Prompt: the ninja hosting an easter egg hunt
Takes place shortly after season 6, while the ninja are still super popular celebrities ~
"Agh, how did we get roped into this?" Cole grumbled.
"Dareth arranged it," Nya answered, "but I'd figured you would enjoy something like this."
"Oh, I do love kids, and a good egg hunt too. But did you know we can't eat any of this stuff? Dareth says it's a bad look for Ninjago's heroes to be eating the kids' candy."
"There, there" Nya mock-comforted Cole, patting him on the back. Her hand passed right through him. She put her arm back at her side before he noticed; he was distraught enough over the lack of candy available to him without being reminded of his greater suffering.
"I'm sure we'll have plenty of sugar to make ourselves sick on later. Go have fun!"
Nya watched Cole head back into the gardens to help the kids. Before long he was laughing and showing off his ghostly abilities by shifting through the trees, and demonstrating his super strength by picking up four kids at once.
She smiled to herself as she watched Kai make a big deal out of his fire powers for a group of awestruck children. She saw Lloyd had started an impromptu storytime for a few fascinated kids, and Zane was happily answering an endless stream of questions, half of the time giving a technical answer that flew straight over their heads. At last she spotted Jay, playing a game with some children and getting dogpiled on the grass. Suddenly the children all yelped and jumped away, squealing wildly. Jay knew the kids loved being able to say they'd been shocked by the elemental master of lightning - as long as it was a low grade harmless shock, at least. Nya laughed at the joy of the children, her own mood lifted.
Jay noticed her watching and was by her side in an instant. Neither of them said a word as he leaned closer to her and she leaned in too. She closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of the sun and comforting weight of Jay supported her as she leaned back.
"We have to tell them" she broke the silence quietly.
He was silent for a moment. "Why?" he asked softly.
When Nya looked at him quizzically, he added, "They'll never understand. Even with all the other things we've been through, it's just too crazy. They might not even believe us."
"They deserve to know, Jay. Ninjago was almost destroyed... Zane has a brother!"
"Who's already gone!" Jay hissed, careful not to attract the others' attention. "We went to the lighthouse and he wasn't there. You want to tell Zane he has a brother slash copy of himself that we met in an erased future that's now missing? What if he doesn't even exist anymore?"
"Well.. he's not gone." Nya stated reluctantly.
"But he is, we have no idea where he went?"
"Not Echo Zane... I mean Nadakhan. He's still in his teapot, and he probably remembers too. They need to know, in case he ever comes back."
"He won't" Jay's mood changed suddenly. "And if he does, I'll put him down before he can be a problem again."
Nya looked at Jay with concern and a hint of fear. Jay's expression softened as he realized he'd carried it too far. She shifted closer to him, taking his hand and leaning her head on his shoulder.
"I know it was hard for you. Probably even worse than it was for me" she wondered what exactly had happened while he was a captive on Misfortune's Keep. She hadn't gotten any answers from him yet. "But you don't need to worry anymore. It's over."
"Is it?" Jay tensed as he considered the possibilities. "You were just saying we need to tell the others in case he comes back."
"Just a precaution," Nya assured him, "better to be ready for anything."
"Let's tell them about the teapot, that there's a dangerous djinn in there. But we'll say we did more reading. I don't think they need to know about the whole alternate timeline thing."
Nya nodded slowly in agreement. Jay was right. Tell them about the threat, but no need to talk about Zane's potentially erased brother, or that they'd all been sucked inside a magic sword. Besides, Kai would freak if he found out she had died.
"Okay. For now, at least."
"Right" Jay smiled at her. "Now come on. I know a few kids that would love to add 'splashed by the master of water' to their bragging rights" he grinned playfully.
~ And that's the story of how Jay and Nya decided not to talk about Skybound. The other ninja know a few things (like Lloyd mentioning the Teapot of Tyrahn in season 13), but they don't know it all. I'm not sure if the Decoded episodes are canon or not (I think they are?), and if they are then I guess Nya talks about it some after season 7. Around this time (or at least by 10 considering the mural) the others know there's an erased timeline where Nadakhan raised chunks of Ninjago, there were sky pirates, etc. But they still don't know many other details (such as character deaths or missing persons).
I wonder how Zane would react if his brother were to reappear.. and he found out Jaya knew about him, and said nothing?... Hmmm
