The next several days were fairly uneventful, with nothing new going on. The ninja trained and searched the city for any clues of the gang that had tried to kidnap Destiny, but no progress had been made up to this point. It was decided that Zane and Nya would go through the footage of the original encounter again, searching with focused eyes for any signs of a slightest clue to sate the ninja's increasing impatience.
Destiny on the other hand had spent these days in the spare bedroom, not even bothering to leave to grab any food. It was not from the ninja's lack of effort or kindness, it was simply the fact that their new roommate refused to eat. They would each take turns bringing her plates of food just as Cole had, but whenever they returned to give her her next meal she would return the previous one completely untouched. Though there seemed to be an exception to this unbreakable pattern.
Jay walked into the dining room, the rest of his ninja family still sitting at the table talking amongst themselves. The return of the blue ninja gained the youngests attention though, and Lloyd looked over at his older brother.
"Anything?" The green ninja questioned.
"Nope. She didn't touch a single thing as per usual." Jay replies, not exactly annoyed, but not seeming too happy either. Lloyd frowns at the news.
"I'm worried about Destiny. She doesn't eat, and it never seems like she wants to talk either." Nya chimes in, a frown now on her face as well.
"Correction, I have noticed a pattern. Destiny seems to consistently eat 13-15% of the meals she is given, but only when she receives it from Cole." The ice ninja states, earning a flustered reaction from the black ninja.
"What? Why?" Cole says confused, he didn't understand why Destiny would only eat the food that he has been bringing to her. Zane shrugs at him, seemingly not having an answer for the statistic.
"Ugh, that's no fair Cole! Why do the rest of us even bother taking food to her if she doesn't even eat it?" Jay complains as he cleans up the food from off of the plate he'd just picked up from Destiny's room.
"Come on Jay, I know it's frustrating but you shouldn't talk like that. I mean, it's pretty obvious to tell that she's depressed." Kai speaks, although not in a scolding or arrogant fashion.
"Really?" Jay questions, his attitude shifting at Kai's enlightenment of the situation.
"Yeah, I mean, it's pretty obvious. Well, I guess it's pretty obvious to me at least. Growing up taking care of someone else you become accustomed to being able to decipher when they're upset." Kai gives his sister a knowing look, and she smiles softly at him before placing a hand on top of his own in a manner of silent thanks for always being there for her in their youth.
"Kai is right. While I understand each of you may certainly have your concerns, and for good reason, we must remember to respect Destiny. Imagine a butterfly-" Master Wu is cut off by Lloyd.
"Butterflies?" Lloyd questions with a raised eyebrow, obviously confused as to what butterflies had to do with their conversation.
"Yes." Master Wu speaks before continuing with his lesson. "Imagine a butterfly, a beautiful creature with the ability to undergo extraordinary change. Before the caterpillar becomes a butterfly however it shields itself within a cocoon. At this moment in time Destiny seems to be showing us her cocoon." Wu finishes, turning to look at each of his students to make sure they understood what he meant.
"You don't think that she was hurt before Kai and Zane saved her, do you Uncle?" Lloyd asks, his saddened expression unchanging.
"I do. The best course of action we can take is simply to let her know that she is not alone, and that while she is here she is one of our family." Master Wu answers, giving his nephew a knowing look.
Once the ninja had cleaned up all the evidence from dinner they all began to make their way to bed, tired from the training Wu had made them do throughout the morning and majority of the afternoon. Well, all save for one ninja was ready for bed. Standing in the hallway outside of the door to the spare bedroom stood the black ninja. He had thought about what Master Wu had said, and if Destiny was going through a hard time he wanted to make sure she knew she could always talk to him.
Despite his certainty in his decision Cole still hesitated when he moved his hand up to knock against the dark colored wood. What Zane said at dinner also replayed through the Earth ninjas' head. Destiny only ate when he brought her food? He didn't understand why he seemed to be the special one of the group, but this new knowledge also made Cole nervous. He felt an added weight of pressure on his shoulders. If Destiny trusted him he didn't want to do anything to mess that up, even if it was by accident.
You got this Cole.
The boy thought to himself before taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. In spite of being the "immovable Master of Earth" Cole could tell his hand was shaking a bit even as he softly knocked on the door. He found this to be ironic, and chuckled a bit to himself at the thought. Cole waited at the door for a moment, and after some time had passed he began to think that the girl had already gone to sleep just like everyone else. Before Cole was about to leave though the door slowly cracked open, almost making him jump. He hadn't even heard Destiny walking over.
Cole looked down at Destiny. She was wearing her same yellow hood she always seemed to have on, as well a pair of navy blue shorts and yellow socks. Her hood was up over her head, the few pieces of her hair that were visible seemed frizzy and unkempt. The expression on her face was also one of exhaustion, and not like the looks of exhaustion he saw so frequently plastered on his friends' faces whenever they were tired after a day's work. No, this exhaustion was not caused by physical ailments, and Cole understood the toll this different type of exhaustion could have on ones' body all too well.
"Hey Destiny, would you wanna come out onto the deck with me?" Cole asked softly, hoping the small girl would say yes. After a moment of contemplation Destiny opened up the door more, giving the black ninja a silent nod. "Cool! Um, the deck is this way." Cole states, pointing to his left before walking in the same direction. Cole could hear the quiet click of the door as Destiny moved to follow him. Once the pair made it outside onto the deck Cole walked over to one of the railings, propping his arms against it as he shifted his body weight onto them. The black ninja looked over to his right to see Destiny with her hands in her pockets, slowly shuffling her way to where he was standing.
"So, why did you bring me out here?" The yellow clad girl questioned, glancing up to look at the Master of Earth.
"I brought you out here so you could get some fresh air. You've been in that cabin for days." Cole admitted. He then paused before continuing, "Plus, it'd be pretty lonely stargazing all by myself. Everyone else already went to bed." Cole then looked up at the stars, away from the city they shone like diamonds. He loved moments like these where he could just relax and pay respect to the world around him he and his friends worked so tirelessly to protect. The silence between the two lasted for quite some time, but it wasn't an awkward silence. Instead it was one that Cole wouldn't mind basking in. It was comfortable, and he enjoyed himself and the fact that the small girl beside him didn't seem to expect anything of him.
He appreciated it. Being not only the strongest, but the oldest of the ninja always left him with so much responsibility. Cole didn't mind it, he knew he wasn't the only one either. Take Lloyd for example. Cole knew the poor kid must have nearly cracked under the pressure placed upon him more times than any of them could count. However the responsibility he felt was different from Lloyd's, Cole wasn't some prophesied savior he was just, Cole. He'd never put himself on a pedestal or expected anything grand of himself. He was just the Master of Earth, the black ninja, that's all he saw of himself and all he really needed most of the time.
However for some reason others always seemed to see something in him. Something that he couldn't see in himself no matter how hard he tried to find it. Whenever someone caught a glimpse of this spark or whatever it was, that suddenly set expectations for Cole. His father had seen it in him when he was 7, and pushed him to perform the most impossible dance move ever created. No matter how many times Cole had tried to argue with him against it his father refused to listen, insisting that Cole could do something he clearly could not at the time. Another example was with Master Wu. Master Wu had found Cole and offered him the opportunity to become a ninja. Cole didn't see it in himself all those years ago that he was ninja material, but here he was.
Cole let out a long breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding in. Now that he looked back on it maybe everybody had a point? I mean, Cole could now do the triple tiger sashay dance move his father trained him to do, and not only that but as far as Cole knew he was one of the only people in Ninjago to even do it once successfully. As for being a ninja, Cole had that down under lock and key too. He was stronger than he'd ever been just mountain climbing, and if it hadn't been for Master Wu; Cole wasn't sure that he would have even unlocked his true potential and elemental abilities.
Regardless of how much he had accomplished this far Cole still cherished whenever he could just be himself. Whenever he didn't need to worry about others or what others thought about him. Sometimes it was so exhausting, and right now he held Destiny in high regards. She hadn't asked him to be anything. She didn't have that look in her eye of expectancy, right now Cole didn't need to be anything more than just Cole Brookstone. The black ninja turned his attention back to his companion, she was aimlessly staring down at the clouds below them, a look of indifference on her face. Cole finally decided to cut a knife through the silence between them.
"So, what do you think of the view?" Destiny shrugs slightly at this question.
"It's cool I guess. I didn't know we were on a flying pirate ship." Destiny states nonchalauntly which causes the Master of Earth to chuckle a bit. As Cole looked away from her and back to the sky he was sure he caught a glimpse of a small smile creep onto the girls' lips. After a moment had passed Cole spoke again.
"Destiny?"
"Hmm?"
"I just want you to know that even though we don't really know each other, you can talk to me. Sometimes when there's something on our minds the best thing we can do is talk to someone about it." Cole then gently placed a hand onto the girls' shoulder, causing her to look up at him. She currently had an expression on her face that Cole couldn't read, but he pushed the distracting thought away as he focused on trying to make sure she understood what he was trying to say. "I promise I'll be here for you whenever you're ready."
Satisfied that he'd made his point Cole removed his hand from the girls' shoulder. Pushing himself off of the railing, the black ninja began making his way back to the door that led below deck. As Cole grabbed the door handle he froze, he almost didn't catch it but he could hear quiet sniffles coming from behind him. Spinning around, the black ninja saw the small form of Destiny to be even smaller now. She was sitting on the floor, knees pushed up to her face with her back against the mast of the Bounty. Cole wasted no time running back over to his new friend, kneeling down beside her.
"Destiny! Are you okay?" The Master of Earth questioned, concern laced in his voice. The young girl looked up at Cole with a tear stained face before lunging at him, wrapping her arms around his torso as if her life depended on it. Cole was taken aback for a moment but quickly shook away his surprise and gently wrapped his arms around the sobbing figure beneath him. The sound of her crying made Cole's heart feel heavy, he waited patiently though, moving his hands in small circles on the girls' back hoping the motion would help to sooth her in some way.
The black ninja couldn't care less that his gi was being stained with the tears and snot of the young girl. Eventually Destiny's breathing began to even out, and her sobs slowly reduced to mere sniffles. Calmer now the girl in yellow moved away from the boy, not daring to look up at him out of embarrassment. She wiped one of her hoodie sleeves across her face and felt the black ninjas' arms slink away from her sides.
"I'm sorry…" Destiny's meek voice apologized, barely louder than a whisper of the wind. Cole leaned over, trying to get the seemingly fragile girl to look at him.
"Hey, you have nothing to apologize for." Cole says softly, doing his best to reassure her. Destiny noticed the movement of the black ninja and turned her head to face him. He was giving her a gentle smile, and she wanted nothing more than to melt into the embrace of the Master of Earth. Destiny pushed the thought aside though, and instead opted to try and wipe away the tear stains from her cheeks with her sleeve again.
"I told you I'd be here for you, didn't I?" Cole spoke again, his attention not leaving the girl. "Are you doing okay though?"
Destiny nodded her head slowly, not daring to make any other movements lest she worsen the headache she could feel beginning to form behind her brow.
"You want to head to bed now?" Cole asks, still using a hushed yet warm tone. Destiny nodded again. With that the black ninja stood up, holding an outstretched hand out to the girl that was still sitting on the floor. Destiny grabbed the boys' large hand, and Cole made sure to keep his strength in check as he helped to lift her up onto her feet. She stumbled a bit, but the black ninja was ready to catch her if she ended up collapsing.
Slowly, the pair made their way below deck again, and Cole kept a light grip on Destiny the whole way to her room just to ensure she'd be okay if she lost her balance. When they finally got to the spare bedroom Cole helped Destiny to her bed, watching her intently as she sat down on the mattress. Content, Cole turned to leave the room. When he reached the door he heard a weak 'thank you' come from behind him. The Master of Earth turned his head back to the tiny figure that was tucked in bed and smiled.
"Anytime." He replied quietly before walking into the hallway and closing the door behind him with a click. Letting out a soft exhale, the black ninja smiled to himself before walking to the shared bunk room where the other boys slept peacefully before turning in for the night.