The Master of Dragons

Chapter 22

      So the last few days has been rough, to say the least. Lao Lao's real name is Liu, which is so pretty. I wish my name was that pretty.... GETTING OFF TOPIC! Liu told be that I was supposed to live in the Great Library for the rest of my life. It's supposed to be for my safety and every one else's. But that's not how I want to live my life.

      My life is in Ninjago. My life is with Uncle Wu and the others. Even if things weren't going great with Cole, it's not like I told him how I felt. I just kept it too myself and I guess that is why he went for Nya. She's so pretty and talented and she never had powers malfunction and dig inside his head. It's not like I meant to. It all went downhill after that afternoon. It was just a headache. I didn't think that I would have lost control that bad. But I should have known that something was going on when I started hearing him say things that he wasn't actually saying.

      But if he didn't like me that way, why did he make me believe otherwise? He took me to these nice bakeries and offered to come with me to craft fairs and supply shops. And he never complained if I asked him to do something for me when my hands were full. Why didn't he see what he was doing and tell me otherwise sooner before I fell too hard?

       Or maybe he did. What if he did and I was too stupid to see it? Was it all a lie that I made for myself so that I felt something normal? It's the only thing that makes sense. Because Cole would never hurt someone like that, would he?

      Maybe I can ask him when I go back to Ninjago. Although, things were kinda falling apart without Zane. And if things only get worse with me gone, then there is no telling where he is. I really messed up. But I have to get over these feelings.

      These feelings are making training hard, and keeping my aura hidden harder. With these feelings trying to tear me apart, I'll just be a shining beacon for all demons to see. And my grandmother will never let me out if I can't get this under control......

~

      Daniella sighed as she let the pen fall from her hands onto her journal. She leaned backwards and landed with a thump on her back on her bed. This was the fifth say of aura training and she wasn't getting any better at keeping her aura hidden. She could feel her heart being pulled in all different directions. The doubt of ever returning home was getting almost too big to handle. It was like a little whisper in her ear that maybe it was better to stay in the Library and away from Ninjago.

      Daniella pushed the heels of her hands into her eyes and groaned loudly. Her mind and her heart were at war, and she was going to be the only casualty. How was the fight within her scarier than the battles that she had had with demons. Two of her aura sessions had been interrupted by demons attacking the village. Luckily, no one was hurt and they didn't seem to be any strong Greater Demons. Just a few Oni that had been tempted by the scent of people.

      She rolled over as she looked at the Moon Stone that laid on the nightstand. She knew that the mantle on her shoulders was something to be proud of, but the price that she was expected to pay seemed to big for her. Daniella never really had any friends. When she was 14, her mother left her on her Uncle's doorstep, never to speak to her again until they met years later in that museum. Daniella was the only child in the monastery for four years before her uncle started bringing the ninja home, one by one.

       She remembered being scared when Jay showed up. He wasn't the first of the team to arrive at the monastery, but he was the loudest. He was so energetic and so different. Daniella laughed to herself as she remembered asking her uncle if he was sure that Jay would be a good ninja. There was a certain quietness that the freckled face ninja had yet to figure out.

       Zane, the first to arrive, was more Daniella's pace when it came to people. Although, it was a little unnerving at first. Zane was quiet and polite and he never made Daniella feel like she had to have a conversation with him. But it made her feel weird at first. She knew that people on TV were always different than in real life, but surely they talked more than Zane did. Granted, she wasn't much better.

      Then Cole came to the monastery. He had come with all his clothes and climbing gear. He was what she thought people were meant to be. Kind, but not too quiet. You always knew he was there, but he didn't pressure you to have conversations, just comfortable with the shared silence. Unless you had food, then he wouldn't leave you alone unless you shared some. He was dependable, he knew how to make you laugh and knew when you needed a hug. He let you talk out your feelings, and just listened. But that was only a one-way street with him at first. Cole never talked about his family or what he did before he came to the monastery. She found out way later, but Daniella let him have his space, just like he let her have hers.

      Daniella rolled back over to her back and stared at the ceiling. Of course, Kai and Nya were like the life of the party, in the best way. They rounded out the group nicely. Daniella and Nya would have their girl time while the boys would train or play video games. They told each other everything. If Daniella knew it, then Nya knew it and vice versa. Which made the whole love triangle worse. Nya had known about her crush on Cole, and how she had planned to tell him one day after they had finished with the lessons. That planned changed with the surprise field trip, but Daniella was determined to tell Cole how she felt when they had returned. Only to have her heart ripped out slowly as her crush fell for her best friend right in front of her. And Nya hadn't done anything to stop it.

      Daniella wiped her cheeks furiously as she continued to stare at the ceiling. With all the fighting, even after Zane was gone, Daniella couldn't find it in her to talk to Nya. Nya begged and begged for nearly three weeks, but the only thing the raven-haired girl talked to was Daniella's bedroom door. She just couldn't bring herself to talk to someone who had hurt her so badly. Maybe it would have been different if they hadn't been so close, but what was done was done. And no one could take back what had happened.

      Daniella felt her eyes burn as she tried to fight the sleep that was trying to pull her under. She wiped her face and decided to let the sleep win. Her eyelids slowly drifted shut and she fell into a fitful sleep.