Lava | Ninjago

🜃 | private premiere

[part two of the secret identities AU]

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A week has passed. A long, excruciating week without Fire by his side on patrols and without Kai right next to him in classes.

He tried contacting them both - or just him? - but, of course, it was to no use. Fire didn't respond just like Kai. The channel remained silent and the text messages remained with 'delivered' underneath them. Not even the virtual ghost of him was present. Oh, how much more he would prefer if he at least knew that Kai read his messages.

None of it made any sense to Cole. Let's say his theory is right - and all the clues point to it really being correct - and Kai and Fire are the same person. Considering how Fire ran away, Cole could only assume he reached the same realisation - that Cole and Earth are one and the same person as well. And how could he guess it? He had to be there. Which meant that when Cole was making out with Kai, he was actually kissing Fire as well.

And then he had to stop himself one more time from spiralling down that rabbit hole.

He kissed Fire. He actually kissed Fire. Something he wished for, for so long, actually came true-

So if they both reached the same conclusion, where was the issue? Why was Kai unreachable? Why did he just disappear? It can't be to protect his identity since not only did this work even better as a hint, but would it even matter, when Kai already figured out his?

Yet no matter what he said or sent, Kai, or Fire, never responded. And days passed.

Sometimes he really wanted to get inside his head to understand him a little bit better. There just wasn't any logic in his recent actions! Not that there was before, but before the frustration was mixed with a sense of endearment. Now it was pure frustration that drove Cole up the walls he climbed to see the city underneath a bit better.

Or did he feel bad about what happened between them? There were so many intersections of mind spirals and Earth could only huff in annoyance as these thought processes distracted him from his job.

Yet no matter what he did, he couldn't stop thinking about it. About Kai. About the kiss. About Fire.

Perhaps he really felt bad but, again, would that even matter? Sure, he didn't know Cole was Earth at that time but if he knows it now, there's no need for remorse because it could never be cheating. Not only because he was the same person but they also never established any feelings. They just knew something was there, they flirted with their masks on and that was it. Or did Cole completely misunderstood it all and Fire never wanted to have anything to do with him in the first place?

When he let another perp run free due to his tangled mind, he was sent home. All the way there Earth muttered annoyed nonsense under his breath as his mind never seemed to calm down.

Kai, Fire, Kai, Fire, Kai, Fire-

Red hooded figure sitting on the edge of the roof of his house.

He almost fell down just how his mind fell down another one of those cursed tunnels. What was he doing there? he wondered but quickly forgot about it because he was going to get answers. Even if Fire wasn't willing to give them to him.

When he jumped over the gap between the buildings and ended up on the roof just behind Fire, his lack of acknowledgement assured him that he knew what he was doing. This wasn't just a poor choice of a hideout, this was on purpose. Fire did come to see him and he did know that he was now standing right behind him.