(Time Skip)

In the Courtyard

Jay panted heavily as he barely evaded yet another blast of Nadakhan's power. Still firmly holding onto the Sword of Souls, the last remaining Ninja crouched down behind a large rock and took a look over the grounds of the destroyed Temple of Airjitzu.

His teammates had all been hit and turned into solid golden statues, lying dispersed all over the place. So far, Jay had been able to avoid the blasts, thanks to his lightning fast reflexes. But the exhausted Blue Ninja didn't know for how much longer he would be able to continue this game, especially now that he had become the sole target. And he actually wasn't even sure if he actually still wanted to keep going. But he had to try.

He had to find a way to lure the powerful Djinn into the open, so that Flintlocke could shoot him with the dart filled with the Tiger Widow Venom. Then Jay would be able to make his final wish – although he still had serious doubts if this really was the right one.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." Jay could hear Nadakhan's voice teasing him. But as much as it pained him to remain silent, Jay could not reveal his position. But how else could he make Nadakhan leave his protected position among the ruins of what used to be Sensei Yang's Temple?

Jay had an idea. He took a deep breath and, with all his remaining strength, managed to throw the Sword of Souls right into the centre of the courtyard.

He waited anxiously for the Djinn to appear in his – and Flintlocke's – view, but instead he heard Nadakhan's silky voice.

"Get it." He ordered.

"Yes, my Master." A broken female voice replied quietly.

Jay swallowed hard. He knew that voice too well. Nya. Nadakhan had made her his slave and now the power of his wish was forcing her to obey his every command.

The Blue Ninja heard the familiar rhythm of her graceful steps as she went to recover the sword for her master. Jay carefully peeked around the edge of the rock, to take a short glance at her. Her elegant wedding dress was ripped and her tear-stained face made it very obvious that she had cried. Jay was certain that these had been tears of anger rather than of sadness. The strong minded girl must be furious that she was again forced to act as someone she didn't want to be.

When she bent down to grip the hilt, Nya's eyes – why were they this toxic green?! - briefly met Jay's. She smiled and gave him a little wink, yet it was not small enough to escape Nadakhan's attention.

"As it appears that you have spotted him, bring me the sword and the Ninja, my dear." The Djinn called to her, certain that Jay would not put up any resistance against the girl he loved. And he was right.

Jay sighed in defeat. He stood up and left the temporary safety of his hiding place with raised hands.

Nya roughly grapped his arm and pulled him along. "I am sorry Jay." She whispered in a broken voice. "I have to follow his orders. Believe me, I've tried..."

"Blue Ninja. Finally we meet again, and on my terms." Nadakhan addressed him. "Well, what am I going to do with you now?"

Jay didn't say anything, so the other one continued.

"I don't think there is any need to restrain you. As long as she is under my control, then so are you..." Unfortunately, the Djinn was right again.

"Walk with me." He requested.

Confident that he was safe now and had nothing and nobody to fear anymore, Nadakhan led Jay across the courtyard.

"At first I was angry with you for destroying the temple, but I've come to realise that I need to thank you for saving me some work." He told him. "This place has fulfilled its purpose with the wedding, so it is of no use to me anymore. I am going to build my own palace on this spot. Thanks to her I can turn this place into anything I desire. Isn't this right, my dear?"

The Djinn didn't even wait for her answer, but continued as he gestured at the golden statue of Lloyd.

"Your friends will make some beautiful decorations; and they will serve as a constant reminder of my victory and your failure. But I have decided that you will not join them."

Jay gave him a questioning look.

"I am not done with you yet. Although it's not like you or your little wish would matter anymore, but I still want to finish our little game that we started on board the Misfortune's Keep. I still want to break you. And I still want to feel your element in my sword. Yes, I still want to make you wish it all away. "

But Jay didn't want to play any of Nadakhan's games anymore. He had lost anyway and there was only one thing - or person - that mattered to him now.

"I'll do it right here and now, if you promise not to hurt Nya." He offered.

The Djinn laughed evilly.

"No, no. This is not how my game goes. You can't just give up now after resisting me for so long. Where is the fun in that?" He complained. "Although if I had known earlier that threatening to hurt Nya instead of you would be the key to get your final wish, that would have saved us a lot of trouble..."

Nadakhan vigorously shook his head.

"No." He stated firmly. "If there's one thing I have learned in all those centuries, it's that wishes messing with time only cause a lot of trouble and confusion..."

He kept talking and Jay pretended to listen, while tiredly lagging further and further behind the Djinn.

Is this how my friends feel when I won't shut up about something they just don't want to hear? He thought.

Then, all of a sudden, there was silence. Nadakhan had stopped dead in both his tracks and his speech and he was looking down on himself. Jay could feel the ground tremble beneath his feet even more than before. What was happening?

Finally, the Djinn wordlessly turned around and Jay could see splatters of green all over his chest.

And he understood.

Flintlocke had taken his shot, and it had been a perfect hit. The pirate had just waited for Jay to be in safe distance from his target, so that the Lightning Master would not get poisoned by the venom as well.

And, just as Soto had told them, Nadakhan was weakened by the venom and his magic was starting to fail. Having finally been able to fight off his wish, Nya gasped for air. Jay quickly rushed over to catch her shaking body and embraced her tightly. When she hugged him back, it felt to him as if the world was alright again. But of course he knew that it wasn't. Not yet.

While their brothers turned back to their normal form, Nadakhan still had enough strength to keep them stunned. And the effects of the venom would only be temporary, so it was time to act. Jay had to make his wish. It was now or never.

He started walking towards Nadakhan. Trying to keep his voice steady, he broke the silence. "Nadakhan, I w-wish y-you weren't..."

"I know exactly what you are planning to do." The weakened Djinn interrupted him. Now that he had discovered Jay's weakness, he was going to use it against him. "I hope you know that, even when I am mortal, Nya will still be my wife."

This caught the two Ninja completely off guard, they had never thought about this.

Sure, Jay had doubts about making this wish before, but, for lack of a better alternative, he had still been determined to go through with it, even though this was certainly not his wish from the heart. But, with this new revelation, he just couldn't do it.

Jay's mind was racing. What if he wished to reverse the wedding? That would take away Nadakhan's powers and save Nya, right? But... it would not really stop him but merely cause a delay to his plan, until he would find her again – or even somebody else. And they couldn't hide from him forever.

Also, the Djinn had kind of warned him not to turn back time... sure, Nadakhan couldn't be trusted, but Jay felt that in this matter he actually had told the truth.

Jay still hesitated to make a decision, but the effects of the venom were slowly fading.

"The-there are laws, y-you know." He desperately told the Djinn. "This w-was a forced wedding, sh-she n-never agreed to m-marrying you."

"Nice try." Nadakhn laughed. "But this here is not Ninjago anymore, this is and will be Djinnjago. My kingdom and my rules!"

This was it. This was the final straw for Jay.

"How can you call yourself king?" He shouted. "Do you really think that this is what your father wanted when he bequeathed to you the Sword of Souls? To destroy another realm for your revenge? To become a tyrant? Do you think this is what... Delara would have wanted?"

Nadakhan stopped laughing and looked at him in shock. This was his own weak point. His only weakness.

"Yes." Jay continued. "I heard the crew talk about Delara, when I was your prisoner. They all spoke very fondly of her, calling her a fierce pirate with a heart of gold. And she loved Ninjago, it was her home. Oh, if only she was here now. I-I really wish that she could see what has become of you..."

The Blue Ninja took a deep breath. He really had needed this. He had stayed strong and composed for so long, without 'pulling a Jay' (as Cole teasingly called it) and he couldn't deny that this had felt really good.

But, this was the end. He just didn't know what do – or what to wish. His heart was still clueless and now his brain had stopped functioning as well.

Jay closed his eyes and hugged Nya tighter, letting his tears stream down his face. He had failed her. No matter what he would do now, he wouldn't be able to save the love of his life from her fate.

Let's face it, the Djinn had won. No, there was no more fighting it. Jay just wanted to wish it all away... And... maybe he could still wish her away with him...

But, out of a sudden, Jay heard something fall. He opened his eyes. Nadakhan had dropped the Sword of Souls and he wordlessly looked at the Blue Ninja.

"Wha-what did you just say?" Nya asked, her tear-stained brown eyes wide open.

But... Jay was confused. He didn't understand what exactly was going on right now. What did he say?

Only when he heard those five words, Jay realised what had just happened:

"Your wish... is yours to keep."