C.J. Style One-Shots are finally back! This particular one-shot was requested by Guest and is set a day or two after March of the Oni. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago.
Jay woke up with a start. Sweat falling from his brow, heart pounding, breath shaky. The images from his nightmare played in his head over and over again. He had to do something. He had to find Cole.
He had no care for how many others he woke up as he hurriedly got out of bed and rushed to the kitchen where his best friend always was at this time of night, but he wasn't. He ran to the earth master's room and opened the door, but he was not in there. Where was he? Maybe Lloyd would know. To the green ninja's room he went, but he was not there either, and that's when it dawned on him. After the oni attack, Wu brought both Cole and Lloyd to the hospital, and they had to stay the night for further investigation. Mostly on how they were both still alive with all their injuries. He wasn't going to see Cole again tonight.
The lightning ninja felt like he was going to go crazy. How would he ever find solace after his nightmare? How could he ever know that it didn't happen?
Tears began to prick his eyes, and he realized that he needed something, anything to stop them from coming. Maybe...maybe a video game. Maybe that would be a good enough distraction until he felt better. Yeah, that would be good.
It had been years since the ninja obtained the game Lava Zombies, and Zane was the only person to ever have a high score. Something the rest of the ninja had been set on beating. Maybe tonight would be the day Jay became the new Lava Zombies champion.
His character was a little blond boy with a customized outfit of bunny ears and a blue shirt. He had the third highest score in the game. Cole had the second highest. Is Cole even okay? No, Jay! He's fine. Don't think about that. Just...think about the game.
The blond boy spawned in blue light right where Jay had left off. He had gotten frustrated with the game because right around the next corner was a hoard of enemies. Now, these enemies weren't difficult to beat, but the numbers make it near impossible to get through. But Jay was going to get through today. He was sure of it. The hero of the game was being controlled by a ninja. Someone who understood the true meaning of carrying a sword. He would make it through, and he would beat this game.
Jay decided to go for stealth. His character crouched down and sneaked behind one of the lava zombies. He took this zombie out before sneaking over to another. This strategy seemed to work until the last two, who were located next to each other. It wasn't too hard to beat two lava zombies at once, but these were the armored ones. It was going to take a minute to break their armor. After equipping his character with a stronger weapon, he expertly took out both zombies, and obtained 300 points. Fifty more points than Cole. At the sight of his best friend's profile, the images from his nightmare flashed back into his mind. The terrified look on his best friend's face, the screams from his nephew, the horrible silhouette inside the blackness.
"No!" Jay had screamed. He grabbed his head in his hands. He was now curled up on the couch whispering the word over and over again. He just wanted it to stop. He wanted the images to stop, and then, he heard something. Something loud. Something powerful. Something great. The rolling of thunder. It came from outside. Not too far away. It wouldn't come close enough to the monastery to strike their lightning rod, but it was close enough to see. Jay usually hated the nights when a thunderstorm would come because he could never sleep through it, but maybe this was what he needed. His distraction.
The lightning ninja made his way outside, just in time to see the sky light up in such powerful beauty. The rain began pouring down onto his face. He could feel the cold water dripping, and it calmed him. When he heard the rolling thunder, it felt as if the sky was deciding the fate of all the troubles in the world. Then, the lightning hit. A flash of light and his troubles were gone. His element came up to his chest, his hands, his feet. It felt as if the lightning in front of him brought up the lightning inside of him, bringing a sense of peace, knowing that the one thing that gave him power. The one thing that allowed him to defend his friends and family, it was there in his time of need.
He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the smell of the rain and the sound of rolling thunder encompass him. As he did so, he suddenly jumped, being taken from this peaceful moment when he heard a cry. C.J.
For a split second, Jay thought to just sit where he was and ignore the cries. Cole would get him, right? But Cole wasn't here. He wasn't coming home until late afternoon tomorrow or possibly the day after that.
Sighing, Jay stood up and began making his way towards C.J.'s room. He passed by Kai's room where the fire ninja was half-asleep and mumbling, "Cole, go get your kid."
He sighed again. Kai was the only one who would wake up to this, and he was hardly awake at all. That left it up to Jay to figure out what was wrong with the toddler.
The cries began quieting down when Jay entered the room. He walked over to the crib and said, "Hey, C.J." The cries nearly stopped. "What's wrong?"
C.J. seemed perfectly fine. He had stopped crying and was bouncing up and down in his crib. He held his bear up close to him and soon sat right back down so he could get back to sleep.
"What in the-?" Jay started, but it was then that it all made sense. Thunder struck, and C.J. started crying. He was scared.
"Oh!" Jay exclaimed, the realization dawning on him. "You're scared, aren't you?"
The blond nodded. The thunderstorm wasn't something he was used to. Most of them occurred in the summer and they had been in the First Realm during that time. It was understandable, but something that needed to be cured, and Jay thought he had the perfect solution.
"Come on," the lightning ninja said as he picked C.J. up. "I'll show you that there's nothing to be afraid of."
C.J. whimpered slightly as he was brought near the front door of the monastery. He tried to squirm out of Jay's grasp, but the lightning ninja hugged him tightly. Why was this kid so strong?
"C.J. C.J., please," Jay started. "That hurts."
The toddler stopped a moment upon hearing what his uncle had said and buried his face into the lightning ninja's chest instead.
Jay smiled fondly at the boy as he covered him with a little, yellow raincoat before opening the door and stepping outside. The rain was still pouring down hard, and the loud thunder struck fear into the little one's heart. It sounded like he was beginning to cry once again.
"Hey, hey, it's okay," Jay told him as he rocked him slightly. "Look up."
C.J. shook his head.
"Don't worry. It won't hurt you."
Very slowly, C.J. lifted his head just in time to see a flash of light. For a moment, he seemed to like it, and then, the thunder hit. It was so loud and terrifying to the boy. He screamed as he buried his head back into Jay's chest for protection.
"Don't worry," Jay told him again. "It's loud, but it can't hurt you. It's too far away for that."
The blond looked up once again and began squirming softly to tell Jay that he wanted to get down. The lightning ninja let him go free, and the toddler began to carefully make his way to the front gate to see the sky better. Jay opened the gate for him and followed closely behind to make sure he wasn't hurt. Another flash of light came through the sky, making it look blue once again before the loudest thunder of the night hit. C.J. ran into Jay's leg, but he was too curious to want to leave any longer. He held onto Jay tight but looked up at the sky in curiosity. He seemed to enjoy the light show.
Jay picked C.J. up and sat him down in his lap, hugging him so that he would feel safe. They watched as the storm passed, but it wasn't long before C.J. began drifting off to sleep. As he did, he mumbled something about the light, and it made Jay happy that C.J.'s fear was beginning to disappear.
Suddenly, C.J. said louder, "Again."
"You want to light to come back?" Jay asked. The lightning hadn't come back in a while.
"Yeah," C.J. replied.
"You came to the right place then."
Jay summoned his lightning to his hand and shot it at the sky, creating a beautiful array of glowing light. No loud thunder followed, allowing C.J. to fall back into a peaceful slumber.
The lightning ninja carefully picked the toddler back up and placed him back in his crib. As he looked at the little one sleeping in his crib. The peaceful look on his face, Jay realized that he was no longer afraid of the storm. Sure, there was a bit of uneasiness in there, but that was okay. Getting over a fear takes time, and if C.J. could learn to not be afraid of the storm, Jay could learn to not fear his nightmares. They weren't real. This was real, and he loved every second of it.
Sorry that was a lot shorter than usual. I hope you all liked it, though. This story is definitely going to become more of a priority after not updating for so long, so if you have an idea for a one-shot, let me know.
Have a great day/night!
#God'sNotDead