Chapter Text
It was strange. The body adapted to the ocean, but it wasn't truly a body. It was ocean. It was sea. It encompassed the life below the waves, the bubbles against the sand. The body molded into something that once was. The was...was just a few hours ago.
It didn't make sense to the others: the call of the ocean. How it groaned and screamed for the body to return to it, to become one, truly. The call was so loud. So loud the body couldn't think. It grew with the waves, having bits of reprieve where the song of the sea wailed quietly, but then it returned, crashing against the body's mind. It croaked. Return. Come to me. Come to me.
The body knew, deep down, that was where it belonged. A mother's hug awaited it and it would be warm and safe.
But the ninja didn't get it. They wouldn't get it. Not when they'd managed to nab it just before it could reunite with its mother in the waves.
"Tell my mother I understand now."
The image was foggy. A mother with dark hair, with a kind smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. The woman's hands were warm, knowing. It recognized it, but that wasn't its mother. The body was ocean, not a child. Not a daughter, not in that sense. Not anymore.
But as the call of the ocean eased once again, the memories sprouted forth. Images of gi's colored in all shades of the rainbow. Voices and laughter of adventures passed. Trials of insurmountable power. Victories that tasted bittersweet on her watery tongue.
Nya knew those memories. Those were her friends, her family. All of them wanted her to stay, to live, to return to herself again.
And then the wails of the sea returned, and the body didn't recognize any Nya anywhere.
The ninja had devised a small area for her to reside in for the time being. Pixal and Zane, with their quick thinking, secured what was basically a fish tank-looking thing and, with the other ninja's help, managed to get it filled with some ocean water. Not all the way to the stop - just in case she wanted to poke her head out or climb out.
In the ocean, despite it not being the ocean, Nya was more at peace. She didn't look so lost, so confused, and it eased her friend's spirits for the time being. Just enough to buy them time and scramble for a solution. In the makeshift aquarium, she could swim around and float to her heart's content.
That's the situation the seven were stuck with. They'd gotten her into the tank and let her go nuts.
"How long do you think this is gonna hold, though?" Cole asked for what seemed like the umpteenth time. "Eventually it'll get tiring, right?"
"Maybe," Lloyd said, not able to do much besides agree. He looked towards the others and frowned. "But she's here. We just have to think of a permanent solution, but until then, we can...try other stuff."
Cole nodded. He matched Lloyd's gaze: Pixal, Zane and Master Wu were closer to the tank. The three were in the midst of a quick and quiet discussion about other possible...containment methods. It sounded kind of crazy - to cage their friend - but it was that or let her go out into the ocean and never see her again.
Against the glass, Kai and Jay were watching Nya's elemental form dart back and forth. She knew their faces, knew their voices, but names weren't coming to her. The feelings did: Kai, a part of her heart, family, and Jay, love and kindness, someone special.
She paused her fast swimming and retook the form that the others resembled, swinging her watery arms towards the glass and touching it. She looked around: all familiar faces with no names. Her voice was muffled, and every time she opened her mouth, nothing came out. Still, the two in front of her seemed happy by her appearance. The special boy pressed his hand on the glass against where hers was. The family just watched, but he looked pensive, wary despite trying to look brave.
Oddly, she recognized that face. It took her back in time somewhere. It was cold. It was hunger. But he'd tried to keep her fed and happy.
"You like it in there?" the family asked.
"Cozy? Kinda tempted to take a dip," the lover joked. It didn't sound exactly like a joke, given the family's unkind expression.
Nya backed away slightly. The call answered to her vacant mind, whining for her to return, return, but she was stuck. Her head swiveled towards the other side of the tank, and her human-like body dissipated, retreating into a faint but bio-luminescent spark that darted around the tank once again.
Kai and Jay looked at each other, mildly alarmed. "Was it something else in the hanger bay that scared her off?" Jay asked. Kai shrugged.
Cole and Lloyd approached the two. Their steps were hesitant and careful. "What happened?" Lloyd asked.
"We were just trying to talk to her but she heard something, I think," the fire ninja answered. He crossed his arms and tapped his pointer against his bicep. "Maybe...the ocean again? Like Wu had said?"
Cole turned towards their old master. He looked worried. Very worried. Benthomaar said this was a permanent transformation, after all. It couldn't be fixed, at least with an obvious solution. Wu seemed to somehow be growing gray hairs despite his white beard.
Zane and Pixal weren't exactly happy campers, either. Pixal had been keeping an eye on the tank every time the conversation took a pause. She didn't want her friend to have ended up like this, and yet it did. It wasn't fair. Destiny was so callous.
Zane saw his friends talking and momentarily parted from the two to join them. "Did you notice anything different?"
"I think she's getting restless," Jay said. His hand was still pressed on the tank glass. "I would be too, y'know? Being stuck in a glass box for who knows how long."
The spark of elemental energy bumped into the glass, startling the seven of them out of their conversations. It bumped again, and again, like it was trying to escape through it. "Nya?? No, no, you can't," Jay warned. He ran to the other side of the tank and climbed as close as he could, smushing his cheek against it. "Calm down! It's gonna be okay!"
Return, return to me. Come back to me. Myself, I, please, return home. It burns. It burns.
Nya faintly heard the song of the lover's voice through the screaming of the water and darted towards it, taking the form of a small sea creature. It looked like an octopus; small, blue, and frantic.
"It's okay," the lover repeated. His voice, however comforting and soft, was muffled against the glass. Still, she climbed against the material and pressed her tentacles against it to stick. The lover released a short laugh and, steadying himself with his hands, pressed more into the class. "See? You're safe. We're here, Nya. You're home, with us. Don't you remember?"
Her eyes glowed. The voice, the hair, the smile: she recognized it all. Still, no name. No story. The octopus she had formed into dissipated, this time transforming back into something akin to a life she knew before the sea. If it was even real. If anything was.
"It's...almost lunch," Cole reminded the group. He was met with a pretty heavy bit of silence, but that didn't deter him. "Some of us can get it started while the rest keep an eye on her. How's that sound?"
"Fine by me," Kai and Jay spoke in sync. Lloyd nodded in the affirmative as well. "It's not like any of us want to leave," he retorted kindly. Cole sadly grinned. "Yeah, me either. But we can't figure this out on empty stomachs."
Master Wu looked at his students with guilt-filled eyes. He saw their hard work, their determination, and he had yet to figure out a solution. It would be best for him to study more scrolls, wouldn't it? "That is a good idea, Cole," he congratulated. "I will join you. Who else would like to help him?"
Zane took a long look at his friend. She had since distanced from Jay and was floating quietly, not moving too much. Noticing the eyes on her, Nya turned her head and twirled, paddling to the glass's edge and looking at him. Against his control, he smiled: somehow, this felt familiar to an act he'd done many years ago, where he lost parts of himself for a time. If he could return, so could she.
"I will assist you, my friend," he spoke, finally managing to turn away. "Pixal?"
The samurai, however, wasn't as hopeful. She had discussed the possibilities with her other half and Wu and there weren't many options. It startled her; how hopeless she felt.
"I'll come," Lloyd offered. He passed Pixal and quietly nudged her, catching her attention away from the tank. "Take a deep breath, Pix."
She sighed through her mechanical nose, inhaling and exhaling per his request. "We'll figure this out," the Green Ninja promised.
"I know," she murmured, briefly squeezing his arm before her grip fell. He departed with the others up the elevator, leaving her, Kai and Jay to watch over their teammate. She approached the tank, catching her swimming friend's attention. "Hello, Nya."
Return, return....
She turned to the sound of the samurai's voice and kicked her feet, darting to the glass once again. She pressed her hands against it, trying to shove it away somehow. Pixal sympathetically shook her head and mimicked Nya's movements. "I am afraid you will be resting there for the time being. Until we figure out how to help you, that is."
Nya's mouth released bubbles as it opened. Kai and Jay watched, a mix of concern and intrigue on their faces. Pixal shook her head again. "It may be frustrating, and I am sorry. This tank was fetched very hastily. Perhaps you can request activities for us to add into it for your comfort?"
"Yeah, let's throw in a board game and some books," Kai commented under his breath. Jay elbowed him. "She means stuff from you-know-where, Kai. We can, uh...get some of those sand castle toys! Or! Or! A waterproof speaker for music!"
Pixal didn't pay the two any mind. She continued watching Nya open and close her mouth, attempting to speak.
Return, it burns...
Nya whipped her head away, her form wobbling out of place. Briefly, she seemed to disappear, masking into the water besides the core of her elemental power, before awkwardly re-appearing with a tense look on her face.
"It's...loud," she managed.
"Loud?" the three repeated, startled by the sudden communication. It'd been hours since Nya had said a word, much less anything that was understandable. Pixal frowned: the call was growing stronger, it seemed. "It must be very painful. No wonder you are growing anxious."
"Maybe Jay's stupid music thing might be a good idea," Kai suggested. He noted his sister's growing antsy-ness and copied his friends. He put his hands on the glass, lightly knocking on it to catch her attention. Nya swam to him and frowned through the glass. "It's okay, Nya, you're safe..."
The mention of music made Jay and Pixal think. Certain reverberations were indeed calming, so maybe, if there was a speaker placed into the water with some sort of frequency or repeating tone, it'd lessen the sea's call? They nodded at each other: worth a shot. What'd they have to lose?
Kai noticed them running to the computer panel and figured they'd gotten an idea. Good. He could do a good job of keeping Nya calm, hopefully.
She wasn't, but the attempt was kind. Even she could recognize the family was familiar with this sort of thing. He didn't look stressed, but somewhere within the sea she knew he was. A gut instinct despite no longer having a gut at all.
"Are you afraid?" she asked, trying to sound discernible.
Kai awkwardly laughed and pointed at the glass. He began to draw a line on it, letting his pointer finger twirl while Nya followed it with her eyes. "I'm a little worried, but it's just because...y'know, you're like this and we don't know how to fix it."
"What is there to fix?"
"Nya...this isn't you. You're not this...this ocean-thing. You're like me."
"We are one," the water element argued, sounding a bit defensive. Since taking on this merged form, her tone was dismissive, almost fairy-tale like, but apparently being apart from the sea made her attitude change. At least it was more in tune with the attitude Kai knew. He couldn't be mad at her confusion; he'd be beyond delirious in a state like this.
"You weren't though, not before today. It's a lot to wrap my head around, too. We'll fix this. I promise, sis."
She didn't respond to that. She instead disappeared once more, darting back and forth through the tank. Kai sighed and turned towards the others. How could any of them even help her when she wasn't herself anymore? If Pixal and Jay's idea worked, they'd have more time, but it might not even be enough. That was his fear: to truly lose her.
The early morning scare was bad enough. Up on that rooftop, hearing her declaration of merging, promising to remember the team with no real passion behind it. He shivered at the memory.
"Okay, this should do it," Jay announced. He held up his and the samurai's latest project: a waterproof, long-powered speaker with frequency stabilizers. Pixal joined Kai's side while the lightning ninja ran to the tank. On one side was a short ladder, only attached by a few screws and suction cups. With one hand, he climbed up to the top of the tank, watching as Nya's form re-appeared and stared up at him with curiosity.
"Please be careful," Pixal warned. "Do not drown again." Kai coughed to avoid snorting. Jay glared halfheartedly at the two before carefully jumping into the water.
Nya swam up to him, circling the lover's paddling form, and watched as he secured the machine into the corner of the tank with a few clicks and shoves. He kicked his legs quickly to surface and inhaled deeply. Wet gi, gross hair, but progress.
"What is that?" the ocean-merged ninja asked. She curiously poked at it with a watery finger. "That, my love, should help you out with this calling-out stuff so you can relax." She poked her head out of the water, letting it meld with the water's surface. The lover up close was so familiar, so...
Jay smiled sadly. He reached out, brushing his hand against the texture of the liquid around him. "Let's give it a go."
He spotted Kai and Pixal nearby, who both nodded in the affirmative. With a thumbs up, he took a deep breath and dove under the water again to check on the speaker. It was ready for use, as a small panel on one side had begun to glow once submerged with the water. He pressed a few buttons and worked on the volume before swiveling around to see Nya's reaction.
At first there was nothing. He couldn't hear anything much under the murkiness of the ocean water. Outside the tank, the others didn't notice a change either. Only the same curiosity as before. "Not bad but not good," Kai remarked, crossing his arms. "What frequency is it at?"
"About...45,000 hertz," Pixal answered. She frowned. "Perhaps lower?" She lightly tapped on the glass, alerting the two's attention inside. Jay rose up for air once again, wiping his bangs back, and made a mezza-mezz motion with his hand. She pointed down, sliding her hand down to emphasize the order. "Man, my ears are kind of ringing," he commented before going back under.
Jay messed with the volume again, adjusting the frequency and making sure it didn't break apart. Nya swam closer to see for herself: the whale song sounded familiar. Close by. Were the ocean's animals missing her, too?
Return, return...
She swam to the other side of the tank, caught off guard as the frequency lowered to a noticeable and devastating pitch. Something out there was calling out, asking her where she was. The surrounding glass was in the way of her making it home. Her mouth moved but no words escaped it, only what Jay could understand to be some kind of chirp or attempt to answer back. Concerned, he motioned towards Kai and Pixal, who were watching Nya struggle against the class.
Return to me, it burns...
"Lower," Pixal said, motioning for him to do so. Jay nodded and fixed the volume before Nya could start pounding or hitting the glass, knocking it down to a much lower frequency. It was more audible to him, but that didn't mean it'd help. He surfaced for air one more time, gasping in an inhale, while below his feet, the sea began to shake. "Nya?? Hey, it's okay!"
"What did it do?" Kai asked. He pressed on the glass, watching the form of his sister swim back and forth too fast for his eyes to follow. "Nya??"
Jay winced, sucked in a breath, and dove down again. He spun around in circles: the current, caused by her, was too fast for him to steady himself. He opened his mouth to call out, but obviously it didn't produce a lot of sound. His throat burned instinctively. Jay managed to paddle upwards and surface for water just as the elemental energy of the water ninja's merged form hit against the glass hard enough to crack it.
"Turn it off!" Kai pressed, running towards the breakage.
Pixal watched the two in disbelief. She thumbed at her sleeve, momentarily torn, before reminding herself to take a deep breath. "Jay, set the frequency to about...700 hertz."
"Seven hundred?? Does that even make sense?" Kai argued. His hand lit aflame, briefly distracting Nya from her fretting, and began to try fusing the glass back into place with his elemental heat. "Please trust me," Pixal said.
Jay paddled back down to the speaker. He did as he was told, turning down the knob all the way down to the hundreds, and adjusted the volume to a louder but tolerable decibel. Nya tried again with the glass, trying to ram through it, but Kai wasn't budging. He frustratedly hit it, causing her to double back in alarm before noticing the new call.
It didn't sound like a whale. At least not like any she knew. She slowed down, her form growing more human, and nervously approached the speaker as Jay swam up to the tank's top. He inhaled and exhaled loudly, excited to breathe proper air. "See?? Not so- not so bad, yeah?"
True. It was actually a nice sound. Somewhat familiar, but Nya couldn't put a finger on why that might be. Kai, realizing she was calm, breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly fixed the glass before it cracked further. The sloshing of the ocean water began to cool down, eventually ceasing. Pixal watched worriedly.
"It's gonna be okay," Jay assured. He paddled closer to her, and the merged ninja fully surfaced. Her watery head poked up in full this time. Then her neck and a bit of her arms. Excitedly, he swam to catch her hands despite not having much of a grip.
The sensation made her face change. Nya felt the touch and was taken far, far back.
"These hands?"
He was smiling then, too, comforting her. It was happening again. All over again. A frown began to appear on her face. "It...Ja...Jay...it's...."
Jay lit up. He squeezed her hands. "Yeah, it's me. And you're you. You're Nya. I've got you." Nya blinked a few times in succession. Memories bit at her lashes, making her squeeze her aquatic eyes shut in protest. It hurt, but the frequency in the water allowed her mind to clear just enough. Just for a while.
"Kai?"
"Nya??" her brother called, his eyes widening. He and Pixal pressed against the glass, somehow smiling at the sight of her new form. "I'm right here, Nya! We're right here. The others are upstairs. You're not alone."
"Ho- How...how do I get...?"
"We're figuring that out as we speak," Pixal assured, assuming her friend was speaking about the current situation. "However long it takes, you will be back. We swear it, Nya." She opened up one of her palms. Nya gently pulled away from Jay and swam back down to press her hand against it. The frequency in the waves was a little distracting, but the cloudiness and wailing she'd felt for...however long, had dissipated into nothing but whispers and a small itch.
Pixal smiled at her, pressing her silver hair against the glass. Kai wrapped an arm around his nindroid friend. "Is it helping, Nya? What do you think?"
"I don't...know," Nya answered honestly. "It is less, but...not gone. And I'll f- for...forget and..."
"We'll remind you. As much as it takes," Jay assured above the water. She whirled around to see him, her eyes softening.
The elevator in the hanger bay dinged, signifying new arrivals. Nya broke from her friend's gazes and pressed into the corner of the tank as Cole, Lloyd, Zane and Master Wu arrived with plates of food. It looked edible, and oddly, she was hungry for it. "Master Wu?"
The old man froze. He almost dropped his plate, if not for his nephew managing to steady it and grab the food before it fell over. "Nya, do you...?"
"I don't know. I...I'm..."
He allowed Lloyd to take his share and hurried to the tank, where Nya sank as close to the bottom as physically possible. He matched, kneeling down to make sure she was okay. "I'm scared," she murmured through the glass. Kai watched the two, feeling an ache in his bones, before leaving Pixal's side to join them. "It's okay to be scared," he said softly.
"You will not face this battle alone, Nya," Wu assured. He adjusted his straw hat to show more of his face and smiled down at the woman he'd once come to know as just a young teenager. More eager than her brother, more skilled, and full of passion and love. It had grown since then despite the struggles destiny had pushed upon her. Some were his fault. "You have done more than many can fathom to save Ninjago. We will be here. For that reason, there is nothing to be scared of."
"What did you guys do??" Cole asked. Jay swam up to the glass as well, tapping on it to alert his friend's attention. "We made a speaker!"
"Why are you in the water?"
"Uh, because I can be?"
"Please do not drown again," Zane advised. Jay groaned and paddled towards the ladder to get out, ignoring the looks of concern and amusement from his friends.
Lloyd found a spot to set the food down, as did the others before him, and ran to his uncle's side. He sat down on the ground. Nya floated upwards, angling herself towards him as best as she could. "If I forget," Nya began, her gaze darting to the side, "just...please don't...be mad."
"Never," Wu dismissed sympathetically. "It is the price one pays for merging with the sea, but it is not a death sentence. We will fix this." Kai and Lloyd nodded in agreement. "You wouldn't happen to want a water-sandwich, would you?" Lloyd offered. Kai rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help himself from smiling either.
Nya looked up towards the food. Cole was near it, hesitating on grabbing one for himself. She knocked on the glass, startling her immediate family. Cole looked towards her and smiled. "What? I haven't taken anything yet!" He paused: one hand was reaching farther up than the other, its hand clasping at the ocean around it. "Oh. Oh, yeah! I mean, you can try it if you really want it."
He practically skipped over with excitement, the others following quickly. Once Jay got down from the ladder, he passed by his bestie and watched Cole climb up with less reserves about the water in the tank. Nya swam up, her watery arms reaching for it, and he politely dropped it in. "It's like feeding a goldfish," he said as she pulled the sandwich underwater.
"Are you comparing my sister to a goldfish??" Kai asked, glaring lightly. Cole slowly turned to the hothead and shifted on the ladder, smiling apologetically. "No! Come on, you think I'm that bad?"
"You admitted to a hardened criminal that you have repeatedly peed in the pool," Zane remarked. Jay shivered from the water's chill, but he managed to gasp in response to the drama. "Ew, Cole! You're a grown man!"
"Zane, we promised not to talk about that!"
"It felt appropriate, given the fact you insinuated Nya was behaving like a goldfish."
"I was not!"
Nya nibbled on the food. It didn't have a taste. As she chewed, the bites phased right through her and away from her form. "Oh," she spoke aloud. The others paused their conversation and noticed her struggle. Pixal and Zane looked towards each other. "It feels weird, understandably," Zane empathized. "We do not need to eat, either. We will not 'pretend' to this time, in solidarity."
"Heroes, you guys are," Kai quipped. Still, gaging from her lightened reaction to his statement, the fire ninja let it go with a shrug. Pixal was just glad it helped. She dragged Zane to the tank and the two sat down while she swam to them and mimicked their positions as much as she could. The others got their food eventually, all eating and talking around the tank.
Nya didn't mind the company. In fact, with her clearer head, it was actually very nice. The feeling of being alone was beginning to crawl up her merged back and it didn't feel good. This, however, was a good temporary cure. She looked past Pixal and Zane, finding Cole in the crowd. He'd gotten Jay a towel to wrap up in while the two ate on another side of the makeshift aquarium. She left the robotic duo's side for a short moment and swam over to them, bonking her head lightly on the glass.
"Oh, hey," Jay greeted happily. "Since you can't taste anything, I'll tell you that these're so good after swimming."
Cole rolled his eyes with a grin. "That's not helpful. That's the stuff you'd say when I was a ghost."
"And? You said you appreciated it."
"A...ghost?" Nya repeated. Cole was not a ghost in the present. Even if she could think more like herself, memories weren't instantaneous. Cole noticed her confusion and pulled up his bangs to reveal a crooked, green scar. "You'll remember it, I bet, but back when Lloyd was, uh...possessed, I got turned into a ghost to get a scroll. Long story short, it's fixed, but I got this scar from it."
"Oh."
"Yeah, I know. Kinda spooky, huh?"
"...And you did not...taste?"
Jay watched his friend muddle with his thoughts. Silently, he pat Cole's knee. "I didn't, no," the earth ninja answered. "Didn't eat, didn't sleep much. It made me a night owl. And when you were first learning about your powers, I was afraid you'd splash me if I ticked you off."
"That's...cruel," Nya muttered. She twirled around, trying to recall the events. There were bits and pieces: a lake, a bucket, a giant wave, ghosts. Nothing about Cole, not yet. "Not sleeping, not doing anything..."
Cole frowned. He turned to Jay, who unwrapped himself from his towel to lean on the glass. "When we say we're gonna bring you back, it's not a bluff, Nya. You will be okay. It's a promise."
"In the meantime," his friend started, "if you want company when you can't sleep, I'll be there. Even if it's all night."
Nya stared at the two. It felt like a smile, but a sad grimace was what appeared on her face instead. "...Okay."