A/N: Hey, I'm back! This is late and short, sorry. By the way, I'm going on an official hiatus until mid-October. Yeah, this is another Kai story. Can't get enough of my favourite ninja! Also, more angst ahead. This is also not following canon. Nya died in a fire.
I'm hyped, because it's my first reviewer prompt! Thanks a bunch, Arya Scarlett 14!
And now, onwards.
No one saw through his mask; through all of the fake, narcissistic comments, or the carefully crafted smirks. No one saw how much he was truly broken inside. No one saw the hurt or the pain.
Each and every single day. The pain was like a knife slicing deep into his skin, piercing his heart, like someone was twisting the knife, turning it into red hot agony.
Nya.
Dead.
In a fire.
His element.
Every since that day, he could no longer function properly.
At first, it was obvious. At first, no one minded. Everyone else was coping with their own grief, walking around in a trance. The ship was silent for months, except for the occasional murmur of words.
Comfort?
No.
No comfort. There is no comfort in this silence. Only deathdeathdeathdeath.
Slowly, life settled back into its normal bustle, or as normal as it could ever be.
("We can't stay like this! N-Nya wouldn't want us to…")
Everyone tried to continue on with life. Kai tried. He tried and tried and tried but he just couldn't. Nya, the last of her biological family. She was dead, at the hands of fire. His element. When she just di- (Stop.) left, she left behind a void in his heart. A void of misery and darkness and death and death.
Only one person could fill this void, and she was gone.
The same person who mended him when their parents died one after another. He could still remember the nights when their hearts were broken. The nights when they would just cry and cry and cry, when he would scream at the sky and she would comfort him, her own tears staining her face.
Now, those nights were back, but there was no comfort for him anymore. He could scream and cry all he wanted but she won't come back. Because she was dead.
As his brothers' improved, his condition slowly but surely deteriorated. His brothers' noticed and tried their best to help him back from the edge. Oh yes, they tried, but it wasn't enough. Nothing was enough. He slipped further and further from their grasps, falling into the deep void of despair.
Kai had given up.
Guilt overwhelmed him, threatening to drown him. He could not even use his element anymore. Once, he tried, but the warmth was gone. His power was gone. No longer could he summon his flame.
Zane called it a mental block. He said that Kai needed to let go. He needed to move on.
(But somewhere, he was glad. At least… At least he would not have to look at the cause of Nya's death.)
He lost interest in everything. In training, in missions, in playing video games. He could tell that his brothers were alarmed. He could tell from their whispers when they thought he wasn't listening. He could tell from the fact that they bought just about everything he like. Had liked. He could also tell, from the fact that someone was always with him.
("Oh, um, Sensei wanted me to buy, uh, tea, so I decided to tag along." ["But I thought the tea shop was the other direction, Cole."]
"Hey, Kai, I hope you don't mind if I stay in the kitchen. After Cole… Well, Jay begged me to make sure it never happened again." ["Of course, Zane."]
"Oh! Kai! What a coincidence! I, um, didn't know you came here?" ["It's the bathroom, Jay."] )
Kai felt his teammate's concerns. For them, he tried. But every day, he found less and less will to wake up and continue.
He appreciated the effort, though. For that, he didn't want his brothers to worry.
So he played pretend.
He pretended it was fine, that everything was going to be okay.
From their relieved smiles, the less-tense atmosphere, he could tell that they bought it.
But there he was, still spiralling into the abyss of insanity, covering it up with smirks and comments.
But his lies could not last forever.
The pain could not be hidden forever.
He grew louder, trying to hide his growing fragility.
A few months on, his brothers grew more and more irritated with him.
(This is not what Kai had hoped. He wanted… He wanted them to be happy…)
They bore it the best they could, but his brothers also had their breaking point.
So one night, fed up with Kai, they left.
Silently.
Like Nya had, but without the chaos and flames.
So now, here he was.
His feet dangling over the edge of Destiny's Bounty as he stared into the twinkling night sky above him.
The ocean stretched infinitely below, dark and mysterious. Beckoning to him.
He pondered why he was still here. Obviously, he was of no use anymore. He could barely move, much less fight. His element was gone. His living family was tired of him and his dead family was well, dead.
He stood up.
Breathe, Kai.
He could almost hear his parents whispering comforting words, almost feel Nya's comforting hug.
He closed his eyes, and left himself fall forward, like he was falling into their embrace.
And he was
f
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l
l
i
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Later, Zane jolted from his seat at the couch, terror and horror visible in his eyes. He ran onto the deck as his brother's followed, fear growing.
But there was no one there.