The Energy In Me (a Ninjago fan fic)

Chapter 31

Sophie P.O.V
I have to get stronger.

Punch.

Kick.

Dodge.

Again.

Sweat trickles down the side of my head as I continue to punch the punching bag. My bangs fall out from the clip and cover my eye. I blow them off and kick the bag, hard. The bag swings around, then stops. Breathing heavily, I lean against the wall and drink some water from my water bottle.

"Wu! The ninja are back!"

"What happened?!"

"Th-they attacked us..."

The ninja all fall onto the deck, unable to move thanks to their injuries. I couldn't look. Auntie gritted her teeth, as Misako covered her mouth in horror. Sensei looked like he was going to murder the couple who harmed his students, no, his children...you can't blame him. It may have been a while ago but the images are still clear in my mind. They all are still recovering...it's my fault. They're my parents so I should deal with them!

That's why I have a plan. I've been training as hard as I can since that happened.

I won't let it happen, ever again.

"Sophie, take a break," Auntie says, grabbing onto the training dummy. "I can't!" I reply urgently and head over to the other punching dummy. The sounds of my fist echoes in the room. Auntie grabs my wrists and twists them. "Ow!" I cry in pain and rub them. "You heard me, didn't you? You're going to hurt yourself if you take no break," Auntie states. "Not as bad as how the ninja are beat up," I mumble. Misako walks in, just as Auntie sighs. "Sophie, sweetie, it's not going to help anyone if you overwork yourself," Misako adds. "Well I'm going to get any stronger if I don't train!" I exclaim.

"Look. I know you're upset, and you blame yourself. But it's not your fault! So stop pressuring yourself!" Auntie sighs. "I agree, it's not your fault Sophie...it's no one's fault," Misako adds. They don't have parents who harm their friends...but Kate is their sister... "I can just replenish my energy when I'm tired, no big deal," I shrug. Both of my aunts sigh, and I sigh along with them.

Cole P.O.V
"Ow.." my voice trails off as I bite my lip. My arm is still in a cast. I'm still in pain. I still have burn marks! Honestly. The sound of water makes my head turn around. (With an immense amount of pain) To see Sophie. In her workout clothes. I blink, just to be sure that she's here. "Take a look at the, once abundant, Sophie. She has disappeared and if you're lucky, you may catch a rare sight of her filling up her water bottle or getting a snack. Soph, I hate you," I say. The water stops and she looks up. "Why wouldn't you?...the only reason my parents are hurting you guys is to get me to surrender to them. Obviously you guys would hate to p-protect someone as stupid as I am....and you guys hate the f-fact that the Overlord will be alive again if I die...that's the only reason you're putting up with an idiot like me..." Sophie starts to cry. "I didn't mean to make you cry! I-I just said that cause you never show your face anymore and everyone is missing you!" I say. Thoughts of what everyone would say flood my mind.

"C'mon Soph, please stop crying..we're the ones that got hurt," I try and lighten the mood. "Because of me," Sophie counters. I bite my lip. Okay, as much as I rather not admit it, Kate and John only go after those in their way or those who have done them wrong. We haven't managed to land a punch on them, so we aren't really poising as a threat. So, yes, technically, Sophie is the cause. But why would I admit that? She's my friend, my sister, family. I go over and hug her. "Now you made me walk with a cast on, c'mon Soph," I chuckle lightly. I pat her head and look down at her face.

O.O

She doesn't look sad...she looks...scary. Like she's gonna kill someone. "Woah, what's up with the scary face?" I ask. "Huh?" Sophie's face turns back to her normal, cute, innocent and kind face. While looking up at me with her green eyes that look exactly like Lloyd's. Just hints of purple, while Lloyd has hints of red. "Never mind," I shake my head. I thought I saw red eyes...

I look at Soph.

Nah, I'm just imagining it.

Soph had gone back to the training room. She still insists on training. It's dark now, and Sensei calls us out onto the bridge. "Is something wrong?" Lloyd questions. "I'd say quite a few things are wrong," Zane answers. "Yes, now I'm sure Kate and John didn't just attack you," Sensei begins. "They obviously must have said something too," Misako adds. "So, what did they tell you?" Miranda ends. We look at each other, feeling skeptical. "If you didn't want to mention it in front of Sophie, mention it now," Misako says. "Okay. So...basically they threatened our families, and they listed names. The even mentioned our friends. They said they would kill them in front of our faces if they don't get Sophie within two days," Lloyd summarizes. "But I'm not handing over Sophie, and I'm not letting those people die," I state. "Yeah! I agree!" Everyone agrees. A smile escapes the three adults, it makes me smile too. I like the random moments when everyone just smiles and all the pressure and pain goes away, even if it was for just a second...I wish Soph could've seen this, but I don't want her to know about her parents threats and stuff...

My mind makes its decision. I'm going to protect everyone I love and cherish, so that we can smile together.

I'm going to help Sophie find her true smile.

"We'll work something out."