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Kai POV

The rain ended up dying down as the night progressed.  I decided to keep watch for most of the night due to the exhausted blonde curled up beside me.  He's sleeping peacefully with his head nuzzled into the crook of my neck, his once cold hand wrapped limply around mine. 

Earlier that night, he had kissed me because he thought I had died in the fire.  He kissed me!!  The moment I've wanted to happen for so long finally happened!  And he said he liked me!  I almost jump out of excitement but I remember the sleeping figure next to me.  I calm down.  I can't believe he likes me back!  It's a literal dream come true.

He shifts and groans in his sleep.  Must be dreaming.  I brush his head softly and smooth down the wildness of his unbrushed and knotty hair.  Neither of us have properly cared for our appearances or general needs since the battle on the cliff side that got us into this situation.  We're both covered in dirt, dried blood, sweat, and overall we both need a shower, bad.  Eventually, sleep takes over and I find myself with my eyes closed and my head leaning on Lloyd's.

"Hey, Kai, wake up!"  I open my eyes to find myself staring not into the heterocromia eyes of Lloyd, but the blue eyes of my sister.  "Come on, we've got work to do."

I sit up and find myself laying in my bed, my own bed.  The cotton sheets feel amazing against my skin and the cushiony mattress is all I could have asked for.  The wooden walls of the bounty and rays of light shine through the two small windows of my shared room, the one I share with the rest of the guys.  Home... I'm finally home.

"You okay?" Nya asks me, seeing me lost in thought.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine.  Just can't believe I'm finally home." I tell her as I slowly sit up in my bed.

"Well, you are, and you're safe.  Get ready, we're going to be talking about the plan today." 

I look around. "Where are the others?" I ask before she can walk out, seeing three empty beds where the guys should be complaining about getting up.

"They woke up earlier.  We all wanted to let you sleep since you just got back."

"Oh..." I say.

"There's breakfast downstairs when you're ready."  She walks out of my room and leaves me to get ready.  I decide to head for a shower.  I get out of bed and go into the bathroom across the hall from the room.  I turn on the water and let it run until it's hot.  I take off my clothes and step inside, letting the water soak me.  While washing my hair, I remember something...

"We should be coming up on a river soon." Lloyd tells me as we trudge along the grassy plains and hills that we were at several days before we decided to head back to that village.  Lloyd and I had argued that day, but that's all in the past.

"You sure?  It's not like your using a map or anything..."

"I'm sure.  See the dark blue part of the horizon on the distance?"  I look at where he's pointing.

"That's a river?" I ask him.  He nods his head.

"Yep."

"Great!  I think we should stop and rest there." I say to him.

"You think so?" He asks me, not turning around.

"Yeah!  I mean, we kind of desperately need a bath..." I say with a small laugh.  Lloyd laughs with me.

"Yeah, I guess your right.  We can stop there and get freshened up but after it's back to traveling." He tells me.

I salute to him.  "Yes sir!"

~~~time skip~~~

I jump off the high rocks and splash into the deep river below.  The cool water feels amazing on my soot covered skin from the fire.  I swim up to the surface and look at the large rocks where Lloyd sits, watching me.  "What's wrong greenie?  Can't swim?"  I'm a little hypocritical when I say this because I hate water.  I hate swimming, being on small boats, and all that stuff.  But, after almost two weeks without showering, being in the constant, sticky humidity of the jungle, and just barely escaping a fire unscathed, you grow to appreciate the things you hate.

"I don't think it would be a good idea for me to swim with stitches in my leg and shoulder." He points out.  I swim up to the rocks where he sits and I pull myself out of the water to sit next to him.

"But you got soaked the other day when it was raining." I say.

"That was different." He says, turning away from me.  I cock my head.

"Is there another reason you don't want to swim?" I ask him.  He avoids my gaze.  Then I realize, I'm only in my boxers because who in their right mind would swim fully clothed?  "Is it because you don't want to see me half naked?" I tease him.  Despite him being turned away from me, I can see his face burst into a rosy blush.

"N-no.  Why w-would you think that?"  He tries to defend himself.

I laugh at the adorableness of the blonde.  "Relax, I'm just kidding."  I reach for my pants and I slip them on.  After I've put them on I get an idea.  I place my hand in the water and I flick a handful of water at Lloyd's face.  He squeaks in surprise and turns to me.  He does the same to me with a smirk.  Our little play fight goes on for several minutes as the clouds slowly pass by.  I send a final wave of water at him and he squeezes his eyes shut and puts his hands out in front of him.

"Okay, okay, stop or this will go on forever." He says with a laugh.  I laugh with him then I lean in to kiss him on the cheek.  He becomes flustered again, but he smiles.  Without realizing it, our fingers intertwined with each other's.  We sit quietly as we watch the birds fly around in the sky.

I turn the water off and step out of the shower.  I grab a towel and do the rest of my morning routine: Brush teeth, gel my hair, shave, etc. After I've done that I return to my room and grab out a new red ninja suit that was made for me while I was gone.  I look at the dirty clothes that fake Dr. Aaron and James had given to me.  I grab the cloths and throw them in the garbage can. No need for those anymore.

Once I'm ready I walk down the hall and head above deck.  I climb up the stairs and into the kitchen where everyone is fooling around while eating their breakfast, well, Jay and Cole at least.  Nya watches them while she eats her bacon.  Wu, Misako, and Garmadon also watch, but Wu just drinks his tea and Garmadon shakes his head.  Splenda and the rest of the Silent Soarers currently aren't present and are most likely at their village.  Zane comes back from cleaning up in the kitchen and is the first to spot me.  "Hello Kai.  How are you today?"  This grabs everyone else's attention.

"Heeeey there he is!" Cole says.  "Welcome back buddy!"

"Good to be back." I say in return. I walk up to the table and sit down on the bench next to Nya.

"So, when you got back yesterday, you and Lloyd said that the Overlord tricked you into thinking that a village he overthrew was harmless and lively. How did he do that exactly?"

I take a piece of bacon off of my sister's plate when she isn't looking. "Lloyd and I will explain that to you at the meeting today." I say as I take a bite of bacon. My face lights up. "Oh, how I missed the taste of Zane's bacon!" I savor the flavor of the bacon as I chew it and swallow. I look around the room and my eyes land on a potted plant with a colorful flower enclosed in large leaves sitting in the corner of the room on a stool. 

Why does it look like I've seen that flower before... Oh yeah!  There were many flowers just like that growing all around where Lloyd and I had the argument about going back to the village.  That's also when I told him he was the green ninja.  Realization dawns on me.  Oh man, he knows he's the green ninja.  Wu and the others said specifically for us not to tell the others about their full destinies yet... oh well, I guess I'll just have to tell them he knows.  "Hey, there actually is something worth talking about right now." I announce to the table.

Everyone turns their attention to me and waits quietly for me to continue.  I sigh.  "Remember when you told us not to tell the others about their full destinies?  About how they're  the main key to defeating the Overlord?" I say, looking directly at Wu and Garmadon.

"Yes..." Garmadon says.

"Well, I think now would be a good time to tell them."

"Why's that?" Wu asks me.

"Well, we now know the Overlord is planning on making the first move.  If we are to defeat him, we need the others to be at their best game.  We also need them to work on their powers.  Ash has already become great at healing, hence all Lloyd and my injuries being healed, Haru can shape shift into bigger animals than before, and Katelyn is getting better at her telekinesis.  But, she needs to work on her dark energy and Lloyd needs to work on all of his elements.  While we were on our little 'trip' he never got the chance to practice.  That could affect them in the future."

Wu stokes his beard.  "That is a very mature way of thinking, Kai."

"Well, I'm not all about hotheaded things." I say in slightly defensive way.  I relax and take a deep breath.  "That's not the only reason.  On our trip I told Lloyd that he was the green ninja.  I also told him that his friends are his allies and we're the protectors.  Well, he figured that part out on his own."

"You told him?" Garmadon asks me.  "How did he react?"

"He was shocked at first, but then he kind of just accepted it and went on with his life."

Wu continues to stroke his beard.  "Well, you are right.  We should tell them.  It is about time all secrets are revealed.  Even the one about Garmadon being Lloyd's father." 

I look around the table and expect to see very shocked expressions, but they wear the same faces as before. I turn back to Garmadon in surprise.  "They know?!" I ask him.  He nods.

"I told Katelyn and everyone else.  You have no need to keep the secret anymore." He says.

"Hold up, he knew?!" Jay asks Garmadon.  "Why didn't you say anything?!" He says, turning to me.

"He didn't want me to." I say back, crossing my arms.

"I'm worried how Lloyd will react." Misako interrupts our little fight.  "Katelyn reacted by fainting, who knows how he'll react..."

"But, she came around and accepted you after she woke up.  I'm sure everything will be fine." Nya tries to reassure her.

"Hate to interrupt," Cole says.  "But the Silent Soarers are here." He says pointing out the window in the room at the entrance of the cave.  Five figures are waking up to the bounty.

"Great," I say, standing up.  "Let's get this place cleaned up.  We're going to be holding the meeting here.  Is it confirmed that we are going to tell them?" I ask the men.  They nod their heads.  "Good.  I'll get Lloyd." I say walking out of the room.  I walk onto the deck and wave them over.  They come on board and we start to walk towards the dining room.

"Can't wait to hear this." Haru says.  "We finally get to make a plan of action!"

"Relax redhead." His girlfriend teases.  "For all we know, they're making you the bait."

He pretends to be physically hurt.  "Oh, Ash, how you wound me." He says dramatically. "Besides, maybe they'll make you the entrée to my appetizer." He teases back.

"Oh shut up you two." Katie laughs.  Lloyd rolls his eyes behind her and I pull him aside.

"Hey, I notice that bruise on your head is gone." I point out.

"Yeah, Ash healed me when we got home.  She took my stitches out, and even healed my wing!" He says as he turns into his dragonkin form to show me the mended rip.

"Wow, it looks like it was never there."

"I know!  Ah, you have no idea how good it felt to go on a morning flight this morning!  I almost fell on my first try though since it's been two weeks since I've flown..." he says as he rubs the back of his neck. I smile.  He looks me in the eyes and leans in to peck me on the lips.  "Thank you... for everything." He says with slight pink tint dusted onto his cheeks.

I place my hand on the side of his head and he leans into it, closing his eyes briefly.  "No, thank you, greenie." I say back.

~~~time skip~~~

"Okay, so yesterday Kai and I told you about how the Overlord is planning taking over the realm, the assassins can shape shift, and the Overlord knows that we exist." Lloyd announces to everyone in the room.  "Kai managed to get the maps of the islands that they were holding."  He unrolls them on the table.  "Misako?" He asks her.  She leans over the maps.

"As you can see, there are Xs all over the map of the Dark Island." She points to a specific X that had been circled in black ink.  "This X just so happens to be where that village was.  Our belief is that the Xs either mean defeated villages, or villages that are posing to look normal to trick us." She points to another place on the map way up north.  "This is where Zane, Haru, and Jay found the Overlord's fortress. They managed to slip in and find his throne room. If we can get into his fortress again, we can find the throne room again and take the fight to him."

"The assassins being able to shape shift is a problem though," Kai says. "They can easily just walk up to you as someone you know and stab you when your back is turned. That's why we need some kind of code so we know if they aren't who they say you are.  This worked for Lloyd and I when we were getting the maps, so it should work just the same for all of us."

"We have a limited amount of time before the Overlord stages his first attack, so whatever we plan tonight will be our plan of action for our attack." Garmadon says.

"Right." Lloyd says.  "The Overlord has a large army of shadow assassins and stone warriors, but we have something he doesn't, an army of elemental masters.  And, the assassins have a weakness.  Because they are made of pure shadows, they're sensitive to light.  It would be best for the plan to take place at noon, when it's hottest and the sun is in the center of the sky."

"We want to split the nine of you into two groups; teams if you will." Splenda says. "Team 1 will be the offenders and have Lloyd on it, since he is the one to defeat the Overlord, and team 2 will be the defenders. The defenders will by team 1 time to sneak into the fortress and find the Overlord."

"So, basically A team and B team?" Jay summarizes.

"Yes." She confirms.

"When will the attack be?" Zane asks us.

"The attack will happen next week." I answer.

"Next week?! That's so soon!" Cole says.

"Yeah, don't we need a bit more time to prepare?" Ashley asks.

"I know this is all happening super fast, but the whole fate of the realm rests on this attack going accordingly." Lloyd says. "I know we'll be able to do it. If we stick to the plan, we can get through it." Wow, apparently he really worked on his confidence issues. I smile.

"The Overlord is far more powerful then you think." Garmadon says. "With enough evil in his grasp, he will start to change into his true form, a creature so powerful it will be able to spread darkness like wildfire. We cannot allow him to build up his empire any more, or we will all pay dearly."

"We also cannot allow the Overlord to start an invasion on Ninjago." Misako points out.

"Right." Wu says. "You will train hard every day until the night prior to the battle. We must be at our full potential, and to do that, we'll need to pay a visit to a certain temple located here on the island."

—————

This chapter is shorter because it's basically a filler chapter explaining how Lloyd and Kai got home (the scenes are really just small greenflame scenes), how they're planning to attack the Overlord, etc. It's also short because I suck at making battle plans on the spot. Honestly, I just wanted to get this chapter over with. -_-