Spoiling the Other

"Nyyyyyyyyy-aaaaaaaaa,"

"Mmmhdtgs."

"Wake up, sleeping beauty."

"Nu."

The earth ninja burst out laughing, which proved to be a much more effective maneuver than gently shaking her. Nya's crusty eyelids cracked open slowly, the exhausted water ninja moaning softly.

She sniffed, breathing in the strangely-scented air. She crinkled her nose, a movement that made Cole laugh. She frowned upon hearing it directed at her.

"Cole?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"...did something die?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

She rubbed her eyes, causing Cole to giggle. Her soft face wrinkled up as her small fist rubbed the grogginess away. Short, black locks of her silky-smooth hair lay in tangled heaps upon her head. He plopped down beside her, then attempted to rake his hand through her knotty hair.

"Did Jay accidentally cause an explosion involving sulfur?" she questioned, gazing up at the earthbender with a tired expression.

"Even better," Cole replied, a smirk forming on his lips, "I made you breakfast in bed!"

Oh.

So that's what was smelling so bad.

Nya somehow managed to conceal the oncoming horror arising on her pretty features. His eyes were so full of excitement and love. She knew he was always trying his best to give her little surprises.

…there was no way she'd be able to deny that.

"You did?"

"Yep! And, if you're worried about it being bad, then do not fret, my love, because I used Zane's recipe."

Cole was very...passionate about his culinary performance, Nya knew. She loved the man to death, but couldn't stand his cooking.

"Why don't you join me, Cole-kun? We could watch a cheesy horror movie on Netflix," she offered. Maybe she could at least distract him from her face so he wouldn't have to see her face melt into despair when she tasted his food.

"Okay. But we can't stay in bed too long, 'cause I'm taking you to the mall afterwards," he announced, setting the tray he'd placed on the nightstand on her lap. She plastered a fake smile on her face as she adjusted the tray to a comfy position.

"Thank you, dear," she said, pressing a chaste kiss to his warm cheek.

"You're welcome," he responded with a cool smile.

"Let us begin," she announced, stretching to reach the remote while trying not to knock over the tray. When she grabbed it, she instructed Cole to get the movie set up while she started eating. Picking off the cling wrap that was sticking to...whatever was underneath, she tossed it aside.

A piece of innocent cake.

She eyed it hesitantly. He did say he used Zane's recipe? She trusted Cole enough to follow simple instructions.

For the most part.

Sighing and preparing herself for the worst, she picked up the silver fork and stabbed at the cake, tearing off a chunk, and then putting the fork in her mouth.

It was...pretty damn good, surprisingly.

Maybe the guy was just better at baking than actually cooking?

...the thought made Nya giggle as she turned to her earthworm. Overlord, he was so cute in the morning! She loved his tousled hair and big eyes. The combination made him look young, and she loved it.

"What are you giggling at?" Cole questioned, turning away from the screen and raising one of his adorably bushy eyebrows at her.

That made Nya laugh harder. "Oh, nothing, love. I just love you."

His smirk turned into a fully-fledged smile. "Love you too, cutie."

She continued chewing her cake curled up with the earth ninja, occasionally giving him pieces of her cake, too.

"Hello?" the stereotypical blondie in the movie called out.

"Aaaand she's dead," Cole snorted.

"Is anyone there?" she continued, peeking out from around the corner.

"Of course she is," Nya said.

The two laughed as the serial killer popped out from the room the blonde heard the noise in, and continued to stab her repeatedly. The guy laughed maniacally as the life faded from her eyes.

"Wow," Cole said, neither amused nor scared.

"Heeeeey," Nya said, placing the tray on the nightstand and throwing herself a little too dramatically onto Cole's lap.

Cole looked down at her, then poked her in the side. "What do you want, weirdo?"

"Are we going to go to the mall?" she asked, rolling onto her back.

"If you're finished, then sure. Be ready in ten minutes," he said, placing his hands under her arms and pulling her up.

"Noooo," she groaned.

"I thought you said you wanted to go to the mall."

"...Maybe I changed my mind."

"In the course of three seconds?"

"Yeah."

"You're weird," Cole stated, pulling the water ninja to his chest. He chuckled as she huffed.

"You've told me," she retorted, trying to pull away.

"Why are you fighting me? I have super strength," Cole reminds her, tightening his hold on her.

"Weweafe me, peafant!" she declared, but Cole was squeezing her head at such an angle that it made her cheeks smoosh together, causing Cole to burst out laughing, instantly loosening his hold on her.

"Stop laughing! It wasn't that funny!" she yelled, stomping into her bathroom.

"Yes it was," Cole responded, sliding off of her bed, "ten minutes, Smith!"

…

"No! Have you seen the price on that thing?!"

"Yes. You said you like it! Just let me buy it for you!" Cole said, turning away from the defiant waterbender.

"Cooooooole!" Nya whined, trying in vain to snatch the video game out of his grasp.

"Nope. C'mon, Nya," he said, giving the case a shake, "you know you want it."

She went silent for second. "I don't need it, though."

"Mm-hmm." He walked up to the clerk waiting behind the counter. "I'll take this," he said, plopping the disc's pack onto the counter and snagging two chocolate bars from the little display shelf next to the check-out counter.

"You're no fair," Nya pouted as he handed her the bag.

"Uh, last time I checked, I'm totally fair," he replied as she tied the bag closed.

"Well," she sighed, leaning into his side, "thank you anyways."

…

You're nothing to us.

"NO! WAIT! KAI! AAAH!"

Whisking her away, without a trace of her existence...

Darkness, everlasting, consuming her whole...

…...

Falling to overlord knows where. Plummeting into an infinite abyss of dark matter, where she, the master of water, lost herself to an unknown force much stronger than any of them had anticipated.

Unable to control her movements. Hurting the ones she loved.

Over

And over

And over

Again.

Nya jolted awake in her bed, prepared for something she'd been more than willing to take on for months now.

Something that was long gone.

Groaning, she rubbed her face. She probably just needed some cold water. Maybe she should wash her face with freezing water, too, that always seemed to help.

It was always the same nightmare: the one where she lost control of her body to dark matter.

She swung her legs over the edge of her bed, then stood up. Of the time she'd spent fighting alongside the ninja, the battles she'd won, that was really the only nightmare she kept on reliving. Losing control of her body was something she'd never predict coming her way, ever. Yet it had happened. Quickly, too.

Splashing cold water on her face, she sighed at the feeling. Cold water always shook her out of that dream world, remind her of her element and that she was home with her beloved ninja.

Coming from outside her room, Nya paused after she finished wiping off her face. Footsteps? Who would be up at this hour; the ninja (with the exception of Zane) all cherished the little sleep they got.

She cautiously crept over to her door, then peeked underneath.

A pair of feet.

Raising herself back up, she opened the door.

"Overlord!"

"Cole," Nya breathed, for some reason feeling relieved.

"Oh...uh...hey, love. I just...um, I was going to put these outside your door since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, but you kinda caught me. Wait, what are you doing up, anyway?" the earthbender asked, holding a bouquet of flowers holding five or six sticks with Nya's favorite kind of candy taped onto them.

"Oh, for me? Thank you," she said, her voice soft as she took the vase from him. "do you want to come in?"

"Sure," he replied, walking in when she stepped aside for him. Closing the door, she placed the little vase on her desk.

"It's pretty. Thank you so much!" she gushed.

"You're welcome...uh, do me a favor and read the card in the morning, will you?" he requested, sitting down on her bed.

"Sure," she replied, climbing onto his lap.

"Why are you up so late?" he asks, wrapping one arm around her torso and raking his fingers through her dark hair.

"I had a nightmare," she admits, leaning against him.

"Wanna talk about it?" he asks, putting his chin on top of her head.

"It's the same one I've been having. The one where I was taken over by dark matter," she answers.

"How do you feel about it?" he asks, laying down with her next to him.

"It's over. I should move on, right? But it's hard. Before that whole incident happened, never in a million years would I have thought I'd lose control over myself like that," she whispers, "I hurt the ones I love. I can't forgive myself for what I've done."

"If you won't forgive yourself, then let me do it for you," he mumbled, his voice growing groggy.

She sighed heavily, relaxing in his hold. "I'll try."

He smirked, his eyelids growing heavier with each passing second.

Can I just vent for a second?

So, I had this realization a few days ago, and it made me cry. No one in real life listens to me!

I consider myself to be way too empathetic for my own good. It's why I joined Criminal Justice. I want to help other people and fight people who hurt or kill innocents for their own good. It pisses me the hell off.

Whenever I try to speak up, I either get cut off, talked over, shut down, or ignored. What's ironic is that it's mostly my friends. Closest ones, too.

I know for a fact I'm not the only one with this problem. I bet a lot of you don't get listened to, either. I feel really selfish bitching about it here, too! Like, why, though? I mean, I'm a person! You're a person! We all deserve to be listened to!

If you ever need to vent, rage, or just someone to talk to...I am here. You can talk to me! I don't care about what! I want you to know that I will listen to you! Just PM me or drop a review and I'll listen! I don't care what it's about. Politics, problems in the world, a new fandom, whatever! You're a person and you deserve to be listened to. Please please please just PM me/review. I will listen! I know what it's like.

Actually...thinking on that, I have an idea. What if I started a story where we could all just vent? Like, you guys could drop reviews and then I could write something up in the ninja's POV.

I don't know. Please, just know I'm here to listen. I love you guys, you've supported me for soooooo very long now!

Anyways, thank you for hearing me out. Happy holidays, too, and know that Circus4APsycho8 will eat until she hates herself in honor of all of you.