A fire's shadow

Safe or dangerous?

Shadow and Amy spent the rest of the week together, doing something new every day.

On Tuesday they went to an arcade, where Amy beat Shadow in a racing game.

On Wednesday they went watching a movie, which Shadow fell asleep halfway through, then they went to a market, where they bought gifts to each other.

Amy gave Shadow a pair of sunglasses and a black vest with a hood. He gave Amy one silver bracelet, a pair of white headphones and a new phone since she had lost her old phone and headphones in the fire.

On Thursday, Amy somehow convinced Shadow to draw a portrait of her, which he ended up doing.

And on Friday, they recorded a song together. Shadow sang while Amy played the guitar. They got a file with the song and both had in on their phones.

Now they were sitting on a rock by the ocean as the sun set and slowly disappeared behind the horizon on a late Friday evening.

"And then I flipped him onto the ground and told him that if I ever see him bully another kid then I'm not going to be so nice." Shadow laughed.

"Did he ever do it again?"

The ninja shook his head, "Nah, the next day he started apologizing to the kids he had bullied and then started looking out for them instead. I don't know if it was because he was afraid of me or if he realized it was not nice to bully people, but honestly, I don't care, as long as he doesn't do it I'm fine with it."

Amy smiled, "Well I guess that's good. But there might have been a better way to make him stop, you didn't have to hurt him."

"I know, but I'm not that great with words, so I don't really think I would have convinced him to stop. And I didn't hurt him that bad, he just got a bruise or two, nothing serious."

"I know, but it's still not the answer."

Shadow sighed and then gave her a smile, "Okay, I'll try to not use violence as the first option to fix things from now on."

She nodded, "Good."

Silence fell in between the two teens and they both felt a blush spread across their faces as they looked into the other's eyes, which ended with them looking away from each other in embarrassment.

"I had fun today, and the other days too." Shadow smiled and looked at the sunset.

Amy giggled, "Yeah, me too."

"It's too bad I can't do this every day forever." The ninja sighed.

"Yeah, you have a responsibility as a ninja. It's not like you can just quit that."

"I could quit if I really wanted to. But I don't want to disappoint my brother and my family. Or the people living in Ninjago. They're all counting on me to keep Ninjago safe, I can't let them down."

"But you don't have to protect it by yourself. The other ninjas will always have your back, won't they?"

The fire master chuckled and his smile faded a little, "Yeah, they will. But I still don't want them to think I'm weak. I hate feeling weak." He looked at his hands and clenched his teeth together, "My worst fear is someone dying because of me. And if I'm weak then that could easily happen."

Amy gave Shadow a sad look and then placed a hand on his shoulder which made him relax a little. She smiled, "I don't think you're weak. In my eyes, you are the strongest person alive." Lowering her head a little, she continued, "The way nothing people say can bring you down, the way you keep being who you are despite what others think, and the way you inspire and help others just by being yourself. It's truly amazing."