Jaya Week 2023

Day 1: Hobby

With heavy hearts and heaving breaths, the six ninja sat on the sidewalk against a wall to calm themselves down from the intense battle they had just endured against dozens of low-level thugs. They were easier to beat than other villains, yes, but when there were nearly hundreds of them, it could get tiring.

But since they'd managed to take each and every one of them down, they decided to rest a little and restore their energy before going back home.

That part of Ninjago City was not very crowded since it was more on the "green" parts of Ninjago and not within the hustles of the three p.m. city chaos they witnessed every other day.

The building they were sitting against was a law firm, but there was an ice cream parlor right next to it, which Lloyd managed to convince Cole to go there with him and get the team some ice cream.

Zane saw an electronic store down the street and announced he would go there, saying something about wanting to get his arm checked since it had been bent in a weird angle during the fights. It was originally said he'd get treated by either Nya or Pixal when they'd make it back to the monastery, but "better get it fixed now than in three hours," as Zane said as he walked away from the other three.

Nya and Jay were leaning against one another for subconscious emotional support. Jay had a poster he had ripped off the wall that he waved in front of him and his girlfriend so that they could get some cooler air blown their way. It was refreshing for as long as Jay's arm could handle it before it cramped up and Nya had to continue.

Then his eyes landed on what he assumed was an orange and quite familiar ball across the street, almost completely hidden in a bush with bright green leaves, reflecting the beauty that was the early summer waves of more green and more life in Ninjago's nature.

Jay straightened up, making Nya frown since he pulled her up with him. "What?" she asked him and then followed his gaze. "A basketball?"

He nodded. "Come on," he encouraged her and stood up. His hand was brought down to her face, which she used as leverage to pull herself up to her feet.

Jay then turned and looked at Kai. "You coming?"

"Nah," Kai answered. "But you two kids have fun."

Shrugging, the couple left Kai on his own to cross the road. Jay bent down to the basketball and picked it up. He checked it for a name or any indications as to who it could have belonged to but couldn't find anything, so he began to dribble it on the sidewalk.

"You know," he said, not looking up at Nya. "I used to play the sport back when I was living at the junkyard."

He passed the ball to Nya and quickly stepped in front of her to catch it when she passed it back to him. They kept walking; her forward, him backwards.

"We attached a hoop to the backside of the van," Jay continued, "and played whenever we weren't given a bike to work on or a dealer didn't come to pick up some scraps. It was fun."

"How come I'm only finding that out now?" Nya asked him, genuinely confused as to how he could have kept such information about him to himself for so long.

Jay shrugged, catching the ball as it almost hit his chest. "It never came up." As the two kept walking, Jay turned his head and saw the basketball court of the park nearby, practically inviting him. "Come one," he encouraged her. The two walked faster and faster, the ball being passed around more roughly and carelessly. "Yes, that's it. You go one step forward and I go two steps back, like a rhythm."

Once they arrived at the court, Nya made a noise of disapproval as she refused to pass Jay the hall back. She held it close to her chest and shook her head.

"I might not have had that much to do with basketball when I was younger, but I can assure you I'm better than you," she challenged, and as a smile bloomed on Jay's lips, she knew she was in for a treat.

"We'll see about that," he said. Then, when she lost her focus for just a second, he used his powers to grab the ball from her in lightning speed.

"Hey!"

"Focus, sweetheart," Jay told her cockily as he spun the ball on his pointer finger, "or else you won't be able to catch up to my athleticism."

Before Nya could react, he hoisted the basketball into the air behind him and didn't turn around to see it go into the hoop.

Nya bit back a grin. She crumpled the sleeves of her gi up to her elbows and walked up to her Yin. Then she stared into his eyes as she poked his chest repeatedly.

"Game on."