After we had retrieved the Sword of Sanctuary, we made way back to Wu's tea shop, Steep Wisdom, to discuss and decode the last of the clues - the location of the Tomb of the First Spinjitzu Master. The majority of the journey back I had been holed up in Lloyd's old room, hugging his hoody and unwillingly replaying the image of him falling off of the cliff face with unsavoury outcomes. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't not be worried for him. Well, of course I was worried for him, but even more so. On the point of losing my mind.
A half-hour before we touched down at Steep Wisdom, I left the room in search of Kai. I'd been whittling down in embarrassment as I thought back on my previous outburst, and I was itching to go and apologise to him. Letting Lloyd go mustn't of been easy for him, either. After all, Cole did claim them to be practically brothers.
I found the fire ninja standing in the bridge, frowning as he stared out the window. Zane was there, too, sitting at the table and tinkering with something within his arm. He smiled at me as I entered and even if he was a robot, the worried look in his blue eyes was unnervingly human. Soccer mom.
Kai turned his head as I approached, hearing my footsteps. I sent him an awkward smile as I stopped beside him and looked out at the view; the tops of trees for miles.
"Hi," I said quietly.
"Hey," Kai replied.
I didn't really know what to say. I'd been repeating my speech to him as I walked down the hall, but it just went right out the window. So I winged it, something that was never a good idea.
"I'm sorry," I blurted suddenly, startling Kai. He sent me a curious look, willing me to elaborate. "For snapping at you. I was stupid to think that-"
"It's fine," Kai reassured as he turned to me, catching me mid-sentence. "Everyone's just a little stressed out that Lloyd's still... gone."
"I think that everybody needs a breather," Zane suggested from the table. "We must not get on each other's throats if we want to save Lloyd. The only way is through teamwork."
Kai nodded in agreement. I dropped my gaze guiltily.
"Hey, don't worry about it," Kai shook it off, making me glance up. "We can't expect you to immediately understand how everything works when we go on missions like this. It takes time."
"Indeed," inputted Zane as he twirled a screwdriver, narrowing his eyes as he concentrated. "You should have seen Kai during our first mission to retrieve the Scythe of Quakes. It was most entertaining."
Despite the low I'd been feeling ever since Lloyd got possessed, I cracked a grin.
"Seriously?" I asked in amusement as Kai scowled. Zane nodded in beguilement, glancing up and grinning.
"He was terrible."
"Uh- we all were, tinhead."
Zane shrugged as he returned his attention to his wrist.
"Correct," he confessed with a tilt of his head. "But you were by far the worst."
Kai sent him an exasperated glare before returning his attention to me.
"Anyway," Kai stressed, making me grin. "I'm sure you'll get the hang of it soon."
I knitted my eyebrows together, confusedly frowning at him.
"What makes you think that?"
Kai faltered. His gaze jumped down from mine to the green hoody I was wearing just for a second.
"Well, I can already tell that you and Lloyd are going to be inseparable when he comes back," he shrugged, raising his eyebrows suggestively. Heat exploded on my cheeks. "And since you're his girlfriend, it'd only be reasonable that you come on missions with us like this."
My blush worsened when he mentioned the word girlfriend.
"How many times do I need to-"
"Give up pretences, Y/n," Zane jumped in nonchalantly as he set the screwdriver down. "It may be unofficial, but the foundations are still there. You are only lying to yourself."
"To be fair," continued Kai. "So is Lloyd."
I hid my face in my hands, avoiding their gazes as my face burnt. I bit back a whine as they heartily chuckled at my expense.
"We're going to ghost-proof Steep Wisdom," Kai announced as I finally emerged from behind my palms. "Wanna join?"
"Sure," I squeaked. "Anything I can do to help."
