Warning: This chapter contains themes of victim-blaming, s*xual assault, and the toxic 'Boys will be Boys' mentality.

Once again, thank you to my beta readers for all you wonderful help. Kay and Victor, you guys are fantastic!

Cole

They had nearly escaped the mall, but Cole should have known that was too good to be true.

"You two wait here, I just want to run into the Radio Shack for a minute. Jay and I need a few more wires for our experiment," Nya said, not even looking at Cole as she shoved her shopping bags into his arms and shot off towards her promised land.

Once she was out of earshot, Lissy cocked an eyebrow and commented, "Nya isn't going to be just 'a minute' is she?"

"If we're lucky, it'll be more like forty-five minutes," Cole snorted. "Which means we've got time to kill. Is there anything you want to check out while we're here? I heard the mall has put in some new stores ever since it was destroyed last time. Or we could go get something to eat in the food court, and I'll just text Nya to meet us there when she is done. What do you think, Lis? Lissy?"

Fighting down the automatic surge of panic that flashed through his body, Cole's dark eyes scanned the bustling mall. It didn't take long to spot her, especially once he forced himself to stop unconsciously looking for Lissy's now-lost child form. She was standing outside a toy store, staring up at one of the advertisements in the storefront window, one for those weird Furby things. Cole had seen the TV commercials for the toy, but didn't get the appeal, and honestly found the idea of a toy that 'learned' by talking to you incredibly creepy.

'To each their own, I guess.'

"Do you want one?" Cole asked, sliding up beside Lissy.

The girl jumped at the sound of his voice, tearing her eyes away from the image of a little girl and her mother playing with a purple Furby, and nearly dropping her own shopping bags.

"No, no!" she stammered, an embarrassed blush staining her cheeks. "I was just looking! Why would I want a toy like that?"

'Oh, kid...'

Even after talking with Kai about how she didn't need to throw out her toys and stuff, the future Savior of Ninjago still seemed at war with herself over how much she was still allowed to be a child. More than once Lissy had tried to hide any so-called 'baby stuff' and Cole had personally seen the way she would hurriedly switch channels if someone walked in on her watching cartoons.

Which, quite frankly, was just silly. They all watched cartoons. Even Sensei Wu loved the show about that kid with a weird arrow on his head.

"I don't know, I think they're kind of cool," Cole lied, giving a purposefully nonchalant shrug. Then, slowly, he added, "So, if you did want one, that would be okay."

Lissy bit her bottom lip, giving him a glance at one of the girl's abnormally sharp canine teeth, and looked down at her new shoes, saying nothing.

Once it became obvious that the girl wasn't going to open up about this, Cole glanced around again, hoping to find something to distract them both. When his eyes landed on a nearby food cart, Cole knew he found his solution.

"Hey, do you want a crepe?" he asked, nodding towards the pink and blue cart. "My treat."

Cocking her head to the side, Lissy frowned. "I don't know, I've never had one before."

"Aw, you don't know what you're missing, kiddo," Cole said, already ushering her over to the cart. "They're kind of like omelets, only you make them out of thin pancakes. You'll like them, I promise."

"Oh... okay, lead the way."

"So, what do you think?" Cole asked, taking another bite of his shredded pork and cheddar cheese, savory barbeque crepe.

"I's r'lly 'ood," Lissy mumbled around a mouthful of melted chocolate, marshmallows, and graham cracker crumbles.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," he chided jokingly, handing the younger girl a napkin.

Despite rolling her eyes, Lissy beamed at him as she licked away a tacky string of gooey marshmallow clinging to the side of her mouth.

"It's really good," she repeated. "Thank you."

"No problem. Happy to do it," the Master of Earth struggled, fighting back a smile.

What most people thought of as 'common sense manners' did not come naturally to Lissy. It wasn't exactly that the girl was ever purposefully cruel or rude, but rather that the teachers at Darkley's actively discouraged such things in their students. As a result, Lissy had come to them with bad habits, like snatching things out of people's hands, cursing loudly —and creatively, especially for a kid— in public, and never asking politely for anything. She was a lot better now, yet it had been a long, slow process of them having to be patient with Lissy as she recalibrated her social circuits.

Needless to say, Cole felt extremely proud of the girl's progress, and happy that he was able to help her grow.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Lissy as she sat next to him on the rim of the mall's fountain. FSM, it was bizarre to see her like this; every time Cole looked at Lissy's new, 'grown-up' face, it took him a moment to realize who he was looking at. And, to be totally honest, Cole wasn't happy about it. On top of the general sadness and guilt that the girl had lost her childhood due to her own protectors' screw-ups, he just missed his adorable, tiny baby sister!

When they first brought Lissy —or, rather, Lysandra— onto the Bounty, she hadn't been happy. Like an angry alleycat, she glared and hissed and bit and scratched at Jay's hands as he held her out at arm's length. Perhaps in a moment of brilliant foresight, Nya had snagged a picture of this very scene, and that same picture was now the background on Cole's phone. If he closed his eyes, he could imagine it perfectly. Jay's face scrunched up in concentration as he tried to hold onto the squirming eight-year-old. Lissy's angry glare as she attempted to scratch gouges into the Blue Ninja's arms, her golden blonde hair dirty, unbrushed, and pulled into a pair of lopsided pigtails.

To his now eternal shame, at the time, Cole had looked at the daughter of Lord Garmadon and only seen a dirty, ill-mannered, and ungrateful brat, stumbling as she desperately tried to follow in her father's footsteps. Now he looks at the picture and sees the bags under Lissy's ruby eyes, the fear that lurked there, and the concave hollow of her cheeks. He sees how oversized the hoodie she always wore was hung on her body, how viciously Lissy protected her few worldly possessions, and how any visible skin was covered by a collage of fading bruises.

When he looks at the picture now, Cole sees the hungry, neglected, and homeless child who needed someone to care for her, though the girl wouldn't admit it. He hadn't understood that at the time, but he did now and he would remember that lesson forever.

"Cole? Are you alright?"

The Black Ninja blinked, started out of his thoughts. "Huh?"

Lissy tilted her head to the side, brow furrowing in concern, "You seemed kind of lost in thought? Something on your mind?"

"You," he answered automatically. 'Damn it!'

Lissy didn't like being reminded of what she'd done as a feral little supervillain wannabe. She never came out and said it, but it was blatantly obvious that she'd get upset whenever anyone brought it up. If Cole had to guess, it was partly because of the guilt she felt over releasing the Serpentine, and partly because she hated being reminded of how lonely she had been.

When his little sister shot him a confused look, Cole cut her off with a joking smile, and said, "I was wondering how one little squirt could need all this stuff."

He finished it off by nudging one of the two dozen shopping bags with the tip of his boot. At first, Lissy looked unconvinced but, after a moment, she laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, I think Nya is secretly a shopaholic, and living vicariously through me," she chuckled. Peering into one of the bags, she added, "I don't even know what some of this stuff is!"

Cole fought back a snort, and thought back to this morning when they'd woken to a very confused postman who had arrived on the Bounty with a massive bag of cash and a letter from Garmadon demanding that they use the money to 'properly' care for his daughter. At the bottom of the letter had been two long strings of numbers that, after a bit of investigation, linked to a bank account.

A very, very full bank account.

As it turns out, Master Wu wasn't the only one who'd spent his long life squirreling away money.

Even discounting what was in the bank, Garmadon had sent so much cash that Jay couldn't even lift the bag it came in. They'd all spent a long time staring down at the pile of it, wondering if it was some sort of trap —the Warlord had tried far stranger plans to get rid of his daughter's protectors, after all— before Nya had suddenly declared, "Child support!"

Then she scooped up several hundred dollars into her purse and demanded that Lissy put her shoes on because, "We're going shopping! It's time to get you some real clothes!"

Despite the general uneasiness of using supervillain money —Cole was sure he'd seen some bloodstains on a few of the bills!— no one voiced a protest because, yeah, Lissy couldn't just keep wearing their clothes. It was starting to look like they kept a homeless fifteen-year-old girl as a pet! At the end of the day, Cole and the others would always put Lissy's wellbeing over their own discomfort.

So off to the mall Nya and Lissy had gone, with Cole trailing after them, having been elected to the glorious position of Bag Mule. It was a role he carried out with the utmost enthusiasm and without the many complaints that crossed his mind as they spent hours going from store to store. He'd offered suggestions, and gave compliments when directly addressed, but otherwise did the smart thing and kept his mouth shut as Nya loaded Lissy up with new clothes, shoes, bathing suits, accessories, and some starter make-up kits.

'Well, this isn't the first time Nya used Lissy as a doll,' Cole thought with a smile.

Pretty quickly after Lissy started living with them, Nya elected herself to be Lissy's primary caretaker aside from Master Wu. No one argued with this decision as Nya already spent the most time on the ship —or so they thought— and, honestly, sticking the two girls together seemed to make sense. Except, as soon Lissy wouldn't bite her hand off, Nya started dolling the little girl up every chance they got. She'd do Lissy's hair up all pretty, dot a small bit of blush and lip gloss on, and tended to go a little crazy with the ribbon.

Lissy never seemed to particularly like any of it, and would struggle against Nya's hairbrush like a disgruntled cat. As time passed though, she gradually came to accept her role and bore it with no complaint. For his and the other guys' part, they thought it was cute, and found every opportunity to tease the girl about it... at least, until Kai mentioned that Nya's new habit might be because she never really had that many dolls growing up, and was making up for the lost time.

Then it just became kind of sad.

"Do you like it all though?" he asked. "You don't have to get something just because Nya says it looks nice."

"I know," Lissy said, tugging at the hem of her new sundress. "And I do like them. It's just that I've never really been able to pick out my own clothes before. For as long as I can remember, I was wearing the Darkley's school uniform all day every day. Later I had my hoodie and some t-shirts, but never got the chance to develop my own style. I'd be lost without Nya here to help me."

Cole fought back the urge to cringe. His old man had been controlling, especially after Mom died, and he'd spent more time than he cared to think about being forced into dance leotards and recital outfits. It was far from the same thing, obviously, except he understood what it was like not to have control over something as basic as what you got to wear.

"It's also nice to know that my dad is still thinking about me, wherever he is," Lissy added, her voice and face dropping as the sadness crept in.

'Oh Lissy, if your old man had it his way then you'd be the most spoiled kid in all of Ninjago.'

"You look beautiful," he said honestly. "Garmadon would just be happy to see that money going to something that makes you smile."

"...Does that mean I can spend some of it in that candy store we passed earlier?"

Cole laughed so loud it had people turning to face them. "Man, I walked right into that one, huh? I'll tell you what, we can go to the candy store, but you can only spend $10, and you have to promise not to tell Zane. Deal?"

"Deal!" Lissy chirped, bouncing in her seat in excitement. "I'm going to get some chocolate, some rock candy, and maybe some—EEEKKK!"

Lissy shrieked, scrambling to pull the top of her dress back into place. She was so focused on trying to cover back up that she didn't even glance in the direction of the asshole who sprinted away cackling. Cole, however, was on his feet and off before Lissy fully registered what was happening. The sight of the humiliated tears wheeling up in his little sister's ruby eyes was the last thing he saw before he sprinted away.

As a general rule, the Master of Earth was not built for speed. No, that was for fast, fiery Kai, and quick, nimble, Jay while he and Zane were tough and sturdy, able to take more damage and deal harder hits than the other two. But Cole was also nearly six-and-a-half feet tall and in better shape than most Olympic athletes, so it didn't take long for him to catch up with the punk, yanking him back by the collar of his shirt, and spinning him around.

"What the hell, dude?" he shouted, keeping an iron-clad grip on the other teen.

It was a young guy, maybe about fifteen or sixteen with a round, harmless-looking face, and wide brown eyes. Just a normal-looking kid, maybe only a little older than Lissy's physical age, and didn't look anything like the kind of person who got his kicks yanking down girl's clothes.

"Wowww, chill out," the punk said, raising his hands up and giving Cole a nervous smile. "It was just a joke, bro!"

"A joke?" Cole growled, gripping the kid by the front of his shirt. "You think it's a joke to harass girls like that, you creep?"

"I mean..."

Cole's fury must have been coming through loud and clear because the punk trailed off. This silence only lasted for a minute, because whatever empty-headed teenage hormones that compelled him to yank down Lissy's dress in the middle of a crowded mall kicked back in.

"Look, stop making a big deal out of nothing," he said, scowling and rolling his eyes. His fear was gone, and now the kid was all bravado and over-confident bluster, "I was just playing around, no big deal. It's not like I actually hurt your girlfriend or anything."

"She's my little sister and you made her cry with your stupid little joke," the Black Ninja snapped back.

The punk snorted, "Must be that time of the month if that's all it takes to start the waterworks."

"Okay, that's it!"

Cole, ignoring every ounce of good sense screaming at him to leave it be and go check on Lissy, pulled back a fist, ready to reduce this punk's face to a bloody smear and...

"Hey, what's going on here?"

A hand caught Cole's wrist before he swung, making him stop. He could have easily pulled it free if he wanted to. Even without his elemental power, his strength remained. just like Kai's tolerance of high temperatures, Jay's habit of accidentally shocking people and shorting out electrical sockets, and Zane's cool touch. Except when a glance over his shoulder showed an overweight, middle-aged man in a security guard's uniform, Cole let his arm drop.

"Hell if I know, this freak just attacked me out of nowhere," the punk said, trying to slink away even as the grip on his shirt tightened.

"What?" Cole hissed, rage burning bitter in his throat.

"Is that true?" the security guard —Cooper, his name tag said— asked, stepping in between the two teenage boys.

"No! This guy groped my sister," he snarled. "He ripped her top down and ran off. I was just—"

"Jared!"

A middle-aged woman with short, badly dyed blond hair, and gaudy fake nails stormed forward, pushing past the security guard to pull the teenaged boy from his grip.

"Jared, are you alright?" she cooed, smoothing the kid's greasy hair back from his forehead.

"I'm fine, Mom. Stop smothering me," the punk —Jared— whined, shoving her hand away. "I was just playing around."

"Playing around?" The woman turned to Cole, gave him a once over, and sneered, "And who might you be?'

Cole scowled back, already knowing this was going to get worse. "Well, I'm—"

"Cole!"

Lissy rounded a corner, shopping backs clutched in her arms, and skidded to a stop in front of them. She looked up with him with those sad puppy eyes and said, "Cole, please don't run off like that!"

"Young man, who is this?" the security guard asked, nervously glancing between all of them like he was expecting a fistfight to break out.

For a brief moment, Cole considered telling that punk exactly who he was harassing. He could just say, "Oh yeah, that is Lord Garmadon's daughter and I doubt he'll be happy when he learns what you did." Then he could laugh as the little pervert wet himself in terror.

But he couldn't.

Cole couldn't in good faith use the reasonable fear civilians had of a legitimate threat to their safety against them, no matter how scummy they were being. More importantly, he didn't want to put Lissy in that position. No, not when the girl already had enough crap heaped on her for being Garmadon's kid and not when Lissy already faced enough scrutiny for her odd teeth and eyes.

"That," he locked eyes with the woman, and nodded towards his little sister, "is the girl your son has been harassing."

The punk kid's face turned beet red while his mother reared back like a startled cat, wide-eyed and sputtering.

"No, I fucking didn't!"

"How dare you accuse—!"

"He pulled her top down!" Cole snarled, jabbing a finger in the kid's direction. "Just ran right by and tried to rip her clothes off!"

"My son would never do such a thing!" the woman hissed. "Jared is far too good of a boy to fool around with some mall rat!"

"Fool around?" the Master of Earth shouted, rage doubling inside him with every word the woman spoke. "That is a funny name for sexual assault!"

"Cole, please," Lissy said, trying to pull him away. "It's not a big deal, let's just go! Nya is probably waiting for us."

Lissy was strong, but Cole was stronger so he planted his feet and refused to move. This wasn't something to brush off! Cole and Lissy were tough, but if they let this go, then it was entirely possible that the punk's next victim wouldn't be. And what if next time it goes further than clothes pulling?

"Now hold on everyone," Cooper stammered, stepping in between Cole and the woman. He turned to the Black Ninja and said, "Now, kid, I understand you're upset but you can't go around threatening people like that! Do you have any proof of this... alleged assault happening?"

"I assume this place has cameras, right?" Cole asked, eyeing the security guard. "Go check them."

Cooper scratched the back of his neck and shifted uncomfortably. "Well, we have them. But they are only supposed to be for insurance purposes. Otherwise, we can only view them if the police are involved, usually for shoplifting."

"Then I'll call the police!" he snapped, fist clenched. "And if that means pressing charges then so be it!"

Lissy tried to pull him away again, "Cole, no! I don't want this to blow up into something big. It was nothing important! Let's just go home!"

"This is nonsense!" the mother sneered. However, Cole saw that her face was white with worry, and Jared looked absolutely terrified. And he took no small amount of pleasure in the fact.

"The boy is clearly lying!" she continued, waving a disgusted hand at Cole and Lissy. "And... and even if he wasn't, then maybe the girl shouldn't be running around flaunting herself like that. You aren't fooling anyone, you little- little floozy! No one puts on costume contacts or teeth unless they want attention!"

Cooper choked, eyes going wide in shook. Lissy's grip on his wrist went slack and he heard her whisper, "...I'm... flaunting?"

.

.

.

"That's it!"

Cole lunged forward violently, fist pulled back. He wasn't exactly sure which one of the two that he wanted to hit more, only that he was sure as hell going to take out someone's teeth!

"Wow wow wow, kid," Cooper shouted, jumping in front of him. "Calm down! Don't make me restrain you!"

'As if you could even touch me,' he thought. "Get out of my way!"

But before he could take another step forward he felt slender fingers dig into the Jian Jing pressure point of his neck. Lissy didn't press hard enough to knock him out, but it did cause the muscle of his left side to seize up, effectively stopping his attack.

"Cole, please, I don't care what happened anymore," Lissy said, her voice wobbly. "I just want to go home!"

"But—!"

"Please!" she repeated, tugging at his arm again. "I just want to go."

The security guard put his hand on Cole's shoulder. "Maybe that's for the best, son. I mean, the kid did a stupid thing, but boys will be boys, right? It's probably better for everyone to just walk away."

"...Fine!"

With one last withering glare at all of them —Jared for his assault, the mother for her enabling, and Cooper for his stupid comment— Cole let himself be pulled away by Lissy. The girl said nothing as they rounded a corner, heading back to where they left Nya, even when Cole took the shopping bags from her arms.

FSM, it hurt even looking at her. The girl who'd been so happy just fifteen minutes ago was now silent, pale, and downcast. Cole fought the urge to flinch at the way Lissy kept pulling at the top of her dress like she wanted to cover more of herself with it.

"Do you still want to stop by the candy store?" he asked.

"No," Lissy replied softly, shaking her head. Then, after a moment, "I thought I looked nice."

'Oh, Lissy... You're breaking my heart.'

"You look amazing, kid," he reassured. "Don't let what other people say get to you, especially when their opinions aren't worth hearing."

And the Daughter of Garmadon did look nice! In the very first store Nya had dragged him and Lissy into, she'd found the girl a cute little green sundress with gold lacy trim and some brown knee-length boots then shoved her into a changing room with the order to change immediately. Nya had beamed with pride when Lissy stepped out, grinning and swishing the skirt of the dress around her legs, and, while Cole didn't know much about clothes, he had given his whole-hearted endorsement to the outfit. Mostly because of how happy his little sister looked wearing it.

For the first time since she changed, Lissy not only looked like her physical age, but actually seemed to be comfortable in her own skin.

And one stupid teenage boy and his entitled, coddling bitch of a mother had taken that all of way. One more, Lissy was left tugging uncomfortably tugging at her clothes, trying to stretch the hem of her dress to better cover her legs, and crossing her arms to cover her chest. Her ruby eyes stared down at her boots, face downcast and biting her lower lip like she was trying to fight back tears.

He sighed and pulled off his leather jacket, "Here, put this on."

"...Thank you," Lissy said as Cole helped her slide it on.

Even with her recent 'growth spurt,' the jacket was enormous on her, the sleeve cuffs completely covering her hands and the neck hole almost as wide as Lissy's shoulders. "It's so big, it might as well be a second dress."

"Yeah, well that's because you're still a shrimp," Cole replied, his voice filled with barely-there fake humor. "Once a squirt, always a squirt."

"Who are you calling a squirt?!"

The Master of Earth laughed for real this time. If for only a moment, he was able to distract Lissy from the demons in her head.

"Hey guys, how did the shopping trip go?" Kai asked, eyes still glued to the racing game he and Jay were playing.

"Fine, Nya helped me find some cool stuff."

Distracted as he was, the quiet, unenthusiastic tone of Lissy's voice had him pausing the game and twisting around on the couch to look at them. "Do you want to show any of it off?"

Lissy shook her head, "Actually, I'm kind of tired. I'm just going to put this away and lay down for a while."

"Oh, okay."

A heaviness sat over everyone as the little Green Ninja left the room, dozens of shopping bags in her arms, lasting right up until the sound of her door closing echoed through the hallways of the Bounty.

Then Kai turned to Cole, looked him dead in the eye, and said, "Alright, what happened?"

"Yeah, I want to know too," Nya said, cocking an eyebrow.

"Has something occurred?" Zane called from the kitchen. Even in a separate room of the Bounty, his robotic ears heard things loud and clear.

Cole sighed and dropped down into one of the armchairs. "Some punk kid pulled down the front of her dress while we were eating."

At his words, Cole could swear that he felt the room's temperature shoot up a couple of degrees as Kai's eyes narrowed in anger. Both Jay and Nya sucked in a breath, and from the loud bang he heard coming from the kitchen, the Master of Earth was willing to bet good money that Zane had just dropped something.

"Explain," Kai growled through gritted teeth, finger digging into the back of the couch.

Cole dragged a hand down his face, "There isn't much more to say. This jerk ran by and yanked down Lissy's top before taking off. It's my fault, I should have been paying more attention. I should've protected her."

"Don't blame yourself, Cole," Nya sighed, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I shouldn't have gone off and left you guys. The trip wasn't for me, I could've done my shopping any time."

"This isn't your fault either," Jay said. "It's not like you guys made the punk pull Lissy's dress down."

Still scowling, Kai nodded, although he notably said nothing. In the back of his mind, Cole couldn't help but wonder if his brother-in-arms did, in some way, blame him for the situation and Lissy's distress. Kai's vicious protectiveness of their little sister extended to believing the rest of them should hold themselves to the same standard. When Lissy got hurt under one of their watches, Kai held them responsible.

And Cole didn't blame him, he often felt the same way, but at least Kai didn't say anything.

"I hope you knocked him out at least," Kai said.

"Oh! Believe me, I tried," Cole chuckled, though he didn't really find it funny. "I would have busted all of the punk's teeth in if his mom and some security guard didn't stop me."

"I hope his mother punished the boy at least," Zane commented as he came to join them, wiping his hands off on his pink checkered apron. "I imagine it would be shameful to have a child that behaved in such a way."

The rage returned.

Cole clenched his fists, "No, that was the worst part! Not only did this woman defend her punk kid, she actually blamed Lissy for what happened! She claimed the way she was dressed tempted her son into doing it!"

The room's temperature shot up a few more degrees before seeming to shift. A cold front crept from Zane clashed with the heat radiating off of Kai. The dueling temperatures sent the room's climate into a spin and, in just a few moments, the room was so humid that the windows fogged over.

"That bitch!" Nya hissed, who'd picked out the dress, looking ready to hunt down the woman and her son to teach them a lesson.

Jay looked devastated, "Poor Lissy. No wonder she was wearing your jacket."

"How illogical," Zane said, brow furrowed, "and how cruel."

Kai looked sick, "I should go talk to her."

Nya shook her head, "I'm not sure how much good you can do, Kai. This kind of stuff happens a lot to girls and—"

Cole didn't hear the rest of what Nya had to say, didn't want to hear it, and slipped away. He had to talk to his little sister.

"Hey, kid?" Cole poked his head around the half-opened door of Lissy's room. "Can I come in?"

The blonde girl's narrow shoulders shrugged, her back to him. "Sure."

Lissy had changed out of her dress into a loose-fitting pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, her tiny body swallowed up and shapeless under the gray fabric. Shopping bags were scattered across the floor of her room, some empty, and some spilling clothes or accessories out on the ground.

"It looks like a shopping tornado went through here," Cole said, stepping around some bags to sit down on free spot on the girl's bed. "If your uncle sees this, then we're both going to get lectures about frugality and neatness."

Lissy chuckled, "I've never had so much stuff before. It's taking me longer than expected to find places for all of it. Hand me that skirt."

"Hand me that skirt, please," Cole teased, holding up a flowy white skirt with gold trim.

The girl rolled her eyes, "Don't test me today, Cole."

The young Master of Earth shorted and tossed the skirt over for Lissy to hang up. "So, how are you feeling?"

Lissy stiffened and swallowed hard, "What do you mean?"

'Sorry, kiddo, I'm not letting this go,' Cole thought. "What that jerk did... What that woman said... I know it bothered you."

Gnawing on her bottom lip, Lissy gave a stilted shrug. "It sucked, but what can I do about it? I mean, people are going to think whatever they're going to think about me; no matter what I look like or how I act, that isn't going to change. I realized that a long time ago."

"That doesn't mean it still doesn't hurt."

.

.

.

"No, I suppose it doesn't," Lissy admitted, looking away as she tucked a pair of folded jeans into her dresser.

"Which is why I wanted to talk to you," Cole said. He patted the bed beside him, "Pull up a seat, girlie."

"Cole..."

"Humor me!"

He reached out and caught Lissy by the arm, gently tugging her over. Lissy rolled her eyes and sighed, yet there was a smile on her face. The Green Ninja giggled as she pitched herself forward, sprawling across Cole's legs before rolling over into a sitting position.

"Alright, what did you want to talk about?" she said.

Cole paused, mulling over what he was about to say.

"Cole?"

"You know I used to dance, right?" he asked.

"Huh?" Lissy gave him a confused look. "Yeah... You mentioned that. You said that your dad forced you to take lessons. You hated it."

"I did," Cole nodded. "It wasn't so much the dancing itself; I was a hyperactive kid and it was a good way to burn off steam. It was the fact I was forced into it by my dad, and what other kids said about me that made me hate it. You know how dancers have to wear these little leotards and tights, right?"

Lissy nodded.

"Well, those things are cute when it is a little girl wearing them but, when it is a boy, it raises some eyebrows. By the time I started hitting puberty, people were saying all manner of things about me. They called me gay, a pervert, a weirdo, a creepy... And it wasn't just other kids saying it, I heard parents say it too. All because I wore a leotard to dance classes that I didn't even want to take in the first place. In the end, it all became too much, and is part of the reason I ended up running off."

"I'm sorry that happened to you," Lissy said, pressing her cheek against his shoulder. "It wasn't fair."

"No, it wasn't. Just like what that woman and her son said and did to you wasn't fair."

"But—."

"But nothing. People like to assume things about others because of the way they talk, the way they act, and the way they dress." Cole tilted Lissy's chin up and looked her dead in the eyes, "Those people are assholes. In the end, they're just assholes who want to hurt others, and use things like clothes as justification for it. But just because what they say is meaningless, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. And it is okay that it does hurt."

"I shouldn't let it hurt me though. After all, I'm supposed to save Ninjago, right? How can I do that if I let some... some... bitch and her scummy son get to me?" Lissy asked, rubbing her eyes. "I need to be stronger than this!"

Usually, Cole would reprimand her for swearing but decided that this time, it was justified.

"Lis, you are one of the strongest people I know," the Black Ninja said, pulling his baby sister closer. "And that is because you are a survivor. All your life, you've had no one to help you or protect you and yet here you are. Yes, you've made mistakes, but you've owned up to them and are working to fix them. And that automatically makes you a better person than either of those two. Just try to remember that."

Lissy laughed, "How'd you get so smart, Cole? Did that come from dance lessons too?"

"No, that came from mountain climbing. It is good for clearing the mind." Cole ruffled the girl's hair, "Now, let's get this mess cleaned up before Sensei Wu sees it. Then, maybe, we can talk Zane into a trip to the ice cream parlor after dinner."

So this is a particularly personal chapter to me because it is, more or less, a retelling of something that happened to me when I was 14. I was too shy back then to stand up for myself and, unlike Lissy, I didn't have anyone to stand up with me. I remember feeling so dirty and ashamed of myself, even though I hadn't done anything wrong. To anyone else who went through something similar, I'm sorry. Like Lissy, you and I didn't deserve it.