Return of the Ninjas

Chapter 15- The Rest of the Ingredients

"Yanno, that was the sweetest thing anyone ever did for me," thanked Emma for the fifteenth time in the last five minutes.

Jake gave her a sad smile, "I meant every word of it."

"Even," Emma frowned, "Even the fears? The worries? Because I wasn't as perfect as you made me seem..."

"Yeah, the fears were all real." He shook his head, "As for you, that's how I saw you. How I still see you."

"As perfect? Inaccessible? That's definitely not me. I mean, look at you. You're handsome, strong, clever, and incredibly sweet. What girl wouldn't want you? Those flaws you talked about- they just make you more perfect. And why would you choose me over all the other amazing girls to pick from? Don't ever feel insecure of my love for you. It's as real as every other fact you've ever learned."

Jake's face lit up and he lightly kissed her cheek, "Thank you for that. It's just what I need. Now let's find the rest of those ingredients!"

"Wait!" Emma called, "What's that on your sleeve?"

Jake turned around and raised his arm for inspection. "Peter's blood. I can't believe I hurt him. We have to finish up this jar fast. I don't want any more encounters like that."

Emma walked up to him and pulled out a vial. Carefully, she squeezed the shirt to try and get out a drop of blood. "We need a drop of blood from Peter to complete the jar. So I guess we can check that off."

Jake nodded and the couple raced down the street. After ten minutes of running around the city, they had collected a bar from the prison, gotten sodium hydroxide from the nearby lab, and dipped the raven feather into the Fountain of Goodwill.

Panting, Emma turned to Jake and took a look at the list. "Okay. All- all we need now is the gold cap at the bottom of the Ninja Swimming pool. As for pure laughter... we should probably ask the principal."

"We need to change into swim clothes," suggested Jake, "Do you have any? Actually, never mind. You probably shouldn't swim with those cuts. I can quickly grab my suit from the school and drop off these ingredients. I'll meet you at the pool."

With that, he took off towards the school. Shaking her head, Emma began walking towards the pool. After waiting for a few minutes, she heard a voice from behind the trees.

"Um... are you there, Emma?"

Emma laughed, "Yes. Are you going to come out?"

"Ugh fine." After a moment, he stepped out from behind the tree.

Emma's jaw dropped. In the bright sunlight, she could see every inch of his toned abs. The swim trunks hung loose on his waist as he did a flawless dive into the glassy blue water. As he resurfaced, Emma made no effort to tear her eyes away from him.

"Emma? Helloooo... Anyone home? Emma! Earth to Emma!"

Emma shook her head and tried to focus on his face, "Huh? What?"

Jake burst into laughter, "Oh my gods you're checking me out!"

Emma didn't respond.

"Like what you see?"

That brought her back to reality. She picked up a stray pebble from the ground and threw it at him. Needless to say, he dodged it.

"Shut up," she muttered, "Besides, I'm supposed to check you out. I'm your girlfriend."

"I know," he agreed, "But I didn't know I was so hot I made you speechless!"

Emma rolled her eyes, but her cheeks were undeniably bright red. "Let's just finish this, shall we?"

"Fine," conceded Jake, "But we will continue this later." With that, he dove under and began searching. After a minute or so, he resurfaced.

"I can't find it anywhere. Can you pass me my goggles?"

Emma picked up a pair of blue goggles that matched his swim trunks and tossed them to the other end of the pool.

"Why'd you throw them there?" he whined.

Emma laughed, "Cuz"

Jake dramatically sighed and swam to the other side of the pool. He grabbed his goggled and strapped them onto his face, resuming his search for the gold cap. After what seemed like two minutes, his face broke out of the water, gasping for air.

"I found it," he panted. "Jeez it's deep. And screwed in there." He pushed his hair away from his eyes. "Do you have a screwdriver?"

Emma shook her head, "Nope. But I do have a knife." She removed it from her belt and tossed it to him, this time right next to him.

"Thanks." He dove under and began removing the screws, coming up for air after each one. After a while, he had managed to finish all of them and wiggled out the gold cap.

"Got it," he breathed, holding up the cap proudly. He hoisted himself out of the pool and sat on the ledge. "Can you pass me my towel? I'm exhausted. Also, here's your knife."

Emma grabbed his towel and walked towards where he was sitting. She sat down and dangled her feet in the cool water.

"I should have worn my swimsuit," she muttered, "You're dripping wet."

"I would have liked to see that," Jake teased. Suddenly, he got a mischievous smile on his face as he wrapped his arms around her, still not completely dry.

Emma shrieked and wrenched herself out of his grasp, "Shoot I'm completely wet!" Then, she looked down at her shirt. "Jake!" she cried, mortified. "I'm wearing a white shirt!"

Jake smirked, "I know. We should probably get going now."

Emma desperately tried to wring her shirt dry. After some pointless trying, she gave an exasperated sigh. "And you say I'm checking you out!"