Zane sat at the piano, seriously considering taking a nap. He had been there for about an hour while Lou worked with (or "scolded", as Zane would put it) the other three on vocal techniques, even proclaiming that he didn't know how Kai got inducted into a musical academy with seemingly no vocal skill. Zane was just about falling asleep on his hands when Lou startled him awake.
"Zane can you please play Kai here his starting note again?" Lou sighed, rubbing his forehead with his fingers. Zane plopped his finger down on the key, looking at the group with a bored expression.
"Now a-one, a-two, a-one two three four..." Lou counted them off, and Zane buried his face into his arms again. Their "piece" didn't really require him to play, so his time was mostly spent playing the note that the other three had to sing. He signed along with what the other three were saying in his head, and was in the middle of imagining a full-on sign language music video, fully aware of the irony, when a hand rested on his shoulder.
"If you want to go read or something in the other room, go ahead," Lou said, and Zane nodded, giving a cheeky wave to his friends before going into Lou's study, finding rows of music books upon shelves on the walls. Deciding to read up on music theory, he slunk into a cushiony chair in the corner, and lost himself in the book, time escaping him as he read.
Suddenly, all too soon, it was the day of the performance. Zane clutched his piece to his chest, sitting against the wall of the left wing with his knees pulled up to his chest. He had never felt nerves quite like this, although the fluttering of anxiety in his stomach was not a new feeling. He felt a body slide down next to him, and glanced over to see Cole sitting next to him, lips drawn into a thin smile.
"Stage fright?" The Earth Ninja asked, and Zane nodded slightly, looking around at his competitors. There were a few wearing sparkly clothes, one wearing a bird mask, and even one rehearsing on a unicycle.
"Yeah, I get it. I was never too keen on preforming either. But at least you don't have to sing. You lucked out in that regard," Cole jokes, and was rewarded with a small smile from the Ice Ninja. "At least people will be staring at the three of us and not you."
Zane nodded slightly, running his fingers over the pages, creased from hours of him nervously thumbing through the music. Zane jumped as the announcer began the competition, fixing his bowtie nervously. He and Cole had to help the other two fix their ties before they arrived, Kai complaining about how uncomfortable he was all the while.
Act after act went by, including an act that looked suspiciously like a few snakes in fake beards, until the ninja were the last one to go.
"Alright guys," Cole whispered into their little huddle, their arms slung around each other's shoulders. "We can totally pull this off. Kai and Jay, please try to stay in tune. Zane, don't stop playing, no matter the hell we do in front of you. And me, I'll try to not disappoint my dad."
"Admirable goal," Jay nodded, ignoring the obvious insult thrown his way.
"And now introducing... Spin Harmony!"
"Okay guys, here we go," Kai grimaced, and the four took their places on stage.
Zane sat down at the piano, dancing his fingers over the keys for a second before flipping to the correct page and beginning to play. The three in front dig a few fancy moves with their Spinjitzu before Zane heard the telltale shout of Pythor ordering snakes to attack.
Zane remembered Cole's orders to continue playing, and as he glanced over to see the three incorporating the snakes into their routine, he decided to switch it up. He quickly flipped to Entry of the Gladiators and continued playing, much to the audience's delight.
About a minute into his song, he heard a gasp, and turned around to see Cole just having completed some complicated dance move that he didn't know, the audience cheering wildly.
His fingers stopped playing as the judges held up two scores of ten and one zero that was very quickly corrected, and the ninja accepted the trophy before hurrying offstage.
They set the trophy down as they enjoyed a very quick group hug, the group congratulating each other on fighting moves and on Zane's quick song change. They were interrupted by Lou entering from a side door, the huddle breaking apart, Cole picking the trophy back up.
"Son, I..." Lou's hands moved like he wanted to say something else, but nothing was coming out, so he opted to hug his son instead.
"You didn't tell me you were a ninja!" His father broke apart the embrace with a start, and Cole chuckled nervously.
"Yeah, we're not from music school. Far from it," Cole scratched the back of his head with his other hand.
"Well, I gathered that. Y'know, for ninja, you guys aren't that bad."
"Thanks, I guess," Cole smiled.
"Zane also hadn't touched a piano in years," Jay announced, and Lou nodded respectfully.
"Very well done, for not a lot of experience. Would all like to come to lunch after? There's this place-"
"Watch out!" Cole yelled, diving on top of his dad, practically throwing the trophy as a pile of steel beams toppled on the pair.
"Cole!" Kai yelled, dashing forward along with the other two, trying fruitlessly to lift up the beams, about to start melting the beams when the pile started to move. Cole rose slowly, orange power running over his body, collecting in his arms and fingers as he held the metal above his dad, who had rubble and dust all over his black suit.
"His true potential!" Jay exclaimed excitedly. "This must be what Sensei was talking about!"
Cole dumped it off to the side, arms immediately dropping tiredly, crouching on the ground with a huff.
"Is... everyone ok?" He panted, and Kai was just about to respond in the affirmative when he glanced around to see the trophy gone.
"Yeah," The Fire Ninja nodded slowly. "Our best friend took the trophy though."
"We can get that back another time. You're exhausted and we just won a singing competition. Anyone up for some lunch?" Cole smiled at his dad before helping him up off the floor, the father-son pair laughing as the group exited, off to enjoy some well-earned lunch.