AN: Hi, everyone! I've been stalking this site for a few years, and since I have a ton of fic ideas sitting in my google docs right now, I decided it was finally time for me to start sharing. This isn't the first Ninjago fanfic I've ever written, but it's the first one I've decided to post simply because I worked on it a lot over Christmas break and got invested.

This is largely inspired by FirstFandomFangirl's story, Oh the Things We Could Do. Coincidentally, FFF was also the first one to welcome me to the site, so special shout-out to her! FFF, consider this story dedicated to you. ;)


I lay with my eyes shut tight, trying to ignore the grass tickling my cheek. I didn't know how long I had been laying there, but it had to have been at least an hour. When I woke up in the middle of nowhere after going to bed the night before, I thought I was dreaming and ignored it. As the light behind my eyes grew brighter, however, I started to notice how wakeful I truly felt. Birds twittered somewhere nearby, a gentle breeze caressed my face, and grass itched against my skin. My stomach started to flutter with panicked butterflies as I realized how real everything felt. I lay still for a long time, trying to will myself to wake up. But I hadn't. And the "dream" had only kept feeling more and more real until I couldn't deny it any longer. I definitely wasn't at home.

It took a minute of internal panicking for me to finally pluck up enough courage to open my eyes. I mentally counted to three before I pushed myself into a sitting position and looked around. I was on the side of some grassy hill, and to my chagrin, it looked like I really was in the middle of nowhere. There was no civilization in sight; cities, small towns, or villages even. Which meant I was on my own.

Great. I thought grumpily. Seeing as I wasn't in any immediate danger, I adjusted my skewed glasses and stood up to stretch my legs. From the stiffness in my limbs and the ache in my back, it was clear I had been laying here for a long time. I squinted up at the sun, shielding my eyes as I tried to gauge the time of day. My dad had taught me a trick where the number of hand-breaths between the sun and the horizon equaled the number of hours left before the sun set. The sun was pretty high at the moment, so I figured it must be about noon. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell which way the sun had risen, so I had no sense of direction at the moment.

I looked around warily again. While I was confused and scared out of my mind, I could see I wasn't in any immediate danger. This gave me a moment to do what I always did in a crisis; pause and think. I assessed my options, trying to figure out what I needed to do first. My primary concern was food and water. Secondly, shelter. I desperately hoped civilization was somewhere nearby. I couldn't imagine having to try and survive in the wilderness. Just the thought sent a whole new wave of panic washing over me, but I did my best to quash it.

After studying my surroundings a bit, I decided to head up-hill and see if I could make out more from the top. I didn't feel comfortable leaving the spot I woke up in if I could help it. Before I left, I made sure to break off a few sticks from a nearby tree and arrange them into a rough X where I had woken up. That way, I could return to the spot if I needed to.

That done, I trudged up the hill toward the summit. Thankfully, though the hill was high, I was close enough to the top that I made it without getting too winded. It struck me for the first time that I wasn't wearing my PJs, but instead was dressed in jeans, sneakers, and a sweatshirt. The implications of this sent uncomfortable goosebumps over my body, but for some reason, I just couldn't imagine a person being involved in this. After all, why dress me in proper clothes and then dump me on the side of a hill? Something wasn't adding up.

When I reached the top of the hill, the first thing I saw was a small, dirt road winding through the rolling hills. I instantly felt a wave of relief flood over me. Where there was a road, there were people. This was a good sign. When I followed the road with my eyes, I noticed with even more delight that it led straight to a building perched on one of the hills.

"Civilization!" I gasped aloud, clapping my hands together in the sheer giddiness of relief, "Hallelujah!"

Since I now had this to look forward to, I forgot all about my spot on the hill. I clambered down toward the road as fast as I could, keeping an eye out for approaching cars. Thankfully, I reached the road without anyone coming by. It looked like a pretty unoccupied area, which was fine by me. As long as the building ahead held actual people, I figured I would be okay. I walked on the road of packed earth, as it was easier than the uneven turf. With the brisk autumn air, it was a struggle to keep from breaking into a dead run. I was anxious to reach the building and figure out what the heck was going on, but I knew I needed to pace myself. The place wasn't going anywhere. I just needed to take it one step at a time.

The walk was long, and I estimated I was a good hour or so in when my stomach started to ache. I tried to ignore the feeling as I slogged on, my eyes fixed stubbornly on the building on the hill. To distract myself, I tried to make out what the building was. It was small, but not like a cottage or a house. It seemed to sit in the middle of a large courtyard, with walls and a tall, open entrance. The courtyard was surrounded by strange grooves in the hill, like a garden or something. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

It took at least three hours for me to finally reach the bottom of the hill where the building stood. I knew because I had been watching the sun. It had been sinking somewhere to my right, so I figured that must be east. Or was it west? No, the sun set in the east. I was sure of it. So did that mean I was headed north? In the middle of this debate with myself, I couldn't help but groan aloud. I had never bothered to learn my directions well, which was going to be a problem if I got stuck in a situation like this again. I had gotten lucky finding this little building at all.

The hill to the place was steeper than the one I woke up on. I was exhausted from almost four hours of walking, and my feet felt swollen, but I pressed on. I could rest once I got to the building. Dimly, I thought about the fact that perhaps the structure was abandoned, or worse, inhabited by unsavory characters. While these apprehensions concerned me, I knew I had come too far to quit now. I would check out the place from a distance at first and assess its credibility before I ventured inside.

I had to stop a couple of times on the way up to catch my breath. Climbing hills sucked. Finally, however, I made it to the top. I stumbled into the courtyard, hardly caring about hiding at this point as I paused to lean against the support post of the entrance. I panted heavily as I studied my new environment.

The place wasn't abandoned, thankfully, and it looked well-kept. All of the shrubbery was neatly trimmed, and the building itself was clean and orderly. There was a large teapot sign above the door, so I figured it must be some kind of shop. There was writing on a small plaque beside the door, but I was concerned to find I couldn't read it. It looked like some kind of… Japanese? I didn't have a clue how I could have gotten to Japan, though. I suddenly hoped the locals spoke English, otherwise, this would get awkward really fast. Despite my apprehensions, there was something about the whole place that felt… safe. And safe was something I desperately needed at the moment.

After allowing myself a minute to catch my breath, I pushed off the post and stumbled toward the front door. The courtyard was eerily quiet, which meant I could easily hear the muffled commotion and conversation going on inside the shop as I drew closer. The commotion was boisterous, but it didn't sound mean or rowdy. A good sign. Though I knew it might be a bit creepy, I crept up to the window and peeked inside.

The scene inside was at once comforting. The first thing I saw were a bunch of teenagers, somewhere between sixteen and twenty, if I had to guess. I counted five of them in total. They were unloading boxes with a kindly-looking gray-haired woman. The whole group was laughing and chatting as they worked, perfectly as ease. Though conversation was muffled by the walls and glass, I did catch snippets of a few words I understood, which was a relief. The whole sight was so normal, so happy, so heart-warming, that I couldn't help but smile. This seemed like a group that would be willing to help me. Suddenly, I couldn't wait to get inside.

I was about to slip away to knock on the front door when a movement from the back room caught my eye. A figure emerged, and all at once, my good feeling vanished. A sense of cold shock replaced it, and I stared slack-jawed at the tall, silver, metal man that just walked out of the back room. He was dressed casually in a pair of gray pants and a white jacket zipped part-way up to his neck. His eyes were a brilliant, inhuman blue, and his shimmering hair was made to look like a crew cut.

My stomach churned as a million thoughts and emotions ran through my head at once. As soon as I saw the metal boy—he seemed to resemble more of a teenage boy than a man, I noticed—I was reminded of something, and now I couldn't get the thought out of my head. It took me a second to tear my eyes away from the silver boy, and I hastily scanned the rest of the group. Five boys including the robot and one girl, plus the older woman. The girl was dressed in a red kimono with short, black hair cut off at her shoulders. One of the boys had spiky brown hair and a scar over one eye. Another was a redhead dressed in blue. The third boy, the biggest, bore a mop of shaggy, black hair. And the fourth had blond bangs that he had to constantly flick out of his face. When I caught sight of his eyes, I felt my breath hitch. They were the brightest shade of green I had ever seen.

By now, I was on the verge of an absolute panic attack. I backed away from the window as I looked around wildly, taking in the place from a new light. I tried to tell myself; Abby, be rational. It's impossible. It's a freaking kids TV show. There's no way this is real…

The harder I tried to talk myself out of it, however, the further the idea cemented itself in my brain until I felt I couldn't deny it. But I was scared too. If this meant what I thought it meant… It would bring on a whole new level of crazy.

I retreated to a place in the front where the building's occupants couldn't see me, but I didn't knock on the door. I couldn't. My emotions were already at the point of overwhelming me completely, and if there was the slightest chance my theory might be confirmed… I might actually break.

But I couldn't leave; that would be stupid. I needed help. My stomach growled pointedly, reminding me that I was on a time crunch. I was thirsty too, and my throat felt so dry… I should knock on the door. I would. But I needed to get myself together first.

I stood leaning against the wall for a long moment, focusing on breathing and rationalizing. Usually, if I rationalized my circumstances—assessing every outcome, judging the most likely, composing my words in my head—it made it easier to go through with difficult decisions. It took a while, but eventually, I felt ready enough to engage the crowd inside. My stomach still fluttered with anxious butterflies, and I felt like I might throw up, but I forced myself to push off the wall and march to the door.

I raised my fist to give the door a sharp rap, but I paused. I waited a second for my courage to pick back up before I sucked in a breath and gave the door a loud knock. I immediately backed up a couple of paces and stood fidgeting nervously with the strings on my sweatshirt. A brief pause passed, and I was beginning to wonder if I needed to knock again when the door cracked open, and a pair of blue eyes met mine.

I took a quick, deep breath as the girl peered out at me, her expression curious but friendly as she smiled, "Hi there. Can I help you?"

"Um, yeah…" I tried to appear relaxed as I forced a note of casualness into my voice, "See, this is going to sound kind of weird, but I woke up somewhere back in the hills there without a clue of how I got there. I'm not from around here, so I don't know where to go. I saw this place and came straight here hoping to find people. I…" I faltered a bit as the girl's expression slowly shifted from curiosity to concern. This was it; no going back now. Sucking in another breath, I plunged on, "Look, I hate to intrude, but I've been walking all afternoon. I'm tired, hungry, and thirsty, and I was hoping I could find help here. I…" My voice cracked, and I swallowed, blinking rapidly to hold back tears, "I don't know where I am. If I'm being perfectly honest, I'm really freaked-out by a lot of this right now. I just… I need some help."

I was rambling at this point; I knew that, but I couldn't help but feel guilty somehow. I didn't like being a burden to people, and while my brain told me I was being perfectly reasonable and polite, I still felt myself shrinking into the habit of trying to please the person in front of me.

Thankfully, the girl didn't ask any questions. Her eyes widened when my voice broke, and when I was finished talking, she immediately pushed the door open wider and hurried out to me.

"Of course!" She said, gently taking my arm and ushering me inside, "We have some tea inside that will warm you up. I can get one of the guys to brew it while I go and get you something to eat. Is there something in particular you like?"

"Thank you so much. Anything you have is fine," I replied with a grateful smile as I followed her inside, "I'm not a picky eater."

That was about all I got out before I caught sight of the others, and I tripped slightly over the floor. While they weren't outright staring, all of the boys were casting me shameless, curious glances as they worked. Two stopped working all-together to follow the gray-haired woman as she hurried over.

"Hi there, sweetie," She said with a smile. The all-too familiar tone of her voice sent a nervous lump shooting into my throat as she continued, "What brings you all the way out here by yourself?"

"She said she's not sure, Mrs. G." The dark-haired girl replied as she guided me to a nearby chair, which I dropped into without hesitation, "Woke up in the hills nearby; doesn't remember how she got there."

"Really?" The woman frowned at me, but it didn't look like a suspicious frown. More like a worried one. Meanwhile, one of the boys—the redhead—barked a short laugh.

"Oh, great," He said, raking his fingers through his hair as he rolled his blue eyes hugely. I stiffened at the sound of his voice; if the woman's was a shock, the boy's practically crashed my entire logic system. I sat there, trying to keep my expression neutral as the redhead ranted on, "Now we have random girls showing up in the middle of nowhere conveniently near our new tea shop? What are the odds?!" He laughed, but it sounded strained, "You know what, whatever, right?! Just another day in Ninjago!"

Just like that, my theory was confirmed, and the world dissolved into a cacophony of internal screaming.


AN: Please review and let me know what you think; I'm hungry for feedback!