Little Brookstone

Chapter 4

"What!?" Jay yelled so loud it seemed all of Ninjago could hear him.

"Shush, everyone will hear you," Cole panicked.

"Sorry, but that's great news." The blue-loving boy yelled again, but quieter than before. "Why did you make it seem like you were in danger?"

"I didn't! You were the one making up all those scenarios," Cole protested. He did have a point.

"Fine," Jay grumbled. 

"Ok Vania, he knows," Cole called out. Jay turned to see Vania emerge from Cole's closet.

"Hey Jay," She said nervously.

"Hi Vania, congratulations," Jay smiled, "How did you manage to get him though?" Vania smiled.

"It was quite the opposite, he got me," The queen giggled, dimples appearing on her face. Cole smiled too, a dusty pink colouring his cheeks slightly.

"Alright I will leave you too alone now, goodbye." Jay was almost out of the room when he stopped. "Hey Cole."

"Yeah?" Cole turned.

"Thanks for trusting me." The two smiled, and Jay headed for the game room.

{At the game room}

"Hey Jay," Nya looked up from where she was sitting, "What was with the scream?"

"Oh umm, it was nothing," Jay replied quickly, scratching the back of his neck. Nya looked suspicious but turned back to the movie that was on. Jay sat down next to her. She was watching Titanic. The others were doing everything but looking at the screen. Jay looked like he was watching but he was actually thinking about the information he had just been told. Cole and Vania were dating? And for how long? Why had they choose to tell him only now? His thoughts were spinning around his head so fast until Lilly ran in and slapped him across the thigh. "OW!" Jay squealed, "Lilly what was that for?" The girl crossed her arms.

"Cole's hidden all of the sweets and I want some." The ninja looked at her in disbelief.

"Cole... hiding sweets?" Kai said.

"Impossible," Lloyd replied. Everyone else agreed. Lilly looked at them in confusion, but before she could say anything Vania came charging into the room with Cole chasing her. The ninja noticed that she was holding a black piece of clothing.  

"Vania give me my jumper back!" Cole yelled, quickly gaining on the queen.

"Never!" Vania yelled back, giggling slightly. When Cole jumped at her, she squeaked and skidded to the side. Cole missed her and fell to the floor, giving Vania a chance to escape. The black ninja quickly recovered and resumed his chase, with the others watching in amusement. Cole ran out of the room after Vania and the gang thought it was over. Until they heard a shriek come from down the hall and Cole return proudly, with Vania hanging over his shoulder upside down. She was still holding onto his jumper. "Put me down, Cole!" She ordered crossing her arms. Cole stopped for a second, thinking.

"Nope," He replied, making his way to one of the seats. "Not until you hand me the jumper and say I won." Vania huffed. No one could see her face due to it being covered by her hair, but they could all tell she was not happy.  Jay sniggered, Nya covered her smile with her hand and Kai burst out laughing. Lloyd joined in, and soon the two were in hysterics.

"Yeah, real funny guys," Vania sighed, "Fiiiinnneee, here's your jumper Cole. You win." She shoved the jumper into Cole's face, and he set her down, smirking. Vania glowered at him. Zane and Pixal had managed to stop Kai and Lloyd laughing now, so the room was quite silent. Then, Lilly pipped up.

"Could I have a go on your shoulder, Cole?" She timidly asked. Everyone looked down at her, then up at Cole, wondering what he was going to say. The earth master thought for a second, then shrugged.

"Sure, why not?" he responded. Lilly beamed up at him. everyone else watched in shock as Cole picked up the small child as placed her on his shoulder, though not upside down. Cole noticed them staring at him. "What?" He asked, making sure Lilly was secure.

Lloyd spoke first, "Well, we didn't expect you to say yes." The others nodded guiltily, even Vania. Cole rolled his eyes.

"Really, guys? I like spending time with kids, and when Wu was a kid I was pretty good at raising him I'd say," Cole answered. Before anyone said anything else, Lilly yelled:

"Spin me around, Cole!" Cole smiled, and did as she asked. He held tightly onto her frail form and quickly spun around, though he didn't use spinjitzu. Nya smiled, and spoke to Lilly:

"Careful, Sweetie. I don't want you to fall." She quickly got up and stole Lilly off of Cole. She giggled and ran into a corner of the game room, still holding onto Lilly.

"Hey! Give her back." Cole turned to face Nya, who smirked.

"Nope. Jay! Here," She said, quickly handing the Lilly to the confused blue ninja.

"Nuh-uh, don't bring me into this!" He yelled, and passed the giggling child onto Pixal, who passed her to Lloyd.

Soon enough, everyone was involved in the 'Pass the Lilly' game, and Lilly found herself quickly moving between the brightly coloured teens that occupied the room. She laughed uncontrollably all the way through. By the time Cole received her for the 11th time, Lilly had fallen asleep, a small smile across her face. Noticing this, Cole changed his holding position so that he was cradling her. He smiled fondly at the peaceful child in his arms. Everyone saw this, and immediately started to tease him.

"Looks like someone's got a soft spot for Lilly, huh?" Kai remarked, earning himself a glare form Cole. Everyone else laughed.

"I'm going to take her to bed, alright?" Cole huffed, exiting the room and heading for the bedrooms. Vania tailed him. After the set Lilly down and wrapped the blanket around her, Vania looked up at her boyfriend. She took a deep breath before speaking.

"Hey Cole?" She said quietly.

"Hmm?" Cole responded, looking at her.

"Have you ever thought about, you know," Vania paused, "Having kids of your own?" Cole was taken aback, but quickly recovered.

"I mean yeah, sometimes," He sighed and looked up at the ceiling, "But being a ninja doesn't really open many options to settling down and having kids." Vania smiled.

"Yeah, I understand." There seemed to be a touch of sadness in her words, which Cole noticed. He pulled her into a hug.

"Don't be upset, dear, I would love to have children with you- and we might someday- but I don't think it'll happen any time soon." Vania's sadness melted away slightly and she wrapped her arms around Cole's neck. The two touched noses. They stood there for a couple minutes, Vania's pale Shintarian skin contrasting against Cole's dark African-American. The two were so distracted by gazing into each others eyes, that they didn't notice the shadow by the bedroom door. It watched the for a second, then quickly disappeared. When Cole and Vania left for the game room, the shadow re-emerged, not believing what it had just heard and seen.

"Oh. My. God." It breathed with a hint of disappointment. Resting against the wall, it tried to re-process the information. Cole would rather settle down and have kids than be a ninja? That couldn't be right. Could it? Looking down the hall, they vowed to figure out exactly what Cole meant.

And with that, Kai disappeared into his room...