thank you all for reading this story and for sticking with me so far, i'm so excited to be able to share this journey with you! i hope that you'll enjoy these first few chapters and getting to know lyla and all of the other characters better, there's certainly a lot in store for them and i have so much planned! in this chapter you'll really get to meet lyla and cole and see the first bit of their own journey as they start to find their way in the world. i absolutely love the sibling relationship that they share, and the fact that this story gives me a chance to better explore and develop cole's character, which is something i feel has been kind of neglected in the show.

trigger warnings: none

words : 2,953

chapter one : just us against the world 

"Come on, Cole. We're going to be late for class." Lyla gently nudged her brother's arm, but he remained seated at the table and continued to pick at his food. They'd only been here at the Marty Oppenheimer School Of Performing Arts for a few weeks, and he still had the tendency to make them late for classes quite often. Especially if those classes were ones that he didn't enjoy, like dancing. Which they were about to take.

Cole sighed and rubbed a hand over his tired eyes and through his thick black hair, unknowingly messing it up a bit. "What if I don't want to go to class?" He questioned. "I'm sure that there are other, better things that we could be doing right now." 

"You just don't want to go to dance class. I know you don't enjoy it, but like it or not it has become a part of our daily lives." Lyla frowned a little as she leaned over to her brother and began fixing his hair for him. He gave her a mildly annoyed look and pushed her hand away.

"Maybe I would like it if I wasn't such a failure at dancing." Cole felt his hair to see how badly she had messed it up, and seemed satisfied to discover that it was fine. "It's no exaggeration to say that I'm the worst dancer in the entire class. Maybe even the whole school."

"That's not true, Cole." Lyla replied almost immediately. Her brother gave her a dubious look, and she frowned a bit more. This wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation, and she knew it wouldn't be the last. "You may not be the best dancer, but you're certainly not the worst."

Cole just sighed in response. "That's easy for you to say, Lya. You're good at singing, and dancing, and acting, and pretty much everything. I'm not good at any of those things. The only things I'm good at are rock climbing and physical stuff. Not performing arts."

"There may be a lot that you think you're bad at, but there are lots of things that you are good at. You just need to realize that." Out of habit Lyla ran a hand through her hair, tugging at it lightly. She gave Cole an encouraging smile, hoping to cheer him up a bit.

If her words did cheer him up at all, Cole gave no indication of that. He just sort of shrugged, a faraway look in his dark brown eyes as he looked out the window. Lyla just shook her head and got up, gathering her stuff together. "I'm heading to class. Have fun without me."

Cole looked at her, an amused smile on his face. "I'm coming with you, of course. I would die of boredom without your company."

Lyla chuckled, rolling her eyes dramatically. "Haha. You wouldn't last more than a few minutes without me."

"Oh I wouldn't, would I?" Cole playfully elbowed her as he got up from the table, grabbing his things. He had a smile on his face, but after a moment his expression changed to a more sad one. "Honestly Lya, I don't know what I'd do without you."

Hearing the serious tone of voice that her brother was using, Lyla looked up at him. "I don't know what I would do without you either, Cole." She said softly, once again reminded of how grateful she was to have a brother like him. "I'm glad we're here together."

"Yeah, me too." Cole gave her a gentle hug, and she hugged him back. When he let go and stepped back, he had a small smile on his face. "It's getting late. We should get to dance class."

Lyla smiled and resisted the urge to say 'I told you so' as the two of them headed off down the hall together.

After the dance class ended, Lyla went to grab her and Cole's things. He looked at her helplessly from across the room, and in return she gave him a look of sympathy. He was talking to the teacher, who had asked to speak to him after class, and she could imagine what they were talking about.

She felt bad for him. While she was nowhere near as good as her father, Lyla was a decent singer, and not too bad at the other subjects they taught here. Cole on the other hand just wasn't set out to be a performer of any kind, and he hated it when people thought he was.

Since they were both young, Lou had expressed hope that Cole would one day follow in his footsteps. He had tried sending Cole to voice lessons, to dance lessons, and various other lessons when he was younger. Not to mention the hours of time he had spent trying to teach Cole himself.

But Lyla knew that her brother wasn't like their father, however much he wished differently. Cole hadn't found his place in life yet, but they both knew that it wasn't here. It was someplace else, but he had no clue how to find it. Especially when they were stuck here at a performing arts school. He had talked about leaving several times, but hadn't actually been brave enough to do it.

Maybe one day they would. Lilly had said that she believed in them, and that they had the potential to do great things. Lyla wished again that her mother was still here, and wondered how different things would be for them if she was still alive.

Cole's voice brought Lyla's mind back to the present, as he greeted her with drooping shoulders and a forced smile. She shook her head a little to clear her thoughts, smiling back at him. "Hey, Cole. How'd it go?" She greeted cheerfully as she offered him his things.

Her older brother just shrugged, grabbing his stuff from her outstretched hand. "Eh... not great." He admitted. "Mr. Evans isn't pleased with my skills. He says that he expected more from me, being the son of Lou Brookstone and all. Nothing new I guess."

Lyla nodded in understanding, but chose to try and lighten the mood. She gave Cole a gentle nudge with her elbow and smiled at him. "Come on, it's not that bad! You're not the worst dancer I've ever seen. Besides, the weekend starts tomorrow, which means that we won't have classes."

Cole sighed. "Almost everyone else will be going home with their parents and families, but we'll be stuck here...." He trailed off a little, then smiled a tiny bit. "But on the other hand, we can hang out together for a while without any responsibilities. It could be fun."

Lyla smiled back at him. "See, it won't be that bad. We can have fun, maybe play some games or take a walk together like we used to. There's plenty of things that we could do." When she looked at her brother he was staring out the window thoughtfully, a small smile on his face.

"Maybe I'll go mountain climbing, I haven't had the chance to do that in a while." Cole said after a moment, sounding more excited then she'd heard him for a while. "The tallest mountain in Ninjago isn't too far away from here, and I've always wanted to climb it. Maybe I finally will today."

Part of Lyla wanted to protest immediately. She knew that it could be dangerous, and that she couldn't go with him. She also had no desire to be left alone at school without her brother. But Cole was strong, she knew he would be okay. She would be fine without him for a few hours.

Mountain climbing was something he loved, and something he was good at. She wanted to support him through this difficult time in their lives, and was hopeful that it might be good for him to get away from the school for a while. But would he come back?

Of course he would, he wouldn't leave her here. He'd promised to look out for her, and Lyla knew that he would keep his promise. So she pushed away all the thoughts and worries she had about it, and gave him a smile. "That sounds like a great idea, Cole. I think you should give it a try."

Cole looked at her with a smile of barely contained happiness. "Really? I wasn't sure if you would be okay by yourself, and I feel bad leaving you here alone. But if you're sure that you're okay with it, I think I will! It's something that I've wanted to do for a long time."

"I'll be fine here, I promise. Just be sure that you aren't gone the whole day, and that we can at least go for a walk later," Lyla replied.

"Of course! I'm probably going to leave early in the morning so I can get there as soon as possible. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone, but I promise that we can go for a walk when I get back." Cole smiled happily and gave her a hug. "Thanks so much, Lya!"

Happy to see him in a better mood, Lyla hugged him back with a smile. "Of course. I'm glad that you have the opportunity to do it."

Cole was about to say something in reply, but Mr. Evans cleared his throat. When Lyla looked over at the corner where he was cleaning up his stuff, she realized that they were the only ones left in the room. She and Cole awkwardly grabbed their stuff again, apologizing as they headed out.

Once they were out in the hallway, Cole turned to Lyla. "Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away. I didn't realize everyone had left."

"It's alright, I didn't either." Lyla replied as she continued walking. "We probably need to get ready for our next class, though."

"Right. I'll start thinking about the stuff I need for tomorrow, and I'll pack it later tonight. I think I'm going to leave before sunrise, I want to get back here as soon as possible. It depends on how long it takes me to climb, and how long it takes to get to the mountain and back."

Lyla smiled a little. "Sounds good. I'll probably be asleep, you don't have to wake me up."

"We'll see about that." Cole said with a playful grin. "Don't you want to say goodbye to your older brother?"

"Of course I do, just not before sunrise," Lyla replied. "I'm happy that you get to go, but I'd like to get a good amount of sleep."

Cole laughed softly. "That's understandable. Maybe I'll just leave you a note instead."

"A note would be wonderful." Lyla was going to say more, but the bell rang to signal the beginning of the next few classes. They were going to be late again if they didn't hurry. She suggested that they keep talking later, and get to class. So they did.

Long before sunrise the next morning, Cole was awake. He gathered the few things that he was planning to bring along, grabbing his notes for Lyla and one of the teachers. Then he walked quietly down the hallway. It was pretty quiet right now, and it was quite peaceful in the school.

He left his note for Lyla in the place he'd told her to look for it, and headed off. He'd cleared his short trip with the teachers, and he just needed to leave them a note saying what time he left and when he hoped he would be back. Once that was done, he walked outside.

It was still dark outside, and the grass was wet and cold with dew. The air was fresh and cool compared to the air inside the school, and Cole felt refreshed and energized. He began walking down the path and toward the nearby village, where he was hoping to catch a bus.

He walked for a long time, eventually arriving at the village shortly before sunrise. It was busy and noisy compared to his peaceful walk here, but because it was the weekend it wasn't as busy as it usually was. Thankfully, he was able to find a bus, and soon he was on his way again.

As the bus came to a stop at the next village, Cole hopped out with an excited look on his face. He could see the mountain just outside the village, rising from the earth in all of its beauty and splendor. He couldn't wait. It was going to be challenging, but it would be worth it.

Cole began walking to the mountain with a small smile. When he got there he set his bag down by a small cluster of rocks, then faced the mountain and began to climb. As he climbed he remembered how much he loved doing it, and realized that it had been a while since he'd climbed anything.

He was strong and fit, so climbing this mountain wasn't as difficult for him as it would be for some people. Cole enjoyed the challenge. He enjoyed the time to himself, and he was able to think through all the things that had happened to him in the last few weeks.

As he climbed he thought about his mother's death, and how his father still didn't really seem to care, even after all this time. It angered Cole. He and Lyla had taken care of each other and the house after their mother's death, while their father was off singing and dancing.

Even though he did his best not to let it show, Cole was still very much hurt by the loss of his mom, and he wished that she were still here for him and Lyla. Maybe things would be better for them if she hadn't died. Maybe they wouldn't be stuck at a performing arts school.

Since he was young Cole had known that he wasn't ever going to be a dancer or singer like his father. Lyla was decently good at those things, maybe she would be one day. But Cole wasn't. He hated being stuck at school here, and wished that he could just run away.

But he didn't want to leave his sister, so he chose to stay and suffer in silence. Lyla was one of the only things that kept him still going, and he didn't know what he'd do without her. Even though she was younger than him, she'd always been mature. He loved her so much.

They'd been there for each other all of their lives, and Cole hoped that they would be for a long time. He was very grateful to have a sister like her, and it made the burden of being stuck in a place that he hated easier to bear. They would work through this together.

As Cole continued to climb the mountain he was left alone with only his thoughts. Unlike some people, he didn't mind the solitude. It was peaceful out here. He'd always felt connected to the earth somehow, and he loved having something to do to keep his mind off of things.

He stopped occasionally to catch his breath, but for the most part he kept going without stopping. Cole had a lot to think about, and his thoughts kept him busy as he climbed. He was unaware how much time had passed, but before he knew it he had reached the top at last.

With a triumphant smile Cole pulled himself up, imagining that he was leaving all his sad past and memories at the bottom of this tall mountain. He felt truly happy for the first time in a long time, and felt like he had conquered a seemingly impossible task.

But when he stood up to examine the view, he was shocked to discover an old man sitting there next to a fire, drinking tea with a peaceful look on his face. He wore white robes and a hat, and had a long white beard. There was something almost familiar about him.

Cole's mind was filled with questions, but before he could ask them the old man looked up at him with a smile. "Hello there."

"How did you..." Cole began, then stopped. He felt like he's seen this man somewhere. "Who are you?"

The older man took another sip of his tea before he answered. "Maybe that is a question for me to ask." He looked at Cole with a curious look. "But first, why do you climb the mountain?"

For a moment Cole was unsure how to reply. He looked down for a moment, then looked back at the older man. "I just... lost someone." He admitted. "My father should be sad, or angry, but he's just, he's..."

"Yes?" The man asked softly, giving him a kind look. For some reason, Cole was sure that he could tell this man anything. Before he even realized what he was saying he was explaining what was on his heart to the older man, things he'd only ever said to Lyla.

"He spends all his time with his group singing and dancing. He's never home, leaving all the chores for us. With her gone, I guess it's up to me to be the responsible one. He acts like nothing's happened. How can he sing and dance at a time like this?!"

The older man sighed softly, glancing down. "Grief takes many shapes and forms. Some sing and dance, and some climb mountains."

Cole looked around for a moment, then looked back at him. "Why did you climb the mountain?"

The man looked at him with a small smile. "To find you, Cole."