Wooden Swords

Nya didn't want to admit it, but she was having fun that day. She didn't want to admit she was happy on what was supposed to be one of the worst days of her life. She didn't think she was one for pampering and spas but it was refreshing.

Facing her brother with a smile, however, was a fear no amount of relaxation could coax out of her. She hoped that a villain would show up and the whole day would have to be canceled, she felt even more guilt hoping for a threat to the city to occur.

The group ascended the stairs leading up to the monastery. The sun was setting, and the moon in all its glory was taking its place. The full moon always calmed Nya. It was like an old friend. The cherry blossoms feel delicately around them, creating a trail to the gates. It was perfect. How could it be perfect?

Skylor grabbed her hand, breaking out into a sprint to her room. She threw open the closet doors, and hanging on the back of one of them was an aqua blue dress embroidered with gold details.

"He got it! Great, I thought he would blow it." Skylor said in relief.

Nya wandered over to the dress, running her hands over the silk. She was in love with it instantly. Typically, she would refuse to wear a dress. She said she didn't like them, but in all reality, she was afraid people wouldn't take her as seriously if she looked feminine. Dresses still weren't her thing regardless, but she liked dressing up from time to time. Jay knew that.

"He did a pretty great job, with my help of course." Skylor crossed her arms, a content look on her face. Nya let a smile creep onto her lips. All of this for her, she almost couldn't believe people went out of their way for her. Kai loved her, she knew he did. They just never had the means to go all out like this, and she had always told him she didn't want it anyway to spare his feelings.

"You get all dolled up, we will meet you outside." Skylor gave her a side hug, exiting the room.

Nya slipped on the gown, smoothing out the folds with her hands. She took a deep breath in, trying to work herself up to look in the mirror. She turned around quickly, almost like she was ready to fight her own reflection.

There she was, Nya. She didn't see a woman she had only seen in photos. Nya. She crept closer to the mirror, fiddling with the tie in her hair. Her hair barely went passed her shoulders, it was an improvement from how it was a month ago. Nya had always kept it short. It was more practical for her, and Kai knew how to handle it better when they were kids. She had decided to grow it out, she needed a change.

Nya tried all different things with her hair. She looked away for a moment to dig through her dresser drawers for a clip. When she looked back up at the reflective surface she swore she saw a man's face staring back at her. His eyes were a spectacular green that seared a hole in her head.

She jumped back from the mirror, but he was gone as soon as he came. Nya inspected it but decided the stress of the day had taken a toll on her mind. Maybe she just had a weird thing with mirrors.

She quickly finished up, taking no time to exit the room. Nya wandered down the dark hall, a hall full of the memories of their time at the monastery. Their time as a family.

The doors came up in front of her, and all of a sudden she was nervous. It was just a birthday party. One of the first birthday parties she had ever had. She had always regarded birthday parties as some sort of bad omen. "You are doing so good Nya." she played in her head. With that, she pushed open the doors.

Everyone in the courtyard turned to look at her as she entered, and Kai was among them. She couldn't tell if she was excited, or she wanted someone to hit her over the head with a baseball bat at the sight of him. She tried to observe the courtyard instead of focusing on his presence.

Lanterns were hanging above their heads, stretched wall to wall like starlight. There was soft music playing, and the smell of warm noodles drew her in. There was only a slight breeze, blowing in the fresh mountain air from all around. Leaves from over the walls danced and spun down gracefully landing on the cobblestone. Every detail was simple and understated. Usually when she did things she always felt like she needed to make a big scene to stand out, to prove she deserved to be among the ninja. Here, she melted into the environment easily. It was her, it was her friends, and she belonged.

"Happy birthday!" Some of them shouted. Some of them blew small paper horns and threw confetti her way. She was happy to see Kai smile, and wish her a happy birthday along with them. She let out a breath of relief, maybe he didn't think she was a horrible person.

It was then she noticed the music. Jay had put on her favorite band, Jay had peppered the table against a wall with her favorite desserts, and Jay had thrown her first real birthday party. She wrapped her arms around Jay's neck, whispering a sincere thank you into his ear.

As her friends settled onto the clear area of the courtyard they used as a dance floor and gave her their well-wishes Nya felt warm. She felt bubbly, and light. A bag of stones was dropped on her head when she noticed Kai walk toward her. Even with the smile, and the birthday wishes she felt like something was off with him. His walk was quicker and somehow heavier in the same breath.

"One year older sis. How do you feel?" Kay playfully punched her arm.

"Still not as old as you so I'm feeling pretty good about that." Nay teased, trying to lighten the underlying darkness in his voice.

"Very funny." Kai rubbed the back of his head and left the two in silence for a moment. "You get back to your party."

Jay pulled her onto the dance floor in a moment. They passed the night away dancing, and eating way too many noodles. Nya tried to shake off the feeling of the emerald eyes she saw in the mirror, and Kai's frown set her mind ablaze. She tried to forget about Sensei Wu and how horrible she was for having a good time.

Dusk moved into night and night threatened to move to midnight when people started trailing one by one to their respective rooms. Nya stayed the songs in the courtyard smooth and tranquil.

Kai started to walk away, and Nya ran up to grab his arm. "Thank you, big brother."

"For what? Celebrating? It's an important day." The "celebrating" sounded like a rock he was trying to pelt at her.

"I know what today is. Thank you." Nya retorted, trying not to let her emotions cloud her judgment.

"You do?" Kai removed his arm from her grasp, hugging them to his chest. His fake smile had slowly faded into a scowl over the course of the night as he stood in the corner. Now he glared at the floor like it had done something to offend him.

"What's gotten into you?" Jay walked up behind her, setting a reassuring arm around her waist. It was rare to hear his tone serious, but she always knew something was happening when it was.

"It's none of your business Jay. You might be Nya's boyfriend, but you aren't mine so stop trying to get in my business." Kai spat. Nya swore she saw a flick of green come over his eyes. She was back in that mirror again.

"Jay. I can handle this." Nya slowly stepped away from him, inching closer to Kai. "I don't want to upset you, Kai, I know this day is hard for you. It is hard for me too." She reached out to set a hand on her brother's shoulder. He jerked away with a small laugh.

"Is it? Because just a minute ago you were out here laughing and dancing like they were still here. Like our lives didn't fall apart today." Nya felt anger rush out of her to replace the deep hurt she felt. She felt it tumble over like a tidal wave, threatening to wash out the calm of the day.

"You think I don't know that! Do you think I didn't wake up this morning and remembered what we don't have! I've always known Kai, I've always tried to make this day easier for you. I just thought maybe today I could try to enjoy it, for myself." Nya's hands were balled into tight fists, resting stiffly against the sides of her silk gown. She could feel her nails break the skin, as they had done many times before when she got angry. "I'm not expecting you to forget about everything that happened, or be entirely happy on my behalf I just-" Nya could not finish her sentence.

"What? What Nya!" Kay screamed. She jumped back at the force of it. A gush of warm air raced toward her, making her cheeks feel like they were on fire. Kai scoffed at her silence and stormed away from her.

Nya stood there helplessly watching him head outside of the monastery. She had half a mind to drag him back to the courtyard and give her a piece of her mind. There wasn't really any point to it, she thought, he was right about most of the things he had said. She shouldn't be happy on the day he had lost everything, they had lost everything.

Nya didn't realize she was crying until Jay pulled her into his chest. She gripped at his collar, hating feeling this weak even encircled in his arms. She wanted to hit something, scream, and forget any expectations she had for her birthday.

When she had calmed, Jay lead her to a bench. They split a bowl of noodles and watched the stars dance in their own endless harmony.

"Today was the day my parents died." She said quietly into the stillness. Not daring to look at Jay's reaction, simply stared at the moon drifting in the inky black sky.

"Well, that's one way to open a conversation," Jay responded.

Nya let out a breath, leaning back. "That's why I've never celebrated my birthday before or told anyone. That's why Kai is being-"

"A stupid hot-head."

Nya playfully punched his shoulder, shaking her head.

"Don't let him hear you say that," Nya said sarcastically. Jay wrapped an arm around her, bringing her head to his shoulder. "I always feel bad you know. I miss them, but I don't really miss them. I miss the idea of them. To tell you the truth, whenever I think of my parents I think of Kai. He did my hair, horribly. He cooked for me, again horribly. He always burnt everything." She smiled to herself at the memory. "It has always been us. To me, at least. Until we came here of course."

Jay usually couldn't stop talking, but tonight they let them sit in silence. Nya's mind often wanders on Kai, and how horrible he must think she is. The silence was broken with Nya's small thank you. Jay planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Happy birthday Nya."

She pressed her eyes shut, and played that in her head over and over. She also played something else, hoping it was still true. "You are doing so good Nya."

--

A Few Hours Earlier.

Kai knew he should be a better brother. He should dance with her, be happy for her, be proud of her. All he could do at that moment was resent her. Nya could be happy today, a happy that Kai knew he could never have.

Kai sucked it in though, for her. He did everything for her. That was something that would never change.

Kai's eyes wandered to a small puddle of water that had pooled at his feet. His reflection stared back at him. It was distorted and broken. With a scoff, he lifted his foot to stomp on the watery mirror. Before he could a face that was not his own appeared.

He excused it as a trick of light until the face stayed. The features of the mystery figure were distorted except for two pairs of emerald green eyes. They were not the subdued tint of Lloyd's, they were so bright it made Kai's head spin.

"It must be hard, left to mourn alone at a party." The voice that crept into his head was melodic, and in a way strangely comforting. It also had a way of making him deathly afraid. "What a shame."

"Who are you!" Kai pulled out his knife. He went to call for his friends, but they were gone. The courtyard was nothing but lights dangling from the roof, and music speaking to no one.

"Don't worry about me, I am just a voice inside your head. You know, I tried this same trick with your sister but she seemed somewhat more- how do I put this- stable than you." Kai looked down at his weapon, realizing it was now nothing more than a wooden sword. He flung it across the courtyard.

"Now don't be dramatic dear, you might hurt someone. And by someone I entirely mean yourself." Kai turned around, feeling a chill down his back. He was face to face with a tall man, his lips upturned into a smirk. His green eyes bored into him like they could sense every thought Kai had.

"What do you want from me?" Kai demanded. The man simply laughed, it seemed unnatural to him.

"I understand how you feel Kai. Trapped, lost, alone. That's why I think we can help each other. I'm Phobeius." The man stretched out his hand. Kai knew he shouldn't have taken it, but there was something drawing about him. Phoebus was unsettling but somehow familiar.

Kai took the hand, his grip cold. The Phobeius held onto him like he had won a prize.

Kai was back at the party again, hearing the echoes of laughter behind him. The reflection in the water was gone, but Kai had a feeling it had disappeared to somewhere much worse