Blanket Forts

Part 1

So, uh, I was working on Of Milk and Cookies, when this just sort of... Popped into my brain and refused to leave me alone until I wrote it. And I'm fairly happy with how it turned out, cause I do love my Jaya an awful lot, so... You may notice that I have chosen to play around with verb tense a bit for this particular fic, so I really hope that it works okay. Also, it's been awhile since I've watched Skybound or Hands of Time, so if anything conflicts with cannon, I apologize. Please enjoy "Blanket Fort" which takes place directly after the end of season 6. /\/\/\/\/

She can't breath – can't... Something is wrong... she feels like she's dying. Like someone has thrown acid directly onto her. Her chest burns. In the distance, she can hear someone screaming her name. Sobbing. What's going on? She's gone numb... Why can't she – It's then that Nya wakes, sitting up, breathing so sporadically that she's on the verge of hyperventilation. Just a dream. Just a dream... But, oh. Why does this have to be so hard? She's safe. Alive. The poison can't hurt her anymore, and neither can that djinn. She knows that. But it doesn't stop her from reliving every last sucky detail of what she faced less than a day ago (in fact, it's not even midnight yet, so...). She almost... No, it's best not to think about that... Maybe if she just. Doesn't sleep? She supposes. But that's not really a great option, cause then, she'll be stuck up all night with nothing but her own thoughts to distract her. And she's not sure she can handle being alone right now. She needs Jay. It's funny, she thinks slipping from her bed, how she's gone from actively avoiding the master of lightning, to being desperate to have him near her as much as possible. Love is weird like that. The hallway is dark, quiet. A stark contrast to the locations she's spent the past few weeks. First, on the run, then stuck in jail, or on an island, then on the run again... Being home is nice. Sort of. Except for the lingering trauma from the past few days. Yeah, the sooner they can recover from that, the better. And for now, the others don't need to know about how close everything came to being... The master of water quietly slides the door to Jay's quarters open. But... He's not there. In fact, if his bed still being tidily made means anything, he hasn't been in the room at all since they finally returned from Styx earlier. So, then... Where is he? Not the kitchen or living room, apparently, Nya discovers upon further searching. Sighing, she makes her way out into the deck – the only other place left to check. And it's a good thing she does, as it turns out, cause there he is, looking out over the railings, posture tense. A light summer breeze plays with his ridiculously curly hair, making it an even bigger mess that it usually is. Honestly, it's actually a pretty beautiful night. There are no clouds in sight; she can see millions of stars scattered across the sky.

"Couldn't sleep?" She asks softly when she reaches him. Jay flinched slightly at the sound, before realizing that it's her.

"Y-yeah... I couldn't stop thinking about how..." He says so quietly she almost misses it.

"Me neither. I-even after I scrubbed every last inch of my body, it feels like the venom is still there. Like, I keep forgetting how to breath.. And remembering how much it hurt... And..."

"Oh, Nya..." He breathes, wrapping his arms around her. She bites back a sob as she burrows into his embrace, reveling in the comfort it brings her. They rock back and forth for a few minutes, trying not to completely break down.

"I'm so sorry we had to go through all of... that. I-you died. It was horrible. And it was all my fault!"

"No. Don't you dare try to take all of the blame for this. I mean, yes, you definitely made some really stupid choices, but if anyone's gonna take the responsibility for what happened, it should be me. I started all of this a long, long time ago when I - " Nya angles herself so that she can see his face.