~Part 19.5 ~ | A Very Special Day - Bonus Scene

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** Sister **

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"Sister, I got your back on the long drunk stumble home
Sister, I'll be your "Hell yeah!" when all you ever heard was "No" (heard was "No")
I'm your speed-dial call, I'm your late-night cry
I'm your shotgun seat, yeah, I'm your ride or die
Sister, you're gonna hurt but you ain't gotta hurt alone"

~ Mickey Guyton

****

Nya would never say that her birthdays weren't special. Sure, they were never same explosive parties and showering of love that other kids got, but they were still her birthdays and she held into those memories tight.

Every year Nya would wake up on her birthday at the orphanage. The people there would smile at her and wish her a polite happy birthday, or simply ignore her if they didn't remember. Kai would get up extra early so that he could return with steamed buns (the good ones from the shop downtown). They weren't cheap but Kai would splurge just for her. He would have to leave soon after depending on the day her birthday fell on. They'd either have school or Kai would have work at the shop. After both Nya and him were done with their jobs, Kai would present his gift. It would range from books to trinkets, depending on how much money he could spare and how much he'd procrastinated. Nya would accept it with joy and then one of the nannies will bring in the little cake they'd bought from the grocery store. Sometimes it was a tad bit freezer burnt because the older cakes in the back of the fridge go on sale. It didn't always taste the best but Nya savoured every bite like it was a dessert fit for a queen.

Now that she was at Wu's school she wasn't sure how her birthday would go. Nya never had friends to celebrate her birthday with or adults who had the resources to spoil her. Quite frankly, she had been expecting a regular old birthday. So when a loud crash woke her up, Nya was beyond surprised to see Lloyd sneaking unsuccessfully out the door, a thin object wrapped in green paper clutched in his hands. The boy stared at her like a deer in headlights, eyes wide as saucers. He waited a few beats before he slowly stepped back, a finger pressed to his lips.

"I was never hereeeee..." Lloyd whispered, he drew his words out. "Go back to sleeeppp."

Then he darted off.

Nya blinked several times and wondered what on earth she'd just witnessed. Despite all the warning signs telling her to get up and figure out what the heck was going on, she wasn't about to protest to getting some extra sleep. So, she flipped back over into her bed and closed her eyes, hoping she wouldn't regret listening to creepy hypnotist Lloyd.

****

Jay's cheeks hurt. There was an odd soreness in them that he's never experienced before. He wanted to stop for a moment just to rub at them and get the pain out of his face but he couldn't afford to slow down. Not when he had so little time. So Jay bravely screwed his eyes shut, moving his fingers to his lips and gave one large puff into the rubber. It expanded outwards as he gave a few more good blows before he could tie it off and drop it with the others.

The whole group was working hard to make sure this party went smoothly, each with their own individual task. Zane was the one cooking and baking of course. Cole was hanging the decorations as he was the second tallest and the task also forced him to be as far from the kitchen as possible. Kai was in charge of organizing the activities, while Lloyd handled the presents his friends forgot to wrap. Finally, Jay was instructed to be the one to blow up all the balloons as he had the best lung capacity from all the screaming. Master Wu was also helping but none of them were sure what exactly he was doing. He just dropped by to criticize Cole's decorating and then vanished into thin air.

"Ughhhh," Kai groaned, collapsing face-first onto the coffee table. Unfortunately, he smashed his face right into the glue and glitter that was there. "Why do we have to be up so early?"

"Well, if someone hadn't put off their job then there'd be a lot less to do." Cole said pointedly. Jay nodded in agreement, his voice muffled but he balloon he was currently blowing into.

Kai scowled. "I didn't know it would require so many arts and crafts! That's Lloyd's thing!" The boy sat up grumpily, only to grimace a moment later when he noticed the sequins stuck to his cheek.

Lloyd smoothed out a crease in the wrapping paper, making each fold as straight and clean as he could before tacking some tape on the edge. It was only after the paper was securely in place that he replied, "I would help with the games, Kai, if you all hadn't stuffed your gifts into plastic grocery bags instead of wrapping them!" The blonde sent a very pointed look at the rest of the group. They all sheepishly looked away.

"All these game ideas are stupid!" Kai continued whining as he scrolled through the suggestions on his phone. "Pin the tail on the donkey? How old do they think we are?"

"You know Nya can turn that into a life or death battle." Lloyd reminded his friend, pointing his roll of tape at him warningly.

Jay tried not to laugh but one snort was all it took for the balloon he'd been inflating to be released. It went shooting across the room, a trail of fart noises behind it, slingshotting back and forth in a crazy pattern.

"JAY!" Cole yelped from the ladder, ducking as it shot by him, knocking into the banners he'd been hanging. He lost his balance, the ladder swaying dangerously, and the boy was only able to let out a "uh oh" before he flipped onto the floor. The balloon didn't stop for him, it continued on ricocheting off the walls, flying back down towards Lloyd and Kai. The two boys let out various undignified screams as they leaped out of the way. Kai valiantly dove behind Lloyd, who tried to scramble away- only to trip over the former. The balloon smacked into the containers of glitter and art supplies, spilling it over the two, and tragically into Kai's hair. He let out a horrified scream as the balloon zipped back to the doorway, right as Zane was entering with the cake. They all froze in horror, the moment feeling like slow motion as it hit the plate. The force knocked the cake up, sending it twirling into the air. It reached its peak, narrowly missing the light fixture, and they all stared wide/eyed as the cake went falling, falling, falling, until with a big splat it crashed onto Zane's head.

Dead. Silence.

The blonde was strangely calm as he slowly took the hem of his pink apron and dabbed at the icing over his eyes. Jay cringed when their eyes met, shrinking a little at the silent eyebrow raise. Before Jay could peep out an apology, a loud gasp caused them all to whip their heads around to the doorway. Nya stood there, still in her fuzzy pyjama pants- staring open-mouthed at the mess. Glitter and half-wrapped presents were scattered around the floor while the cake was splattered on the floor and the ceiling. Lloyd was crushing Kai's leg from their scramble to escape, the latter wailing from underneath, while Cole was trapped beneath the ladder. Jay was surrounded by balloons of all shapes and sizes, jumping when another one popped beside him, and Zane was standing stock-still in the middle of the room absolutely covered in cake and icing. The quiet lingered in the air, stifling and tense, as they all gave each other side-eyes and quick glances, unsure what to do.

"You never sawwww thissss-" Lloyd tried, immediately cutting off when Nya gave him a sharp look.

"What the hell are you doing?" Nya demanded at last, doing a large, aggressive gesture at the chaos that was the lounge.

"Language!" Jay peeped.

"Surprise?" Zane offered with an awkward shrug.

"Happy Birthday!" Lloyd tried to cheer, only he did it while attempting to get back up- resulting in a sharp knee to Kai's ribs.

"OW!" Kai added to the celebration.

"SOMEBODY GET ME OUT!" Cole screamed, still under the ladder.

Nya's hands were on her head, fingers digging into hair as she just stared at everything around her. But the more she focused on the scene, the more she began to understand. The banner on the ground read "HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY NYA!" in Lloyd's classic graffiti style lettering. There were gifts on the floor, what looked to be some kind of art project scattered beside them, and cake crumbled into pieces by Zane's feet. Candles were also stuck into the mix, thankfully unlit.

"Oh my gosh," she covered her mouth as her eyes began to sting- her vision blurring from the emotion swelling inside her. It was so big and chaotic. "You did all this?"

"We wanted to." Zane told her truthfully, an amused half-smile on his face as he took off his apron. "I will say, our execution was not as good as our idea."

"B-but you even made a cake! And took the time to decorate and-and got me presents! It's too much!" Nya stuttered out.

"We destroyed a cake, we floundered at decorating, and the presents were not that expensive. Jay hoards coupons like a middle-aged-white-mother." Kai told her, jerking a thumb in the boy's direction.

Jay tried to stomp his foot back but ended up slamming his foot down on another balloon. It popped with a loud bang, causing them all to scream and jump. Cole, who had let out a particularly high yelp, coughed awkwardly and shuffled out from under the ladder.

Nya felt the corners of her eyes start to burn as she stared at the mess before her. She thought she was doing a good job holding back but a steady stream of wetness and the horrified looks of her friends clued in to her that she was failing. Then, without warning, she burst fully into tears.

"Oh no!" Jay immediately came over and pulled her into a hug. "We're so sorry, Nya! We didn't meant to make you cry!"

"We'll do better next time, I swear!" Lloyd added anxiously.

"We messed up so bad!" Cole wailed, looking like he was about to cry too. Zane patted him awkwardly on the back.

"Calm down, you nitwits." Kai snapped. "She's obviously happy crying."

They all turned and stared at her. "Oh."

Never before had anyone ever done something like this before. Sure, it was not the perfect birthday that she had dreamed of as a child but it was hers to enjoy. As she looked at the messy, misfit group of loving, amazing friends before her, Nya found that she wouldn't take any other birthday over this, no matter how grande.

"Thank you so much." Nya said, a big, wide grin spreading across her face. She reached out and yanked the rest of them into a hug, squeezing them all so tight they gasped. "I love it so much. And I love you guys."

"We love you too, Nya." Zane said warmly.

"We'd love you more if you stopped strangling us." Kai complained.

"Shut up, Kai! You're ruining the moment!" Jay retorted.

Nya let them go with a laugh, wiping at her eyes as she swept her gaze over the scene. "I'm sure some of it is salvageable." She assured them as the boys all exchanged guilty looks. Before anyone could respond they were interrupted by Wu entering the room. The man simply raised his eyebrows at the display, stepping over the smushed cake and avoiding the glue and glitter.

"Well students," The teacher said. "When I said I didn't mind a bit of mess in this room this was more than I was expecting."

"Hey! We were trying!" Lloyd huffed defensively. "Where even were you? I thought you said you'd help!"

"I went to get food." The old man raised the plastic bags he'd been carrying. On it was the logo for Chen's Noodle House. "I suppose it's a good thing I thought to buy an extra cake."

"What? Were you expecting us to mess up?" Jay asked, offended.

Wu didn't reply, only pointedly looked at the icing that was melting into the carpet.

Jay pressed his lips together. "Fair point."

"Why don't you all get cleaned up while I start tidying the room? Then we'll start celebrations." The headmaster suggested.

Nya laughed, flicking at her brother's sequin-infested hair. "That's a good idea."

The group split up, those covered in mess going to shower, while the rest stayed to scrub the cake and glitter out of the carpet. Once they were done, they regrouped in the lounge with a new cake and lots of take-out boxes. Zane helped to re-hang the banner and Lloyd placed the wrapped gifts beside Nya's chair. They played a movie of Nya's choosing (a horror, much to Jay's chagrin) and ate together happily, occasionally gasping or even screaming between bites. Once they'd finished their dinner, Jay loudly suggested they take a break from the movie to open gifts.

"Real smooth." Kai snorted to him as they cleared their plates and gathered around Nya.

"Don't act like you weren't scared!" Jay hissed. "I saw you hiding behind Cole!"

"Whose should I open first?" Nya asked, picking through the few wrapped parcels before her.

"I call dibs!" Lloyd piped, raising his hand. The rest of them shot him the stink-eye as the blonde giddily handed over his present, wrapped nicely in green.

Nya smiled warmly at him and looked at the card. It was hand-made with detailed artwork on the front and a cute picture of her and Lloyd inside. She laughed as she read the words before moving on to the rectangular gift, raising an eyebrow curiously as she picked open the paper. Inside was a graphic novel. It was thick for a comic, a solid amount of pages, and it had sharp, edgy artwork with thick line work and dark shading. The cover was fully coloured and depicted a tough-looking young woman in a red mecha-suit, golden font dancing behind her.

"Samurai X," Nya read aloud. "Wow, look at these pictures!" She gasped, leafing through the book and admiring the epic poses and battle scenes.

"You said you really loved martial-arts movies," Lloyd told her. "And you were interested in comics. So I thought I'd find a combination of the two, featuring badass hero just as cool as you!"

"This is amazing, Lloyd! Thank you!" Nya pulled him into a hug.

"I'm next," Cole declared, elbowing past Jay to hand over his own present. The black paper was thick and shiny, wrapped nicely by Lloyd, while the card on top was a bit messy, having been scribbled onto a scrap piece of paper. Nya didn't seem to mind though, taking her time reading it and putting it away carefully when she was done. She dove into the gift after that, gasping in surprise when she pulled out a sleek blue bathing suit.

"It's the kind of suit Olympic swimmers wear." Cole said proudly. "Stream-lined and made to cut through the water. You said you used to race at your old school. I was thinking you could try it again."

"Oh my gosh, Cole!" Nya exclaimed. "Where'd you find the money for this?"

"Dad's pity cash had to go somewhere." He said, waving her off. "I'd rather spend it on a friend than something silly."

"Thank you, Cole." Nya said gratefully, holding the suit close to her chest.

"Why don't you go, Zane?" Kai nudged the tall boy forward. Zane nodded and held out an envelope to her. Nya looked at him inquisitively before taking it. She pulled out a store-bought card with a sweet message inside. Alongside it, was a small slip of paper and what looked like some sort of entrance pass on a lanyard.

"What's this?" Nya furrowed her brow, inspecting it.

"I talked with Pixal and Mr. Borg," Zane said with a smile. "If you are interested, and of course agree to be responsible, they would love for you to start a co-op placement in their engineering lab. It would also allow you some access to the resources there."

Nya's jaw dropped. "What? But- but that could lead to a job opportunity! And I would get to work with the best engineers in the country!" 

Zane laughed. "You deserve it." He assured her. "I showed them the work you did on the truck and some of the projects you've been working on. They were very impressed! I simply talked to them a bit."

"I don't know what to say." Nya rubbed at her eyes. "You all are so thoughtful."

Zane patted her in the shoulder. "We are happy to think of you."

"You next, Jay." Kai prompted.

The other boy startled a bit before nervously handing over a blue box with a card stuck on top. Nya took his hand and squeezed it encouragingly before opening the card. Her smile only widened as she read through what he said and once she was done and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you. You are very sweet." She said softly. Jay blushed, looking at their hands bashfully before bringing it up to this lips to kiss it.

"Open the gift!" Kai hollered before he could.

"Yeah! Stop being gross!" Lloyd followed.

Rolling her eyes, Nya ripped off the blue wrapping. To her surprise, there was what looked like a shoebox inside. Tilting her head, Nya popped open the top and was shocked to see a nice pair of new dance shoes inside.

"Jay?" Nya turned to her boyfriend, eyes wide.

The ginger rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well, I was just thinking... since we're always here we don't really get the chance to do things together. Usually any activity involves everyone else. And so I just thought... maybe it would be fun to do an extracurricular? You know? As a couple? And when I looked up stuff to do I saw that there were dance classes in town. They weren't too expensive... and if you're willing of course!" Jay rushed to say. "Maybe we could do dance classes together?"

Nya couldn't help but gape at her boyfriend as he nervously swung their clasped hands. "I really want to spend time with you, Nya. I want to learn and grow with you." He gave an awkward little shrug. "And nothing would make me happier than to dance with you."

She blinked. Once. Twice. And for a moment, Jay was terrified she was going to say no. But then she jumped up and threw her arms around him, laughing and holding him tight. "Yes! Yes, of course! I'd love to go dancing with you!" She smiled, brilliant and beautiful. "It would be so much fun!"

Jay laughed. "I'm so glad!"

The group all shook their heads but cheered nonetheless. Then Kai came in with the birthday cake, candles lit and blazing, and Nya giggled with delight as they all started to sing. Her cheeks hurt from smiling as Happy Birthday was sung loudly and joyfully. It was off-key and off-pace but she didn't care. When they finished, Nya closed her eyes, puffed up her cheeks, and blew out the candles in one go. They all clapped and celebrated, laughing and whistling delightedly together. Kai turned on the horror movie again and despite the scarier themes, Nya never shook the warm, beautiful feeling inside of her, even as they all retired for the night.

Once she finished brushing her teeth, Nya skipped down the hall and made her way back to her room. But before she could get there she paused at Kai's door. She could see the light was still on and she knew Zane was still finishing the dishes downstairs with Cole. Stepping forward, Nya rapped her knuckles on the doorframe and stuck her head inside. Kai startled at the sound and turned to face his sister, giving a lopsided smile when he realized who it was.

"Oh!" He said in exclamation. "Hey sis! What's up?"

"I... just saw you were still awake." Nya shrugged, letting herself in. "And I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yeah?" Kai stood, trying to shove whatever he'd had in his hands under the bed. "You had a good birthday right? You seemed pretty happy. Nothing went wrong?"

"No, everything was perfect, Kai." She shook her head at her brother's ridiculousness. "But there was one thing."

His brow furrowed in concern. "Really? What's that?"

"Well," Nya tapped her chin, pretending to think about it. "It could have something to do with the red present under your bed."

Kai sputtered, eyes darting guiltily towards the sloppily hidden parcel. "Whaaat? That's not a present! It's-it's just some random box!"

"I'm not stupid, Kai." Nya rolled her eyes. "I know you didn't give me a gift. And that's fine. But I also know that there had been five gifts in the pile until one mysteriously disappeared." She raised an eyebrow.

"I-ugh." Kai sagged. "Fine! You caught me, okay? I have a stupid gift for you."

"Well, what is it?" Nya asked, looking at him eagerly.

Kai flushed. It was a bright, scarlet red that crept its way all the way up to his ears. "Look, I'll give you your gift later, okay? It's... not ready yet."

She gave him an odd look and reached to grab the box from under the bed. "What do you mean? It's right there. Wrapped and everything!"

Kai snatched it from her hands. "It's just not ready!" He insisted, holding the box close to himself.

Nya looked at her brother carefully, trying to figure out his odd behaviour. "Kai?" She said carefully, gently. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." The older boy avoided her gaze. His body was tense and protective, hands digging anxiously into the wrapped box.

"Hey," Nya placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay if the gift isn't ready, alright? I don't mind. I don't want you getting stressed about it."

"I'm not stressed." Kai grouched. Nya snorted. "I'm not!"

She fixed her brother with an unimpressed stare. She continued to glare at him with her arms crossed until he finally relented.

"Look, it's just..." Kai sat down heavily on the bed. "You're going to think it's stupid."

"Probably." Nya agreed, plopping down beside him and making the mattress bounce. "But why don't you tell me anyway?"

Kai heaved a deep breathe. "It's just that..." He pressed his lips together. "Everyone's gifts were amazing."

Nya nodded. He took another breath before he continued. "They were so thoughtful. So you and so special... and so expensive."

"Oh, Kai-" Nya started to say but he cut her off.

"This whole day was so much better than anything I'd ever given you." Kai let out a choked laugh, running a hand through his hair. "You had two cakes! And neither of them were freezer burnt! Amazing presents, awesome friends, and a movie night that could've gone on forever."

"But things were different before, Kai." Nya told him. "It was just you and me before. There wasn't the money or the people to do something like this. We have support now. Shouldn't that be something to be happy about?"

"Of course I'm happy about it," Kai insisted. He took her hands. "I'm so happy you had a great birthday. I want this for you. It's just... I hate that you couldn't have had this earlier. And I hate that this year... I was so ready to just do the same thing again. It was Jay and the others that insisted that we do something special."

"Well, that's okay. It's habit. It's not like I was expecting anything more." Nya assured him.

"But I didn't get you anything good!" Kai bit his lip, almost looking tearful. "I have the money now, Nya! It no longer has to go to water bills or electricity. I could've gotten you anything!"

"I don't want anything." Nya rolled her eyes. She yanked on her brother's arms, pulling him to a stand and out of his miserable tirade. "Kai, you will never know just how grateful I am for taking care of me. You have done so much for me. And even when things were hard you made the time and the effort to make my birthday special. No matter what you get me, it'll be perfect. It will be special. And I'm not just saying that. Our relationship isn't transactional, Kai! It isn't about giving everything we have. It isn't about making everything expensive or what the world thinks perfect means. It's about loving each other. And doing things from the heart."

Nya let go of one of his hands to press a hand to the left side of his chest. "And don't you try to tell me that you didn't do that. Because I know you, doofus. You are always caring. No matter how much you try to convince us otherwise. So I know that the gift is something you got me with thought and care. That is more than enough for me." She reached up, taking his face in her hands, smiling softly as she wiped the tear that escaped.

"Thank you, Kai." Nya whispered, tilting his head down so their foreheads touched. "Thank you for caring enough about me to make sure my day was special. Thank you for caring enough about me to want my present to be good."

"Of course," Kai's eyes were sweet and wide, amber pools of emotion. He reached to cup the back of her head and stroke her hair. "You're my sister."

Nya pulled away, patting his cheek one more time, before she reached up and ruffled his hair- hard. "Now come on, you goof! I want to see my present!"

Kai nodded, looking hesitant, but he passed over the box without protest. Nya excitedly ripped into it, tossing the wrapping paper onto the ground and opening up the box. A warm, delicious smell filled the air as she looked inside and found two steamed buns nestled inside.

"Oh Kai." Nya exclaimed, reaching in and grabbing onto one of the buns. She took a big bite and was immediately met with an explosion of flavour. "They taste just like the ones from the shop back home!"

Kai laughed sheepishly. "Well... that's because they are."

"You went all that way? When?" Nya gasped.

"Oh, just this weekend. You were busy with homework. It wasn't hard to slip away." Kai shrugged.

"This is perfect, Kai. Thank you." Nya said sincerely. She took another bite, closing her eyes and letting the memories flood back to her. Sure, a lot of them were bittersweet and sad but there was joy in the past as well. Especially whenever she thought of Kai.

"Hey, that's not all." Kai told her, nudging her until she looked back into the box. She passed the other bun to her brother and looked further inside. Sure enough, wrapped in tissue paper was something small. Nya carefully unfolded it, eyes widening when she saw a familiar silver shape.

"This was Mom's." She whispered, holding up the ring. It was a simple piece of jewelry, nothing too extravagant. Just a silver band with wave shapes engraved into it. On the one side it had a set of initials: M. S. Nya couldn't help but remember when her mom would wear the ring. She'd loved fiddling with it as she sat on Mya's lap. Her mother had laughed and would sometimes take it off so she could look closer at it. She'd loved the ring.

"When I went back I stopped at old storage unit," Kai told her. "I looked around her things and found this." He gently took the ring from her and helped slip it over her finger. "I think she'd want you to have it."

Nya stared at her brother, emotion heavy and full in her chest. She took his hand and squeezed it right. "Then I'll wear it for her." She lifted her hand, watching the light gleam off of the surface. "Every day."

Kai sighed, tension bleeding from his body. "Good. I'm glad." He chuckled a bit, sounding relieved and tired.

Nya leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulders. He shifted a little before moving his head on top of hers. The two siblings sat together in silence, ruminating in their thoughts and holding each other tight.

Nya closed her eyes. "Thank you, Kai." She said one more time. "This was the best birthday I could have ever asked for."

NOTE*****

I know this is not the update you all were hoping for...

And I'm sorry 😅

I kind of forgot that I had made this special way back when and my monkey brain decided it wanted to focus on finishing this over a new continuing chapter.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It was something fun and it allowed me to play around with the characters. But rest assured I am working on another one for the Tournament of Elements arc. Thank you all for being patient.

This was originally meant to celebrate 30K reads but we're quite a bit past that now 😂. I am still so grateful for all the amazing love and support I've gotten when writing this story. Thank you all for all the reads, votes, and comments. I love reading everything you guys have to see and it makes me happy that I can share my writing with such a brilliant community.

I have slowed down a lot here on WattPad. Life pushes on whether you're ready or not. I'm not going to promise it will improve as my priorities have largely changed. But I still cherish these moments with all my heart 🩷🩷

Have a lovely day everyone,

Thank you again.

LuckyBugBooks 🐞

(P. S. Sorry for any typos or grammar mistakes. I proofread this when I was very tired)