Chapter Text
The tip Cole’s lead pencil touched the paper directly underneath, still. To begin a story, he must reflect upon his own. The buzzing of the air conditioner in the room set him at ease, along with the soft music Zane had turned on.
How should he begin his story? Who should the heroes be? Of course, Cole already had the answer for that. His friends are his heroes. They always have been for years. He let out a small laugh, a smile stuck on his lips when he remembers the time where he was chasing Jay to school. He thinks that was the true beginning of the awful timeline that had been forgotten by everyone but him.
The young adult knows what his story is going to be about now. Six heroes, all masked with secret identities, known to only those who were a ninja.
Humming the soft tune of the reminiscent song taught by his father, the story began to unfold from the experience of being gifted the ability to be able to save his entire family from despair.
Shine little glow-worm, glimmer glimmer…
Hey there don’t get dimmer...
… dimmer
The sound of running footsteps against the crunchy snow echoed through the small crowds of chattering students, along with shrieking coming from the boy with curly hair and the bright orange scarf.
“COLE!” Jay screamed out, smiling widely as he tried his best to run away from said friend. Cole let out a laugh as he tried to run faster, trying his best to catch up to the speeding tiny boy. How was Jay so fast?!
“Get over here!” Cole shouted out, trying to dodge the other small students they were zooming by, uttering out small and quick apologies to those he accidentally bumped into.
Jay finally stopped at the gates of where Cole attended school, heaving over a little bit as he panted. Cole slowly ran over, beginning to sloppily get slower, slamming his shoes on the snowy pavement. The two were panting, their breaths appearing in the chilly air.
Putting his hands on his knees, the young boy let out a wheezing laughter as Jay could only glare at him before quickly joining the contagious laughter his friend had.
“Y-You’re awful, Cole, you know that r-right?” Jay panted out, unwrapping his scarf to relieve off some of the heat built up. Cole could only wheeze in response, hearing Nya and Kai afar behind him.
“Hey nerds!” Kai shouted and Jay looked behind Cole, closing his eyes as he stuck out his tongue.
“You’re the loser of the group!” Jay shouted back. Nya could only giggle in response as Kai stuck out his tongue right back.
Light snow was falling down on them, which Kai kept commenting how it would ruin his gelled up hair. Cole found Kai’s hair to be soft when it wasn’t all covered in gel. He found this out when he came over to his house to help the poor boy on homework.
Wiping the light sweat that produced from that run, Cole looked up to witness the snow’s soft touchdown on them. It had snowed last night, seeing as there were only a few inches on the ground. Winter always created a lot of snow for their town and it only gave Cole melancholic feelings.
Winter gave him memories of his mother. The way she talked about snow and how it was like an enchanted wonderland to her. Or how he would always go out in the snow for hours to play with his friends and come back, a sniffling and shivering mess, and she would make a cup of hot chocolate coupled with a few marshmallows for him. Snow gave him a feeling that’ll never leave him. Thinking about those memories gives him this intense cloud of gloom that overtakes him until he’s nothing but tears and a lost voice. Cole doesn’t want to go through it again.
“Oh hey, where’s Zane and Echo?” Kai asked, now next to Jay as they all waited for Zane and Echo before entering the elementary school. This was a normal thing for them to do. All of them would meet up at the gates of Bounty Elementary School, where most of them attended except for Jay, before heading in. It was just their thing.
“And Lloyd… Maybe Morro is just taking his time walking,” Jay commented and Cole shrugged.
“Better hurry it up or else I’m claiming their seats,” Cole snickers as Jay rolls his eyes.
“I’m glad I don’t have to start school this early,” Jay says, putting his hands behind his head.
Nya deadpans. “But you wake up just as early as us and walk with us to a school you don’t even go to…” she says and Jay blushes.
“It feels good to pretend, alright!” he huffs out and Nya giggles, hiding her smile with the red mittens she wore. Kai rolls his eyes at the two and looks behind Jay, waving at whoever was behind him.
“You’re late!” Kai shouts and Cole looks up, seeing Zane holding hands with Echo. He smiles. Zane was a good brother to Echo, always protecting him.
“Sorry,” Zane says as they made it to the group, “I had to do something on the way here.”
Echo let out a loud ‘vroom!’ as he held up a paper airplane. Cole raised an eyebrow. It was a well made one, which could only mean--
“Here’s Lloyd,” Morro’s voice said behind Zane and Jay shrieked, jumping away in surprise.
Morro, unamused, held Lloyd out who was eating a lollipop. Nya asked Morro for one, which Kai tried to stop her, and the man shrugged, digging through his pocket to find another piece of candy.
Zane gave a small smile as he watched Echo throw his paper airplane towards Lloyd. The blonde boy caught it with one hand and smiled wide, looking at it with surprise.
“You found my airplane!” he exclaimed and Echo nodded.
“Zane got it out of the river for me.”
“Morro, do you think you could make another one for Echo? He really liked his time with it,” Zane asks and Morro rolls his eyes, looking away from embarrassment.
“Sure, I guess... Here, Nya,” Morro handed the small girl a strawberry flavored candy and she thanked him, tippy toeing to grab it. Unwrapping it, she popped it into her mouth and Morro took her trash, stuffing it into the opposite pocket of his brief coat.
Kai watched with skepticism before bringing Nya over to his side, causing Morro to groan and roll his eyes once again at that. He looked at his watch and huffed, looking up to see the falling snow increasing.
“Ugh, I hate snow. Whatever, kids. I’m out,” he mumbles, turning around to leave.
Cole watched the highschooler leave, shrugging as he looked over to Kai, who was still keeping his eyes on Morro.
“What’s your problem with him?” Cole asked and Kai looked over to him, before looking away.
“Nothing,” he responds and Nya smacks his hand from her shoulder angrily.
“You’re too protective!” she whines and runs into the elementary school, slamming the door closed on her way in.
“Nya!- Ugh, fine, let’s just go in then. See you later, Jay.”
Jay waves at them all, standing at the gate. “See you guys later! At the park?”
Zane nods. “At the park.”
Cole was the last one of the group to head into the school, and when he was at the door, he turned his head to see Jay still standing there. Giving him a wave, Cole couldn’t help but smile a bit as Jay waved back with a toothy grin. With a turn, Cole began his school day.
Hearing Jay’s running feet and his desperate gasp for air, even though it was only a few yards worth of running, Morro stopped his walk to look down at him, unexpressive. Jay beamed up at him, his orange scarf a mess.
“Could you take me home? I forgot to get my bike earlier because, well... Cole ran after me here,” Jay asks and Morro sighs.
“I hate kids…” he grumbles, before kneeling down to fix Jay’s scarf. “Where’s your home, tot?”
“TOT?! I’m not THAT young, you ugly gnome!” Jay sputtered out, sniffing as he wiped his nose.
Morro groaned again, putting the palm of his hand onto his forehead. “I swear to the First Spinjitzu Master…” he mumbled.
Jay grabbed his other hand and Morro looked down, trying to not cackle at the way Jay’s eyes badly attempted the puppy look.
His hands are cold…
Morro grabbed a pair of dark green mittens, a bit oversized for Jay’s small hands, out of another pocket and held it out to him. “Here. Your hands are freezing.”
Jay looked at them with awe, eyes wide. “Wow…!” he grabbed them, quickly putting them on. They were oversized… Like a lot. But Jay seemed to be fond of the action. “Thanks!”
Morro scoffed, looking away as he begun to become bashful, “Why don’t you just buy your own pair?”
Jay didn’t respond, but kept the mittens close to his chest. Morro kept his stare away from the young child’s deathly stare, trying not to be embarrassed by his rather kind actions.
“Fine, let’s go now. I won’t be that late for class, I guess. Which way’s your home?”
Jay kept a hold of one of Morro’s hands the entire way to his small home where his parents awaited for him.
Every morning, Kai takes Nya to her class while Zane follows with both Echo and Lloyd. Echo actually is the youngest one, being in first grade, while Lloyd is in third grade. Nya is in fourth grade, so they all go their separate ways in the morning. Cole just heads to his fifth grade class alone, waiting for Zane and Kai in his seat.
He doesn’t really talk to anyone else in the class and Cole doesn’t intend on making any new friends ever. He likes his group. Skylor and Pixal come from private schools, so all of them just hang out in the park. Cole likes it, it makes him feel whole. His mother’s death may have tore him and his father apart, but Cole has another family. He has his friends and he wouldn’t trade anything for the bond he has with them.
Sitting in class alone was boring enough that the falling of the gentle snowflakes were suddenly so amusing to him. The chattering of students droned on and every time he blinked, this small amount of fatigue would hit him. It made his mind feel fuzzy, like the only thing in this town that mattered was the small shavings of those white idiosyncratic ice crystals. Cole didn’t mind this thought, because sometimes the snow was the only thing he looked forward to as Winter came by.
Not the way his dad closed the windows more during the day to avoid looking at them or the way Zane always made everyone knitted mittens to their exact hand measurements. Actually- Cole always looked forward to Zane’s kindness. How could he not?
Cole felt pristine looking at the snow. He felt like nothing bad ever happened in his life, like a newborn child, innocent and guiltless.
The running of somebody made Cole blink again, connecting back into reality. The sudden rush of booming voices from the students around him filled his mind, making him feel oppressed all of a sudden. Scooting closer into his seat, Cole looked at the once closed door being slammed open by the loud mouth; otherwise known as Kai Smith.
“GOT HERE FIRST!” he exclaimed, letting out a proud laugh as Cole sees Zane trailing behind Kai, panting more than the hothead.
“Ka-” Zane let out a heave and sucked in more air. “I don’t run as much as you do and it shows.”
Kai grinned, patting Zane roughly on his back. “Maybe we’ll run to the park today!”
Cole waved at the two boys as they entered. Kai and Zane sat together in a pair of desks next to Cole, while Cole sat next to a classmate whose name he just doesn’t seem to remember.
“What do you think we’ll learn today?” Zane questioned and Kai hummed, thinking aloud as he rested a hand under his chin. After a few seconds of thinking, he let out a ‘aha!’.
With this big confident smile, that showed off his oddly sharp teeth, Kai shouted out, “I want to learn how to be a better skater!”
Cole and Zane didn’t expect Kai to be that loud, so when the classroom went silent for a few seconds, Kai looked around in surprise at himself.
“Oop…” he mumbled.
Then clapping was heard behind the closed door to the classroom, causing the students to look to it. Cole raised an eyebrow. Was that their teacher?
When the door opened, Zane greeted Mr. Garmadon instantly, giving the older man a small bow.
“Good morning, Sensei Garmadon.”
Garmadon chuckled, knowing exactly who said the previous sentence about skating.
“Good morning, Zane. Good morning, class,” he greets as he walks up to the front of the classroom. A spread of monotone mixed with chirpy voices were heard from around the room and Cole was one of the people who just said it in his head. Kai said it with determination, wanting to know if Garmadon was going to let them go ice skating today or not.
Though Bounty Elementary School may be famous for their ice skating winning streaks, Cole likes to think that the art group in the school is better. It’s got better people in his opinion. The ice skating team gets too competitive, and besides, Cole doesn’t know how to ice skate in the first place. Jay and Zane know how to skate really well, while Kai on the other hand is trying to learn and is succeeding in it really well.
A boy in the class snickers, “Sensei, are we going to go ice skating today?”
Kai reddens, giving Garmadon his trademark goofy grin. Garmadon chuckled, shaking his head.
“Perhaps later, but as of right now, no. This morning, we will be learning more advanced topics, such as...” the old man turns around to write down some words on the blackboard and that’s when Cole begins to zone out, his eyes slowly drifting back to the window.
The snow didn’t change its speed, going just as slow as it had been minutes before.
“Cole?” Garmadon asked and Cole snapped his head to the board, seeing a math problem with the answer missing. “Would you mind telling us the answer to this question?”
Cole looked at the question some more, feeling nervous. This is why he should pay attention and not zone out, but it’s so hard not to.
“I… uhm…” Cole’s voice began to waver before finally getting the problem. “Oh, it’s fifteen.”
Garmadon nods with a small smile. “Correct. With that, please get out a piece of paper…”
Cole looks over at Kai and Zane, who both give him a thumbs up. He smiled at them before turning around to get paper. He can’t wait for lunch.
Here Cole stands, in the front of the ice skating rink that’s in the yard of the school. It’s more of a learning rink, but most kids in his class know how to skate already. Cole doesn’t know how they do it, to be honest. He can’t keep his balance on them and is always falling on his butt.
Zane and Kai are already in the ice skates, ready to race each other. As the rest of the class watches, Cole can feel the tension between the two of the competitors. Zane may not admit it, but he loves winning. It makes him feel accomplished, though if needed, he will absolutely let someone else win and still be just as satisfied. On the other hand, Kai admits that he loves to win and will go over a lot of obstacles to be able to get the prize.
Cole doesn’t know who’ll win today, but he bet it’ll be Kai today. There are some days where Zane wins and some days where Kai wins, so Cole has no true basis to go on to. Today just feels like a Kai day, he supposes.
“Go Zane!” Cole cheers and Zane looks over at him.
“Thank you,” he says and Cole gives him a thumbs up as Kai scoffs.
“Not me?” Kai asks and Cole laughs.
“Yea.”
Garmadon clears his throat. “Ready?” he asks and the two nod, readying their stance.
“3… 2…” the whistle blows. “1!”
Kai’s the first one to move, Zane dashing right after. Cole sees the way Kai is aggressively skating around the rink, while Zane seems to be strategically moving, knowing every move he’s going to make and it’s consequence.
He feels this sudden excitement for one of them to win and his heart is pounding in his ears. Cole couldn’t help the large smile on his face as Zane turns the corner more sharply than Kai, going ahead of him. Kai gives a small shout as he rushes to Zane’s side. But by the time Kai is at his side, Zane’s across the finish line, thus winning the match.
Cole let out a cheer for Zane and Kai wheezed out a laugh, high fiving an out of breath Zane. Running to them, Cole patted their backs, earning him a friendly glare from both people as they tried to catch their breath.
“You two did well!” he says and Kai laughs.
“Zane’s too good,” Kai states, “He knows his every move… Which, by the way Zane, is terrifying.” Zane chuckles, putting a hand on Kai’s shoulder.
“Knowing your next move isn’t terrifying Kai, it’s strategic. Perhaps you should think ahead as well,” Zane notes and Kai huffs.
“I just forgot how narrow that curve was, alright?” Kai mumbles off, walking to the benches to take off his skates. Coles chuckles and looks over at Zane.
“Good job though, Zane. I knew you’d win this round.”
Zane chortled and Cole can see the crazy fire of determination set ablaze by this match in his icy blue eyes.
“ I think what you said earlier simply fueled me to win ,” Zane says before walking away to Kai’s side on the bench.
Cole stands there and his heart feels like it just got fluffed up like a pillow by those words. A small smile grew on his lips as he shook his head, ignoring the way his cheeks flushed, and walked his way to Zane and Kai.
When classes are over, Cole waits near Lloyd’s classroom while the other two wait near their sibling’s classroom. When the door opens, out pours the smaller children of Lloyd’s class. Cole looked at their heads, searching for the familiar blonde hair. When he does see it, he sees Lloyd’s happy face as the small child walks to his side.
“How was your day, Lloyd?” Cole asks as they begin to walk to the teacher’s room for Lloyd to say bye to his father.
“Hm… Good!” Lloyd gives him a toothy grin, seeing as Lloyd actually did lose one of his front teeth a few days ago. Cole nods, giving a small hum as he enters the teacher’s room.
“Hi, Sensei Garmadon,” Cole greets him, even though he just saw him mere minutes ago. Garmadon waves over at the two, before seeing Lloyd.
“Was your school day fun, Lloyd?” Garmadon asks, lifting Lloyd up in the air. Lloyd let out a giggle, nodding.
“Yea! I colored a lot today, so my hand feels wobbly…” Lloyd says and Garmadon chuckles, kissing his forehead before setting him on the ground. Lloyd wobbled around, dizzy from the spins and Cole smiles.
“Well, I’ll see you later tonight alright? Mom should be home by the time you and your friends are done playing.”
“Okay!”
Lloyd runs to Cole’s side and he waves at Garmadon before leaving the room to go to the front gates where everyone stood there, waiting.
“Ready?” Kai asks and Cole nods, all of them beginning to walk to the park. Lloyd ran around them, chasing Echo who was in fits of giggles and laughter. Nya was holding Kai’s hand as she giggled at the two running children. She looked like she wanted to join them, but Kai seemed to be holding her back.
Cole sighed at that, shaking his head lightly. Kai can be a bit too protective sometimes, not letting Nya have her fun other than at the park. It’s like the park is Nya’s only place to be truly free without her brother’s overprotective eyes on her like a hawk.
Being a single child, Cole doesn’t know the experience of being an older brother, so he tends to act like one to Lloyd. But Cole’s pretty sure Zane and Kai do the same thing for Lloyd. He means-- after that bullying incident with that one group, Cole’s pretty sure even Echo and Nya want to protect Lloyd. Cole’s sure Lloyd can protect himself, but having support never hurts.
As they cross the few roads that lead to the park, Cole realizes it had stopped snowing a while ago. The inches on the ground have increased a bit, while the sky stayed that perfect light grey color, little white clouds being its decor. Against the park’s entrance is Jay’s recognizable blue bike chained to a pole.
When Cole scans the park, he sees Jay’s orange scarf on a bench, eating ice cream . Ice cream? In the snow??? Cole couldn’t help but point it out to Kai, who snorted, while Zane seemed to want to get one for Echo.
“Jay!” Cole called out and the boy turned around, waving at them with a bright smile.
“Hey!”
“Where’d you get the ice cream?!” Lloyd screeched out, jumping up to the ice cream as he tried to snatch it. Jay held the ice cream up higher, making Lloyd protest with a whine.
“I got it from the shop nearby, duh,” Jay says and Lloyd groans.
“I don’t have any money…” Lloyd sighs and plops next to Jay, who rolls his eyes before handing Lloyd a few coins.
“Here’s my lunch money,” Jay jokes and Lloyd instantly brightens up.
“YAYY, I STOLE SOMEONE’S LUNCH MONEY!!!”
Kai snickered, before grabbing Lloyd’s hand. “Here, I’ll take you there. Echo, do you want to come along? Nya?”
Echo nods, basically jumping up and down with Lloyd. Nya thinks before shaking her head.
“It’s too cold for ice cream!” she complains and Kai shrugs.
“Alright! I’ll get you some candy then. Be back in a few then.”
While Kai leaves with the two excited boys, Zane sits next to Jay where Lloyd had sat and let out a chuckle.
“Echo usually isn’t this expressive around the kids in his classroom,” he comments. Cole and Jay nod, agreeing. “I’m glad he can have fun with someone near his age, though.”
“I think Lloyd just brings out the fun out of everyone,” Cole says and everyone seems to mutually agree.
Nya went out to play with the other little kids in the playground as Cole strapped on the ice skating shoes. He wanted to try learning how to ice skate after seeing Zane and Kai doing it so effortlessly. As Jay and Zane helped him to the deserted ice rink in the park, Cole took a breather. Okay… He’s got this.
Nya looked over, seeing Cole slowly slide onto the ice, very very wobbly and arms flailing. Pushing herself down the slide, she grunted as she got off of the cold snow, wiping herself off before rushing over to Jay’s side.
“Is Cole learning how to ice skate?!” she asked, causing Cole to look up from his feet, thus breaking his hard concentration. He fell onto his butt, causing Jay to crack up as Zane headed over to help Cole up.
“Oops,” Nya giggled out as she bent down, wrapping up a snowball in her red mittens. Throwing it at Jay’s face with all her might, he let out a shocked gasp as it got into his scarf.
“That’s COLD!” the boy shrieked, unwrapping his scarf to allow the snow to drop out. “How could you…” Jay grinned, wrapping his scarf around him and grabbed a handful of snow. Nya let out a scream as she ran away to the playground, shrieking as the boy followed right after her.
Cole looked at them with a shake of his head. “I swear, he's a third grader sometimes…” he says and Zane couldn’t help but laugh, mutually agreeing with him.
As Cole got back onto his feet, he paused to take in a deep breath. If he wants to do the basics, he needs to learn how to balance himself better.
“How do you even balance yourself?” Cole asks Zane and the boy looks at the rink.
“I think of the rink like a person who guides you. Balancing yourself is only connecting yourself to the skates itself, but I’d like to think that to truly balance yourself, you have to trust the rink more than yourself,” Zane finished off with a smile before turning his head when they hear Kai.
“Huh…” Cole mumbled off as Zane walked to Kai, helping him with Echo and Lloyd. That was… An odd but endearing way to look at it. Become one with the rink?
Cole couldn’t help but laugh at that thought and leaned against a bar placed nearby the rink. Okay. He’ll try again this time, but harder.
Fixing his position, Cole got off the bar and instantly he became a newborn fawn, his ankles wobbling and his arms flailing. Well-
Kai looked over and snorted, hiding his smile behind a hand. “I-Is that Cole?..” Kai asked Zane. Zane, who was trying not to smile, nods as Jay’s entire body shook as he tried to hold in his laughter.
“I know he’s trying his best bu-but…” Jay croaked out, a laugh fighting its way out of his throat. Cole turned to them, unamused.
“I can hear you, you know!” Cole shouted, turning his head back grumbling. “At least help, gosh…”
Zane was going to walk over to help the poor unbalanced boy, but suddenly, Cole straightened up and stood on the skates perfectly. In surprise, he snapped his head back to his friends, his smile wide.
“Gu-GUYS! I’m standing! Like-- I’m STANDING-”
Kai and Jay couldn’t help but crack up when he instantly fell over. Zane winced, helping him back onto his feet. The fallen boy groaned, letting out a disappointed sigh upon looking up to the monotonous grey sky.
“Maybe skating isn’t my thing…” Cole recites and Zane shook his head, frowning.
Cole always says that about him, but Zane believes his good friend, determined and strong-willed, can do it.
“Ice skating is a learned talent, but anyone can learn it. I was definitely like this trying to learn it, in fact, I think I had a worse time doing it because of how unbalanced I was.”
Cole grinned. “Well- Yeah. I do remember seeing you try really hard to even stay on these things. Too bad I didn’t try learning with you, I just stood watching.”
Zane shrugged, “I think you didn’t want a distraction back then.”
“Huh… Well, I sure would’ve liked one right after you had learned it.”
“Ah… That was after your mother’s passing, wasn’t it…”
“Yeah…”
Cole swallowed, feeling the sudden heavy air around them.
“Well!” Cole walked towards the rink. “At least I can stand on these things. Could you help push me to the rink?”
Zane gives a small concerning look at Cole before nodding. “I’d be glad to help you.”
Waving to his friends, Cole is one of the last ones standing at the entrance of the park. Jay has already ridden off on his bike home, Kai and Nya are walking home, Zane and Echo were picked up by Cryptor, and Morro showed up to take Lloyd home. Cole, now alone, looks at the sky. The snow picked up some speed, but Cole thinks he’ll make it home before his dad gets too worried. Not like he’d notice till it was late anyways.
As Cole takes one last look at the park, his eyesight catches the distinctive small red mittens that sat on the bench. He cocked an eyebrow, moving his head to better view the fabric. Huh.
Nya must’ve left her mittens here on accident. He debated if he should just bring it to her tonight or tomorrow, but quickly decided that Nya shouldn’t have to suffer a cold morning to school without them. Grabbing them, he made his way over to the Smith Family’s home, which is connected to their parents’ shop. Their parents know him well, so they should have no problem with just suddenly seeing their friend on their doorstep this late at night.
The walk there was quiet and it was peaceful enough for Cole to start to quietly hum to himself. He isn’t a good singer, so humming is the only option he has.
Passing the alleyways between the houses was always eerie to Cole. The feeling of someone lurking in the dark and murky shadows of the small back alley was disturbing to say the least. People say to not go inside of them and Cole definitely agrees, though he may just be a bit too paranoid. Zane would definitely not allow Echo to even step foot near them, and so would Kai to Nya.
Nearing the Smith’s house, Cole clears his throat, preparing to have to knock on their front door. Striking the door with his knuckles, he waits patiently, staring at the lit windows. The shop was closed at this time and now that he thought about it, maybe Cole should get something to eat on his way home. His dad most likely didn’t get any dinner tonight.. again.
Hearing footsteps, Cole straightens up, preparing to put on a small smile. However, when the reveal behind the open door is just Kai and Nya, who oddly looked really really nervous, Cole grew curious. The two of them looked like they were expecting someone different. Who though? Cole has no clue as to who, so he pulls out the mittens that belonged to the little girl.
“Hey, sorry for suddenly appearing so late,” Cole greets, “Nya left her mittens at the park, so just thought I’d bring them back. Can’t have her hands freezing tomorrow morning, can I?”
Nya mutters a quiet ‘thank you, cole’ as she grabs her mittens from his outstretched arms. Cole noticed how shaky her hands were and grew even more concerned. Kai noticed his expression and looked away, clearing his throat.
The silence lasts for a few seconds before Cole decides to break the ice and finally ask, “Is everything alright?...”
Kai, who was currently looking at the surroundings behind Cole as if he was trying to desperately search for someone, snapped his eyes back to him. He blinked, comprehending the sentence slowly before grinning and nodding.
“Uh, yeah. Why wouldn’t it be?”
Cole noticed how Kai’s voice had an underlying shakiness to it. His mind didn’t know what to think of these sudden suspicions of something being incredibly wrong at the Smith House. But… Maybe he’s overthinking. It could just be that their parents just had a fight like how every parent does.
But by the way Kai seems so antsy, Cole wants to keep questioning to make sure everything really is okay. He’s never seen Kai like this and he definitely wasn’t acting like this at the park. In fact, he was the complete opposite. Happy, shouting out everyone’s names as they played tag, laughing on the snow covered ground. That’s what Kai was like only just mere hours ago, but now, his stance is unusually rigid, the grip on Nya’s shoulder seemed to only get tighter as the seconds passed by. And Cole just now noticed how pale the two of them were.
“Huh… Nothing. Just wondering,” he waved it off and gave a nervous laugh. “I’ll- um… I’ll see you guys tomorrow at the gate?”
Nya waves at him and Cole sees the way her eyes are tearing up. Kai waves at Cole, though a frown is stuck on his face.
“Yeah. See you tomorrow. Night.”
As the door closes, Cole stands there, in this state of uneasiness.
... What was that?
It was so weird and so unlike Kai and Nya. He’s never seen them like this and it doesn’t help when a thousand questions are quickly forming in his head, all of them making up bad situations with bad conclusions. What the hell was going on?
Moving over to the open window, he peeks in to see the two of them still at the front door, but Kai’s got Nya in a tight hug as she begins to sob.
He bites his lip, feeling this heavy feeling of guilt. Maybe he should stop intruding. This could just be something harmless happening, and he probably just interrupted the middle of a sibling fight.
Yeah… Yeah, that’s just all that happened.
Cole had to rip his stare away from the scene and run away from the house, going right back to the park. The air was getting colder around him and the sky was darkening quicker now due to the season of Winter. Cole shuddered, feeling a chill run down his body as he continued passing the park and heading to the direction towards his home.
For dinner, meat buns sound good. Hopefully he had some money to buy a few…
Jingling around his pockets, Cole found a few coins and when he passed the small shop that sold buns, he bought a few from the kind shop owner.
Now, he was just eating warm meat buns in the cold winter air, still thinking about Kai and Nya. Hopefully he didn’t make a wrong mistake by leaving them.
Cole opens the door to his small home, the door creaking. The lights were on so his dad had to be home. Unless it was just an intruder chilling in his house. Or worse-- A killer. Or even scarier-- no one. Thinking about no one being in the house with the lights turned on makes Cole feel chilled to the bone and calls out his dad, hoping he really was home.
“Dad?...”
“I’m here,” Lou said from the kitchen. Oh phew.
With just a whiff, Cole smelled something really good and felt guilty. His dad surprised him with dinner, but he already ate a few meat buns on the walk…
“Hungry? I cooked some dinner for the two of us.”
Cole took his shoes off, walking into the kitchen, seeing Lou with an apron on. It made him smile a bit, which seemed to make Lou happy.
“Yeah. I had to drop off Nya’s mittens since she left them at the park,” Cole explained before Lou could question what took him so long. Or maybe his dad didn't even notice how late he can had came home.
He plopped himself at the dinner table that he honestly hasn’t sat at in a long time. For once, his father was home and Cole felt like they were just having a casual family bond. Though, in his mind, he knows this isn’t going to happen for another few months. Never does this occurrence happen twice.
Lou nods, grabbing a bowl and scooping up some of the soup with a metal ladle.
“Well, tomorrow I have to go out tonight to practice with my group, so you can just heat up the soup when you come home. You got the keys?”
Of course, the Royal Blacksmiths…
Cole wishes his dad didn’t have to cope through his mother’s death by just… Leaving him alone to be with his group. It sucks. It really did. Though, Cole got used to it after a while. He’s got his friends’ company during the day and that’s enough for him.
But Cole nods. He shouldn’t mess up tonight with his mixed emotions, because this was a golden night. One that’ll only happen once every full moon. A night that’ll stay in Cole’s memories more than the nights of him alone in the cold house. He forgot what it meant to be a family, but tonight, he remembers.
“Yup. It's in my pocket. Though, keeping it under the plant near the door is probably safer.”
“Pshh, please,” Lou put the bowl of soup in front of Cole, “Intruders are more likely to look there than find you to get the keys.”
Cole shrugs. “I guess. Thanks for the soup, dad.”
Lou, who was getting his own bowl of food, paused and momentarily took a second to soak in what Cole said.
“... You’re welcome, son.”
Cole began digging into the soup. His dad’s cooking is good. Sucks that he doesn’t do it often. He doesn’t want to note how the windows are closed shut, blocking the beautiful snow out from their view.
It didn’t take that long for him to ask for a second bowl eagerly.
Guess he’ll just be really full tonight.
The next day had an anxious start for Cole. How was he going to confront Kai about last night? Or should he just not even ask at all?
The boy stared at the mirror, combing his black hair. He doesn’t know if it’ll be nosy to ask about it or not. But.... Personally, he thinks that if it’s to make sure his friend is safe, it’s not that nosy… Right?
Letting out a frustrated groan, Cole put on his coat and shoes on, grabbing his backpack before leaving the house. He’ll find a solution on his way to school.