A/N

Tbh I felt like I was kinda BSing my way through this one, even if I like the result.

Anyway, enjoy :).

♡♡♡

It wasn't easy to wake up the next day.

She was usually quite a light sleeper, but that day, not even the traditional alarm clock banging non-stop could make her open her eyes.

The sound was so loud, in fact, that it had managed to wake her brother before her. Now that was a feat.

He was the one to wake her up that morning, but they didn't get to say anything before he had to return to tending to the shop.

Just as she was finishing changing into her clothes, she heard her brother's voice echo through their home.

"Nya? Come get the mail!"

She wasn't thrilled at the idea of the mail man seeing her bed head, but she still went.

And seeing her brother try to tame a flaming sword, struggling to insert it in the furnace, told her that there were no other free hands to do the job.

She didn't pay attention to the mailman himself; just took the envelope and turned away, ignoring the wink he gave her as he handed it to her.

When she saw the back, however, she understood.

Her eyes widening slightly, she tore apart the envelope like an animal, unfolding the letter inside as quickly as she could. She stumbled upon her words while reading it in her mind, her heart racing faster with every line.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Hey Nya!

  I'm still not sure about how long we'll  stay here, but I wanted to ask you anyway. We could maybe hang out sometime? Just inventing and stuff. I've thought of a name for the bird too haha.

-Jay :)
-----------------------------------------------------------

It was only a hangout, she knew that already. She wasn't even trying to think about that possibility, whether she wanted it to be true or not.

She wanted to go, but at the same time, what if Kai was right? What if they really were just scammers looking to mess with people's stuff? What if it was all a lie? What if...

No, she was thinking illogically.

She knew what she wanted. She knew she wanted to say yes and spend all night long building robots together until their tools melted from overuse.

However, she also knew that, in the end, he remained a stranger. One that could leave at any second and she wouldn't know.

Then again, the time they had spent together almost two days ago... She hadn't laughed that hard in ages.

She knew it was quite unlady-like to even think that (according to the rest of the village ladies, at least) but she was struggling not to pee herself from laughter the whole time he was telling her his outlandish stories.

Falling off from a building with mechanical wings? Talking skeletons? A Monastery with a thousand steps? She knew that they were most likely fictitious (as a way to impress her, she would hope) but even she couldn't deny that they were funny.

Still, the dilemma orbited her head like a planet, yet she didn't get to come to a conclusion.

"Who's it from?"

She gasped as her brother appeared behind her, trying to take a peek.

Lie lie lie lie...

"Oh, we just got the wrong mail, I guess..." she said, showing the letter just far enough for him not to be able to read it. "This is directed at Ms Ming."

He raised an eyebrow. "Lei's mum? I  can just give it to her when I visit him then."

He tried to reach for it, but she pushed his hand away.

"No!" she exclaimed, then bit back her tongue.

He moved back slowly, raising an eyebrow. "... Okay."

She returned to normal, blushing slightly as she backed away. "I mean, I'll going there anyway... No need to."

"If you say so..." he said, returning to his attempt at making a sword.

Embarrassed as she was, she had other matters to attend to.

So, she slowly stepped out of the shop, the letter held tightly against her chest as she left.

Yet, the moment she was out of sight, she read it over and over again, butterflies piling up in her stomach with every word.

She bit her lip and folded the paper, hoping that no bystander was able to see it or its contents.

Nya couldn't remember the last time she had a friend. There was this one girl when she was five, but she moved to the city just a few months after they met. After that, it was only her and her brother, really.

Boys were out of the question, even for friends. Well, they were, except for the fact that they usually left on their own, a decision influenced by Kai. Who would want to be pursue the blacksmith's little sister, anyway?

Whenever she asked, Kai avoided the subject. Boys were a non-starter and there was that. Not that she cared too much, she'd rather be making swords her entire life than have the village select her husband any day.

Kai did invite her to his friend group once or twice, but the tension between her and his friends was enough to make him back out.

That didn't matter anymore, however; she was about to have a friend; a real one, even!

She thought of entering the motel when voiced echoed in her ears.

Well, not exactly voices... more like grunts and groans from what she could tell.

They were coming from the back of the building.

♡♡♡

He was so, so dumb.

Thinking back on it, that had to have been the dumbest thing he had ever written.

Then again, it was sort of impulsive. He had just barely managed to hand it to the mailman that morning, after all.

Maybe she hadn't received it yet. Yeah. That was a good thought.

"On your left."

Cole's voice woke him up from his worries as he dodged his incoming attack, avoiding the wooden sword just in time.

"I still can't believe Sensei just bailed on us and left us training in the sun..." he said, trying to make small talk to distract himself from his thoughts

He took off his mask and fanned himself with his hand, glaring at the flaming sun above.

Of course and they had to be wearing black of all shades underneath the sun.

"I believe he wanted to see the village for himself if I'm not mistaken," Zane said behind them, still clean and dry, unlike the others.

How did he do it? Well, he didn't know. It was as if he had metal skin or something.

"Jay, isn't that Nya behind you?" Cole said all if a sudden, gesturing behind him.

"Haha, very funny." He dodged his incoming kick by grabbing his leg and twisting it around, making him lose his balance and fall.

The trick had always worked on him, so seeing himself perform it on his truck of a friend was more than satisfying.

He chuckled at himself as Cole shook his head playfully, however there was one thing remaining to be addressed.

He turned around, expecting yet another one of Cole's lame pranks.

He caught a glimpse of the person peeking out of the corner. Just as fast as they were gone, he began sprinting after them, ignoring everything else.

♡♡♡

No, of course it couldn't have been that easy!

Why would she believe for even a second that she could find one normal person in that entire village? Sure, weirder people had come along, but ninja were the last thing she had expected.

It was as if the butterflies in her stomach had turned into violent moths, eating at her insides as a pit in her stomach started to form.

When she heard footsteps coming after her, she walked faster.

Until he grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to stop.

"Nya, um, hi..." he said, still trying to catch his breath. "I... I can explain."

"Explain what?"

"Nya... We're just wonderers from the city, that's all. Sparring is just a thing we sort of... do, you know?"

That seemed to ease up her nerves.

"Hey, just because we know how to use swords and shurikens doesn't mean we're like, secret warriors or anything..."

She didn't understand why that had freaked her out. He was probably telling the truth, she knew that.

But then again, how do you trust a person who knocked out someone like twice their size in one blow?

Maybe it was the element of surprise; not that Jay seemed weak by any means (quite the opposite, in fact), but perhaps the fact that he looked smaller compared to his friends made her perceive him as nimble yet weaker in comparison.

Her brain was right. She was overreacting.

"Okay... Keep practicing, then."

She turned to walk away, but he stopped her. They were a bit closer than before.

As sweaty and smelly as he was, she couldn't deny that she found the sight endearing.

"You didn't happen to receive something in the mail, right?"

Her reaction was almost instantaneous as she hid the letter behind her back.

"I don't think so," she lied through her teeth.

"Oh."

She couldn't stand seeing him disappointed, but that was not a decision to make on her own.

♡♡♡

She was still thinking about him, even after hours had passed.

She held the letter close as she went on with her day, running errands and buying food.

As per usual, she had finished just in time for her favourite piece of the day; the library.

The door opened, its little bell chiming in her ears as she pushed the door back in its place.

The counter was empty, but it didn't affect her; she was enough of a regular there not to need a pass to enter.

It was but a small building, really; only five bookshelves, as well as a small, wooden table for reading.

Her spot had always been the same considering that she was the only one present most of the time. When she saw it occupied by an elder man, however, she raised an eyebrow.

Not having another space to sit, she sat across him, unfolding the letter as she read it to herself over and over again.

She had to make a decision, she just didn't know when.

"You seem troubled," said the elder man, simply sipping on his tea.

"Oh, it's nothing," she said, waving her hand dissmisively.

Then again... elders are supposed to be wise, right? And it wouldn't hurt to get the opinion of an outsider.

Eh, screw it.

"What would you do if you wanted to get close to someone, but you were afraid of getting too attached?" she asked without missing a beat.

The elder chuckled. "Why focus on the tree and risk missing the forest?"

Throwing shurikens at each other was probably more than a tree. Probably about an acre, she thought.

Jay was... interesting. He was the most interesting person she had met in quite a while; and that said a lot, considering they had known each other for a total of about three to four days by then.

Maybe she was overthinking. Maybe she really was taking a harmless activity and twisting it in her mind. I mean, she and Kai are blacksmiths for the FSM's sake, they used to play with swords as kids.

Why would she judge him?

And then again... If something really was off about them, getting close to one of them might help with figuring things out, right?

She looked back at the man, who gave her a warm smile.

"Do what feels right," he told her.

And for the first time in quite a while, she was sure of her decision.