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"So, I see your sleep schedules didn't improve a bit in the weeks that I was in the Nether-space," Kai said loudly as he entered the monastery's dining room. Forget being quiet for those in the monastery who were actually asleep, Kai was practically stomping about the place with little regard for general politeness. He slumped down in a chair across from Nya and Lloyd, who both turned rather startled to face them. Their faces looked distraught, and Kai leaned forward with curiosity, hoping to get to the bottom of whatever was on his siblings' minds.
"Shh, not so loud!" Nya whispered a word of warning to her brother, "Sora's asleep on the kitchen floor over there, surrounded by pie ingredients, poor kid." She gestured over towards the kitchen area, and Kai peaked over Nya's shoulder to confirm what she had said. There Sora lay on the floor, completely passed out, surrounded by a bag of flour, butter, a basket full of berries, and, to seal the deal, snuggling a rolling pin and whisk like a teddy bear. Not even one night had passed since everything had gone down at the tournament of sources, and Sora could barely hang on without her best friend. Nya, Lloyd, and Kai all exchanged pitiful glances.
"Are you guys alright?" Kai said, "I was just going to get a midnight snack, but now you've got me worried. What's with the glum faces? We totally kicked butt today, not to mention, your favorite older brother is back from the Nether-Space," Kai smirked, earning a glare from Nya, which he pretended to ignore. He reached for the center of the table, where a bowl full of clementines sat and grabbed the nearest fruit. He began to unpeel it as he waited for his brother and sister to answer him.
Lloyd shook his head, "We're not even remotely okay, Kai. There's the visions I've been having, Arin's gone with Lord Ras now, I can't help but think I'm doing a terrible job at leading the team. And not to mention..."
"Jay," Nya finished sadly for Lloyd. She looked down at her hand and twisted her wedding ring around her finger, fighting back tears and not prevailing. "How could he not remember me... I mean us?" she sniffed. That question had plagued her since the moment she finally found him again and discovered he had lost all his memories, been lied to and manipulated by Ras, and worst of all, had his soul shattered. It seemed that another part of her had died within that moment, and Jay's words echoed in her head, vowing to always hate her, so different than the vows that they had once proclaimed in front of their friends and family. Nya knew she could never recover from this deep of a hurt. But there just had to be a way to fix it. And ninja never quit, so Nya wouldn't stop until she found that way. If only she knew where to start.
"We'll find Jay again, Nya, I promise," Kai reached his hand across the table and put it on Nya's. He turned and did the same for Lloyd, "And Arin. He's our family now too." Kai did his best to smile bravely for the others, but Nya and Lloyd continued to frown. Nya grabbed a clementine from the bowl, and she began to peel it disinterestedly it seemed. Meanwhile, Lloyd studied the pattern of the wood grain on the table, or perhaps he was studying the burn marks from when Kai accidentally set the table on fire a couple weeks before the merge. Who could say? Kai sighed in defeat. Encouraging these two was impossible as luck would have it. Where Nya and Lloyd the best on the team at rallying the troops with a motivational speech? Absolutely! Which made it all the more ironic that they were the hardest troops to rally when the going got tough. Kai sat in silence pondering the predicament they now found themselves in. Kai wanted to help them both, to cheer them up at the very least, only this felt like new territory. They'd never lost a student before because they'd never had one, not to mention he'd never had a brother-in-law lose his memories before. This was all a mystery.
"Where would we even start? We have no idea where Jay or Arin could have gone," Nya pointed out. She wiped tears from her eyes and bit into a wedge of clementine. "I want my husband back."
"I know," Kai said solemnly. Truth be told, he had barely processed what Nya had told him before when they were communicating through Riyu between Ninjago and the Nether-Space. How could Jay's memories really be gone? It hurt Kai to know this more than he could let on, and it hurt him even more knowing how badly his sister was hurting.
"I miss when things were simpler," Lloyd sighed. He slumped his shoulders back and leaned his head against the back of the chair. "Toss me a clementine, would you?"
"I don't recall our lives ever being simple, but I know what you mean," Nya agreed, "Nothing since the merge has made any sense, and there's never a break. Heck, it still feels like just yesterday we found each other again in the realm of madness with the craglings. I miss the good old days when the team was all together."
Nya tossed Lloyd a clementine, which he caught with his left hand and began to unpeel it, "Thanks, Nya. If we're lucky, maybe things will be like the good old days once again, but we're never that lucky."
"I'll say," Kai grunted. He had been in a good mood when he walked into the dining room. He hadn't expected to become so disheartened by Lloyd and Nya, yet now it seemed as if he'd never see sunshine again. Which was weird given that in the Nether-Space he had been so certain that he would despite his predicament. He knew his team would find him again. They always came through for each other, and Kai deep down felt certain that they would again. However, at this moment, Nya and Lloyd's negative attitudes were really wearing off on him.
"Honestly, I'd settle for our whole family being together again," Nya grabbed a second clementine and got to work unpeeling it. Juice squirted everywhere, and she made a face. "This probably sounds weird, but I miss when we'd all go do silly things like look at light shows together. Remember the light parade that one summer with all the floats in multicolored lights?"
"I remember. Jay kept trying to persuade us to make a float for the next year!" Lloyd pointed out.
Kai began to laugh, "And Cole was grumpy since the concession stand ran out of chocolate cake before he could get a slice!"
Nya smiled contentedly, "And I miss when we'd put up string lights all over the monastery for every single holiday. Master Wu always said we would drive up the electricity bill until Jay started powering the lights himself to prove a point."
"Yeah, the string lights always made the monastery feel extra cozy," Kai agreed. "Speaking of, where did the string lights end up? We never put them up last day of the departed."
"They're in the closet next to mine and Jay's room," Nya answered, "Honestly, things have been so wild here with all the newbies that it completely slipped my mind, but we should put them up again next holiday."
"Do we have any more holidays coming up soon?" Lloyd asked through a mouthful of clementine. His eyes lit up, rather hopeful, and he felt rather childish again, snacking on a clementine and daydreaming about putting up holiday lights.
Kai laughed, "Uh, no, sorry kid. Don't you have a calendar in your head?" he teased. Had he not been on the opposite side of the table, Kai would have given Lloyd a noogie.
"Of course not! I'm not Zane!" Lloyd protested. He put his hands on his hips and stuck his tongue out at Kai. A moment later, both brothers were laughing rather loudly until they remembered Sora sleeping on the floor all of twenty feet away from them, and they quieted themselves down to a soft chuckle, sharing cheesy grins and waiting for Nya to respond to their giddiness.
But their sister said nothing, merely picked up her phone and opened the search engine. She read in silence for a few moments, letting the boys' anticipation grow before her lips parted into a smile and she finally read aloud, "Well, obviously no major holidays for Ninjago are coming up soon, but thanks to the merge, we have the holidays of sixteen more realms to celebrate, and according to this website, in the Realm of Madness, Mailman Appreciation Day is coming up next Tuesday."
"Hmm," Lloyd pondered, "That sounds like a good enough reason to put up the holiday lights, wouldn't you guys agree?"
"Absolutely," Kai answered, "Nya, you said the lights are in the closet by your room?" Nya nodded, and the three of them set to work, pulling out the lights and stringing them through the hallways and dining room, carefully stepping over Sora and hoping not to wake her. Decorating the whole monastery took hours, and many more clementines, and it was nearly two in the morning when they completed their task.
"Nya, you found the holiday for us, would you care to do the honors?" Lloyd asked, offering Nya the remote which controlled all of the string lights.
Nya grinned and accepted the remote, "I would be delighted to, Lloyd. Here goes nothing." With a click, Nya turned the string lights on, and the whole monastery set aglow in twinkling lights of red, green, and blue. Nya, Lloyd, and Kai all stepped back and admired their handiwork. "Just like old times," Nya sighed, satisfied.
Kai reached into the fruit bowl for the last few clementines, leaving only one remaining in the dish and tossed one to both Nya and Lloyd before unpeeling one himself. "See, guys? Things aren't so bad. As long as we take time to enjoy the hopeful things in life like midnight clementine snacks and string lights, we'll make it through."
"I couldn't have said it better myself," Lloyd agreed as he stifled a yawn, "I think I speak for both me and Nya when I say this is exactly what I needed tonight."
"I concur," Nya nodded, "Although, I'd like to add one thing..."
"What's that?" Kai asked, turning to face his sister.
"Midnight clementine snacks, string lights, and family. The most hopeful thing is family. I feel a little bit better with you both at my side, and I'm going to keep pushing on through until our family is whole again. We'll find Jay and help him get his memories back, we'll find Arin too, and of course Pixal and Master Wu, we can't forget about them," Nya explained.
"Here, here," Lloyd smiled before biting into another clementine wedge, "Family is the most hopeful thing. You're right, Nya." He pulled Kai and Nya into an embrace, and the three of them hugged it out, before turning and resting their heads on each other's shoulders and admiring their string lights once more. The monastery felt almost magical twinkling in the hues of red, green, and blue. Their combined handiwork glowed all across the monastery, filling each of them with a sense of completeness. So long as they loved each other, they would be okay.
The three siblings turned at the sound of rustling coming from the kitchen area. A rolling pin fell to the floor and rolled over towards the siblings' feet. Sora groaned and set the whisk down before standing up, "Mmmm... How long was I out for?" Sora muttered as she rubbed her eyes. She turned and saw the three older ninjas standing in the dining room. "And what's with all the RGB lights?"
Nya grinned, "It's been a rough night, we needed a little bit of hope. Come one, join us, we're admiring them now. You're part of the family now after all." Nya tossed Sora the final clementine in the bowl, and Sora caught it, but just barely, a little startled and not quite awake. Yet she followed Nya's directions and joined the group, watching all the RGB lights twinkle throughout the monastery hallways. And with Sora's added presence, their family, and their hope grew a little bit more.