Chapter Text
The Land of Monsters was exactly as Kai had described it. Dark, almost colorless, and filled with creatures of all sizes. This was most certainly not where they wanted the gate to take them. After they had passed through the portal, something happened to their powers. It started with a splitting headache and ended with neither of the elemental masters being able to conjure their powers. Since then, they had been trying, but it seemed like their powers were stripped from them, as if they just suddenly stopped coursing through their veins. In the days that followed, Kai was in charge of navigating and Jay piloted the mech, which they were grateful to have, but they knew it would stop working eventually. Often times they stopped so Kai could get his bearings before continuing. They had tried the gate, multiple times, but it just stopped working. And since Kai had already escaped this place once, they figured they could do it again. Many times Kai stopped them and went off on his own ahead for a bit, only to circle back and change course. Nya had no idea how he even knew where they were, everything looked the same. Kai would mutter to himself a lot, something about having to be stuck back here again. She could tell he was on edge, perching on the head of the dragon as they trekked. She didn't blame him. No one would ever want to come back to a place like this. And now he was back with his sister and her amnesic fiancé. Though as on edge as Nya was herself, she was dealing with more pressing matters.
She hadn't been able to really talk to Jay about what made him go back to the cave for her, what changed his mind. They had exchanged words of course, but they hadn't really held a conversation. He wasn't particularly chatty at the moment. All he said was stuff about the mech, questions about food, and remarks about Kai's direction choices. Nya was honestly too busy in her head to think about those things. She was almost always thinking about Jay. About how to make him remember, how to make him trust her. But mostly about his words in the cave.
"I don't remember you. But being with you...makes me want to be...not a terrible person."
Those aren't words you would expect to hear from someone who supposedly shattered their soul. What had made him say that? Why the sudden change? Would she even get a moment to talk to him? Kai was always around and if he disappeared, it wasn't for long. Of course she had to be trapped with her amnesic fiancé and her brother. Jay or Rogue (she supposed), seemed annoyed every time Kai opened his mouth. Probably because they fought all the time over who had better survival skills. Kai didn’t have his fire anymore, and it frustrated him to have his power gone yet again. Especially in the place where his power saved him. Rogue claimed to know all about survival and boosted about how fast he could make a fire. The conversation always ended the same way every night, because Rogue had to be an ass and rub it in Kai's face, which just pissed him off. Kai didn't have his powers at the moment, but that didn't take away his fiery attitude. If they still had powers, it would be nearly impossible to separate them. Nya was always the one to step in. Not like she really had the choice. She was a little afraid that they would hurt each other (mostly because of Rogue). Eventually, Kai would give up and refuse to talk for the next hour. And Jay would triumphantly start the fire in seconds. It would be heartwarming, to see him satisfied with himself, if Jay remembered them and they weren’t trapped in literal hell. Nya just had to hope that they would get sick of having the same fight every night. Kai had seemed to notice her off behavior, and only commented on it once, when Jay was busy doing other things. She deflected and lied, saying she was just tired from the cave battle and was missing her powers. Kai obviously didn't believe her, but he didn't bring it up again. He had enough to deal with himself. All Nya wanted was enough time alone with Jay to be able to talk to him when he wasn't trying to be a 'tough guy' around Kai. She didn't exactly know what to say yet, but she had faith that it would come to her in the moment. Despite Jays shattered soul and trust issues, and the constant deflection about his past, Nya could still see her Jay in there, somewhere. She had seen him a few times, the clearest being in the cave. She just needed to find him again.
---------------------------
They had been walking for days, and Jay was beginning to comment on the mech needing repairs. He kept bugging Kai about it, but Kai just deflected, saying he's leading them somewhere they can stop. He had been standing on the dragon's head when he held up his fist, signaling Jay to stop. Nya was surprised to see a grin on his face when he turned around. Walking across the dragon's neck, Kai spoke,
"See those white clouds over there?" He pointed off in the distance, and sure enough, there were huge, fluffy white clouds just a few miles away, standing out against the constant dark sky.
"Yeah? So what?" There was Rogue, with his snarky remarks, but this time Kai ignored him.
"Those are clouds of steam from hot pools. I came across them during my...travels and they aren't from this realm. I don't know how they are here, but I know they're safe. I say we set up camp there for a while."
Nya liked the idea of hot pools (it had been days since either of them had had a bath), but she was a little skeptical.
"If you don't know where they came from, how do you know they are safe?"
"I stayed there for a while last time and nothing happened. I didn't even see any monsters around. I think they might be from Ninjago. It's kinda like a mini oasis."
Jay scoffed but didn't say anything. Nya simply nodded. The thought of water and safety was enough to convince her.
"Let's go then." Kai grinned at her, and turned his attention to Jay, who was fussing with controls. He looked up when he felt Nya and Kai waiting for his input. He sighed, "Fine, whatever. If we die to water monsters it's your fault, red guy."
Without another word, Kai returned to his spot and Jay started the mech again. Kai didn't really like being called "red guy", but he had learned not to argue about it. Nya was just glad Rogue hadn't called her "lady" in a while. Nicknames from Jay were usually sweet or teasing, but that one just made her feel forgotten.
----------------------------
They reached the pools faster than she had expected. They weren't huge in size, but there were lots of them. As they got closer, the steam clouded around them, making the air feel moist. Nya welcomed the change. Kai guided them to the center, where the air wasn't as heavy. He had failed to mention the trees that grew by the pools and the soft grass that covered any exposed dirt. For the first time since arriving to this realm, Nya felt somewhat safe. Kai also seemed to relax a little, jumping down off the mech after Jay stopped. Nya was quick to follow, relishing the feeling of soft, solid ground beneath her feet. Jay eventually followed, leaving his hat behind, though he didn't seem as happy.
"See what I mean? This place it great!"
"It's certainly something," Nya was still taking in her surrounds as Kai started unpacking their few supplies from the mech, which Rogue had thankfully taken the time to stock after the Land of Lee incident. Jay had wandered over to one of the pools, staring down at his reflection. Nya watched, taking in how his shoulders relaxed and he let out a sigh. Maybe this place would give her the chance to talk to him, when he wasn't so high strung. She turned her attention to Kai as he started tossing stuff down to the ground. Nya joined him, pulling things under the extended dragon wing that served as a cover from the elements. They had learned the hard way about sleeping under the stars. Kai called Jay over to help, which prompted him to groan and mutter under his breath as he walked over. Nya reached out to grab one of the blankets, but Jay had beat her to it. Her hand landed softly atop his, causing them both to freeze. She couldn’t help but gaze into his eyes as he looked at her with surprise. They had changed a bit, little flecks of red mixing with his blues, but they were still her Jay’s. She must have been staring for too long because he pulled his hand away. She softly apologized, he grunted in response, and they both turned away to hide their blush. She tried not to do that again for the rest of the night, even though her heart wanted her to. Right now, she needed to focus on what she would even say to him given the chance to talk. It was all she thought about as they ate their small dinner in silence and as they settled in the grass to sleep. It was on her mind until she eventually drifted off to sleep, listening to Jay shifting restlessly next to her.
--------------------------
Kai was up before both of them and had successfully started the fire again, which would absolutely piss Rogue off when he woke up. It seemed he had picked up a few tricks from Jay in the past few days. Days that were starting to feel like weeks. Nya was the second to wake, followed by Jay, who glared at the fire that greeted him when he sat up. After they had a bite to eat, Kai started talking.
"I didn't just bring us here so we could relax a bit," Nya didn't really understand, as sleep still clouded her mind, but she woke up when Kai spoke again, "I need to leave you two here and go look for...an old friend."
Jay seemed to be wide awake now too, "Wait, what?! We just got here and now you want to go off by yourself?!"
"Yeah, I have to agree with Jay on this one. Is that really a good idea? Who is this friend, anyway?"
Kai paused, trying to find the right words as to not piss them off more, "I know, I know. But this is something I have to do alone, and I wanted to leave you guys somewhere safe, somewhere that's easy to find. You can see the mist clouds for miles."
"And the friend?" Nya was starting to feel like Kai was leaving out important information.
"Right. See, that's where it gets complicated. She's my friend, but she might not like me showing up again with two strangers. She's also not exactly the friendliest. I actually fought her the first time we met." Kai seemed a little sheepish and Nya tried to think if he had mentioned a friend when telling her about his first time in this realm. She did remember after a moment, and it checked out.
"You mean the talking dragon that you somehow became buddies with?"
"Yep, that's the one. She's not mean, she's just a little touchy and I don't want to freak her out. It will already be a shock when she sees me again. We kinda said goodbye like we would never see each other again."
Nya was still trying to wrap her head around everything. So, her brother really did meet a giant dragon. Jay, however, wasn't buying into Kai's idea.
"So, what's your plan, then? Go try to find the talking dragon you were friends within a massive realm, then what? Ask her to fly us out of here?" The look on Kai's face confirmed Jay's rambling. He almost let his tough guy persona drop and Nya thought he would say something nasty back, but he just shut his mouth and folded his arms.
"Well, I guess as long as you can find her, it's worth a shot." Jay raised an eyebrow at Nya, but she tried to ignore it. Right now, Kai's idea seemed to be their only hope of even trying to get out of here. And plus, that would give her time to talk to Jay.
"It's settled then; I'll get ready to go."
"You're going now?"
"Yeah, I don't want to wait any longer. She might be nearby, actually. We met not far from here."
Nya helped Kai stuff what little supplies they could give up into a pack Rogue had packed. His survival skills were certainly paying off, though he was reluctant about Kai taking stuff. He had stocked the mech well, but only for one person. They were stretching out what they had. When Nya asked about the trees, Kai told her that they were fruit trees he had seen some time ago on one of their missions. Nya made a mental note to check them later.
------------------------------
As Kai disappeared into the mist, Nya stood watching, while Jay fussed around with the camp. Suddenly, she was terrified of talking with him. They didn't say much. Jay mentioned something about lunch, and Nya was thinking about getting into the hot pools. Maybe the warm water would clear her mind and allow her to think. And she was desperate for a bath. The air in the Land of Monsters was dry, and she was already feeling dry from missing her element. Maybe she could invite Jay? It might help him relax too, and he needed a bath. She loved him, but the ponytail did not do his curly hair justice, and he clearly didn't take care of it. It reminded her of a certain person they had met, many years ago. She decided to put off her thinking for a while and worked up the courage to ask Jay to join her.
"Jay?"
"Hmm?"
"Wanna join me in one of the hot pools?" Jay looked up from the goggles he had been tinkering with. He fixed her with a weird gaze.
"Why?" Nya faltered. She never had to beg Jay to do anything with her before, and she was severally out of practice with flirting. She shrugged, "I just thought it would be nice to wash off a bit. And it's been so dry. I just thought maybe you'd like to join me."
Jay sat there for a moment, thinking. To Nya's surprise, he put down the goggles and stood up. He didn't say anything, but Nya understood that he accepted her invitation. She tried to hide her smile and felt her heart almost leaping out of her chest as she turned and walked to the closest pool. The water was milky white and had a faint smell of minerals. She had gotten Jay to join her, now came the part where they actually had to get in. That only made Nya's heart race faster.