We are getting some Nalia and Lloyd time. :3
Nalia has no beef with Skales. Only Pythor.
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*The ninjas and Nalia are being shown a worn-down apartment by Patty Keys.*
"This one-bedroom, one-half-bath is a cozy dream. Who needs extras when everything is within arm's reach? Now, wait until you see the lighting." Patty turns on the light, but the bulb flickers, burns out and falls to the ground. "Uh, who needs lights when you have this view? Heh." Opens the window blinds, but the view was a brick wall.
"Uh, why do I smell old people?" Lloyd asked.
"I've gotta be honest here; my cave was at least more homely than this," said Nalia.
"Look, dolls. I'm trying to work around your budget. This is all you can afford." said Patty, annoyed.
"You lived in a cave?" Lloyd asked, turning to Nalia.
"Yeah, until I was attacked. Then I had to leave." said Nalia.
"Uh, this looks... promising. Remember, guys, Sensei told us our main objective is to train Lloyd, not kick our feet up in some swanky suite. If this is all we can afford, this is all we can afford." said Cole.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's not rush into any decision. I mean, if it's really all about Lloyd, don't we need to live in some place that'll make training easier?" said Jay.
"Yeah, Jay's right. If we have to get Lloyd ready to save Ninjago from his father, shouldn't he at least have his own room?" said Kai.
"What are they doing?" Nalia whispered to Lloyd.
"Probably trying to get a better place for us to live and to train me," Lloyd whispered back.
"Technically, that does not matter, he only—" Kai gently punches Zane.
"We're only thinking about the children, hehe." said Zane.
"I do have another property that you'll just love." said Patty.
*Patty brings them to a fancy room atop a skyscraper.*
"Whoa!"
"Oh, man." said Jay.
"Now, this is the eight-bedroom Hero's Suite. Floor-to-ceiling windows, digital wall television, state-of-the-art game console..." Patty explained.
"Oooo! Look at the view from up here!" said Nalia excitedly, running over to the window and taking in the view.
"Uh, it seems a little out of our price range," said Cole.
"Oh, sure, it costs a little more, but you deserve it. I forgot to mention, there's also a Dragon's Keep on the roof," said Patty.
"Nice." said Kai.
"Maybe we can get a hero discount. After all, we are the ninjas who saved the city," said Jay.
"I thought Lord Garmadon saved the city." said Patty.
"Hmph."
"We could get day jobs to pay for the extra expenses." said Kai.
"We always said we could use a little more responsibility." said Zane.
"But we have to train Lloyd," said Kai.
"Did I mention the in-house training facility?" said Patty.
"We'll take it!" said the ninjas.
*While the ninjas went on to get jobs to earn money, Lloyd and Nalia was left to stay in the suite.*
Nalia was sitting on the couch, writing in her diary with a few more song ideas in mind.
"What are you writing?" Lloyd asked, walking over to look, but Nalia quickly closed it.
"Nothing," said Nalia, holding her diary close to her chest.
Lloyd gave her a skeptical look. "Really? Because it doesn't seem like nothing to me." He tried reaching with his hand to take it, only to slap it away by Nalia's hand.
"Ow!"
"No touchy," said Nalia, pouting while holding her diary close.
Lloyd rubbed his hand that got slapped. "I thought you would bite me instead of slapping me."
"I would have, but I don't want to hurt those close to me. Sensei Wu would get mad, so I'm trying to resist that craving," said Nalia, not looking at him.
"Why do you even have that weird craving?" Lloyd asked.
"I don't know." said Nalia giving a shrug.
"Can't you use that craving for something else?" Lloyd asked.
"Like what?" Nalia asked.
"I don't know, maybe on carrots?" Lloyd suggested.
"Eww! No, I'm not going anywhere near vegetables," said Nalia, sticking out her tongue.
Lloyd chuckles at her hating vegetables. "I'm just messing with you, Lia."
Nalia narrowed her eyes at him, pouting as she crossed her arms. "Not funny."
"Okay, so no vegetables. How about mangos?" Lloyd suggested.
Nalia's eyes lit up by the mention of mangos.
Lloyd chuckles at her reaction, just from saying that word. "I take that as a yes."
Nalia nodded with a big smile.
"So, with that solved. Would you help me with my training? At least until the others come back?" Lloyd asked.
Nalia chewed the inside of her cheek, thinking about either being lazy and doing nothing or helping Lloyd with his training.
"Hmmm, okay," said Nalia, putting away her diary before exiting the couch.
"Yes!" Lloyd smiled excitedly. "I thought for a second, you'll be lazy and say no."
"I was considering it, but you're my friend, so I wanna help," said Nalia, smiling. "Besides, I wanna try something and see if I can use it in fighting."
Lloyd raised an eyebrow, wondering what she wanted to try. "And what is that?"
A big smile grew on Nalia's face. "Dancing."
"Dancing?" Lloyd was perplexed.
Nalia nodded, taking his hand, and began pulling him to the training room. "If I mixed dancing in with my fighting, I could throw people off with my movement."
".....As long you don't bring me into it," said Lloyd, blushing ever so slightly.
"Why not?" Nalia asked, setting up a punching bag.
"People wouldn't take me seriously if I started dancing in midfight, and it would be embarrassing," said Lloyd.
".....I see," said Nalia, staring at him; a little sad, he found it embarrassing. But tried to put her focus on helping him instead. "Okay, I've made a few dots on this bag; these are the weak points on where you would need to hit." She pointed at the places on the punching bag she had put a dot.
"This is gonna be easy; just watch me," said Lloyd, a smirk growing as he went to hit one of the weak points. Only to miss the dot; he glanced at Nalia and noticed she was trying to hold back a giggle.
"Yeah, so easy," said Nalia in a teasing tone.
"T-that was just a test, you know, a warm-up. But this time for real," said Lloyd, flustered. He tried going up a dot a little higher on the bag but tripped over himself.
A slight snicker came from Nalia as she watched him fail again.
Lloyd, now very flustered, crossed his arms as he pouted. "If you find this so funny, I'd like to see you try."
Nalia looked from Lloyd to the punching bag before shrugging. "Okay."
She got in position, aimed for the weak point he missed earlier, and quickly landed a solid kick. "See, it's not that hard."
"Lucky hit," said Lloyd, still pouting.
Nalia raised an eyebrow. "Come on, Lloydie, please don't get upset. Not everyone gets it on their first try." She walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Even I failed a lot until I got it right. Though Kai failed a lot more times than the rest of us."
Lloyd looked over at her, and a small smile grew on his face. "Kai did?"
"Oh, yeah, I watched the whole thing when he was brought to the monastery. It was not a good sight." Nalia giggled.
Lloyd started chuckling at that and wished he had seen it.
"So, how about we try again?" Nalia suggested.
"Okay, I guess I could give it another try," said Lloyd, getting in front of the punching bag as they heard the others had returned from work.
"Oh..."
This time, Lloyd lands a hit on the punching bag, but it swings back on him and knocks him over.
Nalia quickly covered her mouth, holding a giggle as she ran over to him. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good," said Lloyd slowly, getting up and rubbing the back of his head.
"My feet... I can't feel my feet," said Cole.
"There were so many of them. And they wouldn't stop," said Kai.
Zane puts oil in his arm. "Ugh, my gears locked up several times. I didn't even know my gears could lock up."
"I don't even have enough energy to play video games." Jay sighs and falls over.
"Oh, but I thought you were going to train me when you got home." said Lloyd.
"Sorry, champ, but we can't until we make rent. How close are we, Jay?" said Cole.
"Huh, is this jar getting bigger?" Jay lightly rattles the jar. "We're not even close!"
Zane puts more oil in his arm. "And our rent is due tomorrow."
"I can pull a double shift." said Cole.
"And I can do overtime," said Zane.
"Maybe, I can sling a few more pizza pies." said Jay.
"And maybe I can make a little extra if I do the human piñata." They all stare at Kai. He puts his hands on his head. "Ugh, don't ask."
"Great, then our priorities are set. Tomorrow.. we make rent," said Cole.
"And uh, what about me and Lia?" Lloyd asked.
"How about you two help out and fetch me some more ice?" said Cole.
"I have a better idea," said Nalia, smiling.
"And, what's that?" Cole asked.
Nalia smiled softly at the guys; she didn't like seeing them all worn out and beaten.
So she decided to sing them a song that helped them all feel full of energy again and be able to work longer through their jobs the next day.
*The next day with Lloyd and Nalia in the suite.*
"Hey, Lia, wanna play some video games today?" Lloyd asked.
Nalia looked up from her diary and quickly closed it. "Sure." She said, smiling.
"Great, just please don't bite me should you lose in the game," said Lloyd.
Nalia raised an eyebrow, looking confused. "I'll never bite you."
"Promise?" Lloyd asked.
"Promise." Nalia smiled, putting away her diary.
"Okay then, here is your controller." Lloyd handed her a controller as they played on the couch.
"Whoa. Ha! Haha. Ugh!"
"Haha. Ugh. Argh. Whoa!"
As they are playing, Lloyd sees Skales in the reflection on the television. "Wha—?!"
"Huh?" Nalia turns her head and sees Skales.
Skales knocks on the window. "Hello, little boy and little girl."
"Hi, Skales!" Nalia smiled cheerfully, waving at him, only for Lloyd to grab her hand and run to the door.
"Help, us!" shouted Lloyd.
"Door is locked." said the security system.
"Ugh, I know! I want it open!" shouted Lloyd, trying to open the door, as Skales broke the window and entered. "What do you want with us?"
Skales looked over at Nalia, who just kept smiling at him. "I'm not here for the little girl." He said, turning to Lloyd. "You seem to be the only thing your father cares about. But with you in my hostage, he'll have no choice but to let me lead the Serpentine! Hyah!"
"Aah!" Lloyd screams.
Nalia looked on in confusion but still stepped in to protect Lloyd.
"Let's... train." said Skales.
"You wanna train us?" Nalia asked.
Lloyd and Skales both gave her a confused look. "Your girlfriend isn't very smart."
"She isn't my girlfriend!" shouted Lloyd blushing.
"What's girlfriend?" Nalia asked.
Lloyd and Skales both facepalmed themselves. "Oh, boy." They both said.
"What? Did I say something wrong?" Nalia asked, confused. "Is a girlfriend like another meaning if you have a girl as a friend? Wait! Does that mean there is a boyfriend? That means your friend is a boy?"
"How does she not know what a girlfriend or a boyfriend is?" Lloyd and Skales thought, until they heard someone at the door.
"Hello? What's going on in there?" Wu asked from the other side of the door.
Remember what was actually happening here, Lloyd quickly shouted. "Help!"
*Some time later, the ninjas returns back to their suite.*
"Lloyd? Nalia?" Kai called out.
"They are not here." said Zane.
"Oh, we shouldn't have left them." said Kai.
"We shouldn't have taken those jobs in the first place. What were we thinking? Losing Lloyd and Nalia was by far our greatest loss." said Cole.
"But it could be your greatest lesson." said Wu coming over with Lloyd and Nalia.
"Lloyd! Nalia!" The ninjas rushed over.
"You're okay!" said Kai.
"We weren't going to be, until Nya and Sensei showed up at the last moment." said Lloyd.
"Yeah, they came at the right time." said Nalia.
"I go away for a day and everything falls apart." said Nya.
"I guess you could say we learned we don't need all the fancy stuff. We just need each other." said Kai.
"You want us to help you clean up?" Wu asked.
"Well, we are a team." said Kai.
"Nya, I think it's time for another road trip." said Wu.
"Hold on, I got a better idea." said Cole.
"I have a question." said Nalia, getting everyone's attention.
"What's a girlfriend and a boyfriend?" Nalia asked.
Everyone looked at each other, before looking back at her. "We'll tell you when you're older."
*The ninjas move back to the old apartment.*
"It's not much, but this one-bedroom, one-half-bath is a cozy dream. Who needs extras when everything is in arm's reach?" said Cole.
Lloyd accidentally knocks Jay with a chair, making him drop a box on Kai's foot.
"Hey!" said Jay.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"
"Ha, feels like home to me. Hey, at least we get to stay in Ninjago City for a little while." said Jay.
"And now without the distractions, we can put all of our energy into training Lloyd." said Zane.
"Who's there?" Lloyd asked, unable to see anything from the chair he was carrying, so Zane helped him carry the chair.
"I know the Serpentine Generals got away, but you never told us: whatever happened to Skales?" said Kai.
"Oh, he found a home, too. But it's not quite as roomy as here." said Wu.
Nalia had pulled out her journal and began writing down some new information.
*After some time, everyone had gone to sleep.*
"I fear there is a great disturbance in the force." said Wu, until he heard footsteps. "You can come in."
Nalia slowly entered Wu's room, rubbing the back of her neck.
"What's gotten you up at this time, Nalia?" Wu asked.
"Sensei... after you got eaten by that big snake. I unlocked some new power... but I'm not sure why," said Nalia, sitting before him as she was offered tea.
"There are many mysteries in the universe, Nalia; some we might never figure out or are just meant for others not to know." Wu took a sip of his tea. "But you, dear Nalia, are a very special case."
"How so? What's so special about me?" Nalia asked.
"You'll learn in due time," said Wu.
Nalia looked down at her tea, frowning a bit before sipping. "Please be honest with me, Sensei... I'm not a real human..... am I?" Tears began forming in her eyes. "I might not be very smart, but even I know it's not normal for a human to breathe fire, be able to chew through almost everything, see people's elemental powers, be able to heal people with my singing... and now being able to throw things from space."
Wu stroked his beard as he deeply thought about all this and what to tell her without saying too much. "Both yes and no, but don't think that makes you any different from the others."
Nalia pouted at that, not liking that answer. "That doesn't help my confusion."
"I know, Nalia, but one day you'll get your answers," said Wu.
"You're just as confusing as the old man," said Nalia, finishing her tea before getting up. "Good night, Sensei." She left and went back to her room to sleep.
Wu turned to look out of a window and up at the night sky in deep thought.