Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prior Context:

In this AU, everyone gets the ability to find their soulmate at age 17. When you make eye contact with your soulmate, their name will appear on your arm.

Kai woke up that chilly October morning to his phone buzzing on the nightstand. “Who could possibly be calling this early?” He rubbed his eyes as he answered the phone.

“Are you coming?” It was Cole.

“Huh?” Kai yawned, still half-asleep.

Cole stood on the sidewalk in front of the Smith household. “I’ve been outside for like ten minutes now. Nya already left,” 

Shit.

“You overslept again, didn’t you?” Cole laughed.

Kai leapt out of bed, grabbing a hoodie and a pair of jeans from his closet. “Sorry! Sorry! Go without me, I'll see you in English,” Kai hung up the call. Despite being a member of ‘Lloyd Garmadon’s Dorksquad’, Kai Smith was undoubtedly popular. The boy was very extroverted and was known to flirt with every girl he saw. 

Cole Brookstone was the opposite, as it was rare to ever see him without a pair of headphones on, drowning out the world. Most people would consider the two an unlikely pair, but these differences are what make them balance each other out so well.

No matter how late he was, the brunet refused to leave the house without a hoodie and what his sister called an absurd amount of hair gel. He spent a minimum of thirty minutes in the bathroom each morning, but he could narrow it down to fifteen if he was in a hurry. After a while, Kai looked in the mirror and deemed himself presentable enough to leave. To his surprise, he opened the front door to find Cole sitting on the doorstep.

“It’s about time,” Cole stood, offering Kai a banana. “I assume you haven’t eaten?”

“Cole? Dude, We didn’t both have to be late.” 

Cole shrugged, “I don’t mind.

“This is a BIG deal, Cole!!!!” Jay argued with Cole, who was sitting parallel to him at the lunch table.

“I just don’t think getting my soulmate mark is gonna make a difference in my life, Jay!” Cole defended. “Back me up here, Kai,”

Kai began to speak, suddenly seeming more serious than usual. “I think I agree with Jay,” Cole gasped in mock offense, but Kai continued. “I mean, you’re gonna spend your whole life with this person. I’d say that's prettyy important.”

“Funny how the guy with a new girl on his arm every two days is the one giving a speech about meaningful relationships,” Jay teased.

Cole was sure that Kai had spat out some sort of comeback, but he was too lost in his own thoughts to care.

What if his soulmate was someone he disliked? 

What if he didn’t find them at all? 

What if it was Kai?? 

It had been three years since he began training in the secret ninja force, which meant it had been three years since he met Kai. It only took about a week for him to catch feelings, but they were shoved down fairly quickly. Cole knew one thing to be true– Kai was straight. Cole had spent these last three years reminding himself of this fact, and now was not the time to have doubts. Unfortunately, anxiety typically doesn’t bother listening to logic. The only way to know for sure was to wait.

Chapter Text

Cole’s birthday had finally arrived. His morning went as usual. He woke up to his phone’s alarm blaring in his ears. 

I really need to change that to something more calming, he thought, the same way he did every morning. He turned the alarm off and was greeted with a message from..well…everyone. 

***

Kai: Happy birthday dude!!

Zane: Happy 17th birthday, Cole!

Nya: Happy birthday Colee!!

Lloyd: happy birthday :)

Jay: HBD you’re officially ancient 😱

jay im only like 5 months older than you

thanks guys <3 , see u all @ lunch

***

Cole smiled at his screen and went to get ready. He shuffled through his closet and decided on a band tee, baggy jeans, and a gray zip-up hoodie. Cole grabbed his headphones from the nightstand and made his way to the kitchen. He prepared two slices of toast, eating one and wrapping the other with foil. As per usual, he went to Kai’s house first so they could walk together. It wasn’t actually on Cole’s route, but their morning conversations were worth the extra distance. 

“Happy birthday!” The fire ninja pulled him into a swift hug. Kai’s hair was…soft?

Cole pulled back and gave him a puzzled look.

“What?” Kai questioned.

“Your hair!” 

Kai’s face turned a bright shade of red. “I ran out of gel this morning..no big deal”

“Hm..” Cole ruffled his hair and smiled. “It’s a good look for you.”

If Kai’s face could’ve gotten any redder, it would have. Cole handed him the toast he made, and the two began to walk for a while.

Kai broke the silence. “Any special plans for today?” 

Cole shook his head. “Nah, it's my turn to patrol this evening, and my dad is out of town on some business trip as usual” With his work and his band, Cole’s father was rarely around. Cole was used to it, and it made hiding his ninja identity much easier anyway– especially when it was his turn for night patrol. Statistics showed that Ninjago City had the highest crime levels on Friday, so every Friday night one of the ninja took a turn surveying the streets for a few hours.

“That sucks, man! Maybe we could convince Master Wu to let you skip just for today. I bet he would,” Kai took another bite of his breakfast.

“It’s fine, Kai.” 

Cole sat in his second period class and began to zone out. Since his grades were above average, most teachers didn’t care if he wore headphones, yet this one was particularly stubborn. He folded the bottom of his jacket sleeve up and began to doodle on his arm out of boredom. He twisted his wrist and-

This cannot be happening

Cole rubbed his arm again and again, as if it would change the print on his skin. Had that been there all morning? On his wrist, written in small black lettering were the words ‘Kai Smith’.

His mind (and heart) began to race. It was just a silly crush. Kai wasn’t his soulmate. He couldn’t possibly be. Plus, not all soulmates are romantic. Why would Kai be interested in him? He could probably get with anyone he wanted. Maybe they were soulmates in a life-long friendship way!...like bros!...best buds forever! Yeah…that's probably it..

Okay, maybe that wasn’t it. He needed some time to figure this out. He needed advice, and who could he trust more than his best friend, Jay? The two had been close long before Cole became the earth ninja and Jay became the lightning ninja. Cole went to the bathroom and quickly pulled out his phone.

***

jay i need help

Jay:🤔??

just meet me in the bathroom ASAP

Jay: okay 😛😑

***

Jay swiftly walked through the doorway, brushing his light brown hair out of his eyes.

“Okay, let me guess,” Jay grabbed Cole’s arm and yanked his sleeve up. “I fucking knew it! Lloyd owes me forty bucks!”

How did he-? Huh?? This was the absolute last reaction Cole expected from him. “What the hell, Jay??” 

“You’ve been crushing on Kai since day one. If you were trying to hide it then you didn’t do a very good job.” Jay said matter-of-factly. “We’ve all noticed that something is different about your relationship with him compared to the rest of the team. I mean honestly you guys are so..touchy. Not to mention the walking thing. As your best friend, I know that you hate getting up in the morning any earlier than you need to. Kai doesn’t even live near you!” He was starting to ramble (not that it was unlike Jay to do so).

Then, Cole cut him off. “Wait, you guys all know about this?” If Jay of all people noticed, it must be really obvious.

“Pretty much,” Jay quickly moved on. “So, when are you asking him out?”

“What?” 

“I’m serious! You guys are literally always together– I doubt it would change much” 

“I don’t even think he likes me like that. I mean-”

“Oh he definitely does. Kai can be a bit dense sometimes, so he might not know it yet, but he does. If you don’t believe me then just ask his literal sister who’d tell you the same thing.”

“Whatever, Jay. I’m going to class before Mrs. Laudita notices I haven't come back yet.”

The rest of the day went as expected, and Cole arrived back at his apartment a little after midnight. To say the least, he was exhausted. When he went to go inside, he noticed a small white box sitting in front of the door.

Weird, I didn’t order anything.

He brought it in and set it on the counter. The label said it was from a local bakery. Cole opened the box, and inside it was a slice of chocolate fudge cake. There was also a note taped to the side written in familiar handwriting. 

Happy birthday! Hope you enjoy it (Jay told me your address haha) -Kai 

Cole smiled. For the first time that day, he had hope that everything was going to turn out just fine.

Chapter Text

Kai’s heart fluttered as Cole slowly combed his fingers through the fiery boy’s now disheveled hair.

“Kai?”

“You’re so cute…” Cole mumbled, his eyes darkening as he leaned in close towards him. “I’ve missed you.”

“Kai..”

Someone was calling his name, but Kai didn’t care. All that mattered in that moment was Cole. Kai could smell his sweet cologne as Cole started to kiss him.

Is this really happening?

His breathing hitched slightly as Cole’s soft lips met his. He-

“Kai, wake up.”

The fire ninja felt a firm hand gently nudging his shoulder. Kai jolted awake, his chest still pounding as he was suddenly snapped back to reality. He identified the voice as Cole.

He dazedly looked around the almost empty classroom, quickly remembering where he was.

“C’mon Kai, I don’t want you to get detention again,” Cole said. His face held a warm, soft expression that was layered with concern? sympathy? confusion? love? God, he was pretty. Wait, what?

“Wha- oh uhm..yeah sorry!” Kai stuttered before silently cursing himself for getting all flustered in front of someone he saw every day. Was the room suddenly getting hotter? He stood up from his desk and quickly gathered his belongings.

Did I just…did he just...no it was only a dream..

I'm straight!! (right?..) Why would I dream about Cole of all people!!?!?

..and why do I kinda wish it was real?

Kai was dumbfounded to say the least. Sure, Cole was like..strong, tall, and crazy attractive, but he was one of his best friends! Nothing more. Not that Kai had never considered it…Okay no. He had only ever dated girls, and he had just been broken up with by his girlfriend Skylor a few months prior. They ended on good terms, and stayed friends— she was close with Nya, so it's not like Kai had too much of a choice. He wasn't homophobic or anything (especially since his own sister was bi), but he never really thought about his own preferences past simply liking girls.

Kai’s head felt like it was about to explode, so he decided to push whatever he was feeling to the back of his mind to unpack later on.

***

After school, Kai went over to Cole’s apartment. Usually their friend group would be at Jay or Zane’s place, but both of them were busy. Lloyd had some sort of special training with Wu, and Nya was out somewhere with her friend Pixal, so it was just the two of them that day.

Despite being friends for years, Kai hadn’t been to Cole’s place before. His bedroom was small, but somehow didn’t feel cluttered at all. The walls were painted a patchy dark gray, but you couldn’t see too much of them anyways due to the various band and film posters that covered each wall. Kai looked around, shuffling through some of Cole’s things. His eyes landed on a video game disk that was laid out on the desk.

“You have the new Prime Empire game??” Kai exclaimed, sounding way more excited than he intended. The game had only been released a few days earlier, and was selling out like crazy.

“Yeah, I preordered it!” Cole slid the disk into his outdated console. Typically, Kai was superior when it came to video games, but in this case the other boy had more practice. That, along with his mind being occupied by his dream from earlier, meant that Kai was at a disadvantage. He lost again and again, insisting on a rematch every time.

Cole was moments away from winning (again) when Kai snatched his controller from his hands, stretching his arm as far as he could to keep it out of the older boy’s reach. Not the best choice, but Kai’s ego couldn’t take another loss. Cole reached for the controller and shouted, “Hey! I was about to win!”

“Hmm..didn’t look like it to me!” Kai laughed as Cole desperately attempted to grab it from his grasp.

“You’re lucky you’re fast,” Cole was now practically on top of him, pinning him to the bed. He now could've easily taken the controller back, but something stopped him. He froze as if something had just clicked in his mind.

Kai quickly realized their slightly intimate position and felt warmth begin to creep onto his cheeks. He was lying there helplessly with his (hot) friend hovering over him. Was Cole blushing? Neither of them moved, seemingly frozen in time. The burning feeling only grew, and suddenly Kai smelled…smoke?

Cole finally snapped out of whatever daze he was in and his expression switched to something between panic and amusement. “Uhh Kai? Your hair is..uhm..” Cole sat up and gestured at the flustered fire elemental sitting next to him.

Crap. Kai’s hair was literally catching fire, the ends smoking as he desperately patted it out. It was a teensy side effect of his powers that nobody else really knew about (not including Nya, of course). The sudden flames were a result of strong emotions. He usually managed to keep it under control, because he found the quirk to be quite humiliating. Now he was more embarrassed than ever.

Kai watched as Cole waved the lingering smoke away to avoid setting off the smoke detectors. Cole was laughing at him. This can't get any worse, Kai thought, his face buried in his hands. He needed to get out of there before he either set the house on fire or did something he would later regret.

“Kai, wait!” Cole called out, but Kai was gone. He practically sprinted out of the building and didn’t stop until he was home. He went inside and locked the door behind him, panting and out of breath. Maybe running track really was useful for something.

Before he even got a chance to sit down, he was struck by guilt. He had really just ditched Cole with no explanation in a sad attempt to run from his own awkwardness (both literally and metaphorically). And this was the confident, brave fire ninja? Pfft.

“I guess he deserves an explanation..or atleast on apology,” Kai muttered to himself. He began typing on his phone, but none of his excuses really made any sense– not to mention that Cole could smell bullshit from a mile away.

‘i didn't feel well! sorry dude!’

Cole knows him too well for that.

‘sorry something came up’

That’s totallyyyyy believable.

‘I’m sorry’

Nope.

‘I think I like you’

…

Kai turned his phone off that evening without ever hitting send.