Return of an Old Foe

Resetting Time is Confusing

Disclaimer: I don't own Ninjago, just the story.

The ninja were sitting in the Destiny's at the table with Flintlocke across from them.  None of them spoke yet.  It was a very tense silence.  They wanted to discuss things with the pirate before really trusting him.

"Are you going to talk at all?" Kai asked.  "Or are you just going to stare at us like you're studying us?"

"I believe that you ninja might be right about Nadakhan," Flintlocke started.  "There are things that I feel like happened that I should know about that I don't.  It's hard to explain."

"In some strange way, we understand what you mean," Cole said and glanced over at Nya.  After the timeline reset, he, Lloyd, Kai, and Zane all could tell that something was up with Jay and Nya, but the two of them wouldn't say anything.  It took weeks before the two finally told them what happened.  It was weeks of the boys waking up to Jay's constant nightmares.  Weeks of Nya acting like she was surprised to be there in the first place.  Weeks of Jay having panic attacks and seeming to be in pain in places that, to everyone else's knowledge, he hadn't been hit there anytime recently.  Once Jay and Nya had finally told them all what happened, it was hard to believe.  Lloyd and Cole were the two that believed them immediately.  It explained everything going on in a way that nothing else could.  Zane thought through it logically and researched information about djinn to see if it could be true.  Once the nindroid determined that it could happen, he believed it.   Kai was in denial that his sister could've died and he didn't know.  It took the longest for him to believe what Jay and Nya said happened.  Having Nadakhan back now and going after Jay was enough information to seal the deal for them that it did happen and Jay and Nya didn't deserve to be the only ones out of their team to remember everything.

"How much do you know?" Nya asked Flintlocke.

"I know the stuff that Nadakhan had told me which I'm pretty sure is not true and the blue ninja told me a summary of the events that you guys claimed was the truth," Flintlocke responded.

"Let me give you the longer version."  Nya explained to Flintlocke what happened in the alternate timeline in more detail than Jay had given him.  She didn't go too much into Jay's time on the Misfortune's Keep.  That was mainly because she didn't even know what happened when he was Nadakhan's prisoner.  Jay never opened up about that.  By the time Nya was done, the other ninja except Zane had already left the room.  They didn't like to listen to it almost as much as Nya doesn't like recounting it.  She only did it because it was important at the moment.  However, she will probable get on Lloyd, Cole, and Kai's case about leaving during the story while she managed to tell Flintlocke the entire story after they get Jay back and defeat Nadakhan.

"That all actually happened?" Flintlocke asked.

"Yes, it did," Nya said.  Zane put a reassuring hand on her shoulder since he knows it's hard for her to recount the story, especially the ending of it.  "Jay's wish reset the timeline and me and Jay kept the memories.  No matter how much we wish we could've forgotten like everyone else."

"My guess would be that Nadakhan purposely wanted you two to keep the memories.  Even though I trusted him before, I knew that he would twist people's wishes in any way he could, especially his enemies.  He might not have been able to avoid resetting the timeline, but he could control who remembered and who forgot."

"That's really not reassuring."

"Does that mean you believe us?" Zane asked.

"I do," Flintlocke said.  "What you said makes sense and it just feels like it all happened, even if I can't remember it."

"That happened to us too," Zane added.  "After we were told the story, we might not have been 100% convinced, but it still made sense to us.  Like we had been through it and that made it more possible, to us, that it did happen."

"We're probably starting to make less sense, huh?" Nya said.

"I can kind of understand," Flintlocke said.  "So, do you ninja have a plan?"

"Not really," Nya said.  "We have the Tiger Widow Venom, but we don't know where the Misfortune's Keep is at the moment."

"I guess that it's lucky for you that I believe you.  Give me a couple days and I can sneak you on board."

"A couple of days?!" Cole exclaimed as he came back into the kitchen.  "Why can't you sneak us in now?!"

"If I sneak you in now, there's a good chance you'll get caught and your friend could end up in worse shape."

"Worse shape?" Lloyd asked as he came back in with Kai.  "How bad is he now?"

"He could probably use a doctor," Flintlocke said.  "Not like Nadakhan would give him one.  Like I said, give me a couple of days unless you would like your friend to end up dead."

Nya locked eyes with Lloyd.  She didn't want to leave Jay there for any longer, but the look Lloyd was giving her told her that this was the only way.  Flintlocke is right.  If they go in too early, things could get a lot worse.  They can't risk it.  Nya nodded which was her way of telling Lloyd that she agrees.

Lloyd turned to Flintlocke.  "We'll give you a couple days."

Flintlocke stood up.  "I promise to help you ninja in any way I can.  I'll come back here in a couple days to get you all.  I'll have to sneak you in at night when the crew is sleeping."

"Ok.  Don't get caught."

Flintlocke laughed.  "I know how to not cause suspicion on the ship."  The ninja escorted Flintlocke off the Bounty and then watched from the deck as Flintlocke took off in the smaller flying ship.

"Why do we have to wait?!" Cole asked once the smaller ship was out of sight.

"Flintlocke was right," Lloyd said.  "We can't risk anything happening to Jay during a rescue attempt and it'll be morning soon which means that there would be a likely chance the crew would be getting up as we would be saving Jay."

"I hate to say it, but Lloyd is right here," Nya said sadly.  "We have to be smart about this."

Cole sighed.  "Fine."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed!