Author's Note: Zane has already discovered his true potential; deal.
Sound Of Winter
Zane sat watching Cole, Kai, and Jay practice. He felt a weird emptiness, like something was missing. He got up and started to walk to Sensei's room.
Kai was the first to notice, but he got kicked in the face falling back.
"Kai, pay attention!" Jay said, agitated.
Kai sat up and rubbed his head. "I know, I know; but look; Zane's walking to Sensei's room!"
"Can you be more oblivious?" Cole shook his head, "Oh well." He looked at Zane. "He looks out of it."
Jay turned to Zane and ran over, "Zane, you alright?"
Zane ignored him and kept walking.
"Hey, Zane?!" Jay stopped and pouted after several times of trying to get Zane's attention.
Cole and Kai walked over.
"He is out of it..." Kai said, "That makes me worried."
T-T
Zane walked in and closed the door carefully. "Sensei."
"Yes child?" Sensei sat sipping his tea.
Zane walked over and sat down in front of the table. "I feel... Weird..."
"Weird, why would you think that?" He stopped drinking his tea and sat it down in front of him.
"Well... I feel... An emptiness inside. I don't know how to explain it, but I don't feel the need to practice or fight anymore..." Zane looked down.
"Well, my pupal, it seems you need something special to fill that gap."
Zane perked, "Like what Sensei?!"
"A pet... Or perhaps... No, that wouldn't be possible."
"What wouldn't be possible Sensei?"
"Well, it wouldn't be possible for-" Suddenly the other three ninja fell in. "Apparently we have some eavesdroppers."
"It's not our fault, we were just too close to the door and Kai pushed me!" Jay laid at the bottom while Kai and Cole laid back to back on Jay.
Sensei looked disappointed than looked back at Zane. "Zane, I will talk to you later; go out with them and find something to fill that gap."
Zane stood and bowed. "Thank you Sensei."
T-T
"So what are we supposed to find?" Jay complained.
"I am supposed to find... A pet."
"A pet?!" Jay laughed, "But you have Shard."
Zane shrugged, "That's all he told me."
"We just need to get this over with, so let's get it over with!" Kai said.
"You didn't need to tell me twice..." Cole said.
When they finally got to the pet shop; Zane was the first to walk in, than Cole, than Jay, than Kai.
They all looked at the pets; Cole looked at ferrets, Kai looked at the cats, and Jay looked at the birds.
Zane walked around, not sure what to look at until he saw an pure snow white American Eskimo. He walked over to it and put his hand on the window. "Your cute..."
The Eskimo tilted it's head, but turned to look over at someone else.
Zane looked to his left to see a girl; she had strawberry blonde hair that went down the her lower back. She wore a blue dress with black leggings under it and some light gray boots. She also had a red shoulder bag.
Zane started to feel his circuits getting hotter.
The girl smiled, "Hello, I'm guessing you want him." She pointed to the Eskimo.
"Uh... No, maybe, I'm not sure..." He looked away, his face getting bright red.
"You know, your face is red."
Zane felt his face, "Oh, yes; um, I need to go do something." He turned and ran into the bathroom.
Cole walked over, "Wonder what's wrong with him..." He turned to face the girl and didn't say a word.
Kai walked over, "Hey Cole, where's Zane?" He looked at the girl, mouth dropped.
Jay walked over with a bird on his shoulder. "Look at this cool bird I got!" He turned to the girl, "Wow, she's pretty!"
The girl laughed, "Not really, was that your friend who ran into the bathroom?"
They all nodded.
"Can I possibly know his name?"
"Zane." They all said at the same time.
"He's a nindr-" Jay almost said Nindroid until Kai and Cole covered his mouth.
The girl raised her eyebrow.
"Um, Jay's just weird; don't listen to a word he says." Kai falsely smiled.
"Sure?" She said awkwardly.
"So, we were wondering; what's your name?" Cole said.
"Artemisa, but you can just call me Art."
"Okay, thanks; come on Jay! Cole, go get Zane!" Kai said quickly, dragging Jay out.
T-T
They sat around the dinner table just staring at each other.
"So... Anything interesting happen today?" Nya said to break the tension.
"Oh, yeah, I think Zane has a girlfriend!" Jay said happily.
"Girlfriend? What is this Girlfriend?" Zane said.
Jay, Cole, and Kai face palmed.
"Okay, a girlfriend is a girl that you really like and you want to protect her and-" Kai said before getting interrupted.
"Do things to her!" Jay interrupted.
Everyone looked at him, "What? I meant kissing, what'd you think I meant?"
Everyone just stared awkwardly at him until the door flung open. Their heads suddenly turned to see a boy.
The boy had brownish red hair that was flat and in a ponytail. He had a plan blue shirt and regular red pants. He pointed at Zane. "You!"
Zane pointed at himself, "Me?"
"Yes, you!" He walked up to Zane and started poking him. "What makes you think you can talk to my sister? She's too good for you!"
Zane tilted his head, "What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb! What gives you the right to talk to her?"
"Wait, you mean that girl interested in the Eskimo?" Jay asked.
"Yes, the girl interested in the Eskimo; by the way, his name is Ienzo!" He looked at Jay disapprovingly.
Cole got up, "You just barged into our home and accuse our friend of doing something he can do by right." He started to walk over to him. "And now you want him to stay away from a girl he probably won't see again."
Kai got up and quickly held Cole back.
"Hm... I like you," He pointed at Cole. "I don't like him," He pointed at Jay.
"Hey!"
"I guess your all right." He pointed at Kai, "And you just remind me of a robot." Than pointed at Zane. "Your approved, that's all I wanted to know; bye." He turned and waved. "Oh, my name is Jin. Bye." He walked away closing the door.
"That... Was weird." Jay said.
"Not as weird as you." Kai said.
"I know." Jay said happily.
Cole sat down again, "So what do we do if he comes again?"
"Invite him to tea and make peace." Sensei said sipping his tea.
"You sure that's wise?" Nya said.
"Sister, did he stutter?" Kai said continuing to eat.
T-T
The next day, Zane woke up and stood at the side of the boat. He couldn't help but think of Art, she was nice and sweet. Though it was weird her 'supposed' brother busted in, never-the-less; he got on the ship with ease.
Sensei soon came and stood beside Zane. "What is wrong, Zane?"
He didn't answer for a moment, trying to find the right words. "I think... I think, that a girl..."
"Hm, I didn't think this would happen; though it is very possible."
Zane looked at Sensei. "Sensei? What should I do?"
"Go to her, it's better than being here; is it not?"
Zane smiled, "Thank you Sensei." He jumped off, his shurikens soon turning into a motorcycle.
T-T
Zane walked through the city, looking in the alleyways, stores, walkways, and restraints. Until he heard a melody.
Love bites and recompense,
I'll be with you, until the end.
Let's walk through the fire together,
Disappear in the golden sands!
It's all in your face,
I see you break.
It's like the sound of winter!
The bleeding of love, the silent escape.
You've hang on to yourself.
It's all in your face,
I see you break.
It's like the sound of winter!
The bleeding of love, silent escape.
You've hang on to yourself.
It's like the sound of winter!
Hang on to your self,
Hang on to your self.
It's like the sound of winter...
Zane walked over just as Art stopped. "Excuse me?"
She was about to sing the next part until she heard his voice. She blushed, "Did you hear that?"
"Uh, yes."
"All of it?" She questioned.
"I don't think..." Zane looked around wondering about it, than looked back at her. "Can you continue?"
She blushed more, "Uh... Yeah..."
It's all in your face,
I see break.
It's like the sound of winter.
The bleeding of love, the silent escape.
You've got to hang on to yourself.
It's like the sound of winter.
It's like the sound of winter.
Hang on to yourself!
Hang on to yourself!
Art breathed, "The rest is mainly just repeating the chorus."
Zane shrugged, "You sounded very beautiful."
She blushed more, "Great, now your making my face red by giving me compliments."
"Am I not supposed to say how I feel?"
"Well, no, maybe... You can, but- Nevermind." She sighed, "You know, I never caught your name. Well, at least from you."
"Oh, right! My name is Zane. Wait, someone else told you my name?"
"Yeah, your weird friends."
"Well, they are kinda-"
"You!"
Zane turned to see Art's 'supposed' brother Jin.
"Why are you talking to my sister?!" He stomped over angered.
"I thought I was approved?" Zane tilted his head.
"Jin! What's he talking about and why are you interrupting me?" Art said, her voice getting higher.
"Well, sister; I checked up on these guys and their ninja! Plus him and three other guys share a room..."
Art looked at Zane, "You share a room with your friends?"
"Well, their was a limited amount of rooms. But we have bunk beds!" Zane quickly saved himself before she thought anything weird.
She looked back at Jin, "What's the problem with ninja exactly?"
"More than you think!"
"But your one."
"No, I'm a spy."
"That explains why you broke into my house during dinner..."
Art looked at Zane, "He broke into your house?!"
"It's actually a ship."
She gave him a weird look, than shook her head. "Forget about it, I'm leaving..." She walked away angered.
Zane sighed, "Guess I searched just for small talk..." He walked away until Jin grabbed his shoulder.
"Can we talk?"
Zane said nothing, thinking it over. "Fine."
"Okay, I know I'm messed up-"
"Bi-polar?"
"Yes, but that's not the point. My sister means a lot to me, so please take care of her. By the way, your a trip."
"A trip?"
"Well, it's, oh forget this! Just take care of my sister; now bye." He disappeared randomly.
"Bye."
T-T
"So he's bi-polar? More like he's on his man period!" Jay said crossing his arms.
"I agree with Jay, in some weird way." Kai said, "That guy is weird."
"I don't know, all I know is he's her brother so Zane is going to have problems." Cole said.
"I'm going to have problems?" Zane asked, "With what?"
Kai face palmed, "Your love life, though I think he's succeeding."
"Love... Life?" Zane asked.
"Nevermind, you'll figure it out sometime. We need to get this figured out, how are we going to help Zane? There are no stupid suggestions." Kai said.
"I say we tell her Zane's a nindroid." Jay inserted.
"No, that's stupid. Next suggestion."
"How bout we get them on a date." Cole suggested.
"That might work, but what happens if she rejects and how exactly do we ask other than Zane isn't the best man-"
"Nindroid."
"To ask out a girl."
"We could always use a head set, to listen and tell him to do certain things."
"Good point, why don't we try that."
"But-" Zane quickly gets cut off by Kai asking him if he had a head set or something. "Yes." He opens his control panel and takes out a walky talky. "Just press this button and I'll be able to hear you, if you don't press the button; you can hear my conversation."
"Okay, now all we need to do is get you to ask her out on a date. Let's go!"
T-T
They all walked close together, searching for Art.
A while later, they found her sitting alone at a table in front of a restraint drinking something from a straw.
They all hid, but soon pushed Zane out in front of the table. He gulped as she lifted her head.
She narrowed her eyes, "I'm going to think your stalking me soon."
He walked over, "May I sit down?"
"Go ahead." She sighs but soon sips the drink.
"Uh, I was wondering if maybe-"
"Don't say it too early!" Kai's voice was muffled.
"If maybe I could stay here a while."
Art gave him a weird look, "You know what, you are weird- Not to be mean or anything. -but you follow me and everything." She gets up putting money on the table.
"No, the plan's failing!" Jay inserts.
"Shut up! Zane, quickly do something!"
"Could we go on a date?" Zane said quickly.
"No, I didn't mean that!"
"Hm... Do you mean going out like friends?"
"No, a date, like how Nya and Jay do all the time." Zane said, soon noticing she didn't know who they were.
"Jay and Nya? Oh, you mean that weirder guy with the Blue Jay."
"Jay got a Blue Jay? What did he do with it?" Zane muttered to himself.
"Yeah, what did you do to it?"
"Um... A raven got a hold of him..."
"In this reference, would Cole be the raven and you the blue jay?"
"Shut up!"
"So would you like too, even if I'm weird."
"Hm... I think it over." Art lightly kissed his cheek, "By the way, don't talk to other people when talking to a girl you like. It always ends up badly and also, I think you should tell me about this sometime." She reached over and opened his control panel.
Zane looked surprised that she knew, but was unsure what to think. All he knew is that he is lucky. He smiled to himself thinking of how great it was to be him now. Also, Kai and Cole were again alone with their true potentials.