Flames to Ashes (TnF Trilogy Book 2)

Chapter 14: Add Fuel To The Fire

Kai POV
I rolled up the piece of paper. Alright. Cool.
"Johnathan!" The titanium falcon came to sit on my windowsill, and I let him in. "Take this to Cole," I gave Johnathan the message. "I know you'll find him. If anyone can, it's you." I pet the bird's head and he lifted off. Please, please find him, buddy.
I walked out of my bedroom and into the kitchen, where I found Lou sitting alone. "Hey," I said, sitting down next to him. "You all right? I mean, I know your son ran away and is off the map, but..." I wasn't helping. I felt useless. We were really at our lowest point.
"It's fine, Kai. Thank you for trying."
I shifted a little. "Um... I suppose you know about your son dating me, right?"
"Oh, yes, but he told me before it was on the news."
He did? "Really?"
"Mhm. And I saw his drawing book. Actually," Lou pulled it out of a bag he brought. "I have it right here." He gave it to me. "Go on." I opened it delicately. It was full of beautiful pictures of places we've seen. And some, were not the same as we had seen them. I saw a forest that was burning. Huh. I know that forest. I pulled out a map. It wasn't too far from the First Spinjitsu Master's tomb.
"You don't think..."
Cole's father shrugged. "It's worth a shot."
I ran to get my sword, and when I was about to leave, I saw Lou standing outside the monastery door. When I walked over to him, he took my hands. "Bring my boy back," he whispered.
"Of course." As I summoned my elemental dragon, the last thing I heard from him was:
"Good luck, my son." This is what gave me the drive I needed.

Cole POV
The sun was up, so I had to be up with it. I stretched and popped my neck. Today, I'll probably move camp. No one will find me here anyway, I told myself. No one would even think to check my drawing book for clues. I heard the flap of wings above the treetops. But they weren't normal wings. The falcon! Well, Kai likes to call him Johnathan, saying that he needs a name, but I don't really think that "Johnathan" is the right name. Besides, we already call him "the falcon". But I did promise Kai I'd call him that. "Hey, Johnathan!" The bird rested on my arm. "How'd you find m—" Johnathan dropped a piece of paper into my hands.

Cole,
             I know you've ran away. It's been worrying us sick. Ninjago has been calm about the whole...thing, so you don't have to panic anymore. I've sent Johnathan to you, because we've been looking all over and he's the only one I know will find you. I can guess you're hiding somewhere really clever. But if this message gets to you, Johnathan will report back to me and we'll bring you home. Maybe you're still scared. Maybe you don't want to come back. Maybe you're angry. At me, probably. I'm sorry for putting all that pressure on you. And I'm sorry I couldn't come with you to your dad's. I hope you haven't done anything you can't come back from, cause, today, I was about to. You should come home. We miss you. And we need you.
        ❤️, Kai

I felt my heart turn to aluminum foil again. I read the letter over and over and over, again and again and again. He sounded so guilty and so sad. There's nothing you need to feel guilty about, Firefly. I put the letter down and pet Johnathan. He squawked and I looked up to see what he saw. Kai's elemental dragon! I stumbled up off the log I was sitting on and ran towards where he was going to land. Kai dropped out of the air and started walking around the clearing. I sprinted towards him, building speed, and he turned and when he saw me, his face instantly lit up. I tackled him in a hug, which made him fall over, given my strength, and we both collapsed on the forest floor, laughing. I held out my hand to pull him up, and when I did, I yanked his arm and kissed him. "You goofball!"
"I feel like I missed something. Oh, wait! Did you get my message?"
"Yes!" I looked into his eyes. "And I'm not mad. I also want to clarify that you didn't overwhelm me. I, uh..." I rubbed the back of my neck. "I had one for you too."
Kai slugged me in the shoulder, chuckling. But then he became serious. "Listen, your dad is really worried about you, and so is everyone else. You gotta come back."
"Is it true Ninjago is okay with us?"
"Yep. You don't have to worry about that." Kai smiled, then frowned again. "But you do have to worry about something else."