A/N: i realize i haven't updated in a HOT second. so if there's anyone reading this, thank you! hope everyone is staying safe out there! it's a weird time to be alive.
anyway, here's a little bit of the aftermath and my take on what Nya was doing at home while Kai was kicking butt in the underworld. enjoy guys :)
Weeks with nothing to do except practice gymnastics has made Nya significantly more agile, so she makes a quick job of scrambling up the dragon's side and swinging her legs over. Kai, however, requires a little more assistance, which is weird. Didn't he just spend a bunch of time training to be a ninja? Oh well. Nya digresses.
Nya's never ridden a horse before, but she imagines it would feel something like this. Just—with less scales. And without the frequent roaring. The dragon's body shifts underneath her, solid muscles rippling across its back.
"Put one foot there—yep. Then—here, gimme your hand." Nya reaches down and gives Kai a hand up, barely containing a grin as she watches his legs flounder in midair for a moment too long. Eventually, he crawls up in front of her and settles in. The dragon lifts its head and Kai goes rigid.
"Relax," laughs Nya. "It's not gonna hurt us."
Kai tosses her a glance. "Don't be so sure." But there's an animated sort of thrill in his eyes, a spark of adrenaline and childlike wonder that Nya hasn't seen in a while. She stretches a hand down to pat the dragon's side—it's hot, but not so much that it burns her. It's just a steady, comforting warmth radiating from its body, not completely unlike Kai's built-in heater that he's had since, like, forever.
And when Kai thinks she's not looking, he leans over and gently strokes the top of the dragon's head. It snorts appreciatively.
"So . . . what now?" Kai asks. "We need a way out, if we're gonna find my friends."
"Friends?"
Nya's nearly forgotten that Kai just spent the last few weeks doing who-knows-what, with a bunch of people she has yet to meet. They're his friends? Kai's never really had friends before, their childhood just hadn't allowed much room for other people.
She should feel proud that Kai finally found a group.
But instead, Nya feels an involuntary stab of jealousy. Kai has . . . friends. He spent a lot of time with them. He's probably pretty close with them. And . . . they're all dudes.
"Yeah, the guys. We've been through a lot together, over the past few weeks. Man, Nya, I have so much to tell you—"
"Let's just focus on getting outta here," Nya interrupts swiftly, ignoring the questioning eyebrow-raise she receives from Kai.
She runs a hand along the dragon's scaly back. "Okay, Flame, show us the way out."
Kai turns around to give her a deadpan stare. "Don't tell me you named it."
"We have to call him something—"
"Once you name it, you get attached to it—"
"Shut up, he likes it!"
The dragon snorts in reply, rising up to its full height and eliciting a humorous squeal from Kai, which Nya decides not to comment on. "Flame" glances around the empty cavern, then takes a thumping step forward. Nya laughs, new to this sensation, and grabs onto her brother for balance. Just now, she notices what he's wearing.
It's . . . definitely not what one would call civilian clothes. Her brother—her massive dork of a brother—is wearing some sort of full-body coverall suit, complete with gloves, boots, and a belt. The bright red hue looks good on him, she'll admit, but—
Gosh. This is gonna take some getting used to.
"Ugh, great. The one place no mortal can cross over." The words are muffled, like they're coming from outside.
Kai gasps happily. It must be one of his friends out there. He seems surprised to hear them, though. He calls out, "We might not be able to cross over—"
The phrase is cut short by another booming roar, which is actually a lot louder now that she's on Flame's back. Kai and Nya both cover their ears as the walls start shaking again and the roar echoes around the whole room, bouncing off rocks and pillars of solid magma. Then—
The temple wall splits open right in the middle, smoothly and cleanly, like it's always been able to do this. Slowly, the two halves part until the murky light of dawn comes creeping in, and Nya spots three little silhouettes on the steps outside.
"—but a dragon can!" Kai finishes. The three silhouettes turn into fully animated humans, dressed in black, blue, and white, their outfits just like Kai's. The one in black lets out a girlish scream and dives around the corner, evidently startled at the sight of the dragon.
Nya throws in, "Our father used to tell us stories about the dragons—that they were mystical creatures that belonged to both words and buried between them." Kai slides off the dragon's back, eager to greet his friends.
The black ninja chuckles hysterically. "Are you insane?"
Kai waves him off. "Once he realized we were trying to protect the Sword of Fire, he actually became quite a softie." Flame nuzzles Kai, playfully, and Kai laughs. "Knock it off."
Nya can't help but giggle, knowing that just a few minutes ago, Kai was terrified to be anywhere near this dragon. He must be warming up to it (no pun intended). Or maybe Kai just doesn't want to look stupid in front of his friends. Guys do have the tendency to act tough in front of other dudes, and Kai's ego can never resist.
From the ground, the blue ninja says something directed at her, but Nya can't understand a word of it. Sounds like there's something wonky going on with his throat. The white ninja intervenes.
"He cannot talk, but he wants to know if you like blue." His voice is laced with a slight accent, clipped and smooth.
In that moment, something strange happens, and Nya can only describe it as a strong burst of romanticized fantasy. Maybe her imagination is playing tricks on her. But either way, she gets the briefest glimpse of another time—another life, perhaps—where she and this blue ninja have—
—have a life together.
It's the weirdest thing, more of a feeling than an actual image, but still. He's really kind of attractive, with chestnut brown waves and a spattering of freckles across his face. His sky blue eyes sparkle with an energy that she can see from all the way up on Flame's back—
—and he's waiting for an answer, she needs to say something.
"It's my favorite color," Nya replies finally. This is true—she's always loved cooler tones like blue and green, while Kai has stayed partial to warm colors like red.
She catches the blue ninja's reaction as she nimbly slides off Flame's back. He pumps his fist a victorious little gesture, rasping out a, "Yes!" It's horrendously adorable and Nya smiles.
Kai shoots him a glare, shaking his head subtlety. Nya wants to laugh, but a sinking feeling is settling down in her stomach. This is Kai's team. They're gonna take the dragon down to the Underworld and . . . do whatever ninja are supposed to do, she assumes. Save the world, stop the bad guys. It's all a little over her head at this point.
But she knows Kai won't take her along. A part of her wants to ask anyway, just in case her puppy dog eyes still work on him now that he's a big strong hero or whatever. But . . . something about Kai has changed since she's last seen him. There's a new maturity in his expression, chiseled and set firmly in the dark brown of his eyes. He's a ninja now. And Nya isn't.
Looks like she's gonna be sitting this one out.
Right on cue, Kai turns to her. "Nya . . ."
"This is goodbye, isn't it?" she interrupts, trying to keep the forlorn note out of her voice. But she just got back to her brother, and now they're splitting up again? So he can go on some crazy dangerous mission to the Underworld?
Kai only nods his head, eyes holding at least a little bit of regret.
"Come back to me in one piece, okay?" Nya manages. "I don't wanna have to run the store on my own." She forces a joking tone, but she knows Kai can feel her unease with the whole situation. Just . . . it's hard, okay? But heaven forbid she make a scene in front of Kai's new posse, so she leaves it at that.
"I promise I won't be gone for long," says Kai. When Kai makes a promise, he keeps his word. But this seems . . . a little out of his control.
"I'll keep a candle lit outside our shop until you return." However long it takes. Days, weeks . . . well. Hopefully it's not much longer than a few days. The house gets too quiet when Kai's not around, and she just spent an appalling amount of time without hearing his voice. On the bright side, though . . . at least now she has time to process all the overwhelming trauma without having to worry about Kai asking about it.
Not—not that processing trauma is good, but—well, it's a little overdue, she thinks.
The blue and white ninjas approach Flame with only a hint of caution, before clambering up onto his back and perching there. The black ninja peeks out from his hiding place.
"You guys go on ahead," he says. "There's not enough room for all of us on that—thing."
Ruffled at being called a thing, Flame angles his head at Cole. Kai just laughs. "You're right, Cole. But I got a way to fix that."
oOo
Kai and the other guys drop her off at Four Weapons before they take off for their legendary quest (Nya keeps telling Kai to stop calling it that, but he refuses to comply). They touch down in Ignacia and Nya slides to the ground. She hears the black ninja (Cole—he's been the only one to introduce himself thus far) say, "This is where you live? Like, it's your house?" She doesn't know whether he means it as an insult or not.
"We'll be back soon," Kai promises again, reaching down to squeeze her hand. "Keep the door locked, don't be wandering off. Stay safe." For a moment, it almost sounds like he's about to say I love you, but evidently he thinks better of it. Nya pulls away and regards them all warily, and Flame lifts off into the air.
"Be careful," Nya says, but they're already gone.
oOo
The first few hours aren't exactly terrible. Nya wanders around the house, tidying things up and clearing away the dust that's accumulated over the weeks. Clearly Kai has been spending his time elsewhere. The forge is eerily cold. Just to achieve some semblance of normalcy, Nya lights a small fire in the forge, taking a moment to glance around at all the armor and simple weapons being displayed.
It's several years of work hanging up on the walls. Most of it is Nya's craftsmanship, since she's always been handier with an anvil, but Kai has some pretty impressive pieces up there, too. Their smithing styles are different in most aspects, and Kai usually spent more time accidentally lighting things on fire than doing actual work, but . . .
She already misses it.
Nya breathes a sigh, feeling the boredom creep in. She has no idea how long Kai will be gone, and whenever he gets back, what's gonna change? He's a ninja now, he has ninja friends. How's he gonna run the shop and be a ninja at the same time?
Well. Nya already knows the answer to that question. She'd like to assume Kai would want to keep their family business going, but . . . she knows him better than that. It's not that he doesn't care, Kai just has the tendency to shoulder a lot of responsibility when he doesn't have to. He calls it his irresistibly charming maturity.
Nya calls it a hero complex.
And honestly? Nya doesn't have much knowledge about what ninja do, but she gets the basic idea of it. They defend others. They defeat the forces of evil and probably "protect the people of Ninjago" or—something along those lines. Walter never showed her any books about ninja. Just samurai. And speaking of which . . .
A new excitement in her expression, Nya pushes off the counter she's leaning on and dives for Kai's anvil, nestled in the back of the room. Turn it juuuust right, and—
A panel in the wall swings around to reveal a hidden storage compartment, full of an assortment of weapons and tools that Kai knows nothing about. They're all crafted in gleaming silver, the material Nya likes best. She spent—an appalling amount of time on all this, but seeing it here, shiny and complete—
It feels great.
And what's even greater is that Kai is absolutely clueless. Ha.
Nya closes the panel and heads down the hall to her room. The lights she'd put up a long time ago have fallen off one side of her window, so she climbs on top of her bedside table to fix them. It wobbles precariously as she teeters on one leg, reaching up to hang the strand back up, and right as she gets it to stay, something snaps and—
With a yelp and a crash, Nya tips backwards and slams into the floor, tangled in a string of blue lights. For a moment, she lies there, stunned and in various levels of pain. If Kai were here, he'd be on the floor next to her already, making a huge fuss and telling her, "I told you to stop doing that, geez, one of these days you're gonna get yourself killed."
She could probably use this as a chance to be over-emotional, but Nya just chuckles lightly, which turns into a louder laugh, which slowly escalates to a fit of giddy hysterics. It's just—after everything she's been through recently, Nya can't bring herself to take this seriously.
She's been to the Underworld. She stared the Lord of Darkness in the face, she almost died in a boiling pit of actual lava. And now here she is, sprawled on her bedroom floor, acting like a broken table is a big deal. Gosh. Kai won't be able to call her a drama queen anymore, 'cause she'll have actual experience with traumatic events. Ha.
After calming down and wrangling the lights off of her, Nya sighs at the table's shattered leg and briefly considers fixing it, just for something to pass the time. But the motivation is . . . not there. So instead, Nya flops backwards onto her bed, groaning loudly. Her whole body aches.
There's an unsettling sort of restlessness hanging over her, a twitching energy that she can't shake. Maybe it has something to do with spending three weeks in the Underworld. In fact, that's probably exactly what it is. She's just—every time she closes her eyes—
The darkness of the Skulkin's underground realm has yet to completely leave her system. That's why she has every available lamp in the house turned on. It's why she lit the fire. It's why she's lying flat on her back, watching her chest rise and fall slowly with every breath. The Underworld—she still feels it. She feels its blackened aura sinking into her soul, she hears the dizzying chatter of skeletons as they drift in and out of the tunnels—
Nya's eyes fly open. Several steady, deep breaths later, she feels slightly less trapped, but not any more at ease. Stupid Underworld. Stupid Lord freaking Garmadon.
She didn't even know Ninjago had villains like that, not until she was being chased down a staircase by a demonic creature with glowing eyes. Since when do things like that actually exist? They're the sort of nonsense and legends you read about in books, not actually witness. None of it should be real.
Kai shouldn't be risking his life right now, gallavanting around that hellhole. None of this would've happened if she'd just been paying attention when the Skulkin attacked their house. If only she'd anticipated what was behind her, if she'd just turned around a second sooner—
Then maybe she and Kai would be together right now, getting the shop ready for another day, teasing each other and cooking breakfast or—
Ugh.
It's not that Nya's distrustful of strangers, not the way Kai is. She's just having a hard time processing this particular situation. Everything just seems so . . . off-balance. Like someone's taken her bubble and flipped it upside down so that everything is the opposite. Her brother—her hot-headed, woefully uncoordinated but well-meaning brother—trained to be a real live ninja. He has a suit now. He has a team. He rides dragons (which are also real, apparently).
No matter how much Nya wishes, she knows things won't be the same. This ninja business is probably a full-time gig, isn't it? She's either going to have to stay here all alone or follow Kai to be a part of this group.
Both options are equally horrifying.
Somehow, Nya manages to roll out of bed and get some work done. First she makes good on her promise and lights one of their candles, placing it carefully on the living room windowsill. It flickers cheerfully.
Next, Nya heads back to her bedroom and yanks the closet door open. She's greeted by a heaping mound of scrap metal, half-finished robot appendages, and a toolbox. It'll have to be moved anyway, so she sets to work on that task, knowing it's gonna be grueling. And she's right. Three weeks in the Underworld has improved her agility, but not necessarily her arm strength. Carrying all her partially-built parts to her room is a workout all on its own.
She dumps everything in a pile on her floor, stepping back to analyze it. It's . . . definitely a work in progress. But that's good, isn't it? It'll give her something to busy herself while she waits for Kai to get back—which, hopefully, is soon. She already has some new ideas, some ways to improve the design. It'd be helpful to have some mechanical guides, she knows those books must be lying around somewhere . . .
Twenty minutes later, Nya settles down on her floor, legs tucked beneath her, to finally put in some work on her suit. It's slow going for a while, and the lighting is only sub-par, but she manages to finish an entire leg, plus part of the cockpit—the part she'll be sitting in (she just can't find a better name for it). Focusing on her project serves as an excellent distraction. For a while, she almost forgets her brother could be in mortal peril right now.
But it's not like she can just—set that little detail aside.
Night falls and Nya's stomach growls with annoyance; she hasn't eaten a proper meal in . . . way too many days. She does find some apples in their tiny kitchen, so that's good, but—
Standing here, alone, in the dark . . . it reminds her that her stomach isn't the only thing that's empty. Screw it, she misses Kai. And that's allowed, too, because after being together for so long, only to be suddenly separated by a pack of power-hungry demons . . .
It's just—it's a lot to process, and she's feeling the unforgiving effects of separation anxiety. And besides that, there's a metaphorical piano hanging over her head. A big question: what happens next? She shouldn't be thinking about it, because, all things considered, it's not helping her situation at all. But . . . this house is all she knows. It's where she feels safe and happy and content—
It's not that she doesn't want to explore the rest of Ninjago, 'cause she does, but not yet. Right now, she's perfectly happy with her mundane, gold-tinted bubble of life, and she figured nothing was going to change for a long time. But here she is. Leaning against the doorframe in a dark kitchen, wondering if the upcoming changes will be for better or for worse.
With nothing left to do, Nya decides she should at least make an effort at sleep. She's about to crawl into bed when she realizes she's been wearing the same outfit for three weeks.
"Eugh!" Nya exclaims, shivering in disgust. Gingerly, she undresses, peeling the ruined clothes off and trying to ignore that suspicious scorch mark on the front of her shirt (she hadn't been that close to the lava, had she?) The next thing she does is jump in the shower. Nya's not the most dramatic person, but the feeling of hot water running over her is the best feeling ever after being stuck underground. She basks in it gratefully, pushing her hair back and letting the water wash all the dirt and grime away.
Finally outfitted in one of Kai's hoodies and a pair of sweatpants, Nya collapses into bed, sighing as three weeks of tension leaves her body. In passing, she notices the pile of tools still lying all over the floor—she'll have to clean that up before Kai gets home . . . probably tomorrow. She hopes it's tomorrow.
Twenty minutes later, Nya's still staring at the ceiling, afraid the darkness might swallow her again. After rolling over and pulling the blanket up higher, Nya gives up and leaps out of bed, snatching her homemade lights off the ground. It's outrageously dark in her room, but somehow she manages to get the lights back above her window. With a click, she turns them on. They bathe the room in a faded, calming glow, casting soft shadows across the walls and chasing the worst of the darkness away.
Satisfied, Nya gives sleep a second chance. This time, it works.
oOo
Morning comes in the form of a knock on the front door. Nya barely hears it, buried under the covers as she is, but she catches the second time. Blinking groggily, she groans and slides out of bed and onto her feet. She hadn't combed her hair last night, and the baggy appearance isn't her favorite, but Nya figures it's just an oblivious customer outside. She'll tell them the shop is closed and get a few more hours of sleep, no problem.
Rays of sunlight peek through the curtains of the living room, bright and cheerful. It's the unspoken promise of a better day, a clear slate that hasn't been destroyed by Garmadon's ugly piece of chalk, or . . . whatever. It's too early in the morning for metaphors.
Nya reaches the door and opens it a crack. There's a boy outside. An admittedly cute boy, too, with tousled strawberry blond hair and a lean build, bright eyes roaming over the front door like he's debating whether he should knock again. That's when Nya realizes who it is.
She yanks the door open. "Aiden?"
He stares at her, wide eyed, and Nya is made alarmingly aware of how disgusting she looks right now, hair in disarray and drowning in Kai's oversized pajamas. They both clear their throats awkwardly.
"Hey," Aiden finally says.
"Hey."
"How—how've you been?" he asks, gesturing casually at the house.
At his question, Nya blinks, forcing back the memories of dark caverns and suffocating tunnels crawling with spindly arachnids and red-eyed skeleton monsters—a pool of bubbling lava, her own panicked scream bouncing off the temple walls—
"Good," she lies.
Aiden rambles right along. "I'm sorry if this is a bad time, I know it's, like, really early, but—I dunno, I just wanted to—I thought I would—I mean—"
Nya waits patiently. But her brother might be back soon, she can't help letting her thoughts stray to that particular circumstance. Sighing, Aiden finishes.
"I, uh . . . wanted to tell you that . . . the cat is doing really well!"
"Allie," Nya corrects.
"Allie?"
"Yeah, 'cause I found her in an alley . . . ya know?"
Aiden breathes a laugh at that, which eases some of the initial tension. Then his expression changes as he says, "This is gonna sound really stupid, but—would you wanna . . . maybe hang out sometime? Maybe, like, next week?"
Oh. Oh. Is he asking her on a date? No, that's ridiculous. But—but he's asking her to be friends, sort of, and he's . . . really cute, so that must count as a kind-of-date, right? Maybe? Either way, he's asking her to hang out, like friends do.
Immediately following the excitement, there's a wave of sadness. Nya doesn't understand why until she remembers: her brother is a ninja now. There's no guarantee that she'll even live here next week, let alone have the means to hang out with someone from Ignacia. For all she knows, she'll be on the other side of the continent, being hopelessly bored while Kai does ninja things with his ninja buddies—
"I would love to," Nya starts. "But . . . I'm moving."
Aiden blinks. "What? Moving where?"
Sheepishly, Nya rubs a hand behind her neck. "I . . . don't really know." When Aiden frowns, Nya rushes to clarify before he thinks she's just making up excuses.
"Look, it's all really complicated, but my brother . . . he has a new job now. And I don't think we're staying here. It's—yeah. It's a lot."
For a few moments, Aiden doesn't look convinced, but then he sees the look on Nya's face. She's never been the best at hiding how she feels, and right now, regret is written all over her expression. She knows that. Nya knows because she feels the guilt and sadness spreading inside her already, the dark promise of homesickness and the threat of change she knows is coming.
"Oh," Aiden says, expression downcast. "Does Walter know?"
With that name, Nya is whisked back to reality, and a new crushing weight threatens to flatten her on the front lawn. Walter . . .
"Walter's . . . he's dead," she manages, but the telltale crack in her voice makes it rather obvious that she's barely holding it together. Not that Aiden seems to notice that. He's not looking at her with shock or pity or even grief. Instead, his hazel eyes are narrowed in confusion, one eyebrow raised. That's okay, Nya thinks. Everyone processes loss in different ways—
"No he's not."
A beat of silence. Nya blinks rapidly, not sure if she just heard him correctly.
"Yes he is," she says. "I was there. I—those skeletons were in his house, he—"
"Nya." Aiden looks at her very carefully. "Walter isn't dead."
Truthfully, it's been the craziest month Nya's ever experienced. After living so happily in her bubble of mediorcre-ness, she'd thought being dragged to the Underworld was about as surprising as it could get. But here she is, a mess of bedhead and bags under her eyes, standing in the doorway while Aiden waits for her reaction.
Hmm . . . reaction . . .
She should probably have one of those. But she'd believed Walter to be dead for . . . gosh, she can't even remember how long. The past few weeks felt like years. It's been a grim knowledge hiding in the back of her head for a while now. It's not that she was anywhere close to getting over what happened, but then she had other things to worry about (like, you know, survival), so the concept of Walter being gone just . . . took a back seat.
And now that Aiden is telling her something different—?
"After those creatures raided his house, Walter went to stay with some guys in town. He's doing fine. Still scared to come back, but fine."
Nya's world tips on its axis and she vaguely wonders if she's about to pass out, but she only ends up kneeling in the dirt, Aiden's tennis shoes right in her line of focus. He crouches down next to her.
"Are you okay?" he asks.
Shakily, Nya nods and pushes herself back up—her pride took a hit with that little incident, but it's never too late to fix it! She takes a deep breath, then plants both hands solidly on Aiden's shoulders. He flinches slightly.
"I know it doesn't make sense, but there's a lot going on right now and I—I just need some time to think. I'll meet you at the market, okay? I'll meet you . . . what day is it?"
Growing steadily more concerned, Aiden says, "Friday."
"Perfect! I'll meet you tomorrow, okay? Bright and early! I promise." And with that, Nya whirls around and practically falls back inside, closing the door again behind her. She presses her back against the wood and waits exactly two minutes, then peeks back outside. Aiden is gone. Shakily, Nya releases a breath and refocuses. That was . . . a difficult interaction to have, to say the least. And—
Aiden has to be confused. Or misinformed. There's no way Walter is—
But he could—
Nya wishes she could run down to the market immediately and bother everyone until they told her the truth, until they showed her where Walter is hiding . . . if he's actually alive. The news is uplifting, and a normal Nya would be jumping up and down right now, squealing with glee, but—
Well, maybe the Underworld will get out of her head eventually, but not today. Today she's still trying to shake it off.
Hoping to pass the time, Nya showers again, just to feel the water hitting her skin and reminding her that she's still alive and breathing. After spending much too long standing in the shower, she changes into actual clothes. Clean clothing is a simple pleasure, indeed, but a valid one all the same.
Another hour goes by, and Nya opens up all the windows in the house. Sunlight pours in. She leans against the front window, the one with the candle in it. It's somehow still burning steadily, the little flame quivering in the soft breeze from outside. Nya watches it, but she's looking through it rather than at it, and the anxiety from last night comes creeping back. It's chilling, really, to imagine what would happen if her brother just . . . didn't come back. In fact, Nya doesn't even want to let herself think that far. Too depressing. Too early in the morning.
Just when she's dozing off, propped against the windowsill, a faint roar cuts through the air and startles her into full consciousness. Nya straightens, wide eyes searching the sky. She doesn't see anything, but—but she definitely heard a dragon, she'd know that sound by now. She's not crazy, she—
There they are.
Just four little spots on the horizon, growing closer with every passing second. At first, Nya thinks they might be birds, but then the enormous wings and snouts come into focus and she shoves off the windowsill with a gasp. The black clouds that had been hanging around disappear and she hears a distant cheer from the villagers down in the valley. And before Nya can process that, four multicolored dragons touch down, one by one, in her front yard. She hardly stops to marvel about that fact, which really says something about how her life has been going, but then Kai is jumping off of Flame's back and Nya is out the door and running towards him.
"Kai!" she yelps, crashing into him. His arms go around her gratefully, and when she pulls back, they don't have to say anything. They won. She can see it in his eyes.
"Hey! My turn!" calls an unfamiliar voice, and Nya turns just in time to be hugged by a very emphatic blue ninja. Briefly, she realizes he can speak now, but then she realizes there's a cute guy hugging her and she doesn't know what to do, so Nya just laughs.
Citizens come running up the road like migrating gazelles, cheering and gossiping among themselves. Nya looks around at them, hoping against hope that one of those faces is Walter's, but no luck. She moves the thought aside and focuses on her brother.
"I'm so happy you're back," she breathes, and she means every word. Life without Kai is not a life Nya enjoys living—she knows that now. Unfortunately, Kai doesn't match her optimism.
"For now, but it's not over. Lord Garmadon will return," he says, looking grim.
What? They just got away from that twisted warlord and now he's coming back? Nya fumes. Around them, the townsfolk turn anxious, whispering about "Garmadon" and "conquering Ninjago". She glances at the black ninja—Cole, she remembers. He steps forward.
"And we'll be ready for him," he declares. His friends agree with them, and they all yank their weapons out and point them up together in a victory circle of epic proportions. When the weapons touch, there's a blinding burst of light that erupts out and knocks everyone down, eliciting a surprised laugh from Nya and screams from everyone else.
"Okay, we gotta remember to not do that again," Kai says, rubbing his forehead.
Cole groans. "Good idea."
The blue ninja adds, "Yeah, we'll stick to high-fives instead."
"Agreed," says the white ninja. They all laugh. He frowns, quizzically. "Was that a joke?"
Nya takes a step back, watching her brother and his new friends mess around and tease each other. Maybe . . . maybe this won't be so bad. They seem friendly enough, anyway, so—so she'll give them a chance. Just one. Because even if she's not exactly down to rearrange her entire life, these people make Kai happy. Sure, things will never be the same again, but—
Well. The smile on her brother's face is worth it.
