Lloyd and Kai returned from grocery shopping to find the headquarters eerily quiet. They placed the bags on the kitchen counter and looked at each other, utterly mystified – where were the others? The silence was soon broken when Jay and Cole barrelled in through the back door, laughing and joking about something that happened while they were out training.
"-the look on his face when you lifted that girl's motorbike… with her still on it!" Jay's infectious laughter rang out.
"She seemed impressed by it; him, not so much." Cole chuckled.
"Hey guys," Jay said when he noticed Lloyd and Kai. "what's up?"
"Not much – we've just got back ourselves." Kai mentioned.
"You've gotta be kidding!" Cole stated, slightly surprised. "You guys left before we did!"
"The list Sensei Wu left for us was super specific, some of it was so obscure we had to look it up." Lloyd informed them, shaking his head as he recalled the rigmarole of finding dragon fruit specifically with the white insides.
"I wonder how Zane got on..." Jay said, nudging Cole in the ribs.
"How Zane got on with what?" Lloyd asked, once again mystified.
Jay and Cole looked at each other and promptly broke down into copious amounts of laughter.
"Let's go find out, shall we?" Cole smirked, gesturing toward Zane's room. "Probably best if we go quietly, just in case we're interrupting anything."
"Interrupting?" Kai raised an eyebrow.
"Never mind, just, stealth mode, okay?" Jay agreed.
Lloyd and Kai, having no idea what was going on, decided to go along with it regardless. If this was the only way they'd get answers, then this is the way they'd go about it. All four of them surreptitiously made their way first to Nya's room, but the door was open and there was clearly no one there. Then they heard giggling, so it was off toward Zane's room. As they stood in front of the closed door, they heard a female voice giggling again, and then they heard Zane.
"Shhh! They'll hear you..." Zane whispered as he also started chuckling.
Jay raised his hand to cover his mouth and Cole was sporting the biggest grin imaginable, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Kai still looked very confused, but for Lloyd the penny had finally dropped as Jay knocked on the door.
"Hey Zane, can we come in?" Jay asked in a sing-song tone of voice.
"Yes, the door is open." He said calmly.
Not sure what was going to happen next, they hesitated for a moment before opening the door and looking inside. There was Pixal sitting at the desk, wearing a hoodie and jeans, drawing something up on draft paper, while Zane was pointing out things on what she'd drawn so far; he too was fully dressed, much to the confusion of Jay, who was expecting to catch them in the middle of something less... routine.
"Hello," Zane looked up from Pixal's work and smiled at his teammates. "we were wondering when you would be back."
"I bet you were…" Cole mumbled under his breath.
"So, what are you guys up to?" Jay innocuously asked.
"Pixal is designing some upgrades for me, to prevent any more fuses from randomly exploding." Zane replied.
"Zane said you mentioned a phase change unit, it is a good idea," Pixal said to Jay. "I am in the process of locating the best positioning for it."
"Okay, we'll leave you to it for now, but when you're done Zane, we need your cooking skills – the Christmas party's tomorrow." Lloyd smiled, closing Zane's bedroom door.
The four ninja stood outside in the hallway for a moment. Lloyd gestured to them, and they all made their way to the living area.
"Care to explain what that was all about?" Kai demanded, still thoroughly confused.
"Kai," Lloyd sighed. "you remember what we were talking about yesterday?"
"You mean about the Christmas tree?"
"No, about Zane… and Pixal…" Lloyd corrected.
"How could I forget?" Kai chuckled, looking at Cole. "Especially when you came back down from the roof and said they were up there alone."
"Well, we've all been out of the house, all day – Nya and Sensei Wu aren't back yet either – so, with everything that's happened, what do you think these two-" Lloyd pointed at Jay and Cole. "-imagine Zane and Pixal might have been doing; all alone, at home, together?"
The realisation on Kai's face was almost instantaneous.
"No way!" Kai yelled, repeating Jay's reaction from that morning. "I thought we were just joking around!"
"That's exactly what I said!" Jay waved his hands around in front of him.
"I'm back!" Nya announced as she walked through the door.
"Hey Nya, how'd the weapons testing go?" Jay asked, beaming widely at her.
"I need to recalibrate a few things but apart from that it went great," She smiled, happy with what she had accomplished. "where's Pixal?"
"She's still in Zane's room." Kai casually mentioned.
"What do you mean 'still' in Zane's room?"
"As far as we know, she's been in there all day working on blueprints." Cole said with a hint of dubiousness.
"Well, I'm gonna go see how she's doing," Nya insisted. "if I see Zane, I'll get him to come start the food prep."
And on that note, Nya strolled away without another word. She did have a point; they had a lot of preparation to do for their annual Christmas Eve party. It was only ever a small affair – food, drink, music and dancing in the comfort of their own home – but it was always a lot of fun. Zane was without question the best chef out of all of them and had developed a reputation for his culinary treats – he had a penchant for cheesecakes in particular – and it would not be Christmas Eve without his elaborate strawberry sponge cake.
Nya approached Zane's room and just as she got to the door, it opened. Out stepped Pixal, followed by Zane, who leaned over to give her a kiss.
"So, you have been with Zane all day." Nya grinned, standing with one hand on her hip.
Startled, both Zane and Pixal turned to see Nya, looking mighty entertained by the sight of them coming out of his bedroom together.
"Hello Nya, I have been designing some upgrades for Zane, would you like to see them?" Pixal enthusiastically asked.
"Sure." Nya replied.
Pixal excitedly ran into Zane's room and back out again, armed with a cardboard tube containing the roll of draft paper she was drawing on earlier.
"If you want, I can go over them with you," Nya commented with a smile. "I gotta get changed first, but I'll meet you in the living room, yeah?"
"That would be appreciated, thank you." Pixal bowed.
She briefly grabbed Zane's hand and gave a little squeeze, before letting go and skittering away toward the living room. With Pixal out of sight, Nya looked at Zane with a presumptuous raised eyebrow, grinning at him as if silently asking him for all the details.
"Well…?" She pried.
"Well, what?" Zane innocently repeated.
"How did it go?" Nya urged him for an answer.
"I have not discussed it with her yet." He insisted.
"So, you're telling me that she's the same nervous droid I left behind this morning?" She summarised. "That she just magically stopped being so shy about being here alone with you?"
"You forget, Pixal was in my head for some time, we were often alone together." He reminded her.
"That's not even close to being the same situation as this – give it up, Zane," She sighed, growing weary of his attempts to brush her off. "it's obvious you spoke to her about it, so I'll ask again; how did it go?"
Zane turned away slightly, his cheek connections were rapidly overheating again – he couldn't wait to get that phase change unit installed, these ill-timed warm fronts were giving him away. Nya continued staring him down expectantly, crossing her arms and tapping her foot.
"Very well..." Zane sighed and dropped his shoulders. "We discussed the situation, and I have come to understand that she does in fact have the required... components for us to have an intimate relationship."
"See? It wasn't difficult, was it?" Nya smiled. "Pixal is so naive, so good natured – I knew talking to her about this wouldn't be a big deal."
"Indeed..." He said, scratching the back of his neck and wondering if he should tell her that they had in fact already tested their physical compatibility.
"I'm gonna get changed," She said. "and you need to start making the strawberry cake for tomorrow."
Nya walked away, and Zane gave a sigh of relief. He headed out towards the kitchen and noticed Pixal in the living room, showing Jay some of her designs. He seemed impressed and even made some suggestions for relocating some of the more superficial connections. Zane smiled; she was just so cute.
"You wouldn't believe how hard it was to get white strawberries." Lloyd said, interrupting Zane's thoughts.
"I can assure you that it will be worth the effort, they have a natural candy taste and will go nicely with the red ones." Zane smiled gratefully as he rifled through the bags of groceries to find what he needed.
"I'm looking forward to our Christmas Eve shindig," Kai mentioned. "it'll be a great chance to chill."
"Yes, it will be a lot of fun." Zane agreed.
"I bet you've been looking forward to having Pixal here, like, physically." Lloyd mentioned.
"There are not enough words to accurately express my gratitude," Zane reminisced. "I sincerely thank you all for making it possible."
"Nah, you and Cyrus Borg did the hard part, we just came along for emotional support," Kai patted Zane on the shoulder. "we know how much you wanted her to be here."
Zane sighed whimsically as he set about making his once-a-year specialty. Cooking was one of the things his father taught him, and he felt a great passion for it long before he rediscovered his memories. The yearly party they had was a good chance to put those skills to use. The things he made for his friends were always special. He appreciated having compatriots who were so tolerant of his social misunderstandings, especially in the early days when he was still trying to find himself.
"You need a hand with anything?"
Zane looked up to see Cole standing beside him.
"I was just measuring out the ingredients before I start," Zane said. "could you assist in putting the rest of the groceries away?"
"Okay! So… are you making your strawberry cake?" Cole asked hopefully as he began pulling items out of the bags on the counter.
"Of course." Zane smiled, washing his hands before he started.
"Yes!" Cole whispered and pumped his fist in the air. "I love all desserts, but your cakes are the best!"
"Thank you," Zane replied. "I enjoy making this one in particular."
As Cole finished putting the last of the fresh items into the fridge, and started putting the dry goods in the cupboard, he watched Zane meticulously measuring out each ingredient, prepping the necessary utensils and pre-heating the oven.
"You really dig this cooking thing, don't you?" Cole noticed.
"It is a skill my father taught me, and it makes people happy," Zane looked over at Cole with a peaceful smile. "in that respect, it makes me happy also."
"That's cool," Cole said, leaning on the counter. "so… did speaking to Nya help at all?"
In a knee-jerk reaction, Zane accidentally shattered the egg that was in his hand, sending albumen and eggshell splattering all over the floor. Cole grabbed some paper towels and helped his friend clean up the sticky mess. Zane then washed his hands again and retrieved another egg from the fridge, this time cracking it open into the bowl immediately and disposing of the shell.
"Yes, it did help," Zane finally responded, cracking two more eggs. "not in the way I expected, but yes."
Cole was about to ask another question, when Pixal appeared in the doorway.
"Hey Pixal, how goes the drafting?" Cole asked.
"Very well thank you, Jay and Nya are enjoying a conversation regarding design options, so I decided to come in here and see how you are doing." She replied, putting her hands in the pockets of her hoodie as she approached them.
"Actually, I was about to go lift some weights," Cole announced with a smile as he headed toward the door. "catch you two later!"
"Hello Zane," She beamed at him. "how are you?"
"I am good," He grinned back. "I'm just making a strawberry Christmas cake – I do this every year."
"Oh yes, Nya had mentioned this special cake you always make for the party," Pixal stated. "may I offer my assistance?"
"If you like, you could cut the stems from the strawberries for me," Zane said, pointing to both the red and the white berries. "I need four of each type with just the stems cut off – they go on the top of the cake – and the rest need to be cut lengthwise into half inch pieces."
"Organising festive occasions was one of the tasks I would perform for Mr Borg," Pixal revealed as she washed her hands and Zane handed her a small knife. "the New Year's Gala, birthday parties for important board members, the Summer Social, annual employee award ceremonies..."
"I knew you used to organize the New Year's party, but I did not know you had a hand in all the parties he threw," Zane smiled. "you never mentioned that you were such a social butterfly."
"I am not," She corrected as she started cutting the fruit. "I worked behind the scenes; ensuring the event was correctly set up, ran smoothly for the duration and was neatly concluded at the end of the proceedings."
"So, you have never been to a party for fun?" Zane pondered, whisking sugar into the egg mix.
"I was built to assist, so I assisted, that was my purpose," Pixal acknowledged. "fun did not come into the equation until... Well, until I met you."
Zane paused and smiled at her as she continued chopping the strawberries. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. Pixal was caught off guard by the sudden and unexpected show of affection. With a gentle grin, she returned the gesture, along with a subtle wink; something Zane did not expect at all. His face went red, and he quickly turned his gaze to the flour he was sifting.
Pixal was initially confused by his reaction; Nya had said that this flicker of one eye was a visage of flirtation that Zane would like. Although, given how hot in the face he was getting, it appeared that it was more effective than she first assumed. She tilted in his direction and leaned into his shoulder; another low-key form of showing affection, she was told.
"Mmm… your body produces a most comforting warmth." She mused, nuzzling her face against him as she finished the task given to her.
In one swift motion, Zane put down what he was doing and scooped Pixal up in his arms, gently kissing her face as he smoothly waltzed around the kitchen. She put her arms around his neck and giggled wildly as he held her like a bride being carried over the threshold. Her laughter was the sweetest sound he had ever heard, and he couldn't help but join in with her revelry.
"You are nice and warm now?" He asked with a chuckle.
"Yes!" She squealed between raucous, high-pitched giggles.
While gliding around the kitchen with his beloved Pixal, Zane failed to notice that they had company, until an errant throat clearing by someone suddenly made him stop. Pixal, still reeling from the joyful whirling around, was waiting for her gyroscopic stabilizers to counterbalance the dizziness she was currently immersed in.
"Interesting training method, young Zane," Sensei Wu noted as he stood in the doorway. "are you attempting to teach Pixal to perform Spinjitzu?"
"Not exactly Sensei, I just got a little carried away." Zane replied self-consciously as he gently set Pixal down on her own feet.
"So did she, it appears." Wu stated.
"My apologies," Pixal bowed respectfully. "it was not my intention to distract Zane from his duties."
"There's no need to apologise, such moments of enjoyment are good for morale." Wu smiled.
Pixal bowed once more and excused herself from the situation. She waved to Zane as she walked away, and he waved back to her. With Pixal gone, Wu approached Zane with a knowing glance.
"I knew the two of you were close, I suppose I did not realise how close you had become." The old master said.
"Sensei, while you were gone, Pixal and I expressed our mutual love for each other," Zane confessed. "I hope this will not be a problem."
Wu thought for a moment, stroking his white beard as he mused over the feelings he once had for Misako – the love he lost to his brother. Furthermore, he pondered the budding romance he had seen growing between two of his other students, namely Jay and Nya. It would be most remiss of him to scold Zane for having feelings that were so natural.
"Love and compassion are as important to your ninja training as practice and skill," Sensei Wu finally said. "the bonds we forge in life are like the bonds we forge in battle – they ground us, give us reason to keep going."
"Yes Sensei." Zane said as he bowed.
"...Are you making your strawberry Christmas cake?" Wu questioned, seeing the mixing bowl and chopped strawberries on the counter.
"Yes Sensei." Zane replied.
"Very good."
Sensei Wu did a silent fist pump on his way out of the kitchen. Zane smiled and continued where he had left off from earlier, melting some butter with a splash of milk and adding it to the mix he'd made so far.
Well, at least that's one less thing to worry about... Zane thought.
But there were still questions left, questions about room sharing, about the impact this might have on his teammates, about how much of their relationship should be public knowledge. Such queries danced in his head as he poured the mixture into a lined cake tin. He gently lifted and dropped the cake tin on the counter a couple of times to break any bubbles in the batter before he placed it in the oven. Well, no matter the answers that would eventually come, for now at least, it would have to wait until after the party tomorrow.