This is the second to last chapter of this story; just a heads up that there will be one more update after this one. :)

Green With Envy

The Forgotten Ninjago Episode

Chapter Five: Misunderstandings

As soon as the homecoming heroes landed on The Bounty, everyone was yelling.

"Cole, that was like, the dumbest idea ever! What were you possibly thinking of accomplishing by doing that?"

Jay yelled, pointing his finger at Cole.

"Me? What were you trying to do, opening that huge iron door by yourself? I have super strength!" Cole jutted back. "And you!" he yelled at Kai. "Why did you have to ruin it by pretending you're some hero who can do everything himself?"

"Well, that's what you have to do when you're around a bunch of lousy ninjas who can't do anything except get into arguments! And hey, don't look at me, Zane was the one who started it by charging in by himself!" Zane laughed coldly.

"Says the ninja who compromised our last mission by doing the exact same thing!"

"Well at least that mission was a success!" Kai shouted. Suddenly the doors opened and Sensei Wu and Nya walked in.

The ninjas stopped arguing and bowed as soon as they saw Wu. He stepped towards the group. "Stop it! Do you hear yourselves? This is no way for ninja to behave." He walked forward a bit and sat down on a chair. "Now, let's sort this out starting from the bottom." Nya still felt angry from the afternoon and spit out "At least be grateful that you're ninja and not some behind-the-scenes errand-running, babysitting girl who nobody listens to! A girl who, no matter how hard she trains, will never be a true, accepted ninja!" She fought back tears.

Silence.

"Or get to go on a mission." came a voice. Nya looked back and let her eyes follow Lloyd's slow ascent to the deck of the ship.

"Oh Nya." The sound came softly as if escaping from Jay's mouth after being held back for days. "That's how you feel?"

Nya looked down at the floor. She wasn't going to cry. Not here. Not now.

Kai was startled from Lloyd's quiet utterance. The green ninja. The green ninja didn't feel accepted by the crew? Suddenly Kai felt ashamed by all the times he had treated Lloyd badly and the times he had tried to be the green ninja when he knew he wasn't him. Kai stepped forwards. He didn't look up at any one in particular but was staring at Lloyd's feet.

"I'm sorry." he said. Everyone was a bit taken aback. Kai looked up and stared straight at Lloyd. "I'm sorry for being jealous of Lloyd's powers and trying to be the green ninja when I knew I wasn't. I wanted to be the green ninja; I wanted all the power and the glory. But now I realize that being the green ninja isn't a one-man-show. It's about letting others support you to your greatest moments and catch you when you fall to your worst."

Zane felt his eyes sting. Kai was apologizing! His old buddy was back to normal. He knew what he had to do.

"And I apologize for being jealous of Kai's daring bravery and neglecting my duty as the rightful nindroid of this team." Zane smiled and put his hand on Kai's shoulder. Kai looked at him and smiled weakly. "I'm sorry for saying all those mean things to you about how your statistics distract you." Kai's smile widened. "I like the good ol' Zane who will spit out numbers and plans and facts and keep his head cool in tough situations. I like Zane best when he's Zane. And not trying to be someone else."

Sensei stroked his beard in approval, his eyes closed.

"And I guess I haven't been myself lately either," Cole admitted, toying a loose floor board with his toes. "I felt like I had to be smarter. Like I had to be the 'smart one' of the group. And that caused me to completely butcher up our mission. And I realize now that my role is being Cole: The strong ninja who doesn't know everything, and that's fine with me."

Zane turned to Cole slowly. "I did not realize that you felt like you had to be more intelligent. I apologize for any misunderstandings I have caused." He looked at Cole's downturned face. "And I want to say that no matter how many times you might 'butcher up' a mission, you will always be our brother." Cole nodded and looked up at Zane.

Throughout all of this, Jay still hadn't moved his hand from his shoulder. After Cole's and Zane's apologies there was a big silence. Jay stood looking at the floor.

"Look, all I wanted was to be strong." He didn't move, but his voice was loud and clear. "Strong like Cole. I was so afraid that Cole was trying to…" Jay looked up at Nya's face. She was staring cooly at him, waiting for him to go on. "Was trying to… impress you and maybe try to steal you from me." Nya blushed and looked down. And maybe Jay was blushing too. He would talk to Nya later about this, since he just kind of admitted that he was interested in her. "I'm sorry for not letting Cole do his own job on the mission. He's a lot better at opening doors than I am." Cole chuckled a little.

"Hey dude, I'm sorry for making you feel like I was stealing Nya from you. No worries there, though, it's all good. I wasn't trying to impress her or anything. My head was just clogged up with thoughts that I probably shouldn't have been thinking." Kai nodded slightly. He could definitely relate to that last bit.

"And Nya, I knew that you were upset about no one listening to you, but I didn't know you were that worked up about it. I'm sorry for not paying better attention." All of the ninjas nodded in unison. "Nya, we weren't really paying attention to you during the debrief. But now we all know the consequences when your mission status isn't there to guide us. And coming back to check on me after that time I kind of exploded," Kai smiled a little, "That was really kind of you."

Cole added thoughtfully: "We've really taken you for granted Nya, and we're lucky to have left the mission with our lives."

There was a silence.

"I-I-" Nya started, trying to formulate exactly what she was feeling. "I wanted to say, Jay," she paused. Jay snapped his head up and looked her in the eye. "I was really envying you being a ninja because you have something that I've trained a lot for, and I know that I'm not ready yet, but I was getting…impatient." She turned to Lloyd. "And I'm sorry for snapping at you in the bridge, little guy. I was just feeling frustrated and I vented my feelings in a way I shouldn't have." Lloyd lifted his eyes to her face. "I forgive you. And I'm sorry to all of you for not realizing that I'm already a part of the team and that you guys actually do care for me." Nya laughed a little and hugged the boy.

"Of course we care for you." Kai stepped forwards. "We're sorry for not showing it better." Everyone nodded their heads. Sensei Wu still had his eyes closed like he was soaking up their apologies into his innermost being.

And this is why I chose these specific students. He knew they were all capable of great physical feats but also of great healing.

"And this, we see, is what happens when we are discontent with our abilities and who we are," The wise man spoke with his eyes still closed.

"Misunderstandings, hurt, anger, jealousy, envy. We try to be people we aren't; we try to fulfill roles that are not ours to fill. When we live in discord and envy, friends are hurt. Calamity ensues. Family torn apart from the inside out." Sensei's eyes flew open and brought his staff heavily to the floor with a loud thump. Then, he let his staff slide out of his fingers onto the ground.

"But," he added, picking his staff back up and balancing it on the edge of his finger, "When we live together in harmony, content with our abilities and who we are, balancing out each others' strengths and weaknesses, we live a life full of happiness and success. And each of you must answer this question today: Who are you?

We cannot live as we are meant to live unless we know who we were meant to be." Sensei stood up and walked to the four ninja.

"Each of you has reached your true potentials and gained precious insight. This knowledge will aid you to answer this question." Sensei walked back to his spot, stroking his beard. "And I'm afraid that some spend their entire lives trying to discover who they are." He paused in his tracks. "I myself still struggle to answer this question every day, but that shouldn't keep you six from trying." Lloyd's and Nya's heads jerked up.

"Don't think that you two will never reach your true potentials." Sensei said as he pointed his staff at each of them in turn.

"You mean, I'm going to reach my true potential someday?" Lloyd asked, his eyes full of wonder. Nya's heart echoed the same question. All of her being screamed that question.

Sensei looked at both of them with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Nya's mind and heart raced. She was going to be a ninja. Someday. She could feel it. But until then… who was she? What did she want?