Chapter Four:

A Forgiving Resolution

Kamara and the other band members were backstage in the locker rooms. They sat there, tiredly, sipping down their bottles of water while we conversed with other officers. The ninja had once again disappeared, not even a word to me about where they were. They answered the police’s questions calmly, before watching them exit. Hayden let out a sigh of relief.

“Well, that was intense!” He announced.

Odette scoffed. “Tell me about it! Why were the serpentine even here? There was nothing to benefit from ruining the concert!”

Kamara didn’t answer. She leaned forward, chugging down the last sips and digging her feet into the floor. She was reminiscing about what happened. Something had changed. Something between her team, especially Kai. She couldn’t put my finger on what.

“What do you think, Kam? You haven’t said much since the ninja left…” Pence noted.

Kamara, unfocused, turned to him, then stammered, “W-what? Oh…”

Kamara pushed half my bangs behind her ear. “I…Don’t really have anything to say,” she lied, “Other than I’m grateful the ninja were here.”

Kamara glanced back down to the floor.

“I’m really glad they were here” She added in a lower voice.

“Well, I guess we’d better start packing up” Hayden sighed again as he stood up, “We’ve got a long drive home.”

Kamara picked up the violin that was standing propped up against her chair and placed it back in the case.

“Yeah, I’m going to end up having an interesting talk with my…peers when I get back…”

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Once everything was packed, Kamara and her friends made their way out toward the exit of the arena. The music from the arena was still booming, making the walls and rooms around it vibrate. Kamara walked ahead of her friends as they trailed behind and began talking. As she rounded the corner however, she stopped dead in her tracks and froze.

“Kam, what’s up?’ Hayden asked.

It was when they caught up to her, when they saw what she was staring at: It was the ninja, all four of them. Her friends were shocked.

“Um, Kam? What’s going on?” Odette inquired.

After a couple more seconds, Kamara’s color in her face returned. She bit her lip, and slowly took her violin case off her back and placed it on the ground next to her. Then, she walked towards them, with an expression of reverence. She took a deep breath, and said:

“Look…Guys I’m…I’m sorry. You’re probably furious with me. I know, I probably just screwed everything up! You may not believe me, but I am earnestly trying to do better.”

Her heart ached.

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way, and I’ll never do this again. I promise! Please…Forgive me.”

Hayden, Pence, and Odette were puzzled by these words.

It was as if, their friend knew who the ninja were.

.

The ninja looked at each other, then, they all took off their hoods. They were all smiling!

“Don’t worry,” said Cole, “We forgive you.”

Kamara couldn’t believe her ears.

“What?” She gasped.

“You didn’t truly lie, Kamara” Zane stated, “And you gave us a warning before you left. That is massive improvement.”

“Plus, that performance…was pretty cool” Jay added, “Even with the serpentine ruining everything. You played it off like it was nothing! That was amazing! I don’t think I could’ve done that!”

Kamara was in such disbelief, but such joy. They weren’t angry! They actually liked her performance, and weren’t making fun of her! She covered her face with her hands and sighed. Kai walked forward and put his hand on her shoulder.

“You okay?” He asked, “You’re not crying, are you?”

Kamara moved her hands away. She had a huge smile on her face.

“No, I’m just…So relieved!”

“Hey, it’s like a wise man said,” Kai echoed, “‘Treat others as you would like to be treated’.”

Kamara nodded, grinning.

“Thank you.”

.

“Um, I hate to break up the moment-”

Everyone turned their attention back to Kamara’s band, who were incredibly confused at this point.

“-But what the heck is going on, Kamara?” Hayden finished.

“You know them!?” Odette cried, more out of awe than annoyance, “You told us you were studying abroad! This is what you meant!?”

Kamara chuckled, nervously, “Aha, I’m sorry guys…I haven’t been completely honest with you either…”

Kamara glanced at her sword-brothers, sending them looks of needing approval before continuing.

When she got clearance, she said, “Hayden, Pence, Odette, these are my sword-brothers.”

She pointed them out as she said their names, “The red one is Kai, the black one is Cole, the white one is Zane, and Mr. Blue over there is Jay.”

Then, she gestured to her friends.

“Guys, these are my friends and bandmates from Funshi.”

The ninja nodded, smiling.

“Pleased to make your acquaintances” Zane greeted.

“Wait, if they’re your sword-brothers,” said Pence, “And you ‘work’ with them, does that mean you’re…?”

“Yes,” Kamara cut in, “I’m the Kaze no Ninja.”

“You’re one of the Pillar warriors: One of the ultimate fighters aside from the four Spinjitzu masters destined to be an ally of the green ninja!” Odette gasped.

“Well, that’s up for debate” Kai added.

Pence and Hayden stared at Odette in surprise. “How do you know all that? I’ve never heard about that, let alone from you!” Pence exclaimed in disbelief.

Odette glanced at the ninja before blushing.

“Research.”

.

There was a moment of silence while the sudden information sunk in. Then, Hayden said:

“Well, you better get home, Kam. If you’re a ninja, then you need to get some sleep.”

Kamara looked up.

“Are you sure you don’t need my help?”

The three looked at each other and shook their heads.

“Nah, we’ve got things covered here” Hayden replied.

“We did only bring our music and instruments” Odette added, “We’ll be fine.”

Kamara slowly nodded.

“Okay.”

Then, Odette walked up to her and gave her a tight hug.

“Be careful, Kam. Okay?” she asked.

Kamara smiled, and closed her eyes.

“I will.”

Then, everyone departed from each other’s company. However, before one particular fire ninja could leave, he heard:

“Hey.”

He turned around and saw that Hayden had stayed behind.

“Look out for her, would ya?” Hayden requested, “Kamara’s a strong and bright girl. She just bites off more than she can chew.”

Kai didn’t respond. Instead, he nodded, but earnestly.

.

When they got outside, the moon was bright and the city was quiet. Kamara breathed in the fresh air. She was relieved to be going home. She was exhausted from the roller coaster of emotion she had ridden that evening. She was about to summon her Wind-cycle, but then, she heard:

“Hey, Kam.” She turned around.

Kai had already transformed his fire sword into his blade cycle, but hadn’t started the engine.

“You’ve had a long night. How about you ride with me this time?”

Kamara was slightly surprised by the offer, as Kai had made it clear in the past that he was “No-babysitter.” But as her conscious was reminding her of how tired she was, and the danger of her driving because of it, she replied:

“Okay, thanks.”

She climbed onto Kai’s Blade-cycle, and the five warriors of Spinjitzu took off into the night.