A short little Zane story.

It was a universally accepted fact in Ninjago City that Wednesday was the most busy day of the week. All of the preparations and plans made on Monday and Tuesday crested on Wednesday, and if it went right, would flow smoothly into Thursday and Friday. On Wednesdays the streets surged with people, in cars and buses, and the sidewalks teemed with pedestrians busy to get to work. The city rushed on at a faster and more desperate speed than normal.

Zane watched it all from the tall window of the penthouse apartment, face serene as he honed in on the small shapes of people rushing by on the sidewalk below.

Behind him, in the living room, Kai paced and Jay fiddled with a handheld gaming device.

Zane heard the sound of Kai stopping, followed by a low growl. "Where is he?" the fire ninja demanded. "We're going to be late—"

"Don't pop a vein, hothead, I'm here." Cole kicked the front door to the apartment closed with the heel of one running shoe. He pulled the headphones from his ears, tossing them over one bare and sweaty shoulder. "It's a madhouse down there," he noted, strolling over to look over Zane's shoulder at the chaos below. "I almost got hit by a car. Twice!"

Kai didn't seem to care. "You. Shower. Now."

"I'm going, I'm going!" Cole ducked under the couch cushion that Kai had thrown at him, and quickly made his way to the bathroom. Zane heard the squeak and rumble of the pipes being opened, and the even timbre of Cole's voice echoing as he began to sing. "I've got these habits that I cannot, I've got these habits that I can't…"

Zane turned his back to the window to watch Kai begin his pacing again. "It'll be fine," Jay assured him, putting his game to one side. "Stop worrying. You're freaking me out!"

"It's not every day that we get called in to accept an award from the mayor of Ninjago City, is it?" Kai snapped in response, and then bent down to straighten the ties on his lower legs. At first they had all planned on wearing suits, but a secretary had called and told them that for appearances they should wear their ninja garb.

It would be their third public appearance since they defeated the Overlord. People everywhere had been sending them gifts and cards thanking them for their work to save all of Ninjago. Their first showing in public had been in the background, standing strong in a line as Lloyd and Wu gave a brief press conference assuring everyone that the Overlord was gone for good. The second… had left bitter tastes in all of their mouths.

They had gotten ambushed outside of their apartment building. It had started out as a normal afternoon, with Kai ribbing Jay about something he had said back at the movie theater, and Cole fumbled with the key to get in the front lobby. Zane was standing off to one side, enjoying the sound of banter and considering a quick quip of his own, when suddenly a flash went off and he flinched back, visual servers temporarily overloaded.

"Mary Daily, Evening One News," a woman said very close to his face. Zane struggled to clear his vision. "And I'm here to ask you, are the rumors true?"

"Wha-what rumors?" Zane asked, finally able to focus on the middle-aged woman with a severe blonde beehive. The bright light had been from the flash of a camera turning on, a camera that was now pointed at Zane's confused face.

"That one of the ninjas is in fact a robot."

Zane opened his mouth. Closed it. Thankfully, Cole stepped into the silence.

"Hey, shove off, lady," he said, stepping almost protectively in front of Zane. "It's none of your business." Jay and Kai chimed in their agreement.

Mary Daily turned her attention to Cole and didn't look impressed. "The public has a right to know if one of their incredibly powerful protectors could be controlled and used against them."

Kai snorted. "That's impossible."

Jay added without thinking, "Yeah, that would never happen! Zane is—" Kai elbowed him in the ribs, but was too late. Jay and Cole winced. Mary smiled sharply.

"Zane, huh?" she asked. "Well, let's see." She turned to Cole. "Not you, you're Cole, the dancer." She looked to Jay and Kai. "And you two are Jay and Kai, the two always dripping off your girlfriend."

Kai stuttered something about Nya being his sister when Mary's gaze settled back on Zane. "And that leaves you. You must be Zane. A robot."

"Nindroid," Zane said helplessly. "There's a difference."

"Which is?"

At a loss for words, Zane looked in despair at Jay. "The difference is that he has free will, and would never turn his back on people who need his help," the ninja of lightning said loudly, addressing the camera. "It shouldn't matter to the public what he is, because the bottom line is he helped save everyone—"

"Yes, that's enough, thank you," Mary said, motioning for the camera to turn off. Together, she and her cameraman began to leave.

"Wait, hold up!" Cole called out. "You can't air that!"

"And why not?" she asked. "The people deserve to know what they've gotten in bed with."

"If you think that Zane would ever hurt someone, you're crazy. He's just as human as me or you—"

"There was a study," Mary cut in irritably, "done with artificial intelligence programs last year at the three top universities in Ninjago. They found that artificial intelligence could not be programmed with loyalty to any one person—all they needed were the right passwords and commands. A psychologist analyzed the data and concluded that artificial intelligence has worse morals than what is found in the average serial killer. And from a moral standpoint…" here she looked a bit unsure of herself, watching Zane with calculated eyes. "From a moral standpoint, I doubt that the city would approve of something without a soul holding so much power." The ninja were speechless as she clicked away down the sidewalk.

Kai and Jay tried to reassure Zane that there wasn't a problem with his being a nindroid while Cole once again fumbled with the lock. Zane only looked up from his toes when he heard the sound of shattering glass.

With a yell, Cole had punched through the door.

That night, as everyone else stewed in their rage at Mary Daily and the Evening One News, Zane sat at the computer. As his eyes moved across the state of the art screen, the pages turned and refreshed. Sites were downloaded instantly as he moved the search parameters from his mind into the computer. Normally, he would put on a show of touching the buttons and working manually, but tonight he didn't have the time.

Site after site. Psychologists and inventors. Computer moguls. Zane looked through all the available information, and what he found worried him more than he could have ever thought possible.

Cole hesitated in the doorway of Zane's room. Normally they walked around without knocking (Nya complained about this immensely), so used to sharing rooms to care about privacy. But looking in, Zane seemed so enraptured by the scrolling screen of his laptop that Cole felt bad about interrupting him. Finally, he tapped his knuckles (bandaged with three stitches courtesy of Nya, resident pseudo-nurse) against the open door.

"Zane?" he asked, and the nindroid looked up, face calm as usual. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," Zane said, moving his laptop off of his lap. "What is the matter?"

"Nothing's wrong," Cole said, a bit too quickly. "I just wanted to see how you're doing."

"Better than you," Zane said dryly, looking at how Cole was lightly massaging his throbbing hand. The ninja of earth laughed darkly.

"Right," he said, and sat down at the foot of Zane's bed, looking at him. "What I meant was, I wanted to make sure that you're still okay, after the Mary Daily business this morning."

"Why would I not be fine?" Zane replied easily, beginning to turn to his laptop again. He stopped when Cole reached out a hand and blocked it from him. Zane looked up to see Cole with a knowing smile on his face.

"You're a very bad liar, Zane."

"I was not lying," Zane said, followed by, "… mostly."

Cole gave him a look and Zane sighed. He did not sigh often. Cole opened his mouth to speak, and Zane cut him off. "I do not dream, Cole."

Cole blinded. "Yes. I know. What—"

"It is said that the mark of someone with a soul is that they dream," Zane said, and was about to continue with his sources and citations when Cole held up a hand to keep him quiet.

"It doesn't matter if you dream because it doesn't matter if you have a soul," he said frankly.

"But—"

"It doesn't matter if you dream because it doesn't matter if you have a soul," Cole pressed. "Not one bit."

"But—"

"You know what dreams are, Zane?" Cole asked. "They're things we see when we close our eyes. Hopes, I guess. Whatever. The point is that the things we see when we sleep don't define the things we'll do when we're awake."

Zane cracked an appreciative smile. "You sound like Sensei."

"Well, one of us has to," Cole snorted. "And you can bet it isn't gonna be Jay or Kai."

Zane chuckled alongside, and felt the bed move as Cole stood up. As he neared the door, Zane spoke up again. "Thank you."

Cole smiled over his shoulder as he left the room, slapping the top of the door frame with his hand as he passed it.

Zane turned off the computer and plunged his room into darkness.

"I'm ready!" Cole came into the living room, combing his still damp hair with his fingers.

"About time," Kai snapped, leading the way briskly out the front door. Zane fell into step beside Cole as they made their way down the stairs and down the short half block to get to the park where the ceremony would take place.

"You ready?" Cole asked out of the corner of his mouth.

"Always," Zane replied easily. Cole flashed him an amused grin before mounting the stage and taking his seat.

The speech was rather long and boring, but then it was all worth it at the end. The mayor gave the motion for the ninja to stand up, and he moved from one to another, pinning a medal on their chests.

"For valor extraordinary," he said as he worked, "for risking their lives for the sake of others, we award these ninja with the highest honor we can give. The Ninjago Golden Cross." When he was done, the ninja remained standing for pictures, and he continued into the end of his speech. Zane was drifting out when Cole nudged his arm slightly.

Zane turned to Cole, who nodded down into the crowd. Mary Daily was there, looking very put out that her petition to have Zane left out of the award ceremony was turned down, with only fifty signatures, forty-five of which were personal friends of hers. Both Zane and Cole flashed her the biggest smiles they could summon, and she huffed to herself.

Cole began to laugh under his breath, and moved his arm over Zane's shoulders. With the heat of the noonday sun beating down on him and the rush of cars and people hurrying around on this Wednesday, one of the busiest days in Ninjago City, he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. With the movement of his chest he could feel the weight of the medal against it, over where he supposed his heart was supposed to be. Cole's arm was heavy and thick with muscles, and it moved with Cole's silent laughter at the expense of the only woman that he had ever felt the urge to punch.

Zane took it all in with his eyes closed, and he smiled as the audience began to cheer at the end of the mayor's speech.

He may not be able to dream, but this, he felt, was somehow better.

Love Zane so much.

Review, please?