Ninjago: Purpose and Meaning

2. Reminder

"How are you?" Maria asked and sat on the stone beside me. "You've been...different lately."

Nadine smiled and scoffed at the question. That was the same question she had asked herself the past weeks, every single day.

How am I? Nadine considered the question for another moment, remembering the nightmares that had followed her since Arashi died.

The forest was calming and the trees were cracking in the wind. For some, it could be unnerving to hear the forest alive around them, but to Nadine, it almost felt like Arashi was still alive, commanding the wind to move through the trees' branches.

But, of course, it was just a dream.

"I'm fine," Nadine sighed, not able to convince even herself with the tired tone in her voice. "It just...has been a lot going on lately," she finished hesitantly. 

Maria scoffed. "Well, that's a lie," she said sarcastically. "Nothing has happened anywhere for weeks," she continued, giving Nadine a curious look. "The world has been calm."

And that's the problem. The world had been too calm for the past weeks. Nadine was in dire need of a distraction, anything to keep her thoughts away from her fallen...friend. But for once, the world was calm and there was no distraction wherever she looked. At least not the kind she looked for.

Nadine picked up a branch from the ground and started removing the twigs from it before she started peeling the bark of it. Her mind desperately tried to keep itself occupied.

"You miss them," Maria pointed out, causing Nadine to turn toward her.

"Come again?" She asked even though her mind immediately filled with memories from her decade with the Elemental Masters.

Maria rolled her eyes at the question, laying back on the stone so that her long black hair spread around her head. She ignored Nadine's attempt to act oblivious and continued like nothing.

"You don't know how to go back to an ordinary life," she raised an eyebrow at her sister, giving her a questioning look. "That's why you are so restless. You don't know what to do."

Nadine looked down at her sister, amazed by how easily she could see through her problems. She almost got it perfectly right. Nadine knew how to live an ordinary life but wasn't ready yet. She felt that something more was to be done before she could rest. She had to find Arashi's heir. She won't be able to relax until she does.

"You're smart, Ria," Nadine chuckled, shaking her head lightly. "But this time you got it wrong."

"So there is something wrong?" Maria smiled victoriously and Nadine realized that she was guessing. "What happened?"

"Arashi died."

The entire forest was silenced. The wind stopped blowing and the trees stopped cracking. There were no sounds from any animals and it felt like when she spoke the truth she had held in for so long the world silenced in shock.

Maria sat with her mouth hanging open, her blue eyes wide in shock. The usual happiness in the corner of her eyes was wiped away and she could only stare in shock at Nadine.

Nadine was just as shocked as her sister. For weeks she hadn't been able to say the truth and held it in like it could change reality. It had not mattered how hard she tried to say those two words - Arashi died - she was never able to.

Even though it was well over a month since Arashi died, the pain in her chest felt fresh like it just happened seconds ago. Nadine's hands shook and she clutched them tightly around the stick. The images of his death flashed before her eyes yet another time and she could feel her heart beat quicker and her breaths grow shorter.