A/N: Gahiji's name is a pronounced Guh-hee-jee or Gah-hee-jee.
Back To Your Roots
London ran to embrace him. Cole was unable to do anything but stand stock-still, frozen in shock and outrage as his mother wrapped her arms around him.
"Son, there's so much to explain to you," she said softly. "Like why I left you, why your father never told you, and what's going on. I need you to listen to me, please."
Cole said nothing.
London pulled back slightly to look into his eyes. She brushed his long black hair out of his face and smiled sadly. "My little boy," she said. "I'm sorry it has to be like this, but -"
Cole squirmed out of the hug and pointed an accusing finger at her. "You'd better explain," he said fiercely. "Explain everything, and do it quick."
"Woah, Cole, don't be so rough," Lloyd said, jumping forward at him.
Cole gave Lloyd a hard stare. "I need to know why she lied. And the reason had better be a good one."
Lloyd saw the frustrated tears that Cole was trying to hide, and was silent.
London sighed. "Cole, I have a reason why I've been away."
To Lloyd, this was beginning to sound extremely familiar.
"It's all been going on for such a long time," London said. "I guess Gahiji told you when it started?"
"Twenty years ago," Cole said.
"I was there, when it all began. These creatures - these Whisperers - were more dangerous than they had ever been before. Only a handful of people in NinjaGo even knew they existed, and I was one of them.
"I was called on to do research with my friend, who was the scientist Gahiji spoke of." London paused. "I assume he spoke of him," she said, glancing at the white-haired man.
Gahiji nodded.
"I have known him for a long time. Brilliant scientist, brilliant. I was called on by him to put my talents to use in developing Shauto.
"And then, June third, fourteen years ago, I was called on to suppress the biggest wave of Whisperers in NinjaGo's history. It was terrible, and I truly believed I would not survive."
Cole's eyes widened. "That was the day you left us, wasn't it? You told father you were going to die, didn't you?"
London hesitated. "Yes," she admitted finally. "I did. I thought I wouldn't live." Her tone was sad.
"Why haven't you told him you're still alive?" Cole said. "He was devastated! For years, he couldn't even talk about you, because he missed you so much!"
London rubbed her arms. "I know. I know, and I'm so sorry."
"You need to tell him!"
"I can't."
"Why not?!" Cole was angry.
London looked at the metal floor. "Because he would die."
There was a silence.
"What?" Cole said.
"They would kill him. Lou doesn't know Shauto, he can't defend himself. He's a weakness. A liability. If the Whisperers found out that he was my husband, then they'd hold him hostage and probably kill him."
Cole's mouth hung open in shock. The Ninja were all silent.
London shook her head. "This is a dangerous game we play," she said. "We're outnumbered, a million to five. Though the power we wield is great, the devastation and destruction that the Whisperers create is too terrible to combat with so little people. But with your help, son!" London grasped Cole's shoulders. "You and the Elemental Ninja! We need you. All of NinjaGo needs you and your Ninja."
Cole shook London's hands off him. "Why haven't you ever come back?" he demanded.
"She is needed here," Gahiji said. He had been poking the large touch-screen for the entire conversation until now. There was now a large map on screen. "She knows probably more than anyone about Shauto except the scientist himself."
"Why not get the scientist then?" Kai put in.
London and Gahiji looked at each other.
"He's dead," Gahiji said simply.
The Ninja were silent.
"I am needed here," London said. "And now, you five are, too."
Cole pinched the bridge of his nose and looked away from his mother. "Fourteen years," he said under his breath. London touched his hair tentatively.
"Please, son, we need your help."
"We already agreed to it," Cole said. He jerked his head away. "Gahiji was just showing us around."
London looked hurt. Then she cleared her throat. "Yes, of course. Is there anyone you five need to contact?" she said, looking at the Ninja.
Kai spoke up. "Yes, I need to contact my sister," she said. "We should probably ring up Sensei and Garmadon about this, too. All three of them could help."
London nodded. "Here, have this," she said, and took her wrist communicator off. "It will contact anyone."
"I know," Kai said. He took it and inspected it.
"The first thing we need to do is show you around," Gahiji said. "Then you should all probably get some rest. You've had a long day."
The door opened. Everyone's heads turned.
"Whoops, sorry," said Amilia, when she saw the look on everyone's faces. "Am I interrupting something?"
"No," Gahiji said. "In fact, you're just in time. Mind showing these four to their rooms?"
Amilia blinked. "Sure, I could do that."
"Why did you come back? Have something to do?" Gahiji asked.
Amilia shrugged. "I just needed to grab that file on the dashboard there."
Gahiji turned around. There was a green file sitting on the panel of buttons and levers behind him. He picked it up and chucked it like a frisbee at her. She caught it.
"Thanks." Amilia stepped in front of the Ninja. "Follow me," she said softly. The Ninja decided to follow her. "I'll show you where you'll be staying for the night."
Gahiji put a hand on Jay's shoulder. Jay jumped. "You follow me, Walker. You were nearly taken back there."
"Taken?" Jay said, confused.
"You were close to death. I barely rescued you," Gahiji said.
Jay thought it was unnerving that Gahiji was so tall - Jay was five foot ten himself, but his head only came up to Gahiji's neck, which, Jay noticed, was tattooed as well, but weirdly. There was a line of black ink around his tan neck that circled once like a snake, then ended, pointing with an arrow to keep going around. The ink was different from the dark green ink of his Shauto tattoo.
"Follow me," Gahiji said. "We're going to the infirmary."
"I feel fine," Jay insisted as the tall man started pushing Jay gently out the doorway. "Really, I do."
"I know you do, but you're not. Come on."
"Come on, Cole," Lloyd said, grasping the Master of Earth's hand. Cole reluctantly let Lloyd pull him away from London, shooting his mother a venomous glare. London checked him with a look, and Cole and Lloyd went out the door, following Amilia and the others.
"Quit being so angry, Cole," Lloyd hissed. "London's sorry. She told you."
"Excuse me," Cole murmured fiercely. "But my mother who's been dead to me just appeared, out of the blue, asking me to save the world. Can you blame me?"
"On your left is the training room," Amilia said, interrupting Lloyd and Cole's hushed argument. "That's where you'll be learning Shauto with Azamat and I. Gahiji and December have already finished their training, so they'll either be teaching or doing patrols. You won't see much of Gahiji after tonight (except for when he's teaching), but December often hangs around here. You'll get a chance to meet her soon."
The Ninja all peered into the training room. It wasn't metal, like the rest of Down - it was all wooden, harshly contrasting with the doorway, which was white steel. The floors were stained hardwood and the walls were rustic-looking, time-worn wooden planks. It was empty except for two chairs facing the wall.
"Not much of a training room," Kai said. "Where's the course?"
Amilia gave a small smile. "We don't have a training course in this section of Down. Shauto isn't a physical exercise - it's mental."
"Hey, kind of like Spinjitzu," Lloyd put in.
"Yeah, a bit, but not really. It's kind of like what you did with your golden weapons to turn them into vehicles. It takes all your willpower. The first thing you do in Shauto training is sit and learn how to focus your mind - probably the hardest part of the entire training."
Amilia began walking down the hall again. The Ninja took a moment to process this, still staring into the training room, then hurried after her.
"Wait, so the bulk of our training is going to be sitting and staring at a wall?" Lloyd said, confused. Amilia chuckled.
"Like I said, hardest part of all the training you'll ever do here in Down. These are the available rooms," she said, and stopped in the middle of the large hallway. She gestured on either side of her, where there were two doors. "Room seven, eight and nine aren't taken. You can split them up between yourselves. Here are the keys." Amilia pulled them out of her pocket and handed them to Zane, who was at the front of the group.
"Thanks," Zane said, inspecting the keys.
Kai raised his hand. Amilia looked at him.
"Uh, I can't figure out how to use this," he said, holding up the wrist communicator that London had let him borrow. Amilia came over to show him how it works.
"See this button here?"
"Yeah."
"You can enter your sister's phone number here. It's voice activated. Pretty cool, huh?"
"Oh. I thought that was the call button."
"No, you call with voice-command as well."
"Oh. Okay, cool, thanks."
"No problem." Amilia stood back. "Does anyone else have questions?"
Everyone shook their heads.
"There's showers and bathrooms attached to your rooms. Wake up at six, if you can manage it - that's when the food's hot. Latest you can wake up is seven thirty. Technically. Amzamat's broken that rule a couple times." Amilia grinned dryly. She pointed down the hall. "Head to that room at the end for breakfast tomorrow. Training starts at eight. Any questions?"
Everyone shook their heads again.
"Great." Amilia smiled and headed down the hallway. "Goodnight you guys. You have a long day ahead of you." She entered the room on the left, room three, and shut the door.
There was a moment of silence.
"I call a room to myself," everyone said at once.
Kai frowned. "There are only three rooms, you guys. Two people go in one, two people in another, and then I get the last one."
"You're mistaken," Zane said. "I believe I have the right to have the last room."
"Yeah? And what gives you the right?" Cole said, hands on his hips. "I'm the leader, I should get it."
"Nuh-uh," Lloyd said. "Look, I'm the Green Ninja. I need my space."
"Yeah, well so does the Master of Fire," Kai said, shaking his head. "I'm going to have the last room. If anyone opposes me, I'll set their hair on fire."
Lloyd pushed him. "I could set your hair on fire, too, if I wanted."
"Yeah, but you won't!"
"Then you won't, either!"
Kai growled. "I would too!" he said.
Zane pushed them apart. "It's not that big a deal," he said. "I'll share a room with someone."
"One down, two to go," Cole said, cracking his knuckles. Zane frowned at him.
"I don't think so," said a commanding voice. The Ninja all looked up, startled. Gahiji had returned, along with Jay, the Blue Ninja looking very sick about something.
Gahiji gave them a disapproving look, and pointed to Lloyd. "You and Brookstone will share room seven. Galdaichin and Juliyn will share room eight, and Walker here gets room nine. No arguments."
The Ninja just stared at him.
Gahiji pushed Jay forward gently, then walked past them, the Ninja all parting to let the tall man through.
They all watched him enter the room next to Amilia's, room two, and shut the door.
Jay sneezed. "Sweet! I get a room to myself then?" He stretched out his hand to Zane, who grudgingly put the key to room nine in his palm.
"Don't lose it," he warned. Jay grinned, then clutched his stomach and moaned.
"Oh, man, Gahiji gave me something that tasted awful," he complained. "He said it was medicine, but -" Jay retched. "- aww, man, it was horrible. Fermented peppermint or something."
"You don't like peppermint?" Lloyd said, incredulous. Jay shook his head.
"I'm slightly allergic to it. Not too bad, but I always feel nauseous after consuming it."
Cole shook his head. "Zane, I need the key for room seven." Zane handed him it, and Cole thanked him. "Come on, Lloyd, let's get to bed."
Lloyd reluctantly followed him as he went to room seven, which was on the left. Cole shoved the key in the lock and turned it, opening the door and stepping inside. "Goodnight, you guys. See you in the morning. . . hopefully."
The Ninja all murmured goodnight, and Cole shut the door after Lloyd. Lloyd flicked the light on.
There was two pale green beds and a small dresser in between them. The carpet was brown and thick, and when Lloyd took his shoes off and set them by the edge of the second bed, it felt warm and soft beneath his feet. There was a lamp on the dresser, a closet across from the beds, and a bathroom and showering area to your left when you walked in.
Cole yawned. "Wow. All we did was try to come home from a movie, and look what happens." He sat down on the first bed and rubbed his face.
"At least it's not the Overlord this time," Lloyd said. "Although, what could be worse than him, I can't imagine."
"I dunno, that Whisperer was pretty terrifying," Cole said. He shuddered.
"Oh, by the way, are you okay? The Whisperer got you pretty hard."
Cole waved a dismissive hand. "I'm fine. . . Should be okay."
Lloyd nodded. Cole looked at the pillow listlessly, then began taking off his shirt, preparing for bed. Lloyd guessed he should probably do the same.
Then he had a sudden thought. "Hey, Cole. . . are you. . . um. . ."
Cole glanced at him. "What?"
". . . are you okay? I mean, with your mother. . . and stuff." Lloyd was sheepish.
Cole put his shirt in the top drawer of the small dresser. He didn't answer the Green Ninja for a few minutes.
"No," he said finally. He sighed, and let his head fall into his hands. "But nothing you can say will help."
Lloyd bit his lip and quickly peeled off his shirt, putting it in the second drawer. "I. . . well, I guess what I'm getting at is that I know how you feel. . . and, I just wanted to say that everything will be okay.
Cole moaned. "Please, Lloyd, I can't listen to that uplifting lecture that I know you have all ready to give me. I'm sorry, but I can't."
Lloyd continued, ignoring the Ninja of Earth. "I mean. . . it sounds like she really is sorry, Cole, and she only left because she had to. It's like what happened with my mom -"
"No, it's not," Cole said fiercely, sitting up. "You never had anyone lie to you. You were never told she was dead for more than half of your life. And you certainly weren't suddenly called on out of the blue to help your mom, who is actually alive, a secret agent, and working to keep the world from ending."
Lloyd felt hurt. "Okay, I wasn't lied to, and this didn't happen, either, but I know how you feel all the same!"
Cole ignored him. He buried his face in his knees, rocking slightly back and forth. Lloyd saw the vulnerable state that Cole was in. It made him feel helpless.
The door opened, and for a moment, the room was lit with more than just the lamp on the dresser. Lloyd realized it was London coming into the room.
Cole kept rocking.
London nodded at Lloyd, who allowed a small smile. She approached Cole's bed carefully. "Cole," she said softly, reaching out to put a hand on his bare back. "May I visit with you, darling?"
Cole was silent. Lloyd lay down in bed, trying his best not to listen to the conversation that was sure to follow. He didn't want to intrude - especially since he knew how this sort of thing went.
London sat down tentatively on the edge of the bed. "Son. . ." she said, rubbing Cole's back. "I understand how you must feel, and I'm sorry. It's just. . . you've grown to be such a strong, intelligent, handsome man."
"What did you think I'd grow to be?" Cole muttered. London paused, taking the question seriously.
"I thought you'd be less of a surly teenager, to be sure."
"Well, excuse me," Cole said angrily, lifting his head to turn around and glare at his mother. "But how would you feel if your dead mother came out of nowhere, claiming that she needs your help saving the world and expecting you to just forgive her for lying to you for fourteen years?"
"Son," London said warningly. "Don't speak to me that way."
"See?" Cole demanded, and shook London's hand off his back. "This is exactly what I'm talking about. Treating me like a child and expecting me to go along with whatever you say just because your my mother. I'm not a little kid, London!"
"Cole, settle down," London said, alarmed. "I thought I could have a decent conversation with you. It's been so long."
Cole huffed and looked away. "There's nothing to talk about," he said.
"Oh, darling, I think something must have happened during the fourteen years that -"
"The fourteen years since you ruined my life?" Cole said.
London was shocked. "Cole, is that really how you feel?" she said. Her expression was mixed.
Cole looked up. "London, it was more than a decade!" he said angrily. "And now, after all this time, you're here telling me what to do and how to behave, just as if nothing had ever changed, as if you hadn't lied and gone behind mine and father's backs?"
"Cole Brookstone!" London said. Her voice was rising. "You know full well that I had a reason for it! Is saving the world less important than you getting your way?"
Cole opened his mouth in outrage. "No! I'm saying that you could at least be a little bit understanding! You'd feel the same if your mother had lied to you all those years!"
"Child, stop this!" London said. Lloyd covered his ears.
"Stop calling me a child!" Cole said. His voice was rising. "London, I'm not a kid anymore! I've got a will of my own! I'm real, I've got my opinions, and I get to choose. You think that I'm just going to follow you blindly because you're my mother? You think I'm just going to forgive you after fourteen years of misery? No. No, London, that's not how it works. Fourteen years!" Cole's voice cracked. "Fourteen years without a mother! Fourteen years trying to escape my nightmares, my grief, my father's ambitions, music, everything. My entire life, I've been trying to escape." Cole looked away, running his hands through his hair.
London couldn't respond. There was a shocked silence.
"And you left me to do it alone." Cole's voice was shattered.
Lloyd covered his mouth with his hands. All he could hear was his breathing, made ten times louder in his cupped hands, and the sound of his heart beating with suspense.
"Is that all you wanted to say?" London said quietly.
Cole nodded.
London stood up. She moved beside Cole, who still refused to look at her. Then she wrapped her arms around her son and buried her face in his hair.
"I'm sorry, son," London whispered. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
Cole did nothing for a few moments.
"You're right," London said. "My son is no longer a little boy. He's a man now. He's a man." Her voice shook with tears - she was crying.
Cole resigned himself. He reluctantly rubbed her back with his hand.
"My little boy. . . oh, my baby boy, how I wish that I could have been there. I wish I could have seen you grow. I'm so sorry for this pain that I've caused you. I'm so, so sorry."
"Mother," Cole whispered. Lloyd watched his leader's heart melt. "You. . . you don't know how much. . ." Tears began to spill over his cheeks. "You don't know how much I wanted to believe you were alive."
Lloyd's heart caught in his throat. You don't know how much I wanted to believe you were alive. The phrase rang true in his mind. He bit his lip and put a hand to his forehead, pretending that tears weren't streaming down his face faster than he could ever remember.
He knew exactly how Cole felt.
Not close to what Cole felt - exactly what he felt.
