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Chapter Text

Nya never suspected there might be something even remotely strange or unusual going on with her, physically or otherwise.

Until the day she, Sora, and three of their dragon friends ventured to the Pinnacle of Crystals.

That morning, their odd little group had set out from the monastery, soaring over a beautiful vast desert full of rainbow-ribboned rocks and intricate, winding chasms.

They were looking for one of the three Dragon Cores, supposedly located at the top of one of the dunes. Once the ninja had all the cores together, they’d be able to finally stabilize the Merged Lands and hopefully stop the universe from self-destructing.

Unfortunately, Nya and Sora’s desert search hadn’t led them to the core, but instead to two spectral beings who attacked them and chased them across the desert.

The heroes had fled together and stopped at a nearby cave in hopes of hiding from the mysterious spirits.

And that’s when they learned that, apparently, they weren’t the only sentient creatures out in this desert.

…

As soon as Nya heard the booming voice in the cave refer to itself as ‘Arrakore The Djinn’ she immediately got ready to protect Sora, trying not to show the anxious shuddering her body had suddenly started doing as she recalled the first and only Djinn she had ever encountered before.

But, luckily for them, it turned out…this one was a pretty chill guy.

No curses, no twisted wishes, no forced marriages.

Just a sad, pathetic, mildly depressed four-armed man.

Huh. Alright.

Nya still couldn’t completely let go of her anxiety about Arrakore, however. Perhaps it was those nerves that made her stomach start squirming.

Though it could have also been the rank smell of Arrakore’s old laundry pile, or the way Jiro jostled her when he flew, or a million other factors.

But, for whatever reason it was, while they talked with the last djinn, Nya suddenly found she did not feel well at all. As she listened to Arrakore tiredly explain why he hadn’t hung up any pictures in his cave or completed a puppy puzzle, her stomach started doing flips. A weird, acidic feeling crept up in her throat and down into her gut.

And the feeling only exacerbated as Arrakore worriedly explained all about the Howlers and how Nya had just cursed them all eternally from her misuse of Seeker Stones. 

Upon hearing this, Sora groaned. “Didn't I tell you I was a black cloud, Nya?”

The two both felt a sudden warmth on their right hand. Sora held up the mysterious pentagram-like symbol on her glove, which was now glowing quite brightly. “This can't be good, right?” She guessed.

“Hmm,” Nya hummed under her breath as she dug the largest Seeker Stone out of its little pouch and a glowing eye suddenly appeared on it. Her stomach did its biggest flip yet.

“What is the weird eye for? Do you know what that means?” Sora inquired, glancing back up at Arrakore.

“It means they've found us.” Arrakore informed them in his low, growling voice.

There was a sudden screeching sound from down the hallway.

Nya drew her weapon and prepared to fight, trying her hardest to ignore the way the news just made her feel worse. Honestly, she should have guessed that ancient Djinnjagan artifacts would come with some sort of horrific fine-print curse if misused. Now, Nya knew she had brought this curse upon them all because of her foolishness. Upon a child and a baby dragon.

As soon as she thought this, the Howlers appeared, heading straight for her, Riyu and Sora. Arrakore (the coward) immediately ducked behind a large boulder near one of the cave walls. “If they ask, I'm not here!”

Sora sighed in frustration, but still launched forward into action. Nya usually would have joined her, but her stomach was doing so many flips and twists it was taking her totally off guard. She stood there, as if frozen, barely registering Arrakore suggesting they all just quit or a Howler picking up Sora and hurling her backwards into Arrakore’s couch.

 “Nya, come on, you gotta help me fight these guys!” Sora called out as she landed, then stopped as she saw the surprisingly blank look on the other ninja’s face. “Nya…?”

Nya was about to answer her and assure her she’d be right there, but covered her mouth in shock right as she opened it to speak. That horrible acidic feeling had just reached an all-time high, and-

… I think I’m gonna be sick,” she managed to gasp, before turning and running down the hall.

“Bathroom’s just back there,” Arrakore lazily pointed, peeking out from his cowardly hiding place behind the rock, “-but be warned; I haven’t cleaned that in like five years, either-”

The horrible sound of retching and vomiting came from down the hall before the djinn even finished his sentence. Both Sora and Arrakore cringed. The sound went on for several continuous seconds.

“Geez, does she get dragon-airsick or something??” Arrakore asked as the disgusting sound reverberated through his cave, mingling with the Howlers’ unholy screeches and the sounds of the fighting.

“No. Well, maybe?” Sora deliberated out loud while trying to fight off both Howlers at the same time, “I mean, I haven’t known her that long. Woah!”

One of the Howlers successfully tripped her and she landed on her back on the stone, wincing.

Yeah, she was definitely going to be feeling that in the morning.

If they even made it til morning.

Zanth roared at Arrakore and he glanced over at her. “How?” He replied, “Haven’t I made it more than clear that I am powerless??”

“No one is ever powerless!” Sora gasped, dodging a swift attack from each Howler in quick succession. “Come on, Arrakore! With Nya out of commission, I’m all alone out here! You’ve got to at least try!”

“…”

…

Far away, in the Land of Madness, in a grey stately building, a young man named Jay Walker sat working at his cubicle, which was identical to everyone else’s. He looked at the work on his desk, pausing and frowning. “Why do I feel like I’m forgetting something really important right now…”

He mulled it over in his head. There was definitely something. But what was it…

“Oh!” He realized, smacking himself in the head. “I only copied these forms out twice. How could I forget something as important as triplicate?”

He shook his head as if to clear out dust as he began to type out the forms for a third time. “Heh. Yeah. Man, it’s definitely a Monday. Get it together, Agent Walker…”

Chapter Text

…

It took a few minutes and some convincing, but…they actually did it. They won.

Sora, exhausted from the two-on-one fight, sat back and stared in awe as Arrakore boldly stepped forward, a large blade grasped in each of his four hands. “For the glory of the djinn!” He cried, before rushing forward and making quick work of the Howler duo.

Just a few slashes and one more wish from Sora later, and…they were gone.

Dang. Apparently, all it took was a motivational speech about hope and…Arrakore had stepped up to the plate like a major league player.

Who knew?

As soon as the Howlers were banished, Sora jumped up and and excitedly ran over to him, cheering, “Way to go, Arrakore!”

She grinned at the djinn, who smiled fondly back at her  and…promptly toppled over onto the floor, completely unconscious.

Ah. Right. He’d probably need time to recover after using all that magic for the first time in years…

Sora went over and gently poked her toe at one of the djinn’s arms, making sure he was at least breathing. He was, thankfully, though he did look a bit ill.

Wait. Where was Nya?

From the back of the cave, Sora heard pained gasping, and she immediately headed in the direction of the sound. “Nya! Hey, did you see? We did it! We’re not cursed any-”

She reached the area of the cave the noise had been coming from and spotted Nya: sitting tiredly next to a large vase in the cave’s stony hallway, looking very pale and sickly indeed. Sora’s nose wrinkled as it took in a rancid, acidic smell.

“-more. Nya?? Are you okay…?”

“Ugh…” the water ninja grimaced, wiping her mouth with the back of her glove and sitting up a bit straighter. “I didn’t quite make it…to the bathroom…before lunch came back up…” she rasped, voice dry and husky.

Sora hesitantly peeked into the vase she was next to and cringed. “Yikes. I’m sorry. We can clean up and I’ll catch you up on what happened later, but for now…you look like, super dehydrated.” She noticed and informed her mentor, who nodded drowsily.

“I feel super dehydr-uh…” she trailed off before she could finish the word.

“Can you bring me some water, Sora?” She quietly asked instead.

Sora furrowed her brow. “You…can summon your own water. You’re the master of water…”

“Oh, yeah…”

Nya sluggishly summoned a sphere of water into her cupped hands, then began to slurp from it like a drinking fountain. Instead of collapsing, the sphere just got smaller and smaller.

When the water was all gone, Nya wiped her mouth again and gasped in relief. “Much better.”

She looked up at the girl, warm brown eyes fraught with guilt and shame. “I’m so sorry about this, Sora. I completely abandoned you in the middle of the Howler fight when I’m supposed to be helping and protecting you. I hope they weren’t too hard to take care of.”

Sora held up her hands reassuringly. “No, it’s okay! Really. Arrakore totally stepped up with that whole wish magic thing of his. He basically did it all solo! Besides, you’re clearly going through…something at the moment...” she awkwardly trailed off, trying not to look at the vomit-filled vase. “So, yeah. No harm done.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it,”  Nya slowly sat herself up, crossing her legs, clearly feeling a bit better in body and in spirit, “I really am super sorry about that. It was just… so weird. I don’t know what happened. I’ve never felt such a random sick feeling before in my life.” She paused, considering. “Well, there was actually one time I had a stomach flu when I was ten, and poor Kai was cleaning up after me for a week. Hehe…”

She smiled to herself, then the smile slowly slipped away and her eyes widened in alarm again. “Oh gosh,” she realized, “I think I drank that water too fast-BLERRGGHH-“

Sora cringed as Nya bent over the poor innocent vase once again. The pink-haired teen leaned down and started rubbing Nya’s back in gentle circles as the other woman retched and hurled into the fancily decorated vase.

Sora sure hoped Arrakore wasn’t particularly attached to that vase.

When the freshest bout of nausea ended, Nya sat up, shaking and gasping. “Ugh, that was…that was the worst.”

“It looked like the worst. Do you wanna try to drink water again, but…more slowly?” Sora gently suggested.

Nya just groaned and sighed, face resting against the mouth of the large ornate vase.

“Okay, maybe in a minute.” Sora interpreted, getting back to her feet and stepping backwards toward the living room as she said, “You sit here and rest. There’s something Riyu and I want to do for Arrakore before he wakes up.”

…

When Arrakore finally awoke from his nap an hour later, he found that his messy, unorganized bachelor pad cave had been transformed into a neat, well-kept home. He found young Sora, looking tired but proud of her work, with even younger Riyu chirping by her side excitedly. He rejoiced with them at their victory, and at the Djinnjagan stone on his necklace, which had now grown to about the size of a softball. In heartfelt gratitude, he promised not only to fulfill their wish about locating the dragon core as soon as he had the strength, but also offered to cook for them that night.

“Back in my home realm, the defeat of powerful enemies was often celebrated with heroic feasting, featuring traditional spiced delights from all across Djinnjago.”

He fixed his eyes on Nya.

“Though, I’m assuming you will want, erm…blander foods in your current condition, yes?”

“Um…yeah, that sounds great, actually,”  The woman sheepishly admitted. “If it’s not too much trouble after the whole ‘vase incident’.”

“It’s no trouble at all, ninja Nya. That ugly old thing was a gift from my sister-in-law who hated me. So, Sora and I just pushed it off the cliff.”

He then turned to face her and genuinely smiled, a bright, happy smile they wouldn’t have thought possible from him just a couple of hours ago. “Oh, but before I forget: congratulations, by the way!”

The woman blinked back at him, confused. “For what…defeating the Howlers? Sora helped, too. Much more than I did, actually…”

“No, no, not the Howlers.” Arrakore hastily corrected, as if it was obvious what he was actually referring to. “I’m talking about your-wait.” The old djinn looked at her, eyes softening questioningly. “You don’t…you don’t know?”

“Know…what?”

Arrakore stared at her quite seriously, looking just a touch unsure about how to phrase his answer. Finally, in a low, gentle voice, he said,

“Djinn have always had a knack for sensing peculiar entities and life forms, whether visible or not. And from the moment you four walked in here, I could immediately sense something peculiar. A fifth life form, barely beginning to exist, growing and thriving…within you.” He gestured to Nya, who gasped as she caught on to the djinn’s meaning, “You don’t mean…” she said quietly.

He nodded seriously, unable to help a small smile as he confirmed, “You’re… expecting a child, Nya.”

…

Nya stood, frozen in shock. Sora, however, reacted immediately.

“What?? You’re kidding! Nya, that’s insanely awesome news, congrats! And I mean, I guess it does explain the weird random nausea…”

“But-but, hang on. There’s no way!” Nya replied to the both of them, “Like, no way. How can I possibly be pregnant?? I haven’t even seen my husband since the day of the Merge…”

“Jay, right?” Sora remembered. “The lightning ninja Lloyd told us about who blew up the monastery’s south wing?”

Nya nodded, sighing and smiling warmly. “That’s him. And believe me, he’s the only one who could be the dad…”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Sora said with a slightly awkward chuckle. “Wait, don’t babies only take like, nine months to be born, though? Not four years?”

Nya nodded absentmindedly, and Sora turned to face their host, now royally confused as well.

“Arrakore, are sure your mystical djinn senses aren’t bugging out or something? I mean, shouldn’t Nya have had this baby a while ago?”

“I’m positive.” Arrakore immediately assured both of them. “The aura a bright new life gives off within an expectant mother is both powerful and unmistakable. As you can imagine, Djinnjagan pregnancy reveals were never very exciting for this reason: every guest at the party always already knew.”

When he didn’t get a single chuckle out of anyone in the cave for the comment, he uncomfortably cleared his throat and continued,

 “However, I don’t have an explanation for such a prolonged delay, especially within a human like yourself. Unless…” he tapped his chin, muttered to himself for a few seconds, then slowly turned around to point back at Nya.

“-were you, by chance, ever trapped in an interstitial space bubble after the Merge?”

Nya blinked, still looking completely shell-shocked. “Not sure,” she murmured, “All I know is I was knocked out by the initial Merge storm when we flew into it, and slept for years before waking up in another land.”

“Oh. Well, if that’s the case, that’s probably exactly what happened, then.” Arrakore said.

“What do you mean?”

“Yeah. What’s an ‘interdimensional space bubble’?” Sora asked.

“Interstitial space bubbles,” Arrakore corrected her, “- are rare but powerful little pockets of nothingness scattered in rips between worlds. When you enter one of these bubbles, it freezes you exactly as you are, in stasis. You are kept alive, but in an uncanny, perfectly preserved state. Nothing in your body…progresses the way it is supposed to; it all pauses until either the bubble releases you or someone on the outside helps you escape. You do not breathe, your heart does not beat, but somehow…alive you stay.”

Seeing the two ninja transfixed on his whimsical explanation, Arrakore continued, “I myself was trapped in a space bubble for ten years once, while on one of my many heroic quests. My hair and fingernails didn’t even get any longer during that time, thanks to this unexplained cosmic anomaly.”

Nya sat there silently, slowly taking in and mulling over the new information. Sora stood beside her, also processing it. “Ohhhh,” the teen finally said, gesturing with her hands as she replied, “So, if the Merge trapped Nya in one of those weird bubbles, and she had just barely become pregnant, then it would have put the whole thing on pause until she got out and woke up?”

“Exactly,” Arrakore nodded, “Well, that’s my best theory, at least. Space bubbles are quite rare, however I have heard the Merge storm created several more and made them more common…”

He looked back at Nya. “One thing I do know for sure is that you are definitely carrying a child.” He crossed both sets of his arms, floating back and forth across the room thoughtfully as he tapped his chin with one of his upper hands. “If you are sure no one else could be the father besides your husband, then the space bubble is the best explanation I can give you. I am sorry.”

He stopped ‘pacing’ to look up and see the reaction of the two young women. They both still looked absolutely floored by his words, and understandably so.

Nya subconsciously lifted her hand and rested it on her abdomen, murmuring, “…so I really am pregnant…and have been for four years??”

Arrakore, though he had been doing a good job avoiding any awkwardness in the exchange so far, now shrugged and shifted uncomfortably. “Well, the timing might not be very convenient, but still, again, congratulations!” He beamed, though it looked slightly strained as he attempted to cope with the tenseness suddenly spreading through his cave. “A child is a thrilling thing to be expecting. I’d break out some of my best spicy Djinnjagan dinner recipes and whip one up to celebrate, but that might upset your stomach further…”

Sora chuckled lightly at the joke that time, but Nya still said nothing, holding both hands over her stomach now, staring off into space as if the others weren’t even there. “I’m…I’m gonna be a mother…” her voice broke. “And..Jay’s gonna be a father…” she spoke barely at a whisper, before turning and gripping Sora by the shoulders. “We have to find him, Sora.” The water ninja managed, voice thickening as if she might cry.

Sora smiled gently at Nya, taking her hands off her shoulders and bringing them back down to her sides. “One thing at a time,” She gently reminded. “First, let’s find the dragon cores and stop the mergequakes. Then we can worry about Jay and this baby and Arin’s parents and…everything else.”

She offered Nya a quick hug. Nya barely even responded to the gesture, stiff and frozen like an ice sculpture in her shock. As Sora pulled away, she noticed Nya wobble a little on her feet.

“I think…I need to lay down…” the woman managed.

Arrakore retreated to the kitchen to prepare some bland, salted Djinnjagan snacks and Sora led Nya to the couch he had just been resting on, assuring her mentor that things were gonna turn out just fine.

Though, there was no way of truly knowing that.

…

Chapter Text

…

It had been about 12 hours since the news was broken to her, but Nya was still completely flabbergasted.

It just…still didn’t feel real.

Oh sure, the nausea was very real, and she had noticed last night as she prepared for bed that she had gained a little weight, but still…it was barely even noticeable. No one would ever be able to guess what was really happening inside her right now.

As Nya stared up at the cave’s ceiling, she sighed quietly, resting both hands on her gestating belly.

How could she be expecting a kid, a sweet innocent little baby…at a time like this??

Well, with her and Jay’s track record of ‘never seeming to get a break’, the bad timing of this actually fit weirdly perfectly into their status-quo.

Oh, her sweet Jay Walker.

She missed him so much it seemed to be making the sickness worse…

Nya had processed the news for several hours into the night, before falling deeply asleep on Arrakore’s silky couch. When she had woken up the next morning, she found herself feeling a little better about the whole thing.

Right before her dinner from the night before came back up to say hello, spewing all over her, the floor, Sora, and said silky couch. Sora quickly wished for it to be cleaned up so they didn’t cause their gracious host too much trouble (again), and as she made the wish, the stone that was Djinnjago’s remains expanded slightly, delighting Arrakore to no end, though it did delay their departure a few extra hours while he recovered from granting the wish. At last, when it was nearly afternoon, they got ready to leave the cave, and Arrakore followed them outside to see them off, fulfilling Nya’s wish to locate the core and handing her a spinning, golden compass needle.

“Thank you, Arrakore.” She said as it was handed to her, admiring the simple but effective magic of the device. “You may have just helped save the world.”

“It is a small token compared to the great debt of gratitude I owe you.”

Sora turned from Arrakore to Nya with a proud, happy smile.

“Alright. You ready?”

“What?? Oh, uh…yeah…” Nya said, having been briefly distracted by the pain that still persisted in her gut.

Sora smiled sympathetically, before gesturing to their two dragons. “You take Zanth this time. I noticed she jostles less than Jiro in flight. Hopefully, we can ward off your morning sickness until we get to wherever the compass takes us.”

“Thank you,” Nya said gratefully to her student, before carefully climbing onto the sleek blue Djinnjagan dragon.

And they were off, with Arrakore calling out his goodbyes from atop the beautiful rainbow-banded peak. His voice faded out as they soared farther and farther, higher and higher.

As they flew, Nya continued to ponder the insane situation she had somehow found herself in. Knowing what she did now, should she even be continuing on this mission? Should she just…leave and try to let Sora go it alone? The poor girl had next-to-no ninja experience, much less any world-saving experience.
So, even though Nya felt awful, abandoning the kid again might not be the best idea. Besides, she supposed that as long as they didn’t misuse any more magic artifacts, it’s not like this mission would be particularly dangerous. As far as they knew, Beatrix and her servants didn’t even know about their search, nor did any of their many other past enemies.

So, she and her baby should be perfectly safe.

Huh.

Her baby…

Arrakore hadn’t told her how far along in her pregnancy she was, and she doubted he even knew, but based on the way her body looked and felt it had to have been no more than a month or two, right?

Well…a few years and a month or two, anyway, thanks to that weird space bubble thing.

Nya sighed softly. To think, all this time after the Merge, both in the bubble and the Land of Madness, her body had been developing an actual baby. A brand new, totally unique human life with a personality and thoughts and hopes and dreams and-

Just…wow.

It was still a crazy thought, the idea of becoming a mother, but also exhilarating. Despite the potential danger and confusion and even pain, she was genuinely looking forward to someday holding her own baby in her arms.

She could only imagine the look of shock and delight there would be on Jay’s face if he knew they were going to be parents in just less than a year.

They had talked about this before, they had planned for a future where they were retired from the ninja, or perhaps still active and just in a more peaceful era of the world, and they could finally start their family. Jay had always expressed nothing but delight at the idea of the two of them having their own kids, and she was always right there with him. They had even made their own potential baby name lists once, just for kicks and giggles.

But now her precious husband was lost, right at the time she was actually expecting their first child.

She had to find him before their kid was born, she just had to.

Frankly, she wasn’t sure she would even be able to do this without him.

You know…” she mused from astride Zanth, a random thought having just struck her, “…this does explain why I haven’t had a single period since the Merge.”

Sora snorted from her position on Jiro’s back. “Lucky.”

“Wh-what do you mean, ‘lucky??’ Did you not see what happened to me this morning??”

“Oh…yeah, fair…”

The two friends laughed as they rode, following the djinn’s compass towards the barely setting sun.

Chapter Text

…

“And then he just…vanished into the mist.” Nya leaned against the Monastery’s porch railing with Kai and Lloyd two days later, telling them the stories of her travels, “I guess he’ll come back when he finds…whatever Master Wu wants him to find.”

The ninja had successfully bested Beatrix the night before, and now Nya was catching some of them up on her and Sora’s adventures with Arrakore at the Pinnacle of Crystals and with Cole in the Land of Lost Things. She had just finished explaining Cole’s decision to leave, following Master Wu’s ghostly voice alone on a mysterious journey. As she concluded the tale, Kai and Lloyd both stared, clearly deep in thought.

“Well…” Lloyd said, “At least we know for sure Cole is alive and well.”

Kai nodded, adding, “Yeah. But what about Jay? Any news there?”

Lloyd sighed. “Zane still can’t find any leads on his location. It’s like he disappeared off the face of the planet.”

His teammates immediately grew more somber. Nya sighed morosely but also weirdly uncomfortably, rubbing one of her arms. “Right, yeah. Jay. That reminds me. I should probably tell you,” she stared down at the cobblestone ground below, clearly avoiding eye contact. The others immediately fixed their eyes on her.

 “-there’s…something else I learned while Sora and I were out there…” Nya said with a low, awkward sort of chuckle.

“About Jay??” Kai gasped.

“…sort of.” Nya bit her lip, looking very nervous.

“This wouldn’t happen to be why we didn’t really see you during the battle with Beatrix, would it?” Lloyd asked curiously.

Shoot. He had noticed. Nya scratched the back of her head guiltily. “Yeah…” she trailed off. “Here’s the thing…”

…

Despite what any maternity doctor worth their salt would have probably told her, Nya had still, technically, participated in the big battle against Empress Beatrix and her Mergequake weapon earlier that day.

For about ten seconds, before abruptly retreating in dizziness and misery.

She really had to start reminding herself: Spinjitzu and pregnancy were about the worst combo possible.

No one had noticed her sneak away, being too busy trying to avoid getting sucked into a portal while the Empress shot at them, laughing maniacally. She was actually pretty lucky not to get sucked in herself.

Those weird kids Arin had befriended, the Imperium Teen Protection Force, had found her being sick in an alley and had allowed her to hide/rest in their dumpster base as the fight commenced outside. Nya had only met up with her teammates again after the world had stabilized and Beatrix had been banished. The others, of course, immediately asked her where she had been and why, and she had vaguely responded she ‘just had something else to take care of real quick.’

Surprisingly, no one pushed her on it, though they clearly didn’t believe her.

…

Now, in the present, she prepared to finally explain her strange behavior. “Just, don’t freak out too much when I tell you.” She quickly requested.

The others all looked confused, but urged her to continue, eyes bright and curious.

So, Nya fiddled her fingers together in front of her, taking a deep breath through pursed lips before continuing.

“Okay. See, a few weeks or maybe even days before the merge, Jay and I had-well, something must have…happened.”

She smiled awkwardly, cheeks going pink as one hand trailed down to her stomach.

“Because, as it turns out…I’m pregnant.”

Both men’s jaws dropped.

Lloyd blinked at her, clearly having not been prepared for an announcement of that magnitude. “Wait…what??” He said blankly.

“You’re…you’re serious??” Kai asked breathlessly, the awed look on his face making Nya smile.

“Yup,” She said. “I even bought a test at the Crossroads, just to be sure. Took it this morning, and…yeah. Positive, clear as day. About six weeks along. Me and Jay’s first baby will be here…probably sometime in late spring.”

She smiled warmly as she looked around at the others, almost afraid to see their reactions.

Her eyes first fell on her brother, who stared at her not in confusion, but simply in wonder.

He was speechless, brown eyes wide as saucers, mouth agape.

Then, he ran forward and enveloped her in a tight, protective hug. Nya heard him sniffle, then felt tears on her shoulder.

Holy First Spinjitzu Master…Kai was actually crying.

“Nya,” he said, “That’s…completely awesome.” He whispered, voice muffled. “Like, seriously. I’m so happy for you. I-I don’t even know what to say, except: congrats.”

Nya smiled and hugged him back tightly, feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes as well. Lloyd was the next to speak up as the siblings’ embrace ended. “Okay. I mean, wow! That’s great and all, but-and please don’t be offended by this-how can you be sure it’s Jay who’s the…?”

“Lloyd, you don’t just ask people stuff like that,” Kai scoffed at the younger ninja, before facepalming. “But yeah, thinking about the timing…I’m also a bit confused.” He realized.

“As am I.” Zane, whom no one had noticed approach from behind, said. “Jay has been lost longer than any of our other teammates, Nya. If you truly conceived before the Merge, the child should have been fully developed and born years ago.” He frowned as he puzzled the news out in his mind.

Nya nodded, now filled with a little more confidence. “Yeah, I know. Arrakore, the Djinn guy I told you about? He thinks the delay might be due to an interstitial space bubble, trapping my body in stasis right after the Merge until it eventually released me only a couple months ago.”

Zane put a hand on his chin, eyebrows raising in suddenly understanding. “-Pausing every function within your body at the time, including the development of you and Jay’s unborn child. An unlikely scenario, but quite possible, nevertheless. We did, after all, fly straight into the Merge storm.”

“Exactly!” Nya said, relieved that he understood, and that Lloyd and Kai were starting to. She smiled wryly, glancing down at her belly. “So, yeah. I guess you could say a tiny piece of Jay is still with us. Er, with me, at least.”

“You can say that again,” Kai smirked. “I’m so completely stoked for you! And for Jay! I mean, dang, guys! I’m gonna be an uncle!”

He came forward to hug her again, and this time Zane and Lloyd joined in, surrounding her in a circle of love and support, expressing their own congratulations.

Nya giggled, returning the hug fondly. “Yeah,” she agreed, “It’s pretty exciting…”

Kai sputtered as he ended the hug and stepped back along with the others. “W-what do you mean ‘pretty exciting?’ This is huge!”  

“What’s huge, that zit on your forehead??” Came a snarky female voice they all recognized, from across the courtyard.

“No!” Kai turned around to glare at Wyldfyre, brushing his bangs down with his fingers so they covered his forehead better. The wild child cackled at the reaction. It appeared that she, along with Arin and Sora, had wandered out to the training course at some point.

The adults all stood there uncertainly as the teenagers stared at them…staring.

“Why do I feel like we missed something important?” They all heard Arin hiss into Sora’s ear.

“Because you kind of did,” Lloyd said, before turning to face Nya. “I don’t know if you’re comfortable telling anyone yet, but-”

“No, Lloyd. It’s okay.” Nya assured, before calmly announcing, “Just so you all are aware…I’m going to be having a baby.”

The kids’ reactions were immediate. Arin’s eyes widened and sparkled. “Woah! For real? Like, a baby??” His eyes flicked downward to her belly. “No way, that’s so cool, congratulations-”

He whipped his head around to stare at his pink-headed best friend, who was showing minimal reaction. “Did you know about this, Sora??”

“Maybe…?”   

Nya chuckled.

Well. The cat was out of the bag now.

She mentally prepared herself to answer the same questions about Jay and space bubbles and weird timing yet again as the young ninja recruits surrounded her, full of joy and curiosity.

Kai was still practically bouncing up and down along with the children, eyes shining, huge proud smile on his face.

He came toward Nya with his arms spread, yet again. “Sorry, I just gotta come in for another one. I mean, come on!!” He squeezed Nya even more tightly than before, picking her up and spinning her around. “My sister’s having a baby! I’m gonna have a nibling!!!” He shouted exultantly.

Nya giggled, joyfully returning the hug.

Wyldfyre, meanwhile, just stood there, looking confused. She goblined over to Nya after Kai released her, squatted down, leaned forward, and slowly sniffed her belly. “You sure?” She frowned, perking her snarled ginger head back up to look at Nya skeptically, hands on her knees. “You don’t really smell like you’re carrying.”

“Um…what??” Nya asked, still taken off guard by the sudden question and invasion of personal space.

“Oh come on, you can always smell when a mother dragon’s about to lay an egg! I just assumed the same went for people eggs, too.” Wyldfyre replied.

Nya laughed as the others’ eyes all widened. “Oh, sweetie, I will not be laying any eggs.” She quickly explained.

“Why not?”

She tilted her head, and Lloyd scratched his. “That’s…not usually something mammals do, Wyldfyre.”

“Huh? Then what do they do? Also, what the heck is a mammal?” 

“Uh…”

Sora came forward and took the shorter girl by one shoulder. “Uh, don’t worry, Lloyd. I’ll give her a quick biology lesson later today if we have time.” She assured.

“What’s ‘biology’??” Wyldfyre raised one bushy red eyebrow at the other girl in suspicion. “Are you guys just making up random words now?”

Nya laughed, and so did everyone else.

Well. Even if she didn’t have Jay with her quite yet…with these crazies by her side, maybe this whole pregnancy thing wouldn’t be so bad.

…

Chapter Text

…

The first few months after the news was revealed, things were more or less fine.

Nya, of course, started staying behind when the gang went to go stop the Mechanic or FugiDove or whoever.

She was starting to feel sick enough in the mornings that she wasn’t sure she would have wanted to come along, anyway.

Cole eventually came back from his mission, and one of the first things he did when he walked through the door was seek out Nya and hug her as tightly as he could.

“Woah,” he remarked as the hug ended and he noticed her grapefruit-sized stomach. And I thought I wasn’t gone that long! Baby’s growing well then, yeah?”

“Yup.” Nya chuckled, before Kai came forward.

“Woah, woah, woah, wait, hold up-you already told him??” Her brother looked ever so slightly betrayed.

Nya nodded. “I told him I was pregnant when we met in the Land of Lost Things,” she explained. “I had found out, like, you know-the day before-and I kinda needed some emotional support.”

“Yeah, she wasn’t having a great day,” Cole recalled, before hugging her again. “But, you seem like you’re feeling better about everything now! Congratulations.”

“Aw, thank you.”

(Kai silently accepted this reasoning and forgave Cole for being the first of the OG ninja to know.)

…

Besides Cole being back, there were a lot of changes in everyone’s day-to-day lives.

Zane, always the resident chef of the monastery, began providing Nya with an array of stomach-soothing recipes and dishes, including revamped versions of some of her favorite foods.

And Arin, upon learning the smells of his pies baking upset her stomach, had hastily sworn of making them at all until her morning sickness stopped.

“Wait, no! I never asked you to-” she had said.

“No, no. I insist. It’s the least I could do.” Arin had replied.

Luckily, the morning sickness was gone only two weeks later.

Nya appreciated all of her friends’ thoughtfulness, but it also made her feel bad, seeing that everyone had started waiting on her hand and foot, changing their entire way of life. She hadn’t even asked them to. They just kind of…did it.

But no one moreso than Kai.

“Woah…you sure you should be carrying those?” He asked her one day.

Nya glanced down at the large pile of shurikens, tridents, and swords in her arms. “Uh, yeah? Mr. Frohicky just needed some help getting weapons cleaned and sharpened. He had never done it before, so I offered to show him how it’s done, and-”

“But you can’t-it’s too dangerous!” Kai interrupted without meaning to interrupt. “I mean, what if you drop a weapon point-down on your foot? Or all of them?”

Nya paused, then sighed and smirked amusedly at him as she began to put the weapons away on their rack in the living room behind the TV. “Come on, Kai, you’re being ridiculous. I used to help Master Wu with this all the time, back before I even became a ninja. Just because I’m pregnant now doesn’t mean I suddenly don’t know how to carry weapons safely. Besides, I already re-sheathed them all, so there’s literally no danger to begin with.”  

She calmly showed Kai the pile, and he investigated it a little more closely.

“Oh,” he said sheepishly, scratching his hair upon seeing all the leather guards and sheaths on their weapons. “Sorry, I-I just-”

“I get it. You’re worried. Everyone is.” Nya smiled sadly as she finished with the pile. “Well, everyone except Jay, who doesn’t even know…”

She stared off into the distance for a minute, suddenly looking a little sad. With her now free hands, she picked at a fingernail absentmindedly.

“Nya? You okay??”

His sister sighed. “I…I don’t know.” She quietly admitted. “I guess I just never imagined I’d be doing this without him…much less in the aftermath of something like the Merge…”

She looked down at her small but obvious baby bump, biting her lip. Kai tensed slightly, recognizing the face his sister usually made right before she was about to cry.

Sure enough, Nya’s eyes filled up with tears, and she put a hand over her mouth to attempt to hold in a sob.

It only mostly worked.

Kai immediately stepped forward to hug her, holding his precious sister and friend close as she began to cry more openly in his loving arms.

“I just…I don’t know what to do??” She whimpered, voice muffled against his shirt. “Jay usually helps keep me strong when I go through hard or painful things like this, but he’s gone right now, and I have an actual baby inside me to worry about as well, a-and…it’s just too much, Kai. I c-can’t…”

Kai listened to and felt her cry, feeling a deep pain open up inside him. “Nya, I…”

She smiled and shook her head, clearly embarrassed. “No, it’s okay. I’m sorry,” she straightened up from the hug, wiping her face on one of her sleeves, “It’s probably just more weird pregnancy hormones kicking in. You don’t have to deal with all this if you don’t want to…”

“Hey.”

Kai took Nya’s hands in his, looking her dead in the eyes. “It’s okay. You don’t ever need to apologize for feeling something, Nya. Ever.”

She blinked up at him, eyes still shiny and wet. Kai hesitantly continued, breaking eye contact and glancing off to the side.

“Even though they may really hurt, those kinds of emotions also are what keep us human. It was my longing to reunite with you all that kept me going in the Land of Monsters.”

He glanced down, turning away from her but not letting go of her hands. “Without it, I would have never found my way out of there alive.”

Nya was so shocked by the words, she nearly stopped crying. Kai never went into any kind of specifics about what had happened to him after the Merge, especially not in the Land of Monsters.

She paused, thinking about what to say. She released her brother’s hands with a sigh.

“I know. I know that there’s supposed to be a benefit to every emotion, even grief or longing,” she said, putting her hand behind her neck and crossing her other arm over herself, “But, it’s still hard to feel it. I just…I would give anything to see him again…for this worry and hopelessness to be over. It’s like a thick dark cloud stuck in my soul…” she smiled wryly, wiping her eyes again and wondering when on earth she had gotten so dramatic.

She hugged her brother again, and Kai held her close in response, as if keeping her away from the cold, outside world.

“It’s okay, sis.” Kai assured, resting his head on hers. “Just let it out. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

So she did.

…

Man. Nya sure was having a bad time right now.

Kai could only imagine was it would be like to be in her place, all nauseous and tired all the time, without your better half around to help you through it all.

When it came to her very specific situation, there wasn’t really much he could do within his tiny circle of influence.

But, that didn’t mean he didn’t have a circle of influence.

As Nya released and thanked him and walked away to the fridge to grab a snack, Kai began to hatch an ever-so-slightly devious plan.

…

Chapter Text

…

One quiet overcast day, as Nya sat in the underground base studying Imperian history to try to learn more about Beatrix and her family, she heard echoing footsteps from behind. Kai ran up to her, a little out of breath.

“Nya! There you are.”

She looked up and swiveled her chair around to face him. “Hm?”

“Lloyd wanted to talk to us about something ninja-related. I think he’s like, calling a big urgent meeting upstairs. Come on!” 

“Okay, okay,” she said, “Give me a second.”

Nya was about six months along now. Morning sickness had quietly passed, much more subtly than when it had appeared. Arin was happily making pies again.

Her belly was starting to show more obviously now, and it was becoming more and more difficult to move around with each passing day. She grunted when she stood up out of chairs, and had started experiencing slight twinges of back pain.

But, nothing so tough she couldn’t handle it by herself.

Not yet, at least.

Nya got to her feet with just a bit of difficulty and followed Kai across the smooth metal floor and into the elevator, upward towards the main living quarters of the monastery.

“What’s this meeting about?” She questioned.

“You’ll see…” Kai said under his breath, and it was then Nya noticed he looked weirdly excited about Lloyd having urgent news to discuss with them.

…odd.

She didn’t have to wonder about her weird brother’s behavior for long, however. When the elevator doors opened, almost a dozen voices cried out, “SURPRISE!” and some people just out of her peripheral vision scattered colorful confetti in front her face.

Nya blinked several times, trying to register what was in front of her and figure out what was happening. There was Kai and Lloyd, Cole and Zane, Wyldfyre, Riyu, Arin, and Sora, all sitting on or around the couch smiling at her brightly.

“Wh-what’s all this?” She asked.

“Welcome to your baby shower, sis!” Kai wrapped an arm around her shoulder, leading her into the middle of the party. The others scooted apart, leaving a space for her in the middle of the couch. Kai sat her down between Cole and Sora with a mischievous grin.

Nya stared up at her brother, the pieces all falling into place in her head.

“You sneaky little-how long have you been planning this??” She interrogated with a playful smile.

“Nine days and eighteen hours ago,” came Zane’s reply. “He came to all of us and asked if we could help plan a small celebration to lift your spirits.”

“And we realized you were critically low on baby supplies anyway, so we turned it into a group present-shopping trip.” Said Arin. “We didn’t want to be followed or recognized, so we all wore fake beards and cloaks and split into groups systematically…anyway, it was a whole thing.”

“…Wow. I just. Wow.” Nya’s eyes were wide with surprise (something Kai silently patted himself on the back for. Nya was quite hard to surprise.)

Something clicked in the water ninja’s mind and she glanced around at the party. “Wait. Aren’t baby showers usually a women-only affair?” She looked at her four classic teammates and Arin teasingly, cocking one eyebrow.

“Well, yeah,” said Sora. “But, would it really be a party with just us three??” She gestured to herself, Nya, and Wyldfyre.

The dragon-raised girl laughed. “Duh! Any room with me in it is automatically a party!”

Nya, her nerves and confusion starting to calm themselves, laughed and leaned back into the couch. Her brother and found family never ceased to amaze her. They had even saved her favorite cushion for her to sit on.

“Well, what are you waiting for? You’ve got presents to unwrap!” Declared Cole, gesturing to a huge pile of boxes and bags against the wall behind the TV. That piqued Nya’s interest. “What?? You guys didn’t have to-”

“Of course we did. Can we start with mine and Wyldfyre’s gift??” Kai immediately requested. “ I mean, usually I’d save the best for last but…I’m just really really excited-!”

“Yes!” Cheered Wyldfyre, kicking her feet from her spot on the floor. “Come on! Bring it on over!!”

Kai got up and dragged over a box the size of a washing machine from out of the pile, backing up until stopping before Nya’s feet.

Both he and the wild child eyed her expectantly as she curiously slit the box open with a pocket knife Zane handed her.

Inside was at least half a dozen…

“Plushies?” She questioned.

“Yup! Me and Wyldfyre picked ‘em out! Little ones love big round plushies, right? Isn’t that like, a whole trend right now?” Kai asked the others.

Nya, very amused, pulled out and examined each stuffed toy. Individually, they were about the size of a watermelon. There was an octopus, a raincloud, a phoenix, a lion, two very cartoonish silly dragons, and…a little ball of fire with a smiling kawaii face on it.

She laughed out loud when she saw the last plush. “What, the store didn’t have any stuffed water droplets or lightning bolts?” She teased.

“Nope.” Wyldfyre said. “And even if they did, we would have bought the fireball anyway.”

“Kid’s right.” Kai said guiltily, before gesturing to the silly smiling plushie: But, I mean, in our defense-look at it! It’s adorable!”

Nya rolled her eyes, though she clearly appreciated each and every plush.

Wyldfyre then stood up and dug a shoebox out of the bottom of the huge plushie box, almost falling in as she did so. She eagerly handed it to Nya and looked smugly over at Kai. “Hey, top this, hothead! There’s a secret eighth plush I made! Mr. Frohicky and Zane’s been teaching me to sew!” She smirked proudly.

“What?? You never told me that!!” Kai said in alarm as Nya opened the smaller box and took out…a very interesting object.

She wasn’t quite sure if it was a full-fledged plush…?

But, it was close.

Bright red and softball-sized, the stuffed thing had four legs of varying sizes sticking out from its almost spherical body. It had a long spiked tail, uneven wings, a long neck, and a mouth with a bunch of clumsily scissored white triangles of fabric that were probably supposed to be teeth. Also, for some reason, the edges were slightly burnt, as if the kid had set in on fire accidentally in her frustration.

“It’s what I think I would look like as a dragon.”  Wyldfyre explained. “Though, that was probably pretty obvious.” She flicked her hair back.

“I mean…okay…?” Nya heard Sora mutter to herself.

She, and most of the others stared in disbelief at the plush. Crude though it was…it was obvious Wyldfyre had put a lot of time and effort into it.

“…you know what? I could see it,” Nya smiled. “Thanks Wyldfyre. It turned out great. The baby’s gonna love it.”

Wyldfyre beamed with pride.

Next up, Mr. Frohicky presented her with an unwrapped plastic card. “I’m so, so sorry, Nya. So many messes to clean, so many things to unclog. This was all I had time for, I’m afraid…” he sighed, looking rather embarrassed, “It’s a gift card for a place in the Crossroads that sells high-quality maternity clothes, expires next month.”

“…Wow. The Crossroads has that??” Nya accepted and studied the little card, impressed.

“Indeed! Mama Lobba’s has maternity supply options for all species of the merged realms. It’s quite popular among new mothers who live in or near the Crossroads. And, oddly enough, it’s owned by Lobbo’s mother.”

“Wow. I…I did not know that.” Arin said.

Nya pocketed the gift card immediately. “Thanks, Mr. Frohicky.” She said, and she genuinely meant it. “Don’t worry, I’ll be using it as soon as I can. Most of my clothes already don’t fit right anymore...”

The frog looked simply delighted.

“Ooh, can I come with??” Wyldfyre questioned Nya, “I’m really good at helping get stuff from-what are they called again-”

“Stores,” Kai patiently reminded her. “And, yeah. If you agree not to steal those little purchase divider sticks from all the registers again.”

“They didn’t have a price tag, so I thought they were up for grabs! But yeah, whatever. Fine.” Wyldfyre rolled her eyes, and Nya had to giggle to herself.

It almost seemed as though Kai had become a parent before her.

Cole stood up next. “Hang on, Nya, I think your present’s still in my room.”

He got up, and Zane followed to assist.

A minute later, the two walked in carrying a full-size crib, painted a light soft baby yellow.

“So, we noticed you didn’t have one of these yet, and they’re kind of essential to have for a new baby,” Cole smiled. “So, me and the Finders found a bunch of old scrap metal and wooden furniture to build with. After we figured out a design and painted everything, Geo just stuck all the parts together with his elemental powers, and boom! Baby’s first crib.” Cole said, gently smacking one of the top support beams like it was a car he was selling. Nya put her hands over her mouth, completely speechless. She approached the crib, feeling the bars and seeing the drastically different materials melded together seamlessly in neat, even strips. “Cole,” she asked in her delight. “How long did this take you guys??”

“Oh, like a few days.”

“Impressive. The workmanship is very high quality,” Zane remarked, also inspecting the crib. “Though, I am concerned about your method of assembly-”

“Oh, no, you don’t need to worry about that. Geo’s powers are 100% infallible. This thing’s never coming apart unless he wills it to!” Cole declared, smacking the crib a little more aggressively to prove it. “Solid as a rock!”

“Cole, I…” Nya was speechless for a few moments. “Thank you so much…” is what she settled on, though it didn’t even come close to expressing how grateful she truly felt.

Lloyd was up next. “I had this custom-made at a needlework shop that had a ‘heroes discount’.” He explained, presenting Nya with a beautiful white blanket featuring little cartoony pictures of each of the ninja, including the three new recruits. “It’s so your baby grows up never forgetting who his or her family is. And, weirdly enough, it goes great with the Finders’ crib.”

Several ninja ‘aww’ed, including Nya, as she tenderly traced the simple but colorful cloth-cutout forms of each of the ninja adorning the soft blanket, including herself and Jay. She reached forward and gave Lloyd a huge hug.

“Thank you,” she said. “I absolutely love it.”

Next up was Zane’s present he had also worked on himself: a pair of simple baby monitors.

“Not gonna lie, I expected something more sci-fi and unconventional from you,” she teased her Nindroid friend as soon as the little white radios were in her hands.

“This is far from your average infant monitoring system,” Zane explained. “Its sensors predict when a baby may become restless, and light up with a different-colored LED light depending on what it senses the reason for wakefulness might be, based on a quick built-in scan. I.e, yellow meaning the baby likely needs changing, green suggests they’re hungry, red for if they’re sick, and so on.”

“Thanks a million, Zane. This is insanely useful.” Nya said.

Sora’s present was next, and she excitedly presented Nya a soft pink and blue cushion shaped like a cat’s head, also custom-made.

“It’s a heating pad, but it’s totally wireless, self-powered and heats up on its own. And, it’s specifically designed for pregnancy and postpartum-related aches and pains!” Sora eagerly explained. “I had to do like, a lot of research to get this model right. Also, just for some fun, it has a massage feature.”

She pushed on the cat’s right ear, and the cushion started vibrating like the back of a massage chair.

“Wow, Sora,” Nya remarked as she immediately put the cushion behind her back, sighing in content as it immediately warmed and soothed her various pains. “Ahh. You should really have this patented, girl.”

“Aw, it was nothing.”

Last but not least came Arin with a big shopping bag, looking even more nervous than Frohicky had been about the gift card. “The store Sora and I went to had a huge baby supply aisle. I couldn’t decide what to get, so I just kinda got some of everything…?”

He held up a large gift bag full of various items. Nya looked through them, delighted, as Arin listed them off from memory.

“Pacifiers, a couple toys, books, little baby utensils, packs of onesies, and a set of socks.”

Nya withdrew a scented mint and lavender candle, smelling it curiously.

“Oh! And that’s to help with your stress.” Arin finished. “Cuz I couldn’t just buy stuff for your baby. Yeah. Didn’t really stick with a theme.”

“Wow, Arin. Ten presents in one? You kind of went all out!” Cole remarked.

“Says the one who built an entire crib.” Arin immediately replied under his breath. “And, I-I don’t know. I don’t have any special powers or talents to make something super unique, but I did my best with what the store had. Is it enough?”

Nya, without warning, took Arin into a warm sisterly hug. “It’s more than enough,” she assured him. “I really, really appreciate all of it, Arin.”

Arin hugged her back, smiling in relief.

When all her presents were unwrapped, Nya gazed around at the eight party guests, gently exhaling in disbelief and utter amazement. “Guys…this is-I mean, wow. I…you do too much for me.” She said.

“Really? Cuz I feel like we don’t do nearly enough.” Cole said.

“Ditto,” agreed Lloyd.

Zane gave an affirming nod. “Do not sell yourself short, Nya. You have been through much hardship in the past year.”

“I guess.” She shrugged. “Thank you all so much. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay any of you.”

“That’s the best part. You’re not allowed to.” Kai smirked evilly. “We love you, sis. And we can’t wait to love your baby.”

Everyone met for one last big group hug, with Nya at the center.

…