Celebration of the Mountain

Nightmares

It was warm as he sat there on the edge of the hospital bed, wrapped in his mother's embrace. The swaying motion of her rocking him, back and forth, back and forth. Topped with the gentle sound of her humming, caused him to doze in and out of consciousness. But despite it all, the young boy strived to stay awake.

He needed to be there for her in her desperate time of need.

His father had left the room not that long ago to do whatever his father had planned to do, probably to get some coffee or to use the restroom. It didn't matter, he'd be back.

"Mom?" The boy looked up at the beautiful face that gave him life. "Will you tell me a story?"

"Of course, sweetie..." His mother softly smiled. "Which story would you like to hear?"

"The one about the mountain..." The boy shifted positions so he could lay his head on his mother's lap.

"Again?" His mother laughed. "I tell you that story every night..."

"But it's my favorite..." The child simply explained, as if that was all the excuse he needed.

"Alright, alright..." His mother stroked back his hair. "Let's see... Once upon a time, there was this beautiful mountain. And in that mountain, where two species of troll and goblin who wared against each other... influenced by an evil sorcerer, who enslaved the trolls and goblins to do his bidding. In his possession a powerful skull able, to raise the dead and even conjure up... a dragon!'

"But you stopped him... Didn't you..." The boy grinned, knowing the story all too well.

"That's right..." His mother lovingly smiled. "With the strength of Earth on my side, I was able to defeat the evil sorcerer, and bring peace between the trolls and goblins..."

"When I grow up, I wanna be just like you, mom!" The boy sat up. "To help those in need..."

"Really..." His mother smirked. "You realize you'd have to fight a dragon..."

"Um... Maybe not entirely like you..." The boy got slightly scared.

"Silly boy..." His mother than began to tickle him, causing the boy to laugh full hardily. The two playing until his mother broke out into a coughing fit.

"Mom?" The boy got concerned, as the coughing seemed to have no end, progressively getting worse until an alarm went of by her bedside, and several nurses came rushing in. "Mom!?"

"I'm sorry, but you need to step out now..." A Nurse turned to him and tried to physically bring him out of the room.

"No! She needs me!" The boy protested, trying to fight against the nurse and return to his ailing mother. Nurses crowding his view of her, as more hands seemed to pull him away. "Mom!"

"MOM!"

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Cole awoke with a start, covered in sweat and trying to catch his breath. Looking around at his surroundings, he found himself in the bedroom he shared with the others. Faint groans of protest coming from their beds, as he had so rudely woken them with his panicked yelp.

"Sorry..." Cole whispered softly towards the people he called family... Pulling his knees towards his chest and hiding his face in his hands. He knew there was no way he was getting back to sleep... At least... Not for awhile.

"Cole?" A familiar voice pulled him away from his thoughts of embarrassment. Falling onto a green figure sitting up in bed, looking very sleepy. "You okay?"

"Yeah..." Cole answered the Green Ninja honestly. "Just a bad dream..."

"Another one?" Lloyd frowned.

"Could you two either go back to sleep, or find another room..." Kai's muffled voice came from where he laid. Coming out more like a command than a request. "Some of us are trying to sleep..."

Lloyd motioned for the door and Cole nodded. The two getting up and heading towards the kitchen, where Cole went straight to the fridge. Disappointed there wasn't any cake for him to snack on.

"Cole..." Lloyd ran a hand through his blonde hair. "This is the third time this week..."

"I know, I know..." Cole closed the refrigerator door with a sigh. "You guys aren't the only ones losing sleep over it..."

"Maybe if you actually told us what they were about?" Lloyd tried to say as nice as possible. "Maybe we could help you get over whatever's bothering you..."

"Its nothing you can fix..." Cole dejectedly sat down at the island in the kitchen.

"Maybe not... But we're here to help, Cole..." Lloyd sat down with him. "I'M here to help..."

"Since when does the Green Ninja need to protect his protectors?" Cole looked up with a smirk.

"Hey... If I don't, who's gonna be there to protect me..." Lloyd nudged the earth ninja playfully. "It's a two way street..." Lloyd's demeanor then went solemn. "You guys have done so much for me... It only seems fair that I return the favor..."

Cole couldn't help but smile at Lloyd's pure intentions. It was hard to think back to a time when the green ninja was against them... Even then his heart was too pure to do any real damage on his own.

"... Maybe you should have some time off..." Lloyd cut through the silence like a knife.

"What?" Cole looked up with a horrified face.

"These Nightmares may very well be stress related..." Lloyd rubbed the back of his neck. "Trust me, I know... And at this rate, you're gonna make yourself sick..."

"So you're just gonna kick me off the team!?" Cole said that a little harsher than he wanted to.

"No! Nothing like that!" Lloyd defended. "I mean like some sort of vacation... See your dad or something..."

"Seeing my dad is not a vacation... It's an ordeal..." Cole crossed his arms.

"Hey... Your relationship with your dad is a lot better than mine..." Lloyd put his hands up. "I'll gladly trade you..."

"No thanks..." Cole shook his head, looking down at his feet before letting out a sigh.

"But seriously..." Lloyd regained his attention. "Get some R n R... You deserve it..."

"I'll... Think about it..." Cole answered reluctantly. He just wasn't sure a vacation was gonna fix his problems... More than not, make even more problems. He was basically next in line to lead if Lloyd was incapable of doing so. And if something where to happen to the green bean, and he wasn't there to take care of things, they'd just continue down the list of leadership, and there would be arguments. Heck there would be arguments even if he was there to take lead...

"Alright..." Lloyd sighed, before getting up and heading out. "I'm going back to bed... We have sunrise training in the morning and I do NOT want to be a zombie for that... Night..."

"Night..." Cole waved as he left, leaving the master of earth alone and wander in his thoughts.