DISCLAIMER: I do not own Ninjago! Really!

I'm so sorry this took so long to upload! It has been the bane of my existence for the last week. But here it is now, so, Enjoy!


Next Morning, we were all standing around a map of Ninjago, on a table in the bridge. We had decided to search for the platinum weapons during the day, and stop the purple fire at night.

Jay and Nya looked very tired, I suppose they had been up very late finishing the device. Nya also looked kinda forlorn, as though she had lost something very precious to her.
"Well," Elsie said, "I know roughly where each of the weapons is: the whip of water is in the north, the fan of air is in the east and the daggers of light are in the south. There is also a starting point for each weapon, where you can stand and if you shine a light at the right area, you should be able to see a glint of silver, and that's the weapon."
"Ok," I said, "We're in the north now, so maybe it would be easiest to get first. Where's the starting point for it?" Elsie peered at the map.
"Just two miles south from here!"
"Ok, then! Let's get going!"

Half an hour later, we were climbing up a mountain, upon which was the starting point for Mesi's whip. The weather was very hot, and sunny, but also very humid. I was sweating dreadfully. I stopped to take a drink out of the water bottle strapped onto a belt at my waist. The com-link that connected all 8 of us on my wrist buzzed. I was at the front of the group, with Mesi not far behind me. I didn't know what order the others were in, but I knew Jay was bringing up the rear. I looked at my wrist; the display screen told me it was Jay.
"Annie, Nya looks very weak from the heat, what should I do?" he sounded very worried. Frankly, I wasn't surprised, the poor girl had had two very late nights in a row.
"Get Zane to come and cool her down," I said, absent-mindedly tucking a stray bit of hair behind my ear. Today, I had pulled it all into a high ponytail, and separated it into three sections. I had plaited the two side sections, and looped them round, hiding the ends. Then, I covered the elastic bands by wrapping the middle section around them, securing it in a bun.

We were nearly at the top now, but as we climbed, it got steeper and steeper, and hotter and hotter.
"Almost there!" I shouted down encouragingly. I wiped the sweat off my forehead; it was swelteringly hot. The ground below was shivering and shaking, and the desert looked like water. Finally, I reached the top. "I'm here!" I called down. I looked around the level summit. It was about 5sqm, and in the centre was a stone pedestal.

I heard little grunts and sighs from where I had came up, and turned to see Mesi emerge over the side. Her red curly hair was in a frizzy mess and she had smears of dust all over her.
"Here," I held out my hand to her to help her up.
"Thanks," she took it gratefully. Once she had stood up, she touched her hair precariously, "I look a mess don't I?" she asked me.
"Yes," I nodded, and she frowned slightly.
"No, she doesn't," Kai said, coming over the edge. He folded his arms over the side, and addressed Mesi, "You look lovely, like usual."
"Thank you," she blushed a little bit.
"It's true!" he said, trying to get over the side, "Now, will one of you help me up?" I moved to help him, as Mesi turned away, in semi-confusion. I smiled a little to myself. She really did love him!

Good Morning! I heard a voice sing in my head.
Hey Tash! I replied.
How're things in Matchmaking land?
Good, Cole is on board, and Gina and Zane are already together.
That's very quick work!
Well, I knew they'd be easiest to do, and we may aswell have got it out the way.
Anything else?
Oh, everybody's agreed to help with Jay and Nya.
That'll be very useful, I doubted we'd get it done with just the three of us.
I'm gonna talk to everyone bar Kai and Mesi about getting those two together. I have a plan, but its gonna need a lot of coordination.
Oh, I said I'd talk to my sisters about helping! I'd better get onto that.
Yes, do.

While I had been talking to Tashi, the others had gathered atop the mountain. They were currently holding magnifying glasses out over the side, harnessing the sunlight to shine little spotlights out over the countryside. I went to look at the pedestal. I was sure we were missing a trick with it; it was too geometric to be natural. In the top, there was a small hole. I took out my magnifying glass. It fit perfectly inside. The whole handle went in, and when it was completely in, a silver light lit up in the forest.
"Look! I've found it!" I shrieked excitedly.
"Where? Where?" Gina ran up to me, shrieking even more excitedly.
"There!" I pointed.
"YAY!" she happy-clapped, then hugged me.
"Gina! Calm down!" I exclaimed.
"Sorry!" she said cheerfully, "Shall we get going?"

So, there we were, in the forest. Cole and Kai had wanted to go at the front to cut down the plants in our way, but Gina protested so strongly against it they agreed just to walk on rabbit paths. She had always been a bit of an eco-nut.

The paths were very narrow, and several times we got lost. We had to go directly east from the mountain. This time, Zane and Gina were at the front, and Gina had the compass. After we got lost the 7th time, Zane took the compass off her, and we had found the right glade in 2 minutes.

In the centre was a large pond, with a fountain that seemed to come from nowhere. Resting on the top was the platinum whip.
"Oh great," Jay muttered, "How are we gonna get that down?"
"I think Mesi's already working on it," Nya pointed and whispered a reply to him.

All of us were watching Mesi. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be in some sort of trance. There was a very strange smile on her face. Slowly, she raised her arms and moved them about. The fountain shrank considerably. We all gasped, amazed, but the show wasn't over yet. Mesi stepped forward, inching towards the pool. There was silence, and we all held our breaths as her foot was lowered over the water. Closer, closer, closer, until finally she touched down. We all prepared ourselves for a huge splash, but no splash came. She was floating!

She put her other foot onto the water. It was miraculous! She was walking on the water! She walked across the pool, and picked up the whip. Then she turned back around and walked back over the water to us, her eyes still closed, the strange smile still on her face. As she reached the land, the smile on her face disappeared, and as she put her feet on dry land, she collapsed.

The first person by her side was Kai (surprise, surprise). He lifted her upper body, and yelled at us to get some water. I did this and poured it over her face. We watched in silence as she spluttered awake. She opened her eyes, and looked at us, confused.
"Er, guys? Why are you staring at me?" she asked us.
"You passed out!" Kai exclaimed. She snapped her head round at the sound of his voice. Her eyes were wide and she immediately got to her feet.
"What? I don't remember anything. I only remember standing here, wondering how to get the whip, and then, being down here on the floor," she said, brushing dust off herself.
"Really? You don't remember anything at all?" Gina asked, her mouth wide open.
"No," Mesi shook her head in confusion.
"You walked on the water!" I explained to her.
"You lowed the level of the fountain down so you could get the whip!" that was Gina
"You got the whip," Zane.
"And then you walked back!" Jay.
"Across the water again!" Nya.
"But when you got back," Cole.
"You collapsed!" Kai finished.
"Really? I did that?" she looked very surprised.
"Yeah! You were awesome!" Jay exclaimed, grinning at her. I noticed that Nya frowned a little at this, not in anger, but sadness.
"Oh, thanks," Mesi smiled, but yawned a millisecond later, "You know, I'm very tired. I think I'll just..." she collapsed, again. Kai caught her. She snored faintly.
"Kai, carry her," I said, turning around to the way we had come into the clearing. While we had been in the glade, storm clouds had gathered.
"I sense that a thunderstorm will begin in the next five minutes," Zane told us, "It is important we get back to the ship before the worst begins."
"My thoughts exactly Zane," I agreed with him, "Come on, everybody."

We walked in silence. It had been a long and tiring morning, and none of us had the energy to speak. The clouds above got thicker and thicker, and with a crack of lightning, the rain began. It was cool and refreshing on my skin, and I rejoiced in the feeling after the heat and mugginess of earlier. We all had raincoats with us, but I didn't put mine on.

"Hey Annie," I heard Cole say. I turned round and smiled at him through the rain, waiting for him to catch up with me. I was again at the front, Cole immediately behind, then Zane and Gina, then Jay and Nya, and Kai with Mesi was bringing up the rear.
"Hey Cole," I said as he came to beside me. We began walking again."Something's gone wrong," I told him.
He frowned, "How do you mean?"
"Something happened, last night, that has shattered Nya."
"Are you sure?" he asked, "Cos if its to do with Jay, that's seriously gonna jeopardise Operation Mistletoe."
I was momentarily side-tracked, "Why Mistletoe?"
He grinned, "Well, is December. You're not the only one to make plans."
I grinned, Cole was useful, "Anyway, I am pretty sure it is to do with Jay."
"Oh no!"
"Oh yes! I'll corner her later and get it out of her," I said, confidently.
"We'd better not tell Kai. If he gets wind that Jay's done something to hurt her, it'll be.." he slid his finger along his neck.
"Hmm, I don't think Jay would do anything to purposely upset Nya, he loves her too much for that," I thought aloud.
"Well, how about I talk to him too, then we can be sure."
I grinned at him, "You know, you're getting rather good at this."
"Thanks, I'm starting to enjoy it," he grinned back.

Gradually, as we walked, the rain began to stop. Now, it was only spitting a bit. We were nearly at where Nya had landed the Bounty earlier. We walked up a ridge, and through a small forest of no great density, that covered a path that wound round a curving valley. At the bottom of the valley, there was a almost completely flat piece of land, and that was where the Bounty was. I noticed that Cole and I had drawn a little bit ahead of the others, so at the top of the ridge, we stopped and waited for them to catch up. Zane and Gina were smiling and laughing, but Nya and Jay both had almost pained expressions on their faces. Kai looked very worried, and was carrying Mesi like she was the most important thing in the world.

Once they had caught up a bit, we continued walking. It had completely stopped raining now, though the sky was still covered in thick cloud. I shivered a little; the effects of walking in the rain had begun to take affect. A cold wind had started up, blowing against the wet cloth on my skin.
"You alright?" Cole asked, frowning.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I smiled weakly, "but I'm gonna have to change once we get back."
"You're the air kunoichi! Can't you just...magic the wind away?"
"You know it doesn't work like that," I replied, "Besides, we're nearly there now."

And so we were. As we approached the ship, we slowed a little to allow the others to catch up. We boarded first, and as soon as we did, Lloyd rushed up to us.
"Look! Look! I can do it!" he shouted. He pressed a button, somewhere, and the training course rose out of the deck. We watched him do it, and he managed most of it, but failed at the last obstacle. He went flying across the deck, and landed on the other side. "Aw, I could do it earlier!" he exclaimed, clearly disappointed.
"Keep trying, you'll get it eventually," Cole ruffled his hair. Lloyd folded his arms and went to sit on the steps, pouting miserably.
"Don't worry, little dude," I went to sit next to him.
"Easy for you to say!" he grumbled.
"Look, how about I help you later, after I've got changed into dry clothes?" I suggested.
"Really? You would do that?" he said excitedly.
I shrugged, "Why not? I've got nothing else to do."
"YAY!" he shouted, "Can you get changed quickly?"
"Yeah."
"Like, now," he pushed me towards the door.
"Okay!" I chuckled, "Meet me here in 5!"

Our afternoon of training went by pretty well. At first Lloyd went through the course over and over again, and every time he did I would tell him how he could improve. After a while, he started mumbling and groaning that I didn't know how HARD it was. I then volunteered to have a go myself, and let me tell you now, it wasn't easy. But after about ten tries I was regularly completing it, and after that, we did it together. Lloyd would copy what I did, and through that, he was able to do it.

"Whoop!" I shouted, once I noticed it was about six, "High five!" He high-fived me, then looked at me anxiously.
"Can we do it once more?" he asked.
I smiled and shook my head, "Sorry, it's too late." It had gotten dark a couple of hours ago.
"Aw, pleeeeeeease?" he begged.
"No, Lloyd."
"S'not fair," he grumbled.
"How about we train again tomorrow?" I proposed.
"Ok!" he immediately brightened up. I smiled at his ability to swing from mild anger to ecstatic joy in a matter of seconds.
"Now, lets go and see what the others are doing," we walked inside.

We first went to the lounge, where Kai and Jay were playing against eachother on a game. I swear, all those boys ever seem to do is play on video games. Zane and Gina were sitting on a couch against the wall, watching them.
"Hey guys," I said, and Lloyd ran to flop down between Kai and Jay.
"Hi Annie!" Gina beamed at me. Ok, so she was excited because...?
"Where are the others?" I asked. Lloyd was pestering Kai and Jay into letting him have a go.
"Mesi is in the Med. room, she hasn't woken yet," Gina told me, "Nya went off to our room as soon as we got back, and I haven't seen her since."
"And, unfortunately, Cole is cooking dinner," Zane said, wincing a little.
"Why unfortunately?" I frowned.
"His food tastes like pigswill," he replied plaintively.

I decided to go and talk to Nya now, it was as good a time as any. I knocked on the door that led to our room.
"Go away," I heard a muffled voice mumble.
"Nya? It's me," I said. I don't know why I thought that would make her let me in, but it worked. I heard her get up, come across to the door and unlock it. I saw why she was reluctant to let me in as soon as she opened the door. Her normally neat hair was messier than Mesi's that morning, her eyes were swollen and puffy. I looked past her and saw that her pillow was soaked.
"What on earth happened to you?!" I asked her, quickly coming in and closing the door.
"Nothing," she replied quietly.
"That is not nothing," I pointed to her pillow. She sank slowly onto the bed. Then she broke into tears.

I sat next to her, and put my hand on her shoulder. I knew that I had to wait for her to cry it out, I couldn't force her to talk. After a while, she stopped sobbing so much, sat up, and looked at me.
"It's Jay," she said. Well, never! "He's driving me mad."
"How do you mean?" I asked, pretending to be surprised.
"I love him too much!" she announced, standing up, "And he doesn't love me," she added sadly, sitting again.
"Whatever gave you that idea?" I asked, genuinely surprised.
"Last night," she hiccupped, "he was humming...er...Beauty and the Beast. I asked him why. He said that he was thinking about a girl he knew..." she started to cry again. I hugged her tightly, not speaking a word. We sat there for about 5 minutes, her sobbing her eyes out while I rocked her gently back and forth.
"I know, I know, let it all out," I said soothingly. She stopped a bit, and looked at me.
"Thanks," she sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve.
"Now, you go and have a nice, long, hot shower, and get yourself cleaned up for tea," I smiled at her, standing up.
"Ok," she walked into the en-suite bathroom. I walked over to the door outside, but before I left, Nya popped her head back in the room, "You know, one day, you're going to make a brilliant mother."

After I left Nya, I went to the kitchen to update Cole on what had happened.
"Hey Cole," I said as I entered the room.
"Hi Annie," he looked up and smiled at me. I sat on a countertop away from where he was cooking.
"I was just talking to Nya," I told him.
"Hmm, and what did she say?" he asked.
"Jay has only gone and messed the whole thing up," I moaned, "He was humming 'Beauty and the Beast' yesterday when they were working, and when she asked why, he said he was thinking about a girl he knew. And Nya, being insecure as it is, presumes that he is in love with some other girl, and now she's all depressed about it."
"Does this smell right to you?" he waved a spoon of...whatever he was making infront of my face.
"Cole! Were you even listening to what I said?" I hopped down from the counter, frowning, with my hands on my hips.
"Yeah, sure. Jay, stupid. Nya, depressed," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Hmm," I wasn't convinced he had completely concentrated, but let it slide, "Let me taste some," I pointed to the pot. He put some on the spoon and gave it to me. I swallowed hard before I tasted it. It couldn't be as bad as the others said, could it?

I was wrong. It was much, much worse.

My eyes bulged as the foul substance entered my mouth. Cole watched me anxiously, waiting for my verdict.
"Water! Water!" I croaked out. He rushed to get a glass full. I gulped a large portion of the water into my mouth, then spat every into the sink. Then, I downed the rest of the glass. "That," I said, wiping my mouth on my sleeve, "Is the worst thing I have tasted in my life!"
"What?" Cole looked confused. I rolled my eyes.
"Come 'ere," I grabbed the pot by the handles at the side, and poured all the contents into the bin. Then I put the pot in the dishwasher, and got out two smaller ones. "We're going to need spaghetti, tinned tomatoes, beef mince, and an onion," I turned to him.
"Um, we've only got frozen beef, is that ok?" he asked, still a bit confused.
I nodded, "That's fine." We assembled the ingredients, and I began searching the drawers for a tin opener.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked, sounding a little hurt.
"Cos, and please don't take offence by this, your cooking tastes worse than pigswill," I replied.
"Oh," he said simply.
"Sorry, but its the truth," I said, trying to be kind, "Now, Cole, prepare yourself for a crash course in basic cooking!"

"The trick is," I said as I stirred the pan, "to not over-complicated things." The sauce was well on its way, and the kettle was boiling for water for the pasta. We were making, if you hadn't guessed it, Spaghetti Bolognaise. "So, don't try to be ambitious, unless you have the help of someone who's made that meal before. Now, bring the kettle," he did so, and I poured it over the pasta in the pan, "I'll carry on cooking if you go and tell everyone that dinner's nearly ready." He left.

I carried on cooking. It was nearly ready now. I tasted some of the sauce; it was perfect! I got out a big dish and poured everything in. Then I continued stirring the pasta, until Cole came back.
"Do you want to stir it?" I offered him the spoon.
"Are you sure you trust me?" he took it cautiously.
I smiled, "I'm just here, and it only needs a couple more minutes." He stirred, concentrating hard. I suppressed a giggle at the sight of his face. "So, every time it's your turn to cook, I'll teach you a bit more, ok? And today, you can say you did all of this."
"Really? I can claim it was me?" he looked up at me, surprised.
"Sure, what difference do it make to me?" I smiled. He continued stirring a bit, then stopped again.
"Is it done now?" he asked me. I cut a bit off and ate it.
"Just about. Take it off and put it in the other dish," I told him. I had got the second dish out while he was stirring.

"Dinner's ready!" I called into the corridor. I then went back into the kitchen and helped Cole carry through the food. We laid it on the table, as the video game troop arrived.
"Well, it smells better than normal," Jay said cautiously.
"I'm gonna go and get Mesi," I told Cole. He nodded.

I entered the medical room quietly. Mesi was snoring softly. I went up to her and shook her gently.
"Hmm," she murmured.
"Mesi? Mesi? It's time for tea," I said.
"Hmm," she rolled over.
"Come on," I said, turning her back over.
"Oh, you're such a fuss-pot," she grumbled, sitting up.
"Come on," I repeated, sighing.
"Alright," she got up.
"Your hair's still a mess you know," I said sourly.
"Oh, who cares? I'm hungry, lets go," she ushered me towards the door.

"We'd better check Nya's come," I said once we were in the corridor.
"Ok then," she replied. We made our way to our room. It was not far. I knocked on the door.
"Nya? It's me and Mesi, we've come to get you for dinner," I called. The door opened quickly and she hopped out into the corridor. She was beaming widely, her hair was shiny and neat, and if I hadn't been there earlier, I couldn't have guessed that she had been crying at all. She was very brave, hiding her feelings and but on a face, but part of me wondered whether there was something more to it than that.
"Come on then, what are we waiting for?" she grinned, then skipped down the corridor. Mesi turned to me and raised her eyebrow. I smiled and shrugged, then skipped after her.

We fell into the dining room laughing. The others were already being served. Nya took her place next to Kai, and I sat on the other side of her, next to Lloyd. I smiled at him, and he asked me if we were still going to train again tomorrow. I nodded and said yes. Mesi had sat down opposite Kai, in the only available place next to Sensei. Cole finished serving us and sat down.
"Well, eat," he told us, when nobody picked up their forks. I winked at him and grabbed my fork. I twirled the spaghetti around the fork, knowing everyone was watching. Then I shovelled it into my mouth, sucking the stray strands through my teeth. Finally, I wiped off the sauce that had got onto my chin with a napkin, and swallowed.
"Mmmmm," I smiled, "Deee-licious!"
"Really?" Jay raised his eyebrows at me.
"We ask because Cole does not have the best track record when it comes to cooking," Zane said.
"Really. It's lovely!" I assured them. Cautiously, Kai tried a bit.
"Really! Guys! It's brilliant!" he grinned.
"Oh, I'm too hungry to care!" Mesi said after a moment of silence. Suddenly, everybody was wolfing the stuff down. Contented sounds filled the air, as we mostly ate in silence. I gave Cole a thumbs-up, and he grinned.


I'm glad this is done! It has taken me ages!

The next chap. will probably be from Annie's POV again. Infact, most of the rest of the story will be in Annie or Cole's POV, unless the situation calls for it.

Thanks for reading!