A/N: I don't ship this but it was still fun to write lol

The gray sky looms over the city, and though the sun should be setting around this time, you can't really tell. I sit at the top of a building with my legs dangling over the side, watching the hustle-bustle of the city below. With a sigh, I hold up my hand in front of me. It's transparent.

I don't know why I still keep wishing the whole ordeal was a dream and or that it could be magically reversed. This cursed ghost body is permanent. My brothers have insisted that nothing has changed, though I've noticed that they've kept their distance. I know that they believe I need time alone and am grateful for the space they gave me, but I've never felt more lonely.

Snow begins to fall slowly, and within a few minutes there is a fine layer of white coating the roof and treetops. Several snowflakes fall right through my outstretched hand, which I soon drop to my side. It's pointless. The only way I will be able to catch anything is if I concentrate really hard, and after a while it gets draining.

Zane used to find it fascinating how I didn't need to concentrate to stand on the ground, and on the contrary, needed to if I wanted to phase through it. He hypothesized that it may have something to do with my element since it was so contradictory. I, on the other hand, don't really care about physics since the existence of my powers alone probably defies several of its laws, but after seeing Zane get so excited about it, I didn't have the heart to tell him to stop.

As much as my current situation sucks, I can't help but smile at the thought of him. I recall how when we first met, I thought Zane was a weirdo. Once I got to know him, I realized that he is so much more than just the "smart guy" or the Nindroid, and sometimes I wonder if we could be more than friends...

But that was stupid to think about. He has P.I.X.A.L. and I am... a ghost. Undesirable in both worlds, the living and the dead.

The snow doesn't make me feel chilly, which is saddening. Of course, the feeling of being freezing cold isn't exactly a welcome one, but I haven't felt anything in so long that I wouldn't even mind pain. I miss being a normal person. Old me would've shivered under these circumstances since I'm wearing nothing but a t-shirt and jeans, but I just feel numb.

Because of the fog shrouding the city in mist, I can't see anything beyond maybe a hundred feet or so. Still, I know the Bounty is perched on a rooftop not far away. I told the others that I would just come out for a walk and be back soon, so they're probably waiting for me to return. When I left, they had offered to come with me, but after I said no thanks, they simply nodded and didn't ask again.

Sometimes I wish I could just disappear. Every time I walk through the hallways with my shoulders slouched, the concerned looks on everyone's faces feel like a stab to the heart. They shouldn't be concerned for me. I should stop being a sore loser and just get over it already. And whenever Zane offers to do something for me, I simply wave him off before he can finish his sentence. I feel like a terrible friend, especially when I see him open then close his mouth before he says anything else. Every muscle in me is dying to ask him what he was about to say, but I stop myself. He doesn't need my stupid ghost troubles bothering him.

I wonder how he felt when he first found out he was a Nindroid. Not to mention the fact that he had to watch his father die all over again. Zane has had it so much harder than me, and I have no right to act this way.

"Cole?"

I almost jump at the sound of his voice and jerk my head around. If I was still a human, I probably would've cracked my neck.

"Oh, hey Zane," I say, barely able to hold his gaze. Looking into Zane's piercing blue eyes makes me feel as if every muscle in my face is betraying my inner thoughts, and I begin feeling increasingly vulnerable. I don't like this feeling.

And I really want him to leave. The quicker he does, the less likely I am to begin burdening him with my petty ghost issues.

My breath quickens as he looks me up and down, and if I wasn't a ghost, my heart would be pounding in my chest. "You've been out here for two hours already," he says finally, after a long pause, "My worry levels were rising exponentially."

"Worry levels?" I ask, wondering if that's even a thing.

Zane shrugs, a hint of a grin playing on his lips, and sits down beside me. I allow my shaggy black ghost hair to fall over my face so that hopefully, he won't see how opaque my cheeks are getting.

"Sorry," I say, annoyed that present or not, I still had to bother him that way, though a tiny part of me can't help but feel overjoyed that I was on his mind. I silently tell that part to shut up.

He turns around and looks at me, eyebrows raised. "For what?"

"Taking up your time."

"Cole," he says, and I feel my chest tighten, "You don't always have to care so much about how everyone else feels. Your emotions are perfectly valid and it's okay to let them out. Don't feel bad about it."

I stare through my legs at the sidewalk dozens of stories below. The people look like ants. Greenish ants. "It's not fair to you guys when I'm just a cloud of... stuff that ruins people's days wherever I go."

He attempts to put his arm around me, only to have it pass through the gas that makes up my "body". Still, the action sends unexpected shivers through me that aren't from the cold.

"Everyone has their lows," Zane looks at me again, and I refuse to meet his eyes. "We're here for you Cole. We're brothers. And as iron sharpens iron, brother sharpens brother."

"Zane, I didn't have a reflection," I say, recalling the reflections everyone but I had back in the First Spinjitzu Master's grave. Funny how Jay is still so excited about it that he constantly blabs about how cool he looked in his reflection whereas mine is just depressing. Jay can be so insensitive sometimes. Or I'm just being petty. Probably the latter.

"Maybe the Cloud Kingdom didn't know what to do about it after you became a ghost so they just left it blank for the moment," Zane suggests, and from his tone I don't think he's joking. "Not to mention that if Morro was able to defy destiny, why can't we?"

"Still, if I'm destined to die, what's the point?"

"You are not destined to die."

I turn and stare at him blankly, almost exasperated.

"Alright, you will die one day. And so will I. But that does not mean living is pointless."

"Oh yeah?" I don't mean to sound as sour as I do, but I really don't need to get my hopes up. If Ninjago still needs saving I can just pass on my powers to some trusted ally and then drop dead. I begin racking my mind for people I can trust my power with when I realize Zane has started talking.

"Life," he says simply, his eyes now staring off into the empty space in front of us, "Protecting those who cannot be protected. Family. Brotherhood. I have so much more to say on the topic but I don't think you'd want to hear it, so I'll spare you the lecture." Zane chuckles a little, and I can't help but smile.

His face turns serious again. "Remember, Cole, we have your back no matter what. And even if things may seem tough, they will get better."

"How?" I'm tempted to ask, but I keep my mouth shut. It isn't my place to complain, especially since I did it for Lloyd and the sixteen realms. I shouldn't be even the slightest bit unhappy with my sacrifice. Maybe I should even feel honored to have played such a vital part in this battle. I should be proud of being a ghost. Right?

But I'm not.

I curl my hands into fists, and Zane, ever so observant, notices this. "Maybe there is a way out."

"What do you mean? This stupid body is permanent." I figure that I should be more careful with my language, but at this point I don't care.

"Well, if Sensei Yang was able to turn you into a ghost, he may be able to reverse it," Zane suggests, his eyes still on me and sending chills through my body. It's funny, since I didn't think that was even possible, but with him, things are... different.

"I know what will cheer you up," Zane says with an air of confidence after a few more moments of silence, "We can go to Chen's Noodle House and order you a cake!"

The notion excites me for maybe half a second before I return to a sulking stupor. "I'm not hungry, Zane," I mutter.

"There must be something we can do," he says quietly, "Are you sure you don't want a big, moist, chocolate cake with a delicious coating of frosting? Think about the soft, creamy, spongy texture as it melts in your mouth, the thin layer of icing separating the layers and contributing to the..."

If I was still a human I'd be drooling right now. "Okay, okay Zane, I get it, cake sounds delicious," I say, really wishing it didn't sound this appealing. "But can you not?"

"I can see that you are smiling, or at least trying not to," he laughs, sending a punch to my side. Of course, his hand just goes straight through my ghost body, causing him to laugh even harder. The sound is adorable, not to mention extremely contagious, and as much as I try to keep a stony expression, I feel my face break into a grin.

Zane's face lights up when I do, his eyes twinkling with excitement. "We should get some," he says before I can say anything else.

"Zane, I..." I begin as I try to figure out a response. At the same time, I feel a sudden craving for cake, and I inwardly curse my soon-to-be grumbling stomach.

"I know you want some, Cole," he says teasingly, almost in a sing-song-like manner, "Don't argue with a Nindroid."

Zane doesn't even give me any time to disagree before he summons his Elemental Dragon and jumps on its back. "Come on," he says, gesturing towards the spot behind him, "Let's go."

My stomach growls, and after several seconds of hesitation, I comply.

...

"Hey guys," Skylor greets us as we enter the door. The restaurant is buzzing with people as it usually is around this time of day on a weekend, and I start to pull my hood over my head until I realize that nothing will hide the fact that I am a ghost. So I decide not to bother.

Some people give us weird looks, but most are focused on their company.

"Is it just you?" she asks, glancing over our shoulders to see if there's anyone coming through the door behind us. I wonder if she's looking for Kai. Judging by the number of times I've looked up excitedly at the sound of footsteps only to see someone other than Zane come in, she probably is.

"Yes," Zane nods, "We'd like a triple decker chocolate cake with strawberry jam filling, red velvet ganache, and vanilla buttercream. And with some extra pearls on top." I stare at him in shock, wondering how he managed to remember the specifics. He'd only ordered a cake with me once, and it took Skylor at least ten times before she was able to. Not that I expect anyone to be able to recite it by heart.

"So the usual?" Skylor says with a chuckle.

Zane grins. "Yes. Thank you."

"No problem," she replies, and we head to the back, where we'll attract less attention.

I plop down on my seat in a shapeless lump, just like the ball of gas I am, as Zane sits down opposite me, his back straight. He's always had better manners than me, and I decide that to save face, I should do the same. After all, I don't want him to start judging me for my manners.

My stomach grumbles and I feel my face heat up, despite that sounding seemingly impossible.

Zane laughs. "The smells are quite appetizing, are they not? You've never been one to resist the temptations."

"I was resisting," I say, my eyes looking everywhere that isn't his face. I find that staring into his eyes always results in me breaking out into a nervous sweat, which he is able to detect. Once he even pointed out that my face's thermal energy was rising when he accidentally leaned into me while playing video games, and as much as I would love for that to happen again, I'd rather it not.

"If you say so," he says, his smile bigger than ever, "You still lost. That's Zane 101, Cole 0."

"Excuse me, what?" I ask, frowning, "Since when did we―"

Zane cuts me off with a wave of his hand. "There is no reason to be serious all the time, Cole. Didn't you use to constantly tell me to relax and 'loosen up a bit'?" he makes air quotes with his fingers, "Well, now I am returning the favor. Think about the cake you can sink your teeth into in only a matter of minutes. Mmm."

I hate to admit it, but that does sound appetizing.

Then I remember that all he's trying to do is distract me from the whole ordeal. It won't really work, since I'm just going to be sulking within the next hour.

"Zane."

He raises an eyebrow and slightly cocks his head to the side. "Yes?"

"Thanks for doing this, but you really don't have to."

"Anything before the 'but' has no meaning," Zane points out.

I don't really know how to reply to that.

He sighs. "I understand how you feel, Cole. And I know for a fact that the best way to combat these feelings is to talk about it. Bottling everything up will only make things worse over time. Besides, we're here for you, and if you are worried that we will get tired of it, I promise, from the bottom of my heart, that I will always be here for you. And so will the others. Never label yourself as worthless. You sacrificed yourself for the scroll and we do not even deserve you. Only now have I realized that I did not even express my gratitude yet. Thank you. For everything. I could go on into details until my processor is in need of replacement and still not be done."

I stare into my transparent lap, wondering if he's ever replaced his processor before. "How... how are you not sick and tired of me yet?" I ask, recalling the countless number of times Zane has had to comfort me over this. I feel extremely self-centered every time I seek advice, and while he says it's fine every time I keep getting this nagging feeling that one day he'll crack and ghost me. No pun intended.

"Because I care. And it does not matter how many times I must repeat myself, as long as we are one step closer to making you feel better. I could write one thousand essays about how much you mean to me personally and not get tired of it. And make each and every one of them different."

I highly doubt it, but some obnoxious part of me decides to press on. "And what if I still feel like a waste of space?" I'm not even sure if I take up any, to be perfectly honest. Do ghosts take up space?

"Then I will write a one-thousandth-and-one essay."

I feel my chest clench and I bite down on my lower lip, my head spinning. His eyes are still on me, and in this moment I want nothing more than to throw my arms around him. My arms, which I am slightly leaning onto in my seat, begin shaking.

I don't deserve this.

"You deserve this, Cole," he says, as if reading my mind. "And... if you don't want to live and keep fighting for yourself... do it for us."

Do ghosts cry?

A/N: So as you guys have probably figured, this takes place after an alternate season 5. I wrote this for a friend of mine, who I had dragged into the fandom after she made me watch ATLA with her. She started shipping Cole x Zane since Can of Worms I think (when he was the pink ninja), so I figured I'd write this for her birthday, though she had to wait an EXTREMELY long time. 

I actually really enjoyed writing this oneshot even though I don't actually ship this pairing. Even though I spent over a month on it... Before writing this I never even thought about all the stuff Cole was going through between seasons 5 and 6, so I'm really glad I got to write this oneshot. 

You might also notice that in these oneshots I switch POVs and tense around a lot. I'm just experimenting with different ones and see how it's like, so I hope you guys don't mind the inconsistency. 

I hope you guys liked it! Also if you have requests I'd be happy to take them. I actually want to write a Coliel oneshot at some point so maybe I'll do that after this then get to the requests if you guys have any. I don't really know how it works but if you have a request it would be nice if you could provide some sort of theme or something for me to go off of lol. 

Thanks for reading!