Escapade | Ninjago AU

Chapter 21

A/N: A long chapter for your patience

Jay's POV

The crunching of leaves under our feet fills the air as our ever growing team makes its way through the forest. The backpack with my essentials like deodorant, a tooth brush, and a hairbrush weighs me down, but I keep up my pace regardless. I hang out in the center of the group beside Kai, sandwiched between Nya who is blazing the way ahead of us and Zane and PIXAL who are more than happy to stroll together in the back of the pack.

After PIXAL told us that the ship is too large and clunky to journey the mountains, we searched for a nice clearing to park it. Once we finally found one, it was too far from the mountains, so we decided that it would be smartest to stop by a village to spend the night while also picking up food for the trip and getting clothes.

While I don't feel like we need more clothes, Nya was very clear that everyone needed an update in their wardrobe. She said that we would all stick out in a crowd, claiming that Kai and Zane are dressed like prince charming while PIX and I look like time travelers from the future. None of us were willing to fight her on it, so we're going to completely refresh our attire.

"When we get to the town, let me go in and buy you all clothes before anyone walks in with me..." Nya commands from in front of us, never wavering in her pace.

Back 600 years ago, although we didn't necessarily have an official leader, Cole was essentially the one who would put us all back in line when push came to shove. We never vied for power or anything along those lines back then, so now, we naturally fell back into the pattern we knew so well, and in place of Cole, Nya has stepped up. She knows what she wants and how she wants it. She'll make sure it gets done, and that's a great quality of a leader.

"Oooo, can you get me a red shirt?" Kai eagerly asks his sister.

"Can mine be blue?" I instantly ask after, my eyes lighting up at the prospect of getting clothes that I can wear for a long time.

"May mine be white?"

Nya stops in her tracks, letting out a sight and facepalming. "You want to strut through the place with your signature colors plastered all over you?"

We all look at her with our eyebrows furrowed. "Is there a problem with that?" Kai asks, glancing down at his deep cut red shirt that leaves a large portion of his chest out just how he likes it.

"Everyone is on high alert right now. People are already going to be accusatory about travelers, let alone those that wear bright colors and draw attention to themselves," Nya hypothesizes, but we all shrug it off.

"If we could wear our colors while on the run all of those years ago, we can wear them now," I reason, and the guys nod in response. Nya's eyes narrow, scanning our expressions before she sighs and continues forward.

I try to focus on my environment, on the light breeze that tickles my skin or the gentle rays of sunlight that slip through the canopy of trees, but my attention keeps being drawn to the sweeping force in front of me, the girl who is tearing through this forest as if it's her own backyard.

Every day that I restrain myself for her, it's like I'm being tortured. It's as if I'm drawn to her tenfold with each passing day. It's clear that her anger with me has mostly subsided, and it just makes me want to be even closer to her. Not only do I want her wrapped in my arms, her black hair fanning across my neck, but I also want her to pour out everything that has happened to her in the past several hundred years since we last saw each other, for her to let me in on everything I missed out on.

Holding myself back is like staying underwater as my lungs burn for oxygen. I crave her more than I ever have - even when we were engaged - and that's exactly why I need to hold back. She said that she needs to wait for us to save Shade - I can't believe I'm fighting Shade for my soulmate - for her to be able to analyze the situation clearly, and even though I've made up my mind, I need to respect her and her decision no matter how hard it is.