Jay's limp form swayed under Lloyd's firm grip. He had to admit, taking their dragons while they had an unconscious passenger wasn't the wisest choice. However with the way Jay was shivering under his touch he could only guess he had severe hypothermia among other injuries which meant they were on a time crunch.

The icy wind that bit at Lloyd probably wasn't helping either, he cursed quietly under his breath. As much as he didn't like it, this was their quickest option to get back as fast as possible to treat Jay. He sighed and concentrated on steering his dragon, Bentley. The mystical animal was an extension of his mind, he required focus to summon him properly - something that was frankly hard to achieve with an injured teammate.

He sharply sighed, forcing himself to look ahead even if his entire being was telling him to only pay attention to Jay. He felt Kai's burning stare that paid extreme attention to his form. Nya hadn't mastered her elemental dragon as of yet so she hitched a ride with her brother. Zane on the other hand needed some time to recuperate his strength so he went with the earth ninja, the makeshift AED hadn't done any favours for his power source but he would live.

"Come on Bentley, go faster." The dragon grumbled at the request and flapped his wings a little harsher, accelerating a bit. A harsh movement from Bentley almost sent Jay rocketing out of Lloyd's arms. He felt the air rush out of his lungs as his grip faltered for a moment. "Okay, okay, ease it a bit." He breathlessly commanded, shifting it so Jay was practically in his lap.

"I wish I had something to tie him with." Lloyd mumbled under his breath, his heartbeat skyrocketing as the wind started to pick up a bit. He snorted when he realised what he had said and imagined Jay shouting; "kinky!"

Another exhale escaped his lips as his gaze trailed down to the blue ninja's shivering form. Even now, unconscious and lightly matching his gi in colour he couldn't help but admire Jay's attractive qualities.

The freckles that were peppered on his face and rest of his body - even if he couldn't really see it. His usually striking bright sapphire eyes. His fair skin and ginger curls. Lloyd looked ahead again, hugging Jay's form closer to preserve heat all the while letting his powers flow through his veins, warming both of them up gradually.

First Spinjitsu Master, my grandfather, please let him live.

____________________

Cole had felt fear before.

He felt afraid when he left the performing arts school and practically abandoned his father. He felt afraid when he became a ninja. He felt afraid when Morro possessed Lloyd. However, it never ceased to make his body tingle, his hands shake and make him want to burst into tears as he let himself collapse in the confines of his room.

Right now though, his fear was for his best friend. Jay seemed to shiver worse and worse as he plucked him off of Bentley, not even waiting for the others as he sped into the Bounty. His limp, wet form shook in his arms and he bit his lip to the point of blood. "Cole, we need to get Sensei." Zane exclaimed, dashing in behind him, the others hot at his heels.

Kai and Lloyd crowded around the black ninja, he felt the surge between them both as they concentrated on fire, the warmth that was keeping Jay alive. Nya steps into the triangle and with apologetic eyes she puts a hand over his which was shaking in shock. "Babe, we need to let them help. Put Jay down." She gently commands, her glare saddened and her touch soft, as if he was glass under her fingertips that could shatter at any second.

Cole nods. "Okay." He agrees in a low whisper, the three clear the path as he walks over to the living room, gingerly lowering Jay down onto the couch. His gaze travels all over his frame, observing every shudder, every curl drenched in water, every freckle that twitched as he winced in his fitful rest. He felt guilt bubble up in his chest, his shoulders drooping to close in on himself in a subconscious attempt of self comfort.

A gentle hand lands on his shoulder but he doesn't move his gaze. "Cole, I'm sorry but you need to move." Misako's motherly voice traveled to his ear and Cole numbly nods again, this time staying quiet. Zane silently greets him at the doorway, watching as Lloyd, Kai and Nya worked in harmony to tend to Jay under the watchful eye of both Misako and Sensei Wu. Cole stares ahead, walking out of the living room, licking his lips as his eyes stung with tears.

Zane turns towards the earth ninja. "He'll be okay." Cole speaks, trying to put some confidence in his voice to reassure both of them but it falls flat, sounding just as much as a lie to him than it does to Zane. "Alright." The nindroid states, heading to Sensei Wu's room to retrieve the teakettle and teacup. Cole stands still, watching with a lump in his throat, he leaves the hall and then goes to follow.

The twists and turns of the Bounty catch none of his attention, meeting eyes with Zane as he turns back, his metal hands clinking against the kettle and he sighs. Instead of heading back however, the ice ninja heads towards the debrief room which was equally close to the kitchen and living room. Cole goes over, catching teacups and mugs in his grip and setting them down on the table, not watching as Zane puts the kettle on and also stands, waiting for it to boil.

The silence was thick between them both, neither of them knowing what to say about the situation, nevertheless, both shared the same feeling of helplessness. While Zane was often the team medic whenever it was necessary if the elders weren't available, his presence would do more harm than good in Jay's case of hypothermia. Cole on the other hand was completely neutral, just as the first spinjitzu Master intended him to be. Cole turns, meeting eyes with Zane, a mutual sadness encompassing the room like a thick blanket.

He felt cold. So disgustingly cold.

The moment of shared understanding was interrupted when the kettle started to whistle angrily, the nindroid broke away from the trance, turning away while he retrieved the leaves. Cole only looked on as Zane took a handful of teabags and seeping them into the boiling water. The earth ninja could only imagine as the water that jumped and bubbled in its container swept the leaves into its depths, colours blooming from the individual packets as they gave in to its only purpose. The water taking and taking, sucking the taste dry and plunging into the bags, as if mimicking a trade.

He didn't notice when the ice ninja plucked the kettle off of the heat and turned the stove off nor did he realise how the metal rattled in Zane's grasp as he took cautious steps towards him. Cole only focused when Zane had started pouring the green tea into two mugs, setting it down and gingerly placing one in his grasp. The earth ninja's fingers wrapped around the ceramic, revelling and soaking up the comforting warmth underneath his fingertips.

His eyes trailed from the murky, swampy liquid over to the ice droid who resembled a robot more than ever, staring off into the distance with a tired gaze. It seems that Zane noticed his staring and slowly moved his icy blue eyes to stare back at Cole. A silent, mutual agreement came between them once more, however instead of one of feeling it was of a promise.

Whoever this was going to pay.

_______

Nya ran over to the open doors that led to the deck, closing them as to not let the cold seep in more than it already had. She turns away, looking to see Kai and Lloyd huddling together around Jay, Kai's figure radiating a comfortable warmth. "Ninjas, you must use your powers wisely. We cannot heat Jay up immediately or else his body will go into further shock. You must gradually bring up the heat as to let him get used to the change." Misako explained before running out of the room, presumably to get something.

Sensei Wu started to look for any injuries as Kai's warmth turned colder, it seems he lowered down his natural warmth, she watches as his eyes flutter shut to concentrate and hone his abilities. Lloyd seemed to keep himself at regular temperature. "Kai will start first, then I'll join in when he gets above room temperature." Lloyd orders before his green eyes landed on her. "Nya, either you start getting the water out of his gi or his hair."

She takes a shaky breath before coming closer, trying to relax herself to flow with her element. "Why can't you help me?" She asked before she started. "Can't, I barely know how to use water and I discovered it today by accident." He rushes out, seeming to catch Wu's attention. "What." He questions. "Lloyd has water abilities?"

Lloyd appears to get impatient. "Can we talk about this later!" He exclaims, locking eyes with Nya and nodding. She takes another deep breath, her eyes landing on Jay's face that was peppered with freckles and starting to get back to his natural colour. She concentrates, staring at his ginger curls. 'Just let it flow Nya.' It takes a bit but eventually she starts to perform under the watchful eyes of her family.

Her figure starts to relax, her body feeling like it melted and was hers to control down to the very last joint. A refreshing feeling washed over her, as if she walked into the oceans, let the waves crash over her and swallow her into its very depths. A pleasing, numbing cold came from her own head, as if she and Jay had traded hair. The ginger curls in her vision slowly morphed halfway, being able to see the droplets and his strands in a beautiful dance between orange, red and different shades of blue.

She watches as beads of liquid flow to her fingertip, building atop itself to create a string upon her finger that only she could see. Nya felt as if she wanted to reach out and touch the mop of hair atop Jay but refrained, letting her soul and her element do it for her. The two connected and intertwined, mending as if it had never been separated in the first place, groups of droplets that once desperately hid between ginger curls now starting to float in the air, leaving patches of dry and wet in its wake.

The temperature around her felt a soothing mix of refreshing cold and comforting heat that made her want to bundle up in front of a campfire and drink a glass of eggnog. Her brother's cinnamon scent wafted into her nose and she relished in the comfort it gave her before sadness washed over her. Nya narrowed her eyes, taking the grief and sorrow that she had, pushing away the previous peace and let it sink into her before letting it empower her. "Nya." She heard a whisper though it sounded worlds away, she ignores it.

She feels the water at the nape of his neck and starts ripping the drops off of him, the trance inducing, elegant beauty of her abilities now gone as she is now reminded of her purpose. She doesn't stop at his hair and travels down his body and clothing, plucking any traces of liquid off of him and depositing it.

"Nya!" A cry snaps her out of it. Nya turns to glare only to realise that her brother had stopped warming up a while ago, she felt another hot aura behind her, Lloyd was also depleting as much as he could while it being healthy for Jay. Heavy exhaustion hit her like a slap to the face and her knees buckle. A pair of hands catch her and the feeling of Sensei and Misako washed over her.

Hazel eyes she didn't know she had closed opened, watching and feeling as the elders lower her gently onto the floor. Nya shudders and tries to sit up. "There's still some left-" She protests only to be gingerly held down by Sensei Wu. "You have overexerted yourself my pupil, rest. Jay would not want you to harm yourself to come to his aid." He explains, pulling out a pillow out of nowhere before gingerly pulling Nya's head up and tucking the pillow behind her black curls.

Misako had flocked to the blue ninja's side where the two men were huddled alongside Jay's unconscious figure. Lloyd, who is closest to the door calls out to the outside. "Cole! Zane! Someone get some blankets, I think we're all staying here tonight."

Heavy footsteps fade into obscurity for what Nya guessed was a couple of minutes and she took the time to curl up into a ball on her side. The cold, the unbearable cold that she felt when she was taking it away from Jay made her heart shrivel in sympathy, making her blink back tears. The floor vibrated under her touch, a pair of thumps nearing their location before the doors slid open.

Cole and Zane stepped into the room, the pile of blankets were stacked up so high it covered their faces. She let a small smile grace her lips as the boys worked together to make everyone comfortable before they hunkered down for the night.

___________

Zane gave out blankets to the entire family - except for Sensei Wu and Misako who do not have the ability to sleep on the floor due to their ageing bodies. "What's going to be the arrangement?" Nya asked from the floor, having taken her white and red fluffy blanket that had a golden embroidery that formed beautiful swirls and waves on the cover. She seemed to not be in the mood to move spaces and simply scoot closer to the couch, forming a partial barrier to Jay.

"Move lil' sis. We need to extend the sofa bed." Kai ordered, picking up Jay in his arms along with the blue ninja's usual blanket which was steampunk patterned. He stepped away from the couch to give space to open the bed, giving Nya a light kick. Nya plants her hands towards the bottom of the couch and pushes away, taking the impulse to roll over twice before sending a small glare towards her porcupine haired brother.

Zane moves over to the other side of the couch. "Help me out Lloyd." The green ninja shrugs. "Sure." The blonde and nindroid work in tandem to open the sofa bed before stepping back. "Kai and Lloyd'll sleep with Jay, they're the warmest, we'll sleep on the floor." Cole orders before stepping out of the room. Kai doesn't seem to mind the arrangement, carrying the blue ninja in the blanket burrito and kneeling on the mattress.

The red ninja gingerly places Jay on the kind of comfortable surface and Jay immediately curls into a ball, his ginger hair spreading around him messily. Kai moves over to the end closest to the wall and lays down, holding his face up with his hand and looks at Zane. The nindroid assumes it's to be able to see everyone else who started to migrate to the floor. Lloyd sits on the other end, seemingly planning on laying there to prevent Jay from rolling off of the bed. His light blue eyes observes the room as everyone settles down.

He thinks about Jay's condition and mechanically sighs, the hypothermia wasn't extreme -the symptoms didn't exactly match up as Jay still shivered which was a good thing. However, the impact of the water among other things did injure his body. Only time would tell how well he'd wake up.

Nobody spoke as people's eyes slipped closed after hours of thrashing about.

There was nothing to talk about.

Just silence.

__________

Lloyd zoomed up into a sitting position after another imaginary -or real, he didn't really know anymore- vision invaded his mind while he slept. His toxic green eyes analysed the room quickly, his gaze settling on sleeping form after sleeping form and also checking to see if any doors were open. He silently head-counted everyone, turning his head to also factor Kai and Jay in. He exhales sharply, letting himself fall back on the hard mattress of the sofa bed.

The green blanket he treasured was now tangled between his feet, letting the warmth he so desperately craved before wash over him and he swears he's sweating. He shuts his eyes, massaging his forehead. Nightmares were nothing new for him but they never got easier to handle, if anything, they got worse over the years. He hated that. He flips onto his side to look at Jay and Kai's sleeping forms.

Jay was still cocooned and tightly curled up like a spring -not shaking like he was earlier on the brink of death. Kai was sprawled out, miraculously not invading any of Jay's space except for one stray finger that was stuck right underneath the blue ninja's nose.

Lloyd sighs, his mind wandering. It was a close call, too close for his liking. They should've communicated better but with so many years of partnership they had started to depend on each other know what the other was going to do, familiarity guiding them time and time again. However, with how much each of them have been changing, it just wasn't working anymore.

How much had they drifted apart for things to get this hard?

The thought stuck in his mind for a while, it felt like a haunting question because it was true. His green eyes focus on Jay again and the worry, the bone deep terrible fear takes him again and squeezes his heart. He shifts his legs, reaching out towards the blue ninja suddenly, a hiss escapes his lips and his eyes flutter shut. He sits up, moving his pant leg up onto to see a nasty bruise that had gone black and blue.

His eyebrows furrow, 'I don't remember getting that.' He thinks. 'Must have been the adrenaline.' Slowly, he rolls off the bed, landing in a push-up right next to Cole whom was mere centimetres away. Lloyd takes a calming breath, carefully landing on his other side to not aggravate his bruise He pushes up and almost touches Cole but instead his feet land one on the outside of Cole's legs and the other in between.

'Shit.' He curses in his head before taking a risk and pushing up as hard as he could, getting up on his feet, he doesn't stumble but stays still for a second to see if he disturbed anyone. He lets out a huff of victory and tiptoes out of the room, sliding the door shut behind him.

Lloyd hums, treading towards the med-bay where they store everything for healing. The blonde strolls in and starts scanning all of the drawers before opening one that was labeled creams. He sticks his hand and rummages through its contents, picking out the tube he needs.

To not illuminate the area and wake anyone up he opens up the bathroom door and closest it behind him. The darkness surrounds him and he feels unnerved, the feeling of the Overlord around him and suffocating him comes back.

Lloyd's breaths shake and his hands tremble, lurching out and slamming his hand against the wall. "Fuck, I can't fail. Everyone's depending on me." He mumbles unconsciously, his palm sliding against the wall. He feels something poke him in the hand and his fingers fumble to flick it.

Light floods the bathroom, his shaky legs almost give out and he slams his hands against the counter. "Come on, you're not there. Nothing happened Lloyd."

Green eyes meet green as Lloyd stares at himself in the mirror. He hates it. The curse that this gi has bestown upon him at birth.

He sighs, suppressing the urge to just curl up into a ball and cry or maybe punch the wall in exhausting anger that he's felt all of his life. Lloyd ignores the weight on his shoulders to turn the faucet on and splash water in his face.

"Alright." He states before turning his attention to the crushed tube in his grasp. He uncaps it with ease and just stares at it. When did he become so unfazed at injuries?

Lloyd shakes his head and squeezes the cream, a big dollop landing on his fingertips. Abandoning the item -like his mother did- on the counter he props up his injured leg against the wall. The blonde hisses as he accidentally puts pressure on the bruise. Lightening his palm, his palm slowly starts to cover the area with the cream.

Light footsteps start coming towards his location and Lloyd rolls down his leg pant quickly. Stepping back, he settles in a defensive position in the confines of the bathroom, he tugs the curtain back and he hides behind it in the shower.

The door creaks open and someone stumbles in. Lloyd doesn't have it in him to relax, not knowing who the intruder was. The figure practically runs closer and Lloyd shifts on the balls of his feet. The person turns and drops on their knees, the clank of the toilet seat being flicked up reaches the blonde's ears.

Suddenly the person starts to throw up, their sillouette shaking and shaky breaths echoing through the room. Lloyd, now knowing they couldn't be a threat, steps out.

The blue gi gives him away.

Jay's shaking figure - sobbing and retching - turgs at Lloyd's heartstrings and he has the mercy to close the door.

"I'm supposed to be dead." Jay whispered, sniffles and cries bursting out of his person. He turns and kneels next to the man, holding his ginger curls away from the blue ninja's face. Blue eyes meet green, oozing gratefullness, confusion, anger and pure misery and his heart sings because he knows, he knows.

He stays nothing because theres nothing else to say and there's nothing he could string together that could ever possibly help.

Lloyd kneels, tangling his fingers in Jay's hair and pulling them away from his face. The blue ninja slams his hand on the toilet bowl, sobs ripping out from his throat as he wails and cries. "I'm supposed to be dead!"

And instead of whispering reassurances that held no meaning or deny any of the self hatred the lightning ninja felt. Or telling him that his completely valid emotions weren't justified. He stayed silent.

Waiting.

Just waiting.

__________

waiting /wādiNG/

noun

the action of staying where one is or delaying action until a particular time or until something else happens.