A/N: here we are again, everybody. been getting my writing done at night and then just . . . sleeping in class. a small price to pay for progress!

i wasn't sure about this chapter, i kinda wanted to go back and alter it, but . . . i couldn't make myself do it, okay? nya needs a father figure in her life and i'm gonna give it to her.

anyway, here's this!


Life as a blacksmith is hard, but life with a kitten is even harder. That's the mindset Nya develops over the next week, when she has to keep one eye on that cat at all times. Kai looks like he wants to say, "I told you so," but miraculously, he keeps that to himself. Nya can still see it in his expression, though.

Days pass. Kai's birthday comes and goes without much celebration, but he's finally thirteen, which means his ego is that much bigger now. Nya's birthday isn't for another two months, but he still holds that over her head.

"Now I'm three years older than you," he claims proudly, smirking. Nya doesn't have the heart to tell him that's not how it works.

They're getting more customers now, which is good and bad. Good, because this means more money, which makes survival a whole lot easier. And bad, because Kai can't singlehandedly deal with a workload like that.

Thankfully, Nya has a solution.

"Let me help!" she offers one day, as Kai clangs diligently at a long strip of metal, the midday sun beating down on the thin awning.

Kai doesn't look up. "No."

"Please?"

"No."

Nya sighs dramatically, draping herself across the anvil. Kai yelps, jumping away when he nearly pounds her in the head.

"Nya, what the heck! Get off, you could've gotten hurt—"

"You're no fun," Nya mumbles, sliding down onto the ground. She makes sure to keep sighing at regular intervals, louder each time, until Kai whips around and nails her with a glare.

"What."

Nya shrugs innocently. "I dunno, if you let me help, this could be done a lot faster, don'cha think?"

"You're literally ten, I'm not just gonna hand you a hammer and say, 'Here ya go, go crazy, sis!'"

Frustratedly, Nya nudges Kai's leg with her foot. "Why not?"

Her brother throws his head back, forcing out a weird laugh that ends in a sort of groan.

"Okay, fine. Fine. C'mere. I'll teach you the basics, but that's it."

Nya refrains from pointing out that Kai himself only knows the basics, so this whole deal is a little faulty, but whatever. She can help! She can feel useful!

"Okay, so, take this," Kai says, handing her the hammer. "Then hold it like—yeah, move your hand a little. Yep. But don't—"

Nya swings the hammer down on the metal, sending golden sparks flying in every direction, including dangerously close to Kai's hair. There's a screech from his direction, and Nya turns around to see what the problem is.

"Okay, okay that's exactly what we don't wanna do," Kai says, clearly losing patience already. "Just—stick to the counter today, alright?"

Oh, heck no. She's not done yet, he doesn't get to change his mind that quickly. Lucky for Nya, she knows exactly how to keep Kai on the right track. Switching tactics, Nya grins, playfully poking Kai in the shoulder.

"You're just scared I'm gonna be better than you," she mocks.

"Wha—! No, no—that's crazy. I'm not—"

Nya dances around Kai, flapping her arms and letting out a torrent of undignified chicken noises. Kai tries to shoo her away, but he only lasts another few seconds before he breaks, just like she knew he would. Kai's patience is the only thing shorter than her, apparently.

"Fine, blacksmith competition, now!" he says sharply, herding her over to the second anvil off to the side. Of course he's gonna make her use the lame anvil. Kai always says the surface is too bumpy, so he hates using it, but she'll have to deal. Her spirited brother could never resist a good competition.

"What're we making?" Nya asks, excited.

Kai's barely listening to her. "Sword. Start. Now."

Squealing giddily, Nya grabs the nearest tools and sets to work, calling up all the instructions in her head. She's seen Kai do this a hundred times before, it can't be too difficult. Plus, if he's actually worried she'll be better, she might as well prove him right.

So Nya pays no more attention to Kai, because she's focused on fashioning a fully-functioning sword out of bits and pieces. She hammers the metal with careful precision, flinching a little at the sound, but mostly just grinning from ear to ear because HA, she's making a sword!

When it's the basic shape she wants, Nya hauls it over to the forge and holds it there, slowly turning it back and forth, watching the flames reflect off the metal in a brilliant orange glow. She would be content to watch this all day, but Kai is still in the corner, talking to himself as he works on his own project. Nya can't waste time.

Somehow, when Nya pulls the sword from the fire, it's perfectly melted just enough, she knows it. So then it's back to hammering, with more force than before. Making swords is hard but it's fun. There's no way Kai's gonna win this now. He's beyond screwed.

And he knows it, too, because he glances over at her and lets out a gasp. It's one of his oh, crap, this is bad gasps that means she's winning.

Times passes quicker when you're blacksmithing, that's what Nya decides. Soon, she's slamming her hands down and yelling, "Done!" at the same time as Kai, and they spin around to face each other.

Kai's eyes go wide when he looks at Nya's sword, silver and beautiful, smoothed into a perfect curve. The handle is decorated with a swirling piece of metal that wraps around in a pattern that resembles a vine, tiny leaves carefully molded and placed for detail. Kai blinks.

His sword isn't bad, truthfully, and it's evident that he really did put effort into it. But the hilt is slightly crooked, and the blade isn't exactly as smooth as it could be . . .

Nya has definitely won. But, uh . . . how does she say that without dashing Kai's pride against the rocks? His ego is balancing precariously here, what should she do?

Kai crosses his arms over his chest, squinting appraisingly.

"Touché, sis," he says.

Now it's Nya's turn to blink.

"I—what?"

"You win." Kai's laughing now, not angry at all. "Man. Looks like I underestimated ya."

At first, this praise confuses Nya, because since when does Kai let someone else win? Who is this person and what has he done with her brother? But then she decides to just accept it today, since it may be years before it happens again. Compliments from Kai are rare indeed.

"I—thanks! Is it good?"

Kai looks like he's about to say yes, but then his expression shifts a little and he says, "Well—I mean, it's—ya know. Pretty average."

Aaaaand he's back.

But he reaches over to ruffle her hair and wink, and Nya smiles, knowing exactly where she stands. The title of Best Family Blacksmith rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it. Yeah, she feels pretty good about herself.

"Think it'll sell?" Nya asks, gesturing to her creation.

Kai grabs the sword and sets it aside. "Don't sell it!"

"Wha—why not?"

"Because it's—well besides being totally average, it's—kinda cool." The admiration slips through his tone. "Keep it. It's your first one, it's special."

Huh. Maybe he's got a point. She is remarkably proud of it, and someday it'll be fun to find it and remember it was her first sword. She'll probably be much better at smithing by then. Hopefully.

"Okay."

Running the shop goes much more smoothly after that, because now Kai (begrudgingly) lets Nya make weapons and tools sometimes. They rotate jobs accordingly and find out that Kai is actually a much better people-person than Nya is, so he works the counter more. She works the forge more often as a result, and life is swell.

Except . . .

Living on their own is . . . meh.

There's a little thought in the back of Nya's head, mostly silent but always present, telling her this is very weird. Kids don't normally live by themselves, running a family business and being—generally alone. She supposes it happens sometimes, but it's hard not to get bitter. It's hard to stop thinking, But why'd it have to happen to us?

It'd be nice to have parents, maybe. She imagines they'd be pretty helpful. The things she knows about parents aren't extensive, since she wasn't old enough to appreciate them at the time, but. Ya know.

On slow days, Nya sits on the cramped kitchen floor, flicking around little pebbles and watching the kitten chase them. She unofficially names it Allie, after the place she was found (alley, ha, Nya feels clever) though she's not sure if the cat is a girl. Kai says there are ways to check, but Nya's not exactly comfortable with any of them.

Kai's so busy with the shop that he's practically forgotten the kitten even exists, which means Nya isn't worried about having to give it up anytime soon. Besides, it's nice to have a friend, even if it is only an animal. So what? At least Nya's not bored anymore.

Soon, she turns eleven, and Kai gives her a book about mechanics that he must've bought when she wasn't paying attention. She's thrilled.

"You're the only eleven-year-old on the planet that cares about machinery," Kai says, shaking his head. But he flashes her a smile anyway, reminding her that (secretly) he actually thinks her interest is kind of refreshing. And he's right! Nya does care about machinery, she thinks it's complex and interesting and fun to look at. All the moving parts and detailed components! She could look at them all day. Kai is fascinated by her excitement.

The end of summer closes in, and fall is on its way. Kai makes a few solo trips to town so he can find material to keep the house warm. They have a fireplace and a furnace, but there's really only heat in the living room and forge. The bedrooms are almost always cold, and don't even get Nya started on the bathroom. Their hot water is limited, and Kai likes to use all of it.

One day, while Kai is out at the market, Nya wanders around and stumbles across a closet near the kitchen. There are packed boxes inside, along with random cleaning supplies and weird adult-things like lightbulbs and wire.

Nya finds some blankets in there and yanks them out. They're dusty, but she'll shake them out later when Kai gets back. She's not supposed to leave the house when he's gone, because apparently she's only old enough to be home alone and that's it.

Whatever. As Nya hauls the blankets to her room (Kai doesn't need them anyway, he's his own heater), Allie tags along, playfully swatting at Nya's heels the whole way. As always, Nya's room is mostly dark, except for one lamp burning on the desk. When they'd first moved in, they assumed there wouldn't be any lightbulbs around, and Kai hadn't thought to buy any. But there are some in the closet . . .

Hmm.

Dumping the blanket load on her bed, Nya skids back into the kitchen to raid the closet. A few minutes later, she emerges with her arms full of lightbulbs, tinfoil, batteries and string.

When Kai comes home later, he calls her name throughout the house. "Nya? What're you doing?"

He finds her in her room, balancing precariously atop the windowsill as she struggles to hang a string of—a string of what looks like colored lights.

"Kai!" she grins, glancing down. "Look what I did! I found all this stuff in the kitchen closet!"

Kai looks like he doesn't know what to do, exactly. He starts by spinning around, admiring Nya's new decorations. She's taken the lightbulbs and painted them different colors, then tied them to a long piece of string and hung them up all over the room.

"We don't really have the electricity for this," Kai says. He would know, too. He'd spent hours over the past few months contacting companies and pretending to be an adult, setting up electricity and plumbing and other stuff. They are on a "tight budget", he insists. But that's why Nya crafted her decorations with a responsible mindset.

"Check this out," Nya beams, hopping down off the windowsill and very nearly banging her head on the desk. Kai winces at that, but he follows her to the corner anyway, where the light string trails off to end in a little box-like device.

"Battery powered!" boasts Nya, energetically gesturing to the box. "Go on, look at it!"

Suspicious but still interested, Kai crouches down, gently lifting the tiny plastic box and turning it over. Two batteries sit inside, much too small, but they're pressed against little balls of tinfoil on all sides. He doesn't understand exactly why he feels excited, so he turns to Nya.

"Uh . . . what does it do?"

Like it should be obvious, Nya gives him a disbelieving look, grabbing the box from him. "I found this battery power box in the closet, but we didn't have any batteries big enough to fit. So I just altered it a little! And—look at this."

Nya flips the tiny switch, and the lightbulbs glow in brilliant blues and purples, casting florescent shapes and shadows across the walls. Kai gapes, wondering how the heck Nya designed this, how had she configured her own battery-powered lights? She was a kid, for crying out loud.

"How—I mean, did you—what—" Kai's at a loss for words. The room has a whole new atmosphere now, like his mood has been lifted somehow. The cool-toned light reminds him of being underwater (not that he'd really know; he never had learned to swim). Nya bounces happily from corner to corner, twirling around to admire her work.

She glances at Kai, where he's still grounded to the spot where she left him. He seems impressed, though, and that's all Nya cares about. She's pretty proud of herself, too, if she's being honest. She'd never worked with electricity before, but everything had just . . . made sense. The science of it just clicked. Nya doesn't know how to explain it, but the feeling alone is enough for now.

"So you're, like, smart?" Kai asks, eyebrows high on his forehead as he gawks at her.

Is that a compliment? An accusation? Should she be smiling or should she be offended? Nya can't decide. Instead, she just offers a casual, somewhat oblivious shrug.

"I dunno, I guess so."

Kai blinks. "Okay."

"Okay."

"Make some of these for my room."

oOo

Kai and Nya grow apart.

Well, okay, not really, but the metaphorical distance between them is definitely stretching out as the days go by.

She's heard about stuff like this happening, but she'd never expected it to hit her so suddenly like this.

It makes sense, she guesses. It's been a little more than half a year since they've moved out of Liam's house, and Kai's getting progressively more buried under a mountain of responsibility. Nya tries to help, but he seems to think she shouldn't have to. He wants to do everything by himself, and Nya can see that it's not healthy for him at all.

Kai barely sleeps. She hears him up at all hours of the night, sometimes clanging around in the kitchen, sometimes hammering away at something in the forge. The siblings still see each other every day, she still gets to run the shop with him. But Kai is such a dang workaholic.

When he's not working on weapons, he's out finding firewood, making trips to the market, blah blah blah. He doesn't have time to talk to her anymore, or just sit there and read together, or anything. Some part of Nya wants to be mad, because this cat won't entertain her forever, she wants her brother around. But then the other part of Nya tells her to be petty about it and then move on. She doesn't need Kai, she can have fun on her own. Just watch her.

So, Nya decides she's independent now. If Kai wants to focus on the shop, fine. She'll start building her own life from the ground up, that's fine, too.

That's why, one day, Nya wakes up earlier than Kai and sneaks right out her bedroom window, diving outside and feeling immensely grateful that their house is only one floor. Her sock-clad feet step quickly over the grass, which has turned a crispy brown with the change in seasons. The morning air is winter-cold, even though it's not actually winter yet. Kai keeps saying he thinks it'll snow soon, but Nya doesn't think so. Day of the Departed hasn't even happened yet.

Ah, yikes, she doesn't want to think about the holiday. Liam never celebrated it, so Nya wonders if she and Kai will do something to honor their parents this year. She hopes so, because at least at Liam's she could see all the lanterns floating away. Their new house is too far away for that.

Nya makes it to the road and takes off at a sprint, casting a hurried glance behind her to make sure Kai hasn't seen her. The shop door is still shut, so that's good.

Instead of taking the road to town, Nya heads the opposite direction and marvels at the sudden change in scenery. Now she can see the surrounding farmland much better, huge patches of rolling green and yellow spreading out to the horizon. There are a few lone cows grazing in the distance, but no sheep yet. Still, she continues on her way, just enjoying the cool air and light breeze.

Ahhh, independence. It feels awesome.

After Nya has walked a decent amount of time down the road (sticking close to the side, because she wasn't trying to get run over), she catches sight of a homely residence, white paneling standing out against the blue sky backdrop. Her first thought is something along the lines of never approach a stranger's house, but then she remembers why she's here.

Nya hesitantly wanders up to the door, which is in the middle of an admittedly envious porch, littered with colorful leaves that have blown off the trees in the front yard. Desperately hoping it's the right house, Nya knocks.

Approximately six seconds later, the knob clicks and the door swings open, revealing a shocked Walter Pine on the other side.

"Nya," he says, as if recalling her name. "A little far from home, aren't you?"

Nya shrugs, suddenly shy. C'mon, this guy is harmless, what's she waiting for? Worst case scenario, he thinks she's being annoying and sends her home.

"Yeah . . . I, uh—I was just wondering—I mean, I just—it's—"

Amusedly, Walter chuckles. "Listen, kid, don't worry. Wanna talk about it over pancakes?"

Pancakes? Sounds pretty appetizing compared to the slightly-burnt toast she's been eating every morning.

"Sure."

Walter must've been in the middle of cooking his breakfast, because there's a pan on the stove and a bowl of batter sitting on the counter. Nya pulls out a chair and sits down, quickly giving the room a once-over. It looks . . . almost exactly how she'd expected a middle-aged bachelor's kitchen to look. Wooden furniture, checkered curtains and mismatched knick-knacks on the shelves, like random trophies and what seems to be a pair of bowling shoes.

Photographs line a wall that Nya can barely see, since it's part of the staircase around a corner. Walter definitely lives alone, because a wife would've never let him keep that ugly forest green wallpaper up.

Walter pours the batter into the pan. It sizzles as he turns to Nya.

"Where's your brother?"

She swings her heels absently, eyes still roaming around the room curiously. "At home. I snuck out."

"Ooh, we've got ourselves a rebel," Walter says, but he's using that tone that adults use when they're trying to make a joke. Eh, oh well. He might not be hilarious, but he's talking to her, which is more than Kai's doing at the moment.

"Yeah. Kai's busy with the—"

AGH. Nya's words cut off abruptly when she realizes what she almost gave away. Walter doesn't know they're living alone, he could call Child Protective Services or something! They'd have to go live at a foster home! They'd have to eat porridge and sleep in cots probably!

Nya feels dizzy.

Walter's eyebrows pinch in the middle as he says, "Look, I know you two aren't living with family. I know damn well."

Nya's chest is about to explode from fear or relief, she can't choose one.

He continues. "I'm not gonna tell anybody. Now, I don't know your situation, but I'm serious. You ever need someone to help out, just lemme know, you hear?"

He's not—he's not gonna tell anyone. Whoosh—Nya's anxiety flies right out the open window.

"Th—thanks," she manages.

The two of them eat their pancakes in mostly companionable silence, forks clinking and the antique clock ticking away. Every few minutes, when she gathers enough courage, Nya sneaks a glance at Walter where he sits across from her. She attempts to discern what she's feeling right now. It's something . . . warm. Warm and melty and soft. Like . . .

She wants this. Nya wants this every day, for the rest of her life. She wants a nice, cozy farmhouse with checkered curtains and someone to make her blueberry pancakes in the morning. She wants this peace inside of her, she wants it to stay forever.

Stalling, Nya asks if Walter has any books. He smiles, and together they walk to another room, one with a TV and three whole mahogany bookshelves. They're packed full, the bindings facing outwards in an enticing rainbow. Nya abandons all awkwardness and rushes for them, mouth open in an awestruck smile.

She reaches for a book, then quickly retracts her hand. Looking back at Walter, Nya blinks.

"Can I—?"

Walter laughs, shoving his hands in his jean pockets. "I mean, go right ahead, kiddo."

Squealing is for babies so Nya doesn't do that, but she does bounce a tiny bit, just because this is the coolest day ever. And she spends the rest of it on the living room floor of Walter's house. The mound of books grows around her. He has the best books ever. Ones about wilderness survival and different kinds of birds and one about fixing cars. Nya doesn't even have a car, but the book makes her want one, just so she can break it and fix it.

Walter leaves her to her own devices, only popping in a few times to offer snacks or water. Before long, the sun is sinking lower in the sky, turning the blue to a pale orange. Nya doesn't notice this until Walter pokes his head in the doorway and calls her name.

"Hey, hate to say it, but it's getting kinda late, don't you think?"

Pulling herself out of a story about ancient samurai, Nya shakes her head to clear it. Man, he's right. The sun is setting and—

Holy swear word, she's been gone all day! Kai's probably looking for her! Oh no, she needs to get home right the heck now—

Picking up on her panic, Walter nods his head to the window. "Need a ride?"

"Yes, please!"

So she gets back to Four Weapons in, like, a third of the time it took her to walk to Walter's, and the nice man stops her before she can hop out of the car.

"Forgetting something?" he asks, holding out a book, the red cover worn and embroidered with thin gold detailing. It's the one she'd liked the most, the one about samurai and ancient Ninjago. He's—not giving it to her, is he?

"That's—it's not mine," she says.

"It is now." Walter passes her the book, which she takes with reverence, carefully holding it close to her chest.

"I—thank you," Nya whispers, meaning it.

"Anytime, kid." And with that, Nya slides out of the passenger seat and Walter drives back down the road, the last rays of sunset glinting off his rear view mirrors.

For a moment, Nya stands there breathless, watching the sun dip below the smooth horizon line. Her skin prickles a bit when the chill of night rolls in, welcomed by the spreading darkness. Some lonely crickets chirp in the bushes. It's . . . probably the most relaxed she's felt in years. She never wants to forget this day. Her day with books and warm houses and a dad . . .

Nothing can ruin this moment. Nothing at all.

Promptly, the front door bursts open so loudly that Nya screams. Kai comes dashing out, looking distressed.

"Nya, what the heck—thank god—where did you—what were you—GEEZ." He cuts off by slamming right into her, both arms going around her in a rib-crushing hug, which she returns. The book is pressed between them, and the corner is jabbing into her stomach, but Kai hasn't hugged her in a while, and she's missed it. Whatever. Sue her.

Nya does give her brother an explanation, and he rattles off a lecture so long that by the time he's done, Nya has fallen asleep in his bed, one arm hanging off the side limply.

Kai rolls his eyes, but smiles. He crawls into the other side, pulling up the blankets so they can stay toasty tonight. One arm goes around his pillow, and he gently drapes the other one over Nya's shoulder.

The movement wakes her, but she stays still. A happy flutter springs to life in her stomach. She misses this. She misses her normal, not-stressed brother.

She wants to reach over and hug him again, but hey, this is the first night he's slept in, like, way too long, so Nya is content to just lie there, eventually drifting off to the rhythmic sound of Kai's heartbeat close to her ear.


A/N: ALSO! who's seen the finale of season 11? i just don't know how i feel about it, i think it lacked a lot of closure. i dunno. either way, zane and pixal just get me every time. THEY'RE TOO CUTE, i can't handle it.