Previously on Tiny Troubles...

"Ohmigosh guys, COLE SHRUNK!!" Jay screamed.

"He didn't shrink Jay," Kai said, crouching down so that he was eye-level with his now really short leader. "I think...I think he somehow got turned into a kid!"

"WHAT?!" The other four exclaimed

....

Sensei hummed in thought as he quickly looked over Cole. Noticing everyone else's worried look, he quickly reassured them, "do not worry my students. Cole's transformation is reversible. Some Tomorrow's Tea should cure him."

Lloyd's eyes brightened in recognition. "That's the same stuff that I used on the Grundle, right?"

Sensei nodded. "Indeed. I shall make a trip to Mystake's tea shop tomorrow morning. But for now, I believe that you should follow your teammates example and get some rest."

....

Exhausted, Kai barely had enough energy to Spinjitzu into his pjs and climb up to his bunk before his eyes closed and he started to fall asleep.

His last thought before he completely succumbed to sleep was I hope Sensei can get that Tomorrow's Tea...

~~~~

Part 3

When Cole woke up early the next morning, his first thought was, dang that was a weird dream.

Yawning big and wide, he slowly sat up and stretched, careful that he didn't accidentally hit the bottom of Jay's bunk too hard...

...wait a minute...

Cole looked up with a start, realizing that even with his arms fully stretched, he was nowhere near touching Jay's bunk bed. He stared at his tiny arms and hands before groaning and flopping onto his back.

"Dangit, I wasn't dreaming," he mumbled, cringing as he heard his now high-pitched voice. As if my voice always cracking wasn't bad enough...

Sighing, he looked around the room. Kai and Lloyd were still sleeping and judging from the light snoring above him so was Jay. Zane's bed was vacant, however. That's right, it's his turn to make breakfast, Cole remembered.

Rubbing his stomach in slight hunger, the ninja-turned-kid slid out of his bed and left the bedroom, thankful that the door was already opened. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to open it if it wasn't.

As he headed towards the kitchen and dining area, Cole couldn't help but feel slightly nervous about how Zane would react to seeing him. I hope he doesn't do anything embarrassing, he silently prayed, tugging at his bangs and chewing absently at his lip.

Inside the kitchen, Cole could see that Zane was busy preparing breakfast, darting from the stove to the countertop where he was mixing something in a large bowl.

"Morning Zane," Cole greeted.

Zane looked up from mixing and smiled as he saw the young black ninja. "Good morning Cole. Did you sleep well?"

Cole nodded. "Mmmhmm." Chewing a little bit on his lip, he asked, "Whatcha making?"

"Some pancakes and sausage, as well as plenty of fresh fruit," The nindroid replied, chuckling as he glanced at Cole. "Hungry, I presume?"

"Yup!" Cole replied, biting more at his lip to keep his mind off of the delicious food being prepared.

Zane let out a laugh. "Then I should probably hurry," he said, his eyes twinkling with mirth. "Before you try and eat the rest of your clothing."

"Huh?" At that moment, Cole realized that he actually wasn't chewing on his lip. Instead, he had unconsciously started chewing on the end of his right sleeve. Blushing furiously, the black ninja quickly spat it out and rubbed the wet spot against his pants. "I thought I had kicked that habit a long time ago..." he muttered, glaring at his traitorous arm.

Zane cocked his head curiously. "You used to do that?" he asked.

Cole shuffled his feet nervously. "Y-yeah, I did it a lot when I was younger, especially if I was nervous," he admitted. "My Dad said it was because I was kinda a nervous eater."

Zane smiled. "I suppose that would make sense, though I would have never suspected that you were a nervous eater."

Cole shrugged. "Kinda grew out of it, I guess..." Wishing to change the topic, he quickly asked, "Is breakfast almost ready?"

Zane chuckled. "Almost. Why don't you take a seat in the dining room while you wait?" he suggested kindly.

Cole nodded in agreement. "Kay," he replied, walking out the kitchen towards the dining table.

It was here that Cole faced his first challenge: getting in a chair. He was no longer tall enough to simply just pull out the chair and sit down. Frowning, Cole tried climbing onto the seat but he ended up slipping off and falling on his butt. Growling slightly in frustration, he got back up and tried again. This time he was successful and managed to get onto the chair. Pleased with himself, Cole quickly turned himself so that he faced the table...only to come across another problem.

He was too short. Only the top part of his head cleared the table.

"Oh, COME ON!" Cole complained loudly, his voice going to a pitch that seriously made him consider never talking again.

Zane poked his head from the kitchen. "Cole? Is everything alright?"

Cole cringed but quickly answered, "Yeah, I'm just...frustrated. I don't like being a kid."

"Ah. Well, fear not my friend. Sensei left this morning to get the Tomorrow's Tea, so hopefully you will be back to normal soon."

"Thank goodness," Cole sighed in relief, slumping in the chair. "I don't wanna stay like this much longer. I'll go nuts! Or I'll die of embarrassment."

"I do not believe that you will die of embarrassment, as that would be impossible."

Just as Zane said that, in walked a rather chipper Jay. "What would be impossible?" He asked.

Cole blanched and slowly tried move out of the room.

Zane betrayed him though. "Cole believes that he will die of embarrassment if he is not turned back to normal soon."

Jay's eyes brightened at the mention of his now younger teammate. "Cole's in here? Where?!" He exclaimed looking around, just in time to see a mop of black hair disappear underneath the table.

Cole desperately wanted to find a hole in which to bury himself in until Jay left. But unfortunately, the table would have to do. He was just glad that Zane had put on the long white table cloth so hopefully Jay wouldn't spot him right away.

"Hmm, that's odd," He heard Zane say. "Cole was here a second ago. Perhaps he left to wake up the others?"

Please take the bait, please take the bait, Cole prayed.

"Huh. Guess I must have missed him," Jay replied. "I'll just go back to the bedroom and look for him."

Yes! Cole nearly shouted with joy but managed to keep it to a victorious smile. He could avoid his blue teammate embarrassing him for a little while longer!

Cole hunkered down for a few seconds, waiting for Jay to walk out of the room. Any second now...wait, what was that sound? And why did it sound so close to him?

Suddenly, the edge of the table cloth was lifted up and a freckled face popped up right in front of Cole's. "Boo!"

Cole was ashamed to admit that he screamed at an unbelievably high pitch.

"What the heck, Jay?!" He demanded, trying to calm down his racing heart. "You—you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Jay was too busy laughing to answer him, which for some odd reason made Cole feel a little hurt. He tried to hide the hurt from his expression, but to his horror his eyes were starting to sting from suppressed tears.

"Cole?!" Suddenly, the kid ninja found himself being dragged from underneath the table and being smushed against something blue. "Ohmigosh, please don't cry, I didn't mean to make you cry! I just wanted to give you a little scare, I didn't mean to make you cry!"

"I'm not crying!" Cole protested, managing to look up at Jay. "You just...just made me jump a little." He tried to get out of Jay's embrace, but when he couldn't settled for a glare. "You can let me go, I'm fine."

"Nuh Uh," Jay replied, hugging Cole tighter. "Not until you accept my apology hug."

Cole squirmed. "Zaaaaane, come tell Jay to let go of me!" He cried out.

"You heard Jay, Cole," Zane said back. "Just accept his apology hug."

"Traitor!" Cole declared, trying to wiggle out of the blue ninja's grasp. Defeated, the black ninja pouted and quickly wrapped his arms around the blue ninja. "There. Ya happy now?" He grumbled.

Jay beamed. "Very!" He chirped.

"Good," Cole said. "Now let go of me."

"Hmmmm...nope!" Jay replied, smoothly standing up with Cole still in his arms.

"JAY!" Cole complained, struggling. "Put me down!"

"Awww, but why?" Jay asked, hugging Cole a little tighter. "I've never had a little brother before, and you're just so adorable as a kid!"

Cole blushed. "I'm not adorable!" he protested, glaring at the blue ninja.

The glare just made Jay "awwwww" and poke Cole on the nose. "You look so cute when you scrunch up your face like that~"

Cole's face turned an even brighter shade of pink. He (gently) thumped his forehead against Jay's shoulder. "Someone please save me," he whined softly.

He heard footsteps coming towards the dining room and he let out a small sigh. Thank the Spinjitzu Master...

That relief quickly faded when he heard a distinctly feminine voice say, "Good morning, Jay—...um, Jay? Why are you holding a little kid?"

Someone please kill me, Cole begged.

——

Author's Note: Ooooh, I wonder who that could be? ;)

Also, a little bit of Bruise bromance because why not. It's just so cute, especially Jay hugging a pouting Kid!Cole. *fangirls* 

Sorry for the long inactivity guys, but to make it up to you, I shall post Part 4 of this story on Friday! :)