*Several months after the defeat of the overlord*

Kai's POV

"Lloyd, do you really think that was necessary?" I ask my best friend who is currently pulling us away from our bowling lane. I look back to the girl who had been flirting with me moments before. Her eyes are wide, and she looks dumbfounded.

"She took pictures of us before coming over and telling you that she wants you to light the fire inside of her while in bed with her. Knocking her slushee out of her hand with a ball of energy was going easy on her. It's your eighteenth birthday; I wasn't going to let her get away with that," he explains, guiding me to the back door we entered through. Parked in the back is the Ultrasonic Radar.

"Last time I checked, I'm the one that's supposed to protect you, not the other way around," I joke. Lloyd shrugs.

"What were you going to do, burn her cup?" he asks realistically. "Besides, it's your turn to relax. It's your birthday, and all of these ceremonies we've been going to are tiring."

"They have been, but I can't imagine how you're feeling. You have to go to at least five times the rest of us do, and at least I have Zane with me. You're all alone," I admit. Ever since the Overlord was defeated, we've been traveling all over Ninjago, receiving awards and what not. Several awards have been given to the whole team, which either Zane and I or Cole and Jay have collected. Lloyd, on the other hand, has been going to dozens of cities in Ninjago to receive the awards specifically for him.

It's been months since the entire team has been together. We all were supposed to come back to Ninjago city for my birthday, but Jay and Cole got stuck in the Sea of Sands when the vehicle they were driving broke down. As soon as we got back, Zane got an errand from Master Wu, and he had to leave. I was alone for a bit, but then Lloyd showed up and decided it would be fun for us to go bowling.

Throughout all of the awards, we still had to train. Wu believes that we still have to stay sharp for when another evil attacks. While I agree with him, I also believe that all of us, especially Lloyd, need some relaxation. Going too hard for too long is draining.

"At least for the rest of them, we're going as a team. I'm tired of people acting like you guys did nothing. You four carried me up that tower step by step and surrendered yourselves to the darkness for me. If it wasn't for you guys, I never would have even reached the Overlord," Lloyd goes on a small rant as he pulls out of the alley we're in.

"Hey, you did most of the heavy lifting. We just got you set up," I admit.

"It still would have been impossible without you guys." The two of us drive away from the bowling alley. When I expect us to get onto the freeway, Lloyd keeps going straight.

"Where are we going?" I ask him.

"I left my present for you at Jay's dad's house since I had no other place to store it. I need to pick it up," Lloyd explains.

After the battle with the Great Devourer, we took a break for a day or two to resettle. In that time, Jay went back to the junkyard. When he got there though, he was surprised. When he walked into his trailer, his parents were sitting across from Cliff Gordon, the actor who plays Fritz Donnegan in Starfarer. While Jay freaked out since he loves those movies, his parents informed him that he was adopted and that Cliff Gordon is his real father.

Cliff had stayed away from Jay his entire childhood to ensure he could grow up safely. While he won't tell us what he was protecting Jay from, Lou, Cole's dad verified the story since the two are actually distant friends. Ever since he was reintroduced to Jay, Cliff has been trying his best to be there for him and make up for the almost 17 years he had lost at the time.

If I claimed I wasn't jealous of Jay, I'd be lying. Jay has three parents who love him dearly, while both of mine were ripped from me. I've learnt to deal with it though. It's not Jay's fault that his parents love him. Cliff has also taken the rest of us in as honorary sons, although it'll never feel the same as my dad.

Thinking about my dad still hurts. I miss him dearly, but everything I've done has been for him. I've tried to be the best ninja to try to make him proud. In my break time, I've also tried tracking Ciara, but nothing has come of it. She always vanishes, just like my dad said.

"We're here. Can you help me lift it? It's really big," Lloyd asks, snapping me out of my thoughts. He hops down from his seat, and I follow.

"Dang, the all powerful green ninja needs help carrying a birthday present?" I joke.

"I'm not 'all powerful'. Now that my destiny is fulfilled, I'm just like you," Lloyd knocks twice on the door. When no one answers, he opens the door.

"Surprise!" Jay, Cole, and Zane jump out of obscure hiding spots. Master Wu, Sensei Garmadon, Misako, Cliff, and Dareth all also come out of their hiding spots, but they're nowhere as elaborate as the other three.

"Happy 18th birthday Kai. We missed you," Cole admits. Both him and Jay trap me in a hug, Cole nearly squeezing me to death with his strength.

"We have cake, if Cole didn't eat it all," Jay informs me before putting a red party hat on my head.

"I haven't eaten any, thank you very much. I'm a strong believer in the birthday boy getting the first piece of cake," Cole counters. "Even though it does look like a really good one. Zane made it from scratch."

"It took a long time to bake. For a brief amount of time, I thought I would not finish it in time," Zane scratches the back of his neck.

"I worked on decorations with Jay. You're lucky I did, or this house would be burned down right now," Cole crosses his arms.

"Hey, it's the master of fire's birthday! Not having fire pillars is playing it safe," Jay defends. While their bickering would usually annoy me, it puts a smile on my face.

"I missed you guys," I tell them.

"Luckily, we are all going to be together to receive the next set of awards," Zane brings up.

"I know right. I had my dad and uncle, but it was still so lonely," Lloyd chimes in.

"We should take a picture to post on our team Chirp account, considering we haven't been together in months," I suggest. The rest of the guys agree. I hand my phone to Cliff, who came over once we suggested taking the photo. We get in a line, wrapping our arms around each other's shoulders, before Cliff takes the picture.

"Our fans are going to love this."

---

"Remember how obsessed Kai was with being the green ninja? I know we all were, but Kai was even extra. Like  remember when we all walked in, and he was wearing the green ninja gi? It's still priceless to this day," Jay laughs before taking a sip of his drink. It's well past midnight, but we don't care. All of the parents and Dareth already went to bed, but the five of us are catching up and recalling old memories.

"And how impatient he was to reach his true potential? He locked himself in a room with Garmadon in an attempt to get it," Cole adds.

"Hey, it all made sense at the time," I defend my past self.

"Guess who Cole and I ran into while collecting awards. They're evil," Jay prompts, switching the topic of conversation.

"Skales?" Lloyd guesses.

"Eviler than that."

"General Kozu?"

"Nope. Think of the worst possible person."

"Pythor? I know he's most likely dead, but still," I guess. Jay shakes his head. "I give up," I declare, taking a sip of my drink.

"Miriam," Cole declares. I choke on the water in my mouth.

"What did she want?" I ask. Miriam is Jay's ex girlfriend. They started talking around the time when the team first formed. For their first date, he took her to Mega Monster Amusement Park. While they were there, Pythor kidnapped her in an attempt to distract us. Cole, Zane, and I were stuck inside a ride since Zane froze us on accident, but Jay was able to get to her, and he unlocked his true potential before saving her.

However, things went downhill fast. She was manipulative. She'd make him do stuff for her, get mad when he would have to leave her to go on missions, and would constantly flirt with the rest of us. Jay was too whipped to see it, but even when he was in the room, she would blatantly be flirty.

He finally broke out of his trance a bit after we defeated the Great Devourer. We were all out somewhere, I forgot the place, and I went to go to the bathroom. When I got out, she was waiting for me. She flirted with me, as usual, but this time she got too close. She told me that she had developed feelings for me, and she only used Jay after about two weeks in order to get closer to me. Then, she tried to kiss me, but I pushed her off.

Jay saw the whole thing, and he was heartbroken. He still is, if I'm being honest. She mentally broke him, but he's recovering from it. He hasn't been able to date ever since then because he's afraid that'll happen again. He's tried, but each time he's too weary. Because of this, we refer to her as "the absolute evil".

"Well, she wanted to congratulate us on our victory..." Cole starts, looking over to Jay.

"And then she asked for me to take her back," Jay finishes. "I said no though, of course. I laughed in her face. She only wanted it cause we're more famous now."

"According to my database, she is something called a 'clout chaser'," Zane announces, and the rest of us start dying laughing.

"She was so pissed. I wish I took a picture," Jay wipes the tears away from laughing so hard. "Anyways, Mister eighteen year old, what are you planning on doing now that you're a legal adult, and there's no evil mastermind trying to take over Ninjago?"

"Honestly, I'm going to try to find someone I lost a long time ago," I admit, leaning back onto the couch.

"If you don't mind me asking, who are you trying to find?" Cole asks softly, a warm look on his face.

"My sister," I answer.

"You have a sister? Is she hot?" Jay blurts, earning a glare from me. He sticks his hands up in defense. "Hey, all I'm saying is that if she's your sister, she's not going to try to cheat on me with you."

"Well Jay, I haven't seen her in 16 years, so..." I drift off.

"Why did you never tell us you have a sister?" Lloyd asks me, resting a hand on my shoulder.

I shrug. "It was never important. I don't even know if she's alive. I'm not still entirely sure what happened to her, but what I do know is that she went missing the day she was born."

"How will you know when you find her, if you haven't seen her since she was an infant?" Cole reasons.

"She's also an elemental master, like us. She gets her powers from my mother, who was the master of water," I explain. All of the guys look surprised.

"There's more elemental masters than just us?" Jay asks quickly. I nod.

"Once again, I didn't think it was an important detail. We're still the special ones after all, considering we are the masters of all four of the elements of creation along with the green ninja."

"If you do not mind, I would like to assist you in your search for your sister. I just installed new detective hardware, and I have been waiting for an opportunity to try it out," Zane smiles softly at me.

"Of course I don't. If I'm ever going to find her, all of us are going to need to work together," I accept his offer.

"She's your last living relative. The five of us are going to work as hard as we can to find her, even if it takes years."

---

*the next day*

Nya's POV

I bounce up and down in excitement. Today marks the start of the mission to Ninjago we've been training our whole lives for. My sisters, Auntie, Mother and I all stand on an open field below the monastery we live in. In front of us is the ship I made. It can be driven in all terrains as well as in the air and on the sea.

"All right girls. The day is here. You can not fail," Mother slowly walks back and fourth in front of us, keeping her eyes on us. "Your Aunt will be there to chaperone you girls and help you girls with any 'real life' problems you face, but she will not come on your missions to acquire the gemstones.

Each gemstone is in a very specific location, and they can only be acquired at specific times. Since the realms align in different places at different times, the gemstones become solid in a specific order. If you show up too early, they will be cloaked and you can not grab or see them," Mother informs us. We all nod.

"I know the location of each gemstone," Auntie takes over. "I've made sure of it, so we'll be efficient. The first, the Scolecite of Ice, is located in a place called the Explorer's Club. While it's in the main city, we'll have an edge since the guardians will have no clue we're there yet. There most likely will be guards that aren't the guardians, so you all will need to sneak through. Once you do that, you have to find the gemstone from within a collection of artifacts.

The next gemstone is the Ruby of Fire. It's hidden in a chest that's underwater in the city of Stiix, not that you guys know where that is. The guardians will most likely be onto us by then, but since we have the master of water, it'll probably be a fairly easy fight.

The third gemstone, the Obsidian of Earth, is hidden underground in a vault underneath the Ninjago Museum of History. This one is one of the harder ones, since the guardians have a tight alliance with the city and will be let through to the vault most likely, while we are going to have to sneak in.

The final gemstone, the Lapis of Lightning, is in a temple deep in Wildwood Forest. You have to go through several obstacles, but once you do it'll be easy to grab it and go as long as you beat the guardians there."

"Never be alone with one of the guardians. They're manipulative and can get in your heads. Work in a buddy system if you have to talk to them in order to prevent them from sabotaging you. They're evil," Mother warns us. Auntie nods in agreement.

"I'll try to help you guys avoid falling into their traps. They're hard to avoid, your Mother and I learnt those lessons the hard way, but if we're going to win, you guys need to keep iron minds. Don't let them see any mental weakness or any signs of remorse or else they'll exploit you," Auntie gives us a small smile, but her words still unsettle me. I don't want to fail.

"You might be superior to them in your combat skills, but they're superior in social skills. Don't engage them in any social situations, so no taking, because that's the only way you can ever be defeated," Mother finally clasps her hands together. "I'm so proud of all the training you girls have put in. Use it well, and bring me back those gemstones. Then, I can escape, and we can liberate Ninjago."

For the first time ever, Mother walks around and gives each of us a hug, with the exception of Skylor who just gets a smile since Mother doesn't want her powers mimicked. It's weird, being in her cold embrace, but I hug her back. "Give them hell, Nya."

"All right girls, we must get going in order to have time to gather supplies once we get there before we get the scolecite of ice," Auntie breaks Mother out of the only affection she's ever shown towards us.

"Bye girls. Make me proud," she backs up, allowing the five us on access onto our ship. We climb up, bags of toiletries, weapons, and gi's in our hands. Once we reach the top, I quickly place my bags in my room before taking my spot behind the wheel.

"Ready to go, Nya?" Auntie checks. I nod.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Auntie walks towards the front of the ship with all four of my sisters, each of them with giant buckets on traveler's tea. They pour all of the tea out. A giant portal forms on the ground in front of us. On cue, I drive the ship through it, and we appear in the middle of an open field.

Ninjago, here we come

A/N They're finally in Ninjago! It's taken a while, and it'll take even longer for them to interact with the ninja, but hey, at least they're finally there

Which ship do you guys think will come up first? 

Also, I'm trying to keep an update schedule of updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday late at night (cause that's when I write, so technically like Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings). This week will be weird since I'm going on vacation, but afterwards I'm going to try to keep it up (and if I finish a chapter early I'll still post it cause it's cruel to not).

On my buddy meter quiz (posted in my announcements), so many people got my favorite band right. Like, more people got that right than my least favorite Ninjago character which I talk about ALL the time.

Also, for the age guess... I'm 16. A ton of people guessed 14 on the buddymeter, but I'm 16. I'm happy I'm not 14 anymore cause those are the Hidden days and that book was a 2 year long mess.

Oh my gosh guys, so yesterday I think my boyfriend's mom caught us making out. His sister's room is right next to the room we were in, and we're not allowed to have the door closed, and she was going to talk to his sister, and I think she saw us when she was walking towards his sister's door. Then later, I was climbing over him and I paused to give him a kiss, and she walked by and it looked like I was straddling him heeeellllp...

Predictions?

Thank you guys so much. Don't forget to comment, vote, and share