Rachel looked at her adversary. He was the strongest of the ninja, a born leader and a lover of dragons. Cole, the ninja of earth, flinched and Rachel made her choice. She flung her katana's blade towards him and barely missed his neck. He stumbled away; he had been unprepared for the newest ninja to be so strong. She pulled her katana from the wall it had lodged itself in and spoke.

"So, you're the leader, right?"

"Yeah, but remember, this is just training. No taking my head off," He joked.

"Oh, I might if you're not careful," She replied coolly. "I've been known to . . . lose my temper."

"Ha! As if you could take me down-!"

Rachel cut him off by flying at him in a rage. Her blade sliced through the air, always missing Cole by just a bit. If he made one false move, he'd lose an arm or a leg. She hadn't been kidding about losing her temper! This was worse than Kai!

The rest of the ninja were watching fearfully. What if Rachel hurt someone? Lloyd mustered up all his courage and yelled, "Rachel! Please stop!"

Rachel stopped in her tracks and looked at him. Lloyd closed him eyes, fearing she might lash at him too, but instead he felt her arms wrap around him. "Huh?"

Rachel was smiling. "Usually, when I lose control, no one can stop me, but you," She looked Lloyd in the eye and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Maybe you were right about me liking you."

Lloyd's jaw dropped. "You whaa?!"

Rachel glared at him. "Shut up! No one else heard that!" She hissed, then leaned in close and whispered, "It's our little secret."

Lloyd nodded vigorously. Rachel pulled away when she realized the rest of the ninja were staring at them. "Why don't we do something else?" Rachel asked.

The ninja agree. Rachel still needed to learn how to harness her element! See, since the overlord battle, the ninja had got their golden weapons back. Also, they got their element powers back!

Rachel watched the ninja present their powers to her. They did it so easily. Kai turned to her after she had tried forty times. "We all had something holding us back before we could access our powers. What do you think is holding you back?"

Rachel thought for a moment. "I don't know . . ."

"Could it be a crush?" Cole asked.

"No!" Rachel snapped, maybe too quickly.

The ninja all looked at her, and then Lloyd. "Confess!" Jay cried.

"I-I don't-," Rachel began.

"If you don't, you'll never unlock your power," Zane reminded her.

"Fine. You want the truth?" Rachel pulled Lloyd into a quick kiss. "There!" Suddenly, she began to glow dark blue. She felt energy and power she had never had before. She opened her fists and blue fire floated just above her palms. She smiled. Maybe the truth wasn't so bad.


Rachel woke at midnight to a sound. She sat up and faced her window. A boy was standing just inside. Rachel rubbed her eyes and looked again. "Peter!"

Peter walked towards her bed, glaring at her the whole time. He was still in the darkness, not wanting to go into the light until the time was right. "Hello Rachel."

Rachel noticed how cold and harsh his voice was. "Peter?"

Peter smirked at the fear in Rachel's voice. He stepped into the light that the window illuminated. That's when Rachel saw his pistol. She immediately jumped out of bed and grabbed her katana. Peter aimed the gun at her heart. Rachel held her katana defensively. "What's wrong with you Peter?!"

"Nothing; Haddon showed me how to embrace the darkness!" Peter laughed maniacally. "He also shot me with a poison dart gun. We're not on the same side anymore Rachel. You have to learn that."

He immediately punched her in the face. She reeled back in surprise, lowering her defense. Peter took the opportunity and kicked her in the stomach. Rachel fell backwards, twisting her ankle in an unnatural way. The way she stared at him made him realize she hadn't given up yet. He decided she needed a more brutal beating.

As she was punched and kicked, her mind cleared up from all the sleep that had been left in it. She grabbed his hand and flipped him over her head. He landed on his back, but pushed himself quickly onto his feet. Rachel decided she wouldn't go easy on him anymore; she gave him a hard shove and he fell back out the window. Just as he did, he let out a shot of his pistol. It missed Rachel completely, flying into the sky, but alerted the rest of the ninja of the danger.

Unfortunately, most of the ninja are heavy sleepers, or just thought the shot was from a dream. Except Lloyd. He woke just to see Rachel stumble into his room, beaten and bruised, and fall onto the floor, panting. "Rachel! What happened?!"

"Peter . . ." She muttered. "H-he attacked me . . ."

"That guy? He looked like he wouldn't hurt a fly!" Lloyd remembered.

"Haddon poisoned him. They're not on our side anymore," Rachel whispered, pushing herself off the floor.

Lloyd helped her onto his bed. "Tell me everything."

After Rachel finished telling her story, she asked an awkward question. "Uh, Lloyd? Can I sleep with you for the rest of the night?"

Lloyd's face showed he was grossed out. "Uhhh . . ."

Rachel saw his face and realized what he thought she meant. "Ewww! No! I mean, just beside you, fully clothed, in bed!"

Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief and motioned for her the sit beside him. She awkwardly sat next to him and he gave her a hug. She mumbled an ouch and settled back beside Lloyd. "Goodnight, Lloydy," she whispered, squeezing his hand.

"'Night Rach," Lloyd whispered back.


The next morning, Garmadon went to wake up Lloyd and found his son and Rachel sleeping in the same bed. He flung the blankets off in horror, but found the two fully clothed. "What is going on?!"

Lloyd sat up quickly, rubbing his eyes. "Dad it's not what you think!"

"Then what is it?!" Garmadon asked, angrily.

"Last night she was attacked-," Lloyd began.

"I have the bruises and scars to prove it!" Rachel interrupted.

"And then was too scared to sleep back in her room, where she was attacked," Lloyd finished.

"I wasn't scared," Rachel corrected. "And we had our clothes on all night, I swear!"

Garmadon eyed the two. "Alright, I believe you. Misako made pancakes, so wake up!"

Once his father had left, Lloyd turned to Rachel. "I'm sorry, Rach."

Rachel smiled. "It's okay." She laughed. "If I had a son and saw him in bed with a girl, I'd be suspicious too!"

The two walked to the kitchen and sat down. Misako flopped some pancakes on their plates. The rest of the ninja looked at them. "Morning sleepyheads," Nya joked.

"Hi Nya," Rachel yawned.

"What happened last night? I thought I heard a gunshot . . ." Jay murmured, wrapping his arm around Nya, causing her to giggle.

"You did. No one was shot, but it was close," Rachel explained, taking a bite of her pancake.

The ninja looked at her in terror. "Someone tried to shoot you?!" Cole asked, in horror.

"Yep; It was my former friend, Peter," Rachel replied, coolly.

"WHAT?!" The ninja cried in unison.

After Rachel went through the whole story, the ninja started to train. Lloyd grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her out of the monastery. "Where are you taking me?" Rachel asked, wrenching her hand from his grip.

"Don't you want to get revenge?" Lloyd asked, a mischievous look in his eyes.

"I'm not going to kill him!"

"What? No! I mean pull some pranks!"

"Oh. Sounds fun! But where's their hideout?"

"I don't know. So we better start looking!"