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Cole had sat himself down, outside, just barely within the courtyard of the monastery. It was good to be back, to have so much time to just be at a place he considered home; the sunlight warm on his face as it flowed through the gap in the wall that the open gates provided and the feeling of stones and gravel under his bare palms was abrasive but tactile, calming as he carefully moved the pads of his fingers over the small ridges.
Getting banished to a whole other realm, coming back and then getting thrown into a new problem and an entirely new battle - two in fact, Garmadon and then the Oni, it had been hard for everyone. No time for a break, not really. That was the life of a Ninja.
Taxing in every way, but when they finally got some down time?
Time to relax without a world ending problem taking up every moment of the day. Time that Cole could use to just enjoy the light breeze as the day slowly delved into its evening state, the sun dipping below the horizon. He could feel it, the chill as shadows stretched over him inch by inch and the warm line of the dipping light.
Until his attention was drawn away. Maybe it was the shift in the air beside his head, or the slight tremors running through the ground, or even the light breathing he could hear. And he could hear it, easily. Better than he could have done a few mere months back.
The only issue was, he wasn't the best at differentiating anything yet, even after going so long without his sight. He could sense people, sense movement and depth, but nothing much past that. Though he was learning gradually.
It seemed like years since he'd ever seen anything, when in reality it had been months.
"You've been sitting out here for most of the day." Came a croaky, soft voice. Wu.
The scrape of the bo staff on the ground confirmed his suspicions. How had he not noticed that?
Cole smiled, and gave a short nod. "It's nice. The weather has been pretty good over the past few days, Sensei. And, you know, we don't always have time to sit and enjoy it."
It was a weird but welcomed dynamic change that they'd all experienced during their run-ins with the Sons' of Garmadon, and then the escapade through the First Realm. They had their master back, after so long. After wavering hope and doubt that he was even still alive, or even in their own present day anymore.
But being there, raising him from the baby he had been stuck as, it... Was odd.
Cole felt like he'd learnt more about Wu from caring for the man as a child than he had with all the years training under the mysterious Sensei.
"I noticed you aren't wearing your blindfold." it was said with a questioning tone, and the crinkle of fabric and a huffed out breath followed, Wu sat down.
Cole shrugged, "It's not like I need it up here. No one to scare with my lack of eyes." He chuckled, humour. It helped him work through trauma, and it was trauma. There had been time between the initial injury and present day, but that didn't negate from what he'd experienced. The pain of the spelled blade, the heat, the burning, the smell. It made his stomach roll just thinking about it. He swallowed hard, around a sudden lump in his throat.
Sensei Wu seemed to pick up on the motion, there was movement. Cole just turned his head in the Sensei's general direction and smiled. He didn't know what the injury looked like, but he knew it wasn't good. It never had looked good really, all it had done was heal thankfully without an infection and the perpetual ache had subsided. Zane had told him one night, when they'd gotten to talking on the roof of the monastery, that it looked like raised skin. Discoloured, scarred, some areas lighter, some a lot darker. That his eyes, well, his eyelids had healed closed but he knew that there was nothing behind them. Cole knew that, he couldn't feel anything there. He couldn't see. He'd describe it as blackness, but in reality it was literally nothing at all. As much as anyone could see if they asked what they saw from their elbow.
"I remember the day you found me." Wu said plainly, abruptly. Cole felt himself pause, one eyebrow raising. "When I was a baby." He elaborated.
Cole frowned, "You remember... Being a baby?"
"You have to understand, what I was subject to was not normal development. I went from a young child to an adolescent youth in the matter of a few hours. I remember everything."
The earth ninja couldn't help but blow out a heavy breath. "So you remember..?"
Wu paused, as if thinking over how he was going to word what he was going to say. Or even if he should say it. "I remember the blood." He stated. "That covered most of the injury but I supposed it made it look worse than it was."
"I don't know Sensei, it felt pretty bad." Cole laughed lightly.
He felt a tap of the bo staff on his shoulder and huffed. If he still had eyes, he'd roll them.
"I know you remember it too. More so, in fact."
It was a prompt, an opening to speak about something that he resolutely avoided in lieu of other problems.
Cole swallowed hard , "I remember the pain. The fact that the last thing I ever saw was stone walls and Ultra Violet diving at me with the knife." He whispered, their surroundings seemed to follow suit. Birds became quiet, cicadas in the grass stopped their chirping. It was like the world took a breath. "Everything flashed white, and then nothing. I remember coming around and you were making baby noises. I... Could feel everything. The blood, the burns, I honestly…" Cole's voice fell below a whisper, "I wanted to cry but I couldn't." He ducked his head.
"And amongst all of that, you still got me and yourself to safety."
"Sensei--"
"You put everything that had happened to the back of your mind, you adapted to the situation and you found your way to safety, even without your vision."
Cole cleared his throat and shook his head. He could feel a catch in his voice, and he knew if he spoke again it would break, just as he had yet to do so over the situation
Yet he did, "Why're you mentioning this now?"
"Because you need to hear it." Wu said plainly. "You need to know that you're not alone with this. And even though I may be a crotchety old man," Cole smirked, and received a harder staff tap to the back of his head. He winced and brought his hand up to rub the knock.
"I am your mentor, and I'm here to talk to. Just as your brothers are."
There was a light breeze and Cole hefted a heavy breath, nodding slowly to the words. They made sense, and he had heeded them before. If the conversation was broached, he would talk about what happened. He was doing so now. Bottling emotions wasn't exactly his forte, he was more for waiting until there was time to let them out. The only issue was free time rarely came. "I'm fine, Sensei. Really. I'm okay. And I'm sorry you remembered what happened."
"Apologies from those who are not at fault get neither party anywhere but closer to understanding each other. It is not your fault that what you experienced was traumatic. It is not your fault that I remember what happened."
"Sensei, I don't get what point you're trying to make." Cole admitted slowly as he pulled his legs up against his chest.
"What I'm saying is, eyesight or not, safety or peril, your immediate action upon getting grievously injured was to protect someone else. To protect me, whether you knew who I was or not. It's why I chose you Cole, all those years back on that mountain top."
Cole paused, listened.
"Because when all seems lost and hopeless, when you're in pain, you still put others first. You do the right thing, to the detriment of yourself." Wu stood, using his staff as support. "Whilst putting yourself in harm's way, I don't advise; your heart is always in the right place."
He felt a hand rest on his shoulder, the touch firm but gentle. Cole couldn't help but give a small smile.
"It's why you're the leader, and why you continue to be the one everyone looks to."
"Sensei--"
Sensei Wu paused, presumably looking back, not that Cole could tell easily. "Disability does not equal to inability. You are proof of that, Cole. You work with your circumstances, you are every bit the person you used to be and more.
"I am here to thank you. And to tell you that I am very proud of who you've become."