Nya's POV

I lie in bed, staring at the ceiling. I've been up for hours, I know it, but I still can't fall asleep. It's been two nights since everything happened, well, since everything didn't happen, and I can't shake it. It seems like I never will be able to shake it.

All of us have been through so much, whether it was Lloyd and the constant battle with his father, Zane's supposed death, my parents leaving Kai and I, but this one feels so much different. I can still feel his rough hands on my skin as I would try to squirm away, see how he eyed me while I was wearing that wedding dress, hear his voice in my ears, but none of it ever happened. No one remembers the tiger widow venom on me. No one remembers that my life faded before my eyes. No one remembers that I died. No one but Jay.

After the initial happiness and shock when we were both on that rooftop, both of us habe obviously been replaying what happened in our heads. We haven't  trying to, but we can't help it. While both of us went through significantly different situations while in Nadakhan's captivity, both wer clearly traumatizing.

While Jay still hasn't fully opened up to me about what happened, I know it was bad. When myself, Lloyd, and Cole went to save him, he was miserable. He had bruises everywhere. His hair was knotted and greasy. Cuts covered his skin. His eye, the one that wasn't covered with an eyepatch, lost its usual, electric glow. Seeing him in that much pain hurt me.

"Delara," hearing his voice, I bolt up in bed. I grab the closest thing to me, in this case one of my slippers, and hold it up as a weapon. My eyes dart around the room. I check every corner of my room for orange, and when I realize I just imagined it, I squint my eyes as the terror sits in my body. My chest beats rapidly in my chest.

For the first time in what feels like years, I start to cry. As soon as the first tear escapes, they all come rushing out. I sob, gripping onto the blanket. All of the pain I've been bottling up is released. The pain of seeing my team slip out of my grasp, the pain of seeing Jay in such a broken, beaten down state, the pain of everything I went through in the time I was alone with Nadakhan, the pain of seeing my life disappear before my eyes, of realizing exactly what I want, more like who I want, in life, and being taken away from him instantly.

Realizing I'm hyperventilating, I try to calm myself down. I pull out my BorgPhone for the first time since everything happened. I've been too preoccupied in my own mind that I haven't even bothered to look at anything.

When I open Chirp, I see that Jaya is still trending. I knew it would be trending for a while considering how obsessed the media is with us, but two days is a lot. I click on it while trying to control my breathing. The first chirp I see is someone freaking out, in a good way, that Jay and I are back together, and it helps bring a little smile on my face.

However, as I start scrolling more, the more I regret it. It's as if the more I scroll, the worse the chirps get.

"She literally just told the media that she liked neither Jay or Cole and now she's kissing Jay??? Why lie, especially about something as trivial as Jaya?"

"Jaya back together again? Not thrilled, Jay could do better"

"Jaya round two? Is she just doing this as another excuse to break Jay's heart?"

"Poor Jay, Nya's brainwashed him into dating her again #Jaya"

"@Jay_the_Walker COME ON! You can do so much better baby Nya isn't good enough for you! She's already shown her true colors when she tried to cheat on you with your best friend! Drop her! The Jaya hype isn't worth it!"

"Not y'all supporting a relationship as toxic as Jaya. She's so abusive towards him. If y'all really wanted what's best for Jay, you'd tell him to break up with this bitch!"

I read the chirps and feel guilt fill my body. 

Hearing the door to my room open, I immediately turn off my phone and grab my slipper as a defense. I press my back against my headboard, adjusting the sky blue tank top I'm wearing.

"Hey, are you up?" once I hear the voice of my boyfriend, I feel myself calm down. I lower the slipper. Now that I'm focusing, I can see his silhouette in the doorway due to the light spilling in from the hallway. He's wearing shorts and a tank top, his hair slightly messy on his head. I can see the curvature of his arms as he rubs his eyes.

"Yeah. I couldn't sleep," I admit, trying to hide the strain in my voice from when I was crying.

"Me either, not well at least. Can I join you?" he asks.

"Please do," closing the door behind him, he maneuvers through the darkness to my bed. I slide over so he can lie next to me. When he does, he finds his way under the covers and immediately wraps his arms around me, holding me tightly against his chest.

"Can I turn on the lights? I want to see you," he asks. I run a hand through his auburn hair.

"Of course. I doubt either of us are going to be sleeping any time soon," he rolls over, keeping one arm around me, and turns on the lamp next to me. When he turns back to face me, I can see that his eyes are red and puffy. He's been crying. He obviously notices that my eyes are puffy too, but he doesn't mention anything.

"I had a nightmare when I was actually able to fall asleep for a bit," Jay admits after a period of silence, his hand running up and down my arm, static electricity buzzing between the two of us. "It felt like I lost you again. I...I had to come make sure I didn't."

I pull him in even tighter. My cheek rests against his, one head on the back of his head and the other on the small of his back. "I'm not going anywhere, Jay," I reassure him.

"Do you think he remembers? We do, of course, but the others don't so it makes me wonder," he asks me. One of his hands is resting on my waist, the other twirling my raven hair.

"I...I don't know," I admit.

"He scares me so much, Nya," he admits, his voice quiet. "You saw what he was able to do. I...I can't lose you. Being without you for so long was torture, and you were still around me, living with me. Even that little snippet of my life without you...I know I'd be miserable." He digs his head into my shoulder, and I start to feel my shoulder moisten, his body slightly shaking in my grip. The sound of his sobs sends a pang through my heart.

"He...he scares me too, especially if he remembers what happened," I tell him. He sniffles, looking up at me. "I saw what he did to you. I can't even imagine how it would be with that much rage from last time."

"I don't worry about me," he tells me sincerely, hiccuping, even though I know that already.

"I know," I cup his face in my hand, rubbing his moist cheek with my thumb, "but I do."

"Are we going to tell them?" he asks, his sobs slowing down, and I know exactly what he's referring to.

"In the future. I...I don't want to yet. I don't think I could get it out," I admit.

"Alright," he breathes out, trying to calm himself. "Can we have a selfie photo shoot like we used to? I think both of us could afford a mental break. We can use those filters, so this isn't visible," he gestures to the redness around his eyes.

"Of course," he rolls over and grabs my phone off my nightstand.

"Is my thumbprint in here?"

"I never took it out. I tried to, but I just couldn't get myself to," I admit. He rolls back so he's facing me, opening my phone with his thumbprint. However, his eyebrows furrow. "What is it?"

"Why are you looking at this stuff?" he asks. When I realize that my Chirp is still open to all of those chirps earlier, my eyes slightly widen. He scrolls through some of them, and I can see the disgust on his face.

"I saw the hashtag, and I was curious," I admit.

"You don't believe them right?" he clarifies. I open my mouth to talk, but nothing comes out. He sets my phone down. Jay presses a kiss to my lips, giving my body a temporary relief. When we pull apart, his hands comfortingly run up and down my body, electricity prickling through my body. 

It reminds me of the months after the first defeat of the Overlord. Jay and I would lie sneak into each other's rooms and just lie together. We would talk about anything and everything in between kisses. I became accustomed to having him there, to feeling his touch. Feeling his element rushing through my elicits the same, maybe even a stronger, response inside of me that it had them.

"I know I hurt you, bad, with the perfect match machine stuff. I never ever should have even tolerated the idea, and I let it turn into something so toxic and terrible. I split you apart from your best friend and turned you against each other. Then, even after the team split up, I was still debating between the two of you. I..."

"Nya, I'll admit, that whole thing hurt me, bad, but we're not going to be able to grow from it if we stay hooked on it. We were both younger, and significantly dumber, then. I...I should have talked to you about it before immediately flipping out, but neither of can change how we acted," he shifts some of the blame to him, which I want to protest, but I know if I do, he'll still insist on it.

"It's hard not to think about it when people constantly bring it up. They..."

"Nya, I don't care what they say; I'm in love with you. I have been for years, and I will be for the rest of my life, and there's nothing that can change that. Those people don't know anything about us. They don't know what we've gone through."

"You're right," I place a hand on his defined shoulder. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Jay Walker, and I'll do anything to assure that it happens."

"I want nothing more in all of the sixteen realms, Nya Smith."

A/N yeah so I kind of failed flumptober... whoops, but hey... 3 out of 31 isn't THAT bad

I have 2 canon one-shots I want to write (one post season 4 Jaya and one Kailor one that takes place at the end of season 8) but I want to rewatch the season/ episode to make sure I don't mess up anything

Also, I have 2 fanfic ideas I want to write right now, and it's pain. They're both AU's (as usual) but they're both significantly different (with the exception of both being Jaya centric)

And then I have the two different endings for Unanimity... help me

I can't wait til Unanimity is over so I can write more one shots for it I have some great ideas

Also, do you guys want my next one to be a: Chaos oneshot, AU, or canon?

I need to reread Hidden so I can write some for that too 😂 I just really can't remember what happened. I was thinking of a Kailor one of when they first met 

Thank you guys <3 if you guys enjoy it, don't be afraid to comment, vote, and share it with other Ninjago fans! Comments motivate me to write faster.