Birthright | Ninjago

𝐗𝐈𝐈. WEAKNESS

CHAPTER TWELVE

HIRO FOUND IT HARD TO breathe when he stepped onto the island again. Of all the places he thought he'd go in his life, he never thought the Island of Darkness was going to be one of them—the island was part of a past life, something Hiro left behind when he left the first time. Stepping onto the beach again felt like a punch to the gut, and he still feels vaguely sick, like he was going to puke. It's partly his fault, of course—he's the one who refused to stay behind, not wanting to leave Lloyd's side. He's the one who got onto the plane and let himself be taken to the island, but now that he's here, in subtle pain—God bless painkillers—he kind of wishes he'd stayed behind this time.

Lloyd stood in the middle of the Temple of Light, ready to give up his Golden Power and give the others their Elemental Powers back. Hiro had to take a step away, sitting outside—away from Garmadon and Wu, who were speaking in harsh, quiet voices to each other, arguing about something. Hiro pulled his knees close to his chest, resting his chin on his knees as he looks out over the island, taking in the sight of his old home. It hadn't changed much, but the chill Hiro usually felt in the air is gone now—cast away with his father.

It's the safest Hiro has ever felt on the island.

"Hey, kid!" Jay called out, running over. Hiro sighed, taking a deep breath before he turned to look up at Jay. "Shake my hand," the blue ninja ordered, sticking out his hand. Hiro could see faint lines of electricity traveling up and down his fingers, intensified by the black glove that covered his hand. Hiro scowled, looking between Jay's eyes and his hand. "Come on, it'll be fun!"

"I'm not an idiot," Hiro told him, turning back to water the sky as the clouds drifted in front of the sun. "Go bother Kai."

Jay frowned, retracting his hand. He took a seat beside Hiro hesitantly. "You okay?" he asked, crossing his legs underneath him and putting his hands in his lap, a sign of peace. Hiro glanced at him wearily, wondering if this was just a trick for Jay to shock him, but he doesn't use his powers to hold Jay in place, wanting to see if he could trust the loudest Ninja with something as simple as not touching him without permission. "You've been kinda . . . off since we got here. I mean you're always off, but this is different," Jay noted.

Hiro rolled his eyes. "'Off.' Yeah, might be because I nearly died here," he muttered. Jay winced.

"Well, yeah, but don't you feel how different the island is?" Jay asked. Hiro shrugged. "When we first got here, I had such a bad feeling, you know? Like we were doomed. The island looked so nice and welcoming, but I knew it was a trap, that something very evil was going to happen here. And I was right, I guess, because of the Overlord and everything, but something good also happened." Jay smiled brightly at him. Hiro frowned. "We got to meet you, stupid!" Jay said, exasperated.

Hiro frowned. "Are you just being nice to me because I got hurt?" he asked suspiciously.

Jay's smile fell away. "Well, maybe, but— I mean— hey, we're starting to realize how important you are to the team, okay? We probably wouldn't be half as strong as we are now without you, and, like, I don't think Lloyd would be motivated to save the day if he didn't have you at his side. So yeah, maybe I'm being nice because you got hurt, but I like to see it more as me appreciating my friend," he explained, tilting his head to the side.

Hiro stared at him, not processing the words. Right. All of a sudden the team cared because they almost lost him. Because he almost died. He didn't believe it for a second. This had to be a trick.