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the-ninja-legacy-whip · 1 year

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*slams table*

DETAILS. NOW.

pls?

Well thank you for the excuse to dump my brainrot–

This is (a very quick sketch of) Cam. She is Jesse and Cole's daughter. She is the next Elemental Master of Surprise.

...wait, what?

Sometime Post-Legacy!Crystalized, the world is finally free of the influence of the Overlord, meaning that there's finally time for the Ninja for themselves. They all still live at the Monastery together, and train to remain vigilant for the next threat, but eradicating the most prominent source of all evil in the Realm kinda takes the sails out of anyone/anything else, so y'know. Things are calm. For now.

And Cole, now happily married to the "most perfect, most prettiest, most pizazziest, most pinkest person ever" (his words, not mine, and definitely not Jesse's), kind of longs for a kid. We already know he's got the killer dad instinct, is great with children, yadda yadda, it was all only a matter of time. Jesse knew this too, but is terrified of being a parent (although taking care of Miranda + his own inherent paranoia about things has made him rather attentive, if not a touch over-protective). And if Cole's with him, then...maybe it's doable.

So they try to adopt.

("There's so many orphans, Jess. So many orphans. Maybe we could just—" "We are NOT adopting them all." "But the guilt of leaving them all behiiiiiind..." "...oh no the guilt." "How are we both like this??")

("Just pick the cutest one, duh! Or the most talented! And stay away from the mean ones!" "We're choosing a CHILD here, Mira, not a damn pet!" "Can we get a baby though? I kinda want the baby experience." "...and now Cole sounds like he's shopping at a grocery store." "HEY.")

("Are we still going to that meeting today?" "Shoot, I forgot, I've got a show in West Haven tomorrow; I have to leave tonight! What about Friday?" "Can't, that's the day me and the boys are investigating a potential sting operation." "UWAAAAH HOW ARE WE THIS BUSY?!")

...so, uh, that kinda doesn't go well.

("...if we had a kid of our own, what do you think they'd be like?" "...Cole I think we're kinda lacking in the equipment for that—" "Humor me, Jess." "Well, uh, they'd obviously inherit your powers, so probably very strong, and brave, and would love music and art and can't really cook–" "...is there any of you in this theoretical child or are we just making a lackluster clone of me?" "...they could have my smile?" "Jess.")

("Too bad we can't just work a miracle, huh?" "..." "...Jesse?")

("...but what if we could?")

So three to four existential crises and one very heart-wrenching discussion later, Jesse uses Miracle Make to manifest their kid, sacrifices his powers (thinking they've hit a point where he's not really in need of them anymore anyway), and boom, they're parents of a beautiful baby girl now. Whee!

...except with Jesse sacrificing his powers in the very same instance that Camellia Brooke Marvell is born, she becomes "the most unsuspecting individual" at the time, and winds up inheriting the Element of Surprise. Uh, Surprise?

That little unexpected snag-or-maybe-not-a-snag aside, things are great! Cole was destined to raise this child and is utterly crushing it, while Jesse becomes okay with being powerless and a parent and gets excited at the prospect of teaching his daughter all his old tricks. Jesse's still not big on cutesy nicknames, but will call Cam 'our little miracle' or 'sweetpea' from time to time...while Cole calls her a list of fluffy nicknames but his favorite is "my little lily".

Cam calls Cole 'Papa' and Jesse 'Daddy', and while she's got Jesse's habit of catching people off-guard (i.e. seemingly disappearing and reappearing from sight, giving both of them heart-attacks at least once a day) and is also scared really easily herself. So loud sounds are a definite no around her, especially during nap-time (looking at you, Jay).

Jesse's family goes ham on making sure she's well-fed and "getting a well-rounded palate" while Miranda, a high-ranking member of Borg Industries' staff now, becomes the favorite "rich aunt with no kids" that spoils Cam.

("Happy First Birthday to my favorite niece...! Just a little something-something ;) " "MIRA DID YOU BUY MY DAUGHTER A PONY?!" "Nooooo! ....it's a unicorn!" "YOU TAPED A PARTY HAT TO ITS FOREHEAD?!" "Oh stop whining! Look she loves it!" "I'M NOT RAISING A HORSE!" "Calm DOWN I just rented it for a week!" "A WHOLE WEEK?!")

Grandpa Lou also spoils his granddaughter rotten, and very unsubtly tries to encourage her interest in the performing arts.

("Oh, look at how adorable she is in this tutu! I'll have to get express shipping on some ballet shoes for her—" "...Dad you are not about to make a dancer out of my daughter." "But what if she likes it?! We have to find out early! What if she's a born-performer like her daddy? Look, she's pirouetting around already!" "You swinging her around in the air is NOT dancing, Dad...!")

Either way, it's as delightfully chaotic as you'd hope raising a child to be, and Cole, Jesse, and Cam are blissfully happy just as they are.

Cam is only two when The Merge strikes.

. . .

Cam is seven going on eight when "the dragons began to rise", and rumors of the old Ninja Team along with a brand new one begin surfacing. She asks her daddy constantly if that means Papa is coming back, but he never gives her a direct answer. Daddy doesn't like to talk about Papa; only once bitterly mentioned that 'Papa went to fight The Merge when it first appeared' and...then never came home.

Cam doesn't remember a time when The Merge did not exist.

And now her daddy spends the days looking to the skies, waiting for another rift. Aunt Mira has their appearances above the remains of Ninjago City timed almost-perfectly now, and when another is set to strike, Daddy quickly pulls out his old weapon. The crystals it is adorned with have faded back to their natural blue. He curses, and regretfully turns back to his daughter.

("Are you gonna do your magic again, Daddy?" "...something like that, yes." "Yay! I like when you do magic!")

So Cam taps the crystals, feels a small portion of her own power seep into them (despite the lack of her own potential), and watches them change from blue to a brilliant pink. Her daddy thanks her quickly, then swings the wand out, shifting it into a naginata with a single wave. Cam gasps in awe, admiring as her daddy's eyes temporarily glow, and launches himself towards the sky, sealing up the rift with the strongest blast of "surprise" he can manage, even despite the meager amount. He doesn't want to siphon too much power from his daughter, but this isn't going to be enough–!

Suddenly the sky erupts in green and gold—Cam winces at the bright light, but the rift is sealed in an instant. Daddy returns back to the ground with a stunned flourish and sparkles, standing protectively before Cam, as the legendary Green Ninja appears as if from nowhere, eyes shimmering with complication.

But, he addresses her daddy like the old friend that he is.

"Hey, Jess. There's...something I have to show you."

. . .

They're whisked to the Monastery in a near-heartbeat, Uncle Lloyd guiding them up those almost-familiar steps and into a definitely unfamiliar courtyard with equally unfamiliar people. There's a beautiful golden fountain with a dragon and waterlilies that Cam immediately scrambles over to splash around in, if Jesse hadn't scooped her into his arms beforehand.

He and Lloyd have been speaking in very careful, very hushed whispers since arriving, and Cam desperately wants to know what the big dramatic secret is, if it's got nothing to do with Aunt Nya working with the cat-girl on a mech, or the dragon-girl gnawing on Uncle Kai's arm. Lloyd walks pass them all, leading them to the back gardens of the place.

Jesse stops as soon as he sets foot onto the cobblestone path. Lloyd bites his lip, and, as ever, quickly ejects himself from the impeding potentially awkward and/or emotionally charged conversation.

Cam peeks over Jesse's shoulder, watching as a large man in black and orange paces frantically back and forth across the garden, muttering aimlessly to himself and unable to keep himself calm. Jesse curses Lloyd's name under his breath—the other man picks up on the sound, marigold eyes instantly connecting with Jesse's.

"...Jess—" Jesse immediately takes a defensive step back. The other man's voice turns devastated. "J-Jesse, please, you have to hear me out. Just that, nothing else—!"

"...What's there to hear out?" Jesse's words are clipped as he clings tighter to Cam on his back. Cam shrinks under the thinly-veiled fury. "That you, once again, chose to do something reckless and endanger yourself when I begged you not to? That you, once again, left me to think you were dead? That's not something that should be a reoccurring pattern, Cole!"

Cam perks up at the mention of 'Cole'—that's her papa's name! Excited, she starts fidgeting, but Jesse keeps her still. She pouts; he gently quiets her down before redirecting his fury back at Cole.

"...and worst of all, you left me to raise our daughter without you! She...she doesn't even remember you, Cole!" Cole physically buckles at that revelation. "And now you're just gonna pop back up five years later like nothing's wrong?! And you dragged Lloyd into this–?!"

"In Lloyd's defense, he is a little familiar with growing up without a father that would have wanted to be in his life otherwise." Cole tenses, eyes glowing with despair. "So I knew at least he would have understood from the get-go."

That breaks Jesse a bit, giving Cole the opportunity to close the distance between them, just a bit.

"...Jesse, you know that this is the very last thing I wanted to happen." Cole speaks slowly, lest he break down crying otherwise. "And if I didn't help when I did, things could've ended up a whole lot worse. I've spent every single second since trying to navigate this new, crazy, giant, mixed up world to get back to you. And the thought of seeing you, Cam, and everyone again is the only thing that's kept me going."

"...I know." Cam's never heard her daddy sound so broken before. "But the fact that you've done this to me so many times and I know it's never really your fault and yet it still hurts! I'm allowed to be mad at the circumstances!"

"You are," Cole agrees, and Jesse's lip starts to tremble. "And I'm so, so, so sorry."

Things go quiet between the two, with half a decade's worth of more conversation to catch up on, and yet neither being sure of what move to make next. Cole, however, can't help but peek around at the little girl staring curiously right back at him. His heart clenches.

"I-Is...that her? She's...she's gotten so tall..."

Jesse nods, and, after thinking on it a moment, places Cam on the ground and encourages her to introduce herself.

"...I'll let her decide, then." Jesse clarifies, watching as Cole's heart now jumps into his throat. Cole's breathing goes still as Cam looks back with fuchsia eyes full of potential. She trots up to him; Cole crouches down on instinct, lowering himself to her level.

"...hi," he says, holding himself back from being an overly emotional as he'd like. The last thing he wants is a bad first impression. "I—um...it's nice to meet you. You're Camellia, yes?"

Cam nods. Cole smiles, though it trembles.

"Do you...know who I am?"

Cam puts a hand to her chin, wondering if she should voice her hopes. She glances back at Jesse; Jesse gives her an encouraging nod. Thus, she returns Cole's question with another.

"Are you...my Papa?"

Cole nods, curling his hands into fists to ground himself.

"I am, but...only if you'll have me."

Like a light switch, Cam plows into Cole's arms; Cole springs back up, hugging her with all the strength he's got (without snapping her tiny self in half, of course).

"PAPA!"

"MY BABYYYYYY!!!!"

They laugh and cry and Cole can't contain himself as he whispers apologies and promises and a thousand questions into her ear that Cam swears they have all the time in the world to get around to.

Jesse watches them, a little overwhelmed by the sight, until Cole swings in front of him, freeing up a hand to hold out to Jesse. He smiles warmly, in the way that Jesse's missed for so, so long.

"Hey, I missed you too, y'know."

And then of course that's when Jesse starts crying and throws himself into Cole's arms too, the trio hugging as a family for the first time in forever...and then Cam gets to bear witness to her parents having a long overdue kissing session (read: ew).

But then again, she doesn't remember time when Jesse was this happy, either. So she'll let them have the moment.

. . .

Cam then begs to be a ninja and "join the cause" but while both parents at least allow her to train (as they both wished they'd been in the know about their powers when they were younger), she's not allowed on any dangerous missions until she's older (or at least, gets her True Potential). In the meantime, Miranda hooks her up with a bunch of video equipment to become something of an internet idol to "bring the people of all realms together" (as to Cole's somewhat horror, Cam indeed has the blood of a performer and has Jesse's ability to sing). It takes some getting used to (and a lot of hugs and probably therapy to comfort Cole on the fact that he missed five years of his kid's life), but...eventually, things do return to a state of normal.

(...And then maybe down the line they actually do adopt this time, and Cole gets to be around for it this time, and Cam's little brother willingly becomes the next Master of Earth once he's ready)

#i told u it was complicated #ninjago ocs #ninjago dragons rising #oc: camellia marvell #oc: jesse marvell #cole brookstone #info tag #(none of this is necessarily 'canon' to my verse)#(but y'know me i enjoy my indulgence)#it's been on my mind for AGES #aftershockshipping #<- omfg almost forgot the most important tag #cole x oc #oc x canon #next-gen jamboree

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