"Do you have to go?" Nya asked, hugging her boyfriend and her brother in a fond embrace.
"I'm sorry, Nya, but we have to." Kai said. "We don't really have a choice."
"Don't worry, we'll come home safe." Jay said.
She choked back a sob and buried her face in their shoulders. "Promise. Promise me you'll come back alright." She said.
"I promise." Kai said. "Come on, sis, don't cry."
"Yeah, no crying." Jay said, trying to hold back his own tears.
"Remember what I always say when I'm going out on a mission?" Kai asked. "No matter where I go or how long I'm gone…"
"You'll always be with me." Nya finished. "I know. But what if… what if you never come back?"
"We will come back." Kai said. "Don't even think for a moment that we won't."
Jay smiled at her. "Yeah, we're gonna be fine, and so are you. Stay strong for us while we're away, okay?"
Nya nodded. "Yeah…" She said.
Kai smiled and wiped away her tears. "That's my strong little sister." He said. Then he and Jay pulled out of the hug. "We have to go now, Nya. Goodbye… but not forever."
"Bye, Nya…" Jay wiped a tear from his eye and forced a smile.
Nya nodded again. "Sayonara, kyodai. Sayonara, watashi no ai." She said quietly. "Until we meet again."
—-
Nya sat on her bed. She was worried. She'd hoped they would be home by now. But they weren't. Then she heard a car pulling up. She jumped out of bed. Could it be them? Were they home?
She ran downstairs, threw open the door, and smiled. Jay was exiting the car! And now he was helping Kai out of the car… and into a wheelchair.
"YOU'RE BACK!" She yelled, running toward them.
Jay turned around. She smiled. He was obviously fine, aside from a few scars. "Nya!" He smiled at her.
Kai leaned toward her and almost fell out of the wheelchair. "Come closer so I can hug you, sis." He said.
"What happened to you, Kai?" She asked.
"Um… had to get my leg cut off," Kai said, pulling up his right pants leg to reveal that his leg was gone from the knee down.
Nya pressed her hand over her mouth and choked back tears.
"Hey, don't cry. Dr. Julien already saw it, he said he can make Kai a robotic leg." Jay said. "In a few weeks, he'll be walking again."
Nya nodded and wiped her eyes. "And you? Are you okay?"
"Fine, other than a broken rib and a few scars," Jay smiled. "We promised we'd come back, and we did, didn't we?"
She nodded and smiled. "Yeah… you did."
Nya broke into tears and hugged her brother and her boyfriend again. "Iwas so worried. I'm glad you're home."
—-
A few weeks later, Jay's wounds had almost healed entirely. Kai's new robotic leg was working fine, but he was still getting used to it, so he still used the wheelchair sometimes. Nya and Jay had to catch him a few times, when he fell over.
Then there were the times Jay had screwed with Kai's wheelchair and laughed like a maniac when he realized it wasn't working right. Even Kai had found that funny.
And eventually, they were able to go back to being a normal, happy family. Happy, even if they were a little broken.