Three little comments about this one-shot:
- A few readers have noticed that, although this book is a collection of one-shots, there is actually some continuity between some (not all!) of the stories. For example, in 'Weekend for Four', Nya made a small remark related to Jay's fashion show from 'Movie Night'. This one-shot will refer to events from both stories, and from my 2016 Jaya Christmas one-shot (but no problem if you haven't read them). And the venue will also play a role in one of the next chapters of my AU story…
- I guess the proposal theme was quite inevitable after the previous one-shot :D – especially as I got a couple of reader requests to continue from there. Although it's a bit of bad timing, because BunnyTheNinja has also just published a lovely Jaya-proposal (if you like Jaya fluff – and you probably do if you are reading this ;) – I would highly recommend reading her one-shots!).
- Another great request from LGOE!
The Proposal
"Can you please land over there?" Jay asked, pointing down at a green area right in the heart of Ninjago City while keeping his other arm tightly wrapped around his girlfriend.
Wearing a short yet very elegant silver grey silk Cheongsam dress that stopped at her thighs, Nya was sitting aside on the dragon rather than astride. And although she has done this on multiple occasions before tonight, even while riding on her own, it gave her boyfriend a good excuse to hold her even closer than he would normally do.
"No problem." Nya replied and instructed their hydroelectric dragon to descend into a small park. When it was almost touching the ground, the Lightning Master let go off her slim waist and jumped off the dragon. He then opened his arms to catch the female Water Ninja, who gracefully slid off the creature's side, before the two elemental masters dispelled it.
"I'm in your arms." Nya winked at him, referring to those famous words she had said to the blue Ninja when they had gone on their very first date. And even after dating for quite a long time, he barely managed to not show the same reaction – a very unmanly squeak – as he had back then.
Instead he tucked a stray strand of her raven black hair behind her ear and planted a gentle kiss on her cheek. "And I'm all yours."
And I will be yours forever if you'll have me. He nervously added in his thoughts.
Wanting to spend their training-free weekend in the City, the six Ninja plus Misako and two 'guests' were staying at Cliff Gordon's villa. After the friends had enjoyed their dinner together at Master Chen's Noddle House, the group had split up for the rest of the Saturday night. Jay and Nya were now going to the cinema to see the director's cut of the new Return of the Starfarers – Cliff Gordon's final movie – which had just been released the week prior. But while to Nya tonight was just a normal date – not that any date with the energetic blue Ninja would ever be ordinary – Jay had planned this to be the evening that was going to change both their lives. Yes, Jason Edward Walker was finally going to propose to the love of his life. And he just hoped that a) he wouldn't blow it, and b) she would accept it.
"I know." Nya smiled and affectionately ruffled his slightly tousled auburn locks. "Just as I am yours."
Jay swallowed hard. "Sh-shall we go now?" He asked, reluctantly letting go of her.
"Sure. Wouldn't want to miss the film, would we?" Nya replied, linking their arms for the short walk to Ninjago's biggest movie theatre, which was located just adjacent to the park.
"Uhm, we need to go that way." Jay told her, pointing in the opposite direction.
"Another Jay surprise?" Nya laughed. "Don't tell me we are not going to the cinema again – not that I didn't enjoy our last movie date, but I was actually really looking forward to the film…"
"Oh, we are going to the cinema, just not to the NinjaPlex." Jay explained, as the couple walked around a corner to their actual destination. "Sure, they have bigger and higher resolution screens and better sound systems there, but it's always so busy there on a Saturday evening, and I wanted a bit more privacy."
They came to stop in front of a small, traditional looking cinema with golden pillars flanking the entrance.
"The Sunset Theatre is normally a very popular venue for movie premières." Jay explained, holding open the glass double doors for his girlfriend to enter.
Finding herself inside a historic cinema foyer, Nya looked around in awe. The grand hall had terracotta-coloured walls and a black-and-white-patterned marble floor. Two staircases of the same material on either side led up to the balcony. A young woman with curly red hair was standing next to the walnut wood bar located on their right. She smiled at the couple. "Good evening, Miss Smith and Mr Walker," She handed each of them a glass of champagne. "I hope you will enjoy your evening."
Nya questioningly raised an eyebrow, while taking a sip from her glass. "What's going on here? And… where's the rest of the audience?"
"As I've said I wanted a bit more privacy." Jay blushed. "So, I've simply booked the whole cinema for us tonight."
"I know you love doing this, but you'll have to stop spoiling me." His girlfriend told him. "Wow, I can't believe we have the whole theatre just to ourselves…"
Jay smirked. "Well, for old times' sake, I've invited Cole to join us."
"You did what?" Nya exclaimed.
"Nah, I'm just kidding." The blue Ninja grinned.
Nya playfully punched his arm. "That was not even funny," she complained. "It was the worst date I've ever been on. And I still feel horrible for dragging him into this stupid mess back then…"
"I don't think you have to worry about that anymore, he and Sel seem to be really happy together."
"Yes, they make a great couple. But we didn't come here to talk about Cole, did we?"
"No, we didn't." Jay confirmed. "We came here for us. And if it really still bothers you, I promise I will never talk about the Perfect Match disaster again."
"Yeah, you better stop that. Otherwise you'll have to sit in a different row and there will be no cuddling during the film, no matter how much privacy we'll have…" Nya teased her boyfriend.
"I definitely wouldn't want to risk that." Jay stated. "Now, where would you like to sit? What about the balcony?"
The raven-haired woman nodded. "Sound great."
After placing their order for drinks and snacks at the bar, the young couple walked up the marble stairs and chose two comfortable red velvet seats – which, to Jay's relief, were next to each other – in the front row.
As soon as they had sat down, the lights were dimmed and the red velvet curtain opened.
Jay put his arm around his girlfriend and she snuggled into his side.
"I love you, Nya." He told her.
"I love you too." She replied.
Although the Master of Lightning was a huge fan of the Starfarers franchise, he found it difficult to keep his attention focused on what was going on on the screen. His mind kept drifting off to what was going to happen afterwards, and from time to time, he couldn't help but take a glimpse at the beauty sitting next to him.
It was very obvious that Nya was enjoying the film. Her eyes were fixed on the screen for most of the time. Only when Fritz Donnegan was being chased by some fierce space villains, she buried her face in her boyfriend's chest, and, wrapping his arms tightly around her until the hero had escaped, his mind was clouded by the familiar and enticing scent of coconut coming from her hair. And hearing her laughter during a particularly funny scene made Jay's heart flutter, just like it always did.
He occasionally took a sip from his delicious cocktail (that had been served during the opening credits), but he avoided the snacks. The blue Ninja was not keen on having any pieces of popcorn stuck between his teeth during his proposal.
The film ended with a close-up shot of Cliff Gordon, and to Jay it almost felt as if his late birth father was looking at him from the screen.
I hope you are proud of me, dad. He thought. I wish I could have met you. And I wish you could have met Nya. I am sure you would have loved her.
When the two ninja returned to the foyer after the end of the film, they found themselves on their own. Only a new bottle of champagne and two flûtes were sitting on the bar top, waiting just for them. The female bartender who had served them earlier was nowhere to be seen, but the steady stream of fine bubbles rising in their glasses suggested that someone had been around, just until the couple came walking down the stairs.
Jay took the two glasses and handed one of them to his girlfriend. "To you, Miss Smith."
"Thank you, Mr Walker." She took the glass, beaming at him. "To us."
Jay took his time taking a small sip from his glass. This was it. He had been planning and preparing this for such a long time, and there was no way he was going to back out now…
He awkwardly cleared his throat. "Uhm, Nya?"
"Yes?"
"Well, speaking of us… you know, there is something I would like to ask you."
"Sure. You know that you can ask me anything. Go ahead." The Master of Water looked expectantly at him.
Jay set both glasses back on the counter and took her hands into his. He took a deep breath.
"Nya, the moment I first met you, I thought that you could be the one for me." He chuckled. "Scratch that, it was even before then. I know this may sound weird, but the first time I only heard your brother mention you, I already felt that you would become an important part of my life. And now, after all we've been through, I know that you are the person I want to spend the rest of my life with…"
Nya smiled. She knew what he was going to ask her, and she couldn't wait to actually hear him say it. However, she just couldn't resist messing with her future fiancé.
"So, I have already asked your father, and your mother, and Kai, of course." In his nervousness, Jay started to ramble. "And I've also talked to my parents and… well, I couldn't ask Wu… but I've spoken to the other guys, and Misako, and Cyrus Borg, and Dareth, and …"
"Did you call the Mayor of Ninjago City?" Nya interrupted him.
"Wha-what?" Jay panicked. "Why didn't anyone tell me I n-needed to ask her… are you sure?"
"I honestly have no idea. You just seemed to have talked to everyone we know…" Nya shrugged her shoulders. "But I am sure she would have agreed to whatever it is that you were going to asked me."
"You-you were making fun of me?" Jay realised.
Trying to look innocent, Nya planted a small kiss on his flushed cheek. "I just couldn't help it, you are just so cute when you get flustered…"
"I am not cute…" The auburn-haired male protested.
"Yes you are." Nya insisted. "Are you seriously going to argue with me about that?"
Jay sighed. "No, I have definitely learned that much over the years with you. And interestingly, that was also the one piece of advice I got from every single person I spoke to, including Ronin. To never get into an argument with you, because I wouldn't win it anyway." He said. "And even if I was right, you would probably still have a 'Jay has to admit that he is wrong' voucher."
"You are damn right about that, my love." The Water Ninja replied with a smirk. "I always keep that booklet in my purse, you never know when you'll need it."
"Well, that is good to know…" The Lightning Master stated. "But back to what I was actually saying… and as it seems that I have managed to ask everybody… what do you think?"
"No." Nya said.
Jay's face fell. Without saying another word, he turned away and lowered his head, as he could feel his eyes welling up with tears. It had all been for nothing. What was going to happen now?
But then he could hear her the clicking of her heels on the marble floor. When she was standing right stood in front of him, Nya gently cupped his face and slowly lifted his chin, until their eyes locked. "No." She repeated, a loving smile on her face. "You haven't asked everybody."
Jay mentally slapped himself.
"Great, I am such an idiot." He groaned. "I had everything planned out, only to mess up in the end."
"No, it was my fault. I am sorry, I really shouldn't have interrupted you. Do you want to maybe just start again?"
Jay shook his head. "No, I just want to get it over with…" He bent down on one knee, taking her hands into his. "Nya Smith, will you marry me?"
"Yes!" Nya flung herself at her new finance, having them both fall onto the hard marble floor. "Of course, I will." She hugged him.
"Uhm, I really don't want to complain right now, but this is not the most comfortable place to make out…" Jay carefully said. As they got up from the floor, he rubbed his butt, awkwardly smiling at her. "Ouch, you got me so confused that I even forgot the ring in my pocket…"
He removed a small black velvet box from the back pocket of his dark navy jeans and opened it, revealing a beautiful engagement ring. It was made from platinum, with a diamond centre stone and two pear-shaped sapphire side stones.
Now, Jay could see the tears pooling in Nya's eyes and he pulled her in a tight hug.
"Do-do you like it? Kai helped me choose it, although he wanted to go for rubies instead of sapphires. But I know you like blue, so…"
"I-I love it. And blue will always be my favourite colour." Nya replied, before leaning in and locking their lips in a deep kiss.
"I can't believe how badly I have messed this up, and I am so lucky you've still said yes." Jay laughed, when they pulled apart.
"We have both messed up. And I'm afraid there will be no 'better luck next time'…" His fiancée joined in. "But at least this makes a great story to tell our grandchildren one day."
"There's no way we are going to tell this to anyone, it's too embarrassing."
"Too late." A spiky-haired head appeared from behind the bar. "I have everything on my phone."
"Kai." Nya and Jay exclaimed simultaneously. "What the heck are you doing here?"
"When you let other people use your laptop, you should not leave your important emails open." Kai told his future brother-in-law. "When I saw the booking confirmation, I was sure that you were going to ask her tonight. And after helping you so much, you couldn't expect us to miss it."
"Us?"
"Hi." Skylor's head appeared as well, her scarlet hair slightly messed up. "Congratulations, you two. And for the record, you were right about the floor not being the most comfortable place for making out."
Her boyfriend jumped over the counter and hugged his sister. "Congratulations, sis. I am very happy for you." He then proceeded to embrace the Master of Lightning. "Congrats, Jay." He smirked "I can't say 'well done', but you got there in the end, that's the main thing. And I know you will make my little sister very happy."
"Thanks, bro." The blue Ninja replied. "And you know that I'll be more than happy to help you to do better…" He added in a low voice, so that the Master of Amber couldn't hear it.
"Yeah, I might get back to you about that…" Kai glanced at his girlfriend, who was just admiring Nya's ring, before he looked at his watch.
"So, what about we head back to your place now?" He suggested. "We kinda estimated the schedule for your cinema date, so everyone else should also be on their way back to the villa by now."
"You told the others as well?" Jay gasped. Yeah, so much for having any privacy with this team…
"Of course, I did." Kai shrugged. "When you said that you were going to watch the new Starfarers movie tonight, Lloyd wanted to go with you, and we couldn't have that. Then I needed Cole and Seliel to buy – don't worry, not to make! – a cake. And Zane has hopefully cracked the code for your father's wine cellar, we have something to celebrate…" He grinned. "And I am sure they are all excited to see the little video I've just recorded..."
I currently still have these four open requests, and I would love to get some feedback which of them people would most be interested in reading:
- Can you do one where nya formaly tells cole that shes chosen jay and cole just shrugs and says it alright cuz hes been dating zane for a while? (The Night Ninja)
-You could do a boring shopping trip, can still be fluffy, Jay can have a full on tantrum because Nya won't let him buy his favourite ice cream or snacks. (EchoZane)
- Do you think you could something like the two of them pulling a bunch of pranks on everyone, and trying not to let the others know it was them (In the temple, so Yang informs at least Cole.) (TheAmberShadow)
- Jay and nya accidentally fuse together how will the ninja and others react when they see the newly formed jaya and will jayband nys want to stay fused (Deadpool)