Yo my Ninjago dudes! It's been a while! Now, this is a Cole-Centric fic taking place pretty much directly after Cole is turned into a ghost, give or take a few hours. The video above is the song used in this first chapter, and is actually what I was listening to when I first got this idea. Admittedly, this story has been sitting here on my laptop, collecting dust, for a wanna say close to three years now. It is incomplete, but, like Family, I give anyone who wants to free reign to continue this, as long as you remember to give me credit [=P Spiel over, enjoy this fic!

Cole was tough. He was solid, dependable. He always had been. Earth was his element for a reason. He could relate to it.

But when he walked out of that mansion and saw the sun, the earth crumbled beneath his feet, encasing him in the deep, dark hole that is depression.

He locked himself in his room, curled up in a ball on his bed and tried to sleep. But it wouldn't come. He was dead; he no longer needed to rest.

Dead. The word hit him like a speeding train. He was dead. He was a ghost. He was a flesh-and-blood ghost.

Flesh and blood. He no longer had those things. When he first got into bed, he nearly phased right through it onto the floor. It took most of his concentration to remain solid.

His voice sounded funny, now, too. It was echoy, like he was speaking into a tunnel. He refused to talk out loud, now. The sound only reminded him of what he was.

Jay, Kai, and Zane had all tried to coax him out, but he didn't respond to any of them. Even Sensei Wu and Misako had failed to convince him. Nya was the only one who hasn't tried.

Nya. She was beautiful. Jay didn't deserve her. Though he had tried to shove his feelings down, forget about them, he couldn't deny the extreme attraction he felt pulling him towards her. Like he had any chance now.

Though he'd bowed out and given up their fight, Cole couldn't suppress the sudden surges of resentment toward the Blue Ninja. P.I.X.AL. had said Nya's perfect match was him. So why couldn't the thick-headed mouth of lightning accept that and move on? He already checked out pretty much every girl he came across, so why was Jay so fixated on the Water Ninja?

Wow, what a twist. Nya, Master of Water, was the younger sister of Kai, Master of Fire. No wonder she was the only one who could cool his temper when it flared.

There was a knock on the Earth Ninja's door. "Cole, can we talk?"

Ronin. The nerve of that guy! First, he's the one who kidnapped Zane after he rebuilt himself and gave him to Chen. Then he refused to help the Ninja when they confronted him and asked for the Scroll of Air Jitzu, which they knew he stole.

He was the one who directed them to the Sensei Yang's mansion where he...died. In a sense, the stupid thief was the whole reason he was a ghost.

When Cole didn't reply, Ronin sighed. "Look, I...I know some of this is partially my fault, but–"

"Partially?" The Black Ninja snapped, and sat up, glaring at his door. "If you had given us the scroll in the first place, none of this would've happened. Morro wouldn't know Air Jitzu, and I'd still be human! This is all your fault!"

"You still are human," Ronin countered, but he could hear the tremor in the thief's voice. "Just...transparent. And...green."

Cole got out of bed, something that hasn't happened in hours now, and stood. He walked purposefully toward his door. He took a deep breath, relaxed, and went straight through, right into the startled form of the thief.

"You..." he started, "You're just a rat, in it for nothing but the money. You couldn't care less if someone got hurt, as long as you get what you want. And you know what? I don't care anymore, either. Because I'm dead. Dead, Ronin, and it's your fault! Your soul can go to the Cursed Realm for all I care!"

His rage built, and he punched Ronin square in jaw. His fist didn't go through either. No, it would've hurt less if the thief had been hit with a ton of bricks.

Ronin stumbled back, cupping his face. His jaw was now twisted at a strange angle. Cole glared at him, and the frightened man scrambled back down the hall and out of sight.

The ghost's rage faded as he watched Ronin leave. He sighed, and passed back through the door. He climbed back into bed and lay there, even more depressed now.

There was another knock on the door. He shoved his face into his pillow, grumbling curses.

"Cole, it's me."

He froze. Nya. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. Without even really thinking about it, he waved a hand, face still in his pillow, and the locked clicked, allowing the girl Ninja to enter.

He heard her come in, the door closing. "How did you unlock the door without moving?"

The Black Ninja flipped over onto his back. "I dunno, I just sort of...willed it to happen. I'm like a poltergeist."

"That's...really cool, actually." He turned to face her. She was smiling.

"Why are you here, Nya? Even Sensei Wu couldn't convince me to come out."

"Because I thought I'd give it a shot. Who knows? Maybe it'll work."

"I doubt it." Cole flipped back over onto his stomach, turning his head so he could still look at her.

"I don't know; I've already made some improvement."

"And how's that?"

"Well, you're talking to me. I was told you didn't say a word to the others."

"So? It's not like I'm just gonna start ranting about how I feel."

She raised an eyebrow. He just pressed his face into the pillow again.

"Then maybe this'll help."

There was a long silence. Cole almost turned to face her again to ask what's up, when a sound as crystal clear and as beautiful as a mountain stream cut through the air, marking it with its tone.

"This is the story of a dreamer." Nya was singing to him. The sound pierced his soul as the lyrics wove themselves into his head.

"A soldier, with the weight of the world upon their shoulders, who's got a little room to grow. Better days are near." He had a sneaking suspicion this was about him.

"Hope is so much stronger than fear."

That cut deep. It was true. The Earth Ninja no longer had a doubt this wasn't about him. He was a soldier, the former leader of the team, before Lloyd, before the Green Ninja. He never hesitated to put them in front of himself. Even now. He'd bowed down to Jay on Chen's island. He let him win. He gave up the fight, gave up arguing over who Nya would be happier with. He'd gotten his power, part of his soul, taken from him. He did it so they could have a chance at stopping the twisted man. And he'd found Zane in the process.

He always felt he carried the weight of the world. His world was the team. It always was, even before he met them. He'd felt he was a part of something, something big, and he spent most of his life training for it.

Hope is so much stronger than fear.

So many things in his life were true to that. First, all those many years ago, it was his fear of dragons, which he conquered with the hope of crossing into the Underworld and rescuing Sensei Wu and stopping Lord Garmadon.

Then, it was the fear of snakes, which he also conquered. He had to, with the hope of crushing the Serpentine and plunging Ninjago back into peace.

The fear of the Devourer.

The fear of Garmadon.

The fear of the Overlord.

The fear of Cryptor and the Nindroids.

The fear of losing Zane.

The fear of Chen.

The fear of the Anacondrai.

The fear of ghosts.

The fear of Morro.

The fear of failing the team.

All conquered with hope.

The hope that they'd find some way to destroy the overgrown snake.

The hope that Lloyd would be able to face and defeat his father.

The hope that Lloyd would destroy that monster for good.

The hope that they'd find some way to shut them down.

The hope that he was still, somehow, alive and in one piece.

The hope that they'd crush him and his spell.

The hope they'd be able to work together and destroy them.

The hope of being able to use their knowledge of water being their weakness.

The hope of getting Lloyd back.

The hope of knowing that he'd never be able to, that they would forgive him. That they'd still want him.

Even if he was broken.

Even though he was technically part of the threatening army.

Even though he was dead.

Somehow, some way, using some kind of weird voodoo magic, Nya had managed to get him to open up. But not to her. To himself. He was at peace with who he was now. With what he was. He knew he'd never be able to let his team, his friends, his family down, no matter how hard he tried.

"Hello, Earth to Cole!"

"Huh, what?" The Black Ninja was shocked from his deep think by Nya waving a hand in front of his face.

"You alright, there?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. You actually really helped me. Thank you, Nya."

She smiled. It was a beautiful sight. Even more beautiful than her singing.

"You're very welcome, Cole. Now, come on, you need to practice that Air Jitzu like the other guys. You're gonna need it."

"No, not yet." The Earth Ninja almost changed his mind at the crestfallen look on the Water Ninja's face. "I...I still need time. But you've been a huge help. I'm serious."

"Alright..." She stood, and moved toward the door. Before she left, she turned back to face him. "Take care of yourself, Cole. Don't let this get to you. Who knows? Maybe having a ghost on the team will prove extremely useful."

Cole relocked the door using his newfound poltergeist powers after she left, and closed his eyes. Sleep actually came quickly, and he let out a little sigh before submerging in the comfortable depths.

He immediately regretted ever shutting his eyes.