Flames of the Past #5: Lost Souls (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 3

Lloyd continued to shove the team backward until they were a good distance away from Cole and Vanessa. He was hoping with all he had that the pair would make up.

When he was finally satisfied with the distance, Jay walked over to him. "So that's Vanessa?" he asked, glancing across the deck at the young woman.

Lloyd looked at him. "You know Vanessa?"

"Cole used to talk to me about her nonstop," Jay explained in a huff.

"Who's Vanessa?" Nya questioned.

"Yes, and how does Cole know her?" Zane added.

Lloyd half-glanced at Phil as he replied, "She used to be a Baddie, too. She's Phil's sister."

"Wait, how does Cole know one of the Baddies?" Kai wondered.

"They met when Cole lived up in the mountains with Raymond," Lloyd replied. "And then they um..."

"They fell in love!" Jay finished for him.

"They what?" everyone exclaimed in unison.

Phil's eyebrows raised. "Really none of you knew this?" he inquired.

"Cole's not what you would call an open book," Kai snapped at him.

"So what happened?" Nya asked.

Lloyd didn't respond, so Jay answered the question. "Long story short, they broke up. Cole was really upset about it 'cause he still liked her and all that, but she ended it."

"Aww... poor Cole," Nya murmured, gazing toward the black ninja.

"Impossible," Kai scoffed. "Cole's never had a girlfriend! He's too serious to like anybody."

"You'd be surprised," Lloyd mumbled, half to himself.

Kai looked down at him, eyes softening. He moved over to the green ninja and stepped out of the crowd. "Are you okay?"

Lloyd ran a hand through his hair. "It was my fault they broke up," he admitted quietly. "I threatened Vanessa."

Kai blinked in surprise. "Why?"

"I don't know, Kai," Lloyd groaned, placing his head in his hands. "Because I was a control freak? Because I was making terrible decisions and wanting everyone to suffer?"

Kai rested a hand on his shoulder. "Lloyd..."

"She was breaking the rules," Lloyd went on, staring up at him. "A Baddie couldn't be with a ninja. The ninja were good and we were bad and she was mixing everything up and before I knew it you and Cole were inside the Bend and all of the Baddies' structure was falling apart—"

"Hey," Kai interrupted softly, placing his other hand on the green ninja's other shoulder. Lloyd's breathing was shaky as he tried to gather his thoughts and Kai smiled. "You really are a control freak, aren't you?"

Groaning in frustration, Lloyd knocked his head into Kai's chest. He rubbed his eyes as Kai patted his back, laughing. "There's still so much about the Bend you've never told me, huh?" the red ninja said.

The sound of footsteps caused Lloyd to draw away from his brother and turn around as Cole stormed past them. The black ninja headed down the stairs to the lower deck and Lloyd glanced toward Vanessa. The girl's eyes were teary and hurt, and he realized that they hadn't made up at all.

As the team began to murmur, Lloyd stepped away from Kai and hurried after Cole. He found the black ninja in the room with their bunks. "Hey, what happened?" he asked as he entered the room.