"Hey Kai?" Nya said as she applied makeup to her cheekbones, glancing up at her brother, who was sitting around on her bed just to give her some company.

"Yeah?" He said, scrolling through his phone, checking out the latest trending hashtags and memes.

"I know you and Zane are together."

Kai physically startled, juggling his phone for a second before catching it with his palms, gaping at his sister in awe.

"Wh- What?"

"I said that I know you and Zane are dating," She put down her brush and turned away from her vanity to look at her brother, who was still shell-shocked.

"Wait, how? I thought we were doing pretty good with this whole secret thing," He mumbled, and Nya smirked back at him.

"I don't know how long you've been dating for, but I went to ask you a question and you two were both asleep together on your bed. I would've just walked away, but you two were practically wrapped around each other. Speaking of that, you mind bringing him in here?" She asked sweetly, turning back to sharpen her highlighter. Kai nodded nervously and slipped out, heart beating a million times with each footstep he took towards the kitchen. To his relief, Zane was the only one there, a simple white apron tied around his neck as opposed to his pink frilly one, spatula in hand as he readied the first batch of pancakes.

"Morning," The Fire Ninja greeted, sauntering as casually as he could over to his boyfriend, as not to alarm him.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?" Zane glanced around before planting a peck on Kai's cheek, not noticing the unsteady glances being cast his way.

"Fine, fine. But uh," Kai dropped his voice to a whisper. "Nya just told me she found out about us. Remember when you were telling me stories about your dad and then we fell asleep? Turns out someone did see us."

Zane had set the down the spatula, both hands on the countertop with his head hung between his arms.

"Hey, it's ok. She's not upset," Kai soothed, patting the Ice Ninja's back as he tugged on his sleeve. "She wanted to talk to you. That's all. It'll be fine."

Kai had absolutely no way of knowing it was all fine, and Zane thought this with a bitter expression as he was led down the hall after the stove was shut off and his apron was put away. Kai took one last deep breath before opening her door, where she had just finished applying her last bit of mascara. She stood after setting her brush down, and approached the Ninja of Ice, his expression steeling as he expected threats of violence to be hurled his way.

He hadn't anticipated a hug.

Just like that, Nya's arms were wrapped around him, and he was hugging back, not quite sure what all of this meant.

"Thank you," She said as she pulled away, and Zane's confusion must have been evident on his face. "For loving him. I don't need to worry about him finding someone nice when he has you. If you're worried about me disapproving because you're a dude, I honestly couldn't care less. Really."

Zane was fairly sure he had never felt so relieved as Kai hugged his sister, tears beginning to well up in his eyes.

"I love you sis," He contended, and she smiled.

"Right back at you bro."

"Nya... thank you," Zane exhaled, feeling as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Telling Nya would have been the largest obstacle in making their relationship public, as she deserved to know before they dropped the bomb on the rest of the crew.

"Kai, can you leave us alone for a second?" The Samurai asked politely, and Kai agreed, no longer worried for his boyfriend's life.

Once alone, Nya sat down on her bed, and pat the sheets beside her. Zane took the invitation, and folded his hands gently in his lap once he was seated.

"I'm not going to give you the good ol' protective sibling talk, I just want to reiterate how happy I am that Kai has you. You are seriously the only person on this ship with a sensible head on your shoulders, and I think you balance out Kai's impulsiveness. Also, you're the only one who can properly cook spicy food," She smirked, but her voice faltered for a second when she saw Zane's face. His eyes were so wide that his irises were completely surrounded by white, lips gently parted. "Zane, are you-"

She was cut off by Zane wrapping his arms around her, much more personal than her quick squeeze earlier.

"Thank you, Nya," He said into her shoulder. "I don't think you understand how much this means to me."

"No problem, buddy."

Later, Kai and Nya were washing dishes together, standing side by side as they scrubbed.

"Hey sis? Thanks for what you said to Zane earlier. I don't think he's stopped smiling since," He set a plate down on the counter, and Nya snickered.

"I didn't even say anything revolutionary. Maybe you should compliment him more. Probably needs the self esteem boost."

"I'm nice to him," Kai scoffed playfully, "He wouldn't be dating me if I wasn't. It's just... he's happy to have some validation. He was worried about you since we started dating."

"And how long ago was that?"

"About six months," Kai shrugged, and Nya nodded, impressed.

"Congrats. As far as I know, everyone else has no idea."

"And we intend to keep it that way," Kai unintentionally glared at the dish in his hand for a second before setting it down, and Nya raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"What if someone is homophobic? We're not willing to break up the team or with each other because we made the mistake of trusting our teammates. And I know that sounds stupid and selfish, but I couldn't stand to lose him. I can't."

"Well, you need to."

Kai had picked up a dish at the start of his small rant, and on that note, it slipped out of his hand and came crashing to the ground, shattering on impact.

Nya scrambled back as though a snake had lunged itself at her, and Kai could only stare in shock as a few ceramic pieces slashed into his feet. Quick footsteps approached the room, and soon Zane was scooping a protesting Kai into his arms to remove shards of plate from his feet.

"Zane, I can walk, I'll be fine," The Fire Ninja resisted, but only slightly, as Zane's look sent a very clear message of shut up and let me help you.

Nya volunteered to sweep up the mess, so Zane took Kai to the bathroom, where all of the bandages were. He set Kai down on the sink, where he could kneel and easily access his feet.

"What happened?" Zane asked as he grabbed a pair of tweezers to inspect for any remaining shards.

"I just dropped a plate," Kai huffed, and Zane bit his lip, wanting to pry but knowing Kai was not in the mood to talk.

"This might sting a little," The Ice Ninja warned as he removed a piece from a larger gash, Kai hissing in response. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about me, keep doing your job," Kai said through gritted teeth, and Zane apologetically rubbed his leg as he stood, wetting a cotton ball with water before dabbing at the wounds with care, as not to upset the Fire Ninja even more.

"I don't know what has made you irritable, but I won't press. I am sorry if I did anything to upset you," Zane said as a safety measure as he cleaned the cuts, and Kai reached down to rest a hand on Zane's head.

"Stop. You know you didn't do anything. It's just... Nya asked why we haven't told the team, and I got upset and dropped the plate."

"Did you tell her the truth?" Zane asked, knowing this topic was very volatile between them, even though they both held similar mindsets. Kai hummed in affirmation, giving Zane's hair a quick ruffle before retracting his hand.

"She said that we needed to," Kai fidgeted his fingers in his lap, and Zane hesitated in his cleaning.

"And why is that?"

"I don't know. I didn't get the chance to ask."

"I trust we are still on the same page on this issue?" Zane grabbed a new wet cotton ball, and Kai sighed.

"Actually, Zane, I think we should," Kai steeled himself for his boyfriend's retaliation, but Zane merely faltered in his movements, looking up at his beau with the same blue eyes Kai could get lost in for hours.

"Why? I thought we both had agreed that telling our teammates could potentially shatter our dynamic as a crew. We could ruin friendships and relationships with each other, they might be closeted homophobes, we don't know," Zane's voice cracked on the last three words, and Kai chewed on the inside of his cheek.

"I think we can trust them. I know you're scared," The Fire Ninja couldn't stand to see Zane so distressed, but he knew he had to get his point out there, "but we can't stay silent forever. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. We can lounge on the couch without fearing someone's going to walk in on us, or you could lean your head on my shoulder when we're watching movies with the crew."

Zane shut his eyes, running numbers through his head, equations that he had explained to Kai when they had first begun dating. When his eyes fluttered open, hands reaching for the bandages, he nodded.

"Alright. We can inform the others of our relationship."