Haha! I manage to get something up in time for Christmas! Yay me. As you have discovered, I am not actually dead. And, yes, I am still working on Birthdays. I think I'm in the home stretch of Lloyd's chapter. But for now, please enjoy this little Christmas story.
Also, I head-cannon that Cole is bi. It makes me feel better about the looks Cole sends Nya and Vania in Seasons 3 and 13 respectively, alongside my bruiseshipping fantasies.
Other than that, and the usual disclaimer that says I own nothing, please enjoy.
Mistletoe. A most curious little plant. Little white berries wrapped in a few, faded green leaves and usually tied up in a red ribbon. Often it is hung above a doorframe or other such conspicuous places, and usually around a certain time of the year. It possesses a look of sweet innocence but, to those who are not careful enough, it traps its two victims under a strange spell. Granted, the spell itself only lasts a few seconds. But it's the happenings both before and after that truly show off its devilry.
Take, for instance, the night it was first hung on the doorframe of the monastery's loungeroom. Cole, the black ninja, had just finished hanging the little bundle above the doorframe when Zane walked over to him, a fresh batch of gingerbread biscuits on a festive plate in his hands.
" There you are, Cole." the nindroid called out, alerting the other of his presence. " The gingerbread stars are ready to eat now. Would you like one?"
" Would I?" Cole replied with a tone that suggested that a stupid question had just been asked.
But it was as he was reaching for the topmost cookie, its scent capturing his senses, that he remembered what he had just been doing. And the memory made him stop his advances. He looked up at the sprig of mistletoe he had just put up then back down at the cookies in Zane's hands. But it was clear that he was trying to avoid the ice ninja's gaze.
Yet, even as Zane watched all this with confusion in his eyes, Cole couldn't help the slight blush that was starting to form over his nose.
" Is something the matter, Cole?" The titanium ninja asked.
" No. No, it's just…"
Taking a deep breath, the black ninja leant over to the other and hurriedly placed a kiss on his metal cheek. When he pulled back, Cole's face was a lot darker than when he had first been asked. Zane, however, remained thoroughly confused. Even as Cole finally took his chosen cookie and went to move the ladder back into storage.
Zane lingered in the doorway, watching his friend move around the room, trying to process what had just happened. Sadly, his confusion only grew as Jay, Kai and Lloyd all entered the loungeroom, taking a cookie and giving him a kiss on the cheek as they passed by. Only Nya had the courtesy to explain the situation upon seeing his confusion.
" You may want to step away from the doorframe, Zane." Nya had said with a small smile on her face.
" Why?" was her reply.
In the room, four boys struggled to keep their laughter in check. Nya sent them all a death glare before turning back to the confused nindroid before her.
" Have you looked up?" She asked gently.
He hadn't. But he did as soon as it was mentioned. That was when he noticed the small sprig of mistletoe above his head. It appeared innocent and, as it was made of plastic, its berries were not removed. But the strange magic that seemed to surround any form of mistletoe still managed to entrap the nindroid below it.
" It is a sprig of mistletoe. But why would the others kiss me? Does the tradition not state that only a woman standing underneath the mistletoe require a kiss?"
" Times have changed, Zane!" Kai called from within the loungeroom.
Zane, however, remained confused, prompting Nya's smile to widen.
" These days, anyone can kiss anyone under the mistletoe, as long as they are waiting." She explained.
" Oh." Zane blinked, slight understanding managing to take over his features. " In that case, would you like a cookie, Nya?"
" I would love one, Zane. Thank you."
And the water ninja stepped forward and took a gingerbread cookie in hand. As she did so, Zane bent down to her and gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek before the two entered the loungeroom together.
The next victims to be placed under the spell appeared a few days later, after Lloyd's mother, Misako, had returned home for the holidays. That seemed to be even more awkward than the first night the mistletoe had been put up. You see, both Misako and Wu were having a somewhat animated discussion about the fate of Wu's brother and Misako's husband, Garmadon, when they stopped under the loungeroom doorway.
Misako was trying to be a good wife and trying to bring home her husband, even if it were just to help him rediscover who he truly was inside. Wu, despite loving his brother dearly, was still remembering the betrayal he had felt numerous times thanks to his brother's actions. So, it came to reason that he was more than willing to accept that his brother needed to take that journey of rediscovery alone. Neither one of them noticed the sprig of mistletoe above their heads until it was too late.
" Please, Wu. He's your brother. Isn't there some way that we can help him here at the monastery?" Misako was saying.
" I'm afraid not. You have to remember that he willingly chose to leave the monastery after the Oni were defeated. And even if he were to be found, what guarantee is there that he will return?" came her reply.
" But surely…"
" I'm sorry, Misako. There is…"
Wu's words had been cut short as he saw a flash of something green move just above his vision. It seemed the breeze coming through the open window had brushed against the plastic sprig above their heads, prompting both to look up at the movement. And the sight brought forth a sigh from the old man.
" Which one of my students do I have to punish for this?"
" Hopefully none of them. It's just a harmless sprig of mistletoe, Wu. Or are you turning into a grouch in your old age?"
" Harmless it may be, but my old heart remembers feelings from a time it should now forget, a time when it was younger." Wu admitted.
Misako could only smile softly at what the man before her was referring to. " You know, in situations like this, Garmadon can say nothing. In fact, I remember a time when he placed a similar sprig of mistletoe above the doorframe, only to have his hopes dashed when the two of us would happen to meet under it completely by chance."
Wu tipped his head so that his hat covered his eyes. " But things have changed since then. As much as my heart may still wish it, you are a married woman and so it cannot go chasing after you."
" Married or not, mistletoe does not care if the kiss is intimate or not, Wu. Besides, tradition states that a waiting woman must be kissed underneath the mistletoe. And I am waiting."
" Then for tradition's sake."
In saying that, the old master leant over and gave his sister-in-law a fleeting kiss on the cheek. The two of them then moved out of the way of the path of an oncoming Echo Zane who seemed excited about his first Christmas. What they didn't know was that they were being watched by a slightly concerned Lloyd who was still trying to work out the relationship that his mother and uncle now had after his father's passing and subsequent resurrection.
Of course, these were not the only times the spell of the mistletoe was cast. A number of times, both Nya and Jay found themselves under the doorframe together. Although, whether by chance or on purpose was another matter altogether. Even so, the two of them being trapped under the spell, lips locked together, was a common sight that Christmas.
And, surprisingly, Zane was taking the tradition in his own hands as well, often willingly placing himself and Pixal under the spell of the mistletoe. Of course, they usually had to wait until Jay and Nya had been released from the spell before they could stand under the mistletoe. Kai, Cole and Lloyd were often seen shaking their heads at the scenes that played out before them.
However, Kai should not have been so negative about the innocent looking plant hanging from the doorway to the loungeroom… especially seeing that he had also been trapped within its spell the night his girlfriend, Skylor, came to visit him at the monastery. He had honestly forgotten about the mistletoe, it being nearly a week since Lloyd had caught his mother and uncle under the mistletoe, and so was standing in the doorway watching as Echo Zane eagerly attempted to wrap his first Christmas gift.
" You know, you should really be watching where you stand, Kai Smith. Especially these days." Skylor had said, startling the fire user out of his reverie.
" Where else do you expect me to stand when I'm on Zane watch?" Kai had smirked right back, although he remained where he stood.
" Perhaps not directly under the mistletoe if you're not expecting anything to happen."
Kai's head snapped up to the innocent looking sprig of mistletoe. And, immediately, a red tint travelled across the bridge of his nose. That was also when Skylor had realised that Kai had forgotten about the mistletoe even with the amount of times Nya and Jay, and to a lesser extent, Zane and Pixal, spent underneath it themselves.
" How can you forget about mistletoe when just this morning the two of us witnessed Jay and your sister practically eating each other's faces in this same spot?"
" I guess, because watching Echo trying to wrap his first Christmas present is, dare I say it, kind of cute to watch."
Skylor stepped forward only to witness Echo Zane attempt to understand why the wrapping paper wasn't able to cover a section of the present he had gotten for his brother. After a few seconds, she turned to face her boyfriend. And the look she gave him clearly told that she was not pleased by Kai's inaction to help teach the droid how to wrap a simple present. Kai merely shrugged.
" He wanted to do it on his own." He tried to reason. " That's why I'm on Zane duty. Echo doesn't want his brother coming in here." After a few seconds, though, a dangerous look sparked in his eyes. " But, I guess I could tear my eyes away from my post for a few seconds."
At that, he lowered his head to give a chaste kiss on the master of amber's lips. But then he went right back to watching Echo Zane struggling to wrap his present. Skylor, however, was not pleased with the Master of fire and so pulled his head back to face her with one of her fingers.
" You call that a kiss, lover boy?" she demanded.
" Oh, were you expecting more?" came her playful reply. Skylor merely raised an eyebrow. " Well, okay then."
That time, the kiss was much longer and well savoured between the pair. It even managed to capture the attention of the ever curious android sitting in the loungeroom. He had finally managed to wrap the present for his brother and was turning to let Kai know that he no longer needed to be on the look out for Zane. But, after remembering the talk he had had two days prior about what was happening around the sprig of mistletoe, he reasoned that there was no need to interrupt.
However, it was quite awkward when both Kai and Skylor pulled away from each other only to find Echo staring at them as he waited patiently for the spell over Kai to be broken.
And yet, even when there were guests at the monastery, the mistletoe managed to place its spell over anyone who waited in that one spot in the loungeroom doorway. Jay discovered this the hard way at the Christmas party that was held that year.
It first started when Ed and Edna Walker were the first of the ninjas' parents to arrive at the monastery for the Christmas party. Jay had been leading them to the loungeroom where both Zane and Echo Zane were just finishing putting out the party snacks. Only, when he turned around to talk to his parents, he found them kissing underneath the mistletoe, trapped by the little branch's spell.
At first, he didn't know what to say about the sight before him. But as his parents were just pulling away from their brief moment under the spell, he could do nothing about it. He only hoped that that had been the last of the embarrassing mistletoe moments with his parents.
Unfortunately for the blue ninja, the mistletoe's spell hadn't quite given up its hold over his mother. And this was evident when, after the Christmas party was in full swing, Jay walked down the hallway just in time to witness Edna Walker being kissed by Cole's father, Lou. Needless to say, he had been frozen to the spot curtesy of the sight, his mind working over time to try and understand what it was he was witnessing.
It took Cole coming out and physically getting Jay to move before anything else could happen concerning the lightning master.
The final straw for Jay, however, was when he was about to take his parents home after the Christmas party was over. His father had gone off to the bathroom before the journey home, but Edna Walker was nowhere in sight. After searching the entire monastery, the master of lightning found his mother standing in the doorway to the loungeroom being kissed by a rather embarrassed fire ninja.
" What?!" Jay had exclaimed, eyes almost bulging out of his head at the sight.
Kai pulled back the instant he heard his teammate's voice.
" It was innocent, I swear!" he called, taking a step into the loungeroom and away from the slightly distressed Jay.
" Can we uh… can we just… go, Ma? You know, home? Away from the mistletoe?" Jay stuttered, walking slowly up to his mother to try and get her out from under the seemingly innocent sprig of mistletoe.
" Oh, Jay, dear. Don't go making such a fuss, yeah? A harmless kiss on the cheek never hurt anybody standing under some mistletoe. Why that's how I first met your father, don't you know." Edna smiled, easily brushing her son's distress to the side while looking like she could continue standing under the doorway while she told her story.
Jay clearly feared having to wait under the mistletoe while his mother told her story, in fact he feared having to listen to it for what felt like the thousandth time. But he feared Kai or anyone else who happened to be around hearing the, somewhat embarrassing, story of how his parents met.
" Ma, please! It's getting late. You can… you can tell me the story on the way home… again."
Which was indeed what happened, along with any information his father decided needed to be added to story. But what Jay was unaware of was the secret meeting that Cole had planned with Nya for once he had left. Although, having said meeting in a relatively public area just beyond the site of the mistletoe may have been a questionable move… considering the spell that the white berries and thin leaves seemed to weave.
Of course, the meeting itself started off innocently enough. Just a catch up between friends after their first Christmas party in a short while, revelling in the fact that, this year, even the villains were taking a break for the holidays. But all too quickly, the earth master's mood shifted. And that had sent the water ninja on edge. It was almost like she could feel that something big was about to happen.
She hadn't been too far wrong, either. For, almost as soon as Nya had asked Cole if everything was alright, the earth ninja seemed to open up a little more than expected. And it came as a bit of a shock.
The first thing that she learnt was that it had been Cole's idea to get the sprig of mistletoe and hang it up within the monastery. The second thing she learnt was that the deed had been done without Master Wu or any of the others knowing. Both times, she figured that it was just for the sake of the holidays. But what came out of Cole's mouth next, however, sent her mind reeling.
" Please don't go all crazy on me like my dad did when I told him last year," he had stated, " but I'm bi."
Honestly, it explained a lot. Nya had seen the way Cole had looked at her when she had been chasing him that one time. And she had seen the occasional looks he had given a couple of other, rather attractive looking girls in passing. But she had also noticed the looks he had sent towards Zane, Kai and Jay on the fleeting occasion when he thought no one had been looking.
At the time, she had filed the information away for a later date. But now that it was out in the open, everything was falling into place a lot easier.
Still, she had to confirm something.
" So you put up the mistletoe to sneak kisses with everyone?" She asked.
She said it in a slightly joking tone, but at the same time she knew it was the truth. Or even just a partial truth. And Cole seemed to understand this. If anything, he seemed relieved that Nya hadn't gotten angry at him… yet. Because he knew that, with what he was about to ask next, she was bound to murder him. Or, at least, make her mad. Even so, he couldn't keep the blush from his face at her words.
" Hey, it's okay that you like guys and girls." Nya said with a small smile on her face. " I'm not going to judge you."
" Thanks. But I wanted to ask you… can you help me get Jay under the mistletoe please?"
Silence filled the room. Heavy silence. And yet, hidden within that silence were the invisible tendrils of the mistletoe's spell, trying to claim the two in the room.
But the two the spell was trying to lure didn't seem to notice. Instead, they were focussing more on what had been brought forth. Nya was trying to comprehend that her friend (and the guy she had essentially cheated on her boyfriend with) was asking for her help in getting said boyfriend under the mistletoe for him. Cole was waiting for the moment when all the underworld would break loose and Nya would murder him.
In the end, things seemed to be too much for the black ninja. He got to his feet and made to move out of the room, cursing himself silently for even thinking what he had. His head was down and turned away in clear embarrassment and shame as well. But his mind seemed to be working overtime. And this was evident by the sudden splurge of words that came out of his mouth.
" Never mind. It was stupid to ask that. Probably stupid to think it, too. You're his girlfriend, after all. I can't break that up again. I'll just… I'll try and figure out another way."
What surprised him, though, was when Nya darted her hand out to grab his and stop his retreat.
" You're right, Cole. I am Jay's girlfriend." She affirmed. " But I'm also your friend. And that's why I'm asking you why. Why do you want Jay under the mistletoe?"
It took Cole by surprise for a few minutes before he answered. And this was despite him having the explanation already on the tip of his tongue. He just couldn't understand why the words weren't coming out of his mouth. Hearing Nya question his thoughts and not immediately blow up at him like Kai had done when he had been captured under the mistletoe probably had something to do with it, though.
" I… I… I want to get over them just like I managed to get over you." He eventually managed to get out. " I've tried everything else, and nothing's working this time. Not even telling myself that Kai, Jay and Zane are all taken. I was avoiding something like this, but it seems I have no other option now."
" But why a kiss? That's what I don't understand. I mean, I always thought that a kiss in this situation usually led to the two ending up together, meaning the intended plan for denying oneself the love you seek ends up down the drain."
Cole had to think about it for a minute before giving his answer. " I don't know. I guess maybe I'm using the kiss as a way to get a negative reaction to make me stop? Like I said, I've tried everything I can think of."
" And how did that go for Zane and Kai?"
" Kai yelled at me and Zane is extremely confused. I think he may have blown a fuse over it."
" Did you tell them why you did it?"
Again silence filled the room. Nya brought a hand up to her face.
" Cole, you need to tell them about this." She said eventually. " All three of them."
" But…"
" No. No buts. Tomorrow evening, after dinner, I'll gather all three of them here, Lloyd too if you want, and you can tell them what's going on. If you want to steal a kiss from Jay, it will have to be you who asks or else he who initiates it. I'm not going to plant him under the mistletoe for you."
That night might have been the only night when the mistletoe had not claimed any of the ninja within its spell. And as the Christmas Party had been during the afternoon, it meant that the spell between Kai and Jay's mother had occurred during sundown. Thus, the kiss became known as the last kiss of the party as well as the last kiss of the night. For, after the meeting between the black and silver ninja, no one had returned to the lounge room. Or at least, to the mistletoe.
But still the mistletoe managed to weave its magic throughout the monastery. And that was evident the next day when, as planned, all the ninja, Lloyd included, found themselves sitting in the lounge room. There were a few confused faces among them, and Kai was clearly wary of Cole. But Cole was nervous… especially with the look that Nya was sending his way. The heavy silence in the room didn't help settle things either.
After a good five minutes of silence, it was Lloyd who was the first to speak.
" Is anyone going to explain why we're all here?" He asked.
Kai had his suspicions and turned to look at Cole. At the same time, Nya's urging look seemed to intensify. And yet, Cole seemed to be preparing himself to run and hide from the situation, which, in itself, was a clear indication that something was going on. But instead of getting up and leaving like he felt like doing, the earth master merely hid his face in a sad attempt at ignoring everyone around him.
" Cole. They need to know." Nya urged softly, resting her hand on his shoulder.
" Know what? Am I missing something here?" Jay asked, turning to face Lloyd who just shrugged in response.
" This has something to do with the mistletoe, doesn't it?" Kai guessed. " Or rather, the kisses you've been giving under it. Right Cole?"
Cole mumbled something into his hands, not wanting to pull away for fear of showing his rather embarrassed face. He didn't know what had gotten into him the day before, what with wanting Nya's help in claiming his final kiss so that he could try and get over his crushes. Now he was beginning to regret asking her for help.
" Come on, Cole. I highly doubt anyone's going to yell at you." Nya continued to urge.
Cole moved his hands away from his face ever so slightly and turned his head in Nya's general direction. " Kai did."
" Yeah, well, if Kai knows what's good for him, he'll accept it."
To prove her point, Nya turned her gaze to her brother. And it was a look that told everyone there not to mess with her. Needless to say, most of the boys in that room feared for their lives when they saw that look on her face. And although he denied it later, Kai was seen visibly swallowing down his fear for his little sister.
Despite this, though, the earth ninja remained covering his face. It took Kai and the others to state that they wouldn't make any kind of fuss over what he had to say for Cole to finally remove his hand from his face. Even then, he still kept his head down. But it was as she watched her friend lower his hands that Nya's scowl transformed itself back into an encouraging smile, giving a gentle nod to try and encourage him further when he did turn to look at her.
Finally, with a deep breath (and without looking at any of the other boys), Cole managed to get some words out of his mouth.
" I'm bi." He didn't dare speak loud for fear of what could come.
For a second nothing happened. Cole shrank a little further into himself. Nya kept up her encouraging smile.
" Forgive me for what I am about to ask." Zane broke the silence, making all heads turn in his direction. " But what, exactly, do you mean by that?"
" It means he likes guys and girls." Kai supplied before focussing on Cole. " And if you think that's why I yelled at you the other day, you're wrong, Cole. Okay, yeah, my default emotion is anger, especially when surprised. I admit it. And you know that. But you surprised me. And that's why I said what I did… which I probably shouldn't have said, thinking on it. Sorry man."
" I know." Cole sighed. " And I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have sprung that kiss on you or Zane."
Jay, however, was looking between Cole, Kai and Zane, confusion written all over his face. It was clear he was trying to understand what was going on. But at the same time, it was unclear to the others if he was accepting of his best friend's revelation.
" Wait a minute. You kissed Kai and Zane? Did you kiss Nya and Lloyd too?" He asked.
" No, I did not kiss Lloyd or Nya, Zaptrap." Cole grumbled with a slight roll of his eyes. " I told you ages ago that Nya was yours. I've gotten over her. I won't touch her. As for Lloyd, he's my little brother. I don't see him like that."
Lloyd found himself relieved by that revelation. But he could also tell that there was more to be said. The fact that he could see Cole hiding within himself once more probably helped to identify that. And Nya seemed to notice that as well.
" You've got this, Cole. You can tell them. They're going to have to go through me if they don't like what they hear next." She ended up saying in the older boy's ear, obviously still trying to be encouraging.
Whether it helped or not, only Cole knew. But he wasn't giving much away besides being embarrassed by whatever secret he was keeping. Eventually he did look up, but his gaze was focused on the sprig of mistletoe he had planted above the doorframe when the Christmas decorations had been put up.
Zane had been the first kiss, both for Cole and for the mistletoe. But the confused look on the nindroid's face had remained with the earth master for a couple of days after. He remembered using that image to tell himself that pushing his way into Zane and Pixal's relationship would cause a lot of confusion and awkwardness to go around. Combining that with the feeling that Zane could never be happy with him was slowly getting rid of the crush that Cole had for the robotic boy.
And Kai's words still rang in his ears from a few nights beforehand as well. True, they weren't hurtful in the sense that the fire wielder detested people who liked the same gender, or even those who didn't matter what gender they chose to love. But at the same time, it still stung. To find out that the person you had a crush on was open to a light-hearted tease like kissing Zane's cheek under the mistletoe, but was opposed to being kissed by another guy with clear intentions on looking for something was hard to take in.
Yet Cole made sure to remember those words so that he could stop himself before he ruined what Kai had with Skylor.
But then there was the elusive Jay. Getting the boy under the mistletoe was easy… as long as Nya was by his side so that they could claim each other. Getting him alone seemed to be a different story. The sad thing was, he was Cole's best friend. And Cole didn't want to ruin that again, this time over the fact that he seemed to have developed feelings for him. It also didn't help that Jay seemed to be the hardest for Cole to get over.
It seemed the sprig of mistletoe was turning into an alluring sight for the master of earth. Especially when he found himself planning devilish ways to get his friends underneath it, even as the meeting progressed and his gaze lingered on the plastic decoration. Just looking at its innocent little berries and its faded plastic leaves made something within him stir. And that made him want to plant his best friend under there himself so he could kiss that shockingly handsome lightning wielder.
But Cole knew he couldn't do that, couldn't have that. He should have known that placing such an innocent looking, yet apparently quite dangerous plant would cause him so much trouble. Sadly, he felt himself making up delusions he knew he'd never forgive himself over if he did go through with them. And that meant he could do only one thing now.
" Jay, I need you to shut me down." The earth master declared, his eyes slowly tearing from the mistletoe and landing on Jay's face.
Jay's eyes widen at the request. In fact, everyone's eyes did. It was such a bold request, though. And, other than Nya who already knew the situation, none of the other boys could understand what was going on in their friend's mind for him to want such a thing.
" You want me to… what?" Jay found himself asking, clearly not comprehending the situation.
" Not want. Need." Cole amended. " I need you to tell me that I can't have you. I put up that mistletoe so that I could try and get over the crushes I had for you, Zane and Kai. Not just because it's Christmas. But I know I need to get over the three of you because I know you could never love me back. You all have someone else, be it Pixal, Nya or Skylor. But no matter what I do or tell myself, some small part of me still thinks it has a chance. So I need you to shut me down before it does something stupid, before I do something stupid." A sigh left the earth ninja's body as he lowered his gaze once more. " I don't want to lose your friendships. But I'm afraid I will if I don't get told off for it."
The silence kept coming, this time filling the room with an air of both understanding and desperation that mixed with each other. Nya rubbed soothing circles into Cole's back, trying to calm him down as she watched his words process within the other's brains. Cole, himself, didn't want to watch what was happening around him. He was too afraid that he wasn't able to stop himself on his own anymore than to look up and see what was going on.
" I don't understand you, Cole." Kai exclaimed, the first to break the silence. " You wanted me to get angry at you for kissing me? You wanted Zane's reaction to kissing him? You wanted us to essentially shun you for liking us?"
" I was falling in love with you, Kai. And you yelling at me shocked me enough to wake myself from whatever fantasy I was creating for myself. The same thing happened with Zane, only his confusion was what got through to me. You think Jay's brain is a weird place to be? Well, mine can be pretty weird too. Sometimes it needs someone to knock some sense into me before it can start working like it should."
At that point, Cole stood up. He was still hurting about what had been said, that much was clear. But at the same time, no one could figure out what to do to help him. They all still considered him a friend despite what he had done, that much was true. It was just… getting him to see that in his current state of mind was proving to be a new challenge that they were all facing together. And, if the ninja were being honest, only one of them could do anything about it.
It was essentially up to Jay to get his best friend out of wherever he had gotten himself into. And if he didn't act fast, there was fear that nothing would stop Cole from doing something he'd regret later. Not to mention, Cole was already making his way out of the lounge room, even as Jay tried to figure out what to say. Unless Jay was thinking of a private meeting, if he didn't do something, the chance to even talk to the earth ninja would be gone.
A quick nudge from Lloyd got the lightning master moving, however.
" Wait, Cole. Don't go." Jay called out, running over to meet with the black ninja underneath the mistletoe.
" I'm not actually leaving the monastery, you know. Or the team." Cole said. " I just needed some time to myself."
" Yeah, well… I'll let you have that right after I say this. You're my best friend, nothing can change that, but you know I love Nya. And you're not just my best friend, either. You're my first. And I will always be grateful to you for that. Because if you hadn't come along when you did, who knows what kind of mess I would be in at the moment. I'm just sorry I can't be anything more for you. Thing is, I don't want to lose your friendship, either. None of us do. And that's what I fear will be lost if you keep chasing after me because I know I won't be able to give you what need in that sense. I would lay down my life if it meant saving our friendship, Cole. But I'm afraid I can't follow through with love. So please, let me go."
Out of all the things that Cole expected to receive from Jay after he learnt the truth, something that heartfelt was not it. but he found himself holding on to every word and listening to the plea in his best friend's voice. And that's when he started to realise that it was okay for him to let go of his love.
But it seemed the lightning ninja wasn't yet finished with what he had to say.
" Oh, and one more thing, Cole." the blue ninja then hurriedly planted a soft kiss on his best friend's cheek. " That was because I didn't want to miss out. And we were under the mistletoe. We're still friends, though. And as your friend, I want to make sure you put this thing up again next year. Because if you don't, I will."
Relieved as he was to the fact that his friends had accepted him, Cole was still surprised by that final kiss. And the reason why Jay kissed him? Well, that brought forth a smile. And the smile seemed to spread to everyone in the room as Jay led him back to the others, quickly finding himself dogpiled by the rest of the ninja. Somewhere along the line, Pixal and Echo joined in on the love.
But it was all because of one little plant. A plant with little white berries and thin, pale green leaves that was tied with a red ribbon and hung in a doorframe. A plant known for its deceiving looks and mischievous magics.
Mistletoe.