A/N: A long chapter for your patience

Jay's POV

The crunching of leaves under our feet fills the air as our ever growing team makes its way through the forest. The backpack with my essentials like deodorant, a tooth brush, and a hairbrush weighs me down, but I keep up my pace regardless. I hang out in the center of the group beside Kai, sandwiched between Nya who is blazing the way ahead of us and Zane and PIXAL who are more than happy to stroll together in the back of the pack.

After PIXAL told us that the ship is too large and clunky to journey the mountains, we searched for a nice clearing to park it. Once we finally found one, it was too far from the mountains, so we decided that it would be smartest to stop by a village to spend the night while also picking up food for the trip and getting clothes.

While I don't feel like we need more clothes, Nya was very clear that everyone needed an update in their wardrobe. She said that we would all stick out in a crowd, claiming that Kai and Zane are dressed like prince charming while PIX and I look like time travelers from the future. None of us were willing to fight her on it, so we're going to completely refresh our attire.

"When we get to the town, let me go in and buy you all clothes before anyone walks in with me..." Nya commands from in front of us, never wavering in her pace.

Back 600 years ago, although we didn't necessarily have an official leader, Cole was essentially the one who would put us all back in line when push came to shove. We never vied for power or anything along those lines back then, so now, we naturally fell back into the pattern we knew so well, and in place of Cole, Nya has stepped up. She knows what she wants and how she wants it. She'll make sure it gets done, and that's a great quality of a leader.

"Oooo, can you get me a red shirt?" Kai eagerly asks his sister.

"Can mine be blue?" I instantly ask after, my eyes lighting up at the prospect of getting clothes that I can wear for a long time.

"May mine be white?"

Nya stops in her tracks, letting out a sight and facepalming. "You want to strut through the place with your signature colors plastered all over you?"

We all look at her with our eyebrows furrowed. "Is there a problem with that?" Kai asks, glancing down at his deep cut red shirt that leaves a large portion of his chest out just how he likes it.

"Everyone is on high alert right now. People are already going to be accusatory about travelers, let alone those that wear bright colors and draw attention to themselves," Nya hypothesizes, but we all shrug it off.

"If we could wear our colors while on the run all of those years ago, we can wear them now," I reason, and the guys nod in response. Nya's eyes narrow, scanning our expressions before she sighs and continues forward.

I try to focus on my environment, on the light breeze that tickles my skin or the gentle rays of sunlight that slip through the canopy of trees, but my attention keeps being drawn to the sweeping force in front of me, the girl who is tearing through this forest as if it's her own backyard.

Every day that I restrain myself for her, it's like I'm being tortured. It's as if I'm drawn to her tenfold with each passing day. It's clear that her anger with me has mostly subsided, and it just makes me want to be even closer to her. Not only do I want her wrapped in my arms, her black hair fanning across my neck, but I also want her to pour out everything that has happened to her in the past several hundred years since we last saw each other, for her to let me in on everything I missed out on.

Holding myself back is like staying underwater as my lungs burn for oxygen. I crave her more than I ever have - even when we were engaged - and that's exactly why I need to hold back. She said that she needs to wait for us to save Shade - I can't believe I'm fighting Shade for my soulmate - for her to be able to analyze the situation clearly, and even though I've made up my mind, I need to respect her and her decision no matter how hard it is.

Seeing Zane and PIXAL together deepens the ache within me. They've meshed together as if they were never separated, while an awkward, heart wrenching tension still hangs over Nya and I. It's torture to resist indulging in my own personal temptation, but I need to until everything is over or until she makes the first move.

"Ninjago to Jay!" the world comes back into focus as a flaming hand waves in front of my face, nearly singing my eyebrows off. I quickly duck out of the way, throwing out a small zap of electricity as a reflex.

Kai hisses, his hand instantly cupping the point of contact. "Ow! What the hell was that for?"

"You nearly burned off my eyebrows!" I defend myself, my eyes wide as I run my hand over my eyebrows to ensure there was no damage done.

"I should've," he murmurs with his eyes narrowed as he rubs the spot on his arm. "It would've proved that I'm funnier than you."

I cross my arms in disagreement. "You are not funnier than me," I shake my head as I walk, seeing as Nya didn't even flinch at the sounds behind her, clearly stuck in her own head.

"Oh yeah? I made the girls laugh at bars all the time. I never saw you get quite the same reaction as I did," he proudly recalls, tilting his head from side to side.

"That's not a good indicator of how funny you are. They just went all out in their reactions because they wanted to get in bed with you, and they knew I wouldn't go for that. I bet if I went to a bar with you now, I'd have way more people laughing at my jokes," I counter. "We'd be on an even playing field."

Kai scoffs, his face scrunched up. "You wanna try it out tonight?"

Quicker than a lightning strike, Nya whips around to look at us, stopping in her tracks."No, don't," she states, her deep brown eyes slightly wide.

I see the corner of Kai's lip pull into a smirk out of the corner of my eye. "Why not? It'd be helpful for us to get back out into society in a place where people are kind of out of it," he asks with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Nya crosses her arms, and the force in her eyes takes my breath away. "We can't risk one of you getting shit faced and using your powers on someone," she reasons, yet by the slight way she bites the inside of her cheek, I can tell there's more she wants to say.

"We handle our alcohol great, trust us," Kai tries to sound convincing, but it's more than obvious that he's at least slightly lying. "And if you still don't believe me, you can come with us tonight."

"I don't really think..."

"That's a great idea! Come on, Nya. It'll be even more fun with you there," I jump at the chance to be able to hang out with her, a smile overtaking my lips.

"I'll go," she decides, and my cheeks can't help but hurt.

Kai turns to PIXAL and Zane who are deep in their own conversation. Their sides are pressed against each other. No space is left between them as their hands are intertwined. "Do you two want to come to the bar with us tonight?"

"No thank you. Zane and I wish to simply savor the night together via conversing," PIXAL answers.

With the way Kai's eyebrows are drawn together, I can practically see his brain fighting to comprehend her statement. "Her and Zane just want to hang out and talk," I simplify it. His mouth quickly shifts to an 'o' before he looks back to Nya.

"Since we're only getting two rooms to save resources, the two of them should share a room, so they don't have to wait for us to get back," Kai suggests. He crosses his arms over his chest, a proud smile finding its way across his face at thinking up the idea.

"That was already the plan, but thanks," I let out a small laugh.

Kai shoots me a fierce glare. "No way."

Nya lets out a deep sigh, "We all discussed rooming last night during dinner. Clearly, you weren't paying attention."

"How can I pay attention when I hear Jay going on and on and on about random crap? The sound of his voice is a cue to tune everything out at this point," he teases me, earning him a light elbow in his ribs.

I can't help but notice the smile creeping onto Nya's face as she watches us. I can imagine a different life in which this was how it always was. In that life, Nya joined the elemental army in Kai's unit like she was supposed to and instantly mastered her element like the badass she is. We ran into each other one day around camp, and we instantly had a connection. Once we found out that we were soulmates, we never let each other go. Kai gave me hell for being with his little sister at first, but once he got used to it, we fell right back into our old routine. While there were some threats to the kingdom, it never harmed us. We all could live happily.

But as I'm pulled back into reality as I nearly trip on a log, I'm instantly reminded of the real world. That life is unattainable now. It was stolen from us all the day that we were framed.

Rage stirs in the pit of my stomach as I mourn the loss, all of the heartache these people had to go through for what has most likely just been a power grab. Kai, Zane, Cole, Lloyd, Skylor, PIXAL, myself, and even Nya have suffered tremendously because of it, and in this moment, I feel my skin prickle as my energy rushes to the surface. The person that did this to us deserves to pay.

—

"Why do you look like you're scheming something?" I ask my friend as he leans up against the bar, a glass of bourbon in his hand that he sips with a smirk.

It's about one in the morning, and the bar is still alive and active. It's definitely different from what I remembered. Aside from tables and the physical bar, there is live entertainment. A band is playing lively songs up on a stage, and dozens of people are on the dance floor in front of them, moving their bodies to the music with a partner. It kind of reminds me of the lively clubbing scene back where I govern.

Kai shrugs. "Why do you care?" he takes another long sip of his drink as I swirl around the ice in my cup with a straw.

I can't help but look back at the door to the bathroom, wondering where Nya went. She went in there about twenty minutes ago, and she still hasn't resurfaced. Maybe something happened to her, maybe someone recognized her, or...

I snap my brain out of it, blinking a few times before turning my attention back to Kai. Nya can handle herself. "Cause the look you have it kind of scary."

He lets out a light laugh. "The tension between you and my sister is so bad. It's beyond painful to watch and be around and...ugh, so I've come up with a way to break the ice and show her just how much she actually wants you," he proudly states.

"Why do I feel like this is a bad idea?"

He completely dismisses my comment. "So my sister is a Smith, meaning she naturally has a hot tempter. I've seen it enough to see that it's clearly there, and do you know what typically always comes with a hot tempter?"

"What?" I amuse him.

"Jealousy. You see that girl over there?" his eyes subtly flicker over my shoulder to signal for me to look. I subtly crack my back, turning my head around enough as I do so to notice the tan, blonde woman who is clearly looking our way.

I can't help but recoil a bit. "You mean the one that looks way too much like Aria for me to ever want to look over there again?" I instinctually scrunch up my face at the thought of my ex. Sure, the girl over there is pretty, but not only is that look completely tainted for me, but I have the only person I'll ever want within 100 yards of me.

"Yep that's the one. Anyways, she's so into you. She's only taken her eyes off of you to get refills. I'm sure if you went over to her, she would instantly start flirting with you," he reveals as if that snippet is some master plan.

"No thanks. I don't want to hook up with some girl to make Nya jealous. That'd just make her mad," I poke at the ice cubes with my straw now, banishing them to the bottom of my drink before they float up again.

Kai shakes his head. "You don't need to hook up with her. As I said, Nya is a very jealous person, so even having her flirt with you as I say that you are only over there for our little experiment would make her fume and send her into a furious rampage against the lady flirting with you," the thought of Nya reacting that strongly over me sets my skin alight. Maybe it's the couple of drinks I've already thrown back, but the idea suddenly doesn't sound bad. "Plus, Nya is sober enough to understand what she's doing but not sober enough to understand what we're doing. It's perfect."

Without a second thought, I take back one of the shots that Nya had ordered before she left, the alcohol stinging my throat as I turn around and make my way towards the blonde.

As I approach her, I notice her perk up. Her hands move to readjust her shirt, pulling it slightly lower as she pretends to not notice me coming, looking at a picture on the wall instead. Her hair is let down, parted in the middle before falling down into loose, golden curls that extend down her back. She pulls a drink up to her bright red lips, taking a long sip and staining the glass crimson in the process.

"What're you doing alone in a place like this?" I try to open casually, yet as I say it, I realize how seductive it is and internally facepalm.

"Why hello to you, too," she responds, batting her eyelashes at me. "I'm here with some of my friends, but they're out on the dance floor."

"You're not a dancer?"

"I was not gifted with rhythm in the slightest. You?"

"Depends, is someone who looks like a baby giraffe on their good days a dancer around here?"

She lets out a laugh a bit too loud for it to be completely genuine. "Looks like we're on the same boat then," she props her chin in her hands, looking up at me through her thick eyelashes. "I take it you're not from around here? We don't get guys like you and your friend over there often," she purrs, her eyes assessing all of me as I squirm in my skin.

"Guys like us?" I awkwardly laugh.

"You know, handsome, sexy, charming, muscular," she takes a finger and starts to run it down my bicep, biting her lip as she does so. My heart beats in a panic before I let out a fake sneeze to free myself from her touch.

"Yeah, we aren't from around here. We're just resting for the night before we head back to the capital," I partially lie to cover our tracks in case we do somehow get tracked while also making the conversation a lot less flirty. Even flirting with her a hint bit makes my insides feel like they're imploding on themselves.

She starts to twirl a strand of her hair with one hand while the other rests on the table, displaying her lack of a wedding ring. "Well do you need a bed to sleep in? Cause I could definitely use some company in mine? We could just..."

A hand wraps tightly around my bicep, the fingers latching into my muscle with a force that's intoxicating. "Hi, Jay. Who's this?" I look to my right where my soulmate stands, gripping onto me as she looks up at me with a tempest in her eyes. My heart pounds in my chest at the sight of her. Her raven hair is pulled back into a braid, some strands falling loose and framing her face. The deep crimson dress she is wearing hugs her figure and shows off just how in shape she is. Above all, the bandages she was wearing to cover up her tattoo earlier are gone, revealing the beautiful storm on her left shoulder that in itself steals the breath from my lungs and renders me speechless.

"I'm Adrianna. Who are you? A clingy ex? Aw, poor you, about to watch the guy you still pine over leave this place with an actual woman on his arm. " she spits at her before grimacing at Nya's hand on my arm, Adrianna instantly changing her tune now that someone else is here. In response, Nya ducks under my arm, so it's wrapped around her. I instinctually cup her shoulder.

"His fiance," she snaps back. "And don't you think for a damn second that you're going to seduce him into your bed tonight because the only bed he's sleeping in is mine." Those words turn my legs to jello and make my skin buzz with energy I haven't felt in a long time. They make my stomach knot while making my chest tingle. They draw me towards her and urge me to share my electricity with her.

I cave in and let my walls down, sending a slight electric prickle up her arm and down her spine like I've been wanting to do for more than the recent past. Her eyes flutter shut, and the soft moan that escapes her lips awakens any millimeter of my being that wasn't already needing her. I need her as close as possible in every single way, and I won't be able to think straight until I do.

"Wow, if he was already outsourcing before you caught him, your marriage is clearly doomed. He approached me and didn't mention you once. Guess you just can't satisfy him," I vaguely comprehend what Adrianna is spewing, too entranced by the look on my soulmate's face to do anything but admire her.

The words set Nya's eyes alight, her eyes turning from me to the woman that's prodding her. "Oh yeah?"

Less than seconds after the words leave her mouth, she pulls me down by the collar, slamming our lips together. I'm instantly reminded of why even 6 centuries later I'm still addicted to the feeling of her lips on mine. It sends pleasure coursing through my friends, my entire body lighter as our lips move in sync.

She grabs my shirt even tighter to try to pull us even closer. My hands trail slowly down her shoulders and to her sides, savoring the feeling of her. When I reach her waist, I tug her towards me. She's pressed completely against me, our bodies molding together in a perfect harmony.

I let my right hand wander upwards to her exposed upper back. There, my fingers dance circles around her skin as they send gentle currents across every inch of her skin, her mouth opening to make a sound of approval before I slip my tongue in. She instantly responds by running her tongue against mine and picking up the pace of our kiss.

It takes every bit of self control to hold myself back from doing anything else as I feel her move her hips against mine, forcing a breathy sound out of my mouth. I want to touch all of her. I want to feel all of her, and as her hands start to move from gripping my collar to squeezing my shoulders, the desire feels infinite.

Suddenly, she pulls away, disconnecting our lips before looking me in the eyes. "We're leaving," she states, and I have no complaints as she grabs my hand and starts to pull me out of the bar. All I can focus on is the feeling of her skin on mine, and the way she looks dragging me out of here, and how it felt to have her so close to me again, and just how freaking mind blowing Nya Smith is. She walks with a purpose through the town, leading us back to the little inn that we booked our room at. My heart starts to pound out of my chest, ready to burst at any second.

"You're my fucking weakness, Jay Walker, and tonight, I'm gonna prove just how wrong that stupid fucking bitch was. I'm gonna prove why I'm your soulmate."

---

Seliel's POV

I stand in the castle physician's office with a splint on my wrist. While the pain has slightly diminished since the incident yesterday, it still hurts beyond what words can explain. I can't move my own wrist, and when I try to, I let out a loud yelp.

The King of Trummeria stopped by to try to check on me before his departure, but I didn't let him in. I didn't want to see him because in two weeks, he's all I'll be seeing. I'll have to wake up next to him, endure the entire day by his side, and fall asleep next to him. I'll be an unnecessary accessory, a fancy toy to tote in front of the whole kingdom. I'll be reduced to nothing.

I like to think that the earthquake was nature telling me just how bad my realm needs me. It's urging me to fight on, to not just take this news but to also fight against it. It did start as soon as I heard the news about my untimely departure after all. If that isn't fate, I don't know what is.

In my special, bland "gown" for my appointments, I look at my reflection in the mirror. I spin around, admiring the simplicity of the one layer, blue fabric with the ties in the back, holding my wrist up to it to determine if it's the color I want for my cast. However, I quickly decide against it.

I move my wrist above various objects, from my hair to a chair to a vial of medicine, yet nothing stands out to me. I don't want to be basic. My cast to be unique or significant, to own my cast with pride, yet none of these colors are working.

Suddenly, a crazy idea pops into my mind. Lifting my gown up above my left thigh where my tattoo, a rhino named Chen, resides, I try to visualize the color on my wrist. However, instead of thinking of that, my mind ends up drifting to the man with the exact same tattoo as me, my soulmate.

I admittedly don't remember much about the master of earth. I met him all of one time when I was too young to pick up on any actual details and remember them from that day. What I do remember are the little notes I would write for him that I kept in a box to give to him when he finally came to my birthdays. Every week until I was 12, I would write him a note summarizing my week and what I'd done in hopes that I could give it to him when he finally came.

In those notes, I thanked him for being so nice to me and told him that he could be friends with all of my friends. I'd promised to help him find his friends, and that once we brought them all together, I would tell my dad about how nice they are, and he'd let them all free from their warrants, so we could have a party. It would've made him happy if he ever came.

But he never did. It was the thing I looked forward to the most as a kid. It was the thing I wished for every year on my birthday even after I stopped writing my letters up until I was 16, but he never came. I shouldn't have been surprised. He's a fugitive elemental; it would be impossible to get into the castle undetected. But still, at my age now, I would've thought that he would have reached out by now, but I guess he didn't really care about the soulmate thing. Maybe he forgot about me.

I've considered telling Cole about how the master of earth is my soulmate in hopes that he could locate him for me, but the thought of me telling Cole something like that shakes me to my core. I feel something beyond the scope of my imagination about him, and it is crazy that under some other conditions, there is someone who I would feel stronger about. Something about telling him about it makes it all real.

"Why hello princess. Ready for your...oh my! Your tattoo is so beautiful," the new blonde physician who walks through the door covers her mouth in awe of seeing my tattoo, something that is supposed to be hidden in order to prevent another abuse of soulmates like 600 years ago. However, I've always found the rule dumb. Even if Princess PIXAL was murdered by the elemental masters of creation because they used their connection as a weapon, that doesn't mean that everyone should be penalized for it. Also, if people waste their lives away for their soulmates, that's their fault. Spreading obvious misinformation about tattoos will do no good.

"Thank you. I'm quite fond of it. I haven't seen many tattoos, but it's the most intricate one that I've seen," I assess it even more, looking at the detailed rhino in close detail.

"I've read stories that the content of the tattoo actually has significance to the person they are on, like that the physical thing that is marked has some sort of relation back to the person," she shares, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "It's just a story of course, but I like to imagine it."

I stare at the creature on my leg, trying to contextualize it in my life. First, I associate it with the master of earth because of the brute strength everyone said he had, but within seconds, my mind drifts to someone else.

Cole is scary as hell at first glance just like a rhino with their big horns that could surely slice right through someone. However, when you look closer, they're actually quite cute. They can be stubborn at times, yet calm at others. They're also naturally lone wolves like Cole was for a long time.

"Yeah I get that. I can think of something that relates," I admit, looking closer at the rhino. "Do you think it would be possible for me to get a charcoal colored cast?"

"Of course, your majesty."

A/N: SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT EVERYONE! I'LL TRY NOT TO LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!

Soooooo...thoughts on the chapter? 

The team is about to head into the mountains. I wonder what is waiting for them in there (idk man but it's definitely NOT Cole)

The first twelve episodes came out, and while I don't want to say much, I'd like to say my episode 12 prediction on the big thing (y'all know what I'm talking about) was right so let's go!

Thank you all so much! Let's revive the comment squad cause that'll help keep my updates coming!