Hi there! I sincerely apologize for not uploading for two weeks, but I have had MAJOR writer's block and only got to see my friend to have her edit the chapter today. Thus, there is something extra I will upload later today under a different title, called "Tsuresara Meeting".
Alexia sat in her room, listening to music, bobbing her head to the tune while she looked out the window at the rain.
"Hey, Alexia?" Lane walked in, closing the door behind her. "What are you hiding?"
"I told you, there's nothing wrong." Alexia insisted.
"Really? What was going on with you and your family before we go transported here?" Lane sat on the other end of the bed, looking at Alexia. Alexia turned away from her, in an attempt to keep Lane from noticing the remains of her tears. "Alexia, what's wrong? Why won't you talk about it?"
"I said, there's nothing wrong." Alexia hoped her tone of voice would tell her to end the subject, but it only made Lane suspicious.
Fortunately for Alexia, Moppet walked into the room. "I think I may have upset Cole." She said cheerfully, lying down on her bed and yawning.
"How?" Lane asked, on the edge of the bed, clearly eager to know.
"I told him that his food really is disgusting." Moppet replied.
"Well, it was the truth. I'm going to make dinner, so expect something edible." Lane left the room, but not before looking at Alexia again.
Just what's going on with Alexia? Lane wondered. She shrugged it off for the time being and entered the kitchen, surprised to find Zane already in there. "I thought I said I was cooking dinner."
Zane fought back a slight blush. "You did, but I decided to help." He said.
This was one of the biggest lies he'd ever told, mostly because he didn't usually lie. Truthfully, he'd never seen a girl like Lane. The way she was, caring about her little sister even as she loved to pick on Moppet, being more like Alexia's twin sister than a friend, and being perfectly honest about people without really caring about their reactions. It enchanted him, but a rather large part of him thought it was hopeless. After all, he was a robot, and it would be normal for Lane to freak out if she found out.
"Zane? Zane? You in there?" Lane smiled, and Zane's stomach flipped over.
"Y-yes, sorry about that." He stammered.
"Well, come on. If we're going to make dinner, may as well start now." Lane told him, turning around to put a pan on the stove. Zane sighed softly wishing for what he thought was impossible; Lane falling for him.
Back in girl's room...
Alexia continued to cry silently while Moppet took another nap. Looking out the window, Alexia touched her upper right arm lightly. Even that gentle of a touch sent a sharp wave of pain up her arm. Rolling her sleeve up, Alexia could again see the vivid blue-and-purple bruise from the day before they had come to Ninjago.
Flashback
Alexia's father walked into the house, late and drunk again. "Where's that useless girl?" He yelled, filling the house with his voice.
"She's in her room." Alexia's legally insane mother sang, not caring for her daughter.
"ALEXIA! Get down here!" Her father screamed.
Alexia went downstairs to find her father red in the face and his hands in fists.
"You great damn idiot! Why did you steal from me again? I was missing fifty dollars at the bar for my bets!" Her father bellowed.
"I swear, it wasn't me!" Alexia tried to say, but her father put her in a choke hold.
"I don't like it when you lie! You're the only one who would do it!" He screamed again, and slapped her. Hard. He took out his belt and whipped her shoulder, but Alexia refused to scream or wither in pain. When she didn't scream or even cry after her father had bruised and beaten her for twenty minutes, he let her go and Alexia ran to her room where she began to sob.
"That girl's sooooo worthless." Her mother sang. "Not like Kevin, who's a dear angel."
Her father nodded. "Kevin's going to grow up successful while we'll probably have to live with Alexia for the next twenty years until we kick her out."
Up in her room, Alexia continued to sob as her entire body ached from the abuse her father had delivered. Every time she shed another tear, Alexia couldn't resist looking at the knife she had once used to deform her skin, still red from the dried blood. It called out to her.
Don't you want to end it? The knife sang. Just throw me into your chest, and everything ends.
Alexia was tempted but managed to fall asleep, still living, but not without wishing dearly for a miracle, such as her family just disappearing.
End Flashback
A sound drew Alexia out of her memories. Turning to face the door, she saw Nya standing in doorway. "Dinner's ready." She said cheerfully. Alexia nodded and shook Moppet until the younger girl woke up from her nap. Moppet yawned and rubbed her eyes, rolling over as if she could get some more sleep but Alexia dragged her out of bed.
"I wanted more sleep." Moppet complained.
"Anymore sleep and you won't be able to sleep tonight. Come on, it's dinnertime." Alexia told her. Moppet yawned again but walked to the dining room where Lane was setting out dinner.
"Looks good." Nya commented.
"Exactly. I made sure to this was actually edible." Lane said with a smile.
"Come on, my food's edible." Cole said, coming into the room.
Alexia, Lane, and Moppet looked at each other and said at the same time, "No it's not."
"They've got a point." Jay told Cole.
The insults against Cole temporarily stopped while everyone ate. Alexia and Kai sat next to each other, making it so that when their bodies had any kind of contact, the two fought back blushes.
Finally, dinner ended, and Alexia rushed to her room, with Lane following. "You're going to say what's going on, Alexia, NOW." Lane told her, hands on her hips.
Alexia groaned. "How many times must I tell you it's nothing?"
"Maybe to when I believe it. Come on, Alexia, I'm not stupid. You've been acting up ever since you mentioned your parents. What happened?" Lane said, looking Alexia in the eye.
"Okay, my parents were going to send me to boarding school." Alexia was completely lying, but managed to look sincere. Lane smiled.
"That's it? Girl, you're fine here." Lane patted Alexia's shoulder. "Let's try to get some sleep."
Look, a cute puppy! Wait, never mind, it's a Page Break. My bad, false alarm cute squad!
Cute squad: AWW!
That night, Alexia tossed and turned, her dreams becoming worse and worse. The final straw was watching a girl slash her arms. When the girl turned around, Alexia recoiled; it was her, but her eyes were outlined with black, her hair was ragged, and her face was gaunt and gray.
Screaming, Alexia awoke. She panted, wiping sweat from her forehead. Looking around, she saw Lane and Moppet both fast asleep.
It's my burden to bear, not hers. Alexia told herself, getting out of bed. She walked out onto the deck. The stars were twinkling, peeking out from behind the clouds. A breeze rippled at Alexia's hair. She leaned off the deck, hanging onto the deck. Somehow, she couldn't take her eyes off of the ground below. Just one jump, and it ends. A single moment of pain, nothing more.
Tears gushed out of Alexia's eyes as she began to cry. She started to sob heavily, finding that once she had started, she couldn't stop.
After ten minutes of sobbing, Alexia managed to get herself under control. Looking at her arm, the scars of white glistened back at her. Rummaging in her pocket, Alexia produced the knife she had used. The parts of the knife that were not blood covered shined in the moonlight. It hovered over her arm, threatening to slice.
"Stop it. You quit. You're over your addiction. You're clean." Alexia whispered, but the emotion and fear in her heart said otherwise. Finally, the knife was brought down once. For one blissful moment, Alexia's pain began to leave her again. Then she heard something behind her. Turning around, Alexia couldn't see anything, but when her vision returned to her arm, her eyes widened at the blood and gore there. The hand holding the knife shook terribly and the weapon slipped out of her grasp, landing the on the deck.
Alexia backed away from the knife before she turned and ran inside, closing the bedroom door behind her. Panting, Alexia sat on her bed and looked at her arm. The cut was a few inches long and jagged. Blood still flowed freely from the wound. Alexia ripped one of the shirts Nya had given her and wrapped it around the cut before lying down on her bed again.
At least no one saw me. She told herself. But she was wrong.
Kai had been having trouble sleeping when he heard Alexia outside. Curious, he had intended to talk with her when Alexia took out the knife. After her first cut, Kai started to walk towards Alexia until she had turned around. When Alexia ran away, Kai picked up the knife. The fresh blood dripped off the knife, sickening him.
What's going on? Kai wondered. He threw the knife overboard and returned to bed, thinking.
Hours later...
At dawn Alexia awoke again. Looking at her arm, Alexia undid the makeshift bandage. The cut had healed to the point of the skin closing. She washed off the dried blood and changed for exercise. The problem was when Alexia entered the training room, someone was already there.
Kai hadn't been able to sleep so he went into the training room, working out while shirtless. He heard Alexia and turned around to find her practically naked again. Both felt their bodies grow warmer as they took in the person in front of them.
Alexia couldn't help but notice Kai's well-toned abs, as well as his nicely tanned skin. His spiked brown hair was damp from sweating, and he almost looked like a swimsuit model, but to Alexia, he was much hotter. Kai, for his part, saw Alexia's long, silk-like hair flowing her back, her incredibly flat stomach, and her tight curves. Both could barely keep themselves from going towards the other person. Finally, Alexia spoke.
"So... why are you here at the crack of dawn?" She asked, trying to keep her eyes level to his, a task that became harder with every passing second.
"I could ask you the same question." Kai pointed out, barely keeping eye contact.
Alexia shrugged. "I'm used to waking up early so I could exercise and get ready for school."
Kai raised an eyebrow. "You would wake up early for school?"
"What, does that make me... abnormal?" Alexia asked in turn, taking an unconscious step closer to Kai.
"No!" Kai said quickly, and when Alexia raised her own eyebrow, explained. "I mean, it just means you aren't the same as other girls. But it doesn't make you weird or abnormal either." He added the last part quickly, hoping that Alexia become angry with him.
Alexia tilted her head. "That's alright, why would you be the same as everyone else when you can be... unique?"
Kai had no answer to this, and thus the two remained in silence for several seconds, waiting to see what the other would do. After twenty seconds and seeing Kai's abs again, Alexia broke. She grabbed his shoulders, pulled him closer to herself, and kissed him passionately in the span of a heartbeat.
Even though he had been caught off-guard, Kai kissed Alexia back without a second thought. He wrapped his arms around her waist while Alexia put her hands on his chest, traveling down. She tickled his abs, and Kai sighed in content. He lifted Alexia up, prompting her to wrap her legs around him.
Kai moved his lips from Alexia's and moved down to her neck, kissing and nibbling at it. Alexia giggled happily, and Kai smiled at the sound. He stuck out his tongue and began to tickle her lower left ear, resulting in more happy giggles. Alexia took her hands from Kai's chest and ran them through his spiked hair. It felt soft between her fingertips, and she played with it while Kai began sucking on her collarbone. Alexia moaned happily, her breath taken away.
Eventually, Kai let Alexia down and ran his lips to her mouth again, nibbling gently on her lower lip. Alexia moaned again, wrapping her arms around his neck.
When the few minutes of passion ended, both panted slightly, out of breath. They smiled, and their hands found each other.
"Should we... tell the others?" Kai whispered, not taking his eyes off his new girlfriend.
"And let your friends tease us, your sister be overly happy for us, Moppet be confused, and Lane be dogging your footsteps and try to hurt you for every little wrong thing? Who needs that?" Alexia asked. Kai smiled again.
"Yeah." He murmured. "But how long can we keep it quiet?"
"If they're observant, then five days tops. If they're not..." Alexia smiled, and Kai chuckled.
"I think we'll manage." He whispered, resulting in a wider smile and soft kiss from Alexia.
A/N This was NOT an implied lemon-lime. So NO reporting, NO flaming reviews on it, NO complaining to me via PM or reviews. If you guys want, I will up the rating to M, but it isn't likely.