Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago.

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Monday evening

"Please, tell me again, why exactly are we doing this?" Jay Walker asked his friend, while the two young men were walking towards the restaurant.

"Because you are one of my closest friends, who just happens to be not in a relationship at this moment." Zane stated.

"Yeah, thanks a lot for reminding me." The auburn-haired young man sarcastically replied. "I mean, it's not that my mum wouldn't go on about it every single time I talk to her on the phone."

But as much as he disliked to hear it, Jay could not deny the fact that his friend and his mother were right. He was currently single – again. His relationships never lasted long. But, unlike his friends (and his parents) suspected, he was not purposely avoiding having a serious relationship, and he wouldn't mind settling down one day. Jay simply hadn't found the right girl yet.

He just wasn't as lucky as Cole, his best friend and former college roommate, who had been with his girlfriend since their first year at Ninjago University. Jay himself was one of the few people who knew about Cole's plan to propose to Seliel on Valentine's Day.

"Besides, Pixal is a very nice, extremely intelligent and exceptionally beautiful young woman. I am convinced that you will like her." Zane's statement interrupted his thoughts.

Jay smirked. "If she is so great, why don't you take her on a date?"

To Jay's surprise, his flatmate blushed slighly in response to this question. "I-I do not think she would be interested. We merely see each other as friends." He explained. "Unfortunately." Zane  added, barely audible.

Since Jay had know him, Zane's main focus had always been on realising to his dream to open his own restaurant, as soon as he would have gained enough experience and saved enough money. At the age of only 24, he was already the sous-chef at a small but very popular restaurant. But the late working hours associated with his profession made it very hard for him to find a girlfriend and, until recently, Zane hadn't even shown any interest in dating at all.

But that had changed a few weeks ago, when the restaurant manager had hired a new waitress. Pixal was a student at Ninjago Tech, who worked three to four evenings a week. She and Zane had become good friends. They had now agreed to set up each other with blind dates and go on a double date together for Valentine's Day. (Although today was only the 11th February, but neither Zane nor Pixal would be able to take time off work on the evening of the actual Valentine's Day.) So, Zane had asked his friend and flatmate Jay to be Pixal's date for tonight, whereas she had invited a friend of hers to be Zane's date.

Zane stopped in front of a rather fancy-looking Italian restaurant. "Well, here we are."

"Alright, let's chop-socky this lemonade stand." Jay replied, trying to hide his nervousness with a joke.

Zane gave him a rather confused look. "I do not understand what you are trying to say, but I assume that you are very eager to meet the two lovely ladies."

Jay and Zane entered the restaurant and were greeted by a friendly woman at the reception. "Good evening Sirs. Welcome to Garmadon's. Do you have a reservation?"

"Good evening. We have a booked a table for four, please. The name is Zane Julien." Zane told her.

"Julien... Ah, here we are. Lloyd will be your waiter for tonight." She checked her notes. "We have your table ready, but maybe you would like to wait at the bar, until the other two guests arrive?"

Lloyd, a young man with golden blonde hair, welcomed Jay and Zane and let them to the bar. "Would you like a complimentary drink while you are waiting?"

"No, thank you." Zane declined the offer for both of them and sat down. Jay also took a seat and fiddled nervously with his blue tie.

"Now I understand why you asked me to wear a suit tonight. Seriously, how did you manage to get a reservation at this place? And how in Ninjago are we supposed to afford it?"

"Mr Garmadon was a teacher in one of the masterclasses I attended. And he is trying to recruit me as his new chef, therefore we have all been invited by him tonight."

Before Jay could react to this surprising revelation, two young women entered the restaurant. The taller one was wearing an elegant purple dress. She had green eyes and long light blonde, almost silver, hair in a high ponytail. Jay recognised her as Pixal, from a photo that Zane had shown him.

The other woman in a red dress looked strangely familiar to him as well. She was much shorter than her friend and had short raven-black hair. Jay was wracking his brain from where he knew her. But when she looked at him with her chocolate brown eyes, Jay suddenly remembered who she was.

"Jay." She exclaimed. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in ages."

"Hi Nya." He smiled at her. "What a nice surprise."

"Good evening Mesdames." Zane greeted the two new arrivals. "Pixal, this my friend Jay. Jay, please meet Pixal, my... coworker. And you must be Nya. My name is Zane. I am delighted to meet you."

The four guests followed Lloyd to their round table for four, where a bottle of champagne was waiting for them. Jay took a seat between Pixal and Nya, with Zane sitting opposite him. Lloyd filled their glasses and handed them the menus. "I will be back in a few minutes to take your orders." He told them.

Jay opened his fancy looking menu, only to realise that he was unfamiliar with most items on it. He took a glimpse at Nya who was sitting on his left and saw that she was struggling to choose as well. Zane and Pixal were of course a lot more familiar with the different food items - and luckily, they were very helpful. When Lloyd returned, they had decided to share an antipasto platter for four as starter. For their main courses, Zane and Pixal both wanted to try the Saltimbocca alla Romana, apparently one of the specialities at Garmadon's. Nya was vegetarian, so she asked for the Risotto ai Funghi. Jay was still slightly intimidated by the variety of choices and simply ordered Lasagne Al Forno, one of the very few items on the menu that he had actually recognised. Pixal also chose a bottle of red wine for all of them to go with the food.

Pixal looked curiously at Jay and Nya. "It seems like the two of you are old friends. So, tell me. How do you know each other?"

Nya laughed. "Oh, I wouldn't say that we knew each other well enough to be friends. Jay just went to school with my older brother."

Jay was just a bit disappointed at her interpretation of their relationship, but he didn't want to show it, of course. So he was quick to agree. "Yeah, we-we only met a few times, when Kai and I were working on some science projects together at their home."

And I used to have a major crush on her but was too shy to ask her out. He added in his mind. And she was even prettier today than how he remembered her. She used to have long hair, but was now wearing it in a short bob cut, perfectly accentuating her stunning almond shaped brown eyes.

"How is Kai doing by the way?" He asked, taking a sip from his glass. "I haven't heard from him since we left school."

"Pretty great. Last summer, he got his degree in chemistry from Ninjago Tech. He then joined the police and is currently training to become an explosives specialist."

Jay laughed. "Yeah, he always loved to blow things up."

Nya joined in. "Absolutely. I remember when the two of you set our carpet on fire with one of your 'experiments'. But now he is finally able to make a living from it. And do you remember Skylor, the girl he started dating in your final year at school? Yes, he is still in the same on-off relationship with her."

When their starter arrived, Jay thought that he should pay more attention to his own date than to Zane's, so he turned to the woman sitting on his right.

"So, Pixal. Ahem, I-I heard from Zane that... you are a student at Ninjago Tech?" He asked.

"That is correct. I hope to obtain my degree in computer science this summer." She replied.

"Hope?" Zane threw in. "She has the most brilliant mind I have ever encountered. Pixal has just updated the booking and ordering system at the restaurant completely on her own."

Pixal smiled at him. "That is too kind of you. But my own work pales in comparison to your creations."

Zane was obviously flustered. "Let's-let's not talk about me. What do you do, Nya? Pixal has only told me that you are her roommate at college. It was very thoughtful of her to give me the opportunity to find out more about you myself." He praised his friend.

"I am a medical student, also at Ninjago Tech."

Jay was impressed. "I am sure you will make a great doctor." He said, already abandoning his resolution again to focus on Pixal instead of Nya. But the other girl didn't seem to mind, for Pixal started discussing new ideas about the restaurant management system with Zane.

Nya blushed. "Ah, thank you. So, what are you doing? Do you still like inventing? The last time we met you told me that you wanted to do engineering."

Jay could hardly believe that she remembered their last meeting, just before he left for college. He had definitely not forgotten the hug Nya had given him when they had said goodbye.

"Wow, you do have a great memory. Yes, I have a degree in electrical engineering. And I still get to do some inventing, because I work in the R&D department at Borg Industries."

"I am glad you do. You were always so passionate about your inventions, even though they usually didn't work."

"Please don't tell the last part to Mr Borg."

All through their main course, Jay and Nya kept chatting and laughing among each other, while Zane and Pixal were also having an animated conversation.

I'll never believe him ever again, when Zane tells me that someone is just a friend to him. Jay thought. Why in Ninjago would he set me up with a girl he likes himself?

A pleasant evening was coming to an end, much too soon in Jay's opinion. At Lloyd's recommendation, they had all enjoyed the famous Garmadon's Tiramisu for their dessert.

Zane looked at the girl he had been set up on a blind date with. "Nya, would you like to dance, to conclude our date?" He offered politely.

Nya must have noticed the disappointed look on her roommate's face and quickly declined the offer. "That's very kind of you, Zane, but... I don't really know how to dance. Why don't you dance with Pixal? I happen to know that she is a very skilled dancer."

While Zane led Pixal over the dancefloor in the centre of the restaurant, Jay and Nya stayed at their table.

"You are a horrible liar." Jay told the girl. "I remember that you danced very well at Kai and I's graduation party."

"Well, this was for a good reason." She replied. "They look so lovely together. And I... actually preferred staying here with you." She admitted.

Jay blushed. "I-I am glad you did. And... I would... very much... l-like to... to see you again. And not only in another five years, or so."

Nya smiled, also with a light blush on her cheeks. "That would be very nice."

"Well, I assume that you have no plans for Thursday... only because you went on a blind date today. I mean, it's hard to believe you don't have ten dates for Valentine's Day. At least. But if you don't, then maybe we could go for dinner... and a dance. But... you don't have to if you don't want to, of course..."

"You mean, like a date?"

"Y-yeah."

"I-I would like that. A lot actually. But before I can accept, I want to make sure it's fine with Pixal. After all, you were supposed to be her date tonight."

Jay looked at their friends who were gracefully moving together over the dancefloor.

"Of course, I am also going to ask Zane, if he's okay with me going out with his date." He flashed her a smile. "But I don't think either of them will mind. They appear to be rather happy on their own pre-Valentine's date!"