A blue Spouse (Ninjago Royalty AU)

*CHAPTER 70: A shadow of himself

It was finally out in the open. What had been torturing Jay for weeks was no longer a secret only he knew about. A part of him felt relieved; voicing his feelings had lightened his anguish a fraction, but now, a different worry made its appearance —his parents' reaction.

What were they thinking about him? Did Jay even want to know that? Could he handle being reviled by his progenitors?

Edna leaned away a few inches, hoping to see her son's face clearer, but Jay kept it hidden from her.

"Kai? As in... the King?" The woman blinked with surprise at the confession that had just reached her ears.

Jay shook with terror, regret was running fast through his body. Oh, Brahma, why had he done this?! Why couldn't he just stay quiet and suffer his deviation in silence like everyone else did?

His hands clenched Edna's dress tightly, he couldn't stop what he felt for Kai, but Jay didn't want to lose the love of his parents either.

"I'm sorry!" Bawled Jay, voice losing all its strength in a second. "I'm so sorry! I don't know why it happened. I... I just..." The sobs were too violent for the boy to keep talking, snorts were running down his nose as his whole face got soaked in tears in record time.

Gentle hands were on him again. "My baby, calm down," Edna shushed her son, bringing him in to resume their previous hug. "Breathe, you'll pass out again at this rate."

Jay clung to the woman with all his might, trying to make himself a map of her little body, just in case he had to leave her forever in a few minutes. Edna, though, remained calm on her spot, same with her husband. Both adults rubbed soothing circles on Jay's back as the boy fought against his own jitters and cried. He would cool down for a moment then explode the next second, no sign of stopping anytime soon.

"I'm so sorry..." Jay went on with his lamenting.

"Why are you apologizing for, honey?" Edna whispered in his ear while caressing her son's scalp.

"Because I... I... never wanted to upset you... I tried to avoid it, but I..." His cries won the battle again. He had tried, very hard and stubbornly, to block all the feelings that started to grow inside of him as soon as he set foot in the palace. But Jay could have tried a lifetime and still have fallen in love with Kai and his family. They had been right from the start; Love was free, it didn't know about genders, and when it hit you, there was nothing to do against its magic.

The married couple was silent, Jay shook in Edna's arms, his heart at the top of his throat, ready to jump out and abandon his body at any moment.

"Jay... Son, we're... we're not upset," Ed muttered.

Jay gasped. His head shot up and he zeroed on his father's face.

"I'll admit it's... shocking," Ed said, checking with his wife for a more proper word. "But apart from that..." he shrugged in modesty, leaving Jay quite confused.

"But... But I'm not normal, am I?" Jay sobbed. "Normal boys don't... do this."

Ed and Edna looked at each other, the woman pushed a flock of ginger hair away from Jay's eyes.

"Honey... Is that what's been eating you up all this time?" Jay shrank with shame as his mother's supposition hit the nail on the head. "Jaybird... 'Normal' only means 'what happens most commonly'. It's okay to be different. Your dad for starters; his ideas are a bit crazy, but they make for great inventions too."

Ed chuckled. "And your mother was the smallest girl in her village, but she's just as amazing as any other housewife."

Cheeks flushed and wet, mouth hanging open as his breathing remained erratic while staring at both of his parents, Jay was left in complete astonishment. Was he... hearing things?