Chapter Text
As the sun started to disappear behind the mountains and reflected against the water, Nya sat on the rocks and listened to the happy, and loud conversations from inside of Steep Wisdom echoing towards her.
Nya grabbed a smooth stone from beside her foot, and threw it with force, but it still skipped across the pond until it disappeared with the flow of the small waterfall; she kicked at the dirt with anger in her bones.
Nya was relieved that Lloyd had survived, and was seemingly doing much better after what happened a few months prior with Morro, but she couldn't ignore her own feelings.
Being ripped away from being Samurai X in order to become the master of water had taken a massive toll on her happiness. 'Why didn't Sensei tell me when Kai was recruited? Or when I had to save the ninja again and again? Why did he have to wait until now?'
He had only told her after she found her purpose, her happiness, and had become content with the fact that she would never be as powerful as Kai, but she could still help and be needed.
She threw another rock against the ripples of the pond, her anger growing as the waterfall rushed faster.
That's when she heard a particularly loud laugh from Jay, which shouldn't have sent her blood boiling like it did; she threw a third rock.
That stupid fight with Cole about who she was going to be with sent her self-confidence down the drain, and while the original fight had diminished, hearing Cole and Jay argue about...anything made her angry.
She wanted to tell them that she wasn't an object for them to take ownership over and that they needed to include her in a conversation about her future, but instead, she always bit her tongue and nodded.
But she was done being forced in every direction except for the one she set out for herself. From this day forward, she controlled her own destiny.
"Nya?" A voice called softly, bringing her out of her thoughts and face to face with Lloyd who had a soft smile on his face. "Zane wanted me to tell you dinner was ready."
She nodded and followed him to the store; she was never going to get used to the dark under eyes he seemingly couldn't get rid of, even if they weren't nearly as dark as when Morro had him in his grips.
The two of them walked into the back, and Nya allowed herself to relax into the atmosphere of the dining room.
Jay, Kai and Cole were joking around, which Lloyd joined right into as he sat beside his mom, Misako and Sensei were in a conversation about tea sales and Zane handing out plates of food.
She sat next to Kai, giving him a smile when he greeted her, noticing the absence of Ronan once again, but she was admittedly growing used to it; he hadn't been seen in awhile, and they all assumed that he was doing business elsewhere, but she couldn't deny that she missed him.
After all, they did become close after all of the water ninja training she was forced to do, and some days, he felt like the one person she could confide in.
She tuned out the jokes between the boys, and the conversation about sales, and focused on her dinner, and that's when she heard the words slip from Cole's mouth between bites, "I mean, it's not like Nya's a real ninja."
The room fell silent as her anger shot back to the surface, filling her veins and making her see red.
Nya dropped her fork and glared directly at Cole before demanding "What the hell does that mean?"
"I just meant that, you weren't recruited by Sensei with the rest of us, and you were Samurai for a long time." Cole tried to explain away, but she shook her head and reminded herself that she had to be in control now.
No more going along with the boys and their downright terrible comments.
"So just because I was taken by Garmadon and my powers were hidden from me, means that I'm not part of your group?"
"Nya, he didn't mean it like that-" Kai started, which made her snap her gaze away from Cole and turn towards him, her heart slightly breaking as she shouted.
"Why are you defending him?!"
Kai looked down at the table, unable to meet her eyes, which fully solidified her train of thought as the truth; that he would rather defend his friend over her, his own sister.
"Cole, just apologize." She heard Zane speak quietly, barely a whisper, but she didn't want his help when she knew he would stand for what was right because he was a Nindroid and not because he felt the need to defend her.
Nya turned to Jay and pleaded, looking for one last string of hope. "Back me up, please."
But when he just glared at Cole, she knew it was time. If he couldn't use his words to defend her, she had to go; she wasn't going to deal with this any longer.
"Nya, wait!" She heard Lloyd call after her, but when 'just stay' popped into her brain, she ignored it and moved on. Being brought down constantly was not worth staying, even if it was for Lloyd.
She went into her quarters inside the Bounty, and started to pack; her clothes, her bracelet, her sword and her Samurai armor.
She had no trouble leaving behind her gi, but she admittedly did hesitate when she saw the picture on her nightstand of her and the boys, before the Overlord, when their biggest enemy was Garmadon and the Serpentine. 'Just leave it.'
Nya equipped the armor around her body and left out the back before using the newly installed jetpack. She was going to Stiix to find Ronan. And no one was going to stop her.