Ch 24

With the dojo saved, no fatalities, and the Bounty back with the ninja, all was happy in the minds of the heroes. They had gained widespread popularity for their win in the Ninja Ball run, so it was no surprise that Dareth's dojo received more popularity due to it being the place where the heroes of Ninjago trained.

Lucky that the team had left their dinky apartment for their old home, otherwise there would be a lot of unnecessary attention by paparazzi and fangirls.

Alex felt relieved to have her old room back, though it did take a while to remove the snake sheddings and... excrements. Seriously, weren't snakes toilet trained?

Back to their old surroundings, the ninja went back to their daily training of themselves, as well as Alex, the next day. It had mostly consisted of sparring to get the hang of her weapons, as well as a short workout, since everyone seemed as though they just wanted to rest after such a tense race.

After finishing her duel with Kai, the red ninja had lowered his weapon and called it quits for the day. "I think we all need a day off, especially after the thrills Garmadon gave us all yesterday.

Alex agreed; there were just too many parts of that race that had her heart racing, mostly when her friends were in danger. "So we'll catch up on training tomorrow then?"

Kai nodded, "I'm gonna go clean off, so make sure no one comes into the bathroom, ok? Those dumb snakes busted the lock while they were here."

Alex waved him off, distracted by something in her eye. When she had attended to that matter and found Kai gone, she merely shrugged it off and headed inside to find Cole. Wonder what Kai wanted me to do?

As she walked inside, Alex found Cole in the living room, talking on the phone. Once the black ninja noticed his girlfriend, he quickly muttered into the phone before hanging up and going up to her.

"So what was that about?" she asked as Cole gave her a hug and a small kiss on the forehead. "I'll tell you later. Right now, it's my turn to cook lunch, so I better get on with it."

Alex stiffened at her boyfriend's statement. "There's no need for that. I'm sure Zane wouldn't mind cooking while you hang out with me." Cole looked hesitant, but shook his head. "I promised Zane I'd cook lunch at least. He seemed a bit hesitant to let me near the kitchen, but he agreed."

Alex sighed, thinking of a way to possibly stop Cole from cooking. "Well how about I help you? We'd get the job done faster, and then you can tell me what you wanted to say."

The black ninja was ok with that, and on that note, the couple went into the kitchen to prepare a basic lunchtime delicacy: sandwiches.

"So what kind of sandwich do you think we should make?" Cole asked as he opened the fridge. Alex thought for a moment, "How about a BLT? I've been craving one for a while." The black ninja smiled, "Then it shall be done."

The gathering of ingredients took no time, and was luckily met with few accidents. Before they knew it, the couple was at work on the sandwich; Alex in charge of frying the bacon and toasting the bread, while Cole chopped up some lettuce and tomatoes.

All seemed to be going all right, until Alex was halted by her boyfriend's pained yell. "Ouch!"

Dropping what she was doing, Alex turned to Cole. "What happened? Are you ok?" Not noticing where her hand was, the green ninja ended up touching the burning stove. "Ow!"

The black ninja looked away from the cut on his finger to his girlfriend. "Alex, what is it?" But before he could move to her, the black ninja knocked into the cutting board jutted out in front of him, causing the irregularly chopped vegetables to fly onto the floor, and onto Alex.

"What the..? Get it off!" Alex twisted to reach a tomato on her head, but accidentally knocked the pan of bacon across the counter to the toaster. Cursing, the green ninja reached for the pan, but by grabbing the instrument, she unknowingly set off a spark of electricity to the toaster, causing the machine to short out. As the power began to struggle, the two wannabe chefs quickly took cover from causing any more accidents until the power came back on, but not before quickly unplugging the toaster

Taking time to recover, Alex slowly got up from her hunched position to inspect the damage. The remains of the sandwich ingredients lay scattered all over the floor, while the toaster was steaming on the counter nearby, still sparking a bit, but less.

"Alex, are you ok?" the green ninja turned to find Cole over by the fridge, slowly standing up. "Yea, I have a small burn, but it's nothing. What about you?"

He walked over. "It's just a small cut," the black ninja replied while tentatively picking up his girlfriend's hand to inspect the burn, "Come on; let's get this taken care of before we clean up."

Once their injuries had been taken care of, the couple went back into the kitchen to clean up the catastrophic mess. As they wiped up the mess, Cole spoke up. "I'm sorry. I know I'm not a big help in the kitchen, but I didn't believe I'd end up getting you hurt."

Alex looked over, "It's fine. We both did a lot of stupid things, but now we should just focus on getting this job done."

The black ninja sighed, "What kind of boyfriend am I if I'm just going to put you in harm's way?"

The green ninja quickly cleaned up the mess on the counter before turning to Cole, who was currently sweeping the floor of any messes. She lifted up his head to look at him before kissing him fully on the lips. "You are a great leader and boyfriend. Don't ever doubt that. The day I ever doubt you are is a day I don't want to even think about. So don't feel bad about this."

Alex's words seemed to console Cole, as he smiled and lifted his girlfriend to swing her around in a circle. "You are by far the greatest thing that has ever happened to me," he told her once he had put her down, catching her lips in a long kiss.

Alex blushed a bit, before breaking the kiss and smiling brightly. "Well come on then. We should get to work. We still have lunch to prepare."

They had only just finished cleaning when the two heard a yell down the hallway from Kai.

"Jay! GET OUT OF HERE!"

After leaving the team to enjoy some peanut butter sandwiches, the couple walked to Alex's room for some privacy.

As the two sat down on the bed, Alex looked to her boyfriend. "So now can you tell me about who you were talking to?"

Cole laughed a bit as he wrapped his arm around the green ninja. "Sure. That was my dad. He wanted to congratulate me on winning the race, as well as invite me over for dinner tonight. He invited you as well, since he definitely wants to meet the girl who would actually want to be with me."

Alex chuckled as she pecked the ninja of earth on the cheek. "I'd love to go. It would be nice to get to know your dad."

Her boyfriend grinned, "Great. He wants us there by seven, so we can start getting ready around six."

Once the black ninja had left to go do some weight training some time later, Alex decided to go talk to Nya. When she walked to the samurai's room, she found her sitting at her desk polishing her helmet, some technical bits strewn across the table.

"Hi Alex. What can I help you with?" Nya looked up and walked over to the green ninja.

"Hey Nya. I actually came to ask if you have any dresses I can borrow. You see I have this dinner date with Cole to meet his dad."

"Say no more," Nya replied, "I know just what to do." The samurai went to her closet to look for a good dress for her friend.

"Here we are!" she called out, holding a dress in her hand, "I know this will look great on you! So try it on."

Before she knew it, Alex was standing in front of a mirror admiring the radiant creature looking back at her. The dress was a pale pink strapless number, set with flower designs and a skirt that went down to a bit below mid thigh. Matching the dress was a cute pair of sandals and a jacket. To top it all of, Nya had even helped Alex with makeup, adding a little bit of brown eyeliner and a touch of mascara, while adding a shimmery gloss on her lips.

"Wow. Who ever would have thought I'd look this nice," the green ninja commented as she turned around to look at the dress. Nya nodded, "Well you always looked great, but this time, I enhanced it a bit."

Alex was a bit put off by the fact that her hair was put back with a headband. The scar on her face was now clearly showing, looking as marring as ever.

"Don't worry," Nya patted her on the back, "It's a part of you that people just have to accept. It doesn't change who you are."

When the time had arrived, Cole and Alex were soon dropped off at their destination: Cole's father's house.

"You look amazing right now," the ninja of earth pointed out as they walked to the door.

"Better than before?" Alex asked. Her boyfriend frowned, "You always look beautiful to me, only this time I can finally see some of your face." His small joke brought a smile to the green ninja's face, and she gratefully accepted Cole's hand as the two walked over to the door.

The doorbell had been pretty comical, but what was more comical was Cole's father's reaction to Alex.

As the night went on, Lou kept gushing over how her voice was amazing, how she could make a true singer, how she could finally bring Cole into doing something alongside being a ninja, etc.

Cole in the meantime looked a bit uncomfortable at the dinner. He was worried about how his dad was getting into subjects that Alex didn't like to even think about, especially having to do with the life she could have had. Yet despite his efforts to change the subject, his father was as stubborn as ever.

It seemed to be going well to the green ninja; Lou seemed to really like her. It was at dessert that the former dancer got into something a bit more personal.

"So then, Alexandra," Cole's father stated, "How do your parents feel about this ninja business?"

Clang! Alex had dropped her fork once the question had been asked, and merely looked down as she tried to prevent the tears from coming out.

Cole immediately saw the telltale signs. "Dad, will you please stop? She's really uncomfortable about this."

Lou looked confused, "I was only asking about her family. Perhaps they at least wanted her to go a different path. After all, she has true potential."

The mention of a life she could have had was enough to send Alex over the edge. She couldn't hold back the tears as she thought of her misfortunes, and of her absent parents. Though she made no sound, her body was racked with silent sobs.

The black ninja finally interrupted. "Look dad, you don't know what she's been through! She has no parents, no home, and she had no possible future doing anything up until this point! In fact, she probably wouldn't have been alive at this point if we hadn't helped her!" Cole was angered and disappointed by his dad's curiosity, and he could see how Lou's reaction changed as he realized the consequence of his actions.

"Oh dear... oh dear lord I am so sorry," the older man walked away from his place to apologize to the still crying girl. "I had no idea that you'd been through all of that. I can't believe my behavior."

Alex sniffled a bit as she nodded her head. "It's ok. I just get a bit... upset when I'm reminded about my past."

Cole looked at his girlfriend and rubbed her back reassuringly. "It's ok. You're here now; in a better place."

After some time, Alex finally managed to collect herself and fully accept Lou's apology. To make it up to the girl, the older man pulled out some family tapes for the group to watch. The green ninja soon found herself laughing at a dancing video of a much younger Cole, watching him fall into a nearby swimming pool, while said dancer merely shook his head and smiled.

Once the dinner was done, the two wished Lou goodbye.

Giving the older man a hug, Alex smiled as she felt that all seemed to be healed with her and him.

As the two made their way back to the ship, Cole stopped his girlfriend to hug her tightly. "I'm sorry if my dad put you off at first."

She smiled, "It's ok. At least we got along in the end."

The black ninja smiled back, "Yea, over me and my fails."

After laughing it off, the two walked off to the ship, feeling as though the bonds between them had strengthened even more.