Chapter 13 (Jay)

One and a half years ago, Ninjago 'Elementary Masters' Primary School

It is already late when I finally exit the school building. Today's teachers' meeting has run over once again, planning all the school activities for the final few weeks before the summer break has taken us a lot longer than scheduled. Not that I would mind, I usually tend to stay late anyway.

As I walk across the parking lot to my car, I can sense electricity crackling in the hot air, there's definitely going to be a thunderstorm tonight, and I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully, I'll make it home in time. But as I get into my sports car – one of the many fancy vehicles that came with my birth father's mansion – I decide to keep the roof closed, just in case.

As I drive off the school grounds, I see one of my colleagues waiting at the bus stop, she looks rather upset as she checks her watch. If I remember correctly – and I usually have a good memory for faces, not so much for names though – the brunette young woman is an early childhood education student in her final year at Ninjago University, currently doing a placement in the kindergarten group.

It was only a year ago that I was doing my own final placement at this school, eventually leading to me being a full-time teacher here now. And there's actually a good chance that she will be offered a position as well, for Ms Johnson, the kindergarten teacher, is due to retire at the end of this term.

She looks slightly confused when she sees me stop and lower my window.

"Hey, are you alright?" I ask.

"Ah, it's you. Hi." She gives me a little smile as she recognises me. "I'm fine. Just missed the bus."

"Do you need a lift?" I offer.

"No, thanks. I can wait for the next one." She shakes her head. "At least the weather is nice."

"It's gonna rain fairly soon." I inform her.

"No, I've just checked my phone, it's supposed to stay dry all night."

"Believe me, there's a nasty thunderstorm on the way here, I can feel it."

She giggles. "You don't look that old..."

"What do you mean?" I enquire.

"My grand-aunt always claimed that she could feel a change of weather in her joints, but you're way too young for that."

"Well, thank you." I sass. "But I can still feel it, for... another reason."

A reason I am not going to disclose to a stranger.

She looks undecided, but I know that if I let her stay and wait for the next bus, she's gonna get drenched. But I don't want to make her uncomfortable.

"You've seen me at the school." I assure her. "You know how many tests and background checks I've had to pass to become a teacher here. I'm not gonna do anything to you."

Of course, some highly confidential details were not included in the police report, but these would definitely not speak against me. Rather the opposite, actually.

"I know you wouldn't." She averts my gaze. "But... I don't think my boyfriend would approve ... he's rather jealous." She says meekly.

I'm getting increasingly worried about her situation. Even if I'm not a Ninja anymore, I still want to help and protect other people, and from the way she has spoken these words, I feel that she might be in desperate need of some help.

So, I'm not gonna give up.

"I'm not hitting on you, I promise." I say. "I'm not available either." This isn't a lie. After all this time, my heart still belongs to Nya.

"Alright." She finally agrees. "You win."

I guess I can be very convincing. Also, I've got a lot of experience dealing with way more stubborn people...

The first few minutes of our drive are spent in silence. We only exchange names, and Katherine gives me the directions to her place, an apartment block on the outskirts of Ninjago City, before she turns her attention to her phone.

But not long into our journey, my prediction comes true when suddenly the sky becomes dark with black clouds and heavy rain starts pouring down, accompanied by bright flashes of lightning and roaring thunder.

"How did you do that?" Katherine gasps, looking on the shiny display in disbelief. "There's still no warning whatsoever here."

"Technology doesn't always know everything." I mutter. Lately, I haven't been as much of a fan of Cyrus Borg and his inventions as I used to be.

"Well, thanks for not letting me drown." She laughs. "I just hope you won't get into trouble with your... -" She glances at my ringless hand. "-girlfriend for driving other women home?"

"Don't worry, I won't. Mainly because I don't have a girlfriend." I tell her.

"Oh, your boyfriend then?" Katherine asks.

"No boyfriend either." I shake my head. "I'm single but just not available. Still recovering from a rather painful breakup, and I'm honestly not yet over my ex-girlfriend."

"I'm sorry." She mumbles. "What happened – if you're okay to talk about it."

"She left me for my best friend. Well, ex-best friend now."

"That's awful." Katherine claims. "So, you lost two important people at once..."

"It's even worse." I chuckle bitterly. "It happened right after the funeral of another good friend of ours." Zane had died, heroically sacrificing himself to save Ninjago. "And I also lost contact with two other close friends – her older brother and their honorary little brother."

She gives me a little side hug, very careful though as not to disturb me from driving. "Sounds like you could use a friend." She says.

"I guess so." I smile.

Katherine pulls away and turns her head to the side, to look out the window onto the flooded streets. But I still hear her whisper. "So could I."

Present Day, on the way to the Temple of Airjitzu

"Today, we made some scaaary decowations for Hallowe'en." My daughter tells me from her seat in the back of my car. "But I'm not scared of ghosts - Uncle Cole was a ghost, but he was nice. And we live in a haunted house."

No, there's absolutely no silent moment at all when you're travelling with Abby.

Today it the first time that I am taking her home after school.

Of course, I haven't taken my favourite car today, the SUV from Cliff Gordon's collection is more suitable for this kind of terrain. Also, the sports car doesn't have proper seats in the back to fit a child seat, and I really don't want to get into trouble with Nya for letting Abby sit in the front.

But that doesn't stop the girl from having a conversation with me. Safely strapped into her brand new child seat, she has been chatting almost non-stop since the start of our drive, only occasionally interrupted by her chewing as she is munching her snack.

Nya had warned me about her little tricks so I didn't fall for Abby's claims that she was 'staaa'vin' and her (admittedly tempting) attempts to convince me to get some chicken nuggets and fries from a drive thru along the way and I had prepared a little snack box with apple slices and raisins instead.

"Daaad." Honestly, I feel like crying each time she uses this word. Although it's only been three weeks since I first met her and less than a week that I found out she's my daughter, but I already can't imagine not having her in my life anymore.

And, despite her being upset at first, Abby has immediately accepted me as her father. According to Nya, she has always longed to have a dad. I just hope that, with her high expectations, she won't be disappointed once she gets to know me better.

But so far, we've been getting along great.

Yesterday – Tuesday – she spent the whole afternoon with me in my office. But we didn't do any repairs of work on our project, we were just chatting and trying to get to know each other better. We even talked to my parents on the phone and I sent a selfie of us to my mum. There is no issue with me taking pictures of her, Nya has already been to the school office and added my name to Abby's record.

Also so that I can collect her after school and drive her home.

We've already left the boundaries of Ninjago City and are now crossing the desert, on our way to the coordinates that Nya has given to me.

While Abby is describing her the pumpkin she made out of clay this morning, I notice a strange structure high up in the sky appearing in the distance. As we get closer, I realise it is a flying island with a beautiful, traditional building on it. How did that get here? I wonder, but at the same time I am not surprised to find that this is where we are heading. We've always had rather unusual locations as our headquarters.

As instructed, I park the SUV directly on the coordinates and leave the key in the ignition.

As soon as we have gotten out of the car and stepped away from it, the ground around the vehicle starts to move down slowly, just like a lift.

I curiously peek down the hole in the ground which is forming, to see a well-equipped underground car park below us.

My car is automatically moving into a free parking spot before the platform rises again, seamlessly closing the gap and leaving no indication of what is hidden under the sand.

I am impressed. And I finally understand why they've needed my car registration in advance.

But while I am still trying to process what is going on below, my attention is suddenly drawn to what is happening above us.

Two tornadoes – a green and a light blue one, not too dissimilar to Spinjitzu ones – are descending from the floating island.

As they are about to touch the ground, the vortexes disappear and Lloyd and Nya land next to us on the sand.

"What? Was? That?" I asks.

"Airjitzu." Nya smirks as she hugs our daughter. "Although Abby prefers to call it Cyclon-Do."

The girl nods. "Airjitzu is booowing."

"I like your name a lot better too." I laugh, giving her a high-five.

"Kids." Nya rolls her eyes, but there's a little smile of her face. "Did you get here alright?" She then asks me.

"Yeah, no problem at all." I reply. "With the coordinates, it was really easy to find, and I had a good on-board entertainment program."

"Welcome to my world." Hearing Nya laugh still makes my heart flutter more than it should. "But I'm glad you two are getting along."

"Me too." I smile sheepishly, fully aware of the light blush on my cheeks. "Thanks for giving me the chance to spend time with her."

"Don't forget, it was her decision." Nya reminds me. "Sure, it was a lot for her to take, but when she came home from school last night, I could see how happy she is. And she can't wait to meet Ed and Edna on the weekend."

"Neither can they." I answer. "But right now, I can't wait to see your home and the others."

"Then let's go." She giggles. "Or rather fly. Abby, you're going with Uncle Lloyd?"

"Yay." Abby cheers.

"C'mon, kiddo." Lloyd turns to Abby. "What is it today, dragon or Airj- Cyclon-Do?" He corrects himself as he sees the disapproving look on her face.

"Dwagon." Abby requests, and what happens next is absolutely amazing – out of nowhere, a majestic green dragon with golden wings simply appears in front of us. Lloyd hops on and, with some help from Nya, pulls Abby up in front of him.

"Whoohoo." She screams as they take off and zoom up in the air.

"Wow." I gasp.

"Elemental Dragon." Nya shrugs as if it was nothing special – and as I'm about to find out it really isn't for her. "We all can create ours."

"I can't believe how much I've missed." I remark. And she understands that I'm not just about their new abilities. "But why isn't Abby flying with you then?"

"She doesn't like it." She explains. "She doesn't like my element, so she usually goes with either Kai or Lloyd. I hope you're not scared of water."

"So... I'm going with you?" Our roles have switched, now she is the one who is better trained in the arts of the Ninja.

"Trust me." She says. "I'm not going to drop you in front of our daughter."

"Now, that's very reassuring." I remark sarcastically. "But I've always trusted you. Do you think I could learn these things as well?"

"Probably." She says. "You've kept up with your training, so I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to learn these things. It's not that hard physically anyway, but it takes a lot of focus and mental strength. And the final decision is up to Lloyd, so you'll have to ask him."

"Now, let's stop talking, looks like the others have already won today's race." Nya says. Above us, Lloyd and Abby have flown a few rounds around the temple before they've landed on the floating island. "Airjitzu is the faster way straight up. Take my hand."

Nya holds out her hand, and after a brief moment of hesitation I take it.

"Hold on, don't let go." Nya reminds me as her Airjitzu bubble forms around us, lifting us up.

It feels... weird. And not in a good way. Sure, I'm used to Spinjitzu, but combine the spinning with an upwards movement... not my favourite feeling. But I guess things might be different when you're in control of the tornado yourself.

As we land on the floating island, the bubble disappears and I fall to the ground. "Ugh." I groan, holding my head.

"You're doing really well." Nya helps me up. "Most of us were struggling with the dizziness at the beginning, Cole even threw up the first couple of times."

I remember my best friend has always been prone to motion sickness.

She gestures around. "Welcome to the Temple of Airjitzu."

I step to the edge of the island to peek down. "Whoa." I exclaim. It is really high up.

"If you're worried about the kids, they cannot fall down." Nya informs me. "We've created an Elemental Shield around the island. Initially, it was developed to protect out home from outside attacks. Only people with our specific elemental signatures can pass through – you were able to get in because yours is the same as Abby's – just like my parents have the same as Kai and I. But to get out, the signal needs to have a certain strength, so the children are protected from falling over the edge. When they need to get out or when we have guests, we can create a local interference which temporarily disables the shield, using these." She holds up her left hand to let me have a look at the bracelet. "Pixal and Seliel have these also integrated into their mechs."

Sure, I was already impressed when I saw their car park, but now I'm absolutely astonished. "You're amazing." I compliment her.

"Ah, it's nothing." Nya shrugs, but I notice a hint of pink appearing on her beautiful face. "I've only constructed the emitters, but Zane and PIXAL have programmed them."

It's not like this would make her contribution in any way less important, but before I get to say it, Nya grabs my arm and leads me towards the temple. "Now, c'mon. The guys are all waiting for you, and Abby's been dying to show you her room, I even got her to tidy up."

I willingly follow her. I can't deny that, after all that I've seen so far below and around the temple, I am now really curious about what's awaiting me inside.

POV for next chapter - Jay, Nya or Cole?