Heylin Dragon

By: Aubrie1234

Senshi, as Ginryumon, floated in the air as Jack tried to lug his stuff up the stairs, a little worried.

"You sure you don't want me to do that?"

"I've got it." Jack grunted, "Just take the rest of it upstairs."

"Alright." Senshi floated out of the lab, carrying robot parts on his back. Jack's parents wanted him to clean out the lab, something they had him do at least twice a year or so, and Jack was taking it all out to the recycling dumpster out back. This was something Jack very much hated but had no choice in the matter and Senshi could tell.

"Why don't you just ignore them?" Senshi had asked.

"If I do, they'll cut off my allowance and I won't be building robots anymore." Senshi nodded in understanding, leading to now. He curled up and threw the robot parts off his back and onto the sled that they were going to use. Going back inside to the door to the kitchen, he heard a CRASH and sighed.

"Told him that wasn't gonna end well." Senshi flew back to the lab and found Jack at the bottom of the stairs, groaning as one of his Jackbots helped him to his feet.

"Are you hurt, Master Jack?" it beeped.

"I'm fine." Jack waved it off. The robot made a few unsure noises but let go of Jack, allowing the teenage genius to stand. Senshi began picking up the fallen pieces as Jack went on, "You're dismissed."

"Yes sir." The Jackbot left. Senshi opened his mouth but Jack beat him to it, "Don't say it."

"Wasn't gonna say anything."

"Yeah right." Jack joined him in picking up the parts. Once everything was back together, Jack with a lighter load, they made their way up the stairs, through the kitchen, and outside to the sled. Once the parts were dumped on it, Jack hooked Senshi to the sled. Once everything was secure, Senshi pulled and they moved across the grounds.

"...Jack?"

"What?"

"How much would it take for you to trust me again?" Jack glanced at him.

"A bit of stuff plus time. It's been over a week, but I don't know if I can trust you again."

"Even if you don't trust me, I trust you." Jack shook his head.

"You trust too much."

"No, I just know who I can and can't trust." Silence came down on them again. It was around then that they arrived at the dumpster. Jack opened the top and Senshi grabbed the sled, lifting it before tilting and dumping the robot parts into the container. As they headed back, Senshi added, "You know that I have my own past in the Digital World that I don't wanna share with you. It's because of that past that I didn't trust humans until I met you. Like I said, humans killed digimon when they came and I thought all humans were the same. But then I came here and you took me in, so I decided to give you a chance." Senshi turned to him, "I don't expect you to trust me again, even if I didn't betray you, but I trust you because you're different from every other human I've seen. You didn't kill me when you had the chance, you decided to get to know me and me to you. And you only asked to use me once and I went along with it to help but things back in balance." Senshi turned away, "I know you're gonna say I'm a fool for trusting you, but you're the only person I could ever trust right now."

"..." Jack was speechless at the confession, not sure what to say. He could feel he was getting closer to the dragon again, with Senshi being so open with him, but it would still take a while before they were on good terms again as they had been before. As it was, he rested a hand on the digimon's body and smiled when Senshi glanced at him.

"Thanks. For everything."

"No problem." Senshi smiled back.

"Why do you keep visiting us? Don't you know we don't like you?"

"Shut up, you pathetic excuse for a handbag."

"HEY!"

"Wuya, be nice to him!" Jack snapped, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Once again Wuya had come over and now she was arguing with Senshi, who was now back to being a Ryudamon. He was starting to suspect that his first mentor and his best living friend were never going to get along. Ever. The witch huffed and threw her hair over her shoulder.

"Only because I've seen what that handbag can do." she agreed, irritated. Senshi frowned.

"You have no idea what I'm capable of."

"Oh really?" Wuya summoned balls of green fire into her hands, "Wanna bet?" Senshi growled.

"Try me."

"Jackbots!" Instantly three robots flew into the two, two preoccupying Wuya and one with Senshi, "Take them upstairs so they don't bother me!"

"Yes sir." Wuya rolled her eyes but complied while Senshi trudged along after the robots. Once they were upstairs, the lab's door locked behind them and the Jackbots dispersed. They stared at each other before Wuya sighed and made her way into the living room.

"Honestly, I don't know why he still keeps you around." Wuya grumbled.

"I'm actually a friend to him, unlike you or Chase." Senshi followed her, "What I don't get is why he still tolerates you. You may know each other but that doesn't mean he should still think of you well."

"I'm sure he doesn't." Wuya sat on the couch and examined her nails, "Do you know why he respects me, dragon?"

"'Respect' is such a strong word, but go on."

"I told you how I was trapped in the puzzle box, right? Well, since I was stuck as a ghost and I couldn't do anything, I was forced to become his teacher so that I could gather the Shen Gong Wu. If I had to be honest, Jack would've been a wonderful evil overlord if he'd just win more, but he always kept being held back for some reason." Senshi glanced at her, confused.

"What reason?" Wuya looked at the digimon and he could see true confusion in her eyes as well as sincerity.

"I have no idea. He was clearly in pain but wouldn't tell me what was wrong." She went back to her nails, "I learned to ignore it, just like how I came to ignore how he never matches his socks." Senshi gave a slow nod. He'd seen that for himself. Suddenly there was a small hiss and they looked over to the entrance to the living room, only to see Wakebot slinking away.

"What was..?" Wuya shook her head, "Nevermind, I don't wanna know."

"It's best you don't." Senshi agreed, "But I always thought he was scared of you."

"Oh, he is, but he also respects me because of how I was the one to bring him into this world, this fight between good and evil. He wanted to rule the world before I came along but I gave him a means of achieving it. If only he'd grow up a little and do something to accomplish that instead of building robots all day." She shook her head, "If only he'd stayed evil."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sure he's told you about the Yin-Yang Yoyos, right?" When Senshi nodded, she went on, "He went into the Yin-Yang World once and left his Good Chi behind and became pure evil, but he got that Good Chi back after a certain incident. If he'd never had that in him, he probably wouldn't have tried to join the Xiaolin."

"I heard about that. Did he really try?"

"I don't know, but I think he only did it to steal the Wu, and yet, after that, he was always a little sore on the subject. I never learned if he really tried to be a good guy, but at least he's back on the Heylin side." Wuya glanced away, "The same can't be said for Raimundo or the other monks." Senshi eyebrows shot up, or as much as they could on his helmeted face.

"They tried to be evil?"

"Raimundo did. Omi was tricked into it by Chase, Clay was possessed by Sibini, and Kimiko was only evil after using the Yoyos, so none of them truly count." Wuya gave a huff, "If it wasn't for his so-called 'friends,' I would've ruled the world with Raimundo by my side and no one would be standing in my way, certainly not Jack." Senshi frowned.

"And why not?"

"Jack wants to rule the world and I ruled it! He was so jealous he teamed up with the Xiaolin to stop me so he could be the only one ruling the world!" Wuya smiled, "I have to hand it to him, that was somewhat impressive, but he chose the wrong side." She frowned, "If it hadn't been for Dashi or the puzzle box again, I would've ruled the world and there would be no more Xiaolin Warriors or Jack Spicer."

"So you tried to kill him?" Wuya shrugged.

"He threw his lot in with the wrong side. He tried begging to be with me again but I knew him, I didn't give him the chance. Originally they were gonna rot away but nope, they decided to break out and be little shits." She barely missed getting impaled by a katana. It stuck in the couch cushion behind her, vibrating slightly from the force. Senshi was growling.

"I think you've overstayed your welcome again. Leave."

"Very well, but I dare you to ask Jack about all that." She smiled, snapped her fingers, and disappeared. Senshi sat there for a moment then double-checked that she was gone before returning to Jack's side. The albino was still working on his latest project, which he had refused to tell the digimon until it was finished. He had completely abandoned the previous one for this new one, which he'd started right after Impmon left. Senshi had the feeling it had something to do with the electronics all going dark after the monster's appearance.

"She's gone, I'm guessing?" Jack asked as he heard Senshi jump down the steps.

"Yeah, but I wanna ask you a few things..." And so the dragon recounted his conversation with the witch. By the end of it, Jack was rubbing the bridge of his nose again.

"Grudge against her increasing twofold..." he murmured, then said, "Look, I'm not gonna deny anything she says nor am I gonna confirm it except for the fact that yes, she was my first teacher about all this Xiaolin-Heylin-Wu stuff. I didn't meet any other real Heylin baddie until Chase and that was over a year after the whole journey started. I really don't like her but I don't hate her, I only somewhat fear her, and I do respect her." Jack turned to a cabinet on the other side of the room and crossed to it, going on, "And I wish she hadn't told you about the sock thing."

"Jack, I live with you. I knew about the sock thing before she ever said it."

"Then why don't you tell me to wear the right socks?"

"I'm not your mom, I'm your friend, and if you wanna wear your socks that way it's fine with me." Jack rolled his eyes and opened the cabinet.

"I don't wanna wear them like this, Senshi. I'd rather have them be the same colors, matching and all."

"Then why don't you?"

"Ever heard of colorblindness?" Jack asked, pulling out a frowning metal mask and a cylinder. The dragon blinked.

"What?"

"Colorblindness is basically where you can't see certain colors, they just look like black or white or whatever to you, not the colors they should." Jack made his way back to the table and took his goggles off, "Put these on while I keep explaining."

"Okay..." Senshi slipped the swirling goggles over his eyes and now saw the world in a swirl of red and yellow. He squinted, "How do you see like this?" Jack chuckled.

"By being colorblind. I'm red-green colorblind, so I can't really see red, green, brown, or orange, so instead of seeing a red swirl I don't really make it out from the yellow and it doesn't bother me."

"So that's why you put on different socks: you can't tell what color they are because they all look the same to you."

"Exactly." Jack nodded. He slipped on the frowning mask and fiddled with the cylinder and a hose that came out of it, "Stand back." Senshi did so and yelped when a jet of bluish flame erupted from the hose, hissing and spitting like an angry snake. It was so surprising that it caused the digimon to float in the air and the light was so strong, even through the goggles, that Senshi had to squint his eyes. Jack then went back to working on his project, which seemed to be another robot, and Senshi watched, turning away every so often to rest his eyes. When Jack would pause, the albino would continue talking, saying, "Even with your betrayal, I trust you way more than most of the people I know, Heylin or Xiaolin. You're the only one who knows about my neuropathy and now my colorblindness. You have no idea how much trust it takes for me to reveal such things to someone as these. I mean, not even Chase or Wuya or the Warriors know and they're the ones I'm always around. You heard from Wuya herself how she didn't know about the neuropathy or my colorblindness." During a break, Jack turned to Senshi, raising his mask, "I both trust you the most and don't trust you much at all, Senshi. Be grateful and glad that I'm so willing to share so much with you that no one else knows. I really don't have anyone ese to turn to you except for my robots and you, and I don't wanna lose any more friends." With that, Jack went back to using the fire on the robot. Senshi focused on him for a time, then back on his project. He knew Jack was right about all that, and yet… He felt a bubble of pride settle in his chest, that out of everyone he knew, Jack trusted only Senshi with such secrets. And there was no way Senshi was betraying such things, even if he'd really never betrayed Jack in the first place.

That night, Senshi sat on the bed, waiting for Jack. He had nothing on his mind to ask the teenager but he wanted to show Jack how much he trusted him. If Jack could trust Senshi so much, then Senshi should trust Jack just as much, right? He nodded to himself at this thought, then tilted his head. Jack was singing in the shower, he heard. Jack may have showered a lot but it was rare when he sang in there and Senshi liked to enjoy it.

"Teenagers scare the livin' shit outta me! They could care less as long as someone'll bleed!" Jack crooned. In all honesty, to Senshi, Jack seemed to have a lot of hidden talents. Singing, however, wasn't one of them. It was still enjoyable, though, because it was something Jack liked to do and so Senshi liked it (or as much as he could before his ears began to bleed). The exception to the rule was Jack's rapping. The dragon was taken out of his thoughts when the water shut off and Jack came out a minute later, rubbing his hair and in his boxers. That caused Senshi to think about something.

"If you're colorblind, then how can you tell what dye you need or when you need to dye your hair again?"

"Jackbots usually help me." Jack said, sitting on the bed, "I can still tell when it gets lighter by myself, y'know."

"I see." Senshi moved a put his back to Jack. The albino raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

"I want you to brush my ponytail." Senshi glanced back.

"You've never needed it before."

"You gave me trust, now I give you trust." Jack stared at him. Senshi stared back. Jack lifted a hand to hold the small ponytail. Senshi turned away. There was nothing for a moment, then Jack reached over, grabbed his comb from his nightstand, then undid Senshi's ponytail. The dragon closed his eyes as Jack combed, trusting the teenager.

"...Senshi, you have no idea how much this means to me." Jack muttered, "Having you in my life is a godsend. You've made my life a whole lot better, even after all this that's gone down. When I made you leave, that was the first time I felt depressed again since you came into my life."

"Depressed?" Jack nodded, even though the digimon couldn't see it.

"It's like being sad but it's really intense. It makes you think about things you really don't wanna think about. That's kinda why Wuya was there. Besides trying to apologize for Mala Mala Jong, she wanted to keep an eye on me, make sure I was okay."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If there's anything I can say about our relationship, it's that it's complicated. We respect each other, she taught me a lot of what I know about being Heylin, I fear her, she cares for me, it's just all over the place." Jack glanced away, "She may be a bitch, but we still mean something to one another. It's complicated, but it's what we have." Senshi gave a small nod.

"I understand." Quiet came down on them once again. Once Jack was done and put Senshi's ponytail up again, Jack got dressed for bed. When he laid down, Senshi put his head on the albino's chest and Jack smiled. The redhead rested an arm on the digimon's back as he reached over to grab a book to read. This was strangely comforting for him, having his friend so close.

Notes:

Jack's colorblindness is somewhat mentioned on the show, though we really don't don't if he's colorblind or not. I took it and and ran with it, though.

Even though Wuya legitimately has tried to kill Jack before, I think that she still cares about him somewhat, like maybe as a little brother or something.