I'm taking a moment to say that this story is set shortly after the events of season six. That's always where I've pictured the story taking place and so that is what I am going for. I hope you enjoy chapter two.

It took Nicole an extra moment to realize that the boys lived on a flying ship. A giant, flying ship. That was currently really high in the air. Lloyd glanced at Nicole. He saw that her already pale face had become as white as her hair. "Are you okay, Nicole?"

That got the attention of the other ninja very quickly. They turned towards the girl that was following behind them. She nodded slowly, "Yeah, I… I should be fine. Just fine." The small smile that she gave the ninja did not portray the same feelings. Her hands trembled slightly. "How are we even getting up there? That must be hundreds of feet up in the air, if not thousands." A spark of fear reflected in her eyes.

"We, uh, ride dragons to get there. Or else Nya will lower the Bounty for us and then we use airjitzu to get on." Jay explained, noting that Nicole's face became whiter, if that were even a possibility. She audibly gulped. "Do you have a fear of heights?"

Nicole took a second to think. "Not entirely. It's more the fear of falling and not being able to stop myself. So I guess it would be described as a fear of heights. Where do these dragons come from? I don't see any around." She startled and watched in awe when Kai summoned his dragon out of nothing, feeling power swirl around her. "Woah," she breathed, "Was not expecting that." The ninja laughed and then they each summoned their elemental dragons.

Cole stretched out his hand and beckoned Nicole to get on his dragon. She complied, and with Cole's help, she got on his dragon. "Hold on tight, Nicole. You definitely do not want to fall off." Cole chuckled at her small yelp and the way she squeezed her arms tightly around his torso as his dragon took off.

She shut her eyes and buried her face in Cole's back. She could feel pressure building in her ears, the pressure would release and then build up again the higher they went. Nicole urged herself to breath in through her nose and was welcomed with the scent of the ocean. She slowly straightened her back and lifted her head, opening her eyes. She was willing to release her death grip but kept her arms wrapped firmly around Cole's torso. Beneath the dragons was a majestic, cerulean body of water that stretched for miles. Nicole tasted the salt in the air, even though the water was hundreds of feet below her. The view helped to calm her racing nerves.

Lloyd looked over at Nicole on the back of Cole's dragon. She seemed peaceful and happy at the moment, which was a nice change to see in her expression. A grin overtook Lloyd's lips. He couldn't help but think that she looked cute while being mesmerized by something as simple as flying over an ocean. But he couldn't be thinking that. He didn't trust her. He didn't know her.

Kai's smug voice broke through Lloyd's thoughts, "Somebody can't stop staring at the mystery girl." Lloyd felt the top of his ears heat up. Kai leisurely shifted his weight on his dragon to encourage it to do barrel rolls. "You think she's cute, don't you?" Lloyd opened his mouth to reply but no sound came out. His cheeks dusted with pink as he closed his mouth. "You know I'm right, Lloyd, don't try to deny it." Kai snickered at the look on younger boys' face.

Kai took advantage of the situation to be the first one to touch down on the ship. Jay and Cole touched down next with Zane right after. Lloyd flew another lap around the flying ship before touching down to let his face gain some sense of normal coloring. And to calm his nerves. But the others didn't need to know any of that. By the time he landed, Nicole had already gotten help off Cole's dragon. She still looked more content than before, but now her face showed uncertainty. Lloyd chuckled as he slid off his dragon. "Nicole." She whipped her head around to face the blond walking towards her. "We won't let you fall off the deck, if that's what you're worried about."

"Thanks," she whispered, "for doing this for me." Her face a little rosy, though Lloyd attributed that to the situation she was in. She glanced around and asked, "Where is 'Sensei Wu' at?"

"I'll take you to his quarters." Lloyd gestured to the direction that they were to take. He started in that direction with Nicole a step behind. He turned on his heel to face the rest of the ninja. Nicole stopped right next to him. "You guys should get some training in. I'll be back shortly." The others silently groaned.

Jay made eye contact with the green clad boy, sneaking a wink at him when Nicole looked away. "Make sure you come back. We can't have you playing hooky on us."

Lloyd rolled his eyes and nodded. "I promise that I'll be back in about ten minutes." He walked backwards for a couple steps before facing the direction he was walking.

"I want to learn a little about Sensei Wu before I meet him." Nicole blurted. Lloyd glanced at her, noting that she looked at the floor in front of her as she walked. She didn't quite seem scared, but she did seem nervous and uncomfortable.

They continued walking in silence for another moment. Hoping to help her feel slightly more comfortable, Lloyd spoke up, "Wu is my uncle. He took care of me as a child because my parents weren't able to. He's the supervisor of our team and is the younger of the First Spinjitzu Master's sons. He'll be able to help you out with your situation. As Jay likes to insinuate, he has a long, white beard for a reason." Nicole nodded as she received this new information, trying to remember as much as possible. He led Nicole to an intricately carved door. They had arrived at Wu's quarters.

Lloyd knocked on the door and waited for a response. And waited. And waited. "Sensei?" Lloyd asked as he pushed gently on the door to slide it open. Without hearing any response, Lloyd took a step into the room. "Are you in here, Sensei?" He ventured into the room while Nicole waited just inside by the doorway. Lloyd traversed the room, trying to find any clues as to the location of Sensei Wu. "This doesn't make any sense. Where is he?"

"Maybe he knew that I was gonna be trouble and he left before he had to deal with me?" Nicole suggested with a grim chuckle, taking steps forward to enter the space. It seemed rude to intrude too far into the room of someone that she didn't know. "He seems like the kind of person who would have been able to foresee this."

"Nonsense. You're not trouble. He always has a good reason for not being around when something happens." Lloyd took a step towards Nicole and put a hand encouragingly on her shoulder. "Sensei Wu isn't here, however, so we should definitely be out of his room. I don't want to invade his privacy any longer." Nicole gave a sigh as the tension released from her shoulders. The two exited the Sensei's quarters and made their way to the deck to meet up with the other ninja.

Along the way, the boat shook slightly. Nicole gave a small yelp and glued herself against the wall, shutting her eyes tightly. She tried to steel her nerves and put on a strong face in front of Lloyd. It was harder than she thought it would be. Her gaze met Lloyd's and she managed to croak out some words, despite her thoughts and her heart racing. "What was that? Are we falling or going to crash?"

Lloyd shook his head and gestured to the ceiling in the direction of the main deck. "Nya probably came back from her shopping trip earlier with a couple of her friends. She is Kai's actual sister. The rest of us see her as a sister, with the exception of Jay. They're currently dating. He had a crush on her before they even met. At least that is what I was told from the others."

"Why do you only know what they've told you? I got the impression that you all had been a team for a long time." Nicole shook her arms to try to regain some sense of normalcy after hugging the wall. Her heart still pounded inside her chest but she felt slightly calmer after knowing that she wasn't about to die. Lloyd looked away from her to examine the floor in front of his feet. "You don't have to answer if it's too personal. I was only curious." Nicole felt unease settle in her stomach about having asked something so personal. Especially to someone she just met.

He turned his head to catch her gaze and give her a thin smile. "It isn't that it's too personal. It might change the way you see me is all." His thoughts drifted to her eyes.

Nicole shook her head, the feeling in her stomach mostly disappearing knowing that he wasn't blindly giving out personal information to a someone he just met. "I don't mind if you want to wait before telling me. Especially if you think I'll hate you if I know. I want to be able to get along with everyone on the ship." A slight grin overtook her lips. "That is, unless, you absolutely hate me," she said with a wink.

A laugh escaped from the boy's lips; heat spread over his face. His heart thumped against his chest when he realized what he had been thinking about. He had no clue what he was feeling but it wasn't unwelcome as it settled in his chest. "That's good to know. I think you'll fit in pretty well around here. Just because we put on a brave face to the world does not mean we are fearless. Just ask Kai about someone messing up his hair." Lloyd gave Nicole a soft look.

It was her turn to laugh as she thought about the ridiculousness of Kai needing perfect hair. "I didn't take Kai to be the one obsessed with his looks. I thought you'd take that one."

"I don't know whether to be offended or take that as a compliment." Lloyd grinned before he noticed the color had drained from Nicole's face. He spoke to try to ease whatever guilt she had started to feel. "I was trying to joke back! I know that I'm not obsessed with my looks but I'm not sure how it looks from a stranger's point of view. Don't feel bad, Nicole. You're good to stay here until Sensei gets back. And I'm sure you'll get to know all of us here in the meantime."

The two continued to walk the short distance to the main deck. "Thank you for the offer, Lloyd. And I'm glad that you made it because I don't have a way to get off the ship on my own or anywhere I could stay." Nicole mused.

Thank you to SpongeBob2425 for the review. I'm working on the rest of this!