Ninjago: Yin vs Yang

Chapter thirty: In Each of Our Hearts

Zira was dead.

I began to feel this strange feeling again, but what?

What is it?

I feel like a felt it before but not in a long time. My eyes began to burn. The feeling was getting stronger. My chest began to throb. My eyes then began to water up.

Wait, oh no.

I can't cry. There's no reason to cry. I'm not suppose to cry. Crying makes me weak. I'm not weak. I'm not a failure. I have to hold it in.

I have to. I have to. I have to!

....I couldn't hold it anymore.

I couldn't control it. Hot tears fell down my face. My chest began to throb even more. I haven't realized that I started sobbing. I held on to Zira's body tightly, thinking about what she said before she died.

The thing is, I haven't cried in so long, that I forgot what it felt like. I haven't felt this emotion in like, forever.

It actually felt, good to cry, to let it all out.

But why was I upset?

I won. I defeated Zira, the person who haunted my family. The person who killed my mother. I saved everyone.

I should be relived.

I should be happy.

I'm supposed to be happy.

But why does it feel like my heart is splitting in half?

Why do I feel so broken?

Did I do the right thing?

I calmed down then wiped my eyes. I gently placed Zira on the floor then got on my feet. I jumped as I saw the other ghouls staring at me.

I quickly activated my powers, but they didn't react. Instead they got on their knees and bowed. They accepted their defeat.

"We will no longer hurt you," A ghoul said, "The Queen is dead. We never wanted to set foot in Ninjago anyway. We really do deserve this."

And like that, the ghouls disappeared. I looked up at the sky and saw the others on their dragons.

"Cole!" Jay exclaimed, "You did it!"

"No, we did it," I said, "I couldn't have done it without you guys."

"Who's that?" Kai pointed at Zira's corpse.

My smile faded. The others gathered around her. They gasped as they figured out who it was.

"No way..." Lloyd said.

"It's Zira," Jay replied, "But she's not a ghoul."

"What happened?" Zane asked me.

My felt tears forming in my eyes again. I decided to let them flow. Everyone stared at me in shock.

"Cole..." Kai paused, "You're...you're..."

"Crying!" Jay exclaimed, "You never cry! It actually looks kinda weird. Seriously what happened?"

I wiped my eyes, "I made a mistake. Zira...she told me the truth, the truth to why she was really doing this. She was heartbroken and homesick."

"Huh?" Everyone was confused.

"But Cole, she killed your mama!" Jay cried, "And she even tried to kill you-"

"To see her true love," I explained, "Arlo and Zira, they were just friends. But Zira saw more than that. It all makes sense now. The first elemental master of rebirth was Arlo's crush. I did some research on my other passed relatives. Arlo and Englandtine fell in love before they were masters. Zira wasn't just jealous of his powers, she was also jealous of Englandtine. She was afraid of losing her best friend. She just wanted to stay close to him. I understood her pain. I actually...wanted to help her in a way..."