Hey y'all, this is sorta like a good-bye story on this account, plus a full explanation at the end. I'll explain there. But I also wanted to give one last story, so I hope you enjoy the fitting one-shot. :)
In all fairness, Jay didn't even want to move into the Temple of Airjitzu in the first place. It was creaky and cold, and above all else, creepy. Despite what Cole said, this place was definitely haunted still.
Jay was hesitant to call this huge temple home, but somehow it happened anyways.
Jay liked the way it gave them all the space to have their own rooms for a change. The weather was nice and cool amongst the clouds too; it kept the Destiny's Bounty feel. And while there was a negative connotation to it from the alternate timeline that only Nya and himself remembered, it was...nice.
So now that he looked around his room - knowing he'd be leaving it shortly - it felt bittersweet. He sat on the edge of his bed, giving the walls he customized with posters and paints a once over one last time. Sapphires trailed from the walls to the floor, where a huge orange paint splotch stained the wooden floors. Jay couldn't help but smile at the memory of when they first moved in.
Jay had claimed this room, and he was asking Cole to come help him freshen it up.
"You really think the ghost of Sensei Yang would appreciate you already changing his temple in just a week of us moving in?" Cole had teased Jay.
"Oh har-har." Jay rolled his eyes at Cole. He knew his best friend would never live down his outburst on the Day of the Departed, claiming it was haunted. "There are no ghosts, you told me, right? Besides, I'm doing Sensei Yang a favor by doing some interior design. This place is pretty run down and outdated. I'm just giving some life to it."
And while the two joked and quipped the whole time, they did get work done painting one of the walls blue and hanging up posters and pictures on another.
While Jay tried to believe in what Cole had said, he sometimes found himself saying, "There are no ghosts, there are no ghosts." Yes, he was a little fearful still, but he'd never admit it.
So when Jay felt a cold wind creep on the back of his neck, he couldn't stop himself from screaming and tripping over a box, colliding with his dresser where an open can of orange paint sat. Successfully knocking it over, the paint splattered all over the floor and all over Jay.
Cole looked over at him from where he stood on the ladder. "Whoa, you okay?" He came down the ladder to kneel beside Jay.
Jay's eyes were wide, staring at the paint bucket. "Th-there was a gust; i-it touched me!" He looked at Cole, "Don't laugh at me, but I swear it was a ghost!"
Now knowing Jay was okay, Cole snorted. "Oh my God, this again."
"No, I'm serious this time!" Jay challenged. "I felt it, Cole. Felt it!"
Cole stood up and held out his hand to help Jay up. "Alright, Sparky. Let's take a break."
And to this day, Jay knew it was a ghost. No matter what Cole said.
"Jay?" Jay perked his head up to see Cole in his doorway. "Are you even packed yet?" He looked to the single backpack in the center of the room.
Jay stood and double checked the backpack. He nodded and zipped it up. "Yes I am, this time." He hoisted it up over one shoulder. "I was just...thinking."
"About?" Cole asked, looking at his best friend.
There was a pause and Jay chewed on his lip in thought. In the end he shrugged, "I dunno, just giving a farewell to the temple, I guess."
Cole rolled his eyes, "It's not like we're leaving forever, Jay. We're just going out for a year to look...for you know... Wu." His voice grew quiet at the end. It was still a difficult subject for all of them.
"Yeah," Jay admitted. "But who knows what else we'll encounter. Maybe we'll not be able to come back even longer than that. Oh! What if something else bad happens? Or what if we - I don't know - get sucked into a different realm or something? Just in case, is all."
Cole huffed a laugh, "I doubt that'll happen."
Jay clicked his tongue, "You never know. It's just another day in Ninjago. These crazy things happen to us all the time."
"True," Cole nodded.
The two fell into a silence, the both of them just…thinking.
Lloyd was splitting everyone up to search Ninjago far and wide for Sensei Wu. When he formed the teams, Jay and Cole were chosen to go together, which really was great, considering they were best friends. To find the silver lining in the wake of Wu being missing, Jay was happy he'd be able to spend so much time with Cole.
Jay sighed, cutting into the silence. "Guess that's the end of that story."
Cole raised an eyebrow, looking over to Jay. "What?"
Jay flashed Cole a smile. "Dunno. It sounded poetic."
Shaking his head, Cole couldn't help but laugh. He pressed his hand against the small of Jay's back to nudge him to the door. Zane had made breakfast before everyone would be heading off to their own missions and the smell of waffles had eventually reached Jay's room to beckon them out. "Come on, Shakespeare," Cole teased, "let's get going."
Leaving his room, Jay glanced back only once. A soft smile found its was onto Jay's lips. Shutting the door, he followed Cole out to the kitchen. They had a whole new journey waiting for them out there.
So yeah, thanks for reading! :)
Now the PSA:
So I say this is the good-bye to this account because I made a new account here where I will be posting from now on. I made this account LONG ago, and I've really changed since 2012, where I used to really ship Jaya (as you can tell by the name) and my writing style has really changed too.
Now, I am leaving this account, and I have discontinued pretty much all the stories, I'm sorry if you were reading any of them, I just no longer have inspiration, plus it's kinda hard to write Jaya when you aren't particularly found of it anymore. That and I fall in and out of other fandoms like fairy Tail a lot, so again, little to no motivation either.
That doesn't mean I'll stop some of my stories, though. I will tie up some lose ends on a few of my stories, so no worries there. I'll finish those up, but besides that, this account will be out of commission.
This change has been something I've been considering for a while now, actually. I just want a fresh start without deleting anything, so this account will stay. Anything new will be on my new account, where I'll (hopefully) get better inspiration with some Bruiseshipping fanfics and whatever else I decide to post. Maybe I'll do some rewrites of my old stories with my updated writing style.
Anyways, thanks for everything on this account. It's been with me a long, long, LONG time, but now is the time to retire it. If you want new content, I'll be found at my new account:
buttermeuplikeabreadroll
Also, I'll give a quick list of the few stories I'll finish up here just as an FYI.
- New Year, New World
- The Lies I Hide
- When Mishaps Happen
Again, I'm sorry if I discontinued something you really wanted to read. Otherwise, these three will stay open, I'll finish them eventually.
But besides all that, thank you! I hoped you enjoyed my short farewell-fic too. :)
