"We'll be dealing with yesterday's hoard this morning. That will take a while." Lloyd announced, not looking up from his plate during breakfast. 

   The other boys nodded, not bothering to answer since they knew the protocol.

  "What are we doing?" Harumi piped up. 

   "You lot will be training again, after the stunt you pulled yesterday, it seems that you'll be needing it." Lloyd glanced up briefly. 

   The girls bit their lips. 

  Nya lifted her head and caught Jay's eye. They stared at each other before bursting out in shouts of laughter. 

   Harumi, Skylor and Seliel looked on with shock clearly printed on their faces while Pixal looked on in amusement. The other boys just looked startled. 

    "Is their something amusing you, Jay, Nya?" Lloyd asked, a slight mocking lacing his tone, but mischief lighting up his eyes, further stunning the rest of the girls. 

   "Oh! Nothing, just something that happened last night." Jay hurriedly said, biting back another rush of laughter. 

    "Well then," Lloyd said, rising to his feet, "once you're done with your breakfast and with your merriment, join me down in the hold. Girls, Flintlock, Dogshank, Paleman and Nelson will be teaching you this morning." 

   Kai and Zane rose and followed Lloyd out the door, already finished eating. 

  Harumi stared after them, then sighed. "I haven't gotten round to apologising to Captain Lloyd yet." 

  "Apologising?" Jay asked. Cole too looked in her direction.

  "For what I said the other evening. Faith told us a bit of Lloyd's past, not much, but enough. I feel awful about what I said and he didn't deserve them." Harumi confessed. 

    "I'm sure you'll get a chance." Cole said sympathetically. He and Jay finished up and left, but not before the girls noticed Jay giving Nya a grin. 

   "So," Seliel smirked, "what's going on between you and Commander Jay?" 

  "Yeah, you to seem to have gotten close." Skylor piped up. 

  "W-what? I have no idea what you're talking about." Nya stammered, flustered, "J-jay and I are only friends." 

   "Jay? On first name terms with no 'commander' now are we?" Pixal raised an eyebrow. 

   "H-he, ummm, he said I could just call them by their names, no commander or captain. He said you could all do that too." Nya bit her lip, her cheeks were dusted a light pink. 

   "Hmmm... really? I saw the look you gave him." Harumi smiled innocently at her friend. 

   "What look?" Nya's head snapped up.

    Skylor and Harumi exchanged knowing glances while Pixal and Seliel bit back a fit of giggles. 

  "What look?!" Nya pressed on, fidgeting. 

     "You're heart was practically in your eyes!" Skylor burst out. 

    "You have a huge crush on him!" Harumi and Seliel added, giggling. 

   "What?! I do not!" Nya tried to deny, but it was no use. The others had already burst into song. 

      "Wise men say, only fools rush in!" Seliel started. 

    "But I can't help falling in love with you!" Harumi and Skylor sang together. 

   "Ugh! Guys, please stop! I do not have a crush on him!" Nya tried to stop her friends, but it was no use. 

     "Like the river flows, surely to the sea. Darling so it goes, somethings were meant to be!" Pixal pitched in. 

    "No, please! I don't have a crush on Jay! We've only just met and we're friends." Nya huffed. 

   "Number one way to know someone has a crush is that they deny it." Pixal retorted, before she and the other three launched back into song.

   "Take my hand, take my whole life too. But I can't help falling in love with you!" 

    "What in Ninjago is going on in here?" 

   All the girls snapped their head round to see Kai standing in the doorway with a bewildered expression on his face. 

   "Ummm... we were, ummm, just doing something." Seliel tried. 

   "I come back to grab my pistol that I left behind and you lot are singing at the top of your lungs." Kai raised an eyebrow as he walked over to his place and retrieved his pistol. 

  "Nya has a -" Skylor started to say but Nya reached over and shoved an apple in her mouth.

  "Nya has a what?" Kai asked, looking even more confused. 

     "Nothing, nothing at all. They're just being silly." Nya smiled sweetly. 

    "Okay...?" Kai said slowly before he shook his head and left. 

    "Thank goodness," Nya exhaled, "that was close." Turning on her friends, "Will you please stop? Jay and I are friends. I don't have a crush on him." 

    "Yes you do!" Skylor smirked. 

   "I could same the same for you and Kai!" Nya shot back, looking victorious. 

      Skylor froze, before she started stammering, looking flustered. 

    "I-I don't have a clue what you're talking about." Skylor huffed. 

    "Yeah you do!" Nya grinned. 

   "Well, we need to get going or we'll be late." Skylor stuck her nose in the air, embarrassed as she tried to get the attention off her. 

    The girls laughed as they made their way up to the main deck. But weren't laughing for long. 

   "Nice to see you so merry." Flintlock commented dryly, though their was a teasing glint in his eyes. He shoved muskets into their hands. 

  "What are we doing with these?" Nya asked, confused. 

  "You're going to polish them then chuck them overboard." Paleman said sarcastically, "You're going to learn how to use them of course! What do you think you're going to do with them?!" 

   "Sorry." Nya mumbled. 

  Dogshank sighed. "Right, practise bullets in that. But we'll have you shoot with real ones and proper gunpowder once you've got the hang of it." 

   They groaned softly under their breath. Another nightmare. 

             ⚔⚔⚔⚔⚓⚔⚔⚔⚔  

      "Mom! Help! Help me, please!" 

      Libber tossed and turned. She could hear a young boy's voice in her dreams but couldn't see a thing.

    "Mom! Help! Dad, mom, help us, please!" The child cried. 

    "Jay?" Libber murmured in her sleep.

   Suddenly her dreams changed, she was now on an island. 

    Soldiers were battling fiercely up and down the dark, rocky beach, battling black figures. Libber turned around wildly. Ten figures caught her attention. Five of them she recognised as Harumi, Nya, Skylor, Seliel and Pixal. The other five, boys she could tell, were unrecognisable. The boys seemed to be protecting the girls, although the girls seemed to be holding their own. 

    "Watch out!" Libber called out, spotting someone aiming their musket at them. 

   She couldn't move. She wanted to, she wanted to run towards them. To help them, to save them. But she couldn't. He feet were glued to the spot. She screamed and called out warnings but they couldn't hear her.

    Gunshots were heard, but they came from more than one musket.

  Three of the boys fell. 

   The girls were screaming as they dropped to their knees beside the fallen boys. Tears were rolling down their cheeks. 

  The remaining boys fought back, eyes burning with rage and revenge. 

  Although the girls were screaming and bawling their eyes out, and the two boys roaring with anger, Libber couldn't hear a word they heard. 

   Suddenly, another voice started speaking. 

  "Well, how about a story?" An unknown voice asked creepily.

  "Save it for someone who'll listen!" Libber recognised Skylor's voice. 

   Then the voices changed rapidly. 

     "Man overboard!" 

   "Starboard side! Grab the rope, pull!"

     "Look out!"

    "What in Ninjago do you think you're doing here?!" 

    "We want to stay." 

    "Make yourself useful and lend me a hand." 

   "Careful, if you tense up, you could do yourself more harm then your enemy." 

     "Sit down or I'll tie you down!" 

      "HELP!" 

    Libber bolted upright, breathing heavily and shaking all over. She looked around the room. Ray and Maya's palace, She remembered. 

    She got up and pulled on a dressing gown. 

  Walking out onto the balcony, Libber noticed that the sun was low in the sky. 

    The wind blew through her hair, whispering. 

   She closed her eyes and breathed before opening them again. Taking out the lightning pendant, she looked at the small inscription on the back. 

   Our precious lightning bolt, Jay. We Love You.   

   "I see your awake, dinner should be ready soon." 

  Libber turned to see Cliff walking towards her. 

   "Hey," Libber smiled, "How's the meetings and planning going on?" She asked. 

 "All right, still no sign of the girls, our their captor or captors." Cliff sighed, running a hand through his hair. 

  "I'm sure we'll find them again." Libber said, trying to be reassuring. Cliff knew she wasn't just talking about the girls. 

  "It's hard for Ray and Maya. They've lost two now." Cliff looked out towards the sea. 

  Silence fell, as both didn't know what else to say. 

    "Should we go and join the others?" Libber asked, "I'll go get ready." 

  Cliff nodded before returning to look at the sea. 

                   ⚔⚔⚔⚔⚓⚔⚔⚔⚔ 

      All the girls were in Harumi's room while they waited and got ready for dinner. 

   "Muskets are even harder then pistols." Nya groaned as she fell on the bed, covering her face with a pillow. 

   "That is because they are bigger." Pixal stated, brushing her silvery-blonde hair. 

  "I can't believe Lloyd helped me again, I thought he hates me right now?" Harumi looked up from a book she randomly picked off the shelf in the dining saloon. 

  "Perhaps he got sick and tired of seeing you making mistakes and missing the target!" Seliel laughed. Skylor and Nya joined her. 

   "It's not funny." Harumi grumbled. 

   They were interrupted when a knock sounded on the door. 

  Pixal got to her feet and opened the door, stepping back in shock at who stood in the doorway. 

  "Ladies," Lloyd nodded his head. 

  "Captain Lloyd! What do we owe the pleasure of having you here?" Nya asked, surprised. 

  "I believe I owe you girls an apology. I haven't been... sociable." Lloyd explained, "Faith has told me that she told you why." 

  "Yes, she has. And we accept your apology. If our trust was played with, we too wouldn't trust anyone as quickly." Pixal smiled. 

   Lloyd nodded before turning to look at the other girls. 

  "It's all right, really. No need to apologise. Is it too much to ask if we could be, I don't know, friends from now on?" Nya asked. 

   "Friends." Lloyd agreed, smiling slightly. "Well, I'll take my leave, girls. Dinner is a little later than usual since we're still sorting out the loot." And with that, he left. 

     Harumi stared at the spot where he was before she jumped to her feet. 

   "Where are you going?" Skylor called out after her. 

  "I need to do something. I'll be back!" Harumi replied. 

 She passed Nelson and hurriedly asked him, "Where's Captain Lloyd?" 

  "Lloyd's gone up on the Quarter Deck." Nelson pointed upwards, "Why?" He asked, but she was already gone. 

   Harumi stepped out onto the Main deck and looked around. Spotting Lloyd up on the Quarter Deck, she made her way towards him. 

   "C-captain Lloyd?" Harumi sounded hesitant. 

   Lloyd turned to face her, raising an eyebrow. 

     Taking a deep breath, everything came rushing out. 

   "I wanted to talk to you, but I never got a chance. I tried to talk to you yesterday but we nearly got into another argument, then there was the looting, which to be honest was the scariest thing I've ever done in my life, and then you were scolding and yelling at us for acting so stupidly, there wasn't time to speak to you. And I thought you hated me because of what I said the other night, because you've been avoiding me since then -" 

   "Get to the point, Harumi." Lloyd said, although he looked amused. 

   "The thing is, I wanted to apologise. I'm sorry for what I said to you, you didn't deserve it. After Faith explained I felt so bad about what I said, I just felt absolutely terrible! I'm so, so, sorry! Really I am. And I hope sometime you'll forgive me." Harumi burst out, looking down at the floor. 

   "It's fine, I forgive you. And," Lloyd smiled, "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have blown up on you and said those things. Forgive me?" 

   Harumi looked up, startled, before smiling back. "I forgive you too. And let's face it, I deserve some of what you said to me." 

   They both laughed. Although Harumi was once again startled. Hearing him laugh caught her off guard. 

    "So, friends?" Harumi asked. 

   "Friends." Lloyd smiled, sticking out his hand to shake hands. She took it, ignoring the tingling that surfaced when they touched. 

   "Oi! Lloyd! We need you down in the hold for a minute." Kai called up from the main deck.

   "Coming!" Lloyd called back. Turning back to Harumi, "I'd better go before Kai gets all worked up." He laughed. Harumi joined him. 

   "See you at dinner." Lloyd said. He lifted her hand, giving a bow while he kissed it. He rushed off before Kai could yell again. 

    "See you." Harumi breathed. This time, unable to ignore the tingling and the butterflies that arose inside her. 

      ⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓⚓ 

     Chapter 10!!!! (Word Count: 2236 )

   Hope you enjoyed reading it!!! 

 Rights for 'Can't help falling in love with you' belongs to Elvis Presley.

   Anyway, there's the turning point!! And some Jaya and Lloyrumi! Hehehehe.... 

Plus some interesting dreams for Libber.... what are your thoughts on them??? 

   See you all in the next chapter!!! 

  Claire xxx ⚓