Void - Ninjago x Female Reader

Chapter 71: Are you afraid?

(Second person POV)

"I... have something to tell you..."

As soon as the words left your mouth, you knew there was no going back. Heck, even as they bubbled on the tip of your tongue, you were sure that you won't reconsider. And yet here you are, nerves forming in your throat as you felt everyone's gaze fall on you and the room fall equally silent with the weight of what they think you are going to say.

"...I'd... like to burden you with a little of my troubles," you murmured, feeling an odd stinging sensation in your eyes alongside the tenseness, "...if that's okay with you all, that is... I- I also promise to tell only the truth, if that's what you're worried about..."

'...What if they don't want to hear it? What if they don't care?' a small voice in the back of your head whispered into your ear, 'What if they're just asking you to be polite but don't really want to know what's wrong with you? That's why they're staying so silent, no? Why did you even think that they'd care about it — about you in the first place-'

"Yeah, no problem!" Cole grinned immediately, his words easing your anxiety even if it's just a little, "We've been waiting for you to say that, I'm sure."

As hums of agreement resounded throughout the group, you felt as if the weight of the world had just been lifted off your chest, allowing you to see them in a new light.

"I... Thank you," you mumbled as Dart lept into your arms in her dragon form.

"We don't mind hearing you out," Master Wu beamed, making your brow furrow slightly in worry.

"I don't... want to talk to you," you remarked, causing him to give you a look of mild surprise, "Or Mr Garmadon, for that matter..."

With a hum, the old man nodded before replying, "Very well, Brother and I will be waiting in the upper deck." Walking away, he was followed by the four-armed being who gave you a glance that you couldn't read, making your brow furrow slightly.

"Good choice," Kai remarked, his arms crossed as he glared at him, still clearly distrustful of the monster.

"Oh, shut up, Kai," Nya sighed, rolling her eyes as she half-sincerely hit her brother on the head before helping him smoothen out his Gi that he had quickly thrown on.

"...Let's move to the control room," you propose, still hugging your reptilian companion in your arms like a giant living plush.

"W-wait!" Lloyd called out, scrambling after you, "Can I come?"

Giving him a nod, you turned back to the hallway to the location you had decided, mind still occupied as you wrestled with the darker thoughts proposed by the tiny voice in your head. You didn't want to think about all that could go wrong, not right now. Surely it'd be a bigger loss if you got everyone's hopes up and then decided to reveal nothing as it would decrease your reliability in their eyes.

Before you knew it, you had already absent-mindedly walked into the command room and now there was no more time to think or plan for the impending confession you had to make. Taking a deep breath, you took a seat on the table that sat in the middle of the room, too distracted by the ball of nerves in your stomach to search for a chair.

"Should I close the door?" Zane inquired but didn't get a response as you activated your wind element to slam it shut.

Finding your throat inexplicably dry, you swallowed nervously, trying to moisten your mouth. Sucking in another deep inhale, you looked up from the wooden floorboards for the first time since you came out of the training room, taking a quick sweeping glance at the group gathered before you, their worry evident in their auras and expressions.