Departed

Chapter 22: Mystery

     Nya nodded, smiling at her brother's humorous tone. "I'm sure we'll find out something. We plan to start at his father's mansion. Maybe we can find clues there."

     Kai wrapped his arms around her, careful to avoid the noticeably large bandage bump on her right side. "Stay safe."

     "DUDE, IS THIS ALL HAIR GEL?" Cole shrieked from across the area. Kai swiveled to the scene faster than I could blink. The earth ninja and Zane were examining a very large red bag packed tightly with identical bottles.

     "It appears so." Zane replied. "But my sensors also indicate that this duffel bag contains—"

     "It isn't what it looks like!" Kai flushed redder than his gi. "And get out of my stuff!"

     Cole ignored him, diving deeper into the bag. Kai yelped and managed to sprint over to him faster than any injured person should be able to go. Cole was physically stronger than Kai, so Kai's attempts to wrestle the embarrassing object out of Cole's hands turned out to be pointless.

     "Aww," Cole said very loudly, "you've got a giant picture of Skylor you're hiding in here? Do you take her with you everywhere you go?"

     "We're engaged!" Kai yelped, finally snatching the bigger-than-usual picture frame out of Cole's hands.

     "The future of Ninjago, ladies and gentlemen." I heard a sour voice mutter from behind me.

     I turned to see who had spoken when I found myself wrapped in a hug.

     "I know it's only a few days, but I'm going to miss you." Jay whined, somehow managing to strangle me whilst using crutches.

     Zane joined in, apparently having escaped the Cole-Kai chaos. "No matter how far we are apart, we're still brothers."

     Nya wobbled over and patted us on the back. I was running out a breath because of the squeezing and the pain in my chest, but those weren't the reasons tears were in my eyes. It was because this was where I belonged. They were my family. I smiled, blinking away my stress and worry for these few precious seconds with them.

     Slowly, one by one, they pulled away and began to drift out of the monastery in groups of two. Jay and Nya went first, both of them looking way too unsteady to be making their way down a lot of steps. Yet, both of them had insisted they could make the trip.

     Zane went over to get Cole to give Kai his picture back, along with several hairbrushes Cole had 'confiscated' during the frantic scramble. Both the red and black ninja were laughing by the end of the ordeal, though Kai had that look in his eyes that said Cole would be punished for this.

     The only thing that stopped Kai from attempting something now was Zane pointing out that he should help his sister down the mountain.

     It turned out Harumi and Morro had been watching the whole ordeal, both of them unmoving statues void of expression. Morro looked a good deal paler, and Harumi didn't seem at all pleased at leaving her companion behind.

     Yet, when Cole gestured for Morro to follow him down the mountain, the Master of Wind gently left Harumi behind. She watched him go, her face a mask of what she was truly feeling. She didn't look at me, and I didn't exactly want to acknowledge her.

     It's not going to be that long.

     I took a deep breath and went to face Harumi.

     She had pulled her hair back into a ponytail and had donned her ninja gi. It was odd to look at her dressed like that, it brought back way too many memories of her face smeared in red paint, singing that creepy spider song as I was locked away. I swallowed, slowly gesturing for her to follow me. Harumi seemed about as pleased with this arrangement as I was, so at least we could agree to get this over with as quickly as possible.