Evil Kai AU - Kai and Morro

Chapter 3: Cole's comfort

"What?! Why?!" Cole exclaimed, shocked by Wu's statement. "Call the other ninja to my room.. except Kai. I have some explaining to do.." Cole just nodded, feeling very suspicious of Master Wu's behaviour. He walked away and called each ninja to Wu's room, just as told.

"What is it Master? Where is Kai?" asked Jay, who was helping Lloyd stand, along with Zane. "Kai is resting. He almost got possessed by Morro." The ninja, except Cole gasped. "Is my brother okay?!" asked Nya, who was steering the Bounty. Wu nodded. "He is fine, but he is not safe to be around anymore."

The ninja were confused. "What do you mean Kai isn't safe to be around with?!" Jay asked, seeming like he was starting to panic. Wu sighed. "I am afraid that Morro found a new target when he possessed Kai. You know... Kai and Morro aren't that different from each other."

Nya immediately frowned. Her brother would never hurt his friends, especially not a close friend like Lloyd. Let alone possess him. "Both are greedy. Greedy for power. Greedy for recognition. They both trained hard to become the green ninja, both were disappointed when they couldn't live up to their own expectations... And both might want revenge on me, and on who took "their" destiny." Wu said, looking at Lloyd.

"W-what? Kai would never hurt me!-" the green ninja exclaimed, but deep down, he knew that his statement was not entirely true. "He may not hurt you on his own. But with a little manipulation..." Lloyd's eyes went wide as he remembered what had happened on Chen's island. Back then, for a small second, Lloyd really thought that Kai had switched sides.

Lloyd was in shock. Everyone was. Especially Cole. He had not known that Chen's staff had corrupted Kai on Chen's island due to him being absent when it happened. Therefore, Wu's claims sounded like nonsense to Cole. "That's stupid, Kai is not the brightest but he is smart enough to not let himself be manipulated so easily!" the black ninja said and stormed off.

Cole was mad. Mad at Wu for accusing Kai of possibly not being loyal to the team, mad at Morro for bringing the ninja into this mess, mad at Kai for not being open about what had been bothering him, and lastly; he was mad at himself for not being able to help Kai. Cole punched a wall in his anger and panted, but soon he realised that getting angry would not help him or Kai.

Cole took a deep breath to calm himself down and slowly went to Kai's room, knocking. "Kai, it's me" The door soon opened and Cole stepped inside. "How.. how are you?" he asked Kai, who was sitting in his bed. Kai looked at Cole and rubbed his head. "I'm fine i guess? Just... Just a bit shaken up.." Cole nodded and sat down somewhere.

Suddenly, Kai asked; "What if Morro is just misunderstood?" Cole was taken aback; wide eyed. "What makes you think that, Kai?! He possessed Lloyd!" Kai didn't reply, he just stared. The fire ninja sighed. "Forget about it, how is Lloyd anyways?" Cole scratched his head, confused by Kai's behaviour. "He's still feeling weak.. but he's alright" The red ninja nodded and lowered his head.

Kai was taken aback when he suddenly felt a hand holding his own. He looked up to see Cole, who was looking at him in a concerned way. "You know, if something's wrong you can talk to me"  Cole said. Kai was startled, he knew that Cole can be very caring, but he personally had never experienced the earth ninja's warmth. He was speechless.

Cole noticed that, and decided to sit down next to Kai. "Did Morro tell or do something? Did he hurt you in any way? Are you sure you're fine, Kai?" Kai was overwhelmed, he was not used to being questioned like this, nor was he used to being the center of attention. "Kai.. Something's wrong, we all know it.. you don't have to keep everything bottled up, we're here for you- I'm here for you"

Kai felt his heart jump. For pretty much his whole life, he was the one taking care of others, not the other way around. Cole's care was new and overwhelming to him, and his thoughts were all over the place, making him unable to speak. "You know.. i noticed you were starting to act differently ever since we got off of Chen's island.. did something happen there?"

Now Kai was shocked. Ever since the ninja had left the island, he had been afraid about someone other than Lloyd and Skylor knowing what he had done when he got corrupted by the staff of elements. Kai was scared, terrified, worried, and absolutely anxious. He did not want anyone else to find out about what he had been thinking ever since Lloyd became the green ninja, Lloyd himself knowing was already not planned.

"No, nothing happened!" Kai said in a nervous tone, obviously panicking. Cole raised a brow. Kai's ears had turned red, that something which always happened when the fire ninja was lying. "Kai, your ears" was all he needed to say for Kai to realise that he was busted. The fire ninja sighed, and gave in. "Promise you won't... be mad..?" Kai looked at Cole with big eyes, like a little child would look at their parents when they had just broken a vase.

Cole was taken aback by Kai's look, but he nodded regardless. He had gotten so close to finding out what was bothering Kai, he didn't want to mess up now by reacting badly to Kai's vulnerability. "I promise" he said and held Kai's hand. Cole could've sworn he saw some blush appear on Kai's cheeks, but his focus quickly shifted when Kai sighed and lowered his head.

"On Chen's island, moments before you and the other elemental masters barged into Chen's
ceremony.. I managed to grab Chen's staff, I wanted to destroy it but.. uh.." Cole nodded and looked at Kai, patiently waiting for him to continue. "When I held the staff.. mh.. old thoughts.. came back.." Cole was confused for a second, but he quickly remembered.

"Thoughts like.. wanting to be the green ninja?" Kai immediately nodded, feeling ashamed. "Yeah.. that and.. That didn't go well.. I-I was jealous of Lloyd, I-I wanted his power I.. I almost hurt him!" Cole was shocked. He had never heard about this before. "Then what happened?" he asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.

"You guys broke in through the wall and I dropped the staff because of a boulder hitting the ground- that's when I came back to my senses" Cole slowly nodded. He was shocked, horrified almost. He had no idea that Kai had done that. "Hey, it wasn't your fault! It was the staff!-" he said, trying to comfort Kai. "You know, that's exactly where you're wrong, Cole.. I had those thoughts since Lloyd became the green ninja. The staff just.. made them come back, i guess"

Cole didn't know what to say. He took a deep breath, and approached Kai again; "Well.. why are you still thinking about that incident?" Kai was taken aback, he hadn't expected Cole to ask that question. "Uh..." The red ninja was dumbfounded, He didn't know why that incident was still on his mind.

"Good question?... I-I don't know.." Cole looked at Kai. Kai was fiddling with his fingers, was staring holes into the air, and he had his head lowered. Cole had never seen the fiery hothead like this before, it sure was a sight to see. 'He's kinda cute like this..' Cole thought.

Kai sighed and closed his eyes, being overwhelmed with the situation. He was lost in his thoughts once again, when he suddenly felt Cole's strong arms hug him. Kai was confused, but he soon realised that Cole's embrace was very comfy. He even smiled a little as he let himself lean into the black ninja's embrace.

Cole noticed this and smiled. It was nice to see Kai finally relax and smile, after weeks, if not months of constantly being inattentive and out of character. Cole stayed in that position, keeping Kai in his arms as he noticed Kai's eyes fluttering shut. Before Cold knew it, the fire ninja had fallen asleep in his arms like a baby.

"I'll protect you, Kai"