We all knew a storm was coming when the Bounty door slammed open, nearly being ripped of its hinges, and a soaked to the bone, soggy-haired, red-clad teenager stomped through the dining room, literally fuming. And I do mean literally. Fists smoking, clothing sizzling, the whole package.
No one said a word as Kai stormed through the living room, none of us willing to be the victim to the violent tendencies of a fire ninja throwing a temper tantrum. 5 pairs of eyes followed the fuming teenager's back as he marched down the hall to our shared bedroom, everyone visibly flinching as Kai slammed the door dramatically behind him.
A moment of silence. Then finally, after ensuring it was safe, I let out a breathy chuckle and spoke,
"So...who wants to figure out what's wrong with Kai?" I grinned knowingly. But that immediately turned into a worried frown as all fingers pointed at me, still no words from anyone else.
"What?" I said. "Why me?"
"You have to, Cole!" Jay cried. "You're the strongest therefore least likely to get killed!" I glared at him.
"You really think I'm the least likely to get killed? What about Nya?" I gestured wildly to the dark-haired girl sitting next to to Jay on the couch. "She's his sister. He'd never hurt her. Would Kai hurt you, Nya?" I looked at her pleadingly, wanting her support.
"Nope." Nya shook her head firmly, and my shoulders sagged in relief. But that hope was shattered when she didn't stop there. "But that doesn't mean I should be the one to talk to him. I know him better than anyone, which means I know that I rarely get him to open up to me. If he's upset about something, he always tries to hide it from me like he has to protect me or be strong for me or something." She scoffed, folding her arms, clearly annoyed at the her brother's stubbornness.
"Come on, Cole," Lloyd spoke up from next to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. We'd been playing a game of checkers, but I guess that could wait now. "I get the feeling that Jay's right on this one. Whatever's got Kai so worked up might not just be anger. Maybe he's hurting in some way and that's transferring to anger."
"Good observation, Lloyd. But if you're so intuitive into Kai's ways of dealing with emotions, why don't you talk to him?" I raised an eyebrow at the kid. His mouth dropped open as he searched for reasoning,
"Well, I...I…"
"Cole." The calm voice spoke up from behind and I felt yet again a hand on my shoulder. I turned to meet Zane's sympathetic gaze. "You know of my gift. The ability to sense certain details that others cannot?"
"Yeah, yeah. Sixth sense, right Frosty?" I was growing impatient with the situation.
Deep down, I knew that I should be the one to talk to Kai. Whatever was bothering him...I just had this feeling like I'd be able to help. Nya had said it was rare for Kai to open up to her. I'd been surprised at that, because despite the strongfront I knew Kai wore around most people, there have been several instances when I got him to open up to me. Maybe it was because I was the leader, or maybe he just felt like I was the least likely to judge him (even though in reality, none of us would). Either way…
"Correct. And I am sensing that it is you Kai needs right now. You should go to him, brother." Zane nodded slightly in the direction of our bedroom.
I sighed, mentally preparing myself for this little confrontation, and praying that Kai wouldn't make this difficult. Except that was unlikely for master of fire, which is what this whole conflict between the rest of was about. No one wanted to be in the line of possibly literal fire.
"Alright. If I don't come back in 10 minutes, send backup. I'll probably have gotten my eyebrows singed off."
No one laughed. We all knew there could be some truth behind that joke.
knock knock.
Silence.
Knock. Knock.
An annoyed muffle.
"Kai, I know you're in there," I said through the door. "And I know you want me to go away but I'm not going to. So you can either stay in there forever or get it over with and let me in."
Being nice or gentle never worked with Kai in these situations, so I didn't even try anymore. Sure enough, I heard a few more grumbles from the fire ninja and shuffling as he slinked his way to the door and pulled it open.
I immediately noticed he didn't looked raging mad anymore (thank goodness, I wasn't about to die tonight), more like grumpy and annoyed, but...something was off. It was like the expression was forced, and his cheeks were slightly flushed, and...and his cheeks were wet.
Oh. Dang.
Kai was crying. Or had been. Kai. Crying. Those two words rarely came together. In fact, I didn't know if I'd ever seen him cry besides the one time he'd came to me after a nightmare about his parents' death. Even then he'd only shed a tear or two.
"Kai," I said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind me.
I realized I didn't have to force myself to do this anymore. I couldn't stand the thought of one of my brothers (especially the one who'd somehow gotten it into his head that it wasn't okay to cry), hurting enough to shed tears. I had to comfort him.
"What's up, buddy?" I tried to make it sound as nonchalant as possible so he wouldn't feel babied.
"N-nothing. I'm fine." But I already knew he wasn't, and we both knew it. He sunk down on the bed in the middle of the room (Lloyd's bed) with a sigh, his shoulders sagging defeatedly. Defeat. Defeated? Since when did the hotheaded, overly confident Master of Fire let himself be defeated?
"I think you know I know you're not." I sank down next to my brother on the bed and raised an eyebrow at him.
"I…"
"Don't say you're fine again, okay, Kai? I'm not your sister, you don't have to be strong for me." I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to say, but I was suddenly tired of him trying to deal with emotional hurt all alone. There was no need for it! I was right here, practically begging him to open up to me.
"Okay! Fine. You wanna know what's wrong, Cole? I'm an idiot, that's what." He glared at me, but somehow it lacked its normal burning intensity. It's because I was seeing pain, not anger, and Kai couldn't hide it this time.
I decided to try to lighten up the situation. "Well, I'd have to agree with that one, but…" I chuckled as he shoved my head a little. "Hey, hey, not the hair!"
He rolled his eyes, scoffing. "Like I could do anything to make your hair worse than it already is."
"Excuse me?!" I said in mock incredulity. But I quickly realized I couldn't fix this hurt with a little light hearted teasing when Kai didn't make another jab back. "Okay, fine, I'll dig. Why do you feel like an idiot?" I asked.
Kai muttered something under his breath that I couldn't quite catch.
"What was that? Come on, Kai, just tell me, in one go. Like ripping off a bandaid."
He quirked an eyebrow at that, but then sighed heavily, rubbing his face with his hands. Then, he spoke, clearly and steadily this time, "Skylor broke up with me."
Oh. Oh. So this was serious. Skylor and Kai had been together for months now, and I thought they'd been doing really well. In fact, I was pretty sure Kai had been ready to-
I watched in horror as Kai pulled something from his pocket, something that confirmed my suspicions. In his hands, was a small, velvety red box. He flicked it open, reveal a golden, diamond studded ring, before slamming it shut again just as quickly.
"I thought we were ready," he said quietly, brokenly. He swiped a stray tear off his cheek, and I felt my chest tighten. "I thought she was ready. B-but now…"
He looked down at the box in his hands in tears, before his expression darkened and he chucked the box across the room into the wall. There was a small ping as the ring fell from the box and hit the ground, rolling and landing at Kai's feet.
I still could only watch as he reached down slowly and picked up the tiny, beautiful object. I wanted to say something, but I needed time to come up with the right words. But what did you say? What did you say when your best friend thought today would be greatest day of his life? When the girl of his dreams completely rejected him, turning those dreams into nightmares?
Finally, I sighed, deciding to just go for it. I reached forward, gently but firmly, and pried the ring from Kai's finger. I retrieved the box from the ground, put the ring inside, then placed it on the dresser where my brother wouldn't have to see it right now. Then I sunk down on the bed again and turned to him.
I wanted to ask what happened. What she said to him, the reasons for rejecting him. Just thinking about the way she hurt him made me burn with protective anger. But I had to force that down and realize what Kai needed in this moment. He didn't need to talk about it right now. It would only make this more painful. He just needed me to comfort him, assure him it was okay to release his pain with me. It was okay to cry.
"Kai." I touched his shoulder lightly, waiting for him to look at me. His amber eyes finally might my brown ones, and I could see the desperate pain there. "It's okay."
And I held out my arms.
Tentatively at first he leant towards me, letting me wrap my arms around him and he buried his face in my shoulder. Then he clung tighter, fingers gripping the back of my shirt tightly, desperately, as my brother couldn't hold the sobs back anymore. I just held him, marveling at how he understood when I said "it's okay," I didn't mean the situation was okay because we all knew that kind of affirmation was pointless. No, Kai figured out what I was really saying:
It's okay to feel things, and it's okay to show it. It's okay to let me take care of you.
I kept my arms around him as long as needed. Eventually the muffled sobs lessened, but my little brother was still shaking silently so I didn't let go. Finally he turned, so my arm was wrapped around his shoulders, and just leant against me.
Now that he let it out, I needed something to lighten the mood. I smirked, an idea coming to mind. In a flash, I reached over and ruffled his hair violently, so it became a wild mess.
"Hey!" Kai protested, glaring at me, but there was no heat in it. In fact, I could've sworn there was a spark of amusement there. "No one messes with my hair."
I chuckled, putting him into a headlock and giving him a noogie, as he tried in vain to push me away.
"Sorry, bud. Looks like I'll always be stronger than you. You'll never be able to push me away," I said.
He looked up at me then, letting a small grin cross his face.
"Thanks, Cole."
