?'s POV

"Is that Princess Skylor as in the Princess Skylor, the master of fire's soulmate?" Neuro's jaw is agape as he looks at the girl whose body is surrounded in amber. Her eyes are shut, her arms crossed over her chest inside the block. Her red hair is even more vibrant mixed with the orange of the amber.

"Yep. I'm not going to go over the logistics of it, but her body is paralyzed whilst being preserved in the amber from the bacteria of the outside world. I have the serum to activate her body again, but I need you to wipe her memory or at least seal the memories away. She can't remember her past for my plan to work," I explain, bringing my hand up to the amber and running it down the front. It's so cold, making my lip curl up a little.

"That's outside of my control. I would need a constant hold on her at all times to block her memories from resurfacing, and while I've been training, I don't know how well I could do, especially if I was trying to do other things with my powers at the same time. The only person who could truly seal the memories without needing the constant hold on her would be..."

"We don't have the master of lightning, now do we?" I snap, shooting him a quick glare since I know what he is about to say. "While I get her out of the amber, you will find a way to make her forget everything. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Master."

---

After hours of chipping away at that brick, I finally managed to get Skylor out of the amber. Now, I have her sitting in a chair. She is still wearing an old, regal, orange dress from 600 years ago. Flakes of amber are stuck in her hair, but they blend in well enough with her red hair that I don't care enough to pick them out.

"I think I've done it," Neuro informs me, exhausted after working for hours on end. "It took a lot of trial and error, but I..."

"I don't care as long as it works," I preemptively cut him off before walking to the counter and grabbing a syringe of serum that I concocted. Then, once I walk back over, I pierce her flesh, slowly injecting her arm with the fluid, before placing a bandage over it.

The two of us hover over her from far enough away that it isn't considered creepy as we wait for her to wake up. The serum is slow acting in order to gradually wake her body up and prevent injuries and complications. However, I'm annoyed at how much time it consumes.

"Once she is awake, we'll deploy a team to go stop the masters of fire and water with her in it. She was quite the fighter back in the day. Plus, I gave her elemental powers that have just been marinating in her. I don't exactly know what they are, but as the master of fire's soulmate, they're bound to be good. I was able to pump so much into her because she's a walking regulator. Hopefully, it turns out well," I explain. "I just need to get everything moving, so I can restock my supplies."

When I hear a little grumble, my head snaps up to look at Skylor. Her body starts to slightly stir, making a smile appear on my face. My plan worked.

Several minutes later, her eyes finally open. Looking around the room, she's bewildered, fear clearly on her face. Her eyes are wide as she backs further into the chair.

"Where are we? Who are you? Who...who am I?" she asks, her hands gripping the seat. Her eyes dart around the room.

"Sssh, don't be worried, Skylor. Everything is okay now," I reassure her, meeting her amber eyes. "It took me a while, but I was finally able to heal those nasty injuries of yours."

"Injuries?" she looks down at her hands, unsettled. "I seem fine."

"Because I healed you," I take one of her hands in mine. "Skylor, what do you remember?"

Looking up at me, I can see a bit of the fear leave. I'm convincing her that I'm helping her. "N...nothing."

"Oh no, I knew you hit your head, but I didn't know it was that bad," I feign worry. "I was just happy I found you in time."

She looks between Neuro and me. "What happened?"

"Well, you don't remember, but you were the oldest of three siblings and a princess, the heir to the throne. The elemental masters of creation deceived you all, seducing the three of you, so you would let your guards down. Then, they all came together to murder your middle sister, PIXAL. Then, they tried to kill you too, but I was able to rush in and save you after they left you for dead. Because you were in such a dire state, I had to paralyze your body to ensure you didn't die as I tried to find a remedy for your injuries. I finally was able to heal you, so I woke you up," I perform the story I concocted, pouring emotion into my delivery. Her hand finds a way to her mouth, trying to conceal her emotion. "I had to turn you into an elemental master in order to enhance your healing to the degree it needed to be. I'm sorry, but it was the only way."

She looks down at her hands. "An elemental master? Look, I'm confused, and I need time to process things. Can you please bring me back to my home?"

I give a fake "should we tell her?" look at Neuro before sighing. "That all happened a long, long time ago. The home as you knew it is no longer there. I froze myself along with you and had my descendants wake me once they thought the technology was good enough for me to find a cure for you. It's 628 years after the accident," I inform her, making her slump even more. "The only people still alive are the ones that killed your sister. We were hoping that you could help us capture them, considering you have powers and all."

"I..."

"I don't want to force you into doing anything because I know how much of a burden it is to undertake a task of this magnitude. We're just trying to avenge your sister," I place a hand on her shoulder, pouring my heart into this speech. Neuro is already struggling to keep her memory under wraps. He can't need to manipulate her thoughts too. He couldn't handle that. I need to convince her traditionally.

"Do you think that this could help me regain some of my memory?" she asks, her eyes glimmering with hope.

I take advantage of it, "Of course. Seeing them again might jog some things."

"Fine, I'll help you. Thank you for caring for me."

---

Nya's POV

When Kai and I step out of the carriage, my feet feel like they have weights attached to them. Jay is so close to me, and I'm terrified to see him. He was my everything, but then he left. He's been living perfectly fine in his little utopia for centuries while I was struggling. I don't want to confront that.

Once an arm wraps around me, I'm pulled from my daze. "You're going to be alright. I'm here for you."

"Thank you, Kai," I tell my big brother. Even in this short amount of time, I already feel so much closer to Kai. He cares, genuinely cares, about me. It's obvious, and it's exactly what I need right now. This journey is already pushing me to my limits. I need support.

Looking at a little note he wrote to himself, he squats down before picking up a rock. I raise my eyebrow at the action, but once he starts tapping the bottom of it, I decide to not question him. Soon enough, the seemingly open space in front of us slides open, revealing a whole new world behind it. My eyes widen in amazement. This technology is groundbreaking.

"Ah, that nerd with his tricks. He always told us he'd figure out how to make an invisibility cloak, but I never assumed he'd actually be able to. Come on, let's go," he insists. "The carriage can follow us in and wait inside the border."

He starts to walk inside, so I have no choice but to follow. As soon as I walk in, the feeling in my shoulder amplifies, a throbbing pain enveloping my deltoid. I take a deep breath to control the pain. It seems to hurt even worse than 468 years ago.

When I walk inside, I'm amazed at the scenery. Everything is so...different. If Kai's kingdom was the past, this is definitely the future. There's a little security checkpoint that is manned by one person in casual clothes. Behind him, there is a "doorway" with dozens of lasers shooting between both sides. As we approach it, the man's eyes widen.

"Oh wow, we have visitors," he says in shock, standing up straighter to look more presentable and wiping off his shirt. "Hello, what is your business here?" he asks, friendly.

"I'm an old friend of Jay's. I want to have a little chat with him," Kai casually informs him. "And this is my little sister."

"We... ummmm...who is this Jay you speak of?" he (awfully) tries to deflect that Kai used his name, nervously leaning against a wall and tapping his foot. I guess this is to prevent his actual name from spreading amongst the public, but he's failing horribly.

Kai sighs, creating a ball of fire in his palm, "I'm the master of fire. Just let me in, please. It's important."

The security guard jumps before looking down at a little thing on his wrist that looks like a watch but without the actual clock. Instead, there is a little square thing. After he taps the square a couple of times, the lasers disappear. He bows. "I am so sorry, master of fire. Sorry for delaying you."

"You're alright..." Kai glances at his nametag, "...Lenny. You're protecting Jay, so thank you," he gives Lenny a pat on the back. "Where is Jay within the town, anyways?"

"I can get you an escort. It's easier that way," Lenny quickly offers, tapping the little square box again and bringing his mouth to it. "Hi, can I please get some sort of escort? We have some very important visitors that would like to see Mr. President. Thank you."

My stomach churns as we wait for our escort. I can't even truly marvel in all of the cool technology, the buttonless controls and sheer magnitude of everything, because I'm so stressed. My chest is tight, my anxiety chewing up my insides. I usually don't stress, but I also usually don't have to face my soulmate again.

Every part of my body is weak, and I mentally scold myself for getting this way over a boy. I walked days on days to find Kai, and yet this is what's taking me out? Some boy? Granted, Jay isn't just "some boy", but still.

"Who do we have here?" a peppy voice asks. A woman in her early thirties stands, her hands on her hips as she scans over the two of us. Her eyes linger on Kai a lot longer than they linger on me.

"Hi, I'm an old friend of your president. I have to talk to him about something important," Kai reaches out to shake her hand, and she happily takes it, shaking it eagerly. I focus on her fixation towards my brother to distract myself from what's about to happen.

"Wow, I should have expected a friend of the president's to be this handsome. It still took me off guard though," she blatantly flirts with him, looking up at him with doe eyes.

"Thank you, thank you," he takes the compliment. "I'm way better looking than him though."

While I'd love for this to be pushed off forever, we are in a time crunch. I'd rather speed up my own doom than let Aspen and Shade get hurt. "We should get going. We're in a hurry," I advise. The girl looks over at me, giving me an apologetic look that I can't gauge the genuinity of.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry! Come on, let's get going," she grabs Kai's wrist and pulls him forward. I follow behind them. "I wish I could give you all the full tour. Our president has really made this place remarkable. It's why we always re-elect him," she tells us as we walk through the gates that really showcase the place.

Her words sum it up perfectly. This is remarkable. Buildings reach into the sky, taller than any castle I've ever seen. Moving pictures are displayed on large walls, people's voices radiating from those walls. Carriages but without wheels hover over their form of paths, holding people that just seem to be relaxing. The bushes are all sculpted perfectly, leaves forming a dinosaur, a heart, and various other shapes.

However, as we move away from the "main" part of the town, there is one building that looks out of place and beyond familiar. Once I get close enough to recognize it, my eyes widen and my throat closes up. My deltoid burns as I look at an exact copy of my old house. The exterior is clearly identical. It even has a little stable on the side.

I can't help it as my eyes start to water. It's all too real. My legs freeze me in place as my chest tightens, my entire body locking up. The only thing I can do is quiver.

Kai notices my change almost immediately, whipping around to look at me. "Oh Nya," he walks backwards to wrap his arms around me.

"I...I...."

"Shhh. It's okay. I'll go talk to him. You can just stay here," he reassures me. "You can just come in when you're ready. Come on, let's go find a bench."

I go to protest, but no words can come out of my mouth. I feel paralyzed. However, I'm able to find my way over to the nearest bench, his house now hidden by another building. With it gone, a slight weight is lifted off of my chest. The pain in my tattoo is still suffocating.

Once Kai leaves, I close my eyes and throw my head back. I take a few deep breaths in an attempt to center myself, but my shoulder keeps pulling me out of it.

After about five minutes, my brother's voice pulls me from my daze. "So uh, bad news. He saw me and immediately slammed the door in my face. I guess he's not over that incident from a while back. Whoops," he awkwardly scratches the back of his neck, letting out a nervous laugh.

My eyes widen, my nausea increasing, "What do we do? He needs to hear you out."

"Well, um... he doesn't need to hear me out, per say..." at his suggestion, I glare at him.

"He abandoned me. He wouldn't hear me out," I tell him blandly, my own words stabbing my heart.

"Please Nya, you're our only hope left. You need to at least give it a chance, or everything that we worked for will be for nothing. Besides, maybe he'll tell you that he didn't actually want to leave. You need to try," he tries to convince me, but my mind goes into panic mode. Facing him seems like my worst fear right now.

I'm being ridiculous. I shouldn't be the one that's afraid to face Jay. Jay should be the one that's afraid to face me. I'm not the one who abandoned him. He abandoned me. He should have to look his choice in the face and answer my questions. He should be the one torn up about it, not me.

Yet, I'm still feeling this sense of incoming doom, and it's driving me crazy. Yes he's my soulmate, but I always have Shade. Jay's rejection should hurt, but it shouldn't be debilitating.

I spent years getting over him. Even though I missed him, I never needed him. He was just a compliment...but he was the perfect compliment. He added something else to the equation, something that I know no one else can. His touch was always so comforting, his laugh contagious and bright.

My wandering mind makes me want to tug my hair out. I didn't come here to sort out my relationship with Jay. I came here to save Ninjago. I need to suck it up and face him even if it will tear my heart out.

"I'll do it," standing up before I can change my mind, I readjust my outfit.

"That's the spirit. Do you want me to come with you?" he offers, but I shake my head, trying to rush this before my newfound confidence leaves.

"This is something I have to do by myself," with a purpose, I take strong strides towards Jay's house. Seeing it tears me up from the inside out, but I stay focused on the front door. I just need to make it there without breaking down. Then, I can try to figure out a game plan.

The closer I get, the more minute details I notice that are the same. All of the little details from the doorknob to the slightly different colors between the paint of the doorway and the window trimmings were carried over. It's literally an exact replica.

My heart pounds as I lift my hand to knock on the door. This is it. This is the moment of truth.

Once my fist hits the door, I question my newfound confidence. The reality of the situation knocks it all out of me, my skin suddenly feeling like it's suffocating me. I made a mistake coming in so brazenly.

"Kai, I already told you I..." the door swings open, revealing a view that still takes my breath away. Jay looks fresh out of the shower, his auburn hair damp and wavy on the top of his head while a blue, plush bathrobe hugs his body and reveals a nice view of his toned chest. Those adorable freckles still sprinkle his cheeks just like I remember. He's stunning. He always has been.

Once he sees me, his electric blue eyes start to well up with tears. "Nya, is it really you?"

A/N: Ayeee, Skylor is up! While she's not in the right hands per say, at least she's still alive! 

Also, I'm going to reestablish the update schedule for this book (I've prewritten some chapters, so I want to stockpile in case next semester gets hectic). It's going to be posted every Friday where I live (idk what day it'll be where y'all are, probably either Fridays or Saturdays depending on the time I post)

Next chapter Jay and Nya finally see each other again! We've been building up to this point for so long!

I know that at this stage of the book, some people are absent for several chapters in a row which I am soooo sorry about (heck, Zane has only been in the book once), but as things pick up, the discrepancy is going to be less and less.

Also, in case anyone was wondering about how far into the book we are, it's about 35%. There's still a LOT more to come.

Thank you all so much! Please keep commenting and voting! It's such a good motivation.