Happy New Year everyone! Hope 2019 will be a good one!

As said before, the holidays have completely messed up my update schedule, plus I'm sick again - just another cold, so nothing serious but still annoying, especially during the holidays!

(Also, my notifications have gone mad so if I've missed any update/new book etc. please let me know in a comment!)

My PIXane New Years' Special (in my one shot book) is still to come in a couple of days, but I wanted to finish and post this one first, because it continues the previous chapter.

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Chapter 17 (Nya)

Six years ago, after the Blackout, Ed & Edna's Scrap N Junk

I put on my goggles, trying to blank out the nose the guys are making outside, talking – more like shouting – about the compact converted jiggly compressor that we need.

I am grateful I have this different job inside the trailer, it keeps my mind busy and me hidden away from my two problems; I really don't want to think about almost cheating on my boyfriend – and with his best friend, of all people.

"You sure you want to do this?" I check one final time with Zane as I carefully remove half of his power source. "Modifying your original design could have... unintentional consequences."

"She risked her life for me." Zane replies in a firm voice, looking at PIXAL's lifeless body. "It's the least I could do to get her back."

I'm sure this is not the only reason. And I'm a bit jealous, to be honest. The Master of Ice has his heart and his mind set on the same person (or robot, for that matter), why can't it be the same for me?

But I gotta push these thoughts aside. Edna watches with great interest as I expertly insert the piece into the female droid, and PIXAL soon wakes up, gasping.

"Where am I? What happened?" She asks, looking around. Her bright green eyes fall onto Zane, in particular his open chest panel.

"You gave me half your power source." She concludes. "My processor does not compute."

"You are the only one who knows Borg's system." Zane tells her. "You are vital to the mission. And-" He takes her hand into his own. "You are vital to me."

Awww. To my surprise, I even feel a few tears prick my eyes. Seriously, what is wrong with me and my emotions?

But apparently, I'm not the only one who is moved by this cute display.

"Ooh. Robot love." Edna gushes. "Call me a sucker, but if they have half of what you and Jay have-"

She's right. I'm not going to throw our relationship away for-

"Nya and Jay?" PIXAL interrupts both Edna's speech and my thoughts. "Judging from Perfect Match compatibility, perhaps Nya and Cole would be a closer comparison."

No, no, no. Why did I ever step of this stupid machine?

"Nya and Cole are a better match?"

Of course, Edna is shocked by that revelation, she and Ed have always been so supportive of me and their son.

"Don't you mean Jay?" Zane wonders. "Perhaps her processor was damaged."

Yes, please. Let the analysis be wrong, and we can all go back to where we were. Even if not everything has been going perfectly well, especially since the students found out about us, we were still happy.

But PIXAL insists. "My processor is fully operational. The Perfect Match for Nya isn't Jay, but Cole."

"Cole's her perfect match?" I hear my the blue Ninja's upset voice coming from the door, he and Ed have just returned inside from their mission to find all the spare parts.

No matter what, this was definitely not the way I've wanted him to find out.

So I step towards him, smiling at my boyfriend. "Jay..." I reach out for his hand.

But I never get to actually take it, for things get even worse when my brother and Cole follow the two Walkers.

"Ha, it's so quiet in here." The Master of Earth remarks, completely oblivious to what has just happened. "What did I miss? Another signature Jay Walker gut buster?"

But unfortunately, Jay must have realised what was going on on the train.

"Oh, you back-stabbing, no good... YAAAHH!!!"

He leaps at Cole who is taken by surprise but fights back nonetheless.

"What's wrong with you?" He yells, as I can't hold back my tears.

This is all my fault.

"I hope Lloyd is faring better than us." Kai sighs.

Well, it can't get much worse I guess.

Present Day, Ed & Edna's Scrap N Junk

As always, Abby has everything – and everyone – under control.

Sitting in Jay's lap, munching her fifth piece of chocolate before lunch, she has her grandparents wrapped around her little finger.

My daughter is cute, and she knows.

"Can I now see the junkyard?" She demands, shooting me a glare. "You've pwomised."

"I think we've waited long enough." Jay states, keen to get on her good side. But it's true that Ed and Edna seem to have recovered a good bit by now.

I am glad to see how well Jay and his parents are getting along, and that he is taking good care of them.

Edna was absolutely right, they have become quite old since I last saw them. And even back then, they really weren't that young anymore.

I had never expected them to be Jay's adoptive parents though. But it does make sense, considering how old they must have been already when he was born. 

When Abby and I were looking at the picture wall, I noticed one that I've never seen before. A couple – unmistakably a young Cliff Gordon and a beautiful blonde woman – proudly holding a tiny infant, a newborn baby guessing from the size. This must have been Jay with his birth parents.

And although her hair is slightly different on the photo, I immediately recognised his mother as the previous Master of Lightning whom I met when Kai and I had fought against the Time Twins in the past.

Today isn't the right time to do this, but at some point, I will need to tell Jay about this encounter.

"I'd better take care of my roast if we want to have something to eat later, but why don't all of you go ahead?" Edna suggests.

"I will help you." I offer. I have missed her. And there are a few unresolved issues between us as well. Sure, we've exchanged a few words earlier, but there hasn't been the chance yet to talk properly.

"Thank you." She flashes me a smile. "That's very kind of you, Nya."

While Edna and I go into the small kitchen, Jay and Abby head outside with Ed. I can hear them chatting excitedly through the open kitchen window.

"Would you mind peeling the potatoes, dearie?" Edna asks.

"Sure." I smile. I'm not a great chef but I know how to handle a knife.

We start working in silence but, as Jay once pointed out correctly, the Walkers are never quiet for long.

"I hope Abigail always eats her vegetables." Edna remarks, chopping a bunch of carrots.

"She doesn't like all of them." I reply. "But she's very good with carrots."

"She is such a lovely girl." Jay's mum smiles fondly. "You have done a marvellous job." She sighs. "And all by yourself..."

"Thank you." I smile back. "But I didn't have to do it alone, I had my brother and our friends to help me."

"But still..." Edna puts down her knife and wipes her eyes. "I wish we would have been there for you. If only we had known sooner..."

"Me too." I say. "But... I just didn't want to go behind Jay's back."

"Believe me, I've tried so many times to get the boy to get back in touch with you, even though we didn't know about your daughter... Ed and I, we've missed you a lot, ya know?"

"I've missed you too." I say. "But you know that it wasn't Jay's fault alone."

You were there, you saw and heard what happened the last time that I was here... I add in my thoughts.

"He was devastated when he came to us that day after the funeral, convinced that you'd picked Cole." Edna tells me. "He loved you very much. And he still does..."

I don't reply to that, and I don't think Edna expects me to. She just wants me to know.

And yes, a part of me still loves him as well.

But a bigger part of me knows that we can't just go back to where we were. Too much has happened between us, and we're not the same people that we were six years ago.

Right now, Abby has to be our first priority. She's happy to finally have her father in her life, and I'm not going to ruin that by rushing anything. Also... just because he still has some feelings for me doesn't automatically mean that Jay would want to be with me either, not after what I did (and still need to apologise for).

For the time being I just want to be his friend. And we will have a lot of opportunities to get to know each other better, for not only have we agreed to do a couple of activities with Abby, but also has Master Lloyd decided that I'll be the one to teach Jay how to create his Elemental Dragon.

Objectively, I am the right choice for this job: I was the last one of our team to gain this skill myself, same for Airjitzu, which means I've never had the chance to train any other Masters. And as I already helped him unlock his True Potential years ago, I supposedly already have a connection to Jay's element – and let's not forget that my daughter is the future Master of Lightning. But that doesn't change anything about the fact that I am still nervous about it.

Yet, a Ninja never quits. And I'm not going to fail this task.

"But with all those letters of yours to arrive here, I still should have tried to contact you. You were always like a daughter to us." Edna's voice snaps me out of my thoughts. "I am sorry, Nya."

I can't believe that she is apologising to me, and even for the second time today, after how badly I've treated her son.

A few stray teas run down my cheek as Edna pulls me into a gentle hug. "I-I'm sorry too." I sob.

Why does it have to be so much more difficult to say these words to Jay?

"Oh, don't cry, my dear." She comfortingly rubs my back. "I don't want to see any tears on a lovely face such as yours."

I can't help but laugh through my tears.

"Now, that's better." Edna remarks approvingly. "Isn't it?"

"Much better." I nod, smiling.

I once more think of all those times that Jay would try to find a way to make me laugh, no matter what was going on. And how I found it sometimes rather annoying and childish that he seemingly just couldn't take anything serious, but now I realise once again just how much I've missed it. How much I've missed him.

"I think that's enough potatoes." Edna states, looking at the rather unimpressive pile in front of me. "Let's have a look what the others are doing, shall we?"

After washing our hands and my tear-stained face, we head outside, where it doesn't take us long to find Ed, Jay and Abby behind a large heap of scrap metal – three generations of Walkers, adopted or not, just can't be overheard.

"We could use these for our robot." Jay says, holding a couple of small solar panels in his hand. He smiles. "I have some pictures on my phone of the project we've been working on together. Abby's already a great inventor. And you should see her with the glue gun."

"I have no doubt about that, son." Ed states. "She's your daughter, after all."

"Mummy an' daddy have taught me." The girl replies, blushing. "They're good teachers."

"And I've learned everything I know from your grandfather." Jay explains. "I'm sure he could teach you a thing or two, too."

"Oohhh." Abby's eyes widen. "Will you? Pweeeaaase." She adds quickly when she spots me.

"Sure, kiddo." Ed smiles at his grandchild. "Shall we have a look at my workshop then?"

"Yes. Yes." Abby claps her hands as she excitedly bounces up and down. On Ed's hand, she skips to the old shed hidden away behind a pile of tires in a far corner of the junkyard. It looks in a slightly better condition that I remember it.

Ed unlocks the rusty padlock and pushes open the squeaking door. Of course, Abby is the first one to peek inside. "What's this?" She points at a bright red machine in one corner.

"That's a welding machine, kiddo." Ed explains. "It uses very high heat to melt metals together. I bet ye don't have that at school or your home, do ye?"

"No, but we have uncle Kai." Abby states, making Jay burst out with laughter while Ed just smiles at her.

"Do you want to try and see if this one is as good at this as your uncle?"

Looks like they're getting on just fine.

Maybe I could take the opportunity and start Jay's training right away. Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today. And the Sea of Sands surrounding the junkyard would provide a great location – without any spectators.

"Are you and Ed okay to mind her for a bit?" I ask Edna.

"Of course, dearie." She gives me an understanding look. "Anything for my children."

I know she's talking about all three of us.

Jay is occupied watching Abby and Ed powering up the oil generator, he doesn't notice me sneaking up to him.

"They are doing perfectly fine without us." I whisper, making him jump, as I slip my hand into his. "C'mon. Let's go." I lead him outside.

"You sure?" He asks, glancing back.

"Trust your parents." I say. "And don't forget that Abby is not only our daughter but she's also Kai's niece, meaning she is resistant to fire and heat."

Jay's eyes widen in realisation. "When I first met her, she told me that the hot glue gun wouldn't hurt her..." He remarks.

"Nope, it doesn't." I shake my head. "But apparently a single drop of water in her eyes does..."

Jay laughs. "That's so funny."

"It's not, when you're the one who has to wash her hair." I retort. "But let's leave her to your parents for now."

"And what are we going to do?" He wants to know.

"This." I say as I finally let go of his hand to conjure my Water Dragon. "Are you ready to be a student again, Mr Gordon?"

"As I'll ever be." He smiles. "Sensei Nya."

--

Next chapter will (finally) enter just a tiny bit into Jaya territory...