Second to last chapter of the Christmas arc! Yes!

So we meet Lou and Melissa this chapter, and we get to see why Nya and Jay are avoiding each other. I hope you enjoy.

I do not own the song used in this chapter, and I have no earthly idea who does, so if someone knows and can tell me, that'd be great.

The group still had about six hours before Lou and Melissa were coming back, so they decided to pay a visit to the mall. The guys were currently at the jewelry store.

"Why are we here?" Jay asked Cole as they approached the display.

"I need to get something. You didn't have to tag along."

"Eh, got nothing better to do." Jay shrugged.

"Well if it isn't Colton Brookstone." The three men turned to see a dark haired man from behind the counter come towards them. "Haven't seen you in a while."

"Nice to see you, too, Hank. Collins University not work out?"

"No, I'm just here for the holidays. This is my parents' store. What brings you by?"

"I need to pick up a gift I ordered for my girlfriend."

Hank stared before laughing. Then he noticed Cole's annoyed face. "Oh you're serious."

"What do you mean?" Cole asked, even though he already knew the answer and was praying that Zane and Jay had wandered off.

"I, I mean, the entire school, thought you were gay."

At that point, Jay started crying with laughter. Even Zane let out a few chuckles.

"Oh man," Jay managed to get out, "I totally see why everyone thought it. It would explain- AAAH!" Cole interrupted him with an elbow to the rib cage, which only led to Jay continuing to cry in laughter on the ground.

"Anyways, do you have an order for me?"

Hank looked through the cards in the order folder until he found the one before going to the drawer behind the counter and pulling out a small box. "I assume this is it?"

Cole peeked inside, grinned, and closed it. "Perfect. Thank you, Hank."

Hank then turned to the other guys. "If you guys have special ladies in your lives, feel free to check out our selection. We have a special necklace deal. Personalized charm necklaces for 30." He pulled out a small display of charms.

Jay looked at the display until one caught his eyes; a red and blue dragon. He remembered Nya telling him about her love of dragons as a child.

"I'll take this one." He picked up the dragon.

"Excellent choice." Hank took it from him and grabbed a silver chain and a small box, carefully stringing the necklace and placing it inside. Jay paid, took the box, and went to go grab a pretzel at the Auntie Anne's next door, Cole not far behind. Zane watched as his friends left before turning to Hank.

"Are there any other branches of this store?" He asked.

"Sure, Ignacia, Jamanikai-"

"Is there a way I could place an order to be sent to this address in Jamanikai?" He handed Hank a slip of paper.

"No problem. What did you have in mind?"


"Nya, can we ask you something?"

Said girl turned to see Bri and Maria behind her. They were currently in Forever 21.

"Sure. What's up?"

"What's the deal with you and Jay?"

That caught Nya off guard. "What do you mean?"

"You've been avoiding him since the ice rink." Bri said.

"You avoided my question at the karaoke place." Maria brought up.

"And it is very clear you like him." Bri finished.

"Of course I like him, he's my friend." Nya said.

"Not what I meant."

"He likes you, too. What's stopping you?" Maria asked again.

Nya sighed. "Can we talk somewhere more private?"

Maria led the group to a dressing room. They sat Nya down as she began to tell them her story.

"Yes, I like Jay, but I'm terrified of dating anyone at this point. This whole thing with Kai has put up walls I never wanted up."

"Who's Kai?" Maria asked.

"Her biological brother who she hasn't seen until this year. He treated her like an ass and she lashed out at him. Your brother actually gave him a black eye, it was hilarious." Bri began to chuckle until she saw Nya's glare. "Sorry."

"I'm afraid that Jay will treat me differently if we start dating." Nya said.

"Okay," Bri sat next to Nya. "I've known Jay for almost a year now. Let me just say he's terrified of dating cause he doesn't want women to find out he's a huge nerd. But he really likes you and is terrified you'll start treating him differently, too."

"I would never do that."

"Neither would Jay."

Nya took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll see what I can do."

"Great." Maria clapped her hands together. "Now that that's settled, let's go to Hot Topic."

"What?" Bri asked.

"Hey, I still need to get shopping done."


"Manolo, down!" Lou said as he entered the house. "Maria! We're back!"

"Living room, Papa!"

Melissa was the first to enter the room, her eyes trained on one individual. "Nicolo!"

Cole braced himself as his 13 year old sister tackled him. He hugged her back.

"Nicolo?" Jay asked while laughing.

"This is an Italian family. What do you expect? We all have ridiculous names." Maria told him. "Cole, why don't you introduce your friends?"

"Right." Cole pried his little sister away before he introduced the guests. "Dad, this is Zane and Jay, my two best friends, Nya, my girlfriend's best friend, and Bri, my girlfriend." When her name was called, Bri went up and slipped her hand into Cole's before extending her other one.

"It is very nice to meet you, sir. The Royal Blacksmiths were my favorite group as a little kid." She managed to get out without hyperventilating.

"Wonderful to meet you, too my dear. How did you manage to capture the heart of my son?" Lou told her while shaking her hand.

"No offense, but it was he who captured my heart." She kissed Cole on the cheek while Cole blushed.

"Maria, I thought you said Cole was-" Melissa was telling her sister before Cole interrupted.

"Okay! No more of that! I'm most definitely not!" Everyone in the room giggled at the Brookstone sibling squabble.

"How about some carols?" Maria asked. "You guys interested?"

"Cole has told me that you have an impressive set of pipes, Bri." Lou agreed.

"Well, I mean, sure, but I'm not-"

"Bri, calm down." Cole whispered to her.

"Right." She took a deep breath. "I would love to sing."

After a bit of rearranging things, Lou was playing the piano as Bri got ready to sing.

"I'm dreaming tonight of a place I love

Even more than I usually do

And although I know it's a long road back

I promise you..."

Everyone was in awe of Bri's voice as she sang I'll be Home for Christmas, especially Cole. Sure they were in the music program together, but he never got tired of her beautiful voice.

During the performance, Nya and Jay traded glances. They hadn't talked about their feeling yet, and based on a talk with Maria earlier ("the house may be huge, but there will always be someone intruding on something") it wouldn't happen for a while. But she didn't let go of her hope.

As for Jay, he had talked with Zane and Cole earlier and told him to just be himself. He was worried about not being the right guy for Nya, but now that some of his doubt was released, he really wanted to talk (and knowing Jay, talk and talk and talk) to her.

When Bri finished her solo, she took a little bow as everyone clapped.

"Bri, that was marvelous. You really are wonderful."

"Thank you, Sir." She said before fainting. Everyone rushed over.

"Is she okay?" Melissa asked.

"Yeah, she's just having a major fangirl breakdown. She'll be fine." Cole said as he picked her up.

And to this day, Bri still hasn't gotten over the complement one of her favorite singers gave her.

Again, Bri is me. And poor Cole. I'm sorry, but I bet we have all thought he was gay at some point. I mean, Bri has been an OC of mine that's his girlfriend since Ninjago came out, but I still would probably believe it.

ANYWAY, enough of me rambling, next chapter is the last of the Christmas arc before we meet the Walkers (and two of our mystery characters) and spend New Year's with them. Then we spend the rest of break with Nya's foster family (the Garmadons) and that will be it! I hope to get to writing more of the college AU soon (actually I do have the first chapter or so written, so I don't know what's stopping me from posting it).

I'll get that last chapter out soon, but till then, this is Gold Medal Ninja