49
Nya heard the sparring noises and shook her head as she entered the training ground. Sure enough, Cole was busy beating up one of Jay and Zane's newest fighting robots.
"Figured I'd find you out here, punching stuff!" she called over, and he glanced her way before ducking out of the way of the fighter-bot's blow. He didn't answer and she came closer.
"You missed breakfast…and quite frankly, I think everyone still thinks you're asleep. What'd you do? Sneak out your window?"
"…Maybe…" Cole admitted, dodging again before landing a swing to the bot's head. The bot stumbled backwards, and its arms pulled into its body and were soon replaced by swinging maces.
"What?" Cole breathed, before leaping backwards out of the way of the bot's weapons. Nya watched him for a few more minutes and Cole finally managed to kick the bot back far enough to turn towards her again.
"I take it Jay talked to you then?"
She shrugged. "A little." she admitted. "He's worried about you Cole. We kinda all are."
Cole's brow furrowed as he ducked two more mace swings before powering up his earth punch and hitting the bot in the middle. It burst apart and he relaxed, sighing.
"I know. Look…I'm sorry, Nya. I mean your wedding's tomorrow and all weekend I've just been…" He trailed off, kicking one of the bot's pieces. "Maybe I shouldn't have come."
"No…cuz then we would have all worried more," she argued, coming closer. "Cole, you're one of my best friends… Jay and I really wanted you here for this. We just also want to make sure that you're ok…"
"Some stuff went down in the first realm since I've been there, alright? But…but it's sorted now so it really doesn't matter…"
"It obviously does because it's still weighing down on you! Cole, why haven't you been telling us about it? You don't have to deal with all that stuff alone…"
"But I kinda do!" he argued, looking up at her. "I'm in a different realm, Nya…what…"
"You could have called us! You have one of the only inter-realm communication devices in existence…we would have talked to you about it…."
"But what good would that have done?" Cole argued, running a hand through his hair. "You guys are in a different realm—you wouldn't have been able to do anything but worry!"
They both fell silent and Cole bent down to pick up the pieces of the bot to put in the "Rebuild" bin. Nay lifted the bot's head off the ground, frowning as she carried it over. Cole threw his load into the box and turned to go, but she grabbed his arm.
"Hey," she said, and he looked over at her. She bit her lip, trying to get through to him. "We couldn't do anything when you were a ghost, either. Or….or when Wu was a baby, or when Lloyd lost his powers…" she sighed before continuing. "My point is that we're family, and family supports each other even if we can't actually do anything to make it better. Don't cut yourself off from the support just because you think we can't handle it." She gave him a ghost of a smile. "We've handled almost everything else at this point…I don't think you can really throw anything at us that's crazier than what we've already been through."
He gave her a small smile back.
"I guess. Thanks, Nya. And congratulations….I don't think I ever told you that…"
Here she grinned as she released his arm. "Hey, thanks. I still don't really understand all the pomp and circumstance that goes with weddings, but it feels like I've finally reached my destiny, you know?"
He chuckled.
"Hit a few bumps on the way…" he reminded, and she rolled her eyes and slugged him.
"Who doesn't?" she argued. "Now come on….if we hurry we could probably still make it to lunch!"
Keyda made it back to her quarters and shut the door quietly behind her. She dry-washed her face, sighing.
"Is there anything I can get for you, mam?"
She looked up to see Masha giving her a concerned look a few yards away. Keyda shook her head.
"No…no, in fact, I would like to be alone. You can go spend your night in your room, Masha…I won't need you tonight."
The wrinkles on the older ladies face crinkled with worry, but she nodded and quietly exited the room.
Keyda walked over to her bed and sat, hugging herself. She wasn't sure what it was exactly that had left her feeling nauseous. Maybe it was the way they all talked about Cole… She sighed. They were trying to be respectful, but it was clear by their discussion how they really viewed him. How most of the nation really viewed him. She thought of him in his home realm and couldn't help wonder if he was enjoying his weekend…if he was happier there with his friends than he had been here…
A knock sounded and she looked up at the door, trying to decide whether to tell the person to go away or take the caller. Her decision was made for her when the door opened a few moments later.
"How you holding up?"
She sighed and gestured for Heavy Metal to come on in.
"I'm fine….just bored."
He nodded. "I suppose I could see that." He took in her posture and raised an eyebrow. "When does Cole get back?"
She shrugged half-heartedly.
"I dunno. I don't think they've even had the binding yet, or whatever it is. And I'm not sure how much longer it will be after that…"
Heavy Metal was quiet, digesting the update. Finally he shook his head.
"Then what are you doing here?"
She looked up in surprise.
"I'm…I'm leading a nation, obviously!" she said, and he took a seat in the armchair that Cole always used.
"You've complained about there not being enough to do…you could get away for a day without the realm caving in, I think…"
"You say that like it's a joke…" she muttered. "I can't just leave…"
He leaned back. "Well…you could either go spend the day there or spend another day here…finding something to do. Until the leaders write back we can't move forward with changes…and we're basically still in lockdown from the rebellion."
She sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest.
"But…but what if he doesn't even want me there…" she started, and Heavy Metal scoffed as he pushed himself up out of the chair.
"It's up to you, Keyda…but based on what I know about the Outsider I highly doubt that is going to be a problem."
She frowned, forcing herself to admit that her Captain of the guard was right. She watched him slowly make his way back over to the door.
"How're you feeling?" she finally asked, and he turned to give her a small smile.
"Stronger every day," he assured, and she nodded.
"If…if I do go…it wouldn't be till tomorrow morning…"
He nodded and leaned in to grab the door handle so he could close it.
"Then I'll see you when you get back."
The room was silent as everyone stared at Cole. He shifted uncomfortably on his chair, looking down.
"Well…that's about it. You said you wanted to know everything…" he reminded awkwardly.
Everyone began talking at once.
"No…yeah, I mean…"
"I'm glad you told us, it's just…"
"Man we thought it was bad, but…"
He glanced up as the talking sort of died down. Jay was the one who spoke up again.
"That's a lot of stuff to have happen just since the last time you were here…" he finally said, and Cole shrugged sheepishly.
"Well…I mean, some of it…"
"…happened before your last visit." Zane guessed. Cole nodded.
"I thought about telling you guys last time I was here, but it just…I don't know… felt easier to pretend everything was ok." He shrugged again. "I guess it was just harder to pretend this time."
"You shouldn't have had to pretend at all!" Nya argued, looking sick. "What, you've just been dealing with all this crap yourself?"
"Wu knew…and Keyda, obviously…"
"But…"
"This is why I didn't want to tell you guys." Cole cut in, his hands clenching on his knees. "I knew it would just make you freak out…"
"I get that, Cole," Lloyd said, speaking up. "But I'm glad you told us now, anyways…now that we really know what's going on, we can…"
"Can what? Talk me out of going back again?" Cole sat back, defeated. "It's not ideal, and yeah, a lot of crap has happened…but…"
"We're on your team, Cole. We aren't going to try to talk you out of anything." Lloyd continued. He looked over at Jay, who gave a sort of shrug as if to say he wasn't sure what else they could say.
"Thanks guys. And…now you know everything." Cole said softly, still not really looking at anybody.
"...And…"
Cole looked up at Jay's voice; his friend was raising an eyebrow.
"And what?"
"And don't you feel better now?"
Cole stared at him a moment longer and then finally gave him a small smile.
"I guess a little," he admitted.
"So, Cole…how big of a threat would you say this 'Alchemist' is?" Zane asked. Cole frowned, thinking.
"I still don't really know much about her…just that she can escape one night a year…."
"So you better come spend a few days here around that time," Kai chimed in, and Cole gave him a smile.
"That's kinda the plan, actually. I'm not sure if she'll be much of a threat now…but I'll keep you guys updated."
"Thanks…but don't just update us on that stuff," Nya pointed out. "We want to hear how other stuff goes for you too."
"Yeah….like how your girlfriend is…" Jay teased, and Cole rolled his eyes.
They heard the doorbell ring downstairs and everyone looked towards the door but Kai. He stood up and stretched, and everyone glanced at him, confused. He shrugged.
"I invited Skylor over and she offered to bring take-out…I figured we could take her up on it because none of us really had time to cook today…" He slipped out the door to go downstairs and let her in.
"I would have…" Cole argued. "You guys wanted to sit me down instead for this interrogation…."
"Because talking is good for you, boulder-brain!" Jay said, slapping Cole on the back on his way to follow Kai. "And not eating your food is good for us!"
Cole scoffed, but he was smiling when he stood and followed his friends downstairs for dinner.
Keyda was already up pacing by the time sunlight crept into her bedroom windows. She went back and forth multiple times on whether she should travel to Ninjago or not.
"He…wanted me to come, initially…" she argued with herself. "It's just that I couldn't. There's no reason to believe that he wouldn't want me there…"
She sat heavily on her bed.
"But would me going back make him feel like I was trying to control him?" She pressed the heels of her palms into her forehead. "He said he doesn't feel controlled by me…he doesn't…"
She stood again. "The fortress doesn't need me today…and I miss that Idiot. It's fine…It's fine. I'm going."
She closed her eyes, picturing Ninjago and stirring up good memories to power her transport. Her face contorted as the aural winds whipped around her, and after a flash she was gone.
Lou pushed his way into the door, stretching out his back. Practice was good, but he was irritated to find that dancing left him stiffer every day. He made his way into the kitchen and heated something up to eat and then carried it over to his table. He glanced over at his newly dry-cleaned suit as he ate. He should have made more of an effort to go to bed early, with the wedding in the morning…
His train of thought was interrupted as a popping noise echoed in the house. He frowned. What…
Purple light blazed in the living room and he jumped to his feet, not sure if it was an attack or the effect of a wearied mind. After a few moments the purple aura dissipated and he noticed a figure lying on his coffee table. He blinked in surprise.
"…Keyda?"
The figure stirred and she lifted her head, wincing.
"When is that going to get easier…" she muttered to herself, but then she frowned as her vision cleared and she got a better look at her surroundings. "Where…"
She turned and caught sight of the bewildered performer and color rose up her neck in embarrassment.
"Oh…I wasn't supposed to come here…"
She looked down and realized she was on his table and quickly got off, stumbling a little due to dizziness. She plopped down on one of Lou's couches and he approached cautiously.
"Are you ok?"
She sighed, tugging at her braid self-consciously.
"I'm fine, really….I was trying to get to the temple, but I must have honed in on the memory from here…"
"Oh." Lou said, trying to sound like that made perfect sense even though he was at a loss at what the girl was talking about. "I assume you're looking for Cole…"
She turned to him and gave him a half-smile.
"Yeah…I finished up back home, and figured I'd come…" she trailed off, sighing again. "I didn't really think it out."
"Well, you made it for the wedding, at least." Lou reassured. "It's tomorrow. I'll take you to the temple first thing in the morning and we can meet up with Cole…"
"The morning?" she glanced towards the windows. "What time is it here?"
Lou chuckled gently.
"Well past midnight, I'm afraid…only reason I'm up is because I have a bad habit of late-night rehearsals. Everyone at the temple will be asleep, and we should probably get some rest too…"
She just looked at him in shock.
"But…but I just woke up, not that long ago…"
He tugged his mustache, intrigued.
"Must be a time difference, between the realms. At any rate, I still think it would be better for us to set out in the morning. You can stay here in the meantime."
She felt so stupid, but she rubbed her arms and managed to give him a smile.
"Oh…well, thank you." She glanced over and noticed the tux in the clear dress-bag. "What's that?"
Lou looked at where she was gesturing and raised his eyebrows.
"Oh…it's one of my good suits. I had it cleaned for the wedding tomorrow…" He pulled it out of the bag to show it off better.
"Oh." She bit her lip. "Are…are we supposed to wear special clothes to a wedding?"
He blinked at her question.
"Oh…well, depends on the wedding, I suppose. Traditionally everyone gets all dressed up…"
Keyda glanced down, self-conscious.
"Um, will this work?"
Lou studied her outfit; deep purple shirt and pants, with draping orange scarves. He shrugged, trying to sound convincing.
"Well, I'm sure it will be just fine…"
Her face fell.
"It's the only thing I have," she admitted. "I…I didn't know."
Lou looked like he was lost in thought, and then he turned to look down the hall.
"I wonder…" he murmured, and he walked away and disappeared into his bedroom. Keyda bit her lip, not sure what to expect. She could hear him grunting, and something sliding, and after a few minutes he returned carrying something made of a soft lavender cloth.
"What is that?" she asked, and Lou held it up for her to see.
"It's…a dress." he explained, and she raised her eyebrows. Lou looked down fondly at it. "It belonged to Cole's mother…I suppose I should have given a lot of this stuff up a long time ago, but I had a hard time parting with it all…"
Keyda stood up, frowning at the dress. She had seen dresses, of course…Tala, the eastern leader, wore them from time to time to their meetings. But she had never actually worn one.
"You mean…you want me to wear it?" She asked finally, glancing up at him. He shrugged and lowered the dress.
"Only if you would like to. I suppose you could try it on before we go in the morning and see what you think.
Keyda took the cloth as he handed it to her, and was surprised by how soft it was.
"Thank you." she finally said, and he smiled in reply.
"Now, I have a spare room in the back…used to be Cole's, but it's been a long time since he's used it. It will probably be hard for you to fall asleep if there really is that drastic of a time difference, but I would recommend trying."
"Alright." She said, still looking down at the cloth in her hands. She finally looked back at him to smile. "I will try. Thank you again."
50
After showing her where the room was and saying a few more words, Lou headed to his own to go to sleep. She shut the door to Cole's old room and couldn't help look around as she went over and sat on the bed. It was full of small nick-nacks and old papers…it seemed that Lou hadn't wanted to clean out his son's room either. She spent about 20 minutes tossing and turning, trying to achieve sleep, but it was no use. She finally sat up, frustrated, and for lack of anything better to do she began looking at everything in the room. She pulled a small drawstring bag off of the dresser, rubbing dust off the cloth. It had some weight to it and she opened it and dumped it out into her hand. Inside were small clear balls with differing patters and sizes. She frowned. Jewels? They didn't look like jewels, though….they were too perfectly round. She held one up and looked through it. Too perfectly clear, as well. She finally shrugged, perplexed, and dumped the balls back into the bag, noting that they made a satisfying sound as they all clicked together. She replaced the bag and looked at the different figures on the dresser—they were like little men, and she wondered what their purpose was. On the walls there were scrolls hung up, but the scrolls had bright pictures depicting people in glaring costumes. She frowned. Were they dancing? That was what dancing looked like, right?
She looked through some of the dusty papers piled in a heap in one corner of the room, and smiled as she saw the writing. She still couldn't read it, but she had seen Cole's writing and could tell that this was sloppier, bigger…he must have written it when he was young. Under all the papers she found a book and pulled it out. She flipped through it and was surprised to find it full of drawings. There different landscapes full of mountains and rivers. There were lots of pictures of someone climbing, and some of the pages were full of doodles of a small boy doing heroic things. She smiled softly and flipped the page.
This drawing was more realistic—she recognized Lou, but there was a woman smiling next to him that she had never seen. She leaned back as it hit her—this must be Cole's mother, the one who had gotten really sick.
Despite Lou's warning, Keyda stayed up for most of the night. She finally fell asleep for a few hours, but then the sun was shining in her eyes, waking her up again. She sat up, looking around the room. Her gaze fell on the lavender dress on the end of the bed and she bit her lip before getting out of bed and padding over to it. She picked it up, debating.
Cole sighed in frustration as he once again failed to tie his bow tie. He glared down at the silver material. He had been wearing bow ties since he was like 6…why was it he could never figure out how to tie the darn things?
He finally gave up, opening the door to his room to head downstairs. He saw Jay's door was open a little across the hall so he walked over and knocked before pushing it the rest of the way open.
"Hey, Jay…I don't suppose you could help me tie…"
He trailed off as he caught sight of his friend, sitting on his bed and staring off into the distance.
"Um…you ok?" Cole asked, coming in. Jay blinked, snapping out of his trance and looked up, smiling tightly.
"Yeah…yep…never better…."
Cole folded his arms and raised an eyebrow and Jay sagged.
"I'm….freaking out a little…" Jay admitted, and Cole couldn't help chuckle.
"Freaking out? Isn't this what you've been waiting for since…since you met her, like forever ago?"
Jay sighed and flopped back onto his bed.
"That's exactly it! I've been hoping and dreaming for it for so long and now it's actually happening… what if something goes wrong?! What if I mess it up?! WHAT IF…"
"JAY!" Cole cut in, laughing a little as he took a seat next to his friend. "It's gonna be fine. You're going to be fine. It's destiny, remember?"
Jay sat up and turned to him, giving him a little smile.
"Yeah…destiny…" He chuckled sheepishly, embarrassed for his mini freak-out. "Thanks Cole."
Cole slapped him on the back.
"No problem, motor-mouth…now help me with this bow-tie, would ya?"
Nya, P.I.X.A.L, and Skylor had already headed out by the time Cole came downstairs.
"The whole 'he can't see me in my dress' and all that," Kai explained dryly. "My sis likes to act like she's above all the 'silly' traditions, but I think deep down she cares more than she admits."
Cole smiled at that.
"They're at the beach already, then?"
"I think they were stopping by Skylor's to get ready, or something, and then they said they'd meet us there…" Kai shrugged. "Basically I have no idea what's going on…I'm just doing what I'm told."
"Fair enough…" Cole looked over at Zane. "You ready, then?"
"Yes. I believe we are just waiting for Jay, and Lloyd…Wu and Garmadon went to help Dareth and Ronin set things up on the beach."
Cole glanced over at a mirror hanging in the hallway and frowned. Ever since his haircut he had felt a little self-conscious and he used one hand to try to press it flat.
"It looks fine, Cole…" Kai assured, smirking. "Besides, no one's gonna notice your cow-lick with that braid sticking out anyways…"
"Well, nothing much I can do about that, unless I want some creepy sorceress messing around in my head," Cole pointed out, trying once more to flatten his hair. "Maybe I should…"
"Hello son!"
Cole turned around in surprise as his father poked his head into the open door.
"Dad! What are you doing here? The wedding's at the beach!"
"I know, I was just bringing someone by…"
Cole frowned, brow furrowing in confusion. Who on earth could his father be…
Lou came in and gestured for someone to follow. A pale woman in a lavender dress entered shyly, looking uncomfortable. Cole's mouth fell open in surprise.
"…Keyda? What…"
"Um…I got done early…" she mumbled, coming more fully into the room. She caught him staring at the dress and felt color rise up her neck. "It was your father's idea," she explained quickly.
He looked up at her, confused.
"You coming was Dad's idea?"
"No…the…dress. It was your mother's."
He started laughing at that, the shock of her appearance finally wearing off.
"I know," he said, and he came over and grabbed her hands. "It looks nice."
She relaxed a little, relieved that he didn't seem annoyed at her being here. She reached up and ran a hand through his hair.
"What did they do to your hair?"
He laughed again. "They just cut it…"
She shook her head. "Why?"
He shrugged. "Do you not like it? This is what it looked like back when we met…"
"No, it's fine…" she said, feeling stupid as he looked pointedly at her own hairstyle, a small smirk forming.
"Speaking of hair…"
She shyly reached up to feel the large mass that Lou had pinned to her head.
"Also your Dad's Idea…" she said defensively. "We actually would have been here earlier, but doing this to my hair took forever…"
He smiled at her. "I like it, it's different."
"Yeah." She murmured, rubbing her arm. "These…marriages are fancy events, apparently… you should have told me…"
"I didn't think you were coming, remember? Besides…you could have worn anything, no one would have cared." He pointed out, and she scoffed as she looked down at the draping cloth. The skirt was opaque and fell straight down, but there was a sheer fabric that intrigued her that spilled out over it.
"I wish I had known that before…"
Cole frowned. "Do you want to change?"
"No…no it's fine. It's just…taking some time to get used to it."
"Yeah…" Cole tugged at his bow-tie. "Same here."
"Alright, I think I'm finally ready…finally found my shoe. It was in my dresser…"
Jay trailed off as he caught sight of the figures standing near the door.
"Is that…Keyda?"
She and Cole glanced up and Keyda gave a little smile.
"Um….my schedule opened up….I hope it's ok that I came…"
"No, yeah, sure…the more the merrier…" He grinned as he reached the bottom. "But we better head out soon; Nya'll never forgive me if I'm late to our own wedding…"
Nya bit her lip as she tried to convince herself to open her eyes.
"What are you waiting for?"
Maya's voice had a teasing lilt to it and Nya sighed.
"Nothing…I just…"
"You look beautiful, hun…just take a look…"
Nya told herself she was being ridiculous and cracked an eye open. The other came open as well as she took in her reflection, turning to see herself from all sides.
"See?" her mother said, and Nya relaxed.
"I guess….I was just afraid I wouldn't look like myself…" she admitted. Skylor laughed.
"I think it'll take more than a dress and some makeup to make you unrecognizable…" she pointed out. Nya rolled her eyes.
"You'd think so…but those are the very things that kept me undercover at your father's Island."
Skylor shrugged as P.I.X.A.L walked up with the bouquet. Nya had wanted everything to be as simple as possible—nothing bothered her more than garish displays of unnecessary opulence. She smiled at her friend as she accepted the bouquet of white lilies, biting her lip as she took in the effect of the flowers with her deep blue and silver dress.
"It's kinda hard to believe that today's the day," she finally said, her stomach twisting in nervous and excited knots. "I mean….I guess after a certain point I assumed that we'd get here eventually….but we're here and…" she trailed off, lowering the bouquet. Her mother put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I felt the same way on my wedding day…nervous, unsure about the future, but also excited… It'll be fine, Nya. You've got a good head on your shoulders, sweetie…you wouldn't have gotten to this point if you hadn't made up your mind about it already," she reminded gently, and Nya turned to give her a grateful smile.
"Your mom's right, Nya," Skylor said. She turned to face Maya, arms folded. "Now you just have to convince your son to make up his mind…"
They all shared a laugh at that and Maya helped Nya put the shimmery silver veil in place over her styled hair.
"Alright," Nya said, taking a deep breath. "I think I'm ready."
Those at the temple were on their way out when they heard someone shouting from the ground below.
"Woo-hooo….son…."
Jay poked his head over the edge and his eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Mom, Dad….the wedding's at…"
"The beach, we know son!" Ed called up, grinning. "But if you thought for a gas-glankin minute that we were going to make our son drive himself to his own wedding, then you were mistaken…"
Jay couldn't help but laugh.
"I'll be right down."
He jumped off the edge of the floating Island, forming his elemental dragon to take him the rest of the way down. As it dissolved and his feet touched the ground, his mother rushed over to him.
"Oooo, Jay, don't do that…you'll mess up your hair!"
Jay tried to fend off her hands, which were trying to smooth his hair down.
"Moom…It's fine…"
"Well, it's bad enough your father spilled oil all over his new suit…"
"Hey!" Ed cut in, smiling sheepishly as he looked down at the spots on his lapel and sleeve. "It's hardly even noticeable…besides, the car broke down, Edna…what was I supposed to do?"
Jay grinned as he shook his head and looked at his parents. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen his mother wear a dress…and she was wearing jewelry of all things as well.
"Are those your wedding pearls?" he asked and she put a hand to her throat, turning the little pink spheres as she gave him a shy smile.
"It's a special occasion, Jay…" she trailed off. "Does it look alright?"
"You look great, Mom. You both look great." he said, giving them a hug.
"Well, you're looking pretty spiffy yourself, son!" Ed said. "How're you feeling?"
Jay shrugged.
"Oh, you know…kinda like this is the best day of my life but I also think I may throw up at any moment…"
Ed laughed and rubbed a hand on Jay's head.
"Sounds like our Jay!"
"Ed! You'll mess up his hair!" Edna scolded. Jay shook his head, smiling as he ran a hand through his hair, fixing it. He glanced up at his friends, who had all formed their own dragons. Kai gave him a thumbs up and Jay returned the gesture and turned back to his parents.
"Let's get this show on the road, then!"
Keyda hugged Cole tighter as they soared through the air. She wasn't used to having nothing on her arms, and the wind was chilly. The sheer shawl around her shoulders wasn't doing a whole lot to keep the chill out, either.
"Pick up the pace, son…we're going to be late at this rate!" Lou pointed out from his position behind her. She couldn't help grin as she felt Cole sigh.
"We'll be fine, Dad…" he said, turning to give his father an irritated grin. "Besides….they can't start the wedding without the groom, and he's still behind us."
Lou turned to see the car driving in the distance and tugged his mustache.
"Well, I guess that's true," he admitted.
After a little while Keyda could see the city stretching up on the horizon. It still amazed her how large buildings were in this realm.
"Is the beach close to the city?" she finally asked, and Cole nodded.
"Yeah…not too far off. If you look over there, you can see the beginning of the unending sea…"
She looked at where he was pointing, but she couldn't really see anything…it just looked like the horizon had flattened out. However, the closer they got the better the sea came into view, and she couldn't help but be fascinated by the sheer expanse of water.
"There's the wedding!" Lou pointed out, and Cole steered his dragon over to where Lloyd, Zane, and Kai had already landed.
"But can you tell it's too big?" Lloyd asked, subconsciously tugging up his sleeves.
"I told you, it looks fine, Lloyd. That's what you get for not getting back in time for the suit shopping," Kai said, slapping him on the back.
"It is a very close match," Zane assured as Lou, Cole, and Keyda walked up. Keyda looked past the matching ninja to the set up on the beach. There were chairs facing a white awning dotted with white and blue flowers. There was a calming rushing sound that ebbed in and out, and after a few minutes she realized it was the sound of the water in the sea moving back and forth up the beach.
She felt Cole put his arm around her.
"Pretty, huh?" he said, and she turned to look up at him, giving him a little smile.
"Yeah. I think the beach should have been part of our last tour…"
He laughed a little. "Sorry…it's hard to fit everything in during a single weekend…."
"Jay's here!" someone called, and Keyda watched as the men setting up the awning finished up and came over to join the group. She recognized the one who flew the flying metal ship the last time she was here, though she couldn't remember his name. The other man she had never seen before.
"That's Kai and Nya's dad," Cole explained as she asked him about it. She watched as the man ambushed Jay as soon as he got out of the strange self-propelling vehicle.
"Oh…good to see ya, Ray…." Jay gasped as Ray pulled him up off the ground in a gigantic bear hug. Kai rolled his eyes.
"Dad…Nya'll never forgive you if you break her fiancé on their wedding day…"
"Oh, sorry…" Ray said, plopping Jay back on the ground. "I guess I'm just excited…not every day my little girl gets married…" He paused, suddenly fixing Jay with an intense look. "But be warned, if I ever find out…"
"Seriously Dad, chill out," Kai said, stepping in between his father and a slightly-blanching Jay. "If Jay was bad news I would've split them up years ago…"
"Gee, thanks Kai," Jay said, smoothing out his suit. Kai slapped him on the back.
"No problem!" he said lightly, but then leaned in to whisper. "But seriously, don't mess this up, or it won't just be my Dad threatening you…"
Jay rolled his eyes and took a step backwards.
"I get it! But if I'm being honest, I'm much more afraid of what Nya would do to me if I ever broke her heart…"
"Our Jay?" Edna said as she and Ed were suddenly aware of the conversation. "Never!"
Everyone shared a laugh at that one and Zane paused as he received a call. He looked up with a smile.
"Nya's on her way."
51
Keyda honestly didn't know much about binding in any realm. She was aware of its existence in her home realm…and she supposed she got the gist of what it meant. But the actual traditions involved were lost on her. She sat quietly next to Lou, the wind stirring the few locks of hair that had come unpinned, and watched the wedding commence with a wary interest. A nervous looking Jay was up under the awning with Wu on one side and Cole on the other. Jay was buttoning and unbuttoning his sleeve cuff and she watched as Cole put a hand on his shoulder and whispered something to him. Jay laughed and seemed to relax. The other ninja were lined up next to Cole.
She glanced around at the others in the chairs, watching. Jay's parents were here, but she had lost sight of Nya's father. There were lots of other people she didn't recognize—a man sitting in a strange wheeled chair, for instance. And there were some she wished she didn't; Garmadon was seated watching everything with his usual stern resting expression.
She was lost in thought when everyone around her suddenly stood up. She flushed, embarrassed, and bolted to her feet while trying to figure out what was going on. Were they leaving now? She turned to ask Lou and noticed that he was looking at something behind them. She frowned and craned her neck for a better look.
She recognized the two women from their last trip here…though, once again, the names were escaping her. First came Zane's metal friend, her long silver dress matching her strange silvery hair. The redhead followed close behind, wearing a matching dress. They both carried bunches of white flowers. They reached the front and positioned themselves on the other side of Wu and Jay, leaving a space. Keyda wondered if that's where…
People around her were murmuring "oohs" and "ahs" and she saw the dark haired girl coming up the aisle. Oh, there was her dad…walking alongside her…
She frowned. There was something covering her face…what was that all about? How were you even supposed to know who was under there?
Nya hugged her father as they reached the front of the crowd, and he went and sat next to his wife as Nya went up to the altar across from Jay. She was clutching her bouquet so hard she was afraid the stalks were going to break off…but she couldn't help but laugh and relax as Jay lifted the veil off her face, wearing the goofiest grin on his face. That was the moment both of them knew everything was going to turn out alright.
Everyone cheered as the bride and groom kissed, and Cole couldn't help but smile. He had known both of them for so long…the fact that they had finally gotten to this point was both impressive and exciting.
The uniformity of the wedding broke down after Wu had declared them man and wife… everyone was standing and talking and congratulating. Cole watched as Kai went over to Skylor. He couldn't tell what the redhead said to him, but Kai blanched suddenly, tugging at his bowtie as he stammered some reply. Cole chuckled to himself and looked over at where Keyda was standing next to his father, looking a little lost. He patted Jay on the back, offering a "good job, motor-mouth…" before heading over to her.
"So…that was a wedding," she said with a small smile as she saw him approaching. He shrugged.
"Yup, basically." He looked at her closely and realized she was shivering. "I guess that dress maybe isn't the greatest for chilly beach weather…" he admitted sheepishly, pulling off his suit jacket and throwing it around her shoulders.
"I'm fine, Idiot!" she argued, but she was grateful for the warm coat and didn't move to give it back.
"That's my fault…should've thought ahead…" Lou interrupted, and she shot him a little smile.
"Honestly, I'm fine."
"Come on Cole!"
They looked over to see Kai gesturing to them.
"We're all headed back to Laffy's for grub and dancing…"
The wedding group slowly dissipated as guests either went home or headed into the city for the after party. Jay and Nya led the way on their fusion water-electric elemental dragon.
Dareth had closed the karaoke joint to the public for the day, and P.I.X.A.L, Skylor, and Maya had decorated it with strings of flowers and lights. The whole place had been scrubbed down and tables were moved out of the way to make room for dancing.
"Is…this part of the wedding?" Keyda asked as she and Cole walked in, a crowd of people already laughing and joking.
"Kinda. Most people get together after the wedding to eat and dance and talk…" Cole explained. She pulled his coat around herself, feeling out of place. She caught a few people staring at her and glanced away. Many of these wedding guests were strangers, and she knew they must think she was strange. She even overheard Kai at one point trying to explain her to his parents.
"Hey, you ok?"
She looked over at Cole and pulled off a smile.
"Fine." She shrugged off the coat and handed it to him; it wasn't needed in the warm building. He took and put it back on for lack of anywhere better to put it. She hugged her arms, instantly regretting the decision to remove the jacket as she suddenly felt really exposed in the crowd.
"Let's go get something to drink…" Cole offered quietly, steering her over to the bar. Dareth was behind it, laughing and joking as he poured boba teas.
"Hey, Cole!" he said, grinning as they walked up. He poured two drinks and slid them over to him. "Here's one for you and your lady friend…I'm sorry, I don't actually remember your name…" he drawled sheepishly. Keyda picked up one of the drinks, not really sure what to think of it.
"It's Keyda," Cole introduced, and Dareth held out a hand.
"I'm Dareth…the brown ninja. But I'm sure Cole's told you all about me…"
She looked up at him for the first time, and then her eyes slid over to Cole for an explanation.
Cole ran a hand through his hair, feeling awkward.
"We've known Dareth for years…" he finally offered, and Dareth laughed and slapped him on the back, nearly causing Cole to spill his tea.
"Awww….don't be modest…" Dareth said. "We've saved the world together multiple times…."
Cole sighed, eyes closed, and Keyda hid her smile behind her glass.
There was feedback from a microphone and the talking in the room died down. Jay stood awkwardly on the karaoke stage, smiling at their guests with Nya at his side.
"Um…we just wanted to thank everyone for coming…it's been quite the ride…"
Keyda looked around as Jay and Nya addressed the group. There were so many people here…she wondered how long they had to stay before they could leave. Cole would probably want to stay awhile…right? She caught a few other people staring at her, but as she looked over their eyes darted away.
"So I guess we are just excited for the new chapter and happy you're all here with us," Nya finished. Jay gestured to Dareth, and the man in a brown suit pushed buttons on the device near him. Music began playing over the speakers and Nya pulled Jay onto the dance floor. Everyone moved to make room for the couple, and Keyda watched as they began to dance.
"Do you want any more?"
Keyda looked over to see Cole holding his hand out for her cup.
"Oh…" She glanced down at her half-empty glass. "No…I'm good."
Cole took the glass and put it with his on the counter. More people were starting to dance, and Keyda took a seat on a bar stool. Cole sat next to her and they watched the others in the room for a while. At one point Nya danced with her father while Jay danced with his mother, and Keyda leaned her head on Cole's shoulder as they watched. He reached over to hold her hand.
"You seem happier," she finally said. "Did you…did you have a good weekend?"
"Mmmm…yeah, it was alright." He stroked her hand with his thumb. "I'm happy you made it."
Neither noticed Lou coming up behind the bar to talk to Dareth in hushed tones.
"How're things back home?" Cole asked, and Keyda glanced over at him before answering.
"Home? Um…boring. Who would have guessed that there would be nothing to do after a rebellion? Everything's kinda on lockdown and it makes it hard to get anything done…"
The song ended and everyone cheered as Jay and Nya hugged their parents. Keyda cleared her throat.
"So…"
The next song started and she trailed off in surprise. Cole recognized it as well; it was his mother's favorite waltzing song. He turned around to see his father standing next to Dareth, and Lou gave his son a wink. Cole smiled, shaking his head.
Keyda watched as the other guests started to dance again, her heart suddenly beating louder. She waited for Cole to make a move, but he seemed content enough to sit and watch everyone else. She finally sighed and turned to him.
"Hey…"
He looked over at her, eyebrow raised.
"Wanna walk in a box with me?"
He laughed out loud and stood up.
"Thought you'd never ask," he admitted, and she gave him a little smile as he took her hand and lead her out into the dance floor. Keyda stumbled a little at first, trying to remember how to do it, but she finally caught on to the order of the steps and was confident enough to look back up at him. When she caught his expression she shook her head.
"Wipe that stupid look off your face…it's been awhile, ok?"
He laughed again.
"What look? I know it's been awhile…"
She gasped as he spun her suddenly, and when she stopped he winked at her.
"Guess that means we should practice more, huh?"
She rolled her eyes, smiling.
"I don't think dancing is going to catch on with the Oni…" she pointed out dryly.
"Aw, give it a chance. I can bring my Dad….he'll have them all walking in a box in no time…"
Lou watched from behind the bar, his mustache stretched out in his big grin. The dancing lasted a while longer. Before they all knew it someone was tapping the microphone again, announcing the bouquet toss.
The music died down as everyone sort of separated into two main groups so Nya could toss her bunch of lilies. Keyda and Cole were standing off to the side, not really paying attention.
"Some songs have beats of three, some don't," he was trying to explain, and she rolled her eyes.
"I don't get why walking in a box doesn't just work for every song…like why the big…"
Keyda saw something flying towards them out of the corner of her eye and she felt a jolt of panic. She whirled around and sent the blast before she really got a good look at what it was.
The room fell silent as the bouquet exploded into blackened bits, and Keyda's heart began to pound as everyone slowly turned to face her. Her face burned as she stood frozen, looking wide-eyed at the confused, wary, and even angry expressions everyone was giving her. Some people seemed to be noticing her for the first time and were whispering and gasping; from the back she heard someone ask "What is that…"
She bolted. She heard Cole calling after her but she didn't stop as she ran through the crowd and towards the exit. Everyone moved out of the way as she fled, her face burning with humiliation. She was half-way down the street when she realized that she had no idea where she was going. Now that she was away from everyone she could feel her throat constricting, but she glowered, angry at herself. She wasn't going to cry…not over this…"
"Keyda!"
She wasn't planning on stopping, but she tripped on the dress's long flowing material and went flying forward onto the pavement. She winced in pain as she landed and skidded on her arm. By the time she had pushed herself up Cole had reached her.
"Keyds…" he said, bending down to help her up. She was clenching her jaw so hard it hurt as he took her arm to get a better look at the scrapes. She looked down as he did so, and that's when she realized that she had torn the dress she was wearing. That was the point when the tears finally won.
"Oh Keyds…" Cole pulled her in. "It's fine…they're just flowers, no one's mad…"
"Shut up…" she replied, hugging him tightly. Her hair had nearly all fallen out at this point, and it tickled her neck and face, irritating her as the tears refused to stop. "I messed it all up again…I don't belong here…"
He didn't reply as he held her and finally he pulled back as he looked down at her.
"Let's go back to the temple…" he offered, and her face burned in guilt and embarrassment.
"But your friends…."
"It's alright, Keyds…besides, you're hurt." He gestured to her arm, which was stinging more now as the scrapes bled. She wanted to argue further, but he had already put one arm around her as he formed his elemental dragon under them. A few moments later they were flying back to the temple.
The wedding party watched Keyda and then Cole run from the building, most of the guests having no idea what was going on. Finally Jay tapped the microphone again, chuckling awkwardly.
"You know…I never did understand the bouquet toss…" he pointed out, and the audience chuckled awkwardly as everyone slowly relaxed. "Anyways…"
Skylor and P.I.X.A.L stood near Nya on the floor, right where they had been when she had thrown the bouquet a few minutes earlier. She finally turned to them, looking perplexed.
"Was Keyda here the whole time?" she finally asked, and Skylor laughed.
"She got here this morning….she was at the wedding. Didn't you notice?"
Nya turned a little pink but then she shrugged and laughed.
"I….I didn't notice much, if we're being honest…" she admitted, glancing over at the freckled young man cracking jokes on the karaoke stage.
"Obviously…" Skylor said smugly.
Nya finally looked back over to her friends.
"Guess that's why Cole's been in a better mood…" she pointed out, and P.I.X.A.L looked like she was considering it.
"Yes." the android finally admitted. "Though I noticed his mood did seem to lighten after our talk yesterday as well…"
Nya shrugged again, acknowledging that her friend had a point. She looked up again as Jay was gesturing to the wedding cake.
"Well…I always liked the cake tradition better than the bouquet toss, anyways…" She said, smiling mischievously. "Jay's not gonna know what hit him…."
Keyda was silent as Cole gently wrapped her arm. If nothing else…at least the bandages made her feel less exposed.
She sighed heavily and Cole put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey."
She glanced up, her expression dour, and he sighed.
"I'm telling you, it wasn't that bad...I mean, it was an honest mistake…"
"Why did she throw the flowers in the air!?" she countered. "Why were there even flowers flying in the air in the first place?"
He tried to hide his smile, and she slugged him.
"It's not funny!"
He cleared his throat, desperately trying to bury his amusement.
"Um…it's a tradition….it's called a bouquet toss, and…"
"Why?! Why do you all have so many pointless traditions?" she asked angrily, and he fell silent. She felt a worm of guilt and sighed, looking down at the holes and tears she had made in the sheer fabric of the dress's skirt.
"I ruined your mother's dress…" she finally murmured, and he shook his head.
"She ruined plenty of them herself…" he assured. Keyda looked up at him, unconvinced, and he smiled a little. "She liked to pull off stunts when dancing, but not all dresses were up for the challenge…"
"She was a dancer too?"
"Yeah. That's how she and Pop met."
"Oh." She fell silent again, looking over at the bandage around her arm. He moved so that he was seated next to her rather than across from her.
"Can I tell you something?"
She looked up and he ran a hand through his hair, looking sheepish.
"When you showed up, out of the blue…and in that dress of all things…" he trailed off. "And we just went to a wedding…and it was like the most normal thing ever, and everyone else was there and it was like…like…"
"Like what?"
He shrugged. "It was almost like I could pretend that this was the way things always were…that we had always just lived in Ninjago, surrounded by friends and doing normal things without worrying about having to keep a whole realm from falling apart…"
Her eyes filled with tears again and he took her hand.
"And it was nice, for a few minutes…but then it just felt wrong…." he couldn't help but chuckle. "And then you set a bunch of flowers on fire and set everything right again…"
She shook her head.
"I don't….what are you getting at, Cole? I don't get what you mean…"
He smiled gently.
"Things could be different for us….circumstances could be different, I mean. But I guess I just finally realized that I'm ok with the way things are…even if it's crazy sometimes, it feels right." He chuckled again, glancing away. "You know, Jay'd probably call it 'destiny.'"
She just stared at him, not sure of what to say, and her expression finally relaxed into a soft smile.
"Is he going to be mad that you left?"
Cole scoffed and waved a hand.
"No…in fact, he's probably grateful…"
She furrowed her brow, not understanding, and he winked.
"With me gone, there'll actually be enough wedding cake for everyone else."