one shots | ninjago

In Her Daughter's Eyes [Seabound Spoilers]

≫ Summary: In which Maya reflects on her relationship with her daughter over the course of both their lives.

≫ Warnings: Contains spoilers for Seabound. Brief mentions of pregnancy, labor, kidnapping, and child abandonment.

≫ Note(s): Inspired by the song "In my Daughter's Eyes" by Martina McBride.

***

Maya remembers the day her daughter was born like it was yesterday.

It had been a lovely summer evening, on which the air was still toasty from the sun and a warm breeze stirred the tall grass of Ignacia. Kai, only two years old then, had to wait outside while she delivered. He was anything but happy about that. He wanted desperately to stay with his mother, being the concerned little mama's boy that he was. While he was left to pout outside, Ray remained by Maya's side, comforting her as she screamed and pushed and felt like her body was breaking at the seams. Somehow, giving birth seemed to hurt twice as bad this time than it had two years ago. But all that tribulation—nine months of soreness and sickness, plus FSM knows how many hours of labor—was worth it when she got to lay eyes on her daughter for the very first time.

She was perfectly healthy, and beautiful too, the most beautiful baby girl in the whole world. What love Maya felt as she gazed down at the newborn in her arms, every bit as fierce and affectionate as when she'd first held Kai the same way. It was as if her very heart was beaming with joy, sending warmth gushing through her like the current of a river. And oh, how her breath had been taken away when the little girl first opened her eyes. They were a deep, dark gray, like a storm at sea, shining with innocence but also swirling with something deeper, something powerful. Ray said they were like hers, but Maya thought they were far more intense, far more captivating.

The Master of Water had fallen in love twice in her life: the first time with her husband, and the second with her son, the moment she'd first set her gaze on him. On that wonderful summer evening, she found herself in love for a third time.

The first time her daughter wrapped her little hand around her mother's finger, Maya had sensed something. A sort of energy—not yet very powerful, but still there all the same. No doubt it was elemental energy. It wasn't fire, burning with intensity, radiating off her in waves of heat like it did Kai. No, this energy had a calmer, more refreshing feel, like a splash of cool water on a hot summer day. Her second-born, Maya was sure then, would one day become a water elemental. When she told Ray of this revelation, he wasted no time. He'd forged a mobile out of metal to hang above their baby girl's cot. The decorations were ocean-themed, with little whales and seashells and fish with colorfully-painted scales, dangling over the infant as she lay down. Maya remembers how she'd stare at it in fascination, trying to reach up and grab at the charms with her tiny hands.