#thunderstormshipping

I've spoken before about Ash and Misty's three kids, Hayley, Alex and Kirsty-Ann. The only reason Alex is the main character rather than his sisters is that he was created first, and I added in his older and younger sisters later. As mentioned before, Alex travels to see the world and as many Pokemon as possible. He doesn't want to be a champion or a researcher or a coordinator, he just wants to travel and befriend Pokemon. I'm having him and his two best friends have a starter each from each region, and he's also definitely getting a Clefairy and an Eevee that'll evolve into a Leafeon, and manages to build a close bond with Mewtwo. They don't travel together, but Mewtwo is still one of Alex's best friends.

Brock and Olivia have six kids: Layla, Lee, Doreen, Kiki, Ellis and Kya. Layla is the main one Alex meets. She's responsible, kind, gentle and quick to help others. Like her father, she wants to be a Pokemon doctor, and is learning everything she can about medicine for Pokemon and people. She is definitely getting an Alolan Vulpix, later Ninetails, and I can see her with a Magcargo.

Tracey and Sakura have three children: Wisteria, Arty and Heather. Arty is the main one Alex meets. Arty is a strategist and a budding fashion designer and enthusiast who loves bright and colourful Pokemon. He'll often base his teams off an aesthetic.

May and Drew have four children: Ezra, Marty, Zander and Alberta. Alberta appears as someone who enjoys taking part in competitions. Not just showcase style Contests, but all sorts of competitions, festivals, tournaments and the like. She's bright and cheerful and loves to be in the spotlight.

Max and Vivi have a son named Bobby. When Alex meets Bobby, it's part through Alberta. He's a new trainer who isn't quite sure what his goal is in his journey, but he likes the idea of becoming a gym leader one day.

Dawn and Zoey have four children: Sammy, Bliss, Castiel and Jeffry. Bliss and Sammy both play a big role and travel with Alex for a bit. Bliss is a budding coordinator, like her mothers, and her most favoured Pokemon for contests is her Froslass. She tries to give off the vibes of a calm, dignified young lady, but is a bit clumsy. At first, she and Sammy travel together, and she tends to speak for him due to his own social anxiety and quiet nature. He's happy supporting his sister, and she's happy when he's doing well anxiety wise. He later gets an emotional support Sylveon. He starts off at a point where his anxiety is keeping him back from doing what he wants and being who he wants to be, but eventually, with help, he's able to start going after his own dreams.

Iris and Luke have a son named Lemuel. Lemuel is a budding researcher with a special interest in legendary Pokemon. He's also a big tech nerd and pioneers and builds his own research equipment, to varying degrees of success. He later ends up really close to Jessie and James' son, Cole, who is similarly into tech tinkering and research. He takes on a bit of a mentor role to Cole.

Cilan is fun. I multiship him, so his story is an on again off again thing with Burgundy, with whom he has children Logan and Euphemia, and between Logan and Euphemia, he has a relationship with Tate, in which they have twins Star and Sascha, plus Diego and Angelique. Due to me crackshipping Cress and Daisy, Alex has already met all of these characters for sure as they are extended cousins. Still deciding on the met/not met status of everyone pre Alex's journey tbh. Euphemia gets a major feature as someone just starting on her journey when the group bump into her. Being the littlest sister and also the youngest of all her cousins (all three of the Striaton triplets have kids in this NG), Euphemia has seen a lot of family go on to either start their own journeys or decide on a different path and she is just so excited for it to be her turn. She's honestly a little overenthusiastic, which leads to a few blunders here and there.

Clemont and Lilia have a daughter named Jazz. Jazz is a Pokemon Performer who unfortunately suffers bouts of stage fright. She really, really wants to push through and be a great performer. She's good at giving grand, inspirational speeches to her Pokemon, but struggles to convince herself.

Bonnie and Audrey have a son named Sidney. Sidney is also new to his journey when Alex and co come across him, but he wants to research and learn about plants around the world and how the different environments effect everything. He's a soft spoken intellectual who is super into rare plants and fungi.

Serena and Jimmy have two sons: Philip and Malachi. Philip is the main one, and he is loud and very self confident, like his father. He also tends to be a bit sassy and rude, and usually it's difficult to convince him when he's wrong about something. He's very opinionated and almost immediately rubs Alex and JJ the wrong way. Philip definitely has a Meowth and a Litleo, both of which he utterly adores and pampers and spoils. They are his precious kitty cats.

Lana and Sophocles have a daughter named Pixie. Pixie serves as a major rival to Simon, and an unfriendly one. She's a very antagonistic character who takes part in beauty contests and is determined to be the best and most beautiful of them all. She feels entitled to all the beautiful things of the world, and frequently demands Simon give her his Ho-Oh feather to accessorise with, or tries to win it from him. She only wants to have the most beautiful Pokemon, such as Primarina, Oricorio or Ribombee. She ends up being the main thing that drives Simon to try Pokemon Contests, and he soon finds he really enjoys them.

Kiawe and Mallow have a daughter named Cypressa. She's best friends with Kauanoe and his biggest supporter in his Mantine surfing endeavours. She herself is afraid of the ocean after an incident in her childhood. She also grew up playing with Pixie, and states that Pixie used to be really nice and shy and she's not sure how she ended up so mean. Cypressa herself is a shy and sweet girl who wants to help her friends do the best they can.

Lillie and Hau have two sons, Kauanoe and Uluwehi. Kauanoe is, as referenced in Cypressa's about, a competitive Mantine surfer. He loves nothing more than the thrill of shooting across the waves at top speed, showing off and pulling off all the tricks in his arsenal. He is best friends with Cypressa and admires her conviction and kindness. He has three different Mantine of his own.

Goh and Chloe have a son named Jason. Jason is prone to illness and is physically weaker and slower than his peers, a fact that bothers him a lot. He gets frustrated when he can't keep up, then tries to push himself too hard to catch up. He tends to think outside the box with his battle strategies and is actively working towards defeating leagues and becoming a champion. This makes him an active rival of JJ.

Todd and Duplica have a son named Luis. Luis is a young journalist and a bit of a sensationalist. He pops up now and then to cover stories on big events that have happened for his own magazine, and often tries to get exclusive interviews with JJ, since JJ has his own vlog. Sometimes, the two clash over their different forms of journalism.

Ritchie and Casey have a son named Darrel. Darrel is enthusiastic and energetic, and is an ambitious wannabe champion working his way across the league. He's the type to challenge the gang to a battle whenever he sees them. He favours electric type Pokemon. He can be very cocky in an annoying way, but is also quick to apologise when he recognises he's gone too far.

Cheryl and Riley have a son named Ozzie. Ozzie takes after his mother as a treasure hunter and explorer. He wants to leave no stone unturned and, like Alex, dreams of exploring the whole world, finding everything there is to find and seeing everything there is to see. With a good amount of uncovering cool treasures along the way. He greatly values bonding with his Pokemon as he goes.

Barry and Ursula have two sons, Denny and Rafael. Denny is rude, brash and abrasive, usually charging headlong into things without caring about others and blaming everyone else for his failings. He thinks he's better than everyone and he isn't afraid to show it. He's going for the league championships and he will make fun of Alex and friends for not having as many badges as him, even if Alex doesn't have any interest in the league gyms.

Lyra and Silver have a son named Gunner. Honestly, Gunner just wants to live a quiet life. He dreams of living on a ranch with a bunch of Miltank and selling top quality moomoo milk. He's not quite sure how to go about achieving that dream right now, but he is looking to catch some really nice Miltank. Dairy King.

Khoury and Angie have a daughter named Janelle. Janelle is actively going towards league championship. She's a tomboy type, very sporty and fun loving, friendly and competitive. Loves a good joke. Also a bit of a drama queen.

Cynthia and Lucian have two daughters, Sylvia and Peggy. Peggy takes centre stage for this family, and she loves attention. Preferably for good things, but she doesn't mind too much if she goes viral for a video of her falling down some stairs into a Muk. She feels she has a lot to live up to and wants to make her parents proud, but isn't currently sure how, exactly, she wants to do that.

Bianca and Cheren have six daughters: Wendy, Peyton, Jordyn, Athalia, Tanika and Lottie. Wendy is the main girl of the group. Wendy has a bad habit of obsessing over the mistakes she made in the past, and struggles to move forward. She wants to be a good role model for her little sisters and so keeps getting in her own head about how her Pokemon journey has to be a success, but she doesn't have any specific goals and tends to mess herself up trying to succeed at everything she sees.

Team Rocket's Meowth! So! He was listed as a traveling companion and I decided, with some friends, that he should find a lost egg and take it in as his. He ends up with a baby Espurr, sometimes nicknamed Essie, who he teaches to speak human. Essie currently stays home with her cat dad, but she may one day go traveling with one of Jessie and James' younger kids.

Stephan has three daughters: Hannah, Rui and Yazmin. Hannah shows up as the main one, and her goal is simply to bond with and be able to truly understand her Pokemon, a goal Alex can really understand and appreciate. The two get on really well and become very close very quickly, prompting Alex to ask her to travel with them. She accepts and joins them for a while, building a very strong bond with Alex.

Cameron has a daughter named Luna. Luna currently does deliveries with her Pokemon, using it as an excuse to travel while also helping out and earning money. She's enjoying this and loves to run with her Pokemon by her side. She's good at riding Pokemon such as Rapidash and Mudsdale.

Virgil and Sparky have four children: Lara, Casey, Dev and Lainie. All four are shown following in their father's footsteps as rescue workers, though Lara later breaks away from this as she actually wants to be a Pokemon breeder or groomer. She then travels with Alex and JJ for a while as she begins learning her new vocation. Even so, she is brave and strong hearted, quick to action in an emergency and a natural born leader.

N and Erika have four children: Alain, Lisa, Percy and Dusty. Alain dreams of being a Pokemon breeder or doctor and does everything he can to learn about caring for Pokemon and each individual Pokemon's needs. He ends up taking in injured and abused Pokemon and ensuring they have a better life. He's socially awkward and has some very niche interests, like a big fixation on Spidops thread and its potential uses.

Alexa has a daughter named Iesha. Iesha is an ice dancer alongside a trio of ice Pokemon who she calls her special little stars. She's a bit of a diva in the demanding and self important way. She's highly successful in her craft, but often says she'd never have gotten where she is without her special little stars. The stars are a Bergmite, a Cubchoo and a Snorunt.

Korrina has a daughter named Hetty. Hetty is a researcher and a journalist, and she loves taking photos and making notes about all the species she finds during her travels. She's a real shutterbug and easily excited. Does big celebrations when she succeeds. Carries confetti with her everywhere for said spontaneous celebrations.

Sawyer has a son named Dana. Dana is another kid going for the league championship. He is clumsy and disorganised, loses things easily and panics quickly. He is also embarrassed by these behaviours and wishes he was cool and collected. He looks up to and idolises anyone he views as 'cool'. Upon learning Simon has psychic powers, he begs him to teach him, but is very disappointed when Simon tells him you either have these powers or you don't.

Gladion. Gladion is partnered with the player character for Sun/Moon in this, so Selene, but with the name I gave my one, Lilo. Anywho, their children are Kieran and Trinity. Kieran is motivated and brave, determined to help others, especially Pokemon, and the type to speak up when he feels someone is in the wrong or something is unfair. He ends up focusing on exploration and search and rescue.

Acerola and Allister have a daughter named Persephone. Why? I wanted to go in for spooky child vibes. When she appears, Persephone is not actively on a journey but is instead helping around her father's gym. She is a cheeky little gremlin child who tries to scare others on purpose. We love her.

Leon and Sonia have a daughter named Harriet. Harriet is sensitive and hates getting dirty. She's clingy and loves her Pokemon very much. She favours big, bulky powerhouse type Pokemon. She wants to create the best and tastiest treats for Pokemon.

Gary and Paul have two children: Scarlet and Brant. Scarlet is the main one and a recurring travel companion for Alex. She's also one of the ones who has definitely met Alex prior to his journey. Scarlet is adventurous and ambitious, with a sharp wit and confident approach to things. She's aiming for league championship. She for sure has an Eevee, currently not sure what she evolves it into if anything. Leaning towards Flareon though. I can see her with a Jigglypuff too.

Nando and Gardenia have two children: Corbin and Permelia. Permelia is a coordinator. She has a calm, floaty vibe, and sees the inner beauty in all Pokemon. She loves performing as a coordinator so she can bring that beauty out for everyone else to see as well.

Conway and Michelle have a daughter named Katelynn. Katelynn has a keen interest in dragon type Pokemon specifically, and wants to become a dragon master. She's been traveling far and wide to find all the best dragon masters to learn from. She's rather single minded, fixed on this one goal and how she's going to get to it. She hates being derailed and forced to focus on other things. Naturally, all her in rotation Pokemon are dragon types.

Trip and Georgia have a daughter named Dolores. Dolores hates outsiders and newcomers, and sees no reason to be polite to strangers. She doesn't want to do the league championship, but she does want to prove she and her Pokemon are the strongest, so she'll try and strong arm everyone she can into battling with her. She's difficult to get along with, because she doesn't want to get along with you.

Tierno and Lily have three children: Justice, Efren and Arisha. Justice has a love of magic, like his mother, and a love of dance, like his father. He aims to use his skills in both to become a Pokemon superhero. He's undecided as to what his epic superhero name will be. He trials out a different new name and theme each time he appears, when he declares himself loudly before venturing forth to do whatever heroic act. With varying degrees of success.

Trevor and Shauna have a son named Kasper. Kasper is overbearing, has no concept of personal space or boundaries and is overly optimistic and cheerful to an almost nauseating degree. He thinks he's friends with everyone and doesn't see it when he upsets or annoys someone. His only real plan at the moment is to make friends with everyone. This unfortunately involves a lot of being right in your face and hugging right when you meet him.

Alain and Astrid have a daughter named Zola. Zola is interested in the sync pair battles in Pasio and wants to be as perfectly in sync with her Pokemon as possible. She's bright and enthusiastic and eager to make friends. She wants to battle alongside others and form teams, loving the idea of being among friends.

Bea and Peonia have a daughter named Christal. Christal wants to become a gym leader and is striving towards that goal with everything she has. She's a rather quiet person trying to find her aesthetic and her true self as she goes. She isn't sure what type of Pokemon she wants to specialise in.

Raihan and Nessa have two sons: William and Glen. Glen is an avid student of the Master Dojo in the Isle of Armour. He wants to make the people around him proud, and also wants to discover something nobody else has ever seen. He's always on the lookout for the new and unique.

Harrison has nine kids: Maeve, Kimi, Auburn, Ashlie, Janet, Sandy, Dwayne, Terrie and Emory. Of these, Janet gets to be the main girl. Janet has a fondness for fighting type Pokemon and has set herself up in a fighting dojo where she hopes to master Fighting Types and martial arts of her own. She's quick to taunt Alex and friends, and is very confident in her skills, stating she could easily beat them with an arm tied behind her back.

Morrison and Rudy have six children: Andrew, Kaliyah, Selina, Piper, Louise and Willow. Andrew and Kaliyah are twins who travel together. Andrew is very feminine while Kaliyah is a tomboy. They tend to tease and make digs at each other a lot, getting on each other's nerves on purpose, but ultimately they are close and very protective of each other. Nobody can hurt them except me ass siblings.

Tyson and Vivica have a son named Konrad. Konrad wants to become a breeder. He also loves flying, and keeps several flying types and a hang glider so he can soar through the air.

Tobias and Lucy have five children: Ayanna, Bellatrix, Larry, Dominic and Ashia. Ashia is main girl here. She's just started her journey and her first stop is to go for the Sinnoh League. She has already very closely bonded with an injured Rattata she found, nursed back to health and nicknamed Rabies. She's pretty sure he was abandoned by a previous trainer. She will kick people who abandon or mistreat Pokemon.

Rafe and Rebecca have four kids: Sadie, Lolita, Bella and Kingsley. Sadie is more of a spectator than a competitor herself. She likes to watch contests and battles and learn about different strategies and methods, often writing about them in a notebook she owns.

Solidad and Flannery have a daughter named Tammy. Tammy loves fire types and is eager to please and impress others. Sometimes, she's so eager to please and impress that she'll do what you tell her without question. She's naive and prone to getting into big trouble as a result.

Harley's twins, Imelda and Jamie Lee, I've spoken about before. Having grown up under a single parent like Harley, who absolutely dressed them in little Pokemon outfits and brought them to contests with him, the twins are already deep in the contest circuit. Imelda also at times presents instead of competing. They are rivals to each other, but when they team up they are the most gremlin bitches you have ever faced and you should be afraid, be very afraid. When facing each other, the competition is especially fierce and aggressive. Sisters, y'know? They will judge you out loud in earshot of you.

Kenny has a son named Don. Don has a strong interest in ghost types and has a vlog about the Pokemon World's most haunted places, where he goes into them and shows all the spooky stuff. He has collaborated with JJ. He isn't always the most respectful to the areas he breaks into to showcase. He'll learn, though.

Jessie and James, again I have spoken about their kids before. JJ, Mary, Cole, Clell and MJ. JJ travels with Alex as one of his best friends. He vlogs his journey and the gang's accomplishments while also taking part in gym challenges and league championships. He definitely has a female Pikachu, and since Alex and Simon are both bonded to legendaries, JJ also gets to bond with a Mew. His sister, Mary, is actually closer to Alex's age, and is a coordinator, primarily using a Galarian Meowth and a Milotic. I guess now I've made Simon a coordinator, this also makes her a rival to him. Cole, Clell and MJ are younger and not quite at adventuring age, though the twins go eventually and Cole takes after his father in love of Pokemon and building all sorts of machines and tech. A lot less shoddily though.

Montgomery and Edmund have a son named Thad. Thad and his Mime Jr. and Ninetails have been spotted as actors and models, a role they all take great pride in and very much enjoy. At first, Thad seems snooty, self absorbed and insufferable, but he tries to project this untouchable self to hopefully keep people from swamping him in public. He greatly values his personal space and time, and gets frustrated and upset at being swamped by fans.

Miette and Aria have two daughters named Martha and Brandi. Martha has settled into a little business of making Pokepuffs at her own store in Kalos. She advertises them as the finest in Kalos and is happy to share recipes with friends or to help personalise puffs to specific Pokemon.

Nini and Ryuki have a daughter named Naya. Naya is interested in Pokemon conservation, working towards safeguarding the environments of Pokemon so that everyone has a place to live in harmony.

Lisia is with my Alpha Sapphire MC, Pippa. They have six kids: Benjamin, Brenton, Felipe, Lucky, Anissa and Penelope. Benjamin is the main kid here. Benjamin is taking after both mothers, and great uncle Wallace. He's aiming to become both a top coordinator and a league champion. He's very encouraging to his rivals and tends to give them friendly tips. He's thankful for any tips shared with him, as well.

Horacio has a daughter named Virginie. Virginie loves fairy type Pokemon and also has an interest in fossils and history. She can spend forever in museums and learning everything. She finds her dad embarrassing.

Horace has seven kids: Fabienne, Dacey, Kitty, Xerxes, Kendall, Clayton and Stefan. Xerxes favours poison type Pokemon and wants to become something great. How exactly he will accomplish that, he's not sure. He's looking at a variety of avenues right now, but he's most interested in legendary and mythical Pokemon.

“Pixal? What are you doing up?”

Pixal startled, making a noise akin to a computer ding and a cat who's been awaken from sleep. She lowered the hand her chin rested on and turned her head up at Nya, “Oh! I am sorry, did I wake you?”

Nya squinted a bit more, Pixal’s eye lights being just bright enough to irritate her sleepy eyes. It wasn’t like they were all that bright, but looking directly at them was kind of like looking at a digital clock in the same situation; just bright enough to cause sleepy eyes to hurt but not really bright enough to see anything else. Only difference here thought being the green and her eyes being a touch brighter than a clocks.

“Yes, but seriously, what’s got you up? Aren't you normally sleeping like Zane when everyone else is?”

Nya carefully rolled the rest of the way over the side of her bunk, legs sliding off and onto the floor without hitting Pixal’s knees. Pixal continued to watch her drop down and turn to sit on her bed, her face blank as could be.

“I don’t need sleep so-“

“I know, I know, you’re a nindroid and nindroids don’t sleep, but I meant why aren't you ‘sleeping’ like Zane? We all know he only does this when we’re all together. So I was just wondering why you didn’t too.”

“Oh, right, Zane’s ‘sleep mode’. I’ve found myself doing it occasionally, but not tonight. I ... don’t feel right doing it,” she said, her attention returning to the sleeping nindroid across from them. Nya looked at Zane, trying to see in the dim light with limited success. The best she could make out was the vague shape of him on his back, deathly still compared to her brother above him who’s chest rose and fell with the same steady rhythm of the billows at the forge.

“Is there any particular reason why?”

“Is there a particular reason you aren’t sleeping with Jay tonight?”

“Pfft, besides the fact that the bunks are too small and Kai’s face in the morning when he sees Jay cuddling me like a teddy bear? Nooo, no reason at all.”

Pixal giggled lightly, her hand returning to her chin to prop it again. She slumped over with her left resting on one leg and her right elbow digging into her knee, one of the most human poses Nya had ever seen out of her.

“I guess, after being apart from him for so long again I just .. can’t.”

“You’re afraid he’ll be gone again when you wake up, right?”

“Yes. I know it’s illogical-“

“But nothing, Pixal. Trust me, it’s normal. Zane did the same thing for a whole week after you up and left his head.”

“He did?” Pixal straightened up, turning to look at Nya with a surprised face.

“Yeah,” she said, crossing her arms and leaning against the support post for her bunk, “he was pretty freaked out once he realized you weren’t just shut down. He just about tore his own head open!”

“I didn’t know I caused him that much worry,” she said as her gaze fell to the floor.

“Yeah well, you had ALL of us worried too,” Nya reached over and put her hand on Pixal’s shoulder, “you’re an important member of the team, Pixal. We all started to freak out a bit. It didn’t help that Zane didn’t shut down all week just in case you booted up again at any time.”

“I should have told you sooner.”

Nya moved her arm behind Pixal to her other shoulder, pulling her into a side hug.

“The past is the past, what matters is the now.”

She gave her a small smile, the dull light of Pixal’s eyes casting faint shadows on Nya’s face.

A quick flick in the silent room caught both ladies attention,  eyes turning to the bunk across the room again. Nya couldn’t make out exactly what had changed but she could see that Zane had turned his head away from them, a soft sound barely reaching her ears from him.

“What was-?”

“Zane’s holo disguises. He’s turned it on in his sleep again,” she said as she leaned forward, letting Nya’s hand fall away from her. “He does this sometimes  when he’s dreaming, most often when he dreams of the past.”

“Dreams? But I thought-”

“Nindroids don’t dream, but Zane does. The best hypothesis we have is that it is caused by his element, considering almost all of his dreams have been prophecies of near future events pertaining to the ninja, and Master Wu has said the former Master of Ice had Seer powers as well.”

“So most of his dreams are of the future, not the past. So how do you know he dreams about that at all?”

“Zane has told me about every future dream he’s had, and even he said himself, most of them are of that. He did tell me some very rare times he has nightmares, and I’ve seen him have at least one of those. When I asked him if he had any others, he said yes but refused to tell me more information about them beyond that they were of the past.”

“Maybe they’re dreams about when he lived with Dr. Julian, he did say his memories of his past get more dream like the farther past his father's first death he goes.”

“Perhaps, that would explain why his protection looks more like his old face than his new. He even will have a visual displacement that looks like his old face skin being skewed.”

“Really? But I thought he hated that.”

“He does, but it seems to happen occasionally.”

Quiet settled once again in the room, both ladies seemingly focusing on the young man across from them. Nya squinted hard to see Zane, but nevertheless saw him raise his right arm straight out to the side. A painfully familiar sight to her that got her to break the silence.

“Aww, he’s dreaming about his falcon.”

“How can you tell?” Pixal asked as she looked over without turning.

“That’s the arm it used to perch on, we actually don’t know if Zane just used that arm because it was easier or if falcon actually had a preference.”

“Ah, so that’s what that means.”

“Wait so he’s done this before?” Nya turned her head back to face Pixal, her eyebrows pinching into a questioning look.

“Yes, it has happened a few times, it’s about as rare as his nightmares,” she said without taking her eyes off him. Nya turned back to Zane, watching him for a few more seconds before deciding to change the topic.

“Hey, you wanna go to the kitchen and get a snack?”

“That’s the best thing you’ve said all night,” said another voice to their right, startling both young ladies and grabbing their attention.

“Skylor? When did you wake up?”

“Mmmmm, maybe a minute before you did? I thought I could just go back to sleep on my own, but then you two started chatting and it got interesting sooo,” Skylor explained as she got out of her bunk.

“Then why didn’t you join the conversation earlier?” Pixal asked as Skylor walked over and leaned on the post supporting Nya’s bunk.

“Didn’t have anything to add,” she shrugged, “I don’t know Zane as well as you two so there wasn’t a point.”

A fair statement considering most of her time was spent at her business, chatting with Kai and/or Nya, or keeping contact with the other Elemental Masters. It was only in the last few days since the boys came back from the First Realm that Skylor began to hang out with the rest of the team, something Nya had come to enjoy a lot.

“So are we going to get that snack or what?” Skylor asked playfully. Giggling, Nya stood up and started walking to the door with her. She turned around before completely passing Pixal, holding her hand out to her, “Come on Pixal, I know you don’t need to eat, but it’ll be more fun with you.”

Pixal made brief glances between Nya’s hand and face and Zane, a moment of hesitation overcoming her.

“Don’t worry, he’ll still be here when we come back,” Skylor added, her voice gentle and comforting.

Pixal took one last look at Zane before taking Nya’s hand. The three walked out and down to the kitchen, lightly chatting about pajamas and food. Glasses of milk were pored and enjoyed with crackers along with stories of Skylor’s weirdest customers. At least two stories, a sleeve of crackers and ten minutes passed with only good cheer before Pixal got an alert.

“Oh dear,” she scooted her chair away from the table and stood quickly.

“What’s wrong?” Skylor asked, the cracker halfway to her mouth being put back on its plate.

“Temperature is rapidly dropping in the bedroom. Zane must be having a nightmare.”

Pixal ran out of the room, Skylor and Nya exchanging surprised looks before running after her.

It was cold and bright out; the trees coated in a layer of ice that made them glitter in the sunlight. Zane loved when that would happen, something about the post ice-storm weather made him feel at home. Better yet, this was his home forest; the tall birch trees towering over the fresh snow drifts. His feet crunched and popped over the snow, little piles of powder trailing between each print. But he wasn’t alone; a different set of feet walked alongside him, keeping up easily with his brisk pace.

Zane looked to his left, finding Pixal walking beside him holding his hand. She turned and smiled at him, a gesture he enthusiastically returned. They continued to walk in the forest when a loud cry from the sky caught their attention.

Falcon swooped in lazy loops above them, squawking at them before turning to fly right to Zane. Instinctively he raised his right arm out, Falcon landing perfectly on him like always.

“Hello old friend, I didn’t expect you to visit today!”

Falcon squawked and flexed its wings, doing its little ‘follow me’ dance before flying off in a direction. Gripping Pixal’s hand tighter Zane pulled her after him, following the Falcon deeper into the forest saying a cheerful “come on!”

They followed the robot bird for a short ways before coming to a familiar clearing. Falcon landed on a branch of the largest tree and happily squawked and screed. Zane looked at the tree and smiled; he was home.

“Zane? Is that you?!” A voice called, one that made his heart nearly stop again.

Dr. Julian walked briskly into the clearing, the few logs in his arms being quickly dumped and forgotten by the trees roots.

“Oh Zane my boy! It’s been so long, how have you been?” Dr. Julian asked as he hugged his son. There was barely a wrinkle on his face, only a few hairs here and there starting to grey. His smile was exactly the same, though; warm and comforting no matter how cold it was outside.

“Hello, father, it is so good to see you. I was not expecting to drop by today, but it seems we have gone on quite the detour on our walk.”

“Mhmhm, it seems you have, but I am still very glad you are here regardless. Now aren’t you going to introduce me to your lady friend here?”

“Oh! That’s right! You’ve not met PIXAL before! Father this is PIXAl; she is an android like me and was made by Cyrus Borg. She is a very capable fighter and an amazing hacker. She is also absolutely vital to me,” Zane explained, smiling at her with a mesmerized look and clutching her hand tighter.

“Well then, it’s nice to meet you Pixal! I am absolutely overjoyed that my son could find a young lady like yourself,” Dr. Julian took both of her hands in his and held them firmly, the smile on his face only broadening as his eyes squinted.

“So Borg you say, I’ve heard rumors of some upstart by that name saying he was making leaping progress in robotics farther east of Ninjago.”

“Yes, Cyrus Borg moved into Ninjago city not long after The Overlord was defeated. He made major upgrades to much of Ninjago’s technology.”

“Ghmhm that’s good. From what I remember Ninjago City was at risk of at least monthly blackouts. But it’s been a long time since I’ve visited.”

“Father, you were there when we defeated The Overlord, surely you haven’t forgotten.”

“Oh no, Zane, I haven’t, I’m just pulling your leg a bit.” Dr. Julian sat down on one of the roots of the massive tree, patting a spot beside him for his son to join him.

“Zane, can I ask you something?” He asked as Zane sat down.

“Of course, Father, what is it?”

“Do you like this girl?”

“Pixal? Of course I like her, she is very intel-“

“Zane, I meant do you love her?”

“I...  Yes, I do, with all my heart.”

“And does she love you back?”

“Yes.”

“Then good,” He said firmly, looking away from his son to look at the sky with eyes closed, “I am very happy for you, Zane. More than I could ever explain.”

“Father?”

“You’ve found love, Zane! I never expected that to happen! This is more surprising and exciting than when you became a ninja! I never could have dreamed any of this happening to you, and I am so happy it has.”

Dr. Julian wrapped his arms around Zane, pulling him into a twisted hug. Zane hugged him back, something in him finally giving way, as he started to cry. The two stayed like that for what felt like forever yet not long enough, before finally pulling apart to look at the other. Dr. Julian’s eyes were just as wet as his sons, the smile both of them shared mirrored almost perfectly. Then Zane noticed something, or more accurately, the lack of someone. Dr. Julian followed Zanes gaze and looked all around them.

“Where’d she go?” He asked, getting no response from his quickly panicking son. Zane bolted up from his spot and began running, following her footprints in the snow with signal-minded fear. It wasn’t long before his old home was out of sight, the trees becoming unfamiliar and looking like they moved out of the corner of his eyes. Zane ran harder, fear spreading through his body like one of Jay’s playful shocks.

Then he came to a new clearing, and the sight he saw had his heart beating harder than when he faced The Overlord head on.

Pixal was surrounded by at least a dozen Treehorns, each one closing in fast. Their long spindle legs seemed to make a wall between the two, blocking any view Zane had of her.

Without thinking he charged in, screaming her name and firing ice blasts every which-way. Half of them were frozen in place by the time he got to her, the other half becoming more aggressive and bold in their attempts to stomp them. Zane tried to push Pixal behind himself, but she refused to move, instead slapping his hands away.

“Zane,” she grabbed his shoulder, yelling his name a few more times before grabbing his other and shaking him.

“Zane. Zane! ZANE!”

“GAAAH!”

Zane sat bolt upright, his right hand outstretched before him and a bit to the right. He could feel the splintering cold from his palm and in between his fingers, the tell-tail after effect of his powers. Breathing heavily, Zane looked up his arm and followed the second hand that rested on it. Pixal looked back at him, her green eyes wide with panic.

“Pixal! You’re alright,” he sighed in exasperated relief, hugging her tightly despite the odd angle.

“Zane I am perfectly safe. I’ve been here all night. Whatever happened was just a dream.” Pixal carefully pushed him back until he let go, staring at him intently. She let her hands fall back to her sides once he was sitting up again, or tried in the case of her left hand which he took hold of in his right.

“I... I know that now, but it was still worrying to see you surrounded by Treehorns. I thought I might lose you again,” he said, voice quiet and soft. His eyes stayed locked on their hands, his thumb rubbing back and forth along the top of her hand.

“Zane,” she placed her other hand on his shoulder, prompting him to look at her directly before asking “what is a ‘Treehorn’?”

A few seconds passed before Zane seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was in.

“Oh! Treehorns are large creatures from my old home. They are as tall as the trees and look very similar to them, they eat people.”

“And may I ask why we were in a forest full of these dangerous creatures?”

Zane lowered his head again, focusing on her hand once more.

“We had gone for a walk and gotten very lost. My falcon appeared and lead us deeper into the forest, taking us back to Father’s home.”

He smiled at her hand before looking up at her face with the same softly fond look he always had.

“He is very happy to meet you, and is very happy that we are together.”

“Mhmhm, as am I, Zane,” she said just before she leaned down and kissed his forehead.

Nya and Skylor stood stunned not too far away, Nya’s hands slowly covering her mouth to suppress whatever sound would try and escape her. Skylor couldn’t help herself and let out a quiet fusion of “aww” and “ohh”. The two ladies exchanged brief glances before trying to silently sneak back out of the room; an effort to give the two nindroids some sort of privacy quickly ruined by yet another unexpected guest.

“Ummm, I’m sorry to interrupt but, uh, could I get some help?”

Lloyd’s unnatural green eyes burned through the dim room, their light not casting onto any part of his face making for a surprisingly intimidating sight. Nya leaned over and flicked the light on, wincing a bit at the sudden change. With more light on the situation, it was clear to see what the problem was. Most of the wall next to Zane and even extending up under Kai’s bunk had a layer of ice on it, some of it beginning to drip onto Zane’s bedding due to the Master of Fire sleeping right above him. On the other side of the room however, on the bunk above Skylor’s, exactly where Zane pointed to when he awoke, sat a good sized chunk of ice. Sticking out of the ice chunk was Lloyd’s sock clad foot.

“Oh! Lloyd, I am sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you or ice you.”

“I know Zane, it’s alright, just, could someone give me a hand?” Lloyd asked, staring at his toes with the Sad Look.

(If there was one thing the ninja were surprised to learn, it was that the sad puppy-ish look Lloyd made all the time was not exclusive to him. No, Master Wu made practically the same face during their time in the First Realm. And after seeing him make the same face again but with facial hair, they all concluded that the Contemplative Master Look was just what the Sad Look looked like with a beard, mustache, and wrinkles. A quick ask of Misako confirmed that, indeed, Garmadon made the same face and that is was very much a family thing.)

“I got it,” Skylor said, walking briskly to Zane’s bunk and touching Kai’s dangling limp arm. A quiet grown and a rolling turn away to the wall expressed just how much the still asleep young man thought about the light and talking in the room. Skylor then walked over to Lloyd, her hand warming up with the borrowed heat from Kai. A full flame surrounded her hand by the time she reached his bunk, and with one swift slam her scorching hot hand landed on the ice and promptly began to melt it away. It wasn’t long before Lloyd’s ankle and lower leg were freed from the cold chunk, although Lloyd still wore his Sad Look. Nobody ever liked having socks or pants wet, and now he had both.

“Thanks, Skylor,” He said, a small smile trying to force through, though not quite overpowering the feeling of wet sock and pants.

“No problem, Lloyd,” Skylor smiled back at him, her own far more genuine.

“Well, since we’re all awake now, I guess we could get started on training?” Nya half-heartedly suggested; her shrug and disappointed face making it fairly clear how she felt about that idea.

“Oooorrrr we could go back to the kitchen and eat more crackers while I tell you all about the guy who tried to beat Dearth’s Puffy Potsticker record,” Skylor suggested, looking between everyone who was awake for agreement.

“That sounds like a lot more fun,” Lloyd said as he began to climb off his bunk. The three humans started to the door, the nindroids looking between themselves and Lloyd  for a second before Zane spoke; “I agree, that does sound rather enjoyable.”

And so the five of them sat in the kitchen, laughing and chatting into the wee hours of the morn. By the time the sun was up and Sensei Wu was making his way into the room to make his morning tea, all of them were asleep. Wu smiled, taking in the sight of his students and close friends being so relaxed and content.

Lloyd sat with his head nestled into his arms on the table, his hair shielding his eyes from view. Nya had her head propped up in one hand that was on the table, leaning against Skylor who herself was sleeping propped agents the wall. Zane and Pixal slept soundly sitting upright, only lightly leaning on the other as if they were cuddling.