Lloyd was concentrating on the lightbulb as it weakly began to light up. Hikari had gone through about twenty (about two boxes, to Dareth's dismay) before she could control it- at least, control it enough that it didn't explode. Everyone had learned that when Hikari was trying to do that exercise, they needed to hide behind the punching bags.

"Focus, Lloyd," Jay spoke up as Hikari watched Lloyd with a lightbulb in her hands. Next one was her turn. "Control the power inside you. When you feel a surge welling up-" Jay lifted his arms into the air to demonstrate, "harness it!"

"I understand," Lloyd nodded, and then focused his gaze back on the lightbulb. "I am in... control..." he said slowly, beginning to shudder as he glared at the lightbulb.

Hikari glanced away slightly. It sounded a bit like the mental conversations she had with Nariko- the shade within her. She'd named her Nariko because it felt like she had a thunderstorm brewing inside of her when they tried to talk.

She was distracted at the sound of shattering glass, and Lloyd groaned. "Ugggh! Stupid lightbulb!" he said angrily, before turning to the other ninja. "You're putting too much pressure on me!" The ninja all developed a worried/sheepish look on their faces as Lloyd asked, hopefully, "Can I have another try?"

"Ah," Kai said, apologetically, "sorry, Lloyd- last one's Hikari's."

Lloyd looked down with a frustrated look on his face. Around both children lay the scattered remains of about fifty lightbulbs, a new record.

Lloyd looked up at Hikari and clenched his fist. "Go on, Hikari! Try it!"

Hikari smiled brightly at Lloyd. "Okie," she said cheerfully, and then looked down at the lightbulb. Holding the metal part, she stared at it.

The lightbulb began to glow weakly. Almost instantly, Hikari's mind started to shift to the arena, Nariko's familiar red-eyed smirk becoming clearer and clearer by the moment, but she forced herself to think of something else. Kai... Cole... tea... Lloyd...

Her mind cleared, and Hikari blinked slightly as thoughts of Lloyd flooded her head. Lloyd groaning and dragging her along in the street, Lloyd taking her hand reluctantly, Lloyd giving her a big lollipop, Lloyd sitting next to her and sharing a joke...

A small smile formed on her face, and the lightbulb lit up brightly.

"Hey, you did it!"

Almost immediately the glow died, as Hikari was shaken from her thoughts. "Huh? I did?" She looked at the lightbulb, but the searing red-hot wire was fading, leaving almost no trace that she'd done it- but she had.

Jay was jumping around so excitedly you'd've thought that HE was the one to have made the lightbulb glow. "It was so cool! It was flickering like it usually does, like when it explodes and sends glass everywhere, and then suddenly it started glowing really brightly! Except the glow was more like one from a black light, not a regular lightbulb. Which I don't know how you managed to do that. But that was still really cool! That was amazing! How did you do it?" he babbled, at about a mile a minute.

Hikari looked down at the lightbulb, still warm in her hands. A faint blush began to come on her cheeks... it had started glowing when she was thinking about Lloyd. Of course, she'd never admit THAT to anybody...

"I don't know," she said finally, "I guess I just... did."

She'd hardly finished this when Lloyd grabbed her, yanked her to her feet, and jumped her around in a circle in an impromptu celebration, being careful not to have her step on the glass. "You did it!" he yelled, happily.

Hikari was caught off guard, but once she got her wits back she could not stop giggling. "Usually I start this, not you," she commented, still tittering.

"Well I'm happy for you- ow!" Lloyd stopped and reflexively grabbed his foot; Hikari knew that he'd stepped on the glass.

Hikari giggled again. "Well, let's clean up all this glass first- otherwise this room's just going to be a huge minefield," she said, going over and picking up of the brooms. Without thinking, she tossed it over her shoulder, and Lloyd caught it easily before going and sweeping up some of the glass with her.

Jay's smile faded as he frowned and grumbled. "Ugh, Sensei Wu, what am I doing wrong? I can't seem to teach him or Hikari to control his power consciously!" he whined a little bit. Although it was really a bit more out of worry- after all, these two kids WERE going to be the greatest ninjas in all of Ninjago, they had to be trained properly.

"Patience, Jay," Sensei Wu spoke, "sometimes the greatest opponent we must face is ourselves- and that's especially true for Lloyd and Hikari," the two kids were now playing a game to see who could sweep up the most glass. "Remember where they come from. After all, Lloyd is the son of Lord Garmadon, and Hikari comes from a childhood where her only company was Lloyd for a long time. It will take them time to embrace the light."

Right as he finished, and as the two dumped their glass-and-metal shards into the trash can, Nya opened the door and walked in. "Hey guys!" Nya said, and everyone chorused, "Hey Nya!"

Nya walked right over to Jay, making Hikari beam like a ray of sunlight. "Hey Jay... wanna come by the auto-body shop later?" she asked, sounding slightly shy and slightly hopeful at the same time.

Jay's face was the same hot pink as the shade Lloyd had dyed Zane's suit. "The, uh, auto-body shop?" he asked, blushing as he approached his girlfriend a bit.

"Yeah," Nya said, still hopefully, "I got a part time job. Thought I could fix the Ultra-Sonic Raider in my off time."

Lloyd pointed at Hikari, triumph written all over his face. "See, Hikari? I told you that name would catch on!" he said, triumphantly. Hikari giggled at him a bit, gently pushing him. "All right, all right- you don't have to say it twice," she giggled, and he pushed her back. The two of them had a little shoving match with twin, happy smiles written all over their faces.

"Maybe if you come over," Nya said, after the couple finished 'aww'ing at the two kids playing around (or 'flirting', as Jay called it whenever he thought they weren't listening. Lloyd had heard one time and punched him on the shoulder).

"Hehe, sure!" Jay said, his face less pink now, "Um, what have you got there?" He looked at the paper in Nya's hand, and Hikari looked over when she heard this.

Nya blinked. "Huh-? Oh, this letter came for Lloyd." Lloyd looked over now as well, and the two kids came over to where Sensei Wu and the others were standing. Sensei Wu took the letter and looked at it. "Hmm, it's from Lloyd's old school."

"Darkley's?" Hikari asked, curiously, and Sensei Wu nodded. Cole and the others came over from their conversation in the corner, joining them near the doorway. "The Darkley's School for Bad Boys?"

"Formerly Bad Boys," Sensei Wu corrected, "since the last time we were there, they... changed, to the Darkley's School for Great Children."

Kai smirked and chuckled a bit. "Wait, they've turned good?" he asked, through the chuckle. Sensei Wu looked back down at the paper in his hand. "It says here there's going to be a ceremony," he read off the paper.

Cole grinned. "I LOVE ceremonies! That means there's gonna be cake!"

Hikari had to bury her head in Lloyd's shoulder to keep from exploding in a burst of laughter. "Lloyd's change inspired them," Sensei Wu said to the ninja, and Nya, "now they've invited Lloyd to give him an honorary degree in excellence."

Lloyd grinned a little. "Hey, sweet! And Hikari can go sneaking through the secret passageways."

Everyone looked at Hikari, who smiled sheepishly. "You'd be surprised how bored you get when you have to stay in a broom closet all day... I happened to push on one of the walls really hard one day while trying to stretch. I found a secret passageway... well, THE secret passageway- the walls of the whole school contain a huge maze of secret passageways that are all interconnecting. It's really cool- like being in a spy movie!" she said, beaming cheerfully.

Cole scratched his head. "I didn't think you'd be the type to be into spy movies."

"Yeah, spy movies are great," Hikari said cheerily.

x

"WOOHOO!" Jay yelled, as Lloyd held the reins of the Ultra-Dragon tightly. Hikari was sitting right next to him, taking the other end, but unlike him she was a bit looser and freer with the reins, and encouraged him to do the same.

"Now that the dragon can fly again, we should be there at Darkley's in no time!" Jay said cheerfully, and Kai grimaced. "That is if Lloyd and Hikari can get us there in one piece..."

Hikari had listened to Cole's advice to be loose, but since the two kids insisted on driving (heh, driving) the Ultra-Dragon together, they often ended up flying somewhat lopsided. The other day Lloyd had pulled far too sharp a turn, and Hikari had nearly fallen off. It had taken a huge sweeping dive and a bruised rib for Hikari to keep her from going splat on the pavement.

"Just be gentle," Cole instructed mostly Lloyd, since Hikari was already being pretty gentle. "Any sudden moves may cause the dragon to-"

"ANY SUDDEN WHAT?" Lloyd yelled, jerking up on his side of the reins as he tried to hear Cole. This caused the Ultra-Dragon to plummet straight down in a dive. Hikari let out a slight squeak as everyone started screaming in fear.

"THE REINS! LET GO OF THE REINS!" Cole screeched over everyone's screams. Lloyd and Hikari both gently set the reins down, and the dragon's sudden plummeting dive evened out into more of a glide as they circled once, twice, and landed in front of the school gates.

"At least I'm getting better," Lloyd said, sheepishly, as Hikari shakily got off the dragon. "All the same," Cole said, "I think I'll take the reins going home."

"Fine by me," Hikari squeaked as they walked inside the gates, reading the sign before passing through.

A boy with black hair and a blue sweater turned around from where he was tending the flowers, and asked, with wide eyes, "Lloyd?"

Lloyd looked down from the sign and blinked. "Uh... Brad?" he asked, sounding more confused, and the boy fled forward with a grin. "You came! So good to see you-" and he clapped Lloyd on the back with a hug. Lloyd didn't reciprocate, and said, with a perplexed smile, "Um... it is? You put fire ants in my bed."

Brad said, pleasantly, to Lloyd, "Please forgive me for that- I wasn't myself! And I've learned the error of my ways... oh, and this must be the ninja!"

Lloyd stepped aside, letting the ninja come forward a bit, "Uh, guys, meet Brad Tudabone," he introduced them, and Brad came forward and shook their hands. When he came to Hikari though, he stopped. "Oh... are you the Purple Ninja?"

Hikari nodded, smiling slightly. "Mmhm," she said, pleasantly, "My name's Hikari, it's nice to meet you."

He grinned and shook her hand, making her blink in surprise. "Please, will you not all follow me to see the principal?" he asked, politely, and started leading the way into the school, still holding Hikari's hand.

Lloyd glared slightly at this, but came up behind them anyway.

Hikari blushed slightly; usually Lloyd was the only one to hold her hand, and it didn't feel weird at all anymore- well, I mean, now she developed butterflies for some reason, but it still wasn't weird to her. Brad wasn't Lloyd, though- holding his hand felt odd and almost different... yes, different.

As they walked through the school hallway, Hikari gently disengaged herself from him, hoping he didn't find it rude. "I-I can walk by myself," she said, shyly, and Brad bowed slightly while walking- which looked very awkward. "Oh! Of course. Forgive me if I caused you any discomfort."

"N-no, I'm fine..." and she blushed even more. She was used to roughhousing gently with Lloyd, so this very formal politeness made her feel awkward and shy.

Lloyd's scowl grew more pronounced.

"Shouldn't you all be in class?" Cole asked, Hikari dropping towards the back of the group, as they passed an empty classroom.

Brad explained, "Actually, today is a new Darkley School tradition- Ninja Day. We stay out of sight to honor the way of the ninja, for showing us the light."

Hikari passed her old broom closet, and she paused and looked at it before continuing along with the others again, although she had to run a bit to keep up now. "This is a good school- I'm impressed," Cole said, as they walked to the principal's office.

"Oh, Principal Noble? Lloyd and the ninja are here for the ceremony!" Brad called through the door.

"That and the cake," Cole said, making Hikari dive back outside to stop giggling. Her giggles were incredibly contagious and very heavy; once you got her truly laughing it was a very long, arduous process to get her to stop again. "By the way, do you know what kind it is-?"

"Just a moment!" Principal Noble called, and Brad said, kindly, "I should get back to the flowers-" and he slammed the door behind him. Hikari stopped giggling, a little confused. "Oh, um, Brad, I have to get in too..."

Brad looked at her, panic on his expression. Hikari's eyes narrowed. That wasn't right, why did he look panicked? She chanced a glance through the window, and her eyes widened- a kid with orange hair had just cut a rope with scissors... and sandbags fell on the ninja, and Lloyd!

Hikari's eyes widened. She looked at Brad, who had a very similar expression on her face, and then took off the other direction.

"Hey! Come back here!"

Fat chance, she thought, desperately skidding around the corner. She dodged into her broom closet and gently shut the door, before huddling behind the mop. Just like old times, she thought almost hysterically.

The door banged open again, Brad looking around inside. His eyes skated over the mop, behind which Hikari was hiding, and around the broom closet. He frowned and shut the door again, shouting out to the other students to look out for a little girl wearing a purple ninja gi. Hikari let out a little sigh of relief, her heart pounding away inside her chest.

She was safe...

For now.

After her momentary panic faded to nothing, she lifted her head and looked at the wall behind her. Was this the wall...? Yes, she remembered now, push hard on the wall and then up the ladder.

She turned around and pushed, shoving hard. She barely needed to exert any energy before the wall rumbled slightly and slid out of the way. She blinked; apparently she'd developed some more muscle.

She stepped inside and climbed up the ladder, walked across the floor, and then started wandering around the passageway, tilting her head to listen for any telltale signs of the ninja, or Lloyd, but there was none...

Yet.

x

"Didn't Hikari mention that there was a network of secret passageways in the school?" Zane asked the ninja. Kai's amber eyes lit up with excitement. "Now that you mention it...! Okay, everyone, look for a hidden switch! It could be anything! A-a book, a trophy, a fixture!"

Everyone fanned out through the room, checking behind paintings, through bookshelves, under the rug...

Jay tugged on one book, and a mechanical 'clunk' rang out. "I found it!" he called, waving.

The ceiling started closing in on them, and Kai yelped, "Wrong switch!"

Of course, of course, this school was originally built for evil, why had they not thought about the fact that there were going to be booby traps along with the secret passageways?!

"Keep looking!" he ordered, voice cracking, and everyone started searching faster than ever now.

Cole twisted a potted plant, which gave another metallic thunk. "Aha!"

His voice had barely finished escaping his mouth when metallic SPIKES grew from the ceiling like some sort of bizarre crabgrass, with a metallic shing! "Oh, that's just so evil!" Cole exclaimed with frustration as the spikes started descending even faster. Zane looked around quickly and tilted a light fixture slightly, making one last metallic clunk. Hopefully it was the right one.

A door in the back of the fireplace opened, and he immediately charged through. "This way!"

Everyone charged into the darkness without hesitation.

A minute later, Jay started cackling. "Hahaha! S-stop ti-tickling me!" he giggled.

"I'm not tickling you," Cole said to blackness. "Zane, can you give us some light?" Kai asked, and Zane's face suddenly lit up (literally), glowing brightly like a lightbulb.

All of them shrieked as they came face-to-face with hundreds of spiders.

x

Hikari heard some footsteps, and began to look more quickly, searching intently for Lloyd or the ninja now, urgently-

"Haha, c'mon, you can untie me!" Lloyd said, in the tone Hikari knew so well as 'lying-through-my-teeth-and-not-that-convincingly-at-that'. "Really, this is such a HUGE relief-"

Hikari's ears pricked up, and she followed it until it sounded like Lloyd was right below her. Pressing her ear to the 'floor', she listened intently, and was rewarded to hear him saying, "Thank you for saving me!"

"How do we know you're not lying to us just to escape, and help the ninja?" Brad asked, sounding menacing... a huge deviation from the boy who'd held her hand coming into the school.

"If I am truly good," Lloyd said, "I wouldn't be able to lie, which I'm not, but even if I was, wouldn't lying make me evil, thus giving you assurance that you could release me!"

Hikari resisted the urge to bang her head on the floor, as she was fairly sure she was standing on the ceiling of the room Lloyd was in. She inspected the floor and moved her fingers along it. Wood, and there was a few slightly loose boards that were an inch away from her. She knew, because one time she'd crashed right through them, and barely escaped by fleeing into a nearby, very tight air duct.

She heard something very vaguely about doomsday formations, and she ignored it as she dropped into the room. Lloyd looked very startled to see her, but his face practically lit up and glowed with joy. "Hikari! You came!"

"Of course I came, you're my best friend!" Hikari said innocently, beaming at him before hugging him tightly. "Oh, I'm so happy to see you're okay!"

"Yeah- now, how do I get out of here?"

Hikari frowned, she was never good with knots, and it would take far too long to detangle the complicated knot that kept Lloyd trussed up like a turkey. "... I..." she mumbled, frowning... how to get him out...?

There were sounds as the kids ran away, and Hikari didn't dwell on that as she bit her lip. "Um, maybe... maybe I could... um..." she looked around again, desperately. Lloyd groaned a little. "Why do I always get tied up?" he groaned, "think I'd be pretty good with knots by now."

Hikari, despite this situation, had to giggle, and then the room was suddenly plunged into darkness as the lightbulb flickered.

Their eyes lit up at exactly the same time. "The lightbulb!" they chorused, cheerfully.

They both looked up and focused on the lightbulb, the light burning their eyes a little, as they concentrated.

Immediately, Hikari felt the arena creeping into her vision... she automatically reached out...

Her hand touched Lloyd's, and his hand tightened on hers automatically, even in the awkward position of him being tied to the chair. Her face turned pink as the butterflies sprang to life, and the lightbulb shattered onto the floor.

Hikari grabbed a shard of glass (in doing so, she had to let go of Lloyd's hand and missed the slight pout that fixed itself on his face) and put it to the rope, sawing through it very quickly. Her hand slipped once or twice, and sliced her finger, but she ignored the cut as she cut through the last rope. Lloyd grinned. "Yes! Finally! I'm free!" he cheered.

Right then the door opened, Gene being the one at the door.

Lloyd groaned. "Aww, no way!"

Hikari slapped her forehead in frustration.

"Your friends are pure evil," Gene sniggered as they blocked the door.

Hikari and Lloyd both frowned. They looked at each other, and then back at Gene.

"What?"

"Never mind that," Hikari said after only a second of silence, and then to Lloyd: "Stand back a second-" She aimed at the door and fired.

A bolt of lightning shot out and incinerated the door to infinitesimal ashes, and Lloyd and Hikari charged through while Gene yelled in frustration. Along the way, Hikari ran head-first into Brad- she ignored him and turned the corner.

She stopped in her tracks at the incredibly weird sight of the ninja fighting... themselves?

The two Zane's headbutted each other, the two Cole's legs met in midair, the two Kai's grappled with one another, and the two Jay's punches met in midair, as the fighting continued, Lloyd and Hikari blinked before exchanging a look. "Uhhhhhhh..."

"The evil ninja must be my father's doing," Lloyd said, narrowing his eyes at the ninja, unable to tell which was which in the dim light and from a distance.

Gene stroked his chin. "Fascinating... it's like fighting a mirror, where the reflection countermoves in perfect sync. And no one appears to be able to land a blow. Presumably, if one of the evil ninja- or the good ninja- landed a positive blow on their counterparts, the spark of negative energy meeting positive energy would be so powerful, as to eradicate the opposite."

"We have to help them," Lloyd said, determinedly.

"Just to be clear, which them?" Gene asked, his nasal voice filled with an evil undertone.

Hikari suddenly shuddered, and her eyes flashed red. Lloyd, who'd been about to respond, looked at Hikari in concern. "H-Hikari?"

See? You care for your friends! Let me take over, and I'll be able to help you defeat them! Nariko said encouragingly, smooth voice dripping with persuasion.

Judging by previous actions you'd hurt my REAL friends, and help their evil counterparts.

How do you know me so well? It's like talking to my shadow.

Says the black shade standing on the dark side of the arena. I told you before, I don't. Need. Your help. Go away!

The feeling passed, and Hikari straightened back up with a slight cough. She noticed Brad starting towards her, looking concerned, before stopping and letting his expression turn back into an evil one.

She glanced at Lloyd, whose face was set in a bit of a scowl- which meant he'd DEFINITELY noticed. He glanced at Hikari, his expression saying 'Are you okay?' She nodded, and then jerked her head slightly at Brad. Lloyd tilted his head, and then he nodded. When had those two gotten so good at reading one another?

"All right, you win- we're good," Lloyd said, taking Hikari's hand, "but guess what?"

"So's Brad!" Hikari said, smiling mischievously at the black-haired boy. Brad's evil smirk turned to a slightly angry but mostly panicked look. "That's a lie!" he said, pointing at the two.

"Is it?" Hikari asked, "then explain just now, when I recovered from that... er... thing, you started towards me with a concerned look?"

"And explain," Lloyd picked up, the same mischievous smile on his face as was on Hikari's, "why on the day we first met, you were nice to me?"

Every boy looked at Brad, who looked back. "When I arrived here on my first day, I didn't know how things worked around here. Everyone made fun of me, and Brad even put fire ants in my bed."

Gene sniggered evilly. "Yeah, I remember that. That was evil."

"Buuuut," Lloyd gently intervened, "later, when everyone was gone, he said he was just trying to teach me how things worked, and after that, he took me under his wing, and he taught me the art of revenge."

"Why would you do that?" Gene asked Brad, who looked nervous. "I... I wanted to get in good with his father," Brad uttered, trying for a confident smile and achieving more of a grimace.

Lloyd shook his head. "Noo, it's because deep down, he's not all evil."

"Brad's not the only one- face it, all of you here have a secret good side, that stays quiet out of fear," Hikari piped up, "and thinks they're alone- but they're not. And Lloyd's living proof!" she poked him in the cheek with her free hand. Lloyd glared and swatted her, making her laugh a little.

"So," Lloyd said, after she'd subsided, "who's with us?" And he raised the hand that was holding Hikari's, nearly yanking her up off the floor altogether. As it was Hikari was on the very tips of her toes.

Brad sighed and came over. Lloyd tighted his grip on her hand protectively. "It's true," Brad sighed, "and I love planting flowers."

Gene screeched, "You what?!"

"Also," Brad said, walking over to the others, "the ninja saved my life- a kindness I plan to return."

And all the other boys walked so they were standing behind Hikari and Lloyd. Gene looked rather unhappy, and more nervous than evil. "My dad is going to be soo mad," he groaned.

Lloyd chuckled. "Yeah- join the club."

And Gene did.

"Now then, I think I have a plan," Lloyd said, smiling at the boys slightly, "who here can sew?"

All the boys let out an exclamation as Lloyd raised his free hand. "SEW?" Brad shouted, loudly.

"Yes, sew. Or, at least mend clothing with a sewing needle and thread," Hikari piped up, and all the boys reluctantly raised their hands.

The next few minutes ("we have to pull this off as fast as we can," Hikari said, sewing an outfit for Gene furiously and almost pricking her finger) was a hectic mess of sewing needles, thread, and bolts of red, white, black, and blue cloth all over the floor. And scissors. Lots of scissors. Turned out all the boys at Darkley were expert sewers ("you guys should start a costume making service," Hikari told them, half jokingly and half serious) and soon they all pulled on ninja outfits. Except for Hikari and Lloyd, who were already wearing their's, of course.

They charged into the hallway. "Ninja-GO!" both Lloyd and Hikari shouted, to find most of the hallway overturned and the ninja still in the throes of battle. "NINJA-GO!" they shouted again, flooding into the hallway and into the middle of the battle along with the rest of the students.

"Huh, really is Ninja Day," Cole said, admiringly.

Kai blocked a few more hits. "Ohhh, I see what they're doing," he said, suddenly, "they're trying to confuse them!"

"Yeah, but it's confusing me, too!" Jay said, ducking one hit as the boys all flooded into the hallway.

The kids all jumped on Bizarro Zane (since he had red eyes, pale skin, and cruel expression, unlike the real Zane- hey, that was good! These were the Bizarro Ninja now) and knocked him over, but he kicked them all out of the area.

"Keep your focus. Ninja-GO!" Zane shouted, and Spinjitzued into Bizarro Zane. They spun around a bit before spitting him out, knocking Bizarro Zane into a shelf and making him burst into fine black dust.

"It works just as Gene said!" Lloyd yelled, "if you can land a hit, they'll be defeated!"

Lloyd dodged as Bizarro Jay tried to punch him, and Hikari stuck her leg out. Bizarro Jay tripped over the leg as Hikari skipped out of the way.

Bizarro Cole started throwing students around, until Hikari spun into him with her Spinjitzu tornado suddenly. "Got you!" she shouted, knocking him away straight into Cole's punch. "Good riddance!" Cole yelled, dispersing Bizarro Cole into the same dust. Hikari felt the tugging in her gut and the twinge in her head she usually got when she sensed a death.

The two Jays were grappling. "Don't think you can get rid of us that easily," Bizarro Jay sneered, "by the way, did I mention that I kissed Nya?"

"WHAT?!" Every student cringed in pain as Jay's voice rang through the hallway.

Jay flipped over Bizarro Jay and kicked him right in the back, making Bizarro Jay explode into dust. "NOBODY kisses my girl!" Jay yelled through his mask, sounding furious.

A smoke bomb hit Bizarro Kai in the eyes, and he yelled in pain. "Argh! I- I can't see! Ahh!" he groaned, and Kai walked up to him casually. Kai tapped him on the shoulder. Bizarro Kai turned, and Kai punched him into the wall, making him dissolve again.

Everyone in the hallway cheered loudly as Brad shouted, "Lloyd, Hikari, you did it!"

"No," Lloyd spoke again, "WE did it!"

More cheering as Hikari beamed happily. As if on an impulse, both boys grabbed Hikari in a hug. Then they glared daggers at each other. She was happily oblivious to it, though, squirming out of their grip, dusting herself off... and then tackling Lloyd to the floor. "You were brilliant, Lloyd, just brilliant! That idea with the sewing, BRILLIANT!" she squealed, happily.

Lloyd grinned at her. Brad smiled slightly, before whispering to Lloyd, "You'd better watch out for her, Lloyd."

"Don't I always?" Lloyd smirked at Brad as the teachers came out of the closet. "Normally, we'd punish you for holding us captive," Principal Noble said, approaching all of the boys and the ninja, "but I guess now that we've all learned a valuable lesson, I guess that's cause for a celebration."

Hikari giggled at Cole's hopeful expression, and said to them, kindly, "That wouldn't mean cake, now would it?" she asked, cheerfully.

x

Cole took the dragon as the rest of the ninja took the Ultra-Sonic Raider. Lloyd sat in the farthest seat, and Hikari sat next to him- they fit at a very tight squeeze, especially since Nya had widened the seat a little due to people saying it was not a comfortable seat.

They all joked around (while Cole ate some cake that they'd let him take home), until the front screen flickered to life. Lord Garmadon stood there with the Mega-Weapon, glaring at them. "So... it's true. You HAVE destroyed my evil ninja."

"Keep it comin', Garmadon," Kai said confidently, "your attempts to stop us are only making us stronger!"

Garmadon tried to reply, but the screen flickered, and then changed to static.

"Nya will be displeased... she just repaired it," Zane commented, "and it appears it ALREADY has to go back to the shop."

"Nahh, it's not broken," Lloyd said, pulling something out and handing one to Hikari. When Kai twisted it looked like two game controllers.

The two of them- Hikari and Lloyd- sent another flood of electricity into the system, and video game music began to play, two little fighting avatars appearing on that screen.

They all looked at them, having to raise their heads a little. "You two did that? But- it didn't blow up!"

"Hey, you go to school," Lloyd said, grinning slightly, and Hikari finished for him, "and sometimes you might pick up a thing or two!"

Everyone burst out laughing as Lloyd and Hikari started battling each other on the screen, joking to one another about how one was going to kick the others butt, and the whole time not noticing that they were leaning into one another slightly.

A/N: Soo much Llokari fluff... hey, and Brad Tudabone had a fun little role in this chapter!

OMG, this story gets soo much positive feedback! Thanks, everyone!

Responses to commenters!

Fanfiction:

Michelle Rita: Well, no, at that time I lost interest, but now my brain is back in Ninjago mode full time! I don't really pace myself, I write as fast as I can in case I can't update (like I couldn't yesterday).

Shelly Marsh: Yeah, Llokari fluff is the best fluff. x3 I can't wait for that episode either- I think there are only three more!

MMM: Well, you has your answer- and yes, I have, actually. The only thing I can say to answer that question fully is, if you want a different perspective, you're going to like Season 4. :)

Quotev:

Kai Alison Flame: Thanks! I'm glad you found it funny :)

DarkTeddyXX: Mine is a tie between Kai and Lloyd.

lloydninjago: Haha, nice Star Wars reference.

cookiecat567: I do like SAO, yeah, but like I said in my reply, it was mostly an accident (for the dad's name, not the face claim). Do you like SAO too?

x.X. A.L. X.x