Hi all! Welcome to the follow up to Wonderful Christmastime, After Party! Here I will post stories that take place after the events of my previous fanfic. One shots, two shots, multiple chapter ventures etc. will all be posted here for your amusement!

This chapter is set immediately after the previous fanfic, wherein Jasper finally finds the right room where Cole is staying! Part one of two, with the next chapter to follow shortly after this one :)

Enjoy!

Jasper stood in front of the door marked 93 and took a deep breath. She reached out to knock but paused for a moment. Why was she so nervous? It's not like Cole wasn't expecting her to be here, he purposely invited her to spend the day with him – albeit at 5am this morning – and what he was doing being awake at such an ungodly hour she didn't care to know. What she did know is that he asked her to join him for what she really hoped was an actual date.

Come on, stop being such a wimp!

She pulled a compact mirror from her cross-body bag and checked her high half-ponytail; not a strand out of place, thank goodness. Her foundation and scarlet-tinted lip gloss were also still miraculously flawless – thanks in part to her sister Ruby, who despite her background in textiles, was evidently very talented with a make-up brush. She returned the compact to her bag and eventually got up the nerve to knock on the door. When the door opened, however, she almost fainted.

"Oh, hey Jasper!" Cole smiled at her as he stood in the doorway, completely shirtless and drying his hair with a towel. "I'm nearly ready, if you wanna come in for a minute."

Jasper bowed and entered the room, as Cole closed the door behind her.

"Just gotta put on a shirt," He assured. "then we can head out."

"O-okay." She stammered.

Cole retreated to the bathroom and Jasper grabbed her mirror once more to make sure she didn't have a nosebleed. Luckily there was no blood, but her cheeks were bright red, and she suddenly felt very overheated - not surprising, given that she just got an eyeful of Cole's sculpted torso. She knew he was a ninja, but she had no idea he was so… powerfully built.

As she sat on the edge of the bed to try and cool off, she glanced around. Judging from how haphazardly he had strewn his clothes about the room, he was obviously not a stickler for neatness. Not that it bothered her, she was hardly a domestic goddess herself – Ruby was forever nagging her about it though. Sure, she managed to keep the rest of her apartment clean, but it was obvious to anyone who saw her bedroom that she'd never entertained a gentleman caller there.

"C'mon, let's go." Cole smiled.

Jasper was in such a deep daze that she hadn't notice him come out of the bathroom, now fully dressed. She smiled and stood up, eagerly following him as they exited the hotel room and walked toward the elevator.

"You find the place okay?" He asked.

"Yes, though I had a bit of trouble finding your room," She sheepishly admitted. "I wrote the number in such a hurry that I got the numbers mixed up."

"Never mind, you found me, that's the important part." He chuckled.

"Indeed…" She purred as they got in the elevator and headed down.

"I hope you didn't mind me messaging you so early," Cole mentioned as the door opened onto the lobby and he politely gestured for her to go first. "I had so much fun at the gala that I couldn't sleep."

"Oh, it's no trouble, it was around the time I usually get up anyway," Jasper insisted as they glided past the reception desk and out the main doors. "and I was hoping you'd get in touch before you went home."

"We don't get to come to New Ninjago very often, and I thought maybe you could show me around your favourite places."

"Unfortunately, my favourite places are not very exciting." She nervously played with the zipper on her bag.

"You're exciting enough on your own," He beamed as the once receding blush on her face returned with full force. "just take me where you like to go."

"Well, alright," she smiled sweetly. "follow me."

Jasper led him to a little corner store a few blocks away from the hotel. Cole glanced up at the sign – the words 'French Fancy' were written in purple and black glitter – and wondered what he was walking into. The windows were obscured by curtains, and the door had a purple pawprint painted on it. He soon realised it was one of those niche animal cafés, as they walked in the door and were met by a cheerful woman sitting at a reception desk. She had long silver hair, black-rimmed half-moon glasses and stood up to greet them, smiling joyfully.

"Jasper, darling, it's been too long! We've missed you!" She bowed and smiled at Jasper, reaching out to touch her forearm.

"Thanks, auntie M," Jasper replied. "I missed you too, but I had to take on extra shifts in the store."

"Of course, I forgot how busy you are this time of year," She paused and gasped. "that reminds me, there was something in the papers this morning about a wedding that happened at the gala! Is it true?"

"Yes, Mr Borg's daughter got married," Jasper nodded. "oh, it was beautiful!"

"So exciting!" Auntie M squeaked, when suddenly she noticed Cole standing quietly beside Jasper. "Oh, and who's this? A boyfriend at last!"

"This is Cole, he and the other elemental ninja were in town for the wedding," Jasper blushed furiously. "I met him when he came to the department store."

"Oh? …Oh! Mr Earth Ninja! I'm so sorry I didn't recognise you sooner!" She bowed to him. "I am Maria, welcome to my humble establishment."

"Nice to meet you." Cole beamed.

"Please, take a seat and order whatever you like; it's on me today." Maria offered.

"Thank you." Jasper gave a small bow.

They breezed through a velvet curtain and into what looked like a normal café; it was a well-lit area with booth seats, a sparkling wooden floor and chill-out music lightly playing over the speakers. Perhaps the only difference, was that while the customers enjoyed their snacks and drinks, they also had the company of a little dog. There was a pug and a couple of Frenchies that he could see, but judging by the sound of barking that came from a penned off area at the back, there were at least a couple more. A young man staffing the dessert counter waved them both over.

"Jasper!" He grinned. "Over here!"

"Phoenix!" Jasper squeaked as she approached him. "How have you been?"

"Good, thanks, a bit tired after last night, though." He admitted.

"The usual New Year's do at the student's guild?" She chuckled.

"Yeah, didn't get to bed until gone 4am."

"No wonder you look so tired!" Jasper turned to Cole. "Cole, this is Phoenix; Phoenix, this is Cole."

Cole was frozen in place – Phoenix was the mirror image of Zane before he was rebuilt; blue eyes, white-ish hair, genial smile. The only difference was a jagged scar going from the top of his forehead, across his right eye and ending just at his cheek. Jasper gave Cole a gentle nudge on the shoulder. Cole shook himself of his daze and smiled politely at him.

"Sorry about that, you look like a friend of mine," He sheepishly grinned. "nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, I recognise you from the photos." Phoenix smiled.

"Photos? What photos?" Jasper wondered.

"These photos," Phoenix pulled his smartphone out of his pocket and pressed a few buttons, before handing it to Jasper. "they were posted on the official Borg Industries blog this morning."

As she flicked through the pictures, she was reminded of the amazing time she'd had at the gala. There were some photos of the wedding ceremony, the winter dance, various delegates and staff members dancing, the newlyweds… suddenly she came across a photo of her and Cole together. They had their arms around each other, with Jasper winking and Cole caught mid-laugh. They looked so relaxed and happy; it was a perfect visual representation of how Cole made her feel.

"You gotta send me this one!" Cole insisted, beaming at Phoenix. "Ooh, and some of that red velvet cake too, please."

"Sure thing," Phoenix smiled as he plated a slice of cake and handed it to Cole. "Jasper, want the usual?"

"Oh, yes please." She gave Phoenix his phone back and received a piece of black forest gateaux.

Jasper and Cole seated themselves in a nearby booth, and while Cole happily dug into his cake, Jasper was making a mental note to contact the photographers to see what other pictures they got of her and Cole together.

"You look really cute in that photo." Cole stated.

"Why thank you…" Jasper murmured, blushing furiously at such favourable comments. "You look rather handsome yourself."

"I don't normally photograph well; it must be because you're in the picture too, you're so photogenic that it rubbed off on me." Cole grinned.

"You flatter me too much." Jasper sheepishly looked away with a shy smile, her cheeks still burning.

"I call it how I see it," Cole humbly shrugged. "you're beautiful; no doubt about it."

He seemed completely unaware of what he'd said, as he hadn't noticed that her face was now redder than the cake he was eating. She nervously prodded at the gateaux, slowly pulling it apart with her fork while being too embarrassed to actually eat it.

"Hey there," Cole said, picking up a French bulldog that had wandered over to them and placing it next to him. "want some?"

He pulled off a little chunk of what was left of his cake and gave it to the dog, which happily ate the sweet morsel offered to it. Cole looked at the nametag on the dog's collar.

"Sugar; interesting name for a dog." He mused.

"Did you say Sugar?" Jasper snapped out of her stupor when Cole mentioned the name.

She glanced over at the little black Frenchie sitting beside him and gasped. Immediately, she stood up and reached over to pick the dog up, and promptly gave it a big cuddle. Cole was mildly confused to say the least, as Jasper grinned widely and enthusiastically snuggled the dog.

"This one means a lot to you, huh?" Cole wondered.

"She was the runt of her litter, and the last time I was here she wasn't doing so good." Jasper explained as she babied the dog in her lap.

"We were worried it might be parvo," Phoenix intervened as he brought over a caramel latte for each of them. "it turned out to be canine flu – she had to be isolated at the vets and everything – but she's made a full recovery since then, and fortunately it didn't spread."

"Thank goodness!" Jasper sighed in relief. "Who's my little fighter, huh?"

Sugar looked up at Jasper, panting and smiling at her.

"You must really like dogs." Cole noted.

"Yeah… I wish I could have one," Jasper mentioned. "but between my job at the department store and my apprenticeship at the museum, it would be left indoors all day, and that's not fair."

"I know that feeling," Cole empathised. "we wouldn't be able to have a dog either, we're so busy either training or actively fighting; a pet would be more of a distraction."

"In that case, I'm surprised that ninja would be allowed to get married," Jasper said. "surely having a life partner is much more distracting, I mean, you're only human."

"Not Zane," Cole shook his head. "he's a nindroid – if anything, having a life partner is gonna make him even more focused."

"So, is he the exception?" Jasper innocently asked, her cheeks going slightly pink.

"Heh, not if Jay and Nya are anything to go by," Cole chuckled. "I'd bet anything that they'll be the next ones to tie the knot."

"Really? How interesting…"