Set between season 7 and season 8.

Nya hated the concept of attachment almost as much as Garfield hated Mondays.

Being attached to another person meant wanting to be near them twenty-four seven, and while that might sound like a piece of heaven to most people, it sounded like hell to Nya. The stolen glances across the room, the yearning for one another behind closed doors, the skipping of one's heart at the mere presence of the other.

It all sounded like a burden to Nya.

On paper, at least. In real life, in the present world, with the experiences Nya had fought her way through for the past two decades, she could accept the fact that thought and action weren't interchangeable.

Instead, they competed for the win. Her thoughts were not the same as her actions, and that was a problem Nya still struggled with keeping under wraps. She could say and do as much as she wanted, she could fake every smile perfectly, but at the end of the day, if she wasn't happy with an outcome chosen by the monks up at the Cloud Kingdom, she wasn't happy. Simple as that. There was nothing she could change about her thoughts.

And that was really the catalyst for her. Actions were changeable. One could act differently by forcing themselves to perform a certain act or claim a certain idea. When it came to thoughts, however, Nya had quickly learned that she couldn't stop her mind to run haywire at the most random nights. She couldn't make herself think what she didn't want to think. There was no wanting in the matter of thinking at all, actually. And that, in her eyes, was the beauty of human life.

You are what you think and what you do is what other people think about you.

Maybe that was why her relationship with Jay had lasted the long amount of time it had. Years had gone by, they had their ups and downs, but in the end they still managed to stick together, even when the world had been against them from the start. Their stars had been chosen by loveless minds, but the two pushed through every obstacle and were now happily together.

Well, not exactly together. They were in two different locations. An entire ocean was between them. Looking for Master Wu was especially draining for the couple within the ninja team. The distance was eating them up, time and time again. Every waking moment alone reminded them of the countless kisses and cuddles and touches they had lost the opportunity of experiencing.

The quest to finding Wu had started many months ago. Nya couldn't even pinpoint a time she had thought about anything other than her friends or Wu or Jay or her brother. Her being in a state of constant stress was an ignorant understatement.

But Jay, being her ninja in silver armor, was always there to put a smile on her face whether in her thoughts or in person, just like right now. As in-person as it could get, anyway.

"You have no idea what I just had to go through to get this phone." Jay's laughter bubbled out of the phone screen and traveled into her ear canals before reaching Nya's brain, the tune of his making her lips stretch into a soft smile. "The guy was trying to rip me off—rude—but I persisted until he took my fifty and left me alone."

It was late at night. Half, if not most of Jamanakai's population was already asleep. Nya was also tired, but she couldn't have skipped out on the video call with her boyfriend even if her body was functioning on low power mode, no way, no chance.

It was the only highlight of her day.

As Jay went on with his rant about how he had managed to acquire a new phone in no time, Nya couldn't help but stare at him. He was rambling, and while her brother would have said it was annoying, Nya couldn't disagree more.

Seeing Jay speak so animatedly, so freely, so willingly, it made her all the more happy she was able to video call. The in-person deal was more wanted, but if this was her only means of communication, then so be it.

"The guy was so unlikeable!"

"Impossible," Nya said. "You like everyone you meet." Unless they were the enemy.

Jay shrugged. "He called me names. I can endure them when the guys say it, but a stranger? Nah. And he called me a 'dirty cop.'" He angled the camera down to his clothes. "Do I look like a cop?"

Nya openly ogled his blue sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. "You don't, but..."

"But?"

But you look so hot. "I don't see how he got the idea of thinking you were a cop."

There it was again: Nya being unable to just say what she was thinking. She didn't know how or why her brain prevented her from speaking her truth. She was sure Jay would have been more than happy to hear what she thought about him. Nobody else was in the room to hear her.

Nothing made any sense.

"What about you?" Jay asked. "Have you found anything while in Jamanakai?"

Nya shook her head, a yawn slurring her words. "No. Caught a few robbers, but that's about it. The most dangerous thing I've come across was a guy threatening another guy with a knife." She rolled her eyes at the absurdity of her next words. "Turned out they were in the middle of a professional set and shooting an action film."

Jay gasped. "And you...?" He giggled at the embarrassed expression on her face.

"I didn't know about the film, okay? I thought it was a real emergency."

"You busted onto the set while the cameras were rolling?" Her boyfriend couldn't contain his laughter that bubbled out of him.

"Shut up." Nya's cheeks dusted with a sheer hue of pink. "I told them to delete the footage."

"Did they?"

"I may or may not have hacked into their system to delete it myself, so..."

Jay lost it completely, his hand unsteadily trying to hold the phone as his other hand clutched his stomach. Nya's embarrassment was replaced by another wave washing over her with another act of acknowledgment of affection for her boyfriend's amusement.

"You know they were going to keep the clip in one way or another," she deadpanned, knowing the media would have loved to see a cameo of the Water Ninja in a generic action film.

Yawning, Nya turned to the side and rested her phone on the pillow her head was on, steadying it with her hand. Her droopy eyes could no longer go unnoticed by Jay, who chuckled.

Nya watched as he copied her action and brought his blanket up to his neck, looking cozy and content with her by his side, though the real deal would have been better in both of their opinions.

"If you drop your phone in your sleep again," she warned, yawning again, "I will strangle you."

The last time they had video chatted and gone to sleep like this together, Jay had accidentally dropped his phone to the floor. The loud thud of the device hitting the floor had woken her up and left her grumpy throughout that day.

That was what she had told him, anyway. In reality, however, she had wanted to wake up with him still slumbering on the other side and stare at him while she could, but with him dropping the phone, that had canceled her plan.

"Yeah, well, that would mean you'd come over here to strangle me so I might be a bit tempted," he answered cheekily.

The witty reply died down in her throat as Nya's mouth closed with a smile. Jay was usually the more polite and level-headed of the two, so him playing into her feigned delusions was amazing.

"Now go to sleep."

"Don't tell me what to do." Nya's eyes were already closed and her breathing settled into a calm, steady rhythm. The bed was too stiff for her liking, but then again, it was raining outside and the water hitting the window soothed her mind and sang her a lullaby she couldn't tune out.

"I can do what I want."

"Shut up."

"You shut up."

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah-uh."

Their banter died down and was replaced by a silence that indicated they were both too tired to keep up their mindless conversation.

Just as she crossed the gates of dreamland, Jay's soft whisper followed her in. "I can read you a bedtime story if you want."

He never received a sarcastic reply.

An undisclosed amount of time later, Nya was woken up by a sudden weight pushing down her waist. At first she thought nothing of it; it could have been her mind playing tricks on her, convincing her of things untrue to the world around her, or it could have been her exhilarating dream with Jay in it, both of them snuggling and laughing whilst talking about nonsense only the two found interesting.

But the moment she felt a slow, steady hand pushing under her neck, her senses went haywire. An intruder, she thought, must have snuck inside her undercover hideout. A small, undisturbed motel hidden from the public view by the vast majority of woodland surrounding it. Nya had chosen to stay there because she had thought the laughably low amount of average stayers was a plus point in her book. She had done her checkups. She had imprinted the blueprints of the entire three-story building into her brain, learned all the locations to every single exit, every broken window, every unhinged door. She had run thorough background checks on the staff and hacked into the databases of their systems to run some checks on their past and present clients.

This motel had been her residence for the three five weeks, and so far nothing had happened. Nya had made sure of it.

But apparently her investigations into every aspect of her temporary whereabouts had not been thorough enough. Someone had managed to not only sneak into her motel room but also into her bed.

Nya's eyes shot open at once. The hand sliding under her neck was cold and, as far as Nya deduced in the five seconds she could feel the intruder's skin to hers, sleeveless. Either a show-off with abs the size of peas or a boaster who didn't need protective gear to survive in combat.

Nya had encountered both types in the past.

In the blink of an eye, she jumped up, turned around, straddled their torso, pinned both their wrists above their head in one hand, and pushed her other arm squarely into their neck, cutting off circulation.

Only then did she notice the auburn curls, the wolfish grin, and the electricity roaming free in a pair of navy eyes.

"Kinky." His voice came out strangled but alive and playful, and Nya released his throat and allowed him to swallow thick loads of air before his grin took over again.

Nya wasn't as thrilled as she let go of his wrists and sat up. "Jay."

"Nya." His hands found her hips in record speed. "I didn't really think you'd strangle me, but you know what? I should have expected it. You did warn me."

She blinked, unimpressed. "You're here."

Gasping, Jay's eyes widened. His left hand let go of Nya's flesh and gripped at his own heart, then his collarbone, then his face. "No way!" He began to lift his upper body, but Nya's hand pushed him back down. He landed on the mattress with a giggle that made Nya smile.

"Were you been planning on coming here this whole time?"

"No." He shook his head, his hand back on Nya's hip. His thumbs softly traced circles on her jogger-clad skin. "I wasn't planning on doing anything, actually. But you were so desperate and clingy and needy on the call yesterday that I couldn't resist coming over to—"

Nya swatted his chest playfully, the grin on her face on display for the world to see. She couldn't contain the happiness she felt at the sight of her boyfriend in front of her eyes. He was there, with her, underneath her, giving her his megawatt smile she loved so much.

"You're the desperate and clingy and needy one," she said, ignoring the eyebrow raise Jay gave her as a We both know you're lying.

Her eyes landed on her phone that she must have let go sometime during the night because it was lying screen-down on the white sheet next to the off-white pillow. Picking it up, she was surprised to see the video chat was still ongoing, though the screen was too dark to see something on it.

Chuckling, Jay pulled his phone out of the pocket of his gi and directed the camera on Nya. She could see the back of her head and shoulders on her own screen now, realizing Jay had never hung up on her on his journey from Stiix to Jamanakai.

Speaking of... "How did you get here so quick? The water isn't safe."

It was a question of genuine wonder. Jay couldn't have trekked across the ocean in a high-tech boat even if he wanted to. The water had been distressed for the past three days and surviving a ride like that was close to impossible. Even the fishermen had to stay put and wait until the sea calmed down again.

Nya's knee-jerk reaction had been to tame the waves the moment they had begun acting up, but that would have given away her location to possible enemies in the area, so she had decided to let nature be nature for once.

"Who says I crossed the water?" Jay grinned. "I flew."

"You used your jet to get here?" Nya's eyes widened. "What if—"

"Don't worry, my love," he said softly. "I flew high up in the air, above the clouds, and hit autopilot right before jumping out. People'll think a plane just flew over the town and never stopped here. Nobody should have seen me when I entered." He frowned. "Why'd you choose this place, anyway? The security isn't up to our standards and there are no cameras anywhere. You're unprotected here."

The unadulterated concern in his voice tugged at Nya's heartstrings. It made her smile wider, her eyes shinier. The cracks in the walls let the cold air sneak in, but the chills never reached her skin as Jay's presence was enough to light her up in a permanent sunbeam.

"That was the point," she answered. "Nobody wants to stay at a place like this. Not even bad guys."

Jay still looked unconvinced of her reasoning. She could see every worst-case scenario running through his brain. She decided a topic change was necessary before she'd get stuck in a boring anything could have happened lecture.

"What about Stiix? Now that you're here, nobody else is there, and what if...what if Wu...you know."

The topic of their master was a tough one to talk about without getting emotional. It had been so long since they had last seen him, and the possibility of them never finding him was there, haunting them in every step they took.

Jay smiled sheepishly. "Stiix is taken care of."

"By who?"

"Kai."

"Kai?" There was no way her brother was covering a town that was barely staying above water.

Jay nodded. "I know he was supposed to go to Ignacia today. It took him a while to agree to my request for changing his location with mine...and I might be owing him a favor now."

"A favor," Nya repeated, her eyebrows raised.

"Yeah. I told him I'd do one thing he wanted me to do, no matter what. But he, instead of making me give him my money or tell him he's the best ninja ever or whatever, said he'd rather not use it up right now and instead wait for the perfect moment." Jay pursed his lips. "Now I'm scared for my life."

"You should be. Kai has to be plotting something against you for making him cover a town that's built on water."

"What a nice way to reassure your boyfriend that you love him," he said sarcastically. "I feel really comforted. I'm so happy I've jeopardized my life to be here with you."

Nya's open yawn indicated that she was still not fully awake, and instead of waking her up so they could start their day earlier, Jay snuck his hands around her back and pulled her onto his chest. She laid down willingly and enjoyed his embrace more than she was ready to admit.

With her eyes now closed and her chest rising and falling evenly, Jay knew he had little time to spend with her before she would fall asleep again, which he didn't mind. He was still tired from his flight and wasn't against getting a few hours of rest himself, especially when he could hold his girlfriend while doing so.

He pulled the blanket over their stacked bodies and tucked the fabric under his body so that it wouldn't move, creating a makeshift cocoon for the two of them to share. Then he wrapped his arms around her body and relaxed his own for the first time in weeks, knowing his girlfriend was with him and he was there to protect her from anything and anyone.

So far, none of the ninja had tracked Wu down, let alone found a single clue about his residence, and the not knowing was bringing them down rather than giving them more motivation to look closer and harder.

The separation was wearing the team down. They were all participating in the same mission, but they hadn't had a proper in-person meeting in more than a month. Going from seeing each other every hour of the day to not a single day in a month was difficult for everybody involved.

Jay knew he would have to go to Ignacia the same day he had arrived at Jamanakai. He was a responsible man; doing his duties with due diligence was the least he could do in order to not only finish his given task but also feel accomplished by his drive for success.

But now that he had his girl in his arms, he knew he couldn't let go of her that easily. He needed more of her. He missed taking her on dates and watching her get ready in the morning and talking her ears off about a topic she didn't care about but still paid attention to for him. There was no way he would leave her right after getting her again.

They had time, so much time. It wouldn't make a big difference if Jay spent just one whole day in Jamanakai. The chances of him finding anything in Ignacia were low anyway, and if he missed a clue while he was staying in Jamanakai, he could live with it.

He disliked breaking rules as much as the next guy, but he would do it again and again and again for Nya without batting an eye.