Work Text:
“Cole, Cole, Cole”
“You let us down, Cole ”
“Once you’ve found it, you can be our friend again”
Then he was falling, down, down into the chasm. Just like he fell into the Oni Darkness.
No one saved him then.
No one was going to save him now.
Cole woke up with a start. Kai and Jay were trying to reason with him, but the dream was fresh in his mind, and he couldn’t separate what was dream and what was real. He stormed out of the cabin.
He went to talk to Nya, but all he did was ruin her training.
A screw up. A failure. A mistake. That’s all he was. A nobody. Someone to be forgotten.
As he climbed up to the Travelers Tree, he felt bad for how he’d reacted back at the village. They’d never do anything like that, and he knew that , but ever since becoming human again, he’d had a hard time separating dreams from reality. It’d only gotten worse after he fell into the Oni Darkness. He hadn’t said anything to the others since it wasn’t a big deal; he only had trouble for a few hours at most, plus they had separate rooms, so he could have some alone time to sort things out. It was the same with his red/green color blindness; it’d started when he’d become human again, and it’d gotten worse after the Oni Darkness. He was lucky, since Kai and Lloyd were built different. Lloyd was shorter, with broad shoulders; whilst Kai was taller and leaner. Otherwise, he’d never be able to tell them apart.
He should probably tell the others about it at some point, but then they’d ask questions, and then he’d have to think about those experiences, which was not something that ranked high on his to do list.
He finally got to telling them about it a month after they got back from the Never Realm. Though it wasn’t him with a nightmare.
It was Zane.
They’d all been sleeping in the central room ever since getting back. It was partially because of the heat that generated, but also to help Zane. He’d been having nightmares ever since returning, and having one of the ninja there usually helped calm him down. But it didn’t tonight.
“It’s ok Zane, your in Ninjago with us, your friends. You’re safe,” Lloyd said, trying to get Zane to calm down.
“No I’m not, he’s here, I’m not safe, no one is safe, he’s here-“ Zane said, his voice rising as he panicked.
Cole stepped forward. “Zane you’re ok. He’s not here.”
“Yes he is! He’s going to make me hurt you, he’s going to make the Ice Emperor kill you!” Zane cried out, curling into a ball.
“Zane, he’s not here. You had a nightmare. It wasn’t real. The Ice Emperor is gone; you are not the Ice Emperor anymore,” Cole said, sitting down beside his brother, “say it with me: the Ice Emperor is gone. The Ice Emperor is gone. Better?” He asked.
“Yeah, better,” Zane said shakily. He didn’t convince Cole though.
“Here, let me go get something,” he said, getting up.
When he returned, he was carrying a heavy blanket in his arms.
“This always helps me when I have nightmares. It helps me stay grounded, reminding me of what’s real.” He draped the blanket over Zane’s shoulders and hugged the nindroid. He was going to get asked questions in the morning, but right now he didn’t care. All he cared about was helping his brother.
The bounty was above him, the darkness below. He was going to make it! But then the rope snapped and he was falling, falling, down, down into the darkness.
Then multiple hands shot out and grabbed him.
His team saved him.
They saved him, just like they always did.