Lavashipping Oneshots!!

Lost Control

Status: Together

The argument had begun small. A disagreement about strategy, training, the usual clash of nerves and ideals.

But something about today was different.

Lloyd’s voice rang out over the monastery courtyard. “You have to stop thinking you’re alone in this!”

Kai stood a few feet away, breathing hard. “I never said I was alone!”

“You act like it! Charging off, not waiting for backup, putting yourself in danger!”

“I’m doing what I have to do!”

Lloyd’s jaw tightened. “You’re doing what you want. That’s not teamwork.”

Kai’s fists clenched. “Don’t talk to me like I’m some reckless rookie!”

“Then stop acting like it!”

It snapped like a thread pulled too tight.

Heat bloomed in Kai’s chest. His vision blurred with frustration, and without warning, a bright arc of flame burst from his palm.

“Kai!” Lloyd shouted, too late.

The fire clipped his forearm.

The scream that followed was instant, sharp, and awful.

Lloyd stumbled backward, grabbing his arm. “Agh—!”

Kai’s blood ran cold.

“Oh gods—Lloyd. Lloyd, I didn’t—I didn’t mean to—” He moved forward in horror.

Lloyd collapsed to one knee, clutching his scorched forearm. The skin was bright red, peeling at the edge where the flame had licked too close.

The sound of feet rushing in broke the frozen moment.

Zane and Jay arrived first. Nya followed seconds later.

“Lloyd!” Jay dropped beside him, panic in his voice.

“Stay still,” Zane instructed calmly, already scanning the injury. “Second-degree burn. Surface damage, likely no permanent scarring. Jay, get water and a cloth. Now.”

Kai stood paralyzed, staring.

Zane pulled a silver vial from his belt and began carefully treating the burn with antiseptic salve. Lloyd winced but kept still, tears in his eyes, jaw locked.

That’s when Nya turned to Kai.

Her voice cut through the air, sharp and trembling.

“What is wrong with you?!”

Kai blinked, trying to form words. “I didn’t mean—”

“You burned him!”

“I—I didn’t want to—”

“You’re supposed to protect him,” she snapped, stepping closer, “not hurt him!”

Kai recoiled as if slapped.

“Every time you get angry,” Nya continued, voice rising, “you lose it! And this time, it wasn’t a wall or a dummy it was Lloyd!”

“I know,” Kai whispered, pain curling in his stomach.

“He’s like a brother to you! How could you?”

Kai felt his breath stutter, chest heaving. “I said I didn’t—”

“You always say that,” Nya hissed. Her voice cracked. “But one day, you won’t be able to take it back. You are a monster when you let your fire win.”

It broke him.

He didn’t say another word.

He just turned, shoved past the doorway, and ran.

Cole stood in the hallway, eyes wide. “Kai?”

But Kai didn’t stop. He slammed his bedroom door shut behind him, leaned against it, and slid down to the floor, trembling.

Back in the hall, Nya stared after him, her fury already crumbling into guilt. She opened her mouth to speak, but Cole gently stopped her.

"I'll go,” he said softly. “Let me talk to him.”

Cole knocked gently. “Kai? You in there?”

No answer.

But then, a faint choked breath from inside.

Cole pushed the door open and stepped into the dimly lit room.

Kai sat at the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees, trembling fingers clutching his hair. His shoulders were hunched, rising and falling unevenly.

“Kai…” Cole said softly, stepping closer.

Kai didn’t look up. “I messed up,” he whispered. “So bad this time.”

Cole knelt in front of him. “You didn’t mean to—”

“It doesn’t matter!” Kai snapped suddenly, voice cracking. “I did it! I hurt him, Cole. I hurt him!”

Tears welled in his eyes as his voice rose, raw and panicked. “I burned him like, like I didn’t even recognize it was him for a second! It was just white-hot and loud in my head and the fire just—jumped out of me. And then he screamed, and I—”

He broke off, a sob tearing from his throat.

Cole’s chest ached.

“I looked into his eyes and he wasn’t scared of the fire, he was scared of me. And then Nya…” Kai laughed bitterly, tears streaking down his cheeks. “She didn’t even hesitate. Just looked me in the eye and said I was supposed to protect him. Like I’m some kind of—”

His voice dropped. “Like I’m some kind of monster.”

Cole moved onto the bed beside him and wrapped his arms around him, pulling him in tight, but Kai kept talking—venting like his chest couldn’t hold it all anymore.

“Every time things get hard, I just… burn everything. I try so hard, Cole, I swear I do. But the anger it’s always there, just under the surface, waiting for something to crack. And then I ruin everything. What kind of ninja am I, huh? I nearly torched the Green Ninja! I should just—”

“No,” Cole cut in firmly, pulling back to look him in the eyes. “Don’t even say that. You don’t get to decide your worth based on your worst moment.”

Kai shook his head, tears still falling. “I don’t trust myself anymore. How can you still trust me?”

Cole cupped the side of his face gently. “Because I know your heart. I’ve seen it. I’ve felt it. You’d throw yourself into a volcano for this team "

Kai’s breath hitched. “That doesn’t fix what I did.”

“No,” Cole said, voice soft. “But owning it does. Feeling it does. And you are. You're not running from ityou’re drowning in it. So let me be your shore right now.”

Kai’s face crumpled again, and this time he didn’t try to hold back. He turned into Cole’s chest and let himself fall apart—letting the sobs come, letting the shame bleed out, letting the arms around him hold him steady through the storm.

Cole pressed his cheek to Kai’s hair and whispered, “You’re not dangerous, Kai. You’re hurting. And you don’t have to carry it alone. Not tonight. Not ever.”

Kai didn’t speak again for a long time. Just breathed. Just held on.