The Book Of Forbidden One Shots | SLOW UPDATES

The Ice Ninja

Day 4: Feelings, the most complicated things in the world

They said that the week after a funeral was usually quiet.

People were too busy paying their respects to the dead while the family mourns for the loss that they have suffered to have every other topic placed on hold. Each person handles grief in a different way. Which is why it was a time of reflection, of reminiscing past memories spent with the person they loved.

In many cases, it was supposed to be a time of finding peace in the darkness.

The Monastery of Spinjitzu has never been so far from the truth.

At first, there was a lot of fighting. Yelling came naturally while curses and accusations were thrown around without a care for one another. No one was at ease and everyone had their guards up.

A single word was enough to create a fight that would last for days on end.

"It should have been me."

"Oh yeah? Then maybe it should have! I'd do anything to get rid of you once and for all!"

"If you just hadn't gone on that trip then maybe she would still be here!"

"All you had to do was keep the jewel away from him, how hard was that?!"

Zane had never seen any of them filled with both anger and sorrow. There have been plenty of arguments and fights that had happened throughout their years-and Zane was ashamed to admit he was part of some of them-but it never grew to be this bad.

"Fuck off, Jay! You're not the only one who lost someone!"

"If you're such a good brother, why didn't you do anything to help her?!"

His ears were starting to ring and Zane was tempted to just freeze all of them in place for a few seconds of quiet. Master Wu was nowhere to be found, but he was sure he wouldn't tolerate this kind of fighting if he ever heard it.

He had a strong urge to join in the fight just to stop them from saying something they would come to regret. To tell them that they weren't the only ones that were feeling grief because he wasn't just an emotionless robot as they thought him to be.

Instead, a hand slipped into his, followed by a soft squeeze.

"Grief takes many shapes and forms." A soothing voice amidst the chaos whispered in his ear and suddenly Zane tuned out the rest of the living room to focus on her. "They're lashing out on each other because the emotions they feel are too much to keep bottled up."

Pixal was the only one that had managed to keep calm despite recent events. Zane knew she was close with Nya and that the girl had a certain bond that didn't go unnoticed. It was either she was good at handling her emotions or it was only an amount of time before she would burst like the rest of them.

"Give them time. I'm sure they'll work things out."

It was enough to make Zane calm. Perhaps that was the reason they were all on edge. They miss her. He realized. Nya is the string that ties us all together.

When the fighting stopped, the next few weeks were filled with enough crying to create a river and fill a swimming pool. Everyone's eyes were swollen until there was nothing but red, especially Jay's. Balls of tissue were littered across the floor and traces could be found in every bedroom.

There were late nights when everyone would just gather in the living room and cry because they couldn't sleep. Cry because they all missed her. Zane had been the only one who wasn't capable of producing tears.