A Touch of the Master's Hand

A Sip of Patience

"Even though you were whimpering like a baby?" asked Nya candidly.

"I was whimpering more when Chen's new 'Go Lloyd and Ninja Force' became a hit," muttered Jay.

"Ahem," coughed Lloyd. "So Cole..."

Cole lifted his brow to him.

"A girlfriend, huh?" Lloyd said with a grin. "It wouldn't happen to be Ryanne? Would it?"

At first Cole looked surprised, but then he smiled and crossed his arms. Lloyd had obviously guessed it, but then it was not hard to guess since Ryanne had been the one at school to have had the most interest in Cole and vice versa. Cole had never spoken about it, but it was obvious that if he had been a normal teenager at the time he would have found time to find out more about her. Now, of course, with no Garmadon to fight, he mostly had all the time in the world in between odd jobs and odd training.

"That's great she still found you even after high school," said Lloyd.

But before Cole could say anything, the one sliding door in the ship opened suddenly. Steam rose from the inside and Master Wu stood dramatically in the doorway. At first he appeared to be irritated about something, and it made the atmospheric effect even more dramatic, but he soon turned to Lloyd with a simple smile and said, "Ah, good, Lloyd! I just finished installing the spa room in this place. Come. Join me. I want to speak with you."

"How come he gets to enjoy the spa room first?" asked Jay.

"Cuz he's not taking a bath, he's having extra mentor talk," retorted Wu. "Also I don't think I said this was going to be a social visit. This is for keeping up your strength as ninja both in body...and in mind. You've been doing acceptable this summer with the physical upkeep despite there being no villain to face, but the self-discipline is lacking in the mind."

"But you were the one who let us have a break," said Kai.

"That was not a break. It was for self-discipline," said Wu. "Remember chapter thirty-four in my book."

"We can't memorize the whole book just from one read," said Nya.

"Speed read," whispered Kai in a half cough.

Nya smiled and shook her head.

"Chapter Thirty-Four: 'Self-Discipline: not just for combat but for life,'" recited Zane. "Sub-sections: 'Prudence', 'self-denial,' 'Accepting what one cannot change,' and 'Head to Head Intelligent Debate with Oneself.'"

The others moaned.

"Come on," shrugged Wu. "You guys are still acting like kids or something. You want to be true adults and ninja masters or don't you?"

"Sorry, Master Wu," sighed Jay.

"We know we came to train, Sensei," said Cole.

"Good," said Wu. "Now, Lloyd. I want to show you some steam."

"Yes, Sensei."

Inside, in the first part of the chamber one saw Wu's tea room with irori hearth, an exact replica of the irori hearth in his old ground-based dojo in the mountains and an exact replica of the replica of the irori hearth in the old Destiny's Bounty that Lloyd learned to be a ninja in. Behind it was a steamy broad doorway which could be slid shut. Inside, the bath looked quite inviting.

"Ah, see! Nothing like a good bath and steam room, isn't that right, Lloyd?"

"If you say so, Uncle," smiled Lloyd.

"Also the steam makes it hard to see the dusty corners of the tea room," said Wu.

Lloyd raised a brow. "Isn't that a bad thing?"