"Kai," Cole grumbled, shaking the Master of Fire. "Wake up!"

He grumbled and waved him off.

"So help me if you don't get up right now I'm going to get Nya in here to spray you with water!"

Kai groaned dramatically and sat up. "Fine, fine, I'm up."

"Well then, let's go! The others are already outside."

"Go ahead. I'll be right behind you."

Cole rolled his eyes and ran out of the room, emerging quickly into the training yard. He saw everyone, including Destiny, already there, and he came to a stop near Wu, panting slightly. "Sorry I'm late. Kai decided to try to sleep in," he told him.

"That's alright," Sensei Wu said. "We haven't started just yet anyways."

Cole nodded and glanced behind him, relieved as he saw Kai coming out, his mouth parted in a yawn. He rolled his eyes slightly. If anyone should be that tired, it's me, he thought good-humoredly.

"Glad you could join us, Kai," Wu said. Cole stifled a snicker. "Come, ninja, time to train," he called.

The others gathered quickly at his summons, and Cole watched him attentively.

"This morning I will be splitting you up in pairs for sparring." The Earth ninja felt a grin spread over his face as his Sensei spoke. "Kai, you will be fighting Zane; Cole, Lloyd. And lastly, I think we should let the cousins have their chance."

Cole felt a thrill of excitement. Sparring Lloyd was always a challenge, as the Green ninja possessed skills from all four of the first ninja. Every battle always ended in a newfound appreciation that Lloyd was on his team.

The blonde glanced over at Cole and gave a tired grin. He seems to be okay, Cole thought, relieved. Or better, at least. He followed him away from Wu, facing him from a few feet away.

Cole hit his hands together, and the ground trembled slightly underneath him. He could see Lloyd readying himself for battle as well; he widened his stance and spread his arms.

"You may begin."

Cole jumped up, then pounded the ground with his fists, using the downward force to create a powerful quaking wave. Lloyd stumbled, and Cole raced towards him, aiming a punch at his side. The Green ninja reacted quickly, however, and blocked his punch. Before Cole could think, Lloyd spun around and kicked him. Cole felt himself losing balance as he stumbled backwards, and he pushed himself into a backflip to land rather sloppily on one knee. He looked up quickly to see Lloyd rushing him, and he pushed himself up and met the blonde head-on. He puffed as they collided, and the two ninja strained against each other. Cole grunted with effort as he felt himself lose ground, and he pushed harder against the boy he'd helped to train.

I'm never going to win this by arm-wrestling! He thought desperately. But Lloyd's too smart to fall for the pull back trick.

Cole panted slightly with effort as he strained, and he saw Lloyd grin, although beads of sweat dripped from his forehead. He saw a soft green glow begin from Lloyd's hand, and he fought panic.

His eyes darted around as he desperately tried to find a way to possibly win. Then, Cole had to stifle a laugh. He shifted his legs, still pushing against Lloyd as hard as he could, and tapped one foot on the ground. Then, watching as Lloyd's face took on an expression of confusion, Cole let his muscles relax for a mere second before slamming full-body into the blonde. Lloyd grunted, then yelped as he tumbled to the ground, tripping over a slanted rock spike.

Cole couldn't help spinning around, giving a small victory dance. "Hah, got you!"

"No fair," Lloyd grunted, getting slowly to his feet. "I should have won that."

"But you didn't." Cole grinned.

Wu walked slowly over. "I suppose that is technically fair," he observed begrudgingly. "Cole used his powers to win."

"In a battle, it really doesn't matter how we defeat the enemy in battle, so long as we do it," Lloyd answered. "You won, but now I'll be on the lookout for shady footwork coming from you."

Cole huffed in amusement. "Sure, sure. I know better than to use the same move on you twice," he said sarcastically, grinning.

Lloyd smiled and punched him gently in the shoulder. "Yeah, whatever."

Cole glanced to the side and saw that Jay was sitting on the bench with Nya, and he frowned slightly, worried. He hadn't spoken to him since their argument two days before, and he wondered if trying would just earn him a spot on the Master of Lightning's hate list again. I've got to try talking to him, though, don't I? Maybe he'll give me more of a chance to explain if I listen to him. He held his breath and started to head over to Jay. However, a few seconds later, he heard a grunt from Lloyd.

He spun around and saw that he was back on the ground, another figure lying a few feet away. Cole rushed over and helped him up, although Lloyd's eyes were fixed on the figure. When he was standing, the blonde shrugged Cole off and took a few steps toward what, Cole assumed, had knocked him down. It moved, and then stood, and Cole tipped his head to the side, confusion flooding him as a girl with short, wavy black hair and red whiskers on her cheeks stood.

"Akita!" Lloyd bursted, rushing forward. The girl smiled widely and the two hugged, and Cole felt a burst of recognition.

Of course, the red whiskers! Why didn't I recognize her? Something seems wrong.. Cole thought, watching the two with a happy expression. He realized that the other ninja were gathering around, wearing similar expressions of happiness, but he could see hesitance in their eyes, and he knew he wasn't the only one who thought something was off.

"Lloyd," Akita said, a pleased expression on her face. She glanced around. "I also see your friends. I'm glad you all appear to be well."

The Green ninja nodded, watching her. "Where's your hood?"

The Formling frowned, her face turning angry. "That's actually why I came. Someone stole it, and I believe they fled here. I can't use my powers without it."

Cole observed her quietly. Her hood, he realized, feeling rather dumb. How could I have missed something so large about her appearance?

"Well, we'll help you as best we can," Lloyd told her, before hesitating and glancing around at the ninja, his gaze lingering on Wu, who had come to join them as well.

Cole nodded. "Of course we will!"

He heard similar affirmations from the rest of the ninja, and even Wu nodded. "You are among friends, Akita," the Sensei told her.

The Formling smiled. "Thank you."

"Are you hungry?" Lloyd asked. "Tired? I can show you to a room if you'd like-"

Akita grabbed his arm, chuckling softly. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She blinked and tilted her head slightly. "Who's this? I don't recognize her from anything you told me."

Cole followed her gaze and felt a small smile crack his lips as he saw Destiny.

"My name is Destiny," she introduced herself.

"I'm Akita. It's nice to meet you." The Formling observed Destiny for a moment, her face kind.

"My pleasure, I'm sure." Cole found himself watching Destiny, his stomach knotting as she gave Akita a shy smile. He forced himself to look away, watching instead Lloyd, who looked fluttery and newly nervous with Akita.

"What about Kataru?" The Green ninja suddenly asked.

Akita looked down, her face saddening slightly. "My brother does not know I came here. The other Formlings didn't believe my hood had been stolen, merely that I'd lost my powers because I displeased the spirits of our ancestors. Kataru will be safer thinking I am in the Never-Realm, avoiding punishment."

"I'm sorry, Akita," Cole said quietly. He knew what it was like to hide things from your family.

She looked up at him and forced a smile. "It'll be okay. I'll find my hood with your help, and then.." She glanced at Lloyd, hesitating. "And we'll go from there."

Cole noticed Lloyd brush against Akita's arm, and he smiled as the blonde tilted his head away from the group. Akita nodded slightly and glanced around at the ninja. "It was nice seeing you all again," she told them. Lloyd smiled and led her away, and Cole shook his head, chuckling inwardly at the two.

He then sighed and glanced around. The ninja were dispersing, and the Master of Earth located Jay, who was limping slightly. Cole frowned and headed towards him, concerned.

"Jay?" Cole reached his hand out and placed it on his friend's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Jay responded, his voice a mixture of cold and annoyed.

"Destiny hit you good?" Cole assumed.

Jay stiffened and turned to face him.

Cole winced. "I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Listen, Cole," Jay told him. "I don't want to fight with you. Just stay away from Destiny and we'll be fine."

The Earth ninja frowned, remembering Jay saying nearly the exact same thing as he had with Nya. "Why do you want me to stay away from her?"

"You know why."

"I get that you're being protective of her, and I respect that," he told Jay, "but nothing is going on between us."

"I should hope not. You met her literally three days ago."

"You had a crush on Nya the instant you saw her," Cole pointed out gently.

Jay frowned, but the comment didn't seem to anger him like Cole thought it might.

"In any case," Cole sighed. "You know how.. How my relationship with Nya affected me. I don't want to be with Destiny any more than I want to be with Nya, or anyone else, for that matter." The words felt true coming off of his tongue, but he remembered his recent dreams of Nya. Was he accidentally lying?

Jay sighed, too, watching him. "I do know.. I'm sorry. Destiny is just very shy, and she's really not a people person. I'm sure I jumped to a conclusion when I saw you. Both of your stories seemed to line up, so any doubts I have are really just my own fears, I guess."

"I'm not going to do anything," Cole promised.

Jay gave him a small smile. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Cole nodded, watching as he limped off. He sighed and glanced around, noting that the clearing was now empty aside from him. After a few moments, he went over to the small golden dragon statue and flipped it up, pressing the hidden button. He looked over and smiled as the training equipment rose, then he hit the button again to activate the moving parts.

He knelt at the start and watched the equipment, remembering the patterns in his muscles as the ones that taught him spinjitzu. He smiled and leapt forward, kicking the human replicas out of his way with ease. Halfway through the course, he spun, his spinjitzu coming naturally. Over the planks, dodge the swords, here comes the dummy!

He stopped in the middle of the course and slammed both of his fists into the ground, causing spikes to shoot up sporadically in a circle around him and the earth to shake so badly that Cole lost his balance. He fell, and the trembling of the ground subsided a few seconds later.

Lloyd, Akita, and Kai rushed out of the monastery.

"Are you okay?" Lloyd asked, stumbling towards Cole.

"What a mess," Kai said, gazing around at the training yard.

"Yes, I'm okay," Cole said, confused. "I-"

"We got worried. We felt quakes."

"Wait, you did? I was just practicing. It was supposed to be a controlled quake."

"That was you?" Kai asked, his voice carrying surprise. "It was so strong."

Lloyd was frowning. "Well, you can ask Sensei about it later. We were going to head to Cyrus to see if he could help Akita. Come with us."

Cole nodded and followed them as they ran out towards the cliff. Lloyd made his dragon and hopped up, helping Akita after him. Cole manifested Slate and hopped on, following Lloyd as he took off.