I stared out at the water as the Bounty passed over it. Some water splashed up with the few waves, and I held a hand out, catching some of the drops in my palm, then I let it slip away. It was only a few days since we had left the Palace, trying to keep ourselves hidden from the Sons of Garmadon. Zane had long since bandaged the cuts on my legs, with instructions to be careful on the leg. My knee had been sprained, but Lloyd had sat with me to ice my knee, then Zane had given me a knee brace for it. Now, I could feel the firm hold of the knee brace, though the pain had ebbed away faster than I had expected. I had gotten a change of clothes too since I only had a dress with me and it got ruined in escaping the Palace. It was some of Nya's old clothes she didn't wear anymore, a t-shirt and capris so it was easier to roll up my pants to check on my leg injuries.

"Hey." I turned, facing Nya. She gave me a smile as she came to stand by me. "Lloyd says you're a fan of the Bounty." I felt my cheeks heat up, suddenly feeling embarrassed that he told someone else. "It's okay. I'm not here to make fun of you. I wanted to show you something." Nya waved a hand, gesturing for me to follow her as she made her way to the controls. Hesitantly, I did so, walking passed Jay and Cole as I followed her.

"Good morning Jay, Cole." I gave them both a nod.

"Hi (y/n)." Cole replied as Jay waved, in the middle of eating pudding. I smiled, picking up my pace so I could catch up to Nya. She had stopped at the wheel of the ship. As I came to her side, Nya sent me a lopsided smile.

"Since you might be here a while, I figured I'd show you the ropes. I'm going to teach you how to land." I blinked, my eyes widening as I processed what she had just told me.

"I- but don't you think that's a little soon? I mean, I can't drive a car, let alone a flying-" Nya grasped my arm and tugged me to the wheel. Before I could blink, she had my hands wrapped around the wood of the wheel. "-shiiiip." I drew out as I stared at my hands, white knuckled as I gripped onto the wood, already anxious.

"Don't worry. I'll be controlling everything else. You just need to keep her steady." I gave a stiff nod at the command. "This is pretty basic. Just keep your hands there, and don't turn the wheel unless I tell you to." I gave another nod, then Nya seemed to disappear from my side. I could hear her messing with other controls behind me, but I didn't dare look away. I was too afraid I'd mess this up, crash the boat or send us plummeting into the water- albeit the drop wasn't far anyway.

"Turn a little to the left." Nya said, suddenly beside me again. She had her hand on the lever beside me. "If you go between those rocks, we can use that as cover until we need to move again. It's a simple procedure." I swallowed, turning the wheel as she said, feeling my hands shake as I did so.

"Wow! (y/n) is behind the wheel!" Jay's call made me jump, and I jerked my hands, and therefore the ship, to the side. Nya put a quick hand, righting it to what it was before. I gave a quick glance to take in the look she sent Jay, and his nervous chuckle followed. "Sorry. I just thought it was cool. You're doing pretty well, actually. Better than Kai did. We rarely let him pilot The Bounty now." Jay said as he came to stand with Nya. A scoff followed Jay's comment.

"That's not true! I'm a great pilot!" Kai argued, and Cole was quick to laugh.

"Yeah, says the person who almost crashed us into three mountain within five minutes." I risked a look over my shoulder to see Kai glaring at Cole, and if looks could kill...

"There weren't supposed to be mountains. I didn't know!" I huffed a laugh at the bickering as Jay joined in. I barely noticed as the Bounty was lowered until the small shake of the boat, letting us know we were safely in the water. Nya pressed another few buttons, then gave me a small smile.

"See, easy." I gave a hesitant nod as I let go of the wheel.

"Yeah, I guess so." I replied, looking back to the boys as they argued. Above us, the sails folded in, letting me see the birds flying in the air around us. "It's so pretty out here. I've... I've never been away from the Palace like this before. It's different." Nya gave a small nod of her head.

"I know what you mean. Before my brother and me were Ninja, we were in our parents' small blacksmith shop. It was how we made our money, but it always felt so small there. Like we were meant for something bigger. And now..." Nya turned to the boys, who now were miraculously laughing, their previous irritation now dissipated.

"What you have here is amazing." I told her with a small smile, then I felt my smile grow as Lloyd's face came into view. He finished climbing up the ladder, then held out a hand, helping Harumi up the rest of the way of the ladder. The other Ninja seemed to have calmed, and somehow Zane was up here too. Odd. I hadn't even noticed him come up.

"So, Harumi," Cole started as he leant against the ship, "looks like we're gonna be... roomies for a while." Beside him, Kai shook his head, a disappointed frown pulling at his lips as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Harumi herself seemed dissatisfied with the pun, but made no comment on it.

"You have all been so gracious to take me and my sister in since our Palace was... taken away." Harumi's brow furrowed as she stared down at the ship's planks. The past few days she had been more distant from me, less willing to talk about what happened. I understood this, and respected it, as I knew we both dealt with our grief in different ways. But now, anytime I tried to get close anymore, I was pushed away, even with casual conversation. She was more likely to talk to the Ninja than me.

"You're safe with us." Jay said with a confident nod as he crossed his arms.

"That assumption is not entirely justified, Jay," Zane spoke up. "We know very little about the Sons of Garmadon's full capabilities." Zane continued with a wave of his hand. As he turned his eyes to scan over the rest of us, I found myself noticing how bright his blue eyes were, reminding me much of his own element.

"We know nothing about them. Period." Kai cut in with the shake of his head.

"We do know they're after the three Oni masks." Nya said as she pressed some buttons on the control panel. The screen above her flickered on, showing two of the masks she was referencing. "Unfortunately, they already have two of them." Nya pointed to the screen as she looked to us. Lloyd and Harumi came to our sides, silently joining the group.

"Pixal scanned everywhere for the third mask, but it came up empty. It's as if it... never existed." Zane told the rest of us.

"Then we need to focus on who's giving the orders." Lloyd said, turning his eyes over the group. When they landed on me, he paused, giving me a soft smile before he continued. "A group this organized must have a leader."

"Maybe someone from our past?" Jay suggested, placing a finger to his chin in thought.

"Uh, forgive me, but is that... underwear?" Harumie interrupted, lifting a pair of blue underwear from the control panel. I bit back a smile as she crinkled her nose in disgust. Jay's cheeks flushed a deep red as he grabbed them from her hands, then hid the pair behind his back. A small chuckle passed his lips.

"We're usually more organized-" Jay paused, clearing his throat as his blush died down "-but our leader got lost in a time-stream. Uh, they're Cole's." Cole's mouth dropped as he stared at Jay in disbelief.

"They're blue!" Cole objected with a strong shake of his head.

"You're lucky they're not yellow." Kai informed us with a laugh. Lloyd huffed, seeming annoyed, and even Harumi was pouting, clearly displeased. I, on the otherhand, was incredibly amused by Jay's embarrassment as he shuffled on his toes. I joined Kai's laughter. At this, Lloyd looked to me, surprised, and a small smile pulled at his lips again.

"I mean, we all have those days." I said with a shrug, knowing I had my own fair share of days of messy rooms and Hutchins bribing me out of bed. At the thought of Hutchins, my stomach clenched, but I tried not to show the shift in mood as Nya faced the screen again.

"What about the suspect captured at the heist in Borg Tower?" Nya changed the screen to show said suspect being led into a police car by the cops. "I can stay behind with (y/n) and Harumi if you wanna press him on who he works for," Nya suggested.

"The Police have him in custody, but he has refused to talk. He is set for release today." Pixal's voice crackled through the Bounty's speakers.

"Then if Johnny Law can't get him to talk... perhaps Johnny Ninja can?" Kai cracked his knuckles, a smirk coming onto his lips. The others shook their heads at him, but he seemed proud in his play on words.

"Okay. Then it's decided. Nya will stay with the Princesses, and the rest of us will head out to interrogate." Lloyd directed. The Ninja's faces became serious, and they all scattered to prepare. Even Nya moved around the panels, pushing different buttons, likely to prepare to take off again. Harumi drifted to the railing, looking out. I watched the others slide down the ladder, chattering as they hurried across deck.

When Lloyd went to follow them, I found myself catching his arm before he could leave. He turned to me, confusion pulling at his brows.

"Princess?" I blinked at his silent question, before letting out a breath. My sudden worry for him grew as I thought about him leaving again.

"You'll be safe, won't you?" I asked softly. Lloyd gave me a lopsided smile, tilting his head. His green eyes sparkled in the sunlight, rivaling any jewel I had every seen in the kingdom.

"Of course I will. I always am." Lloyd gently said back. His hand moved to grab mine, gently squeezing my hand as a last assurance, then he slipped away after the others, leaving me behind with Nya, Harumi, and Pixal.