When asked what a secret ninja hideout would be, Rose would have said a cave, hidden carefully behind a waterfall deep in the jungle. Or perhaps a monastery, also in the jungle. Basically, Rose expected the hideout to be in the jungle somewhere.

Therefore she was quite surprised when Lloyd instead drove into the center of the city and into a parking garage. For a moment Rose thought it might be a joke, but when Lloyd parked in a spot that said, quite clearly, "Reserved", she decided to reassess her expectations.

She followed the Garmadons into the building and then into an elevator. It was the most awkward thing any of them had ever experienced. Especially when the music spontaneously died halfway up. Nobody was looking at each other, while trying not to be obvious that they weren't looking. Thus it was no surprise that, when they finally reached their floor, Lloyd and Rose were both trying to leave before the doors had fully opened.

Sensei Garmadon gave a small smile as he watched the two practically throw themselves out of the elevator. He followed them out at a more sedate pace, while Lloyd led Rose down the hall to their training room.

"So, this whole floor is ours." Lloyd told her. "And this over here, is our training room." He opened the door with a flourish, though it was somewhat lost when the door gave a mechanical grinding noise and got stuck halfway open. He gave it a quick smack and it slid the rest of the way.

Rose peered into the room. It was clean, that was for sure, with the same almost sterile look that the hallway had. There were a few basic wooden dummies scattered around, and a large, worn, blue tumbler's mat in the middle of the floor.

"Looks, uh, pretty bare actually." She said as she stepped into the room. Lloyd gave her a sheepish grin, and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I don't really use this one much. There's a much cooler simulation room downstairs. But you're just a beginner, so we have to start you off in here." He gave an apologetic shrug, and moved over to the mat, taking off his shoes before stepping onto it.

Rose followed, kicking off her own shoes and standing across from him. Garmadon stood to the side, keeping a close eye on things so he could intervene if needed. He didn't think he would though, as Lloyd shifted into a more defensive stance.

"Now, come at me with everything you've got." He told her.

Rose gave him an unsure look, quickly glancing towards Garmadon. "Uh, are you sure about that?"

Lloyd nodded and braced himself. So, against her better judgement, Rose threw herself at him full force.

Now, something to note about Rose, is that she was a kickboxing champion. She'd even competed in the Ninjago Juniors Jade Cup and gotten fourth place. She was considered the best in her town, and one of the best in the country when she was younger.

Something else to note about Rose: It had been at least five years since the last time she did any kickboxing.

Thus, while she had confidence born of being told she was great, her form had gotten somewhat rusty and the kick she'd aimed at Lloyd's side was sloppy. So it was no wonder that Lloyd, who had been training near constantly recently, was able to catch her foot and flip her.

She landed, but not without stumbling heavily. She didn't so much as stop for breath before she turned back around and charged straight at the Green Ninja. However Lloyd just stepped to the side and stuck his foot out, tripping her, before catching her arm and flipping her again. This time she ended up on her back on the mat, with Lloyd pinning her down.

Rose groaned as Lloyd helped her up into a sitting position. "I think my spleen just exploded." She wheezed. "How'd I do?"

"Eh, not bad." He said. "But not too good, either. We've got a lot of work to do if you're going to fight with us."

Rose wheezed again, but nodded. When she'd finally caught her breath Lloyd helped her stand back up. As they stood, Rose spotted a much older man standing next to Garmadon. He had a long white beard, and a hat similar to what Hailey's uncle would wear.

"Sensei Wu!" Lloyd's face lit up when he saw him, and he dragged Rose over to the two men. "This is Rose. She's the new Elemental Master of Ice."

"Uh, hi?" Rose gave a small wave, still sore from the "fight". Yeah, she was definitely feeling all of that in the morning.

"Hm..." Wu looked her over, and she got the feeling he was searching for something. Whatever it was, he seemed to find it as he gave her a slight nod before turning and walking out of the room.

"Uh." Was all Rose had to said to that. She felt really sorry for Lloyd though. If that was really his uncle, than between him and Garmadon, the men in that family seemed to get old fast. She hoped he took after his mother's side of the family more than his father's.

"Alright." Rose turned to look behind her, and saw that Lloyd had moved the wooden dummies into a line. "Now we've gotta test your powers."

The Ice "Master" let out a groan. "Do we have to? I just got my butt beat by the Green Ninja. I think I deserve a break." She thought for a moment. "Maybe we could go get some cake. Everybody loves cake."

Garmadon shook his head, although he seemed amused if the smile was anything to go by. Lloyd just huffed in annoyance. "We just had lunch half an hour ago. It's too early for a snack break. Besides," He spun one of the rotating segments of the dummy he was next to. "I want to see what you can do."

"Uh, okay I guess." Rose moved to the spot Lloyd indicated and, after he'd moved away, gathered her strength. She focused all of her power into her hands and shot them forward, releasing-

-a small, glittering cloud of frost that evaporated within a heartbeat.

Rose stared at the space the cloud had been, before her face turned red as an embarrassed rage overcame her.

"What?!" She shouted, before trying again. Unfortunately, the only result was more frost clouds and nothing more. "Why. Isn't. This. Working?!"

She stomped on the floor, which only made a larger cloud appear. She waved it away when Lloyd appeared and grabbed her hands, preventing her from trying again.

"Okay! That's... enough for today." He told her. She pulled her hands out of his with a snarl.

"No! I know I can do this! Let me try again!" She prepped to do just that, but was stopped by Lloyd grabbing her again.

"No, you can't. You're trying to hard." He let go and helped move her into a better position. "You have to relax. Now, try again."

Rose took a deep breath, letting the tension in her shoulders leave. 'This time.' She raised a hand and focused again, leaving her body loose this time. She put all her energy into this and let loose-

-a somewhat larger frost cloud.

Lloyd clapped his hands together as Rose geared up for an explosion. "Okay! Time for cake. Right now. We actually have a kitchen here, and it's got cake in it. Let's go get some." He grabbed Rose by the hand and started to physically drag her out of the room. "We'll do some sparring after we eat some cake."

Rose was still upset, but allowed herself to be led to the kitchen/dining room area. She sat down at the table while Lloyd cut some small slices of cake for everyone. Garmadon leaned his staff against the wall and sat next to her. She ignored him and continued to sulk. 'I don't know why I can't do it anymore. Maybe it was the WacDaniel's...'

"Don't feel too put out." Her head snapped up as Garmadon spoke. "You were actually doing quite well for your first time consciously using your powers."

Rose opened her mouth to protest that it wasn't her first time, when Lloyd put a small slice of cake in front of her. For a moment she was distracted by how fancy the plate and fork looked, but then forgot about them as she took a bite of cake. "Wow! This is really good!"

Lloyd nodded, his own mouth full of cake. He quickly swallowed to respond. "Yeah! My mom made it. You'll meet her later. I think she's at the museum right now?" He glanced at Garmadon who, Rose noticed, didn't have any cake. 'Maybe he just hates food.'

"The library, actually. She was researching... something." He glanced at Rose, though she pretended not to notice. "She'll be home in time for dinner, though."

"Well, tell her I liked the cake." She grinned enthusiastically, all frustration about her powers gone. "It's delicious!"

Lloyd nodded while Garmadon gave another amused smile. They were getting along quite well. It would be good for Lloyd, in his private opinion, to have a friend. Especially since the other ninja had retreated into themselves to avoid the pain of having lost their brother.

After their cake, they went back to the training room, where Lloyd showed Rose how to do a few basic moves and stances. As they trained, Garmadon slowly circled around them. Sometimes he'd correct them, or point out something that Lloyd had missed in his explanations. Mostly though, he had a proud look on his face as he watched.

Without even noticing, two hours had soon passed and Rose had to leave. Lloyd offered to drive her home, which she accepted, although she had him drop her off a few blocks away from the college. She wasn't sure how Hailey would react to the Green Ninja knowing where she lived.

The next couple of weeks repeated in much the same way. Go to Borg Tower, train, and then eat cake. And over time, Rose began to gain her skills back, as well as learn new ones from Lloyd, Garmadon, and even Wu sometimes.

The only dampener on the whole thing was the fact that she still couldn't get her powers to work in front of anyone but Hailey.

"I just don't know what I'm doing wrong." She complained to Hailey one night. "I can use them just fine here. Why can't I use them over there?"

"Sounds like performance anxiety to me." Hailey told her, not looking up away from her easel. She had a deadline coming up, and this painting was worth most of her grade. "It happens to the best of us."

"Uh, I'm talking about my powers. Not sex." Rose stood up, heading to the sink for some water. She learned long ago to not just drink the random glasses of water laying around the art room.

"Yeah, I know. And it could still be performance anxiety." Hailey started mixing in a new shade of green to her portrait. "My ex-boyfriend used to get it all the time when it came to-"

"Good Lord, shut up! I don't want to hear about your sex life!" Rose slammed her glass into the sink and stormed out of the room. Hailey watched her go before shrugging and turning back to her painting. She'd figure it out, one way or the other.

Unfortunately, Rose did not figure it out. Not even with Master Wu's help could they figure out why she was unable to use her powers around them. Eventually Rose gave up on it and took to practicing them alone. She still had her ever-growing ninja skills to help her out if needed.

However as the weeks went on, Rose came to a new problem.

"You're moving back home?!" Hailey looked up from her packing, dresses folded neatly in her suitcase.

"Yeah. School's out for the Summer. I have two days to move out, or they're gonna kick me out." She moved past Rose to her closet, grabbing a few more dresses to pack.

"But what about me? Where am I going to live?" Rose, on the other hand, was panicking. She hadn't thought far enough ahead, and now she had to pay the consequences. Which was going to be homelessness, apparently.

"I don't know. Can you get an apartment?" She asked, still more focused on her packing than her friend's problems. Rose scoffed.

"In New Ninjago City? Do I look like I'm made of money? Oh God, this is a disaster! I'm going to have to go back to Jamanakai with you. And just when we were getting to the good part of my training too." She ran her hands through her hair, trying desperately to think of something.

"Good part?" Hailey was confused. She thought the training itself was the good part.

"Yeah! They were gonna teach me Spinjitsu! Only not anymore, because I've got to move back home! Ugh!" She kicked a soda can from where it was resting by the bed. "This blows!"

Hailey sighed, picking up the can and throwing it in the trash. "Well, why don't you just ask the if you can stay in the tower. Didn't you say they had a whole floor to themselves? I'm sure they can spare a bedroom for you."

"No! No, I can't do that! That's Borg Tower! I can't live there, it's a rich people home!" She flopped heavily on one of the beds and threw her arms up towards the ceiling before letting them fall to her sides. "I wouldn't ever be able to afford the rent there in a million years!"

"Dude, you're friends with the Green Ninja! If anyone can help you out with this, it's him." Hailey sighed, tucking a strand of hair back into her hair bun. "Just ask him, okay. The worst he can do is say no."

Rose just groaned again, so Hailey went back to her packing. She felt bad that she couldn't help her friend, but there wasn't much she could do. The only money she had access to was her allowance. And even if she could use that, her grandfather would never approve of her spending it on Rose.

Rose, on the other hand, felt too proud to ask for help. For decades pride was all her family had really had, so they refused any aid offered to them. And, despite the fact that she really did want some help, she did not want to be the one to break that streak.

'Still,' She thought to herself one day after training. 'maybe they know somewhere I can stay that's not the Tower.'

"You've seem stressed lately, Rose." Garmadon spoke up as they had their cake and tea. "Has something happened?"

"A lot, honestly." Rose ran a hand through her hair, brushing it out of her eyes. "You know I've been staying with Hailey, at the art school, right?" At his nod, Rose continues. "Well, the term's over now, which means all the students are going home. Including Hailey."

"And you need a place to stay, right?" Lloyd piped up from his spot. Rose nodded.

"Yeah. I've been looking for an apartment, but everything in the city is just so expensive." She sighed. "Then again, I guess I haven't looked everywhere yet."

"Why not just come live with us. She can do that, right dad?" Lloyd looked towards his father, who nodded with a thoughtful look on his face.

"I don't see why not. I'll talk to Borg about it after dinner, but I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"And I'm sure Nya and Pixal would be happy to help set up a room for her." Lloyd added before turning to grin at Rose. "Don't worry, it'll be great!"

Rose realized they hadn't given her an opportunity to decline. She suddenly regretted saying anything about it. "Ha ha, yeah. I'm sure it will be."