#have some vania angst (it wouldn't be this sad if TTPD didn't come out this week)

[only-lonely-stars]

Where Are You?

Oneshot – (FFN) (AO3)

Summary:

After the Crystal King's defeat, Vania thought everything was supposed to be peaceful. Then the Merge came, throwing Shintaro into chaos. To make it even worse, she hasn't heard from Cole since it happened…

It wasn’t long ago when Vania, Queen of Shintaro, thought everything really was going to work out. 

Now that hope was only in her daydreams and memories.

-----

The fierce battle against the Crystal King had tested everyone, from greatest to least. When Vania heard of the battle, she marshalled her forces as fast as she could– of course, a militia was hard to muster quickly, and the royal guard was small. As soon as her men were gathered, and supplies were prepared, they set out at full tilt to Ninjago City, the center of the battle.

They arrived not a moment too soon, sweeping through the enemy forces, crushing Vengestone soldiers to dust beneath their feet. Vania spearheaded the attack, with Chompy, Hailmar, and the Upply at her side.

She would never forget her dear Cole’s face when he saw her, grinning from ear to ear, flushed from fighting. What a sight! The light in his eyes, the hope they shared, the moment when they knew all was not yet lost.

The Ninja took on their dragon forms, the ultimate form of Spinjitzu, and the battle was all but won in that moment. Too bright to look at, too powerful to stop. Vania barely knew what had happened; a moment later, everything was in motion.

Spinning, whirling motion.

The battled raged on, and she heard distant snippets of Cole’s fight against her father:

“You turned my people against me, turned my own daughter against me!”

“Oh, that! Yeah, kinda brought that on yourself.”

“Lies!”

There was a horrible thud , shaking the buildings nearby, and Vania jumped into action to spur Chompy forward. They swooped in, just as she heard her father’s last horrible taunt.

“The Crystal King wanted you for himself. Lucky for me, he isn’t here to see this.”

Panic flooded her vision. In retrospect, Vania didn’t know what she’d done, but her father was lying prone on the ground and Cole had gone to rendezvous with his team…

Only the last stand remained.

Just before the end of it all, Cole had swept down on his dragon wings (she didn’t know where they’d come from) and given her a tight, warm hug that she wished had been just a little bit longer.

It was momentary, before he swept away on his dragon wings once again, and left her to deal with the army. He headed for the Crystal King, the Overlord– it was the greatest battle of their lifetimes– the Ninja prepared to strike down their hated foe–

–and they won!

-----

Vania recalled again, how they had celebrated the defeat of the Crystal King. How everyone had come together to rebuild the city and the Monastery of Spinjitzu. How Cole had told her all about his adventure, from saving Nya’s life to his brief stint in prison to the battle they had just fought.

She remembered how it felt to press a kiss to his cheek before she left, hoping that he would accept it.

She knew with certainty that his bewildered smile was enough to sustain her heart. No matter the distance between them, no matter how long they were apart. 

-----

She was wrong.

When Vania returned home with her victorious army, with gifts from the people of Ninjago City, something was wrong in a small, subtle way. 

An odd trinket appeared here or there that didn’t belong. 

There were some strange weather patterns and odd lights in the sky.

Vania swore she’d seen magenta light in the corner of her room… surely it was just more of those tiny crystals even her best laundresses couldn’t get out of the fibers of her battle dress. She’d shed them for weeks after the battle.

Then it got worse. 

Shintaro had always had earthquakes. They were a consequence of the extensive cave system, plus the instability of recent years. Plus, the city was built near one of the largest faultlines in Ninjago! Minor quakes were common, and their only real consequences were the rockslides which blocked some of the mountain passes. This was normal. Expected, even.

They ignored the little earthquakes which shook Shintaro until three struck within the same week, each of them strong enough to topple already unstable buildings.

Unfamiliar storms raged. 

Rain poured and then suddenly stopped. 

Crops failed. 

Everything became unstable.

The Merge came, and none of it mattered much anymore. A great tear formed in the sky, magenta and shining brighter than the sun over the city of Shintaro. The Mergequakes began, and Vania watched as her people struggled to find safety as their mountain home seemed to fuse into something else– somewhere else–  anything but their old, familiar landscape.

The Merged Lands formed, with Shintaro suddenly bordered by a strange, wild land that had a large floating island hovering above it. The whole place was teeming with blue light and filled with strange, bipedal animals! Lions, birds, reptiles, and more…

Helpless to stop the chaos, Queen Vania directed her people, desperate to protect them. She ordered her soldiers to help evacuate the citizens, and the people did their best to prevent their city from crumbling to the very foundations. The Munce and Geckles surfaced to help, with their superior knowledge of stonecraft contributing greatly to the effort.

The aftershocks died away after a time, eternity yet only a moment.

Slowly, so slowly, everything started coming back together.

Eventually, a tense peace came back.

-----

Queen Vania sighed heavily, leaning back in her throne. Holding court had been a low priority for so long that now there were more petitions and emergencies than ever before. She’d never been so sleepless before. 

She took a moment to summon the energy to deal with at least one more matter. “Hailmar, is there anyone left to meet with?”

The Captain of the Royal Guard shook his head. “No, your Highness. Just a report from the scouts.”

“Oh, thank the Master!” She closed her eyes, slumping tiredly against one of the armrests on her tall white throne. “What do they have to say?”

Hailmar cleared his throat, rustling through papers until he found the right one. “Mugwort says that they have come to the end of the changed landscape to the north. However, they’ve noticed very few Shintaran Ridgebacks, and several empty nests.”

Vania hummed, unable to stir up more energy. “More?”

“Yes, ma’am. This makes seven empty nests between all the scouting parties.”

“It’s not mating season. Why are they gone so early?”

“I’m afraid we don’t know. However, Steele said he noticed signs of some kind of struggle, and scorch marks on the walls of the cave where they found one of the nests. They seem to be from the strange drones we noticed the other week. He suggested that perhaps the dragons are not leaving willingly, but are being… dragon-napped, as it were.”

Vania opened her eyes, frowning deeply. She looked over at Hailmar, noting his grave expression. “What about our letter to the Ninja? Have they responded yet?”

He shook his head. “No, ma’am. No response of any kind to any of the letters we’ve sent. There’s been no sightings of them anywhere.”

Vania watched him for a moment, then sighed. “...I see. What else did Mugwort say?”

“Nothing else of importance. Just samples and reports about the strange plants and animals they’ve seen. I have forwarded those reports to the royal botanists, zoologists, and geologists for continued study.”

“Very good.” She nodded. “If that’s all, then… I think I’ll retire to my rooms.”

“As you wish.” Hailmar offered her a smile. “Would you care for an escort?”

“Thank you, but no. I want to be alone.” She smiled in return, but she knew it was unconvincing. “Let’s talk about this more over supper.”

With those parting remarks, she rose from her throne. The golden wings mounted on her back lifted her up, and she descended the stairs, coming to rest on the ground at the base of the dais. She walked out of the throne room, a small contingent of guards following her, and wearily made her way to her rooms.

When she was finally alone (as alone as a queen could be, considering how strange their world had become), she fell forward onto her bed with a heavy sigh.

No answer.

With a heavy heart, she strained her arms behind her to unclip her wing harness, unwilling to get up. Once they were off and pushed to the foot of her bed, she reached under her pillows to pull out a framed picture. It was one of herself and Cole, long before any of her current worries had existed.

Just looking at it made her frown, exhausted tears coming to her eyes, heart aching. 

“There’s been no sightings of them anywhere.”

Where are you?

There were no answers. What had happened to the Ninja in the Merge? Even now, she was only hearing the most vague rumors about the Green Ninja re-appearing, or perhaps just some impostor, running around with a baby dragon and children dressed in orange and pink. It was so hard to get news from Ninjago City, and now that they’d renamed themselves The Crossroads, it was even more confusing.

It didn’t matter. They weren’t her Cole.

She let herself rest face-down on the bed, weak tears running down her cheeks, dripping off the tip of her nose to wet the duvet. 

She couldn’t make herself believe he was dead. If he were dead, there would be proof of it! 

…right?

She laid there wondering, thinking of when she’d last seen him: banged-up, victorious, slowly relaxing after the last threat to the balance was eradicated. Smiling, working hard, celebrating with his family in a way she just couldn’t interrupt.

She'd made a promise to herself then:

Next time. Next time, I'll tell him how I feel. I can't spoil this moment. 

Now there might never be a next time. Cole might never be coming back to her, or to anyone .

Nothing was okay anymore.

Framed photo in hand, Vania cried herself to sleep.