*The next night*

Shade's POV

I repeatedly tap my foot as I sit at this table in the forest. Covered by a plain red tablecloth, the square table has 4 plates set up with a lamp as the centerpiece. The trees block out the majority of the fading light from the sunset, so the lamp is a must so that we can see. Besides, I want to look prepared, and having some decor will do just that.

I try to straighten the black button down that Nya dropped off at my tent earlier, running my hands over it to remove any possible wrinkles. This dinner could easily sway Nya to or from me, so I need to make it count. I need to prove to Nya that I can get along with her brother.

When I start to hear murmurs in the distance, my heart accelerates. It continues to pick up speed until the sounds get louder and louder, forming three distinct voices. When they round the corner and come into view, I freeze.

While she's not as done up as I've seen her before, Nya's gray dress that hugs her body showcases her strong physique. That combined with her twisted up hair and the makeup on her usually relatively bare face would dominate my attention if it wasn't for her current company.

Once the master of fire's eyes land on me, the smile falls off of his face. He scans me up and down as if he can tell who I am as a person just by looking at me. While he isn't the tallest or the broadest of the elemental masters of creation, he isn't small by any means. His fitted red dress shirt and snug black slacks make that very clear. However, I don't budge from my position, not letting him see the impact of his behavior.

While Princess Skylor doesn't look nearly as unamused, she looks over me just like her boyfriend. She is wearing the same shade of red as him, but instead of a shirt, she is wearing a dress, but unlike the dresses that she would wear as a princess, it clings to her effortlessly curvy body that I didn't even know she had. In her high heels, she's certainly taller than me, too. Her hair is pulled back into a complex form of ponytail and is curled in the back. All of that along with the flawless makeup on her face and the rose tucked behind her ear make her look like she is about to pose on the front of a magazine.

"I hope that we haven't been keeping you too long. Kai was late getting ready," Nya rolls her eyes with a smile.

"Not at all," I try to match her energy by giving one back. "Some of the members of the elemental army will bring us our dishes in a bit."

"What's for dinner?" Nya strolls over to the spot next to me at the table, pulls out her seat, and sits down.

"Spaghetti," I answer.

"Of course. It's your favorite after all," she says to me before craning her neck forward to look at where her brother and Princess Skylor are still standing. "You two can sit down, you know."

The two walk over together. He pulls out her chair and kisses her on the cheek once she sits. Then, he pushes her in and takes his own seat. Silence overtakes us as he just looks at me.

"So," Princess Skylor speaks up, "I've only known Nya (or at least adult Nya) for a few days, but I can already tell that she's special. What do you like about her, Shade?"

"Umm... Nya is a very smart woman. A lot of her inventions impress me, and we've been able to use them in the army. The same could be said about her strength. She never backs down from a fight, and she's gotten us out of plenty of tough battles," I try to muster up a smile, but the master of fire's (almost) glare is burning me up and locks up my brain.

"We're not talking about how Nya is helpful to the army. We all know that your ass would be toast without her in that sense. We want to know about your feelings towards her as your girlfriend," he folds his hands on the table, his eyes still set on me.

"Well," I take a deep breath to give myself time to construct my thoughts. "Nya and I are very similar people, and it leads to confrontations sometimes, as I'm sure she's told you. However, I enjoy how she challenges me. It forces me to question my ideals and think critically. I also admire her work ethic and determination."

"Thank you," Nya gives me a little closed mouth smile. I move my hand to rest atop of hers above the table. The back of it is smooth against my rough palm. "How have you two been? I swear I've hardly seen either of you these past couple of days."

"Great, actually," the master of fire reaches for his drink, "First time I've been great in centuries," he looks at the princess with upturned lips as he moves his hand to her knee.

"Even while we're at war?" I ask, unable to hold back both my words and the slight scrunch of my nose.

"Shade, let me tell you a little secret," he leans across the table, closer to me, with the smile wiped off of his face yet again. "I don't give a single fuck about Ninjago. If it wasn't for Nya or the obligation to destroy the woman that stole everything from me for such a long time, I wouldn't be helping," he grits, turning my blood cold. He then drops back into his seat and lazily wraps his arm around Princess Skylor's shoulder. "So yes, even while Ninjago is at war. They declared war on me a long time ago anyways, but you would know that. After all, I ran into you a few times when you were trying to hunt us down..."

Nya shifts in her seat beside me, and I know what I have to do. I'm not sure how big of an impact her brother has on her decision, but I'm well aware that I'm at a significant disadvantage here. While I won't be able to sway him from one of his best friend's sides in one night, I can try to make him less not on my side. "I'm sorry."

"What?" he pauses his statement, staring at my face again with his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"I'm sorry. I should have known from your characters that you wouldn't do such a thing, especially because I was in your faction of the army. I was only 21 when everything happened, so when people told me that you all betrayed the royal family, I believed them. I just assumed that I ignored your bad traits by idolizing you all, so I discredited all of the good qualities you had. I blindly followed orders, and I never stopped to critically analyze if what I was doing was wrong. I contributed to your struggle, and I'm so sorry for that," as I talk, the master of fire's facial features loosen up, and he lets out a sigh once I'm done.

He runs a hand through his hair. "I appreciate your apology. I can't say that I forgive you..." his words tighten up my chest and make a wave of anger overtake me. However, I swallow my pride and let him keep talking, bunching my hands into fists on my lap, "...but I'm still glad that I got it."

"Of course," I force myself to smile. "And apologies to you, Princess, that I couldn't protect you or your sisters."

"It's not your fault. No one saw it coming, and one person could not have stopped it," she shrugs, and a weight that I didn't even know I was carrying is lifted off of my shoulders.

---

"So back at the castle, we used to have these game nights," the master of fire talks easily, his arm wrapped around the princess's shoulder as his empty plate sits in front of him. "It was like a 1v1 style thing. Teams were picked kind of randomly (we separated Lloyd and Rumi so that the teams were balanced), and each round was a new round. It was soooo much fun."

"What type of games did you play?" Nya asks after swallowing the final bite of her spaghetti.

"Hmmm, a lot of games. Some were more conventional, like chess, while others were ones we made up like our hair braiding competition," Princess Skylor answers.

"Hair braiding?" I quirk my eyebrow.

"The hair braiding contest was so competitive. Lloyd would give everyone a run for their money since Rumi was always having him braid her hair for her. Oh my gosh, the best was when we sent Cole and Jay to do it, and neither of them knew how..."

"No way Jay didn't know how to braid hair," Nya shakes her head as she chuckles. My chest tightens. "He used to randomly do it to me all the time when we lived together, and he sometimes does it even now."

"Both of them hated being the worst, so after that, they trained religiously and demanded to face off against each other again," the master of fire laughs before looking at his girlfriend. "Do you remember who won?"

"I have no clue. I remember the first time more than anything. Do you two ever have game nights?"

"Not really. I'm so busy running the army and all that," I shrug and take a sip of the champagne in my glass.

The master of fire snorts. "As someone who helped run the army for over a century while also being on the royal family's personal task force, I feel like I can say that there's definitely enough time for a game night."

"Well, you had several people helping you. I'm by myself," I cross my arms, his rebuttal making my anger flare up yet again.

"Then just get help. Simple," he states before pressing a kiss on Princess Skylor's cheek. "Zane and Cole were running the army mostly by themselves when I came along, and then we added Jay and were planning on adding Lloyd. No one is forcing you to do this by yourself."

"Yeah but..."

"Have you ever had a game night, Nya?" he shoots her an innocent smile as if he didn't just cut me off.

"Jay actually used to do little game tournaments with me. He said it was something he used to do with his friends, so it makes sense that you all did it. We never did hair braiding, but we had a cooking contest, robot repair race, and a bunch of other stuff. Oh, have you ever heard of rock, paper, clamp?" Nya's voice is light, sounding like it could go on forever, the opposite of mine. It's like there's a blockade.

"He passed on the tradition I see," the master of fire cracks his knuckles before bunching up his first and placing it on his open palm. "Do you still remember the rules?"

"Oh of course I do," she mirrors his position.

"Rock..."

"Paper...

"Clamp!" While her brother keeps his fist curled up as he extends it in front of him, Nya's hand goes flat and covers his.

"Haha! I win! Suck it, loser," Nya laughs while pointing at him.

"Yeah yeah, I was letting you win, you know," he crosses his arms and turns his head away from her.

"We know you were," the princess pats his shoulder, rolling her eyes with a smile. "It's getting a bit late."

He sighs, "You're right. We should probably start heading back soon. Before we go though, I have one question for you, Shade."

"Sure," I sit up straighter.

"What can you offer my sister that Jay can't?" he leans back in his chair, a stark contrast to earlier.

"Kai," Nya hisses, glaring at him.

"Excuse me?" I'm stunned by his question, unable to say anything more.

"You heard me. What can you offer my baby sister that her soulmate can't? I'm curious," he smirks, his head tilted slightly to the side.

My anger bubbles up to right below my skin, filling my chest, fingers, and head with pure rage. For the entire night, he has been prodding me and working his way underneath my skin, trying his best to make me look bad. He's been trying to work Jay into every fucking conversation we've had, and now here he is making me compare myself to him in front of Nya.

I want to snap. I want to reach across the table and punch that smug smirk off his annoyingly blemishless face. He's insufferable, but if I want any chance of keeping Nya, I need to be friendly with him.

"Well, Nya and I have been together for so long, and over that time we've developed a trust and understanding of each other. We know each other very well. This means that I don't cling to her or micromanage her. She's a strong woman, and she can do what she wants. I give her space to explore herself in a way that I doubt he is capable of," I answer articulately, a smirk appearing on my lips once I'm done. He opens his mouth to speak, but then closes it back shut, adding to the satisfaction.

"Nya, can Kai and I talk to you before we all head out, privately, of course?" Princess Skylor glances over at me and gives me a small smile. "It was nice meeting you, Shade."

"The honor is all mine, Princess."

A/N: Hi everyone! I cut this chapter in half so you all could get this part sooner haha. I hope to be able to get the next part out to you all soon!

Also, I finished Dragon's Rising and just... eh. There better be more ninja content soon, but I'm not hopeful.

Thoughts on this chapter? Thoughts on the next one?

Thank you all sooooo much! Please vote, share, and comment!