He had been distant lately.

For about a month now, the communication and affection toward one another stopped. Not completely, of course, but it was gradually reduced.

At first she was fine with it. He had his own problems that she could barely do anything about other than comfort him through the rough journey. She wasn't an affection-seeking person anyway.

But she had never expected to feel like the spark they once had was slowly dying out.

She hated herself for feeling that way, though. His mother, Edna, had become very sick over the course of the last month which worried everyone. Jay immediately took as many days off of his job to be around his mother as he could and he was now practically living with his parents in their junkyard again.

Nya herself was very concerned for Edna, and she was feeling very bad for the way her heart was selfishly reacting to the lack of love she was receiving from her Yin.

She had visited the junkyard every now and then to both be around Jay and also his parents. Whatever Edna had was still not discovered, which wasn't helping the family's situation one bit.

"Heya! Jay Walker here. Sorry I couldn't pick up my phone, that must mean I'm very busy at the moment. Please call again later if I still haven't called you back in... let's say an hour. Before you go, let me tell you- beep! ... Just kidding, I'm still here. Anyways-"

Beep!

That was probably the fifth call Jay hadn't picked up that day. Nya let go of her phone with a sigh and reluctantly decided to just go on with her day without Jay in it. He was, again, in the junkyard, whereas Nya and everyone else was still in the monastery.

Getting out of bed, Nya left her room to join the rest of the gang in the living room. They were playing a video game, which she soon realized was Prime Empire when she entered the room, while yelling at each other.

She drowned out their voices as she found a seat next to her brother. Kai only gave her a quick look before he went back to arguing with Lloyd and Cole. Zane and Pixal were conversing with each other and seemingly paying no mind to their friends as they were in a world of their own.

Jay and Nya were once like that, talking about anything and everything while paying no attention to anyone but each other. Nya missed those conversations, realizing she had never appreciated his voice enough until she barely got to hear it.

She scolded herself the second she started to feel her selfish desires creeping up again. Jay's mother was unwell and all she was feeling was jealousy.

Nya watched as the guys began a new round of their game. It took her a few seconds before she recognized the level they were currently on.

The Temple of Madness.

She observed her brother's moves, assessed his techniques, and internally corrected his mistakes. He was playing unevenly, his demeanor too confident to notice the small things he was overseeing.

"He's going to come back," Nya mumbled but was not heard over the others' screaming. She watched as Cole and Kai's in-game characters walked up the same stairs Nya and Jay had when they were inside the game. She watched as the two confidently turned in their keytanas.

She watched as Sushimi, also known as the Mad Sushi Chef, caught up to them and threw a spiked club at Kai, cubing him.

Nya tore her gaze away from the television screen and tried her best to ignore Kai's frustrated words.

"I was so close, man! The wall was down, all I had to do was go through! Ugh, where did he even come from? We pushed him out and killed him in the restaurant, right, Cole? I swear he probably waited for us to get so far to ruin our victory and hid behind that wall like a coward."

Nya squeezed her eyes shut and tried to push the flashbacks away. She had been through that level, too, but for her it was real. She could still feel how real it felt to get a spiked club thrown against her back, how real it felt to get cubed, how prominently Jay's scream could still be heard until she could no longer hear anything else.

Not wanting to succumb to the darkened mood she was now in, she stood up and silently left the living room.

She paid no attention to where she was going but she somehow found herself standing in front of Jay's bedroom door. She knew he was not there yet she still opened the door and looked inside. The first thing she noticed was that his entire room was all tidied up, not even a single piece of clothing was lying on the floor. Then she sighed when she couldn't see Mr. Cuddlywomp anywhere. He was always resting on Jay's bed, and if he was not there, she assumed he was with Jay in the junkyard.

It almost felt surreal to know Jay was not in the mess that once was his room. Even his portable gaming console was still on his bedside table.

As she was walking up to his unused bed, she caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the mirror of his closet door. She stopped and took a while to stare at herself.

Her hair, though in her usual ponytail, looked like it hadn't been taken care of in a while. Her eyes had slight bags under them and her lips looked drier than they usually were. Her eyes looked duller, like the spark in them was taken out of them, stomped on a few times, and then put back in. She could barely recognize the woman that was staring back at her.

But then it all came crashing down on her.

Jay's entire family was suffering, and Nya, being an official part of his family as well, was also suffering, but not for the same reason.

It was then, in that silent moment that she took a second to think over everything, that she realized how selfish she was for not being in the Walkers' junkyard with them.

Nya stormed out of her Yin's bedroom and went into her own. There she quickly changed into more comfortable clothes before she grabbed her phone and rushed out of the monastery.

Yet she didn't get far when she remembered how Jay was. He had a habit of neglecting his own needs whenever he was worried about other people. It happened quite a lot that he forgot to eat, drink or take care of himself whenever Nya herself was sick.

Instead of going down to the vehicle bay, the Water Ninja took her time in the kitchen where she decided to cook some chicken soup. She made sure to make enough for both Jay and his parents.

After it was done, she poured the hot liquid into three silver thermoses which she then put into a tote bag. Finally, after she was sure she had everything she needed, she made her way over to the vehicle bay where she chose to take the Earth Drill.

The way over to the junkyard was long, but once she entered the Sea of Sands, Nya could drive as fast as she wanted since there was no speed limit for the desert.

When she parked the vehicle in front of the junkyard's gates, she grabbed the tote bag before she took a deep breath and entered the premises. The walk up to the caravan felt longer than it actually was.

Nya's fist slightly trembled as she reached up and knocked twice against the metal door. She waited patiently, her hands clutching the bag tightly.

After a few seconds of complete silence, she brought her fist up again to knock once more but she let out a surprised squeak when the door was yanked open before she had the chance to.

When her eyes met his, both of them froze.

He looked tired, drained. It looked like he was about to pass out any second based on the way he was gripping the door handle like his life depended on it. His clothes were all wrinkled and his blue shirt had a few darker stains on it.

"Jay," Nya whispered, not able to pull her eyes away from him.

Jay did not answer, he only stepped to the side and let Nya into his childhood home. As she walked inside, Nya cast a quick glance around the familiar area before looking back at Jay after he closed the door again.

"How is she?" she asked, hoping her question wasn't hitting a nerve.

Her boyfriend looked down as he let out a sigh and shook his head slowly. He skimmed through his hair with his fingers. Nya's eyes softened at the vulnerable state he was in.

"She's taking a nap right now," he said quietly, his voice raspy and hoarse. "My Dad's with her."

Nya nodded. "And how are you?" she asked softly.

Jay looked back at her, and when he did, Nya saw the water in his eyes rise. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down before he shook his head again.

Giving him a sad smile, Nya gently placed the tote bag down on the floor next to her feet and opened her arms.

Her Yin threw himself into her arms instantly as he began to cry quietly. His face was buried deep into her scalp and his arms clung to her like she would slip away the second he let go. Nya rubbed soothing circles on his back as she tried her best to comfort him.

They stood there for a while. What began as silent cries turned into louder sobs as Jay let go of trying to hide the pain he was in.

The second she felt like Jay's legs were about to give in, Nya effortlessly picked him up bridal style and carried him over to the couch. She laid him down first before she laid down right next to him, against him. They barely had any room to move in but it wasn't needed anyway as the two embraced one another again. He continued to cry into Nya's chest while having her in a death grip as she combed her fingers through his slightly greasy hair. It was obvious that Jay hadn't showered in a while but it was neither the right time nor the right place to talk about that.

After the sobs quieted down again, Nya looked down at Jay to see him lying against her with his eyes open. He kept sniffing as he seemed to be in his own little world.

"Jay," Nya whispered. He looked up at her and waited for her to continue. "When was the last time you ate something?"

When his eyes slightly widened, Nya received her answer. With a sigh, she began to untangle herself out of his grasp, causing them both to sit up. She turned to the bag she brought with her. Jay watched her as she pulled out one of the three thermoses before putting the bag back down onto the floor. Nya carefully unscrewed the cap. Some steam immediately pushed its way through and dissolved in the air seconds later. She poured him the chicken soup into the cap that she used as a small bowl.

Jay gratefully took the soup, knowing Nya wouldn't let him leave the room before it was finished. After slurping it up slowly, he turned to her and snuggled up against her with the soup warming his hands. Nya slung an arm around him and brought him closer to her body.

The two spent the next few minutes in comfortable silence, a silence Jay hadn't had in a while now. His mind was constantly plagued with What if? scenarios and he couldn't get a free second without worrying about his mother's health. Having Nya visit him in the moment she did was probably the best that could've happened.

Once he downed another cup filled with the soup, he told her he was full to which Nya reluctantly agreed. Then she told him that the other two thermoses were for his parents which made him smile slightly. The fact that she was thoughtful enough to not just care about him but also his parents was heartwarming.

When he let a yawn slip out, both of them stilled and looked at each other. They kept staring at each other until Nya broke the silence. "Off to bed you go." She stood up from the couch and waited for him to copy her.

"No!" Jay whined. He tried to drag Nya back onto the couch but she refused to let him and already made her way over to his childhood bedroom. Jay sighed before he pushed himself up and walked after her.

He was not in the mood to go to sleep, but when he found Nya already lying in his bed with the blanket lifted up and inviting him to join her, he didn't waste a second before he climbed in next to her and rested his head on top of her chest, with his arms circling around her frame.

It didn't take long for him to drift off to sleep. Nya, however, couldn't find it in her to fall asleep when the cogs in her head were spinning a bit too fast. Although Jay was better at the moment, she knew it would be over as soon as he woke up again.

She just hoped that the harder days would pass by as soon as possible so that he could be his old, optimistic self again.

This feels a bit rushed and unplanned which is exactly what it is. After I recovered from having covid, I kind of pushed writing away since I couldn't find it in me to start again, but I figured that I needed to begin again at some point since I love to write. Although I wanted to publish another oneshot, I couldn't find any motivation to finish it which led me to write this at almost two in the morning. Count this as a "test oneshot" because I really just wrote what came to my mind and it's also shorter than most of my oneshots.