“Welcome to paradise!” Nya said gleefully, setting down her bag. The plush hotel room’s furniture was overstuffed, the carpeting thick, and the towels soft. And she was sure that Jay’s room next door was just as nice. “I love this new resort already…and hardly anyone’s even heard about this island! No video games, no television, an all-you-can-eat buffet at every meal…just peace and quiet!”

Getting no response, she turned to see Jay staring out the glass door to the balcony. Past that, there was nothing but lush jungle. He hadn’t even dropped his backpack. “Jay?” she said. He still didn’t turn around. “Jay!”

He jumped, startled, and smiled weakly. “Sorry, Nya,” he said. “I was somewhere else.”

“Well, hurry up and get here,” Nya replied. She sat on the bed and bounced on it a little to see how comfortable it was. Jay walked over stiffly and sat. “Come on, Jay, we thought this would be an amazing vacation for us after the fight with the Crystal King. Aside from other guests, we’re literally as far as we could possibly get from everything.”

“I know,” Jay said, sounding a little guilty. “And it really is beautiful.”

“So it should be perfect for us to relax, rest up and…adjust, right?” Nya asked gently.

“You’re right. I’m sorry, Nya,” he said again. “I just feel like…like I’m missing a piece of myself.”

Nya stood up, nodding with understanding. “Well, yeah. You’re missing the powers you had as Master of Lightning.”

Jay stood, too, and walked back to the balcony doors. “The way I’m feeling is like when I think about my birth mom giving me up to the Walkers for adoption. I love Ed and Edna—they are my parents—but I’m always going to have this hole inside where my real mother should be.”

“Hey, getting used to the changes in your life will take a while, and that’s okay,” Nya said. “I just want you to get back to being you, you know? You haven’t cracked a single bad joke since we left the Monastery.”

He turned around, an exaggerated look of hurt on his face. “Wait. My jokes are bad?”

Nya smiled and gave him a playful punch on the arm. “That’s more like it. Why don’t you take a walk around, explore, and try not to think about your birth mom, or your powers, or…or anything. When you come back, we’ll hit that buffet!”

Jay looked dubious. “Walk around?” He gestured to the dense foliage outside their room. “Outside?”

“You don’t have to walk into the jungle, city boy. The beach is on the opposite side of the resort. Stay on the hotel grounds and you’ll be fine,” Nya reassured him. As he walked toward the door, she added, “But come back, all right? Don’t run off to some lighthouse, paint really bad paintings, and become a hermit again.”

“Don’t worry; been there, done that,” Jay answered, smiling. Then his face took on that comically hurt expression again. “Wait. My paintings were bad?”

Nya laughed, relieved that Jay’s sense of humor, at least, seemed to be coming back, however slowly. “Get lost,” she told him with mock sternness.

Jay smiled and walked out.