A/N: We're now halfway through the story! Woot woot! Also I realized that I recently reached fifty followers!! Thank you guys so much!

. . . 

The boys were grouped in Kai's room again, and once Kai had returned from his break outside, Cole immediately went to business. But Zane was having trouble focusing as Cole and Jay discussed their plans. He couldn't stop thinking about Pixal, trapped beneath the island.

Had Master Chen already taken her element? What would he do with her afterwards? Chen hadn't told them what he planned to do with the losers, even after taking their elemental power away. It wasn't their business to know. But Zane doubted that the defeated masters would be released, especially since none of them had been seen since losing their respective battles.

Zane wondered if it wouldn't hurt to ask Master Chen about it. Maybe he could even convince him to let Pixal go. After all, without her element, she couldn't be much of a threat anymore.

"Zane!"

The Ice Ninja met his leader's gaze, ashamed at being caught off guard again. "I'm sorry, I –"

"What is up with you, man? I know you're distant sometimes, but you're usually more vigilant when we're on a mission."

Zane's eyes flitted to the floor. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"I sure hope not." Jay nudged Cole and nodded to the Fire Ninja, who also seemed to have his head in the clouds. "You, too, Kai."

Kai jumped at the mention of his name. "Sorry, what?"

Jay rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on! Cole and I can't do this by ourselves! Couldn't you at least pretend to be interested?"

"Zane you've been acting funny all day. But Kai, you were fine before the fight. You just started acting different after you came back from the square. What happened while you were out there?"

"I . . . um . . . well . . ."

"Kai," Cole said, his tone edged with warning.

Kai hesitated before blurting out, "I ran into Skylor, okay? She tried to get my elemental power, but I didn't let her. That's it, honestly."

Zane wasn't quite ready to believe him. He was acting too strange. His lack of focus, the glazed look in his eye, the small smile that would appear for just a moment . . .

Cole seemed to come to his conclusion at the same time that Zane did. "You kissed her, didn't you?" he said accusingly.

Kai's eyes widened and he opened his mouth as if to deny it, but he could only stammer over his own words.

Zane's blood went cold. If Kai had kissed Skylor then . . . 

"I'm right aren't I?" Cole said. "Kai, what were you thinking!"

Kai immediately turned defensive. "I don't see why it matters to you. You're the leader, that doesn't mean I have to ask your permission before I kiss a girl!"

Cole pinched the bridge of his nose. "She absorbs powers by touching you," he said slowly. "Didn't you stop to think that maybe she was just using you?"

Realization gradually dawn on Kai's face. "She kissed me!" was all he could manage as justification.

Zane couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Kai! I have to fight her tomorrow!"

Kai's eyes bugged. "What? Since when?"

"Since this entire time!" Jay cut in. "Did you even look at the roster?"

"And now it's fire against ice," Zane said. "How am I supposed to beat fire with ice?"

Kai groaned and hid his face in his hands. "I'm such an idiot!"

"This is just great!" Jay said, throwing his hands in the air. "Now Zane's going to get kicked out, and we'll be right back where we started! Three of us against three of them!"

"Hold on, who says Zane's going to lose?" Cole asked.

"Have you seen that girl fight?" Jay asked. "She's good, like, really good! Zane doesn't stand a chance!"

Zane didn't like how certain Jay was. "Now hang on a minute –"

"Okay, that's enough." Cole ordered. "Everybody just calm down. Nobody's going to lose. Zane can practice against Kai and maybe figure something out. I still expect you to win, got it?"

Zane nodded. Of course he expected himself to win, as well. Unlike Jay, he wasn't about to give up just because it looked bleak. Even if Kai did completely ruin everything.

"And both of you, try to stay focused. No more 'distractions.'"

"What about Chen?" Jay asked.

"Noodle Man can wait," Cole snapped. "Our first mission is to defeat the other ninja, and right now this new development is our top priority."

Kai had his head in his hands. "I'm sorry, Zane. This is all my fault."

Zane sighed and tried to focus on forgiveness. "You didn't do it on purpose. She tricked you, I'm sure."

"I swear, I didn't even have time to react, she just –argh!"

"Yeah, well, it's not going to happen again, is it?" Cole asked. Kai simply shook his head.

Zane felt for him, but he was more worried about himself. Skylor had so far proven to be a crafty opponent. He only hoped that he would be smart enough to defeat her.

. . .

Nya and Seliel had met in Skylor's room after the match. Surprisingly enough, Skylor was the only one who wasn't there yet. Seliel was pacing in one corner of the room while Nya was sparring with Lloyd.

Seliel had already told her about what Skylor had learned from Neuro, just before the round had started: Wu's ninja had been working together with Master Chen this entire time. The fight had been orchestrated as part of their plot to remove the girls from the tournament and take their elements. Despite what Pixal had said, Nya still felt like Chen was the only one who was really winning right now.

Nya still had plenty of energy left over from her match, so she was helping Lloyd get some practice in. She knew that she was really just avoiding thinking about Pixal, but she didn't want to have to consider what had happened to her, or how it was all Nya's fault that she had let Pixal sacrifice herself. Nya felt like she should have been able to do something. She felt that even though they had all worked as a team to do keep the fight from happening, they clearly hadn't tried hard enough. If they had, then Pixal would still be there with them. What kind of ninja was Nya if she couldn't even protect her own friends, let alone the entire world?

Lloyd punched Nya's arm, rousing her from her thoughts. "Ha! Gotcha!"

Nya ducked and swept his legs out from under him, landing him on his back. "Gloating gets you nowhere, Green Bean."

Lloyd jumped back up with a resilience that Nya had to admire. "Try it again! I'm paying attention this time!"

"Okay. Ready?" But just to throw him off, Nya faked a punch to his head before ducking down again. Still, Lloyd avoided both maneuvers, leaping so that she missed him this time. Nya stood up. "Well done. You catch on pretty quick."

"Quick enough to be in the tournament?" Lloyd asked hopefully.

"Keep dreaming."

Lloyd shrugged. He knew it was a long shot.

The door finally opened, and Skylor entered wearing a big grin.

Seliel whirled around. "Finally! Some big stuff's been happening, in case you didn't notice. What were you doing that was so important?"

"Oh, nothing much." Skylor strolled over to her bed and flopped down on top of it. "Just securing my victory for tomorrow." She snapped her fingers and ignited a small flame.

Nya and Seliel gasped.

"Cooool!" Lloyd ran over for a closer look.

"You got Kai's element?"

"But how?"

Skylor shrugged. "For a fire ninja, your brother's not that bright. Not a bad kisser, though."

Lloyd pretended to gag. "Gross-gusting!"

Nya's mouth fell open, and she almost thought she hadn't heard right. "You – you what?"

Skylor was still smiling smugly, as if she had just won a bet, not kissed Nya's traitor of a brother. "I'm all set for tomorrow. And Garmadon and Misako should get here before my fight, so I guess you two can leave now. Meeting adjourned."

"No," Nya seethed, feeling betrayed all over again. "Meeting not adjourned."

"Nya's right, this isn't okay," Seliel said, only slightly calmer. "Sky, you can't go around making out with our enemies."

"Look, I was half joking," Skylor said. "I barely kissed him, I guess I just surprised him too much. It was just enough to absorb his element."

"Okay, this is getting weird," Lloyd said, moving to the other side of the room. "I'll be over here."

"Don't go outside," the girls said in unison, and Lloyd rolled his eyes.

Nya turned back to Skylor. "Of all the ninja, you just had to pick my brother."

"Oh, come on, it's fire against ice. What element do you expect me to go for?"

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," Nya said, her anger at Kai bubbling over and spilling onto Skylor. "You've been flirting with him ever since this whole thing started. Even when you're not talking you're . . . looking at each other from a distance, smiling and giggling and –" Nya could barely contain herself. How could Skylor sit there and act like nothing was wrong? "Have you forgotten what he did to me? He betrayed his own family! And now, we've lost Pixal because of him and his friends!"

Skylor sat up, finally looking slightly ashamed.

"This isn't a game," Seliel said more gently. "If you're not more careful, you could really get hurt."

"Whatever," Skylor mumbled. "I won't lose tomorrow, that's all that matters."

Seliel sighed and tried to change the subject. "What about Pixal?"

"She seemed to think that she'd have a better chance of locating the staff after getting captured," Nya said, kneading her forehead.

"There's nothing we can do for her now," Skylor said. "Once my dad takes away her element, she'll be put to work in his factory. If we tried to break her free before we're ready, I guarantee that we would just be captured along with her. Pixal's a tough girl, I'm sure she'll be okay."

Seliel huffed. "Fine. But sooner or later, Chen's going to pay for this."

Now their meeting was finally over, and Nya rapidly made her way back to her room. She wasn't just angry with Skylor for kissing her brother, she was mad that she could be so flippant about her actions. Didn't she realize how much Nya had been hurt by Kai? Didn't she care? What could Skylor possibly see in him that could make him worthy of her attention after everything he'd done? Everything he was still doing?

Nya realized that a part of her was fearful for Skylor as well. Seliel was right, if Skylor wasn't careful, Kai might end up hurting her, too.

Nya hesitated just outside the door to her room. Their mission had started out so simple: stop Master Chen from becoming an all-powerful snake monster. So when had things become so complicated?

"Hey, Nya!"

Not him again.

Nya turned to glare at the blue ninja walking towards her. What was he doing out so late? They were probably having their own team meeting, gloating about their victory of Pixal's defeat.

"I just wanted to say –"

Nya didn't give him the chance to say anything. She went into her room, slamming the door behind her. She felt no guilt, just anger. Why couldn't these guys leave her and her friends alone?

Nya leaned against her door and took a deep breath, listening to the trickling wall fountain in her room. She vowed that she would do whatever it took to win this, one way another. She would fight her hardest and hope she was strong enough to protect her friends. And hope her friends were wise enough to make the right choices.