Author's Note: I originally intended for this to be one chapter for Jaya and one chapter for Skylor/Kai, but I ended up with wayyyyy too many words, so I'm going to be splitting the Jaya portion up and will probably make a new story for the Skylor/Kai story. They deserve some development anyway.

I am attempting to fix the formatting... I hate how FF removes all formatting!

Nya didn't know her parents well enough yet to know if she had gotten her stubbornness from her mother or her father. She did know, however, that her brother had inherited it too, and that she was sure that this trait was keeping him alive at this very moment. Kai was way too stubborn to be dead.

And Jay. Her sweet Jay. Definitely too smart and too resourceful to be dead.

Nya's connections with both her brother and the love of her life had convinced her that despite their disappearance, the two most important men in her life were alive. Maybe not well, but alive. She simply knew it in her heart, and nothing anyone could say would change her mind.

So the moment that portal in the sky started to swirl, Nya knew who would be coming through it. She was relieved, ecstatic, and vindicated. She looked over at Lloyd who gave her an apologetic smirk and the pair sat Skylor down in a safe spot so that they could greet their friends.

Lloyd had beaten her to the guys as they jumped down from their dragons, but Nya wasn't paying any attention to anyone but Jay. Nya had stopped in her tracks, a few yards away from Jay, tears overwhelming her as she laughed and sobbed at the same time. "I knew it!" she yelled to him as he ran toward her.

Before she knew it, he had scooped her up and was spinning her around in a circle, his face buried in her hair. "I knew it," she said again as he sat her down on the ground, "I knew you were alive!"

"I thought about you every second of the day that I wasn't trying to avoid being killed by dragons," he choked out, pulling her close to him, "I missed you so much, Nya. So much."

She could tell he was a little worse for wear and made a note to baby him when they were able to get back to headquarters. She didn't care one bit that he was sweaty and stinky; she'd been with him plenty of times during extended missions and unplanned disasters.

"I love you, Jay," she whispered in his ear, touching his face and giving him a quick but meaningful kiss.

"I wish we could spend all night like this, but I think we need to go destroy this rock monster thing," he whispered back with a laugh, "but remind me to tell you I love you at least thousand times when this is over." He leaned his forehead down to hers and closed his eyes for just a second, a sweet smile crossing his lips as he let out a sigh. He and Nya were back together; it didn't matter how many dragons or giant rock creatures tried to kill him as long as they were together.

They were bloodied and bruised, limping back to headquarters silently in the dark, unsure if they'd won or had simply put off Ninjago's destruction for a few days. Garmadon's final warnings to Lloyd had disturbed the ninja and they looked to Wu for guidance. "Whatever is coming, we will meet it head on as we always do," he said cryptically.

"Wow, what a way to celebrate our return!" Jay said sarcastically, throwing his hands in the air. Everyone else glanced at each other nervously.

"Ninja, do not borrow worries from tomorrow. Tonight is a night for rest. And reunions," he added, looking to Jay and Nya. She blushed but Wu consoled her with a smile and a wave of his hand. "I was young and in love once," Wu whispered to the pair, "Or twice, I should say."

Jay and Nya chuckled as the rest of the ninja shuffled past them. Kai stopped to hug his sister and she snuggled into his arms with a few more tears. "She says she knew we were still alive," Jay said to Kai, patting the other's shoulder as he continued to hug his sister.

"Well, you know how stubborn she is," Kai said with an eye roll and the two guys laughed.

"I'll get you back in training tomorrow, Kai!" she yelled, her voice muffled by Kai's stinky gi, "go take a shower, you smell!"

"So does Jay!" Kai retorted.

"I like the way he smells!" she said, pushing away from him as Jay cackled hysterically at the siblings.

Thankfully for everyone's noses, their newest headquarters location had several bathrooms with showers. Poor Lloyd had been the last to shower and was left with zero hot water. Nya heard him scream from the upstairs bathroom and snickered. "He's making a big deal out of some cold water," she said, helping Jay and Cole load the washing machine.

"No, he's probably screaming over the fake spiders I put in that shower," Cole said matter-of-factly.

"Honestly…" Nya said, tossing the last of the laundry in as Jay set the machine's dials, "I missed all of your practical jokes. Lloyd is a party pooper."

"Awwww," Jay and Cole laughed.

Zane and PIXAL made the group a fantastic late night dinner of handmade ramen while Skylor brought puffy potstickers from the restaurant. It was nearly 2 am by the time they left the dinner table, slowly scattering to their own beds.

Jay took Nya's hand and lead her out to the garage, climbing the spiral staircase to the rooftop deck. He had grabbed a blanket on the way and spread it out on the soft grass that Misako had planted the summer before. Occasional fireworks sparkled in the sky and the moon hung low, glowing a warm golden color.

Jay pulled Nya close to him and she rested her head on his arm, nestling her forehead against his cheek. She felt the tears threatening to spill again and smiled up at Jay, who had suspiciously watery eyes as well. "Are you crying?" he whispered, touching her face.

"No, are you?" she smiled, a tear making its way down her cheek and onto Jay's arm.

"Not at all," he laughed, taking a quick swipe at his eye with his free arm.

They laughed for a few seconds as more tears spilled from their eyes and onto each other.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't get you a message before we used the Traveller's Tea," he sniffled, pulling her closer to him.

"I knew, Jay. I'm telling you, I was sure. No one believed me, not even Lloyd. But I didn't care, because I knew you were coming back," she said, a tinge of anger in her voice. He wasn't sure he should ask her to go over what had happened, but he knew it would come up eventually. Maybe they could save that for another day.

They were silent for a few minutes, holding each other close and watching the intermittent fireworks that the citizens of Ninjago were still shooting off in celebration.

"How is your shoulder?" Jay whispered.

Nya growled for a moment and rubbed her aching left shoulder. She had mostly forgotten about it due to thr distraction of their reunion, but she couldn't deny that it didn't exactly feel good.

"Not terrible... but not good," she sighed.

"I'll text PIXAL. Maybe she can bring you something," Jay said, pulling out his phone. He sat up and Nya rested her head in his lap, deciding not to argue with him. After a few taps, Jay sat his phone down beside him on the blanket and leaned down to kiss Nya on the forehead.

PIXAL was quick to bring supplies, carrying an ice pack, some pain medication, and a bottle of water.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting," Jay said, accepting the supplies while wiggling his eyebrows at PIXAL.

"Not at all, Jay. Zane and I were watching the news reports from today," PIXAL responded pleasantly.

"Uh-huh," Jay said with a wink.

"Jay!" Nya snickered, "thank you for the meds, Doc."

PIXAL waved with a smile and hurried back down the stairs to reunite with Zane.

"You're awful," Nya said, unable to hold back another snicker.

"Come on, I wouldn't be nearly this attractive if I weren't so funny!" He teased.

Sitting up to take the medicine from his hand, Nya said, "you know I always like you best when you are yourself."

"Uhhhh, speaking of that... if the guys tell you about me going crazy the first few days we were in the First Realm... well, I did," Jay rattled off while Nya was busy taking a drink.

She coughed a little and then looked him in the eye as he smiled nervously. Her expression softened and she leaned foreward to touch his cheek. "I don't blame you," she whispered, "it was a really rough time."

He laid back down and she followed, laying on her side to balance the bag of ice on her hurt shoulder. Neither talked, simply closing their eyes and breathing in the other's presence, eventually falling asleep on the rooftop under the stars.

Nya awoke the next morning in her bed, alone and still in her clothes from the previous night save her shoes, which had been removed and placed in the corner of her room.

She glanced around for a moment and found her phone plugged in to the charger and a note on her bedside table.

"Dear Nya,

Master Wu sent Kai and I on a quick mission early this morning, but we will be back late tonight. Nothing dangerous he said, but fireboy's ego can make a grocery trip dangerous. You should rest your shoulder today.

I would have stayed last night, but Zane saw me carry you to your room and I wasn't sure I wanted Kai finding out. Anyways, I'm rambling as usual. Writing love notes is hard!

I love you x 1000 and I will see you late tonight.

Jay"