Chapter Text
Nya was raised by her older brother, Kai, on a small farm in the countryside outside the city of Ignacia. The hills were rolling, a vibrant, lush green, the sky was always a sparkling blue. Her favorite pastimes included riding her horse, arguing with her brother, and tormenting the farm boy that worked there. His name was Jay, but she never called him that.
Shortly after their parents had disappeared into the night, leaving a young Kai and Nya to run their farm alone, the farm boy strolled across their path in search of work. Kai told him that they had nothing to offer and to keep walking, but Jay was persistent. He promised that he would work for nothing, just room and board, having nowhere else to go. Nya had been intrigued by him from the moment his sparkling blue eyes caught hers, sending her heart into her throat. To counter the feeling - and to make sure Kai didn’t suspect that it was there - Nya sneered before agreeing. As the years went by, she continued to torment the farm boy, taking almost too much pleasure in ordering him around, though Jay never seemed to mind.
“Farm boy, polish my horse’s saddle," she’d say, climbing off of her stallion and landing gracefully in the stable, the tip of her nose and apples of her cheeks flushed, her hair pulled back and wild. “I want to see my face shining in it by morning.”
“As you wish ,” he’d reply, watching with a smile as Nya turned on her heel and zipped away, off to do her own chores before Kai returned from town.
As you wish. That was all Jay ever said to her. She’d demand the world from him, or just insist that he do simple things that she was perfectly capable of handling, and every single time he would respond the same way. As you wish.
It continued for years, like a well-oiled routine. Until, day after day, things began to shift.
"Farm boy, fill these with water,” Nya said one afternoon, dropping empty buckets beside Jay as he chopped wood, sweat sparkling on his chest and neck. He straightened up, his curls sticking in every direction from the afternoon’s work. A tiny grin twitched at his lips, and Nya couldn’t help but stare at them. After a few moments admiring the chapped pink skin, the tilt upward, Nya realized that her gaze had been lingering. She flickered her eyes back up to Jay’s eyes, brown meeting bright blue as blush rushed into her cheeks. “Please.”
Jay’s hair fell into his eyes as he nodded, chewing on his lip in a grin. Nya willed herself to maintain eye contact. “As you wish.”
That day, as she walked back to the farmhouse - only turning around to glance at him one more time, seeing that Jay was watching her go - Nya was amazed to discover that when he said as you wish , what he really meant was: I love you.
And, even more amazing, was the day she realized that she loved him, too.
Jay crept into the room, trying not to startle her as she prepared vegetables for that night’s stew. Nya felt his eyes on the back of her head, watching her fingers twitch over the carrots and peas as he put down a pile of firewood in the corner of the room, then moved to exit it. Nya’s heart fluttered and she whirled around, frantic for him to stay. “ Farm boy!”
With his hand on the frame of the door, Jay turned to look at her with a smudge of dirt across his cheek.
Nya looked around, trying to find something to keep Jay in her orbit. Finally, she landed on the pottery hanging above her. “ Fetch me that pitcher?” she asked, gesturing right above her head. Jay tilted his head as his gaze wandered above her, then dropped back down to her face. Nya couldn’t help but smile at the way his lips parted as he breathed, stepping back into the room and to her side in three slow strides. When he stopped, his face was mere inches away from hers, his hand reaching up to fulfil her request. Nya didn’t take her eyes off of him as he pulled down the pitcher, also unable to look away, and pressed it into her hands.
“As you wish ,” he whispered, the wind rustling his hair.
Their love was like a fire. For years, they had been quietly stoking the embers of it, keeping it just warm enough to be comfortable. Every as you wish prodded at the coals, never letting them extinguish. Once their feelings were out in the open space between them, the fire burned brighter. Flames licked at the air and grew, burning both of their insides. Jay had never loved someone as much as he loved Nya. Nya could never have planned to love someone as much as she loved Jay.
But, as most fire does, it was extinguished.
Jay, having no money for marriage, packed his few belongings and left the farm to seek work across the sea in Ninjago. It was a very emotional time for them both, having never left each other once they had fallen in love.
“I fear I’ll never see you again”, Nya whispered into Jay’s shoulder on their last day together, her arms wrapped tightly around his middle, refusing to let him leave her.
“Of course you will. ”
“But… what if something happens to you?” Nya’s voice quivered. Jay squeezed her back, then pulled away enough to take her hands, looking deep into her tearsoaked eyes to ensure that his words wouldn’t be missed.
“Nya, listen to me. I will always come for you.”
“But how can you be sure?” her voice cracked as Jay’s hand made its way to her cheek, his thumb running along the mole next to her eye. She leaned into his touch, her heart swelling.
“This is true love. Do you think this kind of thing happens every day? ” Jay asked, grinning and tilting his head. Nya smiled in return, constantly amazed by Jay’s ability to make her feel safe, secure and confident with his simple words. Even though she felt a pit in her stomach as he kissed her, then climbed onto his horse and rode away.
Jay didn’t reach his destination. The ship that he had boarded was attacked by the Dread Pirate Rogue, who was notorious for never leaving captives alive. When Nya got the news that Jay had been murdered, she went into her room and shut the door. For days, she neither slept nor ate, despite Kai’s gentle attempts to get her out of the room, constantly staring at the pitcher that Jay had fetched for her years ago. Back in the beginning.
That day, she swore: she would never love again.