Trying Not To Be Left Behind

Show Ninjago

Despite finding out about her water powers ages ago, Nya still was working on learning Spinjitzu.

She had to admit, she had been procrastinating in mastering it. Despite accepting that she was herself an Elemental Master, some part of her still shied away from the truth. Brushed the elements off as 'her brother's thing' while she had her own thing with her mech.

Still, if there was one thing their big battle against the Golden Master Mech had taught her, taught all of them, was that mechs can't solve everything. All of their mechs had been too big and clunky to reach that one little spot, and Skylor, the new friend she'd been talking about boys with only a few days before that, had then nearly died making up for that shortcoming.

That had been scary.

Still, even as her heart had been in her throat watching Skylor, she'd also been amazed at the level of athleticism she'd displayed getting up to the weak point.

Nya was no slouch when it came to being in shape, but she knew there was no way she could have done what Skylor did. It was unreal.

It made Nya want to be better.

And while Spinjitzu probably wouldn't have solved the Golden Master Mech problem, it would at least up her athleticism by leaps and bounds.

So here she was, practicing next to the river behind Steep Wisdom trying to master the tornado. Normally she'd be doing it inside Sensei Garmadon's dojo, but he and Sensei Wu had some kind of fight that morning (well, it was more Wu yelling at Garmadon than anything), and Sensei Garmadon had been using the space to stew in guilt-er-meditate ever since.

(Sensei Wu was no better. He'd been aggressively brewing tea all afternoon.)

(Neither of the Lloyds or Misakos would tell them why their Senseis were upset with each other, and the only answer they have gotten from Lord Garmadon was "There was a problem with their mail." Whatever that meant.)

Wait! Don't get distracted. Focus on Spinjitzu. She needed to work this out.

Or figure out her True Potential, she still was banging her head against the wall trying to figure that out. Given that three of the other world's Ninja and Skylor had all gotten theirs during the last adventure, she was starting to feel left out. It was really only herself, Lloyd, and DJ Cole that didn't have theirs yet.

She really didn't want to be last. Kai would never let her live it down.

Plus, getting her True Potential after a literal child like Lloyd would be pretty embarrassing.

It didn't help that she was pretty sure Cyan Nya knew what it was, but wasn't telling her. Every time she asked, Cyan would drop hints that only served to frustrate her further.

"Is a straight answer really too much to ask?" Nya asked aloud, voicing those frustrations.

"Straight answer to what?"

Nya jumped at the unexpected voice. Speak of the devil.

"What are you doing here?" Red Nya asked, turning to see her counterpart walking up to her.

Cyan shrugged. "I got a call you seemed upset about something, and was asked to come by and cheer you up."

Red blinked at her in confusion. What? Who would call Cyan all the way from the Other Ninjago to cheer her up instead of trying themself?

The answer came to her a second later. "Oh," she said as her shoulders slumped. "Jay called you… My Jay, that is."

Cyan gave her a sympathetic look. "Yeah," she said. "Said he'd come out himself, but he didn't want to make it awkward. You okay?"

Red let out a sigh. Jay was right, it would have been. Mostly because with her current frustration levels, Red had a strong suspicion that if he'd tried, she'd have snapped something at him that she'd later regret.

And he didn't deserve that. Once Jay was over his initial tantrum, he'd actually been very courteous about the situation, and was giving her the space she needed.

Not that she was any closer to figuring that out either.

Just another problem to add to her ever-growing pile.

Still, maybe she could actually ask her questions directly for at least one of them. "Yeah, I'm okay," she answered Cyan's question. Then asked her own. "I was wondering why you don't tell me what you think my True Potential is? I know you know."

"I wouldn't say 'know' so much as strongly suspect," Cyan replied, it was clear she'd somewhat expected the question.

Red gestured for her to go on. "Sooo…?" she said.

"You won't believe me," said Cyan firmly, looking like she knew Red wouldn't buy that, but had to say it anyway. "I wouldn't have believed anyone if they told me mine. If someone said asking for help was my block to my potential, then, well, it probably would have made me even worse, and way less likely to ask for help just to prove them wrong. It was only when I had to face it head-on that I got past it."

Red raised an eyebrow at her. "So, what? You're not telling me because you think it'll make me double down on the problem instead of fixing it?" she asked.

"Something like that," said Cyan with a shrug. "And besides, like I already said, what I have is just a guess. For all I know, telling you would just have you barking up the wrong tree."

Red scowled but knew she wasn't getting the answer out of Cyan. She was too protective, and would never do something she thought would be a detriment to Red.

"So I just have to figure it out for myself," said Red sourly. "Great."

"You'll get it, don't worry," said Cyan with a sympathetic smile.

Red grumbled unintelligibly under her breath but didn't argue.

They sat in silence for a while, just watching the waterfall.

"So," said Cyan, attempting to start the conversation again. "I walked through the tea shop to get here, and Sensei Wu was kinda-" she trailed off trying to find a way to describe the level of crankiness that had undoubtedly been pouring off him.

"Yeah. He's been like that all day. Apparently something Sensei Garmadon did ticked him off," said Red. "And Sensei Garmadon's been moping in his dojo all day because of it."

"They've been doing that a lot lately," said Cyan. "What happened between them?"

Red could only shrug and shake her head. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Cyan chuckled. "I'm sure they'll tell us eventually."

"Yeah," agreed Red. "I mean, they can't stay mad forever, right? I'm sure this will calm down soon."

Cyan froze, thinking of her own Wu and Garmadon who had been fighting pretty much constantly their entire lives. "Uh…" she said, not wanting to burst her counterpart's bubble.

Red just looked at her.

Quickly getting to her feet, Cyan held out a hand to Red. "We should probably get back to your training. You'll never figure out what your True Potential is if you don't keep trying."

Red groaned, but still took Cyan's hand and allowed herself to be pulled upwards. Loathed though she was to admit it, she was right.

At least sparring with Cyan the rest of the day would help her vent her frustrations.

Even if solving the root of those frustrations still seemed so far out of reach.


A/N So sorry this is late. I spent the whole day until just after lunch thinking it was Thursday, and by that point I was out on an errand and couldn't post until now. Anyway, this chapter was to touch back in with Red Nya, since she went through a lot in In Need of Polish as well, and unlike many others, her problems didn't get fully resolved. At least Jay's calmed down and is being courteous, and Cyan Nya's always there to help. She'll get it eventually.

Big thanks to Kay Hau for beta reading this chapter and suggesting the last bit at the end. It was a big help.

Next Time: Mindroid is at it again. This time he's sure he found Pythor!