The Master of Nature

Siblings

Hope hugged the familiar plush unicorn and lay on her old bed. She recalled the number of times her parents tucked her into this very same bed and kissed her goodnight. She would snuggle with Cotton Candy as she fell asleep.

Alyssa sensed that her sister needed some time alone and left the room. Hope just lay on the bed, silently crying.

Hope felt her eyelids growing heavy. The lack of sleep was catching up to her, and she felt comfortable in her old bedroom. The quiet atmosphere made her feel sleepy and before she knew it, her eyes had closed.

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Alyssa perked inside the room after a while, and was surprised to see Hope fast asleep. For the first time, Alyssa noticed the dark shadows under Hope's eyes.

Alyssa realized that even though Hope had left the worst part of her life behind, her trauma wasn't going to disappear overnight. Alyssa wished that there was something she could do to ease Hope's pain.

If only I could find her parents. That should give her the closure she needs.

Alyssa found a photo of Hope as a toddler. In the photo, Hope's honey blonde hair was in pigtails and she was wearing a flower-patterned onesie. Hope was drinking orange juice out of a baby bottle and was looking so cute.

Alyssa giggled. "Aww, you were adorable!"

Alyssa found a photo album and flipped through it, watching Hope grow from a newborn baby to a five-year-old girl.

Alyssa soon started to feel hungry. She looked at her watch. She was shocked to find that it was almost seven in the evening. She ran back to Hope's room and shook her awake.

Hope sat up and looked at Alyssa with sleepy eyes. "Yes?" she asked.

"Hope, it's late! I have to take you back to the ninja! They are probably worried sick about you."

"Oh. Of course," said Hope as she rubbed her eyes. "I should be getting back at once."

Hope wanted to have a quick dinner and crash into bed. But as soon as she reached back at the apartment, the boys bombarded her with news.

"Hope! You have missed a ton of excitement!" said Jay. "We were kidnapped by Lloyd's old classmates and had to use a secret passageway to escape.  Then we faced evil clones of ourselves created by Garmadon."

"Then Lloyd and his classmates came wearing ninja gis which confused our clones even though the kids were way smaller than us," said Kai. "Well, the mini ninja helped us defeat our clones and Lloyd somehow learned how to control lightning."

"Oh. That's nice," said Hope sleepily.

"Hope, are you okay?" asked Zane. "You look... Washed out."

"I'm fine. Just sleepy," said Hope.

"No wonder you're tired," said Cole. "You don't seem to be sleeping well."

"I think that I'll just sleep on the couch. I'm too tired to shower," said Hope. Without another word, she crashed onto the couch and fell asleep.

Because she had fallen asleep so early, Hope woke up again at two in the morning. She found that a pillow had been placed under her head and a blanket covering her body.

Because she had skipped dinner, Hope was hungry. She didn't feel sleepy anymore, so she decided to get a light snack.

Hope found some chocolate chip cookies and nibbled on them. She was careful to be quiet so that she wouldn't wake anyone up.

After that, Hope took a warm shower and changed into her pyjamas. She felt good for a change. Perhaps the lack of nightmares had something to do with it.

Just then, the bathroom door opened, and Hope turned and gasped. But it was only Kai with a glass of milk.

"Are you okay?" asked Kai. "We were all concerned when you just passed out on the couch."

"I... Nightmares."

"I figured that out. I had nightmares too after my parents... Left."

Hope felt a little awkward. Kai was the type of guy that flirted with every girl he saw. But he never tried to woo her the same way he wooed other girls.

"Look, even your sister is worried about you. She almost forcefully gave me her number so that I could inform her about how you were doing."

"What?"

"Relax. She's just being a big sister. I know how she feels. I had to raise my sister myself."

"Oh. I didn't realize being an older sibling was so complicated."

"Hope, I think that it's sweet that you and Alyssa care so much about each other. How about you drink the milk and then go to bed. You don't want to sleep during training tomorrow. Or today."

"Er... Thanks," said Hope. "And... Thanks for caring."

Hope was a little embarrassed at letting Kai tuck her into bed, but at the same time, it felt nice. But it made her miss her parents even more.