Please find the glossary for this chapter.
Fuyu no Odori - literally translated, it means "the dance (odori) of (no) winter (fuyu)", but Japanese grammatical positioning means that winter comes first in the sentence, whereas in English, winter comes at the end of the sentence.
Dogeza - bowing position of extreme deference, used when asking for a favour or for forgiveness.
"This is wonderful news!" Mr Borg cheered over the video chat that Nya had set up. "Congratulations my dear!"
"Thank you." Pixal smiled.
"Does Sensei Wu know yet? Have you set a date?" He keenly asked.
"Wu is still away on an errand, we intend on telling him as soon as he gets back." Pixal mentioned.
"Also Zane literally proposed like, 2 minutes ago, so the first thing we did was call you," Nya added. "it was all kinda sudden."
"Yes indeed," He chuckled. "of course if you need any help with anything, just let me know."
"Thanks Mr B," Nya grinned. "we may have to take you up on that – I've organised parties before, but I'd be way out of my depth organizing a wedding!"
"Fortunately for you, Nya, my dear Pixal is a master at planning celebrations." Mr Borg said.
"It was one of my secondary functions," She elaborated. "however, I also have never planned a wedding before, so additional research will be necessary."
"I hope you will still be able to come to the New Year's party," Mr Borg said hopefully. "I know you will be busy now, but if you can still come I would love to see you all there."
"Yes of course," Pixal nodded. "everyone is so excited, it would be rude not to attend."
"Marvellous!" He beamed, clapping his hands happily. "In that case, I have a favour to ask – a couple of my dancers had to back out at the last minute, would you two be willing to take their place for the fuyu no odori?"
Pixal jostled around excitedly as she turned to look at Nya, who in turn looked a little unsure.
"I'm not really a dancer…" Nya admitted.
"I can teach you the routine; as a ninja you will pick it up quickly." Pixal insisted.
"Well… okay," Nya smiled, turning to the video chat where Mr Borg was waiting for an answer. "you've got yourself some dancers."
"Thank you," He grinned. "you're really helping me out here."
"Hey Pixal, do you wanna go get Zane? I'm sure he'd like to speak to Mr Borg as well." Nya suggested.
"Good idea." She answered as he got up and left the room to find him.
"I know this must seem really sudden, but they're doing it for the right reasons, honestly," Nya said confidently. "they just wanna be together."
"I am well aware of the strength of their connection," He calmly replied. "to be honest, I was expecting – well, hoping actually – that something like this would happen."
"Really?" Nya's voice softened.
"I know I call her my assistant around the employees, but to me, she is my daughter," Mr Borg's expression melted into a paternal smile. "isn't this what any father wants? To know that his daughter is with someone who loves them and can take care of them?"
"I guess so." She grinned.
"They've been through so much together, if they were human, marriage would be the natural progression for their relationship," He declared. "even though they're droids and there is no expectation for them to marry, they still want to – it's really quite moving."
"Aww, that's a really sweet way to look at it." Nya put her hand on her cheek.
"What about you and Jay?" He wondered. "I'm surprised you two haven't gotten serious."
"O-oh, um, we aren't… I mean… we're not, um." Nya's face went red with embarrassment.
"Please forgive me, I'm thinking out loud again." He apologised, instantly backpedalling when he saw how flustered she was by his suggestion.
"No, it's okay, I just hadn't thought about it is all," She looked away awkwardly as Zane and Pixal came into the room. "well, Zane's here, so I'll say goodbye now."
"Goodbye Nya."
"See you later Mr Borg." She waved at the screen before leaving the room.
Nya paused in the doorway, glancing over at Zane as he addressed Mr Borg on the video chat with Pixal standing proudly next to him. It was nice that Mr Borg approved so wholeheartedly of the relationship between them, it would've made things very difficult for them if he didn't. Nya thought about Dr Julien – Zane's dad – and wondered if he too would have been so supportive. From the brief amount of time the ninja had spent with him, Nya felt she could safely say that yes, he would definitely have approved.
She strolled back into the living area, only to find it empty. She followed the sound of voices and found the other ninja once again playing outside in the snow; no doubt warmed by the emotive situation of the past 20 minutes. Nya opted to simply watch them for now, as she made a mental list of things that needed to be organised for the wedding. They were all approaching an age when some people did start to settle down – not that there was anything settled about the life of a ninja – and it could be argued that Zane and Pixal had been settled for some time already.
The blush on her face deepened as she watched Jay running around outside with the others. He was such a sweetheart, even if he didn't always know when to be serious, but she was attracted to that light-hearted, fun-loving personality of his. She appreciated a good sense of humour.
Suddenly, they all stopped running around and faced the same direction, bowing politely. Though confused at first, Nya soon saw Sensei Wu approaching them. The old master exchanged a few words with Kai – too far away for Nya to hear what they were saying but close enough to get the gist of their brief conversation. She too bowed as Wu came over, clunking his staff against the doorframe to remove the excess snow from it and smiling widely at her.
"Did I miss anything?" He asked, almost optimistically.
"Yes, but nothing we can't fill you in on." She smiled.
Zane came out of the ops room hand-in-hand with Pixal, when he noticed the presence of his sensei. Pixal bowed politely, but Zane immediately dropped into the dogeza bow as he had in Mr Borg's office a couple weeks ago. Wu was slightly confused – as far as he knew, his student had nothing to apologise for, so he assumed that Zane was about to make a request of him.
"Please, Sensei," Zane said humbly, his forehead touching the floor. "please grant me a favour."
Clearly there was more to this request than first met the eye. As Wu looked over at Pixal – her eyes full of uncertainty and half-hearted hope – he soon figured out what this was about. Wu was not an old master for nothing; he was not a fool in affairs of the heart, and he certainly was not oblivious to the close bond between Zane and Pixal that likely triggered this event. Regardless, he allowed Zane to speak further.
"Pixal and I cannot bear to be apart; we have decided to get married," Zane spoke as he looked up. "please, will you let her stay here with me?"
Wu paused, stroking his beard as he considered his student's passionate request.
"I am not in the habit of answering a question with another question, but in this case I must," Wu stated. "from where did you get the idea that the two of you would be parted?"
Zane sat up from his submissive bow and shot a confused glance at Wu.
"Pixal is not a ninja, and even with all her valuable skills, I know she may not be able to stay here," He explained. "we are prepared for the possibility of separation, but if staying together is a viable option, we would prefer it."
"Stand up, my son." Wu firmly said.
Zane did as he was told and stood up to face his sensei eye to eye. Wu placed his hand on the nindroid's shoulder and smiled.
"I could no sooner part you and Pixal than I could part the stars from the night sky." Wu explained as he gestured for Pixal to come over to where he and Zane were standing.
She nervously complied, and walked over to Zane and his aged Spinjitzu teacher.
"The two of you share a unique bond, you share a heart, and until recently you shared a body – in that respect, she has been here the whole time," Wu turned to Pixal and gave her a kindly smile. "Pixal, you belong here, and you are free to stay here as long as you wish."
"Thank you." She grinned, bowing to him again.
Sensei Wu paused as something dawned on him.
"Did you say you were getting married?" He asked, looking at Zane pointedly.
"Yes, sensei," Zane also bowed. "I hope this is not a problem."
"Problem? Nonsense; I do believe congratulations are in order!" Wu beamed warmly.
The next day, things at the temple had settled down. Well, for the most part anyway. In between the usual routine of chores and training, the ninja busied themselves in other ways; Zane was attempting to teach Jay some of his moves from the Christmas Eve party, Lloyd and Kai were in the midst of arranging appropriate transportation to the gala – as Jay so distinctly put it; "you can't rock up to the biggest event of the year on a dragon!" – and Cole was helping Pixal find Nya, who thus far had been notoriously hard to pin down.
"We've looked everywhere except the communications room," Cole mentioned. "she's gotta be there."
"I hope so," Pixal replied. "I need to teach her the fuyu no odori."
"The what-now?" He asked, not entirely paying attention.
"The fuyu no odori – it is a winter dance performed at the gala," She explained. "Mr Borg asked if we could cover for a couple of dancers who backed out at the last minute."
As they made their way to the comms room, the gears continued ticking over in Cole's head; he was thoroughly confused. Despite the fact that the whole team had – at one point or another – referred to Cyrus Borg as Pixal's dad, Pixal herself seemed stuck in formality mode; still calling him 'Mr Borg' despite no longer working for him.
"Is there a reason why you don't call Mr Borg your dad when other people do?" He wondered.
"It is part of my programming to use formal address," She confirmed. "while Mr Borg has told me that he considers me his daughter, he has not given me permission to call him my father."
"But… he calls you his daughter, doesn't that mean he wants you to call him your dad?"
"Implied consent is not the same as actual consent." She insisted as he shook his head.
"I'm so confused," Cole sighed. "but, while we're on the subject, I gotta ask – this whole getting married thing, are you sure it's what you want?"
"Of course," Pixal stopped in her tracks and tilted her head at him. "why do you ask?"
"It just seems kinda sudden is all," He answered, backtracking slightly as her saddened eyes pierced into him. "don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you and Zane, but as both his friend and yours I wanna make sure you're doing the right thing."
"Your devotion to Zane is admirable, as is your acceptance of me." She smiled widely at him.
"Yeah, well, you do right by your fellow ninja," He humbly shrugged. "it's part of being a team."
They soon came upon the communications room, where Nya was currently having a video call with someone. It took a few moments, but as soon as Nya realised she was no longer alone, she hurriedly ended the video call and approached them warmly.
"Hi guys," Nya said somewhat nervously. "you need something?"
"We've been looking for you everywhere," Cole explained. "Pixal needs to teach you the winter dance."
"With your ninja abilities you will pick up the moves quickly, but even so, we have less than a week before the gala." Pixal nodded.
"Of course, we need to start practicing." Nya agreed.
"Well, I'll leave you ladies to it," Cole said, excusing himself. "have fun!"
"So, have you danced before?" Pixal asked.
"A little."
"Don't worry, it is easy enough," She assured. "the moves are largely simple, and repeat in a circular pattern."
"In that case we'll go to my room to practice," Nya suggested. "after all, it feels so empty since you moved."
As the two of them made their way to Nya's room on the second floor of the temple, Pixal was reminded of what happened after Sensei Wu came home and learned of Zane's intention to marry her. In recognition of their engagement, Wu gave his permission for her to move into Zane's room, provided of course that such an arrangement did not interfere with his training. Nya was rather sad to be losing her roommate, but was ecstatic for this progression in Zane and Pixal's domestic arrangement.
"Thank you for sharing your room with me, I feel like I owe many of the recent developments to your advice," Pixal smiled. "but even so, I was surprised that Wu would allow Zane and I to cohabit."
"Make no mistake, if it were anyone else on the team, Sensei would not have been so accommodating," Nya spoke with great certainty. "but Zane is the most sensible and level-headed of all the ninja, Wu trusts him – and you – to treat his decision with maturity; and given that last night was as quiet as any other, I'd say his trust was warranted."
Pixal felt her facial circuits heating up at Nya's subtle insinuations.
"So have you decided on a date yet?" Nya asked as they reached her room.
"Date?"
"You know, for the wedding?"
Upon the out loud mentioning of her betrothal to Zane, Pixal stumbled, then lost her balance and fell over. Nya stifled a giggle and helped her friend to her feet.
"Uh, no, we have not discussed it yet," Pixal admitted. "we haven't discussed much in the way of detail."
"So what happened last night then?" Nya queried.
Pixal drifted off slightly, as she recalled the events of the previous evening between Zane and herself.
Last Night…
"Are you sure this is alright?" Pixal asked.
"I should think so, it was Sensei Wu's idea after all." Zane chuckled.
"This is exciting," She smiled. "it is just like when you were sharing my room back at Borg Industries."
"Yes, it is," He agreed. "though I must apologise, my room is not nearly as glamorous as yours was."
"Glamorous? Perhaps, but it was also lonely," She walked over to his bed and sat down. "I much prefer your room."
"Well, I promise you will not be lonely here, even when I am out training," He grinned as he sat down next to her. "in fact, Sensei Wu has offered to train you too."
"Me?" She tilted her head, surprised by this development. "But, would it not be a waste of the Master's time? I am nowhere near your skill level, surely I could be of better use elsewhere."
"Pixal, this is important," Zane spoke, his voice completely overcome with seriousness. "I failed to protect you on Chen's island, even the fighting move-set we transferred to your database did not kick in as expected."
He paused and looked down at his hands – hands which could not prevent his beloved from suffering at the sinister whims of that maniac Clouse. He was still deeply ashamed of his inability to keep Pixal safe, despite what Cyrus Borg had repeatedly told him. She could sense his unease and reached over to touch his arm. Quick as a whip, he took her hands in his and looked her straight in the eye.
"Please, Pixal, please let Sensei Wu teach you how to fight," He pleaded, his icy blue eyes shining with concern. "if I cannot protect you, the least I can do is make sure you can protect yourself."
"Okay, Zane, I will train with your sensei." Pixal sweetly smiled.
"Thank you." He contentedly answered, letting go of a breath he didn't know he was holding.
She shuffled closer and slowly put her arms around him, leaning her head on his shoulder. He watched her as she closed her eyes, and softly grinned at her. They sat silently, leaning against each other and embracing the moment of peace. She placed her hand on his chest, and from a speaker, hidden beneath her hair and somewhere about her temples, came the familiar reverberating murmur of their shared power source.
"Do you hear that?" She whispered. "Our cores; they are beating to the same rhythm."
"I am not surprised, our original bodies also worked as one even though they were so different," He whispered back. "it is reason enough for me to believe that our meeting was preordained; that we are meant to be together."
"Do you really think that a mysterious, external force decided we would meet, long before we actually did?" She asked, peering up at him with her glittering green eyes.
"Many things have been foretold; the Great Devourer, the Green Ninja, the fight against the Overlord – all large, possibly world-altering events – it is not hard to imagine that we too were destined to happen." He explained, putting his arm around her...
"Pixal, hello?" Nya waved her hand in front of the droid's hazy face.
"I'm sorry," Pixal replied, shaking herself back into reality. "I must have drifted off there for a moment."
"No kidding, you drifted off – all I did was ask what happened last night," Nya chuckled. "now I'm not sure I want to know!"
"We were talking about destiny, Zane and I," Pixal mentioned. "and how he wants me to learn from Sensei Wu."
"Yeah… he wanted you to have your own body, but he was pretty worried about you being able to defend yourself." Nya admitted.
"I understand why he was so concerned," Pixal agreed as she recalled being utterly helpless to stop her own dismemberment. "copying his combative move-set to my database proved ineffective when it was needed the most."
"Who knows, maybe you'll become a ninja too!" Nya joked.
"Not likely," Pixal laughed. "I am content to learn the basics."
"Speaking of which, where do we start?" Nya wondered.
Pixal moved to the middle of the room and waved Nya over to stand next to her. A pulsating, synthesized beat began emanating from the speakers in her head. Nya was mildly startled by the suddenness of this music which seemed to come out of nowhere.
"I believe that the best way to learn is to observe and replicate," Pixal stated. "so follow my lead and let the music guide you."
Pixal began to demonstrate, encouraging Nya to mimic her movements. Nya complied, trying to follow the motions that Pixal laid out for her, gesturing upwards with her hands then swaying downward with her arms, fumbling occasionally as she did so, while admiring the effortless dancing of her friend.
"Left arm out, right arm in, right arm out, left arm in," Pixal sighed happily as she continued to alternate her arms and rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, before stepping forward a few paces and repeating her movements. "your body is a conduit, feel the energy of the dance flow though it; twirl left and clap, twirl right and clap."
Nya watched as Pixal seemed to go into a trance, performing the moves with such smoothness and ease.
"I thought you said you couldn't dance," Nya mentioned. "that Zane was trying to teach you."
"Zane does teach me; with him, I am learning the steps of the dances he knows – dances I do not know," Pixal responded, gracefully twirling this way and that. "but the winter dance is in my programming, I know it automatically."
She stepped forward and rolled her arms upward, stepped backwards and rolled them down again, then paused to clap her hands three times. There was something hypnotic about how she repeated the dance with the kind of exact precision that only a droid could pull off. Nya copied to the best of her abilities, which – being a ninja – was not difficult. Pixal was right, the moves were coming to her very easily.
"We will need to go to Borg Industries for a fitting." Pixal casually remarked.
"Fitting?" Nya asked, not faltering from the dance.
"The outfits for the winter dance change every year," Pixal answered. "and there will be a dress rehearsal."
"So when we go to Borg Industries, will we be staying there until the gala?"
"Affirmative." She smiled.
Perfect… Nya thought to herself with a grin.