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Like always, the battles against the villains who wished to take over and destroy Ninjago had them trapped in a corner, but this time it was worse than the battle prior. Jay had been trapped in his submarine and had drowned.
Once they all regrouped, Zane’s scans confirmed that he had a significant amount of water in his lungs, and would only get worse as the time went by. Kai watched as his little sister tried over and over again in frustration to take the water out of Jay’s lungs, but nothing worked.
Wojira’s power over the sea was too strong, she was pushing against Nya and the Master of Water couldn’t pull the water back.
Kai cursed, getting frustrated at how things went to shit so quickly, meanwhile he had barely done anything to help. He was on rescue duty with Zane, Cole and Lloyd, but prior to that what had he even contributed? He regretted the days he spent just playing games with his father instead of going with Nya and his mother, even if he did enjoy spending time with the man who should’ve raised him during childhood.
“We need to get him to a hospital!” The demand from his younger brother snapped Kai out of his spiral, as the issue of the blue ninja was brought back into light. He wanted to support Lloyd but he had to point out the truth.
“How are we going to get him to one with that thing out there hunting us?!” His tone was a little too harsh and Cole seemed to sense it, as the Master of Earth chimed in with his own idea.
“Maybe we can get help? From Queen Vania or something!” Unfortunately, Zane reminded them their communicators didn’t have that range and the phone lines and electricity were down due to the city being flooded and Wojira using the amulets to conjure up a storm. They were running out of options and Jay was running out of time.
Kai redirected his vision to the wheezing ninja on the couch, and then to his sister lying next to him, a look of despair and hopelessness on her face and she wondered what she could do and how they could fix this. He followed her eyes as she turned her head suddenly to look at the prince of Merlopia standing at the wall glaring with his arms crossed.
Tuning out the other suggestions that Lloyd and Cole were giving out, he shuffled slightly to get closer to Nya and Benthomaar, enough to where he could hear them but they wouldn’t realize he was eavesdropping.
“Bentho, how did Nyad defeat Wojira? In the story you told me?” The tone of his sister’s voice immediately put Kai on edge. It was calm, not in the way when they were relaxing but when she was thinking of ideas that wouldn’t always have successful outcomes. “She became one with the sea.” Kai’s brain couldn’t wrap his head around what the prince had just said. He had overheard about how Nyad was the original Master of Water after Wojira herself, but didn’t know the true history of her like Nya and their mother did.
“But how exactly?” Nya’s voice had an edge to it, one he recognized when she was trying to get something that she wanted knowing that she probably shouldn’t attempt to.
“She…opened herself up to the full power of the ocean, she merged with it.” He saw Nya look out the window that was covered by the water and had fish swimming by it. That look of contemplation sent shivers down his spine as he recognized that look as one she had many many times in the heat of battle.
Apparently, the look alerted Bentho as he called her out on it. “Do not think of such things! Nyad may have won but she lost herself, what she did could not be undone. She vanished, Nya.” Kai knew the implications that Bentho was making, and he knew that Nya knew as well.
A cough from Jay broke her stare from the sun as she looked back in concern, and then Kai saw her nod to herself, confirming his worst fears. He knew Bentho was trying to defer to her but Kai knew that it was for naught. Nya had always been stubborn. The most stubborn person he’d ever met.
Second only to him of course.
………………………………………………………………
The night went by and the water shifted slightly, waves moving back and forth from not only the wind but the large mass of the sea serpent swimming around looking for them. One by one, all the ninja had fallen asleep.
Except for him and Nya.
Kai looked at his sister who hadn’t moved from her spot next to Jay ever since her conversation with Bentho. That was when he made his move. Shifting up and walking over a sleeping Cole, he sat next to her.
“You should really get some sleep.” The typical Nya would have given him a snippy remark, but all she did was mutter weakly. “And what, let Jay drown?”
“Hey. You didn’t let anything happen to him. It wasn’t your fault, or his. It’s Kalmaar’s.” He practically hissed the merlopian’s name, angered at the man who was targeting his sister and hellbent on defeating her.
“But I should be able to heal him! I’m the Master of Water, I’ve been one for years! But now I can barely control it, no matter how hard I try. I haven’t been this useless since I first started training.” Kai couldn’t let her say those things.
“Enough, don’t say that. You’re the most hardworking person I’ve ever met in my life. If you’re useless, then what am I?” He attempted to laugh, but his jab didn’t work as the frown remained on her face. Kai’s face contorted to match the frown on his little sister’s face.
“Shouldn’t you get some sleep too?” Anyone else would’ve seen it as a gesture of concern, but Kai knew his sister better than that. She didn’t look at him when saying it, a reminder of when she would try to get away with something like when they were young and on their own.
“No, I’ve gotten used to staying up. I remember when we were kids and when…mom and dad left. I had to watch over you while watching over myself, and that leads to pretty much a sleep schedule that would make a night shift worker do a double take.” Nya laughed, albeit half heartedly.
“You, on the other hand, haven’t gotten used to staying up. I can see your eyes Nya, you’ve been awake for way too long and I know how much you’ve been fighting recently. You gotta get your beauty sleep if you wanna defeat Calamari.”
“Kalmaar.” She remarked, but he saw the grin on her face she was trying to hide. “Oh come on, don’t tell me you respect the jackass enough to call him by his actual name?”
Nya elbowed him, “You know that’s not what I meant! Your nicknames are just dumb!” she retorted loudly. A groan from Jay snapped them out of their brief conversation, Nya’s face falling. Kai put a hand on her shoulder, reassuring her. “He’ll be okay. We’ll all be okay.”
“How do you know?” The whisper from her voice was so small, he hadn’t heard her sound like that since they were first left on their own. Kai gave her a smile.
“I just do.” He took a deep breath, trying to process the decision he just made. “Now seriously, get some sleep, I’ll watch over Jay.” Nya looked like she wanted to argue but the exhaustion got to her and she shuffled before laying down and closing her eyes.
Kai took a pillow from the couch that Sensei Wu was sleeping against and gently propped it underneath Nya’s head. With that, he sat next to her on the floor with his head near Jay’s feet.
Kai could hear the wheezing and knew it was getting worse. He had kept a straight face for his sister but knew the truth. If they didn’t do something soon, Jay was going to die. They didn’t have any other options left.
Any options that would make sure they were all together in the end, that is.
He remembered all the times they had fought, every foe they went against. How almost every time everyone got out okay. How they were all happy and safe with each other.
Except for two instances. Zane and Sensei Garmadon.
Kai wanted no disrespect to the latter, but it didn’t hit him as hard as it should’ve. Perhaps because at the time he had already coped with the “loss” of his parents or perhaps because Zane had come back and that was what made him give up briefly, and a foolish part of him thought that Sensei Garmadon would come back too.
He didn’t know much of Bentho but he knew the prince was kindhearted, yet also honest in the best way possible. He told Nya the consequences, and it was clear she wasn’t going to listen. But Kai was.
Kai looked out at the water, shuddering as he saw it still enclosed the building they were hiding in. He looked at his teammates and how they were all so tired, even the two nindroids. He looked at his baby brother and how even in his sleep he was frowning. He looked at his little sister and how dark her undereyes had become.
Self sacrifice was always something that they tended to do, perhaps due to being a ninja. Kai hated the sound of it now. He hated the idea of one of their own leaving them just because of a jerk who thought they were above everyone else and had gotten powerful enough to where the ninja were overpowered. He hated the idea of having to go through another period of time without the ninja being completed. He hated the idea of having to deal with a loss like Zane’s yet again.
He hated the idea that his baby sister would be lost forever if he didn’t stop her. He hated the idea he had, and hated that he wasn’t planning to back out on it.
He hated that the world could never let his family rest.
Kai turned to Jay, who was still coughing. “Hang in there man, I promise we’ll save you.” He had never hated the blue ninja, despite how he may have come off in their first days of being a team. Sure Kai was protective of his sister, but seeing her friend, no, her boyfriend and his best friend die was something he never wanted to imagine.
He looked at Lloyd, his little brother. The kid who was forced to grow up like Kai had, albeit literally. Kai knew that the green ninja’s heart would break at seeing yet another family member go, but he knew that his brother would be strong enough to get through it.
Finally, he slowly turned his head to his little sister, who looked distressed even in her sleep. He leaned towards her, trying to get one last look at the girl he became a ninja for. He sighed before putting his hand gently on the side of her face and slowly tracing it down her cheek.
He lowered his voice to be that of one he hadn’t used in years, the quiet gentle voice that mimicked his mother as he would tuck a five year old Nya into bed. “I know you’re going to hate me for this,” an empty laugh escaped his lungs. “But it’s my job as your big brother to make sure that you’re safe.”
“Even if I’m not.”
He brushed away her bangs and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, matching one that a much younger Kai would give to a toddler Nya who would calm down at the sight of her strong big brother being there to save her from the monsters in the dark.
Kai got up and walked towards the door, not knowing that sleepy eyes were watching him go.
The stairs felt longer than before when they had fled down them to hide from Kalmaar, perhaps because beforehand he thought they would get out of this together. Eventually, he reached the rooftop that was empty and looked at the sun meeting the sea, its orange and red hues clashing with the blue to make a pretty purple.
He looked down to see the ever moving dark body of water that his sister used to be able to control, the thing he had feared ever since he was a little kid. Even back when he first had to face his fear of it, the water and the feeling of drowning shook him to his core.
Kai stepped up to the ledge, feeling a slight tremble in his legs and he got closer and closer to the thing that looked like it would swallow him whole and leave no trace of him. In a way, it would.
But then he remembered the day they had found the realm crystal in the resting place of the First Spinjitzu Master, when that ghostly bastard Morro had tossed his little brother to the sea to be swept away. Lloyd had been too exhausted to fight back and Cole couldn’t touch the water.
He had overcome his fear of water to save one sibling, it was only fair he did it once more for the other. Kai turned back to the door that led back to his family, regret etched onto his face. He whispered the words knowing they couldn’t hear it.
“I love you all.”
With a deep breath, he jumped into the water, the gravity of the fall pulling him into the water. His heart raced briefly, the phobia of his childhood coming back once again the second he was fully exposed to the ocean. For a second, Kai thought he couldn’t do it, he’d drown and they would lose him for nothing.
He felt something brush against him and realized he had disturbed a school of fish, which reminded him of when Zane had pet one underwater, during the time when they didn’t know he was a nindroid. The fish being here was another sign that Kalmaar had gained quite the upper hand with even having the wildlife of Merlopia invade Ninjago. He had to be stopped.
Kai could feel his grip on his consciousness start to waver, his breath had been held for far too long but he was still so scared to open himself up to the sea. He didn’t know how. Desperately, he searched his memories to recall how his little sister had become the water ninja after having to abandon the title of Samurai X.
Periods of time when they would meet up after Morro got the upper hand had Kai looking at his sister acting so much like him, frustrated and afraid to take on new challenges and fail. He had overheard their sensei talk to her, telling her she had to adapt. Even Ronin, that two timer thief, had a point when he told Nya she had to go with the flow.
Kai remembered his days of training, how he had to master patience to harness the fire within him. Patience and “going with the flow” didn’t exactly fit together in terms of names, but he could recognize their similarities. But what was the thing that made them different?
Think, think, think!
Then it hit him. Had it not been for the fact that he would have started drowning, Kai would have laughed and face palmed at his own stupidity. He had to relax, to let himself go and to let the ocean take him, become one with it. Become the water.
Become what Nya can’t.
Kai let out a deep breath, before loosening up his muscles and taking in a breath that was filled with no oxygen at all. Water surged into his lungs and his reflexes told him to fight back, to cough it up and to swim back to the surface.
But his heart told him to keep going.
Kai remembers the first days of his training, and mastering Spinjitzu. It seems everything is tied back to those basics. So many things had happened that he almost forgot who he was, why he was here.
He became a ninja to save Nya, he’ll become the ocean to stop her.
With a twist of the body, he opened out his arms and started to spin. At first the water resisted, the pressure trying to stop him in his tracks, but Kai had always been stubborn. He spun faster and faster, and the resistance started to dissipate. The water felt less like thick silk flowing against his hands and more like a deep coolness surging within and out of him.
Kai took in yet another breath, water surging in once more before concentrating. Although it was difficult, he had to figure out how to harness the flames that the sea would immediately extinguish. He focused, trying to grasp the water in his lungs and squeeze it tight.
Kai took the water and started to evaporate it, trying to turn it into mist but not to burn his friend’s body.
He had done this to protect them, not hurt them, after all.
………………………………………………………………
Nya was suddenly woken up by a gasp above her, and the familiarity of it made her shoot up to see what had happened to Jay. She could barely hear her teammates over him even though they had all gasped and started shouting.
“What’s happening?!” Lloyd’s confusion was answered by Zane’s concern. “The water in his lungs is evaporating!” Nya couldn’t believe it. How? She hadn’t done anything. She would’ve done this hours ago had she been able to!
“But how?” Cole was clearly just as confused as she was, but there was no answer that any of them could come up with. Nya had to shield her face as a bright blue light engulfed the room and everyone realized there was something outside. Someone.
“Guys, where’s Kai?”
Lloyd’s question got an answer as they saw the Master of Fire in water, the thing he hated the most. It was hard to even tell at first that it was him, the waves and the flow of the ocean had engulfed him and his human form had started to get lost in the power of the sea.
“No!” Benthomaar’s cry matched the despair Nya started to feel. It couldn’t be possible, but it was.
Sensei Wu was at a loss for words. “What is he doing?” In all his years, in everything he had been through, everyone he had lost, whether it be through a swap in sentence or a hand gifting him a crystal, this was the one thing he couldn’t figure out.
“I…I don’t know, but he’s attempting to merge with the sea like Nyad did! It shouldn’t be possible…but he’s doing it. But it is something that can never be undone, he will be lost forever!” Benthomaar’s explanation sent chills down everyone’s spine as they realized just what their resident hothead had done.
“We…we must stop him!” Wu rushed out the doors, keen on saving Kai as he couldn’t lose another student. The others followed save for Jay and Nya. The former was still recovering from nearly drowning and the latter could do nothing but stand and watch yet again as her big brother took on her responsibility.
“Is that…?” Jay’s raspy voice sent yet another wave of guilt through. Kai slowly stopped spinning and another blast of bright light echoed through the room as it slowly revealed what was once her big brother.
Kai had become transparent, see through like the clear water she so desperately tried to control. There was still a big tint of blue, her favorite color, his least favorite, that covered his body. He glowed so bright that it was impossible to blend him into the dark waters of Merlopia’s ocean. His hair that usually had to be gelled to get so spiky had naturally become sharp and jagged yet smooth and fluid at the same time.
His body was covered in wave-like patterns and he had tidal markings on his face, and his eyes were glowing bright white in a way that they never should have. Nya saw him open his eyes and look down at his hands as if in awe at what he had just done, like he expected it not to work.
Nya put her hand onto the glass, trying to find the words to berate her stupid selfless older brother, but nothing came out. The vibration from her palm being placed onto the glass caught Kai’s attention, and he turned his head to her, before swimming to the window in a fluid motion that he was never able to do before.
Kai pressed his own palm to the window and smiled at her, his face a mixture of relief and regret.
Nya wanted to smile back but then the roar from that damn serpent got Kai’s attention and his smile dropped before he blasted off towards the source of the sound. “Woah!” Jay’s cry from the sight barely affected her, as she raced up the stairs.
Nya opened the door to hear her teammates asking where Kai was going. “He’s going to stop Kalmaar. And I’m going to help him.”
A look of hesitation reflected onto Zane’s face, but Cole was the one who addressed her. “Nya, you still can’t use your powers—Jay get back inside!” The master of lightning had followed her up, and although she wanted to take him back down to the couch, she knew they had bigger fish to fry.
“I don’t care, he’s my brother! I’m going.” Sensei Wu’s face warped to that of acceptance, nodding his head at his student’s words. “Very well, we will all go. But Jay, take it easy.”
They gathered their grappling hooks and it was then and there that Nya wished they could just use the bounty or something to reach her brother faster. She didn’t want to doubt him but Kai didn’t know how to control water like she did, like she used to.
Roars echoed throughout the city which confirmed that Kai had encountered and was now fighting Wojira. As they scaled the building, they saw him standing on Wojira, walking towards Kalmaar with a stone cold glare.
“Kai!” The cry she made for her brother caused him to stop and look at her whilst dropping the two masses of water in his fists that he wielded like flames. “Nya.”
His voice was echoing. It seemed way too calm and tranquil for her hot headed brother. Kalmaar took advantage of his back being turned and despite her telling him to look out, the false king shot a blast of red lightning at Kai, causing him to shriek in pain and seemingly disappear.
“No!”
It was all her fault. No. It was Kalmaar’s. He had to pay. Wojira let out a blast of energy towards them all, causing her to duck and then grab the staff that Sensei Wu was wielding. Even the call of her teacher telling her to wait couldn't stop her as she ran and jumped onto the serpent’s head.
She slammed the staff against Kalmaar’s, with him parrying it before attempting to swing his own towards her head. Nya dodged it attempting to practically stab the monster who had caused this to happen to her and her brother. “Foolish attack! Your emotions blind you!”
This man had no clue that it was her emotions that powered her. That powered Kai. He never had and he never will. Nya would make sure of that.
She jumped back before running straight at him and slamming the staff down. He dodged it, before sliding towards her and attempting to kick her away with his tentacles. Nya managed to get one hit in but then that two faced bastard shot a blast of power from his staff that caused her to shout in pain and fall towards the dorsal spines of the serpent.
“You’re still weak, Nya! Enjoy your last moments, girl.”
Nya attempted to get up but couldn’t, the power making her dizzy. It wasn’t until she heard a war cry from Benthomaar that she jumped off and had to be caught by Jay. She looked up and saw that Benthomaar was facing off his brother.
Where was hers?
………………………………………………………………
Kai probably should have expected someone like Kalmaar to sneak up on him, but man if it didn’t piss him off that the false king had attacked him while his back was turned.
The shock of power that erupted when the staff hit his back felt like he was getting electrocuted, although it made sense considering that he had become water itself. A part of him feared that the blow would kill him, but it just scattered his form into tiny droplets that fell back into the sea.
Kai slowly attempted to draw back the water that was his body now to create his form once again, the one he had gotten after merging. But no matter what he just couldn’t. His grip on his sister’s element was weakened and he couldn’t focus properly.
Come on, dammit! He didn’t have time to struggle to get back up, his siblings and his friends needed him.
He figured that the basic body he had wouldn’t cut it. He needed to be able to properly take down Wojira, and his small size wasn’t going to help. Even if he had gotten his body back the blasts from his fists just weren’t affecting her.
With enough focus and relaxation, he managed to sculpt his body back together, the water around him holding it firmly and allowing him to distinguish what water was him and what water wasn't.
Kai thought of just increasing the size of his body like he was a form of Godzilla, but no matter how hard he tried it wouldn’t work. Perhaps a human shouldn’t overwhelm the sea like that. He needed something different.
A thought crossed his mind. One of the many stupid sayings that Jay would make back when they were first starting out. Usually it would be “the bigger they are, the harder they fall,” but this time “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” was what caught his attention.
The sea serpent's body glided smoothly through the water, and Kai knew that if he matched her size and shape, it would be much easier to harness the sea and defeat her.
He remembered the echoes of his mother’s voice, his father’s advice. It was his life’s mission to protect his little sister when they disappeared, and he wasn’t going to stop now. He had already gone too far, one more sacrifice wouldn’t stop him.
He was the Master of Fire, although he had now become one to manipulate water. No matter what his element was, Kai’s first and foremost priority was to protect his siblings. A volcano erupting was what unlocked his true potential when he saved Lloyd. The fire was just as if not more deadly than the sea, and he had conquered that already.
He felt more and more of the particles that made his shape increase in size. A large blast reverberated throughout the water, and Kai realized that Kalmaar had lost control of Wojira, as he felt a sensation of the water being pulled from him, a sign that the serpent was now free from anyone’s control.
He had to act fast.
Kai honed in on where the water was the weakest in his control, the place where Wojira was. He heard a large roar and realized that she must have spotted the ninja. Without a second to waste he dove out of the water, spotting the purple and blue light that shone from the blast Wojira was going to throw onto his family.
He spat out a blast of water, hitting her head hard and making it whip to the other side. Wojira shook her head slowly and then turned to Kai, her eyes now blue instead of bright red.
He could see the ninja on the rooftop right in front of her. Kai was able to pick up on Lloyd and Cole asking if that was really him, and he answered with a roar of anger that was directed to the serpent who attacked them.
Kai flew straight towards Wojira, knocking into her and causing her large body to fall into the water. Acting fast, he flew back up to the sky to watch for her. Wojira emerged from the water in a split second and circled around Kai before punting him to the building.
He heard the shouts of his team and realized he had shook the building, and grabbed the side of it to somehow keep it stable. He flew above the building and circled around, trying to distract Wojira from his plan.
As he circled back, he saw her trying to blast the ninja, and quickly grabbed her horns with his now taloned feet. He threw her to the building across from them, trying to get the serpent away from the ninja as much as possible. But then she sank into the sea.
Kai couldn’t swim that well before, but he knew that she clearly wasn’t sinking in defeat. He readied himself for attack but he was once again proven to be out of his element as Wojira coiled around his body before he even had the chance to react. He bit her and squirmed out of the way while looking at her.
But then a blast of purple hit him, striking Kai’s core and making the shock of it all wonder how he got snuck up once again. The lightning that the serpent used against him was making him scream in pain, although it came out as a dragon’s roar due to the form he was in. Wojira readied up another attack combining both elements that she wielded and hit Kai, making his body burst into millions of pieces.
Kai’s essence didn’t go to the bottom of the sea, but scattered across the sky. He could hear his sister’s scream for him, and saw the serpent looming over the ninja, ready to finish them off. He was done. No more playing around, this thing would not hurt his family, not anymore.
He quickly formed his body again, before looking at the amulets and realizing that she would always be stronger than him because she wielded two, and her body was only here because of the storm and sea amulets.
Kai couldn’t do anything about the wind, but he could do something about the water.
He circled towards Wojira, twisting his body to contort back to his human form, a torpedo of water flowing behind him in order to carry him towards Wojira. Kai narrowed his eyes and stared at the blue amulet on her head, while adding more firepower to his attack.
With once fist forced, Kai closed in on the serpent, his target unaware of what he was about to do to the both of them.
Kai closed his eyes, accepting the consequences of what he was about to do, and what it would do to him. He harnessed all the power he could and hit the sea amulet dead center in the middle.
Immediately the blue stone cracked, before shattered into bits and pieces. Wojira’s eyes seemed to widen in shock as if she knew what happened, before she started roaring.
The lightning around her body started to attack her, and she convulsed as she was lifted into the air. Strikes hit her again and again until the serpent of the sea was no more, and a bright blast of light engulfed everything around them.
Kai landed on the roof, the surface below cracking from the impact. Immediately he heard the cheers of his team from behind him, all of them save for Benthomaar and Wu running towards him. They kept congratulating him on how he saved them all, but he couldn’t help but stare at the worried look on his sister’s face, alongside the sorrow painted on Benthomaar’s and the knowing one that clashed against the relief that Sensei Wu’s.
Kai at first couldn’t understand why they were so worried. He had done it. He had become one with the sea. He then saw his little sister’s hands and how they started to form water from thin air once again. He smiled as everyone else gasped as Nya was able to control her powers again, just like she always should have.
“Kai…you brought them back!” Nya looked at him in disbelief and then joy, as she ran to hug him before almost falling through. His instinct to catch her had faded, as he had forgotten how to keep his shape solid. Luckily his baby sister was always light on her feet and didn’t fall.
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that to happen. But it’s fine, you’ll change back!” Lloyd’s reaction sent a wave of confusion through Kai. Change back? Back to what?
It seemed that he had said that out loud as his teammates were starting to be less cheerful and more confused. “Back to normal, Kai!” Nya’s voice had a hint of anger and panic to it. “Normal? But, I am normal.”
“Kai? What’s wrong?” Cole’s voice couldn’t be heard, as the melody of the ocean played in Kai’s head as the clouds cleared and the sun rose, its heat reflecting on the surface of the water to make it glisten. He smiled, as the arms of the ocean welcomed him, despite something in his head telling him to stay far away.
“Do you hear it?” The replies from his teammates should have angered him, but he wasn’t feeling too annoyed right now. Perhaps they just weren’t listening enough. “The ocean. It’s so loud and powerful. I can’t believe I used to be scared of it.”
Benthomaar had finally said something, alerting the whole group. “It calls to him.” Sensei looked at the prince with a knowing face. Suddenly, Kai’s body almost collapsed, his water almost melting in a way, like the sun stared down on him too long. It was hard being out of the water, something beckoned him to go back in. It was like getting out of the pool and immediately feeling cold from the air and going right back into the somewhat warming waters.
Nya and Lloyd stepped out to him in concern. “Sorry guys, it’s hard to stay in this form.” The two younger ninjas frowned at him. “What do you mean shape Kai? That’s what you are!” Lloyd sounded less like a leader and more like the ten year old who didn’t want to fight alongside them.
“What I used to be, yes.” Kai’s body wavered once again, this time he almost fell down because he couldn’t keep his legs up. Perhaps if it was Nya in his place, she wouldn’t have struggled to stay out of the water. But it wasn’t Nya, he made sure of that.
“I have to go now, but I will remember you.” He walked towards the edge of the building, faintly hearing the green ninja’s voice asking where he was going and what the hell he was talking about. A part of him wanted to poke the blond haired ninja for his foul language, but Kai couldn’t seem to bring himself to do it.
“Kai! Stop and wait, just listen to me!” Nya ran towards him, running ahead to block his path. “I know that you’re struggling against the water, I was too! But you have to concentrate and fight it, I know you can! You’re not just gonna let that take over you, you’re the fire ninja, you're the red ninja, you’re my brother!”
Kai walked towards her and then through her, his form flowing through like that of a ghost. He felt bad about getting some water onto her, knowing that he was cold. A cry came out from behind him.
“No! You can’t leave me!”
He looked back in shock and expected to see a seven year old girl with a bob haircut, but instead saw a young woman with a black ponytail and their mother’s face. He smiled sadly, feeling remorse for the water ninja and his little sister.
He focused as much as he could to form his fist to be solid and held her hand. It seemed wrong with how he felt cold and she was warm as the roles were always reversed, but this wasn’t something he could change now. Kai smiled again, before brushing her cheek with his hand lightly, something he always did after giving her a haircut when they were younger and on their own in order to keep her calm if he did a bad job.
“I’m sorry Nya, but you know how bad I am at form. Remember all the botched swords I made at our father's blacksmith shop?”
He placed his hand into hers once again, before leaving behind a small puddle of water, a keepsake for her. He turned towards the ledge and then heard another voice, old yet soft.
“Kai, I implore you, whatever’s speaking to you right now, fight it! Remember who you are, remember your element, remember!" The son of the First Spinjitzu Master seemed to be much more emotional than he remembered, but it was only out of concern for Kai.
He turned back to see saddened faces, with one angered and ridden with tears. “I am Kai. I was fire. But now I’m the sea. We are one.”
Nya ran forward, gasping for breath. “Kai…I, I love you.” He smiled once again, feeling his form waver. He couldn’t stay for long.
“I can’t hold on. I’m not the true Master of Water Nya, you were always the better of the two of us.” Her anger had completely disappeared.
“But now you’ve got your powers back, and my work here is done.” He turned back to the sea, arms opened and then jumped into the water that welcomed him like the mother he lacked his entire childhood. He heard cries from Nya, but it couldn’t stop him this time.
Kai felt the water surge throughout his body and all around him, as he pushed back the current and maneuvered through all the buildings, passing by the now safe civilians. The water flowed with him and Kai smiled as he felt like a little kid again, discovering something in his yard while his parents were still there.
He swam out to the edge of the sea, far enough to be able to focus on the entire city. Kai shot out of the water, the trail behind him swirled constantly. His fellow elemental masters looked at him. The elemental Master of Water raised her hands alongside his and they two looked at each other as if they understood what to do.
Kai closed his eyes and lowered his arms, while he felt another push from Nya, both of them working together to bring the water back to the Endless Sea and drain Ninjago of the flood. The two didn’t even speak to each other, but Kai knew that Nya knew what to do. She always did.
He felt complete as the water around him rose and the Endless Sea became further cemented in his soul. He opened his eyes to see a city, knowing that everyone was now looking at him.
“You are my friends, all of you.” The waves rippled across his body as sorrow emitted from the city of Ninjago. “And I’ll do anything to keep you safe. No matter what.”
He turned back to the sea, ready to swim off to his new home. He could feel the whales blowing out air, fish swimming back to their coral reefs, even a strange pulse that felt similar to his own energy. Kai lowered himself towards the sea, swimming away and letting himself join the water forever, before uttering four final words.
“I love you too, Nya.”