Blue sparks fly across an otherwise dimly lit bedroom.

Green fingers pick and pull at scales.

Just get them off.

They itch.

They're weird and foreign.

They shouldn't be there.

No, they are there though. They should stay.

But they weren't always there.

But they're there now.

Burn them off. Singe those little green circles with electricity.

No, don't do that. Redirect that energy elsewhere.

Calloused hands pull Jay's hands away from his own skin.

"Wake up, buddy," Cole says tiredly.

Jay keeps trying to fight and pull his hands away.

Cole sighs. "Hey, no, you're okay. You're okay."

Jay wakes up slightly as he tries to pull away. Then he realizes what he's pulling away from. And who. And why.

Cole lets go.

"You haven't had one of these in a while," Cole says quietly, as if he's still tired.

Jay's still registering what just happened.

Cole sits on the edge of the bed, prompting Jay to scoot over and pat the mattress. Cole takes the invitation, grabbing one of Jay's pillows and hugging it as he sits against the head of the bed.

The two of them sit next to each other in tired silence.

Cole hugs the pillow tightly, already falling asleep slightly.

"I haven't done that since I, uh, turned," Jay mumbles.

"Guess you haven't," Cole yawns. "What, does snake-hood make it easier to control your emotions orrr?"

"No- well. Okay, it does make it a bit harder for me to cry now, but yeah no my emotions are about the same as before.

Cole hums in response. He closes his eyes.

"When you were a ghost, what did you miss about being human?"

Cole snickers slightly. "I like how you didn't even ask if I missed being human in the first place."

"I kinda thought it was a given."

Cole shrugs. "Fair enough," he yawns. "I missed feeling. In every possible way. Like I had emotions but it was like I wasn't really feeling them. I could smile and feel happy, but only like, the concept of happy and not actually happy. Also touch. Even when I could touch and move things, I couldn't actually feel it."

"That sounds terrible."

"Mhmm." Cole hugs his pillow further. "It was also scary. The idea that I could just fade away. The times I could almost feel myself fading."

"You're still here," Jay says with a slight, reassuring smile.

"Yeah. I am." Cole slides down slightly, sinking under the blankets. "Why were you asking anyways?"

Jay blinks. "Did- did you forget what I am right now?"

"Not a ghost?"

"I- good point actually. I was just thinking maybe you had similar experiences to me right now. Was curious."

"I didn't spit acid or tear off my skin so I dunno. All I did was phase through the walls."

"I guess."

"I did miss being human though. I missed having weight. I missed feeling real."

Jay stares at the ceiling. "I miss ice cream."

"I missed food too, no shame in that."

Jay smiles. Cole is fully under the blanket, gripping the pillow tight.

"Did being a ghost mess with your powers at all?"

Cole barely shrugs. "Kinda. Made it hard to tell what I was doing at times. Nothing felt right."

Jay plays with his tail. "I think my powers are limited. Read something about how elemental masters can't be snakes because the scales don't let our powers radiate right or something. I think I'm proof against that but dunno, I do think it's harder. Something is messed up here. Think that's why I haven't had any other nighttime outburst recently. My body just won't let me even though it's also my body that's trying to make it and-"

Snoring.

Jay pats Cole on the shoulder.

Cole presses his face into the pillow.

"Good talk," the lightning ninja whispers to the earth ninja.

While Cole has the comforter and pillow, Jay has an electric heating pad and Mister Cuddlywomp.

They both fall asleep in the presence of best friends.

Jay wakes up to his face pressed against Cole's chest.

It's comforting.

Who it's for, it's hard to say.

Jay's gotten plenty of hugs recently, but someone willingly making prolonged contact with him? He was disgusted by his own body half the time, but someone else not caring and just hugging him? That's...comforting. Also Cole's hug is really warm.

Cole on the other hand had developed the habit of cuddling things when sleeping on rough nights. Despite being alive and tangible again, he fears fading away suddenly. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to chat him up about being a ghost while he's half asleep. Bad dreams roll in. Holding onto something makes him feel anchored to the mortal realm. He won't die. Not yet.

Then Cole starts hugging tighter, and it's clear who this is for.

Jay lightly wheezes, tapping the larger ninja's arm.

Cole loosens his grip, still sound asleep.

When the sun rises, Jay has to snake his way out of Cole's grasp, offering the pillow as a replacement.

Aside from when he woke up briefly, he slept pretty well. He didn't even struggle to get out of bed like most mornings!

He feels charged up and ready to go!

Oh.

Electricity ripples across his skin non-stop.

He's literally charged up.

Okay, that's new.

Of course, it's something new.

Of course.

Maybe it's a good thing? A sign of something positive?

Slowly, he pats down the skin of his shoulders.

His fingers graze over scabs.

Oh. For the love of the FSM, he picked that hard?

Was it because he hasn't used his power much lately? Was the elemental radiation leaking out or something?

That wouldn't make much sense. He's still probably used them more than he did when the Overlord was defeated the first time...or the second time.

Is it the sign of his powers overcompensating to get adjusted to this body? Finally, after over a month of being like this?

Honestly, he's this close to screaming and losing his shit. The only thing holding him back is that Cole still seems dead tired. The moment the black ninja wakes up, Jay will start running at the mouth.

He looks around for an answer on what to do, mumbling to himself frantically.

He opens his dresser drawer in a hurry.

He was no stranger to casually wearing gloves. He'd wear them all the time while inventing before his powers kicked in. He even wore them in casual settings after gaining his powers so he wouldn't shock people.

The gloves are made of thick, dark grey rubber.

Pulling them on seems to have helped. Any stray sparks are quickly put out soon as they hit his palms.

He flops back on the bed.

He's not even going to sleep. Just gonna scroll through social media on his phone.

At some point, he feels his eyelids getting heavy.

Cole stretches, still gripping the pillow, letting out a long groan.

Damn. That was some good sleep. He really needs to ask Jay where he got his bed set from, it's so soft.

Cole sits back down, pillow in his lap.

Shaking Jay gently, he starts to ask, "Hey, where did you..." he raises an eyebrow. "...buddy, I think you're melting your mattress."

Jay opens his eyes slightly. "Wha?" He looks at the mattress. "Ssshhhit." He wipes away a small trail of drool. "Shit shit shit," he mumbles as he wipes at his bed. The fitted sheet and a good chunk of the mattress has been burned through. This hasn't happened before either.

He pulls the pillow out of Cole's lap and puts it over the burned spot.

"You okay?" Cole asks.

"No! My spit's never been strong enough to do this, and then an hour or two ago my elemental powers were on the fritz and apparently I tore up the skin on my arms in my sleep and I feel like shit and oh my fucking god."

Cole pats him on the back.

"You weren't even awake to help me," Jay mumbles angrily.

"Excuse me?"

"I was freaking out because my elemental powers weren't listening to me, and you couldn't even bother to wake up and help me through it."

"It's not my job to wake up whenever you're having issues."

"Yeah well, it would've been nice. You didn't even notice when I got up! You were dead asleep. What did you do that made you so tired?"

Cole blinks several times. "Jay. I need you to take a moment and think about what the fuck you just said."

"What, that you were an asshole who slept through my suffering?"

"I was asleep! Did you even consider why I was so tired?"

"...No? Why were you tired?"

"I was already up late feeling like shit on my own! Being glad that I'm alive! Remembering that for several months I was fucking dead! And then you start zapping shit in your sleep and I feel like being a good friend and comforting you! Then you start talking about 'hey remember when you were dead for a good chunk of a year,' but I did the right thing as your best friend and stayed and listened, but it's not my job to cater to every little issue you have, I need things too! Like sleep."

"I'm sorry..."

Cole takes a deep breath. "Listen, I'm sorry for getting upset with you, but I just got up and you're talking about how I'm the shitty friend here. I can't solve all your problems, I have my own problems."

They're both sitting at the head of the bed, staring at the wall.

"...do you wanna talk about it?" Jay asks quietly.

"Not really."

"Then why get mad-"

"It's not about you not asking how I'm doing. I'm fine. I can deal with my issues on my own. But that's the thing, sometimes I'm dealing with my issues, not yours. Sometimes, those issues require some good sleep after the fact."

They sit in silence for a moment.

"I bet Princess Vania loves your hugs," Jay says, trying to lighten the mood.

"Damn right. I do give good hugs, don't I?"

"That why you two are uhhhh," Jay presses his hands together, clearly mimicking some sort of gesture, but if it's representing kissing or something more is unclear.

Cole tilts his head. "I don't like her that way."

"Sure you don't." Jay starts nudging Cole.

"I really have no interest. And even if I did, what are you getting at?"

"I'm just saying, you've taken a few trips to Shintaro without the rest of us, maybe you've popped something off."

"I mean, she's impressed by my hugs but no. I. Have. Zero. Interest. In. Her."

"Come on-"

"Why are you so convinced I'm with Vania?"

"I dunno, I'm just trying to take more interest in you and your issues."

"Because I lightly went off on you?"

"Maybe."

Cole sighs. "Well, I guess if I had to date a woman, it'd probably be Vania anyways. She's sweet."

It's Jay's turn to tilt his head. "What does that mean?"

Cole shrugs. "I don't know what I want. Men, women, eh. I mean, I can picture a relationship with either but I don't see it going further than holding hands, maybe some kissing."

Jay's eyes sparkle. "Happy coming out!"

"What? No. It's not a coming out when I don't know who or what the hell I want or how I identify. I'm just...existing?"

"You spend so much time quietly brooding and being wrapped up in your own mind but you don't even know who you like?"

"I guess. It'll come to me though. I'll know when I meet the one. Or I already met the one and I haven't realized. Or maybe I'll never meet the one. Who knows."

Jay wraps an arm around Cole. "Let's go find you a wife or husband or whatever. We can go, have a night on the town, I can be your wingman and we can get fucking wasted and help each other through the hangover the next morning."

Cole scrunches his nose in disgust. "I don't want a one-night stand. I don't want any sort of stands, even if it's someone I like like that. Thanks for the offer though."

Jay drops his smile. "You gotta find the one."

"No, I don't, I'm fine on my own. Even if I found 'the one' I'm not gonna rush that."

"Come on, the moment I saw Nya, I knew we were meant to be."

"Well, that's you. Not me."

Jay opens his mouth to protest, then realizes that no, Cole has a point.

Silence again.

Cole gets off the bed. "I'm hungry. You coming?"

Cole grabs a muffin. He needs it after this morning.

Jay wrinkles his nose at his warm bowl of oatmeal. It's good, but he's tired of it. After a while, all the different flavors taste the same.

It seems like Kai already ate, based on the plate in the sink.

"Mmmm, breakfast cake," Cole says playfully after he takes a bite of the muffin.

"Yeah, look, breakfast...soup?" Jay forces a chuckle. He takes a spoonful of oatmeal.

It tastes weird. Super metallic.

Jay's eyes get big. After realizing what it could be, he yanks the spoon out of his mouth.

The spoon is all sorts of corroded and melted through.

He puts hangs his head in defeat.

"You okay there, Battery Acid?" Cole asks playfully.

Honestly, had it been a different situation, that nickname would've been funny. But then again, what other situation would there be to call him that?

Cole looks at the spoon.

"Do we look in our library or ask a snake about this?" Jay asks, forcing a chuckle.

"Ask a snake?"

"But don't forget, my lightning's not doing great either."

Cole nods. "Maybe it's an emotional thing? What was last night about?"

"Fuck if I can remember. Something something, I was upset?"

"Over what? Is it still bothering you, at least?"

Jay looks down at the damaged spoon. "...yeah. Still bothers me. Just a bit though! I thought I got over it!"

Cole raises an eyebrow.

"I thought I got over it by talking to you in the middle of the night, it's fine. What else can I do? What else do I need?"

"That ghost talk?"

"Yeah."

Cole's face goes pale, thinking about how it felt to be essentially dead. But he's here. He's fine. "You won't stay this way forever. If I could be brought back from the dead, you can ditch the scales. I'm sure of it."

Jay smiles slightly. Then he looks back down at the spoon. "That's reassuring, but uhhh, it's still an inconvenience right now."

"I can take the rest of the oatmeal. You can have a muffin. We might even have some granola bars in the back of the pantry. Milk-less cereal is also a thing."

Jay nods, pushing the bowl towards Cole.

Cole gets excited to dig in before remembering that he needs a spoon.

It's been about a week since Wu and Lloyd left.

Honestly, it flew by fairly quickly.

Ninjago City has been quiet.

Lots of free time.

Ever since Nya's departure, the ninjas have been sparring less often.

When Wu was around, he said nothing about it. But they still tried. Maybe to please him, maybe as a distraction.

Now, with Wu totally gone for the time being, there's barely been an attempt.

Kai stepped up and suggested a sparring session.

The four ninja stand around the courtyard.

Just like old times.

Old, old times.

A time when there were only four of them.

A time when they were strangers.

In some ways, they're closer. Significantly closer.

In others, they've grown distant recently.

Despite all of this, the mood is lighter than it was years ago.

They aren't fighting in the name of anything but fun today.

The four ninjas dance around the training obstacles and equipment, working on their own, occasionally sneaking up on each other.

Kai and Cole find themselves circling around each other. They're not sure how. It just sorta happened.

Zane and Jay stopped what they were doing just to watch, huddled around the punching bag.

Kai throws a punch.

Cole blocks, arms covering his face.

Another punch.

And another.

The punches are empty. They're loaded with power, sure, but no malice. It's all playful.

Cole steps to the side, wrapping his arm around Kai's waist, pulling him back.

Kai elbows Cole's face.

Wait.

Shit.

Kai goes falling to the ground.

"Fuck sorry, I wasn't thinking," Kai rambles from the ground.

Cole rubs his chin. "It's fine." He cracks a huge smile. "I'm the master of earth, that hurt way less than it could've."

"I don't like that smile."

"Good."

Laughing, Cole tackles Kai as he's still getting up.

They're both laughing as they hit each other...if playful pats even count as hits.

Somehow this went from sparring to a competition of who can overreact the most to a gentle tap.

Kai dramatically throws himself into the punching bag after Cole pokes him in the chest.

The red ninja shudders as he feels a small jolt of electricity on his arm, followed by a scaley hand.

Jay joins in on the roughhousing.

Cole runs around with Jay on his shoulders, both of them laughing as they chase Kai.

Cole's hair sticks up from the static of Jay clearly planning something.

Smirking, he runs faster at Kai.

Soon, all three of them feel a sharp jolt.

The world goes white for a moment.

Everything is kinda blurry.

Zane checks pulses.

Jay squirms on the ground the moment Zane touches him. "Good god, your handsss are cold," he mumbles, turning away, hands on his face, halfway curling up on his side.

"What the fuck was that?" Kai asks breathlessly, staring at the sky.

"I thought it'd be funny to charge up a bit, make some ssstatic, jussst enough to forccce your hair ungelled."

"I thought you were doing that too," Cole groans, pushing himself off the ground. "Maybe I shouldn't have let you do that."

"It's fine, you didn't know what was gonna happen," Kai reassures, checking his hair.

"...I kinda did know. And I just let him try that." Cole leans on Zane.

Kai stops prodding at his hair, feeling a mixture of fluff and hard chunks of hair gel. "Know what?"

Jay rolls over onto his stomach. "Powersss on the fritzzz." He lets out a small groan. "Maybe I ssshould've kept my glovesss on."

"Well, I am glad I did not get involved," Zane states. Despite saying it flatly, something about his mannerisms felt smug.

"What gives, why didn't you join in?" Cole asks, pushing himself off of the nindroid.

"I had a terrible idea."

The others wait to hear the answer, staring expectantly.

"Ice slide."

They all stare at him wide-eyed.

"That is why I did not do it. The name of the game was fun. I thought it seemed fun but also incredibly easy to mess up."

Jay offers a sigh of relief. "At least we didn't end up with two of us making poor choices with our powers."

Kai runs his hand through his hair, standing up, trying to regain his composure. "Well. This was fun. But I need a shower since a certain someone did...whatever the hell this is." He points to his hair, unsure of what it even looks like.

Truth be told, his hair looked like its normal style, just a bit puffier. That gel held on for dear life.

Cole nods. "Not a bad idea. Movie after?"

"Hell yeah," Kai answers.

"What are our options today?" Jay asks, still on the ground, looking up at Zane.

Zane's eyes light up. "I found a movie about a master of disguise investigating the murder of a local actress. Strangely, it's a comedy. It has terrible reviews. It looks funny."

"You've been real into B movies lately, huh?" Cole notes.

Zane nods happily. "They're awfully...enjoyable. Not good, but enjoyable."

"Didn't strike me as the super comedic type," Kai remarks.

"I like adventure movies, but comedy has been making me feel...better? It's a nice change of pace."

Three of the ninjas take the conversation into the monastery.

Jay remains on the ground, seeping in a mix of emotions. Enjoying the sun. Exhausted from accidentally electrocuting everyone. Upset about whatever's going on. Slowly, he closes his eyes and tries to relax.

Pixal sits in her room, bundled up with her tablet, happily watching her soap operas.

The door opens.

She pauses the show, smiling at Zane.

"How's 'business' going?" Zane asks, smile wide as he raises an eyebrow.

"It's going wonderfully," Pixal giggles.

He sits on the bed. "Do you want to partake in movie night? I know you've spent all day watching your soaps."

"I would love that."

The two of them lay down together, watching the show on the tablet for a while, waiting for everyone else to clean up.

Pixal's distance from the team was quite different. She still considered herself Samurai X, but it was undeniable that the role she took on was once Nya's. So much of her equipment was derived from Nya in some way, most of it had even been worked on together.

She was never one to partake in sparring often. She would usually be off working on something else. But that something else just makes her miss someone now.

She's been invited to spar the handful of times it has been done since Nya's departure. But she isn't much for sparring. But she can't spend much time around the Samurai X equipment without feeling bad. So she keeps busy with very important business.

It can be argued soap operas are very important business, anyways. It keeps her mental health in check.

Zane didn't mind seeing Pixal without armor so often now. Her baggy purple shirt, despite leaving half her chest and a whole arm exposed, always seemed cozy. It screamed casual. Especially considering the amount of time she spent in Zane's head and weeks of wearing armor for most of the day, it screamed home.

He's glad to be home with her this often.

No armor makes it easier for them to hug.

And hug they do.

Kai sits down on the couch with a bowl of popcorn.

"How'd you heat it up?" Cole asks from one end of the couch.

"With the microwave...the second time."

Jay looks up at him from the floor, scrunching his nose. "Just because you can heat up food with your powers doesn't mean you should."

"Don't worry, I threw that attempt in the trash. Besides, what's gonna happen? What, is Wu gonna feel a disturbance in the force and rush his ass over here just to say 'no, Kai, don't cook food with your bare hands.'"

A buzzing goes off.

It's someone's phone.

The three of them go wide-eyed.

The buzzing soon fades into Zane laughing as he walks past the couch.

"You can be a real jerk sometimes," Kai sighs.

Zane starts messing with the TV. "Only when I want to be."

Soon, Zane, Pixal, and Cole are piled onto the couch. Kai sits on the armrest of the couch, curled onto the back of it, casually reaching over Zane for popcorn every once and a while. Jay sits on the floor, bundled up.

The TV is still on, fading in and out of different screensavers as the movie had long since ended.

Everyone's asleep.

The popcorn bowl has long since fallen on the floor, the remaining unpopped kernels scattered around.

Pixal shut down for the night as soon as she got comfortable and the movie felt a bit too slow.

Kai was super close to falling off the couch, his arm draped over the cushions pretty much being the only thing keeping him balanced.

Cole fell asleep with his arms crossed and his feet on the coffee table. Surprisingly, his snores didn't bother anyone.

Jay laid down on the floor at some point, small sleepy hisses escaping him from time to time.

Zane went into sleep mode when he realized everyone else was asleep.

It's midnight.

Some part of his code told him to get up and turn off the TV. He can shut down for the night soon as it's off.

Scoop the unpopped kernels into the bowl, take it to the kitchen.

Put the remote in its home by the TV, click the TV off.

Pick up candy boxes and put them aside. They can go to recycling in the morning, he doesn't feel like going outside.

While stepping over Jay, Zane notices something damaging his foot.

Something's burning his foot. Slowly. Corroding it ever so slightly.

He tilts his head.

It's some kind of acid.

Oh.

Gently, he shakes Jay awake and asks him to try doing something about the drool.

Jay wipes at his mouth. He turns to face the couch.

Zane rolls his eyes. It can be dealt with in the morning, he supposes.

He curls up with Pixal, hugging her tight.

He remembers how it felt to just sleep. Like a normal human being. It was years ago, but it was so easy to fall asleep when he thought he was human. Now he has to mentally pull up options and select shut down and-

He's "shut down."

Not really, at least not in the sense of the average computer, but no programs are running and he's expelling less energy, he's definitely in more rest than sleep mode. If something urgent happens, he can "wake up" easily. But for now, he's in his version of a deep sleep.

The room is dark. Four ninjas and a samurai rest with few qualms in life at this very moment.

The distances the team feels are still present, and there are still things left to be said, yet at the same time, this is the closest they've been in a while. Just sleeping in the same room after a good movie and some snacks. It's been a while since things felt this simple.

Moments like this make it clear that they are a family. A strange family. They're kind of all over the place and don't adhere to "normal" family standards, but a family nonetheless.