AUTHOR'S NOTE: No, I am most certainly not obsessed with Jay and Nya's engagement. How dare you accuse me of such a thing? Whatever gave you that impression anyway?

Nevertheless, I'd like to extend gratitude to my fellow Ninjago nut, Lidya I. Shadowhunter, for her help on this piece. Once you have finished reading and reviewing this piece, you have my glorious and exalted permission to go and read her things too.

That wasn't a suggestion.

Enjoy!

{*}

Cole felt a painful lump in his throat as Jay lifted Nya up into his arms and kissed her. Cole knew he should feel happy for his friend, but watching Jay smile at Nya, and watching Nya smile back- it was so painful.

So very painful.

"Here's to the impossible couple!" Kai shouted, raising his glass of Kool-Aid. The other ninja copied him. "And good riddance, I say!"

Cole smiled mechanically as the lump in his throat worsened. He wished, more than anything, that he was anywhere else.

Anywhere but celebrating the engagement of the girl of his dreams and his friend, his team member, his brother.

So very, very painful.

"Dinner is served," Zane announced, putting down plates of food in front of everyone. "In honor of the happy couple, I have made a cake for dessert."

Cole looked down at his plate. Everything looked delicious, but for once in his life, he wasn't hungry.

Not one bit.

"Thanks, Zane," he mumbled.

"Hey, Cole," Kai interposed from down the table, his mouth full almost to bursting point. "No dessert unless you finish dinner! Didn't your mother ever tell you that?"

Cole didn't smile.

"I'm not hungry," he muttered in Kai's general direction. Kai pretended to faint with surprise. Everyone laughed.

Everyone except Cole.

"I'm going out for some air," he said quietly. Nobody heard him, so focused were they on the new couple. Cole pushed back his chair and left the room.

Outside in the garden, Cole seated himself on a log. His stomach was in knots, and his heart was heavy in his chest as he stared out, unseeing, and the garden before him.

He was being stupid. He was the Earth Ninja, for heaven's sake! He could get a girl if he wanted to, one who was just as spunky, pretty, smart, and strong as Nya. He could do it easily!

No, I couldn't, Cole conceded miserably. Not even close. And the worst part is that now I have to be happy for Jay that he stole my girl!

She was never really your girl, a little voice inside his head said fairly.

I know, Cole thought back bitterly. Doesn't make this any easier.

"Cole?"

Cole jumped about a foot into the air. Sensei Wu chuckled gently as he sat down on the log Cole had just vacated.

"Come, sit down, Cole," Sensei Wu said patting the log. Cole reluctantly sat down and waited for the ninja master to continue. "How are you feeling, Cole? Don't tell me that you're fine, because I know that you're not."

"What do you mean?" Cole squeaked. He cleared his throat quickly. "Why would you think that I'm not fine? I am totally fine! The best I've ever been! Yep, all's good, all's good. I am great, what makes you thi-"

"You're rambling, for one, " Sensei Wu chuckled. "You either ramble when you're nervous or you're trying to hide something. Second- I know you, Cole. Part of knowing you is knowing whom you like. That person is Nya. I've been where you are. Seeing the one that you love with another man. It slowly kills you."

Both fell silent, each one lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly, Cole piped up, "Who did you love, Sensei?"

The venerable ninja master looked at his student, and Cole was suddenly aware that he had entirely overstepped his bounds. "I'm sorry, Sensei, I only-"

Wu put out a hand to stop him.

"He that does not ask, does not learn." He sighed heavily. "When I was younger, I fell in love with Misako."

"You were in love with Lloyd's mom?" Cole blurted. Sensei Wu nodded.

"Many years ago. The pain is still there, but it wanes over time. Gradually, I was able to feel happy for my brother's joy, and when he and Misako had Lloyd, I was thrilled to be an uncle. It was around then that I knew that my impossible dream would never come true, and this revelation set me free."

Cole nodded as Sensei Wu patted him gently on the shoulder and disappeared into the garden.

Jay is a great guy, Cole thought. He deserves a great girl. And there are other girls out there. There is only one Nya, but I'll find someone.

Feeling considerably better, Cole got up off the log and headed back inside.

"Hey, Zane?" he called. "You mentioned something about cake...?"