Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

To be honest, Nya’s been miserable these past couple days. Jays back, but not HER Jay. It’s like a completely different person has the body of someone she loves. Sure, he still likes video games and says horrible puns, but it just…doesn't feel the same.

A thought occurs to her... she’s now the only ninja who remembers what happened with…Nadakhan. She and Jay had considered telling the others, but they felt like that wasn't an option. She shudders as she recalls that venom on her chest…those unwanted touches…she feels sick just thinking about it.

“Nya?...Nya! The solder?”

Nya snaps out of her thoughts “huh?”...Right. She’s supposed to be helping Pixal repair some wiring in the bounty.

“Sorry!…I just zoned out I guess.” Nya sighs, passing Pixal the solder.

“I'm assuming you’re still thinking about what is happening with jay?” Pixal asks, grabbing the solder from Nya.

Nya bites her lip “mm…yea. Something like that.” Nya exhales, “has Zane checked up on his leg today?” She asks, looking over her shoulder back to the monastery.

Pixal frowns, noticing the change of subject, but decides not to push it.

“I believe he is doing so as we speak.”, Pixal answers, finishing up the last touches to the bounty’s wiring.

“Oh, okay.” Nya notices Pixal is almost done. “Hey Pix? I’m going to head back to the monastery, is that fine?”

“Of course, go ahead. I'm just about done here.” Pixal smiles “thanks for the help, Nya.”

“No problem.” Nya smiles back, she turns around and heads back to the monastery, she heads straight to her room.

Pixal shortly after, heads back down to the monastery as well.

— — — — —

“Jay, you need to eat something!” Zane insists, extending the bowl of noodles in front of Jay’s face. Jay had already been a pain when Zane tried to check on his leg, he’s gotten so much more sassier, it's worrying.

“I'm not hungry! I already told you, ya old chunk of metal!” Jay retorts, with a bitter tone in his voice. He continues playing video games, his grip on the controller never loosening.

Zane sighs, “Jay-” Right as Zane was about to finish his sentence, Cole walks in,
“Either you eat what Zane made you, orrr” Cole walks up to the TV and grips the cable “No more video games.” He lighty pulls the wire, to get his point across.

“You- Ugh fine.” Jay rolls his eyes, huffing “gimme that.” He grabs the bowl of noodles and begins to chew slowly, he raises an eyebrow “...Wow…not bad, I guess.” He continues eating, this time a bit faster.

“I'm glad you liked them,” Zane smiles. He raises an eyebrow as he hears a crash in the kitchen. Wyldfire was up to something again.

“I’ll be right back…” he turns and heads to the kitchen.

Cole nods, then realizes he has somewhere to be “Shoot, I was supposed to head over to visit the finders!” He remembers Kai and Frak are outside the monastery training. “Um…you’ll be fine on your own, right?”

“Duh, I can take care of myself” Jay scoffs “it's not like i'm going to destroy the place!” He points to his injured leg.

“Right…” Cole nods slowly, turning around walking out the monastery.

A couple moments later, Jay sets down the now empty bowl of noodles on the counter. He’s weirded out, mainly because he feels like he’s had the same noodles somewhere…the taste is so familiar. He just doesn't remember.

He brushes that feeling off. He still really needs to get out of here, those ninja have been non-stop rambling about him being a ninja. It's driving him insane. He’s already told them multiple times he’s not buying it! But they just won't stop!

He also has a certain tiger man he should be hunting down! and he’s pretty determined to capture him. He can’t just sit here forever, plus his leg is pretty healed up…well, kinda. So after a couple seconds of contemplating, he decides to get up and leave. He thought about leaving those ninja people a note, but that just ruins the whole mysterious vibe.

He sneaks out through the back window of the monastery, wincing in pain whenever he would apply too much pressure on his injured leg. He makes it to the front exit of the monastery.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Jay groans as he realizes there's a problem, in order to get down from this place, he needs to walk down stairs, and with a leg he can't even walk on properly? No way he would make it down without hurting himself even more!

Something catches his eye “Hmm…” Jay smirks as he notices the ninja left their flying ship unsupervised.

— — — — —

“How do you even work this thing!?” Jay struggles getting it to start at first, but then he manages to get it to start.

Jay flies the ship away from the monetary, he swears he sees the red guy and the other ninjas rushing out the door of the monastery from afar, he chuckles to himself, “losers.” He scoffs.

He continues flying until he finally stops and lowers the ship down to the ground in some creepy forest. He decides to look around the ship for a first aid kit so he can bandage up his leg.

He successfully manages to bandage up his leg. With his newly bandaged leg, he climbs down the ship, maybe he’ll find something here that can lead him to Ras. With his lightning daggers, Jay begins to cut through the vines in the forest, until he spots something. He walks up to the glowing object and picks it up.

“What the-...” Jay raises an eyebrow as he inspects the object.

“...a teapot?”

Chapter Text

‘What the?...’

Nya runs her hand through her wet hair, clearly confused on what was going on. She had gotten back from showering to find Kai and Frak panicking and telling the others something.

She walks up to the group, “what happened?!” Her eyebrows lowering in concern as she doesn't see Jay on the couch. “Wait- where is Jay-”

Kai, right as he was about to explain, is interrupted by Frak “Jay escaped!! And he took the Bounty!!” He exclaims, clearly distressed.

“He…escaped?!...” Nya's eyes widen “...and he took the bounty!?” Nya bites her lip “his- his leg was still injured! What if he gets attacked or- or-” Nya panics, feeling a pit in her stomach. She had just gotten Jay back! Why did it always have to be her? She wishes Jay could just come back to his senses and remember who he was, who she was to him…

“Just wish it all away…”

Nope nope…none of that! She’s over that! Or well…that’s what she thinks.

Nya shudders, remembering her family getting tricked by Nadakhan and disappearing. One by one, until her and Jay were the last ones. Her breathing becomes uneven, her eyes staring directly at the floor. Not now…

‘I have never seen a more beautiful wife’

Nya feels like throwing up. She was so sure she was finally fine after what happened, she would secretly sneak out to take therapy! Even that didn't work. She thought she let go of it. The memories flooding back to her like a harsh, unforgiving wave. Dying in Jay’s arms, being humiliated…how she wishes Jay was here. Even if he was, he doesn't remember a thing.

Only she remembers. What a horrible thought…

She and Jay had only told the others what they wanted to hear, the typical ‘oh he was bad but we defeated him easily!’ But more like… “oh we just let out a djinn who wanted to make a new realm out of ninjago, nothing major.” She didn't want the others to worry over something that never really happened!

… Oh who is she kidding, it happened, it really did. Nya isn't so sure she can get over that fact. She cliches her chest, right where the tiger widow venom hit her.

“Sis?” Kai gives her a concerned look. Nya snaps her head back up to look at everyone, tears forming at the edge of her eyes. “I-I’m fine!...it's because…we just found him, y’know?” Nya responds, a panicked tone in her voice. She begins counting in her head to ten. Just how Jay would do whenever he would panic. One…what if they don’t find him? Two…he could get seriously hurt out there!…Three-

Nya feels a hand on her shoulder, Lloyd’s hand. “If we found him once, we can find him again.” He reassures her “we’ll figure out how to get his memories back…sooner or later, but we will.” Lloyd gives Nya a reassuring smile.

Nya forces a smile back “yea- yea…you’re right.”

“Wait…” Zane speaks up, “what about Arrakore, the Djinn, the one Sora and Nya told us about. Maybe we can wish to find Jay or even wish his memories back?”

“Wha-” Nya is about to say something, but Lloyd cuts her off.

“Great thinking Zane…that could work!” Lloyd smiles, not realizing there's just one small problem…

“How will we even go out to find him? He took the Bounty, remember!?” Wyldfire points outside where the Bounty used to be “And don't say Riyu, he isn’t big enough to hold all of us! Walking won't work either, because that would take us forever!” The girl crosses her arms, frowning.

Pixal notices this and speaks up, “I have been working on a new vehicle. Although I've only completed one, it should be able to seat two of us. Do be careful, I do not think it is ready to travel far distances. Though, It should be good for the ride to New Djinnjago.”

Lloyd nods, smiling “Yea, that could work!” Lloyd pats Pixals back, “thanks Pix! Arrakore it is!”

Nya inhales sharply. “Can’t we come up with something…else?” Arrakore is a nice guy- Djinn. But she still can't get herself to trust him. She knows he’s not Nadakhan, but she hasn't been able to get that feeling out of her head recently.

She remembers the fear she felt when she first saw Arrakore. A hit to the gut. She acted like she was fine, for Sora. She didn't want to freak her out. Nya felt like dropping the mission as a whole that day.

“-earth to Nya?” Lloyd waves his hand in front of her face. “Huh? What? sorry i was thinking…” Nya rubs her arm “you were saying?”

Lloyd raises his eyebrow, snowing concern in his face “we were wondering if you wanted to go! Since you're the only one here who’s met Arrakore. Kai can go with you if you want? I would go, but I really want to look into where Arins parents are…” Lloyd sighs.

“I uh…” Nya huffs. Did she really want to see a Djinn right now?...she sighs, ‘it's just Arrakore. It's fine’ she reasures herself “sure.” Nya nods “when do we head out?”

“Whenever you two are ready.” Lloyd smiles.

“I'm ready to head out now.” Kai says, grabbing his sword. “What do you say Nya?”

Nya chuckles lighty “yeah…sure let's go”

— — — — —

“Soo…this Arrakore guy just grants you whatever wish you want?” Kai asks, looking out the window. “Like that nadakana guy you and Jay told us about?”

“Yep. Basically.” Nya’s hands grip the wheel tighter, trying to relax her nerves. She’s encountered Arrakore plenty of times, why is she so much more nervous now?

“Aw sweet!” Kai grins “Do you think I could wish for a lifetime supply of hair gel?” He asks, fixing his hair. “I'm running out, and I do NOT want to use Mr. Frohicky’s hair gel recipe, that stuff stinks!”

Nya rolls her eyes “we are just heading out to ask where Jay is. Nothing else.” Nya frowns, hoping Jay is fine right now. Especially since he has an injured leg. “Just one wish, no more. They only bring problems.” Nya huffs, recalling when she and the others tried to wish their way out of Nadakhans ship, how did that end? Definitely not pleasantly.

“Jeez, okay buzzkill” Kai says, playfully. “How close are we?” Kai asks, checking thr GPS screen.

“Not too far, we are almost there” Nya picks up the speed, even though she is dreading the fact she has to see a Djinn, the one thing she doesn't want to see right now.

Nya looks out the window, seeing Djinnjago. It's definitely bigger than the last time she was here.

She exhales, ‘you got this Nya…its just Arrakore, not Nadakhan.’

“We’re almost there.” She informs Kai.

Chapter Text

With his lightning daggers, Jay begins to cut through the vines in the forest, until he spots something. He walks up to the glowing object and picks it up.

“What the-...” Jay raises an eyebrow as he inspects the object.

“...a teapot?”

— — — — —

Jay raises an eyebrow, “what the…” he notices it has some weird thing you can move around to form some sort of image…odd.

Jay, right as he was about to align the parts, hears someone…or something running in his direction.

He quickly turns his head around, seeing a man with a cloak and a rather long mustache approaching. Jay stands up, cringing due to getting up too fast. “You’ve got to be kidding me…” he says under his breath. Last time he checked, his leg was still pretty injured. He brushes it off, and pulls out his lighting daggers, ready to attack whoever that guy is.

The man pulls out two rifles, “Oi! Give me that teapot!!” He shouts, his pirate accent making Jay snort.

Jay ducks to avoid the bullets, barely managing to dodge them. His hat was now on the ground. “Well that was unexpected…” he mumbles.

Jay’s going to give credit where it's due, the guy’s good with guns. But Jay’s a lot better at dodging.

Jay raises his daggers, charging towards the man, “I don't know who you are. But if a fight is what you want, I'll give you one!” His robotic voice informs the mysterious man, who scoffs.

“Just give me the teapot!!” The man points one of his rifles where Jay has the teapot, and the other directed to Jay’s face.

Jay scoffs, swinging his daggers toward the man, managing to rip a piece of his cloak off and rebound the bullets.

The man scoffs “Hah. That’s all ya got?!” Jay assumes the man wants the teapot because it’s valuable…And if that’s the case, Jay won't be giving the teapot away anytime soon.

Without Jay noticing, The man shoots down a rather large tree branch, which ends up falling on Jay. “Oof!” Jay grunts, he notices the man is reaching for his bag. Jay notices, and begins to charge his lighting up to shoot the man with it. “Take that you long musatched weirdo!” He hits the man with a good amount of lightning, his leg feeling tingly as he does so. Weird…

Jay smirks as he notices the man crouched down, wincing in pain. He takes the opportunity to break free from the branch's grasp.

He gets up, only to hiss in pain due to the pain in his leg. He really wishes he didn't have such a useless, injured leg. He slowly makes his way to the ninja’s flying ship. He double checks to make sure he still has the teapot, which he does. “Phew…”

It takes him a while to make it to the ship, mostly due to the fact he had to limp his way there. “Stupid leg…” Jay scoffs.

“O-Oi back here, you!” The man shouts from afar, Jay ignores his call, and just shrugs as he gets on the ship.

— — — — —

Jay is completely lost, he’s been flying for hours since his encounter with that mysterious man. One thing comes to Jay’s mind, he is hungry. The most recent thing he had eaten were those noodles that weird robot guy gave him. “Hm…Maybe there’s something to eat here.”

He ends up not finding anything. “Seriously!?” Whatever, it’s fine. He's gone longer without eating. Those people at the Administration had left him without food weeks at a time. He had no idea why he was a target for such negligence. He frowns, everyday it was the same thing…but Jay’s not naive as they think he is anymore.

Jay pulls out the pendant he’s had with him since the merge. He doesn't know why he has it, or who has the other half. All he knows is that this pendant gives him a feeling of peace, something that he hasn't been able to feel recently. Jay sighs, running his finger over the detailing. He smile’s barley, then stuffs it back in his pocket.

Oh right, the teapot. Jay pulls it out, inspecting it, “Wonder how much this can sell for…” Jay imagines selling the item for a good amount, maybe it’ll be enough to repair his mech.

“huh?...” Jay notices the puzzle on the teapot again, raising an eyebrow. “What does this do?” Jay shrugs, he assumes it probably wont do anything catastrophic, and if it does, he can fight it. Slowly, he begins to align the symbol, not aware of who he’s about to release.

Jay yelps as the teapot begins to glow and shake, a weird orange mist coming out of the opening. “What the hell!?” Jay backs away, trying not to step on his injured leg.

Jay gasps, his eyes widening as he sees who...or what just came out the teapot. A genie!? Jay feels like he’s seen this person before...his stomach drops. Seriously, who is this guy!...or thing! The orange genie looks around, his eye’s locking on Jay’s.

The genie smirks in an aggressive way, his eyes dark.

“Have you missed me, my little canary?”