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When his mother lay on her death bed, her frail hand in his, Cole promised her he would stand up to those who were cruel and unjust.
When Master Wu met him on the mountain and asked him to become a ninja, Cole promised him he would protect Ninjago from any and all evil that threatened their people and their land.
When the ninja finally united as one team, Cole promised them he would protect and fight alongside them, no matter the cost.
Cole let out a relieved sigh as the masked warrior crumpled to the floor, red blossoming from their chest. The bloodied sword in his hand threatening to slip out of his grasp as his muscles burned, begging for respite.
Around him, the scent of sweat and iron hung in the air, and blades clashed together frantically. They'd been fighting off a clan who'd broken into a tomb, gunning for some ancient relic — a magical gem infused with evil. As the fight dragged on, masked warriors endlessly poured in, and him and the other ninja began to slow. They were vastly outnumbered.
Just as Cole was about to confront the leader approaching the relic, another warrior launched themselves at him, their barely-visible eyes dark with hunger.
Cole took a deep, steadying breath and rushed in. With a clang!, their blades met. Cole gritted his teeth as he pushed them off and swung at them furiously.
Their exchange was interrupted with a resounding whistle and most of the warriors flooded out of the room, a few staying behind to distract the team.
Cole tightened his grip on his sword. He needed to end this. With a grunt, he plunged his blade into his attacker who raised their sword, ready to deliver a final blow.
They froze, their sword slipping out of their grasp and clattering to the floor.
Cole withdrew his sword from his attacker and scanned the room to see Kai throwing his fire at another foe, unaware of the one sneaking up behind him, blade poised and ready to strike.
His heart dropped.
"Kai, watch out!" Cole shouted.
He rushed over, lungs burning, and with one last surge of energy, he threw himself between Kai and his attacker. Cole felt the blade graze his side as Jay's lightning threw the sword out of the warrior's grip, skewing it from its path straight to his chest.
Warmth rapidly seeped and spread across his side, and he froze.
Realizing the ninja would not give chase, the last of the warriors took advantage of the distraction and ran after their clan, leaving the ninja alone in the damp tomb.
Jay was the first to move, catching Cole in his arms as he fell to his knees. Cole clutched his side as the searing pain came blazing through. Slowly, Jay lowered himself and Cole to the ground, laying Cole's head in his lap. Zane knelt down next to them, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"Let me see him." He gently moved Cole's arm and peeled back the damp, sliced fabric, causing Cole to squeeze his eyes shut and hiss in pain. "I'm sorry. I just need to examine your wounds."
As Zane looked over Cole's wound, Nya brushed aside his sticky bangs and dabbed at his gradually dampening forehead with her sleeve, and Jay worriedly blabbered on about Cole, whose breathing had gone from tired pants to shallow breaths.
Behind them, Kai stood silently, his eyes downcast.
Zane shot up. "Let's get him back to the Bounty to clean and bandage the wound. Then, we'll take him back to the monastery. Master Wu should have some healing tea."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Nya and Jay hauled Cole onto their shoulders with a grunt, causing the pain in his side to flare once more.
He took a shaky breath. He just needed to make it back to the Bounty.
The hike back to the ship was silent, their shuffling footsteps echoing throughout the stony tomb, and with every step he took, Cole grit his teeth, his eyebrows scrunched in concentration as he tried to hide how his side was engulfed in flames.
Cole tried to glance back at Kai, concerned about his uncharacteristic silence. That seemed to be the wrong idea as a sharp pain injected itself in his side, and he let out a small yelp of pain, causing his teammates' heads to swivel in his direction and shoot out various questions about his well-being.
"Sorry, sorry, just, uh, stepped on a rock. Don't worry about me," he panted. The trip was getting harder as his body grew weaker, and the rivulets of sweat raced down his face and neck.
They exited the tomb, the bright sun temporarily blinding them, and the Bounty touched down onto the mossy rocks, sending gentle gusts of wind in every direction.
"I took the liberty of calling the ship to us so we wouldn't have to do the whole trek back," Zane said simply. The team let out a combined sigh of relief, especially Nya and Jay who were beginning to sag under Cole's weight. Zane jumped onto the ship and called out, "Kai, would you help me get the stretcher?"
"Sure," Kai replied, his tone clipped as he joined Zane on the ship deck, and Cole felt Nya and Jay exchange glances behind him.
"Thank you, guys," Cole tiredly murmured as they waited for the stretcher to be lowered.
"We've always got you," Nya said warmly, and Cole shot her a weary smile.
With a mechanical whirr, the stretcher came down. The trio tiredly shuffled over, the pain in Cole's side growing numb.
"Alright, we're gonna lift you up in 3, 2, 1," Jay panted.
Jay and Nya grunted as they lifted Cole's sagging, heavy body onto the stretcher, and he winced, the pain flaring up again from changing positions. Jay wiped the sweat off his forehead as Nya laid Cole down, her hand on his back.
"Lift him up!" Nya called out to Zane and Kai above, who gave a thumbs up in response, and the machine came to life once more, smoothly hauling Cole up to the ship deck.
Once Cole was safely lifted back onto the ship, Nya and Jay wheeled him to the bathroom. Nya pushed open the bathroom door and Jay rolled the bed in, next to the tub.
"Will you be okay if we leave you here to undress and start washing yourself for a quick second? We need to grab some supplies from the upper deck," Nya asked as she set up a stool and water bucket in front of the shower faucet.
Cole nodded tiredly, grateful to have a moment to himself and ease his burden on his already exhausted teammates. The duo slipped out, and the door shut with a click behind them.
Once they left, it came time to peel off the top of his gi. The task turned out to be significantly harder than expected as trying to untie his gi only caused the stinging pain to flash through his body once more. Attempt after attempt, he let out a series of pained grunts and frustrated curses as the pain continued to sear through his side, and irritation flared through him, the stickiness beginning to overwhelm him and make him nauseous.
The door behind him swung open. He glanced over to see Kai standing there, a basket of medical supplies in hand. A moment of silence passed between them, and sensing Cole's helplessness, Kai broke the silence.
"Do you need help?"
"That'd be great actually," Cole replied with a weary grin. Kai closed the door behind him and set down the basket next to their feet.
Kai silently tugged on the belt of Cole's gi, letting it fall open. Cole flushed and glanced away as his chest was exposed to the warm bathroom, suddenly shy as if Kai hadn't seen him shirtless before. If Kai noticed, he said nothing as he helped Cole take off the rest of his top, and Cole winced as the gi peeled off his sticky skin and rubbed on his gash.
"Sorry," Kai murmured. After discarding the bloodied gi on the floor, he glanced down at Cole's bottoms, his cheeks turning pink. "Do you need help…?"
"No, no," Cole spluttered, "I can handle it myself."
Kai filled up the bucket Nya had left behind with lukewarm water as Cole gingerly peeled off his the rest of his clothes, tossing then next to his abandoned gi. Kai pointedly looked away as Cole tied a towel around his waist and set himself down on the stool.
A loud scrape echoed through the room as Kai pulled up another stool behind Cole. He took a scrub and began to rub away the layers of dirt and grime, and Cole let out a soft sigh, relieved that the stifling, dirty feeling was finally washing off.
The tense silence between them continued as Kai continued to scrub along his arms and back.
"Kai, you've been quiet. Is something wrong?" Cole asked softly.
The scrubbing stopped.
"I'm fine."
And the scrubbing continued.
"I know you're not," Cole pressed. Kai was never really the silent type. He was boisterous, full of life, so in moments like these, when he became subdued, Cole knew he was like a simmering teapot— ready to whistle and explode at any moment.
The scrubbing stopped again.
"You wanna know the truth?" Kai's voice steadily grew angry.
Turning to face him, Cole found Kai's knuckles turning white as he gripped the dripping scrub, his eyes bright with anger. Cole tilted his head, confused. He saved him today, so if anything he should be thanking him.
"You think I enjoy seeing you trying to kill yourself every chance you get?" he snapped.
"I don't-"
"Don't even start," Kai snarled, jabbing his finger into Cole's chest. "You keep throwing yourself in the line of fire. It happened last week with the bank robbers when they tried to shoot Jay, a few weeks ago with Nya and those Serpentine thugs, and again with me when we fought those zombified villagers. And just to mention, that's only the recent stuff! If you want, I can go on about all the times you randomly decided you had some stupid fucking death wish."
Cole sat in stunned silence, his brain filled with fuzz as he processed Kai's confession.
"I- I'm sorry, Kai. I never thought about it that way." To Cole, he was simply doing what he'd sworn to do — protect.
"Do you ever stop to think for a second before you try to sacrifice yourself?"
"Look, I'm not trying to sacrifice myself. I just get scared that I could lose you guys." Especially you, he thought, but now wasn't the time for that.
"You don't think we're scared? You don't think I'm scared?" his voice trembled. He dropped the scrub and covered his face with his hands, his shoulders beginning to shake. His muffled voice was thick with tears. "Why? Why do you keep trying to kill yourself, Cole? I don't get it."
Cole felt his heart crack.
"I'm just trying to protect you guys," he said gently. Kai glared at him, his tear-stained cheeks tugging at Cole's heartstrings. His fingers itched to reach out and wipe away his tears. Instead, he curled his hands into tight fists on his lap.
"We're not children - we can protect ourselves," Kai bitterly bit back. "Can you at least pretend for a little bit that you actually care about your life?"
"Of course I care," he insisted.
"No, you don't, and if you did, you wouldn't keep trying to throw it all away."
The words hung in the air, and Cole fell silent, unsure what to say. Maybe, Kai had a point. There had been a few close calls recently, closer than Cole would like to admit, and looking back, there had been plenty of times where he probably didn't need to jump in front of the bullet to protect his friends.
"I don't know," he sighed sullenly. "I just do it because it feels like the right thing to do."
Kai knelt down to meet Cole's eyes. He placed his hands on Cole's shoulders, his piercing stare intense as he held Cole's gaze. Cole's heart fluttered from their sudden closeness, but he decidedly ignored it.
"Please, Cole, please, promise me you'll stop thinking of yourself as our shield. It's not your job to protect us. If you keep doing this, and our luck runs out," his grip on Cole's shoulders tightened, and his eyes scrunched shut, "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."
Cole's heart skipped a beat at Kai's confession, and he pressed his forehead against Kai's. Kai opened his eyes upon the sudden contact.
"I wouldn't know what to do if I lost you, either," he said warmly, rubbing his thumb on his cheek. Seemingly satisfied, Kai sat back down and picked up the abandoned scrub.
"Let's get you washed up, so we can bandage your stupid ass."
For a while, after he fully healed, Cole seemed to listen to Kai's request — he played it safe.
Then, came the day on the roof of Borg Tower, where they squared off against the masked warriors for a second time.
The rooftop was submerged in a sea of chaos as the masked warriors fought the ninja. In the middle of the brawl, the leader stood with the stolen gem, now attached to a staff, chanting a spell, one he claimed would change Ninjago as they knew it.
As Cole slashed down warrior after warrior, an angry war cry rang out, and he spun around to see Kai roaring and leaping towards the staff, an entourage of enemies hot on his trail.
The leader opened his eyes a moment too late, allowing Kai to snatch the staff and make a run for it. Kai screeched to a halt at the edge of the rooftop as the enemies closed in on him, and over the angry shouts and brandishing of swords, Kai's call for help was barely audible.
Cole's heart thudded in his chest watching Kai slowly back up to the edge of the roof. Refusing to sit back and watch Kai fall to his demise, Cole pushed off his attackers and rushed over to Kai, believing he could make it.
Just as Cole began to fend off the tail end of the crowd, he saw the staff rise in the air as their foes let out triumphant cheers, but Kai was nowhere in sight.
"Cole!"
He looked down to see Kai had slipped off the edge and was plummeting to the ground far below.
Without thinking, Cole jumped down and dove after Kai.
But Kai was falling fast. Too fast.
Cole straightened his body and tucked in his arms and legs, the wind roaring in his ears as he willed gravity to pull him down faster. His heart pounded in his chest as he continued to fall, the blurs on the ground gradually forming the distinct shapes of fallen debris.
He shook his head. He needed to focus.
Cole stretched his hand out, his fingers brushing Kai's gi.
Gritting his teeth, he extended his arm further, his shoulder and back straining, and he firmly grasped Kai's gi in his fist, pulling Kai's face into his chest and wrapping his arms around him defensively.
"Cole," Kai choked out, his eyes widening with fear as the ground rapidly grew closer. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Protecting you."
Ignoring Kai's desperate protests and attempts to wriggle out of his hold, Cole flipped them around, turning his back to ground. He preferred not to watch the ground speeding towards him, anyways.
Cole almost laughed. It was ironic. Over the years, he became notorious for being the one who somehow always survived some tragic fall, so of all the ways his story would end, it had be him plummeting to his death, of course.
He gazed back down at Kai, who had grown pale as he tightly clutched Cole's gi.
He closed his stinging eyes and gingerly pressed his lips to the top of Kai's head, his heart calming as the comforting scent of Kai enveloped him. Thank you for trying to save me.
He heard a heavy thud, and the world went black.
At least, he'd kept his promises.