Kai looks in the mirror and brushes his hair for the umpteenth time.

"KAI!!!  Are you finally done in there?!!"  Jay yells.

"Just give me a minute!"

"You've been saying that for two hours!!!"  Jay whines.

Kai yanks open the bathroom door, his usually confident manner seemingly shaken.  

Jay's irritation dissipates, seeing his friend's mood.  "Kai, what's wrong?"  Jay asks gently.  "Can I help?"

"I-"  Kai sighs.  "I was just planning on visiting Skylor, and-"

"-That's great!"  Jay exclaims exuberantly, then tilts his head upon seeing Kai's crestfallen look.  "Or, not..?  Did you have a fight?"

"No!  Nothing like that!"

"Then what are you so worried about?  You're dating, aren't you?"

Kai cringes, and Jay gasps.  

"What?  ..Oh my First Spinjitzu Master.  After all this time, you still haven't asked her out yet?!!"

"HEY!!!  Don't call me out like that!  She's not like the other girls, she's special.  I just don't want to mess it up."

"Oh, sure.  You can tell me how to ask Nya to be my Yang, but you can't ask your not-quite-your-girlfriend-yet out on a simple date."

"I told you, she's special!"

And he's right.  He could easily ask other girls out, and he did in the past, but he never felt that they were right for him.  There were nice ones, and strange ones, and downright crazy ones, (those fangirls still could scare the bejeezus out of him) but he always broke things off before they could get more serious, afraid of hurting their feelings by doing so later.  Sure, he might be known as Ninjago's biggest playboy, but he was a kind soul, and he tried to be as gentlemanly to them as he could.  He just somehow never found her.

And then he met Skylor.  The mysterious stranger had enchanted him right away with her beauty, and her cool demeanor the first time they met had been so different to the rest of the girls he had encountered before, always eager to impress one of the famous ninja.  Upon getting to know her, he realized that she had a quick wit, a sharp tongue, and a readiness to fight that was unmatched by anyone he had ever met before.  He knew then that he was smitten.

The she had betrayed him.  Unmeasurable hurt.  Horror.  How could he have been so blind?  How could she have done this?  Was he wrong about her feelings?  He thought that she was starting to like him back.  How could he have been so stupid to trust her?

Because of love.  And with a little more time, that feeling gave her the push she needed to leave her father's evil empire behind.  With Kai's love, she finally broke ties with her father once and for all, on that fateful day in the Corridor of Elders.  Then she was free.  Free to..

Make noodles?  Well, he thought that she would join the team, but whatever she wanted, he would support it, and her, with all his heart.

For several years, they were both so busy.  Him with defending Ninjago and its Realms, her with running her chain of noodle shops.  They could never find the time to be together.

Then Garmadon, reborn, had attacked, and she had been poisoned by his power.  Though he hadn't been around at the time, he could swear that he had felt every ounce of her suffering, could sense her weakening with every passing hour.  And he couldn't be there to protect her.  When they had defeated Garmadon, and Skylor had been restored, the cloud of worry that had never ceased to depart from him since nearly the moment he had ended up in the Oni and Dragon Realm finally left.  

And he hugged her.  In that moment, with her in his arms, he knew that everything would be alright.  They never said it, but they both knew how the other felt, he believed.

So why, for the First Spinjitzu Master's sake, was this so difficult?!!

Kai exhales slowly.  Because I really, really don't want to mess this up.

"Just go to her, dude.  It's obvious that you both like each other.  You look great, so go!"  Jay shoves him out of the bathroom.

"B-but-!"

"Ah-ah-ah!  Trust me, you'll do fine.  Her shift ends soon, doesn't it?"

Kai nods.

"Then there you go.  Get to her now, before it's too late."

"Okay!"

Kai walks through the city, heading to Chen's Noodle House.  He's decided not to go fancy vehicle or flashy dragon, just as himself.

He spies a familiar red ponytail swishing out of the corner of his eye, and he turns to it.  A young lady in a plain white apron deftly flips the open sign on the door of the Noodle House to closed, and turns towards him.

Kai feels a blush creep towards his face as the redhead recognizes him.  "Kai?  Kai!"  She embraces him, and he pulls her closer, enjoying her soft scent.  Mmm..  Smell's like yakisoba's on the menu-  Focus, Kai!!!

He pulls away after a few moments.

"What brings you here?"

"I came to see you.  I missed you."

"Me too."

They're both turning red now, and Kai blurts out the first thing that comes to mind.  "LET'S GO OUT!!!"  He says, his voice an octave higher than usual.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me.  I want to go out on a date with you."  He mentally facepalms even as he says the words.  Oh, that's really smooth, playboy.  You can do sooo much better than that.  

Kai looks away, his eyes downcast.  "I-I'm sorry, that wasn't-"

"Of course, I'd love to.  Do you want to go now?"

"Really?"

"I just closed up for lunch, but I'm the boss, so I can reopen whenever I want.  Speaking of which, have you eaten yet?"

Kai's stomach growls, and he coughs awkwardly.  "No, I was kinda..  Worked up about this."

She smiles.  "Then let's eat first.  Come on in."

Inside, she places two steaming bowls of yakisoba down onto a table and pulls up a chair.  "Was it really that difficult to ask me out?"

"Yes, it was.  You're my Queen, after all."  She blushes again.  "But once I said it, it was surprisingly easy, actually.  I don't know what I was worried about."

"It's not like we haven't liked each other since the Tournament or anything.  It makes me wonder why there wasn't more progress with our relationship anytime sooner."

Kai glares up accusingly towards the heavens, but only ends up seeing the ceiling.  He shrugs.  "Must be those writers in the Cloud Kingdom's fault."

"Probably.  Now eat up, you don't want it getting cold."

They quickly slurp down their noodles, eager to get going and show those nasty writers that they can challenge fate.

"Where do you want to go, Sky?  I'll take you anywhere."

She grins at him.  "I know.  How about..  The shooting range?"

Kai gapes at her for a moment, then smirks.  "Now this is why I love you."  

"Why wouldn't you?  There are so many reasons."  She winks at him, the old flame of their affection reigniting.  She walks to one of the noodle trucks parked out front.  "Is it okay if we go in one of these, or would you rather go in something a little less-"

"-This is fine."  He reassures her.

Skylor takes out a set of keys from her apron pocket and unlocks the truck, opening the back door and tossing her apron into the back.  A new gi becomes apparent, and she shrugs casually at Kai's slack-jawed look.  "I'm still a ninja."  Burnished flashes of gold armor glint over top of her usual maroon-and-orange clothing, and she dusts herself off.  She smirks at him.  "Get in my truck, I can take you places."

He laughs, finally becoming completely at ease.  "Anything you wish, My Lady."

As Skylor drives, they talk and hold hands, admiring the Autumnal decorations and window displays in the city, until they reach their destination.

Ronin's Rifle Range.  The sign out front declares proudly, the words outlined in several different colors of neon LED's.  A picture of a charmingly smiling Ronin flashes repeatedly alongside the wording, and Kai raises an eyebrow.

"Wait, when did Ronin have the time to-"

"WELCOME!!!"  Ronin himself walks up and greets them warmly.  "Kai!  And this charming young lady is..?"

"Taken."  Kai and Skylor say simultaneously.  

"Of course she is!"  Ronin says, not missing a beat.  "I guess you want to shoot a few, huh?"

Skylor doesn't even bat an eyelash.  "Well, we're not here to bake cookies.  Show us to the guns."

"Right this way, miss."

"Skylor.  Call me miss one more time..."  

"Understood."  Ronin shows them the gun rack.  "This is your selection of-"

"-I know weapons.  We'll be fine from here.  Thank you."  Skylor says, shooing him away.

Ronin quickly backs away and leaves them to it.

Skylor grabs a gun, loads it, then immediately starts shooting at targets with an aggressive grunt.  One by one, she hits them all cleanly, getting a bull's-eye every time.

"You're so amazing."  Kai tells her dreamily, then joins in.

-Several hours later, because I've still got more oneshots to get to-

Kai and Skylor walk up to Ronin, paying him for their time in his questionable establishment.

Kai leans an elbow on the front desk and gives him a suspicious look.  "Hey, Ronin?  Is this place legit?"

Ronin shifts his glance around, looking anywhere but directly at the Master of Fire.  "Come on, Kai.  We've known each other far too long to-"

"-It isn't, is it?"

Ronin snorts and gives a tiny huff.  "You should've asked that question when you got here."  He twists his head around and glares straight at Kai.  "And no, you can't have your money back!!!"  He gives a sharp whistle, and the dating pair jump back as everything folds up into R.E.X.  

Ronin jumps in and waves goodbye at them, then flies off, no doubt to con some poor sucker elsewhere.

"It might not have been strictly legal, but this was fun."  Skylor smiles at Kai.  "We should go out together more often."  She gives him her number.  "Feel free to call me anytime, Hot Tamale.  I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more of each other in the future."

Kai stares at her number, his face lighting up with happiness.  Then Skylor kisses him directly on his mouth, and his eyes widen before he kisses her back.

"I love you, Sky."  He whispers.

"I love you too, Kai."  She murmurs back.  "Isn't it obvious by now?"

Welp-!  This turned out longer than expected.  (As usual, hehe!)

Word count: 1697