Ivory's Homecoming ► Ninjago

12 ≛ Lloyd Garmadon

The ride back to the tea shop was tranquil other than the celebrating of Lloyd's return. His mother was the happiest; she refused to let go of him.

As usual, Natasha kept her distance. She felt there wasn't really a need to hang around them unless there was an emergency.

That's all she was there for, anyway. To assist in defeating Morro.

So she was a little annoyed when someone knocked on the wall. Maybe she was accidentally sitting on their bed.

"Natasha, uh... hey."

She turned her head to find Cole standing in the doorway a bit awkwardly. It was obvious he had something to say, but the words just wouldn't come out.

Her not saying anything and just staring made it worse. He should've expected it; it's Natasha, after all. The complete opposite of her very talkative cousin.

He cleared his throat, starting over. Why was it suddenly so difficult to speak to her?

"Ronin, uh... he talked to us. On the way to the tomb? He wanted to apologize for what he did to you. I don't know what went down, but it must have been bad if Ronin's apologizing. But... yeah. He wanted us to say sorry in his stead. Just until he can do it himself."

Cole hoped she could understand. At least the key parts of it. He'd have no idea how to translate it, and it'd be even more awkward just bringing Zane over.

Thankfully, Natasha did get the point. And it did not make her happy.

She furrowed her eyebrows in the slightest of glares, but it wasn't aimed toward him. Not only did her cousin throw her in fucking water, he had to bring up her fucking parents just to prove his point. If he were here she'd beat the shit out of him as he's apologizing.

But in response to Cole, all she said was, "Okay." She was no longer facing him. Her eyes were glued to the floor. He could tell her tone was different even with just one word. Her body language was god awful; she was severely dejected.

The ninja took a step away from the door and closer to her. In truth, he wanted to tell her about his reflection. But he had no idea what it even meant; what would telling her do for either of them? He might've gotten more answers had Morro not rudely cut in.

Yet something tugged at him. She was in what was supposed to be his reflection. That meant something; she meant something. Cole needed to know what that was.

He started walking closer. Before he could open his mouth to finally spill it, Lloyd stepped into the room.

"Oh, hey Cole," he greeted with a small smile. Natasha lifted her head once more at the sound of a new voice.

The blond glanced between the two, wondering if he had interrupted something. "You think you could give me a minute?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." The ghost nodded, returning the smile. "Sorry about that."

As he made his exit, he took one last look at her. She blinked, watching him leave.

Just seconds later, Nya had caught up with him in the hall. "Hey... I'm nosy. What were you talking about with her? I say that because I know she said like, four words, max. Also, you look a little down."

Without so much as giving her a glance, Cole said, "The guys and I all saw some sort of reflection of our future selves in the tomb... and instead of seeing myself, I saw Natasha."

She stopped walking. "Wait, huh?"

He was so serious it worried her. "I saw Natasha in my future."

Nya had to take a minute. "Okay, uh, wow. Those are some really bold words... is that why you keep staring at her now?"