This chapter was an absolute blast to write. I'm in love with Ninjago all over again and it feels so good! I hope ye enjoy! :D

-0-

Vania could hardly contain her excitement when that beautiful red ship came into view.

So, she didn't.

She squealed, yelled "THEY'RE HERE!" quite loudly, and bolted for the landing dock. A few palace guards tried to keep up with her, but her incredible speed left them in the dust. Chompy was able to keep up though - he was used to the Queen running around at these speeds

Fungus, Korgran, Plundar, and Adam had been nearby, and when they heard the Queen running down the hall, they were quick to join her. If it was possible, the four of them were as excited as her to see Cole again…

The Destiny's Bounty touched down safely, and the group of six could hardly contain their excitement. By now, Hailmar and a few other guards had caught up to them, as had Chancellor Gulch and Queen Murtessa.

...Had Kai and Nya formally announced their resignations as chancellor and queen? This was something that hadn't been discussed, at least to the knowledge of anyone else.

Either way, that was the last thought on anyone's mind as the first figure came into view. Vania felt her heart skip a beat when she saw him… Cole. In his gorgeous gold Geckle armor, forged in the days of his warrior mother, with muscles stronger than earth, but a gaze gentler than a playful Shintaran Ridgeback…

And Cole seemed no less excited to see her.

"VANIA!" he exclaimed, running to her.

"Oh, oh Cole!" she laughed, being swept up into his arms for the biggest hug she had received in years. "I'm so happy to see you again!"

"You sure that's not my excitement rubbing off on ya?" Cole laughed, smiling along with Vania as they embraced once more. They both couldn't help but notice how their hands had intertwined at some point during the embrace…

"COLE!"

It was at that moment that all thoughts of their hands being together were suddenly interrupted, as Plundar jumped onto Cole, along with Korgran and Fungus, and Adam just straight up engulfed everyone. It was a barrel of laughs all around, and everyone was just so happy to see one another again.

"Hey hey hey, there he is!" Plundar's attention shifted after a moment, walking over to Master Wu. "Good to see ya, old pal!"

"Plundar! Completely mutual, my friend," Wu said, holding out his elbow, and Plundar bumped it in return.

"Good Master!" Fungus smiled, separating from the hug reluctantly to shake the master's hand. "So good to see you again, my friend!" Wu greeted Fungus happily, and when Korgran eventually managed to let Cole go, he walked over to hug the master as well. Chompy also got in on the fun, nuzzling Wu's legs as he excitedly walked around.

Adam was probably more excited than anyone, though.

At that moment, Kai and Zane walked off of the ship as well, and Chancellor Gulch seemed incredibly eager to see them. There was also a silver-haired girl holding Zane's hand, whom Gulch did not recognize. "Red and white ninjas who are-oh, I'm sorry. Kai, Zane, welcome back to our land!"

"Hello, Chancellor," smiled Zane. "It is good to see you again. This is my soulmate, Pixal."

"It is nice to finally meet you, Chancellor," smiled Pixal. "Zane has told me much about you."

"Good to see ya again, Gulch!" Kai remarked. "Best Geckle Chancellors in history, in the same space breathing the same air once more!"

"Uhm, y-yes, of course," Gulch said, finding it oddly complementive that Kai called him the best Geckle Chancellor in history - alongside himself, of course. "I must say, we've passed so many laws since you last visited! I am so excited to recite each and everyone of them to you, in depth with history and cause!"

Kai gulped. "T-That's a, that's a classic Geckle Chancellor joke right? Haha, ver-very funny Gulch!"

Gulch looked at Kai like he was a moron. "Geckle Chancellors do not joke about civil court-related matters, Kai."

"How is Mindy doing?" asked Zane, looking to break up what would inevitably be a very awkward moment between Chancellors.

"Mindy?" Pixal asked, her eyes narrowing at Zane. "And just who is this Mindy?"

"The Mino creature I befriended back when I was put on trial," Zane smiled, not skipping a beat. "Did I never tell you?" Pixal's features softened. "Oh. I guess not… or I just did not remember immediately. I look forward to meeting her."

Meanwhile, Jay got off the Bounty next, and Queen Murtessa was excitedly wrapping her hands together nervously. "H-Hi, my s-sweet Jay!" she said, waving like a smitten schoolgirl.

Jay's eyes widened, and in the worst way possible - he had completely forgotten about her. Now, this would normally be rude, but there was really only room for Nya in his head ninety percent of the time, so it was excusable. "H-Hey-Heya queenie!" Jay said, unsure of what to do now.

"Ah crap, here we go again," Lloyd muttered, right behind Jay and next to Nya, looking off into the distance like he was looking at a camera.

"We're married now, there shouldn't be a problem!" Nya smiled, seemingly unaffected by Murtessa's undying love for Jay. Even a year later, she was as lovestruck as ever…

But then, she hugged Jay. Tightly.

Nya's eyes flared up at this - no one, except herself or her teammates, was allowed to hug Jay like that. Lloyd looked off to the side again, with the neutral expression he had before.

"Hello, Queen," Nya said, as respectfully as possible. Munce Queen-a-Munce Queen shouldn't be too hard to work out, right?

"Ah… Nya," Murtessa said. "Hello."

The two stared at one another for a few seconds, before they shook hands with neutral expressions. "I've never felt so uncomfortable," Lloyd whispered to Jay.

Back to Cole and Vania, the two realized only know that they had been connected this whole time with one arm each around each other for the last minute or so. The two blushed, separating immediately with their gaze finding the floor a much nicer piece of interest.

Korgran noticed this, and took it upon himself to fix this. "Your rooms are the best we have to offer!" Korgran said. "May Korgran escort you all?"

"That would be lovely, Korgran," Wu smiled. "Follow along, Ninja."

"Man, our last adventure was so cool," Cole told Vania excitedly, as the Ninja followed the Upply and Vania to their rooms. "I don't think the letters did it justice."

"Oh, you must tell me everything!" the queen of Shintaro said excitedly. "It's nice enough to be able to see you again, but this new adventure is something I must hear about."

"Uh, Korgran must admit," he said, turning around, "Korgran didn't account for extra metal lady. Should Korgran find an extra room? No extra trouble!"

"Oh no, I shall be fine sharing a room with Zane," Pixal smiled. "I do appreciate the offer, though."

"It is so good to be back," Wu smiled. "I missed this place dearly."

"And we missed you all more!" Fungus chuckled. "Believe me, when you all showed up, that's the most excitement we've had in years."

"Oh, and we're also holding a feast in your all's honor," Plundar piped up. "Not like that's something we should be attending to though."

"OH HEAVENS!" Fungus exclaimed. "I left Gordon in charge of the kitchen! I-I better go see if they're all still alive, I bid you farewell for now Ninja!" And with that, the good sorcerer of mushrooms raced off to the Grand Hall.

Adam gave Plundar a look. "What? You know he doesn't need much to go nuts."

"Oooh a feast!" Jay said excitedly. "I am starving. Thanks Queenie!"

"Hehe, you're welcome!" Vania smiled. "It's the least I could do… you all saved our people, and even more outside of that. I honestly believe I owe you all my life."

"You don't owe us anything," Cole smiled, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You were as essential as we were, if not more so, to taking down the Skull Sorcerer. We couldn't have done it without you."

Vania's cheeks heated up at both the contact and Cole's sweet words. "T-Thank you, Cole… t-that means a lot to me."

"I hope this isn't an intrusive question," Lloyd said, "but… what exactly happened to Vangelis?"

Vania paused, before looking down.

"We'll discuss this later, if it's alright with you all," said Plundar. "It's… not exactly pretty." "Thank you, Plundar; that's all we need to know," Lloyd said, smiling to try and lighten the mood.

The Ninja team eventually all were settled into their own individual rooms, thanks to Korgran making sure they only got the best. Zane and Pixal were perfectly happy rooming together, and everyone else was content with their rooms as well.

Nothing had changed about the fact that, in Shintaro, the hotels were worthy of eight stars… not an exaggeration either. The beds were literally like sleeping on clouds.

And once Cole got into his room, he yawned loudly - a little pre-feast nap never hurt anyone, right? So with that, he took off his Hero armor and fell flat on the bed, fully intent on resting soundly until the massive banquet hall opened to the public.

-0-

Cole shot up in his bed, seemingly awoken by something that had happened in his dream… But he couldn't remember what he had dreamed about. He was breathing heavily, which must have meant it was something intense. But even so, if it was, wouldn't it be in his memory for at least a minute?

As his senses slowly came to him, he heard knocking on his door, with Jay on the other side. "Cole! Cole!" he called. "Get up, dude! It's time to eat! You'd never pass up on an opportunity to eat, right?"

Cole shook his head, still wondering why he had woken up so suddenly… "C-Coming, Jay!" he called out, stretching and shaking his head again. He brushed his messed up hair back into place via the reflection in his golden armor, and then put said armor onto walk out. Jay, Hailmar, and Vania were all waiting for him on the other side.

"I thought I heard you moving around in there," Jay chuckled. "Were you having a bad dream or something?"

Cole shrugged. "Wish I could say. I can't remember what I was dreaming about…"

"Are you alright, though?" Vania asked.

"Yeah yeah, don't worry about me," Cole smiled, giving a thumbs up. "All good here."

"Good, good!" Vania smiled, continuing to walk next to Cole with a smile on her lips. Jay and Hailmar looked at one another, smiling cheekily.

Within a few minutes, they made it to the Grand Hall for the feast - the scent was heavenly. Sky Folk, palace guards, Geckles, and Munce all mingled happily in the midst of the Grand Hall, even with some Minos allowed inside. There was a table in the very forefront of the room, where at least fifteen seats were placed - the Ninja, Upply, Gulch, and Murtessa were all at this table.

"There he is!" Kai said, pointing at Cole. "Was worried you wouldn't make it, buddy!"

"Sorry, hehe, overslept," Cole said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, you're here now, aren't you?" asked Nya. "That's what matters!"

Cole smiled, and then pulled Vania's chair out for her - like any gentleman should. She chirped happily, thanking the Earth ninja and happily seating herself. A few people had looked over, and Pixal had placed her fingers over her mouth, a small smile on her lips.

Cole saw this, and he decided it was probably best to sit down before there were more eyes staring him down. His heated cheeks were concealed by Chompy running up next to Vania, sitting down like a patient puppy.

"Chompy!" she giggled. "There you are, you silly boy! Were you out in the garden again?"

Chompy gave her an innocent smile. Wu, who was on the other side of Vania next to the Upply's seats, laughed heartily. "What a magnificent creature," he smiled, petting Chompy on the head, who happily nuzzled into the touch.

"He certainly is," Vania smiled.

Gulch then spoke up from his seat in between Kai and Zane. "I do not mean to sound rude, but shouldn't appetizers be out right now?"

"They should be, Chancellor," said Fungus, tapping his chin. "I'll go and see what the hold-up is. Be right back!"

Fungus then walked over to the kitchen, and the rest of the occupants of the royal table began to fall into conversation.

"So… if you don't mind me asking, a-and anyone can answer," said Lloyd, "what happened to Vangelis?"

"He… he's gone," Vania answered honestly.

"Oh, oh Vania," Cole whispered, "I-I'm so sorry. I know he was still your father-"

"Oh no no no, he's not dead!" Vania said quickly. "Well… maybe. We don't know - what I meant was, one day, we came to check on him in his cell, and he wasn't there. Not a trace, no sign of breaking out, just straight up gone."

"We think someone may have broken him out," Hailmar said, shrugging. "Other than that, we have no other assumptions as to what happened. Well, none that make sense at least."

"Vangelis just disappearing doesn't make sense though," Zane said. "So logically, any conspiracy theories could hold a grain of truth."

"If we don't mind, can we divert conversation from him?" asked Korgran. "Evil king not exactly a lively topic to talk about."

"Very true, Korgran," Wu said. "Chancellor, Queen - how are your individual peoples doing?"

"The Geckles are well!" Gulch smiled.

"As are the Munce," Murtessa added happily. "There've even been Munce and Geckle weddings! Who would ever think the day would come?" "Adam's now officiated his fair share of those weddings, haven't ya buddy?" Plundar asked, and Adam wiggled in happiness.

At that exact moment, Fungus came back to the table, with his own plate with an appetizer on it. "It may… be a moment."

"So you got yourself some, but none of us?" asked Plundar, raising a brow. "Wow."

"Look man, I've not had anything since breakfast - and that was very light! And you all haven't had to deal with Gordon," Fungus made his case.

At that exact moment, everyone heard a loud bang from the kitchen, along with a very profane voice that sounded like a Geckle. Gulch cringed - Gordon was an absolute boss of a chef… but his culinary expertise came at the cost of his filter.

Murtessa poked him in the ribs with a giggle. "Your problem."

"Shut up."