{Hey lovelies! Back with some more Pixane fluff! RubyRed883 and I got together and write another oneshot and I must say, I love writing with her! Go give her oneshots some love if you haven't already because she deserves it! Now it's on to the fluff!}

Background info before you read: Pixane buddy cop AU—Based on Ruby's "Lawless Love" very loosely. In this story, Zane's got something special planned for their day off! {The pic above might be a hint 👀}

~~~

"Detectives Julien and Borg. You're on this case." Zane and Pixal's boss handed them a manila folder full of case information. "The Shadow has been on the run for weeks, cutting power lines, hacking computers, basically anything electronic is in danger. Now, I know you're both metal, but you're my best detectives and I need you both on this job to get it done. Capeesh?"

Zane took the folder from Captain Marlo with one hand and took Pixal's hand with the other. "I see. We're on it, Captain." He said and glanced at Pixal. "We'll take a look and get right on it." Pixal nodded and they went to go take a look at the information in the next room over.

Today was probably the worst day for the nindroid couple to be brought in for overtime. Zane had specifically requested for them to have today off for a very special reason. One which currently rested in his pocket.

He and Pixal had been together for 4 years now. For the past few months, he'd been contemplating and planning on proposing to her. He acquired a ton of advice from his brothers on how to do it, but they hadn't planned on them getting called into work today. His whole plan was going to get wrecked!

And he was so busy thinking about how the day would turn out that he didn't notice Pixal talking to him. He'd been fiddling with the ring box in his pocket, popping and snapping the lid back and forth while staring into space.

"Zane! Did you hear me?" Pixal snapped in his face and he started out of his thoughts. "We just got another report in. Shadow's on the move. We've got to go if we are going to capture Shadow in time."

"Oh! Yes, of course. We must hurry." Zane agreed distractedly. Maybe if they hurried and caught Shadow fast enough, he would still have time to execute his plan properly. "He's headed downtown, you said?" He asked while they made their way to the car. Pixal nodded and they got in to go. Time to catch a criminal!

Zane may have thought he could hide his nervous and distracted demeanor that day, but Pixal definitely noticed.

He was usually always on top of things, and executing the plan perfectly, and as professionally as possible.

But now he wouldn't make eye contact with her, and kept fiddling with his snow blond locks when he thought she wasn't looking.

It was odd. Possibly he was worried about her getting hurt?

She didn't like that chance either, but work was work. They had a mission to fulfill.

"I'll drive," she said, a little too eagerly. If he was this scatterbrained now, what would he be like behind the wheel?

Zane nodded. "Let's do this."

He coyly removed his hand from his pocket, and tried to act casual by scratching his neck.

"I know this fellow is dangerous," Pixal spoke as she drove down a city street. "but we need to keep our wits about us."

Zane messed with his utility belt. "Yes. The sooner we capture and interrogate the Shadow, the sooner we can get home."

And he could take her to a fancy restaurant, and on a starlit walk through the park afterward. The moment needed to be perfect for her.

His other half. His beautiful warrior Princess.

After another few minutes of silence, they arrived downtown at the Shadow's last known location. They got out of the car and examined the scene.

There weren't many clues outside of a few symbols drawn on a wall. A circle, an x, and what seemed to be some sort of bowl?

"What does this even mean?" Pixal questioned.

Zane could only see a hug, a kiss, and the pool of worry in his stomach, but he tried to make a logical observation. "Maybe it means that the place we are looking for is deeper than we think."

"Hmm...perhaps," Pixal added with a slight shrug. She was more trying to figure out what was "eating his thoughts", as Jay often said, than worrying about the case. "Oh! I believe I may have a location in mind."

Zane nodded and turned to go back to the car. That was another sign he wasn't present in the moment, Pixal noted. He never let her off like that without asking questions and perhaps even teasing her about how she knew so quickly.

Pixal stepped closer to him and planted a delicate kiss on his ear. "Why so icy, partner?" She started to gently massage his tense shoulders. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Of course," her detective replied. Tingles filled his body. He wished that he could stay interlocked with his lover forever, like an everlasting dream, but they had a case to solve.

And the humorous thing was, the secret scorching at his systems was something he couldn't disclose to her until the time was right. The surprise was key for the image he had in his head.

Zane exhaled deeply as Pixal's touch flowed through his body. Oh, he could never get enough of that feeling. "I love you, Pixal," he whispered.

"I know," she replied flirtatiously in the same soft voice.

He slowly left her touch and loosely wrapped his lean arms around her neck. "I am only worried that we won't capture the Shadow in time, and I won't be able to take you out tonight."

"Ohhh," his lady breathed. Her cheek touched his, and her emerald eyes lit up as she gazed into his. "You have something special planned, don't you?"

Zane's eyelashes fluttered. "Yes indeed." It was a half-truth, but still the truth. With one special part left out; the sterling silver ring in his pocket.

"Well," she stepped back, "we should get going then. Don't you think?"

Neither of them could stop grinning as they looked each other's way. "Definitely." Zane climbed in the passenger seat. "Now, tell me more about how you made sense of those glyphs..."

~~~

A little while later, they found the Shadow's hiding spot. Zane had become increasingly anxious with every passing moment that time was running out. Night was starting to fall and they'd only just located the crime scene.

In an attempt to seem more like his normal self, Zane stepped closer to Pixal from behind and slid his arms around her waist. "I wish we could simply leave now. Then I could spend the whole rest of the day with you, m'lady." He sighed and kissed her ear.

Zane hoped their moment would come soon. He couldn't stand keeping a secret this big for very long, however exciting it might be. Pixal chuckled and smiled at his gentle kiss. "If that were true, I'm certain we would already be far away by now. Although I wish we could do the same." The flirt-fest was about to continue when a crash came from the next room over.

Their heads snapped up and any trace of the flirty lightheartedness vanished. "Shadow. It's him." Pixal whispered. Zane nodded and stepped out from behind her. His hands started to frost over and they moved towards where the crash had come from.

While Zane was glad this might be the moment to capture the criminal, it meant the moment would be pushed back further. "Ready? On 3." Zane whispered and Pixal nodded. This was a common ambush tactic for them. Their signature tactic, actually.

When the man cloaked in black from head to toe dashed in, the duo immediately jumped out.

Zane started restraining his legs with a rope, while Pixal threw a net over him and looked him in the face.

The Shadow had an intense and fuming quality to him. Like if you didn't do what he said right now, he would send you into oblivion. "Who do these cops think they are, sending two robots after me?"

He wriggled with the net, but it wouldn't budge. "If only I could reach my code jammer..."

"For your information, my partner and I are the best in the business." Pixal clicked handcuffs onto him.

Zane nodded, removing the net and standing him up. "And you're going away for a-"

He felt a zapping through his body. Not a taser, but something more specialized. Zane started to fall backwards.

Pixal rushed over to her prince, alarmed as a carbon monoxide detector. "What did you do to him?" she roared, tears in her eyes.

"Just one of my favorite treats for special beings like you," the Shadow remarked. He somehow had used one of his gadgets to escape the handcuffs, cut the ropes on his feet, and zapped Zane in a matter of seconds.

This guy was good.

Zane wobbled, but he tried to regain balance. He was just a little woozy, that was all. "I'm fine, Snowflake. Let's finish this miscreant!"

"Okay," she replied, "but stay here for a second. I'm gonna give that jerk a taste of his own medicine."

After she walked over and ripped Shadow's gadget belt from him, Zane quickly closed his eyes. He cleansed his system in an action he called a "half-reboot," and felt normal once again.

Pixal tossed the belt to him and he ran to go put it in the car. "I'll be right back!"

And as he ran, he made sure to check his pocket at least five times.

That was a close call. If he had hit the ground, it most definitely would have fallen out.

"You can get through this, Zane," he recalled Lloyd said. "All you have to do is solve your case, and then everything can go perfectly."

Yes! It was so simple. Zane slapped himself for almost dropping the ring box, and once more for worrying so much.

He knew how to finish this now. The duo had to work together in sync. As they were always meant to do.

That's what made them perfect.

"Pixal. Operation Shooting Star." Zane made eye contact with her for a split second and she nodded. OSS was their code name for when things were about to get a little too messy for restraining and they would have to resort to other methods, such as subduing the criminal if necessary.

So to get things overwith, Zane summoned an ice ball and ran towards the Shadow. Ducking low instead of going high like he originally planned delayed him a fraction of a second, just enough for the Shadow to jerk his knee up into Zane's chest.

The blow jarred Zane just enough for the Shadow to grab Zane's arm and twist it, slamming him onto the ground on his back. Something clattered out of Zane's pocket (not that he noticed yet) and thankfully that got the Shadow's attention for a second.

Seizing the moment, Zane jumped back up and swiftly slung a rope around the Shadow's wrists and behind his back. Pixal had been ready to jump in and help at any second (and had been planning to when he got slammed onto the ground), but something else grabbed her attention instead. She leaned down to see what the strange little box contained, but never made it.

When Zane slammed the Shadow into the wall and tied him up, reciting the classic "You're under arrest, anything you say can and will be held against you," the box popped open.

Pixal gasped and stood up immediately, her hand flying to her lips and eyes wide. This was why Zane was so nervous!

"Flurry? What's wr-" Zane asked, tightening the knot on the stunned Shadow, who was also staring at the box now. Zane turned in the middle of his sentence and saw the box in Pixal's hand.

His own hands flew to his pockets, feeling and making sure he wasn't dreaming. Nope. That was definitely her ring in her hands. A million different thoughts raced through his head at once.

First, when did he even lose it? Second, the moment couldn't be now! This wasn't anything like how he planned it! Third, why wasn't the Shadow escaping? He couldn't think straight over the pounding in his chest.

"Uh..." Actually, his processor must've stopped. None of his thoughts would translate into words. He was both frozen and on fire at the same time. The moment was supposed to be perfect for her! This wasn't any semblance of perfect!

Pixal couldn't speak either, glancing between the box and Zane. So many emotions were already blowing through her circuits! Excitement, nervousness, love, you name it. Anything and everything good could surely be found inside her right now and Zane hadn't even said anything yet.

Even the Shadow was dead silent.

Zane's icy blues were as wide as saucers. He muttered, "FSM, give me strength," and started to bend down on one knee.

If there was any moment left, he supposed this was it. He had practiced the speech enough to shake off his nervousness and get it over with.

He looked at the box in her hands. "Pixal, you have amazed me from the moment I saw you. With your strong will, kind heart, and beautiful smile."

"Oh, Zane," she awed, touching her chest.

Her lover continued, gazing at her dreamily, "You make every day shine, and I could never have asked for a better partner, nor girlfriend. For as such, I know we are already partners in life, but I wish to make us partners for eternity."

"So," he said.

Pixal's mouth had remained wide open for about a minute.

"My love, my life," he held up the ring which was a heart made of amethyst and sapphire, wrapped in sterling silver, "will you marry me?"

Tears rolled down her face. "Yes!" She sprung into his arms. "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!"

Zane slipped the ring onto her finger and lifted her into the air. "I love you so much."

"I feel the same." Pixal grinned, planting a kiss on his lips as he let her down. She turned as her feet hit the ground. "But before we celebrate, we should probably take this troublemaker to jail."

"You're right. I almost forgot." Zane couldn't stop smiling, even as he glanced at Shadow. "But first," he turned back to her and squeezed her hands, "I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"For what?" Pixal asked. What could there possibly be to be sorry about?

"Sorry for not giving you the perfect proposal I had planned. It was going to be beautiful, with stars, and flowers, and-"

A strong kiss from Pixal cut Zane off before he could get further through his list. "This was perfect. I don't need to be impressed by such grandeur when I know I've got you." She said when she pulled back. "Although...that does sound like a very nice evening. It would be a shame to let it all go to waste, wouldn't it?" A playful smile grew on her lips and she linked her arms around Zane's neck. While she'd love to stay here and tease him all night long (along with a few other things), they were first and foremost meant to capture this criminal tonight.

How had Zane ended up with someone who so perfectly complimented him? He could practically see their whole future right now in her eyes and bright smile. He was about to go back in for one more kiss when he heard a thunk from behind him. Shadow had fallen over from his tied-up position against the wall.

"Well, now. Whaddya say we put this canary back in its cage, m'lady?" Zane adopted the accent he'd used not long ago when solving Dyer's mystery {*cough* Ninjago Confidential *cough*} that he knew would make Pixal laugh.

True to his prediction, she chuckled and booped his nose. "Of course, sire." She replied in the same accent. Sadly, no funny hats were worn this time as they took Shadow back to the station and finally cleared Ninjago City of another dangerous criminal.

Zane knew, after their beautiful date night together, they would come home...

And his brothers would be ecstatic to help plan a wonderful wedding of two lovestruck nindroids in the heart of winter.

~~~

{Don't worry, there will most definitely be a part two...with Pixane wedding!! There is NOT enough Pixane wedding (or Pixane at all) in this world! 🥰 ❄️ Hope you enjoyed and come back soon for more!}