Chapter 13

Show Ninjago

It was safe to say Nya was at her wit's end.

No matter how much she tried not to think about it, what she saw on the Perfect Match machine kept flashing through her mind.

It was silly, she knew, but it had her questioning everything!

She had asked Borg casually during the meeting (and out of earshot of Jay) about the machine, and he'd been happy to tell her all about how he was sure the readings would always be accurate.

That was not what she'd wanted to hear.

Now, because of that, she found herself actually considering it. What if she would be better off with Cole? It wasn't like he wasn't attractive, and nice, and strong, and took her seriously, and…

And she was dating Jay! His best friend! That was the problem!

The guilt of it was practically eating her alive. Because she did genuinely like Jay. He made her laugh, and was the first person smart enough to keep up with her mechanical talk. He always looked at her like it was her that created the sun and stars, not the First Spinjitzu Master. If he ever found out she'd been having these thoughts, he'd be devastated.

He could never know. No matter what happens, he can't find out she was thinking about such things.

She needed help. Fast!

The worst part about it all was that there was no one she could even talk to about this. No one she could trust to be impartial at least. She couldn't tell Jay, and talking to Cole was out of the question too. She couldn't tell her brother, he'd just fry both boys and consider the matter solved. Normally she would talk to Zane, but since the tower visit, he was always either lost in a lovesick daze over Pixal or away discussing the upgrades with his family. Lloyd was still at the age where kissing was gross and was too young to be of much help anyway. And the last time any of them tried to go to Sensei Wu or Garmadon for love advice, the old men had made up an excuse to be anywhere but there.

That only left Misako, and she was absolutely no help.

The older woman had noticed Nya's considering gaze at Cole and Jay almost the instant they'd returned to the monastery and tea shop, and remarked how familiar it was. But instead of offering advice on how she could go about resolving it, she had instead reminisced about her own past romances with Wu and Garmadon (uh, ew!), and how romantic it was to have two boys vying for her attention (it wasn't, and Cole wasn't vying for her because he knew she was with Jay, it was her considering him, thus the guilt).

So, yes, talking to her was unlikely to be helpful.

She just wanted someone she could confide in. Someone she could actually talk to that would listen without judgment, and give her advice she could actually use!

Someone like a big sister…

That's it!

If there was no help to be found on her Ninjago, she'd just have to go to another one.

Movie Ninjago

When Nya heard the knock at the door, she assumed it was Skylor and/or Penny arriving to work on their project.

She was not expecting to see her counterpart standing there and blurting out something so fast that she barely understood it.

"HAVEYOUEVERBEENATTRACTEDTOCOLE!" Red Nya practically shouted as soon as the door opened.

Cyan Nya looked at Red with a raised eyebrow, before stepping back to allow her inside. "Want to run that by me again?" she asked as she shut the door behind her.

Red fidgeted under her gaze, but repeated her question, "Have you… ever been attracted to Cole?" she asked again nervously.

Cyan stared at her for a long minute. So she hadn't hallucinated the question then. "Physically, yeah, Cole's hot. But have I ever wanted to date him? No, and he's never shown any interest in me either. He doesn't want to deal with the drama and says music is his one and only love." Her expression then turned confused. "Wait, aren't you already dating your Jay?"

Red fidgeted even more. "Yes, but… I've started having second thoughts," she admitted.

"Why?" Cyan asked, not entirely surprised.

Red hung her head and looked embarrassed. "A… dating machine told me to," she said, seeming to realize how ridiculous it sounded the moment she said it.

Cyan pinched her brow and sighed. It was times like this she was reminded that her counterpart was younger than her. Not as dramatic an age gap as the Lloyds, but enough to make a difference in cases such as this.

Which is probably why she'd come to her for help.

Even so, while she prided herself on her Nya Tests, giving Red another test after apparently taking computerized one would only make her question which was more legitimate, and why Cyan's was better than whatever she'd already done.

Not to mention, she'd have similar results. When they'd met their counterparts, the two had already been dating so Cyan hadn't said anything, but after spending time with them, she had seen the small cracks in their relationship. That didn't mean they couldn't work it out on their own, but she was sure if either Red Nya or Nick Jay took her test right now they would fail.

Still, that didn't mean she'd just try to set Red up with Cliff Cole, especially since she doubted he'd pass either, and stealing your best friend's girlfriend was a low she hoped he wouldn't stoop to.

Either way you looked at it, a standard Nya Test wasn't going to cut it this time. Cyan Nya would need to do something different. Something outside the box that she'd never done before. But… what?

At that moment, there was another knock at the door, and this time it was Skylor and Penny there for the project.

Cyan opened the door to let them in. At the sight of Red, they both paused and looked at her in surprise. "Hey, Nya, who's this?" asked Skylor curiously.

"I did not know you had company over," added Penny, looking just as curious.

Both Nyas exchanged glances. "I-We weren't expecting her to come by today," said Cyan. "As for why she's here, well, it's a long story. One I'm actually kinda curious to hear as well."

"Oh? Should we come back later?" asked Skylor, looking disappointed.

Cyan looked over at her friends with a considering expression. Well, if they were already there… maybe hearing from a second opinion would help Red more than just herself.

A few minutes later found Red crammed between Kai and Cyan on the latter's bed, with Skylor lounging on a beanbag, and Penny sitting primly at her computer desk.

"So, what's up?" asked Skylor casually. "Not that I'm not turning down a chance to hang out and do something outside of homework and surprise parties, but what's the story?"

"I admit I am curious about that too," said Penny politely. "And may I ask who your friend is? I have not seen her at school."

"Guys, this is, uh, Ruby. We call her Red," said Cyan, picking the first name that meant red she could think of. "She's our cousin from out of town. She's here because she's been having boy troubles. Maybe you can give a second opinion."

Penny and Skylor looked surprised, but Kai spoke up before they could. "Wait, so then why am I here?" he asked. Helping his sister with her surveys was one thing, but discussing the love lives of others was a whole other story.

"You're here in case we need a boy's perspective on things, and we can trust you not to blab or be judgy," said Cyan Nya. "And also for support hugs."

Kai nodded in understanding. "Fair enough," he said, already wrapping an arm around Red's shoulders.

"And you trust us with this as well?" asked Penny, still looking surprised.

Cyan shrugged and looked self-conscious for a moment. Admittedly, calling for help wasn't the first thing she'd usually think of. In fact, it was usually the last thing she would ever do, but this time was different. "I don't have many female friends," she said. "Honestly, it's just you guys and Red. But I think I can trust you with this."

Skylor looked touched, and Penny looked away to hide a shy smile. However, none of the ninjas noticed the quick flash of guilt on both of their faces.

"Still, it's up to Red," added Cyan, looking at the Nya in question. "Do you want them here too? I know you just came to talk to me."

Red Nya looked over at the two girls before her. She had no idea who either of them were, having never met their counterparts in her world (though something about the blonde girl was so familiar, she couldn't put her finger on it), but she felt needed all the help she could get. "I trust Nya's judgment," she said finally.

Cyan grinned at that.

"Well then," said Skylor, sitting up straighter in the beanbag and giving Red her full attention. "What's the story, Morning Glory."

Red Nya, while still hesitant, explained her situation while leaving our or changing anything that would give away her interdimensional status. How she was currently dating a great and funny guy, Nick, but recently came across a match-making computer program that was supposed to be one hundred percent accurate every time, and instead of matching her with her boyfriend, it matched her with his best friend, Cliff, thus sending her into a spiraling dilemma and desperate to just talk to someone about it, but no one back home had or could be any help.

When she finished, Skylor grimaced and said, "I've always hated those kinds of dating-things," she said. "It's so… soulless. Like, how's a machine supposed to know what I want better than I do."

Penny looked uncomfortable and said, "I've… had experience with such a thing before. The machine was able to scan people's online activity and information to match them with others with common interests and personalities, but for lasting romance, it would not always be accurate. There was a flaw in the programming that was not foreseen."

That grabbed Red's interest. "Flaw?" she asked in surprise. "What flaw?"

"One thing the inventor of it learned the hard way is that people tend to act… differently online than they do in person," explained Penny. "Some are more confident, others seem more distant due to preferring the real world to the cyber one."

"And some people use the anonymity it gives to be massive jerks," added Skylor. "If they don't know it's you being nasty, then you can do it with no consequences."

"Tell me about it," the twins said in unison, having faced more than their fair share of such behavior both before and after their identities had been revealed.

Red frowned. That… made a lot of sense. The Perfect Match machine's words when she stepped onto it described the person she wanted to be seen as. An 'independent and self-confident' young woman. But… right now she didn't feel very self-confident, and if she was so independent would she really be worrying this much about dating a boy? Not to mention its words about not being part of a 'boy's club.' Those were her words! And despite that, with the discovery of her water powers and new ninja training, she was already part of the boy's club, but that was a secret to the rest of the world (and with Cyan around, it didn't feel so male-exclusive anymore). If the Perfect Match just read her online data, then it wouldn't actually know the truth.

Penny nodded in agreement. "Such things skew the data required to make such predictions fully accurate, as well as the fact that there are some parts of a person's life that are simply not documented on a computer, especially if they come from more rural areas."

Kai frowned at that. "Hey, Red, didn't you and your brother grow up in a remote village with almost no tech?"

Red sighed, seeing where he was going with this. "Yeah, and even if there was technology there, it wasn't like we could afford it."

"What about both boys?" asked Skylor.

Red frowned thoughtfully. "Nick grew up pretty isolated too, and while he's really good with technology, I don't know how much computer access he had where he lived. And Cliff spent his early life in a suburb outside the city, but… he spent most of it doing something he hated to please his dad. I don't know if he ever mentioned his dislike of it online so his father wouldn't find out. Would something like that change how he's seen?"

Penny nodded. "Yes. Those are pretty big gaps in information to take into consideration. While a match between you and the boy it recommended could go somewhere, there may simply be not enough data on you or them to be perfectly accurate. And even then, people are simply not that logical."

While Red seemed relieved to hear that, she still didn't look fully satisfied.

Seeing this, Cyan asked, "What is it?"

Red let out a frustrated sigh. "Even if the machine was wrong, I just can't unthink this. It's been bugging me for over a day now. What if-what if I'm not meant to be with J-Nick? What if I'd be happier with Cliff? What if our relationship is doomed to crash and burn?"

"If you keep up that attitude it definitely will," said Kai bluntly.

He was immediately shot several annoyed glares. Raising his hands up in defense, he said, "What? It's the truth."

Skylor rolled her eyes in amusement and said, "While as sensitive as a brick to the face, he's not wrong. A big part of maintaining any relationship is mental. If you spend all your time thinking you're doomed to fail, then it's a lot more likely that you will."

The others nodded in agreement, and Red slumped against Kai as he pulled her more fully into a comforting hug.

"So what should I do?" Red finally asked.

There was a beat of silence as they thought it over.

Finally, Penny spoke up, "I know I said people are not logical, but I can offer you a logical answer."

Red perked up at that. "Lay it on me," she said.

"Perhaps it would be best to… take a step back," said Penny slowly. "With being so unsure about yourself and your feelings, you will likely only end up hurting the boy you are with now. It may be best to simply take a break from the relationship until your thoughts on the matter are more clear."

That… sounded reasonable.

Red frowned thoughtfully. "J-Nick won't like that," she admitted.

"He doesn't have to like it," said Skylor. "He just has to understand you're not in the right headspace for a relationship right now."

"Just be honest with him," said Cyan Nya. "Tell him about your doubts, and you can even tell him about the matchmaker thingy. Just make sure he knows that pushing you on it will only push you away."

"And, uh," said Kai scratching his head. "If you do tell him about the computer, maybe don't tell him it was Cliff that came up."

They all turned to look at him for that contribution.

"Wouldn't it be better if she were honest?" asked Penny curiously.

Kai winced slightly. "Not about that." Seeing they still weren't getting it, he added, "Hey, you wanted a guy's perspective. If I was in the same situation with the girl I like, and I don't know Cole, I'd be furious!"

"That bad?" asked Red, looking worried.

Kai thought of all the times he'd talked his team's ears off about his crush on Skylor when Cyan Nya wasn't around, and how betrayed he'd feel if one of them put her in Red's position even unintentionally. "I'm not gonna lie, I'd probably set him on fire, even if it wasn't his fault."

The girls all winced as well.

"Okay," said Red with a nod. "I'll leave that part out. It's not like that's his business anyway."

Cyan snorted. "Please, he'll probably bend over backward trying to find out who is."

Red had to snicker at that, imagining all the hijinks her Jay would get into just to find the answer. "I'll keep him from going too far," she said. She then sent a grateful smile at them all. "Thanks, I needed this."

They all waved off her thanks as unnecessary, before falling silent.

"Is the girl talk over now?" asked Penny, looking slightly disappointed about that.

"Well, it doesn't have to be," said Cyan Nya, turning to Kai with a mischievous grin. "Dear brother, when you were speaking hypothetically just now you mentioned 'the' girl you like, not 'a' girl. You wouldn't happen to have someone particular in mind, do you?"

Kai turned beat red, and not so subtly glanced in Skylor's direction. "I, uh, I just remembered, it's my turn to patrol the desert tonight. Gottagobye!" after saying the last bit in a rush, he bolted from the room so fast they all felt a breeze.

The girls' laughter followed after him as he went.

"I suppose it is over now," said Penny in disappointment.

"Doesn't have to be," said Skylor, turning to Cyan with a smirk. "I've noticed you and Jay seem to have a thing going on. Wanna share about that?"

Red stiffened next to her, but Cyan kept her cool. "At the moment it's nothing to really talk about," she said with a shrug. "We're not dating."

The other three girls all looked at her in surprise. "Really?" asked Skylor. "From what I've seen, he seems to like you."

"He does," Cyan confirmed with a nod.

"Do you like him?" asked Penny curiously.

"I do," said Cyan Nya assuredly.

They stared at her for a long moment, before Red finally asked, "So why aren't you dating?"

Cyan let out a heavy sigh. "He's not ready," she said.

"What do you mean?" asked Penny in confusion.

Cyan hesitated. She'd not expected this when she invited them to listen. Helping out with Red was all she'd wanted, she didn't expect to be dragged in as well. But… this was the first time she had the opportunity to talk about this with someone other than her brother.

"I mean, yeah, we like each other," she admitted slowly. "But he… Whenever he tries to flirt or tell me he likes me, or just blurts out something nice without meaning to, he just kinda shuts down. His nerves get the better of him and he can't even function from the embarrassment. He then tries to curl up in a ball and disappear to get away from it."

Red blinked in surprise. That was pretty much the opposite of her Jay, who got louder and talked faster when he was nervous.

Skylor looked amused. "Yeah, while that sounds kinda cute, it'd kill any romantic mood pretty quick."

Cyan nodded. It had been cute the first few times, but she knew it was a real problem and Jay hated when it happened.

"Why do you not simply admit your feelings to him instead?" asked Penny. "So that he does not feel pressured."

"I would, but… he'd feel bad about that," said Cyan. "He's a hopeless romantic, so he wants it to be him that confesses to me like a scene out of a movie. It'd be easy for me if I took the initiative, but I know it's important to him so I'm fine with waiting until he's ready."

The other three girls stared at her in surprise.

"That's actually really sweet," said Red.

Cyan shrugged. "It's not like there's a rush and he'll be so happy when he finally gets it right."

"So Nya's off the table, we've already talked about Red, that leaves…" said Skylor thoughtfully, before giving Penny a playful smirk. "Penny, do you have anything you'd like to share with the class?"

"We're not in class," said Penny, looking confused.

The other girls laughed like she'd made a joke, assuming she was trying to dodge the question.

"You and Zane," said Cyan, still snickering. "How are things going with you two?"

Red stopped laughing and stared back and forth between Cyan and Penny in shock. "Wait, what?" she asked.

"Oh," said Penny, realizing what they meant. "Zane and I are good friends. We spent time at his house after school today before I came here. His family is lovely."

The other three girls waited a moment to see if she would say more. When she didn't, Skylor said, "Soooo, do you like him?"

Penny looked bewildered at the question. "Yes, I just said he is my friend."

"But do you like him as more than a friend?" asked Skylor.

Finally seeming to realize where they were going with these questions, Penny looked thoughtful. "I… hadn't considered it," she said. "I have never had friends before, so I am not sure how to tell. How would I know?"

"Well, what do you like about him?" asked Cyan, her tone casual, but her eyes sharp. "Or what don't you like?"

Penny frowned and actually seemed to be giving it some serious thought.

"The things I don't like is a much shorter list," she said finally. "I do not like that he sang Never Gonna Give You Up five times last night at karaoke, once was enough. I do not like that he made Skylor think he was creepy in the cafeteria the other day. Finally, I do not like that he denies himself and who he is, but I understand that is not his fault and hope he recovers from it."

The girls blinked at her blankly, but Penny wasn't finished.

"Things that I like," she said. "I like that he is sweet. I like that he pays attention when I speak, and listens to my opinion even if we do not agree. I like his jokes. I like that he appreciates my assistance. I like that he strives to live up to his family motto. I like that he wished to befriend me after a brief meeting. I like that he is kind…"

She looked like she would have continued on and on, but Skylor cut her off with a laugh. "Wow, safe to say you definitely like him. A lot."

"You love Zane?" Red finally said incredulously, having been gaping in incomprehension since it had been brought up.

Penny's cheeks turned pink. "Love?" she asked. "I am very fond of him, but I am still… unsure. We have only just become friends."

"And that's fine," said Cyan with a shrug. "It's not like there's a rush, and these things take time."

Penny looked thoughtful and nodded in agreement. "Yes," she said. "Time will tell."

"But he's a Nindroid!" Red Nya burst out. She knew their worlds were different, but she hadn't thought it would be like this, especially with her Zane being so far gone over Borg's assistant android at this very moment. "Aren't you worried you're not…" she fumbled for the right word to describe it, and settled on the one Pixal had used when initially dismissing Zen Zane, "... Compatible?"

"Wait, so he really is a robot?" asked Skylor. "I was wondering about that, but thought it'd be rude to ask."

Cyan gave Red the stink-eye for blurting that out but conceded she had a point. "It is something to keep in mind if you ever do want to date him," she said to Penny. "He'll likely outlive you, and a lot of things would be different from your average relationship."

Penny gave a small smile, and for a brief second, it looked like she knew something they didn't. "Not so different, I don't think," she said. "Compatibility is what we make of ourselves." She then looked thoughtful, "And if he should outlive me, well, I suppose he could download my consciousness to a disc and load it into his own harddrive…" She then stopped when she saw the vaguely horrified looks on their faces. "Kidding," she said quickly. "It is something to think about in the future, not right now."

The other three looked like they didn't know what to do about her odd brand of humor. "Okaaaay," said Skylor slowly.

Realizing she might have said too much, and hoping to draw attention away from herself, Penny quickly said, "How about you, Skylor?" she asked. "How true was Garmadon's post that Kai is your 'gf'?"

"You mean is she his 'gf'," corrected Cyan with a grin, partially glad to poke Skylor back for asking about her relationship.

Red Nya was gaping again. Kai? Her brother (well, his counterpart at least)? Had a girlfriend?

Skylor looked startled but then gave a coy grin. "Kai's a really sweet guy. With all he's done for me I'll say this, if he asks me out, I'd have a hard time saying no. Or maybe I should ask…" her grin then fell off her face, and she looked a little blue. "But maybe… not right now," she added, reaching up to touch her left arm. "I, uh, have a lot going on right now. Just moved in, new school, that sort of stuff. Give it a few weeks and we'll see how things go."

It didn't escape Cyan's notice that the arm Skylor was clutching was her bruised one, and once again her team's suspicions flashed through her mind. But aloud all she said was, "Like I said, there's no rush. Just know you can tell us anything. Anything at all."

Skylor grinned. "I'll keep that in mind," she promised, but her smile didn't reach her eyes.

With that, the girl talk fizzled out, and the three local girls started on their project. Red Nya decided to stay and help, providing information from her Ninjago that she'd heard from Misako that they would need to cross-reference to see if it was true.

Still, for varying reasons, it had been the first time all four girls had had a chance to talk about things like that. There was a new level of trust formed there that they hadn't had before. It was nice.

They should do it again sometime.

A/N This was actually one of the first scenes I ever wrote for this fic. That first chunk from the moment Red Nya shows up at Cyan's doorstep to when Kai ran out was written before I'd even started chapter one. It was just a scene that was very clear in my mind at the time, and I had to write it down. Kay Hau was a major help in writing the rest of this chapter. At least half the ideas came from her, and it all came about from our discussions of what each girl would think of their relationship with their respective beau at this point in the story. As it is, Red Nya is going to take a hiatus from her relationship. They're not fully going to break up, but she is taking a step back to avoid hurting Nick Jay even worse than this already will. Cyan Nya is making a little headway in her True Potential by accepting some help from her friends, and is content to wait until Freckles Jay is ready and in the right headspace for a relationship, because she knows to wait will mean that much more. It's likely the first time Penny even considered a romantic relationship with Zane. She isn't averse to it, but still feels she's too new at the friendship thing to take it any further and is willing to wait and see. And Skylor is already sweet on Kai, but fully knows that if and when her father's plans come to light he might not want anything to do with her anymore, and won't pursue a romance to mitigate the hurt.

Show: Red Nya, Nick Jay, Cliff Cole

Movie: Cyan Nya

As mentioned above, a MASSIVE thanks to Kay Hau for betaing and helping plan this chapter. Penny's 'joke' about downloading herself to Zane's hard drive was hers, and half the ideas for the chapter came from our talks.

Next Time: Red Nya breaks the news to Jay, and it goes about as well as expected. Meanwhile, at Borg Industries, the saboteur takes things up a notch.

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