Legends of Ninjago: Book 2: Rise of the Serpentine: Chapter 10 — Happy Birthday

Back at the monastery, on a chilly Thursday, the boys were still finishing their endless punishment and Kai was on the verge of finally being released from the medical room. He had been bed-ridden for a total of six days and he was on the verge of full-blown insanity from the boredom! He was twitchy all the time and had practically begged Doctor Lee to let him do something—anything—that didn’t involve sitting down, but the doctor had emphasised over and over again that if Kai interrupted the healing process, it would take twice as long. So Dr. Lee had handed Kai a book to read instead: Better Choices, Responsibility, and You. A book which Kai promptly threw out the open window, pulling a muscle in the process. The highlight of his week? Eating soup on his own.

Since his spine was the epicentre of the injury, Dr. Lee had been routinely applying that mint paste to Kai’s skin to keep him numb while his back healed, meaning that Kai could move, but couldn’t feel anything. Sometimes he would find his arms or legs acting, seemingly of their own accord and he would yelp in surprise and horror.

“That’s just some subconscious movement,” Dr. Lee had said one day. “You’re used to stretching your legs or reaching to scratch an itch, only now you can’t feel what your body is doing, so it feels like you’re doing nothing.”

The worst of it happened at night while he was dreaming. In the morning he would wake up to find his arms spread awkwardly in every which way and the doctor had to help him get back to a straight position. All the movement was probably the reason why the healing was taking so long, Kai thought.

Other than the paste, Kai didn’t receive much treatment. Dr. Lee said his body was doing most of the work, all they had to do was help it along. The only other major medicine he gave Kai was a shot of the gold liquid every eight hours. The very first day in the medical room when Kai saw the doctor approach with the needle, he asked,

“What is that stuff?” Not that he was expecting much of an answer.

“A special cocktail to boost your body and help the healing process,” replied Dr. Lee. He seemed a lot more calm and in control than he had that first night. Kai was glad for the explanation, even if it only made him wonder why Dr. Lee hand’t been this collected before.

It was strange, though; ever since the doctor had told Kai what the liquid was, he was sure that he could feel it working more and more after every injection. He felt like his head was clearer, his sleep was deeper, and his senses were sharper. But that could just be his imagination.

Nya had been by his side almost every single day to keep him company, which he appreciated, but it wasn’t like having his worry-wart sister constantly right next to him made the days go by any faster.

Speaking of Nya, the two siblings had been having several important discussions recently about Nya’s ability to protect herself. With the retrospect Kai had gained from the “explosive incident” he realised that anyone connected to Wu and himself, or even the other ninja, would be a prime target for any of their enemies. That included Nya. If she ever got kidnapped again, she would not have the ability to protect herself, or escape. Nya had even told Kai during one of their many conversations in the medical room that she felt so useless all the time at the monastery. At least in comparison to Kai. On the other hand, she didn’t exactly envy her brother’s training—she would have preferred if they had continued to live normal lives like other teenagers—but she could not ignore this desperate need that she had in her current situation. So, logically, the two had agreed that Nya needed to be trained. Maybe not as a ninja, but at least in self defence. Kai had planned on talking to Sensei Wu about giving Nya some basic lessons when he was released from the medical room, which was still taking forever.

Most days, he preferred being alone to think about all the stuff they had been through recently. The thing that really stuck with him was his fight with Cole. The older boy had been right, Kai knew that, but did he have to be so bossy about it? Or so nosy? No matter what, Cole was always right there to foil his plans. He still felt angry, and he still had some choice words for the black ninja, but Kai also owed him an apology, as well as a “thank you” for saving his life. He would often play out the scene in his head of how that particular conversation would go, and he now had several versions of the apology, but none of them seemed any easier to say. When or if he ever got back on his feet, he swore that he’d either get the stupid words out as soon as possible, or maybe just avoid Cole for the rest of his life. That seemed reasonable.

As mentioned before, the other boys had been very much occupied with their chores. To their surprise, the monastery had turned out to be far larger than they had originally anticipated. They had to do the sweeping and laundry and the gardening and re-painting and staining and washing and all the wonderful things that come with house work. Including the food! Cole was used to the “college life” diet of pre-packaged junk food, and Jay had never cooked in his life, so the responsibility fell on Zane, meanwhile the other two were on dish duty. Now, Zane wasn’t a particularly fabulous chef, and he certainly didn’t have experience cooking for so many people, but he knew all the basics and routinely pulled together meals that everyone enjoyed, so breakfast, lunch, and dinner carried on as usual.

Jay, on the other hand, had pulled his fair share of cockamamie schemes over the past few days. In an attempt to get out of work, he had tried to built his own “washing machine” using spare thingamabobs and doodads lying around. But Wu had caught him and said,

”Negligent hands bring poverty, diligent hands bring wealth.”

Jay was put on bathroom duty after that; forced to scrub toilets and shower floors all day long, in all thirteen of the bathrooms on the property. Suddenly, he was less inclined to invent his way out of the problem.

The bulk of the heavy lifting and laundry was done by Cole who kept his head down and focused on his chores as best as he could. Kai couldn’t decide if he was trying to be responsible, or if he was trying to get on Wu’s good side. Probably the latter, given how much of a “goody-two-shoes” Cole could be.

Meanwhile, the Haruto girls had been gone on a mission to discover Lloyd’s whereabouts, and capture him if possible. It was the mission Kai wanted to go on. That little punk needed a proper smack down! But the injury and healing and blah blah blah.

“I’m fed up with these stupid injuries!” Kai snarled in his med room bed. His numb arms lurched upward with no particular purpose.

“Well maybe you’d be spending less quality time with them if you weren’t constantly doing stupid stuff,” Nya said, rolling her eyes at her big brother. She had come to the med room per Dr. Lee’s request. Today was the day Kai would be released back into the wild. Er, sort of.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion,” said Kai with a scowl.

“Then you shouldn’t have said something,” Nya replied. She was leaning on the bed next to Kai’s, looking down at his limp body with little interest.

“You shouldn’t have said something,” Kai shot back. They both knew exactly where this was going.

“You shouldn’t have thought of something.”

“You shouldn’t have thought of something first.”

“Oh, for pitty’s sake!” Nya cried, throwing up her hands in defeat. “You’re so immature sometimes.”

“You’re immature,” Kai countered again.

“Charming,” said Dr. Lee, who was walking into the room with a clipboard in his right hand and a needle in his left. Both Rayson kids fell silent and waited for the doctor to join them at Kai’s bed. “Alright, another injection and you’ll be free to go.” He stooped over Kai’s left side with the needle poised for entry.

“Finally,” Kai sighed.

“In a back brace and wheel chair, of course.”

“What?!” Kai shrieked. His body jolted so badly that the syringe Dr. Lee was holding nearly went into Kia’s neck instead of his arm. “A wheelchair?! For how long?!”

“A few weeks at least.”

“‘A FEW WEEKS?!’” This time Kai managed to sit up somewhat, only lifting his torso a few inches off the mattress. “This is ridiculous! What am I supposed to do for the next few weeks!? Knit!?”

“Don’t you take that tone with me,” said Dr. Lee harshly. He shoved Kai back onto the bed and held his arm steady for the syringe. “You will take things easy, or so help me, you’ll be strapped to this bed for a month! Do you understand?”

Kai scrunched up his noise and gave loud huff, but eventually he mumbled, “Fine,” and Dr. Lee found the answer acceptable. He finished with the injection, then told Nya to help prop Kai up so that he could attach a very large back brace to his body.

“Ugh, when was the last time you had a bath?” Nya asked, gagging a little as she got closer to Kai.

“Having fun now?” he replied, cocking an eyebrow.

“Oh, please.” Kai had earned another eye roll.

Nya held Kai up by the shoulders while the doctor strapped the brace on with a thick band of velcro. Kai couldn’t really feel it—his last mint paste application would wear off in about an hour—but there was definitely a change in his breathing. Then, after the brace was secure, Nya loosened her grip and Dr. Lee went to the back of the room to fetch the wheelchair.

“Nice girdle,” Nya said with a smirk.

“Oh, shut up.” Their faces were very near to each other, but Kai looked away. He wasn’t in the mood. Nya actually took the hint and didn’t say anything after that.

“All right, let’s get you seated,” said Dr. Lee, unfolding the chair in front of them.

Kai looked down at it with a loathsome expression and knew that the next few weeks were going to be rough. The wheelchair wasn’t anything exceptional or colourful like some where. No fancy gadgets or sleek designs. Just a plain, simple hospital chair with two wheels attached.

“Ready?” the doctor asked.

Kai breathed out heavily as he came to terms with everything. “Yeah,” he said.

Nya and Dr. Lee worked together to lift Kai up and carry him to his new best friend. He couldn’t really tell how comfortable the seat was, but he assumed it was rather firm and unremarkable. Nya had to help him put his legs in their proper place and buckle him down in case his numb butt accidentally fell out of the seat. Then he was ready.

“Right then, all set?” asked the doctor expectantly. “Nya, why don’t you take him out to the garden to get some of that fresh air he’s been belly aching about all week?” He and Nya shared a smile, but Kai only said,

“Whatever.”

“Thank you, Dr. Lee,” said Nya. They nodded to each other and, before long, Nya was rolling Kai out of the med room.

Truth be told, Kai couldn’t be more relieved to see a different set of four walls. He had been staring up at the same, stupid ceiling for days! He was sick of it! Even if he couldn’t enjoy this as much as he wanted to, the change was a literal breath of fresh air.

The double doors closed quietly behind them as they made their way down the hall. It was the second day of October now. Or at least, Kai was fairly certain it was October 2nd. He wasn’t all that great with dates... anyway, it certainly looked like it was October through the windows they kept passing. There were patches of thick clouds in the afternoon sky, a fierce wind blowing, and the leaves were the brightest they’d ever been. The garden’s autumn flowers were in full bloom and there was a distinct smell of cinnamon in the air. Kai sniffed again to be sure he wasn’t imagining it.

“Mmm, what is that?” said Nya, voicing Kai’s thought. “Let’s check it out.”

They veered off course and headed straight for the kitchen where the smell was clearly coming from. As they got closer, they could hear the sounds of someone clattering away with bowls and spoons and mixers.

Nya moved to open the door so that they could go in, and as she wheeled Kai forward, they found Zane, wearing a frilly pink apron, busily pulling a tray of maple buns out of the oven, with Jay and Cole anxiously watching him.

“Well, we came just in time!” Nya announced. Instantly, the three other boys turned to see who had just crashed the party and erupted with cheers of warm welcome.

“Hey, if it ain’t the Master of Disaster himself!” Cole jabbed playfully. He walked over with Jay and patted Kai on the shoulder. “How much did you have to beg before the doc let you out?”

“Less than you did,” said Kai, unable to hide his smirk. Cole chuckled and seemed to instinctively reach for his head, but he played it off as if he was just scratching an itch.

“Are you still, you know, numb and stuff?” Jay asked, grabbing one of Kai’s fingers and playing with it. All of a sudden, Kai’s hand lurched up and smacked Jay in the face.

“I’ve got a decent amount of control back,” he said. Although, he hadn’t meant to hit Jay quite so hard. His arm plopped down, completely missing the arm rest. Nya had to scoop it up but the hand and dump it into his lap.

“No kidding,” said Jay, rubbing his nose painfully.

“Maple buns are ready!” Zane called from the far side of the kitchen island. He had just finished arranging the buns on a lovely platter to display the craftsmanship that went into making them.

Maple buns were a special Ninjagian treat shaped to look like a maple leaf. It was somewhere between a dumpling and a filled donut, with the outside pastry consisting of a light, cinnamon-y bread, and the inside filling being something similar to maple syrup cream cheese. They were thinner than a donut, though, and far less sweet, but altogether delicious. The smell could instantly take you back to your childhood, and that coupled with the sunshine coming the windows and the warmth of the kitchen, made everything feel right with the world.

After Zane had said they were ready, the buns didn’t last long. Cole and Jay munched happily on their snack from on top of the kitchen counter while everyone else stood—or sat, in Kai’s case.

“Here, let me help,” Nya said, noticing that a Kai was having trouble using his wobbly hand to eat, and his bun kept landing on his face.

“I got it!” Kai snapped.

“Sheesh, okay,” Nya relented. She knew when she wasn’t wanted. Although, with Kai, everyone knew when they weren’t wanted. She watched as Kai drove his bun clumsily into his mouth, stuffing his face so full that he choked a little, but he had said that no help was necessary. So, Nya just stood there, not moving, with an “unamused” sort of look on her face. During the short pause that followed, Nya asked, “Zane, why’d you make the buns, anyway? Not that I’m complaining, but I thought you still had work to do?”

“I guess I was feeling homesick,” Zane replied, looking down at his bun sadly.

Everyone seemed to suddenly feel the same. Kai didn’t know how everyone else was feeling, but as for himself, he had made the realisation long ago that things would never be quite normal again, and recently he had begun to wonder if they would ever be slightly normal ever again. His hope of returning things to the way they used to be had slowly been chipped away at with every wave of misfortune life kept sending his way. But he did miss the good old days an awful lot. Back when everything was simple and made sense.

“Back home,” said Jay, suddenly, “my mom would make these during the Autumn Festival. She had this way of making em’ so that they’d be extra fluffy and melt in your mouth.” It wasn’t necessarily a sad memory, in fact it was really sweet, but it did add to a sense of melancholy in the air.

“We used to make these every year, too,” Nya said quietly. Kai didn’t turn to face her. He knew the expression she’d be making. “Tomorrow, actually, was the day we always did it. October 3rd.”

“How come?” Cole asked, and rightfully so. Kai couldn’t think of anything special about the date.

“Well, because it’s my birthday,” she said in a sweet sort of way.

“What?!” Kai cried, looking up at her now. “Tomorrow’s your birthday?”

“It’s the same day every year!” Nya cried, reeling on him. “How do you keep forgetting this, airhead?!”

“Well I don’t know if you noticed, but I’ve been kinda pre-occupied recently, egghead! Besides, remembering that sort of stuff is what girls do.” Kai would have folded his arms if he could feel them well enough, but he had to make do with a smug expression.

Now he really had Nya going. “We only pick up the slack that guys leave behind! If you payed attention more, or cared, you might remember these things too!”

Jay gave a quick cough. “If I may interject here,” he said, “tomorrow’s your birthday?” Nya nodded, temporarily forgetting her brother.

“How old are you turning?” Cole asked, sliding down from the counter top.

“I’ll be fifteen this year,” she said cheerfully.

Jay slid down from the counter, too. “How come you didn’t bring it up till now?”

Nya shrugged. “I dunno, it just didn’t seem that important.”

Birthdays had become a regular staple at the monastery ever since the boys had come to stay. Jay and Kai had found out that they were only days apart from each other, with both of them turning sixteen last August, and Keaton had turned thirteen just that September. They didn’t have any big parties or anything like that, just a free day to relax, have some sweets, and maybe give a few gifts.

“Well, we gotta do something special tomorrow!” Jay exclaimed, shoving the last of his maple bun into his mouth.

Kai looked up at him and cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah. Real special.” Jay caught his meaning and swallowed hard. Kai hadn’t forgotten about that first night they had met.

“Well—you know—I mean—come on! It’s a special occasion! We gotta do something fun!” Jay chuckled nervously.

“I could whip up more maple buns,” Zane suggested, steering the conversation like he usually did.

“We could head into town, maybe,” Jay offered, sounding a little unsure about the idea. “Have lunch or go to that go-karting place?”

“Go-karts?” Cole asked.

“It’s just one option,” said Jay, somewhat defensively. Cole raised his eyebrows. “Hey, don’t knock it till you try it!”

“That all sounds awesome, you guys, but I’m not so sure about heading off somewhere, especially since you’re all still essentially grounded.” Nya sounded a bit deflated as she spoke.

“Oh yeah,” Jay remarked flatly. He seemed to have forgotten the whole, “if you step one toe out of line...one week of solitary confinement,” thing. “But that still doesn’t mean we can’t have fun tomorrow, right?”

Kai gave a very obvious cough, directed at Jay. He knew exactly what this fool was up to, and there was no way he was getting anywhere near Nya.

“How about we all sit in our rooms? Quietly? You know, because they’re on opposite sides of the monastery?” Kai blurted, very pointedly. Jay seemed to finally get the hint and backed down.

“Wow, Kai. You sure know how to show a girl a good time,” Cole remarked.

“Yeah, it’s why he’s never had a girlfriend,” Nya deadpanned. That got a round of laughter from the group. Kai was not amused. At. All. You could almost see smoke coming out of his nostrils.

“I don’t see you doing much better, Cole,” he snapped. That got everyone’s attention again.

Cole tried to give a relaxed snicker, but he was clearly uncomfortable. “What are talking about?” he asked, folding his big arms.

“I’m talking about your little crush on Ann.” Everyone looked from Kai to Cole and back again. They had all had a sneaking suspicion, what with him always trying to talk to her, acting differently around her, smiling more, even day dreaming sometimes, but they would never have put it passed him in such a snarky way. Kai could see the blood rushing to Cole’s face but his expression remained rigid. He knew he had hit him in a sensitive spot, and he was waiting for what ever retaliation Cole might have.

Instead, Cole turned around, grabbed a maple bun, and walked out of the kitchen without another word. It left a sour feeling in the air, and no one quite knew what to do about it.

“Kai, why did you do that?” Nya asked, facing him. Her expression was somewhere between confused and disgusted.

Kai refused to speak. He didn’t have anything more to say.

* * *

The very next morning, a cranky Kai was being rolled around by Nya as streamers and balloons were put up in the dining room, courtesy of Jay. Nya seemed rather flattered, by Kai grumbled and rolled his eyes. Like paper and plastic decorations were all that impressive.

Kai might’ve been in a better mood if his whole body didn’t feel like it was made of rusty metal. Whenever he moved, even slightly, his joints and muscles felt like old hinges scraping against each other, but his back took things to a whole new level. Not only was it still massively pained from the injury, it was also sore from a full week of laying flat on his bed, getting broken sleep and not enough sunlight.

It was the most remarkable thing: Nya had taken Kai out into the garden yesterday, after what happened in the kitchen, and for the first time in days, he touched actual sunlight. Maybe it had to do with his powers, but when the light hit his skin, and he could feel the heat from a star thousands of light years away steadily waving over him, it felt like the last piece of being was finally being put back into place. Not that he could fully enjoy it, with how he was still feeling about... you know, his little confrontation just a little while ago. Perhaps that apology was further into the future than he originally thought. Either that, or it was going to be twice as big. Probably both.

Nya and Kai were still in the dining room, eating breakfast, while Jay was trying to put up the last of decorations as quickly as he could. He had a long list of things to do today, but he made sure to put Nya’s birthday at the forefront of his priorities.

‘Gross,’ Kai thought, and grumpily chomped down on an omelette. He was much better at eating food now that he could feel his arms.

“Well, good morning, everyone,” said Wu as he entered. Jay, who was in the middle of pinning two balloons high above one of the other doors suddenly tripped and fell off of his step stool, collapsing on the floor with a squeak. “I see Jay is here, but where are Zane and Cole?” the master asked, regarding Jay’s fall unceremoniously.

Zane and Cole’s absence was definitely noticed by all present, especially Kai.

“I think they’re still upstairs,” Nya answered carefully. She didn’t really want to say why they were upstairs, because then she’d have to explain that Zane was trying to talk to Cole who had locked himself in his room.

“Hmm, I see,” said Wu, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “And I suppose all these decorations mean no work today?” He leaned over and squinted at Jay, who was still on the floor.

“Maybe...?” Jay chuckled uncomfortably. He knew when he was busted.

“If it were your birthday, perhaps.” Wu’s tone wasn’t stern or harsh, rather, it sounded somewhat playful. He left Jay alone and walked over to where Kai and Nya were sitting. “For you,” he said, pulling a small box out of one of his long sleeves. It was red and blue, with a silver bow on top. “Happy birthday.” Nya took it happily.

“How did know that today was..?” she started, but she stopped when she saw his cheeky grin.

“An old man has his ways,” was all he said in reply. “Actually, there’s one for you, too, young Kai.” Kai looked up and stared at Wu in surprise. He pulled out a similarly small box and handed it to him. “I would have given to you on your birthday if it had been in my possession at the time.”

Kai shared a glance with Nya and they started ripping away the paper, the sound of Wu shooing Jay away to finish his chores quietly bouncing around in the background. Once the paper was off, Kai was free to open the sturdy lid of the square box and was quite surprised to see a small necklace sitting on top of some white cotton. He pulled it out quickly, feeling its familiar scratchy cord and the cool, gold pendant in his hands. This... he thought he had lost this when the Skulkens raided his house. He looked up at Nya who was holding a near identical necklace. The only difference was that the teardrop pendant was silver and it was held together with red ribbon instead of cord.

“I thought we’d never see these again,” Nya choked, holding the thing delicately. “I wonder how he found them.”

At this point, it really didn’t matter to Kai. He was quite stunned for a while. Finally, a small of piece of his parents had come back to him, even if was just a silly trinket. But it was a silly trinket his parents had given him. So, he tied the short cord around his neck, feeling a touch more complete.