In an Alternate World (NINJAGO)

Chapter 8

Nya huffed, lifting herself on top of the last ledge before the large entrance of the tower. For Jay's sake, this better be the place. I'm exhausted. She glanced over the edge and noticed Sensei at the very bottom, sipping his tea as usual. Why couldn't he just fly them up here? And why did he decide to leave me alone with Jay?! Even if he was in his restraints, he still posed a threat.

"Water...Lily...." Jay's voice was hoarse from his constant screaming, but he still didn't hesitate to be annoying. "Let's take a short break. Don't pretend... you're not tired."

Nya rolled her eyes but followed suit. A little break did sound like heaven... "Fine." She glanced at his hands and felt a little guilty. "I don't know how you managed to climb up here with your wrists bound."

"That's the thing; I can't exactly lead you up the tower itself." He sighed, looking down. "Unless..."

"I am not releasing you."

"It was worth a shot." He laughed, scooting closer to her. "Anyways, it should be right at the top. I think there's a guardian or something though."

Nya looked down. "... Why are you helping us?"

"I feel like your sensei would actually beat the information out of me, so I'm fine taking the easy way out. Even if that does make me a traitor." He looked at her. "To be honest, being a prisoner is much better than being an underworld general. Even if you are the enemy, you and your sensei are one hundred times better company than those assholes."

"Watch it, one of those assholes happens to be my brother." Nya narrowed her eyes at him.

"God, no offense or anything, but he's the worst out of them all." Jay sighed and looked up. "But I suppose Lord Garmadon promised him what he desired most, just like the rest of us."

Nya looked at her hands sadly. "I wonder what that was..." She shook her head and looked at Jay. "Anyways, why are you helping me? There must be some reason."

"It's because I'm in love with you." He answered causally before his eyes widened. "BLUE! I love blue! The color! Because... water? You- you know?" He grinned awkwardly before dropping his head into his hands. "Ugh.."

The light blush on Nya's face was visible, but not as prominent as the dark red covering Jay's entire face. She stammered slightly before answering. "Did you really mean that?"

"I-I don't know." He looked away from her, huffing. "I've certainly been fascinated by you, but that's about it."

"Well, good." Nya sighed before standing up. "Even if you did, that would be a little fast, wouldn't you think?"

"I guess." Jay mumbled. "But you really are stronger than you think you are. You know how to take the initiative; that's an attractive quality."

Nya felt odd after he said that, a ticklish feeling in her lower stomach. Her heart was pounding slightly as her skin began to grow hot. "Attractive..?" Thunder rumbled and clapped around them, mimicking her heart rate.

Jay stood up, still turned away from her. "Yeah... and you're beautiful.... the prettiest girl I've ever met..." Blue lightning streaked throughout the storm clouds, illuminating Jay's face. Was he... crying?

"Jay..." Nya mumbled softly, moving towards him and hugging her body. "I can't... I don't... I mean, I..."

Jay turned towards her, letting her come to him. "I know... it's impossible for you to feel the same way... I just wanted you to know..." Once she reached him, he embraced her to the best of his ability. "... I don't want to be enemies, Nya. I want to be your friend."

Nya sank to her knees slowly, letting Jay slump on top of her. He pinned her down by mistake, causing Nya to feel even weirder than before. Hot and awkward, and... why was she feeling so tingly down there? Her face flushed from embarrassment, knowing that the way she was feeling wasn't natural.

The light drizzle from the clouds turned into a downpour. Jay apologized, trying to get out of their embrace. "This isn't what I had in mind- I'm sorry, Nya, I meant to-"

Nya held him by the back of his head and pulled him in for a kiss. She closed her eyes, letting the rain pour down on them and ignoring her odd feelings. Pleasure? Is that what I'm feeling? Is it really pleasure? She parted her lips from his for a moment, moaning and gasping for air. God, it's so bad... but it feels so good... What the hell is happening to me?

Jay eventually moved on from the initial shock and joined in the kiss, slipping his tongue into her mouth. Nya heard him moan a few times, trying to grab her, only to remember he had his handcuffs on. He pulled away and sat up, greedily sucking in air.

Nya blinked a few times before snapping out of it. "Oh shit, the nunchucks!" She scrambled to her feet and abandoned Jay, sprinting into the entrance to scale the tower.

Once she grabbed the nunchucks, a giant blue dragon appeared at the crack of thunder. Nya swallowed, stepping back.

It growled for a moment before nudging her gently, almost urging her to get back down. "Y-You're right, boy." Nya breathed shakily, patting the dragon's claw. "I need to get going. Sensei's waiting."

She hopped down ledge by ledge until she reached the bottom of the tower, quickly walking past Jay. "Come on, we need to go." She muttered quickly, too embarrassed to even look in his general direction.

"Right. Yeah." He sighed and hopped down the ledges, following her.

God, I hope he realizes that was just a one-time thing. Usually she wasn't this impulsive; that was her brother. But with Jay... He did something to me. There's no other explanation. Some underworld curse to get me on his side.... and I keep falling into his trap. God, why am I so stupid?!

"You have the nunchucks, excellent." Sensei smiled before noticing the tears brimming Nya's eyes. "... I'm sorry, Nya, I should not have left Jay with you-"

"It wasn't him." Nya answered quickly. "The dragon startled me. I'm fine now, Sensei, I just can't get over the shock."

"Oh. Good." He smiled again, patting her arm. "Let us retrieve the remainder of the weapons." He turned towards Jay and called out to him, "Hurry up now, we don't have much time."

Jay followed without protest, still star struck. Nya could tell he was staring at her longingly, but she refused to look at him. She wasn't going to play his games anymore.