The next morning, I walk into Nya's room, a sheepish grin on my face. There was no other girl on the ship for me to talk to—besides Lloyd's mother, but that's an obvious no.

"Nya, wake up," I mutter.

She groans. "The day I finally get to sleep in."

"I need to talk to you!"

"Fine," she grumbles. "What is it?"

"Lloyd and I kissed," I say, blushing.

She gasps, her mood changing instantly. "That's great, El! I knew you guys liked each other, everyone could see it." I smile. "So, how was it?" Nya asks.

"It was great," I respond.

"That's it?"

"What do you want me to say? Gushy shit?"

She laughs. "No, I rather not listen. Well, I'm really happy for you."

"Me too," I say. Nya rolls her eyes playfully.

"Anyways, when do you think he'll ask you out?"

I laugh bitterly. "Ask me out? He doesn't have time for that."

Nya frowns. "He should make time. And knowing Lloyd, he will make time."

"You think?"

"I know."

-

Inhale, exhale. I perform this pattern with my eyes closed repetitively, focusing on channeling my energy within me.

I've been meditating more often now, something I used to do daily with Madam Mistaké. I found myself missing the relaxation, and sometimes even relying on it in the morning when I first wake up or before I go to sleep. A knock on the door, however, breaks my concentration.

I sigh, slightly irritated, but my mood softens when I see who stood at the door.

"You can come in," I say.

Lloyd walks in and sits across from me, crossing his legs as I was doing.

"Why do you always meditate?" He asks.

"It helps with my nightmares."

He frowns. "I'm sorry, I wish I could help."

I shrug. "It's okay."

We look towards the door as someone knocks on it again.

"Sensei Wu wants you guys in Dareth's dojo training Lloyd," Nya says. She shoots me a knowing smile then leaves, closing the door back behind her. I roll my eyes but laugh to myself at her pointed glance.

Dareth is a funny man; he's a karate instructor and has a huge ego. He'll do anything to help his kids though, so I respect him. The ninja and I enter his dojo, walking through the thick curtain of beads. Dareth appears, he was wearing his typical fake brown ninja gi, a huge grin on his face when he sees us.

"Hello, ninja!" He greets. "Here for some training?"

"Yeah, thanks, Dareth," Kai says, grabbing a blindfold and handing it to Lloyd.

Lloyd sighs. "This again?"

"Do you want to get better or not?" Cole scowls.

"Yes, Sensei," Lloyd says mockingly.

"Shut up, Lloyd," Cole responds, smiling slightly.

Lloyd ties the blindfold around his eyes and the rest of the guys unsheathe their weapons. I just stand to the side to watch.

"Ready?" Jay asks. Lloyd nods.

I watch as the five of them fight, Lloyd in the center. I could tell he was really focusing, and I could also tell that it bothered him when the other guys would help him. I think he expects himself to be the best, because he's the green ninja. I have no doubt that he's an amazing fighter, I just think he's scared to fail.

"Use your ears to hear instead," I suggest.

"Should you really be giving him advice?" Kai says. I glare at him.

"She is very good at this whole sightless thing," Zane points out.

"Thank you, Zane."

"That's because her element is air!" Kai argues.

"Let's see you try," I respond.

"Can you guys stop arguing?" Cole scolds us.

Dareth walks through the hall, the beads hanging in the doorway shaking as he enters.

"Uh, guys, I have a class later so I'd appreciate it if you didn't destroy my dojo," he says.

"Right," Cole says. "El, wanna join?" I nod.

The five of us strike onto Lloyd at once, but he jumps into the air, dodging us. As he lands he kicks the weapons out of Zane's and Jay's hands.

He grabs Cole's scythe and pushes it into the ground. He jumps and kicks us all while holding onto the scythe, sending us to the floor.

I get up quickly and throw a dagger at his shoulder but he dodges it and elbows Jay behind him, sending Jay into the shelves of fake trophies, knocking them all down to the tile.

Lloyd's hands evolve into green flames, sending Dareth into a screaming fit. I feel guilty, I mean, we are tearing up his dojo. But it's for the greater good, I suppose.

"Nice job, Lloyd," Kai says, standing up as Lloyd had knocked him to the ground.

"I told you guys not to make a mess of my dojo!" Dareth exclaims, crossing his arms.

"We're sorry, Dareth. We'll clean it up. Right guys?" I say, looking towards everyone. They sigh.

"Yeah, yeah," Jay mutters.

I walk towards the trophies with Kai and we both place them back on their shelf.

"I hate cleaning up," Kai mumbles.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, causing the trophies to fall, once again.

"Looks like you're in luck," I say.

"Guys? What's going on?" Jay asks worriedly, looking out the window.

Lloyd turns on the news to see what they were reporting and we surround the TV, watching in concern for Ninjago. Misako, Wu, and Nya enter the room and watch with us.

"There appears to be an earthquake right here in Ninjago City! But what makes this earthquake different is that scientists have yet to find the cause, and the aftershocks are only getting stronger!"

"What could this even be?" Cole wonders aloud.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was Garmadon," Kai mutters.

"He would never," Misako says. "He wouldn't do anything to put Lloyd in harm's way."

"Misako's right. He only wanted to stop his training. This is something else," Wu says.

"But what is it then?" Jay says.

Zane whistles, his falcon flying into the room and resting on his arm. He presses a button then quickly sends his falcon out into the city.

The six of us run out of the dojo and into the streets, jumping over cracks in the ground and helping people when needed.

We pull a woman out of a deep crack in the earth. Well, Cole did. He groans, lying on the street.

"These things just keep coming!" Kai says.

Misako and Wu run up to us, Misako holding a scroll in her hand.

"The scrolls said earthquakes would be a warning that something worse was to come," she says, lying the scroll across the ground.

"What could be worse than the earth splitting into pieces?" Jay exclaims.

"Wait, where'd you find the Stone Warrior we fought in the museum?" Cole asks.

"He was buried under the city," she responds.

"Wait, if he was buried under the city, and the ground is breaking..." I begin.

Jay gasps. "You don't think there's more, do you?"

"I bet they'll be jumping out any second, knowing our luck," Jay scoffs.

"Be on guard, ninja. We must be ready for whatever comes next," Wu says.

Zane's eyes turn blue, meaning he was looking through his falcon. "Jay is right, my falcon just spotted warriors in the streets," he says.

Suddenly, a stone fist erupts from the ground near us. Then another, and another, and yet another fist pops up.

"They're everywhere!" Jay says.

"What do we do?" Zane asks, ready to fight.

"You guys protect the people! I'll be right back," Lloyd says, running away.

We nod and run down the streets, trying to keep the stone warriors away from the citizens.

Zane kicks a warrior away from a reporter, Dareth recording it all on camera.

"Stay strong, guys," Cole says. We get ready to fight as many warriors run towards us. But Lloyd runs them over with the Raider, Misako and Wu close behind him.

"We have to protect the people! Gather as many as you can and get them to our evacuation point!" Wu says.

"We have problems with that, guys!" Nya says on the screen in the Raider. "I can't find a good place to land!"

"My office building as a helipad on the roof!" The reporter says.

"Perfect. Lloyd, tell Nya to go there!" Sensei Wu shouts. Lloyd nods as the reporter tells everyone to head towards the tower's roof.

More warriors begin to run towards us, blocking our path.

"Lloyd, use your elemental quakes!" Wu says.

"My pleasure," Lloyd says, grinning and jumping out of the Raider. He lands in front of us and the ground raises above our heads, blocking the warriors.

We hop into the Raider and speed toward the helipad.

We run into the building, making sure we were last so we could block the stone fighters from coming.

"Barricade the doors!" Cole shouts.

"Come on, up the stairs!" I say, motivating people to run up the stairs.

We follow behind, knocking stone warriors down the side when needed.

"We must buy time!" Zane exclaims.

"Ninjago!" We all shout, our elemental Spinjitzu enveloping each of us.

Each of us travel in pairs to different floors to stop the warriors from coming. Lloyd and I run down the stairs together, trying to buy time for everyone else.

"So, wanna go on a date?" Lloyd asks, grinning.

"Really? You're asking now?" I say, amusement clear in my tone.

"No time like the present," he says, knocking a warrior down the stairs.

"If we survive, I'll consider it," I say, a smirk on my face.

"Deal," he says, smiling. He pushes me to the side lightly and forms a green sphere around himself. He shoots and hits the line of warriors, weakening them.

We throw them over the rail and watch as they fall to the ground.

"Not so tough, huh?" He says.

But as soon as they hit the ground, they stand back up, yelling in some foreign dialect.

"Woah, pretty tough," Lloyd mutters.

"Let's hope we've bought enough time!" Zane shouts from above.

We run to the rooftop, the Bounty waiting for us there.

"Hurry, everyone!" Lloyd shouts, pushing everyone up the steps of the ship.

Misako gasps, looking around her for something. "My research!"

She runs back towards the stairs but Lloyd stops her.

"Mom, no! It's too dangerous," he says.

"It's too important to leave behind," she says. She smiles slightly and looks towards me. "You guys look after each other." I smile and nod, and she runs away from the Bounty.

"We gotta go, Lloyd," I say, walking towards him.

"But, my mom," he says. I take his hand and he wraps his fingers around mine, still looking over my shoulder to try to spot Misako.

"She's strong, she can handle herself. But we have to go," I say, pulling him slightly. He nods and we board the Bounty.

"They're coming!" Kai shouts.

"Nya! Take us away!" Jay says.

"I'm trying! But they're destroying the boosters," she shouts back.

"We have to wait for my mom!" Lloyd shouts.

Wu gasps and jumps off the Bounty. He kicks the stone warriors away from the boosters and runs towards the stairs.

"Sensei!" Cole shouts, but the Bounty had already taken flight.

"Nya, descend," Zane says. Nya looks at him confusingly. "Do it now!" He urges.

Nya descends the ship, right as Misako and Wu jump out of a window of the tower.

I look out from the deck, getting a good look at the city. There were smoke and debris everywhere, and sirens were wailing as well.

"We'll be back," Lloyd says, walking towards me. He leans on the rail next to me, our shoulders brushing against each other.

"You think?" I say.

"I know. And when we do come back, I'll take you somewhere nice and Stone Warrior free," he says, smiling.

"Sounds good to me," I say, smiling and looking at my hands. He kisses my cheek softly.

"You missed," I say.

He chuckles and kisses my lips. It was only for a quick moment, but I enjoyed every second of it.

"Let's go before we get caught," he whispers. I grin and grab his hand, dragging him away from the deck.

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