"No! Not there!" I screamed, my voice muffled by the green and black ninja yelling out in annoyance. "Then where the hell do you want it?" Cole snipped back, his reaction startling me. "Hey! You talk to your girlfriend with that mouth?" I snapped back with my hands on my hips and my head tilted to the side. Lloyd smirked and Cole rolled his eyes before yanking up the other side of the banner. I smiled, "Yes! Perfect!"

Cole and Lloyd sighed in relief before climbing off the ladders and hopping next to me to admire their handiwork. "It looks perfect, guys. Do you think he'll like it?" I wondered, clasping my hands in front of my face and staring intently at the banner that read: "Happy Birthday, Jay!" 

"He'll love it," Nya's voice called out from the kitchen where she was working with Zane to perfect the blue-frosting vanilla cake. "You've got nothing to worry about, glow stick. Jay will love anything you throw together," Cole assured me with a pat on the back. I grimaced at his nickname referring to my elemental powers and then sighed while crossing my arms, "I don't want this to look thrown together. I want it to looked planned! Every detail thought out! I want him to feel loved and appreciated and amazing and - "

"Okayyyy,"  Lloyd called out while interrupting my rambling, "You're projecting again. Seriously, you would benefit greatly from therapy," he told me. I shrugged, "It works for K/G/N, but it's not for me. Jay helps me."

Kai groaned, peeling himself off the wall where he observed the entire conversation. "Yeah but Jay has zero experience in how it feels to have two parents that ignore everything you do. The guy's mother still does his laundry. He can't help you with that."

"Can any of you?" 

Cole shrugged, "My dad loves me. Lloyd has some serious daddy issues though."

Lloyd rolled his eyes, "My dad loved me. Had mother issues like that though. And I would be happy to help you, firefly, but I have to help L/G/N first."

I scoffed, "Yeah I wouldn't accept it anyways, Grinch."

Lloyd glanced at Cole and shook his head, most likely mouthing something about how he was going to kill me but Cole pushed his shoulder and the kid fell over with a whine instead. I let out a loud laugh and Lloyd glared at me from his position on the floor. "Anyways," Kai announced while clearing his throat, "Are we ready to light this place up?"

I smiled lightly and nodded but we heard someone shout a "Wait!" from the kitchen and Nya came running out with a smile on her face. "I want to see!"

Cole smirked and glanced to me, then bowing slightly with a grin and stepping backwards.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and concentrating all my energy on making the dark courtyard light up. I thought about the roots of my powers. My grandmother being the elemental master of light and passing those powers onto me. I didn't know what side of the family she was on. If the powers were through my mother or father... They returned home and I was too cowardly to talk to them about it but Jay was willing to have the conversation with me whenever I was ready. But for now, I planned to stick to my ability to plan parties. My ability to have fun and act like everything was okay.

"Any day now," Lloyd muttered under his breath, breaking me out of my concentration. "Aren't you the leader? Supposed to be encouraging her? She's new at this," Cole scolded while smacking him upside the head. My eyes still closed, I slightly smiled. Lloyd teased me, we got along like I imagine siblings would - always making fun of each other and lightly joking around. Jay was always worried that Lloyd went too far which sometimes he did if he brought up my home life, but we always made up. 

"He can't get anything through his dense skull. Too much bleach in the hair," I chuckled, earning laughs from everyone but Lloyd. "Ha ha, Y/N L/N. Light up the room already."

I took another large breathe and focused on the light in my fingers. 

I snapped my fingers.

I heard gasps and light laughter and when I opened my eyes. every string of fairy lights decorated in the courtyard were on and it looked majestic. "Nice job, light bulb!" Cole smiled, clapping me on the back. I chuckled and looked around at my work. I suddenly felt better about my powers. I never used them unless Jay was around and even then I only used them to train so I could have a better understanding of how they worked. But the ninja convinced me to light up the monastery today to practice and surprise Jay - who would definitely be excited for me that I did this all on my own.

"Amazing!" Nya beamed while giving me a hug. "I knew you could do it," she added. I laughed and returned her hug, then pulling away when Lloyd chuckled, "You've got power, Y/N. You should use it."

"Oh, I'm sure she would just love to blast you with a beam of light," Kai laughed. I nodded and giggled, "Off the mountain, that's for sure." 

Lloyd rolled his eyes, "You're humor is dry."

"So is your hair," I quickly retorted. The green ninja gawked and his hands immediately shot to his hair to feel it and frowned when he realized that I was right. "Whatever. Let's just get this thing started," he muttered. 

Zane exited the kitchen and joined us in the courtyard where we all waited to yell "Surprise!"

"He is on his way up," Zane announced, peeking over the wall and seeing my boyfriend hopping up the steps after having breakfast with his parents. Nya smiled and made everyone gather around in a large crowd and once the door swung open, we all shouted "Surprise!" with glee.

Jay was taken aback in shock but when he realized what was happening and regained his composure, he smiled and jumped up and down. "You did this? You planned me a surprise party?!" he shouted with the biggest smile on his face. I laughed and clasped my hands together, bringing them to my chin and being filled with the most joy I could possibly ever imagine. "Happy birthday, buddy," Cole smiled while clapping Jay on the back and giving him a hug. Everyone got their turns giving him a hug but once he was finally alone in the center of the room, he jogged up to me and pressed his lips to mine.

I smiled against him and he dipped me down, creating a scene just as Jay Walker certainly would. Kai let out a "whoop" and I could hear Cole and Lloyd laughing at his scene but once he pulled away from me he brought me back up to his eyesight and stared into my eyes, "You did this for me?"

I giggled, "You did this for me," I said while pecking his lips, "And you deserve it. For always being patient and loving and overall the best boyfriend I can ever imagine."

Jay smiled, giving me another kiss, "Have I ever told you how much I adore you?" he asked. I nodded, "All the time," I responded. 

"Alright, alright, enough of the PDA, please," Lloyd groaned while spinning on his heel and looping his arm around Zane's shoulder. "Oh, let them live. I caught you and L/G/N making out in the kitchen yesterday while everyone was training," Nya laughed. Cole's eyes went wide and he turned to face Lloyd whose face was red and was hiding behind Zane now. "L/G/N and I were not making out! She isn't ready... No, nevermind. We weren't making out," he defended.

Kai smirked, "You should be proud, Lightning bug," he said while nudging Jay in the shoulder. Jay raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

Kai raised his arms out to the side to gesture to the fairy lights all lit up. I smiled warmly, a blush light on my lips. "Your girlfriend here did all this."

Jay turned to me and spun me around twice with a laugh, "You lit this room up with your powers?!"

I nodded, "With my own two hands! I wanted to make your birthday special!"

Cole scoffed, "She defiled Lloyd and I's banner hanging skills, too."

"In her defense, you did not do well. You needed her guidance," Zane jumped in. Cole narrowed his eyes and shook his head at him while mouthing "How dare you." 

Nya watched these interactions and sighed, "Can we celebrate now? Let's eat some cake and eat some pizza. In that order."

I grinned, "What do you say, babe?" I asked my handsome boyfriend. He nodded and kissed me on the forehead, "Let's eat! It's my birthday!"

And so it was the best birthday he's probably ever had. I planned it. I had a part in making him happy.

It made me happy.