The air was tense between the Green Ninja and his companion. Lloyd kept looking anywhere but Lyn. Lyn kept her eyes on the floor or straight in front of her. Occasionally, she would lock eyes with him, and both would immediately look away. The thickness of the air was slowly thinned out as they moved from room to room. As Lyn talked about each amenity and the facilities that followed, the awkwardness began to die down. The tour resumed normally with Lyn showing Lloyd other parts of the university, like the library, the cafeteria, and the auditorium. Lloyd was impressed at the design of the library. It wasn't as big as the public or ancient libraries he's been to, but it definitely had a different atmosphere. It was comfortable but still conducive for learning. He marveled at the vastness of the cafeteria and was amused at the various food stands that sold almost the same kinds of foods. The last room was the auditorium, which was found on the highest floor.

"Let's hope they didn't lock it up," Lyn said and pushed open its doors. She went in with Lloyd following behind. They walked a little further and Lloyd's mouth gaped. He saw rows of velvet seats arranged to face a semi-circular stage at the end of the room. The floor sloped downward as it reached the stage. He looked up at the stage and saw lots of speakers suspended from the room's impeccably high ceiling, with huge LED screens on either sides of the stage. He walked down the aisle and looked behind him. As it turned out, there were still higher floors to make room for the rows of seats above them. Lyn hoisted herself to sit on the stage, watching Lloyd turn around and around taking in his surroundings. She found it, quite cute. She sighed. Her heart fluttered at the sight of him, and she felt heat rise to her cheeks. She touched her face with her left hand and shook her head.

'Come on, not this again,' she thought to herself and dismounted the elevated platform. She approached the Green Ninja who was still moving forward.

"Try shouting," she told him. Lloyd looked at her confused. "Just try it." The blonde nodded and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"NINJAGOOOOO!"

The auditorium echoed with his voice and resonated with a clear ring. Lloyd looked around, as if he was following the direction of his voice bouncing against the walls.

"That. Was. Awesome!" He said with much exuberance. Lyn grinned.

"Anyone here?" A voice from the outside called. Both of them immediately looked at the doors, not sure which door the voice came from. Lyn then grabbed Lloyd's wrist and ducked behind the nearest row of seats. The farthest pair of doors swung open to reveal a security guard. He must have heard the yell and came to investigate.

"Hello?" the guard called again. In the frontmost row, Lyn and Lloyd crouched down to avoid being seen. Lloyd looked down to see Lyn's hand still on his wrist. She's held his wrist before, but something inside him wished that she held his hand instead. Wait, what? He felt his heartbeat quicken and was so sure his face was turning red with heat. He was glad Lyn wasn't looking at him; she was too busy keeping a lookout. The guard began moving toward the front. Both held their breathes hoping the guard wouldn't catch them. By the time the man reached the second-to-the-last row, he turned around and exited the auditorium. After waiting a few more seconds, Lyn and Lloyd popped out of their hiding place.

"I think he's gone," Lyn said as she began walking toward the exit. "Come on. Let's get out of here, before he changes his mind." Lloyd followed behind her. He suddenly felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out of his pocket. His alarm had gone off. It read:

2 pm: Training with Sensei

Lloyd looked at the time in his phone. It was still 12:30. He still had time. He swiped his phone to snooze his alarm for another few minutes and placed it back in his pocket. He then felt his stomach rumble. He remembered what his brothers said:

"At least treat her to lunch."

"Hey, you hungry?" He asked as they left the auditorium.

"Starving."

"Where do you wanna eat? My treat."

"You really don't have to," Lyn told him as they headed for the nearest elevator. "I can pay for myself."

"No really," Lloyd insisted. "As thanks for the tour. Besides, you always pay for me. Time to return the favor, don't you think?" Lyn thought for a moment. That was actually true.

"Okay. I know a café inside the campus."

When they reached said café, the bell rang as they opened the door. The café had coffee tables arranged here and there and couches near the windows. Light bulbs inserted inside glass jars were suspended from the ceiling and there were several picture frames mounted on the wall. Both of them approached the counter and scanned the menu beside the cashier.

"What'll it be?" the barista asked them.

"Chicken sandwich for me," Lyn spoke and turned to Lloyd. "And you?"

"Tuna sandwich," Lloyd replied.

"And drinks?" The barista asked once more. Lyn then noticed that the lady was eyeing Lloyd as he looked at the menu. Suddenly, she felt uneasy.

"White chocolate frappe," Lyn said to the lady, who whipped her head to face her customer.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that macha frappe is something about tea."

"Oh yes, it's one of our specialties," the barista told him, with a tinge of sweetness in her voice.

"Then one macha frappe, please." The lady at the counter nodded and punched in their orders. Lyn watched her every move.

"Please take a seat," the barista said after giving Lloyd their number. "Your orders will be delivered shortly." Lloyd thanked her and the two found a round coffee table and sat down.

"I think that barista likes you," Lyn told Lloyd as they took their seats.

"You think so?" Lloyd looked back at the counter and caught the barista stealing a glance. Once the barista locked eyes with him, she looked away and resumed her work. Lyn giggled.

"Even in disguise, you don't fail to attract attention."

Their orders finally came and the barista gave Lloyd a wink.

"Enjoy your meal." She sauntered back to the counter.

"I think she likes me too much," Lloyd said has he brushed some of his bangs away from his face.

""Yeah. Too much," Lyn replied as she took a mouthful of the sandwich and pointed at the napkin near Lloyd's drink. In it were a scribble of digits. Lloyd eyed it for a while and looked back at the barista. This time, she was busy making drinks for other customers.

"Too bad for her, though," Lloyd whispered. "Can't really return her feelings."

"Oh? Why's that?" Lyn teased while taking a sip from her frappe.

"You know exactly why."

Lyn tapped her chin. "Hmmm, because you have an imaginary girlfriend that would go crazy if she found out you were seeing someone else."

Lloyd gave her a look. "Haha very funny."

Lyn smirked as she resumed her drink. She meant it as a joke, but, why did she feel sad when she said it? Was she… jealous? No, it can't be that. Can it?

After consuming his sandwich, Lloyd took a sip from his drink. He analyzed the taste and grimaced a little.

"I take it it's awful?" Lyn whispered.

"Not really, but it's weird. There's a taste of tea but also, not tea? I don't get it. I think I'll stick with other drinks next time."

After they ate, they walked around the well-manicured lawns of the campus. Most students had already left, and the few who remained lounged about in the grass or sat on the nearby benches and chatted. Both took a seat at a nearby bench where a tree gave them good shade an ample amount of fresh air.

"So, how'd you find the place?" Lyn asked the blonde.

"It's… well, definitely new to me," the Green Ninja replied.

"Well I'm glad you were free today. I didn't want to take you away from any fixed schedules."

Lloyd awkwardly chuckled. "Yeah, about that…"

Lyn sat upright and looked at him in the eye. "Seriously, you're free, right?" She remembered when he and the ninja had missed training to prepare for her visit. "You don't have any training today, right?"

"Actually…" Lloyd shrugged slowly. "I have training by 2pm?" Lyn glanced at her watch.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! IT'S ALREADY 2:30!" Lloyd jolted from his seat.

"What?! Lemme see." Lyn shoved her watch at Lloyd's face, her finger pointing at the watch's face for emphasis.

"You gotta go!" She pushed Lloyd to move faster. Soon both picked up the pace and sprinted to the gate.

"Can't I just," Lloyd asked as he tried to remove his glasses.

"Not until we're in the clear," Lyn reminded him. He was still at risk of being seen. Once they reached the guardhouse, Lloyd gave his visitor's pass to the guard and the pair zipped to the bus stop. After five minutes, the bus arrived and both hopped on.

"This is not good," Lloyd said. He was now twisting his hands, wherein his palms were starting to sweat. "We're moving too slow. And I've never been late before. What'll Sensei think?"

"Lloyd calm down," Lyn told him. "Here's what you do: when the bus reaches it's first stop, get off there and get going. I'm sure there's a place for you to summon your dragon there." Lloyd gave a short pause before nodding.

"And I'm sorry I got you late," the girl added.

"No, I'm sorry I didn't tell you that I had training in the afternoon," Lloyd told her. "I actually had an alarm to remind me but I must have turned it off instead of snooze. I must have lost track of time." He said as he rubbed his temple in anxiousness.

"Well, they say time flies when you're having fun," Lyn replied. "But for what it's worth, I had fun too. Aaand here's your stop."

The bus doors opened letting passengers off. As Lloyd queued behind some passengers dismounting the bus, he looked at Lyn, who gave a nod, which he returned. He looked at the bus once last time as its doors closed again and the vehicle disembarked. He saw Lyn at the window giving him a small wave. He waved back and watched her leave until she was out of sight. He then whipped his head around and looked for the nearest alleyway.

"I'm here! I'm here!" Lloyd burst into the training room wearing his green gi. His sudden entrance caused quite the commotion and made everyone stop moving and to look at him. The first thing Lloyd could see was his uncle's face, who was in the middle of the room. In his case, right in front of him.

"Lloyd," Sensei Wu greeted. "How good of you to join us." Lloyd, in a fit of guilt, knelt on the floor, his head in a low bow.

"I have no excuse. I'm sorry for being late Sensei."

"May I know what caused your delay, nephew?" the old man asked, even though he perfectly knew the answer. Lloyd bit his lip.

"I stayed out too late with Lyn that I lost track of time."

"Did you not set an alarm to help you keep track of time?"

"I did, but I ignored it when it went off." The old man began stroking his snow white beard.

"And why did you do that?"

"Because, I did not want to leave just yet."

"Why not?"

"Because… I…" Lloyd's voice trailed off. He didn't want to say it, but staying silent won't do any good; and he wouldn't dare lie. He closed his eyes and spoke. Because… Because I wanted spend more time with her."

Silence filled the room. The rest of the ninja just stood where they were, exchanging looks then glancing back at their teammate. This was the first time their leader got scolded for being late. After what seemed like an eternity, Wu finally sighed.

"Lloyd, I understand that you are fond of your friend; but do not let that distract you from your priorities. Being late is a trivial matter, but dishonoring your previous commitments is not. Practice this often, and you will lose the trust of the people around you."

"Yes, Sensei. I'm so sorry." Lloyd felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see his teacher with a gentle smile on his features.

"Chin up, Lloyd," he told the boy. "The best lessons are learned through experience; and I know you've learned yours. Now, let us resume your training." Lloyd slowly got to his feet and followed Sensei Wu to his room. As the door to the training room closed, the others let out a breathe of relief.

"Well that was intense," Jay said.

"I've never seen Sensei react like that before," Zane added.

"Yeah, usually he'd be shouting at this point," Cole finished. "Not quiet, all cold-ish."

"Maybe we shouldn't go through with your plan Kai," Nya stated. "We might get Lloyd into more trouble."

"Why not? We haven't even carried it out yet," Kai replied. "Don't worry; we got this. Next time we see Lyn, we'll execute the plan."

That night, Lloyd tossed and turned that night. He still felt guilty for being late; more embarrassed than guilty, really. He also kept replaying the events that happened that day. The tour, Lyn holding his hand-well, wrist,- and the confrontation with Vince. Whether or not it was a good idea that he revealed himself to that guy, he didn't mind anymore. He realized how far he was willing to go to keep Lyn safe. Could it be that he's… No, that can't be it. As ninja, they were always willing to do anything to protect the people. That had to be it. Then why was he debating over this? Suddenly, his phone vibrated. He unlocked his screen and saw that Lyn sent him a message.

I'm sorry to text so late but just a reminder: Don't forget to ask Sensei and the others if they'd be willing to go on a two-day vacation, this weekend preferably. Please update me asap so I can make arrangements. And if they ask where, tell them it's gonna be in my family's rest house. Night :)

Lloyd sighed and put his phone away. He felt ashamed and unfit to ask his uncle for more favors after messing up this afternoon. But he also knew that this was Lyn's only free time and that she really wanted to make up for her last visit. Turning to his side, Lloyd closed his eyes while thinking what to do about it. Maybe he can ask the guys for help. It was worth a shot, anyway. After a few minutes of thinking, he drifted to sleep.

I'm so in the zone right now. And it's thanks to you lovely readers.

Big thank you to Guest EnergyBlast, Guest MMM, and ninjachief547 for your reviews.

@Guest MMM, you'll have to keep reading to find out. I think most if not all these questions will be addressed as the story unfolds :)

@Guest EnergyBlast, yes I made the cover art. Thank you! As for the rumors, I don't really mind Lloyd getting a love interest, even if it's for a brief while. It'll be a good development for him. In relation to this fic, I hope I finish it before Season 8 comes out, otherwise I might lose interest in continuing because he Lloyd might react differently from what I've imagined hehe

Till next chapter ~ Snowflakeshard :)