Nya stares at her wedding dress for a long time in the mirror, despising it with every ounce of her being. It doesn't even fit her right, with the whole four arms ordeal that's left the dress square-looking after alterations. The fabric's stiff and heavy, too, and she can barely move without having to stop herself from blasting it off.
The stupid skirt lacks a functioning hoop, because the old hoop snapped while Nya was being fought and wrestled into the ugly dress, meaning she's almost tripping constantly. Tape doesn't fix fabrics. She'd try to tell them that, as an excuse not to wear the dress, but she'd been ignored.
Lined with pearls and ribbons and flowers, the skirt is the only thing comingcloseto elegancy. However, it's torn at the trail and already tracking up dust where she stands inside this… temple, is it? Whatever it is, it has a dressing room, and she hates it either way.
But it's not just the appearance aspect of the dress she hates. No, it's the marriage itself.
She's- she's fifteen, and as much as she hates to admit to anybody that she's young, fifteen is way too young to marry. Especially to a delusional and abusive Djinn who's over the age of four hundred. Not to mention that she doesn't want it and yet her marriage is arranged, she's likely to be forced to kiss Nadakhan, and is even more likely to spend the rest of her days miserable.
The dress makes the whole thing seem a lot more real.
Is this it?
Escape isn't an option. She's tried scrapping the dress, but she was caught by Dogshank before she could even stuff it through the bars on her window. It quickly dawns on her that this is just a holding cell, that she's been stripped of her freedom and any dignity she might've held before she was dressed up.
She's also tried crying, in which she was payed a visit by Clancee telling her that pretty girls like her shouldn't cry about being able to marry someone as magnificent as Nadakhan. She'd then tried to strangle him out of fury, but had been quickly restrained and told to behave. Unlucky.
It scares her. Not much has her struggling to get freedom, but… this might be at the top of her list.
She's only being married because she resembles Delara, Nadakhan's old 'lucky' love. What if Nadakhan sees through her? That she's just a fifteen year old girl with water powers? She'll die, most likely, dying miserable and alone.
But what scares her most is… what if he already knows? What if he knows she isn't Delara but is marrying her anyway, because he likes her? It's a scary thought, and she hates the dress a little more.
This dress has damned her.
Not really.
She brought this on herself when she left her fate in the hands of Jay Walker, who she hasn't heard a peep from ever since she pushed him through the portal.
It's never felt better, she said, knowing he would've barely heard her. She'd said that unknowing that this wedding was, in fact, very real and inevitable when her windows would be sealed shut. Naïvety, it was.
"Psst, Nya!" She recognises that voice, that belongs to the man who's currently responsible for her fate. She's at the window before she registers that it's Jay, uncaring of previous romantic differences.
Take her back. He's proven he actually cares, and she's been stupid, and she should've trusted him on that billboard. If only. If only she'd actually thought stuff through.
"Jay, you came for me!" She tries to crouch down against the bars, but the dress is still stiff and still not really functional, so she just looks down at him longingly. Longing to be on the other side of the bars, to be in her own gi, which is realistically being burnt and destroyed this very minute.
All that she'd worked to become a ninja-
"Oh wow… you look beautiful," he frets, grinning at her as if her dress isn't hideous. He stares at her longer than he normally would, and Nya smiles back until he realises she's waiting. "Agh! I'll get you out!"
Nya watches defeatedly as Jay tugs and pushes and pulls at the metal reinforcements. She listens to his grunts of effort as he does, and she worries. This is it, there's no escape, Jay came all this way-
"Oh man…" he grunts, pushing harder, and suddenly Nya's desperate. There's no use in him hurting himself.
"I already tried. They won't budge," she complains, despairing over Jay's defeated look. Not to act like a damsel in distress, which she realistically is right now, but how is she supposed to stay strong when her saviour knows she can't be saved?
"It's fine, Nya, we'll find another way out," he checks behind his shoulder, then around the corner, sighing in relief when he's clear. "Do you still have the poison?"
Goddammit.
"No, they took it," she vaguely recalls being held down by guards as someone checked her pockets, having the poison ripped away from her. Her last resort of saving herself… gone.
"Oh Jay, the ceremony's going to start at any moment. You have to save me, Walker, I can't get married to him," she pleads, reaching through the bars, only just stopping herself from crying. Tears won't help anyone, especially herself.
"You won't have to, I'll find a way. I'd never let a creep like him marry you," he promises strongly, jaw clenched, frowning in mention of Nadakhan.
"You didn't use your wish yet, did you?" If he's used it, she truly is done for, and then- and then-
"No, not yet. It's the most important one, just like you," he smiles, but it isn't any help. Flirting doesn't have a place in an arranged marriage to an abusive old delusional Djinn driven by the capture of one's loved ones.
"Stop flirting, it isn't any help! We need to get out of here!" She's understandably angry now, because she could be whisked up to her own inevitable misery by marriage any minute now, and Jay's flirting!? Not any help. She needs help. She needs to get out of here-
"Right, right, sorry. Can you fit through the bars? I'll catch you," he steps back from his perch on the window a little, and Nya frowns.
"Already tried it but I can't get anywhere in a dress like this," she swishes the skirt around just for a little sarcastic emphasis. "It's the bars, Jay."
"Wait, maybe if we both-"
Despite large doubts, they push and pull of the bars respectively, but nothing budges. All that occurs is the disruption of dust, the grunts of strength and a whole lot of wasted effort. Nya panics a little more.
"I don't trust anyone else. I will escort her myself," sounds the cynical and brusque voice of Nadakhan, causing Nya's heart to skip a beat. This is it, this is it, this is it-
She's going to get married. Jay failed, she failed, it was all pointless-
"It's him! It's him! Hide, hide!" She whisper-shouts, trying to push Jay away while also budging back from the window. She hears him struggle outside, and wills him to be quiet, even just for his own safety.
Jay's seen way too much of what he can do, and he'd been tortured. Who knows what else Nadakhan's capable of?
"It is…time," Nadakhan announces, floating in, getting sight of her. His eyes linger on certain aspects of her body, and she feels the sudden need to kill him. Not that she hasn't felt that need to kill Nadakhan before.
Speaking of killing, she'd really like both her and Jay to keep their sorry little lives, considering the rest of the team is already gone. Play it nice and you might as well survive. Stockholm-syndrome style.
"Already?" She asks airily, standing up straight, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear like she has any interest. "Boy, if I had another wish, I sure would use it right about now. Now that you're in earshot!"
Jay better of heard her. He better of gotten the message. He better be trying to save her or else- or else she's doomed.
"Oh really? Whatever for, my love?" He grins, drifting closer. Nya braces himself for his touch on her arm, hating every minute of being this close to a man this horrible.
"To- to make- I just wish our relationship had started sooner, y'know? I don't know why I ever resisted our inevitable love," that last part makes her sick. She's lying through her teeth, saying things she'd never say, but if she plays this right-
Who is she kidding? Could Jay shout a little louder, please?
"Is that so? My friends have informed me of your… hatred of said concept. I don't suppose you're lying?" He gets closer.
Hurry up, Jay-
"I wasn't lying," is exactly what a liar would say, "I just hated that-"
"I wish Nadakhan wasn't a Djinn! I wish Nadakhan wasn't a-" it's not loud enough. Jay's too far away. Nya can barely hear him herself, and that's only because she knows what to listen out for.
Nadakhan angers at the loud background noise, oblivious to the fact that it's Jay. "If you will not come willingly, Nya, I shall take you regardless-"
His sword raises to her neck, but Jay needs more time.
"Wait, wait, no! Call me… Delara," maybe if she plays the part of a mentally deranged, sick lover's girl, he may just believe her. Anything for Nadakhan to hear Jay. She gently nudges his sword down with as much helpless femininity she can muster.
Nadakhan gasps, his twisted and wrinkly features astounded.
"Why the sudden change? My crew said you hated me, my love. You were driven for your loved ones, no?"
She remembers to keep it realistic. She was Nya at some point during this absolute lie of a tale she's weaving, but now she's Delara, but so-called Delara was once Nya. She did those things, she hated Nadakhan. A lot of her (all of her) still does. But he can't know that.
Jay keeps on yelling outside, but he's still too quiet. He needs to get closer.
"I never thought I'd say this… but you've proven that you've the most powerful, not the ninja. You win." She waves her fist deliberately to show she's devoted, but he still seems unsure. She doesn't really know what she's doing, either, other than buying time for Jay.
As of now, she reluctantly admits that Nadakhan is the most powerful. But that's only because he captured her family and friends. Otherwise, he's just a stupid genie in a lamp.
"And I'd be a fool to turn my back on the man who could grant me everything I ever wish for. Did your crew tell you I don't like to be fooled, too?" She smiles at him, and wills herself not to cry. Not if this is to go right.
"Delara and I once wished for this moment to come, but we never had the chance to see it through…" he turns to her, towering over his future fifteen year old wife.
He hadn't even listened to Nya. He only really loves himself though, like the selfish and greedy man he is. It wouldn't be out of character for him to go ignoring his own wife.
"But now you can," Nya persists, pushing the fact that she is, now, the embodiment of Delara. "In her honour, we can be powerful together."
"Yes…" he stands straighter and prouder as Nya goes to cling to his arm gingerly, masking it with being a delicate, overly feminine damsel in distress. "Let us go, my love, to power!"
"I wish-"
He sets off for the door, and Nya almost grabs his arm. Thinking better of it, she shuffles back a little. "Hold on, my love, don't you see it?" Why did she say that? There's nothing to see except a pedophile!
"What is it, dear? What do you see?" He floats back to her side, looking both concerned and intruiged. She desperately tries to mask the horror that Nadakhan now doesn't care that she's still Nya Smith, still fifteen, because he loves her.
For FSM's sake, hurry up Jay-
"I see…" a doomed, miserable future? The end of anything dignified? "I see the beauty of this moment. Truly amazing. Im just so starstruck by the fact that a girl like me could be lucky enough to marry you." Anger flashes hot at the memory of Clancee's ramble.
She's desperate. Please, Jay. But Nya's only doing all she can for him to make his wish, so it seems right for him to get closer. Now that the fate of Ninjago rests on his last wish, and all. Imagine how even more imposing Nadakhan would become if he believed his lover had returned. If she ruled by his side.
Scary thoughts.
Nadakhan chuckles. A deep, horrible, raspy sound that makes her cringe and fear. Makes her back away, even just the tiniest bit. "I'd be damned not to marry you, Delara. Let us go while the day is still young."
Ever since the lighthouse started to be raided, Nya's been oblivious to the time. Nobody had told her the time in case she had some sort of secret agenda, in case she had a signal to send, a sign to look out for. Oh, and Djinnjago also didn't have a singular clock. Pirate thing.
"Very well then," she lets him lead her nearly to the door, albeit incredibly slowly. As his hand reaches for the doorknob, she freezes. This is well and truly the end of everything she knows and loves. It's all done for-
"I wish- woah!" Comes the quiet shout of Jay, which is only just quiet enough for Nadakhan not to recognise a wish. "Nadakhan wasn't a Djinn!"
"What was that, my love?" He turns to face her again, but all Nya can see is that ugly, jagged blade in his upper left hand. The one holding most of her teammates and her sensei captive. She hates it.
"How can I stand beside you if your sword is always between us? I want to walk with you, not your blade," she asks as innocently as she can, pasting that stupid airy smile on her face. She doesn't want to see him ever again, let alone walk with him.
As if to push her point further and to pressure him just to stay a little longer to hear Jay's wish, she steps a few centimetres closer.
"But… it is Djinn tradition for a king to be married with his blade," it's the power he gets from the blade, not his stupid tradition. It's tradition for king's to have tyrannical power, if anything. Nya's not stupid.
"Let me be your power, not your blade," she's really driving the starstruck lover gag home, isn't she? Well, she doesn't care, because it's stalling her arranged marriage right now. And if it truly is traditional… "or do you do everything your father tells you?"
That one would've once worked on a much younger, less wise Lloyd. But Lloyd's trapped in that godforsaken blade.
He scoffs, rolling those horrifying, dark beady eyes. "You are right. I am my own Djinn with my own Djinnjago to rule," he sets his blade down on a bench where she once sat when Dogshank forced her into these terrible heels. However, the bench is within arm's length of the bars, so maybe Jay can reach it when he returns from hiding.
"You along will grant me the power of infinite wishes. Now come…Delara."
That scares her. Not only has she been completely stripped of any recognisable identity, but infinite wishes? To Nadakhan?! He'd be unstoppable — that's the point, isn't it. Nya's fate is sealed whether she likes it or not (definitely the latter) and she's powerless to do anything despite his promises of power.
He never loved Delara. He only loved what she could give him, and now it's the same for Nya. Nya, like Delara, can grant him unlimited power. Did Delara even love him in the first place, or was she forced into marriage too?!
Nevertheless, she follows him through the door and links his arm gracefully.
"I wish Nadakhan-" Jay's only now loud enough, presumably at his perch on the window again. However, the door slams shut behind him before he can finish his wish.
Discreetly up at her future husband, she recognises that he hadn't heard Jay. At least she has that tiny little privilege, because she certainly does not have much else.
She's getting married. Now, here, right here, in this dress, she's getting married. She's getting married to Nadakhan and she can't stop it. Nobody can, apparently, not Kai, not Lloyd, not Cole, not herself. The only person who can stop all this is Jay, and the last time she saw him he was screaming wishes through a window.
She glares out of another window that's reinforced by bars, as if believing hard enough will cause Jay to materialise outside of it. That- that stupid window.
Nya's been waiting here for ages now. Good. She'd rather stand perfectly still, frozen in fear, in a dress made for her torturous future than marry Nadakhan. The longer she can wait it out, the better. The more time she gets, Jay's chances increase on being able to rescue her.
It's silly.
Long ago, she'd created Samurai X. Samurai X was a chance for her to prove she could handle herself, that she wasn't delicate and didn't need constant protection. Later, she'd become a ninja to take down Morro and prove that she wasn't to be underestimated. Recently, she'd dumped her boyfriend because he was trying to protect her, treating her like he did before Samurai X.
Now the only thing she wants is Jay to rescue her, to protect her, to save her. And why? Because she's hopeless. She bites her lip and therefore saves herself from embarrassing tears.
Suddenly, regal music blares out from all directions, like the horns of doom from the celestial clock counting down to doomsday. That stupid music… FSM make it-
The doors swing open, revealing her to the hall's inhabitants. Dogshank, Flintlocke, Dubloon, and Nadakhan and Clancee at the altar. Others she doesn't care to recognise or doesn't know them at all.
She still wishes they'd all die. Especially Nadakhan. If nobody witnesses it, it can't be a real marriage, can it? She can't get married if the groom's dead, can she?
Despite her raging thoughts, she smiles weakly, her eyes immediately watering at a lack of distraction. As one final wish, one final hope, she mutters, "come on, Jay, where are you?" It doesn't help.
"She's…beautiful," she catches Dogshank say up front, to which she has only one reaction that she doesn't let show.
Die, bitch.
"And slower than a molasses dripping uphill," Flintlocke adds, which is kind of the point. Thanks for that, genius, I hope you die too. She also recognises Dubloon's face change to something resembling happiness, and she tries her very best not to scowl or sob.
Nya then deliberately slows her pace even further, even annoying herself with her total lack of movement. The music eventually ends before she's even a quarter of the way up the carpet, which she's thankful for, but then she shuffles the rest of the way in horrible, horrible, suffocating silence.
Desperately, Nya looks over her shoulder when she's about halfway up the carpet, willing for Jay to appear. Longing for him to save her. Come on, Jay… you promised you'd stop the wedding.
She checks again three-quarters of the way there, eyes boring into the bland wood of the room's heavy doors. The doors that Jay isn't coming through. Jay isn't coming in time.
She wants to cry.
Tears threaten to spill when she reaches the steps up to the altar, when Nadakhan takes her hand in his ugly one, when she's forced to hear the vows. Forced to seal her fate.
"I- I he- h- he- hereby d- d- declare from here until ee- ee- ee- ee- ee- ee- ee- ee- eternity that…" he holds up a fist as Nadakhan growls as if to say bear with him. Nya doesn't care and hopes that Clancee stutters on longer to prolong it all. She hopes he chokes and nobody else can deliver the vows so then the marriage can't happen.
She looks back, trying to see if Clancee's viciously annoying stuttering and her excessive lack of speed has given Jay enough of a chance. Much to her chagrin, nobody is there. She's alone.
"That this holy temple-" she looks to the door again, "in which you are married shall stand the test of time."
"You keep looking at the door," the wretch beside her states angrily, his tone less than pleased. She feels the sharp tug of his hook through her arm, pinching and pushing into her skin. He's rough, and this is only wedding. How is she supposed to do this?!
She thought that her whole starstruck lover's show would make him nice to her, at least. At least pretend he cares for his wife or something, make him go a little easier on her. Alas, he seems even angrier than what he ever could've been before. What did she do to deserve this?
Where's Jay?! She needs help! Now-!
"You said you'd stand by my side…" he leans in close to her face and she turns away instinctively. Not him. Not this. Not now, not ever, "Delara."
His breath is warm against the skin of her neck, his words hoarse in her ear. The hairs on her neck stand on end abruptly and her breath hitches, her tears finally leaking. Whether she's crying because of marriage or the piercing hook in her arm, she doesn't care. For once she might not even care that she's crying.
She can't marry him. She can't.
But she has to. She doesn't have a choice, and Jay won't show up.
"I'm not your Delara," she whispers under her breath, quiet like a blow of wind. Like her situation, her words are pitiful.
"What was that, wench?" He shouts, clearly having heard her. A bit contrasting to when he couldn't hear Jay's shouting his lungs out not even an hour ago. "What's up with you now?!"
"I- I-"
Nadakhan pulls her to him with his hook. It hurts more, and she bites her lip. There's no hiding it now. Her whole lover's act before was completely pointless now, if not to make her suffer. That's what this whole thing is, her suffering.
"Clancee! The vows!" He snarls, causing Nya to flinch. She's supposed to be tough. But she also was supposed to be with her family, and was also supposed to be with Jay, and she wasn't supposed to marry this horrid Djinn.
"Ve- very well, c- ca- c- captain," Clancee turns a few old pages in the book, which is more audible from the choking silence of the hall sans Nya's miserable sniffling. "Do you, Nadakhan, son of Khanjikhan, take this girl as your wife?"
"Aye," he states strongly, and Nya's eyes widen. She's said it a lot before, but nothing truly compares as well as her current situation. This is it. This is where it all ends. Prepare to lose it all.
"And do you, Nya-" Nadakhan growls, quite literally, and Clancee jumps. Nya almost feels something other than total resentment at the fact she just got recognised. "Er- um- err- erm- Delara, ta- t- t- take him as your husband. To make him all-powerful, freed from the restrictions of love, harm and added wishes, so sayeth Djinn law?"
Ironic how Clancee stutters over the word 'take' but is completely fine with saying 'so sayeth Djinn law'. Ironic is the fact that Nya, a girl who's always been fond of independence, is being forced to marry beyond her will.
Nya's never hoped so much for Jay to appear. Right here, right now, to save her. She hopes he appears last minute, screaming 'I wish Nadakhan wasn't a Djinn!'
It's never that simple, though.
"Well, my love?" Nadakhan presses, yet even more impatient than he was previously. He unhooks from her arm as if that'll seal her decision, as if a hook in the arm was the sole cause of her unsureness.
"Hm," she turns to the door one last time, though she isn't forcibly turned back around this time. All of a sudden, she hears the distinct sounds of Jay and -Cole? How did Cole get here- until there's the sound of cannons and a solid thud against the heavy wooden doors.
They came for her. She won't have to marry Nadakhan, she's safe, it's all fine! He came at the last minute, just like she'd prayed for-
"Eh?"
"Oh, erm… can you… gimme a minute to think about it?" She's genuinely smiling in excitement as she turns back to face Nadakhan, a smile she can't suppress.
But when he puts a gun to her head, her excitement dies down real fast. Not even a gun- chances at surviving a bullet through the skull at point-blank range are already unbelievably slim, but a cannonball through her skull?
Definitely not.
He then points one straight at Clancee, because he'd made himself just as untrustworthy as her when he'd called her Nya over Delara.
"She meant to say "aye!" He shouts, his already unpleasant features twisting horribly. "Now, finish the ceremony to make it official! We need those wishes!"
"Bu- b- b- bu- but sir, the doors-"
"Barricade the doors, let no one in! This needs to be done!" Nadakhan booms, hooking Nya's arm again.
She watches despairingly as Dogshank hurries over to her only chance at escape, throwing benches at it to block it off. Whatever ridiculous bond her and Dogshank had before, it's now blown up, crushed, burning, and destroyed. So much for girls fighting fair.
Thanks a lot, genius. I hope you die now, too.
"Continue…" Nadakhan almost looks like he's getting some sort of sick pleasure from all this, a confident smirk on his face. Nya unpicks herself from his hook, shuffling away slightly.
She scowls both at him and her horrid, faulty dress when she has to kick the very hoop itself for it won't stop catching in the grooves of the floor's cobbles, and that's an issue when you're trying to get away.
"And under the watchful eye of the seventh sun, may this crown codify the renewal today and years to come!" Clancee squeaks, and it takes every ounce of common sense Nya has not to strangle him again. She can see the bruises on his neck from where she'd done it before, but she'd end up shot if she tried anything now.
The snake pauses, looking confusedly and almost hopefully up at Nya's unfortunate future husband.
"Say it! Say it you disgusting worm!"
There's a few solid thuds of the door from behind it, a few grunts of effort from Cole and Jay. Can't Cole use his earthly super-strength or something? Hurry up, guys, c'mon. You're nearly here, just get it over with!
She's waited way too long to be rescued as is, why can't they see that? Why can't they hurry up?
"Let me find it, sir, just a second!"
Ridiculous.
"I'll shoot you, runt! Any fool in here could grant me this power!" Nadakhan snarls one last time, and Nya flinches as his aiming arm extends. His finger's brushing the trigger when a giant crash resounds through the old hall.
Dust flurries up and out, spewing out old cracks as a few inner structures shake. She coughs a little bit, though both Nadakhan and Clancee seem unfazed by the sound and state of the room. Something eerie about that keeps her from turning around, keeps her frozen there.
"By the p-power vested in me, I now pronounce you all-powerful!" Clancee stammers, hiding behind his book as if it's a shield. Well, from Nya's strangling fingers, it is.
Nya shivers as her new husband calmly puts his pistols back into his belt. She trembles as he lets out that horrid laugh again, and tears threaten for round two.
She's tied to this man now. This horrible, disgusting, abusive, selfish, excuse of a Djinn. She supposes Djinns were once honourable, but it's impossible to imagine once you've met someone like Nadakhan. Firstly he defied tradition, secondly he tortured innocent people, thirdly he stole and destroyed everything in his path. Next he did horrible things she can't be bothered to recall along the way.
She hates this man with everything she has, which by now isn't much.
"Do it Jay!" Zane? Is that Zane?! Did Jay get everyone back? The very thought fixes her in place for a beat. Everyone's back. She might just have a life to get back to once she's freed.
"I wish Nadakhan wasn't a-" loud, close, strong. It's gonna work, Jay's going to save her, she's going to be safe again-
"I wish you wouldn't say that!" Nadakhan's left her side by now, and is now floating mid-air between her and Jay. Beside her true boyfriend, however, is her brother. He lets of another god-awful laugh, but Nya refuses to cover her ears. No, she's been pathetic enough recently-
Kai!
She hasn't seen Kai in ages. Months, quite frankly. Longer than she hadn't seen Zane for, which is longer than that which she hadn't seen Cole and Lloyd for.
"Oh no, he has infinite wishes!" Her brother yells, turning back to the others at the door. Lloyd, however, is still old. Oh. Jay's muffled speaking picks up, which just sounds like he's been gagged more than a whatever-that-is over his mouth.
"And I don't have to follow any rules! I'm unstoppable! This feels…good." Nadakhan laughs again, and Nya goes breathless. This is exactly what she didn't want. The very worst outcome she could think of.
Nadakhan loving her regardless of who she is and her having to be married to him. Nadakhan's wishes still having their effects on her family, not ever getting to how they used to be. Said Djinn still having the same aggressiveness towards her and him having infinite wishes to make himself invincible.
She is bound to this man whether she likes it or not.
Well, she doesn't like it. Not at all. She never won't even approve of it even if she goes insane.
And now that her family's here to save her, that they're all able to stop him, she can do something about it. Like strangle him. Punch him across that stupid mouth to shut him up. Blood rushes into her ears as she squares her stance, kicking her skirt hoop once more.
She jumps up regardless of her dress and the difficulty it would cause her in landing, fist raised, teeth clenched, but Nadakhan catches her arm. Her breath catches as if on cue.
What will he do? Kill her? He has his limitless power now, so Nya's practically useless to him. She might get her tongue cut out and forced to work, or tortured like Jay but unlike him, until she dies. She might get put in some form of cell again until she's of use, or until she can be exploited for more personal gain.
Nya braces herself for impact. She braces herself should a punch or should she get thrown or should she get stabbed, but she remains suspended mid-air.
What.
But then the Djinn sprinkles some glittery-looking stuff on her, saying something, but she can't quite catch it. Her eyelids are dropping shut pretty fast all of a sudden.
She was mid-fight, her family's finally back, and she gets put to sleep!? She wants to cry out, but she can't stop herself from drifting off.
Once more, she can't do anything to stop Nadakhan.
When Nya wakes up, there's a poison dart in her chest. The same vial she had stolen from her before the wedding, before the dress, before she'd made it to Djinnjago. Ironic, really.
It aches where the poison sweeps through her, the dart pinching her skin, but she can't bring herself to extract it. It's already too late. She's going to die within a few minutes and not even Jay can stop that.
Nadakhan crumples before she does, but she isn't really seeing. Nadakhan's reduced to an orange blur on the ground, his stupid groaning falling on deaf ears.
She catches sight of Jay, her boyfriend. Stunning. "I wish… I wish you weren't a-"
He doesn't see her, but her lungs are already constricting, her vision already fading. It's too late. This is it.
"Jay." She grimaces, brow creasing. That one syllable has her breathless, a reminder of the ravaging poison within her. Her control over her body is slipping, the poison taking over her. Consuming her like a Tiger Widow itself.
"Nya! The poison hit you, too!" His voice sounds distant, as though she's in a fish bowl. But it's real. She's really dying.
Her legs are starting to wobble and knees starting to buckle, but the stupid dress won't let her move. She wavers over the malfunctioning hoop and stiff fabric until Jay materialises by her side and eases her down, holding her up like a doll.
Someone starts to say something, then someone else, but Nya can't hear. She can't even find the strength to move her head to look, although she knows she'll find it useless. All she can see is Jay and his face and how sad he is.
His brow worried and jaw clamped tight, he's trying not to cry for her. If she's honest, she's rather he did cry. Then, at least, she'll know someone cared enough to stay. It wasn't the guys' fault they left, but…
She wonders where her brothers are. Where Master Wu and Ronin and Skylor and anyone else is. How they are. Maybe they're dead, too. She hopes not.
Stay with me, Walker.
But he can't. Her eyes drift shut, but Jay shakes her ever so gently, his grip on her cold, limp hand persistent. The next time she catches sight of her face, he's looking like he's about to break.
He can't.
Jay worked so hard… he saved everybody and he shouldn't have to break. She won't let him. Her death shouldn't be in vain, because she's bound to die either today or at the hands of her new husband. Jay needs to wish away her husband.
If she can't be protected, can't be saved, Jay needs to save the rest of this cursed realm.
"You have to make your last wish," she insists breathlessly, pouring her remaining fumes of strength into it. She raises her weak hand to settle over his, but it flops down when she loses control. "You're the only one who can stop… him."
"No! I won't!" He insists, raising her a bit. She lifts her head reluctantly, displeased with the new dizziness settling over her. "Not if that means losing you. I love you. You can't go."
He's still trying to protect her. She can't be protected, doesn't he get it?! She's dying and he doesn't get it?!
It all comes down to that stupid boys club. It always will be a boys club, then. Because he can't see that she isn't fragile! She's been Samurai X, she's been the water ninja, and she's been Delara. She can't be protected from all of that, so he needs to stop trying. It's- it's- it's belittling.
"I never wanted to be part of your dumb boys club, anyway," she's bitter like poison, but she can't help but smile.
Jay says something but she can't register what; the poison leaving her brain foggy. Maybe death won't hurt. Maybe dying won't be so bad, and people just overreact about it all.
Wrong.
Everyone's going to grieve her, and then miss her, and then get sad, and then get angry. And before anyone can realise what's going on, people will argue, and some horrid event like this will happen again.
Or maybe people will take her as an example. The girl who was left behind ended up poisoned and dead, so don't leave your girls behind. At least, she hopes to inspire something like that.
Like Romeo and Juliet.
Her hands are cold. She can't feel her legs. Dark blots are covering the sided of her vision and now even Jay's face is blurry.
This is it.
"Oh, Jay. I guess…" she can barely breathe, but Jay hangs onto every airy word she says. She loves him. "The greatest love stories always do… end in… tragedy."
She can't even feel Jay's hand on her back now. She's numb and freezing, her vision fading rapidly. But she's happy. That bastard Nadakhan will finally get payback for all of this because Jay can't save her. He can only save Ninjago, like a hero.
The guys would argue she's been something of a hero, but she married the Djinn. She wasn't brave enough to defy him like Jay was.
Either way, Nya Smith dies proud.
Proud of Jay Walker.
"…implying by we?!"
She's… alive? And standing? What happened..?
Nya refused to be treated like a helpless girlfriend and caused the Ninja to be revealed to the public. Ninja got caught up in fame and publicity in the city and flunked their mission to run from fans. They were framed by Nadakhan and went into hiding in Stixx as an attempt to follow through on their original mission. They failed and went into Nadakhan's investigations to prove themselves innocent.
They were caught by police while trying to investigate Nadakhan. Both Misako and Wu went missing. Her and the ninja escaped prison with knowledge on how to stop the Djinn, how to capture him. The city was raided and Kai disappeared. The got the map and went to the island, only for Zane to disappear on the journey there. Jay got the Tiger Widow's poison and gave it to her before being captured.
Herself, Lloyd and Cole were rescued off the island and sent back into action but undercover as pirates. They eventually got to saving Jay, but Lloyd and Cole were captured into Nadakhan's sword just after Lloyd helped Nya and Jay escape. They escaped to Dr Julien's old lighthouse where they met Echo Zane. The lighthouse was raided and Nya sacrificed herself so Jay could preserve his wish.
The marriage. The rescue. Nadakhan's infinite wishes. The poison. Lying in Jay's lap while she died, doom inevitable.
Maybe not…
The air is crisp and the day is warm, a refreshing breeze lazily brushing by. She's above a building with the ninja, all the ninja, unaffected by their twisted wishes to Nadakhan.
"They're gonna see us!" Lloyd points to a helicopter droning towards them. The same helicopter from the island. "Quick! Take cover!"
Something keeps Nya rooted to the floor while the guys use cyclondo up to the billboard ledge. Maybe it's her lack of ability to do airjitzu, or maybe it's because this has happened before and she knows how it's supposed to play out.
Like a true love story.
She loves Jay. She easily recognises why she initially didn't, but it could be a lot worse. Jay loves Nya and Nya loves Jay and no evil Djinn-genie things can intervene with that. Not even death can affect that, apparently.
"Nya, you need to hide, too!" But the good love stories end in tragedy. Her tragedy started when Jay Walker failed to treat her as a teammate and not his helpless girlfriend. He scoffs, all manly-like. "Just forget what I said, okay? Just take my hand!"
She wants to. Oh, how she wants to. But she can't. Like Master Wu once said, change one thing, change everything.
"Just take his hand Nya," shut up, Cole. This isn't your business, is what her past self tried to think, but she pushes old indignant Nya aside for new, enlightened Nya, "or we're gonna… be spotted," his tone goes awry.
It seems to finally dawn on the guys that this has happened before. That it isn't the first time Nya's refused a hand on a billboard. Or maybe she just got a head start on remembering because she died. At least she won't be the only one remembering, but she doesn't really want to remember. She'd much rather forget Nadakhan and his horrors.
"Nya, take my hand," Jay repeats, and Jay's already defied destiny. His voice is sincere and solemn and he values her. He isn't saving her to save his own hide or just because he loves her. He's saving Nya for Nya's sake.
And Nya doesn't fear accepting help anymore. It's alright being independent, but it'll get lonely after a while, like she was in her wedding gown. Help is always appreciated.
However, she knows airjitzu- cyclondo now. She rises to the billboard herself, her own arm outstretched.
"No, take mine," a thrilling sensation abruptly washes over her when Jay takes her hand and flies with her. It's only them and them only, no Djinns and raising chunks of Ninjargon land in sight.
They're safe. Safe isn't something Nya's been in a long time, and the feeling is exhilarating like a high arching ocean wave. Excitement washes over her as she twirls Jay around, his earnest smile all she needs as reassurance.
They sink down, Nya wanting to test out her undead legs, and Jay latches on for a hug before she can take one herself. How long was it since she's had something as nice as this? She doesn't care as she grips back just as tightly, thrilled to be both back, alive, and safe.
"I remember. I remember all of it," she declares into his neck, and she finally releases him form her vice-like hug. He doesn't seem to mind, but he doesn't remove his arm from her shoulder.
He laughs warily. "I do too! It's like- like nothing ever happened."
"Like a dream," she whispers, and Jay smiles a little brighter. She may be full-on grinning herself, but she doesn't care to alter it. She's just resurrected, sue her.
"But how?"
"Who cares," she wraps her arms back around him, holding on tight, head tucked into his neck. Jay hugs her back, his head above hers, but her statement is a front.
Nya cares that Jay rescued her. It was his wish, it had to be, because otherwise Nadakhan would still be here if she were alive. How he did it all in one wish, that's what she doesn't care about.
Nevertheless, they're safe.
And that's all she can wish for.
I got inspiration to write this while eating an Easter Egg and listening to Maniac, I would walk (500 miles), and Lay All Your Love On Me. It was truly inspirational, I know.
Happy Easter!