And we're back! Sorry I'm a bit late on this one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago.

Chapter IX: The Princess and the Ninja

The story had been told, and the three failed adventurers were preparing for their journey along with Cole and Wu. Vania had decided that she wanted to make sure C.J. didn't get into any trouble. She was rather fond of the toddler, but Cole could sense that her liking to his son wasn't the only reason she wasn't helping prepare for their quest up the mountain. Something was bothering her, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was.

"Hey," the master of earth said as he sat next to the Shintaran. He didn't know what it was, but something about her made him feel at peace, and he hoped that he could provide that same feeling to her.

"Oh! Hi," Vania smiled, but it was obviously fake.

"Daddy," C.J. said as he showed his father a rock. It had a painted smiley face on it and small hat.

"What's this?" Cole asked as he examined the rock a little closer.

C.J. laughed as he pointed to the princess and said, "She make."

"Vania made this?" Cole asked.

C.J. nodded while the earth master looked to Vania and said, "How'd you make this?"

"I used some of the rocks down here to make chalk for the face. The hat I tied from one of my ribbons."

"That's really cool," Cole praised. Vania's smile seemed waned, so Cole tried to continue on with the subject of C.J. She seemed to enjoy his company.

"Well, I, uh, I wanted to thank you for keeping C.J. safe during all that," Cole told her.

"Of course!" Vania replied.

Silence fell over the two a moment. Cole had no idea how to bring the subject up. How to cheer her up. Nothing. With Lloyd, it was always during training that the subject would come up, and then the ninja usually said something about how he had to defeat his father and nothing could get in the way. Seeing how Lloyd turned out, Cole regretted not saying something more encouraging. Maybe he wouldn't be so stressed all the time.

"You know-" Cole started.

"You're a really good dad, Cole," Vania said.

Cole's attention went from his hands that were completely helpless in this situation to the princess's beautiful face. Not right now, Cole. Focus on the task at hand.

"You keep him safe even with your dangerous job, he's clearly loved by you and the others. You care about him and make sure he has what he needs."

"How would you know that?"

"Well, I guess I assume a lot. Based off of what I've seen between the two of you."

Cole chuckled slightly to himself. "Well, I try. Not sure how well I've been doing."

"From what I've seen, you've been doing just fine." She then mumbled something under her breath. Her voice was so filled with hate and anger. It didn't sound right coming from her.

The master of earth sighed. He placed a hand on the princess's shoulder and said, "I'm really sorry about your father."

"Thank you, Cole," Vania nodded, but she didn't smile. "I just don't get it. I've known him my whole life, and he never seemed so...horrid."

Her eyes suddenly darkened as a horrible image flashed in her mind. She shuddered at the thought, and even though Cole was curious, she had already moved on before he could ask.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Vania asked. "I can't fight my father!"

"Well, maybe you won't have to. I mean, we're ninja. We can take care of it."

"No!" Vania exclaimed. "I'm not a child anymore. I'm not going to run away from my problems."

"Yeah, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to fight your dad. I mean, he's your dad."

"And he's evil. Did you even hear that story? He wasn't corrupted by the skull like the stories say. He wanted it. He asked the Upply to get the skull so he could imprison those poor creatures. He's been this way my whole life, and I never knew! How could I not know?!"

The princess was in hysterics. Tears streamed down her face like a waterfall, and Cole couldn't think of anything he could possibly do to stop it. So instead of saying anything, he pulled her in for a hug. Immediately, she buried her head in his strong arms and let it all out. It broke the earth master to see her like this. And all because some jerk couldn't find a better way to get money than enslaving people? It was sick what he did.

Vania cried and cried until she couldn't anymore.

"Thank you," she muttered, not lifting her head.

"Anytime, Princess," Cole smiled, but it was then that he realized she was still in his arms. His face turned red, and he suddenly felt very claustrophobic.

"Um..." he started.

"Oh!" Vania exclaimed as she practically jumped away from him. "Sorry."

"It's okay."

A moment of silence followed the two as Vania picked C.J. up and placed him in her lap. Finally, Cole said, "You really want to fight?"

"No," Vania sighed deeply, "but if I don't, I'll never forgive myself."

"Lloyd said the same thing when Wu offered him a way out of the whole green ninja thing," Cole admitted.

Vania looked to Cole and said, "I thought that because of the prophecy-"

"Wu didn't want Lloyd to have to fight his own father, so he offered him a chance to have a normal life. Lloyd refused to take it, though."

"Well, if Lloyd could fight his dad, why can't I?"

"Because he shouldn't have had to do that," Cole explained, as calm as he possibly could. "Look, I'll leave it to Lloyd to give any of the details, but that situation, and many others related to that, changed him. He grew up too fast, and I don't want you to have to deal with anything like that."

Nothing more between the two was said for a moment. Cole would've thought that she was trying to make a decision, but Vania had clearly made her mind up a long time ago.

"He's not my father," Vania spat suddenly, gaining Cole's attention fast. "He told me that if I went after you and Master Wu, I would be nothing to him."

"Oh, Vania," Cole sighed.

"I can fight the evil king if he means nothing, can't I?"

"But does he?"

"It doesn't matter if he does or not because I'm fighting, no matter what you say."

"Well, I guess I can't stop you. Ca you promise me something, though?"

"Yes?"

"Don't act like it doesn't hurt you."

"I can't promise that."

"Then promise me that you'll come to me if you ever need to talk. Or anyone. Just as long as you can get it off your chest. Can you do that for me?"

The princess sighed before saying, "I promise."

"Thank you," Cole smiled as Vania grasped his hand in her own. "Now, what's say we get out of this mountain?"

"I do much prefer to live above the mountain. Where I'll have to rule now."

"Hey, hey, don't think about that right now. Just, one step at a time, okay? That's what my mom always said when we were climbing together. 'Don't jump too early or you'll fall down hard'," Cole explained only to stop abruptly. What was he doing? He had only met her a few days ago, and he was already telling her about his mom? Yet he didn't feel uncomfortable or vulnerable sharing this information. It didn't feel like a thorn in his side when he thought of her. Instead, it felt natural.

"There was a book I found in the palace library full of weird sayings like that. My favorite was 'Stand your ground when the fire is hot'."

"I've been listening to quotes like that my whole life. My mom and Master Wu are full of 'em."

Vania suddenly got a big smile on her face. She jumped up, bowed to Cole and said, "What wisdom have you learned in your years, Wise Ninja?"

Cole stood up as well, grabbing Master Wu's nearby staff in the process and leaned over as his master did before he was aged down. He began stroking a fake beard and said, "In due time, you shall learn all there is to know."

"Oh, teach me, Master. What is there I need to know?" Vania asked.

"The boring arts of meditation, the super cool butterkickery of all evil in this world, and fun history lessons."

"I do love history lessons."

"Good. Because I will tell you the story of the battle between the First Spinjitzu Master and the Overlord."

"Unfortunately, there is no time for that," Wu cut in, startling the two. "We have to begin our ascent up the mountain and defeat the king."

"Of course," Vania nodded as she placed C.J. down. "Some other time then."

Cole smiled as she left to get ready. He turned to his son, who was looking to Cole eagerly as if he was asking if he could follow her.

The master of earth nodded, but it was then that he heard some snickering behind him. When he turned around, he saw Wu with a mischievous grin on his face.

"What?" Cole laughed.

"You finally got a crush," Wu smiled.

"So what?"

"You should ask her out when this is over."

A wave of fear suddenly spread through the earth master's body. It was an amazing fantasy, but as a reality, it was terrifying. Putting his heart on the line like that was not something he wanted to do. Especially when he cared this much. Why did he care this much?

"You can't be serious," Cole said.

"Why? What's wrong?" Wu asked.

What's wrong? Not much. What could go wrong. Everything. He was never the romance kind of guy. He could easily screw up in a matter of seconds. She deserved more than him. He wasn't going to tell Wu all of this, though, so he thought of the first lame excuse that came to his mind.

"She's a princess, soon to be queen," Cole explained.

"Vania does not seem like the kind of person to judge you based off of your status."

He was right. She wasn't. She was kind, sweet, saw him for who he was, even when he did screw up on the first night in the palace. Oh, gosh! Why did she even trust him! He practically threatened her life! Not on purpose, but still. And any one of these mess ups would for sure get him dumped.

"Well, who knows what kind of laws are in place. I mean, I'm not even Shintaran," Cole realized.

"So you're not even going to try."

"No," Cole responded.

Because the look on his father's face when he found out his mother was sick. How broken he was when she passed. Maybe it was selfish, but Cole could never put himself through that. It wasn't worth it.

"Why not?"

"I can't. Not with everything going on with her father."

That was also true.

"It's difficult to realize that you can no longer trust the one you care most for."

"I'm not interested in dating any time soon anyway. I'll just be there for her as much as I can, and if something happens it happens. If it doesn't it doesn't."

And Cole was counting on it not happening. If she never had feelings for him, it would hurt, yes, but it would keep the both of them away from pain. Cole the pain of possibly losing a loved one. Vania, the pain of realizing that he would never be good enough.

Wu frowned at this. He remembered a time long ago when he said the same thing to himself when he had a crush on Misako. Then, it happened again with Faith. He did not want Cole to experience the same thing. He was about to tell his student this, but C.J. suddenly ran up to Cole and said, "We go."

"We go indeed," Cole replied with a smile as he began following his son to the Upply and Vania. Wu followed close behind. He watched as Cole and Vania started talking and C.J. was excitedly jumping next to them. Silently, he hoped that Cole wouldn't let his own insecurities prevent him from living the life he wanted.

"We are ready to go on quest!" Korgran exclaimed once everyone was in their little group.

"Quest!" C.J. yelled.

"I like this kid," Plundar remarked.

And the seven adventurers began their journey through the mountain.

I hope you all liked that chapter. Next chapter should be out on Monday.

Have a great day/night!

#God'sNotDead