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Nya breathed, in and out. She felt the wind on her damp skin, still drying from her dip in the river, which she heard rushing by. It was all cold. The wind was chilly and the water was frigid. Her heart, more than anything, felt frozen. Frozen in that fearful, shocking, terrifying moment when Kai, her warmth, her strength, her pulse, was gone.
Jay had felt this. Kai had felt this, with their parents, and then her. Zane felt this with PIXAL and Cole felt this with his mom. Nya was trying to deal with this from Jay’s absence, but now even her brother had been ripped away. She was good at “dying,” but not dealing with death.
Kai.
Was.
Gone.
How did her family survive this time and time again? She looked at her bare feet as they dangled into the water. They were turning blue. Was she really that cold? No- her feet were merging. No, no, no!
The grief had been drowning, but Nya wasn’t planning on drowning herself. She wanted to be here; she wanted to figure this all out. “Surrender” wasn’t an option she would've considered. She was better than this. Smarter than this. Braver and stronger than this. (Though, THIS wasn’t necessarily happening.)
Nya scrambled away from the bank and onto the grass behind her, but forgot about the tree and bonked her head against it. This was dizzying, and she couldn’t walk. I mean, walking without control over your now liquidy feet is hard enough without knocking your senses out against a tree. She struggled to a crawling position and sped away from the river before collapsing as her knees joined her feet as sparkling blue water. No- Nya was out of the water! How was this happening?!
The garments Nya had been wearing were turning into seafoam and her skin was becoming transparent. Nya began to cry. Sure, she was older than ever (obviously) but that didn’t mean she couldn’t cry, especially as her bones and blood were replaced by salt and water. Her arms turned to jelly as the ocean tried to take them, but Nya grasped her pendant from Jay in one hand and a homemade blade from Kai in her other, gripping them like her life depended on it. It did (or so she believed, in the moment) until everything--every last thought--washed away into water.
Tears streamed down her face. Nya opened her eyes to find Aris staring at her.
“Nya?” He asked gently, taking the dagger out of her hand and slipping his own into her grasp. “It’s Arin.”
Nya responded by blinking at him.
“I, uh, I found you out here,” Arin tried not to stumble through his words, “And I don’t know how to help you right now, but I will sit here until I figure it out.” He nodded to himself. He wasn’t sure how to help a crying ninja woman curled up on the ground who seemed very sad or scared or something, but he believed in himself enough to trust that he’d figure it out. The ninja, including Nya, had helped him improve his self-esteem and confidence.
“Okay.”
“I… Wait, why were you holding a knife?” Arin looked around, suddenly alarmed that there could be potential danger.
“It’s Kai’s. Well, mine that he made.”
Arin picked it up with his free hand and admired it. Not the nicest blade he’d seen, but he could feel the warmth somehow stored in the handle from Kai’s own element. “That’s really special.” His eyes dropped as he placed the dagger back down. “I don’t have anything from my parents.”
“I’m sorry, Arin. I really am. I wish you found them. I know how hard it is not to have the people you need to support you.”
“We will, so that’s good,” Arin said decidedly. “What’s this?”
Arin gently took the metal item clutched in Nya’s other hand, inspecting it closely.
“That is the promise Jay made to me. Jay is out there somewhere…” Nya sighed. “He always promised to be there for me, even if I wasn’t there for him.” Her thoughts swayed back to the time on the roof… her legs were melting again… no no no no
“Nya!” Arin’s voice cut through the freaky flashback. Nya took a very deep breath and sat up. Her legs were still supporting her, made of flesh and bone, covered in textured cloth. “Nya, what happened? Is it something I said?”
“No. I was thinking of…. Nevermind. We are going to find your parents, and my love, and my brother. And we aren’t going to waste any more time here, stuck in the past, unable to find a future, for a single moment longer.”
Nya stood up and, bending slightly to better match Arin’s height (or lack of it), took both of his hands in hers. “I promise you this, and I shall start today.” Nya glanced at the sky. “And I shall start tonight,” she corrected herself.
Arin’s eyes got glassy with tears mixed with the thoughts of his parents. Nya swung him into a tight hug, not letting go until the sun had disappeared behind the mountains on the horizon.