Chapter Text
“There’s something I haven’t told you.”
It was an excuse, and an overused one at that. A throwaway explanation for any number of things that should have been brought to light much, much sooner.
This wasn’t how he would have chosen for everyone to find out. It’s not how he wanted to find out.
Discovering the old picture in the attic had been cool, at first. A group of old elemental masters, smiling outside the monastery. The ninja had gathered ‘round as soon as Lloyd uncovered it, calling them over to look. They recognized many of the people - Mya, Ray, Lilly. Garmadon and Wu. A handful of old masters whose descendants they had met. Even Dr. Julien, which was news in and of itself. It made sense, really, but it had never crossed Jay’s mind. Zane doesn’t seem surprised - merely comments that it checks out, and moves on with his life.
But then there was the other one. The one smiling between Lilly and Mya. She was shorter than them, smiling widely. Her red hair was a frizzy mess with the potential for curls. She had bright blue eyes, and a million freckles.
Jay reached into the box Lloyd was digging through and pulled out a stack of photos. Various groups comprised of the people from the first picture. In some, she looks the same. Others, she was older. She’d bleached her hair and was wearing makeup to hide her incriminating freckles, but it was still her. She seemed close with Mya and Lilly. And more alarming than that, more hurtful than that, she seemed close to Wu.
“Jay?” Kai asked in concern. He’d noticed that something was off, and Jay couldn’t think fast enough to come up with a cover story.
He looked to Nya. She looked at him. She looked back at the picture, and everything seemed to click. “Oh my gosh,” she breathed, reaching out and snatching the picture from Lloyd. She looked at it closer, then back at Jay, and back at the picture. “Is that her?”
“Is what who?” Cole tried to crowd over her shoulder, and Nya didn’t shoo him away.
“I um…” Jay started. He laughed nervously, and considered forgetting it all together. They didn’t really need to know - it didn’t affect them in any way. But they’re basically family, and they might as well. “There’s something I haven’t told you,” he chuckled ominously, and the joke didn’t really land.
Zane took the picture from Nya and studied it for a moment. “Is this in reference to the Walkers not being your true ancestors? I have been aware of this for some time. You do not share many physical attributes - nor did either of them wield an elemental power before you. I had assumed this was common knowledge.”
A beat of silence. “What!?” Kai demanded at last. “But Zane, they’re practically the same! He’s just like them!”
Jay sighed. Sure, he’d admit it, he came by his personality honest. As overbearing as the Walkers could be, he loves them, and he’s no longer embarrassed to admit that yes - he’s very much like his parents. But physically? He’s barely passable as a native from the sands. His parents, in their younger days, had both sported dark hair. Their eyes are brown, and their skin heavily tanned from living in the desert sun. Jay, for his part, ran the risk of rotisserie cooking if he even thought about staying outside too long. And that was barely scratching the surface.
“Jay…” Lloyd started, gentler than Kai. “Is that true?”
Nya gave him a supportive smile, and he braced himself. “Yeah,” he said at last. “It’s…yeah, I’m adopted. Ma and Pa found me in a stack of tires in the trash. I’m not…completely sure how legal it was to keep me, but I’m glad they did. It doesn’t matter, guys, really - don’t look at me like that. I have great parents. That’s all that matters. And it’s more than most of y’all can say, which is why I’ve never mentioned it.”
Kai stared. “Jay, they literally threw you in the garbage!”
Jay flinched, and Nya glared daggers at her brother. “Kai!”
“…I’m sorry,” the fire ninja crossed his arms and sat down on the floor.
Cole scooted closer to Jay. “How long have you known?”
Jay shrugged. “Officially? Few years. I think I subconsciously kinda suspected it for a long time before that, but…they never mentioned it, so I didn’t ask. Not like knowing changes anything.” He took the picture back from Zane, fingers brushing over the image of who he’s about 90% sure is his birth mom. He swallowed thickly and shoved the picture at Nya. “Doesn’t matter. I have good parents. End of story.”
The other ninja exchanged glances, and Lloyd stepped up. “We know you love the Walkers, Jay. We do too - they’re great people. And I know that some of us have…complicated relationships with our parents, to say the least. But that doesn’t negate anything you’re feeling. You can be…I dunno, whatever you need to be about it. Curious, confused, hurt, happy, doesn’t matter. It matters, if it matters to you.”
Jay snatched the picture back from Nya and stared. It did matter, to him - always had. Even if he’d never wanted to drag the others into it. Who abandons a baby in a pile of trash? Who does that? Who doesn’t want their baby bad enough to go to that extreme? And why had Wu said ‘no’ when he’d asked if he had known the previous master of lightning?
He stared, and he couldn’t stop seeing himself in this stranger from years long past. Like he had never done, with the Walkers. They had a lot of the same quirks, sure, but he’d never looked at them and seen himself reflected back. It was honestly kind of disorienting to be experiencing that now.
“Why didn’t Master Wu say anything?” He said, mortified when his voice cracked. His hand flew to his mouth and he tried to play it off. It’s fine, he’s fine, everything about the whole situation is fine.
Most of the ninja had the common decency to busy themselves looking in boxes, giving their brother space to be devastated if that’s what he needed to do. They would tease each other ruthlessly for things that didn’t matter, but at the end of the day, they shut up when it counted. They’d all been through a lot. Some moments don’t need snarky comments.
“We’ll ask him,” Nya scooted closer and grabbed his hand. “If you want to know, then we’ll ask - okay? I’ll go with you. Unless you don’t want me to, then just say so. No hard feelings - promise. I’m here for you. Whatever you need me to do.”
He dropped his head onto her shoulder and she took the hint that at this specific point in time, what he needed was a hug. Kai took it upon himself to turn it into a group hug, and by the time they break apart, Jay had steeled himself to confront Wu.
He grabbed the picture in one hand and Nya’s hand in the other, dragging her after him out of the attic, across the momentary, and straight to Wu’s door. He didn’t bother to knock. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew my mother?”
Wu opened his eyes from where he had been meditating amongst a sea of candles. “I assumed you knew. We’re all quite fond of Edna.” He closed his eyes, and Jay growled in frustration.
“Not Ma, my real…I don’t know what to call her!” He slammed the picture down in front of Wu, but careful enough not to break the glass. It was a nice picture. All he had of her, really.
Wu studied the picture for a moment. “Ah. So I see you have become aware of your true heritage.”
Jay glared. “Why didn’t you tell me? I asked ages ago, you knew I knew I had to get my powers from somewhere!”
Wu sighed, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “You’re right. There’s something I haven’t told you.”
Jay waited. “Well? Go ahead!”
Wu shook his head. “It is my judgment that this is not something I should share. Forget about her, Jay. Masters of years past are irrelevant in our time. Drop it.”
Jay stared. “Irrelev…Master, she’s my mother! She can’t be irrelevant!”
“I said drop it, Jay.”
Jay stared at him for a moment that seemed to last forever. Surely the Sensei would cave, would admit that it’s not his right to withhold information like this. The Sensei stared back. When Jay felt tears of...frustration, maybe? Burning behind his eyes, he turned on his heel and left. He didn’t want to give Wu the satisfaction of knowing he’d gotten to him.
Nya had the presence of mind to grab the picture before she followed him, across the training grounds, into the monastery, and up to his room. They passed the others on their way by, and Nya gave them a thumbs up to assure them that she’s got this, and they don’t need to follow.
Jay let her follow him, but closed and locked the door as soon as she was inside. He sat on the floor, back against his bed rather than sitting on the bed like a normal person. He sniffed and scrubbed at his eyes before forcing a laugh. “I don’t know why I’m so upset. It doesn’t matter. I don’t care about her, I don’t, I don’t, I...”
Nya moved to sit beside him, grabbing his hands when they moved up to tug at his hair. “Okay,” she agreed, because it feels like the thing to do. She didn’t actually think what he’s saying is the truth, but they could talk about that later. When he stopped trying to get his hands back, she tugged him into a hug. He practically melted into her hold, and she let the silence be for a moment while she rocked slightly and hummed a random tune she remembered Kai singing to her when she was little. It made her feel better, and she hoped it did the same for Jay. “That wasn’t fair of Master Wu,” she said when it seemed like he’d more or less calmed down. Jay stiffened, but she didn’t let that stop her. “He should have told you the first time he asked. And he shouldn’t have yelled at you the second. It’s normal to be curious, Jay. It’s okay to want answers, no matter how you feel about her. And he should have given them to you.”
Jay pulled away and swiped his sleeve under his nose, Nya forcing herself not to mention how gross that was. “It doesn’t matter,” he repeated, and every time he said it it got a little less convincing. It mattered a whole lot, and he was realizing that more and more as he tried to shove it aside and convince himself that Wu was right in that he doesn’t need to know. Ancient history - how much could it matter? But it’s his ancient history.
“...Do you want to ask my mom about it?” Nya offered softly, and Jay blinked in surprise. Sure, he’d recognized Maya in the picture. Had acknowledged with a detached sort of interest that she was there. But now, he realized what that meant. She was there. She was there with his mother, smiling and happy, arm slung around the shorter ninja’s shoulders. She hadn’t just been there - they had been close. Maya would know something, and she would likely be nicer about it than Wu.
Maya and Ray had taken a little while to warm up to Jay, and he had understood. The last they had seen of their children, they were practically toddlers. They came back to adults, grown and independent. Nya was engaged, and introduced them happily to Jay as if they weren’t still reeling from everything else they had learned. As far as they were concerned, Nya was still that little girl they were forced to leave. But eventually, time passed. They adjusted to the present, and as they did, they welcomed Jay into the family with open arms. They supported the relationship, and they were happy to call Jay their honorary son, even if he technically wasn’t just yet. They thought him odd, like most did, but much like Kai they learned to look past it.
They would have answers. And even if they weren’t in a particularly sharing mood either, they would be nicer about it than Wu had been.
“...Do you think she’d mind?” He asked carefully. He really didn’t want to ruin his relationship with them. He hadn’t expected them to like him, had been downright terrified they’d disapprove and Nya would listen to them, and he didn’t want to lose what he’d built with them. What if his mother was terrible, and Maya didn’t realize who he was yet? She could be the living worst, and when Maya realized the connection, she may tell Nya never to speak to him again. Would Nya listen? Maybe not, but it wasn’t a chance he wanted to take.
“Of course not,” Nya squeezed his hands and smiled. “She loves you, Jay. I’m sure she’d be happy to help. Pack some stuff for us, wouldya? I’ll go tell the others where we’re going. You okay with it if Kai wants to come? It’s okay if not, he’ll respect it.”
Jay shook his head. “Yeah, no, that’s...that’s fine, he can come.” He sniffed once more for good measure and stood, going to his dresser to find some clothes that weren’t ninja clothes and also didn’t have snot on them.
Nya nodded and left, returning shortly with Kai in tow. Jay was sitting on his bed, now, three bags beside him. He’d gone ahead and grabbed an overnight bag for Kai, too, while he was at it.
Kai offered to drive, and the trip to the Smiths’ house passed quickly in companionable silence. Kai tried to strike up a conversation a few times, but Jay wasn’t interested. That was more than a little concerning, but Kai didn’t press the issue.