We are finally almost at the end of the story! One chapter left to go! Can't believe it's been a year and a half since I last looked at this. It is still my favorite story I've ever written, and I'm glad to be almost done with it. Thank you to everyone who has stayed with me throughout the whole process, and thank you to those who have favorited/followed and reviewed this story. I'm so glad you guys liked it!
"Welp, that's the last of the boxes," Kai said, wiping the imaginary dust from his hands.
After last night's conversation about Sam's departure, the red ninja felt more at peace with the change in routine in the weeks to come. Sure, he would have preferred her not to leave, but he also understood that she had her own life to live, and the knowledge that she would be visiting every so often was reassurance enough for him to get by this upcoming semester.
"Phew, I'm wiped," Cole said, brushing his bangs out of his face. "Sam sure has a lot more stuff than I thought. Those textbooks especially are like bricks. How does she not break her neck carrying those around all the time?"
Kai shrugged. "Takes some getting used to, I guess. Maybe she should've been there when we had to carry Sensei all that way the first time we met."
The earth ninja chuckled. "I'll say. We definitely could've used the extra manpower."
"For sure," Kai said, grinning. It could've just been their present circumstance, but the nostalgia was hitting him extra hard today. "Hey Sam, Cole and I will be waiting in the truck while you say goodbye to the others," he called out to her.
Cole and Kai had left earlier that morning to go fetch the truck. As Kai had planned, they had left at 11 and had returned a little before 11:30 with the truck, and, with help from the others, had loaded Sam's belongings into the vehicle. It was quarter to noon now, with everything now loaded, and the college student was ready to say her goodbyes to the group.
Sam turned, hearing her name as she was making her way up the steps to the Bounty.
Standing there at the front door awaited Jay, Nya, Zane, Lloyd and, of course, Sensei Wu as they began to bid their farewells to their new civilian friend. Even though she had been staying on the ship for only a few months, it felt as though they were saying goodbye to one of their own.
"Welp, Sam, it's been real," Jay said. "We're sure gonna miss you. Can I have a hug?"
Sam laughed. "Sure, Jay," she said, graciously accepting the embrace.
"Indeed. We will miss you dearly," Zane said, a soft smile playing across his features. "Though I do know who will miss you most of all."
Sam sighed. "Yeah, I'll miss him too. I'll miss you all, in fact. It's hard for me to say goodbye. You've become like a second family to me."
"Well, we consider you family," Nya said. "You're like the sister I never had. How am I possibly gonna manage all these boys on my own?"
"Don't know," Sam chuckled. "Looks like you've got your hands full."
"She sure does," Jay said, placing an elbow on the samurai's shoulder. "We wouldn't be able to function without her. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't know the difference between my toothbrush and my underwear!"
"Well, we're glad you know the difference," Nya said, smiling.
"It has been a pleasure, Sam," Sensei said, stepping forward. "I wish you the best of luck this semester."
"Thank you, Sensei," Sam said, bowing her head politely.
And last but not least, there was Lloyd. Out of the bunch, he probably felt the weirdest about Sam's going away. Like the others, he was experiencing disappointment but at the same time he felt a sense of relief. Relief that the past was now behind him, and he could finally recalibrate. Now that Sam was no longer a distraction, he could get his mind back on track and focus on strengthening his relationship with his brothers.
He smiled at the young woman he was now proud to call his friend. "Bye Sam," he said. "Have a good one."
"You too, Lloyd."
Giving them one last look, Sam turned and began to proceed down the stairs towards the truck, where Kai and Cole were patiently waiting.
When she opened the door to the truck, she stumbled upon Kai and Cole bickering over the radio.
"Leave it on this station."
"Hey, I'm the driver. Driver gets to pick."
"No way-"
"Oh, hey Sam," Kai said, noticing her presence. "Ready to go?"
Sam nodded, failing to contain her smile. "Let's go."
"Ah, so this is what a college dorm looks like," Cole said as they wandered through the hallways of Sam's dormitory. "Could be worse."
Sam and Kai chuckled at Cole's commentary.
"It could also be better," Kai said. "I bet living on the Bounty felt like a hotel compared to this place."
Sam laughed. For ninja who shared a bedroom with five other boys, they were very critical of cramped living conditions. "It's not so bad once you get used to it. Plus, there's a lot of nice people on my floor, so that's good, I guess."
"Speaking of nice people, you said Brooke was coming at 2 right?" the earth ninja asked.
Sam nodded. "Should be around that time. She's from a farther village, so it takes her longer to get here."
As they neared the end of the hallway, the blonde suddenly stopped. "Here we are," she said, motioning to a door on the right.
Using the key she had been given when they had first arrived, Sam opened the door to reveal her empty dorm room. As she had expected, Brooke had not yet arrived, as her side of the room was still completely bare.
"Gee, this is tiny," Cole said, taking it all in as they stepped inside. "They expect two people to live in this tight space?"
"Sometimes three, depending on what dorm you're living in," Sam responded, earning a grunt of disapproval from the black ninja.
"Wow, Cole, you're full of complaints today," Kai teased. "Is it because you haven't seen a certain someone yet?"
"No! I'm just...amazed at the way college students live," Cole shot back, though it was obvious he was lying. "I also might be a little hungry."
"Sure, we can grab food somewhere once Brooke gets here," Sam said. "Though we still got some time before that happens."
"Don't worry, my stomach will wait for the lady of my dreams," Cole earning a look of disgust from Kai.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." He then shifted his attention back to Sam. "Cole and I will fetch your stuff and bring it up here so you can start unpacking."
Sam nodded. "Got it. I really appreciate the help."
It took about half an hour for Kai and Cole to retrieve all of Sam's belongings from the truck and bring them upstairs to her room. Since they were ninja, they were much stronger than the average person, therefore, the process had gone much quicker than when Sam's parents had moved her into the dorms her freshman year.
After all the boxes had been accounted for, they had spent the next hour or so helping Sam organize and redecorate her previously empty quarters.
"Where do you want these?" Kai asked, holding out a stack of photographs.
Sam turned from unpacking her textbooks to see the red ninja holding out some photos from her box of memoirs. "You can just put them anywhere on the bulletin board," she answered.
As Kai began arranging the pictures on the bulletin board, a thought struck him.
"Hey, you know we never got a group picture of all of us together on the Bounty."
"That's true!" Sam said. "It'd be a nice addition to my collection."
"Welp, guess you'll have to come back then," Cole piped up from the corner of the room. Currently he was setting up some of Sam's lamps, which she often used as an alternative to the cold overhead light all the dorm rooms seemed to have. "Bet Kai is disappointed about that."
"Oh, extremely," Kai retorted sarcastically, earning a giggle from Sam.
"Like I said, I'll be coming to visit, so maybe we can all take a picture then."
As soon as the words left her mouth, as if on cue, their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a female's voice right outside the door.
"I got it, Daddy, don't worry."
The doorknob slowly turned and immediately Sam knew who it was. A girl with long brown hair waltzed in, carrying two garbage bags' worth of stuff. In her struggle to carry her heavy load, it took her a second to notice that there were other people in the room, but once she finally dropped her bags, she instantly zeroed in on her roommate.
"Sammie!" she squealed, racing over to the blonde to give her a big hug. "Good to see you again!"
"You too, Brooke," Sam said, reciprocating the hug. "It feels like it's been forever."
Meanwhile, Cole's heart felt like it was about to explode out of his chest as he finally laid eyes on the girl that he seen in person only once this entire summer. Just like the last time he saw her he was completely mesmerized.
It didn't take long for Brooke to acknowledge the other two people in the room—two handsome young men who she recognized as Sam's beau, Kai, and, to her delight, her friend, Cole, who she not-so-secretly had a thing for.
"Hey guys!" she exclaimed, walking over to the two guys.
"Hey Brooke, long time no see," Kai said, giving the girl a high-five.
She then turned her attention to the third person in the room—Cole. She felt her heart skip a beat seeing him finally standing in front of her after what felt like ages.
"Hey Cole!" she said, also giving him a hug. Since she wasn't really that close to him just yet, she didn't want to push her luck by going any farther than a platonic greeting.
Nonetheless, Cole practically melted as the girl wrapped her arms around him in a quick hug. He wasn't usually a lovey-dovey, mushy type of guy, but as she stood back from him, he felt dizzy.
"H-Hey Brooke," he said. "Can't believe it's been two months since we last saw you."
"I know!" Brooke replied. "It feels so much longer than that."
The brunette then turned again to Sam. "How've you been? Anything 'exciting' happen since I've been away?" she giggled, giving her friend a small nudge.
Sam smiled. "No, not really, the guys have just been helping me move back in."
"Aw, that's so sweet!" Brooke said. "My parents are bringing the rest of my stuff up now."
"Well, Cole and I'd be glad to help you guys if you need it, right Cole?" Kai said, turning his friend expectantly.
Cole, upon hearing his name, finally broke free from his love-stricken trance. "Of course! We'd be glad to help in any way we can."
