Cole's POV
What's his deal?
I stared at Jay until I could no longer see him. I got up to put the teacup away then went back outside. It wasn't as cold as before.
Lloyd and Zane were playing checkers outside and Kai was fighting the dummies on deck. I noticed a few bandages on his head and shoulders. I must've hurt him pretty good.
I walked over then sat across Lloyd and Zane. I watched them play until Lloyd lost.
"Checkmate," Zane replied, "10 to 0."
"Can I play?" I shyly asked.
"Be me guest," Zane said, "Unless you want to lose."
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Lloyd asked, "We just want to make sure you won't go insane when you keep losing."
"If I am gonna lose," I replied, "But yeah, I'm pretty sure that I can handle it."
I sat across Zane as he set up the board. I decided to join because I was thinking that it can calm me down, besides going to lunch with Nya and Jay.
Jay scared me a little. Since when did he become so serious and tough? That's mostly Kai's thing.
I just hope that he doesn't bother me during lunch.
*******
Nya's POV
Five more minutes until we go out to lunch.
I'm so excited. I'm kinda bummed that it couldn't be a date with Jay, but on the bright side, Cole's coming along. My boyfriend and my best friend, getting along.
I'm so relived that Cole's attitude changed. He's more calm and happy than he was before, even though he pushed my brother down the stairs.
I walked into the guy's bedroom where Kai was laying down. When he saw me come in he smiled.
"Hey sis," Kai replied.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"Better, " Kai said, "I just wanna kick Cole's butt. I just wanted to talk to him, but then he gets up in my freakin face!"
"I know, I know," I said calmly, "But don't hurt him back. Violence won't solve it. Plus, it'll make him angry, and we don't want that because he has his RX powers."
"Yeah yeah," Kai rubbed his head, "But still."
I rolled my eyes. My brother has always had a problem of letting things go. And now that we know what happened to our parents, it's like it's gotten worse.
Suddenly, there was a light tap on the door. When it opened, it was Jay. He smiled sweetly at me.
"Hey, Nya," Jay replied, "Ready to go?"
"Yep," I answered, "Is Cole ready too?"
"Yeah, he's playing checkers with Zane. Surprisingly, Cole's winning."
"Wait," Kai sat up, "You two are bringing Cole along? Why?"
"Because Misako told us to," I said, "She thinks it'll help him calm down. And we can talk about his problems."
"What problems? Cole never has issues. Although, when you think about it...."
"That's not the point," I protested, "Last night when we were talking to him, he said the reason why he was so irritated was because he thinks he doesn't belong here."
"That's what he said?" Kai rolled his eyes, "Well then I think he's right. He doesn't belong here."
"Stop it Kai!" Jay snapped, "Of course he does, yet we still don't know why he says he doesn't. Cole is our friend, our teammate, our brother. We'll not stop until we figure all of this out. And going out to lunch is the perfect place to."
Kai grunted, "Whatever.."
I rolled my eyes, "Let's just get Cole and get out of here."
"I agree," Jay said as he took my hand.
We headed outside where Cole, Zane and Lloyd were. Lloyd was cheering for Zane, even though he was losing.
"Ready Cole?" I asked.
Cole smiled, "Yep. How's Kai?"
"He's doing well, even though he's still angry at you."
"Oh he'll get over it one day," Jay replied, "Now come on, let's go eat I'm starving!"
"Have fun!" Lloyd shouted as Zane waved goodbye.
We created our elemental dragons then took off in the sky. I stayed beside Jay since he knew where the restaurant was.
"Which way is the restaurant?" I asked.
"Not far," Jay said, "Come on! Hurry up, Cole!"
We soared down out of the clouds until we saw Ninjago City. Jay pointed out in distance. I assumed that we've made it.
********
Jay's POV
Yes! We made it!
We landed on the sidewalk then headed inside. It smelled like french fries by the entrance.
The waitress took us to our table and gave our menus. We had a window seat, which is my favorite spot.
Now, don't think that I forgot about keeping an out on Cole, cause I haven't. It's kinda hard to if your girlfriend's sitting next to you.
I stared at him as he looked through the menu. Until our waitress came so we can order our drinks. Now I don't wanna get into details, we all got water.
Nya sighed, "This place is amazing. I mean, you can't even tell what kind of restaurant it is. I love mysterie."
I chuckled, "Me too."
The waitress arrived with our waters. I took a sip of mine as Nya continued to talk to me.
"I'm so glad that we have the time to do this. Especially with the three of us. I mean, it's not like there's gonna be an enemy lurking in Ninjago anytime soon."
I laughed nervous, "Yeah, that would be bad."
Yeah it would be. I stared at Cole again. He wasn't even paying attention. He had his ear buds on and played with his water.
"Hey, Cole," Nya tapped his shoulder, "Please not in here."
"Sorry," Cole took off his buds, "Was just waiting for you guys to be done."
"We are. Anyway, I think you know why we invited you over. Don't you Jay?"
I nodded in agreement. Cole stared at us with somewhat fearful eyes. He put his hands on his lap and waited for one of us to speak.
"You said that you didn't feel like you belong here right?" Nya asked.
Cole hesitated, "Well....yeah, but why are you guys taking this so seriously?"
"Well, it's just...we never heard you say anything like that before," Nya explained, "It's....not like you is what I'm saying. All we want to know is why have you been feeling so down lately?"
"Is it because you'll never find love?" I asked.
Cole shook head then hung it down. He pushed his menu away.
"Is it because of that prank I did to you last week?" I asked.
Cole shook his head again. Nya was able to place her hand on Cole's to comfort him.
"Is it because--"
"No!" Cole barked at me, "It's because I'm jealous! Jealous of her and Kai! They have a reason to be a ninja. Lloyd's because of Garmadon, Zane's because of his creator, your's because you were adopted, Kai and Nya because of they're parents. And what about me huh? Why am I even a ninja? I have nothing special to know--"
"Cole stop shouting! You're making a scene!" Nya cried.
Cole and I looked around and we saw people staring at us. Even the waiters stopped. Children hid behind their parents. People began to whisper and talk to each other.
"Sorry," Cole whispered, "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is....I don't feel whole like Kai and Nya. I feel like something's missing, and I don't know what. It's like a part of my memory is just...gone..like...it's been ripped out of me....and it's causing me to feel like I don't belong here...like I'm even more separated from the team..."
"Of course you belong here," I replied, "You're a ninja, you're the Elemental Master of Earth."
"No Jay, that's only half of who I am," Cole stated.
"Oh," Nya replied, "Then...what's the other half?"
Cole froze, "Oh - well..I don't...know. You see that's the thing, and there's nothing I can do! Ugh! And all of this happening is just stressing me out--and most of it isn't my fault....I hope you can forgive me."
"Of course," I said.
Huh, guess nothing bad isn't gonna happen after all. Cole smiled at us. Nya and I smiled back.
Suddenly, I don't know if it's me, but I could of sworn that Cole's scar was starting to catch a little light. I thought it was just the glare of the sun, but Nya tapped my shoulder then slightly pointed at it.
"What?" Cole asked.
"Um..you're glowing," I replied.
"Aww thanks," Cole cooed.
"No I mean you're literally glowing--glowing green."
"Uhhh...what?"
Suddenly, his scar started to shine kinda bright. Me and Nya scooted back our chairs a little. I was starting to get a little scared.
"Dude! W-what's up with your face?" I stammered.
"My face?" Cole asked.
I jumped as I heard cracks. I looked at the wall on my left and saw the cracks were glowing green. They kept spreading. More glowing cracks appeared on the other side, the ceiling, even on the floor.
People began to scream and gasp. Children started crying and sobbing. I noticed when the cracks stopped growing, small green crystals came out of them.
Cole started to notice everything around him. He looked back at us, then suddenly, his eyes began to glow green. His pupils disappeared. He raised his arms up and activated his RX powers. I uttered a gasp as his glowing arms flickered from orange to green.
"Uhh," I was speechless, "Cole?"
He didn't answer. His hair began to fly upwards. People turned to him and cried and backed up. Cole made a low growl as put his hands into fists and raised them above his head.
I had to do something. Cole was out of control. Our table started to shake. Below, a huge, green crack grew around the table and made a shape of a spiral. Nya uttered a cry and hid behind me.
So within a flash, I grabbed my water cup then splashed it in Cole's face. He uttered a cry then covered his eyes.
Suddenly, the shaking and cracks stopped. Nya popped her head out to see Cole. When Cole sat up, everything with him was back to normal. Even his scar wasn't glowing anymore.
Cole looked at us with fear in his eyes, like he just regained consciousness. A moment later he looked at his hands then began to look around the restaurant. Nya and I looked around as well.
At the farther end of the restaurant, it was lower than the other. A bit of the ceiling was demolished. Most of the windows were cracked or shattered.
Man, I felt bad for the manager. I mean, this restaurant just opened up about a week ago. And speaking of the restaurant, I never even got to order my food.
Bringing Cole was a big mistake. You have no idea how angry I am. Thanks to him, people are probably gonna blame me, or Nya, or both. I began to glare down at Cole, who fearfully stared at me back.
"Get. Out..." I growled.
Cole sat there for a moment. He slowly got on his feet, then walked out with one hand on his head. Looked up at the people who stared at us. Some looked scared, some looked confused and the rest of then glared at us, especially the manager.
The manager, who was a woman, brushed herself off then walked up to us. I felt myself getting hot in embarrassment.
She cleared her throat, "You two better have a good explanation about this."
I looked at Nya and gulped. I looked at the manager and began to speak.
Once I get home, Cole's gonna be in so much trouble...