"... hey Ma."

Edna beamed as she opened the caravan door to her son, and pulled him into her arms.

"Jay! Sweetheart! It's so good to see you!"

She stepped outside and turned to the junkyard.

"Eeeeeeed! Ed! Jay is here!"

Ed came rushing over, sporting a pair of overalls covered in oil and grease, dropping nuts and bolts as he went.

"Son! Is everything alright? We heard about what happened at the police station..."

Jay sighed, and gave him a smile.

"It's alright, I healed up pretty quickly."

"Have they caught the person who did it?"

"... not yet. She's still on the run."

Edna lead him inside, throwing a blanket around his shoulders before he could protest, and putting a kettle on to boil.

"We didn't manage to visit you sorry dear, there were some struggles back here at the junkyard, but, we did pick up your shot for you!" she grinned, passing it over to him.

"My... my testosterone? Oh, jeez I completely forgot! Thanks Ma..."

He started to unpack it, though then stopped wincing. The stab injury in his side still hurt a lot.

"... Is it ok if you-"

"Of course Jay, I still remember the first time I helped you do it!"

"Maaaa, do you have to bring that up?"

"You were very brave!" Ed chimed in, ruffling his hair.

Jay rolled his eyes, and let Edna push up his sleeve, prepping the site with an alcohol wipe. He opened up the injection, checking that there were no air bubbles in the cylinder, and passed it to her.

"What's this muscle called again?" she questioned.

"... the deltoid, I think. It's vascular muscle tissue, and testosterone has to be injected into that."

Jay bit his lip and turned his head as she stuck the syringe in, slowly pushing down the plunger. Even after doing this many times himself... needles still weren't Jay's cup of tea.

Edna finished up by pressing a plaster over the injection site, and giving her son a kiss on the forehead.

"Ma... I'm eighteen."

"Yeah? Doesn't stop you from being my little boy!"

They were both incredibly embarrassing, and he knew they hadn't quite grasped that he was growing up, but he still loved them to pieces. Always would.

"... so. Uh... about... uhm..."

"... yeah. Where we left off last time."

Edna poured three cups of tea, remembering Jay's preferred combination from childhood. She handed it to him, and he held it gratefully, warming his hands from the cold weather that day.

Ed settled down in his seat, Edna came over as well, a much more sorrowful expression on her face.

"... we tried to have children of our own, we tried many times, for years and years... but... it seemed it wasn't meant to be. We managed it a couple of times ... and we were very happy for a while... until..."

Edna trailed off, and Ed put his arm around her shoulders.

"A lot of miscarriages," he continued for her, "... we started to lose hope. We were getting older... chances of a baby were low... but... then... we got lucky. We had a son... a lovely baby boy..."

Edna pulled a picture out of a draw with shaking hands, and held it out to Jay.

It was an old photograph, rough in places, but clearly depicting a slightly younger couple holding a baby. They all looked so joyful... like nothing in the world could go wrong.

However... Jay could hear the sorrow building in his mum's voice.

"... then... he... he got sick. We couldn't afford to go to hospital... we couldn't afford to even make the trip... and... h-he..."

Jay reached over and held her hand, unable to make eye contact.

"... I... I had no idea..."

She squeezed his palm, wiping away the tears in her eyes, and continuing.

"We sort of... gave up after that. We couldn't bare the thought of losing another child so... we focused on each other. We did our best with the junkyard, and we were content."

"Then one day, I went out to look for valuable scrap in one of the piles in the back and... I heard crying. A baby crying."

Ed got to his feet, and fished around in a cupboard till he found something, pulling out an elegant key.

"I found you, left just outside the Junkyard, along with this key."

He handed it over to Jay, and sat back down.

"We considered taking you back to Ninjago City, telling the police, to see if they could get you back with your real parents... but... we felt a connection to you. I thought that maybe... it was fate that brought you to us. We were meant to raise you. After losing so many children... after losing our son... I... I couldn't let you go..."

"So... we kept you! And to this day... it is the best decision we have ever made... you... you changed our lives Jay."

He didn't know what to say. These two people, they lost so much, went through so much pain and suffering... yet when an unknown child ended up at their doorstep, they still took it in and raised it as their own.

... whatever did he do to deserve such kind and selfless parents?

———

"Are you sure you'll be ok?"

"Yeah, I'll be ok Pa."

"If you ever need anything you can always call us!"

"I know Ma, I know."

Lloyd waved at him from the deck of the Bounty, and Jay waved back.

"I'll just be a minute!" He yelled to him, and turned back to his parents.

"I uhm... I wanna thank you. For being so honest with me. It must have been hard to talk about."

They pulled him in for a hug, all three Walkers tightly entwined.

"... that's all in the past. We have you... that's what matters most."

He kissed them both on the check, and turned, heading back to the ship.

"Don't ley Kai give you any crap, okay Jay?!" Edna called after him, "I'll give him a right talking to if he treats you badly!"

Jay just laughed and waved, getting onto the deck with Lloyd's help.

"Do you still kiss your parents?" Lloyd asked, a sly but joking smile on his face.

"Are you telling me that you wouldn't kiss your mum goodbye? Pathetic." Jay laughed, and rushed inside.

"Hey! I was kidding you know!"

The engines started up, and course was set for the late Cliff Gordon's mansion.

"... so... is everything alright?"

"With me and them? Yeah. They raised me, they'll always be my mum and dad, blood related or not."

Jay sat down at the table, coughing slightly and taking a deep breath. He had noticed his binder feeling a lot tighter than usual, and along with the stab wound, they combined into a huge barrier for respiration.

Kai noticed his small movements from his place in the corner of the room.

"... can't breathe can you." He growled.

Jay gave him a look.

"Give it a break Kai. I can't be bothered to deal with your crap today."

Kai paused, and considered being quiet, but spoke again.

"... why don't you just take the bloody thing off?"

"You know why."

"No, I don't. It's f*cking stupid to keep it on. It can't be that terrible to take it off. Grow up and deal with it."

"Kai. I'm serious. F*ck off."

"Why should I when you're-"

"F*ck. Off."

Kai crossed his arms and clenched his fists, taking a step towards the blue ninja, but Lloyd stepped in.

"Kai... you should leave it."

Jay stood up and left the room, having all the calmness he'd gathered over the day ripped from his grasp in an instant.

He walked to the game room and collapsed into one of the bean bags, groaning, and jumped when he heard a small chuckle.

"Heya Bluebell."

Jay's eyes adjusted to the low light, and he began to make out Cole's form in the dark.

"... Hi Cole."

"Kai giving you trouble again?"

"Mmh hmm."

Cole shuffled closer to him, letting out a deep exhale.

"This is a good place to think. Dark, quiet. Comfy. If you want to be alone for a bit, I'll leave if you want."

"No no, don't leave. It's ok. I just wanted to get away from Kai before I ended up hitting him."

"Hah, can't blame you there."

A group of birds rushed past the bounty, filling the two boys' ears with twittering songs for a few seconds, till they were out of earshot.

"... Kai does have a point you know. He's not getting it across in the best way... but... he is right in essence."

"Wh... what do you mean?"

"... your binder. It's gonna start causing more damage... more damage than you've already had. We need to find a better way for you to deal with it."

Jay swallowed nervously, yet somehow his mouth felt horrendously dry at the same time.

"... the only other safe way is surgery. Surgery they may never let me go through with because of my lungs. It could be too dangerous. Knowing my luck... it probably is."

Cole nudged his arm, smiling in the dark.

"We'll find a way to get through it. We always do."

"I hope so."

The Bounty would be getting close to the mansion by now. Even though Jay had been there before - though in a parallel existence - his heart was racing, and he felt as if it was going to beat out of his chest.

He'd never explored every room of the mansion, and he'd never truly known how much money he inherited. He had no idea of what to expect.

He was afraid.

He wished... no... he hoped... that things would be smooth sailing from now on.