AN: Hello lovely people! Thank you so much for reading this far! And thank you, as always, for reviewing and leaving comments. They mean the world to me. If you have anything you like, dislike, or even have an idea for something I should write, I'm always open to new ideas and opportunities to improve my writing.
Thank you especially to namelysane and storymaker7 for your sweet comments.
To storymaker7: I had no idea Yuki also meant snow:D What a cool coincidence. tysm for sharing! Yes, I made Kai out to be kind of mean at first, but he'll get better, I promise:) Thank you for reading!
In case it is for some reason unknown, Jay Walker is terrible at keeping secrets. He's by no means untrustworthy; He was one of the most honest, wide-eyed dreamers the rest of the ninja had ever met. The only problem is he tends to get nervous easily. And when he's nervous, he will ramble about any stray thought that wanders into his head.
Thus Zane was hesitant to tell the master of lightning about their little houseguest. He didn't Jay to spout anything in front of sensei that would send the kitten away prematurely. Nevertheless, seeing no other option, the master of ice took a deep breath and picked up the towel used for drying the dishes.
Dinner, as expected, was a bit of a disaster, and Zane ended up cooking anyway. Did Cole make some sort of... tofu? Zane's analysis proved inconclusive. The substance took on the nature of superglue on the dishes and took quite a bit of elbow grease to get off. Zane got a little on his fingers and wrinkled his nose slightly when it stuck his thumb and forefinger together.
Kai had graciously volunteered Jay for the task since he'd beaten the master of lightning at sparring earlier and ducked out of the kitchen to the game room before sensei could stop him. Cole, having from that moment on been banned from ever entering the kitchen again on pain of death, had skulked off towards their bedroom, muttering something about "ungrateful kids" and "pearls before swine." Lloyd had offered, albeit begrudgingly, to help put the dishes away. Thus the master of lightning, ice, and energy-in-training stood scrubbing various plates and utensils over the sink.
Finally seeing an opportunity, "Jay, what do you know about... animals?" Zane hesitantly asked.
Jay looked up from where he was washing a plate, soap suds running up his forearms. "Huh?"
"I mean," Zane handed a clean plate to Lloyd to put away, "How do you feel about cats?" Lloyd raised his eyebrow at Zane's subtly.
Jay gave him a strange look before shrugging, handing another plate to Zane. "I can't stand them. This one time, my pa was fixing up this really nice vintage car someone scrapped, and I was watching him, and this cat came out of nowhere carrying a dead rat and it was really gross and it jumped up on a pile of junk. And when I tried to chase it away it raked me right across my eye." He pointed somewhat proudly at the nick in his left eyebrow.
"Oh." Zane just said, handing the plate back to Jay when he saw food still on it. He looked at Lloyd, who made an annoyed talking puppet motion with his hand.
"Besides, my ma is like, deathly allergic to them. If someone comes within six feet of a cat she'll start sneezing like crazy."
"Oh." He said again.
"Why are you asking?"
Zane sighed and put down the plate, thinking about the best scenario this could play out to. He tapped his fingers against the counter. Seeing no better option he took Jay's still sudsy hand and dragged him down the hall, Lloyd trailing behind.
"Hey, where are we going?" Jay asked.
"You'll see." Lloyd trotted to keep up.
Zane took a deep breath in front of their room. Here goes nothing. He opened the door.
On the bed with the black blanket lay Cole with one arm tucked under his head and the other flipping the page of a book, Yuki snuggled up at his side and purring contently.
When the three boys stood gaping on the open doorframe Cole lifted his head at them and smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Didn't know I had a new roommate." He said simply and went back to his book, stroking the tiny kitten's white fur.
"I have so many questions," Jay muttered.
…
In the end, the four and a half ninja agreed to keep their little houseguest a secret, though it took a lot of convincing for Jay, and Kai was still skeptical.
Yuki sat in the center of their circle, nibbling timidly on the bowl of food Zane had brought for him. It was the best thing he'd ever eaten.
Lloyd sat on Kai's lap, munching on a cookie he snuck from the kitchen.
Kai pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ok, I'll keep my mouth shut about the cat. Cole won't say anything. Zane hardly says anything," Zane huffed indignantly, "Lloyd won't say anything. The only one left is Jay." The rest of the ninja turned to Jay, who was still looking suspiciously at Yuki finishing his meal.
"I still say cats are the offspring of darkness and evil," Jay muttered. Yuki licked his paw and cocked his head at the blue ninja.
Lloyd threw his arms out in exasperation. "How can you think that about the little angel?! I mean, LOOK at him!" the youngest ninja scooped him up and held the cat up as material evidence. "I think you're just too much of a blabbermouth to keep your mouth shut."
Jay sputtered. "I am not!"
"Are too," Kai muttered under his breath.
Zane sighed.
Cole held his hands out as a physical barrier between the bickering ninja. "Enough you guys. Look, the cat's here now, but it won't take that long for him to heal. Maybe Zane shouldn't have brought him here but he did. So let's not argue about it. Yuki can stay until he's better, then we have to find another home for him. Agreed?"
The rest of the ninja nodded, some more enthusiastically than others.
"Good. Now it's time for bed. Lloyd's got another busy day of training tomorrow."
Lloyd whined and slumped in Kai's seat but the fire master smirked and blew raspberries in the crook of his neck. Lloyd squealed and wriggled out of his brother's grasp, dashing into the bathroom to brush his teeth. The red and blue ninja followed soon after.
Cole grinned and winked at Zane, who gave a grateful smile. The master of earth scratched Yuki's ear and left to turn the lights out. Yuki padded over and rubbed his cheek affectionately on Zane's knee. Zane laughed softly and picked him up, carrying him over to his new bed in the bottom of their closet.
"Goodnight Yuki. Sleep well." The white ninja eased the door almost all the way closed, leaving just enough open to let in a crack of light. Yuki curled up once again on his blanket and sighed contently, feeling safer than he ever had before. They were letting him stay, at least until he healed. They would protect him. He purred as he drifted off to sleep.
Another AN: It's been a while since I've actually watched the Ninjago series, so there might be a couple of plot holes. *discretely brushes them under the rug.* Hope you don't mind tooo much. The next chapter will come soon. Promise. Now go have a lovely day.
