"A little more to the left!" The water ninja guided as she observed Destiny and Jay readjusting the holiday garland along the top of the doorway.
"How's this?" Destiny asked, standing on her tippy toes to move the garland properly.
"That looks perfect." Nya smiled as she happily viewed their work.
The three of them had been tasked with decorating Master Wu's teashop for the coming 'Snowflake Celebration' party. It was easier to organize the party at the small business rather than on the Bounty so that friends and family would be able to join as well. Plus, Master Wu had stated he'd be closing down shop after the winter season, so this shindig served the dual purpose of selling the rest of their inventory stock as well.
"We did a good job!" Jay stated with a smile of his own as he and Destiny moved next to Nya.
"Yeah, and I can't wait for everyone to get here! I know we've still got some stuff to do, but it'll be nice to hang out with everyone since it's been a while." Destiny added. The young teen was referring to seeing her mother again, and getting to know the acquaintances and friends of the other ninja better as well.
"Same here, although we'll need to keep a close eye on Ronin. At the last Snowflake Celebration party he was going through all the presents looking for valuables." Nya informed the other girl, causing Destiny to giggle a bit. Nya then rummaged through the box of holiday decorations one last time, double checking to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything.
"Oh we almost forgot! Jay honey, could you add this to the garland please?" Nya then pulled out a fake piece of mistletoe, handing it to the Master of Lightning.
"You got it." Jay said with a smile as he took the mistletoe. Before he walked off though he turned back around lifting the small plant above the two of them and giving his girlfriend a kiss on the cheek.
"Alright, get going you!" Nya laughed as she playfully shoved her boyfriend to the step ladder so he could hang up the decoration. Destiny smiled to herself, the cute moment between the couple making her heart feel warm and fuzzy inside.
"You two are so sweet together." Destiny complemented once Jay was out of earshot.
"Thank you." Nya replied with a smile as she started cleaning up their mess and moving it into the cardboard box on the tabletop beside them. After a brief moment of silence the Master of Water decided now was the perfect time to ask her fellow female ninja an important question she had yet to bring up.
"Hey Destiny, is it okay if I ask you something?" Destiny paused her cleaning as she looked over to friend.
"Of course! What's up?" The brunette asked kindly.
"Okay, so, this is kind of random. I was wondering though, is there anyone special you were hoping would show up at the party?"
"Well, I'm hoping my mom will be able to make it-" Destiny began, but stopped when Nya started shaking her head.
"Not like that silly." Nya laughed a bit as she smiled at her friend's oblivious nature.
"Oh, like what then?" The yellow ninja questioned, one of her eyebrows raised in confusion.
"Someone special, y'know?" Nya then gestured her head towards the blue ninja who was reaching as far as he could to hang up the mistletoe. Right as Jay hooked the final decoration up he fell off the step ladder, hitting the ground with a thud, followed by several clanking noises of surrounding objects falling.
"I-I'm okay…" Jay spoke as he held a thumbs up above the counter from his spot on the hardwood floor.
Two and two finally connected in Destiny's head though, and she now understood what the noir haired girl beside her was asking.
"Oh." Destiny said as the realization hit her.
"Sooo?" Nya questioned, nudging the shorter girl as she shot her a teasing smirk. Destiny could feel her cheeks beginning to heat up, and quickly looked down at the mess that was still present on the table.
"I- I don't know what you're talking about." Destiny tried to make up excuses in her mind. However, the short girl knew that her friend was too smart for that, and had undoubtedly already pieced together that she had feelings for someone.
"Yeah right, spill!" Nya said excitedly as she moved closer to Destiny, making it harder for the yellow ninja to squirm out of the situation.
"Nope, nope, nope!" Destiny squeaked, as she tried to run away from her embarrassment. Nya placed her hands onto the shorter girls' shoulders and due to her stronger build, foiled Destiny's escape attempt.
"Is it Zane?" Nya began guessing, and Destiny shook her head furiously.
"Nope! Nope! I'm not answering this!" Destiny tried again to get out of her friend's grasp by ducking under the teal ninja's arm, but sadly failed as Nya spun her back around.
"Kai? Is it Kai?" Nya continued, and Destiny rolled her eyes, biting the inside of her cheek as she did so in an effort to put on her best poker face. Seeing she wasn't getting her desired reaction the water ninja moved down the list of possible suitors.
"What about Cole?" Nya questioned.
Destiny could feel her face grow even warmer, and struggled to hide her embarrassed smile as Nya said the black ninja's name. Although Destiny did her best to hide her involuntary reaction the teal ninja noticed, and gasped as she saw she had a winner. Nya then began to squeal excitedly as she bounced up and down, shaking Destiny's shoulders as she did so.
"You have a crush on Cole!" Nya exclaimed as she was overcome with joy.
"I- no!" Destiny tried to deny.
"What!" Jay shouted. The blue ninja had since pulled himself off of the floor, and just in time to hear the cute revelation.
"Destiny has a crush on Cole!" Nya reiterated to her boyfriend, and the two of them smiled knowing that their friends' romantic feelings for one another were mutually reciprocated.
"Okay, fine, yes! I might have, y'know, tiny feelings for Cole…" Destiny trailed off as she hid her tomato red face in her hands.
"You should tell him!" Nya stated as she removed her hands from her friend.
"NO! NO! NO!" Destiny quickly shouted, crossing her arms in front of her. "I can't tell him! I don't, I don't want to ruin our friendship. Besides! I don't even know if he feels the same way." Jay and Nya smiled to themselves, already knowing that their tall friend liked the short brunette back. However, knowing it was not their place to tell, the pair of them opted to be as supportive as possible.
"Cole is a sweet guy Destiny, trust me when I say it wouldn't ruin your guys' relationship if you told him how you feel." Jay tried to reassure the yellow ninja. The Master of Lightning's words worked, and Destiny calmed down a bit seeing his soft smile.
"Jay is right, it's not like Cole to cut people off if that's what you're worried about." Nya added, leaning against her boyfriend as he wrapped an arm around her waist. Seeing the couple in front of her sunk Destiny's heart a bit, and reminded her of how she silently wished to be held like that by the Master of Earth.
"I'm sure you guys are right, but, I don't think I'm ready to tell him yet." The yellow ninja admitted, looking down at the floor in shame. The couple then moved forward to either side of their shorter friend, placing gentle hands onto her shoulders to comfort her.
"It's okay if you're not ready." Nya started.
"Yeah, just know that whenever you are, you have our full support." Jay added. Destiny looked up at her friends and gave them both a smile.
"Thank you guys." The short teen said as she hugged them both. Jay and Nya hugged Destiny back, and once she felt better the group pulled away.
With the metaphorical tea spilled and all of the holiday decorations placed, the trio resumed cleaning up the access decor and putting it into the cardboard boxes for safekeeping until after the party. As Destiny closed the final box she handed it to Jay, and the blue ninja began making his way to the storage room. With perfect timing the door to the tea shop opened, and the sound of the hanging bell ringing caught the attention of the two girls that were still present in the seating room.
"Hey Nya, hey Destiny! We're back!" The Green ninja stated happily as he and the red and black ninjas entered the building.
"Perfect timing guys! We just finished getting all the decorations set up and put away." Nya replied as she looked over to the group.
Lloyd, Kai, and Cole had made a quick trip back to the Bounty to grab the gifts everyone had bought and wrapped for each other and their party guests.
Sure the trip had been longer and colder than any of them liked; and they didn't quite appreciate how the chilling breeze cut through the fabric of their clothing, leaving their skin riddled with goosebumps.
However, their task was a necessary one, and one that they took pride in. The trio enjoyed the happiness they felt seeing the smiles on their friends and families faces more than how much they hated the cold. So it was all worth it. They just silently hoped no one would ask how they got the presents down the anchor, that was admittedly, not one of their finer moments…
"You guys can set those all down over here." Destiny said with a smile as she walked over to the beautifully lit tree in the corner of the room.
"Sounds good to me, my arms are killing me!" Kai responded, his face barely visible from behind the large stack of presents towered in his arms.
Nya and Destiny both giggled a bit at the fire ninja's dramatics, but helped the boys by grabbing a few gifts at a time before setting them down gently beneath and around the tree skirt. To no one's surprise Cole was carrying the most and in turn it took the longest to help free his hands again. As Destiny took the gifts one by one she could slowly begin to see the raven haired boys' face again, and did her best to hide the rose colored blush on her cheeks as he waited patiently for her to finish.
"Thank you for the help Destiny." Cole began once Destiny took the final gift box from his arms. "I'm pretty sure if I had tried to put those all down on my own I would have broken some by accident." The tall ninja continued with a chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. Destiny smiled up at her crush, finding his sweet and sheepish nature adorable.
"Of course, it was no problem." The yellow ninja replied as she looked down at the floor, an undeterable smile on her face.
"Thank you guys for grabbing all the presents, it makes things a lot easier being able to split up all the jobs in preparation for the party." Destiny continued, looking to each of the boys' as she thanked them.
"You got that right." The red ninja agreed, smiling as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"You guys did a good job decorating yourselves, the teashop looks amazing!" Lloyd complimented as he finally took a moment to admire all the holiday decor.
Before any of the ninja could continue the conversation the bell of the teashop door rang again, and the teens all looked over to see who had just entered. Walking through the doorway was Lloyd's mother, Misako, as well as Ronin and Dereth. The trio were all dressed in holiday apparel and greeted the group as the door closed behind them.
"Mom!" Lloyd said happily as he walked over and gave his mother a hug, which she returned with her free hand. In her other arm was a box with the word 'Ninja' written in sharpie on the side.
"Hello son." Misako replied with a smile before pulling away from their embrace.
"What's in the box mom?" The young blonde continued, his gaze drawn to the container in his mothers' arms.
"Well, I figured in winter spirit I'd give you all an early gift." The older woman stated simply as she walked over to a nearby table and set the box down on top of it.
The other ninja had since walked over to the Garmadons and watched as Lloyd opened the box. Stacked carefully inside the box were a handful of different colored sweaters with embroidered designs meant to correspond to each of the ninja.
"Whoa, these are super nice Misako." Nya said as she stared at her beautiful teal sweater. It had waves across it horizontally, and was dotted with various sea creatures. The sweater also had sparkles woven in, giving the clothing the appearance of rays of sunlight shimmering against the top of the ocean.
"It's perfect!" Destiny exclaimed excitedly as she hugged her yellow sweater to her chest.
"Yeah, thank you so much." Kai added as he admired his own red sweater, a wide smile on his face.
"Of course, I figured you could all wear them during the party as well if you wanted." Misako explained as she handed her son his green sweater.
"We will, these are amazing!" Lloyd said happily as he gave his mother a side hug, most of his attention drawn to his new sweater top.
"Where are Jay and Zane? They need to grab their sweaters too." Cole spoke up, seeing the remaining gifts as he grabbed his sweater out of the box.
"Jay went to put the decoration boxes in the storage room, and Zane is still in the kitchen with Master Wu preparing the Grand Feast." Destiny informed the Master of Earth.
"Well, while we wait for the rest of them, how about we get this party started huh? I brought my portable speaker and booklet of karaoke songs!" Dereth suggested as he patted the rather large speaker on the floor beside him.
"Yeah, sure thing Dereth." Nya smiled at their friend, giving the middle-aged man permission to set up shop.
"Awesome!" Dereth said happily as he began rolling the speaker towards the back wall, over near where their present tree was set up.
"I'll go help him out so the rest of you can go get changed into your new duds." Ronin informed the group before walking over to where Dereth was struggling to plug in his speaker into the outlet. Kai sighed once both men were out of earshot.
"I'll take the first shift babysitting Ronin to make sure he doesn't steal anything. You guys go ahead and get changed, I'll go once you all are done." Kai said after rolling his eyes, earning him a few chuckles from everyone else.
"Thank you Kai." Nya thanked her older brother between her giggles.
After all of the ninja had changed into their new sweaters (Zane and Jay included), more guests began to pour in. It started off with just family, such as Ed and Edna Walker, Lou Brookestone, and Destiny's mother Janissa Pierce. Before they knew it though more of their friends and acquaintances filled the festive teashop as well.
Destiny couldn't help but smile at the sounds of laughter and joy in the air. The yellow ninja wasn't the best at first impressions, but she couldn't help but be excited to finally get acquainted with the other ninja's allies and families. The brunette spent several hours talking to other elemental Masters who were present; the Masters of Amber, Metal, Mind, and Speed just to name a few.
Once she finished conversing with the other elemental Masters she introduced herself to the modern technological genius Cyrus Borg, as well as a young purple clad boy named Nelson. After she was sure she had finished introducing herself to the other dozen guests present Destiny caught up with her mother, and that eventually led to their threeway discussion that included Lou Brookestone.
"Ahh Destiny Pierce, correct?" The fancily dressed man asked, his gaze caught on the yellow clad teen.
"Yes, it's nice to see you again Mr. Brookestone. I apologize that we didn't get to speak more the last time we saw each other." Destiny said as she held out her left hand to shake the man's free hand.
"Please, call me Lou!" Mr. Brookestone said with a smile as he shook the teens' outstretched hand with his free hand that wasn't holding onto his cane.
"I'm surprised I haven't seen you out on the karaoke set up yet Destiny. Your voice would surely be easier on these old singers' ears at least." Mr. Brookestone chuckled, although his expression was a bit more serious than his tone would have suggested. The sub-par singing hadn't exactly been the most… in-tune performances any of them had ever heard before.
"You're telling me! I have been waiting for her to get up there all night!" Janissa spoke up, placing both her hands onto her daughter's shoulders. Destiny laughed a bit at the older duo before waving her mother's hands away.
"I appreciate that you both like my singing, but I don't exactly fancy singing in front of an audience." Destiny explained as she rubbed her upper pant leg nervously.
"Ah, I see, a bit of stage fright. Well, it happens to the best of us!" Mr. Brookestone nods. A brief period of silence came between the group, but it wasn't long before Lou spoke up again.
"Now Destiny, if you don't mind me asking, has my son asked you out yet?" The unexpected question nearly caused Destiny to choke on the sip of water she had decided to
take.
With Cole -
From the other side of the large seating room the black ninja had been engaged in his own conversations with Nya and the Walker family. Originally it had just been him and his fellow ninja, but when Jay and Nya told him about their earlier discovery of Destiny having feelings for him as well Ed and Edna had overheard.
"Oh! Destiny? That's the new ninja that just joined your team, right Jay? Oh, we met her earlier and she is just the sweetest thing!" Edna gushed, clasping her two hands together.
"Yes mom, Destiny is training to be the Master of Species." Jay clarified. Edna then turned to the tall raven haired boy.
"I say if you two have feelings for each other then go for it! Life is too short to have regrets after all!" The teenagers knew Edna meant well, but Cole couldn't help but feel his cheeks heat up in embarrassment.
"Eh heh, mom-" Jay tried to save his best friend, but was interrupted by his father.
"Now hold on there son, your mother has a point!" Ed started, and then turned to the Master of Earth as well.
"We know you're a fine young man yourself Cole. Why, it's the cut of your jib that makes you so special!" Cole rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"I- uh, well, thank you both. I appreciate it, but I'm not sure that I'm ready to confess my feelings to Destiny just yet." The tall boy admitted.
"I see, it took Ed a long time to confess to me as well. Nothing wrong with that!" Edna did her best to reassure the Master of Earth.
"Admittedly it's true. One day I realized though that, well, I couldn't stand the thought of going through life without Edna by my side; and I finally worked up the courage to tell her how I felt." Ed then hugged Edna closer to him.
"If we all waited for a right time to do anything, then well, we'd all die waiting! I guess that's why they call it a leap of faith." Ed chuckled a bit at his words, but something inside Cole's mind clicked at what the Walker's were trying to explain.
The black ninja was scared, yes, but when wasn't he? Being a ninja came with dangerous situations and circumstances all the time. The Master of Earth understood well that to have courage was not to have a lack of fear, but rather the strength to do the right thing even when you're scared. Cole could feel a small flame ignite within his chest now, a symbol of the inspiration he now felt.
While Cole still had no intention of confessing tonight, as he didn't want the possibility of rejected feelings to leave a sour taste in his mouth; he now understood that he should tell Destiny his love for her sooner rather than later. Although it felt as though the black ninja was lost in thought for quite some time, in reality it had only been a few seconds, and he was brought back down to earth by the sound of a sudden coughing fit to his right.
The tall raven turned his attention to his side, and scanned the crowd in an attempt to find the source of the coughing. To Cole's surprise it was Destiny who was coughing, and it seemed like she was currently talking to her mom and… was that his father? Cole suddenly felt his stomach twist in a knot. His father hadn't said something to embarrass him had he? Now that the thought was in the Master of Earth's head he couldn't shake it, and promptly opted to make sure his father behaved himself.
"Uh, could you guys just excuse me for a minute please?" Cole said to his conversation group, admittedly a bit more nervous sounding than he'd meant to. Could you really blame him though? His father was currently talking with his crush!
Cole then maneuvered through the clumps of party goers somewhat clumsily, and almost knocked over people on several occasions as he hastily made his way over to the far side of the room.
"Destiny, are you okay?" Cole questioned the still coughing yellow clad girl, his concern drenching his words. Destiny nodded as she attempted to stifle her coughs with the sleeve of her newly procured sweater.
"Yeah- I'm okay-!" Destiny struggled to respond, her throat still tickling a bit. Although her face was somewhat red and her eyes were brimmed with unfallen tears she would be alright. Cole let out a quiet sigh of relief before turning his attention to his father who began speaking.
"I apologize Destiny if I caught you off guard with my question. That was not my intention." Lou apologized as he kept his gaze fixed on the now recovered Master of Species.
Cole did his best not to completely freak out. Of course his father had been the cause of Destiny's near death experience! Well, maybe it wasn't a near death experience, but still! He had successfully embarrassed him, and now it was time to reiterate the boundaries and ground rules they had set in place.
"Would you both excuse us for a moment please?" Cole laughed nervously before grabbing his father's shoulder and spinning him around so their backs were now faced at the Pierce family.
"Dad! What are you doing? What did you say?" Cole whisper-yelled at his father. Lou raised an eyebrow at his tightly wound-up son, and sighed before answering.
"I should be asking you what you're doing. It is clear from that young woman's reaction that you have yet to ask her out!" Lou scolded, hitting his cane against the ground. Cole could feel his face heat up, now he was even more embarrassed somehow.
"You what!?" Cole shouted, causing several nearby people to look at him with confused expressions. The black ninja looked back at the onlookers and flashed them an awkward smile.
"Heh, sorry about that..." Cole apologized nervously. As the guests returned their attention to what they had been doing prior, so did the raven haired boy. "Why would you bring that up dad?!"
"Son, I told you before that Miss Pierce is an amazing and talented young lady. You are passing up the opportunity of a lifetime by not asking her to go out with you." Lou responded, obviously unimpressed with the young Master of Earth. While he and Cole were not as close as some fathers and sons, Lou still knew his child well enough to pick up that Cole had developed feelings for Destiny before Cole himself had even realized.
"You're just saying that because of how good of a singer Destiny is." Cole stated, giving his father an unimpressed look before sighing.
"I know you're right though. I just, I'm not sure how to tell her how I feel. I want to tell her, I really do; but I also feel like everything is happening too fast. I just barely realized I had these feelings, and it's my first time experiencing them. I just, need some time to think. I want to make sure that I do this the right way…" The young man admitted.
Cole didn't realize but his embarrassment and anger had subsided, and now the strong ninja now resembled more of the young boy he once was. Scared, and searching for guidance from his only blood-family just as he used to when he was curled up into a small ball on the floor of his childhood home.
Lou studied his son, and his eyes softened. He knew this side of Cole very well, and had seen it more times than he could have ever counted. While Lou would never admit that he was hard on Cole, he still loved his son with all his heart. Shedding his tough love exterior, the old singer placed a gentle hand onto his child's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I… I didn't realize you felt that way." Cole then looked up at his father, and Lou cleared his throat before continuing.
"You're a strong young man Cole, and I'm proud of the person you've become. I just want the best for you, I always have. Now, listen closely. You'll know what to say when you're ready, and when you're ready you'll know when the time is right. Trust yourself, alright?" The Master of Earth gave his father a soft smile before nodding.
"I'll try. Thank you dad." Cole thanked as he continued to smile at his father.
Lou couldn't help but smile back, the look on his son's face reminding him of the smile his wife once wore. The two were more similar than Lou believed Cole realized, and had no doubt the young ninja held his mothers unbreakable strength within him. Cole would figure this out, Lou was certain of this.
Before the Brookestone's could turn to continue their previous conversation with the Pierce's someone's voice rang out through the building. Their shouting causing all the talking to quiet into a wave of murmurs before subsiding completely.
"Thank you all for your attention. The Grand Feast is ready, but before the food is set out Master Wu has an announcement he would like to make." Misako smiled, gesturing to the old spinjitzu master before moving to the side of the business counter.
Master Wu smiled at Misako before walking forward and taking her previous spot behind the countertop.
"Thank you Misako," Wu began. "Friends, families, and esteemed guests; I would just like to begin by saying what an honor it is to have you all here tonight. Ninjago has been faced with danger many times before, but through it all we have prevailed. However, none of it would have been possible without you. All of you here tonight represent a greater truth than you may realize. Whenever the ninja have been faced with impossible odds, and powerful foes you have been there to support them. Our strength comes from you, our community, and that is what the 'Snowflake Celebration' is meant to remind us of. Even in our darkest hour, and our lowest points we are never truly alone. As long as there is somewhere, as long as there is someone to fight for, ninja will never quit."
Everyone cheered at Master Wu's speech, and the clapping and cheering lasted for a moment until the Sensei raised his hand to quiet the storm.
"With that all said, I have an important piece of news to share with you all. The 'Ninjago City Historical Site Preservation Foundation' has agreed to give myself and the ninja custody of Sensei Yang's temple of Airjitzu. So, in a short time from now, we will be moving into our new home!" The elder stated happily, earning himself an encore of cheers.
The ninja were all smiling, half shocked and half excited.
"Wait, Master Wu, are you serious?" Lloyd questioned, double checking that he wasn't in some sort of dream.
"I can confirm that it is true. Master Wu received a letter from the N. C. H. S. P. F last Monday with the finalized documentation forms." The Master of Ice assured, giving the younger ninja a warm smile.
"This is great!" Kai added, slinging an arm around the green ninja.
"Yes! Finally!" Nya shouted excitedly, jumping up and down a bit.
"New temple, great! But where's the food? I'm starving!" Jay butted in, wrapping his arms around his abdomen to accentuate his point.
"Here." Misako said with a smile as she began setting the first platters of food down onto the counter top, the warm aroma of honey glazed food instantly filling the room.
As the rest of the food was set out all of the party guests and ninja alike began to swarm the counter, each of them craving to get their just portion of the winter feast food. As Misako, Wu, and Zane distributed the food onto the outstretched plates in front of them, each of them also plugged in their ads, prompting the guests to purchase Wu's remaining tea.
"Destiny." Master Wu called out to the yellow clad girl. Destiny paused her discussion with her mother and set her food and drink down onto a nearby table before walking over to the spinjitzu master.
"Master Wu, is something wrong?" The brunette questioned.
"It appears that I accidentally left one of the inventory boxes containing the 'sereni-tea' in the storage room. Would you be able to grab it for me?" The old ninja explained, an obvious look of guilt veiled over his face.
"Of course, no problem! I'll be right back with it!" Destiny replied, skipping past the counter and into the considerably quieter storage room behind it.
Destiny hadn't been in the shop long enough to memorize where everything was, but after a minute or two of searching she found the box Master Wu had mentioned. However, something the elder had failed to add was that the box was on the top shelf, and well out of the young girls' reach.
Destiny bit her bottom lip and furrowed her eyebrows as she attempted to find a solution for the puzzle presented in front of her. The yellow clad teen then walked around the storage room some more, looking for the step ladders she and Jay had used earlier. To her disappointment the step ladders were nowhere in sight. The young teen also tried looking for anything else that would help her get tall enough, a chair, a bucket, even a random box; yet the Master of Species had no such luck.
"Well, looks like I'm gonna have to do this the old fashion way then." Destiny spoke aloud to herself as she moved back over to the shelf.
As Destiny climbed the shelf like a ladder she slowly made her way to the top, one arm slung over the top shelf to keep herself from falling while her other arm stretched to nudge the box closer to her. Slowly it began to dawn on the young ninja just how stupid her plan was, and switched her arms for a moment when her arm holding onto the shelf began to tire out.
The brunette was at least 4 or 5 feet off of the ground, and she knew that if she fell from this height there was a possibility that she could accidentally dislocate a shoulder or something if she landed wrong. Switching her arms once again Destiny stood on her tippy toes as she attempted to pull the box to the edge of the shelf again. Destiny was so focused on the task in front of her though that she nearly let go of the shelf when a voice coming from behind her scared her.
"Destiny, what are you doing?" The voice questioned. Destiny yelped in surprise and quickly held onto the tall piece of furniture for dear life when she briefly felt herself let go. The yellow clad girl then glanced over her shoulder, and let out the breath she was holding in when she realized it was Cole.
"First Spinjitzu Master! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Cole breathed out. His arms were held out in front of him in preparation to catch Destiny if she had fallen. "I thought you heard me walk over." Destiny shook her head.
"I didn't. I was too concentrated on getting this box for Master Wu." The young girl explained, nodding her head towards the box in question. Cole spotted the box, and figured he'd be able to grab it easier since he was taller.
"Here, let me help you down then I'll grab the box for ya." Cole suggested, and Destiny nodded her head in agreement.
"Yes please." Destiny spoke, and Cole gently placed his hands onto her hips before lifting her up and setting her down so her feet were once again planted onto the floor.
"You know, I think I might have a fear of heights." The yellow ninja stated, and Cole chuckled a bit as he grabbed the tea box off the top shelf.
"Does that mean that you're scared of being on the Bounty?" The raven haired boy questioned, he was genuinely curious. Destiny shook her head though.
"No, that's different. Cause the Bounty is a whole ship, not just a single plank of wood you need to balance on." The teen explained, and Cole hummed in acknowledgement.
"I see, and I guess that makes sense. I can't see that many people would exactly be thrilled about standing on a plank of wood that's floating several hundred feet above the ground." Cole stated a bit teasingly, earning him a playful nudge to his side.
"Shut up." Destiny laughed as she smiled up at the taller ninja. Once her laugh subsided her smile did as well. "Hey, mind if I ask where you came from anyway?"
Cole tensed up a bit at this question, but did his best to remain neutral. What had he been doing? Well, as Master Wu had been giving his speech Cole had been fine, but as soon as their Sensei broke the news that they would in fact be moving to the Temple of Airjitzu the black ninja had started to feel… uneasy.
His breathing had suddenly picked up in speed, and all the noise in the room had blurred together into one muffled mess. He didn't want to admit it but he had gotten overwhelmed, and had slipped past the crowd and through the storage room so he could take the back door outside. He wasn't sure how long he had been out there, but he knew it had at least been a few minutes.
Luckily the cool chill of winter had helped to combat the beads of sweat that had formed on his brow. After a few breathing exercises from their drilled meditation routines he was fine. Cole didn't want to say anything, he didn't want to disappoint his family. He saw their reactions to Master Wu's news, how excited they were. Plus, it's not like he hadn't known this was a possibility, the others had already told him about how their Sensei was trying to get custody of the temple. However, despite all this Cole was still scared. The Temple of Airjitzu held difficult memories and emotions for the Master of Earth; but, as stubborn as the mountain, Cole refused to burden his family with his issues. Surely he was just overreacting.
"I, uh, just went outside for a minute to get away from the party. Don't get me wrong, everyone here is great! It's just, well, it can get to be a bit much sometimes. Plus it's been a few hours, so.." Cole trailed off, and Destiny merely nodded at his words.
"I get it. Parties aren't really my thing either, but it's been nice so far." Destiny responded. The two of them then began to make their way back towards the main seating room. "Did you at least get to talk to your dad at all?" The tall ninja chuckled before nodding his head.
"Yes, it's hard not to talk to him. Especially when he has a knack for embarrassing me." Cole joked. "Sorry about him by the way."
"Oh, it's okay. He didn't do anything or say anything wrong. He just caught me off guard with one of his questions earlier." Destiny tried to reassure her friend, waving one of her hands as well.
"Ah, the 'Sereni-tea'! Thank you Cole." Master Wu thanked before taking the box from Cole's arms and returning to the party guests. The two teenagers looked at their Sensei, they hadn't even realized they'd made it back to the front counter already. Although, the storage room wasn't too big.
"Thank you for helping me out with the box." Destiny thanked, turning her attention back toward her companion. Cole gave the girl a soft smile.
"Anytime. Just let me know if you ever need someone tall and strong to grab something that's too high up for you." Cole teased a bit.
"Uh huh, be careful there earth boy. Talk like that too much and you'll start to sound like Kai." Destiny joked, playing into the black ninja's teasing. The yellow clad girl then noticed as Cole's smile faded again as he looked onward towards the room of crowded people.
"Hey, you wanna just go hang out outside until the party is done? Or at least until there's less people?" Cole looked down at Destiny, a soft smile tugging at his lips.
"I'd like that actually." The raven haired boy admitted.
With that the pair of them walked beneath the decorative mistletoe, through the storage room, and out the back door. Once they were outside they sat down on one of the nearby snow covered benches (Cole had made sure to wipe off as much of the snow as he could before they sat down of course). As they sat down they stared at the colorful holiday lights lit around the city, and as they admired it all they filled the space between them with simple chatter. They talked about their families, their past 'Snowflake Celebration' memories, and even other more random topics such as their favorite hobbies and shows.
Although the air was cold, the warmth they felt in their hearts by being in each other's presence protected them. While Cole had been worried earlier about the move to the Airjitzu Temple, Destiny helped to calm his anxious thoughts. For now his mind was distracted, and his heart was a-glow. Cole also couldn't help but think of how this moment reminded him of the first time he and the young girl had spent their time together, stargazing aboard the Bounty. Just as he had helped her then she was helping him now, whether she realized it or not.
The two teenagers stayed outside for about an hour before anyone came looking for them; it had been Jay, and he informed the pair that everyone was unwrapping the gifts. The duo then followed the Master of Lightning, rejoining everyone inside. While this years' 'Snowflake Celebration' hadn't been extremely good or terribly bad it was still one that no one would forget or trade for the world.