The second time Cole sings in Wu's hearing, believe it or not, is for young Lloyd. The boy's woken up crying for the third time this week, and Cole's shushed the others back to bed with the promise that he'll handle it. Wu, once again, watches just away from the corridor's exit into the living room of the Bounty. It's dark, and Cole flicks on the lamp before pulling the cushions off the couch and fashioning a little nest for him and Lloyd. Wu almost laughs to himself for his earlier thoughts– if Cole looks young, Lloyd is a child, dwarfed by the blankets he piles onto himself, giving one to Cole after a moment's hesitation.

"You wanna talk about it?" Cole prompts after a moment, voice husky with sleep. Wu's heart goes out to him– neither of them are naturally skilled at empathy, preferring to heal their own wounds and avoid others'. He's glad for Cole's sake he's learning early how to overcome those natural tendencies. Wu himself wasn't so lucky. He'll live with the guilt of his blunders forever. But Cole… Cole's future as a leader, at least for now, is promising.

Lloyd mumbles something salty in response. Cole just sighs, dragging his hands over his face. "Look, kid. I want you— you know we all care about you, okay?"

Lloyd huffs.

"But it's late, and you did wake us all up, so if–"

"Justgimmeaminuteokay?!"

Wu's mind jerks at the sudden change of tone, and his sharp ears pick up Jay's complaining and Zane's hushing from the other room. But Cole doesn't react harshly, instead shrugging and leaning back.

"Take all the time you need, kid. I'm here."

A couple minutes pass, and Lloyd seems to make a valiant effort to compose himself and speak, tear-stained cheeks glinting in the warm light. But every time his mouth opens, he seems to rethink it, sitting for a few moments before clamping his mouth right back shut. Cole, meanwhile, stretches out on the cushions, feet hanging off the end of one onto the floor and head cushioned on his arms. As Wu watches, he drags Lloyd down with him, so they're both staring at the ceiling.

And then Cole starts humming.

"What's– what's that?" Lloyd asks. Cole stops. "No– don't– I just mean it sounded cool."

"It is." Cole smiles, and to Wu's surprise it's genuine. "My mom used to sing it every time I got down on myself. You mind?"

"Singing's lame." Lloyd grunts, but after a moment he relents. "Well, don't stop!"

Cole huffs something that could either be a laugh or a curse, ruffling Lloyd's hair until he complains, and then resettles. A moment passes, and he begins to sing, tapping the beat on his chest lightly. "Don't have to be a hero to save the world, it doesn't make you a narcissist to love yourself. It feels like nothin' is easy, and it'll never be, but that's alright, let it out, talk to me."

"This feels pointed." Lloyd huffs. Cole just smiles and continues.

Towards the end of the song, Cole's voice finally starting to lose its sleep-induced flatness, Lloyd stops him. "I, uh… the dream was about fighting my dad."

"It was?" Cole asks, still humming.

"Mhm." Lloyd pauses for a moment, then all in a rush: "He won. It was… it was really bad, and I really don't want that to happen, and I don't feel ready, and–"

"Ready for what?"

Wu can't help the way his face contorts at Cole's question. He knows Lloyd's destiny, he should know–

Oh. Oh, Cole is so much better at this than Wu thought he was. He's going to overflow with pride any moment now.

Lloyd, however, doesn't seem to catch Cole's plotting. He gives a frustrated groan, throwing his hands up towards the ceiling. "Fighting my dad! Being the green ninja! Having powers? I dunno! All of this is so new, and so weird, and I should be happy, 'cause this is awesome, and you guys are way better than the kids at Darkley's but if you tell Kai I said that I'll kill you–"

"Noted." Cole mutters, by some miracle managing to keep the humor out of his voice.

Wu leaves his nephew in the capable hands of Cole then, retreating to his study to meditate. He hears quiet laughter, some time later, and in the morning there's two dirty plates in the sink and two adorable students curled up on the couch under about fifty blankets, with Jay's father (now there's a can of worms if Wu's ever seen one) still flashing over the TV.

A/N: Second chapter in one day!

Thank goodness he inherited his mother's heart, Wu thinks, snapping a quick picture before waking them up.