Ninjago Oneshots

Rain and Tears (Jaya)

Angsty Jaya because trying to make my audience cry is fun

𖣘𖣘𖣘

One year.

That's how long it's been.

It's been one year since Jay had lost his yang. His other half, his soulmate.

It had been a cold and rainy afternoon. The team had been called down to stop an armed bank robbery and... she didn't make it.

Jay could still remember the feel of her small hand going limp in his, the yang talisman she had been holding clattering to the cold hard floor.

He could remember it like it was yesterday.

And her last words: I love you, Jay. I haven't said it a lot but I love you. And I'm sorry.

After that day, for weeks the lightning ninja had refused to come out of Nya's room. Surrounded by her belongings, it made him feel like she was still there, that any moment the door would open and she would just walk in...

Of course, that didn't happen.

He'd almost gone mute with grief, a drastic change from his old "Master of Blabber" title.

There was a graveyard near the First Spinjitzu Master's tomb that held the earthly remains of all the deceased elemental masters. Nya had also been buried there. Jay, Wu, and the other ninja had seen it fit that she should lay among the other great protectors of Ninjago, close to the creator of the realm himself. It was what she had wanted. The first time Wu showed the ninja the graveyard, she had picked a spot nearest to the ocean and said "This is where I want to be buried."

Jay had remembered that exact spot, and so right there she was laid to rest.

Her funeral was the second-worst day of his life. The first, of course, being the day she actually died. After the ceremony and everyone had left, Jay had sat next to her grave for what felt like hours, talking to her headstone about... just everything he was feeling. It was comforting, to some extent, but Jay had also realized how much more depressing it was that he was talking to a carved piece of rock. Before he'd gone, he'd laid a single dark crimson rose of her grave.

The team had almost split up following her death. Kai, Lloyd, Cole, Zane, Pixal, Skylor, Dareth, Ronin, Wu, and Misako were all reduced to mourning messes.

Jay didn't want to remember how Kai had reacted to his sister's passing. The fire ninja had taken what the lighting ninja was feeling internally and made it very vocal- and fiery. Cole had been quiet, retreating to his room, but in the middle of the night Jay had heard him shouting and beating up the punching bag he kept in his room. Jay hadn't even been annoyed about all the noise- he hadn't been getting much sleep either. Lloyd had straight-up broken down. He'd lost his best friend, the one who was always there for him. The green ninja hated himself for not being able to protect her. Pixal and Zane has been this close to turning off their memory switches, just to get rid of the pain, but they knew it would be selfish and cruel to their other friends who couldn't do the same. Skylor had buried herself in work, stress-cooking for hours and burning herself several times on the hot stove. She hadn't cared about the pain though, saying that it was nothing compared to her emotions. Wu and Misako had tried to keep straight faces and said that she had died a hero's death and that she wouldn't be forgotten, but Jay had heard them crying behind closed doors. 

The whole of Ninjago had mourned the loss of one of its protectors. In Ignacia, her hometown, there was talk of raising a statue in her honor, much like they did for Zane.

But that was one year ago, exactly.

Now, here Jay was, on another cold and rainy afternoon, the anniversary of her death. The rain only served to remind the lightning ninja of his lost yang. He fiddled with the two yin-yang talismans, which he now kept on him at all times. He was at the graveyard again, sitting by her headstone, staring out at the lapping waves. Jay made no attempt to shield himself from the rain. His gi and hair were throughly soaked, but he couldn't care less.

"If you could see me now, Nya," he forced a light chuckle through the tears that he couldn't hold back. "I'm sure you would be ridiculously disappointed. You'd tell me to get up off my butt and do something useful. I'd probably whine and beg you to just cuddle with me for just a few minutes. Well, just know that no one's forgotten you, not at all. I'm going to spend some time with the others- Kai, Lloyd, Cole, Skylor, Pixal, and Zane- later though. I needed to come see you first. You'll always be my number one priority, even though you're not here. Am I crazy, Nya? I'm talking to stone right now, but it makes me feel better. Can you hear me?"

There was no response, of course, but Jay was content in the silence. After a while, he got up.

"I'm going to go now. Hopefully do something useful today... bye. I love you."

Just like on the day of her funeral, he gingerly placed a single dark crimson rose on the headstone, then turned and left. His face covered in rain and tears.

𖣘𖣘𖣘

Furiously wipes away tears

I'm not crying, you're crying!

I don't think I've ever tried this much while writing before...

But I hoped you enjoyed and let me know if you cried

😭

Ok bye