Chapter 5: Bad Luck

Jay opened his eyes a slit.

Bright, yellow sunlight assaulted his eyeballs, and he closed them again. What time was it? Why did everyone let him sleep so late? Why did he feel… so… tight? Like there was a rock in his stomach, or a knot in his chest; it was fear and anxiety, but almost like it belonged to someone-

Cole.

He remembered, shooting up into a sitting position- and screamed in surprise when he saw Nya sitting in a chair by his bedside.

Nya gasped. "You're finally awake!" She was at the door in a matter of seconds, and called, "Guys, he's awake!"

The other three ninja appeared in the threshold to Cole's bedroom almost instantly, but all four were hesitant to approach any further for fear of startling the skittish spirit that was their brother. Jay stared helplessly back at them, his own anxiety flooding his chest until he was fit to burst.

Finally, Nya dared to take a few steps closer to the bed. "Cole?"

Jay shook his head miserably. "No. It's Jay."

Zane, Lloyd, and Kai took this as their cue to enter the room, and Zane shut the door behind them for privacy's sake.

Nya frowned. "But, if Cole's possessing you, then shouldn't he be the one speaking to us?"

Jay shrugged jerkily, his panic bleeding into his movements. "I don't know. He's… he's inside me. I feel him, but… I thought he'd be the one controlling my body." He glanced at Lloyd. "Like Morro."

"We must look at this logically," Zane announced, though the furrowed brow gave way to his worry. "Morro was a very powerful ghost, more powerful than Cole even in his original state, and we've already established that Cole was somehow weakened considerably after his contact with water."

"Zane's right," Lloyd confirmed. To Jay, he explained, "When Morro was possessing me… it was like he was constantly holding me down, keeping me away from my own body. He was like an all-encompassing force that I had to fight just for a second of control. It was suffocating." Lloyd shuddered, and Kai squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. The Green Ninja shook himself out of his memories and asked, "How do you feel now?"

Jay pondered the question, rubbing his chest like it ached. "It's not like that at all. I can feel him, sure, but he's… small. And, I have complete control." Jay sighed, dropping his gaze to his lap that still had the black blanket draped over it. "I guess I didn't help Cole at all. Having him trapped inside me isn't much better than-"

"Hey, what happened to ninja never quit?" Nya challenged, sitting on the bed in front of Jay. "So, we try something else. If Cole can't take control, then give it to him."

The blue ninja picked sulkily at the blanket, rubbing the fleece between his fingers. "I don't know how to 'give it to him.'"

"Where did your inventor mind go? We start small and work our way up," she reached and touched Jay's wrist gently, causing the blue ninja to reluctantly meet her gaze. "Try talking to him. Lloyd, you and Morro shared some sort of mental link, right?"

The Green Ninja nodded. "I could see a little into his head, just like he could see into mine," he grimaced. "Not exactly a fun place."

Jay huffed. "Fine." He closed his eyes, feeling silly. "Cole? Can you hear me?"

...Jay...?

Jay yelped, making everyone in the room start. "Cole!" He shouted excitedly. "Wait, you know my name?"

"What is he saying, Jay?" Zane asked, all of them waiting with bated breath and wide eyes.

Jay stared back at the nindroid, confused, "What, you guys didn't hear that? He said my name, clear as day!"

"You can speak to each other in your mind," Lloyd clarified. "Not that Morro and I spent a lot of time chatting, but it did happen."

"Okay, let me try," Jay closed his eyes again, focusing on forming each individual word in his head, visualizing them, and then broadcasting them.

Cole? Are you there?

And then, his brother's voice, as warm and familiar and comforting as it always had been.

Yeah, Jay. I'm here.

Jay gasped, clutching a hand to his chest. A euphoric grin graced his features. "I hear him." The others sagged with relief, but before they could respond, Jay continued. "I'm going to try to let him control my body now."

Jay closed his eyes again to help him focus. He found the experience almost impossible to describe. It was something deep inside him- something there but not really there; not physical, but perhaps spiritual- and with that he reached out to Cole's soul, trying to submit, to take his place in the back of his mind, to-

Suddenly, Jay was looking out of his body as if through a tunnel. He was still there- Nya was still there in front of him, and the guys were hovering nervously to his left- but the movements, the now rapidly beating heart, even the breath, were not his own. It wasn't scary, though; at least, not in the way Lloyd described it. Jay likened Cole's soul to a child he was holding on his shoulders. Sure, the child was above him, but he could set him down at any time and reassume control. Instead of being held down, he was helping Cole up.

The others must have noticed a change come over Jay, because Nya, touching his wrist again, whispered, "Cole?"

Cole nodded absently. He peered at each of the ninja in turn with an expression of consternation, raising a hand to his cheek as if testing his ability to touch and shocked that he could feel anything at all.

Finally, he returned his gaze to his hands- Jay's hands- before looking up with a shadow of a smile on his face.

"I remember."

Kai, speaking up for the first time, stepped forward and squeezed Cole's shoulder like he was afraid the ghost would slip right through his fingers. "Are you saying…?"

Cole laid his opposite hand on top of Kai's, still trying to get used to not phasing through everything he touched. "Kai," he announced, his tone was full of recognition, affection, and… happiness. Shrugging sheepishly, though the smile didn't drop from his face, he elaborated, "It's… hazy in some places, and I'm missing a few pieces here and there, but yeah. I remember." He squeezed Kai's hand. "I'm Cole."

And then Kai was hugging him, and then everyone was hugging him, piling on top of him so they all collapsed onto the floor laughing and crying just a little bit until Cole complained that he couldn't breathe and then laughed some more because he needed to breathe for the first time in months but it was okay- everything was okay- because finally, finally, he was back, he was here, he was home.

Eventually, they found themselves gathered in a loose circle on the floor, more or less around the chalk seal where Cole had first appeared to them. Nya, watching Cole study his new body in perplexity- the less muscular, more lithe frame, the paler skin, even the unfamiliar blue gi- mustered up the courage to ask the question everyone was thinking but no one wanted to verbalize in case it would shatter this wonderful, fledgling illusion.

"How?" She whispered.

Cole looked up at her with Jay's eyes, and she found it a bit unsettling that, really, she couldn't know who she was talking to for sure. "How do I remember?" He pressed his mouth into a line, thinking. "It's like… How do I put this? It's like I have all these half-memories- like in a dream when you know something happened, and you can almost see it, but you don't really remember. Jay's memories," he tapped his head, lip quirking fondly at the mention of the brother who gave up so much for him, "connect the dots for me."

"So, you only remember what Jay remembers?" Lloyd asked.

"Pretty much."

"So, you cannot recall any memories from your childhood?" Zane checked, hand on his chin like he was trying to figure out the purpose of some new piece of machinery.

Cole's face was blank before, for the first time since his return, his smile dropped and he fidgeted nervously with his sleeve. "Something about dancing."

The other four shared concerned glances, but, for Cole's sake, managed to keep their panic at bay.

"Like I said, possession was never supposed to be a permanent solution," Lloyd began gently. "There has to be a way to restore you to the way you were before. You don't know what happened to you?"

Cole closed his eyes like he was trying to remember. "I fell in the water. When I woke up, I felt, like, a pull toward the Destiny's Bounty, but I couldn't remember anything. I knew this place was familiar, but…," he touched a hand to his chest. "I don't know what happened in between. I feel… emptier than I was before. Less solid. Kinda like I'm constantly… hungry?" He opened his eyes and offered an only partially forced grin. "Which isn't that different from how I was before, but…,"

Everyone laughed at the joke, even though no one really felt like laughing anymore.

"Speaking of hunger," Zane began, standing up. "You- well, you two- haven't had lunch yet! I will make a celebratory feast in honor of your return, Cole!" And, with that, the nindroid rushed out of the room, eager to begin the task he had set out for himself.

The others laughed at Zane's antics, also standing. "You always did appreciate his cooking the most, Cole," Nya pointed out, elbowing him.

"Believe me, I can't wait," Cole said. "I'm- er, we're starving."

Lloyd and Nya left the bedroom as well, and Cole made to follow- until he felt a hand lock onto his arm.

He turned back to Kai, who seemed distinctly uncomfortable even if anything further was indiscernible from his expression. "What's up?"

"Cole, I'm really, really happy you're back, but I need to talk to Jay," The red ninja replied, not meeting his eyes. As an afterthought, he added, "If that's okay."

"Yeah, of course," Cole nodded then closed his eyes.

Jay's body tensed up, leaning almost imperceptibly away from Kai. When he opened his eyes, they were guilty and wary, and Kai knew he was speaking to Jay without the blue ninja saying a word.

"It was okay for you to hit me before, Kai," Jay prefaced, watching Kai's fists like a hawk. "But, Cole's in here now, so-"

Kai yanked him into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Jay."

Jay blinked, unable to process this newest development. "Um. What?"

Kai pulled away, and- and were there tears in his eyes? "I-I blamed you for what happened to Cole, but yesterday when you let him possess you, I thought… I thought that I had chosen one brother over the other, that I made you think I wanted Cole here instead of you." He shook his head. "And, maybe I did too- at some point- but then last night I couldn't sleep because I thought you were gone and… I'm sorry. You were in just as much pain as the rest of us- probably more- and I should have never taken it out on you."

Jay, still not quite believing what he was hearing, said slowly, "No, you had every right to. I deserve it."

"It was an accident," Kai offered a wan smile. "And, you've more than made up for it by doing this for him."

They stared at each other a moment longer before Jay let a small smile grow on his face. "Thanks, Kai."

The red ninja nodded once, clearing his throat to get rid of any leftover huskiness. Satisfied the bridge between them had been repaired, he turned toward the door. "You coming?"

"Yeah- in a second."

Kai gave him an appraising look but ultimately nodded again and left the room.

Jay stood frozen in the middle of the bedroom for a moment, then almost robotically, like he had just been thawed after being frozen for a very long time, he moved to sit gingerly on the edge of the bed.

"Cole?"

What is it, Jay?

It was almost surreal: Jay felt his own emotions like he always had, but there behind the curtain were Cole's, pushing against his own, filling in all the gaps in his own soul. He could feel Cole's worry rising in response to the change in mood and catch glimpses- impressions- of his thoughts. It was as if he was existing in two places at once. It was disorienting but overall not an unwelcome feeling.

"I'm just really glad you're back," Jay finally admitted, rubbing hurriedly at his eyes with his sleeve since he knew letting the tears fall now would burn his skin.

Me too. And, you know how grateful I am, Jay sensed the "but" even before Cole said it. He couldn't see his brother, but he imagined Cole there, leaning against the bedpost and fixing him with that knowing gaze he always seemed to direct toward Jay. But, you can't be happy like this.

"What's there not to be happy about?" Jay replied out loud, cocking his head in confusion. "I have my best friend back who actually remembers me now. Besides, you can see into my head, so you know I'm not lying."

I can see that you think you're happy, Cole replied, and Jay rolled his eyes before he could stop himself. Already they were falling back into old habits, and it was the most incredible feeling in the world. But, no one can be happy giving up their body, Jay. Besides, Cole's voice became much quieter. You also feel guilty.

"No matter what you say about 'not wanting to be a burden' or 'wanting me to happy' or whatever, Cole, I know you really don't want to leave my body."

There was a moment of silence.

Well, can you blame me?

Jay sighed, wishing his brother could just be here and whole again. But, he wasn't, and Jay was going to do whatever it took to hold on to what little of him was left. "Look, like Lloyd said, it's not a permanent solution, okay? Can we please just try to enjoy the fact that you're back instead of dwelling on everything that's still wrong?"

In response, Cole pressed for control, and Jay gladly gave it to him. "Sure. But, I'm driving."

As the ninja settled around the dining table for their late lunch (which was really closer to dinner at this point), Master Wu and Misako appeared, putting each of them on their guard. They couldn't let their sensei know they had disobeyed his direct orders.

"What's all this?" Master Wu asked, studying the elaborate meal and table setting. Not having time to switch places inconspicuously, Cole smiled awkwardly in his best imitation of Jay when the Spinjitzu master's shrewd gaze landed on him, heart almost beating out of his chest.

"So," Master Wu sighed. "Jay is being possessed by Cole."

There was a chorus of five groans.

"How did you know?" Kai asked.

"I'm old, not deaf," Master Wu stated. "The Summoning Spell you performed last night could wake the dead, which is, in fact, its intention." He waved a hand in Cole's direction. "Besides, Cole could not be a convincing Jay if his life depended on it."

Cole threw his hands in the air. "I didn't even say anything!"

"It's written all over your face."

"Are you angry?" Lloyd asked, preemptively wincing.

"Angry that you disobeyed me? Yes." There was a twinkle in his eye as he laid a fond hand on Cole's shoulder and squeezed. "Angry that Cole is here now? No, of course not."

The meal was the most cheerful one they'd had in what felt like years, because for now, they were whole and safe and happy again. Cole was ravenous and ate accordingly, though Jay called him a pig from the back of his mind. They reminisced, and in this way, tested the ghost's memory: the Tournament of Elements was a blur, as was everything in his life before he met Jay, but most of the adventures they'd had as a team were still whole and fresh in his mind. Most importantly, his personality, his values, the person he was at his core, were all intact, and they were more than happy to talk with this Cole than the shadow of him they had spoken to during the Summoning Spell last night.

"What about your elemental powers?" Lloyd asked. "Can you still use them?"

To answer, Cole cupped his hands together and stared intensely at the space there. Eventually, a small pile of dirt appeared.

He gasped, almost dropping his newly created earth. "I did it! I didn't lose it!"

"Well, that's something I never thought I'd see!" Kai exclaimed. "Jay, Master of Earth!"

"It makes sense that Cole would still possess his elemental powers, even in Jay's body," Zane concluded. "After all, Morro still controlled the wind when he possessed Lloyd."

The Green Ninja shivered and grumbled, "And now I get goosebumps every time I feel a breeze."

"It's not that amazing, guys," Jay complained, taking over from Cole. "Lightning is obviously a way better element than earth anyway."

Jay then turned around and scoffed at himself, indicating his alter ego's arrival, "Ha! Earthquakes do way more damage than thunderstorms."

Jay rebutted yet again, "Yeah, well at least lightning is beautiful and powerful. Everyone stops to watch lightning in the sky. Dirt is ugly and messy."

Cole narrowed his eyes, "You need earth. You live on it. Who needs lightning? It only lasts a second."

"Rarer things are more valuable! We walk all over earth!"

"Exactly! It's underappreciated by puny little lightning masters who think-"

"Okay, guys, enough!" Nya shouted, shaking Jay's arm to snap him out of it. She might have stopped the fight earlier, but all of them were way too entertained watching Jay hold an entire two-sided argument seemingly by himself. "How are you guys going to share a body if you can't even get along?"

"We get along just fine!" Jay claimed, grinning to prove it. "Right, Cole?"

Cole took over and rolled his eyes while saying sarcastically, "Yeah. Just peachy."

"We'll be fine," Jay insisted, glaring at the space in front of him that was apparently Cole's placeholder.

"It's not going to be like this forever," Lloyd assured, pounding his fist into the opposite hand. "Tomorrow, we'll start searching for a way to restore Cole so he doesn't have to share a body with you anymore, Jay."

The blue ninja shrugged. "Okay."

"In the meantime, you guys want to watch a movie?" Kai asked. "I would suggest video games, but Cole kind of ruined that idea…,"

"I said I was sorry, okay?" Cole protested playfully, elbowing Kai. "But, Jay and I are going to pass. We're pretty tired."

"But, you slept all morning!" Lloyd pointed out, disappointed.

"Jay does have to carry two souls inside him now," Zane stated. "He would probably need more energy than usual, which would explain the increased slumber and calorie intake. I imagine it was the same for you and Morro."

Lloyd scratched the back of his head, thinking. "Well… not really. Then again, that whole time is kind of hazy for me…,"

"You guys can argue about slumber and food all you want," Cole said, standing and heading toward the entrance of the kitchen. "We're going to bed."

He waved a hand over his shoulder to reciprocate the chorus of "goodnights." Immediately upon entering their bedroom, he collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Jay vomited for the third time, clutching the sides of the toilet as Cole tried to exude comforting feelings in the stead of physically being there to rub his back or get him a glass of water.

Once he was sure he was finished, Jay flushed and slumped back against the bathtub that was across from the toilet.

"That steak must have been undercooked," Jay muttered, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Of course, it was your fault for making me eat the whole thing."

We share a body now. If I'm starving, you're starving, Cole replied. Though his tone was playful, Jay could feel the ghost's unease twisting his stomach just as much as the bug making him throw up at two in the morning was. But, I know my steak, Jay. That one wasn't undercooked.

"Food poisoning then," Jay amended, eying the tile floor and wondering if it would be even remotely comfortable to just curl up and sleep here instead of trying to make the mile-long journey back to his bedroom.

Food poisoning? I don't think so.

"Well, I wasn't aware you were an expert in food-borne illnesses," Jay shot back, whimpering as his stomach cramped again. "It's just food poisoning and bad luck for us, okay Cole?"

Yeah…, Cole agreed as Jay scrambled to lean over the toilet once again. Just bad luck…