Chapter Text
“Flowers, flowers, come on flowers, where’d you go!?”
“Kai, what are you doing?”
Kai jumped, not expecting Lloyd to be standing against the door frame. He must’ve slid it open while Kai was busy destroying his room searching for something. “Uhh…reorganizing?” he said, unconvincingly. Lloyd shot him a look. Kai never reorganized, and if he was told to, he definitely didn’t have a bunch of laundry on his bed or a sword by the door. “Ugh, fine, I’m looking for flowers.”
“Why would there be flowers in your room?” he asked. Kai groaned internally. Right. He hadn’t actually explained.
“Well, I’m, uhh, meeting Skylor in half an hour for our date.” Lloyd’s eyes shot open, staring at his brother. “Dude? You good?”
“Yeah, yeah, it’s just…you actually asked her out?” Kai was a little offended at the shock Lloyd had. He went back to fighting his room in search of it.
“What’s so weird about me asking her out?!”
“You just…never do.”
“I…I know,” Kai said. With a sigh, he stopped demolishing his quarters and sat down on his bed. Lloyd was quick to sit next to him, urging him to continue. “It’s just…after we beat that crystal army, we said we would try and make it work. I want it to work, y’know? Skylor's really confident and cool and successful and…I wanna make things right.”
He still thought about Skylor’s words to him during the Crystal King’s invasion weeks ago, about how they needed to take it slow and talk before they got together. In hindsight, he could’ve used his head more before asking out the girl he didn’t even have the number of, but it was the end of the world, he felt he could at least try.
And it backfired. Hard.
So now here he was, dressed in nice clothes he’d begged Zane to help him pick up and already running late for his date.
Lloyd spotted something and sat up, grabbing the flowers hidden under Kai’s red gi and handing them to him. “Well, I hope it goes well,” he said. “Try not to make a mess of things. We just fixed up the city, y’know.”
“Yeah yeah, whatever greenie. Don’t cause trouble while I’m gone.”
“Well if you’re gone, what trouble could there be?”
“Oh ha ha, very funny.”
“I know.”
Despite the bickering, Kai chuckled as he ran out the door, turning to the elevator and taking it down to the garage. He waved goodbye to Pixal, currently busy repairing one of the team’s stealth vehicles, and got in his car. “See ya later!”
“Try not to destroy that one! I just repaired it!” Pixal called. Kai nodded, obviously ignoring the warning, and sped out the door. Pixal groaned and rolled her eyes, but was still happy Kai was actually going to see Skylor.
She’d heard all sorts of annoyances from the young woman before now about it all.
Skylor sighed as she checked the time on her phone. She was outside the restaurant, she had done her hair, she’d worn a nice dress, she’d even closed up shop early. And yet, as she looked around the waiting area, her date was nowhere to be found.
‘Maybe he didn’t want to do this after all,’ she thought. She’d been utterly baffled when Kai proposed they ‘make it official’ during their battle against the Crystal King and his army, what with him being away for what felt like years and never calling her. She had told him they could still try if they both put forth the effort.
She was already here, so where was-
“Hey! Skylor! Hi!” She turned in surprise to the voice calling her, spotting Kai running down the sidewalk. She saw his ride parked a little ways down, the door open ajar and somewhat crookedly parked on the side of the road. She sighed and shook her head, but out of amusement.
“What took you so long, hot shot?” she asked, walking up and meeting him halfway. She saw he’d ditched his ninja gear for a red jacket over a white button-down. His tie was crooked, so she took it in her hands to fix. “Running late are we?”
“Sorry, traffic’s still annoying with evacuees coming back and all.” He wanted to ignore the blush that came from Skylor’s hands so close to his neck as her fingers fiddled with his tie. Hell, taking his eyes off her to begin with was becoming a harder and harder task. “Uhh, s-so, did I keep you waiting?”
Skylor snickered at his clear nervousness. Yes, she was a little nervous too, but she wasn’t about to let Kai know that. “Little bit, but it’s fine. I was getting a little worried you weren’t gonna show.”
“Oh come on, when have I ever stood you up?” Skylor just looked at him unimpressed. She wiggled the cloth in her hand as if to remind him ‘I can still strangle you.’ “Point taken.”
“It’s done now. Come on, let’s fix your awful parking and get our table. They’re probably already tired of waiting.” Kai looked behind him and cursed at his awful parking. Once his tie was fixed, he went to properly park before meeting Skylor inside the restaurant.
“Ah, Ms. Chen, there you are. I was wondering if you decided to go elsewhere,” the host said, smiling at the young woman. “You have a reservation, yes?”
“Yeah, should be under my name,” she said. “Table for two.” The host looked down and nodded at her. He saw Kai walk in and stand beside her, a smile on his face. He led them to their table. The pair thanked him as a waitress came and took their orders.
Kai sat there awkwardly, not sure of what he wanted to say. The flowers were for later, and he knew exactly what to do with those, but that wasn’t now. He just looked at Skylor and smiled. “Sooooo…how’s business?”
Skylor laughed at the attempt to break the silence. “Y’know hot stuff, you could just talk like normal. We’re not strangers.” Kai deflated in his chair. “It’s been fine. Just really busy. Turns out helping feed people in a war means a lot more customers coming by.”
“I’m sure Dareth is still there every night?” Kai joked. Skylor laughed at it. “Really though, uhh, congrats! Must feel great knowing you helped the city like that.”
“Oh I just did my part, no different than how you do,” she said. Kai just shrugged, feeling almost guilty about it. The silence went on for a while until they got drinks, Kai absently stirring his lemonade with a straw.
“Alright, spill it.”
“Huh?”
“Kai Smith is never quiet for that long unless he’s either stuffing his face or he’s worried. So what’s worrying you?” Kai just sighed, not wanting to look at Skylor’s likely smug yet concerned look. She did always have something that made him fold almost immediately.
“I’m sorry.”
“What for? You didn’t do anything.”
“No, I mean, yes, I, ugh, I mean I’m sorry for not doing anything I guess. Yeah, I could’ve called. Yes we’re busy but I could have said something. So…I’m sorry. You deserved better than that.” He felt something curl around his hand on the table, seeing Skylor’s own wrapping around it.
“Hey, look, I get it. You and the others all have your duties. It just…sucks not getting a check in after your missions.” She sighed, running her thumb over his fingers. “I think you’re a great guy Kai, really I do, but you need to actually talk to me if we want this to last.”
“Well…we’re talking now, aren’t we?” he asked. Skylor looked at the young man’s smug face and rolled her eyes, but she didn’t pull away. Only when their food arrived did their hands separate, each of them wanting the other’s warmth back.
The night didn’t go horribly though. They enjoyed their dinner and talked. It felt like old times, just the two hanging out and enjoying each others company. They’d done it before, years earlier, but over time they separated. Kai stopped calling, focused on his duties as a ninja, while Skylor stayed to keep serving quality noodles to the people of Ninjago.
For once, it felt like the two could finally have peace.
“Everybody, hands in the air!”
…Or maybe not.
Kai and Skylor leaned out of their booth, seeing that a gang of robbers had just jumped in through a now broken window. Three of them had baseball bats while the other two pointed guns at the host. Kai groaned as he listened to them go on about ‘what they were owed’ like they owned the place.
“Kai, wait-”
“Sorry Sky, but I can’t let them just ransack the place.” Kai was about to jump in and help before a hand pulled hi back. “Skylor, I said-”
“I never said don’t help, I said wait.” As if to demonstrate her point, her hand lit up in a ball of fire. “You wanna make this work? Then we do this together.” Kai smirked, lighting up his own hand.
"Oh hell yeah, let’s do it.”
The two left their booth seats, appearing in front of the robbers in a flash. Kai jumped and kicked one of the bat-wielding ones to the ground. “You guys forget to make a reservation?”
“I-It’s one of the ninja!” the robber yelled, stumbling back and trying to get on his feet. The ones beside him held their bats defensively. “W-We gotta get outta here!”
“No way! It’s just one of him, and five of us!” The lead robber turned his gun to Kai. “You’ve got nothin’ on us, fire boy.” Before he could fire, though, the gun was basted out of his hand with a strike of fire. “Ack!”
“Actually, it’s two on five,” Skylor said, shaking off her hand. “You boys still wanna take us on?”
The robbers looked at each other and shrugged. The two with bats quickly started shaking their hands against one another, and when one drew scissors, paper ran towards them. He swung his bat at Kai, but he just caught it and used the momentum to bring the robber down into Skylor’s knee. She kicked him away, landing on top of the leader.
“Why you…” the scissors player now ran at them, the third bat-wielder right behind him. Skylor stepped to the side, blocking a strike with her forearm. It hurt, but she justs hook it off once the attacker was pushed away.
She bent down, Kai rolling over her back and grabbing the robber by the neckline of his hood. “How about we take this outside!” He spinjitzu’d the robber out the broken window, himself and Skylor following after as he fell on the ground.
The two had to move fast as the second gun-wielding robber started firing at them. They ducked out of his view, forcing him and the other three to go outside. They saw the two with guns standing back to back, the others with bats nervously clutching them close.
“Alright, I’ve got an idea,” Kai said. He looked down at Skylor in front of him, who had her own scheme. “Actually…what do we do?” She looked behind her in surprise, but when she saw the determined face of her date, she grinned and whispered to him.
When the time was right, Kai ran out from the bush they were behind, a fire tornado spinning right towards the robbers. The gunmen were thrown off-balance as Kai stopped spinning, Skylor’s hands in his own, and swung her right at them. She kneed one in the face, blasting fire at the second one and opening him up for Kai to kick him down.
The two with bats, upon realizing what just happened, dropped them and held their arms up. Kai and Skylor smirked at one another and fist-bumped, a spark igniting as their knuckles collided.
It didn’t take long for the police to arrive, cuffing the bandits and getting them on their way to prison. The commissioner cleared his throat as he approached the two.
“Thank you Kai. Once again your actions have saved people, and we thank you for it.” Kai could hear a curse of ‘my boys getting embarrassed again’ come from his mouth, but ignored it. “Mhm, umm, yes, thank you.”
“Actually, you should thank Skylor. She’s the reason we beat those goons.” He stepped to the side, Skylor holding a hand which the commissioner took and shook.
“I see. Well then Ms. Chen, thank you. We’ll be sure these ruffians never make a mess of your restaurant.”
“Thank you commissioner,” she said. The commissioner went to his officers as the two heroes walked to Kai’s car. However, Skylor paused. “Wait, we still need to-”
“Pay? Don’t worry, already covered,” Kai said. Skylor looked through the broken window to see a few bills by their check. She snickered at the ninja’s sneaky payment, knowing he would have fought her to do it. Still, he sighed. “Sorry about dinner. Can’t believe it happened again!”
To his surprise, Skylor just giggled. “Don’t worry Kai, I don’t mind really. With you, there’s always some action.” Kai gave her an honest smile as they got to his car. When he let her into the passenger seat, he turned the key, only for one of the lights to not turn on. He stepped out and noticed several small holes in the headlight.
He didn’t say anything, just getting back into the car and looking forward in frustration. “Pix is gonna kill me,” he whined. Skylor laughed as they pulled away from the curb.
A short drive later and they got to Skylor’s apartment. She’d gotten a place close to her job on the top floor. He offered to walk her up to her room, but she denied it. “Really Kai, it’s okay.”
“Alright, fine, at least take all your stuff with you.”
“But I have everything,” she said, showing him her purse. Kai just smirked and held out the bundle of flowers to her.
“Really? Because these say otherwise.” Skylor rolled her eyes, but he could still see the slight blush on her cheeks as she took the roses. “I had a really fun time tonight.”
“Me too. Thank you Kai, for doing this.”
“Do you…wanna do it again sometime?” he asked hopefully.
Skylor put the roses to the side, grabbing his tie again and pulling him in for a kiss. He could feel a spark ignite as his lips met hers, wanting to lean into it more, but she pulled away before he could. “See you next week hot shot.” She walked back to the building, roses close to her and hips swaying in her long orange dress.
Kai had to force himself to look away and get back into the car. He already knew he was seeing her again soon, hopefully with less interruptions. As he started the car to head home, the screen on the dash displayed Pixal’s annoyed face.
“Kai, I am detecting damage to the left headlight. Did you damage the brand new X-1 again?”
‘Shit.’