AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Howdy! This is The Mayor of Ninjago City with a brand new story called The Fire Within: Rehearsal of Danger. This tale features our favorite earth ninja, Cole, and his love interest, a college student named Brooke!
This short story is the latest installment in the "The Fire Within" series, which was originated by the author measuremesky when she began her first Ninjago fanfic The Fire Within. That fanfic, along with her follow-up story A Degree in Danger, can be found on this website. Measuremesky is a family member of mine, and she gave me permission to use her material to write my own contributions to the "The Fire Within" series. Check out my profile page for a list of titles.
The story you are about to read below takes place just one month after my recently completed fanfic The Fire Within: The Independence Day One-Shot. In this new tale, it is the afternoon before Kai and Samantha's wedding, and the wedding party is rehearsing in the chapel for the next day's ceremony. Cole is a groomsman, and his girlfriend Brooke is a bridesmaid. After the rehearsal, the wedding party and out-of-town guests adjourn to a restaurant for the traditional rehearsal dinner. Cole and Brooke hail a taxicab to take them to their destination, but an unexpected detour occurs…
This story will be fairly short, so I won't have a regular publishing schedule. I'll just post a chapter when it's ready!
References to past events in the "The Fire Within" series:
Trouble in Paradise - Chapter 9 narrates the night that Cole realized he loved Brooke, and Chapter 10 mentions the Joel Taylor concert.
The Valentine Incident - Chapter 15 contains the original account of Kai and Sam's engagement.
The Fire Witch Incident - Chapters 14 and 15 include details on the fire witch's evil doings.
Hope you enjoy this first chapter of Rehearsal of Danger!
Chapter 1 - Oops
As the Ninjago University chapel organist played the recessional music on this August afternoon in Ninjago City, Cole Hence happily escorted Brooke Dawson back up the center aisle.
If truth be told, the earth ninja wouldn't have minded if he and the willowy brunette had just left the altar after exchanging wedding vows with each other. Though he hadn't yet told her he loved her, he had realized his feelings for her back in March as they walked along the sands of romantic Paradise Beach.
But today they were rehearsing their roles as a groomsman and a bridesmaid in the wedding of Kai Smith, the fire ninja, and his bride, Samantha Miller. Tomorrow was the big day for the betrothed couple.
Six months had quickly passed since the evening of Valentine's Day, when Kai had proposed to the blonde college student, and since then they had diligently worked on planning for the ceremony and for their married life afterward.
About five weeks ago, however, it appeared that their wedding - and Sam's life - was in jeopardy when she and the ninja brothers were taken captive by an evil fire witch who planned to take over Ninjago. Fortunately Kai vanquished Fiora, the villainess, but several weeks were needed to heal the bruises on Sam's neck, which were put there by Kai while he was under Fiora's spell. The bruises were now gone, and Sam's voice was back to normal, and Kai was glad that the physical reminders of that awful day had finally disappeared.
"I'm ready for this rehearsal to be over. I'm hungry," Cole quietly complained. He kept his eyes looking forward as he slowly walked so as not to incur the wrath of the wedding coordinator. The middle aged woman, a former ballet instructor with pale skin, bright red lipstick, and black hair pulled in a tight bun, was making sure that the bridal party practiced exhibiting the proper decorum for tomorrow's event. The wedding was going to be nationally televised, since the groom was an official Protector of Ninjago, and the woman was determined to make sure that everything looked fabulous.
"Groomsman with the black hair! You're walking too fast. Slow down!" the former ballet instructor - or was she a former drill sergeant? - commanded. Cole reluctantly slowed his pace, muttering under his breath.
Brooke giggled. "I'm hungry, too," she agreed, also keeping her eyes looking forward as she clutched the arm of her boyfriend and bridal party escort. "Have you ever been to Serenity Gardens Restaurant? I've never been there, but Sammie said it was one of Sensei Wu's favorites and that's why he chose it as the place for the rehearsal dinner."
Cole started nodding his head in the affirmative but caught himself and kept his head still. "Yeah," he answered. "It's been a long time, but I remember that behind the place, they had ponds with the little bridges over them and bunches of flowers everywhere. And at night they have patio string lights hung everywhere, so you can still see to walk around and enjoy everything."
"I'll take a wild guess and bet that the nice area behind the restaurant is called Serenity Gardens," Brooke chuckled. "But, seriously, it does sound nice."
At this point in their procession up the aisle, they reached the chapel pew where Brooke's mother and father were sitting and observing the rehearsal. Her parents would be joining the bridal party for the traditional dinner at the completion of the rehearsal. Brooke and Cole smiled at Mr. and Mrs. Dawson as they walked past. For some reason, Brooke's dad made Cole feel a little uneasy, but Cole reasoned that no matter what guy was dating Brooke, even if he was one of the Protectors of Ninjago, Mr. Dawson would be watching him with wary eyes, especially since Brooke was an only child.
Once Cole surmised they were out of earshot of the elder Dawsons, he spoke quietly. "So do you suppose that, after dinner, I could take you for a walk through the gardens? Maybe we could find a spot where the lights aren't working," he smirked.
His comment was greeted with a good-natured thwap! on his chest by the paper rehearsal bouquet Brooke held in her other hand.
"Ow!" he said loudly, pretending to be in pain.
They immediately heard some claps of annoyance from the wedding coordinator. "Groomsman with the black hair! Bridesmaid with the brown hair! This is a wedding rehearsal, not a boxing match!" she called out.
"Sorry," they mumbled as they continued their journey to the back of the church, eyes looking forward once again.
"I am so going to get you back for getting us in trouble," Brooke whisper-yelled.
Cole smirked again. "I'd like to see you try!"
"I'm ready to go!" Brooke announced cheerily as she returned to the narthex after having used the ladies' restroom after the rehearsal. She adjusted her purse strap on her shoulder.
Cole was the only one waiting around for her.
Looking around at the quiet space, she commented, "Boy, everyone must have been hungry and left for the restaurant in a hurry. I can't believe I was in the restroom that long!"
"Felt like forever, though," Cole teased, standing up from the chair he was waiting in. "Your mom and dad said they'd share a cab ride with Misako." The earth ninja slid his muscular arms around his girlfriend's waist. "I think your mom wanted to give us some private time. She seemed to approve of me once she found out I've got Italian blood, just like she and you do," he murmured, seeking her lips.
Cole had missed his girlfriend in the two months which had elapsed since he had last seen her. Before Brooke and her parents had arrived in Ninjago City yesterday, the last time he and the brunette college student had spent time together was at the Joel Taylor concert in June, just after her final semester exams and before she left the Ninjago U campus to go back to her home village for the summer.
"And how about my dad?" Brooke asked, mumbling against her boyfriend's lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"He looked like he wanted to shoot daggers at me," Cole mumbled back before pulling away. "We probably should go hail a cab now. If I don't get you to Serenity Gardens within a minute after he gets there, I might be a dead man," he joked.
Brooke giggled as she let go of his neck and placed her hand in his. Together they walked out the main entrance of the chapel and onto the sidewalk. Some police cars were parked in front; the officers were preparing to implement security procedures for tomorrow.
But after five minutes of waiting, not one cab had driven by.
"That's weird. There were a whole bunch of them a little while ago," Cole mused. "Let's walk over one block down and one block over and wait for one. We probably should move along before the media trucks get here to set up their stuff, anyway."
"You just want to stop at Kiedun Donuts, don't you?" Brooke smirked.
"Donuts aren't cake, but they'll do," Cole replied, squeezing her hand. "A donut is easier to eat in a cab, anyway."
Hand in hand they strolled down the few blocks to the donut shop. When they were almost there, they spotted a cab driving toward them from the opposite side of the street. Its roof light was on, indicating it was available for hire.
Cole hated to bypass the donut shop, but he and Brooke needed to get to the restaurant. "Let's grab that one!" he exclaimed, pointing it out to her.
Glancing in both directions of the street to ensure their path was clear, Cole guided Brooke across the roadway, holding on to her with one hand while wildly waving his other arm. The driver saw him and steered his vehicle to the curb to wait for the soon-to-be passengers.
They reached the vehicle. "Serenity Gardens Restaurant, please," Cole said to the driver through the open driver-side window.
"Sure," the driver, an older man of about 65, responded as he motioned for them to proceed into the vehicle.
Cole and Brooke walked around to the curb side of the car. Cole opened the rear passenger door and Brooke got in and slid across the vinyl bench seat to make room for her boyfriend. Then Cole got in and closed the door.
The driver spoke. "There's a train blocking traffic farther down on Lotus Street. Is it OK if I take Cherry Blossom Avenue? That route is actually a longer distance, but you'll get there quicker."
"That's fine with me!" Cole agreed. He knew Brooke's dad wouldn't really shoot daggers at him if they were a bit late, but he didn't want unfriendly looks shot at him, either.
Brooke turned toward the earth ninja to say something, but she never got the chance to speak, for just then they heard lots of shouting outside the cab.
The next thing they knew, both driver side doors had been yanked open by two men in ski masks wielding guns and carrying sacks. One yelled "Out of the cab, old man!" while grabbing the shocked driver's arm, pulling him out of - and away from - the vehicle, and seating himself behind the steering wheel.
The second man shoved himself in the space next to Brooke and slammed the door shut. "Don't move!" he ordered, pointing the gun in the girl's face.
A third masked man opened the front passenger door and climbed in, positioning himself in such as way as to face the people in the back seat. He pointed his gun at Cole.
"Hit it, Dill!" the third man said to his counterpart behind the wheel. And, with tires squealing, the cab sped away from the curb, carrying its two shocked passengers.
Many crazy thoughts ran through Cole's mind as he processed what had just happened. One thought was…
Brooke's dad is really gonna be mad at me now!