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It all started because Frohicky was carrying a box through the monastery.
This in and of itself was not suspicious. Frohicky was doing a better job at maintaining the monastery than the ninja themselves had and was completely dedicated to his work. It didn't raise any red flags.
The contents of the box however…
This family had a very obvious color coding system. No one really strayed from it except Nya herself a few times.
Whatever was in the box was white. Zane’s. And Zane didn't have many material possessions, he didn't collect junk like the rest of them did.
So Nya took it upon herself to see what Frohicky was up to. He got confused sometimes and she didn't want him to end up misplacing something Zane actually cared about. She was just looking out for her brother, really.
She tapped Frohicky on the shoulder and when he turned around, her stomach dropped. Because those were Pixal’s parts. Like… body parts.
"What'cha got there, Mr. Frohicky?" she asked, tamping down the immediate alarm bells going through her head.
Frohicky answered easily enough, "Oh, since Bonzle is going to be staying in miss Pixal’s room, I helped her clean it out a bit."
And that made sense, she even helped Cole's two boys move into Jay's room a few months earlier. It sucked, but it was only supposed to be temporary. The monastery was filling fast.
Nya nodded, "So you're taking this stuff to Zane's room, right?" They certainly weren't near the sleeping quarters as it were.
Frohicky looked askance. "Well Master Nya, um… I'm not sure that's what's best for Master Zane right now…"
She furrowed her brow, "What do you mean?"
"I've just been… rather concerned for him. He's been acting very strange in his search for miss Pixal. I've found him talking to himself multiple times as if she where there and—"
Nya stopped him, "Wait. Talking to himself?" She pointed vaguely at her own head.
"Yes," Frohicky nodded, "Just the other day I walked in on him proposing—"
"Oh First Master!" she exclaimed, rubbing her temples. She looked up, giving him a tight smile and reached out for the box. "I'll take it from here, Mr. Frohicky."
He handed it over, confusion crossing his features. "Sure, I suppose, but what could you be needing it for?"
Nya let out a sigh, "I know exactly where Pixal is and when she gets back, I'm going to slap Zane for her." With that, she turned sharply to make her way to the family room and the cave beneath it, leaving a very confused Mr. Frohicky behind.
The Samurai X cave was not empty when Nya entered. Sora was currently making adjustments to her mech. That was fine, there was plenty of space for Nya to work. She set the box on the work bench and set about gathering the extra parts needed.
"Hey Nya," Sora called over to her, having noticed her presence, "What's up?"
"Working on a bit of a personal project," Nya answered, "Hope you don't mind."
"Not at all," Sora shook her head, making her way over to see, "What are you working on."
"Building Pix a new body."
Sora picked through the boxes contents, examining the machinery, "Pixal? I thought she was missing."
"So did everyone else. But it turns out Zane's been keeping her in his head this whole time!" Nya growled lowly in the back of her throat.
"What do you mean by that?" Sora asked.
Bringing her supplies back to the beach and snagging her personal tool kit, Nya explained, "There was a period of time where Pixal lived in Zane's head. She had no physical body at all. And she only got one after she became Samurai X and… it was a whole thing. Whatever happened to her in the Merge, got her stuck in Zane's head again and because he's an idiot, he didn't say anything. Left all of us to wonder where she was, when she's literally been here the whole time!"
"Wow…" Sora said, unsure of how to respond, "Arin never mentioned that."
"It's not like any of it was public," Nya shrugged, getting to work on the droid's interior structure.
"Do you want some help?"
Nya met Sora's eyes, gave her a smile and said, "Only if you think you can handle it. Nindroids are kinda complex."
"I'd be more disappointed if I couldn't handle it," Sora laughed, "I'm supposed to be the master of tech after all."
And so the two got to work on constructing Pixal a few body, trying to get it as accurate as Nya could remember. It wasn't quite to her standards, but they could adjust later.
"I hope she likes it," Nya mused, testing the movement of one of the limbs. "She won't complain, but still… I hope she likes it."
"Why are you so worried?" Sora asked, "We're the best."
Nya let out a laugh, "Yeah, but… Pix doesn't have the greatest history with bodies. Her original body was taken from her and her second one… wasn't exactly how she wanted it. I just want her to feel comfortable. But getting her to admit she's uncomfortable is like pulling teeth, so…"
She looked at the model in front of them. The materials they had were spare parts. Parts meant for repairs. Not an entire body. That meant they had to substitute any missing pieces with what they had around the cave. Currently, her left bicep and entire right leg were covered with some sheet metal and one of her feet was actually made from spare parts left over from the climbing mechs, so… it was big and clunky and kind of in the way. Not really Pixal's style, but they could always look for replacements later at the junkyard or…
Or nothing. Because they didn't have the same resources as they did before the Merge. They couldn't just make a pit-stop by Cyrus Borg's and walk out with a fully rebuilt nindroid anymore.
Tech was so much different now. It was either hodge podge machines made with easily available scraps, or machinery so far advanced that the common nindroid couldn't connect with it. Completely incompatible. But that's just how it goes sometimes. Tech gets outdated and replaced.
You can't just replace Zane and Pixal.
"She deserves to be comfortable in her own body," Nya sighed, "The one she built herself, it was fine, you know, but— I don't know, you could just tell it didn't fit her. She rushed to make it, so it was bound to have a few kinks that needed worked out. We spent forever adjusting things just so she could be more… herself, I guess."
"Really?" Sora asked, voice barely loud enough to be considered a whisper.
"Well, yeah," Nya shrugged, "I mean… how can anyone be happy if they don't like their own body? Just doesn't make sense to me."
Sora fiddled with the screwdriver in her hand. It was obvious she wanted to say something, but was debating actually coming out with it. That was fine, Nya waited for her to make up her mind.
"When… When I was a kid…" she started, "I, um… something always felt kind of wrong. Um, I didn't really feel like myself, I guess."
She looked to Nya for a moment, possibly gauging the older woman's reaction. She nodded sagely, waiting for Sora to continue.
"So I, uh, grew out my hair. Dyed it. You know, just tried to change. An- And I felt better. I felt… happy.
And my parents always said they didn't care. That if it didn't affect Imperium, then it didn't matter. But I think they did… Care, I mean. You know, no one really… does that. And then I started getting really into tech and I think because I was successful, they let me keep doing it. And—"
"Sora," Nya stopped her, "Fuck your parents."
Sora clamped her mouth shut with a click of her teeth.
"Who cares what they think?" Nya continued, "If they don't wanna put your happiness first, then they don't deserve you. And you definitely don't owe them anything, so—"
"I- I know. Really, I do… It's just… still hard to accept sometimes. Even after all these years…" Sora stared down at her feet, grinding the sole of her shoe into the floor. "Seems like everyone else had such great parents— Parents who support them and I… don't."
"Maybe, but you still have us," Nya tried, taking a cautious step toward the girl, "I know its not the same, but we'll always support you."
Sora leant into Nya's side, throwing an arm around her shoulder for a quick squeeze.
"I don't want this to be made into a big deal," she admitted, "I just want things to be how they always are."
"Nothing has to change," Nya promised, "This can stay between us, but… if you ever want to let everyone in on it, things will still stay the same. You'll still be Sora. That's all that matters."
"Thanks," Sora huffed, pulling away and dragging her hands down her face. She stood up straighter, "Okay, I think I'm better now. I was just…"
"You don't have to explain yourself," Nya smiled, turning back to the droid on the table, "We all have our moments."
Not long after that, the elevator dinged. The two's heads immediately shot to the doors, anxiously waiting to see who would step out. They weren't hiding it, per say, but part of Nya did want it to be a surprise. They were almost done too. With Sora double checking the circuitry and Nya applying the finishing touches. The body certainly looked like Pixal, they just needed the girl to actually bring it to life.
So maybe it was kind of lucky that it was Zane coming down to the cave. They needed him to transfer Pixal's consciousness anyways. So what if it's a little earlier than planned?
Zane slowly made his way toward them, looking more than wary as he looked between the droid on the table and Nya's glare. "What is going on?" he hesitantly asked.
"Why don't you tell me?" Nya retorted.
"I beg your pardon?"
She tapped the center of his forehead, "I know you've been keeping Pixal up in there. Why didn't you tell anyone? Everyone's been wondering where she is and, OH! Turns out she was with Zane the whole time!" She threw her hands in the air in exasperation.
Zane furrowed his brow, expression growing increasingly strained, "I have no idea where Pixal is, Nya…"
"Zane, don't do this to me," she pinched the bridge of her nose, "Is it some protection thing? Is that how you're justifying it? Because it's bullsh—"
"I don't have Pixal with me, Nya!" he cut her off, hands clapping together with a dull thud, "If I did, do you really think I'd want her confined to my own mind? You think I wouldn't want her here next to me?"
Nya's shoulders fell. She hadn't really thought about that part. It was too easy to assume he'd want to keep her close.
But they were both so much happier when she was there.
Nya looked up at the ceiling, letting out a soft, "Fuuuuuuck."
She wiped a hand down her face, feeling the embarrassment really set in. She reluctantly met Zane's eyes, "I'm sorry—"
Just when things couldn't get any worse, Sora let out a yelp, ripping her hands away from the droid. It seemed no one was paying attention to the fact that she was still handling delicate machinery, including Sora. "My bad…" she said awkwardly.
The droid's interior fans began to hum. Machines buzzed as it seemed to be powering on. Their eyes lit up one at a time, before blinking twice. There was no grand announcement about being online, they just were. In an instant, the tension in their shoulders fell as they began to look around more freely, taking in the cave and its inhabitants.
But that wasn't right… There was no consciousness in it.
"Hel- Hello…" they said quietly.
Sora stood behind them, stiff as a board with wide eyes, waiting for the other two to make the first move. And Zane… looked as mortified as Nya herself felt.
"Hi…" she answered, giving a strained smile, "You're probably really confused…"
They nodded, watching Nya intently.
"We didn't mean to turn you on," she continued, "You're not really supposed to… exist."
They frowned, "What?"
One of her hands ran through her hair, pulling at her scalp.
"What do we even do?" Sora asked, "Like obviously, this is my fault. My responsibility, but do I just turn them off or—"
"NO!" Sora flinched back as the droid exclaimed at the same time as Zane of all people.
Zane put a hand on his sister's forearm, "They have been given life, they deserve to go live it."
Nya nodded in agreement. "Yea- Yeah, we can get you set up and, you know, there's a whole world out there to explore—"
"I can't stay here?" they asked.
"Well…"
Sora stepped up to answer, "You remind them of someone really important to them. You don't deserve to live in her shadow."
Zane let out a heavy sigh. "You are like me. I'll ensure you have everything you need to live a good life. Wherever you chose."
They thought about that for a moment, before looking back up at him, "But I don't even know who I am. What am I?"
"That's the fun part," Nya smiled, putting a hand on their shoulder, "You get to chose. You can be whatever you want."
They weren't entirely satisfied with that answer. But some questions don't have perfect answers. The ninja couldn't decide this new person's life, but that's kind of the beauty of it. In the end, they were set up in the Crossroads with a job helping Kreel out in the junkyard. It wasn't perfect, perfection fell on their own shoulders. But if they were anything like the droid they were modeled after, then they were sure to achieve it.
Zane and Nya watched the junkyard's gate slide shut, the droid giving them a small wave before following Kreel deeper into the facility. Nya returned it. Zane just stared, expression decidedly neutral as they left.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly, "I guess I just… wanted her to be here so badly, I didn't even think—"
"It's my fault," Zane admitted, "I've let her absence affect my behavior. Even my fighting hasn't been up to par."
"That's not true."
"You saw my performance in the tournament, Nya."
She cringed, "Alright, you got me there. Though that tournament was way unfair."
"I hardly understood the rules."
She gave a weak laugh, before saying, "I know it doesn't help when people say this— I know it doesn't— but… we will find her someday, Zane."
Zane looked down at her, giving her a small smile, "And Jay."
"And Jay."
"We can only hope that they return home soon."
"That's the spirit." She pulled him into a side hug, looked up at him and asked, "You wanna go watch cheesey romcoms and eat ice cream."
Zane's shoulders fell, "Absolutely."