Seliel's POV

Holding a pillow close to my chest, I lie in a ball in the dark. My body quivers as the tears pour down my cheeks, creating a puddle on my sheets. In just a few days, the king of Trummeria is coming to meet me. I'm dreading it.

Ever since I was told about my arranged marriage, it's been weighing me down. The days that I have in this castle, with my family, with Cole, are limited. Soon, I'll be far from home on some foreign throne next to a complete stranger.

Ninjago is all I know. I don't want to leave it behind. Abandoning it in its darkest hour seems wrong. I doubt the king will keep me updated on what is happening here too, so it'll be like cutting off all ties. He'll probably go Beauty and the Beast style and lock me in a room until I get Stockholm syndrome and fall in love with him.

To make the whole situation worse, Cole has been beyond busy lately. He's spending the time that he used to spend with me locked up in his room trying to find a solution to the unnatural elementals problem, so I don't have to leave. It's a good way to treat the cause and not the symptom, but I'm worried that it's all for nothing.

Cole is an amazing fighter. I'm aware of that, but if an army of elemental masters lost to the unnatural elementals, one amazing, elementalless fighter won't make a difference. I'd prefer that he spend more time with me. If our days are numbered, I want us to make the ones we still have count.

Slightly sitting up, I look over at the door to Cole's room. Light seeps through the cracks in the doorway, meaning he's still up working. If I really wanted to, I could go get him, but then he'd have to see me like this, and the embarrassment is way too much for me to handle.

I stay in the same position on my bed, my fears continuing to eat me up. The puddle on my sheets only grows as I fail to fall asleep. It's definitely late into the night, way past midnight, and I need to be up by seven, but my emotions force me up. I lay here for at least 45 more minutes before Cole's door slowly creaks open, light flooding the room and forcing me to squeeze my eyes shut.

His footsteps start moving towards the main door before they abruptly stop. "Princess?" he whispers, but loud enough for me to hear. "Are you awake?"

I try to halt my sniffles, but when I can't, I answer, "Y-yeah."

When I hear him starting to make his way over to me, I sit up and straighten out my hair, leaning against my headboard. Once I finally look at him, my jaw nearly detaches. Half of his hair is pulled up in a little bun, the lower half falling down to near his shoulders. The only article of clothing he has on is a loose pair of pants that hang low on his hips. His upper body, every bulked muscle that makes it up, is on full display.

So awestruck from his appearance, I don't realize that he's made it all the way over here until the pad of his thumb wipes away my tears. "Why are you crying?"

"E-everything is falling apart," mixed with my sobs and how flustered I am, I can barely get words out. I slide over on the bed, so he can sit next to me. I use the sleeve of my nightgown to wipe away more of my tears. "The king of Trummeria is coming in just a few days, and who knows how long he's going to let me stay here before he abducts me. The kingdom is falling apart with more and more people trying to join the unnatural elementals to 'be on the winning side'. Plus... between training soldiers and thinking of a way to defeat the unnatural elementals, you're also never around anymore."

"Oh Princess," he rubs his temples, "I didn't even realize that I've been leaving you alone. If you need my protection anytime, it's now. I'm sorry that I've made you feel unsafe."

I internally groan at his obliviousness, sniffling before resting my tired head on his broad shoulder. "I don't feel unsafe. I...I just...I miss you," my cheeks heat up as the words leave my mouth. "I'm going to be gone soon, and I want to spend as much time with you as possible before I have to leave."

"You're not going to leave. I'm making sure of it," he reassures me, resting his head upon mine.

"Can we just run away? We can forget about all of the unnatural elementals and arranged marriages and stress and just relax," I suggest what's been on my mind. Everything would be so much easier that way.

"When it comes to missing princesses, these monarchs stop at nothing to capture who they think are at fault. I'm finding another way that will keep you here that won't put us on the run," he informs me.

"What are you planning on doing?" nervousness leaks into my words.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," he jokes.

"Haha, so funny," I retort sarcastically, yet there's a warmth in my chest. "Don't do anything reckless. No matter what, you have to come back to me."

"If it's an order from you, I have no choice but to listen," his words make my whole body go wild.

"Oh really?" I sit up from next to him, curling my legs underneath me so my heels are pressed against my butt.

"Oh no."

"I order you to show me your tattoo. I can clearly tell it isn't on your upper body," I try to get him to finally reveal it to me. "I'll show you mine if you need the confidence or something."

"While I would love to, I'd have to take off my pants to show you, and I'm sure the king wouldn't approve," his words tighten up my throat, the mental image already making me go crazy.

Well, I would approve

"I...I'm glad to hear it," his cheeks turn bright pink.

"Shit, did I say that out loud?" my eyes widen as embarrassment takes over every single inch of me.

"Yeah, you did," I feel like burying my head under the pillow and never taking it back out.

"I do really want to see your tattoo, after all," I slickly cover it up. "At least tell me where it is."

"Nope."

"You're rude," I lightly elbow him in the side before lying down in the bed and snuggling under the covers, turning away from him.

"Oh, come on, Princess. You know I'm not allowed to show you."

"Hmm, I thought I heard something. Guess I was just hallucinating," I shrug, boldness overtaking me when I add. "Maybe I could hear something if someone joined me under here."

Within seconds, Cole is under the covers, his firm physique pressed up against my back, his arm falling around my waist. The warmth of his chest quickly seeps through my thin, silk gown and onto my back.

Every single muscle in my body is on fire and unable to move due to the excitement. My breathing gets heavier, but I try to conceal it considering that if there's any time he would notice it, it's now.

"Cole, can you stay here for the rest of the night?" I ask him, trying to hide my bashfulness.

"I'd love to."

---

Kai's POV

I quietly slide into the room after tiptoeing through the hallways, gently closing the door behind me. I smile at the series of flames flickering around the room, one on her desk, its gentle glow tinting her already red hair even more.

I try to walk silently in an attempt to surprise her, "No one saw you, right?" her voice startles me, making me jump slightly. Her focus stays on the document in front of her, a quill in her hand.

"Of course not. They don't call me 'the silent flame' for nothing."

"They don't call you that," the corners of her lips are pulled up a little bit, and I can't help but let my own mirror hers.

It's so weird. For so long, I bounced from girl to girl with no attachment. Yeah, I dated sometimes, but it was nothing that ever lasted long enough for it to mean anything. I never found anyone that made me want to dig past that initial physical attraction, that didn't just fall at my feet. None of them ever pushed me past lust.

Then, Skylor happened. She effortlessly stole all of my attention and all of my heart. Every part of her is just...wow. 4 months ago, when she kissed me for the first time, it felt like everything in my life was leading up to that moment. She's given me a reason to give all of myself to her.

We're keeping things quiet right now. The king is a wildcard, and who knows what he'd do if he knew the future queen was dating someone he didn't pick for her. Things are too good to risk. Yeah, I have to sneak up here every night, but it's worth it.

"If you started calling me that, I'm sure it would catch on," I lean over, resting my head on top of hers and wrapping my arms around her. "What are you working on?"

"I'm looking over a proposal to redraw the boundaries of the different provinces. There's not much convincing evidence, but I'm taking notes on what there is," she gestures over to the piece of paper sitting beside her with her regal handwriting on it. "You've been alive a long time. Do you think the borders are in the right spots?"

"That would require me to actually know where the borders are right now..." I trail off, making her sigh. "Things like that aren't really important in the long run. Why does it matter where they are?"

"We allocate funds and resources based on population and population density. If we redraw boundaries, different amounts of money will go to different places," she explains before trying to stifle a yawn.

"How long have you been looking over it?" I twirl her hair around one of my fingers.

"Not long enough if I'm not done."

"Sky, how long?"

"Four hours," she quietly admits.

My eyes widen, and without thought, I move around and pick her up from out of her chair, holding her bridal style in my arms, before tossing her onto her bed. "I'm forcing you to take a break, you workaholic." I take my shoes off before lying in bed next to her.

She rolls over to face me, her amber eyes leaving me defenseless, before she snuggles up to my chest, her head resting against it as one hand rests against my abs and the other wraps around me. "You're lucky you're you or else I would've glared at you and went back to work."

"You deserve to rest. You're human, after all. You're gonna wear yourself out," I fully wrap my arms around her. "I wish I had your work ethic though. It's on a whole other level."

"I think your skills are a bit more special. I am a human, after all," she repeats my words back to me.

"Hey, I am a human, just a human who knows how to mess with heat. People say it makes me pretty hot..."

Her laugh fills the air, lighting up my insides, before she leans back to look at my face. She takes the arm that was around me and gently runs her thumb against my cheek before stopping. "I don't see the appeal." She fights to hold back a playful smile.

"Take it back..."

"Never," she crosses her arms in front of her chest.

"Fine, you leave me with no choice," within a second, my fingers are at her waist, ambushing her skin. She lets out a squeal the second I start tickling her, failing her legs and arms around in an attempt to escape.

"K-Kai," she attempts to say between tickles. "A-as your future," she's interrupted by her own laughter, "queen, I order you to...to stop."

I pull my hands away from her waist. "If you wish."

"Maybe you are a bit cute. I'll give you that..."

"You were saying a lot more than that last night," I taunt, making her jaw drop. She hits my chest, and I can't help but laugh.

"Kai Smith...that was uncalled for," she shakes her head, lightly reprimanding me even though I can tell she liked it from the shimmer in her eyes. "So were you..."

"I was," I agree with her before bringing my lips to her ear, "and I meant every single word," I whisper in her ear before leaving a warm kiss on her neck.

"What am I going to do with you?" there's a mischievous twinkle in her eyes that takes every bit of brain power out of me.

"I don't know. What are you going to do with me?" I ask back, and at my words, she starts to lean in.

I jolt up in bed, breathing heavily and frantically looking around. When all I can see is darkness, I set my hand aflame, making a little torch so I can look around. I process the "tv", red bed sheets, fire paintings, and drawers that are all over the room, realizing where I am. When I look to the spot in bed next to me, it's painfully empty.

Her smile, her voice, her laugh, her eyes, her touch, I miss all of it so much.

Pulling my knees up to my chest, I can't help but let the tears slip out of my eyes. Ever since Nya came into my life, I've been able to distract myself so well. Right now, there's nothing here to distract me.

I don't know how Skylor felt about me when she died. I don't know if she thought I killed her sister or abandoned her or didn't really love her. I don't know if she even wanted me next to her anymore. What I do know is that I never should have left without her. Seeing how Nya was when she thought Jay just left her is confirmation of that.

I sniffle, wiping the tears away from beneath my eyes with my flaming hand. If I just sit here and cry, I'll just get sadder. I need to get up and walk around. I'd wake up Nya for some company, but she had a rough day herself. I'd be a monster to wake her up.

I pull the heat out from the flame and back into my body, returning my hand to normal before I slip on a pair of shoes. I don't care what Jay says; the deck definitely can give me splinters. I don't want little shards of wood digging into the bottom of my feet.

I quietly leave my room, gently shutting the door behind me, before tiptoeing up the stairs up to the deck. If anything can help clear my mind, it's the amazing view.

However, when I reach the deck, another silhouette startles me. Resting against the railing and looking out onto Ninjago (there's a break in the cloud cover), Jay stands, one leg crossed over the other. The lights on the deck let me see him.

I walk over and stand next to him. "Did you have a nightmare, too?"

He lets out a sigh. "Nope, you can't have a nightmare if you can't sleep."

His eyes are red and puffy, but other than that, he's hiding the fact that he was crying pretty well. "I think I'm going to try again, though," he clearly tries to get away from me, turning away from the railing and starting to walk away. However, I reach out and grab his wrist, my hand getting shocked in the process and making me let out a kind of loud yelp. His head turns in my direction, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

After shaking my hand out, I sigh. "I deserve how you're treating me, I know, but I'm so, so sorry for what I did to you. I knew it was wrong, but I did it anyway. I kicked you away when you needed me most, and I had missed you so much too. I wanted to come see you to try to make things right, but by the time I realized just how bad I screwed up, I knew you'd be too mad to even look at me.

And you are. You haven't said my name or talked to me for the whole two days we've been back together. Being shunned by you, it's been worse than I ever could've imagined. If someone had told me 650 years ago that there would be a point in time that I - I can't believe I'm gonna say it- missed your jokes, I never would have believed them. I...I miss you, Jay.

I'm a dick, a major one, I know. I'm just hoping that you can find some sort of way to forgive me because I don't know how much longer I can handle this," I finally get the words out, and from his wide eyes, I can tell he wasn't expecting it.

Then, a small smirk appears on his lips, "Say it again."

"What?"

"That you're a dick."

I sigh, "I'm a dick."

"I missed you, too. I was just waiting for you to finally apologize," he admits. "Part of me thought you never would, to be honest."

"I apologize when I know I should..." I defend myself, making him raise an eyebrow at me, "...usually."

"That's better."

"Have you really not slept at all? The sun is going to rise soon, and we're almost at the Sea of Sands," I ask, concerned.

"If the roles were reversed, could you? I'm sure she told you about it," he sighs with a frown. "Yay, let's all go on an adventure to save a guy who not only hates us, but is also dating my soulmate. Yippee."

"Yeah, that's rough," I agree. "If it makes you feel any better - oh here I go again-, you...you have my support with Nya. I know you'd take good care of her."

"Aw, first you missed my jokes, and now you want me to be a part of the family? How sweet of you," he places a hand over his heart.

"Don't push it, Walker," I roll my eyes, but I can't help but smile a little. After a bit of comfortable silence, Jay speaks up.

"Do you think Lloyd and Cole are happy right now?" he asks, looking back towards the distance again, his arms crossed over the railing.

"I...I don't really know."

"I like to think that they are. It helps give me peace of mind," he admits.

"I hope so. Both of them deserve it. Just because we've had to suffer doesn't mean that everyone should have to," I lean up against the railing too. "Hopefully I'm the only one who ends up having to live without their soulmate."

"I could easily be joining you in that club, but hey, it's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all."

"I say that if she does end up rejecting you, we should both go out and get absolutely shit-faced and party the night away just like we used to," I suggest.

"Who says we have to wait for the rejection?" Jay smirks a bit before his expression falls. "I don't have any alcohol on board though. The only two things I drink are water and chocolate milk, so I never felt the need to get any of it."

"Well, the next time we stop for supplies..."

"Oh, it's on."

A/N: SO SORRY FOR MY BREAK EVERYONE! I'm back now though, and I don't plan on leaving any time soon. I just got a bit distracted and lost track of everything haha

Sooo...Zane is next chapter! How do you all feel about that? It seems like a long time since we last saw him

Thoughts on this chapter?

Thank you to everyone who is still here! You all mean the world to me!