My Best Friend
"Stop!"
Ali immediately recognized the voice cutting through the impending fight. "Zane!" The ninja of ice ran into the alleyway, getting between Ali and her opponent, whose raised eyebrow was clear through the hole in her mask.
"Your allies have already retreated! Leave at once!"
Her fighting stance faltered slightly as she blinked rapidly. She looked at Zane, then looked at Ali, who was notably redder than she had been moments before. "…You have got to be kidding me."
"Zane, it's okay… she's my best friend…" At least, Ali hoped she still had a best friend after the whole disappearing stunt she'd pulled.
"What?" Zane's attention turned to Ali's friend, who simply glared at him.
"Yeah, I'm her best friend." Her grip tightened on her staff and her stance became more stable. "Who are you exactly?" Of course she knew who this was to an extent. Even in the clan's remote location, news of a team of brightly-colored ninja trickled in from time to time.
"Whoever you are according to my comrade, you're my enemy if you attack her."
"…'Comrade.' You…" She gave Ali her full attention, either really confident Zane wouldn't attack her while she was distracted or greatly underestimating his ability to defeat her if they did engage in combat. "You joined the ninjas? Seriously?!"
Ali shrank slightly. "Well, it was a serious situation... no where to really go... they offered... so I chose a roof over my head... and a career in teaching…"
"Nonono, I know why you joined them. Noble dweebs like that," she pointed her bo at Zane, which might have started an inadvertent fight with a less patient ninja, "are so your type."
Zane looked at Ali, confused and not seeming to notice her cheeks burn even redder than they had when he'd shown up. She stammered violently. "That is not the reason!"
"Uh huh. Yeah. Look, like Prince Charming said, everyone's leaving, and obviously I'm not gonna talk any sense into you today. Later Ali!" She leaped and flipped out of the alleyway, beaming at Ali as she went. However, as soon as she lost sight of her friend, her expression grew dark for the rest of the journey back.
"Net, wait!"
No response.
"That was... truly a friend of your's...?" Zane asked.
"Yeah...before I left...I think our status is different now."
"...Well... I know that friends can't be easily replaced," Zane smiled, "but I'd hope we could be friends."
Ali smiled weakly back. "I'd hope we already are."
As Ali and Zane smiled at one another, the others caught up after completing their own battle with the clansmen. Ali's eyes widened. Zane hadn't just been saying that to catch Net off guard… they'd really beaten her pursuers, and they didn't even look that worse for wear over it. Lloyd, Kai, Jay, and Cole were having a lively discussion. Wu, on the other hand, looked at Ali with irritation.
"Ali," he said, in his trademark "you will be getting extra training tomorrow" voice, "trusting your allies in times of stress is an important team skill. I trust you will be open to developing such skill."
"…Yes, Sensei."
Even if she had been dumb enough to argue about it, she wasn't up to it. She'd been hoping that if she ever saw Net again after running away, it would have gone better than it had.
