This is my first foray into Ninjago fanfiction, and I hope it doesn't disappoint. I've been wanting to write a story about P.I.X.A.L getting a new body ever since the Ghost season ended.
Enjoy!
P.I.X.A.L didn't like the dark.
She liked it even less as summer turned to winter, bringing with it the black mornings and early dark nights, leaving precious few hours of light to break up the darkness.
Darkness reminded her of the blackout that struck New Ninjago City. A blackout in which the last thing she saw was Zane's sweet, yet sad, face.
It was something that she hoped never to relive, as the mere sight of Zane in such distress caused her physical pain. To be fair, it hadn't been much of a problem lately, given that since the tournament of elements she was now a permanent part of him. When her body was scrapped, she feared she would never be with him again – he had to escape his prison cell, find the others and leave Chen's island before it was too late – but was pleasantly surprised when he proceeded to take her neural drive from the computer in which it was housed and inserted it into his own processor.
She was now with him wherever he went and she couldn't have been happier, even when he and his fellow ninja were besieged by Morro and his ghostly followers. Through all the Jay-induced voice changes, new elemental jitzu and paranormal enemies, she was right there, not by his side, but in his mind.
Except, she had begun to notice that there were times when her neural drive must have been removed from its place in his head. While not aware of it at the time, P.I.X.A.L always knew when her neural chip had been removed from Zane's processor once it was returned there. She lived in his head – literally – and as such, always noticed an hour here and there when she wasn't conscious.
It was, in a sense, as if she were having blackouts of her own.
And she didn't like it one bit.
There was a certain degree of fear that he no longer felt that they were compatible, that he no longer wanted her to be a part of him and that soon she would be doomed to the darkness forever.
She tried to sweep those fears away, but they wouldn't leave her be.
When Zane slept, her dread made its way into his dreams. She saw the effect it was having on the night time reveries that danced about in his subconscious. Perhaps her own inability to dream was what caused her anxiety to spread into his.
One morning, as they ventured into New Ninjago City – which was running like clockwork despite the heavy winter snow – the other ninja excitedly talked about Christmas while Zane lagged behind them. The bad dreams were affecting his sleep patterns and he yawned loudly, inadvertently making P.I.X.A.L feel guilty.
"Zane, are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine, just tired," he replied, rubbing his eye with a drowsy smile on his face. "I'm not sleeping properly."
A sharp pang of what she could only describe as shame jolted through her internal wiring.
"It is probably my fault," she confessed. "I am not able to dream, but I do feel fear and apprehension, and since my drive is in your head, there is a 99.9 percent chance that those feelings are transferring into your mind and causing bad dreams."
Zane went silent unsure what to say to such a statement.
"Is it any wonder that you need a break from me every now and then?" she mentioned.
He stopped in his tracks, letting the others wander off even further ahead.
"What do you mean by that?" He probed nervously.
"If I am causing you problems, perhaps you should remove me." She answered sadly. "Permanently."
Zane could see the heart-breaking look on her face on his interior vision and ached to physically comfort her.
"I'd never do that!" He spoke much louder than intended, giving the impression to all around him that he was talking to himself.
"I know you have removed me more than once," P.I.X.A.L spoke sadly, her voice cracking as she tried her hardest not to cry. "And though you always take me back, I cannot help but believe that you don't want me around anymore."
Before Zane had a chance to say anything in response, Kai returned and placed a blindfold over Zane's eyes, having noticed that his nindroid brother had fallen so far behind the rest of them.
"C'mon bro, we're gonna be late!" He playfully scolded.
"P.I.X.A.L, I promise to explain everything to you later." Zane insisted, pressing a button beneath his silver hair and ejecting her neural drive.
He held the drive close to his chest and paused for a moment.
I hope I'm doing the right thing…" He thought to himself as he placed the precious drive into the inside pocket of his coat.
P.I.X.A.L awoke to more darkness.
She assumed that Zane was still wearing the blindfold placed on him.
Until she realised that she wasn't in Zane's mind at all. She couldn't sense his bio-rhythm, his surroundings, or even the unique heartbeat caused by his undetermined power source. Shrouded in darkness, she was no longer in Zane's processor, and yet, she was conscious to it.
"I hope you are sufficiently pleased with how it turned out," Cyrus Borg said. "It was difficult to find the original blueprints under all my new designs."
Mr. Borg? She thought to herself.
"C'mon Zane, take the blindfold off already!" Jay excitedly demanded.
"I can't, I'm too nervous…" Zane muttered.
Zane! She felt herself tear into several different emotional directions.
She was happy that he was still near her, saddened at the possibility of losing him, slightly angry that he cut her off while they were in conversation over such an important topic and totally confused as to what was going on.
"Don't be!" Cole reprimanded in that stern voice of his. "You've been planning this for weeks, you can't be having second thoughts now."
"I'm not." Zane remarked. "I'm just not sure how she's going to react, what if she doesn't like it?"
They're talking about me, I just know it… She thought. I wish I knew what was going on, I can't see or even move. Zane, if there's a problem, just tell me, I can fix it… Please… I can't lose you again…
"What's not to like?" Jay encouraged. "It looks great!"
"Jay, you idiot, he can't see how it looks because his eyes are still covered!" Cole argued.
"Well excuse me, Cole, I'm only trying to reassure him!" Jay argued back.
"We're getting nowhere like this!" Kai sighed angrily.
"Knock it off, all of you!" Nya scolded them. "Lloyd, you insert the power source and on the count of three we'll pull both of their blindfolds off, at the same time."
Both? P.I.X.A.L mulled over Nya's use of a plural word. Is that why I can't see?
Just then, a swell of strong electrical current tore through her. She suddenly became aware of herself in a familiar, almost long forgotten way. The feeling of lightness which she held since her body was scrapped had disappeared, in favour of a heavier, more solid structure. This feeling, this weighted yet limp feeling, she knew it well but couldn't believe her own senses. Did she really have a body once more?
"One, two, three!" Nya joyfully yelled.
P.I.X.A.L felt the whoosh of soft fabric brushing away from her face, and a blinding light soon followed. She lowered her head and raised her arm to shield her eyes as they adjusted to the sudden light source. There were all the ninja, looking down at her with big beaming smiles. She looked at them in turn, taking in their features in a way she hadn't done in a long time, until her sight fell upon Zane. His smile was easily the biggest, happiest one in the room.
"Can you stand my dear?" asked Mr Borg as he held out a supportive hand.
She looked down at herself to see that she truly was, once again, in a body of her own. Almost the exact same body that she lost when she was scrapped, right down to the exposed circuitry on her left side. She lifted both arms to the same level and examined her hands, grinning widely at her friends as she touched her purple sleeve. With some difficulty, she swivelled her legs to one side and pushed herself up onto her knees, holding out her arms for balance.
"Here, let me help you." Zane offered, leaning down to take her hands in his.
"Zane…" She sighed with a relieved smile on her face. "Thank you."
"I'm sorry for all the secrecy," He apologised. "But I couldn't keep your Christmas present a surprise if you were in my head the whole time."
"You did all this, just for me?" She wondered.
"Well, I didn't do it alone, I had some help," He answered, glancing over his shoulder at the other ninja before turning to Cyrus with a grateful smile. "Luckily, Mr. Borg still had your blueprints on file."
Overwhelmed with happiness, P.I.X.A.L leapt up and enveloped Zane in the warmest hug she could offer. She nuzzled into him, feeling the familiar glow of his inimitable power source pulsing not only inside him but also within herself. She felt ashamed of her earlier thoughts, as here he had given her a new body as well as half of his power, and all she could think was that he didn't want her anymore.
"I don't deserve such kindness." She pulled away from him sadly.
"Of course you do," Zane paused, placing his forehead against hers. "You know why?"
P.I.X.A.L shook her head, unsure what reason he would possibly give.
"Well… because… I love you." He said confidently.
"Aww!" Nya cooed.
"It's just so beautiful!" Jay wailed, leaning on Nya for support.
"FINALLY!" yelled Kai exasperatedly with his hands in the air.
P.I.X.A.L was stuck dumb by this revelation. She knew he cared about her; he was forever reminding her that they were compatible and insisting that she was vital to him, but she never expected him to be quite so forward about his true feelings. At least, while he had never said it before, she had certainly always felt it.
"Zane…" She eventually managed to say in a hushed voice.
Did she love him back? Of course she did, there was no doubt about that, but dare she tell him? How could she not when he had bared his soul to her? And suddenly she realised something.
"You have given me a wonderful Christmas present," P.I.X.A.L stated, briefly looking down at her new body. "But I have nothing to give you… except…"
She put her hands on his cheeks and pulled a huge smile. The most wonderful, loving smile he had ever seen. And then, with her hands still on his face, she gently placed her lips to his, causing an electrical surge to pass through both of them. It was but a fleeting kiss – swift and temperate – and it left both of them reeling. A strong, all-consuming emotion – which P.I.X.A.L had only known since being around Zane – flooded her system.
"I love you too, Zane," She softly spoke. "Merry Christmas."