The loud music, paired with the loud conversations coming from inside, was deafening. No matter where the Water Ninja went, she couldn't escape it.

The moon, fuller than most nights, was shining brightly in the dark sky. Some smaller dots were there as well. Stars.

A park bench nearby was her stop, which she liked since it gave her the chance to admire the prestige night sky.

It was the Saturday she had been dreading; Ninjago's annual Go-Gala, an event in which celebrities are chosen to take part in if they wished to.

Nya didn't want to attend the gala, but everyone else in her family did, so she had to come with, whether she liked it or not. And she did not.

She had found her escape from the lively venue after saying she was going to the bathroom. Instead of going there, however, she exited the large mansion as fast as possible.

Her social battery died quicker than she had thought, and she needed some time to herself to recharge it. Besides, most of the people inside were snobby celebrities who seemed to complain about anything they could find; the cheap champagne, the horrifying decorations, the poor servants' sloppy performance.

Nya had never wanted to be around those people, ever. They were not the people she wanted to be surrounded by.

Her brother had, of course, found his spot amongst his favorite celebrities. One of his favorite artists attended the Gala, and even if he wasn't ready to accept it, he had been swooning over the artist and being around them like a moth to a flame the whole evening.

Cole and Lloyd had mostly been around the buffet and tasting every single dessert there was, turning it into a competition as to who could finish first.

Zane, Pixal and Wu had quickly found their spots around the big table in the dining area and taken their seats. They spent most of their time conversing about various topics, such as the event itself and the people there.

And Jay had stayed with Nya for a long while before discovering that one of his favorite movie actors was in the same room as him, so he had asked her if he could go and talk to him. Nya had agreed and expected him to be back in no less than ten minutes, but those ten minutes turned into twenty, and twenty eventually turned into thirty.

So she gave up waiting for him, grabbed a full glass of red champagne and walked outside. Some guy she had never seen before approached her while she was on her way out but she told him she was going to the restroom so she wouldn't have to talk to him, or anyone for that matter.

Now that she was outside, she felt like she could breathe again.

The royal blue satin fabric of her wide, beautiful gown flowed in the wind that was breezing around Nya's frame, forming goosebumps on her exposed shoulders and collarbones. She cursed at herself for not having brought a jacket with her.

"Whatever," she thought as she leaned against the back of the bench and crossed her legs. She took a light sip of the champagne, coating her tongue with the sweet concoction, and stared at a black crow that landed in front of her feet.

"Hello," she greeted it. "What are you doing on this fine evening?" she asked sarcastically.

It cawed.

"Ah," Nya nodded, understanding absolutely nothing. "So your wife left you with two kids to fend for yourselves."

It cawed again.

"That's rough, buddy." She took another sip of her champagne.

Something shiny caught the corner of her eye. Nya removed the glass from her mouth to focus on the bird's neck.

There she could see a golden ring or a bracelet wrapped around it.

"Now I can see why your wife left you, you criminal," she laughed. She took another sip.

The crow cawed again and spread his dark feathers before taking off. Nya watched as it got smaller and smaller the further it flew away.

"There you are."

Nya didn't react when she heard a familiar voice whisper those words into her ear. She only continued to sip on her drink as she waited for him to continue.

"You know," he said, leaning back up from her ear, "I've been looking for you."

"Funny 'cause it didn't seem that way when you forgot about my existence for like an hour," she replied sassily.

She felt him move away from her and saw him walking around the bench. Then he sat down right next to her, their sides touching.

She scooted away. He scooted closer.

"Well, sorry if your big star is a few feet away from you," he countered, just as sassy.

Nya turned her head to him to look at his face. His gorgeous, gorgeous face. The brown freckles looked more pronounced in the moonlight and his usually dark blue eyes had more sparkles in them from that angle. His hair that he had tried to tame a few hours before the event was going wild once again.

Nya pouted jokingly. "I thought I was your star?"

A chuckle left his mouth. "When have I said you're not?"

The young warrior huffed, turning her head away from him. She didn't find a good way to respond so she didn't say anything altogether.

"Don't turn away from me," her Yin murmured, grabbing her jaw gently and moving her face back to his. Their eyes met in a heated gaze. "Why'd you come out here?"

"It was getting too much in there."

"Never been a big fan of these things, I know," he whispered, his thumb caressing over her right, rosy cheek. "But you still owe me something?"

"Oh? What is it, Jay?" Nya asked, intrigued.

Instead of answering right away, the Blue Ninja let go of her face, stood up, and turned to her. Then he stretched his hand out into her direction and waited for her to take it. She glanced at it questioningly and waited for him to explain.

"A dance," he simply said.

A few seconds passed as the two stared into each other's eyes.

Nya then slowly placed her hand into his. She felt him grip it gently before he began to yank her out of her seat. She nearly burst out laughing at his urgency.

"Chill, it's not like I'm going to run away!" she said, suppressing the laughter that was about to take over her body.

"Yeah, well, it's happened once already today," he smiled. "Now come on, let yourself loose."

Nya rolled her eyes but complied. She put her other hand on his shoulder and felt how his other hand was placed on the side of her waist.

The two then began to sway from side to side to the music that was coming from inside. It was loud enough to be heard, luckily, so they didn't need to hum their own melodies to use them to dance to.

No words were exchanged for a while, they just enjoyed one another's peaceful presence.

As Nya gazed into her lover's eyes, she could also see the stars from above decorating his upper body, especially near his face, near his eyes.

And in that moment, she felt at peace, because her star was shining the brightest amongst all the others.