Enmity | Ninjago AU

Chapter 18

A/N so people don't accidentally read the second chapter before the first one again, this is chapter two of a double update 😂

Jay's POV

I walk though the same room for the third time, not finding Nya. Even though I know it's being naively hopeful, I hope she realized that Ciara let me out. She tightened the ropes herself, and maybe if she sees that her own "Auntie" was the one who let me out, it will create more doubt.

I've spotted several of the other girls, but not Nya. Skylor was standing grumpily to the side, a glass of sparkling water in her hand. I walked by Cole and Seliel dancing about fifteen minutes ago which I'm definitely going to question him about. PIXAL was looking at some exhibits. Luckily for me, I haven't seen Chamille, or at least I think so. If she's using her powers, I would never know if I saw her or not.

Several random people have stopped me to try to talk and take pictures. It's been hard to keep looking when they want to talk for long periods of time, so I have to find excuses to leave the conversations. Even though I'd love to talk usually, I need to find Nya.

After looking for a bit longer, I decide to stay in one spot. If Nya really is looking for me, she's moving around too. We're most likely narrowly missing each other, so if I stay in place, she'll walk by me.

"There you are, Jay," at the sound of her voice several minutes later, I lift up my head from looking at my shoes.

When I look up at her, the air escapes my lungs. My jaw slightly goes slack. Her raven hair is pulled back in an intricate bun, showing off her facial features. Her complexion is perfect. She's wearing a sleeveless, long royal blue dress. "Y-you look amazing."

My words cause a slight blush to rise to her cheeks. "You don't look too shabby yourself. You clean up really well..." she tells me, "not that I minded how you looked before, of course."

Now that she's here, I just want to talk to her. When I was held captive, talking to her was therapeutic. It helped me calm down when I got stressed or overly anxious. Now, it still has a calming effect.

"You don't have to lie to me. I look horrible, between the cuts on my face, the black eye, and the sling. I tried to cover the cuts and black eye with concealer, but it turns out I'm paler than I thought, and I bought the wrong shade," I explain, throwing in a little laugh at the end. Instead of laughing like I thought she would, it seems like anger seeps through her.

"She did this to you, didn't she?" Nya asks, clenching her fists by her side, just like Kai does. "My Auntie, she put you in that sling and cut up your face, right?"

"Yeah. She pulled out a knife, cut up my face, before stabbing my arm and twisting it," I explain. Nya closes her eyes, breathing in and out. She slowly clenches and unclenches her fists.

"I'm so, so sorry she did this to you. You didn't deserve any of it. She's just so...ugh," she can't find words to explain her anger. She goes to tug at her hair, but it's in a bun. She starts to build up more anger, her hands staying clenched longer. Her eyes shut, and she doesn't open them. Slowly, I see water droplets start forming in the air around her, getting larger by the second.

Impulsively, I use my good hand to grab onto one of her hands, causing her eyes to abruptly open, staring straight into mine. That's when I notice how much pain she's in. Her eyes are filled with it, "I-It's alright. Just breathe." I run my thumb over the back of her hand comfortingly. Slowly, I see the anger in her eyes fade away, getting replaced by some sort of softness.

"How did you do that?" she asks me, curiously.

"Do what?"

"You calmed me down. No one can calm me down," she tells me.