Written by: miamidnightt

Scarlett finally found the energy to walk back to her room after she knew the others were fast asleep in their own rooms and she quietly closed the door, not wanting to wake Mia from her sleep. She was about to head over to her bed and bury herself under the blankets, hoping to get at least a few hours of sleep before she had to get up, but she heard the girl preoccupied in the opposite bed whimpering and shaking, breathing hard with sweat covering her face.

"Mia...?" She knew something was wrong the moment she saw how terrible she looked. Noticing the slight tears falling from the redhead's eyes, Scarlett was quick to rush to her side and try to shake her awake, "Come on... Wake up! You're just having a nightmare, I'm sure."

Squirming underneath the covers, Mia didn't seem to hear her words, "No... No! Please, don't hurt him! I'll do anything but just leave Lloyd alone! Please...!"

Growing alarmed, the dark-haired girl shook the redhead more forcefully, knowing that the nightmare she was having couldn't be anything good, "Hey, Mia...! Wake up! Lloyd's alright, you'll see him in the morning!"

"No...! Don't kill him, please!" Mia was sobbing tears, screaming with her hands pulling at her hair, "You... You're a monster! How will I...?"

"Mia, wake up!" Scarlett screamed in her ear, causing the girl to jump awake, wrapping her arms around herself and shaking from the fear she felt. Sighing in relief, the dark-haired girl sat Mia up and embraced her in a hug, "Shh... It's alright, M. Everything's alright, it was just a nightmare you were having."

The redhead grabbed onto her with her shaking hands, the tears not leaving her eyes, "But Lloyd, he was—?"

"He's fine," Scarlett reassured her with a grin, rubbing circles on her back and hoping she was able to calm her down. When she noticed that her tears had stopped and she wasn't shaking as much, she knew that she was feeling better, "Don't worry, Lloyd's asleep in his room with the others. You'll get to see him in the morning."

Mia relaxed, taking a breath and falling back down to her bed, "He's fine... That's good to hear. I won't be satisfied until I see him tomorrow. I need to see him."

Eventually, the redhead found herself falling back to sleep peacefully, Scarlett smiling down at her and brushing a few strands of red hair away from her face, "Night, Mia, I hope you have only good dreams the rest of the night."

She rose to her feet, walking over to her bed and slipping the covers over herself, while feeling sleep overtake her body. You're for sure way stronger than I am, M. I don't feel like I'm cut out for this kind of Ninja thing. I'm sorry...

* * *

Mia awoke to the sound of a knock at her bedroom door, startling her but she was glad that she didn't have any nightmares the rest of the night. Finding Scarlett asleep in her own bed, she stretched and stood up, until another knock was heard at her door.

Who could be up at...? Ah, nevermind, the thought left her mind once she read the clock on the bedstead, which read 10:21. Guess me and Scarlett overslept.

"Hey, Mia, are you awake yet?" Her heart thumped in her chest and the relief of hearing his voice made her relax. She limped over to the door as quickly as she could, bursting the door open and embracing him tightly, "Whoa! Are... Are you okay there, Mia?"

"I thought you were gone! I thought the shadows took you away from me!" Mia cried into his chest, clenching the back of his Gi with her fingers, "I had a nightmare last night... and they killed you right in front of my eyes! I'm afraid that will happen..."

Lloyd was in shock, to know that the shadows were even coming into the girl's nightmares at night and showing her the worst thing possible that could happen for her. "Hey... I'm not going anywhere. I don't plan on leaving you alone and... I wouldn't go down that easy, you know?"

"You're right..." Mia sniffled, giving him a smile through all her tears. He wiped them away with the edge of his thumb.

"Hey, let's go have some breakfast, yeah? We have training after this and it might cheer you up."

Mia frowned, not meeting his eyes and found the floor more interesting, "I... can't train like this. I have a wounded ankle and can't walk that well. You'll have to train me when I'm healed up."

"Silly," Lloyd flicked her on the forehead and she squeaked, gazing up at him again, "Just because you can't fight physically doesn't mean you can't train at all. We'll just have to avoid physical training."

Mia rose an eyebrow at him, confused, "What do you mean, Lloyd?"

"I'm gonna teach you how to unlock your powers after breakfast," He patted her on the shoulder, lifting her off her feet and into his arms, "We'll focus on that until you are healed up and can fight again. Your elemental powers will give you a chance to still fight against your enemies."

"I'm looking forward to it, you dork." The redhead rolled her eyes, poking his nose gently and letting out a small giggle, "I might be a complete pain when you're training me, but I try not to let it get to me. I'll keep my temper to a five, yeah?"

Lloyd shook his head, "You might wanna turn it down lower when we train, but I'll take it. So... Is that a promise?"

"Promise." She confirmed with a carefree grin on her face.

And with those words, he left her room and closed the door behind them, carrying her off towards the kitchen, where he was certain the others would be waiting for them. But his mind was drifting off to how scared Mia looked when she had clutched onto him earlier. If the shadows were haunting her dreams, he'd have to make sure to protect her from them. He hated those shadows for trying to mess with them and Ninjago.

I'll do what I can to help you, Mia, he thought to himself, just bringing her closer to him a bit. That's a promise I don't intend to break.

* * *

After breakfast, Lloyd guided Mia slowly towards the deck, knowing well that she had trouble getting around with that ankle of hers. She hopped on one foot with the help of the blond at her side, until they managed to make it towards the deck. She smiled at him and was slow when she went to sit down, but she managed.

"Good thing we didn't decide to do this in your room," Lloyd chuckled, shaking his head at the thought, "That would have been a bad idea."

The redhead rolled her shoulders back for a second, until her addled eyes looked up to him, "What do you mean? Why would we—Oh! You're worried it might break my room or some other disaster that is just as bad, considering this is gonna be my first time with using my powers."

"That's right," The Green Ninja nodded, sitting down in front of her and grinning, "Now, I'll do the best I can to train you with your powers, alright? Hmm, do you remember what Sensei told you what your element is?"

"Yeah," Mia shrugged, clasping both her hands, "He told me that it was light."

Lloyd took both her hands in his, facing her palms out in front of her, "Now, I need you to imagine that light in your hands. That power is inside you, pulsing through your veins, but it's you who can control it." He let go of her small hands, placing them back at his sides and stared at Mia intently, "Go on, show me what you can do."

With a firm nod of her head, the redhead took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She made sure to keep the palms of her hands face-up and in front of her, trying hard to imagine the light in her veins. Clenching her jaw, she kept her mind focused on controlling her power and felt something spark inside her sparsely. It was dim but she drew her attention to it, trying to lead it down into her hands.

While her eyes were closed, Lloyd could see the small glow forming at her fingertips and rising sedately, the more she continued to keep her focus on it. Standing up, Lloyd gave a lopsided grin to her, "That's good, Mia. You are the only one who controls that light and no one can take it from you."

"Yes," The Purple Ninja mustered out, feeling the light grow immensely in her hands, causing a simper to form on her face, "Those shadows have no control over me or my powers. I won't let them get the best of me anymore... I won't continue to be afraid of them. I'm stronger than them...!"

Lloyd crossed his arms with a satisfied look in his irises, "That's it, Mia... But keep that light under control and in your hands, or else it could go out. All you need is to put all your focus on the power in your palms until you're ready to release it."

"Where... Where do I throw it then?" She asked, clumsily getting to her feet and her eyelids fluttered opened, watching the soft flare in her grasp move with the passing breeze, but never leaving her control.

Running his fingers through his blond hair, he stepped backwards until he stood a couple feet away from the redhead, "Throw it at me... Don't worry, I can take it."

"Are you sure...?" Mia asked, concern wrapping around each of her words but when he gave her a confirmed nod, she let the light fly towards the Green Ninja.

Lloyd was quick to form his own powers, creating a shield of energy that blocked her attack, causing it to disperse into the morning sky. Covering both hands over her mouth in awe, the teenage girl couldn't contain how happy she was. Not just because she unlocked her powers, but because he was there to support her the whole time.

"Thank you, Lloyd!" She called out, rushing over and embracing him in a hug, "You've managed to help me use my elemental powers and I could never ask for anyone more special than you."

Lloyd chuckled, "That's good, but be careful with your ankle. I don't want you to make it worse than it already is."

"Sorry, I'm just... really happy." Giggling, the redhead kept her arms around him and gave him a kiss on the lips, "I love you so much."

"I love you too." The blond smiled, blushing as he felt her finger trace along his chest. Shaking his head, he went and kissed her back.

But what neither of them knew, was the others were up in the Bridge and watching the whole exchange between the two Ninja, except for Scarlett and Jay. They both had gone to the game room to play some video games. Nya gasped, covering her hands over Cole and Kai's eyes, hoping she stopped them from seeing the kiss.

"Oh, uh, that was nothing you boys needed to see!" She shouted, chuckling nervously.

Cole groaned, peeling her fingers off his eyes effortlessly, which flew open in surprise when he did, "What the—? Oh my god, are... are they kissing?"

"Wait, kissing?!" Kai shouted, yanking his sister's hand off his eyes and wore the same expression Cole did, "I... I didn't know Mia and Lloyd were a thing. How long has this been going on for exactly, sis?"

Nya rubbed the back of her neck, searching through the back of her mind for an excuse to cover up the scene the boys' were seeing, "Does it look that way? Come on, we all know they're good friends and they're gonna do things that friends do, yeah?"

"Nya," The Earth Ninja wore a rigid frown on his face, knowing well that something was up, crossing his arms across his chest, "Friends don't go kissing other friends."

"They don't?" She placed a finger to her chin, putting on an innocent look and yanking the nindroid, who had been watching the scene unfold between the three, before Nya smacked her lips on his, "See? Friends can kiss each other, am I right?"

Kai raised an eyebrow at his sister, noticing her suspicious behavior, "You're lucky Jay isn't here to have seen that, Nya. He'd probably go crazy about the whole thing but... There is something you're not telling us, isn't there?"

"Nope!" Nya shouted, panicky, "I don't have any idea what you boys are talking about."

"Are you sure?" Cole asked her, his eyes looking out the large window of the Bridge, finding Mia tracing her finger along Lloyd's chest and giggling, "Do friends usually touch each other like that?"

Nya's turned her head to the direction he was pointing, quickly grabbing Zane by the arm and touching him the same way Mia was with Lloyd, "Of course they do! Come on, you two, you're just jumping to conclusions."

"Nya, I do not understand." Zane furrowed his brow, tilting his head in confusion, "Are you feeling alright?"

Knowing she couldn't escape their questioning, Nya darted out the door and towards the deck. She slammed the door open and panted, while Lloyd and Mia jumped at her sudden appearance. She glared and crossed her arms at them, the Green Ninja muddled by her actions.

"You two don't know when to be careful!" The Sister of Fire groaned, sticking her thumb towards the Bridge, where you could easily see the Ninja inside, watching them, "The others know about your relationship now! Do you remember what I told you before? I said be careful or the others are gonna find out! Well, look what just happened!"

Lloyd widened his eyes in alarm, turning to Mia, who was wearing the same look, "Oh, shit...! We screwed up for real, right?"

Nya nodded, while Lloyd ran a hand through his hair and the redhead bit down on her lower lip, "But... no, I can't believe we messed up this bad. This was supposed to be a secret from them and now—Sorry, I need a few minutes to myself."

Without getting a reply, Mia burst down below deck and ran, not even caring for her injured ankle or the pain that shot up her leg. The blond stared at the door for a few seconds and turned back to Nya, a nervous look crawling onto his face.

"Can I have a few minutes to myself too?" Lloyd asked her, biting the inside of his cheek, but got his answer when she grabbed him by the wrist, dragging him back to the Bridge, "Alright, I'll take that as a no."

Racing down the halls as fast as she could, Mia found herself in the kitchen and she clenched her jaw in frustration. Shuffling over to one of the empty spots, she slammed her fist against the wall, satisfied when she saw the large dent she had made. Taking a deep breath, she leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor, pulling her knees towards her chest.

"Mia...?" She heard a familiar voice, turning her head towards the doorway and finding a concerned Scarlett standing there, who went and sat over by her side, "Hey, what's up?"

The redhead scooted over, allowing the dark-haired girl to sit beside her, "It's... I messed things up, actually both me and Lloyd did. We weren't thinking right and the others found out that we like each other. I guess the secret's not so secret anymore."

"Hey," Scarlett placed her hand on the girl's shoulder, who looked up at her touch and frowned. But Scarlett wore a genuine smile, keeping her hand on Mia, "It's not the end of the world, you know? I'm sure the others will understand if you explain it to them. I'm sure Lloyd is already talking to them and—Wait, what happened to your ankle?"

Mia hadn't even noticed until Scarlett pointed it out, but her ankle was bleeding through the bandages that were wrapped around it. She gasped and slapped a hand over her face, "Oh, shit...! I wasn't thinking when I ran on my ankle and I guess that made it worse."

Scarlett shook her head while letting out a chuckle, standing up and helping the Purple Ninja to her feet, wrapping Mia's arm around her shoulder, "Seriously, Mia... You just can't stop getting yourself hurt. You need to be more careful, yeah?"

"I've been told that a lot today," Mia pointed out, putting on an innocent smile and with the help of Scarlett, made it to the bathroom. The Scarlet Ninja made her sit down on the table, grabbing the bandages, gauze, and rubbing alcohol from the cabinet before going back over to the redhead's side, "You seem experienced with this."

"Oh, no! I'm not expert when it comes to this, I've only managed to do it a couple of times beforehand." Scarlett explained, taking the bloody bandage off Mia's ankle, noticing that the wound had reopened and she shuttered. Taking out the rubbing alcohol, she rubbed some to the wound. "Sorry if this stings..."

Mia winced as she continued to rub it on her wound, but fought through the pain and nodded, "It's alright, it doesn't hurt that bad."

"That's good." Scarlett replied, not looking up at her and continued with her ankle.

Once she finished with the rubbing alcohol, she pulled out the gauze and placed one on the wound, grabbing the bandages and wrapping her ankle back up. Sighing, the dark-haired girl helped Mia off the table and led her out of the bathroom.

"Be more careful now, alright?" She scolded the redhead, flicking her on the forehead and smiling teasingly, "I don't want to see that ankle worse or it might never heal up. Give yourself a rest, okay?"

Mia nodded her head, "Yeah, but I think I'm gonna go see the others up in the Bridge before I take a rest."

"Hmm, do you want me to help you there?" Scarlett offered.

Shaking her head and removing her arm from around the Scarlet Ninja, Mia smiled warmly to her, "I'm sure I'll be fine getting there on my own, but thanks for asking me."

"Alright, I'll be over in the kitchen if you need my help." Scarlett told her, walking back off in the direction of the kitchen.

Watching her disappear down the hall, Mia pulled herself together and limped in the opposite direction, opening the door at the end and finding the deck. She took it slow when walking up the stairs but when she was about to enter the Bridge, the door burst open and Jay ran off and below deck.

"Okay...?" She was a bit perplexed by his sudden behavior, but shrugged it off and hopped inside the Bridge, "Hey, guys... What are you up to?"

Kai, Cole, and Lloyd turned at the sound of her voice, which led to Kai walking over and wrapping an arm around her, "Say, Mia, you didn't happen to see Jay pass by you, hmm?"

"Yeah," The redhead tilted her head at him, but pushed his arm off her shoulder and pushed back a couple steps from her, "But he was acting out of the ordinary. Almost like he was shocked by something he saw or heard... I don't know, that's just what it looked like to me."

The three boys let out small snickers, until they were full-blown laughing and didn't dare to stop for at least two minutes. Lloyd took a breath and spoke first, "Sorry, Mia, but... we actually were messing with Jay a bit before you got here."

"Really? What about?" She questioned, interested in the mention of it.

Lloyd smirked, his eyes turning to the door and back to her, "Do you really wanna know? I mean, it made Jay bolt out of here and I don't want to see the same for you. It's boy-related things—"

"Alright, alright, I get what you're saying!" Mia snapped, her face turning into a whole blushing mess and she wouldn't dare to meet any of their eyes, she felt too embarrassed already, "I don't wanna know what you guys are thinking."

Kai went back to her side, whispering in her ear quietly, "Just so you know, we were talking about hormones. You should have seen Jay's face when we mentioned it..."

"Stop... Stop that!" Pushing him back as hard as she could, her face had completely heated up and she felt like she might faint from all the heat in her face, "We are not gonna talk about this!"

"Aww... Her face just got all red!" Cole pointed out, grinning like an idiot at the sight of the redhead in front of him, "This actually reminds me of the time Kai went full PDA with Scarlett in their bedroom! Almost like he didn't mind that me and Jay were standing there in the room!"

Now it was the Fire Ninja's turn to feel a blush crawl across his cheeks, "Why... Why are you bringing that up, Cole? It was only a mere accident...!"

"Accident? Sure, keep telling yourself that." Cole said sarcastically, rolling his eyes in amusement.

"Why are you guys even talking about this?" Mia shook her head in disappointment and turned on her heel, ready to head out the door, "If you're gonna continue with this, then I'm leaving so I won't have to hear anymore of it."

The Earth Ninja put on a fake frown, finding messing with the redhead more fun than he realized, "Aww, come on, Mia! You don't have to be like that... You didn't even hear me get to the good part where Kai almost made out with her in the bed and—"

"Nope! I'm not hearing anymore of this!" Covering both hands over her ears to block out Cole's voice, she stumbled behind the Green Ninja and grabbed the back of his Gi, hiding her face in the garments, "I'm hiding here so I can't hear you!

"Well, you should have picked a better hiding spot," Cole couldn't wipe the grin off his face and stepped closer to the girl hiding behind the blond, "Because even if you hide behind him, you'll still be able to hear us."

Kai wore a smug look, nodding and wrapping his arms over his chest, "Hmm, you should have seen the way Scarlett looked at me that day..."

"Please... stop talking," Mia's voice grew smaller and she knew they were teasing her, but she couldn't stand it. She wanted to tape their mouths shut so they'd be quiet, "I don't... don't wanna hear this right now."

Lloyd chuckled, not seeming to notice that Mia was trembling behind him, while her hands gripped the fabric of his Gi tighter until her knuckles turned white. The tears fell from her eyes and Cole broke the silence again, "It must be fun for you, Lloyd, getting to tease her like this. I bet you have a few times you found yourself doing it."

"Actually, I do have a few."

"Tell us!" Kai exclaimed, growing curious and wanting to hear more from the Green Ninja, who was eager to tell them.

Lloyd nodded, "Heh, I guess there was—" But when he heard Mia's crying from behind him, he grabbed her hand in reassurance and she gripped it tightly, seeming to calm down a little, "Actually, I think this conversation has gone on long enough."

Cole finally noticed the crying girl, who was brought into Lloyd's arms and he bit his lip roughly, "Look, Lloyd, we didn't mean to upset her like that. It was only a joke, no harm done in that, yeah?"

"No," The blond scowled at them with a hard glare in his green eyes, "You both need to learn that some people don't like to be teased! I'm gonna go in the kitchen and give her some water. You're free to come down when you plan on giving her an apology."

"Lloyd, wait—!"

But the Fire Ninja was too late, as Lloyd scooped Mia up in his arms and walked out of the Bridge, making sure to slam the door when he left. He walked down to the kitchen, which was left dark and empty, considering that the sun was going down. He sat her down on one of the chairs at the table and smiled. He got her a glass of water from the fridge, setting it down in front of her and watching her drink the glass down.

Lloyd sat in the seat next to her, frowning, "Hey, I'm sorry about them teasing you like that. I didn't know it would end with you crying... I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's not your fault." She sighed, staring down at her folded hands in her lap, the frown easily noticeable on her freckled face, "I guess... I've had a history with being teased and it's something I don't like thinking about."

Taking a strand of her red hair in his hands, he rubbed it in between his fingers before pulling her into a hug and sitting her onto his lap, "It's alright, I'm here for you now. If you don't mind, would you tell me a bit about what happened to you back then?"

"Sure..." Mumbling, she kept her gaze on the floor as she began to speak, "I guess it all started when I was sent off to Darkley's Boarding School after I lost my family a year ago and they separated me from my older sister. They claimed I was too much to handle and they sent me to Darkley's, where they thought I belonged, even if the school was meant for boys. The whole thing only made things worse on my part and I was teased the entire time I was there, for many different things. Like, how my hair was red, I was too small to be attending the school, and for the fact that I was a girl."

Lloyd was beyond shocked at the mention of the school he had gone to. Sure, he had heard rumors floating around about a girl who was staying at the school but he didn't think it was true until now, "You... You were at Darkley's?"

"Yeah... I did eventually escape the school after one of the boys helped me out of a closet." Mia smiled and finally met his gaze on her, "He was a nice kid with a pure heart but I never got to see him after that."

"No, you did," Lloyd held a firm grip on her and kept her close to his chest, "Because I was the boy you saw that night. I was the one who helped you out of that closet but I never knew it was you till now. All I saw was a glimpse of red hair from under your hood but that's was all I managed to see before you left the room."

The redhead felt her heart beating faster in her chest, almost like it could jump right out of her, "That... That boy was you? This whole time and I couldn't come to my senses to realize that I had met you once before."

"Maybe it wasn't destiny that brought you here to become a Ninja," His face heated up and he stood to his feet and walked down the hall, towards her room, "But maybe it had a way of reuniting us after so long. For us to finally meet each other properly."

"If by properly, you mean me kicking you and hitting you on multiple occasions when you tried to get me to come with you guys," Laughing, Mia held onto his Gi and found herself back in her room, as she was set down on her bed with Lloyd next to her, "Ah, yes... That was certainly the proper way to get to know each other."

"Shut up, you silly dork!" The blond laughed along with her, until his lips found hers and she found herself enjoying the feeling of his lips on hers, which made her kiss him back.

When his lips pulled away, she found the words she wanted to speak, "Hey, I thought I told you that I wasn't the dork, you were."

"Nuh ah," Waving a finger in front of her face, he went back to kissing her passionately, which then trailed down to her jaw and neck, until his lips found her collarbone. "You really are the dork here, Mia. Don't try to change my mind about it."

But right as he was about to slide his hand inside her Gi top, all the lights had gone out and the two were left in the dark. Mia squeaked, grabbing onto Lloyd's arm and glowering around the room but finding nothing. Oh, how she wish she had some power that could let see in the dark.

"Stay by my side," The Green Ninja told her, keeping her close to him, "I think they've come back to take you and Scarlett."

A/N: SKSKSKSKSK I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T PUBLISH THIS WHEN IT WAS DONE—

I feel horrible smh, Mia's too forgiving. : (

~dxganronpa