Flames of a Phoenix //Ninjago - Next Gen\

O n e

I roll my head to the side, nibbling at the inside of my cheek. I'd usually take up the offer to help my team perfect their abilities, but knowing the time by the rise of the sun, I knew I had somewhere else to be. Sighing through my nose, I send Kat a small grimace, "I'd love to, but I actually have something to do, sorry."

I watch her face fall for a split second before she bounces back with a shake of her head, "No, no! That's fine, we can just do it another time!" I nod at her words and go to step around her to get my phone from my room when she suddenly grips my wrist, stopping my movements. I curiously glance back at her with a raised eyebrow. "Since I have nothing better to do, how about I help you?"

I laugh nervously and gently shake off her hand, "Kat, I'm sure you can find a better use of your time. Besides, I'm going into the city for a bit, I need to refill my candy stock since Lloyd ransacked it." Half the truth is better than nothing, I suppose. I did need to get more sweets because of Lloyd, but I was doing that later on in the day.

"I'll come with then! I actually wanted to go to the library and find something new to read." She persists with an eager grin, and somehow at the mention of a library, the twins had heard the magic word and stepped towards us.

"Someone say library?" Jade looks between Kat and myself, a half eaten apple piece in her hand, "I'm coming too! There's always a need to fill my bookshelf." She takes a bite out of the fruit, chewing silently.

Maddy rolls her eyes and elbows her sister, "Forget the books, I'll only join since I know there's an arcade nearby the library! Count me in!" She bounces on the balls of her feet, rocking backwards and forwards.

"Guys, wait—" I try to step in to gently shut them down, my hands raising when Jade shoots Maddy a narrowed eyed glare.

"Well, I'm sure Emilie wants to get some books with us, you can go to the arcade by yourself." She huffs, finishing the apple with one last bite and shoving the core into my open and raised hand.

I glance from the apple core to Jade, my eyebrows furrowing as my mouth opens and closes, trying to form words except I'm once again interrupted, this time by Maddy as she shrugs her shoulders.

"That's fine, I bet Nya would enjoy a trip to the arcade with me. Maybe her and I can beat Jay's high score on the Dance Machine!"

"You guys aren't listening to me-"

"Did I hear Dance Machine?" Nya comes up from behind me, grey eyes drifting from my baffled and annoyed expression to the rest of the group that was only getting bigger.

"Forget the Dance Machine, bring me the books!" Emilie barges her way past me, harshly knocking my shoulder as she wraps her arms around Kat and Jade, the brunette grinning wildly.

"Guys!" I shout, finally getting my voice through to the group surrounding me. I look from one person to the next, my annoyance clear as day, the apple in my palm bursting into flames and crumbling to dust from the immense heat, "I'm not going to the city, for crying out loud! If you had let me finish before all of you rudely interrupted, I would have been able to calm this situation down before it even became a situation!" I snap, eyes sharp as my breathing finally begins to slow down.

"Wait, you lied?" Kat tilts her head up to me, brushing Emilie's arm off her shoulder with a frown. "If you're not going to the city, where are you going? Why's it so important that you had to lie?"

"No books?" Jade mutters under her breath, which in return gets a few glares from the girls around her. "Sorry, sorry." She clears her throat and rolls her wrist towards me, "Go on, you were saying?"

I groan and throw my head back, nearly knocking foreheads with Nya. I hated lying, it never got anyone anywhere good. I was always honest with the team, honest about my feelings and feedback if they ever needed it, but this situation was different. The next words I spill could make or break this family, and yet I knew this day was coming. I couldn't have hid it forever, and I didn't want to hide it forever.

I wasn't ashamed, not at all. For once, I was frightened. Frightened of their expressions, their reactions. I was scared for so many reason that I couldn't even begin to tell anyone as they didn't know what I was scared for. If there was anytime to come clean and finally release this secret that's been weighing me down for three years, it was now.

Swallowing even though my mouth was as dry as the Sea of Sand, I clenched my hands into tight fists and held back my frustrated tears. "What I'm about to say isn't easy, and I don't want to say it here. Can we..." I gesture to the gate of the Monastery, away from the prying ears of anyone inside.

The group of girls around me send each other curious glances and reluctantly agree. We move away from the doorway and walk across the courtyard in silence, me behind the pack. This was it, I was finally going to break. I looked up to the girls, studying their faces and came to the conclusion that if I were to tell anyone first, it would be them.

Inhaling shakily, I raise my chin and stare into their eyes. My prideful expression wavers, lips shaking as the words get stuck in my throat. A gentle hand wraps around my forearm and I meet grey eyes and Nya's gentle smile. "Go on. This is the first time you've ever looked like...this." Her eyes scan my subtly shivering form, her grip tightening, "But we're hear to listen, this is a judgment free zone."

"Right, sorry. Thank you." I raise my hand and lay it over hers, squeeze her fingers in gratitude. Closing my eyes, I calm my swimming mind before blurting out, "I was going to see my son."