The next morning, Kai and Nya were waiting for me when my shark mech ride dropped me off at the beach. Not the beach my dad usually invades from - this one's off to the east in a little cove.

I could only stare as they waved at me, not quite comprehending why or how they were here. They must have remembered from yesterday where the cove is. But why were they here? Is this something friends do?

I wouldn't know. The closest I've ever had to a friend was Pythor and, well, that ended badly when he tried to use me to get to my father and then the Ninja had to rescue me and he tried to eat me and... yeah. I'll leave it at never had a real friend.

"Lloyd! Awesome day, huh! Think your dad will invade today?"

"What?" I asked, bewildered. "Uh, probably not. He said he was going out last night, so I figure he'll need a few days before he's ready to go again...?"

"Great!" said Kai again, draping his arm on my left shoulder and leaning on me. "That means we can check out the mech club without having to worry about an evacuation! I met the president, this nerd named Jay, before school yesterday and he said they're kinda small but anyone's welcome. Only three members, and they need at least six to enter any contests!"

"Look, I don't really do clubs. Maybe -"

"Oh! Oh!" interrupted Nya. "My dad said I can build a motorcycle, Lloyd! It's gonna be awesome! I'm already planning the paint job! Wanna help me with the engine?"

"Uh, sure, but maybe... this isn't a good idea..."

I could feel both twins staring when I suddenly stopped walking, realizing we were right around the corner from the bus stop.

Right around the corner from hatred and stares and avoidance and being all alone all over again.

I clenched my hands. Kai and Nya were cool. And I finally let myself believe they were genuine. Which means...

"You guys don't have to do this. You don't know what you're getting into. Who I am, really. What I've done. What others will do."

Nya and Kai did that twin thing were they met eyes and nodded to each other.

"That's our decision," said Kai firmly.

"We've decided you're our friend," continued Nya. "And we don't give up friends easily."

"People will be... cruel," I tried to explain. "They, they say things and, and do things, and I'm used to it, but, but you aren't and shouldn't have to be and -"

"Was that all one sentence? And you're not even finished?" teased Nya.

"They'll hurt you," I finally managed to sum up.

"And we can handle that," the twins said together, smirking.

One on each side of me, they led me around the corner just in time for the bus.

As usual, at the sight of me all the normal people rushed to get as far as physically possible away from me, hurrying to take out their cells and send out Lloyd Alerts.

As usual, the opposite side of the bus from me was so overfull it dragged on the ground.

But, for the first time, one person sat next to me. And another right in front of me, half turned to see me. And, and we talked. And laughed. All the way to school.

They could handle it. They did handle it. Not even flinching as the whispers began to include their names. Not even glancing over when particularly nasty comments floated our way.

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

Jay drummed his hands on a desk in the mostly empty classroom the mech club used.

"Do you think Kai and Nya will show today?"

"There is an 82% chance of their coming to join our club this afternoon," replied Zane in his usual somewhat digital voice. "There is also a 78% chance of them bringing along Lloyd Garmadon."

Cole, as usual, ignored them both, bopping his head to whatever he was listening to on his headphones.

Jay groaned, plopping his head down on the desk. "Don't we get enough Garmadon during his attacks on the city? I didn't get home until after 10 yesterday! And I had nightmares of sharks the whole night!"

"Negative. It is impossible to quantify 'enough' of someone based on a separate individual's actions, regardless of relation."

"Ugh, can you not defend Lloyd Garmadon after we spent a night fighting his evil dad?"

"Negative. The battle lasted only 3.2 hours. Also, as he is Master Wu's nephew, it is illogical to -"

"Guys, calm down," interrupted Cole, opening his eyes and actually lowering his headphones. "Master Wu said Kai and Nya are joining us for training today anyway. If they want to be ninjas, of course they'll join. It's the perfect cover for us hanging together at school. And if Lloyd wants to join, why not? It'll make it less obvious that the mech club are the Ninja, especially once we suddenly jump from three to five."

"There is only a 0.25% chance of a citizen making any sort of connection between ourselves and the identities of the Ninja, considering we have only been active Ninja for one year and no one seemed to notice the change from our parents to ourselves. The people of Ninjago City are quite unobservant."

"Hmm, and that one individual in four hundred who knows both our identities and might chance to make the connection would be Pixal, I presume?" teased Jay.

Zane's eyes flickered in robotic embarrassment. "Correct."

"Someone's got a robot crush..."

"Incorrect. Pixal and I are normal human teenagers. And we are... just friends."

"Sure. Explain that to the loading bar when you start up your ice mech."

"How rude!" exclaimed Zane, folding his arms.

"Lay off, Jay. You know that topic's off limits," ordered Cole casually.

"But I'm bored!"

"There is no need for boredom. My sensors indicate three approaching life signs, likely belonging to Kai, Nya, and Lloyd."

"Normal teenage boy," grumbled Jay. "Why do you bother?"

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

The mech club turned out to be pretty cool. I mean, well, Cole ignored everyone after acknowledging our presence with a nod that I'm pretty sure wasn't just to the rhythm of his music, and Jay looked kind of nervous around me at first, but he was nervous around Nya too, and I'm pretty sure Zane is a robot. But no one ran away or screamed or wet themselves! (Yes, that has happened.)

Nya and Jay hit it right off. I mean, wow, Jay is smart! They almost immediately launched into technicalities way beyond my knowledge base.

Kai stuck with me and Zane, who is pretty cool. Even if he is a robot. His ice blue eyes actually sparkled when I showed him my sketches for Green Dragon at Kai's prompting.

"Fascinating! May I?" asked Zane, flipping to a blank page and holding up a pen.

After a moment's hesitation, somewhat fearful of Zane's criticism no matter how constructive, I nodded.

Instead of listing flaws, he proceeded to sketch Green Dragon, completely freehand. From left to right and top to bottom. Yeah, normal human teenage boy, sure. But the photorealistic result was gorgeous, flying majestically over the city while the sun set. It even looked like there was a small me sitting just behind the head.

"Th-thank you," I stuttered.

Zane smiled serenely in reply. "Your gratitude is unnecessary but most welcome. My regards in return."

Man, I wish I'd met this guy sooner. He just felt... safe. I'm pretty sure Cole, Zane, and Jay are actually in my class, but they usually sit way in the back, so I never paid them any attention. I'm usually trying my best to block everyone and everything but the teacher's lecture out, so, yeah, no surprise really.

How odd that we're all in the same class. What are the chances of that, I wonder?

That afternoon, I had five people sitting near me, all in touching distance. All acting like this was perfectly normal. All seemingly deaf to the other kids' shocked mutterings.

And I began to wonder how, after this small taste of acceptance, I would be able to go back to being alone. Because there was no way this could last.

~~ ! Go Ninja Go ! ~~

Author's note: In case it doesn't make sense, I've decided Ninjago City High School divides its students into groups that share the same block of classes. This is admittedly mainly so that I can have all six in the same classes together.

Special thanks to: Watcher321, Bookkeeper2004, Sunny Lighter, Browneyedace, and Carrie2sky. The five of you especially encouraged me to continue writing more Ninjago fics and even helped me sort out ideas and characters for future chapters!

Also thanks to my reviewers: Reyella, Delta prime2, Johanna03, and a couple anonymous Guests. Each review brightens my day and helps keep the ideas flowing!