(A/N: Hello! Wow, it's been...an embarrassingly long time. But I'm going to power through and finish this for you guys, I've just been a little busy with my Fictionpress writing *self-promotion yeah* but anyways I'm back, and we're going to get through these last three chapters! Yes, it's almost over! *sad face*)

Twenty.

Lloyd's POV.

I had never really "liked" anyone before, so I couldn't be sure what it felt like, but somehow I just knew it. I liked Natalia. I talked to Uncle Sensei about her a couple times, but all he did was...well, be him, offering strange advice while sipping tea.

Actually, I talked to everyone about her. The ninja, Nya, Uncle Sensei, even Mom and Dad sometimes. The adults, at least, seemed willing to listen. Nya was interested and even offered advice for a while (I guess it's a girl thing?) but after a few conversations her input turned into just "uh-huh" and "yeah?" and "cool!" and "hey, could you pass me that hammer?" The ninja, with the exception of Jay, were another story. Kai and Cole weren't interested in her at all, and Zane didn't seem to understand anything I was saying. Nindroids are not the best to get dating advice from.

Jay was really excited, though. I guess he'd always been the girl-crazy one.

We went on a few more little dates (including another one in which we got chased out of the restaurant by weird fangirls), and played more games of four-square with the boys at school than I could count. It didn't matter how many new people came to Darkly's, or how many new friends any of us made, it was always the small group of us who spent the most time together - at lunch, after school, before school, basically whenever. And Natalia and I never got sick of being around each other.

I was starting to think I loved her...

One Friday, after classes had ended, she walked up to me. She looked a little worried, so I asked her what was wrong. She sighed. "It's my dad. He's been talking about moving to another city for a while, to work with a theater group there."

My heart sank. "B-but," I stammered, completely losing my cool once again, "you can't leave!"

She smiled sadly. "I'm sure it'll be fine. It's probably nothing. He talks about this sort of thing a lot."

I made myself smile, too. "Yeah, I'm sure. Hey, I'm going to the park tomorrow, with the ninja. You wanna come?"

"Yeah!" she answered, cheering up. "You gonna invite the guys, too?"

"Definitely."

She met me at the park the next morning, before any of the guys arrived. She looked even sadder than she had the day before, and my heart sank again. "Your dad?" I asked as soon as she ran up to me.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"W-well, how long will you be gone?"

"He doesn't know. Six months, maybe, even a year."

"Oh." I couldn't believe it. Natalia, leaving?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Lloyd."

I tried to smile. "At least it's not forever, right?"

"Yeah, I...I guess..." She looked so sad. She looked like she would cry, and that made me want to cry too.

"Natalia," I said, trying to reassure her, "it'll be okay. I'll call you, and maybe we can see each other over the summer, and -"

You're probably wondering why I stopped in the middle of my sentence. I was wondering that too, or rather, I was wondering why Natalia stopped me in the middle of my sentence. And then she kissed me.

I mean actually kissed me, like, on my mouth.

My stomach felt funny, flipping like a rollercoaster. It was a good kind of funny, though - a happy kind, not a stomachache-y kind. I felt like I could just fly away like a golden dragon into the air.

"Thanks," she said, "for making this the best school year ever."

"And thanks," I replied, "for being the coolest first girlfriend I could ever imagine."

I was definitely sad that she was leaving. But I guess I forgot about that for a while. Because just for a little while, we could still be together, and we were happy. And everything was okay.