Birthdays

by Kifo Entiegon

It's the ninjas' birthdays... and this year, Jay has delegated himself in planning the birthday parties for the others. But he has to play things smart as Zane's never celebrated a birthday, Lloyd hates his, Cole and Kai hate the idea of joining their birthdays, and he wants to plan something special for Nya without getting killed by Kai. one-shot series. T for safety.

3. Nya: Coming Of Age

Finally I have finished Nya's birthday chapter. It took months mainly because our favourite water ninja was being a pain and not letting me write about her birthday. Seabound's finale didn't help, either. After what happened, I felt like dropping out of the fandom altogether. But I've got some things I want to get finished before I do go and hide first. Birthdays included.

But I do have to warn you on this particular story. There are implied references within. However, as this is essentially my first time writing anything that starts to lean towards more mature themes, I've hopefully managed to keep it PG rated. You won't see any major activities in this, but the implications are there. Other than that, I hope you all enjoy.

---

Nya: Coming Of Age

" What you got there, Jay?"

The voice sent chills down the blue ninja's back. Ice cold chills that warned him of impending doom. Slowly, he turned around to find Kai just coming out of his bedroom… and his hands gripped the cardboard box a little tighter than necessary.

" Oh, uh… n-nothing." He stuttered despite trying to hide his nerves.

Kai quirked an eyebrow at him, clearly not convinced.

" Honestly, just some projects I'm working on." Jay had to stop himself from adding 'with Nya' at the end.

If Kai knew what was really in that box, he'd be dead ten times over.

" I'll just, uh…" Jay started moving again, though he could feel the hard gaze that the fire ninja was sending his way.

" What kind of projects?" Apparently, Kai was going to play difficult.

" Oh, just some… um… do-hickeys and thing-a-ma-bobs… that aren't quite working. Need to take them to the junkyard."

Okay, that was a lie. The box and its contents were destined for the spare room of the Destiny's Bounty, which he was trying to set up in time for tomorrow night. He had already secured the ship for the next two days as well as that day. But he was also working on a tight schedule. And if everything was going to be perfect, he needed to get away from Kai.

" Want some company on the trip?" the fire ninja asked, taking a step toward his friend.

A step that clearly made Jay feel on edge. Jay was practically willing the sweat not to roll down the side of his head.

" It's all good." The blue ninja hated how his voice was slowly rising in pitch. " Ma's been asking about Cole so I asked him to come with."

" Go with you where?"

Jay had never wanted to not see Cole more (other than during that love fiasco) than right at that very moment. Of course it would be his luck that his best friend would walk around the corner just as he was sure he'd get away from Kai. And the burning sensation on his back he was sure he was feeling made him dread turning around.

" Jay," Kai's voice was low, but was it dangerous yet? " what is really in that box?"

The blue ninja could not help the high-pitched squeak that his voice gave off as he spoke. " Stuff for Nya's birthday tomorrow. Now I really gotta go because I think I hear her calling me."

With that he was sprinting down the hallway as fast as his lightning could take him.

" You better not do anything to her, Jay Walker, or you are dead!" The fire ninja roared after him.

Cole could only turn his gaze from the now empty hallway that Jay had disappeared down to the overprotective brother who could control fire. The most prominent question out of all the ones buzzing in his head at that moment; did he really want to be there? He figured yes, as long as he could calm Kai down so that his sister didn't have to bury her boyfriend on her birthday.

" I'm sure he won't do anything to harm a single hair on Nya's head, Kai." He spoke calmly in an attempt to lull the fire wielder into a sense of calm himself.

" That's my little sister, Cole." Kai pointed out fiercely.

" I know. But it's not like he's done anything to her before now. They'll probably just make out and go to sleep."

" But what if…"

" Kai. Stop. She's old enough to do what she wants. Let's just, you and I, go out to get Nya a birthday present. And maybe we can go see Skylor at the noodle house afterwards. Lunch will be on me."

Without another word of protest, Cole turned Kai back in the direction of his room so that both ninja could gather their things and head out to the shopping centre. Kai had no choice in the matter.

---

Jay made it to the Bounty's spare room in record time. And he didn't crash into anyone on the way there. Added bonus. Now he gently placed the cardboard box onto the bed and started unpacking.

The first thing he pulled out was a little black toolbox which he immediately placed under the bed. There was no way he was going to let Kai discover that box, after all. Next, he pulled out some candelabras. They were simple in design but still showed off some elegance in the way they curved around themselves. Three of the candelabras could hold five candles in a row while two more candelabras were able to hold two candles each, one above the other but slightly off-centre from each other.

It was the two candle candelabras that Jay placed on either side of the bed, placing them on the small tables that he had dragged from the other room. The three other candelabras were placed in three strategic places in the room to add to the romantic atmosphere he was hoping for. Going back to the box, Jay produced fourteen candles to place on the candelabras, alternating between the gold and the silver coloured candles.

The room had to be perfect. It was the setting for his surprise birthday present to Nya after all. In fact, Jay was sure he could spend hours in the room just trying to make sure that everything was perfect. But he knew he couldn't. There were still a lot of things that needed to be done in preparation for tomorrow.

With that in mind, Jay pulled out a list from his pocket and checked what still needed to be done. Or, at least, who had been assigned to what and so would most likely need help with things. According to his list, Zane and Pixal were working together on preparing the food, and most importantly the cake, for tomorrow. It would save time not having to do a lot of the preparations on the day, or so he was told.

Lloyd had insisted on sorting out the games. Exactly what kind of games, Jay wasn't so sure. He'd have to ask about that when he went back upstairs. Although, if Echo Zane was to be believed, the green ninja had been seen sneaking the twister game and a packet of balloons into his room. Speaking of Echo, he had been tasked with looking after Keo and his horse, something the copper android was proving diligent at despite being in the process of an upgrade.

As for Keo, he was, rather slowly considering he was still in a lot of pain and as such on a lot of strong pain killers, working on some kind of artwork as a present for Nya. Cole was helping him with the artwork in between sorting out the music for the party and other everyday things. Of course, that didn't mean he wasn't getting his own help. Per Nya's requests, she and Kai were helping Cole with the music selection.

That is, Kai got roped into helping after he had arrived home from the shops a couple of days ago. He had been out to get the decorations for the party as he had found himself in charge of them once more. This time, he expected to be able to put up the decorations… although, it was safe to assume that he was probably on a murderous rampage heading straight for Jay at that current moment. If that was the case, it was probably best that Jay did not hurry with making sure the room was absolutely perfect.

Only problem was, Jay needed to get back upstairs soon if he was going to finish the other part of his gift. Oh, and make sure that the lounge room was ready for tomorrow's party. And make sure everything was going to plan. Being on clean up duty meant that he needed to make sure the lounge room was spotless as well. And being the party organiser meant that he had to keep tabs on everyone.

At least he didn't have to worry about Nya knowing about the party. As soon as she realised that it was Jay who was planning her birthday party, she was almost hounding him about not having a surprise party. She almost threatened him with his life if she found out there was a surprise party planned. Thankfully, he never planned on a surprise party for his girlfriend to begin with.

He just had a hard trying to figure out what he could do for her birthday.

It took Kai making an off-handed comment about Nya always wanting a pinata at her birthdays when she was younger and never having enough money to get one that spurred the lightning master into action. That's why he sent Kai to get decorations, making sure a disco ball pinata was obtained at the same time.

He just hoped that Lloyd hadn't eaten all the candy that was meant for the pinata. Of course, candy wasn't the only thing going into the pinata. Candy was just the majority of what was going into the pinata… as long as Lloyd had refrained from eating it all. Cole had also made the suggestion to place gold coins in the pinata as Nya wasn't exactly a little girl any more. But Jay still wondered if those two things would be enough. Only problem was, he had no idea what else to put into the pinata.

" Jay! Are you down here?" Speak of the devil, Lloyd's voice echoed through the Destiny's Bounty.

At the sound of his friend's voice, Jay starlted so badly he almost leaped into the air. He had not been expecting anyone to come find him so quickly. After all, he couldn't have been down here that long… right? After a few seconds (which he spent trying to calm himself down), Jay folded the list back up and put it back in his pocket. Then he stuck his head out of the spare room door.

" I'm here, Lloyd. What's wrong?" He called back.

Lloyd appeared at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the rest of the Bounty. " Lunch is ready. We've been trying to find you for the past five minutes."

" Is it safe to go up?"

" What?"

" Kai doesn't want to kill me, does he?"

" Kai's not here. Cole took him out present shopping about fifteen-twenty minutes ago. He also said that they were eating out. What I want to know it what did you do to anger Kai?"

Jay stuck his head back through the door to make sure everything was okay in the room beyond. To be honest, he hadn't thought that he had spent twenty minutes down in the hangar getting the spare room ready. It had just felt like a few minutes. But he couldn't argue with what he had been told.

Accepting that (and finding that his nit-picking the room really wasn't necessary) Jay finally stepped out of the room and made his way over to his green clad leader. Of course, Lloyd had to notice that he had a sheepish look on his face as he did so. But he chose not to comment on it when he realised that Jay was about to explain himself.

" It's more what I plan to do." The blue ninja admitted softly. " But I don't plan on talking about it, because, you know, surprises and all that. So let's go get some lunch. Say, who made lunch anyway?"

" Zane did. But it was supposed to be you."

" Dang it. I knew I forgot to do something."

---

Zane didn't seem to mind at all about having had to make lunch in place of Jay. And this was despite Jay practically bursting into the dining area full of apologies about having forgotten lunch. Apparently, he had anticipated something like this happening thanks to the chaotic state of his friend's mind. So, Jay's apologies were easily accepted even as Zane guided both him and Lloyd to the simple wraps that were in the middle of the dining table.

" I made an assortment of wraps for lunch that everyone should enjoy." The nindroid said, interrupting Jay's continued apologies. " I figured it would be easy enough to prepare whilst also preparing the meals for tomorrow. With Pixal's help, I was able to get everything done in time."

" It looks amazing, Zane. As always." Jay replied with a smile, effectively distracted.

He helped himself to a chicken salad wrap as he took his seat beside Nya. Lloyd was close behind him, picking up an egg salad wrap as he made his way to his own spot at the lunch table. But it wasn't long after the meal had started that Jay felt his girlfriend's gaze land squarely on him.

" Where have you been all day, Jay?" She asked, breaking the silence that had emerged once Lloyd had sat down. " I know for a fact that Echo Zane's been looking everywhere for you. I was the first person he asked. He said that Keo wanted to talk to you about something. He's still with him now."

" Really? Do you know what about?" Jay pointedly chose not to answer where he had been and it was obvious.

" I'm not quite sure what Keo wants to talk about. What I do know is that it has something to do with a really apologetic man in the bedroom. Poor Echo was really confused about it all."

That made Jay stop. After all, he wasn't sure he knew about any apologetic men that would climb into the bedroom of a really sick teenager. Especially with the building he was sneaking into being at the top of a really tall mountain. And you couldn't forget that said building was inhabited by well-trained ninja. In that case, how had the man managed to sneak into the monastery at all?

He must have had a confused look on his face because Nya was watching him like a hawk. Either that or she had noticed that he hadn't actually answered her question. Whatever the case, Nya had a look on her own face that the blue ninja couldn't quite interpret. It was like she was trying to get him to remember something important… or else trying to telepathically communicate with him. Whatever it was, it was serious.

" I'll, uh… I'll check up on Keo after lunch." Jay figured that was the safest thing to say.

Unfortunately for Jay, it may not have been. Nya was still staring at him, trying to get him to talk. And it was putting her boyfriend on edge. She watched as he nervously took another bite of his wrap, hoping that he would answer her.

To everyone around the table, it was clear that she was trying to get information out of Jay. And she knew it. There was a pretty good guess as to what that information was that she wanted, as well. Jay, however, remained oblivious to this. Or so it seemed. With his nervous energies, it was hard to tell if he was avoiding the scrutiny or if he just didn't want to talk.

It was a few more minutes of this nervous silence before the Master of Water finally snapped. Of course, she just had to wait until Jay had taken another bite out of his wrap. " Okay, Jay. Why is Kai yelling at you this time?"

It was a loaded question. And yet, everyone wanted to know the answer. Jay swallowed his food carefully, thinking over his answer so as not to give anything away. After all, he didn't want to ruin the surprise. Also, Master Wu was at the table and he wasn't sure if he would approve of the surprise being spoken of whilst around the dining table. As much as he was embarrassed to admit it, Jay had had to talk with his master before even planning the surprise.

Finally, after taking a mouthful of drink to wash down the wrap, Jay seemed to come up with an answer that he hoped would be sufficient.

" Well… it's a surprise." He said.

Nya brought a hand up to her face, massaging her forehead. She really should have known that she wouldn't get much of an explanation out of Jay. They probably all should have realised that. For all the love she had for the boy, Jay was just as quick to not say something important as he was to blab it out to the entire world. It could get a little frustrating at times. Still, Pixal could not help but notice the very faint smirk that was on Zane's face.

It was that smirk that piqued her interest on what was going on within the monastery. Even more so than the fact that she had overheard Jay practically begging both Cole and Zane to do 'damage control'… whatever that entitled. Having caught the tail end of the conversation probably didn't help her cause, though.

But it was Lloyd who quickly gained everyone's attention with what he said next.

" You know, I thought he was going to explain things better with how he was preparing himself."

" Hey! Leave my preparation skills out of this." Jay cried indignantly.

" Why? It's totally what you were doing."

In the resulting argument, everyone forgot about Kai yelling at Jay before lunch. In fact, by the end of it, no one could figure out what caused the argument in the first place. Or why Jay had a strange glint in his eye. All anyone knew was that the argument wasn't even a proper argument. It was more of a friendly banter than anything else.

Before they knew it, lunch was finished. Jay, in failure of making lunch, opted to at least clean the dishes. He also used that opportunity to check on the food preparations for the dance party the next day. But with both Zane and Pixal in charge, he quickly found that everything was well under control.

The pair of nindroids only had one issue… which surprised Jay. Even more surprising was the fact that neither of the droids had gone to Nya with the issue. After all, it was well known that Nya did not want any surprise parties. It was bad enough that she now knew she was getting some kind of surprise thanks to the conversation through lunch. Even so, Jay voiced his confusion about him being asked as he dried his hands on the dish towel, lunch dishes now cleaned.

" For two reasons, Jay." Zane stated. " The first is you are the one planning this party, so it is only fitting the question goes to you. The second is because we want what the cake looks like to be a surprise for Nya. Which is why we have yet to start on it. Pixal and I have agreed to waiting as long as possible on the making of the cake to lessen the possibility of Nya seeing it."

" We just can't figure out if we want to make an elegant dance themed cake or a more exciting dance themed cake." Pixal added.

Jay had to think for a minute. Something elegant verses something exciting. And it had to be dance themed for sure. Especially since Nya had not really cared how the cake was decorated as long as it was made by Zane. That's when an idea came to him. Holding a figure up to motion for some time, Jay hurried to find a piece of paper and a pen. Once he found what he was looking for, he proceeded to doodle his design.

Granted, he wasn't that good at proper drawing, but his minimal, blueprint like design managed to get his point across. Drawn on the paper was what looked like a three-tiered cake. The top tier of the cake was done to look like a disco ball. The middle tier seemed to be a solid block with circles around it. The final tier was also solid, much like the middle tier, but this one had two lines across it that looked like it was forming a band.

" Why not this?" Jay asked, showing his design off to the two nindroids. " I mean, you don't have to do three tiers. The disco ball can just be a decoration on top. But if you make the second tier a light blue with white circles on it and the bigger tier with either a band of light blue or even two strips of light blue on a white background, I think it would look okay. And make everything round. My drawing skills aren't as awesome as Cole's. I mean, you don't have to specifically do light blue and white for colours. You could make it rainbow if you wanted. Juice it up a little bit."

Zane quickly held a hand up to stop Jay from speaking after that. He could clearly see that his friend was starting to panic slightly and knew he had to stop it quickly. Otherwise, who knew what would happen.

" Jay, calm down." He said softly. " I am sure your design will be perfect. This may be what is needed for Pixal and myself to be able to work with. We may change some parts of it as you have suggested, but rest assured that your design will be present. For now, why don't you go and see what Keo wanted? And please collect his lunch dishes while you are there. I sent lunch to him and Echo while we were looking for you."

" But the cake…" Jay stressed.

" The cake is in good hands." Pixal reassured him. " As Zane mentioned, your plans may be what was needed to help us figure out what to do. So, thank you, Jay. We can take it from here."

With that said, Zane and Pixal practically marched Jay out of the kitchen. It looked like he had no choice but to go see what it was Keo had wanted him for. With a shrug of his shoulders, he made his way down to the injured boy's room, his mind making guesses as to what was going on as well as trying to figure out what he needed to do to complete his birthday present for Nya.

He was that lost in his thoughts that he didn't realise when he had arrived at the bedroom until the door opened to reveal Echo Zane holding a stack of dirty dishes. Although surprised at sudden appearance of Jay on the other side of the door, the copper android was looking quite well. He now had two shiny new arms to go with his shiny new legs. His new head and body would take a little longer to configure, or so Cyrus Borg said, but Echo had no qualms about that. He was just pleased to be able to walk and do things without falling apart all the time.

" Oh, friend Jay. Hello." Echo was saying. " I did not expect you to be on the other side of the door. I am sorry if I frightened you in any way."

All Jay could do was smile. Echo was too innocent for his own good. But that's what made him so cute and loveable, which, Jay had to be honest, was what the blue ninja loved about his little brother. Because face it, any bother of Zane's was a brother to the rest of the ninja.

" It's fine, Echo. I heard you were looking for me?" he replied shaking his head and stepping out of the doorway.

" To be more precise, it was Keo that was looking for you. I was merely asking after you on his behalf. You are welcome to see him while I take the dirty dishes into the kitchen."

Without another word, the copper android was on the move, heading towards the kitchen like he had said. Jay watched him go before turning to the door. After a quick rasp on the doorframe to alert Keo to his presence, he took a step into the room.

" Keo? You wanted to talk to me?" He called as he did so.

" Jay?" came his rather weak reply. " You can come in. He won't move from the window."

Who he was, Jay had no clue, but he figured they were who Keo wanted to talk to him about. So, he made his way over to the chair that was by Keo's bed. Speaking of the boy, his breath was laboured, and his green eyes were dark with pain, but he still smiled weakly at the older teen as he took his seat.

" You don't mind that I've taken you away from the party preparations for this, right?" Keo asked.

Jay shook his head. " Hey, if you need anything, you know we'll all try our best to help you with whatever it is."

" I am thankful for everything you guys are doing. I just worry I'm being too much of a burden."

" Don't. Besides, you are no way near as bad as Kai and I can get when we're sick or injured. Now, what was it you wanted?"

Keo looked over at the window, clearly in thought by the way his eyes seemed to mist over. It was admittedly worrisome when his eyes misted over, especially considering his current predicament, but other than the slight change in his eyes, Jay noticed that everything else seemed to be somewhat normal. As such, the blue ninja took that opportunity to also look over to the window.

Of course, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Just a dresser, a curtained window and a small easel and canvas that sat facing the window. A couple of days ago, Jay had been lucky enough to get a glimpse of what the ill boy had been working on with Cole. But as the canvas was facing the window, and because he didn't know if Nya was outside the door or not, he remained silent about asking to see how the painting was going.

It was somewhat disappointing, not being able to get another glimpse. But Cole had said that Keo's attention to detail in his sketches was amazing despite his discovered colour-blindness. And that was why Jay was so eager to see what it was that both Cole and Keo had created. He would just have to wait until tomorrow to see the finished painting.

But then the curtain moved. It was ever so slight, just enough to make one think that there was a breeze blowing through the window. Only, the window was closed so no breeze could get in. Not to mention it had been raining earlier that day, meaning the monastery windows had been closed early on that day. All this meant one thing when it came to Keo.

" Just a hunch, does this have anything to do with a ghost?" Jay found himself asking as he turned back to face the injured boy again.

Despite everything that was happening to him, Keo turned to face the older teen with a rather sheepish look on his face. One that sent a chill running down the blue ninja's spine.

" Yes." The boy said rather meekly. " Syoh. I'm sorry. He just appeared at my window claiming that he needed to apologise to you."

" Okay." Jay sighed, holding his hands up as he tried to settle the panic that was starting to build within him. " Let's get some things straight first. Who is this guy, what does he want from me and why did he come through your window?"

" I don't know why the spirits like going through my window. I think it's turned into some kind of urzu kurumba, or spirit gate. A new gateway to Ewau Altzoel, the World of the Ancestors. And the spirit says his name is Cliff Gordon."

Jay went stiff. True, it could have been anyone named Cliff Gordon, but he only knew of one. And that one Cliff Gordon once used to be one of his greatest heroes… until he found out his hero was actually his birth father. And he only found that out after the guy had died.

To be honest, he didn't know what to feel now that he was faced with the spirit of his dead father. Hurt that he had put him up for adoption? Fear because the guy had tried to kill him as a baby? Excitement at getting to know one of his past idols? Trepidation at what Cliff Gordon's spirit had to say to a son who never even knew of their relations?

" Jay?" Keo's weak voice penetrated the stillness of Jay's mind. " Are you okay?"

" I… I hate that you have to be the one to hear this, Keo," Jay managed to get out, " but can you ask him to leave. I don't want to talk to him."

" May I ask why? So I can tell the spirit?"

" I, uh… I don't want to talk with a guy who would try and kill their infant son and then not even think to get in touch with him after his adoption. I'm sorry, Keo, but I can't stay here. Echo Zane should be back any minute."

Jay sent the bed bound boy an apologetic look, hoping he would understand the turmoil he had just now been put in. Then he got to his feet and left the room. It was just his luck that Nya was passing by at the same moment.

" Nya." He called softly, trying to keep the tremble out of his voice.

The water ninja turned at the sound of her name and instantly knew that something was wrong thanks to the pale look on her boyfriend's face.

" Is everything alright, Jay?" she asked.

" I know why Keo wanted to see me. But I can't stay in the room. I had to leave."

" Why? What happened?"

" Cliff Gordon's spirit came calling, said he wanted to apologise or something. I just couldn't do it. Can you stay with Keo until Echo Zane comes back?"

Nya grabbed Jay's hand and squeezed it gently. " Of course I will. Just remember, I'm here for you. If you need to talk things out, I'm here to listen."

Finally Jay smiled, albeit a small one. " I know, thank you. But I need to be alone for now."

All Nya could do was nod her head in understanding. With a quick kiss on the cheek, Jay made his way down the hallway and to his workroom. But thoughts of what could have happened played on his mind for some time. And it left him sitting at his workbench, staring at the small metal figure without actually seeing it.

It wasn't until an hour later that Jay finally managed to sort out his thoughts and get working on Nya's birthday present. And he had a lot of work to do to finish it… which was why no one saw him until well after dinner. Even then, it was only Zane who had seen him. The nindroid had gone to find him with a small meal in hand so that Jay had something to eat for dinner as he had missed the meal thanks to his work. Other than that, no one saw Jay before they all made their way to their own beds for the night.

---

It was morning when Jay was shaken awake by a big hand on his back.

" Jay." A familiar voice accompanied the hand. " Jay, wake up. Kai's threatening to burn your eggs."

" Let him eat them." Jay grumbled in reply, turning his head so his face was hidden in the crook of his elbow.

" Don't you remember what day it is today?"

" Sleep day."

" Geeze, Jay. How long were you up last night? Today's Nya's birthday."

" Nya's birthday." The blue ninja repeated sleepily. A second later, his eyes spang open and he sat up so fast his head went spinning. " Nya's birthday!"

Behind him, Cole had just enough time to step away from the work desk before Jay's head could meet with his. And yet, Jay seemed oblivious to the earth master standing beside him. Instead, he leapt up from the chair only to stop when he realised where he was. Just to make sure, though, he looked around the room. That's when it hit him. He had fallen asleep while he was working on Nya's birthday present.

" You okay, Jay?" Cole asked, gaining his friend's attention.

It was clear from the look on his face that Cole thought the situation was amusing. But at the same time, he still worried for his friend. Especially seeing that Jay tended to fret over making sure certain things were perfect. But Jay merely gave him a nod of the head, obviously not daring himself to speak for fear of making even more of a fool of himself, before turning back to look at what he had been working on.

Just by looking at it, Jay could tell that he had managed to finish the majority of the project. Everything looked to be in its proper place and shaped perfectly. And a quick test of the electronics showed that everything was working as it should. But there was still something off about his gift. And, for the life of him, he could not think what.

Cole must have noticed the confusion on his face because he turned to the gift as well. But in the scrutinizing silence that followed, there was nothing he could see that could be wrong.

" Something's missing." Jay said at large.

" I feel like it could do with more colour." Cole put in.

" You can see I used different coloured metals. And its eyes and wings glow when it plays the song, which I'm sure you've noticed. What else do you want me to add?"

" I don't know. Maybe a ribbon?"

" Do we have small enough ribbon?"

" Um…"

It was at that moment that a third voice entered the work room. " There you are. You know, Kai really is threatening to burn the eggs, so you better hurry up and get out here."

Cole and Jay quickly turned to face the door and the new arrival. And they had just enough time to cover the mechanical gift as they did so for it was Nya who was standing there.

" Nya! Happy Birthday!" Jay exclaimed with a brilliant smile on his face. " I'll uh… be right there. Just got to do something real quick."

" Thank you, Jay." Nya returned the smile, but it dropped slightly with the words she spoke next. " But please hurry. I don't think you'd want Kai's burnt eggs… even though I have absolutely no idea why he's suddenly aggressive towards you again."

Hearing that, Jay visibly swallowed. He knew Kai would lash out in some way. He just knew it. But it only served to heighten his already high anxiety levels. He just never expected that Kai's big brother tendencies would come back so aggressively. At least he had a pretty good guess at the hidden message that was accompanying the burnt eggs Kai was threatening him with; hurt his little sister and he would be fried to a crisp.

Thankfully, Nya didn't seem to have any clue to what he was planning. And Jay counted that as a blessing within the minefield that was her brother.

" I, uh… I think I have an idea." The blue ninja said after a few seconds of thoughts. " But I'm sure we can sort things out."

" I hope so." The water ninja sighed before turning away. " I'll try and keep my brother at bay. But hurry." With that, she was gone again.

Jay waited a minute before turning to face Cole, who had turned to him in turn. A silent conversation seemed to pass between them at that point. It seemed like both the earth and ice masters would still be on damage control. That is, until Jay managed to quell the fire ninja's overprotectiveness. And Cole had a feeling that that wouldn't happen until after Nya's birthday was over.

" Guess we better hurry to the dining area." Cole sighed after a little while.

" Yeah." Jay agreed, carefully placing his gift in the metal cage he had made before placing it in the gift box. " If we find a ribbon before the party, I'll put it on later. If not, too bad. But… um… you wouldn't be able to help a guy out, would you Cole?"

" If everything goes according to plan, and you aren't able to find a ribbon beforehand, then I'll hurry out. But it would have to be out of your money. And you have to promise me to look through the monastery first."

" Deal."

They shook hands on it before both hurrying out to the dining room. And they were lucky. Kai had just been about to burn the eggs when they charged through the door. And by the looks of it, Zane had had to step in to save the eggs from the wrath of the fire ninja.

Other than that near miss of breakfast, things seemed to be going surprisingly well. That is if you didn't include the piercing gaze Kai was sending to Jay. There was no doubt about it, if Kai knew exactly what Jay was planning for that night, Jay's head would be on a platter. It took Cole, Zane and Nya to get Kai to stop being so protective and let Jay eat his meal in peace.

Although, it took the fire master a little time before he was able to be moved away from Jay.

Once breakfast was over, Jay made a quick exit to the lounge room. In all his panic to make sure things were perfect the day before, he had forgotten to tidy the lounge room in time for the party. And that was the bigger problem. He had also forgotten to check in with Lloyd and the games as well as with Cole and the music once he and Kai had gotten back from wherever they had gone.

True, he had other things on his mind at the time, but after remembering during breakfast, he'd figured he'd catch up with them later… once the lounge room was ready. But he had a bit to do before he could get to that point. Like moving the lounges to the side of the room, giving the room a thorough sweep or vacuum as well as a good dusting, and put out any extra tables needed for the food. Not to mention, all this had to be done while keeping in mind there had to be room for a dance floor of sorts.

Just thinking about it, he knew he was going to need help with moving the furniture. Even with the strength he had built up through his training, the lightning ninja was no Cole. Jay knew he was built for speed, not strength. He just never expected the surprise he got when he opened the door to the lounge room.

The lounges had already been moved and were both now resting against the walls on either side of the room. They were even facing towards the centre so that one would still be able to sit down if they so desired. Even the coffee table had been moved to the side making a nice little area in front of the television that could be used as the dance floor. Not to mention give easy access to the hangar doors in the event of an emergency (and that was something Jay was not hoping for).

If that was the case, Jay's little surprise would have to wait until much later, when everything had been cleaned up. After all, he did not want to draw any unwanted attention to the fact that he was going to sneak Nya away from the others.

However, there was only one thought that was prominent in his mind at the sight of the room despite everything else that was going on. " Who moved the furniture?"

" Cole and I did it last night." Someone said from behind him.

Jay was almost startled out of his skin, not having realised that he had spoken aloud. The next few seconds were seemingly a blur. First, he had turned to face his mysterious speaker, getting into a defensive position as he did so, before realising that it was only Kai who was standing behind him. He started to relax upon that discovery… that is until his brain registered that it was Nya's overprotective brother who was standing there.

At that point one more thought entered Jay's brain. One that stated that he was most likely doomed now that Kai had him effectively cornered. But Kai seemed to be taking things in his stride, controlling the circumstances to suit his needs.

" When Zane returned from the workroom last night after sending you some dinner, he told us that you were going to be quite busy for some time. That was when Cole got this bright idea to give you a little help. He got me to help him move the furniture for you. That's all we did, though. You still have to clean up." The fire master said with a smirk.

" Of course I do." Jay sighed to himself.

Kai ignored him and continued on into the room. In his arms, he held a box that Jay recognised as holding the party decorations the team had accumulated throughout the years. The most recent of these decorations Jay knew had been bought the other day when Kai had gone shopping on his own. Kai placed the box on the far lounge, knowing full well that Jay was watching his every move for any signs of hostilities, before grabbing something from the top of the pile that Jay did not manage to see.

" Come find me when you're done cleaning. I'll set up the room then. But don't take too long. And here," the fire ninja threw what he held in his hands at Jay, " heard you were looking for some kind of ribbon."

Jay caught the item just as it was about to hit him in the head. When he brought his hand down, he noticed the item was a roll of ribbon. Specifically a rainbow coloured ribbon that looked thin enough to fit around the neck of his little birthday gift. It was the perfect thing he needed to add that missing something he was looking for.

" Thanks Kai. For this and moving the furniture." He smiled up at his friend.

Kai merely nodded in reply. But it was the stern look on his face that had Jay on edge. It was the look he reserved solely for the blue ninja. And it told Jay not to mess around with his little sister or else big brother Kai was going to have to torch him. To make matters worse, Kai was making his way towards the slightly smaller teen… and that sent jay instantly fearing for his life.

" I don't know what you're planning, Jay Walker," the older teen was saying, " but I have my suspicions. And if those suspicions are correct then it would be best that you remember not to hurt my little sister. Because if I find out that you did hurt her… you don't want to know what I would do."

Jay visibly swallowed down the fear that was building within him, nodding his head vigorously in understanding to what Kai was saying.

" Now you better get cleaning. Don't want the party to be late. Oh, and Mum and Dad came round a few minutes ago. They've taken Nya out for the day. Mum said something about a spa day as they left."

That said, Kai left the room… and left Jay in a state of fear. With everything going on in his head, all the things that Kai could possibly do to him if he hurt Nya, it wasn't that surprising. The only thing he could hope for was that Kai would be lenient towards any accidental incidents. Because he would never truly intend to harm the one he loved.

It took a little while after Kai had left before Jay was able to move again. And that was only because Cole had peeked into the room and found him almost as still as a statue. To be honest, the black ninja was going in search of his best friend to ask if he could also be told when the room was cleaned so that he could set up the music station. He never expected having to talk Jay out of his panic.

After a few deep breaths, and a shaky thumbs up, Jay was able to collect himself and get back to work. Cole left him with a knowing smile, promising to place the ribbon in the work room for him while he worked. Of course, Jay could only guess that Cole and Kai were collaborating with each other thanks to the smile that was on his friend's face, but he quickly put the thought out of his mind and opted to get on with his work.

So, with a broom in hand and his spinjitzu tornado at his disposal, cleaning the lounge room became quick work. Even dusting went much quicker than it would have taken thanks to Jay swapping out the broom for a cleaning spray dampened cloth. So it was no surprise that Jay found himself quite pleased with his work once it was all done. The finishing touch to the room was the folding table that needed to be brought in so that all the food could be easily accessible to all.

As an added bonus, Jay was even pleased with himself for not having any major panic attacks yet (he didn't count the fear that Kai had instilled in him). After all, the panic attacks he had had during the preparations of both Zane's and Lloyd's birthday parties were quite big. He just hoped that his luck kept up throughout the rest of Nya's party preparations.

Looking around the sparkling room, Jay gave a satisfied nod before turned and walking away. Now that that was done, he had to let Kai and Cole know that the room was ready for them. It was just sheer luck that, as he entered the courtyard, he found both of them talking with each other whilst also showering Keo's horse with affection by giving him horse treats and a good grooming.

At least, Jay hoped it was a good grooming session. Having never owned a horse before, he wasn't quite sure what a good grooming session entailed. He just tried to follow the instructions that one of the resident nindroids had printed off and coached the other ninja through, praying he did a good job while he was doing it. Not to mention he got the feeling that, at least Kai and Lloyd did exactly the same thing.

" Room's clean!" the blue ninja called, putting his thoughts of horse grooming to the back of his mind.

Cole and Kai instantly stopped their conversation and turned to face him, a warm smile on Cole's face while Kai's was graced with a knowing smirk. Just that smirk alone told Jay that the other two had been talking about him, but he refused to let it get to him. Also, because he wasn't quite sure what they were talking about to begin with. What he did know was that Makkar was not impressed with having his peaceful moment stolen from him.

" We can put the decorations up?" Kai confirmed.

" And set up the music?" Cole added.

" Yep. That room is spotless. Or it was when I just left it." Jay nodded his head, taking the carrot from Kai's hand and holding it out to the horse in a gesture of friendship. Ever his weakness, Makkar gladly took the offered carrot as the lightning master continued talking. " But I've got some other things to do, so I can't help. Like, make sure that Lloyd isn't planning any games that could be considered dangerous on a dance floor. But when you're done, I have a favour to ask."

" Sure, what is it?"

" Can one of you please let Zane or Pixal know that the room is ready for the food when your done? It would be a great help."

" Don't worry, Jay. Everything's going to be sorted out in time for the party. You just finish making sure that everything is going smoothly."

" Right. And, uh, thanks. For clearing the furniture out of the way. Kai told me what you guys did last night."

" It's what friends are for." Kai said, finally breaking the true smile that had been tweaking at his lips.

Together the three boys returned indoors, with Jay separating from the path to the lounge room to head to the kitchen. He wanted to check in on Pixal and Zane before he started his hunt for Lloyd. As expected, the nindroids were quite busy still working on food for the party. And, of course, this worried the lightning ninja a little… until Zane reassured him that it was all just last-minute preparations that they were working on. The actual meal was in the oven warming up after having been prepared the day before.

And the cake, Jay had to admit, looked amazing. Even if it was only half completed. A nindroid's attention to detail sure was an amazing thing, after all. Sadly, Zane shooed him away before he had a chance to steal a taste of the icing out of the bowl. But it was as he was leaving that Jay remembered to let both Zane and Pixal know of where he was up to with his own party preparations.

Once he was sure that everything was going to be okay in the kitchen (even if it was without a tase test of anything), Jay left the nindroids to their work. Zane could only watch him leave, a small smile on his face. He knew how hard his friend worked for the parties to be perfect for their special guests. But he also knew that Jay would have tried a lot harder to get a taste of the icing had time been on his side.

The titanium ninja made a mental note to keep an eye on the icing bowl just in case Jay (or anyone else) returned.

Jay didn't return, however. Instead, he found himself back in the workroom, not at Lloyd's bedroom like he was aiming for. He even went to continue towards Lloyd's room, his foot in the air about to take a step, when he noticed the rainbow ribbon sitting on the workbench. And next to the ribbon sat the gift bag that held his little gift. Cole must have moved it onto the table when he came in earlier.

He wasn't sure what, but Jay found his feet leading him into the room and over to the workbench. So he accepted his fate and sat himself at the bench. Then again, he was getting this nagging feeling telling him that something was going to happen with Lloyd.

" Guess it wouldn't hurt to tie the ribbon now." He muttered to himself.

Before he knew it, he was taking out the little gift and cutting the perfect length of ribbon. Once the ribbon was tied to perfectly sit around the little creation's neck (which had to have been the fourth or fifth try), Jay sat back and admired his handiwork. The colours in the ribbon really did work to bring some life into the gift. He'd have to thank Cole for the idea when he next saw him. For now, though, he returned his gift to its cage and then its gift bag before hurrying out of the work room.

He found Lloyd coming out of Keo's bedroom, a number of wrapped presents in hand. Apparently Keo was helping wrap presents or else just hiding them in his room. Either way, it left Jay scratching his head a little because he did not remember giving the kid any specific job for the party. What he did remember was telling him that he needed to rest and get better instead. So he was going to have to have some words with someone over that particular change, even if it was a fairly minor one.

" Hey, Jay. What's wrong?" Lloyd asked, having finally noticed the blue ninja around the pile he held.

" Just checking in on you and the games." Jay replied, taking the top of the pile into his own hands so Lloyd could see better.

" Everything's just fine with the games. There's no need to worry about that. It's all under control."

" Okay. It's just… I've been a bad planner. I mean, I don't even know what games you've got planned."

As they talked, Jay and Lloyd made their way to the lounge room where they could already hear Cole working on the sound test. But Lloyd stopped short of the door when he heard Jay's words. His eyebrows knotted together slightly in confusion, he turned to face the lightning master.

" Don't you remember?" He reminded the older boy. " You didn't have any idea what to do in the first place so you gave me free reign of what to play on the condition that there were no double ups, even from the games we played at Zane's party."

The blue ninja did remember saying that. Admittedly, it was after Lloyd's reminder, but he did remember when he had said that. It had been four days after Lloyd's birthday, during the meeting he had called Pixal and the other boys to in order to plan for Nya's birthday. The only problem was, he was now starting to question whether or not giving the green ninja free reign over the party games had been a good idea.

" That doesn't excuse the fact that I still have no idea what games we're playing, Lloyd." He said after a few seconds of silence. " I haven't asked you what you were planning since I gave you the task! What sort of party planner does that?"

" Jay. Breathe." The green ninja instructed. " We'll just say we were both negligent on this, because I never went up to you to tell you what I was planning either. I… may have gotten a little carried away with the idea of getting to pick out what games we play, though. Sorry."

Lloyd gave Jay a sheepish look, leaving Jay with no option but to accept what did and didn't happen. Unfortunately, it did nothing to quell his panicked thoughts. The younger boy must have seen something flash over Jay's features, though, because he quickly straightened the look on his own face.

" I had to keep in mind that you wanted a pinata at the party – and I promise that I did not touch any of the lollies intended for it, either – but I also thought long and hard on what games to play. Well, for most of them."

" What do you mean most of them? What games are we playing?" You could hear the panic building in Jay's voice.

The cheeky smile returned to Lloyd's face. " Well, I kind of liked the idea of a messy Twister game, so I've put that in the line-up. I've already coloured the whipped cream and everything. I've also found this game called ' Funny Hot Potato' online, where there's this big sack of clothes that we pass along while the music plays. When the music stops, whoever has the bag has to put on as many items as possible before the music starts again. Another game, 'Wrecking Ball', you have to put a giant stocking on your head. The wrecking ball part of it is a little beanbag that's in the stocking already. Anyway, you swing the beanbag around to knock down all your pins before someone else does. Finally, I made up a game called 'Ninja Darts'. Basically, it's a cross between 'Pin The Tail On The Donkey' and 'Darts'. Wearing a blindfold, you spin around in a circle before you throw a dart at the dart board. And don't worry, the darts are magnetic. I don't exactly plan on anyone getting hurt today."

Jay didn't know what to think about the games. On one hand, they sounded fun. But on the other hand, they also worried him a little. Especially that 'Ninja Darts' game. He wasn't too sure about throwing darts around while being dizzy, even if they were magnetic darts. But before he could voice his thoughts, the lounge room door opened to reveal Kai and Cole.

" I heard something about whipped cream." Cole said, his eyes shining.

" You can't have any. It's for the messy Twister game." Lloyd reprimanded.

" Not even just a taste?"

" Nope."

Kai was laughing. Seeing Lloyd loosen up a little was a refreshing sight. It reminded him of the good old times when the kid was still a kid, before the Tomorrow's Tea incident. So it always made him smile when he saw the little 'demonspawn' emerge from within the green ninja every now and then, reminding everyone that he was still in there despite everything that had happened over the years.

A quick glance at Jay and Cole told him that both of them were relishing in the moment as well, glad to see the small reminder that young Lloyd was not lost forever. Only, Jay's eyes also showed some caution… and maybe a little panic was hidden there as well. The caution, Kai could understand. With what he heard, these were games set up by a former Darkley's Bad Boy. You'd be crazy if you weren't cautious about that. The panic on the other hand, Kai wasn't sure what had caused that. But he did know that someone had to do something about that.

And that someone would have to be him seeing as neither Cole nor Lloyd had noticed the hidden look.

" Don't worry, Jay. I'm sure everyone's going to have a blast with the games." The fire ninja said with an air of nonchalance.

" You sound like you know something that I don't." Jay replied warily.

" Maybe, maybe not. Now go relax or at least calm down. The lounge room is ready, Lloyd's obviously got the games and presents sorted. Cole and I were about to head into the kitchen to let Zane and Pixal know that we're ready to start putting out the food, and Echo's looking after Keo until the party is ready to start."

" Wait, what?"

Cole turned to Jay. " Did we forget to tell you? Keo wants to join the party."

" But he can barely move from the bed!"

" He wants to be a part of the festivities, so let him. It's not like we're moving him out of the monastery. Besides, we've already set up one of the lounges for him to lie on."

" Plus it would do him some good to get out of that bed." Lloyd added. " Moving a little more than he already is could help him beat whatever's wrong with him."

" He'll be fine, Jay. We're all going to be watching him just in case something happens… which it won't. And Zane's making sure to have food and drink there that Keo can eat. The kid just wants to be included and I don't blame him."

" Fine." Jay sighed, clearly defeated on the matter that had presented itself to him. Although, he did not like being the last to know something like that. " Guess I don't have a say in the matter. I'll just go figure out if anything needs doing before Nya gets home, bring my gift for her into the lounge room as well."

Kai, Cole and Lloyd all turned to each other. With the way Jay was talking, it sounded like he was upset about something. Yet, as he made to move into the lounge room with the presents he held in his hands, he had a look on his face that clearly said he was accepting of what was playing out. None of them knew what to believe. But before he could get any closer to the lounge room door, Jay stopped and turned to his three companions.

" I can handle moving Keo from his room to the lounge room, but there is something I want to know. Why were the presents in Keo's room? Nya goes in there to look after him sometimes." He asked.

" To be honest, Keo opted to have his room as a present hide away… at least for us. Mum and Uncle Wu gave me their gifts not long before I went in to get the others." Lloyd replied. " He only hid five gifts, though. So there's no drama there."

" Correction, he only hid four things." Cole pointed out. " The fifth, he and I were working on. I only wrapped our gift last night. Well… and helped Echo wrap his present at the same time. That little android tries so hard I was afraid he was going to use up the entire roll of wrapping paper. For one small box."

" Anyway…" Kai muttered, trying to return the conversation to its original path.

" One of these days, you will understand."

The look Kai gave Cole clearly told the others that he was willing to question the earth master right there and then. Something no one wanted at that point in time. So it was that Lloyd found himself stopping any possible arguments.

" For now, though, everything seems to be under control. Actually, Jay, why don't you help me set up the games before the party starts? Many hands make light work, after all."

Really, Jay had nothing better to do. Yeah, he still had to bring his present into the lounge room, but that was not going to take much time at all. And once that was done, and with everything under control, all he would have to do was wait until Nya returned to the monastery alongside her parents. For once, everything was going smoothly.

In the end, it wasn't a hard decision to make. He ended up following Lloyd into the lounge room to put the presents down before continuing to follow him back to his room. Of course, helping set up the games also turned into a mini talk session with Lloyd trying to find out what Jay had been doing in the Destiny's Bounty the day before. The lightning master, however, would not reveal his secrets. No matter how much he trusted Lloyd, he also feared that the kid was too close to both Nya and Kai. And to be honest, if either of those boys knew what he was planning (be it to a blood sister or an adopted sister), Jay feared he would be dead come morning.

When Lloyd realised he wasn't getting an answer out of the older teen, he decided it was best to change the subject. Unfortunately, his next questions proved equally as difficult to answer. After all, the plans for both Cole's and Kai's birthdays looked like they would be changed thanks to Keo. And this was despite the fact that Jay could not understand why he was thinking those thoughts. He just had this feeling that something was going to happen around the time of his friends' birthdays which would force him to change his ideas.

But all too soon, the party was only minutes away from starting. All the food was in the lounge room, all the presents were accounted for and waiting on the allocated table, and they were all waiting in the room for the special guest. Even Keo was now comfortably lying on one of the lounges. Everything was ready and, as he turned to look at the cake sitting in the middle of the food table, Jay could almost sense the relief wash though him, knowing that everything had turned out perfectly.

Zane and Pixal had done a marvellous job interpreting his rustic blueprint cake. The mini disco ball sitting on top of the cake shone with edible silver paint that Jay had no idea where the nindroids got the stuff. The top tier of the cake did not have circles or stripes like the blueprint suggested. Instead, the icing was a pale blue colour with what looked like silver paint forming waves on the bottom of the layer. The tops of the waves were decorated with silver sugar balls. The bottom tier of the cake was much the same as the top just a little bit bigger. It also had darker blue coloured icing. The cake was simple, but it was also amazing.

A hand on his shoulder forced Jay to turn around. Cole was standing beside him, a genuine smile gracing his features. It was a smile that was clearly infectious because the blue ninja found the corners of his own mouth twitching slightly. And this was despite not knowing what Cole was smiling about.

" You did good, Jay." The earth master said, gripping his friend's shoulder slightly. " I reckon Nya's going to love it. All of it."

" I hope you're right." Even as he spoke, Jay wondered where his insecurities were coming from.

" I know I'm right."

Before anything else could be said, footsteps and voices could be heard coming down the hallway. Jay remembered the argument he had had with Kai over who was going to lead Nya and her parents to the lounge room. His argument was that he had done barely anything in party preparations. This was, of course, besides the fact that he had been the one to plan everything. Kai's argument was that it was his family that were the last to arrive at the party (for obvious reasons). It didn't matter that he had already put up the decorations, helped moved the furniture in the lounge room, and helped bring the food in for the party.

The winner of the argument was, surprisingly, Keo. The kid had gotten Echo Zane to get an empty bottle from the recycling bin. Upon his return, it was clear to all what Keo was planning. Lloyd even offered to spin the bottle for him. But Keo had insisted that he use his powers over wind to spin the bottle. As such, the bottle stopped spinning with its neck pointing at Kai. So Jay had to put up with staying in the lounge room while Kai went to lead his sister and his parents to the party.

" Yeah, yeah. You know me." Kai's voice came through the open doors. " Got to make sure my little sister gets what she wants eventually. I'm… uh… I'm sorry it took this long to get you that pinata, though."

" It's okay, Kai. I get it." Nya replied, her shadow coming into view alongside the rest of her family's. " Being tight on money limits things, I know. But I do appreciate you remembering after all this time."

That's when Nya turned to find herself in front of the open lounge room doors. As she requested, there were no indications that it was a surprise party. And, thankfully, no one got soaked because they had forgotten it wasn't a surprise party and so yelled out 'surprise'/ though that last point may have been because it was Keo who had said it and quite possibly because he was not in the bedroom like Nya had clearly expected. Regardless, it was a pleasant surprise for her as she walked into the room, looking around at every little detail.

Kai had done a good job decorating the room. Blue and red intertwined streamers were hung up along three of the four walls (and only because Kai feared the decorations would get destroyed in the event of an emergency). To make up for that, though, the same-coloured streamers were also hung up from the ceiling. The pinata was hung up amongst them, above the makeshift dance floor. There were even balloons being weighed down on the tables with silver paperweights.

Not to mention, so that no one got too bored throughout the waiting period, Cole had started the music player, putting the volume to low. It was just another thing that added to the fact that the party was not a surprise party. Despite the low volume, the music could still be heard from down the hallway. And, Jay could tell, it had brought a smile to Nya's face when it had started reaching her ears. The smile had only widened with Kai's words and then even more at the sight before her.

" Happy Birthday, Nya." Jay said, a smile of his own spread across his face as he made his way to his girlfriend's side. His words were chorused by everyone else in the room.

" Thank you." The water ninja replied sincerely. " All of you. Everything looks really good, especially the cake. I didn't even know we had cake glitter."

" Neither did I."

Zane stepped forward with a satisfied look on his face. " I had to go on a late night shopping trip last night. It was just luck that I managed to find a grocery store that was still open so I could get everything that I needed. The edible glitter, I admit, was an impulse buy. But it was Pixal who worked it into the design of the cake."

" Well, it looks amazing regardless. Thank you."

" There is no need for thanks." Pixal said with a smile, also coming forward. " We just want you to have a great birthday. However, I think Echo Zane is getting rather impatient with the music volume. He seems to have it in his head that a party needs to have music at such a volume that it blasts through windows and thus makes it hard to think beyond the pounding of one's head."

All eyes turned to the music player that Cole had set up. Sure enough, there was Echo Zane, inching his way ever closer to the device with the Tai-D bot running circles around him in an attempt to stop him. And, from the look of dread on Keo's face, the boy was having about as much luck as the little robot. That is to say, they were both having difficulties in keeping the copper android's attention away from the music player. Being stuck on the lounge probably wasn't helping Keo's cause, either.

Realising what he had to do, and, admittedly, with a look of horror on his own face, Cole hurried over to the music player. A few seconds later, the music started playing at a louder volume that was, mercifully, not ear-blastingly loud. But Echo did not seem to mind one bit. As soon as the music got louder, a massive grin torn across his robotic features and he started dancing. Poor Gizmo could not get away fast enough before it was picked up by the excited android and swung around in time to whatever dance Echo Zane had playing in his head.

No one knew quite what to make of the sight before them. On one hand, the dance itself was bringing smiles to everyone's faces. But that was mainly because Echo was so innocent, everything he did was somewhat cute. On the other hand, everyone kind of felt sorry for Gizmo. They could almost imagine the poor bot screaming out for help, it was being swung around that wildly.

Yet the result of the louder playing music was instantaneous. Within the first couple of songs, Ray and Maya had gone to join Echo in the merriment. And, although they did keep a safe distance from the swinging robot pair, they were more than happy to get to dancing themselves. It didn't take long after that before everyone had managed to find a spot on the makeshift dancefloor and started to enjoy themselves as well.

Even Keo managed to join in on the dancing despite his weakened state. Somehow the kid had managed to wrangle Kai into helping him off the lounge and, with the fire master's support, was managing to sway gently on the spot. His slow, painfilled movements, had even caught the attention of Lloyd, who slowly made his way over to the two.

But it wasn't until the green ninja had arrived at their sides that he noticed the death grip Kai had on Keo's arm. This resulted in a small argument occurring between the two ninja with Keo trying to get them both to relax and enjoy the party. Unfortunately, his words fell on deaf ears and the argument caught the attention of Nya, who found she had to resolve the issue herself. With a couple of blasts of water aimed at Kai's and Lloyd's faces, she took Keo in her arms and started to gently dance with him by the lounge.

It was clear to all, thanks to the looks on both their faces, that they both enjoyed the dance and just generally being at the party. For Keo, at least, it meant that he could have a few minutes where he wasn't limited by anything in his weakened state. For Nya, she was just glad to see that her most compromised party guest was managing to enjoy himself.

But all too soon, Keo had to return to his place on the lounge, once more succumbing to the pain. He surprisingly didn't mind. After all, he had enjoyed being able to get up and dance, even if it was for a short time. The only down fall was that it had taken a lot out of him. And Master Wu noticed. In fact, the old master could tell that everyone was starting to need some fuel to continue their energised fun and quickly suggested they eat.

Cue the mad rush of teenagers making their way to the deliciousness laid out on the food table, Cole in the lead with Zane close behind to make sure his friend shared the food. Thankfully, the earth master did not instantly attack. Remembering his old mantra of 'my body is a temple', he smiled sheepishly in Nya's direction and stepped out of her path.

" First choices to the birthday girl." He said, catching Nya's gaze for a few seconds before turning away.

" Thank you, Cole." Nya replied, a chuckle in her tone of voice. Clearly, she was going to play with him for a little bit, just for the fun of it.

Silently, Nya perused the goodies on the table before her. Pastry pinwheels of various flavours, seasoned chicken bites and fruit and vegetable kebabs all tempted her tastebuds. And the sight of caramel brownies and apple tartlets proved as equally tantalising. Each of the menu items, Nya knew, were hand made with love by both Pixal and Zane. So it was honestly a tough decision to make… but eventually Nya (and everyone else) stepped away from the table with their plates filled with deliciousness.

Needless to say, it was quite an appeasing meal. Keo, with help from Echo Zane, managed to get down a fruit kebab himself… but it was only after he had managed to eat three quarters of a bowl of porridge. He wasn't happy about it, but the titanium ninja had insisted it was for his own health. And Keo wasn't the only one to detest the sight of the meal. Jay, who had found a seat beside both Nya and her mother, could only watch on in sympathy as the copper android eased every mouthful of porridge into the injured boy.

" Even at a party he has to eat porridge?" The blue ninja found himself asking.

" I know, right?" Nya replied, equally as soft as her boyfriend had spoken. " But at least he's here. I would honestly feel bad knowing that I was enjoying my birthday party while Keo was stuck in his room, unable to join in."

" It was Keo's idea, you know. To come here. I didn't even find out about his plan until after the room had be decorated. And that was today. It was Cole and Kai who told me."

" Well, I'm glad. It was a lovely surprise from him."

At this confession, both Maya and Jay turned to face the birthday girl. The reason, of course, had nothing to do with Keo. More the fact that they were surprised that Nya had liked a surprise. From what Maya remembered, her daughter was not one to take too kindly to surprises even as a baby. Add on to the fact that Nya had specifically requested not to have a surprise party for her birthday…

It was Maya who spoke the question that was plaguing both her and Jay's minds. " But I thought you didn't want a surprise party?"

Understanding where the question was coming from, Nya could only smile. " I didn't. And this was definitely not a surprise party. But I've learnt that a few small surprises can be good one… and those I can handle."

It wasn't long after that that, with everyone's stomachs satisfied for the time being, Lloyd suggested that one of his games be played. He even explained what the games were that he had chosen and how to play each one. Unfortunately, much to the green ninja's disappointment, the 'Ninja Darts' game he had created was quickly turned down by all the adults in the room. Amongst the other ninja, there were a couple of relieved faces that were well hidden. Jay being one of them. He found himself glad that someone else had managed to voice his earlier cautions on the game.

With the removal of one game (which Lloyd sadly took down off the wall), the choice of what game to play was left for the others to sort out. The choice was quickly put to a vote with the older attendees willing to let the younger ones make the decision. Nya wisely kept quiet through most of the voting, opting to see where the tallies would lead before deciding to invoke her status as birthday girl to make sure she got what she wanted to play first.

In the end, and thanks to Nya's birthday vote, the 'Funny Hot Potato' game was the lucky winner… although the 'Wrecking Ball' game was a close second. Read: 'Wrecking Ball' would have been the chosen game had it not been for Nya invoking her status as birthday girl. Surprisingly, neither Pixal nor Zane cared which game they played, but for the other boys, and this included Echo… well, they knew they could nor argue with the water ninja at her own birthday party.

To Ray, Maya, Misako and Wu, the sight before them was a familiar reminder of times long since passed, when they were all young and in similar situations.

'Funny Hot Potato' turned out just as its name suggested; funny. Although hilarious was a more accurate term. From beside the lounge that Keo was not lying on, Lloyd produced a medium sized, black garbage bag filled with dress-up items. Some of which, as they discovered while playing the game, looked like they had been snagged from each other's wardrobes. Others had clearly been bought such as the three multicoloured feather boas and the handful of little fancy hats that were usually worn to races.

Somehow Ray managed to get roped into manning the music player… although he often got lost in the music and thus forgot to pause it from time to time. When that happened, either Maya or Misako would have to remind him of his task. And whenever the bag of clothing managed to stop at Echo Zane, the Tai-D bot would sneak an item of clothing out of the bag and then drape it over Keo. This was despite the fact that Keo had fallen asleep halfway through voting and so was unaware of what was going on.

Wu didn't have the heart to stop the robot and let the young boy sleep in peace. He found it cute that it was trying to include the ill boy in the game.

By the end of the game, the young wind elemental had a feather boa draped over his chest, a pair of Zane's shorts draped sideways over his legs, three headbands that Gizmo mistook for bracelets, a clown's wig, and a tiny cowboy hat.

Echo Zane had managed to get into Lloyd's old cape which he wore over an adult sized construction worker's vest. He had even managed to get one of his legs into one of the skirts that had been in the bag before the music had started again, and he was wearing a belt on his head like it was a head band. Not to mention, throughout the entire game, the copper android was wearing the biggest grin ever. So there was no mistaking how much fun he was having despite previously wanting to figure out the 'Wrecking Ball' game.

Somehow, Pixal and Nya ended up looking like twins. By sheer luck they had each managed to snag one of Cole's shirts, one of Kai's red ninja sashes, cat ear headbands, eye patches (which they wore on opposite eyes), and large flower clips they put in their hair. The high fives they gave each other made at least some of the boys wonder if they had planned it despite the game being one of chance.

Cole, on the other hand, was trying to get out of Lloyd the exact number of clothing items that the green ninja had taken from his wardrobe. This was because Jay also found himself in one of Cole's jackets. Specifically one of his two leather jackets that he usually wore when he decided to go out on the town on his motorbike. Not to mention it was also his favourite that his best friend was looking surprisingly good in.

Jay, however, was oblivious to Cole trying to interrogate Lloyd. He was instead focused on trying to tie the tie that he had hanging loose around his neck. During the game he hadn't been able to do it up… and was getting frustrated with himself for still not being able to do so after the game had finished. To go with Cole's jacket and the misbehaving tie, he wore a feather boa, a cape, and a jester's cap. He was stopped from his attempts to do up the tie when Cole's hand landed on his arm.

Looking up, Jay nearly burst out laughing. And not at the look on Cole's face that clearly said he wanted his jacket back. Unlike Echo, the earth ninja had managed to succeed in putting a skirt on properly. And to match it, he wore a pink vest that was one size too small on him, a sparkly belt that looked like it had unicorns galloping periodically on it, a panda beanie, and a little chef's hat on top of that. There was even a dog leash hanging loosely around his neck.

Standing on the other side of Cole was Kai, who was laughing his head off as well. To be honest, Cole wasn't sure if they were both laughing at him or if they were laughing at each other. The laughing went on for a couple of minutes until Zane took a picture of Kai and showed it to the boy. That was when the pout emerged on Kai's face.

The picture showed Kai that he was wearing fake glasses, a princess tiara, fairy wings and one of Zane's old gi tops. Knowing how Kai liked to present himself, it was no wonder he wasn't too happy about how the game had turned out for him. Zane had to remind him that, while he did look funny, he did not have the issue of having a pair of socks on his hands. The white ninja was unlucky to have that pair of socks. He was also sporting some colour in a rainbow wig, one of Jay's ninja sashes, an eye patch that was sitting on his forehead, a Santa hat perched on top of the wig, and a feather boa.

Not even Lloyd had found himself spared from the laughter of the situation he had found himself in. With his tied tie, his tiny cowboy hat, flower clip, pink vest, and dog leash (which he was using as a belt), he was quite something to see himself. It was a wonder that Cole hadn't burst into laughter which he was interrogating him.

But after witnessing Zane taking Kai's photo, the green ninja insisted they all get photos of themselves. The adults happily obliged with even a still sleeping Keo getting his photo taken. Somehow they all knew, even as Kai continued to sulk over the photos, that the moment would be cherished forever.

All too quickly it was time for cake. And that meant that the clothes needed to come off. Kai was the first out of his monstrosity of a costume, glad to be rid of the tiara and fairy wings. As soon as he was free, he tuned to help the nearest person out of their costume. Zane and Cole, once they were costume free, both went to clear the clothes off of Keo with Cole gently waking the boy once the deed was done. The only clue that Keo had of him unknowingly joining in on the game was the photo evidence and the little robot who seemed to be buzzing around at his side for some reason.

Cutting the cake after the birthday song was surprisingly bittersweet for Nya. To her, it symbolised that another year had gone by in her life and, even more importantly, the start of her life as a full-fledged adult… at least in the eyes of the law. The fact that the cake looked so good probably didn't help. But after a second's hesitation, she slid the knife all the way through the dessert, clinking the plate as she did so.

Unfortunately for Jay, he was not in the right position for when it happened and so Lloyd ended up getting a kiss on the cheek for being the closest male. This left both boys spluttering a little, but at least the lightning master got compensation when Nya personally delivered his slice of birthday cake. It made eating the cake that little bit better.

Inside, the cake was marbled vanilla and strawberry, Nya's two favourite flavours. And, as with all of Zane's creations, it was melt-in-the-mouth deliciousness. Even the inside of the disco ball was made out of cake, which Jay found surprising. He had thought that the disco ball was purely decorative due to the fact that Zane had not found the time to make a spherical cake. His mind obviously had not registered that the edible paint on the disco ball meant that it could also be eaten.

But, somehow, those two nindroids had managed to pull it off in one night.

" Zane. You did an amazing job." He said, turning to his metallic friend with a massive smile on his face.

" I cannot take all the credit for this, Jay." Zane replied before catching Pixal's hand in his own. " Pixal was a big help in making sure the cake was made in time. In fact, she made it her personal mission to make the disco ball out of cake while I was out shopping."

" I was only doing what I was originally programmed for, Zane. I was merely assisting you in the kitchen. Even if you were helping me learn how to cook at the same time." Pixal admitted, a smile forming on her lips.

" But you did an amazing job, both with making the lunch items and with making the cake. And that, in my books, cannot go unnoticed."

Pixal managed to make a blush form over her robotic features at her boyfriend's words. And it deepened slightly when Jay added his own compliments about the meal. In fact it wasn't long before everyone had gone up to Pixal and Zane and complimented them both on yet another delicious meal. By the time everyone was full of cake (or was allowed only one slice in the case of Cole and Lloyd), Pixal's blush was quite red. After all, it wasn't every day that she was complimented on something as trivial as cooking.

Even so, Nya decided that the birthday presents were next to be opened. She gathered all of the presents carefully on the floor beside Keo's lounge and sat herself beside them. It was obvious that she was trying to include the boy in everything she could while he was at her party, even allowing him to point to the first present she was going to open. The others, once they were done eating cake, had no choice but to gather around the two.

The first present was wrapped in balloon patterned paper and was rectangular in shape. Unwrapping it revealed a painting of a blue phoenix rising from the depths of an ocean. And, standing in front of the phoenix, shadowed slightly, was a Master of Water, clearly bending the element to create the beast. But it was the finer details in the painted figure that had Nya realising that the artist had managed to capture her. Aside from specific feature like her beauty spot and her classic ponytail being present, painting Nya was dressing in the exact blue kimono that real Nya had worn on the day of Lloyd's birthday party. Finally, reading the card that came with it, Nya discovered that the painting had been the combined work of Cole and Keo.

" You did this Keo?" She asked, very impressed with what she now held in her hands.

" Some of it." the ill boy agreed with a nod of his head. " Cole helped me. I did the phoenix and the Fash Natavir's – I mean, Water Master's pose while Cole helped out with colours and details. Also the drawing of the Water Master."

" More like I helped out with getting the human features drawn out." Cole corrected. " And maybe some extra little effects and details. But the phoenix was all Keo, right from starting sketch. Hope you like it, Nya."

" Yes. Hrepa Bukura. Happy Birthday."

" I love it. Thank you, boys. I think I know exactly where to put this too." Nya smiled.

The next gift, chosen by Nya, was a simple wooden box wrapped in a silver ribbon. At first, thanks to the Smith Insignia being branded on the box, Nya thought that the gift was from her brother. After all, he had done something similar in previous birthdays, be it hers or someone else's. The card that came along with the gift, however, pointed her in the direction of her parents instead.

" But I though…" she started, looking from the gift box up to her parents.

" That is my half of your present." Her father explained. " The day out was your mother's. Now go ahead and open it."

Not needing to be told twice, Nya unwrapped the ribbon and opened the box. Resting inside, on a bed of silk, was a sheathed dagger. The scabbard was made out of dark leather patterned with waves that had been sewn into it with a lighter strap of leather. The dagger's hilt had a shaped grip that merged into a pointed, yet slightly curved cross guard. A second point have been implemented just past the lower curve and the steel which created that point made the basis of the hilt's design. However, the amount of steel showing was only a stripe compared to the amount of lapis lazuli gemstone that had been forged into the curved hilt. Even the pommel of the dagger was a shard of lapis lazuli.

Carefully, and also noticing that the hilt fit perfectly in her hand, Nya removed the dagger from its sheath so as to admire the whole weapon. She never expected the blade to look as sharp as it did aesthetically.

The tip of the dagger was curved with the bottom point being longer than the upper point. The blade also had a decorative edge along its top that, although equally as sharp, was almost detached from the main blade. The lower half of the blade looked more like a blade from an ice skater's boot. It was curved slightly from the cross-guard to the tip, but, like the decorative top edge, its tip was separated from the main dagger tip. Two squares had been forged out of the cutting edge of the blade, mainly as decoration, but they also served to show that two different plates of steel had been used to create the blade. Yet, in the section of blade between the second square and the cross-guard, the metal had been joined together so that a spike could be seen in the blade's design.

The most striking part of the blade was that it was two different colours. The top edge of the blade was a dark blue colour while the sharper, cutting edge was a lighter blue. Both edges, Nya could tell, were made of the strongest steel that her father could find.

" I know it may seem decorative, but that dagger will work for its money if that's what's needed." Ray said as he watched his daughter take in every inch of the weapon. " I'd figured you'd need something you could have by your side in case your spear was either not around or was not the right weapon for the job."

" How did you get the different colours?" Kai asked, also looking over the dagger in awe. " I could never get the steel to stay dark blue, light blue or any other colour."

" Patience, Kai. And practice."

Kai gave a 'hmph' at the knowing looks that everyone seemed to turn on him with. But Nya could only smile. After all, having spent the longest time with her brother, she could only guess at how many times she'd said similar words to him. Even so, she carefully returned the dagger to its scabbard and put it to one side before getting up to thank her parents. Not to mention something was telling her that her new dagger would prove very useful if she ever found herself trapped by an enemy… even if she already had an arsenal of weapons at her disposal.

But to cheer Kai up a bit, she opened his present next. The present came in a generic giftbag that had the words 'Happy Birthday' printed across it. But it was the small, rectangular box within that intrigued Nya. Opening the box revealed a hand forged pendant that spelled out her name amongst curves and heart shapes. Leather straps were tied to two hearts, one on either side of her name, forming the bracelet.

Nya immediately put it on, honoured by just how much love her brother gave her… even if he didn't show it that often. She also didn't care that everyone was able to see that rare side of the Smith siblings at that moment. Neither did Kai, which was saying something. Though there was the possibility that he just hadn't noticed yet.

Following Kai's present came a wooden jewellery box from Lloyd with an intricate design of a dragon etched into its lid and sides. Echo had managed to find a small phoenix statue for her, though (according to the copper android) it had taken quite some time to find. And Master Wu had managed to find a movie that Nya had been trying to find for quite some time. Needless to say, the old master found the water ninja wrapped around him because of it.

When Nya returned to present opening, she discovered that Misako had gotten her a mystery novel. It looked like an interesting read with the antagonist being a woman detective solving mysteries during an older age of Ninjago. And from Pixal and Zane, she received a long black dress that had a strap over one shoulder and a matching black handbag.

Nya was thankful for each gift she received, especially the clothes. She had been looking for a new going out outfit but hadn't had any luck in her search. Apparently Pixal had been listening when she had had that rant a couple of weeks about it and so had acted on it.

But, Nya had to admit, she was most looking forward to what was in the big, purple giftbag. She knew it was a present from Jay because she had seen the bag in his workroom just that morning. And she had been waiting all day to find out just what her boyfriend had been tinkering with for quite some time now. It had taken all her will power not to open Jay's gift first, but her silent mantra of 'save the best for last' seemed to be working so far.

Carefully, she pulled the surprisingly heave bag towards her and, after reading the card inside, lifted out a small birdcage with a rainbow ribbon tied around the metal ring at the top. Inside the birdcage, resting on the metal perch, sat a little mechanical bird. A bird that looked like it had been made to replicate a Hildebrandt's Sterling… at least in colour. It even had a matching rainbow ribbon tied around its neck.

" It's claws have a locking mechanism attached to the backs of its legs so that you can move it on and off the perch." Jay explained, clearly unable to keep quiet any longer. " And there's a little draw on the cage which holds the key. I, uh… made it sing but you need to wind it up first. The winding mechanism is in its back. It plays our song."

To be honest, no one knew what song Jay and Nya had claimed for themselves. Somehow they had managed to keep it a secret or else it was so common no one had been able to guess what it was. But as soon as those four words had left Jay's mouth, Nya had found the key and was winding up the mechanical bird. After a few seconds, the bird's beak opened and an instrumental version of 'One Call Away' began to play.

---

Jay took a deep breath as he left the spare room for the Destiny's Bounty. He had been making final checks to make sure that everything was ready for that night. But now that it was time to get Nya, his nerves were coming back to him in torrents. Another deep breath brought with it calming memories from the party, specifically when his little present had begun singing their song without any issues.

Nya had the biggest smile on her face when she heard the tune play out. She even got up and kissed him as a thank you, regardless of the fact that everyone was watching. On the outside, Jay was calm about everything, returning the kiss as passionately as she was giving. But on the inside, he was overjoyed that his invention had worked and, more importantly, that his girlfriend loved it. Alas, the kiss was only short, and the party did have to continue.

At least bashing up the pinata managed to get his mind off how short the kiss was. In fact, it was quite fun. Jay remembered the look of concentration Cole had on his face as he tried not to bash the thing into next week. The guy was almost going red in the face he was concentrating that hard. In the end, it was Kai who broke open the pinata… though the fact that the fire master had given Jay a certain look before taking his swing kind of freaked the blue ninja out a little. Even as Lloyd dived for the candy that was on the floor between them, Jay could not help but feel like Kai knew that he was planning something with his little sister.

At least the 'Messy Twister' game got his mind off the pinata's destruction. Seeing the looks on everyone's faces as they placed their bare hands and feet into the cold cream was fun to watch. Although Jay had to admit that it wasn't a very nice feel. So he could only guess as to what kinds of faces he had been pulling during the game.

Watching Kai, though, was hilarious. Throughout the game he had been trying to keep the cream out of his hair. Jay wasn't exactly sure if he had been lucky in his endeavours, but he hadn't heard the fire master screaming about it since the party ended, so it was safe to say he had been successful.

Then there was Cole. For some reason known only to the earth master, he had decided to try and eat any cream that he managed to land in. Lloyd had to keep yelling at Cole to get him to stop eating the game.

Even Nya's father tried to have a go. And he pretty well for the first few turns of the round. Sadly, Ray had to pull out after losing his grip on the cream covered mat and nearly slipping a disk in his back. His slip caused everyone else to tumble but somehow, thankfully, they all ended up twisting away from the older fire master. That was when Zane had decided that the game had to stop.

Once everyone had cleaned the cream off themselves, and while the adults (minus Ray who was resting) were cleaning up the uneaten food, Lloyd had brought out the 'Wrecking Ball' game. As he had explained earlier, one had to wear a stocking on their head that had a bean bag in the toe. Just watching Kai try to fit the stocking around his hair was hilarious. He ended up having to hold it to his head as he swung it around, trying to knock the plastic bowling pins over.

It was no surprise that Cole had won the mini tournament that Lloyd had set up. With both Zane and Pixal helping clear the dishes and looking after Ray, he had been the favourite. But what was surprising was that Echo Zane had managed to come in second. Just because of that, Echo was one happy android.

Unfortunately, with the end of 'Wrecking Ball' came the end of the party. With Maya back to look after her husband, Jay and Pixal took it upon themselves to return Keo to his room where he could sleep off the excitement. Everyone else helped to clean up the lounge room and return it to its proper state. Nya and Echo had followed the three down the hallway, but they had to turn off into Nya's room as they were carrying her birthday presents. Once that job was complete, they joined up with each other in Keo's room. Jay and Nya then left the injured kid to the care of the androids.

Once the kitchen was free, Jay had been able to make a start on dinner. Nya had requested his Tuga fish and lemon dill curry as well as his krakkenberry pie. Ray and Maya even stayed for the meal… and seemed to enjoy ever mouthful they had. To be honest, everyone had. But that was to be expected after it had been requested frequently since he had managed to finally make it that one time.

Sadly, even though Jay had sent some of his curry to Keo, the boy had only been able to get down a little bit of it before falling asleep again. Of course, the blue ninja understood why. The kid was still recovering from the big day he had had, not to mention the massive injury he had. Still, he hoped that one day Keo would be able to enjoy the entire meal.

Now, with Ray and Maya having left for the blacksmith forge and everyone else retiring to bed, it was time for Jay to make his move. But as soon as he reached Nya's door, the lightning master found himself frozen on the spot. Once again, his anxiety was taking hold. What if something happened? What if she didn't like this final surprise? What if they got caught? By Kai?

" No, Jay." He reprimanded himself softly. " Everything is going to be fine. You can do this. Just knock on the door already."

Taking yet another deep breath to calm his nerves, Jay raised his hand to knock on the door. But before he even got the chance to do so, the door opened from the inside. Nya stood on the other side, confusion clearly etched into her face.

" Is everything okay, Jay?" she asked.

" Yeah, um, well… I, uh…"

" Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

" Nothing. Nothing's wrong. I just… I have another surprise for you."

" Another surprise?" Even as she spoke, caution started to form in Nya's eyes. And that started to worry Jay.

He dropped his hand down low enough for it to meet with his other hand, opening both in a sign of submission. His aim was to show that there was nothing to worry about with this surprise. But his mind was making him wonder if his message was coming across clearly.

" It's kind of another birthday present." He said, hoping to clear any confusion.

It seemed to work. Now Nya was curious about what it was her boyfriend was hiding. And that curiosity was showing on her face thanks to the slight shine of her eyes. That shine, however, also left butterflies to flutter about in Jay's stomach. But there was no turning back now. All he could do was offer his hand to his girlfriend.

" It's down in the Destiny's Bounty… if you want to come with me." He said, a faint but nervous smile tweaking at the corners of his lips.

" Jay Walker, you have my interest peeked." Nya said as she took his hand. Still something confused her. " Why the Bounty?"

" I'll tell you when we get there. Just know that I wanted to keep this surprise private."

---

Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. As I said earlier, it was a tough one to get out. Hopefully Cole won't be too difficult and let me work on his birthday chapter quickly. For now, I will give you a translation on the words that Keo used in this chapter, even though he does correct himself and speak Ninjargon.

Syoh = Sorry
Urzu kurumba = Spirit gate
Ewau Altzoel = World of the Ancestors
Fash Natavir = Water Master
Hrepa Bukura = Happy Birthday