Cole ran. He ran and ran until he knew his friends couldn't see him. He heard the faint voices of Kai and Lloyd shouting after him. He pulled all the doors on the buildings in Ninjago hoping one of them would be unlocked. He gripped each handle pulling the door quickly but strong enough for them to open. 6 tries later and he finally found a door that lead to a small hotel. As he walked in he noticed there was no receptionist or any people in the lobby. Cole took off his hoodie and touched his head. He could feel his damp black hair and his shirt was soaked by the rain. his shoes made a squeaking noise as he took a step. He listened carefully to what was happening outside. Cole heard the rain collide with the road making a soft sound. He then heard footsteps becoming louder and louder and then they stopped.

"Do you see him?" An awfully familiar voice said who Cole perceived as the hotheaded fire ninja.

"No, I think we lost him." The green ninja stated. He sounded like he was worried. "Maybe he just wants to be left alone."

For a few seconds, it was quiet. It was silent actually. So silent you could hear a pin drop. Or the soft sound of the rain. Cole wondered if they were still there but he wasn't taking any chances. He glanced at his watch; 9:18 PM it read. After a few moments, Lloyd finally broke the minutes of silence.

"Let's go home, Cole will probably come back to The Bounty when he is ready to come back."

"I'm gonna kill Jay for what he said," Kai muttered under his breath speaking of the blue ninja who's mouth was as fast as lightning. It also earned him the nickname of motor mouth.

He heard the footsteps get lighter and lighter until there was nothing was left to hear. Cole stepped out of the hotel slowly incase Lloyd and Kai were still there. He didn't see anyone so he started running again. But he knew where he was going. Lloyd was right, he wanted to be alone. He ran out of the city and stopped for a short while to rest.

'Don't cry, don't cry.' The usually reserved earth ninja tried his best not to break down in tears. He hadn't cried since Lily died. It's not like they could actually help him anyways. His mom was the only one who could cheer him up but she had died years ago. Emotions of affliction and grief poured into him. He shook his head trying not to think about Lily's demise. Cole picked himself up running again; 11:36 PM his watch had read. 'Almost there.'

Cole thought to when he was four years old and stubbed his toe against the table. "Mommy it hurts, it hurts!" The young Cole sobbed loudly and held his toe in pain. Lily rushed out of the kitchen and cradled the toddler, lullabying him to sleep. "Shh, it's ok." The memory got dimmer and dimmer as young Cole drifted to sleep. It faded into just that; a memory. He was overwhelmed with feelings but this time with happiness and joy.

He was disappointed the memory was over but soon stood in awe because of the tall structure in front of him. Dirt and stone put together to make a mountain; Ninjago's tallest mountain. Cole didn't remember the mountain being so tall.

'Am I sure I still want to do this?' He wedged his foot in a wide gap and gripped a small but stable rock with his left hand. Cole smiled remembering how much he enjoyed climbing. 'Yes.' The earth ninja pulled himself up and kept climbing. This is the first place he went after Lily's death. He got so caught up in focusing on where to place every arm and foot you can't think about what is going on in life. Today, he had the same gut feeling after his mother's departure. The same urge telling him to climb the mountain.

Cole started thinking about yesterday's dinner.

The Day Before~

"Zane are you done yet? ZANEEEE!" Jay screamed at the top of his lungs

"Quiet Motor Mouth! It's been like two minutes since he went into the kitchen!" The fire ninja rolled his eyes and glared when Nya giggled in affection.

"Kai, Jay and I started dating so can you somehow accept him. Besides, the fact that I'm your sister isn't going to change."

"Ok, fine. The only reason I'm not tackling Jay right now is that you said so."

"Well anyways, Zane's cooking is worthy of screaming. And anyways you would be too if you weren't trying to act mature and think your sooo cool and….." Jay's voice trailed off when he caught himself. 'Bad move Jay. If you want Kai to let you date Nya, just do what he says.' He thought to himself forcing a smile.

"Just try to be quiet, will you?" Kai said rolling his eyes again.

And it worked. For about ten seconds. Jay broke the silence, unsurprisingly. "I could probably use some of Cole's duck chowder; if it glued my mouth shut Kai would probably accept me way easier."

"Yeah, that would probably shut you up," Lloyd muttered under his breath. He knew there was no other way to close the lightning ninja's mouth unless Cole's horrific cooking was brought up.

"What's this about my cooking? Well if you're talking about it, you must have liked it." Cole stated cluelessly while planting a ridiculous grin on his face. He just entered the room.

"Mhm yea we totally liked the chunky green liquid with black bits as a garnish that glued our mouths shut," Jay stated sarcastically.

Lloyd could do nothing but sigh. Kai only crossed his arms and rolled his eyes for the third time in five minutes. They recalled the dish the earth ninja made calling it 'duck chowder' a few nights ago. It kept them all quiet for an hour until Master Wu could get a special tea to loosen their mouths again. But Lloyd had to admit; not hearing Jay's voice for more than two minutes was peaceful. Thinking about the mess of duck chowder made Kai throw up in his mouth a little bit.

"Why did you have to bring that up?!" Nya whisper shouted to Jay.

"Sorry, it won't happen again." Cole was the one to roll his eyes this time. Nya was the only person who could shut Jay up.

"It wasn't that bad." Cole retorted. "Is my cooking really that bad?"

Everyone nervously glanced at each other trying to hold back laughter. Did Cole think his own cooking was good? Even Jay tried to be quiet because he knew Cole could be pretty intimidating when he wanted to be but a few snorts did escape his mouth. After some moments of awkwardness, they all answered with the same thing at the same time.

"Umm…" Before anyone could say something else Lloyd, Jay, Nya, and Kai dashed out of the room.

"Dinner is ser…. Where is everyone?" Zane looked confused as he entered holding a plate of pork dumplings and chicken fried rice. Cole's mouth watered looking at the food the nindroid was holding but he quickly shook his head.

"Zane is my cooking bad?"

Zane didn't know how to answer that. He could answer any question except 'Is my cooking bad?' when it came to Cole. He was very close to the earth ninja and didn't want to hurt his feelings. He, a nindroid, could not taste things very well therefore usually didn't like or dislike food but when it came to Cole's food his wires started to smoke and gears would get stuck. The black ninja's food could be dangerous if consumed too much. Zane felt sorry for anyone who had to consume his food.

"I sense I need to be somewhere else..." Zane didn't have anything but a lame excuse to answer the question.

The nindroid dashed out the door. "Hmph." Cole grabbed a dumpling, pouting and crossing his arms. He thought about it for the rest of the night.

Back To Present~

By the time Cole's flashback was over, he was almost halfway up the mountain. Yesterday, it was annoying. But today he could look back and laugh. He hated to admit it but when he cooked he didn't even eat his own food. It often resulted in him pretending to stay back and clean up but when everyone left the room he would throw the food away.

He stopped climbing, gripping the rocks above him. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a few seconds. When he slowly opened them, for a second he could see his mother climbing the mountain. The same raven hair, the same smile. But just when she appeared, she was gone.

This was something Cole did a lot when he was a child after Lily died. At first, he would do it all the time but as time passed he realized nothing he did could ever bring his mother back. He saw her die right in front of him. For a few years, he stopped doing it completely. But when Kai and Nya got their parents back, Cole started doing it again. He knew deep inside, he could never get his mother back but pretending she is there with him was comforting. 'Kai and Nya got their parents back, Misako came back in Lloyd's life and Zane's met his father again. But mom is never coming back.'

It wasn't fair. But what is fair? If Lily never died, Cole would have never become a ninja. He would have never met the old man sipping tea at the top of the mountain and even if he did he would never agree to become a ninja….

It was a week after Lily's death and Cole and his father, Lou, hadn't said more than fifty words to each other. The only things they said were "What's for dinner?" or "Is this really happening?" And after about thirty times saying "I can't sleep" later, they went their separate ways. Lou decided he shouldn't have time to grieve and found a group called the royal blacksmiths that could use another member. He left early in the morning and returned late at night because of travel leaving much work for his son. Cole, on the other hand, took most of his time to grieve. He thought about his dad. How could he sing and dance like he doesn't care about Lily's demise at all!

One day when Cole and Lou were having dinner in silence like they always do, Cole's father brought up a school of performing arts. "It will be good for you." Cole didn't argue or agree. It could distract him but he didn't want to become like his dad who seemed distant.

After a few days of attending the school, he decided he didn't like it at all. He snuck out and ran until he was sure the school couldn't find him. His dad would have gotten angry if he found out Cole snuck out if he went back home. So he decided to go to the last place they would look and started climbing. It was where he met master Wu and decided to become a ninja. 'What do I have to lose?' was the main question Cole asked himself.

And he wasn't this happy in a long time. He had friends and finally had a home. He couldn't be any happier. Right?

This is my first chapter in my first story:) I'm trying to post every Monday but I may post earlier or later depending on how I'm feeling (Sunday is my day off). If I get 5 reviews by next Monday, I will post another chapter. Tell me what you think:) Also tell me if this chapter was too short and I will try to make them longer.