Hikari watched as Lloyd bossed the Hypnobrai around on the building of the treehouse.

OK, it was cool, but a bunch of the Hypnobrai had gotten hurt by accident already, and Hikari was turning into a nurse. She could cook, nurse people, but when it came to fighting or hurting people (or heights. Or snakes. Or spiders) she balked and became unable to do anything.

Yeah, she was useless at non-household things.

She had become the resident 'doctor' at the treehouse, so if a Serpentine got hurt they'd sneak off over to her and have her dress their wounds.

"Misssss Hikarrri?"

Hikari practically jumped out of her skin as she turned around to see one of the Hypnobrai. "Oh... yeah?"

"I hurt my hand..." The Hypnobrai held out a rather scuffed-up hand.

"Oh, I'm sorry... here," she said, and she drew over a makeshift first aid kit. These snakes... were not so bad, to be honest. They were nice, so that was good.

As Hikari bound his hand, she happened to glance up, and she almost froze when she saw... well, what she saw.

A tall, thin young man seemed to be standing a certain distance away. He had slightly blonde hair, from what Hikari could see.

Was it... one of the ninja...?

"Misss Hikari? Is sssssomettthhing wrong?"

Hikari realized she had paused in the middle of her 'treatment'. "Oh! No, I thought I saw something a little earlier. But really, it's nothing."

She went back to treating the snake's hand, although she glanced up at the last moment. The white man had disappeared.

Had she just been imagining it?

"Hey! Hikari!"

Hikari shook out of her reverie and turned to see Lloyd. His cheeks were slightly pink, although Hikari didn't really know why. "Hi Lloyd!" she said cheerfully. "What's up?"

"Um... well, it's time to sleep, and... um... well, all of the Serpentine took up all the space inside. So... we have to sleep on the roof..."

Hikari's face grew a bit more solemn. She didn't much like heights.

OK, well, that wasn't entirely true. Hikari was fine with heights. She was just scared of falling off wherever she was.

"So..."

"Yeah. Are you going to be okay with it? We can sleep somewhere else if you'd like-"

Hikari shook her head. "No, I'll be fine as long as we're somewhere stable."

Lloyd gave her a look before shrugging. "O...K."

The two of them went up to the roof. Hikari lay down next to him, staring up at the stars, that shone like pure diamonds in the sky.

A soft snoring came from Lloyd, showing that he had fallen asleep. Hikari turned to look at him, and remembered the day she had met him.

Hikari shivered. The house was chilly and empty, like usual. Her parents hadn't returned yet, but she was scared. She had tried the door to the basement, where she was staying, but it was locked. There were no sounds upstairs from her parents.

Where were they?

Mommy...

Daddy...

Where are you...?

As Hikari sat there, quietly, she looked around. Her eyes lit upon a small window, high up, almost nestled in a corner near the ceiling.

Why not?

Within a few hours and several scratches, Hikari had built a slightly wobbly staircase- of chairs, books, and a few odds and ends.

Hikari scrambled up her makeshift staircase, her hand barely catching the windowsill- just as the staircase collapsed beneath her.

Hikari's arms trembled as she managed to get up to the height of the window, and with a copious amount of wiggling and squirming, she managed to squeeze through the tiny window.

Sunlight warmed her arms and legs and her face, and she could feel a slight breeze. She was out!

Hikari smiled and almost laughed with relief. As she looked around, she spotted a boy walking down the street. He had a black hoodie on, which concealed most of his face, and looked about her age.

Curiosity won over caution- Hikari had never made friends when she was a child, or even talked to others- and she ran over to him. By the time her short, tiny legs managed to carry her to the corner, the boy was already walking away even further.

Hikari followed him in this manner for several minutes, until, he suddenly turned around, making Hikari, who had managed to catch up to him, run into his body and ricochet off of him. She was REALLY tiny...

"What are you doing?" the boy asked with a scowl. "Why are you following me?"

Hikari scrambled to her feet and smiled at him, as brightly as she could. "U-um, I wanted to say hi! I'm Hikari!" She held out her hand.

The boy stared at her suspiciously before taking her hand, giving it a short, abrupt shake, then dropping it. "Lloyd. Now leave me alone."

"But I can't... I don't know where I am..." And that was true. Hikari had been so intent on following him, and she had never been outside of the house except into the backyard, that she had absolutely no idea where she was at the moment.

Lloyd groaned. "I'll take you back. Just tell me the address and we'll find it."

Hikari blinked. "Add...ress?"

Lloyd facepalmed. "... never mind. We'll just wander around until you find it."

"Hikari!"

Hikari woke to Lloyd's gentle shaking- so different from the Lloyd she had known several years ago. Looking up, squinting against the sun, she realized it was morning. She had been dreaming.

"Mm?"

"You ready to keep building the treehouse today?"

Hikari shrugged and struggled to her feet. Another day of just sitting around and waiting for snakes to come over to where she was.

As the day progressed with less incident than the day before, Hikari watched the trees nearby, mostly the vines connecting the treehouse. As she watched, a flash of white and blue caught the corner of her eye, and she turned to see the man from the night before and the blue ninja- Zane and Jay?- climbing up the tree.

Curiously, Hikari began to climb up to the roof, popping her head out- just as the treehouse trembled and fell to the side.

Her throat jumped into her throat as she managed to clamber a bit higher. Three of the ninja- Zane, Kai, and Jay- were backing away from the black ninja.

Hikari looked around frantically, grabbed a loose tile from the roof, and pitched it at Cole as hard as she could (which, of course, wasn't all that hard).

It bounced off the back of his head, and he turned to see her. His eyes were swirling pools... he'd been hypnotized...

He began to advance towards her, and Hikari inched backwards before the roof broke under her hands, and she fell off the ladder-

A pair of arms caught her, and she realized it was Lloyd. Blushing slightly, she squirmed out of his arms. "Um, thanks Lloyd," she said.

"You're welcome," he replied, as Skales walked over and said, gleefully, "We should've done thisss a long time ago!"

Flipping a lever, the floor suddenly gave out beneath Lloyd and Hikari, who let out a squeak. Lloyd wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Don't worry! We won't get hurt," he told her, although to be honest he really wasn't sure.

Hikari's chest began to heave, her eyes widened, and all she could hear before a buzzing filled her ears and her vision became black from her panic attack was the sweet strains of a flute...

(LLOYD'S POV)

Lloyd felt Hikari go slightly limp, and he groaned. "Ughh... a panic attack..." he moaned, hugging her more tightly.

A blush crept across his cheeks as he fell, before he landed on something soft and bounced sideways into something that was less soft- a rope!

It was tied around his wrist, but one arm was loose so he could tote Hikari around.

Before they returned to the cavern, the Serpentine went to the monastery, where the ninja lived. Lloyd watched in slight confusion as they looked around.

A minute later, Skales came out with the golden staff, and shouted, "Burn the place down!"

A few Serpentine tossed torches onto the wooden floors, and the wood first smoked, then burned. Lloyd coughed slightly from the plumes of smoke it sent up as the Serpentine began to walk back to the caverns.

As they returned to the cavern, Lloyd whispered to the General, "General! Take the staff back! Um, you're... still under my control, right?"

The General began to bark orders at Skales, and the next thing Lloyd knew he was tied to an ice pillar with Hikari while the Hypnobrai chanted 'Slither Pit! Slither Pit!'

The General began to fight with Skales, and Lloyd looked around before noticing an old map nestled into a sort of cubbyhole nearby. It was closer to Hikari than it was to Lloyd, though...

Hikari woke up right then, a soft groan filling her throat. "L..Lloyd...?"

Lloyd knelt down and whispered, "You see that scroll in the cubbyhole right there?"

Hikari looked up obediently and spotted it. "Yeah...?"

"Could you grab it?"

Hikari hesitated before shrugging, leaning over, and grabbing it. Handing it to him, she turned to watch the Slither Pit, her expression becoming guarded. "Ah... Lloyd!"

Lloyd turned back to the Slither Pit, and his eyes widened. The General lay on the ground, as though injured. "Uh... get up! Get up!" he squeaked in fright.

The General tried his best to respond to Lloyd's command, before slumping back to the ground, unable to move.

As Skale's legs and the General's tail switched places, Skales turned to Lloyd and Hikari. "Leave! And never return!"

Lloyd took Hikari's hand and began to run out of the cave. Hikari skidded slightly on the icy floor, facing Skales a bit, and this is why she noticed Skale's eye wink and his mouth mouth the words, 'Thank you.'

(Time skip of maybe three hours brought to you by Baymax, your personal healthcare companion)

Lloyd and Hikari began to struggle through the desert, looking around. Lloyd suddenly froze, staring at something in the distance.

Hikari followed his gaze to see the ninja on a ship, talking to one another and laughing. It was hard to see them against the setting sun, but it was definitely them.

Lloyd sighed moodily and began to walk away. Hikari had to rush to keep up with him, as Lloyd muttered, "Awww... I get kicked out of the Serpentine tribe and the ninja get an awesome ship..."

Hikari beamed at him. "But you also get me!" she chirped. "After all, we're friends forever, right?"

Lloyd couldn't help smirking a little at his friend's face. "Yeah... I guess..."

"Don't worry. I'll follow you anywhere you go, even if we don't know where we'll end up. After all, that's what friends are for, right?"

Lloyd slowly let a smile- a real one, not just a smirk- come across his face. "Yeah. That's what friends are for."

As they walked off into the desert, Lloyd was glad that his hoodie hid his growing grin.

As much as he thought the ninja didn't deserve an awesome ship, he was glad that his best friend was still with him.

A/N: Aww... fluffies!

OK, sorry about not focusing on the ninja this chapter, but I thought it'd be a little cool to show what the Serpentine did to the ship, as well as show a little bit of Hikari's background and past with Lloyd.

Review!

x.X. A.L. X.x