Chapter 6
Amicability of Others

.:Nya:.

Nya softly sighed as she continued to watch as the sun slowly disappeared behind the horizon, letting its colours linger in the sky. Dashes of dandelion yellow and carrot orange blended in behind the long trails of clouds while the horizon was flaring in candy red.

Although her amber eyes were taking in the scene, her ears could hear footsteps coming towards the tree she was perched in. It wasn't the only thing she could hear; she could hear the wind rustling the leaves, the chirps of crickets and the tweets from the birds. But judging from the slight heaviness to the footsteps, Nya knew it was her brother.

She didn't move from her position in the tree. Heck, she didn't even move her head to acknowledge her own brother. No, she just continued to stare at the sunset… Or more like the remaining rays of light over the far mountain range. Soon, the sound of her brother climbing the tree met her ears which made her shuffle over to give enough room for him to sit on the branch.

"Ugh, I'm getting too old for this," Kai said as he finally settled himself next to her.

Nya let the tiniest of smiles enter her lips when these words reached her ears. That was one of the things she loved about Kai – he just knew what to say to make her feel better. He could depart the bittersweet truth; he could give wisdom or make a wise-crack joke just to lift the mood.

"I can't begin to imagine what you'll be like in fifty years' time when you're in your sixties."

"Probably getting spoon-fed, living the life of the riches."

"Sounds nice… until you're too old that you can't even wipe your own butt."

"Okay, that's just gross," Kai pouted but Nya softly chuckled, allowing herself to lean onto her brother.

His arm immediately wrapped around her shoulder and his radiating warmth warmed her up. For many minutes, they didn't say anything. They just watched as the sky began to darken while a couple stars had finally decided to bless them with their presence. Dim as it may be, Nya still found it to be a spectacular sight.

"… How's your shoulder?" Kai softly asked, resulting Nya to sigh as her mind went to the scalding wound on her right shoulder which throbbed in pain once in a while.

"Okay… I guess," Nya murmured.

"I still think we should run away."

"And go where? We got no money… And what about Dad's store?"

"I rather have you safe and away from him," Kai hissed lowly, his body tensing with anger but Nya wrapped her arms around her brother, knowing this would immediately sooth him.

"Just… whatever happens, promise to never leave me… okay?"

"Of course. Well… If your life depended on it, I might-"

"No. I don't want to lose you too…" Nya whispered.

She felt her brother shift in her arms and when she looked up, he looked down to her with a soft look in his eyes.

"You won't lose me. Ever. Maybe we might get separated but no matter what, I promise to always find you and stay by your side."

"Good… I just can't lose you… Not after Mum and Dad-"

"And you won't," Kai repeated before bringing her close into a tight hug. "Now you have to promise me you won't go either."

"Of course. I'll stick to you like a bad smell."

"Great to know," Kai sarcastically muttered with a dramatic roll of his eyes but Nya just laughed.

When Nya woke up, she slowly and reluctantly opened her amber eyes to be greeted with the roof of the dorm she shared with Jay. She blinked a couple times, allowing her eyes to adjust to the sunlight that penetrated through the window and curtain. She turned her head over to see Jay was still sleeping, pillow tucked in his arms like a teddy bear.

It had been two weeks since Jay had given her that tea… Two weeks since her last nightmare. Nya couldn't believe it but that tea made her sleep just like a baby. Most nights, she fell asleep into a dreamless slumber. Some nights, she would have some weird but pleasant dreams… And some nights, she would have a memory. A happy memory with either her parents or her brother.

The effects of this were immediate. The bags under her eyes slowly began to fade. Nya felt this newfound energy that she didn't think she would ever have again and the chain reaction it had was great. She was more attentive in class and she found that her endurance would be much better in training. Jay must had noticed because every night, he made her drink two cups of that tea – not that Nya was complaining. If it kept the nightmares contained, then she would happily drink it.

But today, today was something new. Why? Because their small grade of approximately thirty students was heading to Misako's Academy for Young Independent Women – Lloyd's mother's academy.

Truth be told, Nya was extremely nervous. As a young girl, she didn't interact with girls. Just the boys. When she was on the run for a few months, Nya avoided long interactions with anyone. Now, they were going to an all-girls school and then get partnered up with a girl to work on a project. What if her partner would easily distinguish that she was a girl? Girls were a lot more observant than boys – well, with the exception of Zane but Nya was sure he didn't know that she was a girl.

Lloyd and Jay didn't share her nervousness. Nope. Both boys were looking forward to seeing the girls. (*cough* T-Testosterone *cough*) They were excited to see the girls since they complain they rarely see any and they weren't even allowed score her 'sister'. But apparently, they were most excited to seeing Skylor who was supposedly this very pretty and intelligent girl… However, she was hard to get.

"Every time we go over to their school to do these collaborations, everyone in our grade would try to pick her up but…she keeps brushing us off. Almost like how you did when you first came except she's much politer about it." Jay had explained. "And normally, after six weeks of collaborations, their school holds this annual ball for both academies' students. For the last three years, she went solo with her friends."

"Did she at least dance with anyone?"

"Yeah. Just Lloyd since he's her headmistress' son…"

"Kai… You up? That's a first."

Nya looked over to her roommate's bed to see the occupier was sitting up, yawning and rubbing the sleep away from his eyes.

"Whatever. We better get ready," Nya dismissively said as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed to prepare herself for the day.

"Get ready? Ready for what? We don't have sunrise exercise today- OH! We're seeing the girls!"

And like that, her roommate rushed out of bed, making Nya shake her head with a chuckle on the tip of her tongue. She gathered all the things she needed from her bag and headed straight for the bathroom. With that, she prepared herself for the day: retightening the bandages around her chest and putting the muscle suit on again… which was actually getting tighter with each passing week.

Since Nya had been intensively training in sunrise exercises and training with her team, along with having food every day, her body was changing before her. She was no longer scrawny looking and the muscle mass kept building. Even in her face, her sullen cheeks and eyes looked a little fuller but not so much in a feminine way (in which Nya would be forever grateful for).

Nya made sure her uniform was straight and her hair was perfect before exiting to only see Jay already dressed up, his hair actually combed back for once with… hair gel in it as well? Nya couldn't help but actually laugh at the sight… which only made the boy in front of her flush in embarrassment.

"What? Stop laughing at me."

"Really? You combed your hair back?"

"Well, yeah. I got to look presentable."

"Pfft, trust me. With that, all the girls will stay away from you," Nya teased as she began to pack her bag with the essentials she would be needing.

"What do you mean?"

"Girls like tousled hair. Bed hair," Nya replied, thinking about her preferences in guys.

"So why do you style your hair like that then?"

"Because I like to be different."

"Or look ridiculous."

"Hey, I'm not the one who have a hairstyle of a 'Momma's Boy'."

.::.

Misako's Academy for Young Independent Women was a lot bigger than Wu's Academy for Boys, like five times bigger – then again, not all boys want to learn martial arts while the girls would want to get into any prestigious academic school. The school building stood tall underneath the clear sky, the sunlight slightly reflecting off the pristine beige bricks of the building. A massive garden surrounded the school, filled with exotic flora. It… It almost looked like a palace. Just… a much smaller version with not as exquisite architecture.

However, all the boys were currently in the gymnasium, sitting on bleachers on one side of the courts while girls were all on the other side in their uniforms which consisted of blue plaid skirts, white blouse and a grey blazer. In addition, they had grey high socks with black leather shoes. Unlike the grey training uniform, Wu's Academy was actually a somewhat darker version. They had a dark navy blue blazer with a white dress shirt underneath and dark blue tie. Then they had dark grey dress pants with black loafers.

Many of the girls were in clusters, giggling and staring at the boys while the boys winked and wave, trying to appear charming. Nya honestly rolled her eyes at the whole thing. It was utterly ridiculous. She was sitting next to Lloyd and Jay who were even winking and charmingly smiling at the girls. Nya looked down the bleaches to see Cole doing the same while Zane was reading out of a book. Looking to her left, she saw Dareth holding up a handheld mirror and combing his hair back.

Nya was glad that Jay actually ditched the whole neat hair profile and messed it up. He definitely looked a lot better… hotter actually.

Stop it, Nya! Jay's your roommate. He's barely even your friend.

But… It's still okay to appreciate one's appearance, right?

Not continuously! It'd been approximately three months since you've been in this school. No more ogling at cute and hot guys; you were supposed to get that out of the way in your first week.

So, Nya sighed, sinking down in her seat with her arms folded over her chest.

"There she is!"

"Where?"

"How can you not see? Her hair is a dead giveaway!"

"I still can't see- oh, there."

Nya looked over to Jay and Lloyd who had craned their heads higher and following their line of vision, Nya saw that they were looking at a very pretty redhead.

The one thing that made her stand out the most was her flaming red hair which cascaded down to her back in soft waves and perfectly framed her heart-shaped face. From the far distance Nya was at, she could distinguish the girl's sharp facial features, strikingly defined jawline and high cheekbones. Despite sitting down, the girl seemed to be slightly taller than the average height and the uniform seemed to fit her slim figure perfectly… Making Nya a little jealous.

Yeah, Skylor was gorgeous. No wonder why the entire grade of thirty boys wanted to try and date her.

"Checking her out too, Kai?"

"Huh?" Nya asked as she looked to the two boys who were staring back at her.

"I think he was," Jay snickered before Lloyd shortly burst into laughter, making the girl narrow her eyes at them.

"I was not checking out Skylor."

"You were looking at her."

"I was just seeing what the whole fuss is about," Nya mumbled, rolling her eyes as the two boys continued to laugh. "She's attractive but I don't get why you guys obsess over her-"

"We do not obsess over her!" Jay quickly gasped.

"Ever since headmaster Wu announced that we were going here for our collaboration project, you two won't not shut up about her," Nya sighed. "It's annoying."

"Hmm… Kai, do you have a girlfriend back at home or something?"

"W-What?" Nya choked, not expecting that question from Lloyd.

"Just asking. You're not interested in any relationship whatsoever – whether that's with Dareth or trying to take out one of these girls."

"Kai in a relationship? I feel sorry for his girlfriend if he ever had one," Jay snorted, making Nya glare at him.

"I'm not in any relationship but I'm sure if I were to be in one, it would last much longer than any relationship you two could ever imagine yourselves into," Nya hotly retorted, resulting Jay to gasp while Lloyd laughed. "I'll forever feel sorry for any girl that wants to end up with either one of you."

"No girl can ever resist this charm," Jay cockily stated but Nya rolled her eyes, Lloyd laughing even harder.

"What charm?"

"This charming smile," Jay confidently stated as he looked over to her, blue eyes staring straight into her amber ones.

Then, he smiled; his lips stretched out to show his perfectly aligned teeth and faint dimples crinkled at the edge of his lips. Nya felt her heart skip a beat. There was just… something about the way that he smiled. Nya didn't know what but it made her nervous – nervous in the way that butterflies were trying to desperately escape from the pit of her stomach.

"So, still think I got no charm?" Jay asked, brow cocked and raised.

Nya nervously looked away, answering with a "no."

"Can I grab your attention," a voice suddenly called out. Nya immediately redirected her thoughts away from the same Jay had given her and to the woman that stood in the centre of the gymnasium with Wu and Garmadon on either side of her. It had to be Misako, the headmistress of this academy. "I like to officially welcome the students from Master Wu's Academy for Boys to our academy. As you're all aware, it has come to that time of year where your grade comes to work on a collaborative project with a student from the other academy. This year, your project is to write an elaborate and thoroughly detailed paper on the history of one of the martial arts."

"Awww man, I hate history," Jay grumbled.

"We are expecting ten thousand words and for the final paper to be submitted in six weeks' time," Wu next announced.

"Ten thousand words in six weeks? How are we supposed to fit that in with our training?" Lloyd sighed.

"But it's a collaborative project. We don't have to do ten thousand words ourselves," Nya reminded.

"Still…" Jay groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I guess we just have to cut our training shorter…"

"Let's announce the pairings: Gravis Allum with Chamille Davies. Cole Brookstone with Sally Packwood…"

"Have fun with her, Dirt Clog," Nya heard Jay mutter under his breath while Lloyd snorted.

"What's wrong with Sally?" The disguised girl asked, a small frown on her lips.

"She was my partner last year and she would not stop talking. I thought I talk a lot but she talks way more than me," Jay replied.

"Well I hope I'm not with Charlotte again. That girl was crushing way too hard on me last year," Lloyd shivered.

"… Lloyd Garmadon with Toxita Kayes."

"She must be new," Lloyd murmured.

"Nah, I know her. She's the one with the green hair. See? At the bottom row?"

"That's her?"

"Yup. Have fun with that," Jay snickered while Nya rolled her eyes.

"…Zane Julien with Pixal Borg."

"I'm actually not so surprised," Lloyd mused.

"Why?" Nya asked, looking to the two boys.

"Pixal is the adoptive daughter of Professor Borg."

"What? Really?"

"And Zane's father, Dr. Julien is also a professor in this academy for robotics."

"You're kidding."

"Nope," both boys chorused, emphasis on the 'p'.

"… Dareth Sandford with Abigail Watters. Kai Smith…"

Nya immediately perked up upon hearing her brother's and her alias' name. She looked over to Lloyd's mother whose eyes were attached to the long parchment in her hand.

"…with Skylor Chen."

"What?!" She heard Lloyd and Jay gasp while Nya felt herself froze.

I'm with… Skylor? The girl that Jay and Lloyd were obsessing over? The girl that the whole grade actually wanted to date? The same girl I had just said earlier was… ugh. Just what I need.

Nya slightly scowled when all the boys on the bleachers turned to look at her, immediately signalling her out to Skylor's stare which Nya could easily feel from across the gymnasium. However, this didn't stop Misako from continuing on announcing the next pairs.

"Dude, you're so lucky," Jay groaned, stilling having yet to find out who he was going to be partnered with. "There's barely any decent girls left that haven't been paired up with anyone."

"Not all girls are bad," Nya hotly stated, narrowing her eyes at Jay. "Just because they aren't attractive doesn't mean that they have horrible personalities."

"Still doesn't hurt to have an attractive- ow! What the hell, Kai?" Jay hissed once Nya had reached over Lloyd (who was now snickering) and punched her roommate on the shoulder.

"Maybe that's why you haven't picked up Skylor yet since she knows you're going after the looks."

"I-I-I do not! I mean it's a bonus if they have looks- ow! Stop hitting me! Let me get my point across! I like a girl with intelligence who doesn't mind getting her hands dirty. Skylor fits that! Ow, you can actually hit really hard."

"It's called being pissed," Nya muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why don't you hit Lloyd too?"

"Hey, don't bring me into this!"

"I mean he wants Skylor too!"

"Jay, any louder? I don't think she have heard yet," Lloyd muttered sarcastically. "But you obsess over her more than me."

"I do not," Jay huffed.

"… Jay Walker with Cathy Pearson."

"Jay… Isn't that the girl who really obsesses over you?" Lloyd asked.

"… Unfortunately."

.::.

"So… You must be new."

After each student found their partners, the girls took the boys to different studying spots of the academy to get to know each other and to also start their project. Nya definitely did not miss the way the boys' (on the exceptions of Dareth) eyes practically glared at her as she followed Skylor out of the gymnasium.

But seeing Skylor even closer made Nya understand even more why Skylor was so wanted amongst the boys. Apart from her sharp jawline and high cheek bones, Skylor also was accompanied with a small nose, giving her sharply defined face a softer feature while her lips were had a natural paleness to them but the upper lip was thin while the bottom was more plump. Then there were her eyes. Nya had never seen grey eyes but Skylor had them; they were as grey as steel, bordered with thick lashes.

"Yeah… I only came three months ago," Nya said quietly, still keeping her voice low and deep.

The two were currently in the gardens. They were just in the library, lending old books and scrolls on Kenjutsu (since Skylor asked her which one they should do and Nya just said Kenjutsu since that was the one she knew the most) before anyone else could get them; but now, the two were underneath a large and shady oak tree where chords of light streamed through the vivid green leaves and created irregular patterns on the lush grass.

"That new, huh? How are you liking it?" The redhead nicely asked, voice clear and smooth as she had already opened a textbook.

"It's fine," Nya answered curtly.

Did guys talk differently to girls? Nya wasn't too sure. Back in Ignacia, she had never seen a guy-to-girl conversation. Of course, it was different for her interacting with other guys since she wasn't the typical girl. Nya had seen Kai flirt before but… yeah, Nya wasn't definitely not going to flirt with Skylor. That would be just too weird.

"Really? I thought you would find it difficult."

"How come?" Nya questioned as she looked to Skylor but, the girl immediately did not like the look that was on the redhead's face.

"Being a girl disguised as a guy isn't that easy."

Nya gasped. She couldn't believe it. She had gone for three months without being discovered or even setting off a slight suspicion among any of the boys. Heck, she sleeps in the same room as Jay and if anyone should be having suspicions, it should be him! Yet, less than ten minutes with this girl, she had managed to figure out Nya's biggest secret.

"I-I… I don't k-know what you're talking a-about," Nya pathetically said, trying to shake off Skylor's accusation but even Nya could tell her voice was anything but convincing.

"Hey, your secret is safe with me," Skylor ended up laughing while Nya looked away, feeling her heart pound in her chest.

Of all the months she had been on the run alone, no one had ever gave any suspicion of her being a girl in disguise and Nya wanted things to remain that way – it meant a less chance of her uncle finding where she was. If word gets out that a girl was impersonating her brother, Aidan was going to instantly know it was her and find her immediately.

"… How did you find out?" Nya asked, trying not to panic but she had to ask Skylor this. Did she slip up? Was her disguise not strong enough? Agh, how could she fix this?

"I'm observant. I'm guessing none of the boys got a slight suspicion?"

"None at all…"

"You disguise is good, don't get me wrong. I only figured it out when we were going through the library," Skylor simply stated before tilting her head in interest. "So… What's your real name?"

"… Nya," the girl softly said.

The name was oddly foreign on her tongue. When Cole, Lloyd and Jay were talking to her about 'Kai's sister', Nya only referred to herself as 'sister'. She never told them her real name. For the last nine months, Nya hadn't mentioned her own name in so long or heard anyone say it.

"Nya. Pretty name," Skylor said with a soft smile. "And I'm guessing Kai is… a relative? Brother?"

"Brother…" Nya quietly said, no longer bothering to keep her voice low.

"… He's dead, isn't he?"

"… I don't want to talk about it," Nya dismissively stated, sitting up straighter as she immediately grabbed a textbook and opened to any random page, trying to give the impression to Skylor that she didn't want to talk about it.

"I get it. Sorry, it's not my place to ask such personal questions but your secret is safe with me. I promise."

Nya turned her head to look at Skylor, her amber eyes peering into grey eyes… And in that moment, Nya just suddenly knew she could trust the redhead.

"Thanks."

Here you all are! Just like I'd promised, a much longer chapter! Unfortunately, the next six days I got work (insert groan), but fortunately, I already got the next chapter written up so once again, I'll be updating the same time next week! But massive thanks to: Jaell, Guest, RandomDragon2.0, MortalNinja, AuroraRain18, Just Someone Not Important, Natalie Singe, unknown, Cerenda and all my silent readers for supporting me!

Jaell: Awww thanks! I'm feeling much better now which is also unfortunate since work wants me back T.T

Guest: Thank you! You're too sweet. There are many other great writers here that are better than me xD

MortalNinja: Thanks bro!

AuroraRain18: Yes! Mulan is my favourite princess Disney movie too! But I gotta admit, they probably won't hook up until… chapter 12? But they'll start developing feelings soon! ;)

Just Someone Not Important: Yeah, sorry about that, but my favourite thing is to leave readers in suspense and make them wait. It just makes the reveal so special since it's something that has been anticipated for so long.

Natalie Singe: Star gazing is incredibly pretty! I've been a few years ago with my dad to take pictures (since he does photography as a hobby) but where I went with my friends was literally pitch dark, far from civilisation which made the stars' light seem so much brighter. And yes, we saw the milky way and even some nebulas! It was spectacular and something I would recommend to everyone!

Cerenda: I got to admit, your username is so unique, I love it! Anyway, back to your review, I haven't actually decided if Dareth will find out if Nya is actually a girl. Obviously Jay will for obvious reasons and others (who I won't name for the sake of secrecy for my story ;) ) but I haven't thought about Dareth. And I actually live in Australia so it's winter here :)

Once again, thank you to everyone for your lovely support. Feel free to leave a comment or PM me to talk about improvements or suggestions I could use to make this story more enjoyable for you to read! Until next time! Xoxo – ZaneLoverFan88