5 | SO, VERRY PUNNY

IT HAD BEEN TWO DAYS SINCE EMMA ARRIVED AT THE TEA SHOP AND THE MOST SHE HAD TOLD HER FATHER WAS THAT SHE WAS VISITING HER BROTHER FOR SEVERAL DAYS TO CATCH UP. He didn't pester his daughter about the sudden leave, and simply took over her dance lessons she was supposed to teach. She had distanced herself from Cole as much as she could in such a small space - as she was sharing sleeping quarters with the other ninja - since she didn't want to deal with the confusion of learning about her untapped earth element. Cole had constantly been trying to talk to her and explain that everything would work out, but the girl only heard the disappointment of her father and the sadness and depression that would follow. Something was very wrong with Emma Brookstone, and Cole couldn't find out what it was.

As she sat down in the living room where the ninja were busy fighting virtual figures on the television, Emma's hands found a small strand of hair poking out of place on Jay's head and she tugged, earning a yelp from the blue ninja himself. "Hey!" Jay whined, his hand leaving the remote control to rub the back of his head. "It was one hair, Jay. Aren't you ninja supposed to have a high pain tolerance?" Emma scoffed, rolling her eyes and leaning against the couch cushions.

"That's going to be you once Sensei starts letting you train," Kai reminded her, not letting his eyes leave the video game as he blew Zane's character up. "Are we not on the same team, brother? Why must you have blown my character into the sky?" Zane wondered. Cole groaned and tossed the remote on the table, "Zane, you even kill the fun in video games."

"Don't worry, Zane. I appreciate you," Emma assured him, giving him a gentle patch on the shoulder before plopping back on the couch. "We all appreciate you," Lloyd jumped in, tossing a glare to Emma. "We just appreciate certain attributes more than others."

Emma rolled her eyes and looked to the right at her brother who was plugging in another game to play. "If this is how you all treat each other and only respect certain skills, I want to be a ninja even less," she admitted. "Emma--" Jay began, trying to make her feel at least a little better. "Leaving my home to become a ninja just like Cole will kill my father. He wanted one of us to become a dancer, and I've lived up to that expectation. I can't give it up now."

"Your dad won't be upset if you leave to do a noble thing," Zane told me. "Have you met my father?" Emma spat out.

Kai shrugged, "Yes, he hit me on the head, multiple times."

"You weren't doing the dance correctly," Cole added, an annoyed look on his face. "It's right before left, unless after the first set," both siblings recited at the same time, letting out a small laugh after. "It's dumb and it hurt. and it's worse than Jay's flirts," Kai retorted, a sneer on his face.

"Hey!" Jay shouted, folding his arms over his chest and complaining like a baby, yet again. "Are we gossiping about Jay again?" Nya's voice called out as she stepped into the room, shutting the door behind her. "Again?" Jay questioned, jumping to his feet.

"Calm down," Nya groaned, yanking his arm to pull him onto the couch next to her. "Actually, we're about to start discussing your birthday party. So if you could boot it, that'd be great," Kai told her, lifting his hand to wave her out. Nya glared at her brither and stuck her tongue out. "My birthday party was a month ago."

"Oh, then you missed it! Maybe there's leftover cake in the fridge."

"There's not," Cole interrupted, wanting to let everyone know that he got to the cake first. Though, it honestly wasn't much of a surprise. "Why are you all so mean here?" Emma wondered, looking around.

"You pulled out my hair!" Jay shouted, clearly offended at her 'hypocrisy.' "It was sticking up! And if you didn't use so much product, it wouldn't have hurt so bad!" Emma yelled back. "Product in my hair? Product in Kai's! Pull his out!"

"I would love to! But there's a reason all of his hair sticks straight up, and it isn't because anyone thinks it's attractive! Also-" she argued, turning to look at Kai and gesturing to his hair, "- the woods called, and they want their porcupine back!"

"Porcupine? The eighties called, they want their moves back!"

"My moves are not old! But your fighting skills are! I haven't seen a katana since the Serpentine Wars thirty years ago!"

Kai gasped and slapped a hand over his heart, "That was mean!"

"Get used to it, fire-boy. If I'm becoming a ninja, I'll be here all the time. And your complaints are going to fuel my flame, so don't expect me to burn out any time soon," she grinned, placing a hand on her hip and staring at him head-on. In the corner of the room, Lloyd sat on a beanbag with a video-camera recording the whole argument between the two, and Nya was laughing so hard that she was holding onto Jay and Zane for support. Cole, however, was silently eating cake by the spoonful and watching the heated interaction between his sister and teammate.

"I am the only one allowed to use fire-puns! And you just used three of them!"

"Sorry, Kai. I guess I'm a little hot-headed. Everyone says all I need is a little spark."

Kai's face was burning bright-red in embarrasment, and he would have yelled back an offensive comment if Misako hadn't passed by the game room and stuck her head inside in curiosity as to what all the yelling was. "I just came to check if you had murdered each other yet. I'll tell the others that you're all alive," she told the group.

"Wait!" Kai called, making the gray-haired woman halt in her path. "I think the garbage men missed a piece of trash today. It's a mouthful," he admitted, glancing back at Emma who was smiling victoriously. "I guess your katana isn't the only thing that's old around here, seeing as that you just went back to grade one for that comment."

"That's it," Kai grumbled, leaping out of his chair to lunge for the girl. Cole stood up and with the help of Jay and Zane, held him off of Emma who was laughing along with Nya. Lloyd sat in the corner, still, and recorded the whole thing while rooting on Emma from the sidelines.

Let's just say that this new ninja was heating up the tea shop, and she wasn't brewing the tea.