A Touch of the Master's Hand

Face the Music

Cole hesitated, but slowly made his way to the sleeping form of Kai. As he sprayed the cure-all into his face, Kai's brow wrinkled and he shivered.

Good, he was responding. That was something.

Lloyd moaned and managed to wheeze, "Dad?"

Cole glanced over his shoulder at Garmadon holding up Lloyd like one would lift a baby out of a crib.

"Don't you worry, Luh-loyd," Garmadon said. "Daddy's got everything under control. You just let the cure-all do its thing, and you're gunna be alright. You're gunna be alright!"

He sounded just a little nervous about the "alright" part, but Cole figured he was pretty confident about the "under control" part as Meowthra continued playing cat and tiny monkey with Kinkomi behind the wall.

Cole made a face.

He was starting to feel woozy. Maybe it was at last having relief after the past two exhausting days, but then maybe it was the cure-all itself. He could not help but consider the possibility that even still Garmadon did not know what he was talking about and that his cure-all would do nothing, but he let it pass. Raising a sleepy eye to Garmadon he said, "How long should we let Meowthra have at it with the monkeys?"

"Oh," said Garmadon with a shrug of little concern. "When the banana bling breaks."

There was a sharp, high-pitched shattering sound, and despite his concern for Lloyd, Garmadon grinned simultaneously with Kinkomi's too familiar shriek.

"That'd be now!" said Garmadon. He turned to Cole as he set Lloyd gently down and said sternly, "Take care of my son, ninja."

Cole nodded.

Garmadon thought a few seconds with two hands behind his back, one on the hip and the fourth scratching his chin. Then he muttered, "Well, if you can stay awake. Mmph. It'll only take a second."

As Garmadon made his way deftly up the wall, Cole saw that the monkeys who had remained loyal to Kinkomi during the fight were now fleeing as fast as they could. Jumping over the wall, they scattered in all direction not paying the least bit attention to the ninja below.

"They're leaving!" said Cole.

"They were only obedient to the banana charm, not Kinky," called Garmadon back. "Now that it's broken I just saved the whole Island of Ninjago from ever having to deal with a monkey invasion again." And he chuckled to himself.

Cole ran to help Lloyd who was stooping strangely from where Garmadon had perched him. He stopped, though. He heard rising above the sound of the monkey shrieks and the sobs of Kinkomi, a pleasantly familiar hum. He knew it instantly.

It was the engines of the Destiny's Bounty!

As eagerly as a Tolkien warrior to the sound of the Eagles' cry, he spun around and looked up. A smile quickly appeared on his face. The sound of Master's Wu flute was accompanying it too, which made Cole feel even more content. He was getting sleepier, and he did not bother about how Garmadon gloated over the defeated Kinkomi or how he patted the great cat which had been immune to any powder thrown into her face.

He could not believe that there was ever a time when he had been annoyed by the sound of music. It had been very short-lived, and it had been the sound of that very flute, which had been the instrument of curing him of such a malevolent ailment. Music was his life now, after all, even if it was not his career. Sure, it had only been in high school that he became a music mixer, but he had re-mastered his singing ability— much to his father's pleasure and he was decent at the piano, but it was more than that.

Long before high school, he had absolutely fallen in love with Wu's flute playing, but he had begun to hear music even when it was not being playing in the traditional sense. It was the wind in the trees, the bubbling of stream, and the roar of the falls. It was the very drum beat of his heart, and as the cure-all took its course, he began to feel his heart beat more and more and it was like a steady soft drum to go along with Master Wu's flute. His eyes grew heavy and he slumped against Lloyd with a dreamy smile upon his face.

It was interesting to note, that Master Wu was playing "Hey, Brother". It was difficult to say whether it was in jest down to Garmadon as a sort of greeting or if it was something deeper than that. It was always kind of difficult to tell with Master Wu, but as far as Cole considered it, it was probably both. After all he played "Happy Little Working Song" the first time Cole begrudgingly did his ninja chores before he could even see a weapon and had to keep on dealing with his heart sighing for one in the meantime.

Cole chuckled to himself, and he soon was fast asleep.