Promises (Ninjago's Kai x Reader)

Episode 11 - Just to Get High

I'm clutching Jasper as the battle ensues, determined to protect my dead friend from any further damage. Mistake charges Garmadon, knocking him back against his throne, and when he tries to use his power on her, she just waves it away. Skylor tries to join the fray, but gets pinned by Harumi. I create a forcefield of dark energy around Jas and me to protect from the dark matter that gets tossed and deflected. But when Mistake starts to speak in some foreign language, I know it's time for me to leave.

Mustering all my strength, I pick Jasper up and sling him over my shoulders. I stumble towards the stairs, barely able to breathe between the exertion and my sobs. Then I'm surrounded by darkness—Black smoke, everywhere I turn, just like in my dream. I continue blindly towards the staircase, and when I reach the edge of the steps, the two of us go tumbling down.

I lay there in the stairwell, crying, wailing, hyperventilating, unable to move, consumed by pain, physically, mentally, emotionally—I was done. I couldn't do it anymore: I had nothing left to give.

Bikers rush past me, heading to the roof to help their leader, not even giving me a second glance, nobody bothering to help the broken princess, not caring that Jasper lay dead in my arms. Until Kails finds me.

"Tasha!" she says, breathless from running up so many flights of stairs. "What happened?"

I look up at her, barely able to see through my tears. "Jasper's dead. Garmadon killed him."

Her eyes well up, but she manages to keep herself composed as she lifts her dead friend off of me. "C'mon," she says, "let's get you to the infirmary."

         ~

I had a cut across my forehead from the fall, and nurse Melissa was quick to stitch it up for me. News had spread about Jasper's death, but Garmadon and Harumi had spun some story about him being killed by the Oni, Mistake. Mistake was slain for her "crimes," and now Killow is leading a search party to find Skylor, who escaped by some miracle.

I'm alone in my room, staring blankly at the windowsill lined with a myriad of alcohol bottles. They're calling to me, urging me to numb the pain. And each tear that slides down my face brings me closer and closer to breaking. They're too salty on my lips, I need the sweet burn of Fireball to wash it away.

Kails and Jaxson put together a quick funeral for Jasper, but I couldn't muster the courage to show my face. Not when I was the reason he was dead, which I'm sure Kails told them all. With the swift killing of one, I will be ostracized from the rest. I should've known better then to think I could have friends. Everything I've ever loved has always withered and died in the end.

Fuck it.

I get up and grab the Fireball off the shelf. The sweet cinnamon flavor is almost refreshing, and then it starts to burn. I chug until it practically burns a whole in my esophagus and I'm coughing uncontrollably. The alcohol warms my chest, though, and slowly spreads to heat my face. But its not enough to numb the pain yet, so I sit on my floor and take slower sips until my brain feels like its melting.

Memories consume me, some good and some bad. Some about Kai, some about my brother and the rest of the ninja, but most about Jasper and the Tiger Sharks. I never realized how much I'd grown to care for them, especially in the past few weeks. They gave me hope for tomorrow—gave me something to believe in.

Jasper is with Lily now. Their friendship will flourish in the afterlife, and they can bond over how I got them both killed. Or maybe Jasper will go find Kai and tell him about what I've become. He'd be so disappointed in me.

I stare down at the ring on my finger, anger building in the pit of my stomach. I take it off and throw it across the room: I don't deserve to wear it anymore.