Chapter Text
“My friends, why do you all seem to be in such a rush at this hour? Which crime are you trying to run away from now?” A certainly confused ice ninja questioned, as the other five were scrambling about, shoving misplaced items in the closets and frantically wrapping gifts or writing cards.
Jay, who appeared to be looking for something, pushed passed Zane to look into a drawer and said, “What do you mean? We did nothing wrong…. except for maybe staying at Stixx for too long”, he grumbled, then yelled, “has anyone seen Mr. Cuddlywomp?"
“No, Jay, we haven’t seen your stupid bear. Why do you even need that right now?”, replied Kai, miserably trying to get a stain off the kitchen counter, clearly frustrated.
“H-hey! He’s not stupid! And my mom gave him to me- “
“-Excuse me, I believe we should refrain from arguing. All of your stress levels are high, it’s 11:00 at night, we just got back from Stixx, and you should all be in bed. So what is going on?” Zane interjected, causing everyone to momentarily stop what they were doing.
“Oh my god, Zane. I thought you were joking! You really don’t know what’s tomorrow?” Lloyd yelled from his gift-wrapping across the room.
Zane simply shook his head, before Nya cut in, handing Jay his stuffed bear, which he was too fond of, and exclaimed, “It’s the thirteenth!”
When Zane didn’t reply, she added, “of May!”
“And?”
“Tomorrow is MOTHER’S DAY! How could you not notice?” Cole finally snapped, as he had gotten up from cleaning the leftover wrapping paper to shake Zane by the shoulders.
Everyone fell silent, waiting for Zane to process this so he would stop bothering them. But all they got in reply was a confused look and a question: “Mother’s Day?”
“We really have to update your holiday calendar, Zane. Remind me to, m’kay?” Nya sighed, handing him a broom.
Before he could reply, Kai, who was now pacing around the kitchen in circles, grumbled, “I can’t believe that mission took us so long! The house is a mess and our parents are coming tomorrow….”
“Hey, hey, it’s gonna be okay. We’ll get this cleaned up,” she comforted, then faced Zane, “And I suggest you help as well, if we want to make that miracle happen,” she motioned towards the broom he was holding.
As he did so, Pixal walked in, clearly annoyed, and asked, “what’s all this ruckus about? Some of us aren’t frantically trying to clean or wrap gifts or write cards at….” She pointed towards the clock hung above the microwave. “…. 11:16 at night.”
Zane completely ignored this remark and instead said, "Greetings, love. We are practicing normal human customs that have to do with something called Mother’s Day?"
“Oh, don’t tell me you don’t know either!” Cole remarked from the corner.
Pixal gave him a funny look, then replied, “of course I do. May 14th is a holiday in which people honor and appreciate their mothers by giving them extra attention or love,” she read off of her robotic database.
“It truly is a special day,” Lloyd commented.
“Yeah, you should always appreciate snd value your moms while their still here….” Cole said, putting a bouquet of flowers in a vase while his eyes became glassy and he blinked a couple of times to clear the tears.
“Yeah! I almost lost my dad once, and I was pretty upset, but I don’t know what I would do if I lost my mom…” Jay confessed.
“We didn’t know ours was alive until a couple of years ago!” Kai exclaimed. “So you see why it’s such a big deal to us?”
“Yes, I believe I do. I cannot relate to having a mother, but I feel for you all.”
“Wait- that’s right! You don’t have one…. no wonder you didn’t know!” Lloyd said. “So you don’t have any plans?”
“Hmm…. Perhaps I’ll spend the day researching more about this holiday and its customs." He turned towards Pixal. “Would you be so kind as to help me? I know you don’t have a mother as well.”
“Very observant,” she sarcastically replied. “But that does sound like a good idea, actually. And what about the rest of you?”
“I’m visiting my parents at the junkyard!” Exclaimed Jay.
“Our mom is coming over!” Chanted Kai and Nya in unison.
“I’m taking my mom shopping”, replied Lloyd. “She is well overdue for a break.”
And then all eyes turned towards Cole.
“I- I don’t have much planned.” Was all he said, and rather sadly at that.
“You could stay with us if you want. Our mom was your mom’s friend, remember? I’m sure she’d love to see you!” Nya suggested, and Kai nodded.
“I’ll think about it,” Cole muttered.
“Well, now that we all know what we’re doing, how about we call it a night? Your exhaustion and stress levels are high. Some sleep will do you good, and you don’t want to be tired when celebrating a holiday, for goodness’ sake. Come along now,” Pixal motioned towards the bedrooms, glad she could finally rest after working hard for the mission.
The others reluctantly followed her, promising to get up early the next morning to finish their preparations. They were all tired as well, although they were joking and laughing of what fun they were going to have tomorrow.