It was never really shown which subjects the Ninja have taught at Sensei Wu's Academy (except for Kai teaching History and maybe Science for Zane?) so I gave Engineering to Jay and Maths to Nya (this won't be mentioned until later though).

And you can still suggest activities that you would like to see Jay, Nya and Abby do together.

-- -- --

Chapter 11 (Nya)

Six years ago, a week before the field trip to Borg Industries, Sensei Wu's Academy

I pace up and down the corridor in front of the Engineering classroom, anxiously waiting for my boyfriend who is supposed to be in there preparing his first period but is running late again.

He smiles as he finally turns around the corner and finds me waiting for him, but I don't return it. We need to talk. Unfortunately, we don't have much time left before the students are due to arrive, so I quickly glance around, making sure nobody sees us, before I grab his arm and pull him into the broom cupboard right next to the classroom.

"H-hey Nya." He blushes as we are pressed flushed against each other in the tiny room. "I've missed you too, but I gotta get to my class soon..." He jokes, but I don't feel like laughing. And I certainly don't feel like making out right now either.

"Stop that." I tell him sharply. "We have a problem."

Jay's brow furrows. "What's the matter, Nya?" He wants to know, concern showing in his eyes. "Please tell me what's wrong."

I involuntarily lean into his touch when he gently cups the back of my neck with one hand and brushes his soft thumb along my cheek. But I don't want to get distracted, so I pull away.

"This." I state firmly. "This is what's wrong."

"This?" Jay looks around, confused. "If I remember correctly, it was you who's dragged me in here."

Argh, he just doesn't want to understand me, does he?

"I'm not talking about this here, but this-" I gesture at him and me "in general."

Jay's eyes widen. "You-you mean us?" He stammers. "A-are you breaking up w-with me?"

"No, of course not." I quickly reassure him. "It's just..." I take a deep breath. "Some of the students have found out about us. Gene saw me coming out your room last night and-"

"What was he doing on the teacher's floor?" Jay wonders.

"The brat wanted to set off the fire alarm, but it doesn't matter." I answer. "What matters is that he's told his friends and now we're the gossip of the day..."

I sigh. "I really don't want to do this, but we should stop seeing each other at school. At least for a while."

"I understand." Jay replies in a low voice.

I hate seeing him so downcast so I give him a reassuring smile as I take his hand into mine.

"This doesn't change anything about the way I feel about you." I say, looking into his eyes. "We just need a couple of rules - or boundaries - for the time being, okay?"

He nods. "O-okay."

"And to make up for it, what about we go away for a weekend, just the two of us?" I suggest. "Unfortunately, I'm kinda busy until next week, but maybe the weekend right after that?"

I am organising a field trip for our class to Borg Industries, but Jay doesn't know about this yet. As my boyfriend is a huge fan of the inventor Cyrus Borg, I want it to be a surprise for him. Oh, he's gonna love it!

"I'd like that." He smiles back. "We could go see my parents, they've been complaining that I – we – haven't visited them in a while."

"Sounds good." Ed and Edna are like family to me. And luckily, my boyfriend's parents are very supportive of our relationship. "I can't wait for that."

I comb my hands through his auburn hair. "So, we're good?"

"Yeah..." He smirks. "But only if I get a kiss now."

"Hey." I playfully punch his chest. "Have you already forgotten what we've just talked about? Boundaries, remember?"

"But I won't make it through one and a half weeks without." He pouts cutely. "Plus I was homeschooled, so this is promised my only chance ever to make out in the broom closet, and even with the most beautiful girl of the whole school – or the most beautiful teacher, in this case."

"Alright." I agree, defeated once again by his puppy eyes.

Not that I wouldn't enjoy kissing him, but it hasn't even been five minutes and we're already breaking the boundaries I've just set up. I won't let that happen again.

Present Day, Monday morning, Ninjago 'Elementary Masters' Primary School

The closer I get to Jay's office, the slower my steps become as I walk along the seemingly endless - yet right now it still is not long enough for me - school corridor.

I have just dropped off my daughter with her teacher and am now on my way to talk to her father.

I stop in front of his room. Unlike the last time that I was here, the door is closed. I take a deep breath before I quietly knock on the door.

"C-come in." I hear Jay's voice, he sounds just as anxious as I feel. And strangely enough, this calms me down a bit.

C'mon, we both want the same. I tell myself as I open the door and step inside, shutting the door behind me. Jay is sitting at his table, looking over some documents, but he gets up as soon as I enter and steps towards me.

"Good morning Nya." He gives me his signature nervous smile that still makes my heart flutter just a tiny bit.

I know that at some point I will need to apologise to my ex-boyfriend for what happened between us, but not today. This meeting now is going to be all about Abby.

"H-hi Jay." I have absolutely no clue how I should greet him - a handshake would be too formal but I'm not going to kiss him, not even on the cheek - so I just give him what must be the shortest hug in the history of Ninjago, before I quickly pull away. But it still isn't quick enough for me to not detect his all too familiar and comforting scent or milk and honey.

I can do this.

"P-please s-sit down." Jay gestures at the chairs around the table, and I take the one right opposite the one he has occupied earlier. "Would you l-like something to drink? Water? Tea? Coffee?"

I am not thirsty, but this will buy us some time, so I ask for a glass of water.

I watch him as Jay takes a clean glass from the shelf and, when he briefly leaves the room to fill it at the water fountain just outside the room, I take the opportunity to look around.

It is a strange mix between an office and workshop. From what I've heard from my daughter, I know that Jay not only works here as a teacher, but he is also responsible for repairing minor damages to building and furniture. And he is also using this desk/workbench to design new projects for his classes.

My first visit here was a very short one, but I still notice that that the room is a bit tidier compared to Friday, and I wonder when Jay has actually done this. Over the weekend, he went to see his parents and then came to Kai and Skylor's party where he stayed quite late talking to the guys. Maybe he was in early this morning, for he looks like he hasn't gotten much sleep last night. Well, neither have I.

The walls are bare, except for a shelf and one drawing that I immediately recognise as the one Abby did for him about two and a half weeks ago. Back then, I wasn't at all startled by the fact that her and Mr Gordon's faces look very much alike in her picture, but now that I know that it was neither coincidence nor the result of her poor drawing skills, it bothers me that I haven't paid more attention to it. And I am even more surprised that nobody here at school has ever noticed the similarities between them before. Apparently, not even Abby's teacher was suspecting anything.

To be honest, I am a bit curious about Jay's relationship with Miss Dashner. That day that I was running late to collect my daughter and she had to leave early, he was the one person – out of a group of primary school teachers, I need to add – that she asked to take care of Abby for her. This suggests that they are very close, but as far as I know, they are not dating. Not that this would be any of my business.

But regardless of how Jay and I will deal with our situation, I am sure that I can still trust her with my daughter. When I dropped off Abby with her only a few minutes ago, Miss Dashner gave me a reassuring smile and told me "I may be a friend of Jay's, but here in this classroom I am foremost Abby's teacher."

I am really glad I have picked this school for my little girl.

My thoughts are interrupted when Jay returns to the room and put the glass of water on the table right in front of me. "Here you are."

"Thank you." I reply, and I take a small sip as Jay takes his own seat again.

"So..." He sheepishly runs his hand through his hair before she takes a sheet of paper from the pile in front of him and slides it to me over the table. "I had a look at the tables, and this is the amount of child support that I owe you. Plus birthday and Christmas presents for five years to Abby and..."

"You don't owe me any money, we've been doing fine financially." I interrupt him harshly. "And Abby is spoiled enough as it is."

"A-alright." He is taken aback by my outburst, looking both surprised and upset that I have just refused his generous offer. "I-I just wanted to ... to..." His voice trails off.

I reach over the table to put my hand onto his. "And I appreciate it." I say more softly. "But I'm not going to take any money from you. In all the letters I sent, I've never asked for it, and we really don't need it. Okay?"

"O-okay." He nods.

"But there is something I do want from you. You were right with what you said yesterday. I may not have been too happy when you just turned up out of the blue, but I want for you to be part of her life." I reassure him. "but you, not your money. I would have needed for someone to hold my hand and letting me scream and shout at them while I was giving birth to Abby-" no, not my proudest memory, but at least my brother will be prepared for anything when Skylor goes into labour "and to take care of her with me. What you really owe me are dozens of sleepless nights, countless nappy changes, a few hundred bedtime stories, hours of teaching her how to ride a bike." I chuckle. "Or an Elemental Dragon."

"I don't even know how to create an Elemental Dragon." He reminds me. "And I-I can't make up for the time that we've already lost, but I don't want to lose any more of it. So, I want exactly the same as you do – not the dragon thing but spending time with her and getting to know her better. And to help you - even if not with my money but with my time. I can watch her here when you are running late, or even drive her home."

Sounds like he's been thinking as much about the situation as I have. And we have come more or less to the same solution.

"Now that really would help me a lot." I agree. "Of course, we'll have to talk to her first, but I'm sure Abby would love to see you here more often, just like she already did for the last two weeks. And Cole has already asked me if it would be okay to invite you over to our place one evening this week, so you could maybe take Abby with you when you come over after work."

"Thanks, Nya." He smiles. "And... I know I have no right to ask for anything, but... do you think I could also spend some time with her outside of school and your place?" He asks carefully. "I-it's okay if you don't want that, and it doesn't have to be right now, and I'm definitely not asking for a whole weekend." He quickly adds. "M-maybe a few hours every now and then, to do some fun activities together?"

"What kind of activities were you thinking off?" I ask back. The old Jay's definition of 'fun stuff' would usually involve something blowing up or dropping from the sky...

"Oh, nothing dangerous, really." He reassures me. "Only regular things, like taking her to the zoo, or roller skating-" Things that I haven't done with her in ages myself. "-and maybe take her to see my parents..."

"Oh, how are Ed and Edna doing?" I enquire. I've really missed the lovely couple, almost as much as I've missed Jay.

While his son and I were dating, they were like a second family to me.

And I was sad that Abby never got to meet her 'other' grandparents. More than once was I considering to just go visit them, but in the end, I decided to respect Jay's wish. If he didn't want to be a father to Abby, I wouldn't go behind his back and introduce his parents to their grandchild.

"They are fine." He smiles. "Of course, they've gotten older but are still doing quite well. Although the... news came as quite a shock to them. But... they would really like to get to know her, you know?"

"We could maybe see them together?" I suggest. "If they want to see me, that is..."

My last visit to the junkyard ended in quite a disaster.

"Of, they would love to see you." Jay exclaims. "They've really missed you. My mum's been giving me quite a hard time for being so stubborn and not opening your letters sooner and all that."

It wasn't your fault. I really want to tell him. But before I get to actually say it, Jay speaks up again.

"This would really mean a lot to them. And to me."

"To me too." I smile. "And let's see how this goes, but we could also do a few of those other things together, just for the first couple of times until you know each other a bit more."

Jay's face lights up. "Really?" He beams at me, making me feel a small pang of guilt over my actually very selfish proposal. I don't want Jay to be the 'fun dad' while I'm the one telling Abby to tidy up her room and brush her teeth.

But on the other hand, it does give them the chance to spend time together, and it could also be an opportunity for Jay and I to get to know each other again, at least as friends.

"We'll have to let her decide about that though." I remind him.

"Yeah, of course." Jay agrees. "So, when do you want to tell her?"

"Unless there's an emergency, I have the whole day off today." I reply. "I don't want to take her out of her class right now, but I'm collecting Abby straight after her last period at one. If it suits, we can come see you then and tell her together."

"That's fine with me. I'll have to teach until one myself as well." Jay checks his watch. "And I'm afraid I've got to go to my class in a bit. I've asked a colleague to take over the first period for me, but..."

"That's fine." I reassure him. "I think we've discussed the most important bits anyway."

I flip over the sheet of paper that is still lying in front of me and take a pen from my handbag to leave him a couple of numbers. "This is my mobile number and our coordinates. You can just text me your number. And if you want to drive Abby home, I'll also need your car registration in advance."

"Will do." He nods as I hand him back the paper. "Nya, if you ever change your mind about this-" I know is talking about the numbers which are now on the back of the paper. "Or if you ever need anything for her – or for you – please let me know, okay?" He requests. "I have more money than I can ever spend."

"How come?" I raise an eyebrow. From my own experience I know that school teachers are usually terribly underpaid.

"I haven't earned it, I've inherited it." He tells me. "About three years ago I found out that I was adopted."

"What?" I gasp. Ed and Edna are not his biological parents? "D-do you know who..."

"I don't know much about my biological mother, I've only seen a couple of pictures of her. But my birth father was Cliff Gordon." He says. "Yes, the Cliff Gordon."

Now, that's a real surprise. Jay, the junkyard kid, is actually the son of a rich and famous movie star?

"Sadly, I never had the chance to meet him, but when he died, he left everything to me in his will. I got his house, his cars, his money..."

"His last name." I realise.

"Yes, people were still recognising Jay Walker as the blue Ninja's name, so this was a good chance for me to cut some more ties with my past. But don't worry, my parents are fine with it; it even was my mum's – Edna's – idea." He assures me.

"Good to hear that." I state. "But really, you need to stop worrying about the money. I'm just happy to have you back in our lives."

"Me too." He smiles. "I just hope that Abby will feel the same."