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#but Jay asked Nya to be his yang
riptide0602 · 2 months
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Headcanon:
In Yin-Yang proposal it's always the person asking their partner to be their yang regardless of gender or any other factors,because it's asking to not only be their second half,but their better half(yang means good).
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oppositeslut · 7 months
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You guys I never realized Jays hand was shaking was he was trying to ask Nya to be his yang 🥺
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ghostscrown · 6 months
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Jay telling Kai before anyone he was going to ask Nya to be his yang and asking for his help, and Kai actually helping him was just so cute
They pretend to hate each other but they're actually the brothers in law ever
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deadmilogecko · 1 month
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Head-canons for Dragons Rising!Jay
- The merge dropped him into an ocean near the realm of madness which he stayed by for a month hoping that Nya would be able to find him via her connection to the sea. When he realized it wasn't working he started walking through the realm of madness to find her.
- He slowly lost his memories while wandering the realm of madness, he was keeping a diary for the first year but one day he went to get food and left it (and the rest of his stuff) in the shelter he was staying in and never came back because he forgot about that as well.
- By the time the administration found him he had no memories or tokens of his past except the Ying medal and his name (which he only knew because it was written on his gi by Edna)
- All of his stuff is buried in a pile in the land of lost things.
- For a time there was a teen in the administration who he had a father daughter relationship with but one day she went to retrieve an artifact with her partner and neither returned. Jay didn't get attached to anyone after that
- He was originally in charge of the destruction of powerful objects but asked to move to realm reassignment when he realized that there was a possibility his Yang could come through and recognize him.
- In his dreams he often finds himself floating in the middle of the ocean accompanied by someone humming but his dreams always end with the peace breaking and him drowning.
- He's mistakenly called one of the people who work in damage control 'Cole' multiple times and he doesn't know why.
- When he first discovered he could control lightning he still has no knowledge of other elemental master and saw himself as an anomaly which is why he has hidden it from the rest of the administration.
- Because he hasn't used his element in years (except in short, accidental zaps) he can't properly control and has basically been reverted back to before he reached his true potential in terms of control and knowledge, if he wanted to he would be able to kill someone.
- He hates having to hurt people in order to arrest them to the point that it sometimes makes him sick.
- He hates mirrors.
- More recently, after his encounter with the spirit orb, he has been having dreams of people wearing different colored gi's, specifically a woman who he thinks is the most beautiful person he's ever seen.
- He has a goldfish named Fritz
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wyrmswears · 30 days
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Hiii!
I know the au ain’t about Jay, but does he have an animal form? How did Edd & Eddna found him or he does not exist?
I do apologize for the amount of questions not being libber related😞
Pd. I also love wolf children i imagine Libby just recreating the feral Yuki scene right?
Hellooooo!! Had to think about this for a bit; I really didn't give Jay too much mind when making this AU lol. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed getting to flesh out this AU further using your questions so thank you so much for asking! :D I made the AU for Libber and Ice but it's always fun to expand on other characters and how the changes the AU makes affects them.
This post turned out longer than I expected (oops. I love infodumping about my AUs, sorry lol) so the answers in their entirety are under the cut! Spoilers for Prime Empire and Dragons Rising (though nothing particularly about s2) are mentioned though.
The short answers are: Jay is still adopted, Libber left him at the Walkers' doorstep before dying. And yes, Jay has a wolf form like Libber does, but he can't access it until after the Merge.
The long answers:
The second question is easy - the comic on my other post initially had a third page that would've answered this but I found it difficult to get to flow well so I scrapped it. When the Walkers arrive home after coming across Libber, they find Jay on their doorstep. The idea is that she had left him at a safe place as a final act before succumbing to whatever killed her. (Much like in Wolf Children, I don't have a particular cause of death thought out.) Ed and Edna don't make the connection between the child on their doorstep and the wolf on the highway of course, because why would they?
As for whether Jay has an animal form... On one hand I find it very amusing when characters of non-human heritage turn out to be just normal humans, and Cliff Gordon is still completely human in this AU, but I also think it'd be boring to ignore his heritage completely for the sake of the bit. After mulling it over I've come up with this:
Jay grows up showing quirks that align with him being half raijū, but nothing that can't be explained by him being the elemental master of lightning or just a peculiar (and probably neurodivergent) child; these are things like a fascination of thunderstorms, abnormal resistance towards electrical shocks, hyperactivity, a tendency to chew on things...
He has no idea that his biological mother wasn't human until after the events of Prime Empire when Wu, now aware that Jay knows he's adopted as he used it to reason with Unagami, requests to speak to Jay privately. He explains that, if Jay has an animal form then he shouldn't feel like he has to hide it from the team as he is sure that they'd accept him, much like Libber's teammates accepted her. This is sweet and all, but Jay is very confused what he means about having an animal form. And thus begins the explanation of who or what exactly Libber was.
After learning that he isn't completely human, Jay isn't really upset - hell, Zane and Lloyd have both dealt with the same thing and it turned out fine - but he only talks about it with Nya. This is part of my general characterisation of Jay where I feel like he doesn't keep too many deliberate secrets, but does only mention certain things about himself on a need-to-know basis meaning that, while he doesn't care if the team knows he's adopted, only Nya, Zane, and Pixal know that he is (Zane and Pixal for being present at the end of Prime Empire). Nya 'needs to know' because she is his yang thank you very much. Nya helps him to research about raijū and they find out that they can come in a variety of forms. Jay thinks he'd look like a noble and mighty creature, maybe a lion or an eagle. Nya thinks he'd be a chihuahua.
Nonetheless, that seems to be the extent of it; Jay doesn't figure out if he has an animal form or how to use it, and all that's changed is that Nya has become a lot more aware of her yin's oddities. That is, until Dragons Rising.
I think after the Merge, Jay has no issues with accessing his animal form: much like his mother, he's a wolf-like canid. If you told him, he'd probably never believe that he had spent the first 20-or-so years of his life with no clue to his heritage and no abilities related to it when his natural state of self after getting amnesia is to flux between forms. Maybe it developed as one of the strange effects of the Merge, or maybe its a new ability as a result of his environment, much akin to Cole's rock golem. Nonetheless, it serves as a message to Nya that this isn't the same Jay she knew before the Merge. He flaunts his heritage to the team that he never told and has changed, both physically and as a person, without her there to see.
As for the P.S, I'm not entirely sure what scene you are talking about - there's quite a few where I imagine Yuki could be described as feral lol - but Libber is overall quite alike to Yuki in my mind, particularly when she is younger and less concerned with hiding her wolf side.
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⚡The Lightning Choice⚡
(Sorry if my English is bad. I am Russian myself, and so I used a translator. Unid and Mina Allison helped me, thanks to them for that. If you liked it, put the like button, it will be very pleasant for me and them)
AU, where Jay merges with his element / lightning instead of Nya in season 14. Possible ❗❗spoilers⚠️
Nya fought with Kalmaar and Wojira, but was defeated, the water master was struck by the Merlopian trident, which caused her to lose consciousness and fly into the water. Jay was the only one who saw what happened to the brunette, the lightning master jumps after her, hopes that he will save her, hopes that she is still alive.
The ninja pulls her out of the water on her hands, climbing higher on the roof, the brown-haired man began to check her pulse:
— No... Nya... please... don't leave me again!.. — almost crying, the lightning master pleaded, the rest of the team, noticing the loss of friends, begin to search, but when they find them, their gaze falls on Nya lying on the roof and Jay mourning her.
— Jay, what happened?! — Kai slowly approaches them, his heartbeat accelerates, his breathing slows down, it becomes harder and harder to speak, fear comes to the fore. — Jay, don't be silent! Please! — Kai wants to hear joyful words, which makes him shake his friend by the shoulders.
— Nya... — with a heavy pain in his heart, Jay begins to speak. — She fought Kalmaar, but lost to him… She was hit by a trident..." — speech slowed down, Jay could not speak calmly.
— Well, don't be silent! Tell me what's wrong with her! — The fire ninja shook him by the shoulders again.
— Nya fell into the water! Jay shouted at him. — I rushed after her and pulled her out... — the voice became quieter.
— Take her inside! Hurry up! Hide the transport! — Wu ordered, running up to the team, without hesitating for a second, the teacher took control of the whole situation. Everyone nodded in agreement, Jay took his Yang in his arms and carefully carried her inside, accompanied by the master, Pixal and Bentho.
— Nya! You can't hide from me! This world doesn't belong to you anymore! He's mine! — Kalmaar shouted from Wojira, tracking them down.
— «How he pisses me off» — Jay's gaze fell on Nya lying on the couch, Benthomaar was looking out the window nearby, the master and Pixal were discussing something aside, only briefly Jay heard his and Nya's name.
***
— How is she? — The fire master asked, approaching Zane.
The nindroid was running diagnostics.
— The condition is serious, but she is stable, now she is unconscious, it is possible that she will wake up soon. — the ice master replied.
That bastard almost killed my sister! He's going to pay for this! — a fire was lit in his hands — I'll kill him myself! — Smith said.
— Hush, Kai, don't get excited, we'll figure out how to deal with Kalmaar, but first we need to help Nya. — Lloyd tried to reason sensibly until Kai lay down next to her.
Looking out the window, Jay saw Benthomaar standing on guard, releasing the girl's hand, he approached him.
— Benthomaar, how did Nyad defeat Wojira? Do you remember what you told us? The brown — haired man asked, which distracted the Prince of Merlopia for a second.
— She sacrificed her body and merged with the sea — the Merlopian replied, sighing heavily, he was not looking at the sea or even Jay, who did not ask a question, his gaze was directed at Nya.
— Merged? But how exactly? — The blue ninja continued to ask with insistence.
— She absorbed all the power of the ocean, she became a part of it, and he became hers! — the brunette also replied coldly, already looking at him. Jay thought about it, Benthomaar quickly figured it out. — Don't even think about it! Although Nyad defeated Wojira, she eventually died… It was a one-way ticket… She disappeared… Forever! — The Merlopian threatened the lightning master, but Jay didn't take it as a threat, it was a challenge.
— «Nyad could not cope with the power of the received force, but I will cope, I will do everything for Nya, for the sake of our future with her!» — Jay no longer listened to Bento, his thoughts were occupied only with a plan that will bring peace to everyone. — «None of my friends are going to die today, only Wojira is going to die!»
— Benthomaar! Zane is calling you — Cole has disrupted their completed dialogue. Nodding, the Merlopian left the boys alone. Seeing the displeased look from his friends, Jay stepped back a little.
— Uh..Is something wrong, guys?.. — The lightning ninja asked them, smiling stupidly, occasionally a chuckle slipped through.
— Jay, we heard about your conversation with Benthomaar... — the second brown-haired man replied.
— And we won't let you do that! — The lightning master's face changed at the same moment. — Don't even think about it! — The brunette continued. Jay became serious.
— You can't stop me from doing that! Perhaps this is the only way to help her! — the winner of the «Prime Empire» rebelled.
— Jay — was just about to start Lloyd.
— What's Jay?! — The lightning ninja was no longer panicking, he was taking out all the pain on his friends.
— Zane said that Nya is stable, she will wake up soon — the blond man slowly approached him.
— Yeah? — Walker said without emotion. — I was there too, if you haven't forgotten, I also heard these predictions ... — the ninja took a pause, gathering his thoughts. — And you know what? These may be her last breaths, I already tried to start her heart, I tried to revive her before you came — the team started listening even more attentively from that moment on. — But I couldn't! She didn't take a single breath, nor did she open her eyes! Nothing happened! Do you understand, Lloyd? She needs to go to the hospital, but they are all flooded, and the only way to revive her without a doctor is to defeat Wojira and Kalmaar! — Jay pointed to the sea outside the window.
— Jay, but this is not the only way! — The master of energy did not believe in these words himself, and Jay only looked at him sadly, nodding.
— You heard what Benthomaar said, didn't you? When Nyad merged with the sea and defeated Wojira, she died! If you do the same, you could die too, Jay! Do you understand that?! — almost shouting ninja fire supported the leader.
— What would you suggest? Do nothing?! And wait for Kalmaar and Wojira to notice us and destroy us?! —Freckles asked.
— Of course not! But maybe there is still another way to defeat them? — The earth ninja asked anxiously.
— I'm listening to your suggestions — Jay said calmly.
— Vania — it dawned on Cole. — She said if we ever needed help, she'd call the whole army to our rescue, and — Zane interrupted him.
— We can't contact Shintaro, not with our situation — the ice ninja looked at his friends with sympathy, Cole just sighed heavily.
— Maybe.. — Lloyd wanted to suggest another option, but was interrupted by Jay.
— Lloyd, admit it... we're powerless here, the only way out is for someone to sacrifice themselves for all of us... — Jay looked around at everyone present. — For the Nya ... — the last words sounded in a barely audible voice that not many people caught. — Nya would have done the same if anyone else had been in her place, each of us can do it — Jay approached Wu. — Master Wu, you taught us to protect Ninjago, to protect those we love — the gaze fell on Zane, who drooped, remembering his self-sacrifice during the time of the Golden Master. — Who we value — my gaze fell on Nya and Kai, who also became sad, remembering how he rescued her from the captivity of skeletons, and then saved Lloyd from a volcano. — You prepared us for this, taught us to look fear in the eye, overcome barriers, be ready for anything — The Master drooped.
— I hoped that this would never happen ... never ... — the master hesitated, lowering his head, realizing that Jay was right a thousand times.
— I understand you, Jay. You're worried about her, just like me, because she's my sister... — Kai stopped, the words touched him to the core. — Maybe you're right, but please don't do this! And in this form, you're not going anywhere, you're tired, it's not you who's talking, but fatigue, why don't you rest? — Kai suggested, hoping to postpone this dialogue at least until tomorrow, to come up with arguments in opposition to this. — After all, tomorrow we will have a hard day — the elder Smith sighed. He nodded in agreement, exchanged glances, Kai and Cole smiled and left, leaving Jay alone.
— «We may not live to see this tomorrow, Kai, it needs to be done today» — Jay replied to himself, clenching his hand into a fist, looking after them. — «Everything will be decided today, and tomorrow we will celebrate another victory and rebuild the city» — his intentions were as unshakeable as his zeal for victory. — «I'll be back, Nya, wait for me» — the ninja headed in a direction known only to him.
The brown-haired man sneaks onto the roof while his friends are considering a plan without self-sacrifice.
— «I hope they won't bother me, forgive me for that» — Jay mentally said goodbye to his friends, jumping into his Sub car, the lightning master turned on full speed and sped off into the depths, leaving friends was a difficult but right decision, but not harder than what awaits him after.
Floating near the city center, Jay climbs a multi-storey building and looks around the city.
Everything was covered with water, but Kalmaar's voice could not be heard, and Wojira herself was nowhere to be found.
— «It's too late to retreat, too much is at stake» — emotions and excitement overwhelmed the lightning master, his heart was fluttering faster and faster, there was a desire to retreat inside, and in his eyes there was a determination to end this once and for all. Gathering his thoughts, Jay began to put his plan into action — Kalmaar! Wojira! I'm here! — the blue ninja shouted with all his might, and at the same moment a bright blue lightning flashed in the sky, followed by another flash, after which Jay took out his nunchucks and prepared for battle. — «Did they really not notice me?!» — panic appeared in his eyes. — «What if he's already found Nya and the others and they're in danger now, what if I'm late and Lloyd and the team are in trouble now, and I'm on the other side of Ninjago City?!» — eyes darted from side to side, looking for answers, Jay listened to every rustle around.
Suddenly, a glow appeared from under the water, and Jay froze in place. There was a splash in the water, after which a huge sea serpent climbed out of the water, towering over the ninja — it was she, the queen of the Endless Sea — Wojira, two amulets were on her forehead: Waves and Storms, and near one of the amulets stood the Self—proclaimed King of Merlopia - Kalmaar.
Jay's face changed in an instant, fear faded into the background, his hands involuntarily tightened on the weapon, the ninja got into a fighting position.
— Where is that stupid girl?! — Kalmaar was angry, looking around to see if this was a trap, although what kind of girl could we be talking about when you control the most powerful being alive in this world.
— Nya is not here, I will be your opponent instead! — Jay declared, taking a step forward.
— You?! — Kalmaar chuckled.— You are a nobody, a weakling, a pathetic and worthless hero who is looking for his death. — What can you do against me? — The King of Merlopia laughed.
— What can I do? — Jay began to play along, pointedly thinking about his question. — I challenge you to a fight! One on one! — The lightning ninja spoke loudly and clearly in a confident tone, Kalmaar was very surprised and laughed.
— You?! Are you calling me?! Who are you to fight the king?! You're nothing, just a land dweller, and I'm the ruler of all Ninjago! — King Kalmaar laughed. — Wojira, destroy the insolent man! — The King's trident was pointed at Jay.
— Do not rush to conclusions, Kalmaar — Walker decided to dare to say goodbye. — Yes, I am a resident of the land, I am an ordinary guy from a landfill, but that's not all. — Jay put on a mask. — I'm a ninja! I'm a lightning master! — Jay braced himself for the impact.
The sky darkened, it began to rain, thunderclaps sounded and lightning broke out among them, striking the brown-haired man, the first blow was the most powerful, it was he who served as the impetus for the counterattack.
At the moment of lightning hitting him, Jay felt it in every limb, in every place in his body, he did not fall, he stood up, the force that hit him began a metamorphosis:
Jay's body sparkled like lightning on the body of an electric eel, his eyes changed color to blue. His whole body began to transform, his skin turned purple, Jay rose into the sky, and Kalmaar rejoiced, seeing only some sparks of lightning, but when the smoke from the lightning strike dissipated, the sparkling lightning ninja appears before the villain.
— WHAT?! — Kalmaar's face was stricken with surprise, but soon changed to the usual displeasure.
— Did you want the lightning? So get it! — Jay concentrated a fireball in front of him and released it directly into the creature's face, the flash blinded Kalmaar for a short period of time, while Kalmaar was unaware, the ninja took advantage of this and rose into the sky, releasing a new discharge, but at Kalmaar himself. The King could barely resist.
The blow with the trident forced the beast to obey again, Wojira used her breath and a powerful wave was released at Jay, the ninja moved to the creature's forehead.
— Do you think that merging with the force will give you an advantage?! I'm driving a Wojira! The most powerful beast in the world! — The King was rising again.
— Then I'll take it away from you — Kalmaar fired several shots at Jay, but he didn't even try to dodge them, the elements simply dispelled the physical attack. — You wanted to know what a simple inhabitant of the land can do? — Jay came up close to the king. — We can do a lot, and now I'm not fighting on my own behalf, now I'm going to defeat you on behalf of all the inhabitants of the surface, and bring back dry land and peace to the world! — Jay released the force, the Merlopian tried to block the attack with his father's trident, but he could not withstand the onslaught and was broken in two. Wojira immediately freed herself from Kalmaar's control and rebelled against him, once the former king became a snack for her, Jay was more lucky, he managed to teleport from there with the help of the elements, Wojira, having lost control, began to rampage that even all the Merlopians fled to the sides, high-rise buildings that were not absorbed by water, the sea serpent simply destroyed them and their fragments fell into the water.
The ninja flew to a safe distance and saw what his decision to avenge Nya had led to.
— «My actions only made it worse, it seems that to stop all this, you need to destroy the amulets on her forehead, the only way to stop her, the only way to save Ninjago» — Jay fired several powerful lightning bolts into her neck, attracting the creature's attention to himself. — Wojira! I'm here! — The next blow was right in her face, but her breath swallowed him up, just a little more and he would have reached him, water and lightning are incompatible, especially if they are two pure forces.
Jay dodged her attacks and released his own, the sea snake did what it dodged or attacked from under the water, where Walker could not descend or approach.
At the main moment, the lightning master is transferred to her forehead and inhabits the amulet of the Storm, destroying it, because of this, Wojira roared and leaned out of the water at full height, lightning flashed, and she disappeared, and the Boundless waters began to leave the lands of Ninjago, returning to their former borders, the team that already I have been watching this for a long time, fighting with the Merlopians, covering their friend's back, after defeating Wojira, they climbed onto the roof, where Jay was already hanging in his elemental form.
The elemental ninja turns to his friends and looks at Nya lying in Kai's arms, Jay flies up to her and touches her chest, a light current passes through her body, after which Nya opens her eyes and begins to breathe, clearing her throat, greedily gulping air.
— Nya! — A joyful Kai hugged his sister.
— Well done, Jay! You did it! — the earth ninja wanted to hug his friend, but the lightning strike did not give, the earth master quickly moved away.
— Jay, you can be yourself again now — Master Wu said politely.
— Jay?! — The ninja didn't understand. — Who is this guy?! — the question baffled the ninja.
— That's your name — Cole said hesitantly.
Wu looked at him sadly.
— Do you recognize us? — the question is pretty stupid for the team, but the answer was the most unusual.
— I do not know you, but I know that you are good ... — the ninja said slowly.
— What does this mean?! Jay, stop fooling around! — friends did not understand what Wu had already realized.
— Jay — Nya called him softly, leaning on Kai, she came up to him.
— I'm glad you're alive — Jay said, and in a moment looked up at the sky, where lightning was flashing.
— Do you hear that? — Jay asked them, looking at the lightning.
— What are you talking about, Jay? — the brunette did not understand what her Ying meant.
— The Lightning… It's so fast… Such a formidable...— the lightning master answers her, mesmerized.
— It's calling him. — The Prince of Merlopia replied sadly.
— I have to go — Jay suddenly said, walking somewhere.
— Wait, buddy. Let it be you — Cole wanted to put his hand on his best friend's shoulder, but she passed through him like a ghost, electrocuting him. From this, the black ninja gasped, looking at his hand, like everyone else.
— Jay, wait! Where are you going?! Jay! You have to come to your senses, you have to come back to us! — standing in front of Walker, the ninja of the water said, but her beloved did not seem to listen to her and also went through. The girl hissed in pain, turning around, she saw that Jay was already at the edge of the roof.
— Jay, I don't understand what's going on, but I only know one thing: We will find a way and we will definitely bring you back to normal, just please don't leave — the fire ninja said proudly.
— My time in this world is running out, maybe one day we will meet again. — The elemental ninja said with a smile.
— What does it mean in this world?! — Kai approached his friend.
— Jay, Ninjago is your home, our home — Lloyd also joined the conversation.
— Your home, but not mine, flaws are calling me, I have to go, it's hard enough to be in this shell, goodbye! — a flash flashed in front of friends.
— I’m sorry, my friends, but it’s useless... If a person merges with his element together, over time he begins to lose himself: Who is he, does he have friends, family, acquaintances — all this, he will seemingly forget this never happened and is unlikely to ever remember it — Benthomaar spoke with pain in his voice and soul
Realizing this, Nya was speechless, tears involuntarily ran down the girl’s face, falling to the ground.
— Jay, I beg you, so that you don’t hear, so that you don’t experience. Fight it, Jay. Remember who you are, remember this always! — the master’s last instruction was hope for their friend’s return to life. Wu sincerely wished and hoped that Jay would overcome himself and stay, but unfortunately for him, this did not happen.
— I am Jay. I am The Lightning. We are one — turning to his master and friends, the guy says, smiling.
— Jay... I... I love you...— the brunette said sadly, deep down she hoped that he would wake up, remember why he did it, remember everything, in response to this Jay only smiled sweetly at her.
— Farewell, heroes — these were the last words of the savior, the ninja froze, at that very second each of them wanted to take off and rush and stop by force, but the body seemed to refuse them this, they could only watch him rise into the sky , and then disappeared, with the last lightning appearing in the sky before the clouds completely dissolved.
— JAY! NO!!! COME BACK!!! — Nya exclaimed, jumping up and running to the edge of the roof, but it was too late, Jay flew away, and the clouds became ordinary white clouds, as before.
Everyone looked at the sky where Jay was, even after he was gone, no one began to move or say anything, everything was clear without words.
***
— Today we honor the memory of Ninja Jay, who saved our city by sacrificing himself. — Master Wu, like the whole team, stood at the porch of the monastery, where residents from all over Ninjago, all their friends and acquaintances, all fans of ninja and Jay, gathered. — This day will be a day of mourning. — Wu finished his long and sad speech. — And now I give my word to Nya — the water master came forward.
— Jay… He... — It was difficult to start talking, especially about someone who was no longer there, all the residents were looking at her right now, but it was not this that worried her more, but the fact that his parents were among them and not somewhere, but in the very first row, closest of all, Ed — Jay's adoptive father, comforted his adoptive mother, Edna, who cried so bitterly over the loss of their son, they, like Nya, know the truth that Jay is not their own son, but the pain of his loss only increases. — Jay was a joker, it was his thing, he tried to look for nothing, but to put it in everything and everywhere, he could cheer everyone up, and even if sometimes his jokes could offend, but everything he did, including his act today, he wished for you, for us, I had never met such a thing before like Jay, he always helped and supported anyone who needed help, he was not just our friend, not just a ninja, he was something big for everyone here, and I would like to tell you all that despite the fact that he is no longer there, we will continue that what he gave his life for, we will continue to fight for Jay, for everyone who needs help, and let every resident of Ninjago sleep peacefully today! — Nya finished her speech with difficulty, returning to the others.
During her performance, she endured, endured the pain that was inside, held back tears and pain, pain turning into a tsunami that covered her head.
Upon completion, Nya returned to the monastery, and stood near the frame with their joint picture with Jay, only after making sure that she was alone, she let all the pain out, falling to her knees, allowing emotions to take over. Maya and Ray came to her.
— Nya, are you okay?.. — Maya carefully approached her daughter, and when she heard her mother's voice, she quickly removed her tears, getting up from her knees.
— Oh, hi, Mom, I'm just dusting, I think I got dust in my eyes...— the water ninja replied with a smile.
— It's all right. — The elder Smith said, putting her hand on her daughter's shoulder.
— I didn't even have time to say goodbye to him... — Nya tried to hold back her tears.
— Nya, I'm sure Jay will remember you and the others. You and Kai and your friends will save him and you will be together again — the elder Smith tried to comfort.
— I hope so, Mom.… I hope Jay comes back.… I hope that we will definitely bring him back to normal. — Maya's daughter could hardly hold back her tears, trying not to cry again, but her mother silently hugged her, and the water master did not respond with a hug from her mother, but she was not going to push her away.
— It's the time. Are you coming, Nya? — the father asked, Nya only nodded, Ray understood how much she was in pain, they felt the same pain when Krux threatened them with violence against their children.
When the Smiths went outside, the girl looked up at the sky, it was already dark, there was no moon or stars in the sky, just blackness, candles were lit all over the training hall, it was very quiet, as if the monastery was empty or extinct. Each of the residents, the ninja, and Jay's parents had lanterns in their hands.
Ray gave the lanterns to his daughter and wife, and he lit them for each of those present, Kai also took part in this.
And when the last lantern was lit, it was clear the number of those who went out to say goodbye to the hero who fell in battle, only now did Nya realize that the whole of Ninjago City went out into the street with only one single purpose — to say goodbye to the one who gave them peace and hope for a happy and peaceful future. Very soon, all the lanterns one by one were released into the sky, someone was letting out of the windows, someone from the top of the roofs, even the lantern from the Borg building was visible in the sky, this sad and dark night was covered with bright light in an instant, Nya looked at her lantern for a long time, she was the only one who still he did not launch it into the sky, but soon she decided and let it out of her hands, looking at him with a sad sight. Kai was by her side all this time, there was no one closer to him, seeing Nya's condition, with sadness on his face and pain in his heart, he looked at her ... The Fire Ninja hugged his sister.
It was so warm... The brunette remembered how her brother supported her if she couldn't cope and Jay... Remembering her beloved, Nya cried again and cried into her older brother's shoulder, the fire master calmed his sister, sharing her heartache, stroking her back and whispering in her ear that this was not the end yet and they will definitely save him, find a solution, find a way, sooner or later it will happen, and when Jay remembers them and returns, he will start joking and telling different history again, even if sometimes they are not always so funny. Soon, the water master calmed down, she was grateful to Kai and everyone who went outside to support her lover and honor his memory:
— Thank you for being with me this day, thank you to everyone who is next to me now — the brunette whispered, Kai only smiled in response, hugging her again, and Nya only snuggled closer into him.
Kai and Nya's parents looked at their children with a smile, their friends came to the Smiths, everyone looked up at the sky with a smile, illuminated by lanterns, watching as they moved further and further away, flew higher and higher, imperceptibly disappearing one after another.
They will definitely bring their friend back, they hope that they will find a way to return him to his former shape, they hope that Jay will return to them soon... But until that happens, the team had to go through personal problems, as they did before, on the day of Zane's death.
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the-ninjago-historian · 5 months
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Ninjago Remastered Designs!
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THEY'RE DONE! After months of work!!! They are DOOOOOOOOOOONE. WOOOOOOOOOOO! Lol! Welp, these are my Ninjago designs! Basically, this is my take on the Ninja if they were in a 2d animated cartoon! And yes! I will be drawing more characters. Tumblr butchered the quality, so close ups and design notes are below the cut. They're pretty detailed, so I highly recommend checking them out. Feel free to ask questions about the designs! ⬇️⬇️⬇️ - ✒️🐉
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When designing these outfits, I tried to take inspiration from the ones in the show. And in terms of art style, drew inspiration from early 2000s cartoons, (Action Adventure ones specifically,) Anime inspired shows, and even a hint of traditional Disney animation. And while I designed them with a 2d cartoon in mind, most of the designs would most likely have to be simplified for them to be used in animation. So let's get started!
Kai: Kai was a pretty fun to work with. I actually didn't plan on giving him a sleeveless outfit. But it happened! And I like it! If you'll notice, the flame pattern on his vest mirrors the pattern on his sister Nya's outfit. I thought that would be a cool detail to include. It was inspired by their March of The Oni outfits. I also made sure to include his scar and bandaid. And gave him reddish brown eyes to signify his elemental power. Him and sister I imagine being Brazilian/Taiwanese. So I hope I captured their ethnicity properly. I'm pretty happy with this design. Especially his hair, which was hard to replicate.
Jay: Jay was a hard one for sure. I wasn't too sure how to vamp up his outfit. So I started by giving him some lightning patterns on his Gi. (At least I think that's what it's called?) And I decided to make it look a little baggy and soft. It just seemed to suit him. I tried something a little more form fitting and didn't look right. Also! A fun detail I included was his half the Yin Yang pendent around his neck! And of course Nya has her half. I imagine him having Irish ancestry, so I gave him pale, freckled skin. And gorgeous curly red hair. (As a fellow red head, I'm very proud.) Overall, I think he turned out pretty adorable. And his face is spot on.
Nya: Nya I pretty much got right on the first try! I just had a really clear vision of her in my head. I gave her a grey outfit with bright, vibrant blue details. The pattern on her Gi is inspired by Koi Scales. And she has her half of the Yin Yang pendent around her neck. I really like this one, because while it is simple, it's beautiful. And I think it reflects her element nicely. The only thing I missed was to give her a symbol like the rest. But overall, I love it! One more thing is that I wanted to give her and Pixal different hair. So when I finally release my Pixal design, you'll see that while they both have ponytails, I gave them different cut and styled ones. Should be neat!
Zane: Zane was the first one of the Ninjas I redesigned! I love how he turned out. I tried to give him a splintered ice effect on his outfit inspired by his Core minifigure and gave him his faithful falcon companion. Falcon has his old greyish purple feathers, but blue icy eyes to match his owner. I also wanted to give Zane flowing sleeves, that would look very majestic waving about in a blizzard wind. He is also incredibly tall. Taller than Cole even! I was inspired by the giant humanoid robots I'd seen in movies. In his cloaking disguise, I imagine him looking German. With blond hair, blue eyes, and light skin. I also like to think Dr Julian was German. (Was this influenced by my German ancestry? Who knows?)
Cole: You would not believe how many times I had to redraw this man's face. Haha! I just could find that sweet spot! That face that perfectly encapsulated his strong, but gentle personality. But I think I did it! His outfit is based on his Oni Trilogy Gi, with orange detailing. And he has his Island ponytail and bandana. I absolutely loved that hair style on him. So I had to use it! And if you'll notice, he has a beautiful tattoo on his right arm, with his symbol in the center. I imagine him being half Maori, from his mother's side. And the tattoo was inspired by Maori tattoos I saw pictures of. I'm not too sure how accurate those images were. But hopefully I hit the mark.
Lloyd: Finally! Our green Ninja Lloyd! His outfit was inspired by two things. Dragons, and his outfit from the Secrets of Forbidden Spinjitsu seasons. I gave him a beautiful golden dragon and cloud pattern on his clothes, a leather arm guard, and shoulder pads. If you look closer, you'll also see he has cat-like dragon eyes which pays homage to his dragon and Oni heritage. I like to think that depending on his emotions, his eyes will go from slits, to big and wide. So they are good indicators for his mood. I also imagine him being Japanese. But his powers give him his classic blond hair and green eyes. I'm very happy with this design. His hair, eyes, and face all look exactly how I see him in my head.
Well, that's all. I hope you enjoyed these designs and notes! I assure you, you will see more of the them.
Bye! - ✒️🐉
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qiangweirosa · 2 months
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a talk
" As Nya and Jay finally start planning their wedding, Nya is haunted by memories of darker times. Ironically enough, Jay is the only person who could possibly understand what she's going through.
or, ninjago writers dont bring up their skybound trauma enough so im taking matters into my own hands. "
relationships: jay/nya, nya & kai, cole & jay tws: hurt/comfort, flashbacks, skybound trauma wc: 1821 extra: set sometime between the end of crystallized and the merge!
read on ao3!
Kai sat down on the bed.
“Come on, spit it out.”
Nya glanced at him, barely turning her head. She laid on her bed in the monastery, and had been staring at the ceiling for quite some time before Kai came in. He looked at her expectantly, an eyebrow raised and his head tilted towards her. She sighed.
“What are you talking about?”
She asked only half heartedly; she knew more than enough that Kai wouldn’t take her avoidance as an answer. Nya sat up, and stared at her own hands, fidgeting in her lap.
“You know what I’m talking about.”
Of course she knew. With another sigh, she looked back at Kai and took his expression in: behind the surface-level annoyance, she could see worry. Of course he’d be worried about her, she thought, especially since she’d been acting unusually in the past few days, if not weeks.
Nya glanced back down before speaking up.
“I don’t think you’d be able to help. Don’t worry about me too m-”
“Does it have to do with your and Jay’s secret?”
Nya froze. Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open for a few moments. She looked at Kai, her eyebrows furrowing in silent confusion. Perhaps her expression was what prompted him to speak up again, elaborating on his statement.
“You know, the thing you two keep trying to be secretive about?? When you exchange glances, giggle together, and whatever.”
She blinked.
“You noticed??”
“Uh, I think we all noticed, Nya.”
“Oh.”
This was unexpected. Nya sighed again and shook her head, leaning her head back against the board of her bed.
“Yeah, it is.”
Kai nodded. He seemed to take it better than Nya had imagined; though maybe that was because he’d already known she was hiding something from him. Well, it wasn’t like it had been the first time she kept secrets from Kai, or the rest of the team. But he certainly had reacted better than he did when he found out she was Samurai X. She was somewhat thankful.
She felt a hand rest on top of hers, and looked back at Kai to see him looking directly at her. His face had become much more caring; but Nya knew him. She could tell he wasn’t entirely enjoying the fact that she wouldn’t talk to him. Nonetheless, he still tried to put those feelings aside and give her advice.
“Then maybe you should talk to him, if it’s bothering you this much. Sulking over it on your own isn’t gonna solve anything.” He shrugged.
Nya smiled. She knew he was right, it wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about doing it. It just wasn’t an easy topic to bring up, for either of them. In all the years that had passed since then, they had only really talked about it twice; and only because they had been having worries about it.
Which, technically, was the case here too.
She nodded at Kai, thanking him and intertwining her hands with his. He smiled back, pulling her in for a hug, or the closest thing to a hug they could manage in their current position, leaving them both laughing about it. Soon enough, he left her room, leaving Nya alone once again to her thoughts. 
She looked down at her necklace. Although she didn’t like to wear it when fighting or practicing - jewelry during a fight is practically a direct ticket to choking, she wore it almost every other time. Which wasn’t a lot, now that she thought about it, but it was still enough to be significant to her. The necklace had her yang pendant on it, the one Jay had given her when he proposed to her a few years back. She gazed at it fondly, playing with it with her hands.
A few moments later, she had made up her mind. She would talk to Jay about this entire situation, and hopefully they would get past it. Finally. She knew deep down that, obviously, a talk wasn’t going to make their shared trauma disappear, but hopefully it would make her feel better, for now at the very least.
Today was an off day for the ninja; meaning Jay was most likely to be found either on the couch playing video games, or in the kitchen snacking on something. As soon as Nya walked into the living room, a smile crept onto her face and she chuckled to herself. It seems living with the same people for so many years really makes you aware of their daily habits, she thought.
She approached the couch, leaning her hip against as she crossed her arms to look over the scene in front of her. Cole and Jay were going at it, intensely focused on whatever game they were playing - looks like Prime Empire , she thought - to the point they hadn’t even noticed she was here. A bit further away, sitting at the table, was Lloyd, absentmindedly fiddling with his phone. He however, seemed to notice Nya, acknowledging her presence with a short glance. 
Nya glanced back at the screen as she heard shouts, seeing the “LEVEL PASSED” screen she had expected. She watched Jay and Cole high five each other, before Jay raised his head and seemed to finally notice her presence. His face beamed, and he grinned at her. His excitement must have been visible to Cole too; since the older man decided to turn around, and smiled as well upon seeing her.
They invited her to play; she shook her head no, before looking back to Jay and calling him to get his attention.
“Do you mind if we have a talk?”
Nya could feel time stop as she spoke, watching Jay gulp and anxiety flash in his eyes. She quickly added:
“I’m not mad at you, I just wanna discuss something. It can wait though, if you’re busy.”
Nya gestured at Cole and the TV vaguely. Jay nodded and put his controller down, standing up and walking towards her.
“It’s fine! I can play later.”
Before Nya could drag him away though, he turned back to Cole and shouted, an accusatory tone lacing his voice.
“You better not play any more levels before I’m back!!”
Nya laughed at their antics. She could vaguely hear Cole respond something as she made her way down the hall, back to her room. She stood in the doorway until Jay appeared in front of her, and dragged him inside. She pushed the door closed behind them, sighing.
“Is something the matter?”
Jay was the first to speak up. He tilted his head to the side, moving to grab Nya’s hands in his.
“You’ve been acting weird for a few days… Did something happen?”
Nya stared at him for a few moments. She stared deep into his beautiful ocean eyes, her lips pursed. Jay’s eyebrows had furrowed, concern etched all over his face. Finally, she took a deep breath and spoke up.
“It’s about Nadakhan.”
She could see Jay’s breath catch in his throat, and his eyes widen. He took a deep breath as well, and squeezed her hands in his. His face looked a lot more serious than a few seconds ago as he urged her to continue.
“Okay.”
“Kai told me to talk with you about it. Well, about my worries, more precisely, but they’re about what happened with him.”
Jay nodded, a sign for Nya to keep talking.
“I’ve been getting… flashbacks. Of when I was with him. Especially since we’ve been talking about actually organizing our wedding, and all, I just… I keep seeing myself in Delara’s dress again, and getting nightmares about it over and over and it’s just-” She stopped herself to sigh. “That’s… about it.”
Sometime through her rant, Nya started looking at the floor with a frown on her face. Her hands held Jay’s tightly, and he could tell that she would be clenching her fists, had he not been holding them. 
He released one of her hands to cup her face, a shaky smile forming on his face to try and comfort her.
“I mean, it’s pretty understandable, you know? I’d be scared too if I had been forcibly married to a thousand year old djinn at 13 and then possessed by his dead girlfriend.”
Nya laughed. Jay’s smile widened.
“And like, if you want, you don’t have to wear a dress. We don’t even have to get married yet!! I mean we’ve been waiting for both of us to be ready for it, so if you’re not ready yet then I’ll wait more!”
Nya looked back at him with a smile. She felt tears well up in her eyes. Jay was right; there was no reason for them to rush things, after all. 
“You’re right. Thanks. And I do wanna get married, don’t get me wrong… I guess I’d forgotten I can just not wear a dress.”
Her hands moved up to wipe her eyes, and she felt Jay grab her face with his own. He looked at her, his eyes shining, and his thumbs gently caressing her cheeks. 
“Can I kiss you?”
She nodded, and he leaned in to crash his lips on hers. Nya felt Jay grin into their kiss, and she could see his face growing pink. After they pulled away from each other, Jay rested his hands on her shoulders and looked away, coughing to try and regain his composure. After he failed, as he usually did - for some reason, even after being together for half a decade, he was still a nervous wreck everytime they kissed -, he spoke up once more.
“You’re not alone in this. I’m here for you and, uh, I’ll do my best to support you through all this.” He gestured vaguely with his hand. “Be it related to him or related to our wedding, or, you know, anything else.”
Nya smiled at him, tilting her head up to press a kiss to Jay’s forehead.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“Hey, don’t thank me for this, come on! It’s not even the bare minimum!”
Nya laughed as he protested, Jay’s arms stretching at his sides as he kept repeating himself.
Eventually, the two of them ended up going back to the living room and joining Cole on the couch, picking up two controllers and playing with him. After a few levels, Jay seemed to have a realization and turned to Nya in shock.
“Wait, did you say Kai told you to talk to me?? Does he know?!” 
Nya stared at him in confusion for a moment.
“Oh, that! Apparently, they all know?? Well, not about what happened, but that we’re hiding something.”
Cole chimed in.
“Yeah, dude, you’re not exactly discreet about it…”
Nya chose to not listen to the rest of the conversation, already knowing the two best friends would start bickering. She simply giggled and mindlessly stared at Jay. She loved him so much.
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iamabigweirdo · 1 year
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Am I the only one or is jay and nya so cute together! They are a perfect match for each other. Plus when he asked her to be his Yang..I mean come on if that wasn’t adorable enough then I don’t know what is. Such a great couple. The art is by gmlth1249 on twitter.
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moonlightmerchant0 · 2 months
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Ninjago - Jaya
This is basically how I would rewrite Jay/Nya, exploring more into their individual issues and how their relationship would develop.
It's honestly pretty similar to canon, from what I remember at least.
Nya and Jay start dating early on, but it wasn't really serious at first. Jay saw a pretty girl and flirted with her, Nya saw a funny guy flirting with her and thought 'sure why not.' They were both still young and inexperienced with relationships, so they didn't really think ahead any further than, "I like them, I wanna date them."
However, after some time they start to butt heads (Nya's hyper-independence, abandonment issues, and lack of displays of affection clash with Jay's obnoxious personality, attachment issues and lack of self-worth).
Jay smothers Nya with affection, clinging to her and blabbering on and on about how much he likes her, which makes her feel uncomfortable.
Nya is reserved and closed off, not really giving overt displays of affection, as well as not really setting aside much time for Jay. This sets off Jay's insecurities, causing him to feel like he isn't really a priority for her.
Eventually, after many many arguments, they sit down and have a talk (Nya starts it, since Jay is too busy living in denial-land). They decide that they really do care for each other, but if they want to have a serious relationship, they need to work things out.
Nya sets some boundaries, saying that she doesn't like Jay always following her around and giving over-the-top displays of love. Jay is hurt upset by this at first, seeing it as a sort of rejection, but she explains that she doesn't hate it, she just feels uncomfortable and overwhelmed by it sometimes and would prefer more space for herself.
Jay admits that he feels kind of neglected and pushed aside, like she doesn't really like him or sees him as a high priority. Nya agrees to try to open up more and put more value in their relationship.
Their relationship improves after that, with Nya lowering her walls around Jay and setting aside more time for him, and Jay taking his attention down a notch and giving her room to breath.
There are still some more rocky periods of course, but as the show goes on and they start to grow and change as people, they grow even closer and their love for each other only deepens.
Eventually, after months of overthinking, they're put in a situation where Jay genuinely believes that they might not survive. He decides 'fuck it, it's now or never' and proposes to Nya, asking her to be his yang (fiance). Nya is surprised of course, but she has grown and is no longer a person who dives into something half-sure. She replies with a resounding 'yes!'
However, after the latest disaster is finally dealt with and they have time to talk, she admits that she isn't sure if she's ready to marry him yet. She reassures him that, while she did say yes in the heat of the moment, she is 100% certain that she wants to spend the rest of her life with him. She just isn't sure if she's ready to commit right now.
Before, Jay might have gotten upset by this. But he has also grown into himself, and simply tells her that he will happily wait until she's ready, even if it takes years. (Yes, I am drawing inspiration from Rapunzel and Eugene from Tangled The Series, I love them so much)
This was super long and I don't really know how to end it, but basically their relationship has some issues at first, but it becomes something so happy and healthy and they love each other so so so much and I love them <3
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indigosky101 · 6 months
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Jay asking Nya to be his Yang was a proposal, and you can’t change my mind about that. We’ve been watching their relationship grow for 15 seasons, let them have gotten married in-between 15 and 16 PLEASE
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finn-m-corvex · 6 months
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Whumptober Day 29: Scented Candle
Day 29! This one was definitely one that I had to bend a little bit, but I still think I did a good job given how clunky the prompt can be. And I think I got some decent angst out of it but I'll let you all be the judge of that!
Taglist: @splinnters @abigailxoxo @tornoleander @mondothebombo @ghostwalloper @toastingpencils37 @lightning-chicken
Words: 2.1k
The smell was the first thing that Jay noticed when he stepped into the store.
It was overwhelming, and Jay didn’t know if that was because of his sharper senses or if it really was just that strong. No one else seemed to be affected by it, so he kept his mouth shut and continued walking into the Bath and Body Works, hand in hand with Nya.
Nya was taking a big risk by going in here with her perfume allergy, but she thought that it was worth it to try and get some decent-smelling candles. They finally had an actual building for a house for the first time in years, and everyone was sick of smelling Wu’s incense all the time, so the Ninja collectively put their foot down and decided to get some stuff to try and make Yang’s Temple feel more like a home rather than a smelly church.
“What do you think?” she asked, holding up a pink strawberry candle. Jay sniffed, grimacing, and she was quick to put it back down. “Yeah, me neither. Let’s try some of these ones.”
“Are you sure? I thought you liked strawberries.”
“I do, but you need to like it too with how much time you’re going to be spending in my room.”
Blushing, Jay continued to follow her, watching as she skimmed through all of the fruity flavors that they had in stock. He knew that they were her favorite even if he couldn’t stand most of their smells, but they finally found an apple one that they could agree on. She plopped it into the basket, and finally it was time to look at all the smells that Jay would love.
He had been doing his damndest to stay on the side of the store away from all of the woody smells. Nya knew why, and he knew why, but the others didn’t. Cole kept shooting him weird looks over his shoulder, because as far as he knew, Jay still adored the smells of the outdoors.
Not anymore.
There was a small graham cracker candle that smelled heavenly, and Jay was quick to snatch it up and show it to Nya. It reminded him of the smores that he would make with his pa when he was little, the smoke curling into the sky as he burnt the hell out of the marshmallow because tha was the only way to eat a true smore. Maybe if he found a marshmallow candle and something chocolatey he would be able to make the ultimate smores candle.
“Honey, they have a smores candle right here,” Nya chuckled, holding it up.
“But then it’s not special,” Jay insisted, clutching the graham cracker candle to his chest as he scanned through the shelves, “and we need it to be special. Now help me find a marshmallow one.”
“If you say so.”
Cole eventually walked over to help, and Jay smelled a very vague whiff of perfume around his brother. Pushing Nya behind him in panic, Jay fixed Cole with a stern glare. “Dude!”
“What?”
“Perfume? Seriously? Nya is allergic!”
Rolling his eyes, the earth ninja held up his wrist. “Relax, Jay, it’s unscented.”
“Unscented my ass! I could smell you coming from three aisles over!”
Nya leaned around Jay and sniffed at Cole’s wrist, relaxing when it didn’t trigger any reaction. It actually smelled kinda nice. “I think your nose is too sensitive, it’s fine.”
Jay grumbled as they continued looking through the store stock; he had already come far too close to losing her permanently, so of course he was still going to be a bit overprotective. Anxiety buzzed in his chest, making its way up his hands and starting to make him shake. He swiftly put the candles down, not willing to pay for anything that he might drop. Maybe he was the one who shouldn’t be around perfume anymore.
Apparently, having vague thoughts about his girlfriend dying was enough to trigger memories of everything else.
Feeling his throat start to close up, Jay grabbed at Nya’s hand with a tight grip. He needed to get out of here. There were too many smells and too many colors and too much everything. “Nya—”
“Hey, Jay!” Kai exclaimed, and something was shoved under Jay’s nose. “Smell this one!”
Out of instinct Jay took a sniff, and he immediately gagged.
Sandalwood.
All of Nadakhan’s shit smelled like sandalwood.
The room smelled like sandalwood, and so did his stuff, and so did he—
Cole tried to catch him as Jay collapsed onto the ground, throwing himself backwards in an effort to get as far away from the candle as possible. Even just the smallest graze of his brother’s hands made Jay reel away, and there was the sound of glass shattering as he pulled himself up on one of the shelves. There was a stinging pain in his shin but he ignored it, also ignoring the smear of red along the floor as he finally figured his legs out and started making for the exit. Only the barest bit of self-restraint kept him from sprinting out of there like a madman, but he still looked mighty suspicious from his unsteady gait and the blood flowing down from his scraped knee. Hopefully everyone would just think he was some drunk looking for a place to sleep off the alcohol instead of one of the famed ninja breaking down.
No one else tried to stop him, but he could faintly hear them calling his name through the rush of blood in his ears. Rushing out of the store, Jay quickly made himself scarce in the crowd; for as loud as he could be, he always knew how to hide when he didn’t want to be found.
There were too many people. It was getting harder and harder to take a breath as he was jostled on both sides, and Jay knew that he was going to have to pull over in a minute. Before, the mall had never bothered him, and it even was a place that Jay was excited to go and visit. Malls never existed near the Sea of Sands, and seeing so many stores gathered in one place threw him for a loop when he visited for the first time as a small thirteen-year-old.
But what once felt like a lavish palace now felt like a prison.
There was a gap in the wall and Jay ducked into it, noticing that it was a small hallway leading to the bathrooms. At the end of the hall was an unlocked family restroom, and Jay could only hope and pray that nobody would need it for the next little bit because he definitely was not going to break down in a men’s public restroom if he could help it.
Lock clicking shut behind him, Jay curled on the floor with his cheek to the cool tile, letting it ground him as he did his best to ignore whatever thoughts he had about the hygiene in this place. Blood was dripping down his leg, and he cringed away from the feeling of it soaking into his sock. His hands wouldn’t stop shaking, no matter how hard he clenched them into fists.
“You’re okay,” he whispered to himself, getting up off the floor and turning on the sink. He cupped his hands and splashed the cold water on his face, “you’re okay. Just need to breathe.”
He kept looking in the mirror, checking if anything was behind him even though he knew that he locked the door. Nadakhan didn’t need to use doors.
The smell of sandalwood was still clogging his nose, and Jay hurriedly reached for the small container of hand soap. Unscrewing the top, he shoved it under his nose and took a deep breath, trying to let the overwhelming smell of mint replace the offending smell so he could finally start to calm down.
Except the mint wasn’t doing shit.
He threw the bottle on the counter in frustration, and could only watch as it started spilling all over the counter. Hastily trying to clean it up, Jay kept exhaling forcefully through his nose to try and clear it, but nothing was working. Nothing was getting rid of it.
Pathetic. A famed hero of Ninjago who had faced down countless enemies, saved the world no less than five times, brought down to his knees by a fucking candle? Not just to his knees, but in a filthy public restroom in the middle of the Ninjago City Mall where anyone could come walking up and they would hear him crying.
Was he crying?
Yeah, he was crying, reaching up and feeling the tears on his cheeks. Jay grabbed a paper towel and wiped his face off, even though he knew that they would be replaced only a moment later. Wetting another paper towel under the sink, he figured it was finally time to try and clean out the cut on his shin.
Or multiple cuts, he realized as he looked down, and the familiar sight of blood staining his leg made him nauseous. Sitting down on his rear, Jay took a closer look, heart sinking when he realized that some of the glass shards were still in his leg. No wonder it was hurting so badly, but now that meant that he had to actually take the shards out.
Yippee.
Puting the paper towel back up on the counter, Jay reached for the first shard with a trembling hand. Tugging it out as gently as he could, he flinched from the fresh blood that flowed from the wound, and he dropped the shard on the floor from his surprise. There was too much blood and it was getting on his hands and it was dark and red and everywhere and First Master he couldn’t do this. He couldn’t do this.
A knock at the bathroom door. “Jay?”
“Nya?” Of course it was her, it was just Nya, not Nadakhan or his brothers or a stranger or anyone else to be worried about. “I’m in here.”
“I know, I followed your trail,” Nya said, and Jay hated how awful it made him feel to hear that civillians may have had to see his bloody trail left on the ground. Children may have had to see it. “Can I come in?”
Jay took a deep breath, pushing down his anxiety and getting up. “Yeah, hold on a sec.”
Flipping the lock over, Nya gave him a minute to back away from the door before opening it and making her way inside. She locked it behind her, which Jay was grateful for, and she knelt down next to where he had plopped down onto the floor. Caressing his cheek, she pecked him on the lips, and Jay felt the scent of vanilla wash over him; she must’ve put some on before coming to find him.
He buried his face in her hair when she leaned in for a hug, and Nya gently pressed her hand against the nape of his neck. “You okay?”
And he really wanted to lie, but he couldn’t find the energy to. “No.”
“What’s wrong?” Nya asked, and Jay tightened his hold around her. She was here, and she was breathing, and he was breathing, and that was everything that he could’ve asked for.
“There’s glass in my leg,” Jay said, swallowing thickly, “and I think I’m going to cry. I-Is that okay?”
“Of course it is,” Nya reassured, playing with the baby hairs on the nape of his neck. Her hands were cool against his skin, and Jay craned his head forward to give her more access. “I’ll take care of the glass, but it’s definitely going to sting. Just tell me if I need to stop, alright?”
Jay nodded, and he tried to keep as still as possible as Nya slipped on her pair of spare rubber gloves. All of them always carried some on their persons, just in case anything were to happen out in public; you never know what sort of bodily fluids you would have to touch that day, and you did a lot of that in their line of work. He hid his face in the crook of her neck as she started pulling the shards out, quick and efficient but still gentle. Just like her.
Nya was humming some random tune that Jay picked up, and the sound was comforting to him in a way that the whirring of the air vents and the mall chatter outside never could be. The panic didn’t quite subside, and he doubted that it would until they finally made it home, but this? This was okay. He could deal with this.
“Thanks, Nya.”
“Don’t mention it. Next time though, tell me you need to leave before running out on me, okay?”
“No promises.”
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graceful-not · 5 months
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Uhh a response to @ccbcrazy 's video on Conya except it got too long and I put too much effort into it to just make it a reblog. So uh. VERY LONG rambling about why my feelings on Conya are complicated that somehow managed to have way too much Jay in it. why does he keep sneaking in here goddamnit.
OKAY SO FIRST OF ALL YEAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!! THE SILLIES EVER!!!! I love the way you organized the bullet points! Made everything very easy to follow (other than all the times the audio cut out RIP 💀) but. yeah . yeah them. they are sooooo. SO! UAUAUUA.
I agree with most of your points (and relate very very much w/ that bit about being ace and the Love At First Sight trope, though I'm aro and not ace), and ESPECIALLY with how Skybound handled everything (I could say so much about how much I hate despise the way they resolved Jaya in Skybound it's so icky I hate it I hate it I hate it I HATE IT), but I don't really have much to add to them, so I'll here are my random disjointed thoughts that sometimes and sometimes do not align with yours:
at some points, the emphasis on how it's something guilty and forbidden and how she "wants him but she can't have him", to quote that one Cole fangirl. It.. sat weirdly with me? As well as the phrasing of "the narrative wants him to be self-sacrificing", when talking about Cole on one of the slides. It feels weird to phrase it like that, as if the narrative is pushing him into that role rather than it being part of who he is, y'know? And the reason that the "yearning for what you know you can't have" aspect felt strange to me was that Cole putting friendship over his romantic relationships is a VERY significant thing about him for me. He values his friendships and family over any kind of romance, and would rather forfeit a potential romance than lose a friend, even if that friend hurt him. Which felt weird when the rest of the slideshow made it clear that you, like me, enjoy Conya because above all else, Cole loves Nya as a comrade and an equal. As a friend, before and even IF he loves her as anything else, which as you point out, isn't something we can definitively say about the other relationships (especially Jaya. I like it, I really do, and I'd say I think I like it more than Conya? but it's. it's VERY complicated and messy and they aren't really stable like. At All. for a while.)
And that part of Cole resonated with me a lot; the part that's perfectly fine not pursuing Nya because he doesn't NEED that connection like Jay does, because he's satisfied and content with where he is in their relationship now, after they both calm down and he realizes it isn't worth it, because it isn't even something he wants all THAT much. (The larger issue is that Jay was against him spending time with her at ALL, even as friends, because he was being possessive and insecure which is a whole host of other things-)
And actually? Y'know what? I'm gonna talk about Jay for a bit bc I feel like, though you did have a few slides on it and touch on it, you didn't really talk about how Jay is a very fundamental aspect of Conya's dynamic in-canon, as Nya's Yang and Cole's best friend (A title which he bestowes upon himself, I might add.) Jay is... Not Very Secure In His Relationships for the first few seasons. It stems from feeling inferior and weak compared to everyone else, which grows into clinginess and possessiveness for the ones that DO choose him, because he's afraid they'll leave, which in turn pushes them away because he's being Weird About It. He has this habit of... sorting those closest to him into neat little boxes that reassure him (Nya as his girlfriend who loves him and finds him funny and won't leave him and Cole as his best friend who's loyal and supportive and also won't ever leave him, and, as you'll note, he's the one that starts both of these, with asking Nya out and proclaiming Cole as his bestie during Skybound.) And when those people step out of those boxes, the change unsettles him, and he panics and doubles down on his tactics, sometimes even resorting to violence (which makes things worse and pushes them away more and... you get it. it's a whole cycle.) So.. Nya and Cole and their interactions are very defined by What Jay Will Let Them Do, for the first few seasons. What won't set him off, what is Good and Innocent and won't make him insecure. S1-7 Jay would NOT have let the hand nuzzle happen. But I believe S8-15 Jay WOULD. Because he's actually secure in his relationship with Nya and they trust each other, and he trusts Cole, etc. etc.
And I feel like them having an undercurrent of romantic tension kind of spits in the face of that?? I dunno. It makes the intention a little wobbly. I like the idea that it comes from a place of camaraderie, where platonic love can also be deep and intimate and layered, and not just repressed romantic feelings. Because the thought that either of them are just pining and never having that resolved makes me sad for all three of them :(.
But I DO like to think that Cole is a little bit madly in love with all of his friends in different ways (just like me fr..) and Nya's the one he latched onto back in S3 because she's a girl and heteronormativity. Cole has a lot of love in his heart ok and he cares about them very very much 🥹. And he loves and supports them and maybe he wants to kiss some or all of them but he can't do that so he's fine where he is. really he is. he's fine. HES FINE!!! he's okay when she puts a hand on his shoulder and he doesn't know how to express that he loves her so so so much and he missed her but not in the way that Jay loves her, in a different way, but he feels like it's just as important but Jay obviously didn't see it that way and he doesn't know if he does now, and how he loves them all different but so so strongly and how can she and Jay even make it so simple it's so EASY for them to wear the Yin/Yang relationship label it just FITS even though none of those relationships are alike how can the same label work when the love is obviously so different and he doesn't know if Nya even could understand that, understand how much his heart bursts with affection and fondness for her and the others, but she DOES she DOES get how you can love someone so much that there maybe aren't correct words for it, that's why Jay was the one to propose because she was just happy the way they were, and she's happy the way they are now and she's happy the way she and Cole are now except she can't be because they keep getting TORN APART and they can't ever really be happy because they're all always in danger ALL THE TIMe- sorry got carried away aha.
but yeah. And then Jay is there. and i can't let myself think Abt Conya too long because I get really sad about him. bc he's not LIKE THAT. He doesn't Get It like they (and I haha was it clear I am maybe projecting) do. The labels are comforting to him, rather than unneeded or even restricting in the way they could never encompass the full force of the feelings. They're like signifiers that the love is real, is there, is Official, which isn't something the others need because they already take the loving as a fact and a given, and Jay doesn't! He doubts his relationships and needs the reassurance of the labels, to be able to say, definitively, "This is my Yang, which means we love eachother romantically and complete eachother and are missing a piece without eachother and" (do you see where the problem is. The proposal scene was so cute but I think about his little rambly speech a little too much BUDDY WITH ANY OTHER PERSON ITD BE CUTE BUT WITH YOU AND YOUR TRACK RECORD ITS CONCERNING) But that also means that when the "rules" are broken he thinks it means the love is also broken because now the label has been dismantled and that's! NOT TRUE!!! AHH!!!!!!!! I truly think he would be cured if he made out with someone other than Nya (w/ her permission obv) for like ten seconds but he would literally never do that. but it would fix him I know this in my heart if Nya told him to go out and get some bitches he would be cured of All of His Complexes he would experience Enlightenment through the knowledge that he could do that and his relationship with Nya would still be valid and their feelings wouldn't change just because he did it and he would ALSO get to kiss someone about it. Literally win-win. Maybe it could even be Cole. this is how mudshock shippers stay winning.
And THATS always been my biggest issue with Conya. They never know what to do with Jay. Because if he found out Nya doesn't love him and is IN LOVE WITH HIS BEST FRIEND he would literally never recover all of his self worth issues that he overcame down the fucking drain bitch!! because everything bad he thought about himself has been proven true! AND THE REASON HE ACTS LIKE THAT IN THE FIRST FEW SEASONS IS BC THATS EXACTLY WHAT HES TERRIFIED OF HAPPENING!! And because he's so insecure and also has so much amatonormativity entrenched within him because the rules and restrictions reassure him, he's diametrically opposed to Conya! so I can't let myself have a Conya AU without Jay unpacking all of that and being Okay with people experiencing love differently, and then maybe realizing he doesn't have to love so restrictively anymore either, and THEN Conya can be whatever the fuck is going on with them in peace. Or he finds out Nya is in love with Cole and almost loses his shit before they both tell him they are also still in love with him. And he's like "oh thank God wait Cole ur in love with me" and that would fix him. Imagine thinking you're literally the worst and then you pull both Nya AND Cole while actively being kind of a jerk to them. how do you have the self worth issues after that shdbsjdb.
anyway go watch the video 👍
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blu3cl0v3rs · 6 months
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Summary: The Ninja find some ghosties in their attic.
Warnings: a bad attempt at the author trying to be cryptic
Prompt: Crow | "Why is it so cold in here?"
Extra: Uh oh! This is set in my "The Ghosts In My Attic" AU. I don't know if I'll keep this as accurate to the AU, it's all still a work in progress! Also, Pixal kinda "left" Zane's body earlier, because I said so.
They were suspicious. Cole would often disappear, never explaining or even bringing up why or where he was going. After literal months of this, Zane checked and he went to the attic. Every single time.
Why? What was in the attic? Whenever they ask, he would shy away from the question, so we tried not to push.
But creaky floorboards and echoey, distorted voices piqued their curiosities. After Cole snuck out of the attic and vanished around the corner, the others slunk through shadows to the rickety ladder, scaling it with ease and climbing through the hatch into the top floor. They spread out, looking for anything up there.
"There seems to be nothing here," Zane pointed out. The loft only had Sensei Yang's altar and some large crates, but the light that filtered through the ragged blinds exposed the dust and old floors showed just how empty the space was.
Kai rubbed his arms, "Why is it so cold in here?"
A gust of wind blasted through the cracks.
"A better question is," Nya said as she swiped a gloved finger on one of the crates, wrinkling her nose at the amount of dust, "Why does Cole like being up here?"
The only noise they could hear were each other shuffling around and some annoying crows that refused to leave, despite the fact that Pixal was rather loudly working on her mech.
"Maybe he liked the quiet?" Lloyd asked confusedly, glancing around once more.
"Or he liked the abandoned vibe of the- AAA!" Jay yelped as he tripped over a smaller crate and knocked over a larger one.
"Jay!" Nya darted to her boyfriend's side, quickly checking him over before lightly hitting him. "Don't scare me like-"
Her pause yanked everyone's gaze and attention to her and what she was looking at.
There sat a rather awkward looking ghost, wrapped in ripped fabric and chains and eerily resembling-
"Hey, isn't that the ghost that attacked us at the train station?" Kai blurted. Way to interrupt the narrator.
They all prepared for a fight, and Nya quickly summoned water as a warning. The breeze spiked, hair whipped around and into faces. The ghost's hands shot up, their weapon nowhere in sight. This confused the Ninja, until-
"Aw man," Cole slumped as his head popped up from the entrance. "The jig's up, guys."
He stepped fully into the room, eyes darting around the attic.
He sighed. "Nya, put the water away."
"Why? The last time we saw him, he tried to kill us!" she exclaimed, water curving and spiraling in sync. When it got too close, the wind seemed to blow it away.
"Well, first off he doesn't have a weapon. Second, he's with me now. He isn't gonna hurt anyone."
"Oh, he isn't gonna hurt anyone now, huh?" Kai retorted, "He tried to kill us!"
"But he's changed!"
"Yeah!" the ghost piped up.
"Like we'd trust what you have to say," Nya snarked, water waving dangerously.
"'m bein' honest, Water Ninja. I'm not with the Preeminent anymore. I'm a changed ghost!" Wrayth gesticulated along with his growly voice.
One hand got too close for Nya's liking, and the water swiped at it. A gale slapped it onto her face, and she lost focus.
"Was that..?" Jay muttered.
"Morro," Lloyd's shoulder's were tight, jaw clenched. A preemptive ball of energy formed around his hand as Nya regained her bearings and grabbed a bigger ball of liquid.
The horribly familiar green figure emerged from a wall.
"What do you want, Morro," Kai growled, stepping in front of Lloyd.
"Nothing," he answered simply. The winds halted as he slowly brought his palms into view near his head.
-
Cutting this off at a cliffhanger-ish definitely not because i don't know where to go with this-
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the-ninja-legacy-whip · 7 months
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sorry if this has been asked before, but since it's halloween, is there any chance you can talk about some of your plans for dotd in legacy whip?
It's been asked about a little bit, but I've never gone into full detail!! And you tricky little anon, asking me just the right question when I'm in just the right mood *boops your nose*
So the "Day of the Departed" is getting it's own story! It's not quite expanded out into a "full season", but it's getting the treatment it deserves, darn it!
It takes places during the DotD of 20X3, which is when the Yin Yang Eclipse happens (and Mystake alluded to during DotD in Book 2, so like...two years from the current time)
The main focus is, of course, that Cole's starting to fade away, and being hurt that everyone's literally forgetting about him (which has already been one of his greatest insecurities). Enraged, and thinking that this might be his last chance to make an impact on anything, he goes to Yang's Temple to confront Yang (and make things worse; that much hasn't changed haha)
The other Ninja, however, are just extremely distracted trying to process all the traumas and losses they've gone through the past few years (Zane and his death/family/robotness...Jay's Skybound situation...Kai and Nya still not knowing the truth of their parents amongst other things...Wu and all his debts/regrets/mistakes...and Lloyd in general...) Soooo yeah Cole's kind of the last thing from their minds during the holiday, and it is horrible timing because oops if they all forget about him during this eclipse he is gone
Jesse, meanwhile, is at the big DotD performance in the city (cuz he's a big shot entertainer now, woo!) with Lou, Mystake, Dareth, and Ronin. Lou wonders where Cole is (as he was supposed to be here supporting his boyfriend hours ago), along with Ronin lowkey-highkey worrying about Harleigh. Mystake warns them that the eclipse has a chance to amplify both Cole's and Harleigh's ghost curses, meaning that there's a chance they could lose them both forever—or that both of them may already be departed.
Of course, Jesse vows to go after Cole before it's too late (using Miranda -who also forgot Cole, dammit Mira- to track Cole's Elemental signature) while Dareth and Ronin use Ronin's ghost hunting tech to find Harleigh (who, unlike Cole, has simply accepted that this is probably gonna be how her life ends)
(And now you see why Harleigh's tarot card is DotD themed heyo)
In the meantime the Ninja all have much more meaningful showdowns with the villains of the past that Cole unleashed (that I am VERY excited for) while also subsequently freaking out about nearly losing Cole and Harleigh
And then Cole/Jesse and Ronin+Harleigh+Dareth have some very turbulent emotional moments with each other that I have been waiting my whole life to write (not really but that's what it feels like ;w;)/ )
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mairitess · 1 day
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ebbs and flows pt. 1 // jaya
a/n: i wrote this bc i got back into ninjago and i needed to write something for them bc i'm not caught up enough to be able to read the current fics + also on ao3 in capital letters
words: 1.5k
tags: angst, fluff, post-skybound, post s10 ninjago: masters of spinjitzu, jaya, no beta we die like kings, they r so traumatized after nadakhan, minor violence mentions from skybound, kiss kiss rated t just in case
preview:
she might’ve missed it, if she weren’t so keyed up already. “you’re my yang, nya.”
memory was clever in a cruel way. sometimes nya practically forgot what she and jay had endured, had survived. other times, though it had been years since, nadakhan’s grip was still around her wrist. memory was kind when it ebbed, cruel when it flowed. and the master of water, unfortunately, was far too familiar with ebbs and flows.
it started when she and jay were on a date downtown, a rare luxury given their line of work. they’d compulsively started window shopping, ducking into quirky stores, stealing kisses in the alleyways between. ninjago city hadn’t been quiet in so long.
“has this shop always been here?” jay asked, pointing at the large antiques sign hanging from the side of the building. “i feel like we’re always around here. why haven’t i seen it?”
nya smirked and nodded towards the restaurant next door. “maybe because you’ve been too focused on downing chen’s hand-pulled noodles to pay attention to anything else around here.”
“hey!” jay reached for her in fun, and nya twisted away, bolting to the antiques store. her laughter echoed down the street, and jay’s breath caught in his throat. no one laughed as brightly, as freely as her. his soft smile grew. no one made her laugh as brightly, as freely as him.
he was grinning wildly when he walked into the shop, nya waiting for him inside. “what?”
jay enveloped her into a hug, his arms snug around her. “i love you.”
“i love you too, jay. now look around with me! i wanna see if there’s anything interesting.” jay caught a quick kiss before pulling away, and nya’s cheeks were warm as they wandered through the store, hand in hand.
she saw the lamp first — not the same one, but far too close for comfort. it was rusted and dented like it had been thrown around in the wash, but the lamp’s handle curved at the bottom, whereas nadakhan’s stayed flush to the rest of the body. still, nya froze.
“nya? did you find anything?”
jay’s voice felt so distant and hazy, as if she was hearing him underwater. “honey?”
she felt his hands on either side of her face, and nya realized he was standing right in front of her. “you’re crying, nya.” he leaned in closer to look at her more directly as he wiped the tears from her cheeks. “what’s wrong?”
he followed her gaze to the shelf behind him, to the lamp sitting all on its lonesome. jay sighed then turned back to nya, resting his forehead against hers.
“look at me, nya.”
she felt like she was ripping her vigilance away as she did.
“that’s not his, i promise. and neither of us are going to touch it. we’re safe, okay? he’s gone.” 
nya didn’t remember leaving the antiques shop, or going home, or anything else that happened between seeing the lamp and ending up in jay’s bed. she was spooned against him, so jay couldn’t see she was keeping her eyes open for as long as she could — every time she blinked, she saw nadakhan and that lamp. she could feel herself dying in jay’s arms again, on the floor of nadakhan’s stolen makeshift palace. she could feel her last words trying to snake their way out, but her energy draining before jay could hear them.
jay’s arms tightened around her waist, and she jerked away from them, tearing out from his grasp. she turned, and he was staring at her, worry lines stretching across his forehead.
“do you want to talk about it?” he asked. nya was quiet, though she cuddled closer to fit her head under his chin. jay slowed his breathing, taking deeper breaths in and out — he hoped she’d match him, even if subconsciously.
he was starting to fall asleep when he heard her mumble into his chest. “you couldn’t say his name.”
everyone else knew about nadakhan from the murals on the wall in the courtyard, but they would never remember him, especially not the way jay and nya did. but honestly, that made it somewhat easier for nya. she could pretend everything was okay with them.
but jay was there. and it felt so careless and insensitive for him to pretend, too, when he was with her. a small part of her knew it wasn’t fair to be upset at him for that — while she was dying, he watched, and maybe that was worse. but still.
nya hadn’t spoken to jay when they were alone in days. she still came to his bed each night, but they would lie in silence, and every evening she would get further and further away from him in sleep. at this point, they were on opposite sides of the bed, and her back was to him. if he just reached out, he could hold her, but he was scared she’d jerk away again if he did, and that would hurt more than anything before. when they woke up each morning, he’d ask her if she wanted to talk about it. she’d stay silent, though sometimes she’d shake her head. then jay would say he’d talk about it whenever she was ready. it was their new routine.
she started to have nightmares the day after they’d first seen the lamp. he tried to hold her close, whisper “i love you” to her over and over again as she shook and sobbed, but she’d end up pushing him away as soon as she got up. one night, he tried not touching her at all, and her nightmare subsided easily. so he opted to just lie awake until it went away, waiting for her to still. then she’d wake up in the morning, and they’d do their routine all over again.
weeks passed, and nya had caught a cold. jay would’ve stayed home with her, but their recent villain needed all hands on deck. misako and wu promised to take care of her while jay was away, though they figured some sort of fight had transpired between the two lovers. 
usually when they had to split the team, jay and nya would kiss each other good luck. but jay stood in the doorway, quietly watching her sleep. he toyed with the yin symbol hanging around his neck. his partner, his love, was starting to feel more distant than a stranger, and every day more like a ghost. but he needed her to go to him. he was nervous about touching her and making any nightmares worse, so he opted to leave a note instead.
nya, my yang, i’ll be back soon. i love you.
nya could not tell him — she would not tell him. guilt slashed at her chest every morning she woke up, her throat dry and caked tears streaking from the corners of her eyes. but she had to tell misako and wu when she woke them up screaming in the middle of the night, the first time anyone else had heard her nightmares.
“nya?” misako rushed in first to see nya shot up in bed, gasping for air. misako put the back of her hand on nya’s forehead. “you’re burning.”
there was a small tub of water and a washcloth on the side table next to her bed, and misako wet and wrung the towel before leaning nya back gently and placing the rag on her forehead. nya’s eyes were still wide open, and she didn’t have to look to ask —
“where’s jay?”
wu walked in, staff in hand. “jay is with the other ninjas. they needed more help. i thought you knew…” he trailed off, seeing the note next to her. nya grabbed it, and as she read it, started crying harder.
“i’ve been so horrible to jay,” she said, stuttering. “and i can’t even tell him what’s wrong.”
misako held nya’s hand, squeezing it lightly. “then maybe it’ll help if you tell us first.”
every time nya fell asleep, she’d find herself in her almost-wedding to nadakhan. then she would get shot, and she’d lie on the floor. when she was first getting these nightmares, she could feel jay holding her again, just as he did the first time. but that made the dreams a little too real — she needed some sense they were just dreams. she would kick him away, and he’d disappear, and she could breathe again. eventually, she stopped imagining jay holding her, and as she lay on the floor, she knew it wasn’t real because it was playing out differently from what was real, and she was able to move on.
but how could she tell jay, that now, whenever he hugged her, she felt like she was dying?
xx
part 2 here
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