Son of the Raging Tide

Chapter 5

Needless to say, after his near-death experience, Kai refused to return to the beach, or any other large bodies of water, for that matter.

His mother was very disappointed. It was sad to think that he had come to fear something she had such a strong connection to, and it stung to hear him speak so terribly of the element that she loved and treasured so dearly.

"No! I hate the water! I'm not going to swim ever again, and you can't make me!" Kai shouted one day after his mother had pressed him a little too hard to try and conquer his fears.

She sighed, knowing that she had gone too far. She knew that his anger was just a product of his fear and realized now that it went deeper than she had first thought. Seeing how much it upset him, she couldn't begin to imagine how he felt.

"Alright, Kai. I understand. I won't force you to do anything you're uncomfortable with."

Kai crossed his arms. "I hate the stupid ocean," he repeated. "I'm never going to dip so much as a toe in the ocean ever again as long as I live!"

"But darling, you were named after the ocean," she reminded him.

"Well what did you do that for?"

Kai's mother smiled a bit in amusement. If only he understood.

She bent down and brushed some his wild hair away from his eyes. It was a shade lighter than her own, but had the same untamable ferociousness as his fathers. "Your father and I love the ocean," she explained. "The water is special to us, and your father wanted you to be named after something that we both care so much about because we knew we would share that same love for you."

For a moment, Kai said nothing. Then his gaze softened and he asked, "Can't I change my name?"

His mother smiled. "No. We like your name." She pulled him forward and kissed the top of his head. "And I hope that someday you will, too."

. . . 

Kai stood leaning against a basin by the pond behind the tea shop, watching water drip out of a pipe. While the others were busy fortifying the tea shop, he was busy trying to master his element at the last possible second. His brow was furrowed in concentration as he willed the water to obey him and flow backwards. "Come on . . . come on . . ." he muttered under his breath. He was trying to keep his thoughts focused on the water, but all he could think about was the incessant whistling in the background.

He turned on Ronin. "Would you stop that?"

Ronin glanced at him. "What, washing R.E.X.? I've got to keep her clean, so she –"

"I mean your whistling! I can't reverse the flow if I can't concentrate, and I can't concentrate with all that noise!"

Ronin smirked. "Yeah, sure, I'm the problem."

"Don't you have someone to go con right now?"

Ronin pretended to glance at a watch he didn't have. "Not until four."

Kai wished that he could control the water, even if only to dowse Ronin for being so annoying.

"Besides, I'd much rather watch you have a meltdown over a few drops of water." Ronin picked up his bucket and walked to the pond to refill it.

Kai sighed to himself as his anger was replaced with a sense of defeat. "It's is useless. Sensei Wu still thinks that if I get over my fear of water I'll be able to control it. But it's not that easy."

"You don't say," Ronin muttered half-heartedly as he filled up his bucket.

Kai eyed the rushing waterfall at the opposite end of the pond. "Even if I wasn't so afraid of it, I could never be like the water. It's cold and unforgiving. It grabs hold of you and drags you under, beats you down just to make you suffer a slow, lonely death. Water may give life, but it's just as happy to take it away."

Ronin let out a long, low whistle. "Wow. You've got some issues. You know, most people consider water to be calming."

"That's because they don't know what it's really capable of," Kai retorted. "But it's just as dangerous as Nya's fire."

"Hmm." Ronin paused as he seemed to think about this. "You bring up an interesting point. Sure, fire's dangerous. But it can also be warm and comforting. Under the right circumstances, a good fire can be a lifesaver." Ronin chuckled to himself as he got to his feet and moved back towards REX. "Not too unlike your sister, huh?"

"You stay away from her," Kai growled. Kai wasn't usually very protective of Nya – ever since they were children she had proven time and time again that she could take care of herself be strong enough for both of them – but he would always want to look out for her. He didn't have a problem with Jay because he knew Jay – and more importantly, Jay knew him. But Ronin was a wild card, and Kai didn't like the way he talked about his sister.

Ronin raised his free hand as a sign of surrender. "Relax, I'm not that dumb. Nya would fry me in a heartbeat if only I gave her a reason," he said with a shudder. "But I think you have more important things to worry about."

Kai frowned in confusion when Ronin pointed. Following his gaze, he turned and saw that the water droplets he had been trying to control earlier had started flowing backward! "I – I did it? I did it!" Kai cheered.

But how? He hadn't even been thinking about reversing the flow anymore. He'd just been thinking about Nya.

Ronin seemed to read his thoughts as he piped up again. "See. All you need is the right motivation. Maybe it just depends on the way you look at it."

"What do you mean?" Kai asked. For a moment he ignored the fact that it was Ronin, of all people, who he was asking for advice. There were more important things at stake, and Kai would give anything to figure this out and have it over with.

Ronin rolled his eyes and Kai resisted the urge to throttle him. "Yeesh, when did I become your sensei? Look, it's obvious you're more in-touch with your power when your focused less on your fears and more on protecting your friends. I guess you're desire to protect them or whatever makes you stronger." Ronin dunked his brush and went back to washing REX. "But I bet those ghosts would be intimidated by your strength – just like how the ocean's power intimidates you. See? Everything's not so black-and-white. It depends which side you're standing on."

Kai frowned as he thought hard on this. Was Ronin right? Was he simply looking at the ocean in the wrong way?

But that was ridiculous! It had nothing to protect when it had tried to drown him. He'd done nothing wrong! And besides, it was a force of nature. That was partially what scared him so much. The ocean wasn't for or against anyone, it simply didn't care.

Kai glared at the dripping pipe, which had now returned to its normal flow. He tried to think about Lloyd in the possession of Morro. He thought about Nya and Jay and Cole and Zane trying to fight against something they couldn't even touch. They wouldn't stand a chance unless he could get this thing under control.

Nothing happened. The water just kept drip . . . drip . . . dripping on. It didn't care whether his friends lived or died.

With a growl of frustration, Kai kicked the stone basin – and immediately regretted it. He hissed and gripped the rim of the basin to take the weight off of his throbbing foot. He threw a glare back at Ronin, as if this was all his fault.

Then Kai sighed to himself. He obviously had the power. But would he ever be able to control it? 

He'd have to. He didn't have a choice if he wanted his friends, his family to be safe. Because if Ronin was right about one thing, it was that Kai wanted to protect them to the best of his ability. 

What was that thing Nya and the others were always saying? 

Ninja never quit. 

Well, if Kai had to be a ninja, then he wasn't going to quit until he had tamed this untamable element.