Kai watched the ninja train while his daughters sat next to him. The sun slightly hurt his eyes due to getting used to living underground for years. The only light sources were crystals and fire which always brightened up an area in a short distance. Speaking of fire, he had a fascination with it due to the very nature of it. Fire had the ability to create or destroy things...which always seemed to calm him down after spending nights with his so called husband. 

"Kai, Are you alright?" Mai said with some concern on her face. 

"I'm fine, Mai. It's just that being here...on the surface is overwhelming to me." Kai said. 

"It's okay to feel like that since this is the first time that any of us have been anywhere that isn't underground. Especially all of these trees, food, people, animals and so much more." June said. Kai nodded at this and wondered how to properly explain this to Nya. He also wanted to know how she fared all these years after his kidnapping. Kai had missed so much of her life and wanted to get to know her more along with her teammates. 

"Is it okay to ask you something, Kai?" Mai asked. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow before smiling softly at her. 

"Go ahead and ask away, Mai." Kai said.

"Are you sure that these ninja will protect you? I mean...I get that they saved Ninjago multiple times, but I...no, we feel like they won't hold up against anyone who the king will send to get you back." Mai asked.

"I can see that you have some doubts about them, but we have to trust them to keep me from the king. Besides, I know that my sister will do whatever it takes in order to strengthen our bond that was tragically cut short." Kai said. As he said this, the ninja's training ended.

"Guess we have to interact with those girls again." Jay said with some irritation in his voice. Their words were still fresh in each of their minds which left a bad first impression on each of the ninjas. 

"Maybe they only said those things since in their eyes...we're not strong enough to protect Kai and his offsprings." Zane said.

"Excuse me? We saved Ninjago multiple times so handling this situation...." Jay started to say before Lloyd cut him off.

"Well, they did live underground for years. We have no way of telling how they lived their lives or how each of them fought...excluding the magic that each of them possesses." Lloyd stated.

"The girls just want to protect Kai from the wicked king in the Underground." Nya said.

"Are you seriously..." Jay started to say before Nya glared at him.

"I feel the same way as them. After all, that king ripped Kai away from me and made him suffer." Nya stated with a sharp tone. The others looked at each other before Cole attempted to speak next only for Mai to cut in.

"Glad to see that you see our reasons." Mai stated to Nya.

"You both tried to protect my brother and are willing to do anything for him. So, it's understandable that you would want to make sure that nothing happens to him above ground." Nya said. 

"I see. Anyway, I was wondering if w..we could get to know each other a little better." She said.

"Why are you suddenly getting an interest in us? Don't you think that we're weak?" Jay said. 

"Don't get us wrong, my sister and I still think like that. We just want to show Kai that we can get along with each other." Mai said before leaving the ninjas standing there looking dumbfounded. 

"Well, that just happened." Cole said. The others nodded and wondered what other surprises might come their way. After all, they were still wrapping their heads about the Underground and what goes on there.

"It's a step at the right direction, but we should still be careful around them." Zane stated before heading inside with the others. Kai, Mai and June were sitting together in the living room with Yin, Nicki and Trevor. It was obvious that there was tension surrounding the two women and the resistance, but it seemed like they were pretending to get along. Mainly to keep Kai from getting too stressed out.

"S..Should we come back later?" Jay asked. 

"I don't think..." Cole said before Yin noticed that the ninja walked into the dining room. Not wanting to be left alone with the two girls, he quickly stood up and walked over with a forced smile on his face.

"How was your training?" He said.

"It was fine." Cole said.

"If you don't mind me asking...why is the tension so bad here?" Jay asked.

"Sigh...It's because Mai and June are not that easy to get along with at the moment. Especially since they think that my team and I aren't up to protecting the queen." Yin said.

"If that was true then why are all of you sitting together?" Lloyd asked.

"We are sitting together so the queen could hear more about us. He never got to experience the Underground by himself so he wanted to know more about how our lives were during the king's reign." Yin said. 

"Speaking of king, do you know who he would probably send next?" Zane asked. It was silent for a couple of seconds before Yin sighed deeply and spoke again.

"No, but we have to be ready for whoever or whatever he throws at us." Yin said. Unaware that someone was slowly inching their way closer to their location. Ready to take back the Queen and get back to their family.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter...Bye 👋