Father-Kai
*Set after Season 1 before Season 2*
*Beware of OOC Kai*
One afternoon, Sensei Wu was drinking his tea in his room while enjoying the sunset that was staining the world red. He was in a deep appreciation for the unusually delicious tea when somebody carefully knocked on his door.
"Come in," He called.
"Uh…Sensei Wu…?" Kai, who was wearing his red uniform just like always, opened the door. He, strangely, looked quite uncomfortable. He was unable to stay in one spot, looking like a nervous dog.
"What do you need, Kai?"
"So…Um…Uh…Sensei, may I go somewhere with Nya tomorrow? We'll return before the sun sets, I promise. It's…important."
"Really? Alright, you may go. Oh wait, let's just give all the Ninjas a vacation, how about that? They've been training hard too recently; giving them a day off will do them good."
At Sensei's words, Kai's expression considerably brightened.
"Thank you Sensei! I'll tell other kids about the day off."
"Thank you Kai. And oh,"
And Sensei's words, Kai turned around with eyes full of questions.
"Can't you tell me what the business that you must attend is?"
After hearing the question, Kai gave him an awkward smile and curtly said,
"I would prefer not to. Do I have to answer your question?"
"…No, it's alright. Have a good journey tomorrow."
"Thank you, Sensei."
The next morning, unlike his usual self Kai woke up extra early and began moving busily. He cooked; he packed food, fruits, and other various items into his large backpack and did a lot of other things too.
"Hey Kai, what are you doing this early on a golden vacation…?"
Jay, who had woken up early thanks to Kai's clamoring, yawned and began saying complaints but stopped after getting one look at Kai.
"Uh…what happened, Kai? Why are you wearing a black suit? And with white shirt too, not the usual red you prefer. And Nya also…"
Kai and Nya were both wearing black suits, and Nya didn't even do the makeup she liked so much. Instead, she wore a pink chap stick. And Kai-his usual spiky hair was neatly combed to a side, something that has never been done before in the history of Ninjago.
"If we ride the dragon, we would be able to arrive by at least 11 o'clock, right? I promised Sensei that I would come back before sunset."
"Kai, even if we ride a dragon, to travel from here to there takes at least two hours. If we want to return before the sun sets, we should probably finish it by 4 PM."
"Alright. We have nothing missing, right? Nothing forgotten?"
"Nope. And even if we did, most of the things we can buy in the nearby town, so don't worry."
"Okay. Go?"
"Go!"
Either they hadn't heard Jay or they just ignored him, but they didn't answer his question before leaving. Jay, who now stood alone in a lonely room, only laughed weakly, as if he couldn't quite process what he just saw.
"…What the heck just happened?"
Kai and Nya covered the distance that would have normally taken all day by foot or car only in two hours by riding their dragon. And the place they flew to was their hometown. When they began walking down the familiar roads and paths, the old neighbors and friends called out to them and greeted them, which Kai and Nya all replied with smiles.
"Ho, it's the Blacksmith siblings! How have you been?" The Butcher called out.
"How long it has been? Nya, you have gotten so much prettier than the last time I saw you! Do you want to meet my son? I think he'll look quite nicely with you…" The fruit stand woman asked.
"Long time no see, kids! How long are you going to stay this time?" The farmer greeted.
"We've been fine, thank you! I think you look much younger than the last time we saw you, ma'am. Sadly, we're only going to stay for a few hours today, so we don't have much time." Kai and Nya replied.
As they went along the path sharing delightful talks with their old neighbors, Kai and Nay arrived at the little hill behind their old house, the forge. With the unique skills of a Ninja, they carefully and slowly climbed the hill, and when they arrived at the top, the whole village spread out under them. And there was a gravestone overlooking the village, covered with moss and grass. Kai carefully opened his bag and began putting out pears, apples, fish, liquor, and other food in front of it.
"We're here, Father." Kai said with a soft voice that didn't match his usual self.
"Your children are here. Have you been well while we were away?"
"Ow, Kai, stop acting so strange! It's not like you're filming a movie or anything, you know? Just be yourself. Dad would like that better too, I bet. Don't you say, Dad?"
Playfully hitting Kai's shoulder, she gave him a true piece of her mind and then began talking towards the gravestone of their father.
"Dad, how are you? For us, so many things happened. Like, I was kidnapped to the Skeleton Army, so Kai went under Sensei Wu's wing to be trained as a ninja so that he could rescue me. Oh, don't worry about me being kidnapped before. Kai appeared like a hero and rescued me! He looked so awesome when he did that. Oh wait; he is a hero after all! Well, anyway, right now we're living with Sensei Wu. And Kai is still being trained as a Ninja. A boy even likes me! He's name's Jay, and um, he's very humorous and energetic, so he follows me around and tells me that he likes me and that I should be his girlfriend. But should I? To be honest, I do like him, but I don't know if I like him as a friend or as a boy. But my heart does start beating so strangely when I'm around him…"
"Seriously? I should tell Jay that. He will be so excited~."
"Oh, Kai!" Maybe because Nya temporarily forget that Kai was next to her, her face became as red as a ripe tomato and sprang up.
"Did you really have to say that while I was talking to Dad? Whatever! Just talk to him all by yourself!"
Nya became really angry-or maybe she was just quite embarrassed-she began to hike back to the foot of the hill. But right before she was out of Kai's sight, she turned around and yelled once more.
"If you tell anybody that I like Jay, I'm going to kill you!"
"Hey, hey, stop saying that stuff in front of Father…" Kai murmured as if aghast, staring at the spot where Nya had been just seconds ago, then burst out laughing.
"But you'll forgive her, won't you, Father? You always liked her best. Frankly, the real reason Nya went down the hill was to give us some Father-to-Son talking time."
Even though he chatted to his father with a voice full of good humor, there was a sad smile hanging from his lips. His father always did treat Nya more specially than him. It was partly because she was a girl-and partly because Nya looked just like their mother, who passed away soon after Nya's birth. So even when his father was lying in his deathbed, his last words were, "Protect your Sister."
"Father, I'm doing everything just like I should, right? I'm always trying my best, but sometimes…sometimes I'm afraid that my best won't be enough. No matter how tired or worn-out my body is, because I have to protect Nya, I just train on and on, but I'm still scared that harm will come to Nya because I am not strong enough to protect her."
Quietly, he filled a small cup with rice wine and sprayed it over the gravestone, soaking the dry grass and parched land with it. As the wine immersed into the dehydrated land, he filled the cup again with wine and sprayed it once more.
"…If I was an adult, I would have drunken it with you, but I'm sorry that I can't. Next time, when I'm an adult, I'll drink it with you, I promise. But it seems like that I'm far from being an adult, father. Yesterday evening, when Sensei asked where I was going, I reacted rather…immature and replied rudely. I could have told him that I was visiting you, but when I tried to say it, my throat just…closed, because I still can't believe that you're dead, because it still feels like…it still feels like when I go to the forge, you'll be tending the fire…"
A single droplet of tear slowly ran down from his eye to his chin. As if he didn't know what he was crying, Kai kept talking to his father about himself that he had never told anyone else-not to Cole, or Sensei, or even Nya.
"Sometimes, very rarely, there are times when I wake up in the morning and I think that…everything's just a dream. That I was still a normal blacksmith's son and that you're a normal blacksmith you had stayed in the town for all your life. Then, I began to realize-there are people around me, and you're dead, and me being a ninja is not a dream at all. And every time that happens, it just crashed down on me and I want to just go back to sleep again until reality becomes the dream."
More tears began streaming out of his eyes and like a little child; he curled himself into a ball. Even though he was almost an adult, his mind was still a boy from when his father passed away. Even though he looked like a fiery flame, in reality he was a weak sputter of a fire that could be stifled by one small stream of wind, very unstable indeed.
"Father…Dad…I feel…so tired. It's not that I don't like my friends. No, rather, they're too good for me. But sometimes, I really want to go back to the time to when you were alive. Because I just really want to see you, because I miss you so much…Dad…Dad…"
The day when his father who seemed like he'll never leave left, the day when his father who seemed like he'll protect him forever left, Kai, at the young age of 15, had to send his father away with his own hands. On the day when even the sky was cruelly so bright and cheery, Kai grabbed young Nya's hands tightly within his own and did a funeral with only a few close neighbors, strangely, he couldn't cry. Some people praised him for being mature at such a young age, and some people commented on how heartless he was to not cry at his father's funeral, but Kai couldn't hear anything at all. It seemed like the coffin, which was being slowly buried into the ground, was empty, and when he finished the meaningless funeral, his father would be waiting at home, the house warm with the toasty fire that was always lit within his house.
It wasn't.
When he finished the funeral and returned home, the house and cold and empty. And Kai disliked it for no reason at all-hated it enough to light a fire himself into the stove and watch it burn. But his father still didn't return, and Kai carried on the family business with his inexperienced skills. At least, until Sensei Wu recruited him as a ninja.
But still, he was only a resentful kid who was missing his father who never returned for him.
From the past, to now, and even to the opaque future.
A/N: Hello! I wanted to write about the characters and their fathers partly for father's day, partly out of my own greed (...). I didn't write anything for a while...I'm out of practice. Anyway, thank you for reading and sorry if I'm being too dramatic in writing. Reviews are greatly appreciated, thank you!