They had finally reached the Monastery and everyone settling into the living room.
As Wu finally arrived, he came in slowly and somewhat in shock as he looked upon the young woman with the supposed moon cat powers.
"Sensei I sense you are stressed, is something the matter?" Zane asked.
"I am fine Zane, I am just a bit confused at all of this. I thought all moon cats were gone from this realm and do not see how one could even give their powers to another."
"I can explain it." Dana raised her hand as she told him what she told Zane, beside the little message his mother gave him.
Wu looked on sadly now as he sat and said "So, her time finally came."
"Did you know that woman Sensei?" Nya asked.
Wu nodded as he replied "As Dana explained she used to be a friend of the elemental alliance. We were especially good friends actually." he tried to hide a small flush at this.
"Sadly an elemental master betrayed our trust and it led to our friendship ending." Wu sighed.
"The one that was hunting all her moon cats?" Dana came in close.
Wu nodded "The very same."
"Who would do such an awful thing?" Cole frowned.
"Greed and power can manipulate many hearts sadly." Wu sighs.
"Anyway, I am glad to see that my old friend at least chose someone to pass her powers onto. I understand it's a bit of a shock though."
"Yeah it was, but without it we wouldn't have survived. So I'm thankful, plus they're super cool." Dana smiled.
Wu chuckled "Yes they are, but they come with responsibility. You can't just do whatever you wish with them."
"I understand, I already knew that I wanted to use them for good. I just need some training." she sweat dropped.
The other chuckled and Wu smiled "We are more than happy to help. Perhaps you should stay in the monastery. It wouldn't be easy to travel everyday from your hometown."
"Uh, yeah it wouldn't." Dana frowned.
"Then it is decided, let us call your family and pick up your belongings." Wu stood as he stomped his staff down.
Once gone Dana said with a raised brow "That was easy…"
"I'm guessing Sensei's in a good mood." Nya smiles.
They all chuckled at this before heading off, there was still a lot to do.
Ninjago
It took about two days but Dana finally had her own place settled in the monastery.
Her room was decorated in lavenders and silver, moons and plushes were strewn about.
It had been a bit hard to convince her family on the move but they understood this would be safer for her and that it was a chance for her to do something she loved.
Now it was her official first day of training and Dana was pretty excited.
The first thing she awoke to was a black gi outside her room with a note saying 'This will be your training gi until you can master spinjitzu, when that's completed you can choose your own color gi.'
"Cool so you start with black." Dana got dressed, not able to help but to admire the suite a bit. What could she say, she was a sucker for historical stuff.
Ninjago
Out on the training course the ninja waited for Dana to come out.
Lloyd was with his arms crossed as he said "I still say we should do things the way Sensei Wu does."
"Lloyd, seriously, we've been busy saving Ninjago for a long time now. We are not wasting our free time getting up before the crack of dawn!" Kai yelled in his face.
Nya shoved him away from the youngest and said "What my brother is trying to say is, we don't have to be like Sensei Wu when it comes to training someone ourselves. And yeah we don't get a lot of off time so not waking up early would be appreciated."
"I guess we could try things differently." Lloyd looked down.
"We may have to, remember that Dana's parents told us about her autism. So certain activities will be more difficult for her to handle then others." Zane replied.
All of them had been curious when told about Dana's mental divergence and how she would need help in certain areas when it came to teaching and how her daily lifestyle was very different then others.
They were interested to see how they would all perform in teaching and learning to live with another person with different needs.
'It would explain how she seems sensitive to certain things but also intensely focused when it comes to a task she wants to perform.' Zane held his chin, thinking about their adventure and a few other things he noticed the last few days.
Suddenly the door to the monastery opened and Dana came out saying "Hey guys, I'm not late right? I'm terrible with my sleeping pattern and I got distracted by this awesome gi."
They all smiled at that as Cole said "Not at all, we were just talking about how none of us wanted to get up early either."
"But now it's time to train." Jay called as he slammed the button on the dragon statue and the training equipment came out.
Dana's eyes widened as she said "Waugh, this is so cool!" jumping slightly.
The other chuckled as Kai said "You get used to it."
"Now for your first lesson, we need you to get through the training course." Lloyd smiled.
Dana jumped, "What, shouldn't I learn some basics first?"
"Trust us, experience is the best practice." Cole smirks.
Dana looked uncertain but Zane came up and said "Do not worry, we will not let you get hurt."
"Well, if you're certain." Dana still looked uncertain but went to the start of the course.
As this happened Lloyd brought out some tea and a cup. but Jay stopped him "Oh no you don't, she's nervous enough as it is man."
Lloyd looked down at the tea set and sighed saying "Fine." as he put them down, crossing his arms.
Dana took a deep breath as she looked at the start of the course. She was definitely nervous, she didn't think she could do most of this stuff.
At least not normally….
An idea came to mind as she closed her eyes for a moment and then her claws came out.
"Whough!"
The others looked surprised, except Zane who smiled 'I knew she would figure something out.'
So with a new sense of confidence filling her, she rushed at the training course.
Over the planks, dodge the swords, here comes the dummies. They all knew the old saying by heart now.
And as they watched on they couldn't help but be reminded of their first times as well.
Dana's abilities helped her to dodge and jump quite well but she still had trouble trying to maneuver so quickly.
She was actually launched off the course not so long after and Zane rushed to catch her, but she was able to land on all fours.
"Dana, are you okay?" He asked, a bit worried.
Dana sighed saying "I think so." as she slowly tried to get up.
"Don't worry no one ever finishes the course the first time." Kai says.
"I can see why." her legs knocked a bit.
"Do you by chance wish to stop?" Zane frowns.
"Just let me catch my breath and I'll try again."
They nodded at this and took five.
This is how it went on for a while, Dana would take a rest, get back on the course, get flung off, and need to rest a moment, then head back on the course.
This went on for a bit till Dana finally had enough, sitting on the floor panting.
"Okay I have to stop." she gasped as she tried to get her bearings.
Zane came up with a water bottle and she drank greedily.
"I believe that is enough for one day." Zane suggested.
"Yeah good idea, so Dana what do you want to do now?" Lloyd askes, maybe some team building would be best to try now.
"Oh I don't know, read a book I think, take a nap maybe." she shrugs.
"A nap?" Kai raised a brow.
"I'm a night person." Dana frowns.
"That does tend to make daytime activities difficult." Zane nods.
"I know what you mean, sometimes I'm so caught up with a new idea or playing a new game that I can't stop till morning." Jay adds.
"Oh man I know that, writing, video games, or even just a new series will make it hard to get to bed." Dana replied.
"I know right, like those new star fare shows…" Jay and Dana talked for sometime about this.
Everyone smiling to see friendships already blooming, Zane especially was happy to see his teammates getting along with Dana.
He decided to go in to make some lunch as this went on.
As he cooked Zane couldn't help but think how he may have not known Dana for long, but somehow their little adventure had brought them somewhat close, and something within him felt different around her.
"Hello Zane, making lunch I see." Wu came up to see what his nindroid student was making.
"Yes Sensei, we have finished Dana's training for the day."
"Ah and how did it go?" Wu asked.
"She seems to be doing well, but cannot pass the course yet. Even with her moon cat powers."
"So she has been using her catlike abilities on the course." Wu strokes his beard.
"Yes, she has said that she would not have been able to clear it without them." Zane put some food on a plate.
"I suppose that would make sense, seeing as Dana is not as physically accomplished as the rest of you were when you started."
Usually Wu would try to teach the basics with someone like Dana, but this was his students training mission, not his.
"I believe she will get the hang of things soon and the muscle memory should help along the way." Zane gave his teacher a plate before heading to set up the table.
"I suppose that will speed things up." Wu smiles before taking a bite of the delicious omelet Zane had made.
Usually their lunches were more like breakfasts since they couldn't eat before training or suffer stomach cramps. So breakfast became an after training meal.
Everyone was sitting down at the table now, each with a plate and digging in.
"Mmm, Zane, this is amazing. You should open your own restaurant." Dana complemented.
"That's what we keep trying to tell him but he won't budge." Kai smirks.
"I do not think I could balance the responsibilities of a ninja and a restaurant owner." Zane smiles, still happy for the compliment.
"Too bad you'd make millions." Jay smirks, thinking about how Zane's restaurant could turn them rich.
"Well then I guess this means we'll just have to enjoy his cooking all to ourselves." Dana chuckles.
"Here, here!" Kai holds up his mugs as the others join.
Ninjago
Later that night Zane could not find a way to shut down for the night.
He tossed and turned and even read or meditated, but nothing seemed to help him fall into slumber.
At this point he was quite desperate and he knew he had to resolve to some old habits to get to sleep.
Meanwhile
Dana groaned as she got up in the middle of the night.
'You think I'd be so exhausted I sleep through the night, but no of course I'd wake up.'
She was resolved to either read a book or play around on her laptop when her stomach decided to interrupt.
'Welp, might as well.' she headed to the kitchen, wondering if there was anything she could snack on.
'I should probably head to the store and pick up some of my own snacks so I don't accidentally grab anything that belongs to someone else.'
At this she opened the frigid and jumped back with a slight yowl.
"Oh, I apologize I did not mean to startle you." Zane said with wide eyes as he saw a shocked Dana.
Dana just looked on surprised till "Um Zane, what are you doing in there?"
Zane sighed as he stepped out saying "And old habit that tends to help me sleep. I apologize for the strange behavior."
"No don't apologize, I mean it kind of makes sense you being the ice ninja and all so it would be comfortable in there for you. I was just surprised, but maybe you could leave a note or something just as a heads up." Dana replied.
Zane held his chin and said "That does sound logical and would greatly help in the future. Thank you Dana." he smiled.
"No problem. Mind helping me figure out what I can snack on around here. I don't wanna accidentally grab someone else's food?" she looked bashful.
Zane smirked as he said "I have just the thing."
Let's just say for the first time besides Pixal, Zane showed someone his secret stash of homemade cookies that he kept from the others.
Though this time someone actually wanted to eat them, Pixal never very interested in eating so it was fun to share his little secret with someone who did enjoy it.
Though, that night, Zane also found out that Dana had a severe sweet tooth.
First chapter yay.
Now Dana's Autism is based somewhat on my own, as every person has a different experience.
It will not be complete because this is fiction, but please enjoy the story.