The sniffling in the hallway made Nya stop.
All the men were out, training with the two youngest boys. The only people in the house were Nya and her daughter, but hearing her daughter cry made her stop everything.
She hesitated before knocking, knowing that the wrong approach would get her nowhere. She knocked lightly, and after a soft response she went in.
The young teenage girl looked just like her father, and her blue eyes couldn't hide the redness that covered them. Tears ran down her face as she softly called for her mother. Nya sat on the bed with her daughter, enveloping her in a hug as she let her cry.
Her daughter doesn't cry, and this is what worries her.
After a few minutes her sobs subsided, and she lifted her head from Nya's shoulder. Nya didn't have to ask what was wrong before she jumped into her story about why she was so upset.
"At school someone brought in a perfect match thing. Everyone was sure that I would end up with James, but it told me that I would be perfect with Caleb. I became confused and started to think about me and Caleb. I love James, but what if the thing is right and I should be with Caleb? That's what I asked him, and he held my hand and asked if that's what I wanted. James saw us holding hands, and became upset. He broke up with me, and now I think I lost Caleb as a friend. Mom what do I do?"
The situation seemed so familiar, yet Nya couldn't recall every part of it. It was so long ago, and the frequent kidnappings, fights, and injuries weren't helping her memory. She knew that a machine told her she belonged with Cole, and started to see him in a new light. She almost broke up with Jay, figuring that she could go out with Cole for a while and see if the machine was right. When she thought she had the courage to say it, Jay had surprised her with a necklace that matched her mother's bracelet for her 'birthday' (she didn't tell him that her birthday was the following week). She then thought to hell with that stupid machine, if it didn't work out with Jay then who would it? With the machine far in her mind, she married and had children with someone who certainly wasn't Cole.
But she was older when this happened to her, her daughter is thirteen. Why is she worried about this now? And did she say that she had a boyfriend? Better not let any of the Ninja hear that.
"Honey, I was in the same situation as you were once. It's not fun, trust me, but a machine can't tell you what to do and what not to. Only you have the power to do that." Sniffles filled the room again, and Nya continued. "I once listened to a machine like that too, it almost got me to break up with the best person I could ask for. But he showed me that I can't let someone else make decisions for me. I married a guy who the machine didn't pair me with, and my life is the best I could ask for."
"How wrong was the machine?" She asked after a few moments. Nya contemplated about telling her daughter the truth of something no one but herself knew, and decided it might help with her situation.
"The machine told me I would end up with Uncle Cole."
This caught her daughter's attention, her bloodshot eyes wide and mouth gaping. Nya had to hold in her laughter as she almost screamed her disbelief. Nya continued on telling her how she almost broke up with Jay, and how she made her decision that the machine was wrong. Looking back she didn't understand why she ever listened to that darn machine, if the whole city was under attack by psycho robots then why did she listen to one of them?
Through her story, she could also see her daughter's features change. The look of sadness and confusion in her eyes was replaced by a look of clarity and happiness. When she finished neither of them said a word, but she could tell that her daughter's mind was changed. "So did you ever tell Dad or Uncle Cole?"
Nya shook her head, "No, and this is our little secret. You keep mine and the ninjas won't find out that you had a boyfriend." A smile was shared between the mother and daughter before they heard the door slam and chatter between the nine males downstairs. Nya moved to get up, but a hand on her arm stopped her.
"What do I tell James and Caleb?" She asked in a soft voice. Nya sat back down, thinking about how to respond. Her daughter's situation was different than hers, neither Cole nor Jay ever found out about that machine. After a few moments Nya responded, "Tell them that you'll decide for yourself who you want to be with. That no machine or anyone else can tell you different." The young teen smiled, but her smile faded when her mom said that she was too young to worry about this stuff. When she was going to respond her mother slipped out the door, telling her that it was time to have dinner. Groaning, she followed her down the stairs.
The conversation between the men was loud, yet it seemed to stop when the girls came down the stairs. "Nya, Blue Jay here is trying to tell your sons that you're first date was a night to remember!" She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her brother, instead looking at Jay's sheepish grin.
"Jay is not lying, I certainly will not forget the night of their first date. He unlocked his true potential that night."
"Thank you Zane!"
Her eyes caught Jay's, her husband's, and suddenly she couldn't remember the smart response she thought of. Jay, the father of her three children, her husband, the person the machine tried to tell her that he wasn't the match for her.
"Cole! Get your face out of the cake, that's for everyone after dinner!"
"I do not think I will help myself to the cake with that image in my head..."
"Right after your daughter admits she has a boyfriend!"
"That's as probable as Nya admitting her undying love for you."
"Leave my sister out of this!"
Yeah, she made the right choice.
After I saw the first couple trailers of Ninjago: Rebooted I was so pumped for the rest of the season! Then I saw that Nya has feelings/was told she has feelings for Cole. WHAT. NO. Jay is in love with Nya, his mom has a picture of them in her wallet, he unlocked his true potential for her, and so much more! It's not that I hate Cole (he's my favourite ninja :)), it's that I don't ship Cole and Nya. I ship Jay and Nya so hard it hurts! So I wrote this, this is my first Ninjago fanfiction and I wanted to write a future fic :)
Oh, by the way, the last four lines of dialogue are from Jay, Zane, Cole, Lloyd, and Kai in that order.
Thanks for reading and please leave your thoughts :)
