This was originally going to be one big one-shot, but I figured it might work better in more manageable chunks. May be 3 chapters tops, but I promise it will eventually give you all the warm fuzzies :)


Cole was sore.

Very sore.

So sore he could have sworn he'd aged about 70 years overnight, he felt like an old man with arthritic joints.

Every movement was slow and sluggish, every muscle knotted and tight, groaning in protest.

And all he'd done was sit up in bed.

He reached over to shut off their alarm clock, noticing that even that small movement produced a grunt of pain.

The other occupants of the shared bunk room were already up for the day, judging by all the neatly-made beds. They must've decided to let Cole sleep on a little more.

Which he was grateful for, you had to love the others sometimes, you really did.

With another grunt of exertion, he swung his feet over the edge of his bed and slowly stood up, arching his back and producing a cracking sound.

He'd only walked from his bed to their bedroom door when he had to stop and arch his back again, feeling his muscles stiffen in protest. Pausing with his hand on the doorknob, he started to ponder what was worth more: the promise of a mouth-watering breakfast made by Zane…

…or the urge to just lie back down and rest his aching muscles, and probably never get up again.

Very few things in life made Cole turn down food, the pain in his back and shoulders was quickly rising to the top of his list. That and the one time Jay had projectile vomited all over the breakfast table trying to prove rotten eggs were safe to eat, having read somewhere that fermented eggs were a delicacy in other regions.

Needless to say, it was weeks before either of them would even think of looking at an egg again without retching.

The reason for Coles pain however was actually rather simple when you think about it. As the master of earth, having super-strength as part of your elemental powers did have its advantages.

But it came with its fair share of disadvantages.

Lately he'd been using his super-strength a lot on their missions. None of the others ever seemed to realise that super-strength wasn't just a magic trick Cole could perform whenever needed at the drop of a hat.

It took energy.

It took muscle.

And it produced strain.

Of course, fire, water, lightning and ice also used up energy…

…but they didn't put anywhere near as much of a strain on their users bodies as Coles super-strength did.

The other elements were made up of energy after all:

Fire was produced from Kai's hand by combusting the gases in the air around his open palm and producing a flame almost instantly.

A combination of gases created droplets of water around Nya's hands in a similar fashion.

Lowering the temperature in the surrounding air produced ice crystals on Zanes palm..

And manipulating the positive and negative charges in the surrounding air produced static electricity in Jay's palms that he could easily control.

But super-strength? That took effort and muscle-power. Sure it was part of Coles earth powers but the energy to lift things 100 times heavier than himself had to come from somewhere.

And lately the exertion had been getting to him.

Normally the ninja had time to rest and recuperate after each mission, whether it be fighting bad guys, high-speed car chases, or just rescuing cats from trees when things were quiet.

But recently it was one minor mission after another, usually involving Cole lifting something heavy, and it was beginning to take its toll.

There had been quite a number of traffic accidents in Ninjago City lately, the population was forever increasing but the roads weren't improving to compensate for the extra traffic, and instead of the emergency services using expensive equipment to shift cars and other wreckages out of the way, it was easier (and far cheaper) for them to just call upon the ninja for help and have the Master of Earth effortlessly do the heavy work for them.

For weeks now Cole had been lifting wrecked cars single-handedly from pile-ups, moving massive stone pipes and iron bars that had fallen off of transport trucks, righting up-turned lorries and whatever other manual labour the emergency services needed him to do.

It was beginning to be too much. He never seemed to have proper time to rest until the next mission called upon his strength again, and this ultimately led to his current condition.

Ending his train of thought however, Cole ultimately chose breakfast. He couldn't ignore the mouth-watering smell of Zanes bacon and eggs if his life depended on it.

Besides, the others would worry if he didn't show up at all.

Cole slowly shuffled his way into the kitchen and plopped down into his usual chair at the kitchen table with a heavy sigh.

The others were already seated and munching away, conversing with each other in-between mouthfuls.

"Oh hey Cole! We were just wondering what was taking.." Kai started with a friendly greeting, but upon Coles arrival his face twisted into concern. "Woah Cole, you okay man? You look…kinda burnt out."

"Yeah I'm okay just..a bit worse for wear." Cole waved a hand of dismissal at Kai, he was fine really, just weary.

"You do appear to be displaying signs of exhaustion Cole, perhaps a day off is in order?" Offered Zane, as he placed a plate in front of Cole, with his usual double-helping of bacon and eggs.

"Nah I'm good, I appreciate the offer but it wouldn't be fair on you guys." Cole was never one to put himself first, the safety of his brothers would always be his top priority. Though it could be a curse sometimes because it meant Cole usually wouldn't let himself be taken care of, even if he came off worse.

Thinking the topic was done with, Cole eagerly dug in, a satisfied smile graced his lips at just how good Zanes cooking was.

"You know, it wouldn't kill ya to take a break Cole, don't be a boulder-brain all your life." Jay quipped, pointing his fork accusingly at Cole.

Cole rolled his eyes good-naturedly at Jay; it was just like Jay to hide his concern behind a snide remark.

"Yeah yeah bolt-head, I'll think about it, happy?"

"Yes!"

"Good, can I continue eating now?"

"Did you ever need permission before?" Jay couldn't help get a jibe in, knowing Coles eating habits all too well.

The others had to stifle their giggles, while Lloyd hid his face in his sleeve to stop from laughing.

Cole only shook his head, though he was smiling. Then, using his fork, flicked a piece of egg at Jay's face, who reflexively ducked, still chuckling at his own joke.

Breakfast continued as normal, the usual chatter along with the usual sloppy eating manners.

Jay however kept glancing at Cole, taking mental notes on how his shoulders were hunched, his head moving stiffly. Now and again he would lean back to stretch his back and Jay caught a very brief scrunch of pain on his face before it disappeared again as he hunched back over to eat.

Cole was definitely in some sort of pain, and Jay was determined to help him out.