Taking Control. (a Ninjago fanfic)

Chapter 68- Stillness

C O L E

I could feel Kai shaking the whole way.

Maybe from exhaustion, maybe from grief, maybe from hope.

His fists gripped my Gi like he was holding on to the last thread in the universe, like if he let go, he'd fall back into the black hole that'd opened up beneath our lives over the past month.

I didn't say anything. Just kept moving. Step after heavy step over cracked stone, through smoke that still lingered like the ghosts of our battle.

The streets were too quiet. The kind of silence that didn't feel like peace—just something missing.

We walked through crumbled buildings, next to smoking rubble, stepping over dead bodies.

And when we turned the corner into what was left of the town square, I felt Kai go still.

I didn't need to ask if we'd found her.

Because I saw her too.

She was lying half-curled near the centre of the square, body awkward and stiff in that unmistakable, terrible stillness. The light caught on the ginger strands of her hair first—hair I'd seen swinging in battle, intertwined with blooming flowers, messily thrown over her shoulders. Now it was matted, crusted red with blood at the roots.

The flowers had wilted.

I didn't move at first. I just stood there, Kai on my back, the air pressing down harder than it had before.

She looked so small.

Not in size, but in presence. For the short amount of time I had known her, it was easy to see that she had always taken up so much space— her laughter and her snarky comebacks and her bright, reckless smile.

But now—now the space she used to fill was just... quiet. Empty.

Kai slipped off me fast. Stumbled. Fell. He didn't even try to catch himself. Just crawled the last few feet to her like his legs had given out completely.

I let him go. Gave him space.

But I couldn't look away.

She was broken.

Her arm lay at an unnatural angle, fingers curled inward like they'd died trying to hold something. Her top was torn at the shoulder, dark with blood that had long since dried. Bruises bloomed across her collarbone, her jaw, her ribs. One eye was swollen shut. The other still open, staring almost peacefully up into the sky. And I couldn't tear my eyes off of the vast bloodied stain over her heart.

But her face—gods, her face.

It looked like she accepted her fate. Like she knew she was dying, and somehow made peace with it.

She'd fought until the bitter end and knew it was coming.

That's what killed me.

She didn't just die. She lost. She lost bravely, but not fairly. She lost alone.

Kai reached for her. Hovered his hand over her heart with shaking fingers. His breath hitched with every movement.

"You didn't even get to fight fair," he whispered, voice gone raw. "You didn't get a chance."

I clenched my jaw.

He was right. It hadn't been a fair end. It hadn't been noble. She was against the Overlord, alone.

And when he wanted someone dead, he'd get his way.

We all knew that by now.

But she didn't deserve that.

"I should've been with you," Kai breathed. "You were fighting alone. I was right there, and I could have helped you but I didn't. I'm so sorry, I-"

My throat tightened.

There was nothing I could say to make him feel any better. I knew what he was going through. And I knew that no amount of reassurance would help.

So I knelt beside him, beside her. My fingers ghosted over her shoulder, carefully. She was... still. Cold.

"She fought," I said, because it was all I had. "You can see it. She made him work for it."

Kai didn't answer.

"She bought us time. Probably saved Jay's life doing it."

Still nothing. Just that crushed silence again. Like if he opened his mouth, he might just fall apart.

He stared at her face. Into her open eyes— as if willing her to blink, to sit up and smile.

But we could only hope that the mirror would do its work—if it could even do it. Because there were no guarantees. We were trusting old magic and secondhand prophecies. We were risking everything on the chance that some piece of her was still tethered to this world.

I hated it.

I hated not knowing. I hated seeing Kai like this—gutted and empty and still pretending he could hold himself together.

But most of all, I hated seeing Rue like this.

I stared at the bruises on her neck, the flecks of blood on her ear. The crusted scrape across her cheekbone.

"She didn't even get to look at something nice," Kai choked, his voice barely above a breath. "She was scared, Cole. And all she had was me."

I didn't say anything. Didn't know what to say.

"We'll bring her back," I managed to whisper, trying  to convince himself as much as him. eyes. "I don't care if it takes everything. We will bring her back."

I paused.

"You're not alone," I said softly. "We'll get her home."

I didn't wait for a response. Just leaned in and slid my arms under her body, bracing her neck carefully. She was limp, head falling slightly into my chest. Kai was watching every movement like his life depended on it.

She was heavier than she looked. Or maybe it just felt that way. Grief had a weight to it, and right now it was pressing into my ribs like a stone.

Kai hovered beside me, one hand on her arm, whispering something too quiet to catch. He reached over and gently shut her eyes, so she wasn't staring blankly into the distance any longer.

I didn't interrupt.

Then he looked up, and nodded once. His face was still sullen.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Yeah," he rasped.

I bent slightly and reached for him next. He didn't resist. Just pressed close, one hand still.

I carried them both—Rue in my arms and Kai on my back. Dead and alive. Grief and hope. Weight and memory.

We moved back through the rubble in silence.

Rue's hair skimmed the floor beneath us, long and tangled, catching the light in threads of red and copper.

The sky above us was still lightening— I think it was probably about 7am?

A hint of dawn. A sign of hope.

Maybe enough.

And if she came back—when she came back—

I'd never let her fight alone again.