Chapter 99
A Step Back Down

.:Kai:.

He couldn't eat. The hunger he felt within his stomach disappeared. Instead, anxiety took over. His amber eyes could only rest upon Violet as she ate and look at the scenery. While she wasn't looking, he dumped whatever was on his plate (pretty much his whole meal) back into the container where the left overs are. His hand then fiddled with the small velvety box in his pocket. That's where the anxiety kicked in.

What if she was to reject my proposal? Where would this lead us to? He thought as his heart picked up the pace as Violet finally finished her plate. If Kai was a hundred percent honest, he was scared. No – he was terrified for the outcome. The nervousness that course through his body made Kai felt hot in the clothes he wore and his heart kept increasing by the second.

"Kai, are you okay?" Upon Violet's sweet voice, the brunette couldn't help but flinch. "You look pale and sweaty… Are you coming down with a fever?" Her violet eyes that he loved and admired at first glance were filled with concern. Immediately she crawled over towards him and placed a hand over his forehead. "You feel warm."

"I'm fine." Kai waved her off and swatted her hand away.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." Kai then smiled, trying to make it believable. Of course, she didn't buy it. He could easily tell by the way her brows furrowed.

"Kai, you can tell me you know. You don't have to be strong for me." The girl then shone him a radiant smile.

"I know but trust me, I'm not sick, I promise." And his calloused hand cupped her cheek.

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise." He repeated with sincere smile and he leaned in and pressed his lips against her forehead. When he looked down to see her face, he saw her peachy skin had turn into a scarlet red and her eyes avoided his. "What's wrong?"

"There are people watching us." She muttered and when he looked around, there were indeed some people – families and couples – watching them. This had sapped away all of Kai's confidence.

He was a coward. That was undeniable. He had probably fought in front of many people, crowds that were bigger than this but how is he terrified of proposing in front of a small bunch of people? Oh, that's right; they'll probably laugh at him when Violet turn him down. Does she even love me how much I love her? His anxiety questioned him. The brunette was lucky that a girl like her chose a guy like him. She was beyond the beauty of angels. While she could be cold and rude at first, she's the most caring person he has ever met – aside from his family.

Taking another glance at Violet, he knew he could love no one else even if she hates him.

.::.

With an unsuccessful proposal, Kai escorted Violet back to the apartment, dropping by the tea store to see it still haven't got Violet's favourite teas. However, this didn't falter her mood. Her violet eyes twinkled with happiness as she link arms with him with a slight skip to her step.

"You know, this is our first date together."

"It is?" He asked with his brows raised high and when he looked down to her, he saw her giggling – which wasn't like Violet at all. "Hey, who are you and what have you done to my Violet?"

"Your Violet huh?" The ninja of air teased him with a smirk tugging at her lips. He merely laughed and unlinked their arms, only to grab her by the waist and pull her close.

"This is unlike you, laughing, skipping and wearing pink."

"I told you, Nya forced me to wear this. And I'm just happy, happiest I have been in a long time." She answered. It was like Kai was seeing a side of Violet that could have possibly exist if her family's death didn't occur. She was happy, carefree, untouched of haunted memories and unaware of the darkness that still does linger in this world.

.:Violet:.

It was hours later and Violet was already feeling exhausted. She didn't even take a single step into the apartment because Nya immediately declared they were both going shopping after what looked like a telepathic conversation between the samurai and her brother. The day was coming to an end with the sun setting over the buildings however Nya announced she wasn't done with shopping yet which made the air bender groan.

"Nya, you already got nine new dresses for yourself and a whole lot of other stuff. Surely we can head back now right?"

"But I'm not done, neither are you. You haven't even gotten a single thing." The younger girl pouted as she tugged on Violet's hand.

"You got me four dresses, how much more do I need?"

"More! Plus you didn't even choose them."

"But I just want to go back to the apartment quickly, I don't like the way the people are looking at me." Violet muttered and tried to resist Nya's iron clasp on her.

Ever since she and Kai was probably spotted together, every girl who Violet assumed were fangirls of Kai seemed to glaring at her or looking at her with envy while the guys that walked past whistled and wink at her. She caught a few that were drooling! She wasn't that attractive was she?

"Fine, one more shop. I promise. I need a new pair of earrings."

Reluctantly, Violet agreed and she allowed Nya to pull her through the streets of Ninjago City and to a 'famous' jewellery shop according to Nya. Once they got there, the first thing that caught Violet's attention was the phoenix sculpture that was on display, a sculpture she was fair too familiar with. Violet quickly look up to the sign of the store to see Pandora written in gold against a board of silver. Underneath the sign was a plastic banner saying: Renamed from Ninjago's Finest Jewellery. As Nya entered the store, Violet hung back.

"What's wrong?" Nya asked her.

"My mother used to work here." Violet said softly as nervously look around to see the sky was a deep orange, the type of orange that reminded you of the ambers within burning wood.

"Then we have to check it out." The younger girl continued and she pulled Violet in before letting go and going directly to the woman at the counter.

Upon her appearance, she reminded Violet of someone. She looked to be in her forties, maybe slightly 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. Immediately the woman looked at her as Nya wondered off and it was like a light bulb has turned on in Violet's mind. That's right; this was her mother's best friend, Margret.

"Margret?" Violet asked softly as she made her way to the older woman.

"After all these years." The woman spoke softly, her voice was clear as water. A soft smile appeared on her lips. But her voice reminded Violet of the same one that called the day she unlocked her true potential. "But I remembered you had blonde hair."

"Well living on the streets for a decade changed the colour of my hair but someone found me and took care of me. Only recently we had signed the adoption papers to make it official."

"That's great news!"

After a small talk and catching up, Violet was glad Margret was here, it made the time flew past as Nya still walked around, browsing through the cases. Eventually both of them ended up looking at her mother's work which brought good memory to the caramel-haired girl.

"And here are the rings your mother crafted." And the redhead unlocked the cabinet and brought out the racks that held rings more beautiful than Violet could ever imagine.

"Wow…" She then heard Nya's gasp from next to her.

"They're truly beautiful aren't they? I remember Megan staying up late one day to make a certain ring. It was probably her best one ever." Margret smiled softly.

"Can I see?"

"Unfortunately someone bought it a couple days ago… Do you have a special someone Violet?" And upon this question, the said girl felt her face heat up.

"Yes I do."

"Do you think you'll ever marry him?"

"W-What?!"

.:Kai:.

It was late. Not just late like nine o'clock late but eleven-thirty late. Where are they? Kai thought to himself as he paced within the lounge room, using the moon light from outside to avoid walking into furniture. Everyone was worried that something bad happened to the two but when Kai called Nya earlier, she picked up and said their plan was going well.

Eventually exhaustion wash over him from the day and Kai's feet dragged him towards the couch. He kept his eyes on the door but sleep lured him like a baby and within minutes or even seconds, he was out like a matchstick. However only a few minutes later he was awoken to the sound of the front door opening but he was too tired to even open his eyes or to acknowledge the person.

"I didn't know we took that long in Pandora… Your fault."

"My fault Nya? I think your shopping took longer than my chat."

"Okay, that's true- Who's sleeping on the couch?"

The brunette managed to hear their whispering conversation but he still pretended to sleep. He wasn't entirely in the mood to talk or move to his bed. He just wanted to sleep.

"I think it's Kai." He heard Violet whisper; he could hear the concern in her voice.

"He probably went to wait for us to get back safely but fell asleep because we took so long…"

"Get some sleep Nya, I'll try and wake him up and take him to his room." Upon hearing this, he tensed. He didn't want to move. He just wanted to sleep.

"You sure?"

"Of course. Goodnight Nya."

"Night Violet."

He could easily identify Nya's footsteps leaving the lounge room since they weren't as soft as a ninja. However, Violet's footsteps were so light he can't hear them. He nearly –nearly- flinched when he suddenly felt a soft handle on his arm.

"Kai, wake up." Violet's voice cooed as she started to shake him as he didn't give a response. When she persisted, Kai quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her down onto his chest. "K-Kai-!"

"Shhh, you're going to wake up everyone." He muttered and hugged her close, rolling onto his side so they were in a more comfortable position.

"B-But-!"

"No but's, just sleep." He mumbled into her hair as her head was somewhat pressed against his chest but underneath his chin. The brunette's arms were firmly around her small waist and he pulled her close towards him.

"But we can't sleep on the couch-"

"Sleep." He interrupted her once again and slightly dosed off but at the same time, he was aware of Violet's reluctant sigh and she slipped one of her legs between his. After that, Kai fell into a sweet slumber.

.::.

"Are you crazy?! Don't you remember what happened last time? We nearly died!"

"Stop being dramatic Lloyd, it's another harmless prank-"

"Harmless or not, Kai's and Violet's revenge will be painful again. I don't want to go through that again."

"No we won't-"

"If you guys so much touch me at the moment, I'll make sure what I'll do is much worse than last time." Kai muttered and to his pleasure, he heard Jay yelp, making Violet shift in his arms.

"It's too early…" Once she muttered this, Kai opened his eyes and saw his brothers standing before them quite shocked.

"Ermm…. Good morning." Cole smiled at them sheepishly but Kai could only shake his head.

They knew about his unsuccessful failure, of course he had to spill about it otherwise they would immediately ask Violet how it feels to be 'engage'. Of course, Jay being Jay and Cole being Cole, they both teased him, asking how he could be terrified to propose to a girl. Meanwhile Nathan, Lloyd and Zane understood his predicament. The plan that was arranged with Nya was that if he did ever fail to propose to Violet, she would immediately take her shopping and eventually to Pandora where Margret will help smooth some things up and show the rings. Eventually, she would ask Violet about getting married and the ninja's thoughts about it. I need to talk to Nya…

"Why are you guys pestering us? Can't you go and bother someone else?" Violet snapped as she snuggled even closer to his chest, making Kai hold her even closer.

"Don't get lovey dovey here please, that's what a bedroom is for." Jay whined.

"Last time we were sleeping in our bedroom we got interrupted." Kai groaned before batting out a hand towards them. "Leave us alone."

Sorry for the short chapter and I'm also sorry for the disappointment of Kai not proposing and the continuous and many POV change. But I promise, I really promise you'll like the next chapter because 1) I promised XD. 2) It's my 100th chapter so I'm going to make it extra special and 3) hopefully I can make it longer :D. BUT OMG! I FELL IN LOVE WITH JORGE MENDEZ'S SONG 'COLD'! You all have to listen to it! I just fell in love with it and I'm currently trying to practice the piano part since the violin is easy XD. But massive thanks to the reviewers! ElementalGirl, The Mayor of Ninjago City, Applejack Ninja Lover, Jaya Fire Gal, ALookIntoMyWorld, FlameNinjaofDarkFire, Arima Lucari, Kratt Trio, LucinaGamer, Kai4Ever, Mihoshi 2.0, CarlySHi208, ElementzGirl7, Guest and Guest and all of my silent readers!

Applejack ninja lover: Awww thanks! Problem is that I'm gonna get so fat XD

FlameNinjaofDarkFire: Sure! Sorry I couldn't reply earlier. I didn't think the park was that greatly descriptive but go ahead, you have my permission.

Mihoshi 2.0: I hope this chapter answers all of your questions :)

Once again, thanks for all of your support. I love you all! I'll see you all soon with a romantic chapter :D

Xoxox – ZaneLoverFan88