My eyes open slowly, the bright sunshine from the window blinding me. Lloyd's arm tightens around me as I move a bit. I turn my head to the side to see Lloyd's eyes fluttering open as well.

"Good morning," he murmurs, the sleep still holding onto his voice. His blond hair was messy from sleep, hanging over the top of his eyes.

"How'd you sleep?" I ask, placing my head on his bare chest.

Lloyd grins and kisses my forehead. "Amazing."

I giggle. "Me too."

Times like this made me realize how nice it was to have my own room—and an actual mattress. I couldn't imagine what it was like for Lloyd, sharing a room with four other guys.

"We should probably go," I say. "Before someone walks in or realizes we're missing."

Lloyd groans. "I don't want to go. Besides, the guys and Nya probably already know and have been waiting for us to come up."

"Probably. But what about Sensei and your mom?"

Lloyd shrugs. "What's she going to do?" I didn't really know how to respond, I guess he kinda had a point.

"Half the city is here as well, you know."

"Where'd they even sleep?" Lloyd asks.

I shrug. "The deck, maybe? Who knows."

"And who cares?" Lloyd says, smiling devilishly.

I grin. "What are you thinking?"

He turns and kisses me, his lips leaving mine and traveling down my jaw then to my neck.

Suddenly, there's a knock on the door. Lloyd jumps away from me and sighs in annoyance.

"Um, come in?" I shout, hoping it wasn't Sensei Wu or his mother.

Thankfully, Nya walks in.

She grins. "Sorry, guys. Breakfast is ready, and you might want to get up before Wu finds out."

"Thanks, Nya," I respond. She smiles and closes the door behind her.

Lloyd sighs, kissing my forehead. "I guess we should leave."

"I guess so," I say, standing up out of bed with him behind me.

"Wait," Lloyd says. "You go first, and I'll follow in a minute."

"Good idea," I respond.

I walk out the door and into the kitchen.

Suddenly, four ninjas surround me, grins widely strewn across their faces.

"Did you and Lloyd do it?" Jay asks.

"What? No!" I exclaim.

"You sure? You guys were in that room all night," Cole says, nudging me. I roll my eyes.

"We weren't-"

"Oh, shut it," Kai says, interrupting me. "We know you were there, and we covered for you guys," he says.

"You're welcome," Jay sings.

"Hey guys," Lloyd says, walking in. "Uh, what's going on?"

"Just talking about you and El and what you guys did last night," Zane says, nudging Lloyd. I laugh, Zane seems to be always serious and then sometimes he surprises me.

"Uh, we didn't do anything," Lloyd says.

"That's what I told them," I mutter.

"Anyways," Zane says. "I think Sensei wants us to repair the ship's thrusters."

"What about breakfast?" Lloyd mumbles.

"Maybe if you weren't with El all morning, you could've had some," Kai says. Lloyd rolls his eyes.

We stand outside trying to fix the Bounty, Jay and Nya doing most of the work.

Jay shouts in annoyance, oil shooting into his face. He spits and groans, wiping his forehead.

"Useless piece of shit!" He exasperates.

"It's worse than I thought," Nya says. "The rotors are completely destroyed. Sorry guys, but I don't think we'll be airborne any time soon."

Cole sighs. "Great! If they attack, we'll be stuck here."

"We couldn't beat one of them before! Oh, we're helpless," Kai says, groaning.

"We cannot give up hope, Kai," Wu says, walking towards us with Zane at his side.

"The Army is indestructible. My powers only slowed them down, you saw it," Lloyd says.

"That's not completely true," Misako says, joining us. "There is a way to defeat them, and it's told within the scrolls."

"Ooh, I love those scrolls!" Jay exclaims.

We walk into the bridge for a more private workspace. Misako places the scroll onto the table, flattening it out and revealing its contents.

"The scrolls say that the power to defeat the Stone Army lies within the Green Ninja."

"I tried as hard as I could. But that obviously didn't work," Lloyd mumbles.

"Yes, but your true power can only be unlocked when your five protectors find their own pure elemental powers," Misako says.

"Are we the protectors?" Cole asks.

"No we're just his dancing sidekicks in costume," I mumble sarcastically.

Kai snorts and Cole hits me on the shoulder, glaring at me.

"Yes, Cole, I believe you all are," Misako says, smiling slightly.

"Then we're doomed. Our Golden Weapons don't exist and we need them to access our elemental powers," Zane says.

"I have mine," I mumble.

"No one cares." I gasp at Kai's bitter remark. Someone was obviously jealous, hungry, and moody.

"You don't need them. Your powers exist within each of you. To find them, you must go to the Temple of Light."

"What's that?" Nya asks.

"The Golden Weapons were forged there, located on the Dark Island."

"Sweet! We can get our powers back!" Cole exclaims.

"How'd you lose them, again?" I ask.

Everyone glares at Lloyd, who rolls his eyes.

"Whatever," he mumbles.

"The past is in the past," Sensei Wu says. "Right now, we have an island to find."

-

We kick the city off the ship and the guys go say goodbye to their loved ones.

Cole says goodbye to his father, Jay says bye to his parents, Kai and Nya talk below, and Lloyd talks to his mother.

Zane and I stand side by side on the deck, waiting to leave patiently.

"Anyone that you'd like to say goodbye to?" I ask him.

"All my friends are coming with me. You?" He asks.

"Same here. The only other family I ever considered was Mistaké, and I have no clue where she is," I say, frowning.

"I'm sure she's fine," Zane says. I laugh dryly.

"Oh I know she's fine. She's too stubborn to die," I say. Zane smiles slightly.

"El, come here!" Cole shouts. I look to Zane and he nods, saying it was okay for me to go.

"Dad, this is El," Cole says, introducing me.

"Nice to meet you," I say, smiling.

"I didn't see her when you guys came last time!" His dad says.

"I'm new," I say, my cheeks turning pink.

"But just as important," Cole adds. I smile.

"I'm proud of you, son, I really am," Cole's dad says, hugging him tightly.

"Dad!"

"Aww," I say.

"Good luck you two. Look after Cole, El, will you?" He asks. Cole rolls his eyes.

"I don't need protecting."

"Yes you do. And I promise I'll look after him," I say, grinning.

"Elaine!"

I turn to see who called my name, but I didn't see anyone. Someone hits my head with a newspaper, and suddenly I knew exactly who called my name.

"Madam Mistaké!" I exclaim, turning around to face her.

"I haven't seen you in months and you let down your defensives. Typical," she mumbles.

I grin and hug her. She hesitantly hugs me back but I don't care if she thinks it's awkward, I've missed her.

"How's your new team?" She asks.

"They're good! I like them, they make me feel at home," I say, looking at each of them. Jay was arguing with his parents, Cole was hugging his father, Kai and Nya were laughing together, Zane was signing autographs, and Lloyd was looking right at me. We meet eyes and he smirks, causing me to blush. I turn back around towards Mistaké.

She rolls her eyes. Apparently that didn't go unnoticed, but honestly, nothing could get past her.

"I knew sending you to live with five boys was a bad idea."

"Sorry, I can't help everyone wants me," I say, grinning.

"You remind me of my younger self," Mistaké says. I snort, maybe one hundred years ago.

"What? Can't imagine all the boys chasing me around the monastery?"

"Oh, I can. And it's hilarious."

She scoffs. "Whatever. Go save the world," she says, her eyes turning upwards with her smile.

"Yes, Madam," I say, smiling. I wave goodbye and board the Bounty.

Lloyd walks over to me, looking out at the sea of people as he does so.

"I feel like Mistaké is judging me," he says. I laugh.

"She probably is," I say.

"That's reassuring," he murmurs.

I chuckle. "Don't worry, that's just the way she is. She's amazing though once you get to know her."

"Come on, guys! We're setting sail!" Kai shouts, pulling the anchor up.

"What about me? What can I do?" Dareth asks.

"Uh," Lloyd says. The five of us look at each other, waiting to see who answers.

Kai sighs. "As the honorary brown ninja, we're entrusting you to protect Ninjago and tend to our dragon," he says.

Dareth grins. "I won't let you guys down!"

"I'm the official Brown Ninja!" He shouts. Everyone cheers.

"What's my elemental power?" He whispers to us.

"Uh, hot air?" Nya says.

"I thought that was the grey ninja?" Dareth says.

"Yeah, me too!" I say, looking at Nya.

"Yes! El is all air. You, Dareth, are only hot air," Kai says, looking at me for help. I sigh.

"I need help tending Ninjago's air. Will you help me?" I say. Lloyd snorts.

"Of course I will!"

Kai and Nya board the Bounty, leaving Dareth to tend the air.

"Now you can't tend Ninjago's air!" Jay says.

"What ever will we do?" Zane jokes. That's right, jokes.

If even Zane makes a joke, I know I'm doomed. Get ready for endless teasing.

"I was just helping Kai. Besides, it was Nya's idea!" I say.

"Woah! Let's not put this all on my shoulders. You're the one that added the tending the air part," she says.

I sigh. "Yeah, yeah. Help me with this sail," I mumble.

"You sure? Jay and I can tend this while you tend, other things," Cole says.

I roll my eyes. This trip to the Dark Island will be a long one indeed.

-

Everyone but Lloyd and I were outside on the deck, talking I assume. Lloyd and I were in the TV room, cuddling on the couch while we had some alone time. We've been trying to hang out together as much as possible before the final battle just in case anything were to happen.

"You really thought about taking me out?" I ask.

"Of course that's what boyfr-" Lloyd stops himself.

I smile and play with his hand, intertwining his fingers with mine.

"That is what boyfriends do," I say finally.

"You want that?" He asks.

"Of course I do. I like you, Lloyd. And I want something with you," I say.

He grins and kisses me softly.

"I do too."

"Well, I was hoping so," I mutter. He rolls his eyes but smiles, kissing my forehead lightly.

A loud crash of thunder ruins the peacefulness of our moment. The ship begins to rock, making me nearly fall to the ground if Lloyd hadn't been holding me tightly.

"What's going on now?" He grumbles.

We stand up and run to the bridge to find out what was happening.

"We're sailing straight through a storm!" Misako says.

"Can't we just sail around it?" Lloyd says, walking into the room with me next to him.

"Not a storm like this. Quick, all hands on deck!" Misako says.

Nya runs to the wheel, trying to keep the ship from flipping over.

The guys and I hurry to the deck, trying to accomplish the same thing as Nya.

"We need to keep the sail up!" Zane shouts, running and grabbing the rope.

All of us except Jay take a part of the rope and pull, trying to keep the sail from falling down.

"Hold the line!" Cole says.

We were all drenched, water streaming down our faces and soaking our clothes and hair. Well, almost all of us. Jay was standing underneath the rail, keeping himself dry and toasty.

"The winds are too strong!" Lloyd shouts over the storm.

I focus as hard as I can to warp the wind in the opposite direction. It pushes me back, as if it was fighting with me. I grunt, water seeping into my eyes as I concentrate on my task at hand. The wind blows away for a moment, but only a small moment of time. I gasp as I let go. I would've fallen to the ground if it weren't for Lloyd's mother. She catches me and holds me steady.

"There's no point in trying to control a storm like this," she shouts over the wind. I nod, joining the boys on the rope.

"Jay, come on!" Zane calls.

"I don't want to get wet!" Jay shouts back.

"This is no time for jokes. Come on, Jay!" Kai shouts angrily. "The Bounty can only take so much!"

"I'm not even trying to be funny!" Jay defends.

Suddenly, the loud noise of the ship rocking on the violent ocean and the roaring thunder was overcome by a strange sound of laughter.

"Fine! Laugh all you want! But I'm ignoring you all," Jay says, crossing his arms.

"We're not laughing!" Lloyd shouts.

"I didn't know the sea could laugh," Kai says, looking around wearily.

Six starfish things jump out of the water and onto the boat, moving viciously. I suppose they were the source of the strange noise.

"What's that?" Cole says, letting go and walking over to the creature.

Cole took us by surprise, and our hold on the rope loosened, the sail pulling us away.

"I'm coming!" Jay shouts, running over and grabbing the rope. He pulls us back safely.

"About time, Jay!" Cole grumbles.

Right then, a wave of water crashes onto Jay. Jay groans in annoyance.

Cole picks up the star, examining it closely.

"Is that...teeth?" I say.

"I didn't know fish had teeth," Kai says.

"Wait!" Misako says, running out from the bridge. "We cannot let the Starteeth on board. They will devour everything they come across!" As she says this, the mysterious creature bites Cole's finger, causing him to yell and throw it back into the ocean.

The other Starteeth jump onto the rope, breaking it, causing us to slide against the far wall.

"We need to get these off the ship," Kai says.

We all run in separate directions, throwing the strange creatures off the Bounty as quickly as possible.

One jumps onto Jay's face, resulting in him screaming and flailing about. "Argh! I'm starstruck!" He says. I snort and throw another one at his back.

"Hey!" He says, throwing one at my stomach.

"Guys! Focus," Cole scowls.

"Faster, we're going to sink!" Lloyd yells, throwing more out the side.

Four more attached to Jay's back, him jumping around and cursing loudly again.

"Use your Spinjitzu!" Kai suggests. Jay does this, and the Starteeth came off all right but attached themselves to the sail.

"Shit!" Jay says.

"Ninjago!" Everyone else says, copying Jay's actions.

We removed them all from the deck, but there was more on the sides. The storm had calmed down now, or I suppose we had just finally sailed out of it. Now that the sky and ocean was calm, we could get a clear view of the destruction.

"Guys, down there!" Lloyd says, pointing out a massive hole the creatures created.

"Double shit," Jay says, sighing

Cole groans. "This is going to be a long and wet night."

Kai snorts. "You bet it is."

"I just met- it's raining! I didn't mean-" Cole says. I could see his face turning red in the midst of the pouring rain. We all laugh.

"Oh- shut up!"

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