Chapter 5. Warning! This is a turning into a bit of a fluffy story! Masters of Fire and Amber, thank you so much! I'm really enjoying writing this, but I know I've loads to learn about writing so your words mean loads to me! And RandomDragon 2.0, I know eh, damn that little nindroid! He he!

Enjoy!

Hands behind his head and eyes half closed, Kai let out a huge, happy sigh as he laid back. And then sneezed as a stray piece of the long grass swishing around them in the gentle breeze tickled his nose. If you listened carefully, you could just make out the grunts and cries of the still training ninja being carried on that breeze as it wrapped around them, swirling her long hair around her shoulders and ruffling Kai's spikes. Skylor had promised Zane that she would not stray far from the monastery grounds today, and Jay had been right about this little spot, surprisingly just a ten minute walk downhill from the eastern gate, being perfect for a more private (in Jay's words romantic) picnic. Looking out to the rolling hills surrounding Ninjago city, this spot was idyllic. Kai sneezed again, lazily swotting the grass away then wriggling his body further down into the spongy vegetation surrounding him, squishing it down and making himself a soft, green mattress. Skylor struggled to remember a time when she had seen him look this content, although she could tell he was not yet fully relaxed; from those deep brown, amber flecked eyes not being fully closed to the way she could see he was subtly listening to everything around him, she needed to keep working on getting the relaxed part of this break nailed. But the not relaxing part, she guessed, was just part of being a ninja, and one of the ninja at that, who had all been through a lot over the years. Too much.

With a small sigh she went to lay down next to him, and Kai happily put his arm around her as she did so. She cradled her head into his neck.

"That was an amazing lunch." he kissed her hair gently, "Thank you."

"Food is what I do!" she grinned.

"Not only that. You are so much more than that."

"Hmm." Skylor knew what he was getting at and where he was gently trying to nudge the conversation to, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to enter into that right now. Not whilst the weather was so good and they had this time to themselves to think of anything other than…that. Time to steer away from it…

She deftly flipped over and straddled him, arms either side of his lithe body as she looked down on him as he met her gaze with a small, surprised intake of breath and widened his eyes.

"Now you be careful of that heart rate of yours!" she laughed, and his eyes sparkled with mischief in response. "I don't fancy getting iced by Zane." And she leant in, lips meeting his, breathing in that heady, Kai scent which always had a slight hint of ash and cedar wood. Her hands moved up, holding onto his which were behind his head still, and then moving down to ruffle his hair. She could feel him tense slightly at this, and a smile crept over her as she knew he was silently cursing her for messing with his hair but was too lost in the moment to stop her. Eventually she broke away, kissing his nose as she leant back up and met his intense gaze. He looked happy, but she could see a slight wincing in his eyes.

"Head still hurting?"

Kai gave a small nod, sighing. "Positively pounding. But I'll be fine." Sitting up slightly, he reached over and grabbed one of the left over salmon and cucumber futomaki she had made last night, peeling the nori off first and eating it separately before shoving the rest into his mouth in one go, chewing in gratification. He offered her the last one, which she accepted then playfully shoved into her mouth in one go. Kai rolled his eyes in mock disgust.

"You'll choke!"

"You're my hero; you would save me." Bits of rice unceremoniously fell out of her mouth and Kai's eyes rolled again as he tsked her, then smirked, looking her seriously in the eye.

"I don't know the art of mouth to mouth resuscitation."

She laughed now, quickly swallowing the last of the rice and cucumber pieces.

"Oh on that one I would have to beg to differ!" using her hand to push him back down into his grass mattress, with the gentle, warm wind swirling around them.


Laughing, Skylor pushed open the kitchen door, holding it wide for Kai as he came crashing in with the now virtually empty picnic hamper, bumping into Nya's chair with a swift apology to her before banging it onto the worktop, almost knocking over Cole's mug which he had left there for quite some time judging by the look of its contents. They had spent the afternoon lazily lying in the sun, cocooned within the soft grass, talking about everything and nothing, poking fun at each other, putting the world to rights and a fair amount of, well…other stuff. He ran his hand through his hair, catching Skylor's eye as he noted how dishevelled it was. She shrugged a smirking "what?" over at him as he attempted to discretely put the spikes back in place.

"Looks like someone has had a good afternoon, eh?" Too late. The owner of the now mouldy black cup Kai had nearly knocked flying was looking over from where he was lounging on the sofa. Nya gave a soft snort and looked back down at the blueprint she was working on at the table, whilst a blonde shock of hair and a messy, auburn mop both shot up from the depths of the other sofa where they had also been lounging deep in the cushions, battling it out on the latest game for the console the ninja shared and now meeting Kai's eyes with interest.

No point denying it, Kai shrugged and threw his arms around his girlfriend, planting a kiss on her cheek. "The best." Skylor's face beamed. "In-fact, I'm in such a good mood I'll take Cole's turn to cook tonight. Sky, will you join us?"

Lloyd, Jay and Nya gave sighs of relief and murmured thanks as Cole looked slightly annoyed, muttering "You don't have to do that Kai".

"Shh, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Let him do it." Lloyd hushed Cole quickly. It was well known that Cole was not the best of cooks; although he always tried, Cole's enthusiasm when cooking unfortunately did not make up for the taste!

"Ok, I'd love to. But don't over stretch yourself, you're still recovering remember? I'll need to get home and change, freshen up a bit first, you know?" Skylor smiled at the fire ninja, pulling a stray grass seed out of his hair and then reaching into the picnic basket for the last of the food. She tossed the tub of left over chocolate mochi over to Cole, who appreciatively caught it, the biggest open-mouthed smile spreading uncontrollably over his face as he prised open the lid and realised what the contents were. Lloyd and Jay soon realised what he had, and Kai laughed as they turned into a mass of tangled legs and arms as they fought over the mochi. He didn't blame them, they did taste good but they all knew that Cole would be victorious in any fight over food. Well actually no, he mentally corrected himself, apart from candy. With candy Lloyd would always win.

"Shall I be back for around six, half six?" Deep green eyes met with warm brown and golden amber flecks, and she leaned forward, giving him the warmest kiss.

"Absolutely." She broke away from him and he watched her as she exited for her little flat back in the city, turning and smiling, blowing him a kiss as she closed the door softly. He could feel himself grinning like an idiot and was happy for the distraction and commotion the chocolate mochi were causing, meaning his brothers were not witnessing this. But as he turned to exit the kitchen for his room he felt the other eyes who were boring into him. Oh this was worse than his brothers; his little sister. Nya was grinning at him, and he couldn't help himself as he let his guard down in front of her, grinning ear to ear back at her. He heard the little soft "aww" from her as he closed the door, leaning on it and taking a breath, attempting to recompose himself. Kai shook his head, and still smiling bounded up the stairs, dishevelled spikes bouncing lightly. Yes, his head still hurt but he could cope with it. Right now he could handle anything.