Author's Note: So, uh, I was working on Of Milk and Cookies, when this just sort of… Popped into my brain and refused to leave me alone until I wrote it. And I'm fairly happy with how it turned out, cause I do love my Jaya an awful lot, so… You may notice that I have chosen to play around with verb tense a bit for this particular fic, so I really hope that it works okay. Also, it's been awhile since I've watched Skybound or Hands of Time, so if anything conflicts with cannon, I apologize. Please enjoy "Blanket Fort" which takes place directly after the end of season 6.

She can't breath – can't... Something is wrong... she feels like she's dying. Like someone has thrown acid directly onto her. Her chest burns. In the distance, she can hear someone screaming her name. Sobbing. What's going on? She's gone numb... Why can't she – It's then that Nya wakes, sitting up, breathing so sporadically that she's on the verge of hyperventilation. Just a dream. Just a dream... But, oh. Why does this have to be so hard? She's safe. Alive. The poison can't hurt her anymore, and neither can that djinn. She knows that. But it doesn't stop her from reliving every last sucky detail of what she faced less than a day ago (in fact, it's not even midnight yet, so...). She almost... No, it's best not to think about that... Maybe if she just. Doesn't sleep? She supposes. But that's not really a great option, cause then, she'll be stuck up all night with nothing but her own thoughts to distract her. And she's not sure she can handle being alone right now. She needs Jay. It's funny, she thinks slipping from her bed, how she's gone from actively avoiding the master of lightning, to being desperate to have him near her as much as possible. Love is weird like that. The hallway is dark, quiet. A stark contrast to the locations she's spent the past few weeks. First, on the run, then stuck in jail, or on an island, then on the run again... Being home is nice. Sort of. Except for the lingering trauma from the past few days. Yeah, the sooner they can recover from that, the better. And for now, the others don't need to know about how close everything came to being… The master of water quietly slides the door to Jay's quarters open. But… He's not there. In fact, if his bed still being tidily made means anything, he hasn't been in the room at all since they finally returned from Styx earlier. So, then… Where is he? Not the kitchen or living room, apparently, Nya discovers upon further searching. Sighing, she makes her way out into the deck – the only other place left to check. And it's a good thing she does, as it turns out, cause there he is, looking out over the railings, posture tense. A light summer breeze plays with his ridiculously curly hair, making it an even bigger mess that it usually is. Honestly, it's actually a pretty beautiful night. There are no clouds in sight; she can see millions of stars scattered across the sky.

"Couldn't sleep?" She asks softly when she reaches him. Jay flinched slightly at the sound, before realizing that it's her.

"Y-yeah… I couldn't stop thinking about how…" He says so quietly she almost misses it.

"Me neither. I-even after I scrubbed every last inch of my body, it feels like the venom is still there. Like, I keep forgetting how to breath.. And remembering how much it hurt… And…"

"Oh, Nya…" He breathes, wrapping his arms around her. She bites back a sob as she burrows into his embrace, reveling in the comfort it brings her. They rock back and forth for a few minutes, trying not to completely break down.

"I'm so sorry we had to go through all of… that. I-you died. It was horrible. And it was all my fault!"

"No. Don't you dare try to take all of the blame for this. I mean, yes, you definitely made some really stupid choices, but if anyone's gonna take the responsibility for what happened, it should be me. I started all of this a long, long time ago when I - " Nya angles herself so that she can see his face.

"Nya, you don't have to-" He begins to cut her off, but doesn't get very far. She smiles softly, saying,

"Look. I chose you. I want us to work out, for us to be happy, but in order for that to happen, there are some things that need to be said. First of all, I come with baggage. A lot of it."

"So do I." He agrees, still not sure where the conversation is going. She lets out a very wet laugh.

"I've noticed. But… The thing is, before… During the whole fiasco with the perfect match machine? It was never about you. It was about me. For the record, I never stopped having feelings for you… I-I just…" Dragging Jay down beside her, she sinks onto the deck, leaning her back against the railing. It's going to take awhile to really explain. To lay herself bare like she knows she needs to. Because Jay deserves the truth. They may as well get comfortable.

"I'm not the best at… Being open about my feelings. I've always hated feeling vulnerable, and back then? I didn't really get why… Not until a lot later. When I was forced to become the water ninja, in fact. I was so awful at it, and it made me so uncomfortable – but it also helped me identify some of my self image issues." She takes a deep breath, reaching for his hand as she continues, "So much of my life, I've felt like I had to prove something to someone. In Ignacia, Kai and I both had to prove that we could take care of ourselves. There wasn't another option, unless we wanted to be saddled with some sketchy babysitter or sent to an orphanage. Then came Kai becoming a ninja, and, suddenly, I got it into my head that you guys wouldn't take me seriously if you realized that I was samurai x." She ignores the disgruntled look on the master of lightning's face – she already knows now that it was a stupid sentiment, "So I didn't tell you. Even though it probably just made things more dangerous. When Sensei started training me, I felt like I had to prove something there, too. That I was worthy of my mother's element – even if I hated it and just wanted to go back to being a samurai, something that I was already good at. I got so frustrated that I tried to quite. And that's when it first started to click. Because maybe some part of me thought that by doing all this impressive stuff, I could prove that it was a mistake for my parents to-to…"

"To leave you behind?" However Jay managed to guess her thoughts, she's a little grateful she doesn't have to say it herself.

"Yeah... So, anyway, back when we were still together, you were always so open and sweet about your feelings for me. And somewhere in the back of my head was that part of me that felt like I could never measure up to the person you thought I was and-"

"I'm so sorry! I didn't realize… I-I only wanted to show you how much I cared. Because I thought that if you realized how special and loved you were… You wouldn't…" Leave me? The words aren't spoken aloud, but the implication is there. Nya sighs regretfully.

"I know. I just… I was feeling so overwhelmed, because I did want to be able to tell you how I felt about you – about the whole situation, but I kept talking myself out of it and thinking that if I just added a few boundaries until I reached the point where things felt safe again that… But then that stupid machine came into the picture, and I dunno? It scared me, because what if I was wrong? What if you didn't really love me and left…"

"I would never." He assures her, squeezing the hand clasping own. She shakily brings her spare hand up to touch his cheek.

"You wouldn't. And I was awful to let myself think that. Everything got so out of hand, and I had so many opportunities to fix things, but I didn't. Even after the fighting calmed down. I didn't wanna risk hurting you by ruining another relationship attempt. So, I stayed quiet. I came so close to confessing everything on Chen's Island – but I didn't have a chance to before we had to run off and save the world."

"Will it ever not be that way?" Jay ponders. She shrugs.

"The world saving was very distracting. For a long time. Once I finally felt like I was starting to come to terms with what had been going on mentally, having the media get involved dealt me another blow. It was like the world no longer valued me as anything more than a token – an object to be won… But I didn't want to completely give up on at least being friends with you, so I started trying to talk. But in the end, I just ended up pushing you away even more because I was so concerned about fighting my public image and not letting anyone else decide what I could be or do with my life. And to be honest? It freaked me out how sure you were that we were meant to be. I needed to regain control, and you ended up paying the price. And I can never tell you how sorry I am for being such a jerk! I died! You almost got killed several times because I refused to stop being stubborn and let someone else take the wheel, even for a moment! I-I…" The feeling of lips pressed softly to her own prevents her from saying anything more. How is it that such a simple gesture has always had the power to relieve her pain?

"I forgave you a long time ago… And I never stopped caring about you, either. Even when I was fighting with Cole-which was a pretty stupid move in hindsight. We were both being idiots. And I'm sorry, too..."

"I-Okay. Yeah, we kinda were… We're a hot mess, aren't we?" Nya exclaims, snuggling against her boyfriend. He smirks slightly.

"Well, we're definitely hot!" She shoots him a look, which he pretends not to see, instead kissing her forehead.

"And we are a bit of a mess. But we've both grown so much. I really think we'll make it this time…Flaws and all. Cause that's what love is...Being there, no matter how sucky life gets..."

"Mm… I love you, Jay Walker."

"And I love you, Nya Smith. Just don't ever die on me again. I don't think I could handle that..." They both shudder, moving even closer together, as if afraid that they'll be torn apart.

"I'm not handling it now…" Nya admits, "I'm sure sleep would help, but… That's not happening any time soon…"

"Same here. So, what do we do, then?" Jay wonders. She doesn't answer right away, but then, inspiration strikes her.

"When I was little, Kai used to build these super elaborate blanket forts whenever one of us was upset. Like ones that spanned entire rooms, and had lots of junk food hidden inside. And then, we'd stay up and watch as many movies as it took to calm back down. Do you think, maybe…?"

"Sure. If it'll help. I'll grab the cushions and blankets, you get the movies and snacks." The master of lightning quickly agrees. It doesn't take long for them to construct their fortress against one side of the deck, using every last spare sheet and pillow they own (and maybe snagging a few from Kai's stash-that's what siblings are for) . One and a half movies later, they finally give in to their exhaustion, falling asleep with their hands intertwined. Their joint presence keeps the nightmares at bay until Nya's brother finds them the next morning. Though concerned about what exactly they've been doing all night, he's honestly just relieved that they've finally figured things out. One less source of headaches for him, as long as they don't go making a habit of public displays of affection like yesterday's kiss… Which they probably will, but he can yell at them later. They do look awfully cute like that…

I hope that you enjoyed this slight break from my regular programming! Please leave feedback if you have anything you'd like to say. The next chapter of OMaC should be out later this weekend. Hopefully. Thanks for reading!

~GwenBrightly