So I have no idea how many of you have seen the March of the Oni episodes but oh boy! No spoilers but - hngh. This is officially AU now I guess but oh well :'D Was bound to happen eventually.

(someone yell at me about that last episode please-)

Anyways, I'm weak for a fluffy party scene, you guys. They all deserved some happiness in their lives, so enjoy me trying to stuff as many characters as possible while trying to keep to a plot! (Also I know Chamille is supposedly a "bad girl" now but you know what, this is already AU so she was just getting Starbucks or something during s9, that's all.)

A huge thank you as always to all you kind people who leave reviews! I can't thank you enough for the support, it means the world :D

(Also enjoy the fluff while you can, because guess what's coming next chapter, ahahaHA)

"You know we're both ninja, right?"

"I had no idea."

"We can hear, too, so blindfolds are kinda useless overall-"

"Just hush up and walk, okay?" Nya says, swatting Jay lightly on the back. "At least try to pretend you don't know what's going on."

"I'm starting to second-guess myself," Lloyd admits, eyebrows furrowing as he tries to adjust his own blindfold, only to have his hand smacked away by Kai. "You've taken us down three different alleyways now, isn't this kinda overkill?"

"I think so," Cole grumbles, having lost half his spirit around the second block they circled.

"You asked for the most confusing route possible, and I gave it to you," Zane says, sounding slightly put-out.

"Thank you, Zane, at least somebody's in the spirit of surprises," Nya says, pointedly. Cole gives an indignant hmph, but he sighs, adjusting his expression.

"There's gonna be food at this, right?" Jay says, as Nya pushes them down another street. "'Cause I dunno about you guys, but I'm starving."

"As long as it's not hospital food, I'll be happy," Lloyd says, fervently. "I just want real food."

"Right?" Jay sighs, mournfully. "My taste buds have shriveled up and died, it's been so long-"

"Alright, drama queens, we're here," Kai rolls his eyes, tugging Lloyd's sleeve to get him to stop. Nya gives Cole a significant glance, and he carefully steps up to the doors. Zane gives her a thumbs-up. The two blindfolded ninja pause, Jay's forehead scrunching up, Lloyd frowning.

"Are we at Laughy's?" Lloyd asks.

Nya swears. Cole groans, knocking his head against the doors as Kai dissolves into snickers.

"I told you," he shakes his head.

"Fine, fine, we all learned our lesson," Nya mutters. "Just get in there already."

Lloyd and Jay tug their blindfolds off, blinking as their eyes adjust to the light before exchanging grins.

"I told you," Jay says, as Cole shoves the doors open, letting them into the darkened restaurant. "You can't surprise a ninj-"

"Surprise!"

Jay jumps back, emitting what sounds like a high-pitched cross between a shriek and a gasp, and Lloyd nearly trips backwards over Kai. Fortunately for all those present, neither of them decide to react on the offensive and electrocute them all or zap them with unholy green energy, which in hindsight, is a reaction they all really should have considered.

They probably owe their lives to Karlof, if anyone.

"Congratulations, friends!" Karlof immediately booms, striding up to them, and Lloyd and Jay's expressions split into identical smiles of relief as they recognize the mix of people crowded into the bar.

"Hey!" Jay exclaims. "We weren't being lead to our deaths after all!"

Cole swats Jay as everyone bursts into laughter.

Despite Pixal's expressed doubts, it appears as if Ronin and Dareth have come through — above and beyond, actually, Nya realizes as she cranes her head, looking at the crowd. Not only have they managed to get all their parents in one place, but Nya can spot almost every elemental master as well, everyone in their ragtag resistance, looking infinitely happier and more as ease than the last time they'd been together.

The restaurant itself looks good, too, though Nya's gonna bet the credit for that one goes to Pixal. The tables and floors have been scrubbed clean, any signs of the recent destruction nonexistent. She can spot the generic Christmas greenery lining the windows and tables, tiny Christmas lights winking where they're draped around the edge of the bar. They've also managed to rig up the lighting system so the overhead lamps strobe pleasant greens and blues, with an occasional hint of red for holiday feeling.

There's not a trace of purple in sight, and Nya can't help but be thankful for that. They've seen enough glowing purple to last them a life time.

She feels someone's gaze on her as she finishes her wide-eyed survey of the room, and she turns her head. Ronin gives her a simple smirk, and Nya can't help but smile brightly back.

It's not like she didn't think he'd come through.

"Okay, okay, let them breathe!" Skylor's voice rings out across the commotion, and Kai's face lights up. Skylor gives him a quick wink before turning her attention to Lloyd and Jay. "So, what's the verdict?"

Lloyd beams, holding up his bracelet-free wrist. "Clean bill of health," he announces. "We're home free!"

"Mostly free," Cole interjects. "You've both got meds you have to take daily, and if you try to skip out on the next check-up you're under arrest again-"

"We are celebrating our freedom, and that's what matters for now," Jay cuts over him, emphatically.

"Hear, hear!"

Dareth takes that as his cue to crank up the music, and the ninja are soon lost in the crowd of people, swarmed by bright-smiling reunions and laughter. Jay is quickly drowned beneath his parents' embraces, looking utterly bemused at the fact that he's got three of them now, and they're all getting along. Lloyd shrugs his way out of his own mother's embrace to dart over to Chamille, who — okay, Nya might need to keep an eye on that one, they're already muttering about rematches as they head for the pool table.

On the other side of the room, Kai makes a beeline for Skylor, finally shoving his way through the crowded restaurant to her.

"Hi," he says, a little breathlessly as he leans across the bar table.

"Hi," Skylor grins, leaning over the table to meet him. "Nice of you to show up."

Kai shrugs. "Nya wanted to take an extra loop around the block. I told her we needed to hurry, or all the potstickers would be gone." He scowls over at the food table, where Cole's having an animated debate with Pixal over the butter cookies. "Bet Dareth ate 'em all."

"Well, lucky for you," Skylor says, reaching beneath the bar counter. "You've got an in with the chef."

Kai's eyes light up as Skylor places the small plate in front of him. "You're the best, Sky," he declares fervently, through a mouthful of potsticker. "This is why I love you."

Skylor's eyebrows shoot up, and the slightest flare of pink colors her cheeks. "Oh, so you…love me, huh?" she says, her voice half-teasing, half-uncertainty.

Kai pauses mid-bite, mentally replaying his last sentence in his head — then abruptly turns scarlet.

"Wai- I don't — wait! No, I mean, I don't don't love you, I — um, that is to say, that I…like you, a lot, in a way that some sappier people could like, maybe call love, if they were asked-"

Skylor gives a quiet giggle, then leans over the bar to kiss him gently. Kai promptly shuts up, his own eyes going briefly wide before he relaxes, becoming an active participant.

Skylor finally pulls away, still smiling. "I don't don't love you too, you know."

Kai blinks rapidly, then breaks into a bright smile. "Oh! That's - that's good. Nice. Great-!"

Skylor shakes her head, stifling laughter. "Okay, dork, stop before you hurt yourself."

"Mm-hm," Kai nods, stuffing another potsticker in his mouth in lieu of answering. He glances over across the restaurant, watching the others mill about. "So, you stuck serving drinks all night?" he asks, changing the subject.

"Nope," Skylor says, with a flicker of relief. "Ronin's running the bar for me tonight. Said I needed a holiday, too."

"Not gonna argue with that one," Kai says, wincing as he leans across the bar again, rolling his shoulders once. "Do they keep you chained to the shop, or something?"

"No, it's just been really busy, holiday hours and stuff," Skylor shrugs. Her expression falls, and she bites her lip. "I'm really sorry I didn't make it in to the hospital. I know it must have been hard, and I wanted to be there for you, but…"

She trails off, looking down.

"Hey, it's okay," Kai says, tapping the back of her hand. She looks up at him, and he flashes her a smile. "You did more than enough for us in the fight. And I get it. We weren't exactly not crazy busy ourselves."

"Well yeah, but…" Skylor sighs, meeting his eyes. "You're...you're doing okay, though?"

Kai bites the inside of his cheek, looking back over the restaurant, his eyes finding Jay, then Lloyd. "Yeah," he says, exhaling. "Yeah, I'm getting there."

"Good," Skylor says, squeezing his hand. "Well...if you ever wanna talk about it?"

"I'll let you know," Kai says, returning the gesture. His expression eases, something more resembling his normal cocky exterior taking over. "But this is a party, and that'd kinda kill my vibe right now, you know?"

Skylor rolls her eyes. "Oh yes, your vibe."

"Someone's gotta set the mood," Kai grins. "Speaking of, you wanna go trash the others in pool?"

"Actually, I was gonna ask you if you wanted to hijack Ronin's iPod and see how long it takes people to realize it's just playing like, endless ABBA or something."

Kai blinks. "That works, too," he says, slowly grinning.

"Then let's go, vibe man," Skylor grins back, tugging him behind the bar with her.

"And by the way, after this? You need to get some sleep," she tells him, as they duck behind the bar table. "You're so off your game it's hilarious."

"I am not off my game," Kai says, offended. "I'm never off my game. I'm an never-ending fountain of smoothness."

Skylor turns to look at him, raising an eyebrow. "I-I, um, I love you, Sky," she says, pitching her voice lower in a poor mimicry of his own.

Kai throws a Christmas-themed napkin in her face, scowling. "Whatever, you were blushing too," he mutters.

Skylor just snickers.

"I'm just saying, if you zoom in right there, you can clearly see that I blasted him first."

"Yeah, still not seein' it, lightning," Griffin frowns, squinting at Jay's phone. "I'm givin' this one to Cole."

"Ha," Cole smirks, leaning back against a table as he sips smugly at his drink. "Eat dirt, bluejay."

Jay's expression scrunches up in outrage. "That was clearly mine! S'not my fault you can't see straight, zippy boy-"

"Zippy boy-?!"

"Why is this even that important to you, again?" Tox eyes them slowly, sifting her own drink around.

"It's a carefully constructed contest deciding which of us is superior," Jay says, eyes narrowed.

"…by seeing which of you hit the most Oni in the news coverage," Tox deadpans.

Both Cole and Jay nod. "Media exposure is important," Jay tells her.

"I just want live proof I beat him," Cole says. "So he can't keep making stuff up."

"Wow," Tox mutters, as Griffin snickers.

"You guys have changed zero percent since the tournament," he tells them, adjusting his shades. "Good to know the Oni can't kill the bickering."

"Oh I can assure you, it's only gotten worse," Zane announces over Cole and Jay's sputters as he joins them, Pixal close beside him.

"It's all we ever hear," Pixal adds, with an eye-roll.

"Oh, like we've never woken up to you yelling at Kai over Mario Kart at two in the morning," Cole snarks. Pixal shoots him a dirty look.

"And who's this?" Tox nods to Echo, who's standing behind Zane and looking rather shy. "New ninja recruit?"

"This is Echo," Zane says, stepping aside and giving his brother a reassuring smile. "He's, ah, he's my brother."

Echo beams, and Tox and Griffin blink.

"Hey, cool man," Griffin speaks up first, offering his hand out. "I'm Griffin Turner. Master of speed, and by far the coolest master around."

Jay and Cole make identical faces, and Tox rolls her eyes, taking a long sip of her drink.

"It is nice to meet you," Echo says. He pauses, studying him. "And I…see. I can tell by the hair gel. I suppose you get in many fights with Kai, then?"

Tox chokes on her drink, and the others break out in snickers as Griffin sputters.

"I am not like that hothead, whatever he's said-"

"Yeah, just giving him more ammo, Griffin," Tox says, elbowing over to Echo. "So what's your story?"

Jay pats Griffin sympathetically on the shoulder as Pixal and Zane turn their attention to Tox and Echo, clearly otherwise interested. "Don't worry. I, personally, think Kai's a huge dork," he tells him.

"Thanks," Griffin snorts. "But I still say that hit was Cole's."

"Oh, for the love of-" Jay throws his hands up as Cole laughs, fist-bumping Griffin as he heads for Shade.

"Suck it up, zaptrap," Cole tells him. "The majority's spoken."

"Majority my foot," Jay mutters into his drink. "Where's Nya? She'd take my side."

Nya is, in fact, across the room, having finally snapped and intervened in Lloyd and Chamille's pool match, which ended up being less of a tabletop game and more of a duel to the death with the pool sticks.

"Getting yourself stabbed in the eye with a pool stick is not on the list of things allowed," she grumbles, tugging Lloyd away as he makes narrow-eyed gestures at Chamille.

"We were just hanging out," he says, turning back to her. "She didn't make it to the resistance, so we had some catching up to do."

"Constantly trying to murder each other doesn't count as hanging out," Nya huffs.

"For some people, it's your only option," Lloyd mutters, looking away. Nya's retort dies on her lips, and her stomach sinks a bit as she gets the feeling he's not talking about Chamille anymore. She's gearing herself up for an emotionally-tactful-yet-lighthearted response, when they smack into Karlof, who immediately snatches Lloyd from her into a crushing embrace.

"-stitches, Karlof, watch his stitches!" Nya yelps.

"Hngh — I'm good, don't worry," Lloyd gasps as Karlof releases him, looking chastised.

"Apologies, little friend," Karlof says, patting him on the shoulder instead.

Lloyd grins at him, massaging his chest. "It's all good," he says. "I'm pretty much all healed up, so — wait, little friend?"

"It's good to see you, Karlof," Nya smiles, cutting over Lloyd's indignant sputter. "Thanks for coming. It's really nice to see everyone in…happier circumstances."

"Ah, resistance was not so bad," Karlof waves her off. "We make it through alive. And you got powers back, no?" Karlof directs at Lloyd.

Lloyd nods. "Yeah, not that I've been able to do much with them lately," he sulks. "I've been trapped in the hospital for ages."

"Then we'll have to have rematch soon, eh?" Karlof grins. "I can fight you instead of brown ninja this time."

"Oh yeah," Lloyd says, brightening. "Hey, let's go right now!"

"Ha!" Karlof gives a burst of loud laughter. "Big brother already talk to Karlof. Nice try."

"Aw, man," Lloyd grumbles. He gives Kai the stink-eye as he passes, snickering with his head bent toward Skylor's. Kai just smiles back at him, all teeth, before he hurries to catch up with Skylor.

Nya rolls her eyes, and tugs Lloyd over to the bar table. Ronin flashes them a grin as they walk up, shuffling drink glasses in front of him as he pours something very likely alcoholic in them.

"Well, if it isn't my resistance kids," he says. "Enjoying your party?"

"Yeah," Nya says, crossing her arms over the counter. "Hey, didn't my dad ban alcohol?" She wrinkles her nose at the obvious smell emanating from the bottle he's holding.

Ronin shrugs. "You banned green machine here," he says, nodding at Lloyd. "Didn't hear anything about me not being able to enjoy myself."

Lloyd makes a face. "Seriously? This is a party for me, and I'm the only one banned?"

"From alcohol, like the rest of us," Nya stresses. "There's this thing called being underage, you know."

"Yeah, like we've totally obeyed all those laws," Lloyd mutters. Nya spears him with a look.

"Tell you what," Ronin says, tapping a shot glass absently. "I've got one 'a those girly drinks, real low alcohol content. Wine cooler sort of thing, you know? How about you let the kid have one, just for kicks."

Nya looks at Lloyd, narrowing her eyes.

"C'mon," Ronin says. "Think of it as the resistance celebration we never got to have, shots for the leaders. Could've used a stiff drink then."

Lloyd looks back at Nya, questioning.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt, just this once," Nya sighs. "It's not like any of us have been stellar examples of lawfulness, anyways."

Both Lloyd and Nya shrug, and they grab for the shot glasses on the table in unison. Ronin's eyes go wide. "Wait- not those, they're for-"

His warning comes too late. Lloyd and Nya have already downed the shots - and abruptly dissolve into identical wheezing. Nya immediately spits her mouthful out, sputtering, while Lloyd makes a choking sound, clutching at his throat.

"-me and Dareth," Ronin finishes, weakly.

Lloyd makes a gagging noise, sounding like he's trying to hack a lung up.

"What is this, poison?" Nya coughs, grabbing Jay's drink as he passes and frantically gulping it down.

"Tastes like acid," Lloyd manages, snatching the drink when Nya offers it to him.

Jay stares at the both of them, as if he can't decide whether to laugh at their expressions or be offended that they're drinking all his soda. Ronin breathes out a weak laugh, shaking his head. "-would go for those, wouldn't you, you don't even wanna know what you just drank-"

"Someone gave you alcohol?!"

Ronin and Nya's heads snap up at Kai's enraged exclamation. Fortunately for Ronin, he isn't paying much attention to anyone else, too busy shaking Lloyd by the shoulders and looking incensed. Lloyd takes the opportunity to snatch Kai's own drink, steadily gulping at it.

"I'm gonna…see if anyone over there needs a drink," Ronin says quickly, making his escape. Nya pats his shoulder as he goes, nodding even as she sticks her tongue out, making a face at the aftertaste.

"So not the good kind of alcohol," she mutters.

"-chill out, just an accident," Lloyd finally manages to tell Kai, looking semi-recovered now that he's downed two glasses of soda.

"I'm sure it was," Kai scowls, taking a seat at the barstool next to him. "Midget punk, getting into trouble all over the place lately."

Lloyd glares. "If this is about-"

"I still can't believe you ran off with some - some random girl!" Kai bursts out.

"I can't believe you sic'ed your dad on me," Lloyd shoots back. "And he ratted me out! Traitor."

"For good reason," Nya jumps in. "We leave you alone for five minutes and you decide to play chicken with destiny again?"

"She wasn't like…her," Lloyd mutters, looking away. "She had dogs."

"Oh, so that automatically equals trustworthy."

"She didn't kill me, and I came back fine, okay?" Lloyd snaps. He sighs, slumping over the counter. "It doesn't matter, anyways. Uncle Wu's already ruined my life."

"Lloyd," Nya says, rubbing her hands against her temples. "I love you, but we really need to work on your priorities."

"My priorities are fine!"

"Apparently all an enemy would need to do is stick a cat in a cage, and you'd walk right into it!" Kai accuses. "I mean, come on, Lloyd-"

"Aw, leave him alone," Skylor interrupts. "I like a cute cat myself, too."

Lloyd throws his arms out. "See?" he exclaims. "Thank you."

"Wait, you're taking Lloyd's side?" Kai says, wounded.

Skylor shrugs. "Sorry, Kai. Lloyd carried me halfway across Ninjago city from a giant stone titan," she says. "I owe him one."

Lloyd gives her a wry smile. "You don't owe me anything for that. It was more than worth it." His expression turns a bit guilty. "Plus it was kinda my fault, in the first place…"

"I would've carried you from a stone titan," Kai mutters.

"But you didn't," Skylor says. "You all went on vacation and abandoned us."

"Vacation-?!"

"We were stranded in a hellish wasteland!" Jay cuts in, leaning over and looking scandalized.

"We were stuck in a war-torn dictatorship, running for our lives twenty-four seven," Nya shoots back. "The First Realm sounds great."

"At least you guys had proper food," Cole bemoans. "We had it way worse there."

"Yeah, if by proper food you mean noodles for weeks straight-"

"Noodles sound great, just wait until you try the First Realm's sorry excuse for cake-"

"You would worry about the cake, wouldn't you-"

"See," Pixal tells Echo, as they watch the ninja dissolve into bickering, having lost Zane to the debate as soon as they walked up. "I told you. They're all hopeless."

"I think it's funny," Echo grins.

Cole suddenly pauses, frowning. "Hey, is this the fifth ABBA song they've played in a row?"

Zane blinks, his eyes narrowing. "It's the sixth, actually."

"And Ronin's the DJ?" Nya says, looking baffled. "This is a weird music choice for him…"

Kai and Skylor exchange gleeful looks.

Jay, in contrast, seems to have no issue with the music at all.

"Cole, Cole, it's our song!" He jumps up from his seat, grabbing Cole by the arm and yanking. "C'mon, you gotta do that dance-"

"Wait, wait, no!" Cole yelps, as he's dragged forward to the center of the floor. "Not in front of people, Jay!" he hisses, turning bright red.

"Nuh-uh, dirtclod, its my party, you're dancing," Jay declares.

"Yeah, dancing queen, show 'em how it's done!" Kai calls after them, grinning.

Nya looks at Skylor, and they both shake their heads. "Alright, come on," Nya sighs, grabbing Zane and Pixal by the arm. "We can't let them humiliate themselves alone."

"Wha- no!"

"Nope, no protests, let's go!" Skylor says, snagging Kai and Lloyd before they can bail. "We're all going down together."

"No, Skylor, I can't dance-"

"Well you're going to, buddy."

Echo appears infinitely confused as Pixal latches onto him, dragging him along and looking slightly panicked. "Wait, what are we doing?"

"It's hard to believe that those are your same hand-selected, prize students," Misako remarks, leaning forward on her elbows as she watches the ninja on the makeshift dance floor.

Across the table from her, Wu sighs, running a hand over his face. "They are…considerably less graceful in this setting than they are in training," he mutters.

Misako laughs quietly. "Well, they're certainly having fun," she says. "That's what matters."

Wu's expression eases, and he smiles a bit. "I can't deny, they've earned it."

They both turn, watching as Cole sacrifices whatever was left of his dignity to help recreate a dance scene Misako's fairly sure she's seen in one of those romantic comedies the ninja watch when they think everyone else is asleep.

"Lloyd looks much better," she says, her voice softening. "They all do."

Wu exhales. "They're good for each other," he says. His expression tightens. "I do wish Lloyd would stop lying to me, though," he admits. "If he truly doesn't wish to visit his father, I would understand."

There's a beat of silence, the pulsing music seemingly louder in the absence of their conversation.

"He's not lying," Misako murmurs.

Wu blinks. "He isn't?"

Misako shakes her head. "He went to see him yesterday," she says, quietly. "Before they signed him out. Nobody else noticed, he was…rather quiet about it."

"...I had no idea," Wu finally says. "I would have gone with him, had I known."

"I think he wanted to go by himself," Misako says. "Besides, he's quite good at sneaking around us, when he wants to be. I doubt you would've caught him."

She turns her head back to the makeshift dance floor, her eyes following her son as he bursts into loud, bright laughter at something Kai's said. "He's a good kid," she finally says, her gaze almost wistful.

"They all are," Wu says, turning his own eyes to his students. Something in his chest eases, a sort of knot unraveling. "It's good to see them this happy."

Misako looks down at her drink, watching the moisture gather at the bottom of her glass, leaving a shiny semi-circle on the table.

"I wish it would last," Wu continues, his voice almost a murmur.

Misako's lips tighten, her gaze falling back on her son. "Don't we always," she sighs. She shakes her head, pulling herself together.

"But we have to appreciate what we have now," she says, firmly. "Or we'll miss it."

Wu looks at her, his gaze heavy. Misako doesn't return it, her eyes still on Lloyd.

"You're right, I suppose," he says evenly, turning his attention back to his students. "Better to enjoy the moment."