Chapter Text
“Nya!”
A shriek, a shout, loud and high enough to curdle blood. Her footsteps thundered back down the hallway before he had the chance to make the sound again, expecting to find a masked assailant or a room on fire.
When Nya tugged the door open, dropping the mug she hadn’t had a chance to fill up with coffee to bring back to Jay in bed, he barreled into her and latched himself on.
“What happened? What’s wrong, Jay, are you hurt?”
“I woke up and you were gone and I thought I was back in the… or the- and you-” Jay shuddered, squeezing Nya tighter, constricting her breathing. Nya’s inhale was shallow as she held Jay to her middle, her fingers disappearing into his hair. “I thought you were- Nya.”
“It’s okay, honey, I’m here,” Nya whispered, splaying her fingers on the base of Jay’s skull and pulling him back enough for her to ease down to his level. His eyes were watery, the little flecks in his otherwise bright blue irises a muted maroon. Tired.
“But you weren’t.”
Nya sighed, trailing her touch down to hold his cheeks. “I was just down the hall getting us breakfast.” She could understand his terror at waking up without her. There were brief moments, right when her eyes slid open every morning, that she was convinced she’d been dreaming that he was back. Being able to roll over and see that she was wrong, or feel Jay’s arms around her as he snored, helped ease those frightening thoughts, and she’d taken that away from him, even if only in pursuit of grabbing them some of Zane’s pancakes. “I’m not goin’ anywhere, and neither are you.”
“Do you promise?”
“Of course. As long as I have my power and breath in my body, I’m gonna make sure we’re together.” Jay’s brows scrunched as he gazed up at her, and Nya dropped a kiss on his lips. They turned up at the gentle touch. “Not being together was awful. I never want to feel that way again.”
“Me neither,” Jay murmured, sitting up straighter, his hands finding Nya’s face, cradling it like priceless blown glass. When he kissed her, he pressed just hard enough to show her how much he loved her, how much he’d missed her and how much he needed her beside him. Nya kissed him back just the same, promising that as long as they were able to - which they had no idea would be how long, given their history - they’d never be without one another.
And so it started.
Kai sighed, looking down at the kids they’d called for a team meeting. The absence of two members draped in blue was palpable on the couch, but not in the conversation. “So, you guys don’t know a ton about Jay, right?”
Arin huffed with a simple, “He’s mean.”
Sora scoffed and added, “He called me a pink haired whack job and then asked if I’d ever played Prime Empire.”
“He bit me when it was my turn to change his bandages,” Frak muttered, flexing his fingers. There wasn’t a scar to prove it, but he’d had a large welt on his hand for at least a day after the attack. “His teeth are really sharp, what’s with that?”
“Snake venom,” Cole said simply, ignoring the look that the new members of the team shared as he crossed his arms over his chest - looking like a leader despite hanging back in the instructions - and nodded for Kai to continue. It was far from an easy task.
“So, one thing you need to know about Jay, besides that he was mean because he shattered his goodness and it wasn’t his best time to be making first impressions-” On Kai’s other side, Zane elbowed for him to focus. “-Is that he’s super in love with Nya.”
Wyldfyre let out a barking laugh, more like a growl as she shot up. “Yeah, right! He told me that me and Roby were nauseating at best, murder inspiring at worst, and then he fried my TV!” She scowled, looking like she was about to jump up fully and burn up an old enemy, who she had never before known as a friend. Sora grabbed the back of Wyldfyre’s t-shirt to hold her back. “He’s a meanie! Nya can’t like a meanie!”
“Yes, we’re aware that the Jay you met is a pain-“
Kai chuckled and glanced at his longer-term teammates, his smirk teasing. “I mean, he’s not that much worse than when we first met, when Nya was kidnapped and he was already trying to get in her pants-”
Lloyd groaned, nodding for Zane to whack Kai again to shut him up. He took over filling in the teenagers with a sigh. “Jay’s a static cling monster. And, now that his memories of Nya are coming back to him, he won’t leave her side.”
There was a pause in which the new ninja glanced between each other, then turned back to their mentors with raised eyebrows and confused gazes. “What does this have to do with us?”
“Because he literally won’t leave Nya’s side,” Cole said, shaking his head. The older of the team had gotten used to it long ago - to the point of missing walking in on Jay and Nya laying on top of each other or glued to each other’s sides - but the younger ones were likely gonna have trouble with the adjustment. The rogue-Jay that they had become acquainted with was far less of a cuddler than Jay-Jay. “So, if you want to talk to her, you’ll have to see him. We just figured we’d let you know.”
“You old farts are so dramatic-”
But they were right.
“What’s happening in here?” Sora asked, walking into the communal bathroom. Nya was sitting on the bathroom tiles beside the shower, one hand reaching behind the curtain. She used the other to wave at Sora.
“Jay’s showering.”
“Hi!” Jay called from under the warm stream before adding, “Who’s out there?”
“Sora,” Nya said, squeezing Jay’s hand helpfully.
“Which one?”
“Cat ears, techie. Super sweetie.”
“Ohh…” Jay paused, then peeked his head out of the curtain. His curls were slicked up with bubbling shampoo, his face only half shaved. “Hi, cat ears!”
Sora’s eyes were wide, her mouth hanging half-open as Jay nodded awkwardly, then pulled his head back into the shower. His hand was still clutched in Nya’s as she turned to the pink haired Master of Technology, who looked as though her brain was short-circuiting.
“He’s gonna take a bit.”
“I have an extensive routine!” Jay yelled, his voice bouncing around the tiled room. “OOOooh! Great acoustics, I’m gonna sing! Nya, do backup!”
“Okay, I’ll come back later. I don’t have to pee that bad,” Sora muttered as Jay started a vocal run that made Nya wince, her grip on his hand tightening. Sora turned on her heel, completely weirded-out by the new-and-improved (or… old-and-improved?) version of Jay that was the furthest thing from the asshole mercenary before. Sora could almost see how Nya liked him so much, catching the continuation of the lovebirds’ conversation as she made her way to the vacant guest bathroom.
“You need to warm up more, Sparky.” Nya squeezed Jay’s fingers in hers, earning a little static shock. It was a good thing his skin was dry, because otherwise he would’ve fried them both.
After a few seconds to cup enough warm water to throw through the curtain, Jay splashed at Nya with her own element. She couldn’t help but laugh and pull the faucet to a chilled trickle, making Jay whine. “Hey! I can’t warm up if the water’s cold!”
“Hush, you.” But Nya un-clenched her empty hand, the water pressure returning to normal with a plume of steam.
“Thank you, beautiful.”
“Of course.” With their teenage company missing, Nya peeked into the shower, chuckling at the bubbles caught on Jay’s cheeks. She reached forward to brush some of them away. “I’m just glad you’re showering at all. You were so stinky when we first brought you back.”
Jay turned so his face was under the stream of water, his hair falling into his eyes. It was still an unruly mop, but at least it was clean. There had been a startling amount of twigs caught in it the first time Nya had tried to brush through rogue-Jay’s hair, eliciting almost too many complaints and swears to be worth it.
“Yeah, I don’t know why I didn’t just buy conditioner.” Jay shifted a chunk of his hair over his shoulder, and Nya couldn’t help but fantasize about how soft his curls were when they were taken care of.
“Mercenary money was tight?”
“No, I think I just thought it was a dumb waste of money.”
Nya giggled as Jay pulled her hand in his further into the shower so he could lather up his hair. “Sounds like something you’d tell Kai about hair gel.”
Jay smirked and brought Nya’s knuckles to his lips, giving them a damp kiss. “Well, yeah. Hair gel is dumb. And Kai’ll be jealous of my silky smooth, beautiful hair.”
“Hey, Nya, did you still want to- oh…” Wyldfyre glared into the game room, where Nya was curled into Jay’s side on the couch. His arm was around her shoulders, reaching into his lap to click away at his controller while still holding her. “Meanie breath.”
“Hi…”
“Wyldfyre,” Nya offered in a whisper.
“Hi Wyldfyre.”
The Master of Heat narrowed her eyes at that of Lightning, then ignored his presence entirely. Her eyes stayed trained on Nya. “Lloyd says I have to have a non-flammable Master with me when I train. You still wanna?”
“Can Zane do it?” Nya asked, having just found a comfortable pillow in the space between Jay’s chest and his bicep. It hugged her nicely.
“He’s painting with Pixal on the roof. I don’t like painting, it’s boring.”
“I could help you train, uh… Wyldfyre,” Jay said, pausing his game and sitting up. Nya whined as she was shifted, but Jay quickly adjusted his hold on her. Wyldfyre’s lip curled and a tiny growl rumbled in her throat. Jay stiffened.
“Lightning’s not great against fire, Sparky.”
“And I don’t like you,” Wyldfyre spat in addition, making the couple on the couch snap their attention toward her.
“Wyldfyre!”
“What? He’s mean!” She gestured at Jay, who frowned and flicked off the television in front of them as Nya stood. “I don’t know why you like him! He beat you up! And he’s-”
“I don’t need relationship advice, Wyldfyre. Jay’s made mistakes-” Jay stood and nodded as he followed Nya in the few steps across the rug, but hung back when Wyldfyre’s glare nearly boiled him. His hand still rested on Nya’s hip, though, as he cowered behind her. “-But he’s a lot more than those. I’d love for you to get to know him-”
“But I’m not counting on it,” Jay added from behind her. Nya pursed her lips as he continued, still positioned half-behind her. “Hey, why don’t you guys go train and I’ll…”
“You can come watch. Then, you’ll be able to see how awesome Wyfy’s power is.” Nya scooped Jay’s hand off of her hip, his fingertips sparking against her flesh enough to tickle. Then, she turned to Wyldfyre. “Is that alright with you?”
The flaming teenager paused, sliding her glare back to Jay - assessing him - then gave in. “Fine. But if he gets hit by a stray fireball, it’s not my fault.”
“Good to know,” Jay said, chewing on his lips to suppress his laugh as Wyldfyre stomped out of the room. In her attempt to flip him off in her exit, she ended up pointing her index finger at the ceiling. It dampened the effect.
“I think you’re scaring the kids,” Nya murmured, turning the slightest bit to catch Jay’s eye as he used one hand to brush his teeth, the other one still settled firmly around her waist. As if the world would try to tear them apart again.
Well, Nya wouldn’t put it past destiny.
Jay sighed and angled Nya away from any splashback as he spit into the sink. “It’s hard. They don’t like me.”
It wasn’t as simple as a dislike, the new kids didn’t trust Jay. It made sense, they didn’t exactly have a reason to, but it made Nya’s heart crack for her Yin. “They don’t know you,” she whispered, her arm weaving around Jay’s middle, her head finding a little alcove in his neck. His soft, conditioned curls held her cheek, his pulse warm as she gave it a light kiss.
Jay wrapped his arms around Nya all the way, uttering something like ‘friggin’ sucks’ that nearly got lost in her hair, where his lips had come to rest. They were quiet, just holding one another. They hadn’t been able to for so long, so they’d been taking advantage of every opportunity to be skin-to-skin, heartbeat-to-heartbeat.
“But you know what?” Nya breathed, rolling her head so her chin was propped on Jay’s t-shirt, her eyes catching and clutching his. The electric blue sea was almost absent of all red, though it would never truly be freed from it. His eyes twinkled back at Nya, and she took it as a sign to continue her quiet affirmations, the built up affection she hadn’t been able to share with him. “I know you really well, Jay Walker. And I think you’re pretty darn awesome.”
“Not as awesome as-”
Nya shook her head and quieted Jay’s self-deprication with his lips on hers. “Nuh-uh,” she mumbled, running her fingers through his hair. It was so soft, like an auburn waterfall of silk. “You’re awesome and I love you. The new kids will too, I promise.”
Jay exhaled and leaned down for another minty kiss. I love you, too, his lips whispered. He hadn’t been able to re-verbalize the sentiment yet, the shards of him in that respect were still being glued back together, but Nya had never felt it more deeply. It emerged in other simple phrases, little gestures, gentle touches. It echoed in his quiet, “Thank you.”