Here's another chapter for you guys! I probably won't post the next couple of days because I'll be busy getting ready for school and everything. Thank you to everyone who has been reading my story! Your support is much appreciated! However, I'd like to point out that Lloyd did not kiss Sam. I'm sorry if that was confusing. And to answer StoryMaker7's question, Lloyd is around the same age as the other ninja. I imagine he his in the 17-19 range, so not 20 yet, but fairly close. In this story, I believe I will make him 18, maybe closer to 19, since Sam is 19 and Kai is 20. Thanks for asking, and I'm glad my story is inspiring you guys to write stories of your own. It makes my day, lol. Anyways, thanks so much, and stay tuned! As always, don't forget to R & R! :D
The next day at breakfast was brutal for the red ninja and his girlfriend.
"Aw, you two looked so cute!" Jay teased.
Apparently he had seen the couple when he and Nya had decided to turn in after working on the computer in the control room yesterday evening. Kai and Sam had already fallen asleep by then.
"So did you guys just stay there the whole night?" Cole asked, taking another bite of his oatmeal.
Kai and Sam exchanged nervous glances. "No, eventually we woke up, then we went to bed," the red ninja explained, intentionally leaving the part out where he kissed her.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jay flash him a look, in which the red ninja gave him a glare in return.
On the other side of the table, Lloyd silently poked at his oatmeal, listening to the conversation between the rest of the ninja and their houseguest. To be honest, he wasn't very hungry.
"I hear Sensei's going to make us train longer today," Cole said. "Apparently he's not happy with the progress we've made since we started training with weapons."
"Aw!" Jay whined. "Why do we even have to use weapons anyway? They're too clunky-I mean, who wants to lug those things around when you're about to get your head chopped off by a bunch of skeletons? If you ask me, it's a lot easier just to use our powers."
The black ninja shrugged, knowing that it wouldn't do any good to argue with their teacher.
As if on cue, Sensei walked into the kitchen, sipping his usual morning cup of tea.
"Good morning, Sensei," a chorus of voices echoed.
"Good morning, my pupils. I assume Cole has filled you in on my plans for today," Sensei said, motioning towards the earth ninja.
"Yes, Sensei," Zane said. "I understand that you would like us to practice using our weapons more."
The martial arts teacher nodded. "Yes, though, it would not be for very long. I would assume an extra hour or so would be plenty."
Sensei then turned to Sam. "In that case, we would need someone to make dinner. I suppose I could ask Nya if she would be willing. Unless Sam would be up to the task."
Sam's widened at the prospect of cooking for the ninja and their teacher. It was true that as a part of her agreement with Sensei, she would make dinner a couple times a week. The problem was, she didn't have much experience with cooking.
"Yes, Sensei, I'd be happy to make dinner," she said. She immediately began running through a list of recipes she could make in her head.
Sensei nodded in approval. "Very well. I shall see you ninja on the deck in fifteen minutes. And good luck to you today, Sam."
Sam bowed her head respectfully. "Thank you, Sensei."
And with that, Sensei retreated back to his quarters to prepare for another day of training with students.
Cole stood up from seat. "Well, I think I'm gonna freshen up before training starts," he said.
One by one, the ninja started clearing the dishes from the kitchen table.
While the ninja were putting the dishes away, Sam met Lloyd's eyes from across the table. She wasn't sure when she should ask him about training to learn Spinjitzu, but knew that now would not be the best time, since the rest of the ninja were in earshot.
"I should be going," Sam said. "See you guys later."
"See you, Sam."
When Sam came home that afternoon, she was greeted with an empty ship, though outside she could hear the grunting and shouting of the ninjas during their extended training session.
The first thing she did was head straight to the kitchen. Throughout her entire day, Sam had racked her brain (and the Internet) for any potential recipes she could use to make dinner for everyone. She really didn't want to disappoint since she cared a lot for the red ninja and his family, and appreciated all they had done for her so far.
She sighed, her chances of impressing the ninja were weakening by the minute.
Just then, Sam heard the sound of footsteps enter the room. She turned to see Lloyd walking into the kitchen, a smirk plastered on his face.
"Hey, Lloyd," Sam said.
"Hey," the green ninja replied.
"I thought you were training for a little while longer," Sam said. She was curious as to why there were no other ninja following him.
Lloyd's smirk grew wider. "I was," he said. "Except Sensei let me go early since it was obvious I got the sword thing down pat." He was obviously pleased with himself. "So, you ready to train?" the green ninja asked.
Sam bit her lip. "Well, the thing is, I'm supposed to make dinner," she explained. "And I don't know what I should make."
"Well, I'm not really much of a cook," Lloyd said. "But Zane is an excellent chef. You should ask him."
"But isn't he training with the others?"
The green ninja playfully rolled his eyes. "Doubtful," he said. "When I was out there, he seemed like he knew what he was doing with his shurikens. It was clear who needed the practice more."
Sure enough, Zane walked in the room shortly after Lloyd had finished his sentence.
"We'll train tomorrow," Lloyd whispered to Sam, making sure Zane wouldn't hear. "Meet me in the training room at 5 a.m."
As quickly as he said it, the green ninja went into the living room and picked up a game controller. He knew what he was going to do while the other ninja were training.
"Hello, Sam," the white ninja greeted her as he passed by the kitchen. Fortunately, he was oblivious to the conversation Lloyd and Sam had had mere seconds earlier.
"Hey, Zane," Sam said. She took a deep breath, working up the nerve to ask him. "I was wondering if you could help me."
The nindroid stopped and looked at her. "Of course," he smiled. "What is it that you need help with?"
Sam glanced around the room anxiously. "I need to make dinner for you guys and I have no idea what to make."
The nindroid nodded in understanding. "I see." He thought for a moment. "What is that you like to make?"
Sam blushed in embarrassment. "See, the thing is, I don't cook very often. I usually just eat in the dining hall most of the time."
Zane nodded again. He didn't know much about college life, but to him it sounded like the majority of the people in their age group did not cook much, nor did they have a lot of experience with cooking.
"What does Kai like to eat then?" he asked. He hoped that maybe Kai's taste in food would inspire her to come up with something. Frankly, the nindroid didn't pay much attention to what dishes his brother like, since the ninja usually ate what he made anyways. But if his memory served him, the red ninja seemed to enjoy meat very much so.
"He told me he likes...steak...sushi...shrimp...he also like pork chops," Sam recalled.
Zane's assumptions had been correct about the meat. The white ninja thought for a moment again. "Why don't we make pork chops then, since we are short on time," he reasoned. "And the fact that they are easy to prepare is also an advantage."
Sam nodded in agreement. "Let's do it then."
As it turns out, Zane was willing to assist Sam in preparing the dinner, partly because he wanted to show off his cooking skills, and simply because he loved to cook in general. After discovering that his father had not programmed him to know how to cook very well, he took pride in his talent. It made him feel more human that way.
Zane had assigned Sam the task of mixing the spices while he browned the pork chops. Working together, it made the process go a lot faster. After they had put the pork chops in the oven, Zane and Sam had spent the remaining hour setting the table and making everything look nice for the meal.
Pretty soon, the rest of the ninja came in from training outside on the deck. When they walked in, they were instantly hit with the delicious aroma.
"Mmm, something smells good," Kai said. The three ninja sniffed the air, trying to find out the origin of the tantalizing scent.
"Are those pork chops?" Cole asked, his mouth watering at the thought of the juicy, tender meat.
Zane nodded. "Indeed. Sam and I made them. They are currently in the oven as we speak."
"Well, how much longer are they gonna take?" Jay asked. "I'm starving. All that extra training has worked me up quite an appetite."
"Not very long. We put them in the oven forty-nine minutes ago, so they should be ready soon."
"Great," Kai said as he plopped down on the couch in the living room and put his hands behind his head. "I do love me some good pork chops."
From across the room, the red ninja winked at Sam, who was finishing up cleaning the kitchen and putting away the ingredients from earlier. Sam glanced up from the counter in time to see Kai wink at her, and she felt herself blush. He knew she had made that particular dish to impress him.
After about fifteen minutes of waiting, the ninja eagerly sat down to eat, along with Sensei and Nya, who had been retrieved by Jay from the control room.
Nya was glad that she didn't have to cook this time, since she and Zane were usually the ones who prepared the meals in the household. Not only that, it was a meal that was made for her by someone other than Zane that actually looked appetizing.
"This looks delicious, Sam," Nya said. "I didn't know you could cook."
Sam smiled. "Actually," she said, "Zane helped me with it."
"That was nice of you, Zane," Nya said.
The white ninja shrugged. "Thank you. I appreciate your praise but truthfully it was Sam who did the majority of the work. I merely guided her in the right direction."
Jay was the first one to take a bite of the pork chops. His eyes widened when he tasted the dish. "This is really good" he said, still in the midst of chewing.
The rest of the ninja dug in and were pleasantly surprised by how tasty the pork chops were. "Yep, better than Cole's," the blue ninja said.
The ninja of earth frowned. "Oh, so now I'm the standard for bad cooking."
Jay flashed a smirk in his teammate's direction. "Don't worry buddy, you earned it."
Once dinner was over with and after the kitchen was cleaned up, the ninja and Sam reconvened in the living room.
This time, Kai opted out of a round of video games just to talk with Sam. The couple sat on the couch while the rest of the ninja sat on the floor in front of the TV with their backs turned to them, completely oblivious to their conversation.
"Dinner was good," Kai said, giving Sam's shoulder a squeeze. He had known she had been nervous about cooking for the ninja, after their talk at the park on Saturday.
Sam smiled. "Thanks," she said. "I couldn't have done it without Zane, though."
The red ninja chuckled. "Well, if anyone knows how to cook, it's Zane," he said. "I'm very lucky to have a brother like him."
"I'll say," Sam laughed. "The only thing my brother does is play video games."
"Hey, we have our own video game champion over here," Kai said, pointing at Lloyd, who was completely engrossed in the game.
At the mention of video games, Sam recalled the day she had come over for the first time and Lloyd had accused her of letting Kai win. She didn't know why that particular moment stuck in her mind so strongly-it could've simply been because meeting Kai's family had been a significant milestone in their relationship, as they continued to evolve into something...more.
She gazed into the red ninja's eyes, which always seemed to shine with a certain warmth and fervor, like a constant flame that never seemed to burn out. It was true that Kai was a passionate person who cared about his brothers deeply, and it amazed her for some reason, seeing how tight his bond with his brothers was, and vice versa.
Needless to say, Kai was a good guy, and she was confident that he wouldn't hurt her like she had been hurt before. And tomorrow, tomorrow would be the start of her training with Lloyd to learn Spinjitzu. Sure, she would have to get up early, but she was determined to learn, for Kai.
He had already gone out of his way for her: first it was returning the bag of marshmallows, then it was skipping practice to see her, and then offering her a place to stay at the least she could do was meet him halfway.