This takes place before Zane arrives. The way I see it, the Ninja were found in this order: Cole, Jay, Zane, Kai. So that will be the order I stick with :) I don't know if you want to call it a headcannon since it was what most people believed, but ya.

Enjoy!

Jay was always walking around the Monastery, but constantly stopping by the TV room. He realized Cole had gotten annoyed whenever Jay sat for almost the entire day watching the screen. He had learned that about two days ago when Cole was ordered to train with Jay.

Whenever Jay passed by the room, he always eyed the floor and thought about what might go there someday.

Something he loved: video games.

"Hey, what are you doing?" A hand set on his shoulder and Jay turned around. He was met with mossy green eyes. He shook off the hand and blinked stubbornly at Cole.

"Oh? Me? Juuust thinking about what would look great with this room!" He smirked and let out a small laugh.

"Yeah? And what's that?"

Jay flashed his teeth in Cole's face. "Video games. We'll need a controller or two, a few different games to play, a console, and some bean bags!" He punched Cole playfully in the shoulder.

Cole rolled his eyes. "Like that'd ever happen. Listen, I came to tell you that I'm going to head on down to Jamanakai Village. If you want to come…"

Jay huffed. Cole had asked him every single day, not that it was a bad thing, but he could tell Cole was growing bored ever since Sensei Wu left.

It was getting lonely at the monastery every now and then with just two people staying at it. Sensei Wu had left to find something special, something that he said would make the two of them happy. But their Sensei had been gone for quite a number of days now and Cole was running out of options of what to do. After all, it was just him and Jay in the Monastery.

"Uhhh, lemme think…" he paused for a brief moment, then replied calmly, "Sure."

This wasn't the first time the two of them walked down to the village. Everyday Jay spent was with Cole, and he was beginning to see a pattern, one that would last until the day Sensei Wu came back. Or the day that someone new joined. If Sensei Wu was on the verge of looking for a new student.

Though, he couldn't see why Sensei Wu would need another pupil. Wasn't two enough? It wasn't like they were in the midst of having to save the world, and if so, he would've wanted to know that first before joining this team… or dou? It was only just two people.

He noticed that Cole had been silent, nearly halfway through the path towards the village. "So," Jay began, hoping it would spark a conversation.

"Huh? Oh, sorry for being quiet for so long. You looked like you were having some pretty deep thoughts."

Jay grinned and chuckled softly. "Er, nah, just some random ones." And then the two of them fell silent again.

The two of them had discussed most everything the first three days they were starting to walk to the village, and now, Jay had run out of things to say. Probably Cole too.

He could see the village nearing them, so to avoid any more awkwardness, he dashed towards the first booth. "One apple please." He froze when his stomach growled. He was about to pull out a coin until he saw Cole not far behind. "Actually, make that two apples."

The lady behind the stall set down two apples in front of Jay in exchange for the coins.

Winking, Jay took the apples and left. He caught up to Cole and handed him a plump red apple. "Thought you might want one," Jay shrugged.

"Thanks-" But just as Cole was about to accept the apple, a sharp scream rang out through the village. Their attention darted to the direction of the scream and they rushed to the scene.

Before them, they saw a lady, clutching her cheeks as she stared at her empty cart.

Cole walked forward when Jay didn't move.

"Um, what's the matter, ma'am?" He asked.

"Clearly you can see, that my shop's been robbed!"

Cole looked down at the empty cart and took a quick glance around him.

"Did you catch which way the thief might have went?"

She nodded. "That way," she told him, pointing to the right, "he looked small if you ask me."

"Uh, thank you, ma'am," Cole said to her before turning back around to find Jay with a perplexed look sprawled on his face.

Cole started heading in the way the presumed thief had gone. Jay caught up to him.

"You aren't really going to catch this guy are you?"

"I just wanna check it out."

"So, do you know where we're headed now?" Jay asked.

Cole shook his head. All he did was continue to follow the path until it led them to the center fountain. Cole looked around and walked up to another villager.

"Excuse me, miss, you didn't happen to see a small man running by here? Maybe a kid? With some fruits?" She nodded her head and pointed at the fountain.

The two teenagers snuck around the circular shaped fountain towards the back and found a small child, munching on the food. He had ruffled auburn hair and a pale colored sleeveless shirt on him, along with dirty brown shorts.

Cole raised a brow. For a kid, he sure did the right thing of stealing fruits rather than junk food. He crouched down beside the kid and waved.

"Hey there… Kiddo. How's it going?"

The kid shot him a glare and started to pack up his food into a bag.

Cole stifled his nose and caught Jay casting him a smirk.

"Okay, so you don't wanna talk. Might I ask why you took these fruits from that lady's shop?"

"I'm hungry, that's all. Now can you go away?"

Cole gritted his teeth together and looked back at Jay, eyes pleading for help. The ginger squared his shoulders and marched proudly towards them, pushing Cole aside to sit next to the kid.

"Couldn't you get your family to pay for any of this stuff?" He heard Jay ask.

The kid shrugged hopelessly and started to get comfy again.

The rest of their conversation, Cole couldn't make out. He caught a few words here and there but the rest remained a mystery. In the end, Jay had fist bumped the kid and finally left, the two apples that he had bought, gone. The kid ran past them and Cole stood in shock, trying to comprehend what Jay did.

"What happened back there?" Asked Cole.

"Oh, we talked… About video games and stuff. He told me how he always wanted to play one, and I told him that he would never get to playing a video game if he kept stealing."

Cole grinned. "Smart. Do you know why he stole those fruits in the first place?"

"His parents don't pay much attention to him, sad, right? So he decided to go out and grab some food for himself, even though he couldn't afford it."

Cole looked back to the shop they were previously at and saw the kid holding his bag in front of the lady, an apologetic look on the lady's face. He smiled and glanced back at Jay.

"So what now?"

"I said to him that he could come back to the fountain anytime and we could hang out. Might as well, huh? If his parents won't pay him any attention, why not us?"

"Excuse me, us?"

"Yeaaaahhh… C'mon, Cole! He's just a kid, he's got to have some fun in his life!"

Cole laughed then smacked Jay on the back of the head.

"Now that that's solved, where to next?"

"Well, I heard that there's a nice picnic place not far from Jamanakai Village. The view must be great if the picnic place is that great," Cole told Jay.

Jay had grown to realize that Cole was a fond of nature and all its beauty. He once told him that Sensei Wu had found him while he was rock climbing. Jay had begun to take his love for nature seriously.

Sorta.

Just the day before, they had a lovely hike through the forest but Jay had dumbly stumbled into the thorn bush and gotten stuck. How? He was droning on for so long as they walked that as Cole grew more annoyed, Jay grew sleepy and closed his eyes for a few minutes, not realizing where he was headed. Falling in the bush was easy, getting him out was tricky.

He came out with a few scars on the legs and arms, but his head was fine.

But what irritated Cole the most were the jokes he made as he was progressively getting out of the bush.

"Hey hey, what crime did the tree commit? Tree - ow! - son!"

"Hey Cole, - ow! - guess what - ow! - Tree fits - oww! - in your hand?! … A palm tree! Oww!"

Once Jay was out of the thorn bush, his legs gave in from the pain and as he fell, he cried:

"TIMBER!"

Cole had avoided talking to Jay the rest of the day.

Back in the present, Jay looked at Cole's back, since that was all he could see. He trailed behind Cole, at the same time munching on his apple. He was short compared to Cole. If he were to stand beside Cole, his head would be at least an inch above Cole's shoulder, and that would determine his height.

In other words, Jay felt that he himself was puny.

Soon, Cole was climbing up a stairway carved from the stone out of the side of the ground dirt. Jay skipped up the steps, passing Cole and making it to the top first. Suddenly, he felt a gush of wind strike his face. Looking around, he saw Cole already at the top with him, smiling and laughing.

Jay laughed with Cole when he realized that he had fallen onto the ground.

Cole shook his head and continued to walk. Jay struggled to get up behind him. "You know, Jay…" he began but eventually his voice carried away.

Jay waited to see if Cole was going to continue, but he didn't. Jay frowned. "Yeah?"

"Uh, oh, well, nothing."

They finally reached the top and Cole stood by the edge near a tall tree, leaning against it. Jay sat down onto a bench and swung his feet up.

Cole keat his hands beside him and gazed at the view before him.

"So, what do you think Sensei Wu is going to bring back for us?"

Cole shrugged. "Maybe a game console?"

"That'd be the best gift ever!" Jay shouted, with big eyes.

"Yeah, well don't get your hopes up, motormouth."

Surprised, Jay cocked his head at Cole and opened his mouth with a finger raised, then closed it. Then opened it again. "Did you just come up with that?"

Cole shook his head and grinned smugly. "Nope, had it in here," he started as he pointed to his head, "the moment you first opened your mouth."

Jay rolled his eyes.

"Oh, really, now? … Well, I think I did a pretty good job handling that whole 'robbery' situation back there, so I suppose you could do me a favor and I dunno, not use the 'nickname'?"

"Hah, yeah right. Like it or not, you're just gonna have to deal with it. I got a whole lot more just waiting to be used."

The older teenager smirked, amused by the angered look Jay gave him.

Jay's brow twitched and he harrumphed.

The two of them continued to talk and bicker until the sun was setting. At this time, Jay hushed Cole and gazed at the horizon, a soft gasp escaping his lips. Boy was Cole right, the scenery up here was great. And even though Jay didn't think fondly of nature as Cole did, he still did admire the view. The sun was setting just perfectly and he felt more relaxed than ever.

Cole looked at Jay from the corner of his eyes and watched as the corners of Jay's lips lifted, until they brightened Jay's entire face.

"Told ya it was great."

This is kind of a part 2 to my first oneshot called Bonding. It's not necessary to read that one first though :) I might upload a part 3 later on with all five of em that takes place sometime around the recent seasons.

Anyways, hope you all enjoyed!