Promises (Ninjago's Kai x Reader)

Episode 4 - Burn It to the Ground

WARNING: SUBSTANCE ABUSE

         ~

I'm able to finish four drinks before the conversation rounds back on me, and with a solid buzz easing the pain of my lost loved ones, I'm actually eager to catch up with some old friends.

"Hey, Tasha," says Jasper. "How's Roselynn doing? Why don't we hear about her in the news ever?"

"Her name's actually Lily, and she's dead as well," I say a little too casually, sipping from a strawberry flavored martini.

Jasper gasps. "Are you being serious!?"

I lean forward, grabbing a fry from the pile and tossing it in my mouth. "Dead serious."

"Gosh, I'm so sorry, Tasha," says Kails. "Your fiancé and your twin sister, both gone. I know they were rebels, but they were still your family."

I shake my head. "Lily wasn't my sister, she was my clone."

"Even so, we all mourn her loss," says Jasper.

I have to resist the urge to roll my eyes. I may not have liked her very much, but the version of her that they all knew was still their friend. They have every right to be sad, so I give them a moment of silence in her honor.

"How bout a round of shots," says Loui. "Do you remember what her favorite drink was?"

"She didn't like shots," Jaxson says. "She was always drinking something fruity."

"She liked green tea shots." Jasper's voice is tight and quiet, and I'm shocked when I realize he's actually fighting back tears. "Was about the only thing she'd shoot with me."

The two of them must've been closer than I realized. Whereas I liked to hang around with Jaxson and Michael, she tended to go off with Jasper and whichever girl he was fucking at the time. I always assumed it had to do with the mission, not that they were actually friends.

"To Roselynn Veers," says Kails, raising a green tea shot to cheers with the others.

"To Roselynn!" they echo. There's a unanimous clink as they tap their glasses together, followed by a light thud as they all tap them on the table before downing the whole drink.

I pick up my own glass, thinking back to the few good moments she and I actually had. Like when we joked about Coles kissing skills, or the times when she and Cole went on double dates with me and Kai.

"To Lily," I mumble, swallowing the overpoweringly sweet shot.

"Alright everyone," says Kails, pounding a fist on the table and standing up. "The best way to honor Rozz's memory is to go out on that dance floor and party until our legs give out. It's what she'd be doing if she was still with us."

"Best idea you've had all week," says Jasper, earning himself a playful punch to the shoulder. He scoots outta the booth, followed by Loui, Kails, and Michael, who had joined us somewhere around my third drink.

"Shall we?" says Jaxson, holding out his hand for me to take.

I chug the rest of my drink, grab a couple fries for the road, and let him lead me to where the others are on the dance floor. As if the dj was waiting specifically for us, "Slut Me Out" starts to play, and I can't help but reminisce on the first time Lily and I went to a bar together. 

We hadn't even turned eighteen yet, and truthfully, I was scared shitless; completely out of my element. But she adapted quickly, made friends with the gang members like it was the easiest thing in the world, and even went out of her way to make me comfortable in our new environment. I don't know if it was her time in prison, or the fact that she was an arguably more impressionable version of me, but everything about our time with Ronin came naturally to her.