At long last, here's chapter one! I'm so sorry that it came out later than I had hoped, everything has just been so crazy lately. I seriously wrote most of this while I was in the car on a road trip with my family and super sleep deprived, so I really hope that it's not too bad!

I must admit, I had way too much fun getting to write this first chapter in y/n's point of view, though I'm sure that it was a lot more amusing in my head than it actually is in real life. Seriously though, y/n's great, and I love her way too much already. XDD 

Thank you all so much for your support so far! I honestly wasn't expecting to have such a great response to this when I finally got around to posting it, but you've all been so kind and your messages truly made my day! I really hope that you enjoy this chapter, and thank you again so much for your support! <333  

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( reader )

I'd spent a large portion of my teenage years preparing for something like this, but even when it finally came to pass, it still felt like a dream: far-off and unreachable, impossible, even.

After spending my whole life on my family's farm, taking care of animals, plants, and children, I was finally out on my own, and able to have an adventure, experience new things, and meet new people.

It wasn't that I didn't love my family, I cared very deeply about them, but after almost twenty years of living a fairly sheltered life out in the country, I was ready to try something new, and to get out on my own for a little while.

Which was why, for the last several years, all of my savings had been set aside for this trip. After months and months of preparation and planning, here I was at last, arriving at the place which was soon to become my new home, at least for the time being.

"You are now entering Ninjago City", the sign read, and I couldn't help but notice that below it was nailed a scrap of wood, on which the words: "turn back while you still can"  had been painted in white rather messily. Charming.

My lips quirked up into an amused smile as I drove past the sign, unfazed by its warning and honestly kind of surprised that no one had taken that piece of wood down yet.

It had probably just been some teenagers being stupid. There was no way that I was going to let it ruin my evening, though part of me couldn't help but wonder if there was any particular reasoning behind their words.

I'd heard stories, of course, about Ninjago City. Even living out in the country you still hear about things from big cities every now and then, and I'd heard plenty about the place where I would soon be making my home.

Stories of an evil warlord with four arms and an army of shark generals who terrorized the city and murdered whomever he pleased, of the brave group of ninja who opposed him and protected the city, and even of his infamous son, Lloyd Garmadon.

Heck, the things that I'd heard of Lloyd rivaled the stories of his father in just the amount of sheer nonsense, and I'm pretty sure that 99.9999% of them were made up, even though I'd only heard bits and pieces.

If I was being honest, I really pitied the kid. No one deserves to be treated so horribly just because of who their parents are, and I think it's sad that he has to deal with that kind of stuff on a daily basis.

Just then the peaceful notes of a Chopin waltz broke through the silence, interrupting my thoughts and bringing me back to reality.

Speaking of parents...

With one hand I hastily fumbled with my phone, attempting to push speaker  while also trying to keep my eyes on the road, and by some miracle, it worked.

"Hey Mom!" I greeted, forcing both a cheerful voice and a cheerful smile. She and my sister had both been checking up on me rather frequently throughout the day, and though I did appreciate the gesture, it had grown rather tiresome.

"Hey sweetheart! How are things going so far? I just wanted to check in real quick, I hope you're doing well!"

I smiled a little despite myself as I tried to make out everything, I was getting a lot of interference from what sounded like wind on her end. She must be outside.

"Things are going well, not much has happened since you last called. I'm just now entering Ninjago City though, so I won't be able to talk long. I still have to find my apartment and everything."

"Ah, makes sense. Well, I won't keep you long then, just wanted to make sure that you were doing alright. Don't forget to call me if you need anything."

I chuckled softly at this, nodding in agreement even though she couldn't see it. "Will do, Mom. How are things there?"

"Pretty good, we're just about to get dinner on the table. Everyone's missing you a whole lot, especially your dad, I think, and we're wishing you luck in your trip and getting settled in and all."

I hummed in agreement, taking a moment to listen to my GPS's words of instruction before speaking again.

"I'm definitely missing you guys too. Tell Dad and everyone else that I said hey, and I'll be sure to send pictures."

Mom laughed at that, though I didn't see anything particularly amusing about what I'd said. Most likely she was just glad to hear my voice again, and I couldn't help but feel the same about her. It had only been a couple hours, hut I already missed everyone a ton.

"Well, I don't want to distract you any longer, and I really should finish up a couple of things before dinner. Make sure you drive safely. Love you hon."

"Thanks, Mom. Love you too. Bye."

I reached back over to my phone to press end call, then turned my full attention back to the road ahead of me. Just in time too, since I was heading into some pretty heavy traffic.

And... construction? I think that's what it was up ahead of me, though it was hard to tell. All I knew was that there were traffic cones everywhere, and a bunch of people in hard hats and vests, and a ton of equipment of various kinds around an apartment whose top resembled the upper half of a LEGO building that had been knocked off by some kid.

You'd think GPS would have warned me about something this big, but nope. Even though she thinks she's all knowing, somehow she missed this. And now she's squawking at me because I have to take a bunch of detours and she has to reroute everything. What a day.

I grumbled under my breath in irritation, wishing that the GPS would please just shut up for five seconds while I focused on finding the darn exit and tried really hard not to get run over by a semi truck.

Tonight was just really not my night. I hadn't even been here in Ninjago City for more than five minutes and I was already a stressed out, annoyed, and now quite possibly lost mess.

It should have been some sort of comfort to know that everyone else was just as confused and stressed out as I was, but it just made things so much worse. Everyone was driving like a madman, and it was honestly quite terrifying.

Six more turns and one overcrowded intersection later, I ended up on some side street somewhere behind a couple of stores. It seemed pretty quiet, and no one else was around, surprisingly, so I took the opportunity to pull the car over and try and put my life back together.

My GPS was still trying to plot out the best route, and also still totally driving me insane, so I decided that now would be the perfect time to get some air.

I grabbed a map from my purse and hopped put of the car, relishing my first deep breath of fresh (if you could call it that) air outside of my car.

Then I checked the time, frustrated to find that it was almost seven. Things had gotten crazy, there'd been a ton of unplanned obstacles, and this trip had already taken a whole lot longer than I would have liked, and now on top of that, I was kind of just a little bit lost.

Chewing on my bottom lip in irritation, I spread my map of Ninjago City across the hood of my car and began studying it intently, trying to figure out where the heck I was now.

Then something else happened. I had no footsteps, no crack of a twig to warn me, just a second of a weird feeling that someone was watching me, so I whirled around to look, my heartbeat quickening as I realized that there was no one there.

Suddenly nervous, I turned back to look at my map again, but this time I was much more alert. So when a random dude somehow managed to sneak up behind me without me noticing until he spoke, I was ready.

"Need some help?"

"I have pepper spray!" I yelled in response, whirling around with my weapon of a keychain in hand, my body shifting into fight mode. The sight that greeted me, however, was not at all what I was expecting.

An all too familiar looking male in a green ninja gi and a mask held up his hands, palms facing me in a gesture of surrender, his eyes wide and a rather startled (maybe even terrified) expression on his face, at least the small bit I could see that wasn't covered by his mask.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" He exclaimed, backing up a few steps as his eyes darted back and forth between me and the pepper spray in my hands.

I know it's cliché, but I swear that I really could feel the blood drain from my face as I gazed up at the Green Ninja in shock, my own eyes now wide as I hastily lowered my own hands, clipping the keychain back onto my belt loop.

"Oh my gosh- I am so so so sorry!" I blurted out with a horrified expression, my face quickly becoming heated as a scarlet blush of shame settled itself on my formerly pale cheeks.

The Green Ninja just laughed in response, he laughed, as if he found this whole thing hilarious. He threw back his head and laughed heartily, eyes scrunching up in amusement so that I could see his smile lines.

"It's totally fine! I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that!" He finally managed to get out, sounding as casual as if this kind of thing had happened to him many times before, while in the meantime, it was all that I could do not to melt into a mortified puddle and sink right through the pavement.

Never in my life had I imagined that I would actually meet one of the ninja. Sure, I'd thought that maybe, hopefully, I'd get to like see one of them or something now that I was here in Ninjago City, but I never would have guessed that I would get to meet one of them, in person, on my first day here.

Of course, it was just my luck that upon meeting the Green Ninja, instead of getting rescued by him, bumping into him, or something else cliché and fairly uneventful, I had to go and nearly pepper spray him in the face.

Gosh, this whole thing was such an embarrassing, awkward mess. How's that for a first impression?

Only the First Spinjitzu Master knows just how much of an idiot, or at least an overly awkward, frightened girl the Green Ninja must think I am now.

Eh, at least he wouldn't be too far from the truth.

"Again, I am so so sorry," I apologized once more, probably sounding like a broken record but honestly too anxious to care. I had already begun fidgeting with my hands, one of my nervous ticks, and was really just hoping that the Green Ninja would both not hate me and not laugh at me for all eternity because of this.

He just waved a hand in dismissal, eyes sparkling with amusement as he gazed down at me. I assumed he was still smiling, it was hard to tell with the mask on, but at least he wasn't laughing anymore.

"It's totally fine, it was really my fault in the first place. I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that, I just happened to notice that you looked a little lost, and wanted to see if you needed directions or anything."

While I was still totally embarrassed about the whole thing, and kind of ashamed that I was so obviously in need of assistance, my heart tightened with gratitude at the Green Ninja's words. Whether or not I wanted to admit it, I could benefit from some directions, and I really appreciated his taking time out of his day to help a random, insignificant stranger.

"If you're sure that it wouldn't be too much trouble, I really would appreciate it. Thank you so much," I said softly, offering the Green Ninja a small smile.

He chuckled a little as I spoke, shaking his head. "It's really no trouble, I promise. Part of my job description is helping damsels in distress after all."

I was about to protest, a little annoyed at being called a damsel in distress, but the Green Ninja just kept on talking, his next words causing me to nearly choke on my own saliva.

"Of course, it does make things a whole lot easier when they're exceptionally pretty damsels in distress."

Was he flirting with me? My heart rate sped up, a fresh blush settling on my cheeks as I looked up at him, prepared to stutter out some sort of reply, when I noticed the twinkle in his eyes.

As the Green Ninja noticed me looking up at him he just winked in response, nose crinkling under his mask as he smiled once more.

"Just teasing," he assured me, sounding way too pleased with himself. It did little to calm my racing heart though, and I scrambled to try and collect what remained of my pride as I focused on his words as he continued speaking.

"Now, about those directions; where are you headed? I know things are a little bit crazy tonight, there's a ton of traffic and it's easy to get turned around even on a normal day. I don't blame you for getting lost."

I smiled at this, put at ease by his words, and chuckled softly despite myself. "I'm headed to Cherry Tree Apartment Complex. According to this map, it should be just on the other side of the city, but GPS wants to take me the long, super confusing way instead."

The Green Ninja hummed in understanding as he stepped up beside me, studying the map laid out across my car hood.

"You're right, it is just across the city, actually not too far from here. Lucky for you, I know a couple of shortcuts that should take you through a few streets that are way less busy. Do you have a pen and paper?"

"I think so, just let me check my purse." Quickly ducking back into my car I located a pencil and a small notebook, which I offered to the Green Ninja as soon as I returned.

"Thanks," he murmured, accepting the items from my hands and placing them down beside the map, leaning over on one elbow against the hood of the car as he began to write a quick note. Peering over his shoulder, I was able to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a couple of street names.

After a moment he finished, and straightened up again as he passed me my pencil and my notebook, where he had written out some directions that actually looked way less confusing than whatever route that the GPS was trying to get me to take.

"There you go. That should do it," he announced with a smile as I accepted the items, tucking them into my pocket.

"Thank you so much, I really appreciate it," I said softly, my voice genuine as I returned his smile with one of my own.

"I'm sure you're like crazy busy with ninja stuff right now, but I'm honestly super grateful that you took the time to help me, even after I almost pepper sprayed you in the face."

The Green Ninja chuckled, his emerald eyes sparkling in the fading light as he shrugged one of his shoulders. "It's no big deal, really. Patrol was getting boring anyway, it was kinda nice to have some sort of distraction.

Speaking of, I really should get back to my 'ninja stuff'," he continued, doing air quotes with his gloved fingers as he gave me another smile. "It was great talking to you though."

I laughed softly as he spoke, a childishly happy grin settling on my face. "Alright, I won't keep you any longer. It was great talking to you too, thanks again."

"Any time!" The Green Ninja responded cheerfully, giving me a two-fingered salute as he backed up a bit before taking a running head start, hopping up onto a dumpster before he flipped up and onto one of the lower roofs of a store.

"See you around!" He called, pausing to look down at me from his high perch while I just watched in amazement. Then before I could even blink, he had completely disappeared. Typical ninja.

For several moments I just stood there, honestly still kind of in shock about the whole thing, but then I realized how foolish I must look just standing there on the street and quickly gathered my things before hopping back into the car.

My confidence restored and with a newfound gratitude for (most of) humanity, I set off for my apartment, a smile still present on my face.

Now that the initial horror and embarrassment of everything had worn off, I was weirdly excited about my encounter with the Green Ninja, and couldn't wait to pass along the story to my family.

Today had certainly not been at all like I had been expecting, so much had happened in such a short time and for a while it had seemed almost as if the whole world was against me, but now that all of that was over, things were shaping up to be a whole lot better than they were earlier.

It was possible that life here in Ninjago City wouldn't be quite so bad after all. 

Besides, what more could happen?