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The snow hit his windshield endlessly, causing his world to become a storm of white. The only thing he could see in front of him was a blue bob in the distance, swerving occasionally, and Kai couldn’t help but frown at the sight.
Kai should’ve taken the lead on the navigation, not Jay. If he had been leading them, they probably would’ve been at the Bounty by now. Not lost in a snowstorm, a situation that Jay had gotten them into.
He was going to give Jay a piece of his mind when he got a chance. But, their communications wern’t working; they hadn’t been for a while because of the heavy snowfall. He would have to wait for Jay to pull over. And, knowing Jay, it might take him a while to realize that they should’ve been at the Bounty by now. Or, to realize that they were indeed lost.
He could admit that sometimes Jay was smart. Other times he was not.
So Kai kept driving, slow enough so his tires didn’t skid on the fresh snow, but still managed to keep up with Jay. The frustration he felt kept building and building, but he forced it down, choosing to focus on staying on the road. It was only after a few minutes that the blue blob in the distance slowed down, and Kai could see the thin outlines of houses, a few blotches of warm light breaking through the snow. With a heavy sigh, he hoped they were at least in a safe town, so they could regroup and figure out what to do. If it had to stay the night they had to stay the night. But Kai wasn't willing to risk going out and driving in the snow once more.
Ice was more Zane's thing. The Master of Fire wasn't too comfortable being surrounded by it, especially when there was no one out there to help him if things turned for the worse.
Kai parked beside Jay, the buildings of the town surrounding them, and watched as Jay talked to one of the villagers, pointing up to the sky, then to their vehicles. The villager nodded, and pointed further down the street, handing Jay something that looked like keys. All the while the snow was slamming into their faces, and Jay looked severely underdressed in just his blue gi. After Jay had grabbed the keys, he turned to Kai, pointing at his bike. Kai assumed that he wanted him to follow, and Kai shook his head with a frown. Wasn’t that what got them into this situation in the first place?
Nonetheless, Kai pressed on the gas slowly, following closely behind Jay, who led him through the town. He could see people looking out the windows at them, confusion written on their features, before turning back to their warm homes.
Soon, Jay parked in front of a cabin, smoke rising from the chimney, and hopped out of his car, quickly opening the door. Kai couldn’t help but let out a frustrated sigh, and followed, knowing that his car was going to have tons of snow on it, and hating that he was likely going to be stuck in a cabin with Jay until the storm passed.
He liked Jay, he really did, but sometimes the man would talk too much, would make jokes at the worst times, and it was frustrating. Sometimes he just didn’t pull his weight like the others did, got easily sidetracked, which was likely what happened today, and Kai couldn’t imagine what sort of messes they could get in while they were stranded in this village.
Kai knew there was nothing he could do about it now, but he could go someplace warm, and right now, that was enough for him.
As soon as he entered the cabin, he was hit with a wave of warmth, a fireplace already crackling. There were three sleeping bags tucked into a corner, with blankets and canned foods stacked beside it. Jay was looking through them, muttering under his breath as he shivered.
It was then, seeing Jay, that Kai lost it, all of his frustration from the past mission, from the past day, spilling out of him.
“I thought you knew where you were going?!”
Jay jumped up at Kai’s voice, his blue eyes shining with what looked to be regret and hurt. Kai noticed, but he was too cold, too angry to take back what he said, or to hold back the words on the tip of his tongue.
“Seriously, Jay, what is wrong with you? We were supposed to meet the Bounty, not go to some stupid village! Knowing you, we’re probably lost and stranded here until our coms start working! Typical Jay behavior, always messing things up!”
Kai groaned, throwing his hands in the air, exasperated. Shaking his head, he walked over the fireplace, tossing some more wood onto the flames.
“You’re lucky that this village was here.” Kai continued, holding back a scream of frustration. “If not, we’d still be lost out there. I was so stupid for letting you take the lead.”
The silence after his words was filled with the crackling and popping of wood. Kai half expected for Jay to respond to his words, trying to defend himself, or even say some mean things to Kai, but it never came. That’s when Kai turned and truly looked at Jay.
He was sitting on the ground now, staring at the floor, a broken expression on his face. His hands were formed into fists, and there were tears brimming in his eyes. Kai was struck with a sharp pain in his heart at the expression, guilt stabbing him in the chest watching as Jay fought to compose himself.
It was only then that Kai realised what he had said. Regret pooled in his stomach, and he was terrified of what he had just done.
What did he do? What did he do?
Jay was his brother, one of his best friends, how could heー
“Jayー”
“The Bounty couldn’t land in this weather, or even perch in the sky with the anchor.” Jay said shortly, his words clipped and emotionless. “The Monastery was too far of a drive. This village was our rendezvous point in case the storm caught us.”
Kai opened his mouth to respond, to apologize, to do something, but suddenly he remembered Nya telling them the exact same thing before the mission. Kai had completely forgotten the back up plan, but Jay remembered. Jay remembered, did the right thing, and Kai yelled at him for it.
He was in too much shock to say anything more.
“We’ll stay here until the storm’s gone.” Jay added, getting to his feet, avoiding Kai’s gaze. There was a blanket in his hands, and Kai could see his hands shake slightly. “Take whatever materials you need, we'll replace whatever we use.”
“Jay, waitー” Kai reached out to grab Jay’s arm, hoping that he could right the wrongs he said, hoping he could fix what he broke, but Jay pulled away from him.
“Kai, stop, please!” Jay explained, tears finally falling down his face. “I know you don’t trust me, alright? I know I make mistakes, and that I’m not a good ninja. You don’t have to keep saying it!”
“I didn’t mean it! I never do!”
“Well, you say it enough that I think you do!”
Jay was breathing heavily, wrapping his arms around himself, making himself small, and Kai didn’t know what to do. He was shocked to feel tears on his own cheeks, and he didn’t turn away from Jay until Jay turned from him.
“Night, Kai.”
With those words said, Jay tucked himself into the corner of the room, away from the fire. He wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and turned away from Kai, his shoulders shaking. And Kai stood where he was, frozen, having no clue what to do.
He had never messed up this bad. Jay didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve any of the words Kai had said to him. Sure, he messed up sometimes, but that didn’t make him any less a hero. How could Kai make him think that he wasn’t a good ninja? How could Kai not realise what he was doing? What he was saying to hir brother?
But he didn’t know what to do to fix this.
So, he went back to the fire, watched as the flames danced and tried to figure out what to do, the guilt in his heart weighing him down more than anything before.
---------------------------------------
The Bounty arrived the next morning when the storm settled, picking them up, and Jay was quiet the whole time. He refused to meet Kai’s eyes, choosing to look at the wooden floorboards of the Bounty as the team discussed what to do with the vehicles that couldn’t drive through the snow. Kai wasn’t paying attention, and only watched Jay as he seemed to draw further and further away from him. Kai knew that he had to fix this, before his friendship with the Blue Ninja was gone for good.
Jay had run off to his room for the rest of day, even ignoring Nya, who knocked on his door with both lunch and supper, no doubt wanting to help the man she loved. She had asked why Jay was isolating himself, but Kai couldn’t bring himself to admit what happened. The last thing he needed was his sister telling him how mean he was, no matter how badly it was deserved.
Eventually, everyone was turning in for the night, and Kai needed to make things right. He couldn’t keep delaying it, he was already terrified about how badly he had wrecked things, he didn’t want the words he said linger with Jay any longer.
So he knocked on Jay’s door, taking a deep breath.
“Jay? It’s Kai. Could we talk?”
There was a beat of silence, and Kai tried again.
“I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve any of that. I’ve been a jerk.”
Kai waited once more, before sighing with defeat. As he turned to walk away, he heard Jay’s soft voice.
“You can come in.”
He didn’t hesitate to do so, opening Jay’s door and walking in, slowing to a stop as he saw ripped blueprints scattered on the floor, Jay in the center of it. His hair was ruffled, and he was drawing on a fresh blueprint, with his back to the door, facing his bed. Kai closed the door gently, making his way around, and sitting carefully on the perfectly-made bed.
Jay’s movements slowed as Kai did so, but he still didn’t look up at Kai. But it didn’t matter, Kai deserved it.
“What are you working on?” Kai asked, hoping to break some of the tension that suffocated the room, but Jay didn’t reply. Maybe it was best if he just started talking.
“Jay, I…I was wrong.” Kai watched as Jay stilled for a moment, before continuing his drawing. “We all make mistakes; I’ve made so many. But that’s no reason to hold it over someone, and I think I forgot that. You’re a good ninja, Jay, and you probably saved our butts yesterday taking us to the village. That wasn’t a mistake. And I am so angry at myself for everything I said, and how I treated you.”
“You say it so often.” Jay muttered, his hand clenching around his pencil.
“I know. I think it’s easier to get mad at you then deal with whatever was upsetting me, like the storm yesterday. So, I took it all out on you. And I’m sorry. Nothing is a good excuse for what I did to you. What I said. What I always say.”
Jay lifted his head then, his eyes portraying hesitancy, but also hope, as if he couldn’t believe that Kai was saying these things but wanted to. And didn’t that tell Kai how badly he’d been treating Jay? How long Jay had been hurting because of his actions? How long had Jay thought that Kai hated him? Thought that he wasn’t good enough?
“I know it’ll take some time for you to trust me again, or even like me, and that’s fine.” Kai continued. “And that’s fine! I just…I need you to know that I’m honored to be not only your teammate, but your brother, and I wouldn’t ever want to lose you. Please believe that.”
Jay nodded, a small, hesitant smile on his lips. He didn’t say anything, yet Kai felt his chest become lighter, as if he was beginning to feel that things would get better. The two sat in a strange silence for a while, not an awkward silence, yet not too comfortable either. It felt like the start of something new, something better, scary, full of apprehension, but otherwise good.
“It’s a new training robot.” Jay suddenly said, and Kai had to blink before the words registered.
“What?”
“The thing I’m drawing?”
“Oh. That’s awesome. What’s it going to do?”
Jay shrugged. “I…I haven’t really decided. Do you maybe want to take a look at it?”
Kai knew what this was. An olive branch. A sign of forgiveness and friendship. A chance for the new chapter to start. So he nodded, getting off the bed and sitting beside Jay on the floor, listening with eagerness as Jay began explaining his ideas.
Later, Nya would wake up in the middle of the night to laughter. She would go over to Jay’s open door, and watch as Kai and Jay talked and laughed, tossing cheese balls between them and catching it in their mouths. She would see how Jay’s smile lit up the room, and how Kai seemed more carefree than ever.
And in the morning, Kai and Jay would know without a doubt that things were getting better. It may take time, there may be slip ups, but they were brothers, and they would always find a way to fix what gets broken. Kai would make sure of it.