Chapter Text
The first time Wu hears Cole sing, it's nearly midnight. He doesn't understand what he's hearing at first; he sent the ninja to bed two hours ago, they shouldn't be listening to the radio this late. But that's not what he's hearing, he quickly realizes. Cole's sitting in the hallway, headphones on, quiet tears streaming down his face as he hums along to a little track with a handwritten note: To Cole, my son– Our Song– 10th Birthday, in painfully familiar handwriting. It's Lily’s, Wu realizes. A stab of his own grief hits him in a way he hasn't in a long time, and he's struck with the memory of Lily singing with Cole's father at their wedding, the other elemental masters crowded around. That was the last time he saw her, for her own sake. Family and the issues of destiny usually don't go well together.
Now Wu wonders if he made the right choice. Her son, like it or not, inherited her power, and therefore her responsibility. It wasn't fair.
But this is what he was made for, Wu rationalizes, casting a glance upward. He was so… aimless, when I met him. A prayer, then, sent up in the hopes that Lily would hear it. I can only pray I'm helping him make you proud.
Cole still hasn't realized he's there, and Wu decides to let it stay that way for the moment. He can hear Lily’s voice, he notices, in the silence, echoing faintly from Cole's ancient headphones (not quite as ancient as Wu himself, of course.). She sings: "...or what, to think. You don't have to be anybody, you can ever be. That's alright, let it out, talk to me."
"Oh, First, I wish I could, mom." Cole whispers, and something twisting in Wu's gut forces him out of the shadows. Cole sees him almost instantly, and he dashes an arm across his face to hide the tears, straightening and wrenching his headphones from his ears. The music is even more audible now. "Wu– uh, Sensei! I–"
"It's alright, Cole." Wu returns. He motions to the spot next to Cole, on the floor by the cobweb the ninja have developed some strange attachment to. "May I sit with you?"
"Of– of course!" Cole shifts a little, patting the spot next to him. "Please." There's a forced civility to his voice that Wu wishes would fade, but he knows the comfort will come with time. He hopes his secrets don't halt their growth… but that is an issue for another time, and so he sits.
A moment passes.
Cole shifts towards his headphones. "Uh… do you… do you mind if I…?"
"Please do." Wu says. "May I join you in listening?"
Cole swallows, and for a moment Wu thinks he'll refuse– a valid refusal, he will admit– but then Cole's personality seems to overrule his convictions and he nods, pulling the headphones from the jack. Soft music echoes down the hall: "Let your words release your pain, you and I will share the weight, growing stronger day by day…"
The music continues, and Lily’s voice brings even more memories to the forefront of Wu's crowded mind. Nostalgia sweeps over him, and Wu finds himself tapping along to the gentle cadence of the song. After a while, Cole relaxes enough to begin humming again.
Just before the song ends, that humming morphs into words, gentle and a little shaky. "Anxiety, tossing, turning in your sleep, even if you run away…" He swallows, eyes glassy with the sheen of unshed tears. "...you still see them in your dreams."
Wu almost interrupts, but this unassuming moment presses him to remain silent. Cole seems so young right now, not a fledgling leader but a child, who's in a new land with old weights pressed to him like stones on his shoulders. Someday, he'll be strong enough to crush them, but for now…
Wu just hopes his presence is enough to prop the boy up. He finishes: "It's so dark tonight, it looks nice… fall asleep… it's alright…" His voice hitches. "...come inside… and talk to me." Those last words are nothing but a whisper, and his father's guitar gently strumming is the only sound to be heard afterward.
Neither speaks. They just sit. And Wu hopes, for now, that is enough.
A/N: Did I drop of the ends of the Earth? Yes, yes I did. Spring Break is finally here, though, so I'm dragging myself back into health to drop you a whole frickin fic after three weeks of silence. Love y'all!
God Bless!
-Grace