Here's another chapter for all of you. I've been getting a lot of follows and favourites on this story and on me, so thanks for all of that support!

So a lot of you seemed to like this romance stuff (seriously I've gotten a decent amount of reviews that say that) so here's an entire chapter dedicated to advancing their relationships forward. I know that before this chapter, nothing was really progressing, not even Jay and Nya who are together in the show. This chapter has a lot of advancement, or so I think. Don't expect anything lovey-dovey, though. I hate lovey-dovey. That goes for the entire story.\

Next, I changed Brisa's colour to silver (pink made little sense to me now, definitely not with the Elemental Blade) and the kunoichi of life is now orange, because you know, life should be a bright colour like yellow or orange or something.

Also, I'm planning on updating King Me! next because it's been a long time since I've done that.

Finally, enjoy the earth and (one) air pun(s)! (there's like two earth ones lol. I know, not much. Air is in the title.)

Chapter 21: Love is in the Air

"WAIT!" Misako shouted. Everyone looked at her.

"Yes?" Nya asked politely.

"I still need to get off this ship and head to my apartment," she said. "I need to go home."

"Nonsense," Wu told her. "You can stay here. We have an extra bed right now, and I think the kunoichi would appreciate a female teacher."

Misako looked at the kunoichi, which all smiled at her. She had to make a decision quickly. "Fine" she sighed. "I'll stay here for at least a bit." Then she looked at Lloyd. She would have to tell him, but not now.

Nya was steering the Bounty to the Coastal Plains as Sensei Wu had told them all. That was until she heard footsteps behind her. She turned around to the noise to see Jay standing there, holding a plate with what looked to be a slice of cake.

"Hey, Jay," she greeted. "Are you going to eat that, or should I help you?"

"No…it's…actually meant for you…" he said slowly as if he had was thinking of something else to say.

Nya looked pleasantly surprised. She didn't know Jay could cook. But then she got suspicious. "Did Zane make that?"

Jay looked up, startled. "No, he just gave me the directions on what to do. I made it myself, though." He walked over to her and handed her the plate. "Here, try it," he said nervously. He hoped she liked it.

Nya took it with a smile, although on the inside she wondered why he was doing this today of all days. She took a bite from it, and it was quite good. Looks like Zane's recipe did the trick.

"Is it good?" Jay asked anxiously.

Nya nodded, her mouth full with the cake from which she had taken a second bite. Once she was done, she placed the dish on the table. "Jay, why did you do this today? What makes it so special?"

Now it was Jay's turn to look surprised. "You mean you don't remember?"

"Remember what?" As soon as she said those words, she knew what he was talking about. Of course.

"It's been a year since we had our first date at Mega Monster Amusement Park…" he said, rubbing the back of his head.

Nya chuckled lightly. "Right! How could I forget? To be honest, I actually forgot, but I remembered when you asked me if I remembered or not." She gave him a true smile.

Jay took a deep breath. "Nya, I know our first date was a flop because of the Serpentine, and the ones we've had in the past year weren't very big or romantic either…but…I just want to let you know that I really like you!" he blurted out.

Nya blushed, still having a smile on her face. "I do too, Jay. I do too."

Jay looked a bit shocked. "You…you do?"

Nya laughed. "Of course I do, silly! That's why I went with you all those times!"

Jay looked relieved. "Well, that's good to hear." He smiled sheepishly. There was an awkward silence.

"Jay…"

"Nya…"

They both spoke at the same time, but Nya stopped and let Jay speak. "Nya, you're the most amazing girl I've met. Honestly. You're beautiful, smart, strong, courageous, brave…I can go on. It's not just your personality that I like; we also have common interests, like we both love to invent and we like machines and technology. I can't really say that for any other girl."

Nya felt her heart flutter. "Jay, I can say the same about you. You're also smart, but you're also funny, sweet, and even in bad times you give us hope with your words. I-I think…" she trailed off, and she could tell Jay had as well.

"Water and lightning come together…" Jay said as if entranced.

"…Just like rain and lightning during a thunderstorm." Nya finished off. That was something Sensei Wu had told the two of them, privately. The unofficial couple now realized what that meant, and they realized they were meant for each other. The distance between them had gotten shorter, and soon their lips locked, and they had a true kiss.

The unofficial couple was now official.

Reyna was looking for Cole, but knowing him, he would probably be in the exercise room. She entered, and she found Cole there, lifting a barbell that looked to her like the same weight as half the Bounty. Then she saw his chest, and her eyes grew wide.

Cole, just taking notice of her entrance, placed the barbell down. "Cole, you…you…" the nature kunoichi trailed off and couldn't say the rest of her sentence. She stared at muscular chest and six pack abs. She never knew he would be that muscular.

The earth ninja looked down to where she was looking, and then smiled. "You like that, don't you?" he asked jokingly.

"J-just…put on…" she stuttered and still could not finish her sentence.

"Oh, alright, fine. I'll put on my shirt." He walked over to where the top half of his gi lay and wore it. "Better?"

Reyna took a sigh of relief. "Yes, that's better."

"So, what's up?" he asked. Then he remembered something he had forgotten to say to her. "Oh, I almost forgot. I haven't formally congratulated you on learning Spinjitzu. So, I guess, congrats on that! It's a big step in your training."

Reyna nodded happily, happy that her accomplishment had been acknowledged by the one she cared for most on the ship. "Thanks. A lot of the credits go to you, though. You helped me master the training course."

Cole waved it aside. "Naw, it was you who did it. It was your energy. I only showed you how to do it."

This is what Reyna really loved about Cole: he helped people when in need, and he was humble and modest about it. He didn't brag much when compared to Kai, Jay, or even Lloyd.

Reyna shrugged. "Still. If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't have learnt it by now."

There was an awkward silence. "Soooo what brings you here?" Cole asked to get a conversation going.

"Well…" Reyna stopped. She had no idea why she came here. "To talk to you?" she said in a voice that was like a half-statement and half-question, which left the black ninja confused. I don't know, my heart brought me here,she wanted to say, but she didn't. The teal kunoichi realized she didn't actually know much about the black ninja, so now would be the perfect time for it. Training was in the afternoon, anyway. "Why do you come here so often?" she inquired.

Cole shrugged. "I guess being the earth ninja, I have to stay in shape."

Reyna, still having visions of Cole shirtless, wondered why on earth he would have to keep lifting weights when he was the strongest person on the Bounty by a landslide. "Cole?"

"Yeah?"

"You already know my parents. Where are yours?"

"My dad lives in Ninjago City. He's a member of The Royal Blacksmiths, a group that danced and sang songs. As for my mom…" at the mention of his mom, he furrowed his bushy eyebrows. He didn't say anything more.

"What about your mom?" Reyna asked cautiously.

The earth ninja gritted his teeth. "She…she's somewhere else." Reyna didn't want to ask where "somewhere else" is. She figured she'd ask another time, or possibly find out herself.

"Want to go on a dragon ride?" Cole asked suddenly. He remembered she had liked it last time, and he figured going on one right now wouldn't be much of a problem, especially when they knew where they were going.

The kunoichi of nature's face lit up. "Sure! I'd love to!" The two walked out on to the deck while Cole summoned his brown elemental dragon, Rocky. The two went for a ride for a bit and located the Bounty again.

"It may not be as fun as the first time, but it's not like it's boring!" Reyna exclaimed. "Thanks, Cole." She ran into him and wrapped her arms around him. Cole, being caught off-guard, hugged her back.

Zane was reading about books for treatments and cures for illnesses and diseases. He had found some things that might work for Astra, and he even made them, but they worked only for a bit of time. He stayed up late at night, and when the matter of him sleeping late was brought up by his brothers, they just assumed it as "robot stuff". He truly cared for Astra, and he wanted her to live as long as she could. But if she died like she claimed she would, nothing would seem long enough for the white ninja. However, today was one of Astra's better days, as she was doing everything a regular person would perfectly fine, although days like these were rare for her.

"Zane, why are you trying so hard?" the yellow kunoichi questioned the nindroid.

Zane looked up from the book. "Because you are the first person I care about this way. I do not want to lose you. I cannot lose you."

Astra felt tears come to her eyes. Here she was, rejecting any possible chance of a relationship with him because she knew she was going to die soon, but Zane was willing to keep trying to save her because he cared for her. That took true dedication. Just knowing she was going to die discouraged her from thinking she could become the kunoichi of light, but at the same time, she had said that she chose to take this path because she wanted to do something important before her time comes. "On one hand, I want to become kunoichi of light, but on the other, I don't think I can…"

"Yes, you can," Zane tried encouraging her. "You must work on your self-esteem first, however."

Astra replayed those words in her head over and over. She supposed Zane was right. She's always had a low self-esteem, and even her parents told her that. "How do I master the training course when I don't even feel good enough to do it?!" There she went again about not believing in herself…

Zane put the book down. That was actually a valid concern. How could she do it if she wasn't in the right shape to do so? His brain gears were churning, trying to think of a good solution to the problem, but he couldn't. Instead, he said what anybody would've said. "Try your best. I will assist you when you need it."

Astra felt grateful to the ice ninja. She felt like she was being cared for on the Bounty for the first time. But then she realized that there was somebody who cared for her all this time: Zane. The problem was that she had always turned her back on him and didn't really appreciate that he was helping her all this time. "Zane?"

"Yes Astra?"

"I-I'm sorry for ignoring you all this time," she spoke hoarsely because of her dry throat and tears.

"Ignoring me for what?" The nindroid was confused.

"I realized now that you've been trying to help me all this time. I never appreciated your help…until now."

Zane stared at her. "To me, it does not matter whether you recognize my assistance or not. It matters to me that what I do will help you."

"Sadly, that's not really the case…" Astra replied bitterly. "It's too late to help now. Not even a hospital can."

"But I'm not letting you leave me!" Zane's voice rose by a lot, and he began to shed tears as well. "Not…not after I think I have found who is right for me…" he said in a much lower tone.

Astra was very surprised by the ice ninja's sudden outburst. She jumped in front of him and embraced him tightly. Zane, not caring about his own surprise of the gesture, returned it. He wasn't going to let her go.

Kai knew where Brisa would be. On the deck, of course. Where else would a kunoichi of wind be? He had taken a liking to her, but he needed to know more about her personality, so he walked out to the deck. He was right: Brisa was there, standing next to the rail with her elbows propped on it.

"Brisa," Kai's voice brought the new kunoichi out of her thoughts. She turned around to see the fire ninja and felt all fuzzy inside. She had always admired him the most of all the ninja, everytime she saw him on the news out in Edgeham.

"Hey, Kai," she said softly with a smile. He smiled back and walked towards her. He took a deep breath and exhaled.

"It's actually pretty nice out here," Kai remarked. "I should come here more often. You know, just to cool down or something."

Brisa laughed warmly. She had been thinking about her parents, but Kai interrupted her. Not that she would mind talking to him, but she wanted to think about what her parents are thinking of her, and if she made the right decision to become the kunoichi of wind.

Kai noticed her staring off into the distance. "Is something wrong?"

She came back from her thoughts a second time. "No, just thinking."

"About what?"

Brisa bit her tongue. She knew she shouldn't have said that. "About my parents," she replied hesitantly.

Kai shifted back from the rail a bit. Her parents seemed strict, and they didn't say goodbye to her. Were they angry? Was Brisa angry? He decided to take a risk. "Uh…do you think they're angry with you? For leaving without their permission?"

Brisa shrugged like it didn't matter. It was a lie, of course. She didn't want Kai to worry about her own family problems. Why should he get involved, anyway?

A strong gust of wind blew them back a bit. "Sooner or later, that's the kind of wind you'll be controlling," the red ninja joked.

She smiled at him. "I don't have any fighting experience, though."

Kai dismissed that with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry. You'll learn all of that like we did."

"When do I start my training?"

"I think Sensei and Misako are training us all this afternoon. The boys and I need to sharpen up and practice our fighting skills. We got rusty in our last battle."

Brisa dropped her smile. "Last battle?"

Kai chuckled lightly. "Oh, right, you don't know about it. We found out who the villains are. I'm sure Sensei will tell us more about them soon. And now we have Misako, too."

The silver kunoichi nodded. "Yeah, she seems to know a lot. But what about this battle?"

Kai shrugged. "I don't know what else to say, really. We found out who our villains are, and we fought some of them. That's really it. Oh, they kidnapped Jay and Nya, too." Kai's voice had a bit of anger in it, but whether to the kidnappers or Jay and Nya, Brisa couldn't tell.

The red ninja looked around. "Well, I'll go inside, I suppose. I promised Lloyd I'd play some games with him in a bit, and it's about time I do that." He turned around to walk away.

"Oh, Kai!" she said before she could control herself.

The fire ninja turned around. "What is it?"

"I-I admire you…I always have, actually," she informed him with a blush. She looked at the floor.

Kai's eyebrows first shot up, but then he laughed. "Well, see you in the afternoon, Brisa." He walked back inside.

Jay and Nya are officially a couple in this story. Cole and Reyna are getting closer. Astra realized her own and Zane's love. Kai and Brisa talked. Their enemies are getting stronger while they get hung up on this love business. Seriously, their enemies WILL be stronger by now. But so will the ninja and kunoichi, when they get their weapons.

I know there isn't much Lloyd right now, but that will happen when they search for the kunoichi of life.

Hope you liked it!