"Now that she's back in the atmosphere

I'm afraid that she might think of me as plain ol' Jane

Told a story about a man who was too afraid to fly so he never did land." -Drops of Jupiter, Train

"Cole?" Nya breathed cautiously, standing in the doorframe. "Cole, come inside already, you'll freeze."

Cole rubbed his hands together, his eyes glazed over, peering at some distant future across the Bounty. He sat on the rail, his legs swinging lifelessly over the dark night below them. Snow floated down around them, leaving a light dusting on the ship.

"I'm fine." he forced his voice out. "Go inside."

She sighed and played with a strand of her short black hair. "Cole, please-"

"I'll go in soon," he interrupted her, trying to keep his voice low. It wouldn't crack. He was the leader of the group. He couldn't show weakness. "Just go to sleep."

She knew she wouldn't get him to budge. He was so stubborn. She shivered, snowflakes catching in her black locks. There was no way to get him inside, she knew. And it broke her heart. She wanted him to be safe. But he was ready at any moment to throw it all away. "Please don't stay out too late." she threw a blanket over his shoulders and with that she went back inside.

"Where are you?" He whispered once she was gone. "Where did you go?"

He reached out a hand and caught a snowflake. He watched it as it melted in his trembling hand. "It should've been me."

No, he swallowed hard. It couldn't have been. Never have I done anything so courageous in my life. He chuckled dryly and thought back. It wasn't that he was fearless. If I told him to run, he'd run. He didn't even know who he was back then. But he changed.

"You were always changing, weren't you?" he spoke out again, hoping something in the night would hear him. Hoping his sweet words would bring him back so he could embrace and tell him how much he meant to him. Hoping he would never leave again. Empty, desperate wishes. "Sweetest white ninja, my innocent pink ninja, forgive me brave titanium ninja." his voice cracked slightly. "For I never changed. Not even my clothes. I was always the black ninja. Fitting isn't it?"

He gritted his teeth to keep them from chattering. The cold would kill him one of these days. But it was the only thing that made him feel like Zane was there. "Black, because I am the mourning ninja. You were a little butterfly, weren't you? You changed, you let go of your earthly tethers like fear, and now...you're free."

Tears started to well up in the corners of his eyes but they froze like crystals on his dark eyelashes. He raised his voice a little, letting it be carried away on the chilling wind. "You're flying free, but I'm still here! I'm stuck on the ground forever! Please...don't leave me," his anger deflated, and once again he was left with the silence of the night.

He let the blanket slid off his shoulders, landing in a heap behind him in the thin layer of snow covering the deck. He let himself slip, falling forward into the eternal darkness. He let his eyes flutter close. He let his limbs numb with the freezing air and the razor sharp ice pellets.

He let himself fly.

Before he hit the ground, he pulled out his scythe and transformed it into his vehicle, stopping himself from tasting the bitterness of the end. Refusing to give in to that sweet release. Then he drove. And he didn't stop. He didn't ever want to stop. He knew, come morning, his remaining brothers would be out looking for him. And they'd find him. But for now, he was as free as he'd ever be.

But as he rode through the unforgiving night, he heard a raven caw. And that's when he let go of his composure and cried.

"Where did you go?..."