A Hero's Protection

Think before Acting

The next day Caroline took James to the field, his parents following. Caroline had confessed to all of them the night before that she was an elemental master. Nate and Martha didn't seem surprised, but James couldn't believe his ears. Caroline had promised a display in the morning.

Wrapped up in warm clothing, Caroline stood in the middle of the open space. Jennefer gave her a thumbs up and Caroline nodded. She first made a ball of her powers and showed it to James. She let him hold it and his eyes widened.

"What!" He exclaimed. "I can hold it!" He felt the sphere in disbelief and Caroline made it disappear. She made a ball in the snow and made it float in front of James, who took it and shook up the snow trapped inside.

Caroline smiled and looked at Jennefer who smiled back. Caroline made lots of spheres and sent them flying skyward. Everyone looked up at the sparkling orbs in the cloud-filled sky.

"I wish I could be in one of those," James sighed wishfully. Caroline made the balls burst in the air like soundless fireworks and made a big sphere around James, lifting him up a few inches off the ground.

He fell over in surprise and struggled to stand. "Only if it's okay with you guys," Caroline said, looking over at his parents. They both nodded, and Caroline turned to the struggling James. "Just sit down on your butt."

James laughed and sat down with his legs hugged to his chest. Caroline slowly lifted him up over her head and around the field. She never let him go higher than the trees around them.

They stayed out there for most of the morning. Jennefer took Martha and Nate inside to tell them of the plan to leave. Jennefer left Caroline outside with James to tell him. Caroline created a floating platform and sat on it. She was tired from using her powers so much but made one last effort for James. James especially enjoyed it when she made shapes out of her barriers.

"James," Caroline said, patting the barrier in front of her. James climbed up and sat, watching Caroline in anticipation. Caroline guessed he was waiting for more elemental power. "I'm going to be leaving soon."

"Why?" The excitement was drained from his face. "Don't go. I'll be all alone again."

"I have to go on a special mission," Caroline explained. "We are going to go help the ninja. They are going to need my powers." It wasn't a complete lie.

"Will you be coming back?" James asked.

"I don't know," Caroline was broken at the look on Jame's face. Caroline opened her arms and he barreled into her. Caroline never thought she would have loved someone this much when they were not family.

Caroline didn't know how long they sat there. Jennefer came back out and brought the two back inside with some comforting words.

"We still have a few days to prepare, so we aren't leaving quite yet," Jennefer told James. A thought struck Caroline and she put her hand in her pocket to bring out the communicator.

"James, This is for you," Caroline held out the communicator and James took it. He held it in his hands like the most fragile thing in the world. "Maybe you could fix it and contact the ninja. You could tell them that I'm going on a mission to be the hero, just like them."

"I will work on it," James looked up at Caroline. "I will tell them how you are going to save the world from evil with your powers. Do you know who you are going to fight?'
"Not yet, but we'll find out soon," Caroline nodded before following Jennefer into their bedroom to plan.

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Caroline didn't even know where they would start. All they knew is some random people knew their last name and wanted to capture Caroline. Jennefer took that information and turned it into something worth investigating.

"You said the guys found you in our old forest home, right?" Jennefer inquires. She has a pen and notebook at the ready.

"That's what the ninja said," Caroline confirmed. "But I still don't get what connection they had to the first guy who found me."

"Well, maybe Dad didn't just abandon our old home, but what if he set up a base there?"

"Impossible," Caroline argued. "I was there with the ninja and it was abandoned. If anything he found somewhere else in the forest to build, but why would he need those men?"

"To create an army or search parties. Tell me what you know about Dad's plans." Jennefer switched to a new page. Caroline felt like she was in an interview, but Jennefer already knew all the information.

"Jenn, you already know this," Caroline pointed out.

"Just tell me."

"Alright." Caroline took a deep breath. "Dad taught me how to fight and control my powers. He told me he wanted me to be able to protect myself from anyone wanting to use my powers for evil. I later find out that he thinks I should be the hero of Ninjago and that through me he could defeat the ninja."

"He wanted to become the bad guy so you could be the good guy," Jennefer summed up.

"Often he would talk about how Mother would want me to use my powers. I don't remember Mom much but I know she told me that heroes didn't need to be seen." Caroline closed her eyes, trying to remember her mother's words.

"All they had to do was make a difference," Jennefer finished. She scribbled down in her notebook and Caroline wondered what she was doing. Only the scratch of Jennefer's pencil and the clinking of plates outside the room filled the space.

"What does any of this have to do with, whatever we're going to do," Caroline asked once Jennefer stopped writing.

"Well, if Dad is trying to make you the hero, we could reason with him," Jennefer said. "You're friends with the ninja and that's popular enough. As long as he understands your recognition for your actions he'll be okay."

"That makes no sense," Caroline looked at Jennefer with a blank stare.

"We can talk sense into him," Jennefer explained. "We just have to figure out how."