Cole didn't want to go back. Yet, he couldn't explain it, but he felt like if he didn't leave now, he wouldn't get another chance to return to Ninjago. He looked up at Anna with sad eyes. He didn't want to lose her again. After she died, everything changed for the worse. Memories he had tried for years to repress came rushing back.

Cole sighed. As often as he was sent to the library, he rarely checked out books. Instead, he would grab a book and sit down at a table and read until it was time for him to go home. He always made sure to put the book back where he found it, something the staff loved. Unfortunately for Cole, someone had checked out the book he had started reading the last time he was here. He decided to go to the desk and ask whoever was working that day for something similar.

As he walked to the desk, he passed the row of computers. A conversation caught his ear. A group of people were watching the news online, and the image on the screen made his stomach turn. He pushed his way closer to get a better view. A tour helicopter crashed in the Sea of Sand. Cole ran out of the library. He had to get home. His dad would be home by now, surely he would know who had crashed.

"Anna?" Lou called when Cole opened the door.

Cole ran into the living room where his dad was watching the news. He stared at the TV as he sat down on the couch next to Lou. No names had been released yet.

"I-I'm sure it's not her. She's probably stuck at work and can't call us," Lou said. Cole wasn't sure if Lou said that to reassure Cole or himself.

A knock on the door made them both jump. Lou got up to answer it. Cole didn't hear who was at the door, but a moment later he heard Lou start to yell. He got up and went to investigate. There were two policemen at the door with their hats off. Cole didn't wait for them to say anything. Instead, he ran past them, up the stairs, and flung himself onto his bed. He refused to let himself start crying. The police had to be wrong. Anna was a great pilot, there's no way she would crash. A few minutes later, Lou came up to check on Cole, but Cole wanted to be left alone.

"Do you want some dinner?" Lou asked a few hours later.

"I'm not hungry," Cole answered.

"Do you want to talk?"

"No."

"Okay. Goodnight." Lou whispered and left Cole alone to sleep.

Cole couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the image of the crash wreckage from the TV. He thought about going to his dad's room, but he didn't want to because what thirteen-year-old needs to climb into their parents' bed at night? Instead, he tossed and turned and stared at the clock. Finally, at three in the morning, he crept to his dad's room and softly knocked on the door.

"Dad?" Cole whispered as he cracked the door open. Lou bolted upright.

"Cole?" Lou asked.

"I can't sleep." Cole opened the door all the way and stepped inside.

"Me neither." Lou turned on the small light in the headboard and sat up.

Cole walked around to Anna's side of the bed and sat down. He didn't know what to say. He hugged his knee, trying not to cry. Lou put his arm around Cole, and Cole leaned into his dad's embrace. Some tears escaped, but he didn't care.

"It's okay. We'll get through this," Lou whispered. Again, Cole didn't know who Lou was talking to. They sat there, not saying anything, for a long time.

Cole must've fallen asleep, since he blinked and suddenly there was light starting to peek into the room. The time on the cable box said it was just past six in the morning. Cole rolled over. Lou was still sleeping. He sighed and thought back to the previous day.

Anna had been acting strange and the way the creepy guy had been staring at him gave him chills. Cole couldn't help but think that somehow, he was to blame for Anna's death. He thought about telling Lou when he woke up, but he knew his dad wouldn't take him seriously. He never did.

The following week was a blur. People came over and offered their condolences. Most of them brought food, but Cole didn't eat. He couldn't. It felt like there was a lump in his throat. He sat in the kitchen all day, watching the people who came over. His grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins all came over, as did the Royal Blacksmiths. Some of Anna's old military friends came by, as did her parents, brother, and extended family. No one paid Cole any attention.

It had only been a few days, and the Ninjago Air Transportation and Safety Board were still investigating the accident. While they waited for the cockpit voice recorder data to come back, they looked at the wreckage. That combined with the copilot's body being found a few miles from the crash site left them with many questions. But one reporter thought she had all the answers. Gayle Gossip reported to all of Ninjago that Anna had intentionally crashed the helicopter and she was the one who pushed her copilot out of the aircraft, because her time in the military left her with a severe case of undiagnosed PTSD and she had finally snapped. The public was furious. It didn't matter that the NATSB came out at the end of the week with their report and placed all blame on the actions of the passenger. The damage had been done.

The police did the bare minimum to stop protestors from attacking the Lavinskys and Burtchenellis. Even Lou's parents weren't immune from the vandalism, and Anna's parents nearly lost their pet cat in the attacks. Her brother's law firm lost a ton of business, Wil Burtchenelli movies were boycotted, Ben Burton CDs were burned, and Lou was nearly kicked out of the Royal Blacksmiths because of the backlash. On the day of the funeral, the military took over protection detail, carefully escorting everyone from the house to the graveyard.

Cole watched as soldiers carried Anna's coffin to her gravesite. He refused to cry in front of strangers. Seven soldiers did a twenty-one gun salute as they lowered her into the ground. The bugler played taps. People Cole didn't know came up to him and hugged him. They told him they were sorry for his loss. He didn't believe them. How could they be sorry for him if he had never seen half these people before in his life?

When he went back to school, he could hear the whispers, and he pretended he didn't notice the looks everyone was giving him. He knew what they were saying. Not only did he lose Anna, but now everyone knew she was actually his step-mom and not his real mom. The same step-mom the media were still smearing. His teachers didn't bother to call on him to answer questions, and the issue of his missing math homework vanished. He kept his head down and waited until summer when he could hide from the world for three months.

Cole spent most of his summer in his bedroom, not doing anything. He didn't even celebrate his birthday. It didn't feel right to him. Lou, on the other hand, poured himself into his work. Cole didn't understand how his dad could go on acting like nothing had happened. He didn't know that once he was at work, Lou struggled to stay focused because he missed his wife and he had no idea how to keep his son safe from Morgen.

At the end of summer, Lou sat Cole down at the kitchen table and handed him a pamphlet for the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts. He explained that he had enrolled Cole for the next year. Cole fought his dad, but Lou insisted. He took off work to make sure Cole made it into the building that first day.

Cole hated his classes. He hated the school. He wondered which of his relatives had donated the money to build the Burtchenelli Music Hall. Probably Wil. Cole spent the next two days plotting his escape. He found the lack of security amusing, and he easily slipped out a back door Wednesday night. Getting out of Ninjago City was also easier than expected, since most of the bus drivers knew who he was. All he had to do was convince one of them he wanted to go to the airfield to think for a while. Once he got off at the stop a quarter-mile away, he waited until the bus was out of sight, then went in the opposite direction.

He couldn't explain it, but he felt called to head towards the mountains. He started climbing daily, going higher and higher every outing. He felt like this was where he belonged. No one was around to stare and whisper. No one was around to make him feel guilty for what happened. No one was around to offer empty sympathy. It was just him, the mountains, and a few months later, an old man sipping tea. As he followed the old man, he swore he heard Anna telling him he would be alright.

"It'll be alright, lad. We'll see each other again. I promise," Anna said, her voice choking as she started to cry.

"I know…" Cole hugged her.

"I'll be waiting for you and your father to join me."

Cole nodded as tears escaped his eyes.

"Tell your father I love him, and I won the bet," Anna said, wiping away tears.

"What bet?"

"He knows what bet. I love you, Cole, and I'm so proud of the man you've become." Anna hugged him.

"I love you too, Anna."

"Now go, before you're trapped." Anna kissed his cheek and smiled.

Cole closed his eyes and thought of Ninjago. He thought of Anna. Despite everything that had happened, he knew this wasn't the end. He would see her again one day. He was content.