***Hey, guys! Sorry for not updating for a few days. I've been busy 😘 But I promise to have at least one more chappy out there for you guys later, okay? Get ready for things to heat up a little.

Also, @SpaceCloud413 suggested this song <3 She's a sweet bean who loves Ninjago, so if you guys have the time, you should maybe go check out some of her works! And, of course, give her a follow.***

***(Skylor's POV)***

***Music Cue***

Kai wolf whistles as he rolls his car up beside my house. "Hello, gorgeous. Need a ride?"

I stifle an eye roll at his antics, but I can't help the smile that tilts my lips. "From a bozo like you? I think I'll just drive myself to my wedding shower, thank you."

"I'll let you listen to the Backstreet Boys."

"Let's go."

He smirks, climbing out to open the passenger side door for me. Kai always insists on driving – it helps his ego – and I put up with that. Okay, I put up with that about half the time, but no one asked for particulars.

I climb into the passenger side, and he smirks like he's just performed a service for the Ninjago City mayor or something. Yep, he's full of himself. Or he's full of something.

I pull out my Backstreet Boys CD – his car is old enough that it doesn't work with a Borgtooth playlist – and we head off down the road. He wears aviator sunglasses and rolls the windows down – there's no air conditioning, but boy, that windblown look is yummy on him.

He's oddly quiet throughout the ride. Usually, he'd be trying to make me blush or telling me about his latest argument with his sister or bragging about some overdramatized version of a story.

Not today.

"So what's on your mind?" I ask, propping my feet up on his dash.

"Huh?" he frowns, looking toward me.

Kai has no qualms about taking his eyes off the road. It's more than a little nerve-racking. The only person who isn't afraid of riding with him is Nya, since she's grown up with him as a chauffeur. I'm glad she took lessons from me and Jay and not her brother.

"What's on your mind?" I repeat. "You're pensive. And I could read your thoughts, or you could tell me how you're feeling and get the full benefit of sharing your troubles with someone."

"Nothing's on my mind." He taps his fingers along the wheel.

"You're a horrible liar." I don't let up.

He scrunches his eyebrows together. "You always say I don't think many things through. It's quite possible there's nothing on my mind."

"Kai, spill."

"Fine." He runs a hand through his hair.

After a moment of his silence, I clear my throat. "Um, Kai? You said you were going to talk to me."

"I'm finding words. It's...difficult."

"I get it." I grab his jittery fingers and still them with my own. I'm not afraid of him driving one-handed – it's no more reckless than any of the other driving he usually does.

"I know you do." He swallows hard. "Skylor...do you ever just have a feeling something bad is about to happen? I mean, I'm typically clueless, but this time...I just can't shake the idea that things are too perfect right now. You can call it premarital concerns or whatever you want, but I'm more than a little worried."

I study him. "Do you know what's wrong?"

"If I'm being honest? No. I mostly worry about you and Nya, but that's because you two are the closest to me. Maybe it's this Nadakhan guy?"

"Maybe. But you also told me recently about this aunt of yours – the one Nya brought up. She's been sending her letters, as I recall. And you seemed really worried about her."

"Yeah. Nya hasn't been in contact with her since, though." He swears under his breath. "What did she want? I don't trust her, Skye. I may have only met her once when I was twelve, but I was old enough to know she inherently didn't like my parents. They were elementals. And naturally, I took their side – I didn't know I had powers yet, but I respected elements. Why would Sunny want anything to do with Nya and me anymore? We're both elemental now. I mean, she might not know, but if she somehow got the address for the monastery, I bet she knows we inherited the powers of our parents."

"I would imagine you're right. But you don't have to worry about her, Kai – it's you, me, your sister, and your team against one lady. Whatever she's capable of, it's nothing compared to what we can do."

He releases a long breath. "Yeah, you're right. But I still just feel like things are too perfect. Our lives have never been perfect, Skylor."

"Maybe it's just nerves, since things are finally going well for once? Your sister is happy, your team is closer than they've been in months, we're about to tie the knot, you're finally closing down your lackluster blacksmith's shop to help me run my business..." I elbow him, smirking at that last one.

He pfft's. "I'm a great blacksmith, Skylor."

I try hard not to laugh at him. "Whatever soothes that ego of yours, hothead. But in all seriousness...just let go for the day, okay? Everyone will be all right, at least for a few hours. I will be enjoying free cake, free gifts, and no stress, so you know I'll be fine. Your sister, on the other hand? It's too bad she and Jay have only had a week and a half to plan the bridal shower, but somebody failed to pick his best man until five weeks ago."

"I forgot! I was stressed with Nya and all." He scoffs. "I can't believe you picked Jay to be my best man. I like him better lately, though."

"You've always liked him. You just never admit it because you find his sense of humor annoying, and you have to put on that whole 'don't-compromise-my-sister' act."

"Everyone finds Jay's sense of humor annoying."

"Not your sister."

"Pfft. She laughs at him to be nice."

"Why did she date him, then?"

"Because...well...don't ask me. I'm not Nya. Apparently, she'd been dating him for a while before she told me in February, so I don't know where things changed between them."

I laugh. "I thought she told you."

"Told me...what?"

"That she..." I bite my lip. "Just ask her when we get to the shower today. After that, I'm kicking you out. No grooms allowed, thank you very much." Oh my gosh. Kai has no idea his sister and Jay pretended to date to get Kai to shut up about her flirty friendship with Lloyd.

"What aren't you telling me?" he scowls.

I shake my head. "Just ask her. It'll be fun to see her explain that one to you."

"I'm concerned."

"Oh, it's nothing bad, don't worry. You'll be a little mad at her, but then, you always find something to get on her back about. And I know that overprotectiveness is just going to transfer over to me once she makes her own way in the world. Why am I marrying you again?"

He sputters. "Because everyone wants to marry me."

"Wow," I laugh. "Okay, then."

For the rest of the ride to the monastery, we banter and joke. Kai's earlier uncertainty seems to have faded.

Nya greets us at the door. "Kai, you can go now." She grabs my hands and pulls me inside.

I stop her. "Not so fast. Kai has a question to ask you." And I am not going to miss this.

Kai's frown is severe. "Yeah. What's this about you and Jay not dating until February? I thought you guys were secretly a thing for...a while. Like, a few months, at least."

She coughs. "Oh, um, forgot to mention that." She looks at me with a glare.

I shrug. "My hands are clean. I told him nothing."

"Of course you didn't." She sighs. "Yeah. Um, so fun fact, I lied."

"About dating Jay? You two, like, seemed to really like each other, though. I mean, I already knew that he liked you, but...you seemed so happy together!" Kai's look is pure confusion, and I laugh out loud.

Nya huffs. "Yeah, well, things turned out that way in the end. I just pretended to date him to get you off my back about Lloyd. But after two days, we decided we really liked each other and wanted to make things official. So essentially, Jay and I have dated for one full day."

I chuckle. "That's not the way you told me the story. You spilled all to me that night at the monastery back in February, and you said that you two confessed you loved each other."

She turns bright red. "First boyfriend! Mistake! I know what that phrase means now, okay? I just...everything seemed so much bigger back then, and the hormones got the best of me, and we kind of rushed the 'I love you's'. I can't telling you anything, apparently!"

Kai grumbles under his breath. "Teenagers these days."

"You and Skye are teenagers!" she complains.

"Teenagers who are almost not," Kai argues. "And...we'd both been in love before we found each other, okay? Well, I...kind of had. But I knew what hormones were, and I knew what the real thing was. And Skylor had a stupid ex she beat the heck out of, so she knew what love wasn't."

"Blah, blah, blah." Nya pulls me inside. "See you later, Kai."

He ruffles her hair. "Take care of yourself, sis. And we're going to have a little talk about dishonesty later." He gives me one of his charming half grins and, hands in the pockets of his jeans, leisurely tramps off.

Nya makes a fist, yelling after him, "And we're going to have a little talk about...about...um...something important!" She sighs. "That sounded stupid. Why do you spill everything I tell you to Kai?"

"I spill the good stuff to Kai. The private stuff? That stays between us. Like, I don't tell your brother when I go to buy you pads and that kind of thing."

Her eye twitches. "Be glad all of the guys are in hiding right now." She opens the door wide, raising her voice. "PIX! Seliel! The girl of the hour is here!"

Seliel hobbles over to the doorway. "So even though the monastery hasn't been approved as a foster home yet, I'm still allowed to hang out here with you guys when visits are scheduled now. Good thing the police got involved and told the system their man Peters was an imposter." She tsks. "So, Skye, I say we do cake, then gifts. I want to get the cake out of the way now – I don't know that I'll have the guts to eat it later."

Yeah. Sel was developing an eating disorder when she first came to the monastery. She's a lot better than she was, though, now that she's had treatment.

Nya gets a little fed up with her for the way she talks about food and acts like her diet is more important than everyone else's, but I respect that Seliel has a real mental problem. She can't help that she has the issues she does.

I nod. "Cake sounds like a good plan." I walk over to the snack table to see PIXAL with a large knife.

If she wasn't so innocent, I might be a little concerned.

"Zane and I prepared a repast we believe will be to your tastes, Skylor. He, Jay, Lloyd, and Cole offer you many salutations on your upcoming marriage." She smiles brightly.

"Tell them I said thanks." I hold out my hand for her knife. "Is that for cake?"

"It is, indeed." She gently transfers the instrument to my hands, and I begin to slice into the elaborate silver and white cake she and Zane designed.

I grab us each a slice, and we all sit down on the couch. Nya and Seliel bicker, PIXAL is confused as heck, and I tell embarrassing stories about Nya.

I grin. "Did you guys know that Kai sheltered her so much, he hardly even took her to the supermarket? This was just a year ago, mind you. Well, when I stepped in to give Nya her extreme makeover" – Seliel perks up at this – "I took her to the mall to buy a few new things. You know, take her under my wing. It turns out, she hadn't been on an escalator in four years."

Nya's face flushes. "Skylor, not this one!"

"Oh, yes," I go on. "And she nearly fell down said escalator. But the one and only Nya Smith, who 'don't need no man', in her words, was rescued by Jay Walker, who swooped in and – "

Nya slaps a hand over my mouth. "Who was merely standing behind Skylor and me. You know, this incident never would have been a problem if it weren't for Skylor excessively texting my brother on my phone. She wasn't paying any attention to my inability to get off a moving staircase."

Seliel hoots, obviously ignoring Nya. "Your boy Jay? Dang, girl! You never give him any credit."

PIXAL smiles. "I think that's romantic. When Zane and I first met, he thought I had a brain disease because I told him I was a robot."

Nya pipes up, "I walked in on Seliel and Cole when she came over two days ago, and they were – "

Seliel snatches a chunk of her cake and chucks it at Nya before she can finish. It hits Nya right in the eye, leaving a trail of frosting as it climbs down her face.

She growls under her breath, raking her fingers through her cake and standing straight up. She comes at Seliel with a vengeance. "Payback time for – "

Seliel raises her hands in the air. "Hey, hey, no hard feelings. I don't want that on me. My brain is messed up, remember?"

"It'll be more than just that that's messed up by the time I'm done with you!"

I laugh, jumping up and holding Nya back. "Sis, take it easy."

She turns on me, evil glint in her eye, and rakes frosting through my hair.

My expression goes from bliss to anger in a moment. "Nya Smith, you little – "

***(Nya's POV)***

All I can taste is buttercream as Skylor opens her bridal shower gifts. I'm so used to hanging out with all guys plus Seliel (who honestly can be one of the guys, when she's not excessively flirting with Cole), but hanging with the girls is...nice.

Seliel smirks. "So Nya took me shopping for some of your gifts earlier, Skye, and I got you something you'll really want. PIXAL and Nya just don't have the guts."

I shrug. "I'm sorry, but I wasn't about to go browsing the unmentionables aisle, even if it is for Skylor's wedding. I'd rather just give her a gift card so she can do it herself." I shudder.

Skylor coughs. "It's a nice thought of Seliel's, Nya."

"Of course it was. You've been on her side today. I couldn't even exact my revenge during our food fight."

There's a knock at the door and, seeing that Skylor hasn't opened any of Seliel's gifts yet, I call, "You can come in!"

Cole pokes his head in. "Any leftovers?"

I nod. "Help yourself, then get out of here."

He smiles his thanks and walks in, followed closely behind by Jay. He shoots me a grin that makes my heart flip. It's a totally innocent look, it's just...it's also a totally Jay look. And that alone makes me feel tingly happies.

Oh, no. I will not let you take me under, simp factor.

I can't help but keep one eye on him as he walks over to the cake table and grabs himself some dessert. I try to ooh and ahh as Skylor opens each of her gifts, it's just...goshdarn it, I have other priorities.

Jay crosses to me once he finishes grabbing his dessert and extracts a potato chip from my hair, popping it in his mouth. "Hi. You look nice."

I raise an eyebrow at that. "I'm coated in frosting, ice cream, carrot sticks, and various savory snack mixes."

"You look even better than nice." He offers me a spoonful of pudding. "Want some?"

I'm honestly a little embarrassed, but that hopeful look in his eyes...I just can't refuse him.

Oh, no. I'm turning into my sappy engaged brother, minus the pervy comments.

I close my lips over the spoon, trying not to make awkward eye contact with Jay or Seliel. Yes, Seliel is watching us with interest. Skylor is still busy opening gifts, and PIXAL is too hopeful that Skylor will like her present to notice that Jay and I are semi-having a moment here.

I swallow the chocolate pudding. "Um, it's good. Meets my standards. Thanks."

"You're welcome. Do you want more?"

"Oh, um..." My cheeks flush under Seliel's unrepentant gaze. "I...think I'll be fine."

"Okay." He messes with my food-spattered hair, then looks up and blushes heavily. "Oh! Is that..."

I glance over to see Skylor has gotten into Seliel's gifts.

Ah, yes. The underwear party.

I cough. "Hey, Jay, maybe it's better if you and Cole go eat your cake, okay? The girls and I aren't quite finished in here."

"I-I can tell. Talk to you later, okay?" He gives me a loose side hug before shuffling away from the underwear exhibition.

Skylor tucks a box of lingerie away. "Am I winning?"

"Are you...what?" I frown.

"I bet your brother that you and Jay would be dating before the wedding. Said wedding is two weeks away, Nya, and I'm growing impatient. If you two aren't a thing by then, I don't get to have my first dance to the Backstreet Boys. That would not make me happy, Nya."

I sputter. "So...so that's what his stupid bet was about! Gosh, Skye, it's none of your business whether Jay and I become a thing."

"Hey, you two just need to get over yourselves and get together instead. He's going to move on at some point, Nya. You can't always expect him to be around as your lover boy."

Seliel snorts. "He's hopeless, Skylor. He's never getting over Nya. It's like he saw a future with her or something."

"People don't just see futures with other people," I argue. "And Jay can get over me if...if he wants to." But judging by our conversation after last week's fake-out session, I think he'll be waiting around a little while for me.

And I don't intend to lead him on or anything. I just want more time. I want to know we're both all right as people before jumping into the world of romance.

And I'm also horrible at initiating the "I-want-to-date-you" conversation, but that's beside the point.

Skylor sighs. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens, simp Nya."

***So this chapter exists. It mostly ties up the events of the past chapters and gives you some food for thought. It also gives you some Jaya fluff, which we all need more of in our lives <3

When I update later today...that may be a little more plot-y.***