I Will (Ninjago fanfiction)

Heartfelt

I drag my tired self from my bedroom and downstairs to the living room. After my eyes adjust, I open the sliding glass door and step outside. I breathe in deeply and inhale the fresh smell of nighttime nature. Reaching up to hold my arms from the summer midnight cold, I take a few steps to my left and enter the sunroom, a recent addition to my house. I had it built so that if I had memory trouble, I could come out here and find a peaceful place away from my scarring memories. It's the one place in my house that doesn't force me into some kind of tears.

I find a chair and ottoman and lay down, covering myself with a blanket that I found on the chair. My eyelids become heavy and eventually fall, but I don't remember anything after that.

* * *

My ringing phone wakes me from a deep sleep. My left arm reaches out to the table beside me and picks up the phone. Muscle memory presses the talk button and I bring the phone up to my ear. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes with my right hand, I say into the phone, "Hello?" I pull my hand back, discovering moisture that was gathered from my eyes. Sleep crying; great.

"Ember? This is Zane," the voice says.

I grunt and say, "Mhm. Hey, how did you get my number?"

"I found it in the phonebook. Did I wake you?"

"Unh," I yawn and stretch out. "Yeah, you kinda did."

"Sorry. I was just calling to apologize on behalf of my brothers. I'm sorry you had to experience last night's disrupt."

Probably one of those fake make-ups. "They put you up to this didn't they? They figured you were the nicest, therefore you should be the one to make the total apology," I say into the phone.

"No; nobody spoke to me about that. I was just sorry that yesterday's occurrence had to be one of your first impressions of us. I felt obligated to make a formal apology," he says, sounding real.

That's a first. Everyone who's ever called to apologize on behalf of their group hasn't sounded real heartfelt. Just monotonous. Some were put up to it; others drew straws, as awful as those cases sound. This really means a lot to me.

"Kai probably exploded not only because he's Kai-fiery and fierce-but also because he's lost his family too. His mother died when Nya was born, and his father killed sometime. I'm not really sure of the complete story."

I stay silent.

"I figure your house is full of memories you wish would go away, right? Do you want to meet me at Peace Park and talk things over?"

I don't say anything. I'm thinking it over. He's sounding real, and he's offering to try to help me. I suppose I'll take my chances; after all, I can always just beat his ass up if things don't work. "I guess," I sit back and run my hand through my hair. It needs washing, yuck. "What time?"

"How does one-thirty sound?"

"Sounds good. I'll meet you there."

"Ok. I'll wait on the bench by the koi pond. Bye, Ember," he says, signaling the end of the conversation.

"Bye, Zane." I hang up the phone and check the time. 11:30. I've got about two hours to kill before I meet him.

I get up and leave the sunroom, through a door that leads into my house rather than outside. Inside & upstairs, I take a long shower and work out all the dirt and grime on my body and face. When I get out, I sit in my room for a long time, debating on what I should do to get ready. I decide in a simple & modest t-shirt & shorts for the park. I slip on my favorite swirly purple fabric crocs -not cloggs- and go back to the bathroom. I stare in the mirror and rub some extra sleep from my face. I decide against makeup, since I don't really wear it, and because it's a very informal occasion.