"So," she said, her eyes piercing through the boys' souls. "Does anyone have any questions?"

When Cole raised his hand slowly and carefully, Nya's gaze shifted over to him. He was sitting all the way to her right.

Upon realizing he was actually about to ask a question, the other three boys tried to telepathically tell him that he was about to be murdered, yet he didn't seem to get the message which caused Kai to slap his forehead and Lloyd to sigh while shaking his head.

"Cole?" Nya asked slowly, seeing him gulp.

"Um," he began, bringing his hand back down before resting it on his lap. "Maybe he took it with him?"

As soon as he watched as Nya slowly raised an eyebrow at him with a look on her face that said are you serious right now?, he knew he just made a mistake.

"First of all, it has a name," she explained.

"It's a freaking toy," Kai mumbled under his breath, exasperated.

Nya's head whipped over to him, causing him to shut up at once and basically cower in fear.

"Anyway," the Master of Water continued after giving her brother one last warning look, "he's been upset over losing him for about two days now, I don't think he actually took him with him."

"But what if he did, and you're just being scary again for no reason?" Lloyd whined out loud. Then, when he noticed the disturbingly quiet atmosphere around him, he came to the blood-chilling realization that those words actually left his mouth instead of just staying in his head. He looked at his female friend to see whether she was merciful enough to let him live to see another tomorrow.

Nya eyed him calmly. "Maybe. But since you're being very disrespectful right now, you won't get any dinner tonight," she stated, using the fact that she had the duty of preparing dinner for the evening to her advantage.

Lloyd's mouth popped open, his eyes widening in fear. "What?" he squeaked out. "That's not fair! Cole was more disrespectful than I was!" he then said and pointed a finger at his gasping teammate.

"Don't bring me into this!" Cole exclaimed, sending Lloyd a death glare.

"You're right," Nya nodded at Lloyd before looking at Cole. "No dinner for you either."

"What?!"

"Alright, I will go through the plan once again so that none of you have the chance to act dumb: Lloyd, you will look around all of the bedrooms. Kai, you'll look around the training room downstairs. Cole, you'll look around the vehicle bay. And Zane, you'll look around outside with me so that I can keep my sanity."

Once everyone nodded, some more reluctant than others, the team spread out.

❀✿❀✿❀

"Son," Edna said, catching her son's attention. Jay put down his spoon to listen to his mother. "You know how I feel about you playing with your food." She eyed his plate.

Jay sighed, nodding. "Sorry," he muttered as he swept up a spoonful of his lentil soup before eating it.

His parents exchanged glances.

Ed picked up a napkin and cleaned his mouth, clearing his throat. Jay lazily looked up at him. "What's wrong, Jay?"

Edna put her hand on her husband's, silently thanking him for asking the question that was at the tip of her tongue. Ed only squeezed her hand in acknowledgement.

"It's nothing," Jay sighed. He knew he had to spill the beans sooner or later, so he decided to voice his thoughts. "It's just that," another sigh, "Mr. Cuddlywomp... He's been gone, Pa. I don't know where he is."

Even though the reason for his sulking was a teddy bear, both of his parents knew that it was more than just a stuffed companion.

That small, blue bear had been through thick and thin with him. He had always been there for Jay. Whenever he had a nightmare, that little animal (its species was still, to that day, a mystery to everyone) would fill in the empty, horrific space in his mind that only Mr. Cuddlywomp could fill.

Nowadays, it was Nya's job to comfort Jay, but the blue teddy bear still had a special place in his heart.

Losing him was like losing an important part of Jay, so it was pretty understandable why he would be in such a bad mood after losing his plushie.

"Are you sure he's lost?" Ed asked. "Maybe you just forgot him in your bed, son. Or in your bathroom, you know that's happened a lot back in the day when you were still living under our roof."

Jay shook his head, his eyes reflecting desperation. "No, Dad, I know he's not there. He was nowhere to be found while I was packing my bag to take here. You know I don't usually like to travel without him."

He looked back down at his food and let his shoulders slump, another sigh escaping his lips. Jay was visiting his parents at their junkyard for five days, two of which had already passed, and no matter how happy he was about being there, he had nothing and no one to snuggle up close to at night, which was mainly the problem he was dealing with.

He not only didn't have Mr. Cuddlywomp with him, but Nya was also not there. He was too attached to her, he noticed, and there was no point in denying it.

"I'm sure he'll come up when you least expect it," Edna told her son. "Now, please eat your food before it gets cold, my boy. You know how you are when your food is no longer warm."

❀✿❀✿❀

There was no telling of where the plushie could have been. The bedrooms turned out to be a waste of time and energy to check up on. The training room and vehicle bay were just as useless. The courtyard, on the other hand, was the exact same as the others: hopeless.

Mr. Cuddlywomp was nowhere to be found.

Nya was close to giving up and calling it a day. The others had already snuck their way back to their rooms to escape her, and she let them be, knowing there was no point in keeping them there to suffer along with her.

She walked back to the kitchen and decided to get a drink. She opened the refrigerator and grabbed a water bottle. Then she opened the freezer to retrieve some ice but gasped when she found Mr. Cuddlywomp instead.

Letting go of the bottle, she picked him up and nearly let him fall to the floor because he was basically as cold as a block of ice. Nya tried to squish one of his arms and found out she was not even able to do that.

Who could have put him in there?

Whatever, she thought and made a decision she never would have thought of making. It was a one-second decision that would cause her more harm than good, but for Jay, she was ready to cross an entire desert in the scorching hot sun.

Which she did.

On her upgraded motorcycle, she drove on the hard sand as fast as her bike could. Once she saw the junkyard in the distance, she smiled, relieved.

Walking up the steps to the van was more nerve-wracking than she would have thought. She basically invited herself over without telling Jay or his parents beforehand, so there was a chance she wouldn't be accepted in or welcomed.

As those thoughts flooded her brain, Nya tried her best to shut them down. Jay or his parents would never do that, she was aware of that. There was no point in worrying so much.

She finally knocked on the door and waited, the plushie now thawed and almost completely dry in her hand.

The metal door flew open, and her brown eyes met with a pair of curious blue ones. Once Jay realized who it was and what she was holding, he grinned and immediately pulled her inside.

"Nya!" he exclaimed, hugging her. "I've missed you."

"It's only been two days." Nya chuckled.

"Exactly!"

"Who is it, Jay?" Edna asked as she came in through the door to her and Ed's bedroom. Then she locked eyes with a smiling Nya. "Nya! What a wonderful surprise to see you here! Are you here to stay with Jay? Ed, come here, our daughter-in-law is here!"

Jay's ears brimmed bright red in embarrassment. Nya only smiled. "We're not... that far along in our relationship, Ma," Jay corrected her quietly.

Edna waved her hand dismissively. "You're already married with three kids in my imagination," she stated bluntly. Then she looked at Nya's little companion. "You've decided to visit us, and you brought Jay's stuffie? Can you get any more perfect?"

Now it was Nya becoming embarrassed. She smiled shyly and turned her face away from Jay and Edna to hide her blush.

"You're embarrassing her, Ma!" Jay hissed and embraced Nya in a tight hug to hide her face in his chest.

"That's my job as your mother, son."

"Ma!"

"I said what I said."