•The World Isn't Ending• (Cole x Reader)

heartbreak is one thing, my ego's another•༄

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hey babes! welcome to my Cole x Reader, in this story you are Y/n Ninjago's one and only wind ninja, so enjoy! love ya <3
Song in title- Please Please Please
by Sabrina Carpenter
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The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows across the endless desert. The air was thick with heat, yet there was a strange stillness now. The dragon, both the mother and the smaller one, had vanished as suddenly as they'd arrived.

The ground, which had been cracked and scorched by lightning the day before, now seemed almost peaceful in comparison to the chaos that had preceded it. But I knew better than to think the danger was over.

I sat on a rock near the cave entrance, my fingers clutching the small pouch of herbs. The travelers tea. The one thing that could help me survive get out of this cursed realm—

The weight of the decision hung on me like a heavy cloak.

I glanced over at Cole, who was kneeling down, checking over the area. His back was tense, his movements deliberate, as if he was trying to stay busy, stay distracted. But I could see the worry in his posture, in the tightness of his shoulders.

Taking a deep breath, I walked over to him, my boots crunching softly in the sand. When he noticed me approaching, his gaze flicked to my hand, where I held the pouch. His eyes hardened, and I saw him stiffen.

"You have it," he said, voice low, though his words held an edge of understanding.

I nodded silently, my stomach twisting with the weight of the truth. "I've got enough for one person," I said softly, watching him closely. "Only one."

Cole's expression darkened, the lines of his face tightening. I could feel the tension between us, the unspoken words that hovered just beneath the surface. He knew. He knew what this meant.

"You have to take it," he said, the words coming out more like a command than a suggestion. "Y/n, you're the one who's Oni. You're the one who won't survive here. You know that."

I felt the sting of his words, the reminder of my own limitations. My blood, my heritage... it was all catching up to me, no matter how hard I tried to deny it.

"I know," I murmured, my voice barely audible. "But I can't just... leave you here. Not like this."

He shook his head, stepping closer, his eyes locking with mine. "You don't have a choice." His voice was raw, but there was a sense of finality to it. "You're already on borrowed time, Y/n. If you don't take the tea, you won't survive the rest of the day. You'll waste away in this place."

The harsh truth of it settled like ice in my chest.

"I can't ask you to—"

"You're not asking," Cole interrupted, his tone firm yet laced with something softer, something beneath the surface. "I'm telling you. I won't let you die here, not when you can get back to Ninjago. You have to use it."

I swallowed hard, the lump in my throat growing. Every fiber of my being wanted to argue, to insist that I could make it, that I wasn't some fragile thing who needed saving. But the truth was undeniable. I was fighting a battle that wasn't just against the dragons, but against my own bloodline, against the very nature of this realm.

"I'll be fine," I said, forcing the words out, though they sounded hollow even to my own ears. "I can fight through this. I can handle it."

But Cole wasn't buying it. His eyes narrowed, his jaw clenched. "Don't make me watch you fall apart in front of me," he said, his voice rough, edged with something I couldn't quite name. "You're stronger than this, Y/n. But you can't fight this on your own. Not without help."