The Missing Piece

Chapter 6

Jay twirled around in his bed. He tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep in peace. A whirl of thoughts and memories consumed his head, forming terrible nightmares. From time to time, he hears a shriek of a girl calling out for help, the laughs of a devilish Djinn, the cackles of a merlopian king, the swishing tail of a sea monster, crackles of lightning, hushing of water, and the voice of a girl. A familiar voice. Jay used to hear that voice every morning, day and night. The voice of Nya.

Jay jerked his head up as his eyes opened wide awake. In his sudden manner of waking up, his head hit the top bunk with a loud thud. Rubbing his head from the sudden injury, he looked at the wall clock. 5 am. No one wakes up this early. The sun is barely up, and he is again dreaming about his long-lost girlfriend.

He peeked at the top bunk, curious whether he had woken up his roommate. Luckily no. Cole slept soundly as if he wore earplugs, not twitching from the loud thud. Confirming he was the only one awake, Jay sat on his bed and facepalmed himself as tears rolled down his cheeks, slowly trickling down his neck and soaking in his blue striped pajamas. Shivering from the morning cold, Jay wiped away his tears, grabbed his blue jacket, and shrugged away his blue blankets.

 Jay shrugged the sleepiness from his eyes, walked to the kitchen, andstarted brewing a hot cup of tea. Although his face is tear-free, his thoughtsare still crying aloud. Jay looked at the windowsill, staring at the Jade Fallsas it reflected his depressed face. His face is twice darker than usual(although it might have been because of the shadows), black circles started toappear around the eye, and tear stains are not a rare thing to see anymore. 

Sitting on a bench, Jaysipped his tea slowly, watching as the Jade falls change their colors. Fromsilver-ish white to jade green to a hue of light blue. And then he saw it. Brightblue light falls from the top of the waterfall towards the river like a crystalball. Shaking his head in disbelief, he darted to the upper deck and rushed tofollow the shining blue light pulled faster and faster by the currents.

"Nya!" He shouted. "Is that you?! Wait up!"

Suddenly, the current stopped, and Jay came to a screeching halt, almost falling into the river himself.

"Jay?" A soft voice gurgled from the river.

Crouching low beside the river, Jay stared at the blue light, his mouth quivering in disbelief.

"N-Nya...is that you?"

The blue light stirred and rose above the water surface, forming a new shape. Arms started to grow on both sides of the blue light, followed by fingers and legs. A long neck, a cute face, hair, and a ponytail sprouted one on the other. Everything is made up of water. Jay stands still as if paralyzed, staring open-mouthed at the girl in front of her. The girl opened her eyes. Although it's now aquamarine blue instead of the usual hue of brown that Jay used to stare at all day, it still rings a bell in Jay's head. The figure is his soulmate, his yang, his girlfriend, and the love of his life, Nya.

"Jay..." Nya's voice echoed through the area, slightly gurgled and muffled from the crashing sound of the waterfall.

"Nya, I-I-I miss you...." Jay stood up, facing Nya as a slow trickle of tears rolled down his face.

"So am I," Nya smiled, reaching for Jay's hand. "I always dreamt of meeting you but never got the chance until now."

"H-How did you find me?" Jay trembled still in disbelief, struggling to embrace his lover's touch.

"I heard from the little fish that roamed these rivers that they spotted the bounty, so I rushed here to meet you at once."

"It's good to see you again. Soon all of this will be behind us because we're all here to save you. We're all here to bring you back to the old you."

Nya looked down, her face full of uncertainties. "I'm not sure that is wise, Jay."

"Why not? Don't you want to be you again? To be back to normal?"

"Of course, I want to. But I fear the safety of Ninjago will be at stake if it happens. Perhaps you should be patient and not tamper with the timeline...."

"WHO CARES ABOUT NINJAGO?!" Jay shouted, pulling his hands away from Nya. "I promise I'll bring you back, and I'm a man of my words! This plan might've been the only chance I could save you, and I'm not going to dismiss it. Besides, didn't master Wu tell us not to put off until tomorrow what can be done today?!"

"But he also says, changes anything, changes everything," Nya muttered slowly, looking away from Jay.

"Look," Jay sighed. "I'm sorry I shouted earlier, but it's because I love you, Nya. I-I miss you so much. I miss resting on your shoulders and going on dates with you. I miss all of those times I have spent with you. I-I need you." A slither of tears slid down his cheeks.

Nya smiled and hugged Jay patting him behind his back, soothing him until he stopped hiccoughing and sniffing from time to time. The sun rose in the east, and Nya's body began to glow.

"I'm sorry," She muttered, pulling herself away from Jay. "I have to go now."

Nya reaches in for Jay's chin raising it until his face parallels hers. She touched his cheeks passionately, comforting his sobs. Clutching his face with both hands, she pulled his face close to hers until their lips met. Jay felt a soothing and comforting feeling. Like a breeze of warm air after a cold winter. He raised his hand, touching hers. Their fingers intertwined with each other. After a few minutes passed, they parted. Jay's face now has a much brighter hue as he blushed madly, staring googly-eyed at his lover.

"Don't worry," Nya muttered, their hands still intertwined. "I will remember you."

"Me too..." Jay smiled as another drop of tears fell into the lush grass below. Another wisp of air wrapped around the two once again. Jay closed his eyes as he felt the fingers intertwined in his hands slowly fading away. Gradually, the wind started to recede, and he was left alone again, with only his thoughts for company.