Pixane Appreciation Club!

Magnetic Connections 😭☺️

{Alright, so to review the Red-Tie AU, I'll repost the String explanation from my "Two Hearts, One String" Jaya!String!AU. If you've already read that, feel free to skip! I'll just edit it a bit for the Pixane dynamic. For this AU, we're pretending Jaya!Ties didn't happen. I already wrote one on that, don't need to do it again.}

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When the Tying happened, it was the most alive moment in Zane's life up to date. He'd never expected to get a Red-Tie, being a nindroid and all. But the second he laid eyes on Pixal, everything changed. Possibilities flickered into existence. Numbers and statistics bent to make way for fate to intervene. The impossible was no longer impossible. He was almost human, even if just for a second.

Of course, he'd heard of the soulmate legend. Everyone had, if they were someone worth knowing. But he'd never known anyone who was actually Tied. Being romantically Tied (or Red-Tied, as it was more commonly known) was as rare as being an Elemental Master, according to Wu.

Being romantically Tied meant that when you met your soulmate, a red string would connect you from then until death. Only the connected pair could see the bright red string connected to each of their hearts. The further a person got from their Tie, the harder it tugged on their hearts. Stay far enough away for long enough and physical pain would start to set in. One Tied couple had died when they were forced apart and died of heartbreak and the physical pain it caused them. It was extremely, incredibly rare nowadays to be Tied romantically.

However, being platonically Tied (or Green-Tied) was more common, with a green string connecting the wrists of those who would become best friends someday. It could connect two, three, or even more people at once when they all met (eventually). Only those who were connected could see the strings, so if you were in a friendship where only one person saw a string... generally it didn't end well. Thankfully, those weren't very common.

Yes, it caused a few friendships to split but it also caused some to form! Most people were content with the green strings they had, even if they never found a red one. Some people counted their strings and boasted about them, as if they were celebrities. It was considered rude, but it continued nonetheless. If a couple got married without being Red-Tied, they usually still found a way to be happy with the person they chose, despite the challenges.

However... some people couldn't bear the thought of never being Red-Tied. Some became bitter and angry at fate for not helping them find a soulmate. They locked themselves away and tried to tear down the ideology of the Strings. They were called the Broken by the rest of Ninjago. Why, you ask? They strung others without strings along with their ideas until they snapped. They "broke" their own strings, so to speak, before they were even formed.

Zane and Pixal had both accepted they probably didn't have a Red-Tie to be Tied with. Zane had heard of the legend before he knew of his nindroid status, so once upon a time he'd hoped he might have one. Up until today, though, he'd accepted he couldn't have one. After all, he didn't have a physical, beating heart to connect. Pixal never even considered having one. She was created to be an assistant, not have a romantic relationship.

Zane had a few Green-Ties with the people on his team (which he was pleasantly surprised at), but Pixal never had any. Cyrus Borg was considered her family since he created her and family members didn't get Ties.

That was before. Before villains over Ninjago City and destroyed it all. Now, technology was more advanced than ever and Pixal was brought into existence. Before she knew about the ninja, she'd been perfectly content running Borg Industries alongside Cyrus Borg as an assistant droid. Now she was here, face-to-face with a droid like herself.