A Second Chance

Part 54 - So heartwarming

I woke up in a bed that felt way too soft to be real, and for a second, I actually thought I was still dreaming. 

I wonder what they put in that portal to make me black out like a light, but my brain was still way too foggy to figure it out. I remembered those two people who saved me. I'm thanful they did, but I really hope they didn't call Kai and Nya.

The city... it feels like a distant memory, or maybe it was just a mental breakthrough I had while I was rotting in the desert. Having a strong mind is great, but reality isn't something it can ignore. 

Nearby, I heard the steady rhythm of a hammer hitting an anvil from somewhere nearby. It was that familiar metallic ring, just like the sound Kai and Nya made when they were remaking the golden weapons from the golden armor. 

I looked around the room to get my bearings and saw the proof I was looking for on the wall. There was a photo of a scrawny kid with spiky hair who was definitely a young Kai, and a girl with short black hair was standing right next to him - Nya. 

"I'm really back at the blacksmith shop," I whispered to myself.

I forced myself out of bed and headed into the hallway even though my legs felt like lead. Believe it or not, I already know who live here - Ray and Maya. They are the parents of Kai and Nya and the the former respective elemental masters of fire and water.  

They were forced to work under Krux after he blackmailed them about Kai and Nya. When we later fought the time twins, Kai and Nya found and rescued them, and I eventually visited them. It went down much better than I expected it to be. Maya was very calm and dearly, and Ray was also pretty chill - we bonded over Kai's favorite videogame. 

I headed down the stairs and turned the corner right into Ray, who actually let out a yell and nearly dropped the tool he was holding.

"You're finally awake!" he shouted while he clutched his chest like I had just given him a heart attack.

"Yeah, it's been a while," I said with a tired grin.

"Ray, what's all the shouting about?" Maya came jogging into the room and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me standing there.

"So you two are the ones who dragged me in from the cold?" I asked.

"We found you face down in the grass after that weird light show," Ray said while he shook his head. "We didn't even know it was you until we got you under the light. Sounds like you took the long way home, Jay. Where have you been hiding for the last decade?"

Maya gave him a look that could melt steel. "Ray, leave the poor boy alone. You don't have to answer that right now, honey. We just wanted to make sure you didn't kick the bucket because you looked dangerously hurt."

"I'm alright," I said while I felt a frown creep onto my face. "Think of it as a really long journey that went south after the banishment."

Ray crossed his arms and looked at me with a serious expression. "I don't know why the others bought that story about you, but me, Maya, and your folks never believed a word of it."

Suddenly, I remembered something I shouldn't have forgotten. "How are they?! Are Ed and Edna okay?!"

"They're doing just fine," Maya promised with a kind smile. "We trade letters all the time and they're still out there at the junkyard. They never stopped waiting for you to come walking through those gates."

I let out a massive sigh of relief. "Thank the First Spinjitzu Master for that."

"Nobody in the Elemental Alliance would let anything happen to them," Maya added.