hold on (and make it last)

by nyasharbor

Summary:

more jaya and the sparklettes one shots that i couldn’t find a place for in 'you are the best thing (that’s ever been mine)'

Chapter 1: fear

Moonlight spilled through a crack in the blinds, illuminating the plans on the desk. Not that Jay needed the light, he wasn’t actually working on inventions, he was just staring blankly ahead, his mind whirring. Spinning. Collapsing in on itself in a panic. 

He had woken up in a cold sweat, grasping at the sheets around him as he tried to quiet his breathing, not wanting to wake Nya up. For the past few months, it had been insanely difficult for her to fall asleep, making her crabby and irritated. Allowing her to rest was really an act of self-preservation, even if it meant that he would have it sit in the darkness of his feelings alone. 

Or so he thought.

Jay had been too focused on his panic to hear Nya stir, climb out of bed, and pad across the room to him. He flinched when her arms wrapped around his shoulders from behind, then melted into the touch as Nya ran her fingertips along his chest. 

“You’re awake,” she murmured, her voice groggy.

“Yeah,” Jay whispered back, turning slightly and inhaling the scent of her, using it to soothe his racing thoughts. For a moment, it worked, then he felt her pregnant belly brush against his arm and everything came rushing back. He gritted his teeth as he tried to push thoughts away, leaning into Nya again, but they wouldn’t retreat. They wouldn’t hide away, insisting that Nya notice them, too.

“What’s wrong?” Nya whispered, pulling back so she could study Jay’s face in the darkness. Her brow crinkled. 

“Nya, I…” Jay couldn’t get the words out. He couldn’t wrap his head around the feelings in a way that he could verbalize to her. Under her soft gaze, Jay fell apart. His chin wobbled, his eyes filled with warm tears.

“Oh, honey,” Nya whispered, cupping Jay’s cheeks as tears spilled down onto her fingertips. His shoulders shook as he inhaled quickly, trying to steady himself to no avail. “C’mon, let's go sit,” she murmured, moving her hands to Jay’s shoulders, then to his hands, pulling him up and across the room, sitting him down on the rumpled covers. She didn’t let go of his hand as she eased herself down onto the bed, bracing herself with a hand on the small of her back as she sat beside him, ducking her head to catch Jay’s eyes. “What’s going on, Jay?”

The gentleness of her voice pulled his glassy eyes toward her, his lips quivering as he reached for her hand. It had been resting on her rounded stomach, sending another jolt of panic to Jay’s mind. His hands shook as Nya clasped them, her eyes wide. 

Jay’s voice shook when he found his words, looking down at his and Nya’s hands so she wouldn’t be able to see the fear in his eyes. “I’m scared that… I’m worried…” he took a deep breath, forcing the subject of his nightmare into the night air as his blue eyes met Nya’s soft brown ones. “What if I’m not a good dad?”

Nya’s brows crinkled closer together, her lips turning down. She reached up and ran her thumb across Jay’s cheek. “Oh, Jay...” 

Once the words had started, it was easier for Jay to continue voicing his anxieties. “I… I had a dream about my dad,” he said quietly, his voice trembling as he remembered the actor he had loved all throughout his childhood, before he realized that he was more to him than the hero onscreen. “I mean, not my Dad, but… my dad . Cliff Gordon.” Nya nodded, letting him pause, catching his breath, and then continue without interruption. “He was a real asshole, y’know? After he died… I looked into old tabloids and stuff, and he was just… awful. He and my birth mom were married for like, a minute, before he cheated on her and left us behind. Well, he left her behind. I wasn’t even born.”

He shuddered as his mind wandered to his birth mom and all the questions that came along with the mystery of her. Was she still alive? Was she out there somewhere? Jay shook his head, refocusing as he looked into his lap. 

“I’m just scared that… somehow I’m gonna end up like him. And I’m not gonna be any good at having a kid, and you’re gonna hate me and leave… and I’ll end up like him. Alone.”

“Jay Walker, you listen to me right now,” Nya said, her voice firm, her touch soft as she reached up to caress Jay’s cheeks. She looked at him seriously. “You are, and you never will be, anything like Cliff Gordon,” she whispered. “And all that other fear? Of me leaving you? That’s never gonna happen, either. I’m gonna love you forever. And so will our baby,” she whispered, reaching down and guiding Jay’s hand to rest on her stomach. Their baby stirred at the contact, as if she was putting her own tiny hand on her dad’s. He smiled down at the feeling, then turned back to his Yang, his eyes refilling with tears as she continued. “Cliff Gordon was an asshole, yeah, but you’re not. Most of the time. Not seriously,” she joked, pulling a damp chuckle from the man she loved more than anything. “Your blood doesn’t have anything to do with who you became. Your parents - your real parents - raised a kind, sweet boy. You grew up into an incredible man.” Jay took a deep breath, the exhale coming out shaky. “And you’re going to be an incredible dad. I know that to be true.”

“How do you know?” Jay whispered timidly.

“Because I know you better than anyone.” Nya swiped his tears away, holding his cheek and leaning in slowly for a damp kiss. “And… I’m scared, too,” she confessed into his lips, scooching closer to Jay so that her legs were on either side of his. “This stupid kid is freaking me out and kicking my bladder, that’s why I can’t sleep most nights,” Nya whispered, breathing out a chuckle as the baby kicked her and Jay’s palms in protest. 

“You’re scared, too?”

“Of course I am, Jay,” Nya whispered. “In a few weeks there’s gonna be a kid shoving its way out of me, and then there’s going to be a baby ,” she widened her eyes, running her hand along her stomach. “I have no idea how to raise a baby! I had no mom growing up, I have nothing to go off of… what if I’m awful at it?” she asked, voicing the same fears that had woken Jay up, her eyes wandering around the covers before landing back on him as she sucked in a breath. “But, I take it one day at a time. It’s not good for her if I worry. It’s not good for me, and it’s not good for you.” 

“I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“Neither do you,” Nya said quietly. “You have me, and I have you. And we have our team. Our family,” she remembered the love and adoration they had been showered with at their impromptu baby shower, during which dozens of their friends had told them to call if they needed anything . “Even if it’s hard, we’ll get through it together. Like we always do.”

Jay took a deep, shaky breath and nodded. “Thank you,” he murmured, moving the hand on Nya’s stomach up her side, to her collarbone, then to her cheek, pulling her in for a soft kiss. She smiled into it, her hands settling on his waist. “I love you.”

“And I love you,” Nya whispered, the words consumed by a yawn that prompted her to shift so she could lay back on the pillows, pulling Jay along with her. He put his hand back on her abdomen, feeling the warmth of her skin and the pressure of the baby beneath it, and put his head on Nya’s shoulder. Her hands moved up his back to run through his hair, her movements slowed as sleep began pulling her away. The gentle scraping on his scalp calmed Jay down. His breathing slowed, his eyes slid closed, and he cuddled into Nya’s side as he fell back into sleep. 

As long as they had each other, they could get through anything. Even the scary parts.

Chapter 2: mystery

Notes:

for the record, i did not intend to get /this/ into libber but then i mentioned her in ch1 and… spiraled out of control. i can’t stop thinking about her chat… i NEED to know more LEGO GIVE ME MORE

The night after Jay’s anxious nightmare woke both of them up, Nya couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t because of her own anxieties, but rather the baby in her belly, who seemed to have decided that the middle of the night was the perfect time to practice cartwheels. With no hope of falling back asleep on the horizon, Nya grabbed her phone and began the search for Jay’s birth mother. 

He hadn’t said that he wanted to find her, but his body had. He had tensed when he mentioned her, his eyes wandering in front of him, filled with unanswered questions. 

The hunt proved nearly impossible in the last weeks of Nya’s pregnancy, in which she combed through old magazines and newspaper articles every night while Jay slept soundly beside her. In that time, Nya learned more than enough about her Yin’s biological father, who - as Jay had said - was a complete and utter asshole, but frustratingly little about his bio mom. Despite being briefly married to Cliff Gordon, she was shockingly absent from the public eye. 

Then, Amaya was born. It halted Nya’s search, as her mind clouded with darkness. 

She wasn’t able to pick it back up again until almost a year later, and even then, it took months to track her down. But Nya was determined nearly to a fault, never giving up. Then, she found her. Libber Gordon.

She was still alive, only a few realms away. When Nya called her, deciding to check in and make sure that Libber was willing to meet her son, the older woman nearly burst at the seams with joy when she heard how her baby boy had turned out. It filled Nya with a similar warmth, lingering even after she hung up the phone. After that, Nya focused on finding the perfect moment to tell Jay. She had just finished putting Amaya down for her afternoon nap, stepping back into her and Jay’s room, when she decided that there was no time like the present to tell him what she had found. 

“Well, she’s out,” Nya said quietly, climbing onto the bed and scooching up to Jay’s side. He put down his portable video game console, instead wrapping his arm around Nya’s shoulders and pulling her in. She rolled her head to the side, looking up at Jay as he grinned back at her. His glasses had scooched to the tip of his nose, framing his bright blue eyes. The same eyes that Libber had, the same smile that she wore in her employee photo on the Administration website. Nya took a breath, pulling away slightly. “I have something to tell you.” 

“Oh.” Jay released Nya as she sat up beside him, taking his glasses off. His eyes were wide with anxiety. “Did something happen? Should I be nervous?”

“No, ummm…” Nya reached for Jay’s hands as he shifted, sitting criss-crossed in front of her. She did the same. “I found your birth mother.” 

Jay’s eyes widened, his lips parting. His grip on Nya’s hands tightened. “What?” 

“After your dream about your birth father, I wanted to find her. I could tell that you wanted to know more about her.” Jay nodded. “She’s been working at this place in the Realm of Madness… the Administration. Ever heard of it?” 

Jay shook his head. “It sounds technical… and boring.” 

“Completely boring. That’s actually what she said when I called her.” 

“You called her?” 

“Mmhm. I told her about you. I said she might be getting another call, but also told her not to hold her breath. You don’t have to talk to her if you don’t want to, but… here’s the number,” Nya whispered, passing a slip of paper to her Yin. He took it gingerly, studying the series of numbers, then looked back at Nya as she put her hand on his knee, rubbing soothing circles into it. “You don’t have to, though. I know this is big… and scary. So, whatever you decide to do, I’m in your corner. Always.” 

Jay took a deep breath, then put his hand on top of Nya’s, catching her eye. “Can you call her?” he whispered, his voice so quiet that Nya wouldn’t have caught it if there was any other sound in their bedroom. He inhaled sharply. “I just… I think it should be a face-to-face thing…”

Nya nodded, leaning forward to brush a quick kiss to Jay’s lips. “Of course. Now?”

Jay swallowed, his throat bobbing, then nodded. Nya kissed him again, then stood up, grabbing her phone from the bedside table and punching the number into it, holding the device up to her ear as it rang. She glanced back at Jay, offering him a comforting smile to ease his racing heart. Then, the call was picked up. 

“Yes, hello! I’m calling to talk to the Administrator? Yes, I understand she’s very busy, but… yes, I know that. Can you tell her it’s Nya?” she took gentle steps around the room as she spoke, maintaining an uncharacteristically cool head as she spoke to whatever subordinate was on the other end of the line. “Thank you… they’re transferring me,” Nya explained, turning to Jay, who nodded, wringing his hands anxiously. “Ah! Hello, Libber. It’s Nya.”  

Libber. Jay’s birth mother. His stomach lurched at the thought and he tightened his jaw so he wouldn’t throw up all over the bed. 

“Yeah, I’ve been well… I hope you have been, too. He wants to meet you,” she turned to Jay, watching as he watched her. “We were hoping in person… would you be able to come to the Monastery of Spinjitzu? I can send you the address- oh, right. Yeah, I should’ve remembered that. Thank you. I’ll see you then. Yeah, you too. Buh-bye.”

Jay waited with bated breath as Nya hung up the phone, then crossed the room and took his hands, smiling down at him. “She’ll be here in a week.” 

---

Jay was pacing across the courtyard as he and Nya waited for Libber to arrive. They had asked the rest of the team to make themselves scarce, passing Amaya off to Kai and making him promise not to spoil her too rotten. Nya sat by the fountain, watching every lap he took, counting every anxious step. 

“It’s gonna be okay, Jay.”

Jay paused, glancing at Nya. “I know that… I just…”

“It’s okay to be nervous, too,” Nya said, standing up and crossing the cobblestone to meet Jay, wrapping her arms around his neck. He paused for a moment, then brought his arms up to wrap around her waist, hugging her back. 

He dropped his head to her shoulder, inhaling her hair - which she had let fall in loose waves around her face. “Thank you for being here.”

“Always,” Nya whispered, squeezing him tighter as the front gates squeaked behind them. Nya’s eyes flew open and she looked over Jay’s shoulder to the sound, her attention falling on the older woman slipping though. Jay’s blue eyes, Jay’s quirked-up lips. Jay’s birth mother. Nya tightened her grip around Jay and whispered right into his ear. “She’s here.”  

Jay’s posture grew rigid, his body pulsing with unreleased lightning. Nya ran her hands down his back, hoping to instill some confidence in him, and only pulled away when he did first, turning to look at the older woman across the courtyard. 

Nya held Jay’s hand as he stared at his birth mother, and Libber stared right back at him. 

Her hair was blonde and just as curly as her son’s, streaked with silver. Her electric blue eyes were creased around the edges from a lifetime of smiles, one of which was creeping to her lips in the monastery courtyard. “Jay…” 

Nya could feel Jay’s palm sweating against hers, and she squeezed his fingertips to remind him that she was by his side. When he spoke, his voice squeaked. “Hi.” 

The three of them stood for a moment, studying each other, before Libber made the first move and stepped forward, staying far enough away from Jay and Nya not to spook her son. She seemed to be at a loss for words as she studied him. His curls, his freckles, his eyes that were just like hers. A man standing before her that wore the same face as the baby she had left behind. She looked down at her toes, then turned her attention back to his face. “I’m really glad that you agreed to meet me,” she said quietly, looking from Jay to Nya. “Thank you for reaching out. I would have a long time ago, but… I didn’t want to push.” 

Nya nodded, glancing at Jay, who was still staring at the older woman. She was about to speak when he beat her to it. 

“Do you want to come inside?” he asked, instinctively squeezing Nya’s hand. She smiled at him, and so did Libber. 

“I’d like that. I’m sure things have changed a lot since I was last here,” she said, leading the way into the monastery like she had never left it. Jay and Nya watched her disappear inside, then followed her a few paces behind. 

“This is weird,” Jay hissed. 

“Yeah, but you’re doing great,” Nya whispered back, pressing a kiss to Jay’s cheek as they followed Libber into the monastery kitchen. Nya only broke away from Jay’s side to start boiling water for tea, glancing across the room as Jay and Libber sat down across from each other at the table. The Master of Water grabbed a tin of cookies that Zane had baked that morning and brought them over, settling on Jay’s side as Libber looked around, a tiny smile on her lips. 

“I’m surprised so much is the same. You’d think forty years would make a bigger difference, right? But I guess Wu’s in charge, so tradition takes precedence. He was always like that, even back in the old days.” Jay nodded nervously at her anxious rambling. Nya couldn’t help but grin at how similar they were, even with a lifetime apart. Libber opened her mouth to continue, then seemed to realize how much had already spilled from her lips. “I’m talking a lot, aren’t I?” Nya shrugged. “I’m sorry, I just… I’m a little nervous.”

“You’re not the only one,” Jay said quietly, offering Libber a reassuring smile, his eyes rimmed with anxiety. “When I get nervous I talk a lot, too.”

“Major mouth of lightning,” Nya said, leaning her head on Jay’s shoulder. He rested his cheek on her hair in return. Libber grinned, and the tension between them seemed to ease. 

“I’m sorry that you inherited that. It can be very irritating.”

“Oh, trust me, I’ve been told,” Jay said, sitting up again. “But I think it keeps life interesting.”

The kettle on the stove began howling, and Nya stood up to tend to it, pouring boiling water into three mugs as she watched Jay and Libber. 

“So… I don’t really know where to go from here,” Jay confessed, taking a cookie from the tin and nibbling at it, looking away from his bio mom. She pursed her lips, thinking, and then looked back at him as Nya brought the tea to the table. 

“Do you have questions for me? I’m sure you do.”

Nya wrapped her arm around Jay’s waist and took a sip of tea as he found his voice, diving directly into the deep end. “Why did you leave?” 

Libber took a deep breath, cupping her hands around the warm mug. “I did what I thought would be best for you. After… after he left, I started feeling lost. Overwhelmed. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to give you the life you deserved. So, I found people who could,” she took a sip of tea and looked around, her attention catching on the photos covering the fridge. Representation of the entire team and their families, with a photo of a teenage Jay, grinning between Ed and Edna’s beaming faces, front and center. “Did they?”

Jay nodded. “Yeah, they really did.” 

Even through the sting of learning that he had been left behind by the woman who gave birth to him, Jay was able to realize how lucky he had been to be dropped on Ed and Edna’s doorstep. They had given him an amazing, warm life, full of love. He had Libber to thank for that.

“I’m glad.” Libber smiled over the rim of her mug, her eyes only slightly saddened. “Can I hear about you? About your life?”

Nya held onto Jay as he nodded, then dove into telling his birth mother about his life since she had stepped out of it. He told her about growing up in the junkyard, about inventing with his dad. He told her about the moment that Master Wu found him, insisting that he was special. He told her about inheriting her powers, showed her the scars littering his arms and hands from years of learning to harness the lightning. At that, she grinned and showed him hers to match. 

He told her about meeting Nya, his eyes softening, his heart melting as he told Libber their love story. From the moment that he learned her favorite color, to their first kiss, to his life-or-death proposal, to the moment that he got her back from being one with the ocean. As their tea cooled and the tin of cookies grew empty, he rounded the corner into the present. 

“You have a daughter?” Libber asked, her smile widening. 

Jay nodded, grinning. “Yeah. Amaya May.”

“She’s almost two.” 

“Oh… Jay, honey. That is so wonderful.” She reached across the table to scoop up Jay’s hand, beaming when Jay let her, then reached for Nya’s. “I don’t want to overstep, but… I would love to meet her one day.” 

Jay blinked, taken aback, then nodded. “I’d like that, too.”

---

They decided not to push any further than a mother-son reunion that afternoon. Jay was already emotionally exhausted from the day and didn’t want to risk breaking the new bond by doing too much. Nya and Libber agreed. Plus, it would give them time to figure out how to explain everything to Amaya. 

As they walked Libber to the monastery gates, Jay surprised himself by stopping her for a hug before she could exit the courtyard. He reached for her elbow, pulling her attention toward him, and then tugged her in, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. After a moment of shock, Libber let her arms come up around his back, squeezing him tight in return. 

“I’m really glad you came, Libber,” Jay whispered into her hair, closing his eyes. 

“Of course, Jay,” Libber said quietly, her eyes filling with happy tears over Jay’s shoulder as Nya watched on, her own emotion swelling in her throat. “I’m just a call away.” 

Jay sniffled, surprised to find out that he had started crying. “I think I’ll take you up on that,” he said, pulling away and wiping his eyes as Libber pressed a hand to his cheek. The movement was maternal, making Jay’s heart race as she pulled away, turning to hug Nya in farewell. Nya leaned into her touch. 

“Thank you so much for this, Nya,” Libber whispered into Nya’s dark hair. All she could do was nod and squeeze Libber tighter. Then, the older woman slipped through the gate, leaving Jay and Nya standing alone in the courtyard. 

Nya turned to Jay, who still had tears running down his face. She stepped toward him, cupping his cheeks with both of her hands, gingerly wiping away the tears with her thumbs. “How’re you feeling?”

Jay took a deep, shuddering breath, letting his hands fall to Nya’s hips. “Exhausted… but good. This is good,” he turned his head and pressed a kiss to Nya’s palm. “Thank you for doing this. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Nya nodded. “And you’ll never have to find out,” she whispered, pressing a quick kiss to Jay’s twitching lips. When she pulled away, he leaned forward, capturing her soft lips and holding them tighter, kissing her slower. Nya snaked her arms around his neck and was pulled in by the waist. Wordlessly, they told each other how much they loved one another. Of course, they were all feelings they already knew. 

After a few moments, Jay pulled away to yawn, the emotional toll of the day catching up with him. “I think… I should call my Mom,” he said quietly, still holding Nya like he was afraid she would float away. She nodded, guiding him into the monastery, only pulling away to walk down the hallway to check on their perfect daughter as Jay walked to the living room to call Edna. 

As she looked down at her slumbering baby, Nya felt a swell of love for the child. Amaya didn’t know it - being a baby who barely knew that she was alive - but she was exceedingly lucky to be born into a family filled with so much affection for her. She had her aunts and her uncles, her Grandma Edna and Grandpa Ed. She had her other set of grandparents - Nya’s parents - who didn’t visit as often, being occupied with the family shop, but sent gifts and letters almost weekly to make up for it. Now, she had an additional grandmother who was anxious to meet her, to step back into the life that she had walked away from, that Jay was willing to bring her back into to make up for their lost time together.

Chapter 3: meeting

Ring… ring… ring…

Jay held his breath, feeling his heart pounding in the pulse of his cheek against the phone. Even after nearly a year, it was still scary reaching out to his birth mother. Every time he called, he worried that she wouldn’t pick up. Some piece of him held her at arm’s length. 

The phone was about to go to Libber’s cheerful, Administration-approved voicemail when she answered, not nearly as cheery. 

“No, Prentiss! You need a mountain of forms to start a cubicle dodgeball league, it’s not gonna happen!” she said, her voice slightly distant as she held her face away from the phone. Jay chuckled as he listened to muffled retorts from Libber’s subordinate, then she put the device up to her ear, her tone softening. “Hi, Lightning Boy.”

“Hi, Libber.”

“I’m sorry about that, honey. Sub Agent Prentiss is a total doorknob- yes I know you can hear me! Go file something!” Libber snapped, once again pulling her face away from the phone so she wouldn’t yell right into his ear. 

“Did I catch you at a bad time? I can call back later if you need to work,” Jay said, fiddling with the hem of his sweats, his legs criss-crossed in front of him on the bed. He slouched slightly at the thought of having to get up the nerve to call again later.

“No, no! I always have time for you, Jay,” Libber said, her smile clear in her voice. “What do you need? I can tell you have something to ask. Whatever it is, it’s yours.”

“I don’t really… need anything… necessarily,” Jay started, speaking slowly so he wouldn’t stutter. “But I wanted to ask… do you want to come here for Amaya’s birthday?” Silence. Jay panicked. “You don’t have to say yes! We just thought- umm, since you asked if you could meet her, uh, before… but you’re probably up to your ears in paperwork, so-”

“Mouth of lightning, honey,” Libber said simply, stopping Jay’s blabbering. It was what she said every time he started rambling, always pulling a smile to his lips. “I would really like that. Are you sure you’re okay with it? It won’t confuse her?”

“Hey, the more people at baby blue’s birthday, the better. She’s used to mountains of attention.” Jay’s grin widened. “We’re having a party on Saturday, but my and Nya’s parents are coming in early. If you want to, too, we’d love to have you here.”

Libber took a deep breath, but Jay knew that it wasn’t hesitation. He knew that she was thrilled to be welcomed into the family, always patient, always waiting for him to be ready. “And I’d love to be there.”

---

“How’re you feelin’?” Jay asked, dropping a kiss on Nya’s hair as he rounded the couch, dropping down beside her. 

Nya rolled her head on the back of the couch to look at him. “How are you feeling?” 

“I asked first.”

“Well, I still feel like my hands and feet are gonna explode,” Nya said, wiggling her fingers and bare toes in front of her, then rubbing a swollen hand across her stomach with a smile. “But I don’t feel as dizzy anymore.”

“Always good,” Jay said, leaning in to kiss Nya’s jaw, his hand landing on top of hers on her belly. Baby blue two was just starting to peek out, meaning that Jay and Nya would have to tell the baby’s sister about them soon. “And your boobs look great, so that’s a plus.”

“Thank you!” Nya said with a grin as Jay’s eyes dipped down, his own wild smile stretching his lips until his Yang’s face turned serious again. “Now, tell me what’s going on in your brain,” Nya said, tilting her head so she could look dead into Jay’s eyes. He pursed his lips, faltering under her gaze. He had just finished putting Amaya to bed, it was still early on Thursday night. T-minus two days until their daughter’s third birthday. Only one more day before the whirlwind of parents arrived. Five and counting. 

“Too much.”

“Give me a top five?” Nya suggested gently, hooking her finger around Jay’s thumb with a small smile that he couldn’t help but return. 

“Okay, umm… excited. Terrified. Uh, happy…” he let his fingers drift across the fabric of Nya’s top. “Anxious and… kinda old. Can you believe we’re gonna have a three year old?.”

“No, I never can. She’ll always be my baby.” Nya absentmindedly ran her hand along her stomach, across her other baby. She tilted her head at Jay. “That’s a pretty good word salad you’ve got going on in your head,” Nya whispered, pressing a kiss to Jay’s forehead, then pulling back with seriousness. “It’s all gonna be great. And if it's not… we can always hide until everybody leaves.”

“Even at our own daughter’s party?”

“Yep! She won’t even notice we’re gone. She’ll be too focused on the cake and presents.”

“Yeah, but she’d resent us later in life… I guess I could tough it out for cake,” Jay said, leaning his head on Nya’s shoulder. She brushed a kiss to his hair. 

“Everything’s gonna be fine, Jay. My parents knew Libber back in the day, so we don’t have to worry about them… and I don’t think Ed and Edna have ever met someone they didn’t love immediately. Especially when they’re important to you.”

Jay knew it all to be true, the knowledge helping to ease his anxieties for a bit. 

Besides, he had Nya. He never really had much to worry about, anyways.

---

“Baby blue, if you don’t put your clothes on, you don’t get to see Grandma and Grandpa!” 

“No, Daddy!” Amaya shrieked, sprinting across her room in only her pull-up, finally agreeing to get dressed for her own birthday party upon being threatened. Jay dressed his squirming daughter - her tiny body wriggling with excitement for the day - with his own wide smile, smoothing her curls once her head poked through the neckline. 

“Okay, now give me a spin,” Jay said, nodding toward Amaya, who giggled as she twirled. The royal blue tassels on her skirt swung around her like waves. “There we go! You look spectacular, miss Amaya May.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” Amaya said, reaching up as Jay stood, scooping her off of the carpet and settling her on his hip. “See Gamma Edna now?”

“Yeah, hon. You can see Grandma Edna now,” Jay said, swallowing his own nerves. Even though Amaya had taken the news that she had a third grandma surprisingly well (she had immediately started bragging about it to all of her uncles), Jay still felt anxiety twisting in his gut. He couldn’t help it, but he tried his best to push through the discomfort.

Outside, the courtyard was bustling with new arrivals. As soon as the gate creaked open, Maya had left her husband’s side, leaving him with a pile of suitcases, and launched herself into her daughter’s arms, then pulled back just as quickly, her eyes wide as she asked if Nya was pregnant. The Master of Water giggled as she confirmed her mother's suspicions, wincing slightly as her mom hugged her tighter, asking how on earth she could possibly have been able to tell within minutes of seeing her. It was a mother’s intuition, Maya explained. Then, the gate creaked open again, and Libber slipped through with a timid smile.

“Libby?” Maya asked, her eyes widening over Nya’s shoulder as she took in the sight of one of her oldest friends.

“Maymay!” Libber said, throwing herself into her best friend’s arms. They embraced like it hadn’t been decades since they had last seen one another. Like their hair wasn’t graying, their faces weren’t wrinkled with a lifetime of smiles. Nya couldn’t help but beam as she watched the exchange, accepting Ray’s hug as they watched. Libber pulled back with a grin. “What has it been? Twenty… twenty-five years?”

“Probably closer to thirty now, if you can believe it!" 

“Where did all that time go?”

“And now our babies are having babies, did you ever think you’d see the day?”

“No, I never did,” Libber said. The entire room knew why, none of them needed to mention it. The lighthearted tone continued on. 

“Speaking of which, where is the birthday girl?” Maya asked, turning to Nya. 

“Inside, Jay’s just getting her up from her nap. I’m sure she’ll be bursting at the seams excited when she wakes up to a full house,” Nya said, stepping away from her dad to hug Libber, who squeezed her tight. “She’s gonna love you, I promise,” she whispered into Libber’s blonde hair. The older woman squeezed her shoulders tighter, then pulled back, her bright blue eyes sparkling as she studied Nya. Her eyebrow inched toward her hairline, which dipped down the middle of her forehead in the same way Jay’s did. Her lips twitched into a smile.

“Are you pregnant?” Libber asked. Nya gasped.

“How do you two do that?” she asked, turning from Jay’s birth mother to hers. Libber squealed and launched herself back into Nya’s arms, swaying her gently as she cooed her congratulations. Again, Maya insisted that it was a mom thing, and Nya shook her head with a grin, guiding the group into the monastery.

---

“Congratulations, my BlueJay,” Libber said, wrapping her arms around Jay’s shoulders as soon as she stepped in the room. Over her shoulder, Jay shot Nya a look, then accepted Ray’s firm squeeze. After he had greeted all of the new arrivals, he took Nya by the elbow, gently pulling her away from the crowd. 

“You told them?” he asked, gesturing to the room full of parents. Nya shook her head.

“My mom and Libber guessed as soon as I saw them,” she muttered, watching their moms talk animatedly. “They said it was some sort of ‘mom superpower’,” she continued, sketching quotations around the words with her fingers. Jay’s eyes widened. 

“Can you do it?”

Nya shrugged. “Nobody else’s gotten pregnant yet.”

“Oh, yeah. Right.”

“I’ll keep you posted, though,” Nya said, rising to her tiptoes and kissing Jay on the cheek, then peeking down the hallway. Her grin widened as she laid eyes on her daughter, who squealed and tugged on Ed and Edna’s hands to race toward her mom. “Baby blue! You look beautiful!”

“Tanks, Mama!” 

“Woah, almost birthday girl! When’d you become a teenager?” Ray asked as soon as Amaya entered the room, escorted by her grandparents and followed closely by Jay and Nya, her tiny hand clutched in Edna’s as she looked around the room of adults gathered in her honor. Usually, she would have complained about the lack of her uncles and aunts in the room, but they had all promised to make an appearance at the big party, pacifying Amaya so she’d agree for some five-on-one grandparent time. Every complaint seemed to vanish from her mind as her pudgy grin widened. 

“Still little, Papa!” she said, letting go of Edna’s hand to run forward and hug Ray’s legs. He laughed at the contact and picked her up off the ground, swinging her around like he always did, making the room fill with little kid giggles. Then, she was passed to Maya, who nuzzled her face in Amaya’s curls before putting her back down. It was then that Amaya noticed the stranger in the room. Nya glanced at Jay, then stepped to Amaya’s side, squatting beside her. 

“Baby blue, remember who we told you you were gonna meet?” she whispered, putting her hand on Amaya’s tiny back. The almost-three-year-old displayed surprising bravery as she looked up at the blonde, who stared back at her with wide, disbelieving eyes. “That’s Daddy’s Mama.”

Amaya furrowed her tiny brow, turning to look at her Dad, then at Edna, clearly associating her as Jay’s mom. Which wasn’t untrue. Finally, she turned wide eyes back to Libber. 

“Hi.”

Libber widened her eyes, a small smile creeping to her lips as she crouched down to Amaya’s eye level. “Hi, miss birthday girl. I’m Libber,” she said, extending her hand. It shook slightly, but Amaya didn’t seem to care as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Libber’s middle. The blonde stared at Nya, who was grinning as she watched the exchange, then looked at Jay, who was still by the door, nodding encouragingly for her to hug her granddaughter back. As soon as she did, they melted into each other as though Libber hadn’t missed any of Amaya’s three years. 

As Jay watched his daughter and his birth mother share such a special moment, he couldn’t help the emotion that rose in his throat. It started deep in his stomach, his anxiety curling and doing backflips, then moved up to his lungs, pushing against his chest as his heart raced, beating in his throat. For a moment, he saw a younger version of himself being hugged by his birth mom. His mind latched onto it, spinning out of his control, and he had no choice but to rush out of the room before the rest of the group noticed. 

Nya felt his absence, though. She always did. 

Quietly, she dismissed herself from the room, content with allowing Ed and Edna to meet the woman who had given them their son, with allowing her parents to catch up with their long lost friend. She slipped down the hallway, scanning every open door they passed, until she saw Jay sitting in his old room. His head was down, covered by his hands, and his shoulders were shaking with the weight of his tears. 

“Jay…” Nya whispered, stepping into the room and pulling the door shut gently, then crossing the room to join her Yin. He didn’t look up as she sat down beside him on his old bed, which hadn’t been slept in in years, but didn’t pull away when Nya’s hand made its way to his back. If anything, he started crying harder, burying his face deeper in his palms to muffle the sound. “Oh, honey…” she whispered, leaning in to put her chin on Jay’s trembling shoulder, running her hand up and down his back. He took a deep, shaking breath, trying to steady himself. Nya waited until his breathing slowed and he pulled his hands away from his face, revealing blotchy, tearsoaked cheeks and red-rimmed eyes. The tears made them appear even bluer. Nya reached for his hand, not caring about the snot and tears that covered it, and squeezed it gently. She dipped her head to catch Jay’s eye. “Is this too much?”

Jay shook his head, taking a deep breath. When he exhaled before speaking, it came out uneven. “It’s not too much, it’s just…” Jay sniffled, a tear sliding down his cheek, opening the floodgates for more. His shoulders shook as he tried to stem the flow, and his voice came out strangled. “It’s just a lot.” 

“I know, honey,” Nya murmured, running her hand between Jay’s shoulderblades, shifting to hold his bicep so her arm was wrapped around him. “I know how difficult this all must be… seeing her and baby blue. Is that what’s making you cry?”

Jay pursed his lips, chewing on the inside of his cheek, then nodded. Nya waited patiently as he found his voice, attempting to keep his breathing even to speak. “I just… I never realized how much I missed out on with her. Because I had my mom… and my dad. But now… it all hurts. It’s like finding out all over again,” he whispered, using his and Nya’s intertwined hands to wipe the tear from his cheek. Tears rose in Nya’s eyes, too. She remembered how awful she and the team had been when Jay had first told them his news, how they had let their frustration at him blind their typical supportive nature. Jay had told Nya that she had since made up for it, but she knew that the pain of finding out he had been abandoned so long ago still stung when he pushed on it. 

“Do you want to stay here? I can go make an excuse. Food poisoning? Or something less graphic?” Nya asked, pulling a watery chuckle from Jay. He turned and pressed a quick wet kiss to Nya’s cheek. 

“No, I just need a second,” Jay said, sucking in another deep breath. Nya raised her eyebrow, knowing how Jay liked to put his own emotional needs aside for the good of the people he loved. She didn’t want him to do it, now, and it was like Jay could read her mind. “Not because I’m gonna ignore it. Not because I don’t wanna burden everyone else. Just… because I know it’s going to be something good,” he said quietly, reaching one hand up and fiddling with Nya’s Yin-Yang pendant. “Because… even if it hurts now… I don’t wanna miss out on any more of my mom. And I don’t want our kids to, either.”

Nya smiled, taking Jay by the cheek and kissing him slowly, chuckling lightly as she tasted his snot. It would have been gross if she didn’t love him so much. 

“You’re so brave. So wonderful,” she whispered into his lips. Jay grinned back into hers, then hiccuped from all the crying her had been doing just minutes before, making both of them giggle.

“I might need a second, though,” he said, sniffling.

Nya grinned, running her thumb along Jay’s cheek to dry it. “Take all the time you need.”

Chapter 4: rain

“You’ve got that look again.”

Nya pulled her attention away from the child in her arms, who she had been clutching to her chest. She hadn’t realized that she had become panicked, hadn’t realized that her grip on her second daughter had tightened, hadn’t realized that Kai’s hand had made its way to her shoulder, pulling her out of her daze. 

She turned slightly, looking at his warm hand on her shoulder, then up at his eyes. She tried her best to unclench her jaw so that words could leave her lips. “Look?” she asked quickly.

Kai raised his eyebrows at her, his scar inching up his forehead. “That ‘I’m Nya and I wanna bolt’ look. The same look as last time.” 

Nya shook her head, trying to push cheeriness into her voice. “There’s no look, Kai.”

“Alright,” Kai said, pulling away slightly, Nya’s shoulder feeling empty and cold without his grip on it. Her jaw tightened, her eyes widened, and she felt panic swirling in her gut. Oh no. She hated when Kai was right . “Yep. There’s the look,” Kai said, moving his hand to his little sister’s back and looking around the room, his eyes finally landing on Jay. He and Amaya were sitting on the floor, building a puzzle of sea creatures on the rug. He had been too wrapped up in Amaya’s babbles and giggles to sense the anxiety radiating off of his Yang. “Jay?”

The Master of Lightning looked up, squinting across the room at Kai and Nya, his eyes widening with his own nerves as he took in their tense postures. Jay stood up - whispering something to Amaya, who continued working on interlocking the bright blue puzzle pieces - then crossed the room in three long strides, dropping to Nya’s side. “Are you okay?”

Tears pooled in Nya’s eyes. She wanted to be okay, she wanted it more than anything. But she knew that it didn’t work like that. 

Jay put his hand on top of hers, sandwiching her fingers between his and the baby, ensuring they were surrounded by warmth. Kai squeezed her shoulders quickly before standing up and joining his niece on the floor across the room, picking up a piece of the puzzle and acting as though it was unsolvable, making Amaya laugh. Nya took a breath, steadying herself. She studied the room around her, making sure that she was safe. Of course she was, she was surrounded by her family. What more safety could she ask for?

She held onto her other identifiers, like she always did whenever she started to feel herself slip into her anxiety. Nya: Master of Water. Nya: inventor and dancer. Nya: sister of Kai and Yang of Jay. Nya: mother of Amaya May and Willow Bee. Her two perfect baby blues.

“This isn’t fair… I love her so much ,” Nya whispered, leaning down to breathe in the scent of Willow’s sparse hair. Then, she looked across the room at her other daughter, who was focused on the sea imagery as she put it together with her uncle. Nya was consumed by adoration for her babies. She loved both of her children so much that sometimes she couldn’t stand it. 

“I know you do, honey,” Jay said, pressing a kiss to Nya’s temple, to where he knew her mind was inflicting the most hurt. “This doesn’t mean you love them any less. It’s just that pesky brain.”

“I know that… I do,” Nya whispered, holding Willow close. She had grown exponentially since she had first been brought to the monastery. Just like her entrance into the world, she was in a hurry to get bigger, becoming less alien-like with every passing day. “It’s just hard.”

“I know, Nya,” Jay adjusted to wrap his arm around Nya, who leaned into the touch. She could feel warm waves of love cascading off of him, sinking into her skin, running to the dark corners of her mind. “How can I help lighten the load for you? I’m here for you always.” 

As much as she wanted to push the world away and curl up to wallow in her bad feelings, Nya had learned that it would do more harm than good. Months of experience three years ago had taught her that. She could never get that time back, and she was determined not to waste any moment of it now. Nya took another deep breath, inhaling the scent of familiarity and safety that radiated off her Yin, who promised to stay by her side no matter what. She knew that he wouldn’t let her go through the pain alone. 

“Can we do something?” she whispered. “Get out of here for a bit?”

Jay smiled, his electric eyes softening to a sky blue. “Yeah, of course,” he pulled away, raising his voice to echo across the room. “Baby blue, go put your shoes on. We’re going on a family adventure.” 

Amaya turned, her curls shifting as she looked across the room, then back at her puzzle. “But, Dadda… puzzle!” 

“The puzzle will still be here when we get back, Amaya May,” Jay said, his tone just parental enough to gently pull Amaya away from the floor, leaving Kai sitting next to her unfinished masterpiece. “Wanna join, Fireball?”

Kai shook his head, standing up as Jay helped Nya out of the rocking chair, both of them making sure that Willow was still held safely. “Nah, I’m good. I don’t wanna crash family time,” he paused, watching as Jay picked up Amaya so she could whisper to the baby, a smile tickling at his lips as he took in the scene. “But I’ll be here for whatever you need. Just ask.” 

“Thanks, Kai,” Nya said earnestly, turning soft brown eyes to her big brother. Her hero. She had never had a doubt that he would ever leave her corner. He had proven that time and time again during their lives. “I love you.”

“And I love you,” he said, blowing a kiss to Amaya as he watched them go. Kai let the worry for his sister fade and dull as she left the room, the sound of Amaya’s squealing and Jay’s playful shouts guiding her down the hallway. For years, he had been the sole bearer of the anxiety for Nya’s sake, running himself ragged in his attempts to protect her, often crossing over lines into an unbearable older brother-ship. But Kai knew he didn’t have to do that anymore. He didn’t have to dwell on his worry for Nya, she had a life of her own. He was there when she needed, just like she was there for him. And they were there for the rest of the team. 

None of them had to carry their pain alone. Time had taught them that.

Chapter 5: parents

The air in the monastery was thick, the building nearly bursting at the seams with guests. Every room was filled. Lou was settled in Cole’s room, Ray and Maya were in the guest room across the hall. Misako had flown in early in the morning, immediately crashing in Lloyd’s room, which he insisted upon. Cyrus Borg and Dr Julien had agreed to share the other guest room, the smaller one that collected dust all year, finding that they had more in common than their children being in love with each other. Ed and Edna had fought tooth and nail against taking Jay and Nya’s room for their visit, but ended up in there anyways. Jay insisted that the monastery had enough air mattresses to accommodate them and quickly got to work with inflating one to put on the floor of the nursery. 

The crowdedness was good. Warm and sweet, like holidays should be. 

Not at all stifling. 

“FSM, I thought we were never gonna escape that dinner,” Jay said, putting his head down on the cool counter as Nya scooped leftovers into tupperware dishes, a tired smile tickling her lips as she looked down at him.

“I know, I’m sorry. My Mom can be a talker.”

Jay scoffed, the sound turning into a laugh. “Your mom? Have you met my parents?” he asked, widening his eyes as he turned his head. “Blabbering is a Walker family specialty." He was grateful that Libber had already made plans for the holidays, meaning that she hadn't flown out to stay in the already packed monastery. If she had been there, too, the chattering would never stop. "You’ve known me long enough to be an expert on that.” 

Nya hummed, clicking the last tupperware closed and turning fully to her Yin, her grin widening. “I don’t know… I focus more on what else your mouth of lightning can do,” she said quietly, shifting so that she was right by Jay’s side, her hands making their way to his hips, then up his sides, then to his face. His skin was warm under her touch, his freckles shimmering in the dim kitchen light. 

“Ooooh do you have a crush on me or something?” Jay teased, smirking at Nya. She felt his cheeks crease under her fingertips and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she nodded. 

“Something like that,” she murmured before leaning in, brushing her lips to Jay’s. He sucked in a content breath, his hands finding their way to her hips, mirroring her stance. Nya beamed into Jay as their kiss deepened, her arms wrapping around his neck as his moved up her back, holding her close. She rose up on her tiptoes, pressing her body against Jay’s from lips to toes. They had long ago gotten used to a lack of privacy and tender moments like this, with two kids constantly sucking up their attention. Something about waiting for it made the moment that much sweeter. 

Until, of course, it was broken. 

“Ew. Get a room, you two,” Cole said, rolling his eyes as he walked to the fridge. Jay pulled back, keeping his hands on Nya’s waist as he glared at his best friend. 

“I have a room, there’s just two kids in it,” he said, resisting the urge to groan. He loved his daughters, but he also loved his Yang. He wanted to show her, over and over again. Verbally, emotionally, and physically: the aspect of their love that they hadn’t been able to exercise together in too long, for his liking. 

“Yeah, well, at least you don’t have to share with my Dad,” Cole said, returning the harsh expression as he grabbed a tupperware of noodles, not seeming to care about the coldness as he picked at them with his fingers. “Did you know he sings in his sleep?”

“How on earth would I know that?”

“Woah. Are we talking shit about parents in here?” Kai’s hushed voice hissed through the quiet kitchen, pulling his teammates’ attention toward the door. He glanced down the hallway - his hair still damp from his shower and hanging limply around his face without his typical gel - before ducking inside, grabbing a chunk of tofu from Cole. Nya groaned, shooting daggers from her eyes into the side of her brother’s head, then at Cole’s, cursing both of them for the interruption. 

“No, Kai.”

“Yes, we were!” Cole said, smacking Kai’s hand away as he reached for a long noodle. The Master of Fire rolled his eyes. “What about your parents, have they done anything to piss you off yet?” 

Kai shrugged. “Not yet, but it's only Thursday. They have a whole long weekend to do something to get under my skin.”

“Speaking of getting under skin,” Lloyd’s voice pulled the group’s attention to the door as he stepped through it, followed closely by a tired-looking Pixal, if that was even possible, and Zane. “I know I insisted that my mom sleep in my room, but the couch is lumpy!” he groaned, falling to the dining table bench, dropping his head on a bright green pajama sleeve that rested on the wood in front of him. When Lloyd spoke, his voice was slightly muffled. “I just wanna sleep!” 

“Aw man. Sorry, greenie.”

“What about you, Pix?” Nya asked, finally unlooping her arms from around Jay’s neck as the rest of the group settled in the kitchen. There was no chance that they were going to be alone, at least not for the rest of the holiday season, so why bother trying? Instead, Nya let her hand wrap around Jay’s waist, settling on his hip. He did the same on hers, leaning his head on her shoulder.

Pixal rolled her sparkling green eyes and shot Zane a look. “We have no need to sleep, but both of our irritation sensors are maxed out at the constant conversation between our fathers.” She sighed, slumping slightly.

“They have been discussing the mechanics of android life for the last three hours. I was supposed to power down an hour and a half ago,” Zane said, an unnecessary yawn stretching at his lips. It was funny, for someone who didn’t need to sleep and therefore didn’t get tired, Zane was the most adamant about keeping to his nightly routine. 

“So, we all agree that next year, no parents are getting invited to the monastery for the holidays?” Cole asked, looking around the group, many of whom nodded in agreement before a cry rang through the hallways. Nya’s shoulder sagged as Jay groaned, burying his face in it. 

“I never realized how lucky we were with Amaya,” Jay muttered into the fabric of her t-shirt. Unlike her big sister, Willow awoke almost every hour, exactly on the hour. Every time she did, she would scream for someone to put her back to bed. Jay and Nya loved the kid and all, but they never realized how nice it was that their older daughter slept like the dead. “I’ll get her.” 

“I’ll come with you,” Nya said quietly, the end of her words getting caught in a yawn. “We should get going that way, anyway. We’re getting up early tomorrow for that wellness walk with your parents, remember?” 

Again, Jay groaned, wrapping his arm around Nya. She grinned and tipped into his warm side. “How did we get roped into that?”

“I don’t know, honey. You all talk so much, I’m sure there was only so much you could say before involuntarily making plans,” Nya teased, squeezing Jay’s side as they began walking out the door, turning to bid goodnight to their makeshift family.

“You know, when I said ‘no parents allowed’ in the monastery next year, I was also referring to you two,” Cole said sarcastically, wrinkling his nose with a smile. Jay and Nya knew it was all an act. If they ever left the monastery and took the girls with them, Cole would be on the phone before the day could end, begging them to come back. He loved the Sparklettes just as much as he loved their parents. Probably more.

“Yeah, you guys are nauseating,” Kai added, using Cole’s distraction to grab a handful of cold, greasy noodles. “Get out of here and tend to your Seaweed Baby,” he said, waving his full fist in Jay and Nya’s direction, his lips upturned. Nya rolled her eyes, then dragged her Yin down the hallway toward their screaming infant. At least they wouldn’t have to worry about her waking up her big sister, who was sleeping in a nearly comatose state next to the crib.     

As Nya put her hand on the doorknob of the nursery, she was shocked to hear that Willow’s sobs had quieted, becoming further and further apart as she continued hiccupping. She glanced at Jay, whose eyebrows were furrowed in a question. Their infant daughter wasn’t good enough at self-soothing to put herself back to sleep without their assistance. Nya pushed the door open, her heartrate spiking when she saw a figure standing in the darkness, holding her baby. She was about to lunge forward and hurl a blast of water at the stranger when they turned, their face catching the light. 

“Oh, hi sweet boy. Hi, Nya honey,” Edna whispered, swaying slightly as her granddaughter wound down her sobs. “You’ve got a real crier here. Woke me right up, just like you used to. Your father slept through it, though, just like the old days,” she said, smiling down at Willow in her arms as Jay and Nya stepped into the room, closing the door behind them. Nya smiled as Edna passed Willow into Jay’s arms, her heartrate returning to a normal rhythm as Jay took the infant, patting her tiny back comfortingly.

“Sorry, Ma,” Jay whispered as Nya moved to check on Amaya. She was still fast asleep, even as her bed sagged with the added weight of her mother.

“No need to be sorry, honey. That’s just how babies are,” Edna whispered. She moved to step across the room and back out the door, pressing a quick kiss to Nya’s hair on her way out, when the door creaked open and Maya slipped in, stopping Edna in her tracks. Her tired eyes widened as she took in the group in the nursery. 

“Oh, good! You all have her covered,” Maya whispered, turning to retreat. 

“Mom,” Nya’s voice stopped her mom. “You can stay until she falls asleep, if you want.”

“Really?” Maya asked, turning with a tiny, hopeful smile on her lips. Nya nodded, running her hand across Amaya’s back as she slept. 

“Yeah. She does this cute huffing thing right when we put her down. Like a giggle in the land of dreams. I wouldn’t want you to miss that,” Nya whispered, standing up and walking to the crib, where Jay was still rocking Willow, his face buried in her thin hair. Nya reached out her hand to her mom, pulling her close once Maya took it. Nya ran her empty hand along Willow’s back, her smile softening as she felt the warmth of her sleeping baby, then let Jay put her down with a final kiss on the forehead. Right as her tiny body was eased onto the soft bed, she let out a small breath of air. It sounded like a tiny chuckle as it left her tiny, parted lips. Nya turned to her mom, her eyes twinkling in the darkness. “See?” 

Maya grinned back. “You used to do the same thing,” she whispered, wrapping her arm around Nya’s side and quickly squeezing her. Nya leaned in, reciprocating the embrace. It had taken them a while to get there, but Nya was grateful that she finally felt as though her mom was someone she could hold close. Someone she could rely on. “Well, I’m going to bed. Goodnight, honey.”

“‘Night, Mom,” Nya whispered as her mom reached for Jay’s hand, squeezing it farewell, and Edna followed close behind, hugging Nya then rising to her tiptoes to kiss Jay’s cheek. A sliver of light spilled into the room as the door opened and their moms filed out, then Jay and Nya were alone, free to collapse on the air mattress and tangle themselves in each other's arms.

Chapter 6: negative

Nya felt nauseous. The kind of nausea that built up slowly rather than washing over quickly, moving from her stomach to her chest, blocking her airways as she tried her best to breathe. She swayed, focusing on Willow, who was on the brink of sleep, and not on her worry. Once the child went heavy in her arm, her tiny body slack, Nya gingerly lowered the sleeping baby into her crib, pressing a kiss to her fingers and pressing them to her curls before stepping back, trying to keep the nausea at bay. The nausea that was brought about by mounting anxiety, that had the potential to dissolve into full-on panic and dry heaving if she didn’t stamp it down. The type of nausea that Nya was feeling… because she was pretty sure she was pregnant again. 

It wouldn’t be the worst thing, she knew that… but it wouldn’t be the best, either. It would be hard and scary and overwhelming. It wasn’t something that she wanted to do again.

It was also something Nya knew she didn’t have to tackle on her own. 

After wandering the monastery for a few minutes, passing her teammates’ afternoon lounging - Lloyd was napping on the couch with Amaya sprawled out on his chest, both of them snoring while Kai snapped a picture for Nya - she found her Yin. He had walked up the sloping hill behind the monastery, reaching the peak that looked out over the mountaintops. As usual, he was transcribing the view on his canvas, completely immersed in the paints. 

Nya made sure her steps were audible so she wouldn’t startle him, seeing his posture relax slightly as he seemed to sense her presence and wrapping her arms around his neck from behind, looking at the canvas over his shoulder. It was a rough sketch of the mountains and the dusty sky, but it was already beautiful. Like everything Jay put his artistic touch on. 

“It's beautiful,” she whispered, pressing her cheek to Jay’s as his hand reached up, pressing on top of her clasped ones. 

“The view is subpar,” Jay murmured in return. Nya could feel him grinning. “Now that you’re here.” 

She rolled her eyes, a soft blush creeping onto her cheeks. She turned her head to press a kiss to Jay’s cheek, then unwrapped her arms from his neck so she could sit beside him. “You’re cheesy.”

“I can’t help it,” Jay said with a shrug, putting down his brush and reaching for Nya’s hand. She ducked her head and let him take it, chuckling as he kissed her knuckles. “Did Willow go down okay?”

Nya nodded. “As usual.” 

They fell into an easy silence, the only sound between them being the wind whistling through the mountains, shaking the flowers blooming in the trees. The scent made Nya’s head spin, and she shook it slightly to clear it. “I wanted to talk to you about something important.” 

Jay’s eyes widened slightly, his grip on her hand stiffening. “Uh oh.”

“No uh oh!” Nya said quickly. “I mean… maybe uh oh…” she paused, peeking over at her Yin. “I’m late.” 

“As in…?”

“As in… I might be pregnant,” Nya said quietly, squeezing Jay’s fingers. His calluses had softened with less time in the workshop, more at the easel. They snaked around hers, both of his hands coming up to cup hers. When she looked up at him, Jay’s eyes were questioning. 

“Is there… is there something else? I have a feeling this wouldn’t be a ‘maybe uh oh’ if you were excited.” 

Nya took a deep, shuddering breath. Her chin wobbled, and Jay’s grip on her hands tightened as he waited for her to find her voice. The warm spring air rustled through her hair as she whispered, hoping that her heavy words would be caught in the air and hurled away, along with all of the bad, guilty feelings attached to them. “I don’t think I wanna be,” she murmured.

With the words came the panic and the tears that silence had been keeping inside.

“Oh, baby…” Jay whispered, reaching forward to wrap his arms around Nya’s shaking shoulders, pressing soft kisses into her hair as she wept with her head buried in his chest. After a few moments, he spoke. “If you don’t wanna be, we don’t have to be…” Nya pulled back, looking up at Jay with tearsoaked eyes. He moved his hands to hold her waist, his electric blue eyes locked in on her waterlogged brown ones. “I love you. I love our life together, our girls… it’s all more than enough.” Nya sniffled and Jay ran his thumb along her cheek, wiping away some of the moisture with a soft smile. “Life with you has always been more than enough. Every day, I thank my lucky stars that I get to experience it with you.” 

“Holy shit, you’re good at talking,” Nya said, sniffling as she let out a damp chuckle. Jay grinned, leaning forward to brush a quick kiss to her lips, tasting her snot. 

“Mouth of lightning’s good for something, yeah?” he said. With the mood somewhat lightened, his smile only widened. “Plus, I don’t think you’re pregnant. Remember the-”

“The ice cave visions? Yes, Jay, I remember,” Nya said, rolling her eyes with a small, wet smile. “But I’m sure things have changed by now… you still don’t have an eyepatch.”

“There’s still time for that.”

“Yes, I know that. I think about it every time you try to cook,” she said, remembering the panic that went through her every time Jay attempted to flip boiling food, always worried for his eye as it went flying toward his face.  Jay shrugged with a smirk, reaching around to wrap his arm around his Yang. Nya leaned in, looking out at the mountaintops around them, watching the sky shifting from a light blue to a pale pink, then to a deep orange as she and Jay sat in the quiet of each other’s company. 

“Whatever happens, we’ll be okay, Nya,” Jay whispered, his tone shifting back to seriousness. Nya let her eyes fall closed, nodding into his chest. 

“We always are.” 

---

Jay was situated on the counter, looking down into the bathroom. He swung his legs slightly as Nya studied the boxed test in her hands, waiting for her to be ready to take it. 

Nya thumbed at the opening flap of the box, running her fingernails under it and pulling it open, looking down at the strip. She had taken tests like this over and over again, it was nothing she should be afraid of… but she was the most nervous about this one’s results. 

“You don’t have to do this now, Nya.” 

She looked up at Jay, her eyes widened with her nerves. “I wanna take it… it's just…”

“We’re not locked into the results,” Jay said, sliding down from the counter and dropping down to his knees in front of Nya, bringing his hands to rest on her thighs. “Whatever you wanna do, I’m right here with you.”

Tears pooled in Nya’s eyes. “I love you,” she whispered. 

Jay’s lips twitched upward. He squeezed the flesh of her legs. “And I love you. Forever and ever.”

Nya took a deep breath, the pressure Jay was putting on her legs providing some comfort, like a weighted blanket. “Okay, I’m gonna take it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Nya said, reaching out her hands to help Jay up as she stood, too, opening up the lid of the toilet. He returned to the counter, sliding up and turning his attention away as she prepared to take the test - a routine she had long ago memorized - then turning back quickly when she gasped.

“What? What happened?”

“I’m not pregnant," Nya said. For once, she was thrilled to see blood in her pants. Jay looked down at her, his eyes widening as he took in the spots of crimson. “Not pregnant, just late,” she said quietly, mostly for her own reassurance, pulling up her pants and reaching up to high-five her Yin. He chuckled as he returned the slap of their palms, then opened his arms for Nya to fall into once he slid down from the counter. “Oh, thank the Master.” Jay squeezed her, somehow speechless. Nya giggled, knowing what was on the tip of his tongue. “Go ahead, say it.”

“I told you so,” Jay said, his voice tinged with smugness as he rocked her by the shoulders. “Ice cave visions don’t lie, and we’ve already got our perfect babies.”

Nya rolled her eyes, moving her hands up Jay’s back. “You’re an idiot,” she said, unable to keep the affection out of her voice. Then, a sharp pain rolled through her abdomen, stabbing her in the pelvis over and over again. All of the joy at getting her period washed away with the cramp, and she pulled away, grimacing up at Jay. “Now, I’ve gotta lay down before I pass out,” she said quietly, reaching for a bottle of pain meds on the counter. Jay nodded, filling a cup of water for her as she threw back the pills, stepping out of the bathroom. He was only away from her side for long enough to set up her heating pad and a mountain of pillows, then joined her back in the bathroom with an electric grin.

“Do you want me to escort you to the bedroom?” he asked, blinking when Nya responded with a light giggle. “ Not in that way, you pervert,” he teased, reaching around as Nya rested her arms on his shoulders, his grip settling under her legs as he scooped her off the tile and carried her into the adjacent bedroom. He put her down gingerly on the mattress, pulling the covers up around her and brushing a kiss to her bangs, which he whispered into, his smile clear in his quiet voice. “Maybe later.” 

Nya breathed out a chuckle, then pulled her arms free from under the blanket, reaching for Jay. “The girls are gonna be out for another hour. Stay with me?”

His smile widened and he kissed her outstretched palm. “I thought you’d never ask,” he said, fingers moving to the edge of the comforter and pulling it back so he could shimmy beneath it beside Nya, who hummed happily as he covered both of them. Jay cuddled up to her side, throwing an arm over her torso and squeezing her gently, his eyes fluttering shut beside her. “This reminds me of being young.”

“You say that like you’re eighty,” Nya whispered, but she knew what he meant. When they had first started dating, many of their nights had been filled with cuddling - no funny business. They would fall asleep wrapped up in each other after a night of whispers and giggles, then Jay would sneak out of Nya’s room before Kai could burn down the monastery in retaliation. Only the sneaking around had stopped as they got older, the nighttime cuddling continuing as sleepovers became standard, then their bed became shared. 

“Eighty and a half,” Jay corrected, his breath warm against Nya’s neck. She giggled at the tickling sensation, rolling slightly to face him on the mattress. She quickly pressed a kiss to his grinning lips, then let her own eyes slide closed. She could feel Jay still watching her, his bright blue eyes nearly burning a hole in her cheeks before he took a deep breath. "I don't wanna have any more babies, either."

Nya opened her eyes, peeking across the inches at her Yin. "You don't?"

Jay shook his head slightly, not able to shift much with his curls smushed into the pillow. "Like I said, we already have more than enough. Our perfect little family: Jay, Nya and the Sparklettes. What more could I ask for?" Nya's eyes crinkled and Jay scooched forward to brush a kiss to the tip of her nose, pursing his lips when he pulled back. "And I know what it does to you. What it takes," he whispered, prompting Nya to suck in a deep breath. Jay adjusted, sitting up slightly on the mattress, his fingertips getting lost in her hair as he ran his nails soothingly along her scalp. "So, I can... get it taken care of."

Nya rolled her head to squint up at Jay. "What?"

"Yeah, y'know-" Jay made a pair of scissors with his fingers, immediately shifting the tone of their conversation back into lightheartedness. Nya giggled, scooching into Jay's side under the covers, feeling his laugh ricochet around in his chest before he inhaled slowly, moving his hand down her back. His tone shifted back as fast as lightning. "After everything you've done for our family, everything you did to give me my dream? This is finally something I can do for you. Start paying you back."

Nya shook her head into Jay's side. "You never need to pay me back."

"I know, but I like to."

Nya squeezed her arm tighter around Jay's middle, his hand moved to the small of her back, holding her just as close. The pit in Nya’s stomach that had plagued her moments before filled up with love, adoration flooding out the anxiety. Jay always had that effect on her.

Chapter 7: morning

Jay awoke with a jolt. First to his head, then to his stomach, which rolled as he sat up, trying to catch his breath. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the nausea away as his head pounded, the darkness behind his eyelids providing some relief. He groaned and fell back onto the pillows, feeling around the sheets for his Yang only to come back empty-handed. No Nya?

Jay pried his eyes open, scanning the dark room. The curtains were drawn shut to keep him in near-darkness, but he could feel a soft breeze filtering through them and the open window. The smell of summertime outside sent another wave through his stomach as the door creaked open, the tiny sliver of light filtering through it making Jay’s eyes water. The door was shut just as soon as it had opened, with Nya stepping carefully through it. 

“Hi, honey,” she whispered, walking across the bedroom and climbing onto the edge of the bed, passing a tall glass of water and a handful of painkillers to her Yin, who took them gratefully, washing them down with the entire glass to drench the desert across his tongue. He put down the glass on the nightstand beside him and watched out of squinted eyes as Nya climbed up the covers to join him, handing him a stack of buttered toast. “How’re you feeling?” 

“Like… oh FSM, I’m gonna barf,” Jay muttered, his mouth flooding with saliva at the thought of eating, his stomach doing cartwheels. Nya reached around to pass Jay the bucket she had brought with her, which he stuck his head into, preparing for a flood of vomit that never came. “Nevermind… I’m good,” he muttered, tugging his head back up to look at his Yang, his eyes watering as he took a piece of toast from the stack. “I feel like there’s a knife going through my eye,” Jay muttered as he chewed the first of many slices, leaning in as Nya ran her fingers through his hair. 

“I know, baby. And during birthday week, no less. The world is so unfair,” Nya whispered, making sure to keep the sarcasm in her voice low to compensate for Jay’s headache. Thirty-five. Thirty-five years of Jay, thirty-five candles on his bright blue cake, thirty-five shots to celebrate the occasion. Or, at least, what felt like thirty-five shots. “I hate to say I told you so, but…”

“But you told me so. I know,” Jay said, turning his head quickly to kiss Nya’s palm as it made its way to cup his cheek. Through the drunken haze from the night before, Nya’s gentle reminder stood out. Jay remembered her suggestion that he should slow down or at least have some water, and remembered that he had brushed her off with a kiss, insisting that he was a professional at binge drinking, which was proven untrue.  “How bad was I?”

“Not your worst. Not at all like the streaking,” Nya said, suppressing a giggle at the memory of a drunken Jay running through the monastery, all of his freckled skin exposed. “You, Cole and Kai got into a lengthy argument about whose power is the best, but then you all did another round of shots and crossed the line into lovey-dovey territory, which ended the fight pretty quickly. Don’t worry, Zane has a video of it,” she said with a grin as Jay reached for another slice of toast, nibbling on the crust. “Then, you proposed to me… and then cried when I told you we were already married, because you were sad you missed the day.” 

“That does sound like me,” Jay muttered, his words muffled by a full mouth. 

“It was all very sweet,” Nya said, moving her hand to Jay’s shoulder as he chewed. “And then you threw up all over me… and then all over yourself. Then I put you to bed.” 

Jay winced slightly, looking down at Nya’s faded, stretched out Four Weapons t-shirt, which he didn’t remember changing into before bed. “I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for. It’s nothing we haven’t gone through before,” Nya said with a soft smile, her eyes widening slightly as she heard voices coming down the hallway. “You better eat fast, though. The Sparklettes just finished breakfast and I doubt Cole and Zane can hold them off much longer.” 

Jay groaned, shoveling another piece of toast into his mouth and then putting the crumb-covered plate down next to the empty glass. He chewed quickly, knowing that his children would burst into the room and unknowingly strike every nerve of his hangover at any moment. The door flew open, the light outside spilling into the room and burning Jay’s eyes. He winced, squeezing them shut as Nya’s hand made its way from his shoulder to his fingers, squeezing all of her love into them to get him through the morning as two sets of tiny feet thundered across their bedroom floor. Six-year-old Amaya, followed closely by three-year-old Willow, giggled as they ran through the door, the sound ringing like a gong in Jay’s ears. His stomach lurched as he pushed a grin to his lips, letting his eyes fly open as his daughters climbed up onto the bed.

“Sparklettes!” he exclaimed, summoning every ounce of energy and opening his arms for his daughters to rush into. Amaya reached him first, kneeling by his lap without crawling into it like her little sister did, nuzzling her face into Jay’s side as he gingerly wrapped an arm around her. His nausea momentarily dissipated, his headache momentarily eased as the pressure in his head was soothed by the presence of his daughters and the love of his life. All Jay could focus on was the warm feeling of the love of his family. 

“Daddy! I made you a picture!” Amaya said, holding out the piece of bright blue construction paper. “For your birdday!” 

“I help,” Willow said quietly, her voice slightly muffled in her dad’s shirt as she wrapped a tiny arm around his middle. Amaya shook her head, her dark hair - having just lost the curls from when she was younger, making her look like a tiny Nya - shaking around her chubby cheeks. 

“Nuh uh! She only did the sun !” 

“Yuh huh My My, I did helped!”

“Nuh uh!” 

“Girls,” Nya said, her voice quiet, but still catching the attention of her children. They both turned to look at their mom, but she looked at her Yin, her eyes voicing an apology for the noise. He shook his head, grinning through squinted shut eyes. “Can we agree that you both worked together on this incredible picture and give it to Daddy?”

Amaya huffed, a chunk of hair puffing out from her face. Willow nodded, her bright red curls smushing against Jay’s shirt as her sister passed their artwork to their dad. 

“Oh, wow!” Jay said, the pitch of his own voice hurting his ears as he took the page from Amaya, who grinned as he studied it, the gaps of missing teeth prominent in her smile. On the page was a depiction of their family. Stickfigure versions of Jay and Nya in the middle, holding hands with lopsided hearts surrounding them. Willow, with orange squiggles for hair, was holding Nya’s hand while the doodle of Amaya was holding Jay’s. Jagged lines of grass were beneath their feet, a smiling sun above their heads. A classic kid picture. Jay grinned as he turned his attention from daughter to daughter. “You two made this?” Amaya nodded and Willow tightened her grip on his torso. “Are you sure you didn’t steal it from the museum?”

“Nuh uh, Daddy! We didn’t take it!” Amaya said, her eyes widening as she defended her own honor, sitting up on her knees and shooting her dad a serious look, willing him to believe her.

“We did drawed it, we did!” Willow said, pulling back to look up at Jay, who pursed his lips and shook his head, the movement making him dizzy. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened up his arms, waving for Amaya to fall against his chest without opening his eyes. The kids didn’t seem to notice how much their presence was hurting their dad’s head. He was just that good.

“Alright, I believe you,” Jay said quietly. “It’s beautiful. Thank you, Sparklettes. I’m so lucky.” Jay risked the pain of opening his eyes to look across the covers at Nya, who looked like she was taking a mental snapshot of the moment. A blissful smile tugged on her lips as they held each other’s gaze for a moment, then Nya sprang into action.

“Okay, Sparklettes. Now that we’ve given Daddy his present, let's let him get some sleep.” She reached out her hands, but neither of the girls in Jay’s arms budged. 

“I wanna cuddle,” Amaya whispered, nuzzling in. Willow mirrored her big sister’s movement, like she had been doing ever since she had learned to walk and talk, acting like a redheaded Amaya shadow.

Nya raised an eyebrow. “You told me that you wanted to swim after breakfast, remember Amaya May?” 

“Swim?”

“Yep. I’ll even get in the water with you,” Nya said, knowing that the promise was just the ticket to get the girls to leave their father alone. Her elemental powers were beloved by her daughters, especially when she used them to create a tiny waterpark in the monastery backyard. Amaya’s eyes widened and she tugged her head away from Jay, accidentally punching his stomach as she pushed herself toward her mom, flinging her tiny body into her arms as Jay groaned. 

“Willow! I wanna swim!” she said, urging her little sister to follow her. Willow refused, squeezing Jay with surprising strength for someone so little. He sighed, leaning down to whisper into her curls, which were nearly identical to his. 

“How could you pass up Mama waterpark, Willow Bee?” he asked quietly, dipping his head to catch Willow’s eyes. “What’dyya say we cuddle after lunch?”

Willow adjusted slightly and looked back at him with questioning blue-green eyes. “Promise?”

Jay nodded, the tip of his nose crinkling. “Pinky promise. Do you wanna go swim with Mama?” Willow nodded and pushed back, giggling as Jay leaned forward to press a kiss to her hair. Then, she crawled across the mattress to Nya, who skillfully scooped up both children in her arms and stepped off the bed without falling. 

“We’ll let you get some more sleep, then I’ll bring you some lunch,” Nya said quietly, shifting to rest Willow and Amaya on her hips. 

“Oh, you don’t have to do that…” Jay still felt guilty for his behavior the night before, but Nya shook her head before he could ramble out another apology.

“In sickness and health, Sparky,” she said, grinning. “Even if the sickness is self-inflicted. Remember to keep up with your painkillers,” she said, flicking a finger and refilling the glass beside Jay, who smiled. 

“I’m the luckiest man ever.”

Nya grinned. “And don’t you ever forget it,” she said, swaying slightly as Willow and Amaya began growing impatient with the conversation between their parents. “Now, go back to sleep. Doctor’s orders.” She didn’t relent until her Yin nodded dutifully. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Jay said, giving Amaya a small wave from where she was looking at him over Nya’s shoulder as she walked back through the door, then falling back against the pillows, throwing a blanket over his face to block out any remaining light. The blood in his head pounded in his ears, blocking out all other sound, but Jay knew he would live to see the other side of his hangover. He had the love of his family waiting on the other end for him.

He was the luckiest man ever, and he could never forget that. 

Chapter 8: girls

The stage was set for a perfect sleepover. The couch in the living room was pulled out into a bed, filled with pillows and stuffed animals and piled with blankets. A sheet was hung from the ceiling, cascading down in waves to form a canopy around the makeshift bed, creating a cozy fort. A cartoon movie was already queued up on the television in front of the couch, with a heroic princess as the protagonist. It was one of Nya’s favorite movies from her childhood, one that she had been waiting to share with her daughters. Now that they were a bit older, with Willow just having celebrated her fifth birthday, Nya had decided that it was high time they watch the cartoon. Two bowls of popcorn were popped, one sweet and one salty, and milkshakes were blended, melting slightly in the warm room. Sure, it wasn’t the best dinner for growing kiddos, but Nya didn’t care. She was too giddy about spending time with her girls. 

She, Amaya and Willow were wearing matching pajamas. Nya had gone into the city that morning and picked them out, grinning as she laid eyes on the periwinkle sets, each covered in bright blue flowers. She had immediately grabbed three of them, which she and her daughters were dressed in as they snuggled together on the couch. Amaya’s head was resting on Nya’s shoulder while Willow’s was in her lap. Nya had been running her fingers through her younger daughter’s hair for the last half an hour, only taking her eyes off of the television to gauge how her children felt about her favorite parts of the movie. She was thrilled that they giggled at every joke that she found hilarious, that they were enthralled by the same fight scenes that she had at their age. It was shaping up to be a perfect night, ingrained in both Nya’s and her daughters’ minds forever. 

Near the climax of the film, where the princess finally found her dragon again and they launched into the final big fight scene, their movie night was interrupted. 

“Woah! I love this movie!” Jay said, stepping into the living room. He and Zane had gone to the premiere of Clutch Powers’ movie, the scandal of his plagiarism not having dulled his popularity, and Jay was still dressed in head-to-toe gold for the occasion. He walked around the couch, pressing three kisses to the foreheads of his girls in greeting, and then scooched himself onto the arm of the couch, watching a purple explosion on the screen with a grin. “Why didn’t you tell me we were having a movie night?” 

“Because we’re not having a movie night, Jay. We’re having a movie night,” Nya said, opening her arms to gesture to the girls, then pulling them in closer. Tiny giggles filled the space as another explosion boomed from the television.

“Yeah, Daddy! Only movie night with Mama.” 

“No Dads allowed!” Amaya said, pointing at the door. Jay frowned. 

“You’ve turned the girls against me,” he said, unable to keep the smile off of his lips. Nya shrugged and grinned back at him.

“It had to be done, Sparky.” 

“Fine,” Jay muttered, reaching forward and grabbing a handful of the nearest bowl of popcorn. “I’ll just… go watch a movie in our room. All by myself,” he said, putting on gooey puppy-dog eyes, desperate for sympathy. Normally, Nya would have given in, but she was having too much fun to let him weasel his way into the pile on the couch. 

“Sounds good, honey,” she said, her voice sing-songy as she back to the television. Jay groaned. 

“Okay, bye Sparklettes. Bye Nya!” he said, not getting up. Nya turned to him, her eyebrow raised. Then, she gave in. 

“You’re too late for this movie, Jay. But… I suppose we could do this again tomorrow. All four of us,” she proposed. Jay’s face lit up in a grin. 

“That’s more like it,” he said, reaching forward and brushing another kiss to Nya’s waiting lips before finally leaving the room, letting his girls finish the movie on their own. When he walked past the living room less than an hour later on the way to snag a late-night snack, Jay poked his head through the door. All three girls were asleep with the credits still rolling on the TV. Jay tiptoed inside, pulling his phone out of his pocket and snapped a picture, committing the scene to memory as he turned off the television, moved the food out of their way, and pulled a blanket around his family. Then, he flicked off the light, leaving his girls to sleep in a pile alone. 

Despite the hard time he had given his Yang, he was perfectly content with catching the next movie night. There was a whole lifetime waiting for him. He could wait a night.

Chapter 9: tradition

Notes:

THIS is why i don't write sports

ALSO the end is totally phoned in bc i'm hopped up on cold medicine rn but i wanted to finish this chapter lmao

“No, Dad.” 

“Oh, c’mon! It’ll be fun!” 

Amaya turned, squinting up at Jay, who nearly ran into her at the sudden pause in the dining room doorway. He stopped, blinking down at her. He didn’t want to admit that he was scared of a thirteen-year-old, especially one whose diapers he used to change, but ever since Amaya had crossed the threshold into teenagerhood, she had become as scary as her mom had been at that age. Jay swallowed. 

“It won’t be fun, Dad, it’ll be lame .” Jay furrowed his brow. 

“What’ll be lame?” Lloyd asked from the dining room table, where he was waiting for his soup to cool down enough to not burn his tongue as he ate his lunch. He stared across the room at his brother-in-law and his niece as they walked in, looping him into the argument. 

“Dad wants me to do this stupid father-daughter skating competition.”

“It’s not stupid!” Jay countered, sitting down next to Lloyd as Amaya walked over to the counter, grabbing an apple and taking a bite as she leaned against it. “Your Grandma Edna and I did a competition just like this one when I was your age, and we swept the competition! You’ve seen the trophy at Grandma and Grandpa’s, it’s massive.” 

“I know, Dad. I’ve heard the story, like, a billion times. I just don’t wanna do it,” Amaya said through a full mouth. Jay’s shoulders slumped as more ninja filed into the room. Cole, still dripping sweat from training - not for saving the world, just for keeping the temple of his body tidy - followed by Nya and Willow, who were both pinching their noses dramatically at the stench wafting off of the Master of Earth.  

“Oh, you’re so dramatic, I don’t even stink,” Cole said, walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge. Amaya took a whiff, her face scrunching at the scent of her sweaty uncle. She stepped out of the kitchen and into the dining room, standing beside Lloyd’s side of it as Cole began cooking up a feast for himself. One that only he was going to enjoy. “What’s up in here?” he asked, taking in Jay’s disappointed expression and Amaya’s rolled eyes. 

“I was asking Amaya May if she wanted to compete the Ninjago parent-child skate off with me,” Jay said, snapping his attention up before Amaya could say how stupid the idea was again. “But she said no.”

Willow laughed as she sat down, raising her eyebrows and smirking at her big sister. “My My’s just scared she’s gonna fall on her butt.” 

“I’m not scared of anything, Seaweed Baby!” Amaya snapped, smacking her palms down on the table that she stood beside.

“That’s exactly what a fraidy cat would say!” Willow said, sliding out of the way as Amaya lunged at her on the bench. 

“Absolutely not!” Nya barked, catching Amaya around the middle before she hit the ground, then putting the nearly feral child down, pointing across the table with stern eyebrows. “Amaya May, go sit down. Willow Bee, leave your sister alone.” 

“She started it!” the Sparklettes said at the same time, pointing across the table accusatorily at each other. Their mother rolled her eyes, making her way around the bench to sit next to her Yin as the conversation continued. 

“I’m the better skater anyways, why didn’t you ask me?” Willow asked, glancing sideways at her father. 

He hadn’t even thought of that. 

“Uh… I didn’t know you wanted to, baby blue,” Jay said, grinning apologetically at Willow. She sat down across from him at the table, leaning her elbows on the wood. “But, if you want to… I’d love that.” 

---

Ten days later, the competition was in full swing, other skaters whipping around in the crowd. Jay moved one arm over his other, tugging on his wrist to loosen his muscles. He slid around slightly on his skates, prompting Nya to push him back into place every few minutes. She had been holding Willow’s shoulders as she stretched so she wouldn’t drift off into the crowd. 

Lloyd watched the crowd with a tensed jaw in spite of himself. He and the rest of the team had tagged along to watch Jay and Willow compete, but he still hadn’t adjusted to being in a crowd of this size after practically becoming a homebody bound to the monastery. Cole and Zane had wandered off to get a mountain of snacks, and Kai was preoccupied signing autographs for every fan who asked. Lloyd turned back to Jay, Nya and the girls, the older of which was psyching her younger sister up with their secret handshake. 

“Now remember: the most important thing is to have fun .” 

“Nuh uh, Uncle Lloyd, the most important thing is to win,” Willow said, flashing her family a grin before skating off into the competition, her muscles fully limber and ready to race.

Jay’s smile was just as electric as his eyes followed Willow into the crowd, then turned back to their cheerleaders. “That’s my kid, guys,” he said, pressing a quick kiss to Nya’s cheek before zooming off after his daughter.

Lloyd turned to Amaya. “I think you’ve created a monster, baby blue,” he said, the sound of Jay and Willow’s cackling floating through the crowd. 

“It’s not my fault, it’s Dad’s!” Amaya said defensively, raising her hands and her eyebrows at her uncle, then turning to her mom for backup. “Right, Mom?”

Nya nodded. “He’s been preparing them for this for years. Remember when we caught him putting Amaya in skates when she was two?”

“Right…” Lloyd said, smiling softly at the memory of his niece in tiny rollerskates, with her dad holding her tiny hands so she wouldn’t fall on her butt. When she tried to push away from his grip and skate on her own, she had fallen and burst into tears. Maybe that was what had made her so unwilling to try again as a teenager. 

Her sister, on the other hand, was a natural-born skater. Just like their dad.

“Wuh wuh wuh welcome, ladies and gentlemen and everyone in between, to Ninjago’s eleventh annual Parent-Child Skate Off! Make some noise!” an announcer’s deep voice blared through the speakers around the track. The crowd thundered with applause. “That’s what I like to hear! We’ve got a great group today, I can feel it already!” 

Jay balanced carefully on his skates, glancing down at the wild-haired ten-year-old beside him as she squeezed his hand. Pride swelled in his chest as he watched her steady herself on the wheels strapped to her feet, taking a deep breath as the announcer outlined the rules for competition. Three laps around the track. No pushing, no shoving. The first pair across the finish line wins. Straightforward and simple, that was what made it so fun. 

“Now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Racers: to your marks!” 

Willow tugged on Jay’s hand as she pushed forward on her skates, forcing him to slide through the crowd alongside her. They made their way through the audience onto the smooth track, gliding across it hand-in-hand and settling among their competition. While Willow glanced around at the other pairs of parents and children from around the city, Jay shifted slightly to get to her eye level, pressing down on the toe of his skate so he wouldn’t fall and take her down with him.

“Willow Bee?” he asked quietly, pulling her attention toward him. Willow’s bright eyes sparkled in the neon lights pouring down on them, slightly greener than usual, a smile stretching her lips over freshly grown-in crooked teeth. “I know I made this whole thing seem like life or death, but I want you to make sure you have fun, okay? You’re not gonna disappoint me if we don’t win.”

Willow tilted her head slightly. “Who says we aren’t gonna win?”

Jay chuckled, moving one hand from Willow’s elbow to her cheek to gently stroke her freckled skin. “I like your confidence, baby blue.”

Both of the girls had it. They walked through the world with childlike wonder, viewing even the biggest obstacles in their young lives as small inconveniences, never letting them fully break their spirit. Maybe that’s what happens when you’re not constantly trying to save the world, when your parents already cleared the path for you to walk on. Maybe Willow and Amaya just inherited all of the best parts of Jay and Nya. Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter to them. What parent could complain about their child living a carefree life? Besides, it was infectious. 

“Alright, racers! Are you ready to rumble?” 

A thunderous applause ricocheted around the space, the polished floor nearly trembling beneath their skates. Jay straightened up, Willow’s fingers still wrapped around his palm, and looked into the crowd, searching for their entourage. After a few scans across the massive group, he saw them at the front. 

Cole and Zane had finally made a reappearance, with the Master of Earth holding a bag of popcorn that was about half the size of him, which the entire group was eating handfuls of. Kai also seemed to have extracted himself from the crowd of fans and had his arm around Amaya, half holding her above the rest of the crowd. He seemed to be seconds away from hoisting her up onto the railing, based on the look he was getting from Lloyd as he gripped the homemade sign they had brought. Jay and Willow hadn’t been able to see it when they were working on it back at the monastery, making the lopsided RIDE THE LIGHTNING!!!! sign they were holding that much sweeter. Holding the other side of it with one hand, a clunky video camera in the other, was Nya. She grinned as she squinted through the viewfinder, pulling it away long enough to blow Jay and Willow a kiss for luck, which Jay caught and pressed to his heart. 

How could they lose with cheerleaders like that?

“On your marks…” 

Jay shot Willow a grin and squeezed her hand. 

“Get set…” 

He could feel Willow’s pulse trembling with excitement in her fingertips. 

“And… GO!” 

They shot off the starting line, hand in hand as they zipped through their competitors. Across the first turn, Willow gripped Jay’s hand tighter, holding on to him so she wouldn’t get lost in the swarm of skaters, and for a moment, he wondered if they should have practiced more before launching into the competition. The thought could only stay present in the front of his mind for a second, however, before Willow tugged him forward along the bend, guiding him into the next stretch of the race as though she had been born on wheels. Jay looked down at her with a wild, awestruck smile as her hair flew around her like a curly auburn curtain, whipping around her as they reached the next turn. 

“Focus, Dad!” 

“Right, sorry!” He hadn’t realized that he was about to barrel into a mother-daughter team until the mom’s hair tickled his nose, forcing him to pivot and tug Willow around them, cutting in front of them with an apologetic smile. As soon as they passed them, Jay turned back to Willow, whose grin was so wide it looked like her face was going to split in half. 

They quickly swerved through the crowd of competitors, zipping ahead of the group in time to pass their family on the second lap, who shouted their cheers louder than the rest of the audience, if that was even possible. The noise from the group mingled with the sound of high-tempo pop music blasting, creating an electric atmosphere around them. That, coupled with the substantial lead that they had over the rest of the group, made Jay revert to his usual cockiness. 

“Wanna try a trick, Willow Bee?” he asked as they zoomed over the starting line again, with the announcer yelling into the microphone that the rest of the competition needed to catch up if they had any hope of pulling ahead. 

Willow turned hard, not letting go of Jay’s hand as she moved ahead of him, skating backwards so they could be face-to-face. She grinned as her dad’s jaw dropped. 

“When did you learn how to do that?” 

“Video games get boring,” Willow said casually, as if she weren’t showcasing signs of being a skating prodigy. Jay laughed, shaking his head and grabbing Willow’s other hand, gracefully looping around her so they were side by side, then so that she could skate between his outstretched legs, popping up in front of him just in time to wave to her mom. 

“Did you know she could do that?” Lloyd asked, turning to Nya as Jay and Willow continued skating, their movements like a perfectly choreographed dance. Nya shook her head, her eyes and her smile wide.

“No idea,” she said, turning back to the track and whooping as Amaya screeched for her sister and dad to crush the competition. 

Jay and Willow’s tricks - while great for the spectators in the arena - allowed a few other pairs to catch up to them in the final stretch of the race. Jay clenched his jaw and tightened his grip on Willow’s hand as she dug her nails into the back of his, looking up at him at the same time that he looked down, nodding as they wordlessly agreed that they’d have to give the last few meters everything they had. Jay’s feet ached as he pushed against the ground, surprised that his daughter was able to keep up with him as they rounded the final turn beside another father-daughter duo, barely pulling ahead as they crossed the finish line, securing first place by the skin of their teeth. 

The crowd exploded, with the ninja at the front of it leading the thundering of applause. 

“We won?” Jay blinked around at the other skaters, none of whom looked excited to have crossed the finish line. It was as though he had blacked out in the home stretch. Then, he turned to Willow, who was grinning and practically buzzing, her smile blinding. “We won!” he exclaimed, reaching forward and scooping his daughter off of the polished floor, only able to hold her in a tight hug for a few moments before he lost his wheel-clad footing and tumbled to the ground. Jay made sure to protect Willow on the way down, using his own body to break her fall as they crashed to the floor with a thud, then erupted in a fit of victorious giggles. 

They’d have to clear a space for the massive trophy when they got home, but for the moment, all Jay and Willow could do was laugh.

Chapter 10: addition

Even though she was destined to inherit her mother’s elemental power over water, Willow, in many ways, was exactly like her father. Her auburn hair hung around her shoulders like a mop, just like Jay’s would have gotten if he ever let it grow out of his control. She had a tendency to blabber without stopping, following in the footsteps of the Walkers who came before her. She was a fantastic skater, with the father-daughter skate off trophy in her and Amaya’s room proving so. She even picked up his hidden talent when it came to art, focusing her energy on watercolor depictions of the world around her. 

She had been hiking up the hill behind the monastery, her sketchbook of heavy paper and paints in hand, when she heard a sound that pulled her attention away from the trek. A squeak, like a cry, caught her attention as he carried past her in the wind. Willow turned, tucking her reddish curls away from her face as she looked around, listening intently. Then, she heard it again, clearer than before. A tiny, desperate sound. A meow. 

“Huh,” she huffed, looking around the grassy hill, searching for the source of the sound. She came up empty on the first few passes over the space in front of her, and then she saw it. A tiny, fuzzy, calico head peeking out of the grass. Willow’s eyes widened as she grinned, dropping her supplies and rushing over to the creature. She resisted the urge to scoop it up immediately and instead reached out her index finger for the tiny creature to sniff, cooing when it leaned into her nail. “Oh, hello, little thing,” Willow whispered, her eyes softening as she ran her fingertips gently along the top of the kitten’s head, looking around the surrounding greenery. “Where’s your mama?”

Instead of a larger cat, Willow’s eyes fell upon two more tiny kittens. One was black and white, the other black and gray. All three of them seemed terrified at the thought of being in the world alone. 

“Oh, babies,” Willow whispered, her voice getting caught in the wind whistling around her. She looked around, confirming that the kittens were on their own, and then gently lifted the three of them off the grass, making a bed for them in her sweater before bolting back to the monastery. “Amaya! My My! Guess what I found!” she yelled as soon as she was inside. 

No reply from her big sister. 

Willow huffed, moving down the hallway, where voices were echoing from the game room. When she stepped into the doorway, the rest of the teenagers inhabiting the monastery were casually strewn about in the room. 

Willow watched as Wyldfyre - quick to adapt to video games even after years of being raised by nothing but a bot in the Wyldness - blew up Sora and Arin’s two-seated mech as it zoomed along the race track. She whooped, not seeming to have realized that there was an addition to the room, and continued taunting the pair from the Crossroads while skillfully avoiding the bombs they were hurling at her car from last place. Amaya was more strategic, staying quiet the entire time that she zipped up past the computer-programmed competition, down through the glitch in the game that allowed her to drive right through the wall, and in front of Wyldfyre, who groaned as Amaya zoomed across the finish line just in the nick of time. 

“Ha! Suck it, Wyfy! I win again,” Amaya sneered, punching Wyldfyre’s arm as she teased her. She was about to put Wyldfyre into a headlock - which was sure to lead to fire-fueled trouble - when she seemed to spot her little sister out of the corner of her eye. “Hey!” she said, her face lighting up as she turned fully on the couch, her attention dropping down. “What’s in your shirt?” 

“I found kittens back behind the monastery!” Willow said, stepping forward and opening up her shirt to show Amaya the cluster of fur within it. The video game was quickly forgotten, with the race already won, so the rest of the group turned to oooh and awww over the kittens, too.

“Oh, First Master! Where did you cuties come from?” Sora asked, her voice pitched up as she addressed the kittens, as if they would answer her just because of the cat ears she always wore. Beside her, Arin’s eyes were practically liquified, so wide and full of love that they looked like they were going to pop out of his head. 

“They were all alone on the back hill! We have to keep them, right?” 

“Yes!”

“Yeah, but Master Wu would never go for it.”

“We can’t just leave them, they’re orphans!” 

“Do we even know how much longer Master Wu’s gonna be around?” Wyldfyre muttered. Arin widened his eyes at her and hissed, as if the Sensei was around the corner listening in.

“You can’t say that, Wyldfyre!”

“Plus, he’s already been around for like… eons,” Willow pointed out, careful not to jostle the kittens too much. They didn’t seem to mind the heated, if somewhat hushed, conversation happening around them. “You’d think they’d have had a pet in this place.”

“And, hey! They let us keep you!” Amaya said, grinning at Arin and Sora. The latter slugged her in the bicep in return. “Ow. What’s the worst that could happen?” The rest of the group paused, pondering, but came up empty. Amaya turned to Willow and the kittens in her shirt. “We should ask Dad.”

“Oh, you’re so right!” Willow said, her eyes lighting up. “He can’t say no to this kind of thing.” 

“Exactly! How do you think I got stuck with you?”

“Ha ha,” Willow’s voice dripped with sarcasm as she turned on her heel, stepping through the door and back into the hallway. “Just for that, you don’t get to help me name the kittens if we get to keep them!” 

“Hey! Wait for me!” Amaya called after her, hopping around the couch and dashing down the hallway after her little sister, moving in the direction of their parents’ bedroom. Before they could reach the far wing of the monastery, however, their attention was pulled into the kitchen, where Jay was standing in their Uncle Zane’s bright pink apron, squinting down at a recipe book and muttering to himself. 

“Dad?”

He looked up, eyes wide behind his glasses as Willow stepped into the room, careful not to squish any of the kittens in her shirt as Amaya followed her. “Oh, hey Sparklettes!” 

“What are you doing?” Willow asked, raising an eyebrow as her dad put down his whisk, seeming to have accepted defeat with a better distraction.

“You never cook.”

“For good reason, too,” Jay muttered, pulling his glasses off with a sigh. “I was trying to make muffins for Mom… following Grandma Maya’s recipe and everything… but I just can’t seem to get it right.” He shook his head and closed the book. “I guess I’ll have to have Uncle Zane do it and take credit for it.”

“As usual,” Willow said, watching her dad’s eyeline drop to the squirming bulge of her shirt. She flashed him a grin as he raised an eyebrow at her, then looked at her big sister suspiciously. Both of them stared at him with wide eyes.

“What’cha got there?”  

“Oh, um…” Willow stalled when her dad crossed the kitchen to her. She had hoped to have Amaya as backup when she begged her parents to keep the strays, but her big sister was, unfortunately, as uneasy on her feet as she was. There would be no room for improvisation, especially with their dad already appearing at Willow’s side, studying her as she opened up the hammock made out of her top, showing what was hidden inside. “Uh… kittens.”

“Kittens?” Jay asked, his eyes widening. “Oh. Aww, babies,” he murmured, reaching down to pet one of the fuzzy heads as the black and white kitten mewed up at him. As soon as his fingertips grazed the fur, an electrical current ran up his finger from the cat, who meowed happily as Jay yanked his head back. “Woah! That’s usually my move.”

“That was weird, right?” Willow asked, still clutching the kittens close. Jay shrugged. 

“There used to be lightning chickens around here…” he started, trailing off at the memory of the team being tormented by one of them for their laziness. Then, he turned back to the girls and the trio of kittens. “Maybe these are like that?” 

“Maybe,” Amaya said, reaching down carefully to pet the calico kitten. Static electricity buzzed against her fingertips, but didn’t burn them. She grinned up at her dad, her eyes widening and turning into pleading pools. He seemed to sense what she was about to say, putting a hand on his aproned hip. “Can we keep them, Dad? Pleasseeee?”

Jay sighed, pursing his lips as he looked back at the kittens. The black and grey one seemed to crackle with lightning as it looked up at him, yawning with a squeak. A tiny sound escaped him in return, and he cleared his throat quickly, furrowing his brows as he pulled his attention away from the tiny creatures before he could get too attached to them. “You have to ask Mom,” Jay said, keeping his attention on Amaya and Willow’s grinning faces. “And don’t tell her about my failed attempts at baking. Otherwise, she won’t believe me when I say I made Uncle Zane’s muffins,” he continued, leaning in and grinning conspiratorily. Willow shook her head at him as Amaya rolled her eyes.

“Bold of you to assume that Mom doesn’t already know you can’t bake. You guys have been together for like… a hundred years.”

“Well, if I’m lucky,” Jay said, brushing a quick kiss to Willow’s hairline, then Amaya’s, before turning back into the kitchen as the girls moved to walk back down the hall, the kittens seeming to be content with their cocoon in Willow’s shirt. 

They heard a clatter from the kitchen, followed by a muttered string of swearing before Jay yelled for Zane. Amaya and Willow glanced at each other, a flurry of giggles escaping their lips and following them down to their mom’s workshop. 

“Hey, Mom? You in here?” Amaya called into the open space of the hanger, where they were often able to find their mom tinkering with machinery. For a moment, it appeared as though the workshop was empty - with no sounds of tools or metal on metal filling the room - until Nya poked her head out from a mech high above them, pushing back her welding mask to rest on top of her head. She grinned down at her girls. 

“Hi, my babies!” she called down as she began extracting herself from the mech she had been working on and climbing down carefully, tugging the welding mask off of her head and leaving her hair sticking up in every direction, just like Amaya’s. Nya set down her tools and crossed the room with a smile, only seeming to catch the stiff postures and hopeful smiles that her daughters were wearing as she neared them. “Oh, no… what is it?”

“What?” 

“You look like you did something wrong,” Nya said, raising an eyebrow as she approached, studying the teenagers in front of her. “It’s the Walker smile… I don’t trust it.” 

“We didn’t do anything wrong!”

“Do you really have such little faith in us, mother?” Amaya asked, putting her hands on her hips, relying on classic deflection. Nya saw right through it, as she had for years. “Do you really think we , your perfect daughters-” she said, pouting as she slung an arm around Willow’s shoulders “-would ever do something wrong?”

Nya pursed her lips. “Yes,” she replied quickly. “Okay, lay it on me.” 

“Willow found kittens in the backyard,” Amaya answered just as rapidly, putting the blame - if there was any to be had - on her little sister. 

“Hey!” 

“Well, you did!” 

“But we all want to keep them,” Willow said, turning to her mom as she peeked into the makeshift bag of kittens, sucking in a breath as they looked up at her. The gray one let out a small meow, which was caught up in a yawn, and Nya felt herself melting. 

Amaya grinned as her mom looked up at her, trying her best to channel the dough eyes that she knew she had inherited from her father. The ones everyone knew Nya couldn’t resist. “So… can we keep them?”

Nya sighed, looking from the kittens to Amaya, then to Willow. “I don’t know… ask Dad.”

“We already did. He told us to ask you,” Willow said, reaching into her top to pet one of the kittens, giggling when the lightning tickled her fingertip. Nya groaned, turning slightly as she fiddled with the communicator strapped to her wrist. 

The team hadn’t been separated far enough to warrant using their communicators in years, but Jay and Nya still liked to have them handy to summon each other from across the monastery. Nya brought her wrist to her lips, pressing down on the button that would send her voice to the kitchen. 

Beep. “Jay, come to the hanger.”

Pause. Beep. “Am I in trouble?” 

Beep. “Should you be? Is there something that would prompt that?” Nya asked, the corner of her lips twitching upward as she glanced back at the girls and their pets-to-be, one of which had stretched up to look around the hanger.

Beep. Sigh. “I’ll head down.” 

A few minutes later, Jay - freed of the frilly pink apron he had been wearing moments before - walked timidly into the hanger. As soon as he crossed the threshold, Nya was at his side. He winced as she pushed his arm, then tugged him into the space. 

“Why are you making me be the voice of reason? You know I hate being the voice of reason!” she whispered, the sound echoing around the open room, making her hushed tone completely pointless.

“I didn’t wanna do it! Look at them,” Jay hissed back, casting a glance toward their daughters and the kittens that nobody in the family could refuse. “Do you really think I could say no to those faces? They have my face and your face .”

Amaya looked at Willow, an eyebrow raised just like her mom, her lips curling into a smile like her dad’s. Willow grinned back at her, the birthmark that scarily resembled that of her mom’s getting lost among the freckles she inherited from her dad. 

They had their parents right where they wanted them.

“I wasn’t saying we should say no, it’s just…” Nya side-eyed the girls, who pretended like they hadn’t been watching the exchange, quickly turning their attention to the ceiling and the floor. 

“We were gonna wait for the right moment, right?” Jay whispered, finishing the thoughts that got lost across Nya’s tongue. He shrugged at her as she nodded. “Kinda feels like the right moment just… fell into our laps, doesn’t it?”

Nya pursed her lips at him, scrunching her nose. “You’re just saying that because they’re cute.”

“Yes, our children are adorable, but that’s-”

“The cats, Light Socket,” Nya said, smacking Jay’s bicep with a grin. Then, she widened her eyes, sliding her attention to the girls. He followed the flow of her gaze, turning back to her, his lips twitching up as his eyebrows lifted. Wordlessly, they agreed to the addition.

Zap, Crackle and Pop. Three tiny, perfect kittens, who only ever shocked the former Master of Lightning. They were too cute for it to make a difference.

Chapter 11: lighthouse

Notes:

i love making dr references in non-dr fics!!!!

Nya woke up to the smell of the sea. It was calming and familiar, pushing a smile to her lips as she stirred, taking a moment of inhaling the sweet scent with her eyes shut before assessing the weight draped across her body. She opened her eyes enough to see Jay, fast asleep with his mouth hanging open. His arm was thrown over her middle, the dead weight heavy against her torso, his hand loosely caressing the swell of her breast. Even in sleep, he knew what he wanted. Nya grinned, moving her hand to roam through Jay’s hair, fingernails dragging along his scalp. After a few moments of scratching, Jay sucked in a breath, stirring in the morning air.

“Good morning.”

“Hmmmm.” He didn’t lift his head, he didn’t open his eyes. 

“Did you sleep well?”

“Mmmmhmm….”

“Maybe it’s because you’re groping me,” Nya teased. Jay opened his good eye, taking in the scene, and then pressed his hand against Nya’s chest, squeezing her gently as he closed his eyes once again. Nya’s grin widened. “We probably have some time to kill before the girls need our attention.”

Jay turned his head so his ear was resting on her chest, a sleepy smile creeping onto his lips. He shifted enough to move up her body, pressing a soft kiss to Nya’s lips as he woke up, his hand moving up from her breast to cup her cheek as their kiss deepened. The touch was like a jolt of caffeine. Nya grinned at the warmth of his lips, her arms coming up to pull him in, digging into the back of his sleep shirt. Every touch was soft and sacred, but Nya was hungry for more. She kissed him harder, nails digging in and moving to his biceps. Jay understood immediately and his hand moved across Nya’s stomach, pausing - allowing his electric fingertips to charge up - before dipping below her waistband. She inhaled sharply at his light touches, gasping as tiny zingers of electricity ran across the skin of her abdomen. Nya arched her back, desperately pushing herself to join his touch, when an interruption boomed from below.

“Dad, Mr Echo wants to know how many sugars you want in your coffee!”

Jay and Nya shot up, glanced at each other with wide eyes, then burst apart like shrapnel, quickly moving to make sure they were modest.

“Uh… tell him five,” Jay said, his voice cracking and sheepish from more than just his coffee order. He smoothed his shirt and his hair, shooting Nya a look as she ran her fingers through her salt-and-pepper locks. Their blush was nearly identical, burning their cheeks.

“Gross, but okay!” Amaya yelled through the trapdoor as Nya walked over to it, lifting it open. “What about you, Mom?” 

“I’ll just come down, thanks honey!” Nya said, smiling down at her oldest daughter and hoping she couldn’t see the flush of her cheeks. Then, she turned to her Yin, who had his face buried in his hands as he sat on the bed, his shoulder shaking with a quiet laugh. Nya rolled her eyes and scooped a discarded pillow off the ground, hucking it at Jay. It smacked against his ruffled curls, making him turn to Nya with an open mouth showcasing his shock.

“What was that for?”

“This is your fault!” she said, her grin still firmly on her lips as she moved to her suitcase, grabbing a pair of slippers and pulling them on.

“How is it my fault?” Jay asked, still smiling as he watched Nya. She put both hands on her hips when she straightened up, an eyebrow shooting up her forehead. 

“I woke up to you pawing at me!”

“I was asleep!”

“Oh, like you never try to cop a feel when you’re awake,” Nya said, rolling her eyes playfully as Jay shot up, crossing the room in three quick strides and immediately grabbing Nya’s lips in a kiss, which she was eager to return. Her hands dropped immediately to his backside, giving it a quick squeeze. 

Jay pulled back, gasping. “Now who’s trying to cop a feel?”

“Not me!” Nya said with a grin. “I would never do something like that! So perverse,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows at her Yin before moving to climb down the ladder, where their daughters and the robotic duplicate of Zane were waiting with breakfast. Jay scoffed as he followed, dropping down into the kitchen area below and grinning as Echo Zane passed him and Nya each a mug full of coffee. “Thank you, Echo.”

“I am built to protect those who cannot protect themselves!”

“Against coffee?” Nya asked, walking over to the round table by the window, where Willow was chewing a mouthful of pastry, and pressing a quick kiss to her mussed curls before mixing just enough cream and sugar into her coffee to turn the liquid a slightly lighter brown. 

“You burnt two pots the first time you were here. Back to back,” Echo Zane said with a robotic smile, walking over to the table and sitting down. Nya pursed her lips, knowing that she had no leg to stand on as the robot and her youngest daughter launched into another calculated round of chess. She watched intently, sipping her coffee absentmindedly until an arm snaked around her waist and the smell of Jay’s overly-sweetened coffee wafted into her nose.

Amaya turned from the fridge, adding creamer to her coffee on the counter with a wrinkled nose. “Has anyone ever told you two that you’re nauseatingly in love?”

Jay chuckled. “Yes. Your uncles. Almost all the time,” he said, carefully taking a sip of coffee as Nya leaned her head on his shoulder. "I think they're just jealous. The story's pretty cute." Nya nodded, her hair smushed against the fabric of Jay's shirt as he turned to the girls. "Did we ever tell you-"

He was cut off by a harmony of groans.

"Yes, you have!" 

"You never shut up about it!" 

"Hey! We-"

Amaya and Willow turned to each other, then began speaking scarily in synch. Amaya pitched her voice to match the way Jay's rose up whenever he recounted falling in love with their mom. "'It all started with blue! Mom's favorite color. Then, we kissed on a roller coaster, romantic, right?'"

Nya pursed her lips so that she wouldn't bust out laughing. She could sense Jay's stern expression, the way his brow furrowed and his lips quivered when he knew that he was cornered. The girls had a point, he never shut up about his love for their mom. How could he?

"'And then, when I got back from the First Realm, I wanted to make sure we'd never miss each other again'. That's cheesy, Dad. Even for when I was a kid," Amaya said, taking a sip of her coffee before she and Willow continued quoting Jay's retelling of his and Nya's love story, which they had heard more times than they could count throughout their lives. "'And that's how... in the middle of battle, I got down on one knee and asked Mom to be my Yang. It was awesome.'" 

A tiny giggle bubbled free from Nya's lips. She turned quickly, pushing her face into Jay's shoulder. He glanced down at her with a look that playfully accused her of betraying him, then looked from daughter to daughter, gesturing to them with the mug in his hand. “You know, you should count yourself lucky that Mom and I don’t hate each other. Can you imagine how much less fun your life would be if we were getting a divorce?”

“Oh, please,” Amaya said in the sarcastic tone she hadn’t been able to shake since turning thirteen, a tone that had plagued the monastery for nearly four years. “Nobody believes that you could ever hate Mom.” 

Jay’s grip on Nya tightened and she turned her attention back to the room with a grin, slinging her arm around her Yin's shoulders in return, pressing a kiss to his slightly scratchy cheek. 

“It would take, like… memory loss,” Willow added from the table, sliding her rook across the board and grinning when Echo Zane took longer to calculate his next move. 

“Or… an evil twin!” Amaya said, her eyes widening as she pointed across the room at her sister, who laughed openly. “Yeah! An evil twin would really put a damper on things.”

“He’d probably have like… glowing red eyes and a weird name.”

Nya shook her head with a chuckle as she watched the exchange between her daughters, who seemed to rile each other up with every addition to the narrative that would never be. “Even then, I don’t think it would stick.”

Jay gripped her hip, turning slightly to face her. “Never ever,” he whispered, leaning in for a light, coffee-flavored kiss that Nya was quick to return despite the dramatic gagging sounds made by their children. 

Notes:

'nobody believes you could ever hate mom' .... right... right......... that would be CRAZY.. right??? that could NEVER happen, right???? THAT WOULD BE CRAZY, RIGHT???

Chapter 12: history

Kids are notoriously nosy, never relenting once curiosity takes hold of them. When the summers got hot and less and less clothing was worn around the makeshift pool forged from the Sacred Bell of Divinity, exposed scars were harder to cover up. Jay and Nya tried to steer the conversation away from rippling scar tissue, but their daughters came back with more questions the next time they got a look at them.

As Amaya and Willow got older, it became more and more difficult for Jay and Nya to change the subject. Amaya had just reached the age that Jay had been when he got the scars, with Willow close behind, when they decided they couldn’t keep their history a secret from their kids anymore.

“I think we need to tell them.”

Jay sighed, handing the plate he had been scrubbing to Nya, who had been towel-drying them before putting them away. He glanced at her, comforted by warm brown eyes. They were crinkling around the edges with a soft smile, adding to the wrinkles that began creasing Nya’s cheeks. He put down his scrub brush and pulled off his gloves, leaning back against the sink. “Yeah… I know.”

“I know it’ll be hard, but I think it’s important. I don’t wanna lie to the girls,” Nya said, drying off the plate and then putting down her towel, stepping toward Jay. She put a hand on his hip, the other reaching up to cup his cheek. Jay leaned in as she swiped her damp thumb across his freckles, smiling at the contact. 

“I know… and you’re right. As always,” Jay’s hands fell naturally to Nya’s hips. “It’s just gonna suck.” 

“Yeah. It’s gonna suck,” Nya said quietly, pulling Jay in and wrapping her arms around his back. He shifted to do the same, their breathing falling into the same rhythm as they stood in silence, wrapped up in one another. Both of their minds raced to the corners that they had tried to forget for so long, the physical remnants and their curious daughters forcing them to explore a past they had long tried to run away from. Nya hummed into Jay’s chest as he brushed a kiss to her hair, both of their brains whirring. 

It had been years since Nadakan’s occupation of Ninjago. Since he had locked their family away and left them for dead. Since he had taken Jay hostage on his flying pirate ship, where Jay’s scars had been carved into his skin and into his mind. Since he had yanked Nya from her life, stripping her of every piece of her identity in favor of a wedding dress, all because she wore the face of a woman long gone. Since Nya had died in Jay’s arms. Since he had wished it all away. Since it had all been erased, leaving Jay and Nya with the heavy burden of the secret. They had only told their teammates about it a few years ago, when they finally decided that they were ready to talk about it. It had been insanely difficult, leading both Jay and Nya into fits of anxiety and tears, but on the other side of it, they had felt some of the weight on their shoulders lighten. 

Nya slid her hands down Jay’s shirt, taking a deep breath as her hands settled on the small of his back, pulling him closer. If that was even a possibility. Jay breathed her in, a sense of comfort rushing over him in the face of memories he wanted to let go of. Time hadn’t erased the pain of the timeline long gone, but it had smoothed it. The jagged edges didn’t stab them as often, the pain had become dulled. It had become like bruises, only really hurting when they were pushed on. But the pain was manageable. They had each other. 

And together, Jay and Nya could get through any storm. 

---

“Hey, Sparklettes,” Nya said quietly as she and Jay stepped into the doorway of the girls’ room, their hands interlocked, gripping each other. Willow was sitting at her desk by the window, working on a watercolor painting of the view with Crackle sleeping on her lap while Amaya was sprawled out on her bed with the other two cats curled around her on the mattress, tilting her head to look at her parents upside-down.

“What’s up? You look like you just ate Uncle Cole’s duck chowder,” Amaya said, rolling over to lay on her stomach as she studied her parents. Jay swallowed, trying to push some color back into his face. Nya squeezed his hand and stepped into the room, pulling him to Amaya’s side. She had the bigger bed, having complained endlessly about needing more space to spread out while she slept. She squinted up at them. 

“We wanted to talk to you two about… something important,” Nya said quietly, still clutching Jay’s hand. With the empty one, she waved Willow over to join them. “Is it alright if we sit down, Amaya May?”

Amaya rolled her eyes, “I guess,” she said, scooching over slightly to accommodate for her entire family on the blue and gold quilt her Grandma Edna had sent her. Zap and Pop picked themselves up off the bed at the addition, deeming it too crowded to continue sleeping there, and hopped down to the floor, wandering to different sleeping places around the room. Willow put the brushes she had been using in the glass of water on her desk and joined them, carefully extracting the sleeping calico creature from her lap before crossing the room and climbing onto the edge of the mattress with her sister as their parents settled at the head of it. Nya wrapped her other hand around Jay’s, taking over the talking. He looked pale. 

“So, you know how all of us have a lot of scars from being ninja?” she asked quietly, steadying herself as she opened up the conversation that had been a long time coming. Amaya nodded, turning to Willow with widened eyes. The redhead looked back at her, an eyebrow raised as they spoke to each other nonverbally, then turned back to their mother. “I know you’ve had a lot of questions about Dad’s and my scars, and I’m sorry we haven’t always been able to tell you about them,” Nya took a breath, glancing at Jay. “We want to tell you now that you’re older. And, now that we’re ready, too.”

“You’re freaking me out, Mom. Is this gonna be like the time you told us about being the ocean?” Willow asked, her jaw tightening. About a year ago, shortly after Willow had inherited Nya’s elemental powers of water, Nya and Jay had sat their daughters down and told them what having powers meant. The sacrifices that they may have to make like their parents had had to, though they reassured the girls that life wasn’t the same as when they were younger. That they wouldn’t be confined to saving the world all the time. That they could be normal teenagers. Still, it had been good to be honest about Nya’s merge with the sea, filling their children in on their history. This would be good, too. Nya just had to get the words out. 

“Kind of. But Dad and I both have scars from this one,” Nya said, leaning against Jay’s shoulder. He took a deep breath. “Do you wanna hear about them?”

Amaya paused, looking at Willow. Nya could tell that her curiosity was piqued at the chance to finally be filled in on the markings on her parents’ bodies, but she had always been overly perceptive for someone so young. She could see the weight that the conversation put on the minds of her parents. “I don't know. Whenever I asked about them you got all weird and quiet… I assumed you, like, got stuck in a blender or something.”

The comment pulled a chuckle out of Jay, who shook his head as he looked down into his lap with a small smile. “Not as far off as you might think.”

“But I also knew that if it was something embarrassing, you would’ve just said so. Like when you tripped down the stairs backstage in Prime Empire,” Amaya said, pointing at a small scar in the middle of Jay’s palm, barely visible behind Nya’s fingers, which clutched his for stability. “I could just think of it as something like that,” she said quietly, turning to Willow, who nodded. 

“No, I wanna tell you. We both do,” Jay said quietly, eyeing Nya. She smiled softly, squeezing bravery into his fingertips as he started slowly. “When I was about your age, Amaya May, I was kidnapped by this… evil genie guy,” Jay began, finally finding his voice. “When I was on his ship… I had to put up with a lot of violence. Malicious violence, too. Not like when Uncle Kai and Wyldfyre do those flaming handshakes.” Jay’s fingers tightened involuntarily at the thought of the jokes, which he somehow always fell for, leading to scorched palms. “His crew… they played this game called Scrap n’ Tap, and I got beat up pretty bad. I was too weak to fight back,” Jay said quietly, his voice shaking slightly despite his speech being well-rehearsed. Amaya and Willow watched him carefully. “And this genie, this Djinn… he wanted to marry your Mom,” he turned to Nya, whose eyes were rimmed with tears. She wasn’t panicked by the memory - like they both had been when it was fresh - but was still hurt by it. Jay took a deep breath, looking up at the ceiling as he spoke. “So, he needed me… out of the way.”

Emotion caught in Jay’s throat, cutting off his words. He squeezed his eyes shut, pushing the world away. His hands shook, prompting Nya’s to clamp down on them, and they shook together. 

Willow’s eyes filled with tears as she watched her parents, who had always been strong pillars standing tall in her life, crumble under the weight of their past. Amaya’s lips quivered as she watched her father break down seemingly beyond repair for the first time in her life, his shoulders shaking as his Yang held him close, slower tears rolling down her cheeks. 

Jay took a moment to steady himself, letting Nya wipe his tears from his cheeks and press a kiss to his damp freckles. 

“You’re doing so good, honey,” she whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. 

After a few more moments of quiet, Amaya was brave enough to speak. “What did he do to you, Dad?” she asked, her brows furrowing.

“He, um… he made sure I couldn’t fight back. That none of us could fight back,” once the words started to flow, Jay couldn’t stop them. His daughters listened, staying quiet. “He had this… sword thing, and he had your uncles locked in it. He got your Mom all alone… and when he married her, he became all-powerful. We almost didn’t beat him.”

Jay started shaking again, remembering the feeling of Nya’s body going slack in his arms as the life was sucked from her. She adjusted, wrapping her arm around Jay’s waist, both for his and her comfort. The closeness helped ease some of her anxiety. 

“What happened, Mom?” Willow asked, turning her glassy eyes from Jay to Nya, who swallowed, taking the reins. 

“The only way to subdue a Djinn is with Tiger Widow venom. Our plan was… to use the venom and weaken him, then Dad would wish that he wasn’t all-powerful, so we could defeat him as if he was a mortal,” Nya inhaled, filling her lungs as she remembered the feeling of air being sucked from them, the burn of poison on her chest, singeing through the four-armed wedding dress. “But, the poison hit both him and me. While it’s only harmful to a Djinn, Tiger Widow venom is deadly to humans.”

Amaya’s eyes widened as she put everything together. “You died ?” 

Nya nodded, chewing on the inside of her lip. “I told Dad not to waste his wish on me. I told him he needed to save the world. I told him-”

“The greatest love stories end in tragedy,” Jay whispered, his words watery. Nya leaned her head on his shoulder and squeezed him.

“Yeah. He wished that nobody found the teapot that the Djinn had been in in the first place, and his wish was granted. We still don’t exactly know what happened, but we ended up back before the entire thing happened. Nobody remembered but us, it was like it never happened… but we still have the scars.” 

Jay had a scar over his eye from his time on the Misfortune’s Keep, a series of slashes littered his back. Every once and a while, he felt a shooting pain in the ankle that had been chained to the heavy ball while he was on the ship. Nya’s chest still ached with a burn that had never happened, she had a healed slash mark on her cheek from her fight with Dogshank back then. Both of their bodies were littered with scars, both of their minds were tormented by the source of them. 

“Do you have any questions?” 

Nya could tell that her daughters did, their eyes gave them away, but they didn’t voice them. They just crawled forward in near unison, wrapping their arms around their parents. The entire family melted into a hug, soaking up the affection that could heal any wound. The news floated above their heads, like storm clouds, but now that it was out in the open, the weight seemed to be lifted from Jay and Nya’s shoulders. For the first time in a long time, a piece of them felt freed from the ghosts of their past.

Notes:

this is probably gonna be the last ch, unless i come up with something later on. this one's one of my faves :))

thank you for reading <3

Chapter 13: what if?

Summary:

two worlds. one ripped apart by a storm, the other carrying on in wholeness and bliss. always running parallel to each other, never intertwining. until now..

Notes:

MMM MM MMMM ANGST!!!

Nya took a moment to get her bearings, her head pounding as she squinted in the bright light of the city. She had grown up there, it should be familiar, but everything felt off. This place didn’t exist anymore, not like this. Not since the storm ripped open the sky, hurtling her and her family across the worlds before thrusting them back together, forever changed. 

It had taken years. Nya couldn’t do it again.

“What the hell?”

She pried her eyelids the rest of the way open, blinking to quicken the adjustment to the sunlight before she turned, taking in the view of her brother, who was doubled over beside her, clutching his temple as he looked around, his brown eyes wide with shock.

“Are we… in Ninjago City?”

“We can’t be, Kai,” Nya said, stepping across the sidewalk to Kai’s side as she looked around the streets, glancing at passers-by, who weren’t paying attention to two of the heroic ninja that had appeared on the street, dressed head-to-toe in outfits that helped them survive the merge. They stuck out like sore thumbs, but… nobody seemed to care. “Ninjago City doesn’t exist anymore, not like this… Not since-”

The sound of laughter caught Nya’s attention, pulling her gaze toward the park at the center of the city, where families were milling about, enjoying the warmth of the afternoon. 

“Everything’s so… normal,” Kai muttered, watching the scenery of a normal weekend. Nya was about to turn to her brother, to try to work out what had happened to them, how they had ended up smack-dab in the middle of their past, when her eyes landed on a curl. It caught the dimming light, sparkling like copper. 

Nya knew that hair. 

“Jay,” she breathed, watching as he turned, a bright smile on his face. His hair was the same as the last time she had seen him before the storm, short and wavy, but his face looked older. He had more freckles, like he had been spending more time in the sun, with tiny smile lines creasing around his eyes. 

She was about to run forward, wanting nothing more than to throw herself into his arms and kiss him all over, telling him how much she loved him, how much she missed him, when someone did it first. 

A child. 

She looked no older than three, maybe four. She had dark, wild curls that swirled around her face as she jumped into Jay’s arms, her giggles carrying across the street as Nya watched, frozen in place. Jay lifted her above his head and she cackled, squirming slightly until he dropped her back to rest on his hip, holding her confidently in his arms. Nya couldn’t hear the words escaping his grinning lips as he spoke to the child, but she assumed that it was all perfect. He’d always been great with kids.
They’d talked about how great he’d be with theirs, before… 

“What the hell?” Kai repeated, his eyes on the Master of Lightning, whose goodness wasn’t shattered, whose soul was intact. Who was carrying a child to another figure on a nearby bench, pulling her attention toward him as she stood up with a grin and-

Holy shit. It was her. 

The Nya on the bench’s lips pulled into a smile as Jay approached her, pressing a kiss to the child’s chubby cheek, then one to Jay’s lips. 

Across the street, Nya’s heart was slamming against the inside of her ribcage, desperate for her attention. She couldn’t pull it away from the scene. Away from the child with her eyes and her hair and Jay’s freckles and his laugh when he tickled her, chuckling along with the musical sound. 

It was insane. There was no logical explanation for it, but in a world where the merge had never occurred, it looked like Jay and Nya got their happily ever after. A life together, a child… and one more cooking, by the looks of it, as the Nya of this realm’s hand rested absentmindedly on her barely rounded abdomen as she and this Jay spoke, both of their smiles bright in the dimming light. 

A life that Nya would never get to live. Her Jay was gone. 

“Holy shit…” Kai muttered from beside her, but Nya could only focus on her alternative life. The other Nya’s eyes lit up, catching the dimming sunshine as she spoke with the other Jay, who put the squirming child down and kept an eye on her as she bolted to the playground. His arm snaked around her waist, pulling her close to his side as they watched the child climb up the jungle gym, yelling for them to watch her go down the slide. When she landed in the sand with a flourish that was so Jay-like it made Nya’s head spin, the Jay and Nya of her world clapped and cheered. Then, the Nya across the street put her head on Jay’s shoulder, her arm wrapping around his hips in return as he brushed a kiss to her hair and-

“I can’t do this,” Nya breathed, the words nearly inaudible as they escaped her numb lips. 

“What?”

“I can’t do this, Kai,” Nya whispered, her voice barely loud enough for her brother to hear. She couldn’t manage to raise it any more than that, with the impending panic building in her chest and spreading up to her throat, paralyzing her vocal chords. She felt like she was going to throw up as she turned fully away from the scene across the street, willing herself not to look back as Jay laughed openly, the sound mingling with the thrilled giggles of his and Nya’s daughter. She had to get away, get out of this strange world, out of the deja vu that came along with it. 

Nya was supposed to be living this life. But she wasn’t. Everything was so wrong. It had all been going wrong ever since that damn storm. 

“Nya-”

She couldn’t catch Kai’s eye, what with the view of the park present over his shoulder. Nya turned quickly, bolting down the nearest alleyway where everything in her vision would be blocked out by the surrounding brick walls. She had only just managed to step into the shadows when her legs gave out beneath her, and everything broke free. 

Vomit burned her tongue, stinging at her throat. Then, a sob ripped through her. It started in the space that had been left behind when she puked, swirling around in her gut before it moved through her chest, clinging at her lungs so she had no chance but to let it escape through trembling lips. A wail, which quickly dissolved into a whimper as Nya collapsed in on herself, somehow avoiding the pile of sick that she had left behind on the asphalt. 

Soon, Kai joined her in the alley, scooping her head off the pavement and resting it in his lap, running his fingers through her hair like when they were kids, staying silent and stoic as Nya sobbed out everything she had, no longer caring to keep it buried. She let everything spill out. Everything that she’d been holding inside since she battled Jay at the tournament. Everything that had been rotting her from within. All of the grief for a life she could no longer live, for a future she was no longer headed toward. A future that she had been forced to witness firsthand, watching from the sidelines of her own life.

Notes:

i guess this fic isn’t as ‘no merge au’ as the tags promised…. awkward…

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 3 of parents!jaya