Chapter Text
It wasn't even the missing memories that was the worst of it, thought Nya grumpily. It was that he was so rude to them all. When his leg healed and he didn't immediately leave, she took it as a hopeful sign: maybe, on some level, he remembered the good times, and wanted to stick around? But all he seemed to want to do was insult everyone, all the time. The guys didn't seem to care all that much. Even Cole had just shrugged, and said “He'll get over it”; but then he'd headed back out to the Land of Lost Things for some R'n'R, so he didn't have to put up with it, did he? She, on the other hand, was right in the firing line. She'd tried cajoling, sarcasm, reasoning, even just ignoring him; but he always found some way to twist the knife again and bring her attention back.
She’d been watching him train, as she often did; unobtrusively, she thought, looking for a glimpse of her old Jay.
“It's rude to stare,” he snapped.
“Oh, I'm rude now, am I?” she retorted. He just snorted, turned his back on her, and fired a perfect line of darts into the centre of each of the waiting targets. She had to admit, his skills were really sharp now. He scowled over his shoulder.
“Enjoying the view?”
“Just admiring your work,” she said pleasantly, switching tactics.
“Checking out the competition, more like,” he sneered. “Fancy a rematch?”
“Not right now,” she countered.
“Heh, yeah, scared you'll lose this time, now you've seen what I can really do,” he taunted.
She pressed her lips together to stop herself saying something she might regret, and he chuckled wickedly as she turned and walked away.
“I wouldn't care so much if I thought Jay was really gone,” she complained to Lloyd later. “If I knew there was no hope, I could just give him up and let him go, even if it broke my heart. But I'm sure he's in there somewhere. I just can't get through to him. I've tried everything.”
“Maybe he’ll come round?” suggested Lloyd. “Perhaps he just needs to work through a few things, and then he'll be back to normal?” Nya shook her head.
“This isn't like the time he thought he was a game show host,” she said. “Or the time he thought he was a pirate. Or a rock star. Or a rebel leader. No wait, that was the same time—” She blinked, and frowned at Lloyd. “What was I saying? Oh yes. My point is, he isn't just going to take off the costume and be his old self again. He really believes it this time.”
Lloyd sighed. “What would Master Wu say, I wonder?”
“He'd say, ‘The best way to defeat your enemy, is to make him your friend’,” Nya said, in her best Master Wu crabby voice. “‘Friend!’ How am I supposed to make him my friend? Rogue hates me, and Jay and I weren't just friends, we were—” She stopped again. A thoughtful expression crossed her face.
“Nya, what's up?” asked Lloyd. “Nya?” She didn't seem to hear him, as she got up and walked away, lost in thought.
Back in her room, she lay back and considered the new idea. What if she didn't make him her friend; what if she made him… what he was before? What they were before? Okay, he didn't remember any of that, and he thought he was a different person. But she knew they were one and the same. And if she knew how to push Jay's buttons, well, she was pretty sure she could push Rogue's. Come on too strong, though, and he'd push her away. She'd have to be subtle about it.
Nya wasn't exactly an expert in the art of seduction. If she liked someone and wanted them to know, she'd tell them. And there wasn't generally much call for it at the monastery. But she had seen it done before, hadn’t she? She'd been a little young to fully appreciate it at the time, but now she tried to remember how Skylor had moved, looked, and spoken as she had reeled Kai inexorably in. Nya got up and stood in front of the mirror. She pouted at her reflection, and turned her hips from side to side. It all felt a bit silly. And of course, Rogue wasn't a helplessly gauche teenager like her goofy brother. But what was the worst that could happen?
Um, quite a lot actually, the sensible part of her brain pointed out, helpfully reminding her that he'd shown no hesitation in fighting her at the tournament, had probably shattered his goodness by using the wolf mask, and had apparently honed his combat skills ruthlessly in the months since then. Maybe I'd better not, she thought doubtfully. After all, I knew where I stood with Jay long before I even agreed to go on a date with him. He was always there, ready with a quip, trying to get my attention—
Ohhh…
Nya resisted the urge to slap herself on the forehead. I am such a dummy! she thought. He doesn't stay for the witty repartee, does he? It's me. Whether he knows it or not, she added to herself. She smiled at the mirror, a small, secret smile. Oh yes. She would use every weapon at her disposal. Who knows, maybe he'll be grateful, and it'll be easy after all?
~~~
It was not easy. It quickly became clear to her that, although he couldn't bring himself to leave the monastery, he was fighting the attraction that kept him there. She would make some comment near to him and then sashay away, but all she got was a resentful glare in return, or a derisive snort. She had to work hard to rein in her own exasperation at his attitude. Slow and steady was the game now.
Eventually Nya thought she was starting to see a change. His eyes still followed her around the room, but there was undeniably a new type of interest showing. She caught it in the moment when she flicked her gaze to his and let it drag lazily away, not before recognizing the yearning in his look that he quickly concealed. She began to ‘accidentally’ find herself standing close to him in the group. She managed to brush her hand against his as she passed a dish at the table; he flinched and pulled away, but she could feel his eyes burning into her for the rest of dinner, even as she made a show of ignoring him.
Not many days after that, Nya was in the courtyard planning out the training rotas with Lloyd and Kai. Rogue sat far enough away from the three to prove he wasn't part of the team, but still close enough to hear. And always where he could see her. He was poking at the hilt of an electroknife with a tiny screwdriver. The three at the table were discussing the need to reinforce the skills of the young trainee ninja in the basic weapons: sword, staff, shurikens, nunchucks.
“Nunchucks!” scoffed Rogue. “I don't know why you waste your time with those old-fashioned things. You want to teach them some real modern weapons.” He twirled the hilt around in his fingers like a magician, and it disappeared into a hidden sheath in his sleeve.
“You'd be amazed if I told you who was an expert at the nunchucks,” said Lloyd mildly. Rogue curled his lip in a growl. Then he turned to Nya.
“Remind me, what's your specialist weapon?”
“Trident,” she answered, with a long look. He rocked with laughter.
“Trident!” he echoed, between wheezes. “I could take that thing off you in a heartbeat!”
“I'd like to see you try,” she said, raising an eyebrow and holding his gaze steadily.
“Rematch overdue,” Rogue snarled. “It's on. But not here,” he added quickly. “This place really cramps my style.”
“The meadow?” she suggested. “I'll get my weapon.” He waved her on with a mock bow, and she disappeared into the monastery. He took her seat and put his heels up on the table with deliberate insolence. She returned a minute later with a practice trident; the prongs were blunted, but otherwise it was a full-size and formidable weapon.
“Let's go,” she said. Rogue swung his legs off the table and stood in one smooth move, and strode to the gate alongside her. Lloyd half rose as if to follow, but Kai put out a hand and stopped him.
“She's got this,” he said, with a knowing smile.
They descended the stairs together (perfectly in step, Nya noticed) and faced each other in the broad meadow below.
“Last chance to back out?” he called.
In response, she brandished the trident in both hands in challenge, and stood ready.
The first strike was fast and direct; he didn't even bother to draw a weapon. She had to jump back evasively, jabbing with the butt of the staff to avoid his lunge. He kicked and chopped, expecting to knock it out of her hands; she held firm, parrying the blows and countering with a pivoting double kick of her own that made him fall back a few steps. Back and forth the fight swung. He shot a fine cable at the trident, the grapple swinging expertly around the staff; she wrenched at it and pulled him off balance, and the line slackened and fell. She spun to avoid a volley of wrist darts that she calculated would not do much damage but would hurt more than she cared to deal with. The electroknife was in his hand again, crackling with his own power; he feinted and jabbed and switched from hand to hand, trying to confuse her. She came at him with the forked end of the trident, but she couldn't quite get the angle to disarm him at this range.
He took a few deliberate paces back, then shot straight up in the air. She hadn't realized he'd been wearing the jet pack, but it didn't matter. She spun and leapt as he dropped in for the hit; just regular spinjitzu, she didn't need rising dragon to get this job done. Her two-footed kick knocked him sideways and down. He rolled as he hit the ground and came up on his feet in an instant, but it was too late. She bodychecked him, jolting him back against a tree with one arm, and the other was outstretched, balancing the trident, perfectly poised to deliver what could be a final blow. If he had been a true foe, he would have been at her mercy. As it was…
Nya held the pose for a long count so that she could be sure he knew he was beaten. He was still breathing heavily as she tossed the trident carelessly away, and, without moving the rest of her body or breaking eye contact, she said in a low voice, “Anything else I can help you with?”
There was a pause; and then suddenly he clutched at her. The kiss was wilder than she'd expected, and sloppier, too, as if it was his first time ever; which, she realized after a moment, it kind of was. She ran a hand up his back, just like old times, and into his hair, loosening the band that held the ponytail up. Jay had always loved to have his head rubbed, and now she felt a sigh ripple through Rogue as she gently massaged his scalp, fingers tangling in the unfamiliar length of his locks. She softened into him, allowing herself to enjoy the moment and his hands on her body, and hardly thinking about what might come next as the embrace stretched on and on.
Just as suddenly, he broke off and pulled away. He stood for a moment, swaying slightly in uncertainty; then he sank to the ground and sat, leaning against the tree and staring mutely into the distance. She seated herself next to him, not touching, but close enough, and she waited. His expression seemed to reflect discomfort and frustration, and she wondered whether it had all been for nothing. Then she heard him say:
“What was he like? Before?”
Nya let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She didn't need to ask who ‘he’ was.
“He was funny,” she said. “He always had a joke, or a one-liner. And I mean, really bad jokes, like, groan-out-loud bad. And puns—the absolute worst puns. But that was all part of his charm.
“He was always sincere,” she continued. “Honest. Admittedly,” she added, “he was a terrible liar, so he didn't have much choice. But he really was one of the good guys. And he was cute.” She smiled and blushed. “A real sweetie. I loved him so much. I still do,” she said, softly, with a glance at him.
Rogue did not react, but she was warming to her theme, and she went on:
“Some people thought he was weak because he wasn't always, you know,” she gestured, “blowing stuff up like my crazy brother. But he had his own kind of strength. And he was fierce when it came to protecting the people he loved. He once rode his bike clear across a desert to chase down some villains who attacked his parents—”
Rogue took a sharp breath and visibly tensed, and she realized: he hadn't known. Hadn't thought of it, probably. She watched, and he was very still, and then, without turning his head, he asked:
“And what were they like?”
Nya thought for a moment.
“They were good people,” she answered. “Probably the kindest people I ever met. And generous too, they'd share what they had with anyone, even though they didn't have much. They lived in a junkyard,” she explained. “And—and he wasn't always very proud of that, he was shy about talking about it at first, but it's part of what made him who he was. They used to build all these machines and gadgets; it's why he was so good with his hands,” she said, with a thoughtful, faraway smile.
He did turn to her at last, and now something had definitely changed; instead of scornful indifference, there was a pleading look in his eyes, and a question that he feared he already knew the answer to.
“Where are they now?” he asked.
“They're—” She hesitated; but she'd said ‘were’ already, hadn't she? “They were lost in the Merge. After I got back to the monastery, I went to look for them, and they weren't there. The whole junkyard was gone. Like it never existed. I asked around, but it had been too long, no one even remembered. And then things got all crazy again, and that was it.” She paused again. “I'm sorry.”
She laid a hand gently on his arm, and he didn't flinch away. Instead, he leaned in and rested his head against her neck, his hair falling down over her shoulder. Although she longed to wrap her arms around him, she didn't want to spook him; she tried her best to project comfort and safety instead. They sat for a while. Then she had another thought.
“Would you like to see them? I have a picture.”
He looked up at her, and nodded slowly.
~~~
The pair didn't slow down or acknowledge Lloyd or Kai as they came back through the gate and crossed the courtyard. Nya dropped the trident on the threshold without a glance, and they entered the monastery together.
“So who won?” asked Lloyd, perplexed.
Kai, who had taken in the flushed faces and messy hair as they passed, raised an eyebrow and shrugged.
“I… am not sure that is the correct question any more,” he said.
~~~
Nya opened the door to Jay's room and went in. Rogue hovered awkwardly in the doorway. She went to the bedside table, opened the drawer, and pulled out a framed photo.
“I put it in there for safe keeping,” she explained, turning back to him and offering it. He took the frame, turned it around, and stared at the picture of Ed and Edna. His eyes slowly widened in surprise.
“I remember them,” he said.
“You remember your parents?” exclaimed Nya, forgetting to keep his persona separate in her excitement. He didn't seem to notice. He was too occupied with the photo.
“No, not like that,” Rogue said. “I mean, I remember them from the Administration. They were… reassigned…” There was a pained look on his face. An hour ago he hadn't known he'd ever had them; now he was realizing he'd lost them twice over.
He looked up suddenly; his eyes narrowed, and his face was set with determination.
“I have to go for them,” he said to her, and from his tone of voice she had no doubt that he wouldn't rest until he'd done whatever it was going to take to find them. Her heart leapt with delight.
That's my Jay.