Cole flew Slate as quickly as he could. Slate felt his determination and had pulled ahead of Lloyd, Akita, Kai, and Zane multiple times, as she was doing now.

"Cole, you have to calm down!" Lloyd called up to him. "We can't keep up with you."

"Destiny can't wait!" He threw back, urging Slate to go even faster. "We need to find her as soon as possible!"

The heat of the sun in the Sea of Sand soaked into Cole's black outfit and made him sweat, although some of it might have been from the stress and worry over losing Destiny. We might have fought, but I really care about her. I probably love her if the thought of possibly never seeing her again and never getting to resolve our fight scares me this much.

Finally, he saw the Anacondrai tomb come into view, and he glanced back at Zane. The Nindroid's face grew focused for a moment before nodding to him, and Cole swooped down, jumping off of Slate before she even reached the ground. He grunted as he landed, getting up quickly and sprinting towards the tomb. All of the tombs had remained open since Lloyd and the snakes had first opened them, and so Cole slid into the Fang-shaped tomb without much thought. The first thing he saw wasn't as startling as it was disappointing, but he forced himself to smile.

Lloyd ran in behind him, and exclaimed, "Cyrus Borg!"

The inventor's hands were tied, and Lloyd quickly untied them, pulling the gag from his mouth immediately after. "They took Destiny!" he blurted.

Cole frowned. "Yes, we already knew this," he said testily.

Lloyd gave him a warning glare, then asked, "Do you know where?"

"I don't know where she is, but I know why they took her."

"Well?" Cole demanded, frantic.

"They need her to get the Golden Armor."

"For the love of-!" Cole rushed at him and clasped the front of his shirt roughly. "Where is the Golden Armor?!!"

Borg looked completely and utterly startled. "Zane's father's workshop in the birch forest. I hid it there and created a completely impenetrable area. No human could get to it; it's solid metal the entire way through. It would take months, years, to get through it all, with the most advanced of tools. That's why they need her."

Cole released him and bolted out of the tomb, hearing Lloyd's voice but not caring about the words. He summoned Slate and hopped on, ordering her as quick as she could go to the birch forest.

A few moments later, he heard his communication device crackle. He held it up to his ear and heard Zane's voice come through. "Lloyd is taking Borg back. Akita is coming with me and Kai."

"I'll meet you there," he replied.

"No, Cole, you need to wait for us. We don't know if they're already there-"

"If they are, they'll be sorry," he said, turning his communicator off.

The forest came into view, and soon Cole saw tons of warriors and Craglings. He felt a rush of blind rage as he spotted a cage, and in it, a collapsed figure of purple. He leapt down from Slate, pounding the ground with his fists as he landed. He felt the earth begin to shake and stood, getting into his battle-ready stance as the warriors all turned to look, startled, at him.

The largest Cragling grinned maliciously. "Get him," he ordered.

Cole choked down a laugh. Bring it.

Ten warriors rushed at him, and he twisted his body into Spinjitzu. When all of them were defeated, he stopped and saw more of them rush towards him in a line. He grinned and jumped into the air. He stomped on the first, flipped to hit the second with his fist, and headbutted the third, landing with finesse. Triple Tiger Sashay!

He didn't have time to gloat, as several more warriors replaced their fallen comrades. Cole shook his head, noting the amount of warriors that whoever the rock giant was had in stock. He sighed and leaned down, placing his hands on the ground. The shaking was increasing steadily, but Cole barely felt it. He knew from the spooked looks on the warriors' faces, however, that they did.

Cole closed his eyes, focusing. He could hear the snow crunching as the warriors approached, but he attempted to block it out. Suddenly, he felt a surge of power rush through his arms and into the ground, and he heard rocks scraping tumultuously around him. He stood and saw most of the warriors had been trapped in his rock spires, and he grinned. The commanding Cragling looked momentarily dumbfounded, then angry.

The commander took a few thunderous steps forward, and Cole lowered his body back into battle-ready posture. Suddenly, the giant was stopped in his tracks, ice rapidly fusing all around his body. Cole felt confused for a moment before he heard a dragon's roar, and he looked above to see Zane, Akita, and Kai flying above. The three dropped down beside him, and Cole said, "Destiny is in that cage. I've taken care of most of the warriors. You guys deal with the rest."

Even Kai looked impressed as they saw the destruction Cole had caused, but Zane nodded. Cole raced towards the cage, dodging a few of the warriors as he did. One of the Craglings appeared suddenly in front of him, and Cole grunted as he collided full force with the giant.

He felt shards of rock hitting his back as he continued to race towards the cage. When he got there, he grabbed the bars and gave a quick tug, opening a space large enough for him to get through. He stepped inside and saw Destiny, curled up, looking dazed and much, much too pale. He leaned over her, and saw that her eyes were cloudy. As gently as he could, he wormed his arms underneath her and lifted her in his arms, the cold of her body shocking him. She let out a single grunt of pain, and her eyes closed. Her body fell limply, and he adjusted her with infinite care. You'll be okay, he told her silently, turning and stepping out of the cage. It'll be alright.

His teammates had worked their way closer to the cage, and he saw rock fragments littering the snow. He watched as Kai destroyed a Cragling, and Akita glanced back and saw him. She rushed back towards him and reached for Destiny. Cole pulled her out of her reach, saying, "She's freezing. We need to get her back to the monastery now."

Akita nodded. "Let me carry her while you fly."

Cole hesitated, then transferred Destiny from his arms to Akita's. He summoned Slate and she lowered her head, allowing Akita to hop onto her neck and walk along it to her back. Cole jumped up in front of her, taking the reins with a worried glance at Destiny.

"She's okay," Akita told him. "Just focus on getting us home."

Cole took a breath and launched Slate into the air.

When they reached the monastery, he let Akita drop from Slate first before following. He would rather have taken Destiny himself, but the look Akita gave him told him to back off, and so he hovered nervously around as they took Destiny to her room. Sensei Wu had seen them return, but kept his space. From his look, however, Cole could tell he was concerned.

Akita settled Destiny into her bed, pulling several blankets over her. Cole watched, anxiety fluttering in his stomach. "She'll be okay, right?"

The Formling sighed and looked at him. "For the third time, Cole, yes. She just needs rest to recover from overexertion and warmth to ward off the hypothermia. Why don't you go do something useful, like training?"

The Earth ninja shook his head. "I'm not leaving her until she wakes up."

Akita watched him for a moment, then nodded. "Call for me when she does."

Cole nodded, and Akita left. Cole settled into a chair that he'd brought in and silently watched Destiny's sleeping form, his face stony.

A few moments later, Wu came in, his eyes examining first Destiny and then Cole. "It pains me, sometimes, what I see in my smoke visions."

Cole raised an eyebrow, confused but not looking away from Destiny. "What do you mean?"

"I saw this, back before I made Destiny the purple ninja. And I saw you two, together."

Cole looked at his mentor for a moment, trying to find the will to have any emotion other than worry. "It's not like that lasted long."

"Hm." Wu was quiet for a few moments, before he said, "You clearly do love her. Don't be so sure of the future before it has even been decided, Cole."

Cole was about to ask what that meant when Jay rushed into the room, worry plastered on his face. He walked over to Destiny's sleeping form and touched her forehead, pulling his hand back when he felt how cold she was.

"Akita says she'll be okay," Cole told him, watching as the Master of Lightning turned to look at him. "She just needs rest and warmth."

Jay looked slightly awkward, and Cole remembered that he should probably feel angry, or at the very least upset, about what seemed to be his last attempt at ruining Destiny and Cole's relationship. But he couldn't summon any of those emotions. After a few moments of silence (in which Jay looked increasingly uncomfortable), the blue ninja said, "You must really care about her, Cole."

Cole was confused for a brief moment before he realized that Sensei Wu was no longer in the room. He replied simply, "I do."

Jay flinched, as though Cole had hit him. "So, then. I guess you two are boyfriend and girlfriend now?"

Cole let his gaze drift back to Destiny. "It depends on what she says. If she doesn't want to, I'm fine with that." He swallowed slightly, knowing that he wouldn't be okay with it at all. It would be her choice, and she was entitled to it, but Cole knew it would destroy him.

Jay was silent for a few moments, and Cole thought half-heartedly, Finally the motor-mouth doesn't have anything to say. Then his friend said, "You deserve her. Just know that if I ever hear of you hurting her, you'll be sorry."

"As if you could beat me in a fight," Cole said mildly. "I'd go easy on you, though, because I know I'd deserve it."

Jay gave a quick, quiet laugh. Destiny shifted, and Cole's gaze locked onto her. He stood and took a few steps towards her. She opened her eyes, and Cole smiled gently down at her. She looked around for a moment before seeming to realize he was there. After a few seconds, she mumbled, "S-sorry."

Cole brushed his hand over her forehead. "What are you sorry for? There's nothing you have to be sorry about." Cole saw Jay stepping closer to her bedside, looking down worriedly at his cousin.

He thought that Destiny looked very tired and thought that she shouldn't be awake, but she managed to say, "Golden Armor, fighting, they said they'd kill you."

"I'm fine," he told her softly. "They couldn't touch me if they tried."

"I had, I had to make sure I could apologize to you.." Destiny wheezed, coughing weakly.

Cole stroked her hair gently, trying to calm her. "Relax. It's okay." He glanced up at Jay. "Go get Akita, will you?"

Jay hesitated, then nodded, turning and exiting the room.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have fought with you, that was silly of me." Destiny said.

Cole chuckled softly. "It's okay. We can't talk about it later. You need to rest."

Destiny winced, then said, "No! I told myself that I would apologize to you before anything else, if I made it out of that cage. And I'm not in that cage now."

He reached for her hand and grasped it gently, lacing his fingers with hers. "I promised myself something, too. Would you like to know what it is?"

"Yes?" Destiny replied, clasping his hand in return.

"I promised to tell you that I love you," he told her softly.

Destiny smiled up at him. "I love you too."

He leaned over her and rested his forehead against hers, kissing her gently. He leaned back and she smiled at him. Cole mirrored her smile and adjusted her blankets. "Are you warm enough?"

"Mhm."

Cole touched her forehead again, noting that it was still chilled. "You still feel cold to me," he murmured.

Destiny gave a weak laugh. "That's probably because I am."

Cole was about to respond when Akita, Jay, and Wu walked in, Akita holding more blankets. The Formling smiled at Destiny and pulled two of the blankets off of her, replacing them quickly with the new ones. "These are warmed up. They should help. How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been poisoned, beaten, and thrown against a tree. But besides that, freezing." Cole frowned, concerned, as he listened to Destiny's forced tone.

Wu set a pot and cup down onto a table. "When you're able, you should drink some."

Akita smiled at him, then looked back to Destiny. "Be sure to rest. Cole and Jay will have to leave you alone so you can sleep." She looked pointedly at the two boys.

Cole smiled and held his hands up cheekily.

Destiny nodded. "Did you get the Armor?"

Wu looked startled. "What do you mean?"

"They forced me to get the Armor, did you get the black box it was in?" Destiny asked, her voice panicked.

"There wasn't a black box there when I arrived," Cole told her, worried. "Although I may have missed it."

"Kai and Zane came home without anything," Akita told them.

"Then they have it," Destiny sighed.

"It's okay," Jay said. "We'll get it back."

"Maybe I should get some rest, if you guys wouldn't mind." Destiny said, looking both exhausted and stressed.

Cole watched her with a worried face, but nodded. Akita and Wu backed out immediately, while Jay followed more reluctantly. Cole gave Destiny's hand a gentle squeeze before letting go, following the others outside. He pulled her door closed and stood there for a moment, unsure what to do.

"Cole," Akita called to him. "Come help Wu and Lloyd figure out a plan."

The Earth ninja frowned slightly but followed his master, knowing that the closer they got to defeating their enemy, the sooner Ninjago would be peaceful again.