I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. It was all Kairi's idea, I just put it into words as best i could. :-3 NfaN is really hard to write, though, when trying to match Kairi's perfect writing. (Face, meet palm.) I hope she recovers soon, my sister. :-D so I don't burden you guys any more with my awful writing, right? ;-P

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT:
Daddy Issues
-Yang-

Falling…

Into darkness…

So quickly…

Unable to recover…

Unable to…see…

I'm just…falling…

"We're here!"

I jolted awake immediately at the sound of Kai's loud voice wrestling me out of the dream. His voice pulled me from the darkness I'd been dropping through, about to fall and shatter against the glass, stained by shadow, below. Actually, I hadn't really noticed that I had fallen asleep; one minute, I was thinking about what a 'Daddy Look' was, and the next I found my face pressed against the passenger window, probably hours later. The clock said it was three, giving me plenty of time to calculate that I had, in fact, dozed off for quite some time. I swear I'd slept just fine at home…I must've been in heavy need of rejuvenating after all the excitement this morning. Fingers crossed I didn't drool a waterfall, I thought, and inconspicuously checked my chin just to make sure before I looked for Kai.

He was leaning against his propped-open door, elbow lazily draped over the top. "Would ya look at that," he commented. A smile was fermenting on his face. There was something about his appearance that was different; it was the bright excitement doing a fancy ballroom dance over his features. He wants to see his home, said a dark voice in the back of my head, and I smirked.

Long time, no see, I commented.

I've had nothing to say, the Eye tattooed across my veins said tonelessly.

Ironic, considering a lot of shit has happened lately. I had noticed that the Mind's Eye was being a little quiet as of late, but decided arguing with my hand most likely wasn't the hottest option.I stretched my muscles and ducked my head down to look at this sacred monastery that Kai kept ranting about, but my expectations never could've lived up to what I saw. My jaw dropped.

A tall, voluptuous mountain glared down at me worse than Finn the Bully back when I went to Darkley's, more menacing than the fire ants that Brad had shoved on my bed and in my pillow case. At least a thousand steps led upwards into the highest peak, where what looked like Hogwarts glared down at me, a rectangular extravagancy just waiting to be touched. It was humungous, surrounded completely by a wall. The bricks or whatever it was made out of was a shade of brown. I gaped. There were no Hogwarts-y peaks, but there were definitely ridges and upper floors. It looked like some rich guy had just spat out one of his second houses onto the top of the mountain.

"Holy crap!" I gasped, and pushed open the door. My view didn't change much by stepping outside of the car. Like a little kid, I hung myself over the top of my door, staring with my mouth open wide. "You used to live here?" I cried.

Looking over at Kai, I saw a huge smile cracked across his face. "Looks like they did a little upgrading," he said, and closed his door.

I turned when I heard Seiko and Bokuyo stepping out the back. "HOME!" shouted the little boy, and he boosted himself towards the first step with little kid sugar-high capabilities, jumping up and down excitedly on it. "I'M HOME!" he cried happily.

"Wow. This definitely beats crappy old Underworld cells any day." Seiko raised her hand to visor her eyes, looking impressed with our new living quarters; she met my eyes with a gracious smirk. I smiled back at her, because before I started falling in my dream, I had dreamed of her.

A moment later, in the grass we'd pulled into at the end of this huge mountain, Rikku's van sidled up beside our miniature cruiser, the engine cut immediately. The doors sprang open. Nya, Jay, Zane, and Cole leaped out faster than I think Rikku had time to react. They launched outwards. "SWEET MOTHER MAY I!" Jay cried, and stared in shock. "Look at that! It looks like a five-star hotel!"

Exactly what I thought, I smiled, and looked towards Zane. "Yes, it is quite extravagant," he agreed. Kai rounded the hood of the car to jog towards them.

Nya made a bubbling sound with her mouth. I froze, hoping like a kid that she wouldn't see me, but of course she did. Nya saw everything. She ran towards me and slammed me up against the car door I'd just shut, squishing her whole body against me happily, even though I thought it was extremely weird. She made noises with her throat that I didn't understand, except for a few choice words. "House…cat…home…buhbee." I groaned. Oh, jeez. Nya's face brightened into a smile, and she pressed her face into my chest. I could feel my face heating. "Buhbee! Have here!" At that, my face turned beet red. I could feel it seeping into my neck. And then Nya did something I really, really, really wasn't expecting.

She launched herself onto the tips of her toes, wrapped her arms tightly around my neck, and pulled my mouth down against hers.

I never really expected my first kiss to, um…turn out like this.

I liked Nya, but as a friend. She used to babysit me. Now she was kissing me tenderly, rubbing certain voluptuous body parts against me, and speaking of a child I didn't give her. Her warm lips tasted like cherries, her breath hot in my mouth. I felt more awkward than I would have if I was standing on stage singing Elvis Presley in my underwear. I tried to force her shoulders away, but she was like a freaking tree frog. She just clung to me. Tangling her fingers in my hair, asking for more that I wasn't going to give. A deeper heat spread across my face. Oh, god, I thought.

Nya broke the kiss abruptly, her face open and smiling. Her fingers latched onto my ears. "HAIIII," she purred, and giggled. So unlike Nya to be completely girly, but there was nothing I could do to undo what had just been upsettingly done…

I glanced up at Seiko, my face hot. Her eyes were wide, but she struggled to pretend like she wasn't feeling all these emotions burning deeply in her chest. In her attempt, she looked impassive, but there was something in her eyes, deep underneath the blue that made me feel awful. Definitely surprise, but not just that. Disappointment. Anger. Irritation. I opened my mouth, but she spoke over me, loud and clipped. "Careful, kiddies," she said, and even though she tried to hide it, I could hear the disappointed iciness in her tone. She started to stomp past us. "You could accidentally swallow each other whole."

"Seiko, I—" Trying wasn't worth it; she had already turned her back on me, moving towards the clod of my friends and her brother like she wasn't going to listen. Seiko sidled up beside Cole and grabbed his hand, accepting the wrap of his arm around her shoulders. At the same time, Nya muzzled into my chest. I also found myself not only watching Seiko leave me, but also facing my group of best friends, a robot, and a tiny little kid staring at me like I had grown three heads. Especially Kai. The silence made me turn into a tomato again. "N-Nya, could you—"

I was cut off. It was the sound of laughter. Jay's laughter, loud and boisterous, was penetrating the air with his yowls. Everyone turned to him. It was like the kitchen at home all over again. I winced. Worst day ever. "Oh—oh jeez, guys," Jay snorted, bending over to brace himself against his knees. "That was—that was classic stuff, right there." He practically could've fallen with laughter. Zane reached out a hand to keep him steady.

I half-expected Cole to look like he wanted to kill me, but he actually looked kind of…amused. In fact, everyone seemed like they understood something I didn't, which obviously was the subject matter of: Nya was infatuated with me being her 'baby daddy.' Why? I weaseled my hands between us and gently pushed her off, this time breathing a sigh of relief that she complied. Nya looked lovingly up at me. "Um…" I stepped to the side to put distance between us. Nya watched me move hungrily.

To my saving, Kai jogged up behind her, taking her out of my space bubble. Nya looked up at him, hesitated, finally then accepting him. "Hey, Nya, c'mon," he said, putting an arm around her waist and leading her in the opposite direction, "we're getting ready to go up to that house!" Nya clapped, her obsession with me forgotten, and I was allowed to breathe again. I hadn't realized I'd been holding in my breath until it whooshed out of me in a heave. I leaned back against the car. Great. Now I'd just offended Seiko and—

Why should it matter to you what Seiko thinks? I asked myself, straightening to join everyone else in their cluster. It's not like you're dating her or anything.

That's true, I thought, rubbing the back of my neck. I looked at her, but she was busy listening to something Cole was saying. I couldn't hear what it was. There was the sound of my heart dropping in the back of my mind. It wasn't like I was dating her. So why did I feel so guilty?

"So what now?" asked Jay, crossing his arms over his chest, abandoning the laughing fit. He turned to Rikku, who had stepped out of the van a while ago. The robot blinked emptily at him.

"Now," he said, turning to the soaring mountain behind him, "we climb."

Again, thank you for being wonderful people and putting up with my cruddy writing. :-3 You all deserve candy. *passes out candy for everyone*

Oh, and shout out to JaymeBell as the NfaN fan of the week? :-)

BURNING FAN Question from Kairi, right from her mouth: Quote "You read a lot of Ninjago fanfics and it's either NinjaxOC or NinjaxNinja. Personally, either pairing for me depends on who I'm reading about. I'm not into anything NinjaxNinja but ColexZane...but even that's a stretch for me...Which do you prefer, NinjaxOC or NinjaxNinja? Or those of you who are neither? I know my favorite NinjaxOC pairing is KaixNaoko, from Wafflegirl0304's UNREAL. An amazing fic for you to go check out cuz it's so good!" Unqote.

Please answer the question for Kairi? Thanks! Also, thank you for reading, and on behalf of Kairi, go have an awesome day or night!

Emi and Kairi