AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This short story is based on the fanfic The Fire Within, which is authored by measuremesky and can be found on this website. The Fire Within focuses on the relationship between our favorite red ninja and a cute college girl named Sam. Chapters 41 through 43 cover the day Sam injures her shoulder. My story narrates a dream that Kai might have had that night, in which he imagines taking Sam to NinjagoFest, a local festival that will be held later in the summer. Measuremesky, who is a family member of mine, gave me permission to use her material.

Chapter 43b - The Storm Brews

Kai fell asleep that night with a smile on his face, happy that he got to spend some time with Sam on the couch. And happy that she had not hurt her shoulder too badly when she ran into the bathroom doorframe. He began to dream...

All afternoon, Kai and Sam had explored the grounds of NinjagoFest, riding carnival rides, sampling cotton candy and popcorn, and listening to different pop music bands. Kai even tried his hand at a few carnival games. He found them to be very easy - after all, he was a ninja - but he deliberately missed targets here and there so as not to attract undue attention to his specialized training.

While playing one game, he forgot to control his elemental power of fire, and he accidentally threw a fireball. However, since he was specifically aiming a ping pong ball at a goldfish bowl at the time, the fireball was doused when it - and the ping pong ball - landed in the bowl's water. Neither the ping pong ball nor the fish were the worse for it.

"Go ahead and give my prize to that little girl over there," Kai said to the game's proprietor, who was still blinking his eyes, wondering if he actually saw what he just saw. With a grin, Kai waved to him as he walked away with Sam, who was clutching the small pink bunny Kai had won for her a half-hour before at another game booth.

They failed to notice the sky as they walked along, deciding what to do next. The sun, which had shone brightly at the start of the afternoon, had given way to clouds.

Sam checked her watch. "It's getting to be dinner time soon. Wanna see if the line for the Ferris wheel got shorter? We could ride it and then maybe head to Mama Li's to eat. I'm about ready for some real food after eating all this carnival stuff!" she said with a laugh.

"Mmm, Mama Li's sounds good to me!" Kai said, his tastebuds already starting to anticipate the flame-broiled goodness of a juicy steak from Mama Li's restaurant. "I definitely need to limit my junk food intake, too. Gotta maintain my girlish figure!" Kai patted his stomach, playfully mocking his female companion.

His remarks were rewarded with a playful jab in his ribs by Sam's elbow.

They were disappointed to find that the line for the Ferris wheel had not diminished as much as they had hoped it would have, but since today was the last day of NinjagoFest, and they had no set schedule for the evening, they decided to stand in line and wait.

Sam's left hand had been holding the plush toy bunny for quite a while, and her left shoulder began to ache a little. "Hey, Kai," she asked, "would you mind putting Miss Bunny in my knapsack?" She turned her back to him so that he could access the carrier she wore to hold her belongings.

"How do you know it's a Miss Bunny and not a Mr. Bunny?" he quizzed her as he opened the zipper.

"Um, did you notice she's PINK?"

"Ok, good point," he chuckled, remembering the time a while back when Lloyd, still a child, pulled a practical joke and washed Zane's white uniform with Kai's own red one. Zane was not pleased with the pastel color that resulted.

Kai prolonged the banter with Sam, enjoying the strawberry scent of her ponytail. It was intoxicating.

"Hey, the bank might be looking for that million dollars in here," he joked as he stirred the contents of her knapsack with his hand, making room for the bunny. "You might want to return it."

"Ok, but I'll keep the gold bars I stole," Sam laughed.

"I bet this knapsack weighs as much as a gold bar, with all the stuff in it," Kai joked.

"Ha ha, Mr. Comedian. Here's the bunny," Sam retorted, reaching back to hand him the toy. She winced at the discomfort her shoulder gave her. "That reminds me - I'm running low on aspirin. I'll have to get some more on our next trip to Joe's," she said, referring to their weekly "date" to the grocery store where they first met and where they had started to shop together each Wednesday.

Kai took the toy, placed it in the knapsack, and closed the zipper with a flourish.

"Your bidding has been done, milady."

"Thank you, kind sir."

The Ferris wheel line slowly moved forward and eventually they got seated in a car, side by side. Sam removed her knapsack and placed it at her feet. As they were raised upward while the other cars were switching occupants, they looked out at the landscape and noticed, for the first time, the changed weather conditions.

"Boy, those clouds on the horizon look pretty dark," Sam frowned.

Kai agreed. "Yeah, but I bet the bad weather won't get here until we're safe inside Mama Li's. And the power just needs to stay on long enough for a nice juicy steak to get delivered to our table," he chuckled.

"I'll be happy if the power just stays on long enough till we get back on the ground again."

"Don't worry, Sam," Kai assured her, smiling as he looked into her eyes. "If anything happens, I'll protect you."

He had intended for his statement to be mere comedic banter, but something in the blueness of her eyes touched him deeply and made him think for a second.

Of course he would protect her from any danger. He would protect any citizen. That was his duty. He was a ninja.

But he realized she was becoming more to him that just a citizen.

Which meant that if he failed to protect her, he would feel the consequences more deeply.

Kai then mentally slapped himself for thinking such serious thoughts on a day of fun. He shook his head to clear his mind.

Being careful of her shoulder, he put his arm around her, just like he did on their first date. But unlike that night at the movie theater, this time there was no hesitation.

Sam rested her head on his shoulder, just like she did on their first date.

With new occupants now in all the cars, the Ferris wheel began its latest set of revolutions. Sam sat quietly, enjoying the beautiful Ninjago City scenery as the lights began to sparkle in the premature dusk.

Kai also sat quietly, happy to have beautiful scenery sitting next to him.

Meanwhile, the dark clouds steadily spread out from their position on the horizon to cover more of the sky.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt flashed in the distance.

Seconds later, the entire carnival went dark.