!WARNING!

This story will contain implied sexual content

!PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

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Guest (Ellipsis_DotDotDot from AO3): Yeah I got the idea to dye Kai's hair pink from a fanfic I read on Wattpad called Secret Identities by TheNinjaOfFangirling. That is until I started rewatching olf Ninjago episodes and remembered Zane's pink gi.

Chapter 16: In Too Deep

Zane and Pixel laughed as they walked through the mall with their favorite flavored ice creams. The two of them had been happily dating for two weeks and most people weren't shocked by this news. Most of the other kids at school had even placed bets on whether they would or wouldn't date. Zane's friends, mostly Morro, were worried that the human would figure out he was the pink creature she saw and tell the world about their secret.

But Zane dismissed their fears.

He was enjoying his time with Pixel and he truly felt like a normal teenager again. Pixel suddenly leaned in for a kiss, only for them both to freeze when they heard a splat. They slowly looked down and saw that Zane's strawberry ice cream and collided against the human's purple blouse. Zane panicked at first, but it melted away when he heard her laughing.

"Bad move." She laughed as she wrapped one arm around his shoulders and playfully raised her own ice cream up to his face. "Say you're sorry."

"No." He laughed as he leaned away from the icy treat.

"Then accept the penalty!"

"No!" Zane laughed again as he broke free and the two ran around the mall until their ice creams had melted and they quickly threw them out.

"So, what are you doing later on?" She asked and he just shrugged. "Do you wanna come out to the forest?"

"Maybe another day." He replied with a nervous chuckle.

"You always say that." She frowned before smirking. "You never know, we might see a beast."

"Pixel, forget about the beast, I'm not coming out to the forest!" He glared.

"Why?" She growled. "What is it with you? Why you always so secretive?"

"I-I just don't like the woods." He lied to his girlfriend when his phone suddenly beeped. "I gotta go, I'm supposed to be at work now." He said before dashing off...

Morro frowned as he made his way towards Zane's house. He was angry and worried when Zane told them that he and Pixel Borg had started dating. He had been worried because the human had already claimed that some of their friends were werewolves and she said that she'd seen Zane when he was in his other form and had been dyed pink. Morro believed that he was being reckless and stupid. When he knocked on the door she was surprised when Jay Walker opened the door.

"Hey Morro, what's up?" He smiled.

"What are you doing here?"

"Zane was supposed to help me with our science project."

"Is Zane home? I want to talk to him." Morro asked and the younger wolf chuckled.

"You mean you want to talk him out of dating Pixel." He corrected and Morro dropped his head in shame. Jay didn't say anything and let the lone wolf inside and into the living room. Dr. Julien was working on something in the kitchen. He gave the boys a smile and a wave before returning to his work.

"I-I know I should be happy for him but I'm worried for him." Morro sighed.

"I know the feeling," Jay replied and pulled out an old book from a nearby bookshelf. He flipped through the pages and stopped on two pages that showed a group of teenagers around their age. Morro gasped when he saw Ray and Maya as teenagers in the picture.

"Who are they?"

"Our parents." He replied with a sad sigh and pointed out a couple on the far left. "They're my biological parents." He added.

"Really?" Morro asked as he examined the people in the picture. The woman in the picture looked almost exactly like Jay except for her long blonde hair and stormy blue eyes. The man she was cuddling had jet black hair, dark brown eyes, and Morro could make out the beginnings of a mustache.

"Is that Cliff Gordon?!"

"Yeah, he was my dad."

"What happened? How did you end up ina junkyard with human parents?"

"My mom, Libby, was a werewolf and I inherited my powers from her." He explained. "My dad was human, he didn't have a clue what my mom was even when they were married and had me; she, and the rest of our parents were just like us, it was exciting, unbelievable, magical; they shared the secret and the adventure, I don't have to tell you how special it is." He smiled at the lone wolf, who smiled back.

"So, what were they like?" Morro asked as they flipped through the pages.

"Well, I'm told my Mom was very headstrong, like Kai, and my Dad was always confident, like Cole." He chuckled. "All our parents were always close until they found out that my Mom suddenly decided she wanted to tell Dad everything." He sighed.

"Why did she want to do that?"

"She saw how happy Lou and Lilly were without secrets and when they had me I guess Mom felt she had to be honest with Cliff, they had been married for three years at this point." He frowned. "The others tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen, and she told him everything; at first, he was very upset and he went away for a few weeks; then one day he called, wanted to meet."

"I guess he got over it?" Morro asked but Jay's face told a different story.

"She thought she could trust him, she thought he understood she's so terribly happy and so terribly wrong."

"What did he do?"

"He wanted to expose her to the whole world." Jay spat with so much hate it honestly scared Morro.

"What?!"

"She went to meet him in the forest in her wolf form, only for Cliff to surprise her by pulling out a camera and snapped some photos of her; luckily, the others arrived just in time and destroyed the camera, putting a stop to Cliff's plan." She glared. "He tried telling everyone about us but people made a mockery of him, no one believed him."

"Sounds like Pixel."

"Apparently my Mom closed up after that, she never really got over the betrayal; I think it was some sort of eye-opener for her," Jay admitted as he drifted off into his own thoughts. "The grief was so bad that her wolf went crazy and one day she vanished, just like Garmadon, with no other option Wu gave me to the Walkers and swore them to secrecy."

"Do you think the same thing will happen to Zane and Pixel?" Morro asked fearfully.

"I don't know." He admitted. "But I do know that he needs us, he doesn't know how much but he does, good luck." He smiled weakly. Morro smiled before giving the younger boy a hug and ran off to find Zane...

"So how are things between you and Pixel." Cole smiled as Zane walked through the marine park with two buckets full of fish for the dolphins. While Cole was worried about his friend dating Pixel, he knew that Zane was stupid and would be careful.

"It's great, I don't think I've been more relaxed since Morro arrived." He replied. "...and I told her I was her 'monster in the forest'."

"WHAT?!" Cole screamed but flinched when few people looked over at them.

"Kidding." He laughed.

"That's not funny." He frowned.

"Why not, it's my secret!"

"No! It's OUR secret!"

"Can we talk about something else? What about your mystory one-night stand?" Zane asked.

At first, Cole had thought he had been dreaming until after the film contest he was taking a shower and found scratched in the back of his shoulders. After Zane had examined them Cole finally realized that he had spent the night with someone and whoever it was had left before he woke up. He thought that he would probably never see that person again and so he tried to forget about it. That was when the dreams started. In his dreams, he was doing it with someone.

He never really got a good look at the other person in his dreams, however, Cole had only noticed their soft tanned skin and stunning amber eyes that he could easily get lost in.

Another thing that had shocked him was the fact he somehow knew the person he was with was a man. It wasn't unknown to almost everyone that Cole was bi but this was the first time he'd ever been with a man before. Until he found out who the mystery man was, Cole simply called him 'Amber', for his eyes. When he told Zane about it, the older boy suggested that maybe his subconscious was trying to remember who his mate was.

Cole didn't know how he knew that Amber was his mate, but he was Cole's, and the raven-haired boy had finally come to the realization that he was very attracted to the man in his dreams.

It irritated him that he couldn't focus on Amber's face. In the dreams, Cole had begun to notice that Amber's mouth seemed to be mouthing words, but he couldn't hear him. Cole also found Amber's scent to be enticing, the smell of cinnamon, and burning pine. The lovely scent seemed so familiar and yet Cole couldn't seem to place it. Cole had searched his bedroom for clues but the only scent he could pick up on was that of his friends.

For some reason, Kai's deodorant was more prominent than the others, but Cole just shrugged it off.

"Forget it!" Cole huffed in annoyance, a faint blush on his cheeks, and turned to leave, only to cry out when he suddenly slipped on some water from a nearby exhibit and fell face-first on the floor, causing everyone to burst out laughing loudly. Zane went to help him but Cole just sent his friend a look and walked away...

Zane and Pixel laughed as they sat outside the cafe with Kai sat nearby, feeling like a third wheel. He had gotten a text from Cole, asking him to keep a close eye on Zane, but after an hour of stalking the couple, he didn't know what to do other than looking around, trying to find a way to escape. It was then he noticed an angry Chad storming over to the happy couple.

Before Kai could say anything, the jack violently grabbed the werewolf and dragged him away from the cafe.

"What on earth is your problem?!" Zane snapped as he pulled himself free.

"You bastards made me lose tons of money!" He snarled. Chad was one of the few people to bet against Zane and Pixel becoming a couple and now he was paying the price for it.

"You did that to yourself." Kai glared. Chad hissed at the hothead and turned to the young couple, only to smirk when an evil idea formed in his mind. He grabbed hold of the necklace around Pixel's neck and snapped it off. She gasped and tried to grab it back as he laughed as he dangled it in front of her.

"Give it back Chad!" She shouted as a confused Cole and Morro came up to them and stood by Kai.

"Sure." The bully smirked and extended the necklace out to her, only to pull it back seconds before Pixel took it and flung it into the water of the fountain next to them with a cruel laugh. "Oops." He smirked before pushing past them. As Chad walked away, Cole had to restrain Kai to prevent him from attacking the jock, even if he wanted to do it himself.

"I'll get it for you." Zane suddenly said and started taking off his jacket and shoes before jumping into the water. He moved his hands around the fountain's water until he smiled and held up the necklace. He climbed out of the water and ran over to his girlfriend. He happily held out the dripping wet necklace to her and she took it back with a loving smile.

"Pixel, there's something I want to tell you." He suddenly said and the other three boys felt their blood go cold.

"What is it?" She asked. Morro was about to rush over and stop this but Cole and Kai stopped him.

"I just wanted to say that I'm... the luckiest guy in the world to have up." He smiled and they shared a kiss. When they finally parted, Pixel saw the shocked and relieved looks on Cole, Kai, and Morro's faces...

"What's going on, you're all acting weird," She asked as he stepped back and she put the necklace back on. The boys shifted in their spots for a few moments before Zane's amused chuckle broke the silence.

"Nothing, nothing at all." He smiled at his girlfriend...

Later that day, Zane was sat in his room with Cole, Kai, and Morro, all of them laughing and joking about the day's events. Morro saw Zane's father looking in on them and the old man gave them a knowing smile before walking away. After about ten minutes of laughing, Zane finally regained his breath.

"You didn't honestly think that I was gonna give up our secret to Pixel, did you?" He asked them and they all shared a nervous look, causing him to laugh even harder at them. "You did? Come on guys, where's the trust?"

All they could do was laugh with their friend. Soon night came in and it was time for them all to get home. After Cole had dropped Kai and Morro off at their homes, he had driven all the way to his, however, as he was getting out of his car, he suddenly froze. For a brief moment, he thought he could smell Amber's intoxicating scent, just for a moment thought.

He took a deep sniff but the smell was gone again.

Cole frowned at this but didn't do anything except parking his car and head up to his apartment, vowing to get to the bottom of this...