Hello everyone! I've been thinking a lot about that Twitter post about how Nya doesn't tell Jay she loves him on screen and... Had some ideas about it. Please enjoy "A Million Ways to Say I Love You".
Jay doesn't need to be told Nya loves him; he knows she does. He sees it in her eyes, in the way she lights up when he asks to spend time with her. In the way she doesn't hesitate to smack him when he does something stupid and then laugh at his pain. He's learned to look for it in the little things because that's just how Nya is. The days of needing a flashy declaration of love to feel secure in his relationship are long gone. But Nya must not know that, he realizes when she hesitantly asks,
"Does it ever bother you that I… that I don't really… you know… say 'I love you' very often?" one day while they're working on a project together.
"Why would you ask that?" he asks, taken aback. Nya shrugs.
"I guess I was just… curious. Normal couples say that sort of thing to each other all the time and I… don't."
She looks away before he can reply.
"Oh, Nya. You wanna know something crazy? It really doesn't bother me at all." He tells her, catching her hands with his. She frowns, not fully believing him.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I am. I won't lie and say it never bothered me," Jay begins, squeezing her hands, "because it did, once upon a time. When we first got back together, I wondered about it a lot. After all, I've never been one to hide my feelings, but there were a lot of times I had no idea what you were thinking. I began to wonder if maybe you regretted choosing me. But then… I realized something."
Nya lets out a small, "Oh?" but let him continue.
"I grew up with Ma and Pa. Who are great, but are very, very expressive when it comes to affection. I say I love you a lot because it's just who I am. But not everyone is like that. We all show love differently. Cole gives the biggest bear hugs. Zane cooks extravagant meals for people. Your brother is super protective of those he cares about. Lloyd tends to be self-sacrificial," they both make faces of shared exasperation at this, "Even Master Wu shows his love subtly by sharing his favorite tea with us and holding us accountable even when we don't want him to. Sometimes we say the words out loud, and sometimes we don't. We've never judged anyone on the team for how or when they choose to express their love for us, have we?"
"No. I guess not." Nya admits, finally making eye contact with Jay. He feels a rush of relief at his small victory. She's such an amazing person, and if he could just help her see that, maybe she'd stop doubting herself quite so much.
"You see, Nya, there are a million ways to show love, to say I love you. None of them are bad or wrong, just different. I don't need you to tell me you love me because I already know you do," Jay tells her, giving her hands another squeeze, "Every time you let your walls down and trust me with a little bit more of yourself, I see your love in that. Because I know that, for you, trust isn't something to be taken lightly. You must trust me a lot to let me in as much as you do. I see your love in other ways, too. Every hug, the time you set aside to do things together – those are way more precious to me than hearing you say you love me in actual words could ever be. They're genuine and they come from your heart, not just what you think I want to hear."
Nya sits there for awhile, processing, and Jay is more than happy to give her as long as she needs. He can see the wetness in her eyes and hopes she's not going to burst into tears because that was not the intention of his words. Eventually she takes a deep breath and says,
"Jay, I… wow. You really are one in a million. Thank you for somehow always knowing exactly what I need to hear. I guess I'm just scared of messing up again, of not being enough, you know?"
Jay knows how she feels. For so long, he struggled with feeling inadequate. But not anymore. He knows his worth. Even if he still tends to be a bit of a train wreck most days.
"I get it," he assured her, "I wish you could see yourself the way I see you. Because then you'd realize there's nothing to worry about. You are the strongest, bravest, and smartest person I know, and I'm gonna keep on loving you no matter what you say or don't say"
Nya sniffles a bit, but smiles the way she does whenever he manages to quell her doubts about something. She's at peace, now, and that's all he could've asked for.
"I guess this is the part where I say I have the most incredible and supportive boyfriend a girl could want and offer you a kiss?" Nya asks. Jay can see the gratitude in her eyes and doesn't think twice about wiggling his eyebrows in what he hopes is a flirtatious way.
"Only if you want it to be." He says teasingly. All is right with the world once again, each of them knowing that they are enough for each other. After all, there's a million ways to say 'I love you' and they've found some pretty great ones.
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed! As always, reviews are more than welcome :)
