Chapter Text
“Quick, quick, quick!” Kai hurried, doing some last-minute sweeping while Nya was dusting the counters.
“Come on, she’ll be here any minute!” he said, glancing at the clock.
“Relax, Kai, the monastery looks fine. I honestly don’t know why you’re so worried”, she rolled her eyes. “It’s a shame Cole turned up our offer to join us” she said, as she dusted a picture.
“Yeah, he said it should just be us and our mom. I wonder what he’s doing instead”, came the reply.
As Nya was about to respond, she noticed the picture she was dusting was of her as a child with Maya, laughing together. Once she realized, her eyes grew glassy, but she quickly moved on.
Kai noticed this, though. He could always tell what Nya was thinking, or how she was feeling. It came from having to raise her, for their parents were kidnapped and forced to work for some villains when Kai and Nya were very young.
“Hey, I know you two aren’t the closest-" Kai started to comfort, but Nya cut off, “-what do you mean? We’ve gotten much better lately. And it’s not like it’s her fault, either, so I’m fine”, she rushed out.
Kai knew she wasn’t fine, though, because she refused to look him in the eyes. But before he could reply, the doorbell rang.
Both siblings shrieked and put away their cleaning supplies, before running to greet their mother at the gates of the monastery.
“Mom!” They said in unison. Maya entered the doorway before rushing to hug her children. “Kai! Nya! How are my two favorite children doing?”
Nya called out, while being crushed by the hug, “Ma, we’re your only children…. ow! Too tight!”
Maya let go, and Kai answered, “We’re doing great! So good to have you here!”
“Thanks for inviting me! It’s not every day you get to visit the heroes of Ninjago,” she playfully winked, then gasped as she noticed, “Nya! Oh my darling, how you’ve gotten so tall!”
Nya smiled at that, then elbow-nudged Kai, saying, “ya hear that? I am taller than you”.
“Ow! Okay, okay. You don’t have to rub it in. Sheesh,” he rolled his eyes, but had a smile on his face.
“Hm, what’s that?” Kai noticed a basket in his mother’s hands.
“Oh, this! It’s just a few snacks. I brought your favorites!” She said, motioning to the ham sandwiches, pizza, strawberries, blueberries, scones, and jam that were just visible from where they all stood.
“Thanks ma! You’re the best! I’ll bring it in,” Kai offered, and Nya rolled her eyes.
“What’s that for?” Maya observed.
“Oh, Kai can’t keep his self-centered and ‘cool’ personality when you and dad are around.” She chuckled.
“I’m not surprised. Ray acts that way too,” she smiled.
“Come on, let’s go inside.”
~
“Can we eat now? This all looks so good!” Kai exclaimed, reaching for a sandwich, and Nya lightly slapped his hand to stop him.
“That’s rude!” She hissed. “It’s not ‘Kai day’, it’s Mother’s Day!”
“Ow, okay. I wasn’t going to eat it. Just test to see if it tastes good.” He replied innocently.
Nya simply sighed and Maya laughed. “No, that’s okay. We can eat now; I’m quite hungry as well.”
As they settled down to eat, they began talking about past adventures and how life was back at the blacksmith shop.
“It’s going good. We have a lot of customers now, but demand is pretty high, especially with all the recent attacks going on. But at least we’re making a lot of business at the smithy,” she explained, biting into a scone.
“Really? That’s good. Almost no one used to come by or even glance at the shop,” Kai said, eating a ham sandwich.
“Kai, dear, don’t chew with your mouth full.”
He swallowed, then replied, “right. Sorry. Could someone pass me the jam?”.
As Nya did so, she accidentally bumped into her glass and it fell, the water falling onto the ground.
Maya quickly jumped up, and exclaimed, “I got it!”, while reaching for the towel, at the same time Nya did. “No, it’s fine. It’s my mess.”
As both fought over the towels, Kai nervously glanced at them, and warned, “hey, guys? You might want to watch out for the- “
But it was too late. They bumped into the table, and the force shook it, making all the waters fall, and drench the food.
“Ta-ble….” Kai finished, looking down in disbelief at the damage done to his precious pizza.
“Oh my, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to- “
“-mom! I told you a million times I can take care of myself! Yet you still try to baby me! I- argh! I’m going to my room,” retorted an angry Nya, as Maya tried to apologize, but only received a slam from Nya’s door.
Both of their eyes filled with tears, as Maya looked towards Kai with an apologetic look on her face.
“It’s okay, mom. Really. She just needs some time to herself. Come on, if you want to help, you can help me clean this up.”
~
A soft knock could be heard from Nya’s door, so light she could barely hear it. She didn’t know if it was her mom or Kai, but figured she would have to let them in. She had been alone long enough.
“Nya? Honey, are you still there?” Maya waited for a good minute or so, but just as she was about to leave, the door clicked open. “Come in, mom”.
As Maya walked into the room, Nya motioned her to sit on the bed. As she did so, they made eye contact, and Nya burst into tears. “I’m so, so sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled like that or slammed the door or- “
“-hey, hey. It’s okay. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have tried to clean up your mess. And you’re right. I do keep trying to baby you.”
Maya wiped away her daughter’s tears, saying, “I know you’ve been mad at me for having to live your childhood alone, with just Kai taking care of you. I’m sorry that- “
“-no, mom. Please. Don’t say that. I’m not mad that you were forced to go, just that you keep acting as if I’m your little girl.”
“But you are, and will always be my little gi- “
Nya stood up, and (tried to, respectfully) yell, “-that’s the problem! I’m not a child anymore, I’m grown up. I’ve been on many dangerous quests and missions and spent years training to be a ninja. I’m independent! That’s how I grew up, and I don’t blame you. I just wish you could see me that way!”
Maya paused, inspecting her daughter’s face. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right. Oh, Nya, you truly have grown. And I promise…. “
She took Nya’s hands as she stood up as well, and held them within her own. “….I will stop trying to baby you so much, and see you as the independent woman you are. And I will always love you.”
Nya pulled her mother into a hug and said back, “I love you too.”
If only her mother knew that Nya almost never said those words, how much this must have meant to her to get her to say them. She couldn’t be more happy.
Kai walked past Nya’s room as all this was happening, and once he saw the hug he exclaimed, “it’s about time you guys made up!” He then took a picture, much to Nya’s annoyance. “Ooh, dad’s gonna love this”.
He walked into the room, and almost at once Nya and Maya pulled him into the hug. Then Maya looked at both of them and said, “There’s still some time before I have to go back. I know lunch was ruined, so how about we bake some cookies?”
“You don’t have to tell me twice! Mom’s cookies are the best!” Kai practically leaped to the kitchen.
Maya and Nya looked at each other and burst into laughter.
“Come on, we better go stop him from baking by himself before he burns down the monastery,” Nya giggled, as they both went to do just that.
Oh, and what a memorable Mother’s Day it was.