"There," Cole said breathlessly as he deposited the last enormous stone down, leaving a small opening in the rock wall. "Jay, can you get out-?"
The rest of his sentence was cut off as Jay exploded through the small space, rain drenching him immediately. He flung himself onto the ground, buried his face in the mud, and kissed the earth soundly.
"You're weird," Lloyd noted.
"I second that," Cole grinned as Jay picked himself up, the front of his pajamas now brown with mud. "Now that our fears were all faced, wanna go back inside?"
"I'm freezing," Lloyd added.
Jay grinned. "Let's do it. Cole, did you finish the hot cocoa mix?"
"Mayyyyyybe," Cole said shiftily as he, Lloyd, and Jay made their way back through the pouring rain. "Hey, are those the other guys?"
For running toward them, still in pajamas, were Kai, Zane, Nya, and Sensei Wu. Jay began frantically trying to clean the mud off of his face.
"What in the name of the Great Devourer were you doing?" Kai yelled. A crash of thunder banged through the night. "Me and Zane woke up and you guys were gone!"
"Why are you so muddy, Jay?" Zane asked politely.
"Going out in the storm was extremely irresponsible," Sensei Wu said sternly. "Especially at night, without the whole team present, and taking Lloyd too! What were you thinking?"
"Were you thinking?" Nya raised an eyebrow. Jay groaned.
"Look, it's freezing and we're all getting wet. Can we go inside?"
"I'll make some tea," Wu decided. "You will all change your clothes and come to the kitchen. I do not wish for any of you to get sick."
"We did good tonight," Jay whispered to Lloyd as he fell into step beside Cole. "What do you think, Cole?"
"I think we did," Cole whispered back.
Lightning flooded the sky as the ninjas stepped inside, closing the door firmly behind them.