felt himself relax, leaning into him. They pulled away soon after. There was a quiet period of time where Cole just stared at Zane before saying,
“So is that a yes?” Zane laughed, and Cole forgot how much he missed that sound.
“Of course."