"Our second challenge is..."

"A swimming lesson!"

"YA-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Everyone turned to Morro, surprised. He blushed and attempted to hide behind his embarrassed girlfriend, though his efforts were in vain since he was practically a foot taller than her. 

Jay and Nya had dragged the gang outside only minutes after Morro and Harumi won the first challenge. Everyone had complained about not being able to rest, but they all headed down to the beach anyhow.

Nya snickered as Morro muttered to himself angrily. Akita glanced up at Lloyd, who whispered something in her ear. She nodded, understanding. 

"You'll be okay," Akita said soothingly. "You aren't a ghost anymore. You can touch water."

"B-but, water! It's wet! And this is the ocean! It's where I, you know, dissolved." 

"Dissolved?" Lloyd laughed. "You sound like the evil witch from the Wizard of Oz."

"Says the green tin man," Morro shot back. "I bet you care about your gi more than you love your mother."

"I have a heart," Lloyd said, offended. "You don't see it because, one, I gave it to Kiki, and two, you're made of sugar and don't know what emotions are anyway. And I definitely do NOT love more gi more than my mom."

"You want to see my emotions? I'll show you my-"

"No fighting, boys," Nya said sharply, stepping in between Lloyd and Morro. "We don't want to turn the ocean red with your blood."

"The sharks will smell it and come for you," Jay said, trying to be helpful.

"What are sharks?" Akita asked, effectively distracting Nya from the boys' bickering.

"A sea creature," Nya explained as she pulled out her phone from the back pocket of her jeans. "I can show you a pictu-"

"No!" Lloyd cried, temporarily cutting off his argument with Morro. "I mean, Akita doesn't need to know that. We won't be seeing any sharks. Not with me around."

"But Lloydie," Akita whined. "I wanna see what a shark looks like. Does it have fur, like a wolf?"

"Not exactly, sweetie," Lloyd replied, stroking Akita's hair.

"Well, maybe we'll get to fight another giant crab," Nya murmured. "And see Rumi run away like a coward."

"And maybe I'll kick you into the crab's face," the former princess shot back. "That's not so cowardly."

"Maybe I'll turn into the ocean and try to drown you." 

"Maybe-"

"The challenge is simple," Jay said, clearing his throat. "Morro will be learning to swim from Harumi, and Lloyd will teach Akita."

"Rumi. I'm begging you, don't let me do this." 

Morro looked at Harumi with pleading eyes that seemed to contain the fear of every being in Ninjago. His girlfriend turned to him, purposely stepping on Nya's toes in the process. The water ninja bit her lip to keep herself from yelling in anger, though she didn't restrain herself from muttering a string of rather unkind remarks under her breath. 

"It's fine, Mor-mor. You won't get hurt. I promise."

Harumi stared up at her boyfriend, a soft smile on her lips. She reached for his hand and squeezed it comfortingly, encouraging him to take deep breaths. Morro inhaled and exhaled slowly, gripping Rumi's hand as tightly as he could. 

"You guys have one hour for this challenge," Jay announced. "The team that can swim together the best by the end of the afternoon wins."

"Get changed," Nya said. "Meet us back here in 10 minutes."

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"Ready, set, GO!"

Harumi and Lloyd dove into the water, laughing as the gentle waves pushed them back towards the shore. The water was what people called "crystal-clear"; every pebble and crab under the surface was visible to the excited (and frightened) swimmers. 

Squawking seagulls took to the skies, unhappy that the two ex-lovers had chased them away. They circled above the water, looking for an opportunity to swoop down and steal some precious belongings. 

Lloyd beckoned for Akita to come to him. She cautiously took a step forward, digging 5 of her toes into the wet sand. She gasped, feeling for the first time the sweet sensation of sand in summer. It felt like stepping into a pile of fresh snow, but a warmer and more comforting version of it. The Never Realm, even in its non-frozen state, had never given her the opportunity to feel this.

The Formling took another step, savoring the tickle of the water lapping her ankles. Lloyd swam over to her and gently took her hand. They walked deeper into the ocean until they were knee-deep in the water. 

Akita turned to her boyfriend and smiled innocently. But before Lloyd could lean in to give her a kiss, she kicked some water into her his face and made a run for it. 

"Hey!" the green ninja spluttered as he tried to wipe away the salty liquid from his eyes. 

Akita giggled and Lloyd proceeded to chase her through the waves, his eyes still closed. He hadn't even made it four steps before he stumbled over a rock and fell face first into the water, causing Nya to burst into laughter from the shore.

"Nice going, greenie!" she called. "Wu's balance lessons have paid off."

"I can't see!" Lloyd protested.

"Then swim," Nya advised. "You can't trip that way."

So Lloyd took a deep breath and ducked under the surface.

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Things weren't going as well for Morro and Harumi.

"Morrooooooo," Harumi whined.  "Just one step. One step is all."

"But it's WATER! I'm not touching it. I won't."

"It's gonna hurt you. You see? I'm have a glorious time in the water."

Harumi pranced around, squealing happily. She threw a handful of the liquid at her boyfriend, who screamed in horror.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

The former ghost ran over to Jay, who laying on a blue and white striped towel, FaceTiming someone on his phone. The master of lightning held a paper cup filled with lemonade in one hand, and if Morro wasn't in a panicked state, he might've realized that there was no cover.

Unfortunately, Morro was in a panicked state. He took no notice of this. Instead, Morro quickly pulled the towel out from under Jay and wiped every droplet of water off his body. 

The lightning ninja yelped as he was flipped over into the sand. His cup of lemonade spilled all over his swimming trunks and his cellphone flew out of his hand, landing dangerously close to the water. 

"MORRO!" Jay screamed, though his voice was muffled because his face was in the sand. It was only then that the black-haired teen became aware of something very important.

He hadn't dissolved. He was alright. He'd had the time to dry himself off and completely ruin Jay's day. He was still alive. He wasn't a ghost anymore. He was immune to water. He didn't have to be scared of it anymore!

Morro smiled and chucked, amused by his realization. 

"Jay! What happened?" 

Nya came running over, concerned for her boyfriend. She picked up the phone from the ground and shoved it into Morro's hands.

"Hey, buddy! Long time no see!" a voice called. 

Morro looked down at the screen and saw Cole waving at him. 

"Cole! Uh, yeah! How's it going, bud?"

"It's oka-"

"IT LOOKS LIKE I PEED MYSELF!" Jay yelled, pointing at the yellow stain on his trunks.

"It's fine," Nya hushed. "Go change. I'll watch the guys."

"Sounds like Jay's fine," Cole observed. "Did he spill lemonade on himself?"

"Yeah. It was kinda my fault."

"Don't be sorry. The kid needs some excitement every now and then."

"I guess. Hey, Cole?"

"Yeah?"

"I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"Were you afraid of water even after turning human?"

"Of course! I refused to wash my hands until Nya sprayed me with a hose to show me that I wasn't a ghost anymore. It takes time, kid. It's hard to get used to dealing with something that could've killed you once."

"I know. It took me way too long to see that it doesn't hurt me anymore."

"Well, you know now. So good for you."

"Yeah. Well, I gotta go. Rumi's waiting for me."

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, MORRO!" Jay cried as he stumbled back to the cottage. 

"And Jay's gonna kill me."

"Good luck with that," Cole said, laughing. "Have a nice day, man."

"Bye."

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Meanwhile, Akita was actually learning to swim.

Well, sort of.

She had laid down on top of Lloyd's back while he'd been swimming, and being the strong ninja leader he was, Lloyd had kept going. He did it for the sake of the challenge (and not looking like a wimp in front of his girlfriend.) Akita mimicked his movement and kicked the water as hard as she could. 

She often missed the water and ended up striking Lloyd's foot, but he pretended not to notice.

Gradually, Lloyd began swimming faster and Akita was forced to use her limbs to swim in a more fluid manner. She eventually got the hang of it and began paddling away from Lloyd, splashing more water in his face. 

"Akita! You got it!" Lloyd called, doing his best to ignore the water in his eyes. 

She stood up and smiled proudly.

"Really?"

"Yes!"

The couple swam towards each other and gave each other a passionate hug.

"Thank you, Lloyd. For teaching me to simp."

"Swim," Lloyd corrected.

"Mhmmm," Akita mumbled, resting her cheek on Lloyd's chest. "For teaching me to swim."

"TIME'S UP!" Nya yelled, looking at her watch. "And Lloyd and Akita won!"

"Well, that's obvious," Harumi muttered under her breath, sloshing back to shore. "Morro didn't even get into the water."

Someone suddenly scooped Rumi up and she screamed.

"I got in!" Morro said excitedly, pecking his girlfriend on the forehead before dropping her back into the ocean. "I'm not afraid of water anymore!"

Rumi gave him a thumbs up as she coughed out a gallon of seawater.

"I'm so proud of you, Mor-mor." 

*A/N Vote if you think Morro would do this XD*