This chapter is dedicated to TitaniumNinjasGirl and cl07ai09re for leaving lovely comments and sticking around!

Cole slips out of his room, wiping his eyes. His fingers wrap around the cool metal of the door handle, slowly sliding the door shut behind him. Wincing as the floorboards creak beneath his bare feet. Wrapping his wrist around the bannister, his feet creak against the stairs, his brain forcing his feet to step down the stairs. Looking up, his eyes widen at the picture hanging on the wall at the stair corner.

A pale man is stood outside, holding a cane with a purple gem on top, his arm around a dark-skinned woman. Both adults have black hair. The woman is holding a baby boy, with a black onesie and a panda plushie in her arms. The baby is has a wide smile on his face and is staring at the camera with wide dark brown eyes.

Cole's eyes well up as he stares at his mother, a woman he'd loved with all of his heart, up until eight months ago. Cole reaches out with a shaky hand and traces the outline of his mother's face. A wide smile adorns her face as she holds the younger version of himself, her eyes sparkling in the sun.

"Cole?"

Cole jumps, his body whipping around to see his father stood at the bottom of the stairs, his arms over the bannister. Cole glances back at the picture and looks down, rubbing his arm, closing his dark eyes.

The stairs creak and a hand on Cole's shoulder makes him jump and look up. Lou pulls Cole into him, allowing the teen to lean against him. Cole rests his head on his father's shoulder and wraps his fingers around the cool metal of the necklace. Lou places a hand on Cole's back.

"Cole..."

Cole's dark eyes dart upwards to meet his fathers. Lou leads him down the remainder of the stairs and into the living room, quietly shutting the door.

"Dad?" Cole bites his lip.

"Someone saw you."

Cole's eyes widen and his shoulders tense, his whole body becoming stiff. Lou sits down on the sofa.

"Someone sent a recording of you practising in the woods to the government, it's just been on the news."

Cole's eyes dart to the floor, knowing what he's about to be asked.

"You knew, didn't you? That someone caught you?"

Cole nods, his grip on the cool metal of the necklace tightening. Lou sighs.

"Cole-"

A defending knock interrupts him. Cole jumps at the sound. Lou pushes himself off the sofa and walks out of the living room, brushing his shoulders with Cole.

"Stay here."

Cole nods. Lou walks out into the hall. Cole sinks into the sofa and leans back, leaning against the back of the sofa. A familiar click alerts Cole that his father answered the door.

Why did I do that? Why wasn't I more careful? I could have stopped them from seeing me there. I could've-

"Cole."

Cole's head snaps up. Lou's face is almost completely drained of colour, his shoulders tense and shaking slightly. Cole gulps.

"D-Dad?"

"You need to leave. Now."

Cole jumps onto his feet.

"Why?!"

"They...they know you're here. You need to leave."

Lou shields Cole from the door, calling to the person at the door about seeing if Cole had left already. Dashing up the stairs, they shut themselves in Cole's room.

Cole's fingers wrap around the handle of a backpack, pulling it out from behind his bed. Opening his wardrobe, Lou drags everything out and shoves it into Cole's backpack. Cole throws in some extra clothes from his drawers and stuffs them in. Jumping to his feet, his eyes scan around the room.

A framed picture, the same as the one on the staircase wall, sits on his desk, almost waiting for him to pick it up and take it with him. Cole's fingers wrap around the wooden frame and he picks it up, sliding it into the front pocket of his bag.

Closing his backpack, he swings it over his shoulders. Lou pulls him into a final hug.

"Goodbye, son. Stay safe...please."

"I will."

Cole slides the window open, climbs down onto the roof of the conservatory, jumps down and runs.

☮︎︎☮︎︎☮︎︎

"They found him."

Jay looks up from his gizmo, his electric blue eyes darting between his parents. Edna nods towards the TV where the latest headlines are showing.

Breaking news: elemental master found and soon to be forbidden out of the city.

Jay's eyes widen.

So that's what they're doing. They're chasing us out.

Latest headlines: the government will find and forbid elemental masters from Ninjago

Ed and Edna share a wide-eyed glance before turning to Jay. Jay glances between the TV and his parents, biting his lip. Edna pulls him into her, allowing him to bury his head into her shoulder and neck.

"It'll be okay," Edna soothes, running her fingers through his hair.

"What if it won't be? I-I don't wanna leave you."

"I know Jay. I know."

Jay slowly pulls away from Edna and bounces back to his gizmo. Ed walks over to Edna and gently pulls her further away from Jay.

"Do...do you think he should stay?" Ed asks, biting his lip, "it...it's not safe for him to be here anymore."

"You're right..." Edna murmurs.

Walking over to a drawer, she pulls open the top drawer. Pulling out a white envelope she turns it over between her fingers.

In the middle of the envelope, in a black cursive font, is a name.

Jay

She pulls out another envelope and opens it, her eyes scanning over the address written on the top.

"Is that...?"

Edna nods, her fingers shaking slightly. Ed places a hand on her shoulder.

"It's the only way we can keep him safe."

Jay looks up, slipping the spanner onto the side.

"Ma? Pa?" Jay pulls himself to his feet, "what's wrong?"

The elder couple share glances.

"Jay...you saw what's going on..." Ed starts.

"It...it's not safe for you to stay here."

Jay's eyes fill up with tears.

"You...you're kicking me out?"

Edna rapidly shakes her head.

"We're helping you escape."

☮︎︎☮︎︎☮︎︎

Edna quietly opens Jay's bag and slips the envelope with his name on into the back of his bag. He can't know yet. He's going through enough already.

Jay comes out of the bathroom and picks his backpack up, swinging it over his shoulders. Ed and Edna slip out the back of the trailer and wait for Jay to catch up.

The family run to the edge of the forest. Jay swallows as the trees bear down on them. Edna wraps her arms around Jay and pulls him close to her. Jay lets his head flop onto Edna's shoulder.

"I-I'll miss you Ma."

"I'll miss you too Jay."

Ed hugs the pair. Jay lets go of his mother and hugs his father.

"Jay?"

Jay looks at her, eyeing the envelope in her fingers.

"There's an address inside which you need to go to. You'll be safe there, he'll look after you."

"Ma-"

"He'll explain everything to you," Ed says.

"I-I'll miss you both."

"We'll miss you too."

With that, Jay ducks into the forest.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback about the second part of chapter one! I enjoy reading your comments and it really helps my writing to see what you think about my story! Thank you!

What do you think is in Jay's envelopes?

I'd love to hear your thoughts/theories!