Faded

12. Getting along

Both Jay and Chloe walked down the streets of Ninjago. Jay missed this, he have never felt this connection since Nya. They had a fun time all day, spending each other time like they had never done before.

For Chloe, she was a shy person, but with him, as well as her two-tier friends, she felt comfortable and somewhat safe, especially with Jay being a ninja and all.

"So, what are you going to do here?" Jay asked Chloe as they walked down, the quiet road.

"I don't know, study I guess? Or tried to make be the number one spot on the archery club!"

Jay remembered when he and Cole saw her in an archery club, she was a skilled one.

"Yeah, I'm sure you will be. I am surprised. I saw Zane do it but you? You exceeded my expectations!" Jay was exaggerating as usual.

For some reason, Chloe felt that she missed this, or that she felt she wanted more from him.

"I am not here on my own. I am here with my two friends, Seliel, the other girl you met and a guy named Camilo."

"What are they like?"

"Great friends. Camilo, he's a troublemaker." Chloe laughed a bit before continuing "And I always have to be there to fix his mistakes.

Jay sighed, this reminded him of Nya and Kai, and the fact that Nya had to fix every mistake Kai made as well.

"If I am being honest, I had another one really close to me that passed a year ago."

"Oh really? What happened?"

"Well, let's say we forgot one of our ethos when doing a mission."

Chloe felt bad for Jay, she never thought an energetic person, let alone a ninja, had lost someone in the past year.

"What was she like?"

"Great person. I still miss her to this day but you know you gotta move on. Like you, she always has to fix her brother's mistakes, who is a hot head." 

"Brother?"

"Fire ninja." Jay promptly answered Chloe's question, as if he knew what question she was going to say.

"Was that the red dude who was with you when you saved us?"

"Yeah."

Chloe liked talking with Jay, it seemed as if she missed someone like him, and it felt weird.

"What do you want to do now? Go for an ice cream?"

"Sure." Chloe smiled at Jay, which reminded Jay of Nya, but in a positive way.

So Jay and Chloe went to the ice cream shop to get the ice cream. And after they ordered, the sat down to eat.

"So, what do you do every day now?"

"Saving the day, playing games. I felt we had this conversation before."

"Sorry, I'm shy, I tend to ask the same question."

"It's good. It's not annoying."

Jay smiled at Chloe, making her feel warmth in her heart. Chloe felt closer and closer to Jay, the more she talks to her. She never felt this towards anyone, especially towards Camilo. They're just friends.

For Jay, he likes this new friend. She was a nice, gentle person in his eye. So much that it reminded me of the love he lost years ago, lost because of his mistake. He remembered the time Kai was mad at him for a day, and the whole team had to break the two apart.

Soon, their wedding venue got refunded and the cake got donated to another wedding couple, which they hope are having a great life now.

Then, soon after, one by one, the team began to recover, with Jay being the last. The team were supportive of each other. There where defenders of Ninjago during the grief, just no team. Zane and PIXAL covered their missions while others were recovering, soon Cole and Lloyd Joined and then Jay.

Schloe noticed the sadness in Jay. Has she upset him? Maybe.

"Is there something wrong?"

Jay looked at her with surprise, he was so good at hiding his emotions that nobody could just tell from his expression. Perhaps, she was something special.

"Uh, it just... thinking about what happened the past year you know. I am surprised you are able to read my expression like that."

"Well, don't tell me how I knew." Chloe just shrugged as she went to put the empty cup in the bin as Jay looked on, he was starting to like her.

The days went on as Jay and Chloe spent their time together until broth broke off for their dinner.

Chloe went home to find his team preparing the meal for them.

"How was your new partner?" Madtila, now Seliel, questioned as Chloe changed clothes.

"Great, I felt this surge of emotions after him."

"That means you have a crush!" Seliel, excitedly looked at Chloe "Congrats!"

"Thanks." Chloe looked around, before sitting on a sofa. "What about you?"

"I think we hit it off."

"Nice. Congrats. I thought you and Camil-"

"Zip it, we're just friends." Seliel chuckled before continuing her cooking, she doesn't like Camilo to the extent to a point she wants him every day.

"Speaking of which, where's Camilo."

"Watching videos of Ninjas, wishing to get powers."

Speaking of the ninjas, back in the monastery, Jay was in a dining room with Cole alone, dinner was over, and Cole left behind to have some dessert.

"How was she?" Jay asked Cole, it was clear he was talking about Seliel.

"Great. Nice to talk to a person who is not a fan. For once." Cole doesn't like people simping over him just because he has muscles or is handsome, he just wants people to be themselves, which Seliel was, in his eyes.

"Nice. I am starting to like Chloe. She reminded me of Nya but in a positive way."

Cole simply smiled at Jay, it was nice seeing him happy for once in a year, he was his best friend and all he wanted was for him to be happy/

"So what next?"

"I don't know. Things are getting boring around here. I wish there was more excitement around.

"More chaos you say?"

Ever since Nya died, things have been unusually calm for some reason. Each ninjas missed having a big boss battle but Wu insisted that they should be thanks full that many lives are not at stakes cause of it.

"You can say that." Jay responded as he ate a small cupcake while watching Cole gobble down on a Key Lime Pie.