Cole tried to help with preparing the temple, but was still adjusting to his new body, and hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. He was eventually banished to one of the bedrooms to rest. So he was resting, but his mind was too active to properly sleep. He had been trying to listen to music, but even with his phone on the lowest volume setting, it was uncomfortably loud. He currently had his ear buds laying on the bedding, a cm or so away from each ear, which was kind of working? But meant he had to lie perfectly still.
There is a knock at the door, one which was probably very gentle, but still caused Cole to startle. "Yeah…"
Zane slides opens the door, and looks at Cole lying in-between the two earbuds. "What are you doing?" Zane asks with a frown. "They are meant to go in your ears."
"It's too loud." says Cole, sitting up and picking up the ear buds.
Zane holds his hand out for Cole's phone. "I know an app which I think would help."
Cole hands over his phone. Zane taps away for a moment and then hands it back. "Try now."
Cole slips one earbud into his ear and presses play on the music. "Wow, that's actually a lot better. Now I feel like an idiot for what I was doing before…"
Zane smiles, "I am happy to have been of assistance."
Cole takes the earbuds out again. "Surely you didn't come here just to help me with my phone?"
"Your presence is required in the dining room." states Zane.
"Sure." says Cole, standing up. His legs were still a bit sore, but functional. He was more steady than yesterday. "But before we go, I need your help with something very important."
Zane cocks his head to the side. "How else can I be of assistance?"
Cole wraps his arms around Zane, feeling his cool metallic skin. Zane returns the favour, wrapping arms around Cole, matching Cole's firmness. "I guess you missed this?" asks Zane.
"More than you could possibly imagine." says Cole.
They stay like that for a while, before Zane reminds Cole, "The others are waiting, we should not keep them waiting too long."
"Oh, right, let's go."
As soon as Zane leads him out of the room, Cole realises what this is about. The sweet scent of chocolate wafting through the temple; Zane had made a cake. Finally!
When they get to the dining room he sees everyone gathered around the low table, upon which sits an extravagant looking chocolate cake.
"Yes!" says Cole, enthusiastically pumping his fist in the air as he sits down at the remaining empty spot.
"We thought about saving it for tonight," says Zane, "but didn't think you would be able to wait."
"We know you are still recovering," says Wu, "but the return of your body, and the freeing of Yang's students, both deserve celebration. We are very proud of you Cole, and grateful to have you returned to us."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm awesome, let's eat already!" says Cole, unable to keep his eyes away from the cake for long. Zane was right, if he had seen this, there was no way he would be able to wait until after dinner.
Jay snorts. Wu sighs. Zane starts cutting up the cake. Lloyd is staring at Cole with a concerned frown. Cole ignores it, taking a plate from Zane. He eagerly takes a large chunk with his cake fork, and puts it in his mouth. He immediately regrets this decision as he just about chokes on the flavour. It's too sweet. It's waaaay too sweet. He forces himself to swallow, with minimal chewing, just to get the thing out of his mouth as soon as possible, and not wanting to spit up cake in front of everyone. But the icing seems to be stuck everywhere! He grabs the nearest glass of water, not caring who's it is, to try and wash the flavour away.
"Is everything ok?" asks Zane. Cole looks up and realises the entire room is staring at him.
"Yeah, it's just…" Cole gives a small cough. "Went down the wrong way?"
"It's too sweet, isn't it?" asks Lloyd after swallowing his own mouthful with a bit more dignity.
Cole lets out a sigh. "Yeah…" He pushes the plate away slightly, and leans crossed arms on the table, staring at the offending snack.
"Told you so." says Lloyd. "We should have waited."
"Lloyd, is now really the time?" says Nya, gesturing to Cole.
"The cake will keep for a few days at least." says Zane.
"Only if you hide it." says Jay with a full mouth. "Damn, this is good! Ow!"
Nya elbows Jay in the side.
"Dammit." Cole mumbles into his sleeve. "What if I…?" He reaches out and dips his pinky into the icing, getting a very small quantity, and puts that in his mouth. It was better than before, but still just tasted sickly sweet. He groans in frustration.
"Hey, um, at least you don't need your sunnies anymore?" says Kai.
"Yay, what an achievement!" says Cole sarcastically.
Wu had taken only a small slice of cake. "Maybe this is a blessing in disguise." he states, while stroking his beard. "Your consumption of sweets in the past has been borderline excessive. It is easy to forget that one's body is like a temple, it needs a strong foundation."
Jay points a cake fork at Wu. "Chocolate cake would make a much better foundation for a temple than broccoli, the icing is basically mortar."
"I do not think that is what Wu meant." says Zane.
"I'm just saying!" says Jay, mouth full once more.
Despite the short notice, all of the invited guests manage to make their way to the temple in time for dinner. Even with the meagre kitchen Zane is able to cook up a feast, and they all find themselves sitting around a campfire, sharing tales, full of warmth and belonging.
"So, what exactly happened here?" Asks Ronin, while sipping on a flask he had brought with him. Everyone turns to Cole and he realises there hadn't been time yet to go over it in full.
He scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, it's quite a tale." He lets out a sigh, trying to figure out where to start, and what to leave out. He doesn't leave out much, just avoids mentioning the master of the house thing, Yang pushing him into the void because he realised they weren't both going to make it.
When Cole finishes telling his tale he glances over towards the temple. "Yup, no ghosts here." he says trying not to let doubt creep into his voice. For a moment he thinks he catches a glimpse of Yang, but when he blinks it vanishes. He frowns, eyes darting over the building, but Yang was gone, if he even was there to begin with…
"Cole, are you ok?" The touch of Lou's arm on his own pulls Cole out of his thoughts, startling slightly. "Sorry…" says Cole. "Still a little sensitive I guess. I'm fine."
They do end up lighting lanterns, Cole relieved that he was able to do this with his dad. They had done it every year since his mum passed. He had worried that this year his dad might have needed to light two lanterns… a tear runs down his face at the thought. Lou wraps an arm around Cole's shoulder as they watch the lanterns rise into the dark sky. Cole leans into it. Oh how he had missed this.
"I was so scared." he whispers to his father. "I, I thought, when I couldn't hold on anymore, at least I would be able to see her again. But now…" Cole reaches a hand up to the sky, showing how far out of reach the lanterns were. "She feels so far away again."
"She is patient." says Lou. "You'll see her again, there is no reason to rush."
Cole nods. He knows that, oh how he knows that, but it was still somewhat unsettling shifting from living day by day to being able to think of long term plans once more.
"She'd be so proud of you." says Lou.
"I know. But thanks." Cole leans on his father as the lanterns get further away.
That night given how late it was, people stayed over. Quite a few futon were stashed in the cupboards, and extra linen was brought over from the bounty. People spread out over multiple rooms; Wu, Misako, Lou and Ronin in one room. Ed, Edna, Jay and Nya in another, and Cole, Zane, Kai, Lloyd and Dareth in the third. Dareth was keen to sleep with the ninja, given his status as brown ninja.
Jay gets back from brushing his teeth and sees Nya sitting up on the edge of her futon, clutching at the pajamas over her chest. His parents are on the other side of the room, already fast asleep. Edna has a crocheted eye mask, and Ed is snoring away. Jay notices Nya has moved her futon to be right up against his own.
"Hey, are you ok?" he asks quietly while sitting down next to her, not wanting to wake his parents.
She hesitates, glancing at the Walkers before looking around the rest of the room.
"You don't have to sleep here if you don't want," offers Jay gently, "my dad's snoring can get pretty loud." He chuckles nervously.
Nya shakes her head. "It's not that." She continues to clutch at her chest with one hand, the other resting on the bed. Jay moves his hand to cover the one on the bed, and she lets out a small sigh, clinging to it eagerly.
"Then what?"
Nya looks around the room again. "Everything looks so different. I, I can't tell which room it was."
Jay lets out a small sigh. He still hadn't told her everything that happened when he was held captive, but he also didn't know exactly what she went through. It wasn't as long, she wasn't as hurt, at least physically… but it did happen here. "We don't have to stay."
Nya shakes her head again, leaning onto Jay. "I'm ok. It's just weird. Everything's different. I can't figure it out." They had kept her mostly in the one room, so she didn't have a great understanding of the temple layout. All the rooms looked very similar in the symmetrical building. Simple tatami with sliding cupboards.
"It wasn't this room." says Jay, his calm voice soothing her nerves. "I climbed up the back when I came to find you. Those windows open to the front." He points over to the shutters, and her eyes follow, then jump back to his face. Gently illuminated by moonlight, he looked calm, he looked confident. If Jay was here, she knew it wasn't back then. If Jay was here, she knew she was safe.
She leans over again, nuzzling into his shoulder. "Please, I just need you to hold me tonight…" It felt so pathetic asking so bluntly. Two strong arms wrap around her, pushing any uncertainty out of her mind. A gentle kiss felt through her hair.
"Whatever you need. I'm here. I love you."
Her heart stutters. Was that the first time he had said it? Possibly not the most romantic setting, what with his parents snoring in the background, but she could hardly complain after giving her big love confession right before being taken captive by Nadakhan. She revels in his embrace for a moment longer before whispering, "I love you too."
Cole was exhausted despite his nap earlier. His body was still recovering from the transformation. At least his head had been relatively pain free all day. He falls asleep quickly, surrounded by the comfort of his friends.
"Cole…"
Cole wearily opens his eyes and sees Yang standing at the foot of his futon. He feels his heart rate increase as he glances around the room searching for his sleeping friends, but the room was otherwise empty.
"Wha- is this real? Or is it a dream?" His mind feels hazy and sluggish, like he had just woken up, but Yang didn't have the eerie green glow that was typical of ghosts.
"It's a real dream." says Yang.
Cole grunts as he sits up. He wasn't normally so lucid while dreaming, something didn't feel right.
"You finally came back." states Yang.
"Of course I came back!" says Cole with frustration. "It's what you wanted, right? You wanted me to come back here?"
Yang frowns. "What I wanted?"
"Just tell me what I'm supposed to do. Tell me why I have this?" Cole gestures to his forehead.
Yang stands there mouth agape, furrowed brow as he stares at the scar. "You don't even realise what you've done…"
"What?" Cole's head throbs, and he groans. He had been enjoying it not doing that.
"Cole…" that voice wasn't Yang's?
A cold hand on his arm makes him startle, jumping to the side, pulling his arm away.
Lloyd is crouched beside him, arm outstretched. "Cole, are you ok? It sounded like you were talking to someone?"
Cole rapidly glances around the room. Yang was gone, and that hazy feeling was lifted. Kai and Zane were still in their futons, but looking on with concern. Dareth was snoring peacefully in the corner. "Just a dream." Cole mumbles, closing his eyes, forcing his body to relax. He takes a couple deep breaths before opening his eyes again. Lloyd is still staring. "You, um, didn't see any ghosts right?" asks Cole.
Lloyd shakes his head. "No, it looked like you were talking in your sleep, but then you sat up. It sounded like a nightmare."
"It's not the first time we've heard him talk in his sleep." says Kai with a yawn. His hair hangs down loosely, lacking the usual gel.
"I was dreaming of Yang." says Cole. "But it's probably nothing. I'm sure you dreamt of Morro for a while after?"
Lloyd glances down. "Yeah…"
"I'm fine, just, go back to sleep."
"With pleasure." mumbles Kai, rolling over.
Zane nods, and does the same.
Lloyd gives one last worried glance at Cole before heading back to his own futon. "It was glowing again." he whispers.
"It does that." says Cole, trying not to worry the kid, while feeling his own chest tighten at the revelation. Was I actually speaking to Yang? But no one else could see him? Cole sighs, he would talk to sensei Wu in the morning.
The next morning over breakfast Dareth is telling them all about how upset Dr Saunders was about the mess at the museum. Lloyd offers to help, build some good will with the community. I guess talking to Wu can wait until we get back… muses Cole, before getting ready to head out.