The storm had passed, and they were once again back on the sea.

   Lloyd had recovered from his twisted ankle and had even gotten over the small fever he had acquired after his little stunt in the storm.

    "How are you two not together yet?" Seliel sighed, munching on the sandwich she had in her hand.

     All five girls were sitting in a circle on the main deck, eating their lunch.

    "I don't know what you're talking about," Harumi blushed, "We hugged, that's it. There's nothing else going on."

     "Uh-huh, yeah right and I'm Kai's sister," Nya laughed.

    "I think Lloyd likes you," Skylor looked at the blonde girl sitting across from her, "He definitely has a soft spot for you at least. I mean, have you seen the way he looks at you?"

     "Do you think he might actually like me?" Harumi asked, "He's still got all that thing with Aaron and Eloise. I don't want to do something that might just end up pushing him away instead."

    Pixal dusted her fingers off as she finished her food. "Perhaps it would be best to wait and see if he makes a move then," She suggested.

     "Or we could play matchmaking!" Seliel piped up.

 "Nope, absolutely not!" Skylor shook her head, "We're not forcing them into anything."

     Seliel pouted. "Spoil sport," She muttered earning a laugh from her friends.

     "What mischief are you lot up to now?"

   The girls turned their heads to find Kai leaning against the mast, his red shirt flapping in the wind.

    "We were just talking about Lloyd and Harumi," Nya said.

     Kai raised an eyebrow. "Lloyd and Harumi?" He echoed, "What about them?" He pushed himself away from the mast and walked towards them. He sat down in the spot next to Skylor, leaning on one hand while his other arm draped over his knee.

    "Harumi has a crush on Lloyd and we think that Lloyd might like her back," Seliel explained, "You should see the looks Lloyd has been giving her since we left the island."

    "Seliel!" Harumi hissed. Her whole face was blushing bright red with embarrassment at this rate.

     "What? I'm just telling it as it is," Seliel shrugged, grinning.

    Kai looked at the blushing blonde girl. "You have a crush on Lloyd?" He asked. He wasn't judging or being mean about it, he was just genuinely curious.

    "Well, I mean, yeah," Harumi mumbled, ducking her head shyly.

    The commander just sat there, analysing her before his face broke out into a soft smile. "Lloyd's a good kid," Kai murmured, "He's never had the kind of childhood that normal kids have. We've always tried to make sure that he had some form of childhood. We played with him, we taught him games, and we've spoiled him." He chuckled. "Sometimes, I look at him and realise that he's grown up too fast. He's only seventeen. He had to become a leader at the age of only eleven."

    The girls held their breath, not missing a word he said. It was rare for them to see any of the commanders like this and they were not going to throw away the chance to learn some information.

     "Lloyd's a good kid," Kai repeated, chuckling as he turned his head to look up at the steering wheel where the said captain stood. "He's had a rough time. He's seen things that he should never have seen at his age." He turned back to the girl, his attention more on the girl sitting opposite him. "I think you'll be good for Lloyd," He said, "if you do get together, take care of him." He stood up. "I'd better get back to work. I'll see you girls later." And with that, he turned and walked away.

    The girls sat there, stunned. Four pairs of eyes turned to look at Harumi.

"What's with that look?" Harumi asked.

    "I don't know about the rest of you, but I think Kai just gave you his blessing," Nya's eyes were wide open.

    "Oh my gosh," Seliel whispered.

    "Oh for crying out loud, it's not as if he gave her his blessing for them to get married!" Skylor exclaimed. She paused. "But I have to agree, he just gave you the thumbs up of approval for you to date his younger brother."

     "That would appear to be the case," Pixal agreed.

   Harumi's eyes drifted up to look at the captain. He was talking to Jay, his back slightly towards her, the wind whipping through his hair. He threw back his head and laughed at something the other boy said.

    "But this arrangement," Harumi murmured, "it's not permanent. Sooner or later we're going to have to go back to our parents and the royal life and we'll never see them again."

    The other girls sobered up. They had tried to forget about that, pushing it to the back of their minds.

   "I-I don't know if I could say goodbye to Jay," Nya whispered.

    Skylor placed a sympathetic hand on the younger girl's lap. The last couple of months had been the most fun they have had in their entire lives.

   They got kidnapped at the beginning of August, it was now the first week of October, well into autumn.

    "All we can do is make the best of the time we have here," Pixal said, "Zane and I have been spending a lot of our time together."

    The other girls whipped around to look at her.

"Hold on, back up. What?" Seliel's eyes went round.

    "Did I miss something?" Nya exclaimed, "Since when were the two of you hanging out?"

   "Oh, for quite a while. Since before we went to Stiix, actually," A small smile played at the corner of Pixal's lips, "Zane has been an absolute gentleman."

     "Wait, are you two dating?" Skylor narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the older girl.

   Pixal didn't have to answer. The smile on her face said it all.

Harumi and Nya squealed and tackled their friend to the ground.

    "Since when?!" Seliel gasped, "How did I not notice? I always notice something!"

  "It has not been long, actually," Pixal said, "We started dating back on the island."

     Skylor couldn't believe it. "Pixal you sneak! You've been keeping this a secret from us?!" She leaned forward, the sandwich in her hand long forgotten.

    "How did you two get together? Actually," Harumi held up a hand, "How did this all even start?!"

    Pixal could barely contain her happiness. "It first started when Skylor and I came up for some fresh air one evening. Zane was just finishing his shift at the wheel and came over to say hello. Skylor left the two of us alone," She explained, "Every night after that, we would both come up here and talk."

    "And how did you two start dating then?" Nya asked.

 "Back on the island, he asked me to be his girlfriend, and I said yes," Pixal said.

    The others were shocked. Then the screaming began.

"What is going on now?!" Lloyd yelled down to them.

     "Pixal and Zane are dating!" Harumi squealed, "Can you believe that? They're dating!"

  Lloyd and Jay just stood in pure shock. Mouths wide open, eyes wide. 

     "I think you broke them," Nya whispered, giggling.

    Lloyd snapped out of his daze and barked out to one of his crew to take over the wheel before he grabbed Jay by the arm and began to pull him down.

    "Hey ouch! Lloyd, where are we going?" Jay protested as he stumbled over a piece of rope.

  "Where do you think?" Lloyd grinned. The two disappeared below deck.

     The girls waited five minutes before getting up and following them. It wasn't long before they found all five commanders in the kitchen.

     "Come on Zane! Tell us!" Lloyd begged, practically hanging off the older boy's arm.

 "Yeah Zane, you can't just leave us in the dark like this!" Jay whined. He was on Zane's other arm, shaking it. 

    "You two act like children," Zane sighed, shaking his head with a smile.

"Yes, we do, now please tell us!" Lloyd shook the other's arm.

     Kai and Cole were standing off to the side laughing in disbelief.

   "Hey Zane," Kai called out to his brother, "what the youngest wants, the youngest gets, right?"

   Lloyd shot Kai a pleased smirk before turning back expectantly towards their oldest brother.

    Zane smiled. Kai was right. They could never say no to whatever Jay or Lloyd wanted."Fine, yes. We are dating," He said.

    Lloyd and Jay let out a victorious whoop.

    "Since when?" Cole asked, "Did I miss something completely obvious with those two?" He turned to ask Kai.

    "Don't look at me," Kai raised his hands, "I didn't notice anything either."

  "How did you get together?" Jay asked.

     "Back on the island I asked her one evening if she would like to be my girlfriend and she said yes," Zane left his workstation and approached the girls, who the others just now also noticed were there. He stood behind Pixal and snaked his hands around her waist, placing his chin gently on her shoulder, a smile on his face.

     "We have been so blind," Both Cole and Seliel said at the same time.

    "Oh my gosh so cute!" Nya and Harumi squealed, jumping up and down as they clapped their hands together.

     "Jay, you owe me fifty dollars," Lloyd stood triumphantly, "I told you that either Zane or Cole would get a girlfriend before Kai."

     "Aw, man!" Jay grumbled, fishing out the money from his pocket.

  "Hey!" Kai looked offended.

     "Aw, don't feel bad! I'm sure you'll get a girlfriend someday," Lloyd mockingly patted the boy's arm.

    "There are times when I do not understand them," Zane murmured, placing a soft kiss on Pixal's neck.

    "Do not worry. There are times were I do not understand my friends either," Pixal laughed, turning her head and kissing him on the cheek.

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    The royals were getting frustrated. How could five girls just disappear with no trace?

    "We've searched the Ultra Sea, Your Majesty," General RSeven reported, "There was no suspicious activity. The ships we boarded and searched were all merchant ships. They didn't see anything out of the ordinary either."

     "Thank you, general," Garmadon sighed, "You may go now."

   General RSeven saluted and retreated from the room.

    "It doesn't make any sense!" Queen Lena exclaimed in frustration, "How can they just disappear like that?"

     "King Ray, perhaps we should try going underground again? Check the caves and the tunnels," Lord Julien suggested.

    "I suppose there is no harm in doing that," King Ray sighed, "We should check the catacombs under the city as well."

     "Do you think we should check the dark islands?" Queen Libby ventured out timidly.

    King Max shook his head. "No one sane enough would go to the dark islands," He said.

     King Ray set his mouth in a thin line. They will turn all of Ninjago upside down if they have to in order to find the girls. Nothing will stop them. 

⚔️⚔️⚔️⚓⚔️⚔️⚔️

      "What are you girls making?" Jay asked, leaning over Nya's shoulders. 

   The girls were in the kitchen, and quite frankly, they were just making a huge mess. There was flour all over the tables and remarkably, there was frosting on the ceiling. How it managed to get all the way up there was beyond anyone's guess. 

     "A cake," Nya said simply.

   "A cake for what?" Cole was confused, "Are we celebrating the fact that Zane and Pixal got together? If that's the case, we should have celebrated Jay and Nya too."

     "No, it's not for that," Skylor said calmly as she piped a string of icing onto the sides of the cake. 

     "Then what is it for?" Kai asked. When Skylor wasn't looking, he dipped his finger into the bowl of icing and tasted a little bit. 

     "Hey! Hands away!" Skylor giggled, swatting away at his hands. "And it's not for what, it's for who."

     "Huh?" Jay tilted his head. 

   "Kai said earlier that Lloyd was seventeen," Harumi lifted the second tier of the cake off the counter and placed it on the bottom tier, "I remembered that you said he was sixteen when we first arrived. That means that he must have had his birthday recently. Therefore -"

      "We're going to do a little bit of celebrating!" Seliel threw a handful of flour into the air.

   "SELIEL!" The others yelled, coughing as they choked on the flour. 

         "Oops, sorry!" Seliel giggled sheepishly.

     The other boys went silent. 

         "One can't have a birthday without any cake," Skylor stated, "It'll be fun."

     "It has been years since we last celebrated any of our birthdays," Kai murmured.

         "Well, then, we're starting again now!" Nya grinned. Slyly she scooped up some flour and threw it at his face. 

      "Hey!" Kai spluttered. 

    Jay and Cole burst out laughing. 

        "For goodness sake!" Skylor cried out, "Stop or you'll get flour all over the cake and ruin it!"

     Her words were lost on deaf ear, however, as the others seem to have decided to have a little food fight. 

     In despair, Skylor moved the cake as far away as possible. 

  Zane pulled Pixal into a hug. Apart from Skylor, and Lloyd who wasn't even in the room, they were the only ones who didn't get involved in the shenanigans of their friends. 

     "Would you like to go up to the main deck?" Zane murmured.

   "Yes," Pixal smiled. Kissing him on the cheek, she grabbed his head and pulled him out of the room. 

⚔️⚔️⚔️⚓⚔️⚔️⚔️

SURPRISE!!!! Guess who's back from the dead and ready to become a menace to society???!!!!

One exam down, three to go!!! And then I'm FREE!!!

It was my last day of High School last Friday, and honestly, I'm kinda sad cause I've had a lot of fun times with my friends, but no more school work till I go to Uni!!! 

But anyway, hope you like this surprise chapter!!! I know I promised myself I wouldn't post a new chapter for ANY of my books till after all my exams were over, but I couldn't help myself hehehe

Got a lot of Pixane in this one!

SURPRISE!

Clara x