"You're not sleeping at night, are you?"

"Hm?" Skylor's question had managed to penetrate through my muddled thoughts as I sat perched at the bar in Chen's stirring a mug of coffee absently as we awaited opening.

"Oh, uh, yeah, I'm sleeping. I'm fine." I brushed her comment aside as I rubbed at my dry and puffy eyes.

The truth was, I hadn't slept in days. At least not well enough. Nothing but nightmares loomed behind my closed eyes. Once or twice during the day, under the protection of the sun, I had attempted to nap, but even then I was only greeted by horrific images of those I loved dead or dying and the ever-present threat of those who had harmed me lurking in the shadows of my mind.

Besides, I was too busy out fighting crime at night to sleep, anyway.

Skylor pressed the back of her palm against my forehead, pursing her lips in thought. "Are you sick? You haven't been looking well lately."

I batted her hand away, "I'm okay, really Sky."

Skylor shrugged, "If you say so." By her tone, she didn't believe a word out of my mouth.

"Hey! What's the big deal?"

"Shut up!" I snapped as I cracked the thug across the head. I had just busted an attempted robbery on a small convenience store in Lower Ninjago City and the three thugs were whining up a storm. The men (if they could be called that) were barely out of their teens and probably had acted on a dare hopped up on testosterone. It was a bad part of the city, and regardless of the fact that I was basically an adult and fully capable of defending myself, being here still set me on edge. The owner of the store – a frail, old Japanese woman – stood shakily in the back door of the shop. She had managed to call the police, but that was about it. Clearly disturbed by the events of the night, she just sort of stared at me as I beat up the thugs, her mouth opening slightly ever now and then as if to speak to me, but no words ever made it past her lips.

I leaned back against the wall of the alley waiting for the cops to arrive. A few moments later, sirens echoed down the street and the three boys squirmed against their restraints.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I cautioned none-too-gently.

Tires screamed just outside the alleyway and I heard the police commissioner step out of his car. As I was about to make my getaway, another set of footsteps stopped me in my tracks.

I was frozen where I was as I felt the second set of footsteps speed up. I willed myself to move, but it wasn't until the other person was nearly on me that I was able to start hauling myself up a fire escape.

"Celine!?" I tried to scramble up the ladder, but I felt resistance as someone caught the hem of my gi. I whirled around and came face to face with the same deep brown eyes I had been so desperately trying to forget. I choked down a sob quickly, hoping my hood and the cover of darkness surrounding us would hide my emotions well enough.

Cole and I just stared at one another for a solid minute, neither of us sure what to say.

He finally broke the silence, sucking in a ragged breath before speaking. "Celine... I know it's you..."

I remained quiet, knowing if I opened my mouth no words would make it out anyway.

"Please... say something... anything," he pleaded.

I blinked back tears, swallowing the lump in my throat before answering. "Don't do this to yourself, Cole."

"So it is you?" he breathed, seeming to barely believe it himself.

His distraction with this confirmation gave me enough time to wriggle free from his grasp and scramble up the ladder and out of reach.

Safely on the roof, I peeped over the edge, only to meet Cole's gaze again. His eyes shone in the dim city lights, and I quickly ducked back onto the roof. Only to find my own eyes filling with tears. Crawling to the middle of the roof, I hugged my knees to my chest and cried.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Her striking green eyes caught mine and for a moment, I was lost in their deep emerald pools. Her face, what small part of it that was exposed anyway, was a mask completely void of emotion, but her eyes told all. They flashed between defiance, acceptance, sadness, and loss. Once again, I was struck by a pain far within my chest, knowing all too well that I was the one who caused this. My careless actions were to blame, and I hated myself for it. My lips began to move, but no words came forth as they stuck like glue in my throat. But what could I even say? In all honesty, I didn't think I would get this far. She had been notorious for fleeing the scene before anyone could catch and question her. Silent as a shadow, she was only known as this strange and identity-less person who caught criminals before anyone else even knew they were there.

But what good would it do for anyone to know her name? As a ninja, she had managed to keep her personal identity a secret. Even the fact that a seventh ninja had been added to the team in the last couple of months was still new information to many. The Master of Sound was never formally introduced, and she had wished it to remain as such. Not even a "true" elemental master, Celine was just a girl from Stiix with no real significance.

Before I really came to terms with the fact that I was finally face to face with Celine again, she was gone. Slipping through my grasp once more. Her face reappeared for a moment over the roof before vanishing again.

One of the police officers who had responded to the call approached me. "Everything alright, sir?"

"Yes... Everything's fine," I murmured, unable to tear my gaze from the rooftop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After another long night of sneaking around Ninjago City, I slowly dragged myself up the fire escape outside Skylor's apartment. Tonight had been especially tough, and I was looking forward to at least trying to sleep a little before helping Skylor open at Chen's. As I slid open the window into the living room, a tiny slip of paper jammed in the frame caught my eye as it fluttered in the late night breeze.

Glancing around, I delicately picked up the paper and unfolded it.

Come to the roof of Borg Tower at sunrise.

Please.

The note wasn't signed, but even an idiot could guess who had left it. I sighed as I close the window to Skylor's apartment. Sunrise was only about an hour off, so there was no sense in going in. So much for my few hours of sleep.

I sat behind an air conditioning unit on the roof of Borg Tower, ears trained for the slightest sound to indicate that Cole had arrived.

As the sky paled with morning light, I was rewarded with a soft thud, followed by his heavy, deliberate footsteps.

After a moment, his footsteps paused.

"Celine?"

I took a deep breath, reining in my wildly racing heart and rose from my crouched position to face him. Even at a distance, the first golden rays of dawn caught his eyes, making them glow. He flipped his hood down as he stared at me, and I at him.

We stood in silence for a whole minute. Nether of us sure what to say. Cole finally broke it.

"I didn't think you'd come."

"Surprise."

Silence again.

"I know what you're going to say." I began, my voice seemed deafeningly loud in the stillness of the morning. "You're going to ask me to come back. To come home..."

"And you'll refuse?" It wasn't a question. Deep down, he already knew the answer. We both did.

"I will."

He took a step closer and I stiffened. "Won't you remove your hood?" he asked.

"What for?"

"If you're really staying away for good, I want to see your face one last time."

My heart dipped, and I shook my head. "I'd rather you remember me for who I was, not who I am," I murmured.

He sighed and walked forward. I felt frozen in place, unexplainably, as he closed the gap between us and slowly pulled the hood from my head. I ducked my head immediately, hiding my baggy, bloodshot eyes. My arms curled around my waist and I suddenly regretted coming here. I didn't want him to see me for what I had become: a monster.

His hand, soft and gentle, lightly stroked my hair. "You haven't been kind to yourself, have you?"

Suddenly defensive, I deliberately stepped backwards.

"I don't know what it matters to you," I snapped.

He recoiled at my tone, hurt by my words. "Because I care about you, Celine. I don't want to see you do this to yourself."

"I wish you wouldn't," I muttered quietly.

"But I want to. Don't you understand? I want to take care of you. To protect you from this." He gestured as if to encompass the entirety of what had happened over the past few months. "Please let me look after you."

"No, Cole." I answered calmly. "This is the way it has to be. It's what's best for you, it's what's best for me, and it's what's best for us."

"Can't we fix it?"

"No Cole! Don't you see? Everything I do I mess up. I can't fix this! I can't fix us! Please let it go!"

"But you don't have to-"

"Let me go Cole!" I screamed. I swiped at my eyes furiously, unwilling to let him see me cry. "Please, just, let me go. Don't you see? I'm destroying you. You have to let it go."

"You're only destroying yourself," Cole retorted. "This is my choice, Celine!"

"Please just let me be!" I pleaded, blinking back tears. I began to back towards the edge of the roof. "I- I have to go. Chen's opens soon."

Cole's gaze followed my every move, but he made no effort to stop me. I sat on the edge of the roof and prepared to slid off, but dared one last glance back at him before I left.

"Just know I won't stop caring for you," he whispered.

I smiled sadly. "Of course not. And nothing I can do will ever stop you, will it?"

"No, it won't."