Chapter Text
The next morning, the other leaders were getting ready to leave to return to their own islands. Last night, some of the dragonbloods flew back to the nesting grounds to collecting the other couples since the rest of the eggs must have hatched by now. Turns out Neuro was right, he and Shade had a sweet baby girl. When Ronin saw his dragonblood's baby, he was smitten with her. Nya and other the dragonbloods and humans had returned to their island at first light.
After a heartfelt goodbye and a promise to visit each other more often, Kai watched as she left with the others.
The Dyer family said their goodbyes and Unagami made his father promise they would return next year. He loved all the dragonbloods, especially the babies. They were super cute. After they had left, Vangelis and Vania also said goodbye. While Vania smiled and wished them all well, her father glared at Jay and Kai the entire time before they finally left. Last, but certainly least, Murt and Murtessa had to say goodbye. While Murt talked with Cliff, his sister stared longingly at Jay, but the ginger-haired teen made a point of wrapping an arm around Kai's waist.
She then glared at Kai but was not prepared for the ferocity he glared back at her.
She could actually see smoke blowing out his nose with every breath. He had heard that she tried flirting with his boyfriend, and it took Jay a lot of kissing and cuddles to calm the brunette down. Jay remembered that she said she wanted to fight Kai, but luckily it seemed she had come to her senses and would not be burnt to a crisp.
"So... you can get pregnant?" Jay suddenly asked through their link as he and everyone else waved goodbye to the ships.
"Don't even think about it," Kai replied firmly.
"What?"
"It's not going to happen."
"Why?"
"Not 'til I get a ring on this finger." He retorted and Jay snickered, watching Kai trying to hide a smirk. Out of the corner of his eyes, Cliff noticed the silent conversation between his son and the dragonblood. He may have been worried at first, but now he knew his son had found the right person. That didn't mean he wasn't going to be keeping a close eye on the couple, though...
Early the next morning, Ninjago dawned bright and snowy. Jay was woken by the house shaking again. There was no roaring accompanied it, but he instantly knew who it was. Instead of groaning and trying to hide under the covers, he immediately got up, yawned, and jumped out of bed, ready to meet Kai outside. At the front door, Jay paused to look at the village. It had snowed overnight, and every surface was covered in a thick blanket of whiteness that was about a foot deep.
It made the whole village look fresh and new.
An impatient roar from behind the house brought Jay back to reality.
"I'm coming, Kai!" He called, smiling and hopping down the steps. "All right baby, come on down, I was just..." Jay started as he rounded the corner. Then he stopped and stared. Kai wasn't on the roof. He was sitting on the ground, staring at Jay expectantly. His old saddle and tail fin were spread out in the snow in front of him. Jay had a moment of confusion. "Kai, what'd you pull this out for? You don't need this anymore." He shoved the saddle out of the way with his boot.
He walked up to Kai's side and prepared to mount him, but Kai quickly got up and moved away from him, turning 180 degrees and sitting back down in front of the old riding equipment.
Jay shook his head in confusion. What was going on here?
"Would you quit fooling around? You have your new tail now," He said, trying to mount Kai again and failing as the dragonblood ducked away once more. "Kai!" He smiled uncertainly. Kai glanced down at the equipment, then slowly hunched down and held up his tail. The new fin slowly fanned out with a soft clicking noise. It was perfect. The measurements weren't off even by a little bit. The material would last for years to come. It wasn't only the gift of a new fin.
It was a gift of freedom.
Kai lifted the tail higher, looked Jay in the eye, and without any warning at all, began to whip his tail against the ground, smashing the fin as hard as he could. Jay's eyes widened in shock.
"Kai! Stop! What are you doing?!" He cried as a dull snap came from the fake fin, and Kai kept shaking his tail frantically until the fin detached itself and was flung ten feet away into a snowdrift. Jay stood there, staring in disbelief. In less than ten seconds, a full night's worth of work had become undone, and Kai had thrown away the one thing that enabled him to fly freely. Why was he doing this? Kai gently took the old saddle in his mouth and tugged it across the snow in front of him.
He let go of it, looked up at Jay with wide eyes, and patted it with his front paw.
So many things were said with one simple action. Jay just stared at him, barely daring to believe what Kai was saying, and slowly he started to smile. Within a few minutes, the old saddle and tailfin were equipped and they were flying through the cold morning winds. Winter in Ninjago lasts most of the year. It hangs on with both hands and won't let go, and the only real comforts against the cold are those you keep close to your heart. Jay and Kai leveled out in the air, and Jay slowly unbuckled himself from the harness.
"Okay, baby, you ready?" He asked.
"Always Jaybird," Kai confirmed his answer with a low growl. Jay unhooked his prosthetic leg from the stirrup, braced himself, and leaped off Kai's back into the open sky. They both began to free-fall through the icy air, head first, side by side. Jay couldn't stop grinning. He glanced back at Kai. The dragonblood gave him a wide, upside-down, toothy smile. He reached out a paw and playfully gave Jay a small push, causing the boy to spin around in the air.
As the island rapidly zoomed up to meet them, Kai quickly spun around and Jay grabbed onto the saddle, strapping himself back in.
He tilted his foot back to make the fake fin snap out to the side. Kai spread his wings out, and he pulled up and zoomed over the forest, just brushing the tips of the trees and spraying snow in all directions. Turns out that was the best Day of Love ever. That year, Jay gave his boyfriend a pretty great gift. But the dragonblood gave him a better one...