Ninjago - One-shots and short Stories

Day of the Departed // Jaya

Happy (belated) Day of the Departed!

I was toying around with some proper story ideas, but a) I am rubbish at writing action scenes and scary stuff, and b) this year has just been crap enough and we all need more Jaya and more fluff and definitely more Jaya fluff in our lives, so I ended up writing some Walker family fun instead - Jay trying to tell his children a spooky Hallowe'en story.

Thanks for all the suggestions regarding the Jaya kids. Amanda belongs to CaptainSteve1 (I gave her a twin sister though, hope that's okay). And little Gordon was a suggestion by Dissmisery .

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The Valley of Lost Souls

"The Day of the Departed – a magical night where all sixteen Realms align, and all sorts of mysterious things will happen. In the shade of the dark-"

"But daddy." A small voice piped up. "Why is it called Day of the Departed then?"

"Yeah, it should be Night of the Departed." A second voice, very similar to the first one, agreed.

Suppressing a sigh, Jay Walker directed his gaze towards the other sofa, finding two pairs of piercing eyes staring back at him curiously. Blue belonged to his oldest child – Amanda – who undoubtedly was the source of the question. 'Why' had always been the now eight-year old's favourite word. Seated next to Amy was Alison, her younger sister by twelve minutes, and the cheekier one of the two. While the two girls were identical twins, they could easily be told apart by their eye colours – Aly had grey eyes – which came with their respective Elements, Lightning and Wind. Needless to say, their powers and matching personalities had caused many a storm in the Walkers' household.

"Because-" The former Ninja paused to think for a moment. "Well, it just wouldn't sound as good, would it?"

"Also," Came another voice, but this time from a completely different direction. "While the perfect alignment might only happen at midnight, even during the day the Realms are already very closer to each other." Nya Walker explained as she entered the family's living room, to join her husband on his sofa.

"Hey." Jay greeted his wife with a kiss to her cheek. "How's he doing?"

"Finally asleep." Nya sighed. "Let's see for how long though..."

Earlier this evening, the parents had taken their kids trick-or-treating; and for the first time, this had also included the couple's youngest child, two-year old Cliff Gordon 'Geordi' Walker. The shy, sensitive boy had not enjoyed the experience though, but he had been thoroughly scared by the spooky decorations and monsters, zombies, and other creatures roaming the streets of Ninjago City. Eventually, Nya had gone home with the upset child and had spent the last few hours trying to calm him down.

"Poor Geordi." Said Amanda. And Alison added. "We'll share our sweets with him tomorrow."

"You're really good sisters." Nya smiled at them. "And, as you see, lots of people, including us, will spend the whole day preparing and celebrating this event. We light paper lanterns for our ancestors and loved ones in the Departed Realms to see. We decorate our houses and dress up to scare away the ghosts from the Cursed Realm-"

"But I thought you've destroyed that one, Mummy." Alison remarked.

"It's true. I have." The former Water Ninja blushed. "But dressing up for the Day of the Departed has simply become a tradition now."

"And it helps us get treats from the neighbours." Amanda grinned.

"But do you know how that tradition has come to happen?" Nya asked. "People used to leave treats outside their doors for the monks in Cloud Kingdom, hoping that those gifts would result in a good fate for the next year."