Chapter 96
New Connections

.:Violet:.

Finally, it has been four weeks and Dr Moore has finally agreed that Violet's shoulder was well enough to be put out of a sling however she was required to wear a shoulder strap and for her leg, she was required to walk around with a moon boot which make the ninja of air feel ridiculous. Her collapsed lung was fully operational again and the conjunctivitis in her eyes was gone. Violet was also informed of Nathan's departure but despite her wishing to go and visit him and tell him in person she's alive since Aston isn't really part of the mailman's routine and they don't use electricity, Zane has volunteered to go and inform the samurai. Not only was Zane and Nathan gone, everyone hasn't seen Lloyd since the public is going crazy for him due to his defeat over the Overlord and while they just somewhat relax, Lloyd goes around accepting awards; none of the others got credit but Violet did get a few compliments and get-well soon type of talks but that's it. At the moment, Jay and Nya as well as Garmadon and Misako were out on a date (and not likely to come back until late) while Kai and Cole left for shopping, leaving her and Wu in the apartment.

Even though she was in her moon boot, she was still recommended to take it 'easy' and it didn't help that she couldn't even use her powers, just like her body is recovering so are her powers. The ninja of air hated feeling so useless. With a groan, she scooted to the edge of the couch and got onto her feet and limped her way to the kitchen to get herself some tea ready. The girl with purple eyes didn't really like the teas where you add sugar cubes, milk and all those other things, she loved the green and herbal tea – the ones that sun-dried tea leaves to and just drink it as it is. The kettle was interesting, it wasn't like the one she and Wu used to use on the Bounty. It was metal all over… maybe aluminium with designs etched into it. The handle was the shape of half a heart and Violet went to grab it with her left arm (the uninjured one) until she felt sheering hot pain flashing through her hand. Immediately a startled yelp came spilling from her lips and her hand dropped the kettle, the contents spilling out and splashed onto the kitchen counter and onto her arm.

"Hot hot hot hot hot!" She cried at as she jumped back, ignoring the igniting stab of agony in her right leg. Immediately she rushed to the other side of the kitchen and placed her arm in the sink and turn on freezing cold water to sooth the red burn on her arm.

"Violet?" She then heard a worried voice called out and when she turned around with her arm still underneath the running water and saw Wu walking into the living room/kitchen/dining room area. "What in the name of Ninjago happened?"

"The kettle handle was hot and yeah…" Violet explained sheepishly and turned off the tap and sighed.

"Hence the reason why I got Cole and Kai to go shopping. Don't worry, I'll make you some tea; we need to discuss some important matters." The wise sensei told her and she nodded and made her way to the living room but she kept watching her mentor as he prepared the tea. Instead of using the kettle, he placed a pot of water over the stove top and he started to clean the mess she made. The ninja then looked down to her arm and to see her burn was already slowly healing.

It wasn't long until Sensei Wu came back, setting a tea pot with two tea cups onto the table and he sat on the couch opposite her. No words were exchanged as he poured them both a cup of tea and when Violet brought the warm cup in her hands to her nose, she could smell the cinnamon and green tea leaves. The room remained silent except for the small sips of the tea and it wasn't long until Sensei Wu broke the silence.

"When the guys and I went to the hospital to have Kai tell us that you were very much alive but injured, the doctors required the name of your current/living parents or guardian for your consent form to allow them to go forth with the operations and treatment. I told them it was me and ever since, I've been thinking…" Wu stated but slowly got lost into his thoughts.

"Thinking about what?" She asked with curiosity as she placed the cup down and leaned forward.

"… Adopting you." He replied, making her freeze on the spot. Adopting her?

"W-What do you mean?"

"I would like to adopt you, every consent form for persons eighteen years and under needs to be signed by a parent or guardian to allow the procedure to commence and other things. For these past two years I've seem you nothing more than a daughter… if this arrangement is okay with you."

Violet, for one, was speechless. Absolutely speechless. She knew Wu saw her as a daughter but she didn't know that he really saw her as a daughter and to say that he wanted to adopt her. This simple –well not really simple- gesture warmed the insides of her body with happiness that a small smile appeared on her lips without her permission. It was like the family bond she shared with the team strengthened knowing that one of them really wants her to join their family.

"It's okay with me… In fact it's absolutely perfect with me." She chuckled softly and she saw as relief flooded onto the mentor's face. "So shall I start calling you dad or just stick with Wu?" Violet asked teasingly.

"I think it'll be weird for you to call me dad since for one, I've never been called that before and two, you've always called me Wu."

"I was just joking around, I know that." She laughed and she got up from her couch and limped her way to the other side of the coffee table and gave Wu a hug. "Thank you."

.:Kai:.

"Come on Kai, if we don't hurry soon we'll get caught in the rain." The brunette's brother's voice was sounded from ahead but Kai stopped into his tracks to look at a tea shop they happened to pass. "And please don't tell me you're getting into tea addict like Sensei Wu and Violet are." Cole's bemoaned making Kai chuckle as a return.

"As much as I love Violet-"

"-let's not get lovey dovey please-"

"and respect Sensei Wu I'm not going to drink that stuff every hour of the day. Don't you remember Wu asked us to buy another kettle?"

"Oh right." The ninja in black said sheepishly and they both went into the shop, setting the fourteen shopping bags on the ground. The smell in the shop was stronger than Wu's tea storage room that existed in the Bounty, making both ninja missing the Destiny's Bounty even more. The shop consisted mainly of green and herbal teas which Kai knew is the more preferred tea that Wu and Violet drank.

Browsing around, Cole went to search for the kettles while Kai tried to find Violet's favourite teas: Orange Jasmine Green Tea, Mixed Berry Green Tea and Orange Blossom Hibiscus Herbal Tea. The short girl love teas with a tropical taste while he hated it, he likes plain one and sometimes chamomile. When he found the three teas, he took a box of each and grabbed a Lemon Green Tea for Wu, knowing the old man like the stuff too.

"Oh yeah, we definitely came here for a kettle." Cole's sarcastic voice made Kai turned around to see he got a kettle in his arms.

"Violet and Wu love their teas, I might as well get some for them. We know Wu will get cranky without tea."

"That's true."

After paying the goods with the remaining spending money they had, they resumed their walk back to the apartment… That was until Cole spotted a bakery.

"Kai!"

"Cole, you said no more shops. We only got thirty dollars left and I'm positive Wu would like to see some change."

"But they're calling my name! I can't resist! Here." And before Kai could have another say in this matter, Cole dumped the shopping bags onto the ground in front of him and dashed into the store. The brunette could only shake his head laughing at the ninja of earth's obsession over baked goods.

Kai moved the shopping bags to the side of the path, lining them underneath the window of a jewellery shop. Along the top of the window was a sign with writing in gold against a board of silver. Pandora. Underneath the sign was a plastic banner saying: Renamed from Ninjago's Finest Jewellery. Immediately, he knew this was the department store that Violet's mother used to create jewels for and tried recruiting Violet on the day she got her True Potential.

.::.

"Hi there, by any chance do you know someone called Violet Emerson?"

"Just give me a moment," he then pulled the phone away from his face and covered the microphone with his hand, "Violet, someone on the other end wants you."

"Who is it?" At this Kai quickly put the phone next to his ear.

"Who shall I say is calling?"

"Ninjago's Finest Jewellery Department."

.::.

Looking into the window, he saw many jewellery were on display but the main piece was a sculpture made of crystal. The sculpture took form of a bird which looked like a phoenix perching on a branch with its great wings spread out with a wingspan bigger than Kai's arm span. The crystal wasn't white but tinted with red and orange to make the phoenix look more realistic and for the eyes were rubies. The magnificent artwork was breathtaking. However on the branch near the bottom, the crystal was engraved with gold writing: Megan Emerson.

It was one of Violet's mother's many great works. Looking around, the streets of Ninjago City was empty due to the dark storm clouds rolling above. Knowing no one would steal the groceries, Kai walked into the store. As he pushed the double glass opens open, a chime was sounded within the shop. The store had many glass cabinets with jewellery beyond measure with exquisite designs. Walking around he found most of the crystal sculptures weren't for sale and each one had Violet's mum's mark near the bottom. Kai made his way to the ring section and found a group of the rings were separated from the rest; they were obviously more expensive but they were stunning with the white gold band perfectly made with no scratches. These rings were a thousand times much more beautiful than the necklace he made for Violet…. Then again he specialises in weapons, not jewellery but it still made him happy that she still wore the necklace and to this day.

"You like what you see don't you?" A kind woman's voice brought Kai's eyes away from the rings and to the woman. She looked to be in her forties, maybe slight younger than Misako. Her aging hair was evident with some grey hairs scattered in her red hair that lost its volume and bounce but her blue eyes showed nothing but youth and recalling some old memories.

"Yes, they're beautiful." Kai smiled softly as his eyes drifted back to the rings.

"They were made by Megan Emerson, I remember watching her place every one of those crystals and gems on before her incident…" The woman sighed and looked away.

"She was a close friend of yours?"

"No, she was my best friend." Looking at the woman's blouse and the logo of Pandora sewed on, Kai also saw a name tag: Margret. "I've tried searching for her daughter since I was told by her caretaker Andrea that she ran away from the orphanage. I managed to find a number and she was there replying earlier this year but she hanged up quick… Must have been hard for her."

"Yeah…" Kai muttered, remembering that day Violet confessed to him her troubling thoughts but it also shocked him that this woman was the one that called.

"Well, are you interested in buying anything?"

"I'm just browsing, my friend went into the bakery next door so I stepped in here." Kai informed and when he look to the window, he saw Cole giving him a pointed look through the window and pointed to the sky. From the negative facial expression, Kai knew Cole didn't get to get any baked goods. "And that's him there. I better get going."

"Alright, come again." The woman smiled and Kai made his way quickly to the door and walked outside to see the clouds above were darker and thunder could be heard in the distance. It was just a regular storm.

"Let me guess, you want to buy a ring for Violet now and propose?" Cole asked dryly. The idea didn't seem bad.

"And let me guess, you tried to persuade the baker than you helped saved the city and you deserve a free cake but they then said that it was the Green Ninja and you got nothing?" Kai asked with a smirk tugging on his lips as he picked up the shopping bags with Cole following.

"Yes! It's so stupid because we were the ones that trained Lloyd to defeat the Overlord and we still don't get credit! And you still haven't answered my guess."

"No although now that you said that, I'm considering." Kai replied with a soft smile. He could already envision how he would propose and Violet's expression. Maybe she would think it was a joke, coming up with a smart remark.

"Wait are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. But if that wasn't the reason, why did you go in there?" Cole asked with curiosity shown in his eyes.

"Remember how Violet's mum was that famous jewel crafter? Well I found out that Pandora is the store she created the sculptures for and not only that, she made the most beautiful necklaces and rings and so on."

"You saying beautiful isn't right Kai."

"Haha, very funny." Kai rolled his eyes and quickened his pace feeling a drop of water fall onto his face.

"Well are you going to tell Violet?"

"About her mum or the proposal."

"Aren't proposals meant to be a surprise?"

"Not always." Kai replied. "But I think I'll tell her about her mum-"

"Kai!" Someone's voice grabbed both of the ninja's attention and when they look, it would be a lie to say they weren't surprised because they were.

.:Violet:.

"We're back!" Both she and Wu heard Cole's tired voice from the front of the apartment when she leaned forward to view the door, she saw Cole pushing he back against the door to open it and let Kai come through yet he still kept the door open.

"That's a lot of shopping." She muttered but her voice was still heard.

"Well not really when you have eleven people to feed for the next few days." Cole called out from the door.

"Eleven? But there are only eight of us at the moment. Lloyd and Zane are likely to come back in a couple of days… And that's ten. And for tonight, Jay, Nya, Misako and Garmadon aren't joining us since they're all on dates so that's four of us eating tonight. Your math is really bad Cole." Violet teased.

"What, are you saying you already forgot me?" A baritone voice ringed out and she immediately knew who it was. A large smile made its way to her lips and immediately, Violet was off the couch and left the adoption papers there and jogged (limped) her way to Nathan and threw herself onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs off the ground. "I can't believe you're alive!"

"Alive and in a stupid moon boot." She added with a wink as Nathan settled her down. Instantly she remembered the grunge he and Kai shared and when she looked back to the ninja of fire, to her surprise he wasn't growling or frowning, instead he was smiling. "So if Nathan is here, it means Zane's here… So who's eleven?"

"Wow, your memory is worse than a herd of elephants." Lloyd's voice also popped out and when she looked to the door he was standing there laughing while trying to muster a hurt look. Of course.

"But I thought you were still getting awards…"

"Well nothing beats a family feast, gathering or whatever you want to call it. I happened to bump into Zane and Nathan coming back from Aston and then we saw Cole and Kai while we were heading back to the apartment. And we called Jay to say that he needed to end their date yet we couldn't reach my parents."

"Ooh! This is great!" Violet smiled as she started to limp her way to the shopping bags despite everyone's protests that she should be sitting down. "And there is no way you can get my butt down back on that seat, I'm helping and that's the end of the discussion."

Immediately silence washed over the room that it worried the purple ninja as the boys kept looking each other, as if they were speaking telepathically. After a few seconds they all looked at her.

"What?" She questioned and she looked to Kai and Nathan for answers but the samurai and ninja looked at each other before nodding. As Kai walked towards her, she was about to question him until he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. "Kai! Put me down!"

Laughter rang through the room, breaking the silence and Violet could only puff her cheeks out in annoyance. She would normally fight back but then again there was the chance of overworking her recovering shoulder and leg. So while everyone (including Wu) went to unpack the shopping, Kai sat down and placed the short ninja on his laps and wrapped his arms around her.

"This isn't fair." She sighed as she leaned against him.

"We just care for you Sumire." Kai's husky voice was sounded from right next to her eyes and when she turned her head to look at him, she could see his amber eyes were on the adoption forms in front of her. "What's that?"

"Adoption forms." She smiled and waited for his reaction.

"Adoption?"

"Sensei Wu wants to adopt me, make me part of a family since mine is… well you know- but anyway, what happened to you and Nathan? You guys are no longer fighting or sending daggers."

"Well let's just say on the way we had a chat." Kai told her. She simply nodded and looked to the window that covered the whole wall and gave a view to Ninjago City.

Instead of seeing Ninjago City, she saw darkness from the dark storm clouds loitering above releasing rain that battered on the roof like a hail of bullets. The rain just hammered down creating a wall of water with smudges of light. The plants that were on their balcony drooped from the weight of the water and the pots they were in were filled to the rim, as a droplet would fall, a mini splash that looked the same as a spurting fountain would form. The rain somewhat washed everything away in Violet, leaving a trail of calmness despite that howls of the wind and the hammering rain. It wasn't long until a streak of a twisted light flash through the air, cutting away the darkness and lighting up the sky and city before it gone. It didn't take long until the vibrating sound of thunder was heard.

Not one of my best but it'll do. Sorry for not updating yesterday, some things popped up such as one of my teammates falling down the stairs at school and breaking her leg before a volleyball tournament we have next week. Worst thing is that we don't have any one to spare unless we put on a girl that hopeless at volleyball. She only started 2 months ago but this tournament is elite and will announce which team is the best in our state and whether we get to play the Australian Cup at the end of the year. But I hoped you all like that chapter. AND MASSIVE THANKS TO EVERYONE! I can't be bothered writing down every name since there's so many! What did I do to deserve such outstanding readers? I love you all! And also big thanks to everyone who said happy birthday, you all are just so sweet and awesome!

MMM: Violet will heal but since there weren't any open skin wounds that were serious, there won't be a scar.

BubbleEwa: I'm not sure if you remember or not (probably not but that's okay) but on the chapter and the chapter before Violet unlocked her Tue Potential, her surname was mentioned.

FlameNinjaofDarkFire: Thank you for the advice! I hope I did that in this chapter because I've actually written this chapter a couple weeks ago. I'm currently working on 98 so I might sure to look out in there.

And I'm soooooo happy everyone loved the doctor, I actually had a fun time writing her. Next chapter is a bit long, the first third leans towards some M stuff but after that is just pure comedy. So now that the ninja are relaxing, it's time for fun and games and who doesn't like pranks and revenge? Next Friday I got an elite Volleyball Comp so I'll try to update. It may be updated on Thursday so I'll see you all then :)

Xoxo – ZaneLoverFan88