Cole whipped his head in the direction of the scream, seeing a dark shape beginning to plummet from the monastery. For a moment, the Earth ninja was stunned. None of the ninja were dumb enough to fall out of the monastery. Then he stood, reacting quickly. In a few bounds, Cole was at the edge of the mountain, pushing himself into the air towards the figure. As he neared, he realized it was a girl in a purple ninja robe. Questions flashed in his mind, but he pushed them away. He got within grabbing distance of her and reached out, his hand grasping her wrist for a moment before yanking her into his arms, both a more comfortable and secure position.

"Hold on, hold on," he shouted to her above the rushing wind, some of which was summoned by his airjitzu. He flew them to the roof of the monastery and set the girl down carefully, keeping one hand on her arm until she sat down. Even then, he followed her down, crouching next to her. He peered at her, checking her over for any injury.

Finally he took a breath and watched her perplexedly, a mix of anger, concern, and confusion coursing through him. The girl was trembling, and Cole didn't blame her. A fall from that height would make anyone weak in the knees for a good bit.

Finally, Cole said in a slightly irritated tone, "Who are you and why were you falling off of my mountain? Were you hoping I'd save you or something?"

The girl, whose hair was long and black, was looking at him, her green eyes still slightly widened from her fear. She murmured, "No, I tripped when I went to that window, I-I needed directions, and Jay left me with none. I didn't know.."

Cole blinked, confused to no ends. "Wait, you know Jay? And you tripped looking out of a window?" He sighed and held one of his hands up to smooth his hair back in a stressed gesture. "Where are you trying to go?"

She looked to be calming down the longer she spoke. "I was trying to find the courtyard. Yes, I tripped out of the window, and Jay is my cousin."

Cole blinked, his brow wrinkling as he listened. Jay had a cousin? "Well... I can take you to him. Come on." He reached for her, waiting to see if she would protest before he touched her.

The girl looked confused, then bewildered. "I don't even know your name!"

Cole felt his face heat up as he realized she was right. He cleared his throat awkwardly, his arms dropping as he answered her quickly in the hopes she didn't notice his embarrassment. "I'm Cole. And you are?"

She seemed to look at him more closely. "My name is Destiny."

Cole nodded. "Well... we know each other's names now," he said, feeling more awkward by the second. He figured it would be best if he could get her back to Jay as quickly as possible. He didn't like the way his heart was beating too fast.

Destiny's delicate face turned a light shade of red, and her reply was slightly sarcastic, but Cole could pick up the trace of defiance laced there as well. "What? Are you trying to get rid of me?"

He swallowed and glanced away, his heart seizing for a moment as she found the exact reason he offered to take her down so quickly.

Whether Destiny realized his guilt or not, Cole couldn't tell. In any case, the girl took her words back, her voice soft. "Nevermind, I'm kidding."

The Earth ninja gave a silent sigh and turned back to her, standing up and outstretching a hand to her. "Here, I'll help you down. You'll feel better once you're on the ground. I know I always do."

Destiny stood slowly, looking slightly nervous. She took his hand, and Cole tried not to shiver as his mind flashed to Nya holding his hand, trusting him. He jumped back and rubbed his hand impulsively before clearing his throat and reaching back out for her, pulling her close to him by her arm. "S-sorry," he mumbled before stooping, gently lifting her in his arms. Once she seemed comfortable, Cole walked toward the edge of the roof. He shifted her slightly in his arms, making sure he had a secure grip on her before jumping down. He felt her grip on him tighten as he did, and he landed, slightly startled. He gave her a lopsided smile and let her legs slip from his grip, allowing her to land securely on the ground of the training yard. Destiny's eyes had closed sometime between when he'd picked her up, but she reopened them now. She looked away from him, and her face turned bright red. Cole felt confused momentarily, but he glanced to the side and saw the other ninja approaching them, all but Jay wearing mixed expressions of amusement and mischief. Cole felt his smile falter as he caught Jay's half-disappointed, half-incredulous face.

"So..." Kai said, grinning pointedly at Cole. "You met the new girl, huh?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively at him.

Cole felt his face flood in embarrassment and he looked down at the ground, knowing the teasing would only get worse if he reacted too defensively at it. "She fell out of the window on the other side of the monastery," he mumbled in a low voice. "I was just helping her back."

Jay was frowning. "You could have shown her the stairs," he said, his voice holding a note of bitterness.

Cole blinked in confusion and felt Destiny's gaze on him. He tilted his head, opening his mouth to reply before closing it again. "Whatever you say, I guess."

"Has everyone forgotten that we don't have any stairs going from the roof to the ground?" Zane asked, looking perplexed.

"Zip it, frosty," Jay snapped.

Cole flinched, feeling uncomfortable. Jay was almost never snappy with anyone. He was clearly upset, and the Earth ninja felt he knew exactly why. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Destiny turning. He followed her with his gaze as she walked out of the training area. Cole sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

Kai was looking a bit out of his element. "Jay, what was that for? Zane was just saying what we were all thinking?"

"Does it matter?" Jay lashed back. Kai looked slightly angry, but the hothead seemed reluctant to say more.

Cole shook his head and turned quickly, following in Destiny's footsteps to the path he knew would lead him to the sleeping quarters. He walked slowly, and soon he could hear footsteps behind him.

"Hey, rockhead."

Cole turned to see Jay, a frown plastered on his face.

"Listen, Jay, I don't want to fight. Just give yourself some time to calm down and-"

"No. I want to know why you were with my cousin." Jay moved closer, and Cole could feel the anger coming off of the Master of Lightning in waves. The only other time he'd ever felt it was during their war over Nya, which made Cole even more uncomfortable.

"Don't I have a right to be around her?" He asked passively, his voice soft and unacusing. "She is the new ninja, after all..."

"You know that's not what I mean. You were overstepping your boundaries."

"I didn't do anything!" Cole protested. "I saved her from falling to her death and then made sure she got back to the monastery ground in one piece. You should be thanking me for not letting her die, honestly."

"Thanking you!" Jay sputtered. "You shouldn't be touching her without her permission."

"I did ask her! Could you stop being upset for one second and think? I wouldn't do anything to hurt her-"

"That does not help," Jay hissed through his teeth.

"You're being irrational. You didn't argue half as bad as this when we fought over Nya."

"You had no right to Nya and you knew it!" Jay exploded.

Cole felt thorns jab his heart, and he shuddered in irritation. "I-"

"What is going on?" The voice of Nya startled Cole, and he jumped as he whipped his gaze to her. "Why in the name of the first Spinjitzu Master are you arguing about me again?"

Cole felt his muscles tense as he saw Nya's annoyed face. He felt suddenly small as her gaze swept between the two boys. Jay's right.

"We aren't arguing about you!" Jay protested quickly.

"That's definitely what it sounded like. I thought you two had put that to rest, especially you, Cole."

Cole swallowed awkwardly and tried to calm the shaking of his muscles.

He was trying to formulate a response when Destiny shot out of the game room, startling the Earth ninja and making him even more nervous. What confused him even more was that the door was closed. Destiny had gone through the door.

"Leave him alone, Jay," she said, her voice irritated.

Cole suddenly felt overwhelmed. Nya still clearly thought he hadn't put their feud to rest, and Destiny- Well, he wasn't even sure what she thought. How much had Jay told her? Maybe Nya was right. That could explain why he still dreamt of her, right? He trembled slightly and backed away a few steps, feeling his legs weaken. "I'm- I-... I'm gonna- Uh, that is-" He stopped talking, knowing he sounded like he'd forgotten English.

"Cole, are you having an attack or something?" Nya sounded concerned, and she took a few steps towards him.

Cole put his hand up and shook his head quickly. "Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope.." He kept repeating himself as he turned and quickly walked away, knowing he'd just get more and more blubbery if he stayed in the three ninja's presence. He wove his way through the monastery, his breathing shaky. Soon, he found himself outside of what he knew was Wu's study. He hesitated for a moment, then quietly opened the door. His Sensei was sitting cross-legged, his head bowed in what Cole instantly recognized as his meditation pose. Cole closed the door quietly behind him and sat across from his mentor, mirroring his pose as silently as he could.

"Cole, you seem disturbed." Wu said softly after a few moments.

The Earth ninja shifted, lifting his head to gaze at him. "I am..."

"And you don't want to talk about it. At least, not right now." Wu sounded understanding, his voice promising infinite patience. "It may do you well to do some self-searching. Meditate with me."

Cole nodded and closed his eyes, head bowed. As he did, he let his memories whisk him away.

Nya smiled, gazing out over the monastery. Cole filled his eyes with her, enjoying her presence more than he knew he should. The most recent fight with Jay flashed in his mind: "You don't deserve her! You've never once showed any interest in her, or anyone at all whatsoever!"

He pushed the thought away. He hated fighting with Jay, but didn't he deserve a chance for happiness, too?

He was startled out of his thoughts by Nya leaning into him, and the Earth ninja wrapped one hand around her shoulder.

"It's nice," Nya said quietly, "to finally have a choice."

"Yeah." He agreed with her. "But.."

"But what?" She glanced up at him.

"You've always had the choice, honestly."

She frowned.

Cole felt himself wince slightly, knowing he probably was going to say something she didn't want to hear. "You were with Jay by choice. You could have left him at any time, but you only decided to after a machine told you something different than what you thought."

He felt her pull out of his grip, and he swallowed, already wishing he could take the words back.

"For your information, I'd been distancing myself from him long before that," she huffed, glaring at him.

"I know, but then you complained about him when all he did was try to show you affection. He never did anything wrong. Nothing that any of us know about even happened between you two for you to start distancing yourself."

"Isn't my own judgement reason enough?"

"But why should I trust that your judgement won't slip again?"

Nya glared at him, and he felt his heart dropping with her next words. "I think it already has."

Cole opened his eyes and shivered. His relationship with Nya had been short, but he wasn't sure whether he wished it had never begun, or if he hadn't been so stupid as to open his mouth and end it.