Chapter 6 Huge thank you's to RandomDragon 2.0, RPM Shadow and Masters of Fire and Amber (p.s. Masters of Amber and Fire I think you mean when I write snigger? Us Brits tend to use that instead of snicker, sorry about the confusion!).

This is a kind of bridging chapter between the fluffiness and some oncoming angst and drama… As always, hope you enjoy!

A slightly stronger gust of wind blew the light, long voile curtains covering his window over him, floating down over his face. Heavy with sleep he grunted and swotted the fabric away, before turning over onto his side and sleepily looking at the clock on his bed side table. 16.34. Eyes suddenly flinging wide open, he sat up with a start on his bed, announcing a loud "crap!", then immediately covering his mouth and hoping that Wu wasn't close enough to his room to have heard him say that. Kai stretched and attempted to stifle a yawn, thinking to himself that he must have fallen asleep. Was that a sign of old age starting to creep up on him? Taking Grandpa naps in the afternoon? Best not tell the others or he'd never hear the end of it. Flinging the soft feather duvet off him and swinging himself round, placing his feet on the soft rug at the side of his bed, Kai jumped as his mobile phone slid off his lap. It hit the floor with a thud, eliciting another "crap" to escape from his mouth before he could help it. Reaching down and grabbing it, turning it over to check for any new cracks in the screen (his phone was always getting dropped and battered, much to his dismay), he noticed a couple of unread messages, a smile taking hold as he opened them up, remembering they had been chatting as she had made her way home.

Sky: So what you going to astound me with for my dinner then, Mr Flamey?

And then the second message, sent a few minutes later:

Sky: Hey, you ignoring me or have you fallen asleep? Guessing the second. How dare you fall asleep on me! :)

And then the third: Sleep tight Fireboy x x

"Crap!" A third curse flew out. Dinner! He was supposed to be cooking dinner for everyone tonight, and he needed to get a move on! And with that he was up and ready.


Cole could hear the banging and clattering from his room on the other side of the building, so came trudging into the kitchen to investigate, finding Kai with his head in the fridge apparently searching for ingredients, whilst a pot of something red and pungent smelling was bubbling over on the stove. Cole had to admit, Kai was a good cook. Not as good as Zane, no one was as good as Zane, but definitely better then Jay and Nya. He guessed Kai had had to teach himself when his and Nya's parents had disappeared, being left with no choice but to learn and do so quickly. That must have been tough, Cole mused. But Kai's cooking was still not as good as his own. In Cole's humble opinion, Kai was too traditional whilst Cole considered himself a much more modern, experimental cook, which, he determined, was sorely under appreciated by the other members of the team. Cole reached for the overflowing pan and turned it down, giving it a quick stir then banging the excess sauce off the spoon, causing Kai to start and curse once again from the depths of the fridge as he banged his head.

"Hello there, monsieur chef! Whatcha cooking?" Cole surveying the mess which seemed to cover every surface of the kitchen. Withdrawing his head from the fridge with a triumphant "A ha!" and now wielding a bunch of celery, Kai slammed the fridge door shut again.

"It's Tuesday. So, taco Tuesday!" Kai suddenly looked panicked, "It is Tuesday, right?" Kai scratched his head looking confused, causing Cole to snort out loud.

"Yep, it's Tuesday, don't panic." Cole smiled and then fixed his brother with a serious look, "But I need to ask you two things." Kai nodded at Cole, looking slightly perplexed.

"Is your head ok? You know what day it is and all that?"

Kai looked relieved, "Yes. It still hurts but I'm ok, just lost track of the days that's all. And yes, I can count how many fingers you are holding up and all that business…" Kai sighed. He hated being "ill" and out of action.

"Ok, good. Right. Now this second question is extremely important." Kai leant in, searching Cole's face for a clue as to what was coming.

"How much chilli have you put in that thing?" Cole got his mobile out of his hoodie pocket, gesturing towards the bubbling pot. "Do I need to ring Zane and ask him to pick up more toilet paper on his way back from Ninjago?" He brought Zane's number up on the screen, finger poised over the call button.

Kai snorted whilst Cole grinned at his brother fondly.

"You can't blame me after last time…"

"Hey! It was one time! And I only mixed up tablespoons with teaspoons. I thought it tasted ok, just because you lot can't handle a little bit of heat."

"Kai, my mouth was on fire! I swear I could see some steam coming out of Zane and Lloyd couldn't sit down properly for days! And as for Wu, well…"

They both burst out laughing, Kai wiping at tears in his eyes as he set the celery down on the chopping board and started to hack at it with the largest kitchen knife they owned, as was his way when cooking.

"No, I'll think we'll be fine this time." Kai chuckled, raising an eye brow at Cole. "I've only put two tablespoons of the chilli powder in this time. So far."

Cole groaned as he lifted his phone to his ear, pressing the call button. Better to be safe than sorry he thought to himself, grinning at the fire ninja come chef who was whistling away to himself as he happily cooked. It was good to see him happy, even if they may all regret the food at the end of the day…