"MORRO!" A piercing shriek rang through car, startling everyone inside it.

"Yes, Rumi?" Morro asked fearfully, slowly turning around to face his girlfriend. Lloyd winced, though it wasn't because an extremely angry girl had screamed in his ear.

The name "Rumi" was... well, it was complicated. It was a name that was unofficially reserved for Lloyd. It came back to him in impotent daydreams and frantic nightmares, fading in and out of his thoughts throughout the day. It evoked a kind of nostalgia that differed from any other feeling Lloyd had ever felt. Well, except for the feeling he got when he heard his former nemesis was not only on a first name basis with his ex-girlfriend but also dating her.

"YOU IDIOT! THIS IS A CHICKEN-CARE-KIT, NOT MY MAKEUP BAG!" 

Morro peered into the vanity bag Harumi was holding. There was no lipstick or mascara to be seen. Just a comb, a small bottle of poultry shampoo, a few rolls of bandages, a chicken vitamin bottle, and a lightning proof umbrella. 

"Oops," Morro mumbled, trying to figure out how to calm Harumi down before she exploded.

"Wu's got a chicken," Nya explained from the passenger seat. "Jay takes him very seriously. He named him Jay Junior."

"Cole gave me the idea," Jay said proudly, turning left onto Loft Road. "You know, since he named Wu "Cole Junior". Too bad Wu had to grow up in the First Realm. I really wish we hadn't been sent there. Those were dark dark days." 

Lloyd and Harumi tensed. The former princess looked down at her manicured nails as Lloyd turned to face the window. Nya kicked Jay in the shin and cleared her throat.

"So, Akita, um, how's the, uh, Never-Realm? Has your brother been doing okay?" 

"She's napping," Lloyd said quietly, reaching behind him to stroke the Formling's thick dark hair. Akita hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. She'd been too busy trying to murder Rumi in her sleep. Lloyd had to take away all her daggers and force her to take a walk outside with him. 

It'd been beautiful that night. Lloyd remembered seeing the cotton candy clouds drift away as the moon arced towards the endless sky above. The stars had sparkled brilliantly in the darkness. They were almost as lively as the twinkle in Akita's eyes. 

Akita. Lloyd began blushing as soon as he thought of her. They'd kissed yesterday, right under a streetlamp. The light had illuminated the sidewalk, and Lloyd remembered thinking how it seemed like a lighthouse, guiding people away from the darkness that threatened to engulf them. 

"Morro. You have two choices. One, you can get your butt back to my room and get my makeup." Harumi shoved the Chicken-Care-Kit into Morro's hands and gave him a deadly glare.

"Now?" Morro gulped and looked to Jay for help.

"Right now." Harumi smiled in a way that sent chills down Lloyd's spine. He shuddered and glanced out the window again. 

"What's the second option?" Jay asked, winking at the former ghost through the rearview mirror. 

"I get a kiss," Harumi said sweetly.

"That's easy," Morro said, chuckling. He leaned backwards towards his girlfriend, who slapped him in the face.

"Not from you. From one of them." Harumi smiled evilly as she pointed one long nail at Jay and another at Lloyd.

"NO!" Lloyd shouted, fire in his eyes. He slammed his fist down, and unfortunately, it hit Morro in a place that made the two boys scream.

"YOU- YOU LITTLE- YOU DISGUSTING LITTLE ," Nya shrieked, unable to get a full sentence out. 

"Absolutely not," Jay said in a horrified (but much quieter) voice. "I'll let Nya take it from here."

"31 POINTS OFF FOR MORRO AND HARUMI!" Nya bellowed.  "SO UNLESS YOU WIN EVERY SINGLE CHALLENGE, YOU WON'T GET ANYTHING. ONE MORE WORD AND I'LL MAKE IT 32! No. That's not good enough. ONE MORE WORD AND WE'RE DUMPING YOU IN THE OCEAN!"

Lloyd tried to suppress a smile. This was the real Nya. This was unafraid-to-express-her-feelings Nya. Everyone had been surprised when the master of water had given Harumi a warm welcome the day she was revived. It only took the two girls one afternoon to make up, and by dinner, they were chatting about knives and swords like they were besties. 

Lloyd guessed Jay had told Nya to "be nice." 

"Well then," Harumi said calmly, examining her blood-red nails. "Looks like Morro will have get off here."

"STOP THE CAR!" Nya screeched. 

Jay obediently slammed on the brakes and unlocked all the doors.

"Get out," Lloyd spat. He pushed his frenemy out of his seat and onto the road. 

Morro clutched his crotch as he stumbled to the sidewalk. There was no use in arguing. Everyone in the car wanted him out. Everyone except...

"Akita!" Morro called. 

"Hmmm?" Akita said drowsily, turning around in her seat. "What?"

Morro and Akita's quick friendship had also shocked everyone. The two got along fabulously, and they managed to spend an afternoon together without getting mad at each other (aka without talking about Harumi). Cole and Kai reported to Lloyd that the pair had talked about him the half the time. 

Zane later told Pixal that the masters of fire and earth avoided the green ninja for days after that. 

"Harumi wants me to walk back to the monastery to get her makeup," Morro said softly, glaring playfully at Rumi. 

"YOU DEVIL!" Akita's eyes flew open and she was suddenly wide awake. She unbuckled her seatbelt and jumped on top of Harumi, digging her sharp nails into her enemy's skin.

"GET- GET OFF ME!" Rumi screamed, trying to wrestle away from Akita. 

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH! ENOUGH, YOU HEAR ME? YOU ARE THE-ow- THE WORST! YOU DO NOTHING BUT-yow! ouch- CAUSE TROUBLE. I HATE YOU!"

"IF YOU DON'T WANT MORRO TO- ugh- OW- IF YOU DON'T WANT MORRO TO GO, YOU TELL LLOYD TO KISS ME!"

"OW- OOF- NEVER!"

The two girls would've fought to the death right in the car if Lloyd hadn't reached over his shoulder and unlocked Harumi's door. 

Akita heard the click. She smiled and promised herself that she'd give Lloyd anything he wanted if this worked. 

In one fluid motion, the Formling shoved the door open and kicked Rumi in the stomach. 

Harumi yelped and tried to regain her balance, but it was no use. She fell out of the car and landed on her skirt-covered bottom. It hit the pavement with a loud thump. 

Morro's eyes widened. He tried not to laugh, but a chuckle slipped out. Harumi turned to him, tears in her eyes. 

"Mor-mor," she cried. "Stop laughing! It hurts!"

"I'll help you as long as you don't make me go back," Morro replied sternly. It killed him to do this to her, but he had to. Rumi was an unreasonable woman, and the only way to be respected by her was to be even more unreasonable. It wasn't that Morro demanded respect,  it was just that he felt like his girlfriend was going a little too far. 

"I won't!" Harumi shouted, tears streaming down her pink cheeks. "Heck, this is summer vacation! Nobody else will see me. If you're okay with kissing an ugly face, that's fine with me."

"Sweetie," Morro cooed, suddenly understanding Rumi's motives. He wrapped his muscular arms around her slim body and smiled. "You have the most beautiful face. I don't even know why you need makeup. You're perfect already."

"Oh, please," Harumi said, sniffling. "We're not in a movie, and you're not gonna die. Only people who die say that kind of mushy stuff. I'm not gonna lose you."

"Of course you aren't," Morro soothed. He pecked Harumi on the forehead and rubbed her hands against his cheeks. "I'll always be here with you. But you really are gorgeous. You don't need makeup. You just need to calm down a little. Can you do that for me?"

"Okay."

"That's all I ask of you. Well, I also hope you love me. You do, do you?"

"Don't ask such a silly question," Harumi said, drying her tears on Morro's t-shirt. "You know I do. I love you more than I ever loved anybody."

"Well. I thought we had a lot in common," Morro said in an almost dreamy voice. "But this takes it to a whole new level." He gazed down at Harumi and smiled softly. The couple pressed their lips together and closed their eyes. Within seconds, they forgot that they were kissing on the ground, in the middle of the road, in front of their former enemies. 

"Looks like we know who the winners are," Jay said quietly. Nya turned to him, astonished.

"Seriously? Them?"

"Well, Pixal did say that hurting others would result in 0 points," Jay pointed out. "So Lloyd and Akita can't get it. Plus, they did do pretty well with that whole speech."

"Fine! I'll tell them after they finish. Then we go."

"Okay," Jay agreed. "Then we'll go to the beach." 

*A/N Let me know what you thought of this first chapter!*