"It wasn't that bad, Kai."

"Yes, it was, and everyone knew it!"

Kai was red in both clothing and face as he marched over the Bounty. Cole followed behind, not as angry, but just as driven as his friend. They'd returned from a party, one the rest of the ninja were still at, dancing and eating the night away. Cole wished that he was still there, but Kai needed help, the sort that only he could give.

"I don't understand what the problem was," Cole grunted as he pushed the door open, which Kai had left to swing shut, "You danced for the Blade cup, and you were on a stage, then."

"Different," Kai spoke through his teeth.

Cole grimaced.

The party had been going well for several hours. The food was good, the music excellent; everyone was having a good time. Then someone had the bright idea to play the Weekend Whip on the speakers, and the ninja were pushed onto the dance floor. They'd been laughing, groaning, but not really protesting to dancing in front of onlookers.

Well, most of them weren't protesting.

"How is it different?" Cole found Kai crouched in front of their quarter's television, fiddling through several video games.

"I had a mask."

"Oh."

Kai had been clumsy throughout the dance, late to moves, eventually taking a wrong step and falling flat on his behind. Several people had laughed, including the ninja, and he'd left in a hurry afterwards. Cole hadn't laughed, but he wasn't sure Kai noticed. Not that he cared; he gave his friends a good talking to, and he followed Kai out, knowing exactly the sort of mortification his friend was feeling.

He'd wanted to offer his friend the support he hadn't for himself when he'd suffered the same mistake, but Kai just wasn't having it.

"You choked?"

Kai folded his arms and didn't answer the question.

Frankly, Cole didn't understand it. Kai had always been coordinated, despite his reckless personality, and he certainly had the skills and knowledge to be an excellent dancer. Perhaps he'd just thought of his friend as something better than what he was. Regardless, he wanted Kai to stop feeling so bad about it.

He sighed, dropping next to his friend. "It's okay, Kai. It happens to all of us. Heck, it happened to me!" he cuffed him on the shoulder, "You remember that story, don't you?"

Kai thought for a second, then nodded, breaking into a snort that turned into a chuckle. Cole grinned along for a while, until Kai's laughter carried a bit too long. Clearing his throat, he pushed his friend off balance until he stopped.

"Yeah, so it's not as bad as you think, I promise. The worst that'll happen is that people might make a few jokes," Cole patted Kai on the shoulder, pleased to see that the frown lines on his friend's face had softened, "But they don't matter, do they?"

Kai shrugged. "I guess not." He was indeed looking better.

Then Cole ruined it. "So what if you're a little uncoordinated?"

Kai froze, then turned, affronted, "Uncoordinated?"

"Yeah?" Cole wasn't about to take back his statement, not yet, "It wasn't that bad, but you certainly lacked form."

"Form?" Kai stood, the frown appearing again.

"Everyone does! You're not professional—"

For a moment, he thought that Kai was going to punch him, but he just fumed, "You think I'm a clumsy dolt?"

"No, I—"

Kai turned on his heel, and Cole almost rolled his eyes. Kai looked like he would storm off again, which was ridiculous, since his friend had no where to storm off to, but Kai just marched over to the radio at the end of the room, poring through several stacks of CDs.

Cole made to stand, but Kai let out a fierce, "Stay right there, you ninny!" and he went back to a sitting position, not scared—no, definitely not scared—but a little put out by Kai's tone.

He waited until Kai seemed to find what he was looking for. An unseen smirk crossed Kai's face, and the ninja of fire took out the CD, placing it into the radio with delicate precision. After a moment, Cole was surprised to hear the animated notes of tango music dance through the air.

Kai turned, and Cole stood without a word.

"Come here," Kai gestured for emphasis, "I'll show you form."

A little hesitantly, Cole placed his left hand over Kai's bicep, and his right in Kai's other hand. Kai didn't give him time to prepare as he pulled him close and began to lead Cole in a fast-paced tango dance. Starting off simple, he brought Cole through a walk to get his feet in pace, then slowly grew more flamboyant. As the music began to pick up, Kai's gestures turned wild, though Cole noticed that they weren't unskilled.

Cole knew how to dance the tango, a fact he made sure to keep a secret for as long as he could, but he was surprised that Kai knew, even more so at how good he was. The music rose, and Kai led him into a promenade turn, his movements quick and precise. He had this smirk on his face, matched by a fierce gaze.

Cole raised his eyebrows, then decided that he would play, too. After Kai got a little cheeky, he matched his friend's energy with that his own, not exactly taking the lead, but putting his all into the energetic dance. It was Kai's turn for surprise, but with a set of his jaw, he gripped Cole's hand tighter and pulled him faster around the room.

They continued like that for far longer than likely either of them anticipated, stopping only when the track ended, and they stood, heaving in silence.

After a moment, Cole let out a quiet, "Touché."

Kai grinned.

"I didn't know you knew the tango," he continued, letting go of Kai's hand.

"I didn't know you did," Kai countered, looking better now that he'd made a point and saved his pride.

All seemed well for a moment before they heard someone clear their throat across the room. Both boys looked up, seeing, to their dismay, that everyone else had returned home, and had been standing in the foyer for a length of time neither of them knew.

Most of them were grinning; Zane looked curious, and Lloyd had his eyebrows raised. Nya looked a mix between confused and horrified.

"Um…" It's not what it looks like…Cole had meant to say, but that was a lie; the situation was exactly what it looked like, and everyone knew it, too. So, with a shrug, he settled with, "Don't worry, guys. Kai's feeling a lot better now."

Kai shot him a look.

"Clearly," said Nya.

Jay began to snicker.

Another, painfully awkward moment of silence settled over the room. Kai was growing red in the face again, and Cole finally realized what his friend's problem had been back at the party. It wasn't that Kai was unskilled; he was just shy. And, apparently, skilled in dances that the music didn't provide for.

"Well!" Kai burst, clapping his hands together and rubbing them, "I think I'll go to bed. You've all seen enough of me tonight." He scurried out of the room like a cockroach from light, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"We've seen enough of you for a lifetime!" Jay chortled, before heading over to the kitchen, "Fair warning, guys," he called before disappearing, "The amount of teasing you're about to receive isn't going to go away for a long time!"

The rest of the group made various noises of both affirmation and mirth, before dispersing to their own respective locations. In some ways, Cole was thankful that they were leaving so quickly—perhaps they were too whipped to tease them right away—but he was a little curious as to why no one was going to question what had transpired. Maybe life had gotten so weird for them that this sort of thing was expected.

He shrugged, preparing to take leave himself, when a hand caught him by the crook of his elbow. He turned to see Nya beside him.

"Look," she said, "What you and Kai do is your business, okay? But if you break his heart, I'm going to kick your ass."

Cole chuckled, "Duly noted."

She grinned at him, and they parted.

As Cole went to bed that evening, he hoped that one day Kai would feel brave enough to dance with other people. Not that Cole was the greatest judge in the world, but his friend had certainly been a fine partner.

A fine partner indeed.


I like the idea of Kai being good at the tango, but terrible at everything else.

Thank you for reading!