Transgender Jay : A Ninjago Story

47 - Letter

Seeking a solitary spot at the Bridge hadn't exactly worked, so after the run in with Kai, Jay had instead tried to catch a lone moment in Lloyd's room.

He lay down on his temporary bed, and stared at the ceiling. It wasn't anything particularly special, it was the same type of ceiling that was used across the Bounty. Polished wooden boards, lined up one by one.

Jay fixated on them, hyper-focusing to keep his mind off anything else.

In a few places, they were splintered, and in others, the wear and tear from years of sea voyaging was showing through, though the boat still remained a timeless masterpiece. It was likely that the vessel would go on existing for years and years to come... potentially outliving all the beings that currently called it home.

For a few minutes, Jay had blissful silence - apart from the now gentle patter of the rain - before there was a knocking at the door. Not particularly demanding or hard, but knocking nonetheless.

He felt like aggressively telling the person to go away, but, what if it had turned out to be Lloyd? This was his room after all.

"What's up?" He asked, loudly enough for the other person to hear.

The door clicked open, revealing Cole.

"You've got mail."

"... wow, at this time? In this weather?"

"Yeah, but, the postman doesn't seem all that mad, apparently. More relieved that we even answered his call. We're gonna fly down to him so, thought I'd warn you first."

"Thanks Cole."

The two of them headed over to the bridge, while somebody was already steering the ship down to the earth. Had Cole not told him, Jay maybe wouldn't have even noticed. After so many years spent on the Bounty, air travel felt more than natural to him. In fact, sometimes, when Jay woke up to a still ship - settled in the air or floating on the top of the ocean - it felt almost... wrong.

The steady movement lulled him into enough security to be able to think.

Jay couldn't think of what could have been sent to him, and it was making him feel uneasy.

He considered a message from his parents, but they always either called or texted him when they wanted to talk.

Hate mail? That was a possibility. If hundreds of people flocked to his social media to hurl abuse, surely more of the traditional folks would send letters, describing their disgust at him. Oh well, it was only to be expected.

Cole noticed his apprehension, and gave him a smile.

"Hey. If it turns out to be anything nasty, we can throw it away and never think about it again. Look at it this way... somebody wasted a stamp for nothing at all." he reassured.

"Woah. Read my mind."

"Not exactly. No offence, but, I just don't know what else it could possibly be."

"Yeah, fair enough."

Still, it stayed in his mind, festering and worrying the whole way there. There was something on the back of his mind, something pricking at him and screaming for attention, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it...

And then he stopped still.

Cole didn't realise until a few paces later, then quickly turned to face his friend.

"... Jay? Is everything alright?"

He didn't respond. He didn't do anything.

Slowly... he took a deep breath to calm down, and met Cole's eyes once more.

"... I know what it is."

With that, Jay started to move again, faster than before, almost speed-walking down the corridor.

"Jay! Wait up! What is it?"

He didn't answer.

After trying a couple more times, Cole quickly realised that he wasn't going to either.

Jay was walking very fast, but Cole had longer legs than him, so it only took a few dedicated strides to catch up and catch his arm, pulling him to an instant stop.

"... Jay! You, you can't just say something like that, then refuse to tell me what you're on about!" He exclaimed, though softened his voice as he went

Jay turned and looked at him, with a deeply sad look in his eyes.

"... I've got that letter before."

It was the same familiar sadness which only arose about a certain topic, one which had been mentioned very sparingly.

"... oh..."

He let him go, and they made the rest of the way to the bridge with no further interruption.

They had practically landed by the time they joined the others.

Zane was the one piloting, and sent Jay a small smile and a wave as he entered the space. Nya and Kai sat off to the side, with Lloyd wandering around without any aim. Sensei was missing, as usual of late.

Their mentor's repeated absences had started to worry Jay. Whenever he was seen, he looked healthy and normal, and didn't seem stressed out or preoccupied. He went to the occasional meal, woke them up for sunrise stretches ever now and then. He just often... didn't really interact with the group, which was odd.

It didn't annoy him all that much, but it was very confusing. This was a dire time, with all of the issues surrounding Dei Noctis, and the problems within the team.

Was he doing it on purpose? Drawing away? Or... did he even realise himself?

At any rate, that wasn't the most important current problem.

The rain had stopped now, save from the occasional droplet that escaped from the empty clouds. Jay wished that it was still going. If the constant barrage of the weather was still around, the uncomfortable silence within the bridge wouldn't have been so blatant, or so uncomfortable.

It... hurt a lot. To see the team so divided.

Only a few months ago, they were all laughing along, getting on together like one big family.

Now they were split up into groups, different sides, not trusting one another, like good friends and family should have been able to do.

So much had changed in so little time...

He missed the old ninja.

As soon as Nya realised he'd arrived, she and Jay exchanged a glance. A brief glance, that ended as quickly as it started.

Only the two of them truly understood what this letter meant.

And even though they were more separated than they'd ever been before, the slight feeling on unity in that moment, gave Jay the strength to carry on.

The Bounty landed, and the postman came onboard.

This wasn't going to be pleasant.