"Get out of the way, Nya! I'm going to win!" Kai shouted at his sister angrily. Nya calmly stepped around the couch and poured the contents of one of Cole's plastic water bottles over her brother's head. Turns out, Cole had filled that particular bottle with a sticky green substance that was covered by a foamy layer of bubbles. Soda. Kai spluttered as the liquid ran down his face and splattered all over his controller.

"Hey!" Kai grabbed a napkin off the coffee table and smashed it into his hair. 

"No, wait, Kai, that isn't-" Cole began. 

"What? What is it?" Kai demanded as he tried to peel off the napkin that he had stuck to his head. As he removed the napkin, everyone in the room stared at the two pieces of white bread glued to Kai's hair. Folded slices of cold ham slipped down his face and fell on the ground. Tomato juice stained the gel-coated spikes and pieces of lettuce fluttered around the master of fire. Everyone burst out laughing, even Misako and Wu, and Jay high-fived a giggling Nya. 

"NYA! It's all over! My hot hair is officially gone." The red ninja gave Nya an angry glare as he searched for a clean paper towel.

"Oh no," Cole said mockingly, pausing the game. "What will Skylor think?" Kai blushed and turned away. 

"I don't know, and I don't care. If you guys think there's something between me and that, um, girl, you're wrong." The fire ninja stopped stammering and glared at the master of water again. But before he could insult her, he thought of something.

"Wait! Don't tell Skylor about this! She'll laugh at me and think I'm not hot and hate me forever!" Kai pleaded. Jay pretended to consider Kai's request. 

"Hmmmm, but isn't that the point?" Jay laughed. Kai marched towards his brother-in-law and shoved him backwards, flicking a piece of lettuce in his face in the process.

"Of course we won't tell her about this!" Cole said quickly, stepping between Jay and Kai. "Just an exaggerated version. We could tell her that you were going to ask her out, and you tried to make a sandwich picnic, but fell into a soda lake with all the ingredients. Now, at least you sound like a good person." 

"Cole, there are no such things as soda lakes," Zane said, matter-of-factly. "Even if there were, falling into it would cause Kai's entire body to be sticky, instead of just his head."

"Zane! It's not a question of what they're going to tell! It's a question of if  they're going to tell. And they are not!" Kai looked at his teammates sternly. "Right?"

"Right," everyone said in unison. 

"But if I do," Jay said mischievously, "and you pin the blame on Nya, Cole and I will come for you." Cole and Jay looked to Nya simultaneously, and she smiled. Though Jay didn't know it, Nya had grown closer to her Yin during the time they had spent at Shintaro together. Jay's encouragement had given Nya the motivation to be the best queen she could and his soft demeanor caused her to let her guard down on a few occasions. 

Cole, on the other hand, well, he was Cole. Strong, kind, funny, and pretty handsome too. Nya loved Cole as she loved Kai, like an older brother. After the incident with the Bounty, Nya had told herself that she wouldn't let anything bad happen to Cole again. Not after what she'd done. He didn't deserve any more pain. He had already lost his mother and, because of her, had almost lost his life. But Cole was strong. He pulled through it with a smile, and kept doing his best to protect his friends and Ninjago. 

Just then, someone knocked on the door of the monastery, and Nya snapped out of her thoughts. 

"I'll get it," Pixal said. Zane smiled dreamily at her and began muttering something that only the master of water could hear. Nya nudged him and gave him a knowing wink. The master of ice turned away to stare at the wall, a blush creeping up his cheeks.  Everyone knew that Pixal and Zane had a thing for each other, but neither nindroid would confess in front of their crush. 

A minute later, Pixal returned with a folded letter in her hand. The sweet aroma of chocolate cake flooded the room and everyone rushed to crowd around Samurai X. 

"What is it?"

"What does it say?"

"Is that cake?" Everyone looked to Cole, who frowned. "What? It smells like cake!" Kai groaned and Nya pushed the black ninja aside to get a better look. 

"It looks like the invitation we got from Shintaro!" Nya exclaimed. 

"That's because it is," Pixal said. "The envelope says it is from the Queen of Shintaro."

"Vania?" Cole suddenly forgot about cake and turned a light pink. The ninja turned to him and started giggling.

"I mean, Vania! Of course. That's her name. What a, uh, surprise. Looks like we need to, um, go to her, uh, place!" Cole stammered. The giggling started again, and the master of earth snatched the letter from Pixal's hand and began to read it out loud.

"Dear Ninja,

Hello! It's me, Vania! I need some help with a little problem that Shintaro is having, and the Upply suggested that I ask you guys to come. Please come quickly, and make sure to bring Cole!

Thank you,

Queen Vania."