#tonowari x oc
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Tonowari: Burning For You
Fic description: 18+ MINORS DNI. Plot involved as well. Breeding kink, slight implied d/s dynamics, daddy kink, service kink, free use, primal, omegaverse. As you go through one of your most intense heats yet, your loving mate helps you through your pain, in a way you’ve never imagined. Au: Tonowari and hyperfem! Na’vi reader have a few kids and are already mated, exploring their deeply romantic and spiritual connection during her heat. Wc:5.7k
“When the blood burns, how prodigal the soul lends the tongue vows.”
-Hamlet, Act 1.3.115
Metkayina Village: 08:00
The sun glazed and glistened on your blue skin, as your long hair flowed behind you in the reef. You were trying your best to calm down, to relax your body. First your arms, your legs, your tail. You were one with the water. Eywa was watching over you.
Everything was okay, yes?
It might have been. Your eyes jolted open, adjusting to the sunlight reflecting on the azure waters, adjusting your flower that was in your hair. You had to look your best, after all. It might have been fine — until you felt a sharp pang in your lower abdomen and back. Could it be? You were under the impression that your heat was only a few days away. Yet here it was — starting early.
You quickly call your ilu, riding it to the outskirts of the side of the reef, to a little hidden alcove right outside where the calm reef met the roaring waves of the ocean. You spoke to your mate through the bond— showing him where you were.
Whenever your heat or his rut came, the both of you had a place to hide, to let your carnal desires consume the both of you.
You pet your ilu as it felt your pain, disconnecting your queues. You managed to crawl inside the warm, almost hot pool of water in the alcove, as you ran your fingers over your songcord, remembering the time you mated for the first time, in this very cave. It brought you comfort.
You clutched your stomach harder, wincing. You wonder how Tonowari has dealt with your children in order to come see you here.
~ Metkayina Village ~
It has started to rain heavily. Tonowari puts his long hair in a bun, as he shushes your two little children: a four year old and a three month old, letting them know that their grandmother will come take care of them: the former Tsahik. She arrives, and Carrie’s them further into the hut. Tonowari helps tuck them in under a blanket.
Blankets were rarely used, yet they served a good purpose when it was a bit cold and rainy. The man then races to his tsurak — clicking, calling it. He jumps on with his powerful legs, a look of worry on his face as he races to the alcove.
—————————
You sit in the warm water, now shivering. The pain was even worse. You hear the shriek of the tsurak as your mate steps into the alcove. “Mawey. Mawey, my love, it is heat, yes?,” he asks, stepping towards you, a caring and concerned expression on his face. You nod, looking up into his eyes. He shushes you, as his big hands wrap around your body, one placed on your belly, massaging it where the pain should be.
“Wari…it hurts. Tsahelyu…please..,” you quietly ask him. He smiles, and obliges, wincing, connecting your queues so he can take your pain away. You sigh, leaning into his wide and muscular chest, tracing over the tattoos on his arms. You feel a pair of lips on your cheek and neck, his gentle kisses as a way to calm you more.
“Mawey, ma sevin (pretty.) I am here now. I always will come to help my mate, especially when she is in heat. When she looks so beautiful…and smells it too..,” he trails off, giving you another wet and warm kiss on your cheek, with a hint of a little growl behind his voice. You feel his fangs start to nip at your ear.
“Olo’eyktan always takes care of his mate, my flower. You just stay there, be good for me, yes?,” he asks, you feel more of his sharp fangs with the more nips and kisses he gives you.
“Ma wari, okay. Please… hurts..,” you breathily moan out, feeling a bit more than bothered by his bulging biceps around you, and his wet kisses trailing down to your neck.
He gruffly inhales, scenting you. Your heat must have gotten to him — made him feral for you. That’s what you loved the most about mating cycles. The passion <3 how well he took care of you.
“So beautiful. Soft. Just what I need after a hunt, ma yuey (flower),” he whispers to you as his large hands start massaging your hips, manhandling you closer to him, his large chest pressing against your small back.
His thick arms make you feel so safe, as you lower your head back into him. You feel a rumbling in his chest that makes you want him desperately, his long hair on your shoulders, his blue eyes intensely focused on his prize: you.
His arms trail down towards your legs, forcefully spreading them open, your thighs hanging limp over his forearms as he inspects his panting and moaning prey <3
“My yuey smells so good. Your heat, just for me, yes?,” he taunts with his deep voice and a bit of a growl, his hands manhandle you onto his lap, legs still spread, a thick finger or two begins exploring your hot and wet pussy <3
His fingers were just what you needed, you began to rub yourself against them, itching for that kind of relief. Your usually teal blue complexion was a bit darker now, tongue out, panting.
You knew he loved seeing you like this.
“Taking your warrior so well, ma mate, my bunny. Your heat is so strong this time, ma yuey, you smell so good, so ready for me, to breed you…,” he whispers with a hint of a growl again.
You can barely respond, getting so much pleasure from humping and riding his fingers like a feral animal, tongue out, eyes closed, that you didn’t notice when his bulging biceps came to push you up and off him, grabbing you by your hips and pushing you down on your stomach.
“Does my mate want to be bred like the good little one she is?,” he taunts, running his humongous hands over the back of your hips and ass, groping it so tightly that you thought you saw stars. Connected by tsahelyu, he felt your mind swimming in thoughts of blank desire, white, hot, burning.
You mindlessly nod as you instinctively arch your back up for him to see how ready you were. You just wanted your womb to be full of him, of his throbbing cock. Nothing more. You wanted it minutes ago.
He growls again, roughly pushing his huge body against your backside, the both of your tails intertwining. You can feel the muscular back of his thigh against yours, keeping you in place for what’s about to come. His cloth comes off. You turn around.
“Ma yuey. Eyes forward,” a very low and serious tone rang out from him. His face was stoic. You knew better. You quickly turned your face back around to the slightly dripping water of the alcove. Tonowari was usually level headed and friendly, calm, and welcoming. That is what made him such a wonderful Olo’eyktan and leader. Such a wonderful mate to you. Yet — you did not want your mate angry. You did not like him when he was angry. Your heat; unfortunately, usually induced this state for him.
He growls this time, louder, claims you, his mate, his prey, with a bite to the shoulder with his sharp fangs. You wail out a moan, as you feel his throbbing balls up against your hot cunt. Without warning, he thrusts his entire twelve inch length into you, stilling for a moment to enjoy the heat of your cunt.
“Haaah…,” he trails off, clearly loving how welcoming your heat induced pussy was to his length. You feel him throb and pulse inside you, you felt so full, so full of him, you squealed and moaned as you squeezed around him in an attempt to get him to move.
“Patience, ma munxtate,” a warning from him, alongside a slap on the ass. “Yes, ma Olo’eyktan,” you answer back, as obedient as you could. “Good. I want my beautiful mate on her best behavior, yes?,” he asks, warningly. You nod, as he bends over, his face next to yours, giving you a little nip on the ear.
“Stay.” One word with a serious undertone to it. You were not to move, no matter how rough he used you. Eywa — you loved being his little toy, especially when you were in heat.
“Ma wari. Please…please..,” you begged him, you wanted him to start moving, to start pounding into you like the insane beast he was. He didn’t move. You were about to cry, until you squealed when he pulled you into him, now his large body was laying down on the floor of the alcove, in the water. Your backside on top of him, cock intact, inside you.
He started moving. One thing you loved about him — he was big. Not just big, not just more than average than another na’vi. Huge. 12 inches — yet the girth. The girth he had was insanely wide, perfect to go alongside his plump ballsack <3
Here was this girth, pumping in and out of you, his knees bounced your tiny body up and down on his cock. You were about to explode with white, hot, pleasure. You loved being forcefully rocked on his huge length, that reached so deep inside you — like you were his puppet, under total command and control. His control.
You were his — undoubtedly.
His cock started drilling into you deeper, until you felt that tightness coming up in your belly. His fingers were gripping your arms and neck harshly, keeping you in place for him to use.
“That’s it, syulang. Come for me, my mate, mother of my children,” he coos at you, his squared jaw and face full of adoration. His bulky arms continue caging you into his body, as you keep cumming, screaming, chanting his name like it’s your mating vows…
Wari, Wari, Wari.
You were his.
Even after you came, he kept going. Chasing that high, using you to bring him to finish. After he was done, he took you by the hand, and led you to his now flaccid but still inflamed cock. “Lick, my yuey. Clean me.”
You obeyed, arching your back, squatting on your knees, puffy pussy on display for him. He growled a bit again, infatuated by your position.
You make slow, little, kitten licks at his cock, making sure to get every last drop. You felt so full, with his cum in your womb <3
“My mate. My little one. You did so good,” he reassures you. The soft and gentle giant you knew as Tonowari was back. With your heat at a bit of a standstill due to his wondrous skills and technique, you felt more normal, and so did he.
“Wari. Need to sleep,” you softly whisper back, and he obliged, taking you up into the haven of his wide, warm chest, and you lay your head down, listening to his heartbeat. “Muntxatan. What about the kids?,” you wonder, as you start to get a bit drowsy.
“Not to worry. They will be fine. My mate needs me now more than my children,” he reassures you, as he starts gently and tenderly braiding your hair. He gives you a forehead kiss as you drift off to sleep in his arms.
The storm intensified as the sun set over the azure waters. With you in his arms, he stealthily rides his tsurak back to the village, when all are fast asleep. He exchanges a stern glance with the night watch villagers at the bay of the reef, and carries you inside to the marui. <3
Nobody needed to question where the Olo’eyktan was. They knew what his priorities were.
A/n: pls support a writer and reblog <3 enjoy besties
Avatar tag list: @aerangi @jake-sullys-whore @drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed @brioffthegrid
#liz writes 🖤#liz’s masterlist#avatar smut#tonowari smut#tonowari x oc#tonowari hot#tonowari x you#tonowari x reader#tonowari x fem!reader#top Tonowari#tonowari x y/n#Tonowari x na’vi reader#jake sully smut#jake sully x reader#jake sully x fem!reader#jake sully x you
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tsamsiyu ta'em - three stars in orion's belt
Masterlist - part sixteen
Summary: Kayla and Spider return to Awa'atlu, and some things shift into place, right where they need to be.
Pairing: Ronal/Tonowari/Original Female Character
Tag: #tsamsiyu ta'em fic
posted on ao3
Word Count: 15k+
Overall warnings: implied sexual themes, trauma/ptsd, canon-compliant, mature language, slow burn, polyamory, found family, cool aunt agenda, rushed, time skips, fluff, angst, mentioned mcd, child endangerment, proofread by me, etc.
Taglist (bold indicates "could not tag"): @motheroffae @undeniableadrenaline @mooniequeen @shit-i-say-shit-i-think @heart-an0n @amiets2 @slutforsmut4ever @yeosxxx @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @sucker4angstt @inolaphoenix @ilovechickenwings @tojisleftarm @andyfromku @ivysully @lightandshadow31 @jamie-poopoo @brittney69 @avatar-lover
A/N: Please ignore all the time skips 🙏 I didn't want to write another 20k+ chapter
A beautiful, quiet afternoon in Awa'atlu is evident all around Jake as he finds himself alone in the marui while the rest of his family is out enjoying the warm, sunny day on the reef. He was crouched and trying to remake his tomahawk that he had lost during the battle, but it was proven difficult since he didn't have the proper materials here on the island as he did back in the forest.
His time alone is interrupted by the sound of his youngest child calling out to him from outside, "Dad! Dad!"
"Tuk?" Jake's ears perked up, immediately alarmed as he got to his feet and stepped out of the pod, "Are you alright? What's wrong, sweetheart?"
His little girl was waving him down the pathway, barely stopping to wait for him as she was eager to run away, a bright, wide smile on her face as she pointed up at the sky, "Auntie's back! Look! Auntie and Spider are back!"
With that, she races off toward the beach, no longer patient enough to wait for her father. Jake's alarmed expression takes a moment, but slowly melts as he tilts his head back to look up at the sky, the unmistakable shadow of an ikran flying overhead.
The rest of the village appears to stir with curiosity as everyone becomes aware of the new entry, heads all occasionally looking up to see if they could spot the mountain banshee for themselves. As Tuk runs down to the beach, she's yelling for the rest of her family, announcing her aunt's arrival as she goes.
Kayla circled the village a few times to ensure the Metkayina was aware of her presence so that they would make some space on the beach for her to land, only feeling comfortable once the horn to announce her arrival was blown. She couldn't see him, but Spider's face was smiling widely as he peered down at the reef village below, anxious to get down there after three, long weeks.
The uproar of the horn and the talk around the village bring Ronal and Tonowari out of their kelku to see what all the fuss is about. They catch sight of Kayla's ikran and visibly appear relieved, shoulders sagging as they share a knowing look. They turn back to their home when both of their children step outside, and Tonowari's hand heavily weighs Ao'nung's shoulder as both father and son stare at one another.
"Remember what I told you," the olo'eyktan says with a skeptical look in his eye, "Respect the boy."
Tsireya smiles brightly and dutifully nods, while Ao'nung reluctantly follows suit. His sister tugs on his arm until he's following her down toward the beach, where handfuls of the village had begun to gather to form a large circle that would act as Kayla's landing zone.
Thena swings low, flying just above the water at Kayla's command. Tuk is jumping up and down in the sand, waving her arms at her aunt and laughing as she flags the ikran down. The ikran dips low, flying right past the Na'vi girl with the tip of its wing grazing the water surface, playfully spraying Tuk in the face. The girl squeals with delight and laughs, all the while Jake watches this cute display from a distance, his alarm melting in exchange for amusement, chuckling and fondly shaking his head at his sister's playful antics.
"Show off." He mutters to himself.
Tuk continues to giggle and anxiously waits until the banshee finally lands, both water and sand flying everywhere as the ikran comes in for a ferocious landing. Thena barely meets the sand with her talons before Tuk sprints up to her, arms out wide as Kayla is quick to jump off and break tsaheylu.
"Auntie!"
"Tuk!" Kayla exclaims as she quickly falls to her knees to catch her niece's embrace, laughing with the child as Tuk tackles her in a tight hug, wrapping her small arms around Kayla's neck, nearly sending her into the sand.
Kiri pushes her way through the growing crowd to get to the center, Lo'ak dutifully right behind her. She looked between her sister and Kayla, and then the human boy who had just stepped around the large ikran, making her smile widen with relief, "Monkey Boy!"
Lo'ak beams, quickly following his sister and they race to their friend, "Welcome back, Spider!"
Spider straightens and smiles gently at the sight of his friends running to him, "Hey, guys-- oh, shit!"
Only for his face to drop into shock when two large, teenage Na'vi tackles his smaller body into the water behind him. The three teens laugh as they grapple and embrace each other in the shallow water, and for added measure, Lo'ak ruffles a handful of wet sand into Spider's dreads.
"Bro!" The human boy squawks.
"That's what you get for staying away for so long," Lo'ak laughs, "What was up with that? Three weeks, cuz?"
"Hey! Did you save any of that enthusiasm for me?" Kayla calls over playfully as she stands back up, completely forgotten by Tuk who was anxious to join the Spider-hugging pile.
Kiri shoves Lo'ak down and quickly gets up before he can enact his revenge, the teenage girl bounding up and hugging her aunt's waist. Spider doesn't let Lo'ak greet Kayla and holds the Na'vi boy down so Tuk can shove wet sand into his own braided hair, leaving Lo'ak yelping and snarling at the devious pair.
Kayla laughs at the heartwarming sight, looking around and openly smiling at the growing crowd of Metkayina, most of their faces appear welcoming as they meet her gaze. She catches sight of Jake and Neytiri gently pushing through the crowd and meeting one another before walking over to join their family, which reminds Kayla to unpack a bit of her luggage from Thena's back before she can forget.
"Tuk," the girl in question looks up and skips over to her aunt when Kayla calls for her, the woman digging out a small parcel of leaves wrapped around something from one of Thena's saddle bags, "Some of your favorite sundried berries. You have my permission not to share with your dad. And... ah ha!" She fished out something that had gotten caught at the bottom of the bag. Another wrapped gift, which she carefully hands down to her youngest niece, "This is from Popiti. She said she made it just for you."
Tuk beams at the gifts, especially at the mention of her friend, before glancing up at Kayla, "Thank you, Auntie!"
Kayla smiles and moves on to the next child as the rest of the teens have now moved to stand around her, "Lo'ak, I got a new throat mic for you. Uh..." She digs around further before finding what she was looking for and handing it to her nephew, "There you are-- here's the earpiece."
"Thanks, Auntie." Lo'ak grins while taking the new communication device.
"I actually got enough for the whole family this time so we'll pass those around later," Kayla unrolls a cloth that she had tightly tied down to Thena's saddle before handing it to her older niece, "Kiri, this is your new jacket."
Kiri's eyebrows furrow before unwrapping the cloth, holding out a large, avatar-sized safari jacket, once tan but now a little worn from age and sun exposure. Kiri gently squints at the human-made item before her eyes widen with realization, glancing over at her aunt, "Was this my Ma's?"
Kayla nods with soft encouragement, "According to Norm, it was. He thought you should have it. Try it on."
Kiri did so, fitting her arms into the sleeves before wrapping the oversized jacket around her small frame like a safety blanket, taking a deep breath as she pressed her nose into the collar. Kayla smiles sweetly at the sight, "Yeah, it definitely suits you. It's warm and stylish, just like you."
Spider smiles a little and motions Kiri over, asking his friend to help him bring all of his belongings to Kayla's marui. Kiri happily accepts after she's given a moment to appreciate her gift, and with Lo'ak and Tuk's help, they get all of Kayla and Spider's supplies off of Thena's back, and the ikran huffs with appreciation.
Kayla takes a backpack from Tuk before the kids can take off to her kelku, rummaging it before she looks up at Neytiri. Both women paused as they stood in front of one another, their last known conversation playing in the back of their minds, making one another hesitant. Eventually, Kayla clears her throat and provides a gift to the Na'vi woman, holding out the shawl Mo'at made with a look of hesitance.
"Neytiri... from your sa'nok."
Neytiri's tail flicks with interest as she takes the folded-up shawl, holding it out and unraveling it. Her ears pinned back against her skull as she recognizes the fine craftsmanship as if it were her own, eyes faintly growing wet as she sucks in a sharp bit of air. She knows the meaning behind the gift, and a single tear falls down her face. Much like Kiri, Neytiri wraps the cloth around her body and takes in the item's familiar scent, feeling protected under her mother's handiwork.
Kayla averts her gaze, feeling as though she was watching Neytiri in a vulnerable moment before holding out a weapon to her brother, "Jake. I told Tarsem that you lost your tomahawk and so he made you this."
Jake's eyebrows rise in surprise, taking the new tomahawk in hand and testing the weight and craftsmanship as Kayla continues to explain, "As a sign of good faith. He wants you to know that he's leading the People by your example. You haven't been forgotten."
He tightens his jaw, internally touched by the gesture of the Omatikaya's new olo'eyktan. Lowering the tomahawk, he nods solemnly at his sister, ears sinking slightly as he hesitates, "Thanks, Kay. How... how are you?"
She fixes him a small look, apprehensive before she shrugs and looks away, "Never better."
"Everything alright back at base? What took you two so long to get back?"
Kayla's left ear flicked once before she easily answered, "We didn't want to risk the RDA following us again so we kept low until we thought it was safe enough to come back. I was going to radio you... but then I thought Spider and I could turn it into a surprise."
Jake appears satisfied with the answer, one corner of his mouth threatening to rise out of amusement. As he opens his mouth to make a no-doubt smartass remark, Kayla swiftly turns away, "I should help the kids unpack our stuff."
As she turns her back on her brother, she is suddenly tackled by another teenager, and the initial shock melts when she's met with none other than sweet Tsireya with her arms wrapped around the older woman's waist, beaming up at the avatar, "Oel ngati kameie, Makayla te Suli!"
Kayla exhaled a quiet laugh as she smiled down at the reef girl and gently squeezed her back, "Oel ngati kameie, Tsireya," briefly peering up, she noticed the boy standing behind his sister and she nodded once in greeting, "Ao'nung."
The reef boy nods back at the sound of his name, his expression impassive and reminding Kayla just how much he looks like his mother. Tsireya looks around, ignoring her brother's stare-off with Makayla as her little ears begin to fall, "Did Spider not come back with you?"
Kayla's expression melts before looking back down at the reef girl with a small smile, "He's already unpacking back at our kelku. Lo'ak and the others should be with him if you want to follow me with the rest of our things?"
"I would be happy to!" Tsireya explains while following Kayla to her ikran, the girl's sharp elbow nonchalantly meeting her brother's ribs as she passed by him.
Ao'nung coughs, "Yeah, alright."
Together, Kayla and the chief's children manage to bring the rest of hers and Spider's things to her marui, stepping inside and being met with Sully children everywhere, helping Spider unpack. Already, this pod was starting to look more like a home. Someone had actually managed to hang Kayla's "bookshelf" up, dangling it from the ceiling above and letting it hang against the wall, a few of Spider's things already nestled on it. Tsireya and Ao'nung move to help, greeting Spider and asking him questions about his travels and what he had been up to these past few weeks. If Spider was shocked by their sudden interest, he didn't show it, answering expressively, likely comfortable with their presence so long as Kayla and the Sullys were surrounding him.
Both he and Kayla were unpacked and settled back into their home in no time with the help of the children, and even though they all had to part ways to finish their chores, they promised to come back and visit before dinner to catch up and learn what has been happening in High Camp. Kayla and Spider are left in the home, tidying up before the communal dinner. Kayla takes a moment to look at the bookshelf, inspecting all the objects now placed on top to make it full and more... homey, as she had initially wanted it to look.
Spider had placed a spare mask there, with a small photo leaning against it. Kayla didn't need to ask to know who the picture was of, observing the woman with brown hair holding a blond baby in her arms. Next to the photo were two sets of dog tags, Kayla's and Jake's that she finally decided to leave off of her person and keep on the shelf as a form of memorium, along with the pictures she once had pinned up in the shack back at High Camp, specifically the one with herself and her brothers.
Satisfied with how her new home looks, she smiles and turns to address Spider, only for her words to fall short. The teen hadn't looked up from covering an ammunition container with a woven blanket, unaware of Kayla eyeing his blond locs as they had been pulled back and held up by a hair band, in a fashion very similar to Lo'ak's and other Metkayina warriors. The band itself was brown and decorated with scattered pieces of iridescent shell.
"That's new."
Spider looked up and met her eyes before he realized what she was talking about, smiling a little cautiously as he explained, "Tsireya made it for me."
A small twinkle forms in her eye, lips twitching with fondness, "Really?"
"Yeah, although I'm not sure Ao'nung helped her as she claims."
A small pause falls between them as Kayla's eyebrows furrow. Before Spider could even ask what was wrong, the expression melted into something more sincere, a smile replacing her once-shrouded emotion,
"Hm. He might've. Kinda looks like his armband. It looks good."
The mask nearly hides it, but she manages to catch a small beam of pride flash over Spider's face before it vanishes at the same time he bows his head, pretending to adjust his exo-pack. Kayla let him shy away as she was currently bombarded with her own thoughts, her smile falling once she knew Spider's back was turned. The thought of Ao'nung and Tsireya providing a gift for Spider could mean many things and Kayla didn't want to jump to any conclusions. However, the timing felt odd, especially after Norm practically had to force her to realize that Ronal and Tonowari very likely care for her more than just an ally or a member of their clan. She couldn't bring herself to say what they likely outright felt for her, but she, deep down, knew it to be true.
It couldn't have been a coincidence that the children of the Metkayina clan leaders seemed interested in Spider and his adventures, and while Kayla was delighted that the boy was making friends, she couldn't help but feel partially responsible for it. What would happen if she didn't reciprocate any of the clan leaders' advances? Would Spider's new friends suddenly pull back from him?
She didn't want to believe that the Na'vi could be so sinister, but that was the human in her... suspicious of everything.
~~~~~~~~~
Dinner rolls around and the Sullys are eager to hear about what Kayla and Spider have heard from the rest of their friends and family back in High Camp. While they try not to show it, Jake and Neytiri eye Kayla with a careful expression, as if wanting to ask her about the war but not wanting to break this moment of peace between family members, no matter how strained. Kayla uses this to her advantage, avoiding her brother and his wife for the moment so she can feel more at ease and at home after being away for longer than she intended. The children help her chest feel lighter as they eagerly share everything they had done while she was away, rambling to the point she didn't have to think about anything else other than trying to catch up with her nieces and nephew.
That is until she felt that familiar gaze practically bleeding into her skin, that gaze she could only feel when there were two sets of eyes closely watching her every move. Looking up from where she sat, Kayla easily spotted Ronal and Tonowari down near the end of the long line of Metkayina enjoying their meals. Both the tsahik and the olo'eyktan meet her eyes without shame, blue and green meeting her yellow gaze, always outnumbering her, always successful in stealing her breath away.
She knows that she was being rude by not getting up to greet them, or for never even seeking them out the moment she returned to the village. After all, they were her hosts and her clan leaders, but there was a small bit of nerves eating away at her courage to approach them. Kayla was feeling intimidated by them, now more than ever, but for an entirely different reason compared to when she first met them. It couldn't be helped after everything Norm pointed out about their past behavior towards her, his words still itching at the back of her mind, making her irritated with her best friend despite him being oceans away.
While she was taking Norm's words into consideration, she was also, unfortunately, still a Sully. Stubbornly shutting down any doubts or insecurities, she swiftly stood up and told her family that she would be right back before turning and walking through the crowd of Metkayina. Ronal and Tonowari's eyes never left hers as she walked toward them, but hers would occasionally dart away to avoid someone's tail, or to find a path around bodies as they knelt or crouched over their food. It was a good excuse for her to look away, unable to hold such an intense gaze.
When she finally drew close to the leaders in question, she touched her hand to her forehead in greeting, "Ma olo'eyktan. Ma tsahik."
Ronal pointedly looks Kayla up and down before nodding back and motioning for the dreamwalker to sit down. When Kayla crouched to her level, the tsahik opened her mouth, simply stating, "We have a gift for you."
The Metkayina woman twists to grab something settled between her and her mate, bringing it up to display in the air with both hands for Kayla, presenting a beaded top.
Kayla's eyes widened, a small, chill of dread making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up at the thought of wearing something so exposed. That is until she got a proper look at the top in question. It was... well, more conservative than Kayla had expected upon being given a Na'vi-styled top. The pieces meant to hang around the chest area are tightly woven together without a hole in sight, covering as much as possible. The beads were of a variety of blues and greens, and the pattern swirled fittingly like water. Kayla tilted her head as she eyed the pattern, a faint memory forming in the back of her head as it reminded her of that one Starry Night painting she once saw in a museum as a child. Woven grass was braided through the beads and up into a large hoop at the top of the piece, meant to wrap around her neck, with soft, feather-like straps dangling from the sides of the top, meant to hang off her shoulders.
Tonowari nods to the item in his wife's hands, "I had gathered the material and Ronal had woven them all together."
He then starts to form a closed-mouth smile, his expression soft and genuine, "Consider it a welcome home gift."
Kayla sits back on her heels, gaping at the clothing piece in awe and admiration. Slowly, her hands reach up to take the item, feeling the beads between her finger and thumb as she settles it in her lap. She swallows thickly as she raises her head up to the man and woman sitting in front of her, watching her expectedly. She blinks out of her daze, anxious as her stomach swirled uncomfortably, her conversation with Norm now practically trying to beat its way out of her skull with how loud the words pounded in her head, an awful reminder of what the gift was clearly meant to represent. She remembers the fears she expressed to Norm if she accepted Ronal and Tonowari, recalling her insecurities about her appearance, stature, and infertility. Despite wanting to spare the couple from that, she also didn't want to turn down their thoughtful gift.
She tries to express her gratitude in her small nod toward Ronal, "Thank you."
Ronal simply huffs, ears twitching once at Kayla's response as her large hand reaches forward and pinches the worn hem of the avatar's crop top, "Your clothes have seen better days. And as someone who wishes to be part of the People, You could use clothes made for the People."
~~~~~~~~~
Even though she now had a new top in her possession, Kayla didn't wear it, sticking to her old crop top. She knew wearing it would mean accepting it. It would mean something else, something she wasn't entirely ready to admit to herself or anyone.
If either Ronal or Tonowari was disappointed that she wasn't wearing their gift the next day, they didn't show it, and Kayla honestly wasn't sure if she was relieved by that or not. She tries to ignore it as Jake visits her marui to talk about certain events that unfolded with the Omatikaya while he had been away. She catches him up to speed as much as possible, her brain wracking with all the information she had been dumped with as the messenger between her brother and his old clan.
Their discussion is eventually interrupted by the sound of anxious feet kicking up sand outside, followed by shouting, "Makayla! Makayla! Look! Something's happening to Spider!"
It was like a ball of lead dropped down her stomach as panic ambushed all her senses. Before Kayla could even run out of the pod, however, three teenagers come hurtling inside, some more panicked than others. Kayla first spotted Tsireya, the reef girl's concern as clear as day on her young, sweet face. Her larger hands tugged Spider along with her, the human teenaged boy looking a bit flushed and closed-off, shoulders hunching as if he was trying to look small, or at least smaller than he already was compared to the Na'vi standing all around him.
Ao'nung was the third teenager, and he was standing directly behind his sister and Spider, towering over the pair. Despite the hard expression, his ears were flicking wildly around, almost as fast as his eyes as he looked between Spider and up at Kayla, just as concerned as Tsireya, who was now frantically turning Spider around in her grasp as he tried to yelp and swat at her. Spider clearly wasn't trying to harm her, however, as she then displayed his back to the two adults in the room, "See!"
All worry drains from Kayla as she fights to keep her expression neutral, despite the growing amusement in her chest when she notices Spider's pink and peeling skin. Not wanting to appear as though she was mocking Tsireya's panicked state with laughter, the older woman bites the inside of her cheek to keep back a smile that threatened to appear as she peers down at the child she was responsible for.
"Spider, I told you to put on sunscreen."
"I did!" He exclaimed defiantly, his face flushed with pink underneath his mask, likely out of shame and embarrassment then a small sunburn.
"And did you reapply any as needed? That stuff only lasts a few hours, you know."
He pointedly avoided Kayla's gaze, still indignant and refusing to reply, keeping his back to her as Kayla hummed, now letting a smirk grace her face, "That's what I thought. You might be fine now, but if you don't start properly treating your skin at a young age, you'll just run into problems when you're older, like skin cancer."
Jake was just as easily entertained by the concerned reef children and Spider's embarrassment, standing off to the side as his tail flicked behind him with interest. He glances between Kayla and Spider, one corner of his lips twitching as his eyes stare fondly and, dare I say, proudly at his sister.
Kayla didn't appear to notice Jake as she reached for the tube of sunscreen that now made its home on her kelku's shelf, "Come on. You promised Max."
Spider kept his head lowered, ashamed even as he grumbled a small form of agreement and took the sunscreen from her. This teenager was actually full-blown pouting at Kayla, and it made Jake chuckle in amusement, finally speaking up to reassure the boy, "Don't worry about it, Spider. As humans, Sullys tend to burn way worse than that, so we didn't get much sun as kids. We were pretty pale. One look at Kayla and people used to ask if she was a vampire."
Kayla's brows furrowed as she glanced back at her brother, "Shut up, Jake."
"What's a vampire?" Spider asked curiously, trying to mask his shock toward Jake as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that the older man had just categorized Spider under the Sully family.
"Don't listen to him," Kayla immediately replied as Jake was opening his mouth. One more lighthearted glare from her and the older brother immediately closed his mouth once more, still grinning even as Kayla nodded to Spider and his two shadows, "Now you kids get outta here."
"But," Ao'nung's ears lower, "What about Spider--"
"It's called a sunburn, Ao'nung," Kayla smiles reassuringly, "Humans get them when they're out in the sun too long. It's normal, don't worry."
"I wasn't."
"Mm hm," she smirks, unconvinced as she nods to the open doorway, "Go on. 'Git."
Jake snorts fondly at Kayla's choice of human words as the three teens leave the marui once more. Both older Sully siblings fall into silence as they watch the children leave, Jake's amusement falling into something more thoughtful as he struggles to find the right words, "The kid looks good. You did good."
"I didn't do anything." Kayla brushes his comment off, moving back to the mat she had been previously kneeling on.
"No, I mean... you did right by him. You fought for him when no one else did. He's a good kid," Jake tried expressing how proud he was of his sister without using those exact words, knowing she wouldn't accept them, least of all from him. They sit across from each other, a small lit fire between them as Jake's voice lowers, "He's lucky to have you as his mom."
Her eyes quickly glance up at him and immediately narrow, "I'm not--"
"Kayla, come on. He relies on you. He looks up to you. I know that look better than most. He's trying very hard to live up to you... and part of me thinks he got that from watching Neteyam and Lo'ak."
Slowly, her defensive stance melts as her words soften, "Jake. Hey, stop. Don't do that."
He wasn't sure what she was implying until he realized his vision was blurry, obstructing her face from what was only a few feet from him. Jake immediately blinked and cleared his throat, his voice still tight, "We talked. Me and Lo'ak."
"That's good."
"Yeah... I just wish I had done it sooner. If I did, maybe Neteyam--"
"Don't," She could do nothing else but shake her head at him, "We all carry some form of regret. Just focus on now."
~~~~~~~~~
That night, she found herself adding yet another bead to her songcord, only this time, she successfully weaves it into the growing waytelem all by herself. It was a bead she had seen Spider wear in his hair before but had recently replaced with yet another shell both Tsireya and Tuk had been finding for him. Kayla wouldn't think Spider would notice if he was missing a bead, but she still kept her newfound piece for her songcord a secret, immediately tucking it away once she was finished applying it just as Spider was returning home for the night. He looked exhausted, spending most of the day with Tsireya and Kiri as the two girls appeared adamant about teaching him the ways of the Metkayina. Rotxo had eventually joined them and then what was once a lesson had quickly grown into a game.
Kiri and Spider decided to try to teach the two reef children a human game they had learned from Jake when they were little, and so Spider quickly found himself on Rotxo's shoulders while Tsireya was on Kiri's. They must have played 'Chicken Fight' for hours, both Tsireya and Rotxo enticed by the simple game of trying to wrestle their competitor into the water, despite being confused about what exactly a chicken was. Neither Kiri nor Spider could answer. They didn't know either.
Since Spider was smaller, he couldn't imagine lifting either of the Metkayina teenagers, but he'd already had practice with Kiri, so he had managed to hold her up on his shoulders for a round or two, but it still had his back feeling sore by the time he walked home. His hand was crossing over his chest and rubbing the opposite shoulder as he walked into the kelku, met with Kayla working on something in her hands before she tucked it away in her pocket, her hands now focused on cooking some fish over the hearth's fire.
"Hey," she smiled when she looked up to greet him, "How was your day?"
"Good. Tired," he responds shortly, sitting down across from her as he looks into the smoldering fire. A sheepish expression flashes over his face for a moment as he lets his thoughts get the better of him, speaking quietly in case he shouldn't be asking, "So... what am I supposed to call you?"
Her brows furrow in confusion, shadows from the fire dancing over her face, "Huh?"
"It's just that..." he ducks his head, "You don't want me calling you Kayla forever, right?"
Realization dawns on her face when she finally deduces what he is trying to say, her surprise melting into contempt as she replies, "You're not supposed to call me anything other than what you're comfortable with."
He peers up at her with a soft frown, "Again, you're being too understanding. You're not helping my case in believing I could kill in front of you and you wouldn't bat an eye."
"Smartass," she laughed, eliciting a smile to form on Spider's face at the sound. Kayla's nose scrunched up as she smiled back, "You can just call me Kayla if you want. It'll be all up to you for once."
It might not have been the answer he was expecting, but it was one he greatly appreciated and thought long and hard on.
~~~~~~~~~
Spider thought about Kayla's response as he and the Sully children were listening in on Jake, Neytiri, and Kayla as they argued one afternoon in hushed voices in the security of the Sully marui. Apparently, Kayla had done Neytiri wrong by bringing Spider back to Awa'atlu, and while she had kept her mouth closed about her distaste, it all came to a head when Spider had taken Tuk for a small swim without her consent.
It was his fault, and while Spider had initially tried to take the blame, Kayla had shot him down and told the kids to go look for Tsireya for the evening and let the adults talk alone. Obviously, the children weren't about to do that and snuck around behind the marui to snoop on their parents' conversation, ducking their heads to peer underneath the wall so they could see the three adults.
"What if she got hurt? What could he possibly do to help her?" Neytiri had hissed to both her husband and his sister, Spider's guardian, "I do not want my baby to be by herself, let alone left with him."
"Spider's responsible," Kayla defended her charge with her arms crossed and glare pinpointed at her sister-in-law, "And yes, he should've asked, but that doesn't mean he's a bad kid, Neytiri. Kids forget things. It happens."
"And when children die, does it just 'happen?'" Neytiri snipes back, clear grief and anger mixing her pools of yellow eyes.
"It does when someone holds a knife to their throat," Kayla hisses, quick as lightning with her reply as her tail flicks sporadically behind her, "As you likely knew when you did so to Spider."
Kiri's hand snakes up and grips tightly onto Spider's shoulder, both of them doing their best to keep their breathing slow and quiet so the adults they were eavesdropping on wouldn't hear them. Lo'ak makes a point to keep a hand over Tuk's mouth from off to the side of them. Spider swallows thickly as Kayla's retort bounces around in his head, the memory of Neytiri putting him in harm's way still always lingering whenever he looks at her, his hand unconsciously rising to trace the scar on his chest. The way Kiri was gripping his shoulder, he knew she was thinking the same thing.
"Enough," Jake alleviates as gently as possible, a permanent dent in his forehead from his eyebrows wrinkling with concern and desperation about the well-being of his family members. He glances between his wife and his sister before settling on Neytiri, "Spider isn't a danger to anyone, baby. You know this. He grew up with our children."
"You have never, not once, disagreed with me about the boy until now," Neytiri sneered back, betrayal evident in her eyes as she glanced between Jake and Kayla, "Until she decided to keep him like some pet and bring him around our children."
"Spider is not a pet," Jake retorts softly, his eyes unable to meet hers as her words only made his guilt stronger in his gut, regretting all those years he should've fought for an innocent child.
"And he's not her son," Neytiri growled lowly, "She's not his mother."
Spider watches Kayla's expression fall along with her ears and tail, the sight alone causing an unexpecting wave of rage to wash through him. He barely even thinks, a split-second decision made as he pulls out of Kiri's grip and stomps out of hiding, reentering the marui and pointing an accusing finger right up at Neytiri, venom in his voice as he was quick to defend Kayla, "Then by your logic, Kiri isn't your daughter."
The room falls into intense silence as all three adults zone in on Spider, all of them surprised by his reappearance, their ears falling with shame as all of the children come out of hiding, revealing they had heard everything just by looks alone. Neytiri felt as though she was between a rock and a hard place as she stared into each of her children's disappointed eyes before landing back on Spider, who didn't appear to be done with her,
"If Kiri was born a human, would you have loved her?" The question stuns Neytiri into silence, though she subtly glances at her eldest daughter as Spider continues, "Because that was always your excuse to avoid me. Because I was human. The thing is, I don't think you wouldn't love Kiri any less if she was human. She was born of Dr. Augustine, someone you loved very much."
The name makes Jake wince and Kiri's ears lower, her eyes wet and internally pleading with Neytiri as she stares up at her adoptive mother. Kayla felt as though she couldn't breathe, staring down at the boy she took in with disbelief, unable to blink in case he suddenly disappeared. She was surprised by his quick words in defense of her, unable to stop this small wave of pride desperately wanting to display on her face.
Spider shakes his head as he continues, defeat in his voice after finally accepting the truth for the first time ever in his life, "But if she were human? It wouldn't have mattered. Because you don't actually hate all humans. You just hate me... because of the man who helped create me."
Neytiri's expression settles back into someone filled with anger and takes one step toward him, but only gets one step before Kayla suddenly stands in front of Spider, blocking her path. Both women stare one another dead in the eyes with a deep snarl escaping both of their lips, ready for blood if need be and visibly making Jake and the children uneasy. Spider felt his body move before his mind could catch up, and without a thought, he stepped forward and stood close to Kayla's side, half covered by her body as if hiding from Neytiri.
Kayla's eyes didn't even blink as she glared at her sister-in-law, her voice deep and grinding like gravel, "If you know what's best for you, you'll leave him alone. You will never hurt Spider again."
Jake would've been impressed by the deep, protective growl his sister lets out if it wasn't for the fact that it was directed at his mate. In other words, the sound intimidated him and he genuinely worried for Neytiri if she didn't back down. He noticed his own kids flinch as well, and a faint memory of them reacting poorly to Neytiri's ferociousness against Quaritch only made him want to defuse the situation even more. He understands that Kayla was just protecting Spider, much like how he knew Neytiri would protect her own children, but he didn't want this ending with the two women he valued most in life to continue being at each other's throats.
Spider looked up at Jake, and whatever expression he saw on the older man's face made him understand what he was thinking. Wordlessly, Spider reached his hand up and gently settled it on Kayla's arm. Jake felt the tension in his own shoulders melt as Kayla's posture began to relax, her tail still flicking irritably, but she had stopped baring her fangs and now only looked at Neytiri with disappointment instead of pure hatred.
"What you went through-- what the Sky People put you through, I understand," she starts out, "I understand why you're hostile to humans. But loss and pain don't excuse the neglect and pure hatred directed toward an innocent child. Spider didn't kill your sister or your father. He didn't destroy your home. Your hostility is directed at the wrong person and he doesn't deserve it."
Neytiri scoffed with sharp fangs, her words not as heated but also still hurting Spider like the knife that was once cut along his chest, "He spared the life of the man who destroyed my home, who killed my father and was behind the death of my son--"
"You were the one who told me Eywa only protects the balance of life," Kayla raised her chin, "You said it yourself. A son for a son. Quaritch already paid for Neteyam's death, even if he didn't die in return. Quaritch will get what's coming to him, in time, but it won't be by harming Spider."
Neytiri stares at Kayla for a good long while, her hatred slowly sinking back down beneath her skin as defeat and grief replace it once more. She takes one look back down at Spider and scoffs, but more quietly than before. Eventually, she turns and looks away, ending the conversation with her back toward them as her mind runs rampant with conflicting thoughts.
~~~~~~~~~
Tsireya noticed the obvious tension among the Sully family immediately. It wasn't hard, really, but one morning, they seemed happy and content, but then the next, they were clearly avoiding one another, or at least the adults were. The chief's daughter noticed the distaste that appeared to stick permanently on Neytiri's face as she followed Ronal out into the water astride a pair of ilu. Tsireya didn't dare try and calm whatever storm was brewing in Neytiri's mind that day, knowing that her mother would quickly straighten it out.
So, Tsireya decides to calm whatever storm was in Kayla's head, since the other Sully female appeared to be just as irritated with something that likely involved Neytiri since they were both being kept far away from each other, by Jake and the children. Tsireya finds Kayla and politely asks if she could accompany her to the crafting pods today. Kayla followed the young reef girl without question and together they walked toward the huts where Kayla had first officially met Tsireya.
Tsireya didn't waste any time once they arrived. Taking Kayla's hand, she lures the older woman around the large circle of Metkayina who were crafting various different items and stops her in front of one particular Na'vi she had been dying to introduce Kayla to, "Makayla, this is Rutxa. They are our very best weaver, in both crafting and story-telling."
Ruxta looked up at the mention of their name and sharp blue eyes immediately landed on Kayla. Standing to full height, they stood over Kayla by about an inch, clearly more built around the shoulders and legs. Their crafting which Tsireya swears by is obviously shown in their clothes, wearing a beautiful, sharp lapis blue top that wraps around their neck, chest, and back, woven through a cummerbund similar to any Metkayina warrior. The cummerbund was strapped over only one shoulder and decorated with both shells and akula teeth. Rutxa's loincloth was a lighter, aqua color, made of dried seaweed, and decorated with a very long and impressive songcord. Tattoos peek out of Ruxta's clothing and wrap around their shoulders and back, a smaller one inked around their left eye, accentuating their lagoon blue skin.
"Ah, so I finally get to meet the famous dreamwalker everyone is talking about." Ruxta's smile is wide and cat-like, which automatically sets off something in the back of Kayla's mind.
"Everyone?" Kayla asked, slightly suspicious.
"Don't listen to them, Makayla," Tsireya tugged Kayla's hand so the older woman would look down at her, the reef girl's smile was playful, "Rutxa tends to fabricate a lot of stories."
Ruxta flashes a knowing look down at Tsireya, a look only an adult could possess when talking to someone younger, "Child, if I recall, you used to eat up my stories when you had yet to learn how to speak."
Kayla had never seen Tsireya this giddy before, giggling to herself with a small, amused roll of her eyes in Rutxa's direction before the reef girl tugged Kayla's hand until she was kneeling down between herself and the Metkayina weaver. The three of them crouching together in a small circle, they get to work as Rutxa shows Kayla the best weaving techniques, a feat that the avatar woman had yet to master. Tsireya smiles and watches as Kayla is suddenly dragged into a discussion about the best ways to weave a story as her hands move to bead together a lovely top without having to think about it much, Ruxta easily gets the proper responses from the dreamwalker and even a few stories of her own from her homeworld that intrigued the weaver.
Tsireya took a look outside to determine the time of day before she had to regrettably part ways to find Lo'ak and Spider for their lessons. The reef girl stands and respectfully bows her hand to both Kayla and Ruxta with a sweet smile before exchanging pleasantries and leaving the pod, waving over her shoulder at the pair before disappearing.
Kayla smiled while watching her go before lowering her gaze to continue her work, only to realize a separate gaze was now carefully watching her. She glanced up and noticed Rutxa had not returned to their work and was comfortable just staring at Kayla with a knowing expression. Once they realized Kayla had noticed them, Rutxa flicks their eyes over to the entrance of the pod that Tsireya had just exited through,
"She adores you."
Kayla looks back down at her work, smiling to herself, "I adore her. She's a very sweet and kind person."
"She speaks very highly of you, as does her sa'sem."
The mention of Ronal and Tonowari forces Kayla's hands to pause around the top she had successfully made. It was too small for her, but Rutxa insisted on starting small, so perhaps it could be gifted to a child of the village... if they would want something made by Kayla. The brief distraction doesn't last long as the thought of the clan leaders drives Kayla's ears to flick with interest, even as her eyes downcast, "Their respect is misplaced."
"Is it?" Rutxa hummed while leaning back on the balls of their feet, watching Kayla's expression carefully, "They are grateful to you. We all are. After all, you did save our tsahik's life."
Both her ears and her tail perk up in attention, her eyes slowly following as her brows furrow in confusion, "What?"
"She claimed that you saved her against the Sky People at Three Brothers Rock. You took down another demon and their ikran without even thinking before you flew away."
Kayla's tail leisurely sways as she ponders this, thinking back to that battle, to all the times she had killed a Sky Person or a Recom. She remembered Thena had feasted on one's head when they crashed in the sky, and then there was one shooting into the water... was that the moment Rutxa spoke of? Did Kayla save Ronal's life? She couldn't recall if she saw the tsahik at that moment, everything going so fast and Kayla barely had time to react or else she might've found herself getting hurt or worse. It was difficult to remember any particular point she might have seen either Ronal or Tonowari during the battle, that is before they saved her from drowning and then brought her to Neteyam...
She stops that thought process before it could even begin, sucking in a quiet, sharp breath when another takes over. Was it possible that Ronal and Tonowari were only treating her differently like Rutxa claims? Because she saved Ronal's life? Because they were grateful? Most of the things the clan leaders said or did that made Kayla question their motives only happened after the battle. It couldn't have been a coincidence... could it? Maybe they didn't care for her like Norm and even Spider claimed... so then why didn't she feel relieved? Why did the bottom of her stomach feel like lead?
She swallowed thickly, her jaw visibly clenching as she stared down at the newly woven top, "The praise should go to my brother as Toruk Makto."
Ruxta snorts through their nose, the sound bouncing through Kayla's ears, "Believe me, the whole village is aware of the demanded respect between Toruk Makto and his sister."
"I doubt it," Kayla muttered, "When I hear the village whisper about us, they call us Vrrtep Mesmuk."
"Ah, yes," they hum thoughtfully, "I can understand how that would be seen as an insult. And perhaps it was at the start, but not for some time. After we fought the Sky People with you and your brother by our side, many Metkayina now use your title as a sign of respect. We are honored to have fought beside Vrrtep Mesmuk, and we hope to spread stories of you and your brother to other clans as well. Your brother is Toruk Makto after all, and the story of Toruk Makto is meant to bring all Na'vi together in times of war or sorrow."
Kayla wasn't entirely convinced by this change in behavior, but it was a comforting thought to think, if only for a moment, that the Metkayina were starting to grow and respect her family for who they were and not just what they represented. At the very least... Rutxa didn't seem like the type of person who cared whether or not she was some sort of demon possessing a deformed body,
"I'm almost afraid to ask what kind of stories you plan on sharing."
Ruxta puffs out their chest, voice playful, "I will have you know I am an excellent storyteller. I was already weaving the tale of a dreamwalker who flew back to our village after a large, victorious battle with a demon child in her arms."
The smile that once threatened to make an appearance falls as Kayla is quick to defend the demon child in question, "That child's name is Spider."
Rutxa catches the tone of her voice and eyes her carefully, "That is an odd name for a child."
She wasn't expecting that response, and it surprised a small laugh out of her, "It's not a conventional name among my kind either, but it's the one he chose and the only name I need to know."
A small wave of understanding flows between the pair, a recognition of respect shining in Rutxa's eyes as they smirk gently, "From what I hear about the Sky People, they are not very understanding of culture outside of their own. I am pleased to see that not all Sky People are like that."
"No," she agreed with a warm smile, "Not all."
~~~~~~~~~
Despite coming to many revelations, only to be riddled with just as many questions, Kayla still found time to be with Ronal and Tonowari, just the three of them. Even though every bone in her body told her to refuse and avoid their presence, she found that her feet were still walking in the direction that Tonowari had instructed her to meet them after their evening meal.
She tried to come up with excuses in her head as to why they wanted her to join them at night. Perhaps it was under the guise that all three of them had been extremely busy ever since Kayla and Spider returned, but that still didn't make her feel better, knowing that to want to spend time with her meant that they cared for her in some way shape, or form. And even though she logically didn't want that... she couldn't ignore certain other parts of her that were seemingly devoid of logic. Parts of her wanted to believe that they wanted her around for something besides gratitude, besides wanting to keep an eye on her or wanting her to do her part and not be useless to their village.
She finds them standing along the beach where they told her to meet them, their toes dipped into the bioluminescent sand, creating a rippling galaxy beneath their very feet. Kayla can't help but think of the Milky Way, a long line of clustered stars lining the island where the sand meets the ocean. Ronal and Tonowari stood at the center of the cluster of stars, immovable planets that demand others to revolve around them, and in a way, Kayla found herself doing just that, moving toward them like an unforeseen gravity pulling her in.
Tonowari was watching her approach while Ronal was looking up at the sky, watching that familiar, beautiful gas giant with the large crater glaring down at them. Kayla was now standing close enough where she could count the tattoos on both of their faces, so she stopped, deciding that this would have to be close enough, a few feet away, just out of arm's reach. It was for the better.
Tonowari watched as Kayla peered up into the sky, watching the same gas giant as Ronal before the chief spoke up, "It is Naranawm. 'Great Eye.'"
Kayla hummed in understanding, "My people call it Polyphemus, named after a cyclops."
Both pairs of Metkayina eyes are now trained on her, Kayla's ears tucking close to her head out of embarrassment while she shyly explains herself, "It's uh... it's a mythological creature from my homeworld. The Cyclops is a man-eating giant with only one eye at the center of its face."
"That is barbaric." Ronal simply states with a scrunched nose.
A breath of a laugh escapes Kayla, "And yet, you guys have man-eating creatures here that are considered the stuff of nightmares where I'm from. Polyphemus was one of the pretty popular in one or two stories. His father was the god of the sea-- or something like that."
"God of the sea?" Tonowari tilts his head with interest.
Kayla nods, deciding that it would be inappropriate to share how she imagined Poseidon to look like Tonowari if such a benevolent god existed, "Yeah. Um... depending on what part of Earth you lived on, your faith in certain deities varies. Polyphemus stems from Greek mythology and the Greeks believed in multiple gods, Poseidon being one of them. He was the god of the sea."
"What deity did your part of the world believe in?"
"One god, like Eywa..." Kayla shivered at distant memories of religious trauma, "Only the Great Mother tends to sound kinder."
~~~~~~~~~
Another night, another moment of silent contempt between them. Kayla walked away from that night feeling both lighter and full of anxiety. She almost wanted to demand exactly what Ronal and Tonowari wanted from her, but at the same, they appeared content with the way things are right now, and maybe that was enough for her, too. Then again, she was confusing and frustrating herself with trying to figure out the clan leaders' motives. Wanting to try and distract herself from her rampaging thoughts, she decides to keep herself busy.
By the end of the week, Kayla finds herself barely resting apart from at night. She found time with Ronal by helping her gather any healing or cooking ingredients from high up in the trees where the tsahik would have normally struggled to grab herself. Other times, she was helping Ao'nung and Tonowari hunt and fish. When she wasn't doing that, she was helping both the tsahik and the olo'eyktan with weaving fishing nets, descaling their catches, or carving out a new canoe. Tasks like this usually left a healthy sheen of sweat on her skin, and whether she realized it or not, Ronal and Tonowari's eyes lingered on her even longer during these moments. Kayla would've thought her body was heating up under their gaze if it wasn't for the fact her body was already warm from a hard day's work.
While it's not much of a chore, Kayla still finds herself busy in Tsireya's presence, the reef girl always constantly dragging her around for certain things, like deep diving with Lo'ak or hunting for the most perfect shells with Tuk and Kiri. Sometimes, it was to even help her teach Spider the way of water. While he couldn't learn very much without the use of a kuru, Tsireya still thought it would be important for him to learn how to hold his breath as long as a Metkayina, in case of emergencies where he might lose his mask and didn't have a spare. Kayla strongly agreed with this sentiment and was honestly touched by Tsireya's thoughtfulness.
Spider was a little amused and even bravely teased Tsireya, asking her if she was worried about him, to which she smiled and lightheartedly smacked him upside the head, driving Kayla into small, fond fits of laughter.
When she wasn't busy with all of those things, she found herself in the presence of at least half a dozen children, children who were eager to learn common English.
She wasn't sure how she got pulled into being a teacher, but once Jake caught wind of it, he was also supportive of the idea. Both he and Kayla silently agree that, after what the children had all been through as of late, it might be important for them to know certain Earth customs, writing, and language. While the Sully children are already bilingual -multilingual now that they have the Metkayina's sign language and tulkun speak under their belt- they do not know how to write the language of the Sky People and the reef children who befriended them even less so. The Sully children, Spider, Ao'nung, Tsireya, and Rotxo had all come to a silent agreement that they wanted Kayla to teach them, and while she wasn't sure why, she didn't want to disappoint them.
Spider found himself being her assistant since he already knew how to read and write, giving helpful advice and even translating some of the things Kayla said as some of the information was hard to initially grasp in fluent Na'vi. The Sully children were able to understand, but when it came to the reef children, let's just say they were grateful Spider was better at speaking Na'vi than Kayla.
While she suspected who taught Spider how to read and write, she didn't want to ask, knowing it was likely a touchy subject to him. She discovers fairly quickly that there's still one too many things the teenager refuses to talk about, and while she was fine with that and respected his boundaries, there were times when her curiosity nearly got the best of her. Nearly.
There are times when she remembers how much this kid has gone through in his short sixteen years of life, it makes her head spin. Other times, she remembers that he's still just a kid, like one particular afternoon as Kayla and Spider were outside of their marui and making their first fishnet together.
"Spider."
He looks up at his name, surprised when he realizes who it was that called to him. Ronal was staring expectedly at him, and behind her was Tonowari, a tall and strong pillar of strength, holding a familiar weapon in his hand that looked far too small for the olo'eyktan. However, it was the perfect size for Spider.
The teenager finds himself standing to his full height and hesitantly stepping toward the clan leaders, his eyes widening at the sight of a beautifully made bow, already strung and adorning lovely feathers and leather grip, "Is that...?"
Tonowari smiles solemnly, bending down to Spider's height and passing the bow along to him, "For you. We hope it is to your liking."
Kayla felt the soft hint of a smile beginning to form on her lips as she watched Spider take the long bow from Tonowari as if it were a precious child or an injured animal. Spider's hands immediately moved to test the strength of the weapon, fingers gliding across the fine craftsmanship before his eyes peered up at the Metkayina clan leaders, unable to stop the doubt and suspicion in his gaze,
"You made this for me?"
Ronal's expression remains neutral, calculating, ever the one to point out the obvious, "You needed one."
And Tonowari is always the one to soften her bold statements, "We wanted to make it right and to your size."
"So we had Neytiri help us," Ronal finished.
Both Kayla and Spider visibly stiffen at this bit of information, both adult and teenager frowning with even more suspicion than before, much to the clan leaders' internal distress since that was not their intent. Ronal, despite her audaciousness, wasn't trying to upset either of them and hoped that she didn't say anything wrong. The tsahik was constantly at war in her mind, reminding herself to stay open-minded about other sawtute if she wanted Kayla and Spider to be a part of her family's lives, but it was difficult to keep her mind open when the dead image of Ro'a and her baby was stitched permanently in her memory.
Despite her conflicted emotions, she didn't want Spider or even Kayla to believe she was disgusted by them. Quite the opposite. In fact, whenever she looked at them, she would sometimes forget they were both human. It was easier to forget when Kayla possessed the body of a Na'vi, but with Spider, he held himself like one, despite being cursed in the body he was born in. Ronal couldn't fault a child for that, least of all Spider. Nevertheless, Ronal was tsahik, and her expertise lies with Eywa. Even if Ronal had some doubt about Kayla and the child she was responsible for, which she no longer possessed, Eywa clearly saw something in them that she didn't yet.
Spider's next words were more of a statement than a question, "She helped you."
"Yes," Ronal nodded, trying to calm whatever doubt was clearly evident in the child's eyes, "She is an expert at archery. A skilled warrior. We thought she could help us make this for you."
"Yeah..." He stares down at his new bow, though his mind is far away, back over the ocean and somewhere in the forest. He was thinking about all the times he was a kid, practicing his archery skills, away from prying eyes, wanting to be the best... wanting to be like Neytiri. Back then, he really thought she would accept him if he strived to be like her. After some time, as he grew up, he started to realize that she would never accept him, but that didn't stop him from being very skilled with a bow. He was easily the most skilled with it out of every human currently living on Pandora, and while he no longer strived to impress Neytiri, he had taken the bow as his own, not wanting his true talent to go to waste.
He thought he had lost that talent when he lost his bow, and he even voiced how much he missed it when Kayla had brought him to speak to the clan leaders all those weeks ago. As he inspected the one now secured in his hands, he couldn't help but feel touched that Ronal and Tonowari remembered something he said once in passing.
Instead of voicing his thoughts, Spider looked up at Ronal and Tonowari, gratitude evident in his smile, "Irayo. This... this is amazing. I appreciate it."
Regardless of how she felt toward Neytiri, Kayla also felt herself smiling in gratitude, making sure to look directly at both Ronal and Tonowari so they knew it, too.
~~~~~~~~~
One must enjoy the little things in life.
Kayla remembers that phrase from somewhere back on Earth, and it sticks to the front of her mind as she's teaching her nieces, nephews, and their friends how to spell their names in the English alphabet. A task she once found tedious when she was a child was now a bright and shining moment she could witness in other children.
Although if she were to voice how much she regretted not enjoying how to spell her own name as a kid, Jake would've reminded her that her teacher was awful and the bastard forced her to use her right hand to spell her name even when she was more comfortable using her left. Her learning experiences were vastly different from what Lo'ak, Kiri, Tuk, and their friends were used to, and Kayla wanted to keep it that way.
She tries to enjoy the little things in life, like the way Ronal looks while watching her teach. The tsahik was standing just outside the entryway of Kayla's pod, silent to not interrupt, only to observe. Kayla didn't want to believe Ronal was chaperoning her but was just curious as to what all the fuss was about.
Kayla wasn't far off. Ronal has been subjected to Tsireya's ramblings every evening, gushing over how fun it is to learn a new language. Ao'nung isn't as expressive, and yet, he still keeps disappearing to Kayla's kelku with the rest of the children when it's time to learn. Even Tonowari has gone to see what's so interesting about Kayla's lessons, and when he came back the night before, he expressed how intriguing it was and urged Ronal to see for herself.
She had failed to see what her mate found intriguing about these lessons. All Kayla did was have the children repeat everything she said and then ask them to write her lessons down to prove that they had been paying attention. However, the mood shifts when Kayla goes to each child and helps them spell out each of their own, personal names, using a tawtute device she calls a datapad. Everyone appeared excited to use what they learned to see their own name on a screen, and while Ronal didn't understand why, she didn't verbally complain. Regardless of how she felt, it clearly made Makayla happy, her lips almost permanently smiling as she watched every child's reaction when they spelled their name right.
Once Kayla dismissed the kids for the day to do their afternoon chores, it left her and Ronal alone in her marui, and before Kayla could ask what the other woman was thinking, she already had a question in mind, "Why teach them?"
Kayla tilts her head, curious, "What do you mean?"
"Why do they need to write stories and history when we already express our stories and history through our songcords?"
"It's... it's a little different," she found herself sputtering for the best way to explain, ears darkening a shade as she tried to find her words, "I mean-- well, I guess for Sky People, writing our names is like having a songcord. Every person's handwriting is unique. It's personal. It's their identity."
While Ronal stands there, unconvinced, Kayla is still smiling and hellbent on showing the other woman what she means, "Here, just-- Let me show you."
She presents the datapad, and Ronal frowns at the sight of the alien device. Kayla writes something on the screen and beams when showing it to her, "This is what my name looks like written in English."
Not that Ronal could read exactly what was written on the screen, but the thought of Makayla's name scrawled in soft swirls and sharp edges intrigued her. Ronal stared at the screen, tilting her head with interest. The image was long, the shapes toward the end growing smaller as if Kayla realized she was running out of space.
Kayla smiled when she recognized the interest floating in Ronal's eyes, "Can I write your name?"
The tsahik nods once and Kayla turns the datapad back on herself as her finger presses down and erases her name, scrawling down another image -another name- and flipping it back over to show to Ronal. Again, the Na'vi woman couldn't read it, but since she knew it was meant to be her name, she understood why it felt so meaningful to Kayla that she wanted to teach the children how to do the same. Ronal could finally see the appeal, especially since it was Kayla's hand that wrote out Ronal's name. It gave the name a whole new meaning to the tsahik to have it be written by the other woman's finger.
"Just yesterday, Lo'ak asked me to show him how to spell and write Neteyam's name so he could carve it into a bracelet he intends to make," the mood shifts to something dire and sad, Kayla's smile less bright than before as she quietly explained, "That's why I wanted the other kids to learn. It's just nice to have your own identity written out like this. Where I'm from, people often get tattoos of their loved ones' names when they die."
That image wasn't as impossible to imagine as others. Perhaps it was because she had tattoos of her own, but Ronal could understand why the Sky People would ink their skin with the names of their lost loved ones. It was different compared to why the Metkayina bore tattoos, but it was just as important nevertheless.
She studied Kayla's face carefully, wondering what she would look like if she bore Metkayina tattoos-- or wore her hair the way Metkayina women would. The thought brings the tsahik to study Kayla's hair, her mouth, once again, saying the first thing that comes to mind without really even thinking about it,
"Your braids need to be redone."
"Yeah?" Kayla's sad spell is broken as she reaches up to feel the top of her head, feeling the roots that have grown out, unbraided compared to the rest of her locks. A sheepish smile falls across her lips, "I guess it's been a while."
A split-second decision was made as Ronal moved away to kneel down near the entrance of the marui, waving her hand at the space in front of her, "Come. Sit."
Kayla exhales a quiet huff, lips quirked out of amusement as she sets her datapad down and moves to join Ronal, sitting cross-legged in front of the Na'vi woman and dutifully staying still as she feels larger fingers begin unraveling all of her old, unkempt braids. Ronal's hands were rough and straightforward, making Kayla bite her tongue to refrain from yelping out of pain. Ronal only tsked at her when she noticed Kayla's hands gripping onto her own knees to restrain herself, berating the avatar woman for not keeping up with treating her hair properly. Had she done so, this wouldn't be an issue. Kayla had to scoff at the irony of that, and had she been able to see behind her head, she would've caught Ronal smiling.
Ronal undoes the braids and removes all the beads hidden within. Without a proper comb or a way to soften Kayla's hair, Ronal used her tsahik knife, whittled to a pointed tip and protected by the shell adornment she often kept around her neck. She uses the pointed tip as a comb pick, unknotting the roughest spots in Kayla's long hair, being careful around her ears and kuru.
The sight of the tswin braid entices Ronal, hands pausing around the base of Kayla's skull, fingers still threaded in the other woman's hair. Ronal eyes the large, singular braid for a long moment before continuing her work, but any time her fingers gently graze the sensitive appendage, she revels the sight of Kayla's skin rising in small, soft bumps.
Kayla did her best to stay still, keeping her back ramrod straight in an attempt to restrain the shiver she felt going up her spine each time Ronal's fingers passed over her kuru. Kayla wasn't an idiot. She knows how sensitive that spot is for all Na'vi and how important it is for their way of life. Still, she hadn't initially thought about it when Ronal instructed her to sit down as she did her hair. Had she thought it through, Kayla might not have agreed, knowing how... serene and intimate it would feel to have the other woman redo her hair, to trust her to be careful around a very sensitive spot.
It appears Eywa intends to torture Kayla to no end today as a shadow looms over the entry of her kelku. Tonowari peers inside, stopping by in search of his mate once he had noticed all the children have left their lessons, and evidently found something better. He found Kayla as she sat perfectly still, cross-legged, with his mate kneeling behind her, Ronal hovering over the back of her head as the tsahik focused on braiding groups of her hair, one small lock at a time.
As the olo'eyktan stepped into the pod, Kayla realized just how much space he took up in her small home. To Spider, this place was like a studio apartment. For Tonowari, it was more like a walk-in closet.
"Perhaps I can be of help?" Tonowari offered brazenly.
Ronal huffs out through her nose, amused, "It would certainly get the job done faster."
Kayla hummed a tiny laugh, caught in the middle of the pair's playful banter, quite literally as Tonowari took a knee in front of her, leaning down awfully close to her as his hands reached for one side of Kayla's head. She sucks in a sharp, silent breath as she stays still for the clan leaders, Tonowari's hands easily the same size as her whole skull. As if knowing the intimidating size difference, Tonowari was careful with his large hands as he gently pulled and weaved the locks of her hair into small and tight braids. Using the beads Ronal initially took out of Kayla's hair, they return the small adornments to their rightful place, settling more comfortably in the woven locks that put Kayla's human hair to shame.
When Kayla was alone with Ronal, it was easy to hide how flustered she felt since she was facing away from the other woman, able to hide her face. Now, she was forced to notice the heat of both Ronal's and Tonowari's bodies, radiating on her back and her front, essentially trapping her as they silently worked on her hair as a team. She envied their teamwork but was enraptured by it at the same time, something warm in her belly making itself known as the thought of them working together to help her came to mind.
"Thank you."
Her voice felt so small in such a quiet, peaceful moment, unsure of where that gentle tone came from. She cleared her throat out of embarrassment while Tonowari pinned her down with a sweet, gentle smile,
"It is our pleasure."
She doesn't miss the heaviness of those words, whilst simultaneously feeling both of their breaths and bodies so close to hers as they braid her hair. Kayla could feel Ronal's knees pressed against her lower back while one of Tonowari's knees was pressed up against the outside of her thigh. Kayla has to purposely keep her tail wrapped around her own arm in fear that the appendage will betray her and reach out to them. To try and break the silence that lingered far past comfort, she opens her mouth and says the first thing that comes to mind,
"The last time my hair was braided was by Kiri and Tuk. They were trying to teach me how to properly do it myself while also sharing... a very detailed story of how their parents first mated." She snorts sharply.
Ronal hummed quietly to acknowledge her small story, the tsahik's breath gently ghosting small wisps of Kayla's hair as she spoke, "You sound as though the topic made you uncomfortable."
Kayla's nose scrunches up, "I don't know anyone who would want to hear about their brother's nocturnal activities."
"But the topic itself?"
"Uh..."
'Ah, Hell,' was the first thought that came to mind when she realized the type of topic she roped herself into, a topic she would rather share with almost anyone except the two large Na'vi practically trapping her between their bodies, "Sky People don't really talk so casually about that sort of thing."
Tonowari's eyes briefly glance down at her before returning to her hair, "Really?"
"I mean, the ones I hang out with are not as private. Soldiers are often crude that way, but back home it's considered too... gaudy? It's mostly talked about behind closed doors or with people you can trust, but not flat-out strangers. Unless that excites them, I guess. I don't know, everyone's different. But society as a whole back on Earth doesn't like talking about it in public."
Ronal's eyes meet her husband's for a long while, both of their hands simultaneously pausing in Kayla's hair, making her ears straighten in alertness. She was starting to wonder if she had said something wrong before Ronal's hands began to move once more, in sync with her own response, "The Na'vi believe that it is our sworn duty to share and teach just like everything else. We do not shy away from such discussions because we want our children to learn how to be careful and well-informed early on. To give them such responsibility at a young age tends to make them blossom into more mature, respectful adults."
"Huh," Kayla exclaims, mostly to herself, "That explains why Tuk didn't seem shy at all when she talked about it. Any child her age back on Earth would've been mortified."
Tonowari chuckled, finishing one braid before moving on to another clump of her hair, "The more you speak, the more you make sense to us, Makayla te Suli."
"... That sounds like it had two different meanings."
The olo'eyktan makes a deep noise in the back of his throat, eyes meeting Ronal's over the top of Kayla's head, "When you speak about how children are brought up among the Sky People, the more I understand why you do not react the way normal Na'vi do when presented with songcord beads, clothes, and other gifts."
She tries to smile hopefully, but her eyebrows scrunch together with uncertainty, "Is that... a bad thing?"
"No," he shakes his head with a fond, reassuring smile, "It just means we need to be more blunt."
Her stomach flips as though she is freediving from her ikran, her tail briefly twitching in her lap to show off her anxiety before she manages to pull it back under control. She swallowed thickly when her throat suddenly felt dry, her eyes darting away from Tonowari's before they could express something they shouldn't.
Ronal's voice was closer than before, the hairs on the back of Kayla's neck standing up when she felt the other woman breathe directly into her ear, "Do you wish to muntxa si, Makayla?"
She wanted to shy away from Ronal, to raise her shoulder up and pull her head down when the tsahik's close proximity proved to be too much for her nerves to handle. Both clan leaders have completely stopped braiding and have pulled their hands out of her hair, but didn't return their touch to themselves. Instead, their fingers lingered on Kayla, either brushing lightly over her shoulders and knees, places that they deemed respectful enough not to scare her away. When Kayla tries to take a deep breath in, she is suddenly aware of their scents, mixed together as one, invading her nose. She decided that she needed to breathe less, or else she'd go dizzy.
"I'm sorry, I don't remember what that means." Yes, she does, but she thought it almost sounded like a dream. She needed to outright hear it.
Ronal's amusement was evident in her voice even though Kayla couldn't see her, "Do you wish to mate?"
Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth even as she managed to pull through a proper response without giving too much of her inner thoughts away, "I don't think that's on the table for me anytime soon. Or ever."
"Why?"
"Why would it?"
"It could be. If you feel the same for us as we do for you."
"... What?" Kayla now looks directly over her shoulder, regretting it when her nose gently brushed against Ronal's, not realizing just how close the other woman sat behind her. Ronal's hairless brow rises expectedly, eyes shining with mirth and a certain youth Kayla has never seen in her before. For a moment, it reminded her of a giddy Tsireya.
Tonowari was not so easily forgotten either, one of his hands absently brushing some of the new braids over Kayla's shoulder, lingering at the juncture of her neck, causing more goosebumps to rise in his wake as she did her best not to shiver.
It felt as though her mind was running through a hundred thoughts per minute, that fatal organ in her chest betraying any sort of logical thinking trying to make its way into her brain. While Kayla may have looked composed -and a little surprised- on the outside, the inside was riddled with inner turmoil, parts of her body trying to fight for dominance in a nauseating dance. Parts of her blew up like fireworks, overjoyed and celebratory, while the rest of her was filled with anxiety, doubt, and the most unimaginable fear. She wanted to dispute Ronal's words; wanting to refuse and say she did not feel the same, no matter how painful it would be to lie. In her head, Kayla knew it would be for the best. She couldn't be involved with them-- involved in their beautiful lives and slice of paradise, no matter how badly she wanted to.
She wished she could bolt, but realized that these clan leaders were smart, purposely keeping her hostage under their undivided attention to her hair braids and beads, trapping her here underneath their eyes and their words.
"You must have noticed our attempt to court you," Tonowari stated with a knowing expression.
She thinly smiled before it quickly faded, as well as her eagerness to refuse them, "I have, but... I didn't want to assume. You told me to not come off as useless when we first met, so I just... I've just been trying my best to help you both out any way I can so that I'm doing my part for the village. I guess I assumed that you've had me helping you so you could keep an eye on me. "
Tonowari winced, regretting the words he spoke when they first met, knowing that it likely played into why Kayla wasn't as open to his and Ronal's courting, "You are vital to our village now, Makayla. You help this clan flourish and thrive through your kindness and determination. These are traits we admire about you, and it's why we always seek out your company. Not because we think you are useless and need a helping hand."
"But... I am not Metkayina. I am not even Omatikaya. You can deny it all you want, but I'm still one of the Sky People, a dreamwalker," she scoffs with a small look of disdain as she stares off to the side, "No one in their right mind would want to start a family with a demon."
Tonowari tilts his head, "Are you saying Neytiri te Tskaha Mo'at'ite is not of sound mind?"
"That's different," Kayla waves him off, "Jake is different. Jake fully completed his Iknimaya. He passed through the Eye of Eywa and returned, born again in his Na'vi body. He... He can't even be considered a dreamwalker anymore. He buried his demon body a long time ago. I'm not like Jake. I'm still tied to my demon form and my old way of life, a life I don't plan on trying to forget as easily as my brother. My people hate your people."
She then looks back over her shoulder at Ronal, "Up until recently, you hated my people."
"I still do," Ronal corrects, immediately softening her words when she notices shame flash over Kayla's eyes, "But I don't look at you and see the Sky People. I look at you and see Makayla te Suli tsmuke te Toruk Makto. You fought beside us to protect our children. You saved my life. You learned our ways. Your nephew lies with our ancestors. In the Eye of Eywa, you are now Her daughter, even if you still walk Her breast in a demon body."
Kayla's denial was stubborn and eager as she vehemently shook her head with defiance, "My demon body is why you shouldn't choose me as your mate, among so many other things. Unless you're ready to understand my way of life, I don't want to burden you with it. Try to remember that I can't always be here. I'll have to leave sometimes, and it could be weeks on end. It would be difficult being with me."
Her head movement stops the moment a hand the size of her skull gently rises and slips into place, resting on the side of her head. Kayla's eyes widened as Tonowari softly moved her head so that her gaze landed on his, silencing all of her rambling thoughts as she got lost in the blue oceans of his eyes. While he wasn't smiling, he was being genuine, showing his sincerity by speaking as clearly as he possibly could, his booming voice rattling in her head, "The best things in life are usually difficult, but that's why they are so rewarding."
Both of Ronal's hands move to rest on both of Kayla's shoulders now that the avatar's breath is taken away, unable to respond, "If you do not wish for us to pursue you, just say the word, and we'll stop."
That was surprising to Kayla and it got her voice to return, ears moving in all directions out of shock, "Really?"
"Yes," Tonowari assured with a stiff nod, "We would never force you to mate with us, knowing that once you do, it would be for life. But do not try to stop us if you're worried that we would only See a part of you, not all of you. We want to know you better, to understand the world you come from and how you came to be the woman you are today. We have discussed this in detail, and we agree that you are worth many obstacles that will no doubt be in our way."
At the mention of obstacles, a thought crossed her mind, "And that includes Spider, right?"
"Of course it does." He says this confidently, without hesitation.
"Does it?" Her own doubt is replaced with a small barrier of protection, eager to shield the child in her care as she finds herself sternly looking between the two clan leaders, "Because I don't want you to pretend and treat him normally if all you're going to see is a demon child. If you only pretend to See him just to be with me, then I can't accept this. He's my responsibility, and I intend on always putting the kid first from now on."
"We know..." Kayla's spine stiffened, not because of Ronal's words, but because of the tsahik's hand slowly running a soft, barely-there line down her back with the very tips of her fingers, "And we admire you for that. We want Spider in our lives as well."
Tonowari nods in agreement, "The boy is loyal to those who choose to love him and not to those who are simply related to him. He earns his respect and his place here in our village. He is also a child who deserves a family to properly care for him. The Na'vi don't believe in letting children fend for themselves. Even when they have no one left to care for them, the village as a whole makes sure that the child grows up loved. Spider should have been properly adopted by members of the Omatikaya clan ages ago."
"No kidding," Kayla muttered under her breath, a pang of anger beating in her chest, directed at everyone who wronged such a spirited, kind child.
But just like that, those thoughts went away, expunged from her mind at the faint touch of Ronal's hand moving down Kayla's arm. Kayla's fingers twitched with anticipation, but she didn't dare move even as Ronal's fingers slowly entwined with hers. Ronal's fingers move with precision and determination, hooking her smallest finger with Kayla's pinky, the strange extra finger that once disgusted her. Kayla tried to stay perfectly still while the tsahik's voice was still rough in her ear, "If you feel the same for us as we do for you, then say you will perform tsaheylu with us instead of trying to spare us from something you think is not worth fighting for. If you want to say no, then do so for the right reasons."
Kayla sucks in a sharp breath of air before shakily exhaling it out, trying to calm her racing heart. While their reassurances were nice to hear, there was still a sliver of doubt wedged in the back of her mind, smaller than before but still loud, not wanting to be ignored. It reminded her of all her insecurities and hardships that she still needed to work through, and despite Ronal and Tonowari's words, her doubt tried to beat her down and say that they would never be with her every step of the way. Deep down, she will never be one of them, so even if they stayed by her side... it won't be for long because, in the end, everyone always leaves her.
At the same time, her heart was screaming at her to say yes; to agree to everything they were saying because it's obviously all that she wants and more. A family. She never thought she'd gain such a thing by agreeing to learn the ways of the Na'vi. Then again... she didn't think she'd gain anything when she started learning the ways of the Na'vi, and yet here she was, owing it all to her new way of life for what the Metkayina clan leaders were offering her.
In the end, the Na'vi are precisely why she gave her answer as she took a deep breath, "I feel the same. I do. I feel the same for both of you... but I'm not ready. I want to do this right. I want to take this slow. I know I'm asking a lot... with the war coming and your baby on the way. But I want to officially become true Na'vi before anything else. I still haven't completed my Iknimaya. Every person is born twice, right? I have yet to be born a second time; to earn my place among the People forever. Tradition states that only then will I be able to choose a mate, right? You want to learn my ways, but I also want to learn yours. I want to do this right. Let me do this right."
They sat and listened to her, and in the end, wide smiles graced both of their faces. Neither of them appeared disappointed by Kayla's answer. In fact, they almost looked proud of her decision, the expressions on both of their faces would've easily made her knees weak had she been standing.
Ronal's hand squeezes hers, "We accept your terms, Makayla."
"Nothing would make us happier," Tonowari's hand moves, Kayla's ear flicking in the direction of the hand in question but otherwise doesn't acknowledge it. His hand slides off the side of her face, and while her skin now feels cool from where he once was, his fingers trail down the side of her neck and down her shoulder before gently grasping her arm, where his palm immediately warms up her skin once more. Kayla watched his face carefully, noting the way his eyes seemed to scan over her figure, causing a pleasant shiver to run up her spine, her heart giving no indication of slowing down. Finally, Tonowari's deep ocean eyes find her honey-colored ones, and she felt as though she was being sucked into the void as those same eyes started to inch closer and closer.
"May I?"
The breath he lets out with his question brushes over Kayla's chin, her mouth parting slightly as she tries to gain more air to slow her heart rate down. She didn't mean for her eyelashes to flutter, but she definitely caught Tonowari shamelessly watching the act and decided she wasn't ashamed either. She nods once, unable to form a word as he leans closer until she knows that the air she's breathing is his as well. Instinctively, she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.
Her left ear twitched when Tonowari leaned into the side of her face with his, gently rubbing them together as he loudly inhaled a slow, long strain of air through his nose. Kayla opened her eyes, frowning out of curiosity. At first, she thought he was leaning in to kiss her, but it wasn't until Ronal had moved her newly braided hair off her shoulder and started to do the same to the right side of her face that something in her brain finally clicked.
Her nose was bombarded with a mixture of smells now beginning to seep into her skin-- their scents, blended together and with hers, as the way it should be. Kayla felt dizzy, as though their scenting had some sort of drugging effect, but in a desirable way that made her feel high, proud to be branded by these two beautiful Na'vi.
She almost lost her resolve then and there, wanting to forget what she said about waiting, but she managed to push through. Always resilient, but no longer when it came to her future mated pair.
A/N:
Jake: Don't judge my parenting until you become a parent yourself.
Kayla, about to adopt Spider, Ao'nung, Tsireya, and their unborn sibling: 'Aight. Bet.
#tsamsiyu ta'em fic#atwow fics#atwow fic#atwow fanfic#atwow fanfiction#tonowari x oc x ronal#tonowari#tonowari x ronal x oc#tonowari x ronal#ronal x tonowari#ronal#ronal x tonowari x oc#ronal x oc x tonowari#tonowari x oc#ronal x oc#adopted spider#adopted spider socorro#spider socorro
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🦋 — Thigh Riding
✧ 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 : ᴅɪʟꜰ!ᴛᴏɴᴏᴡᴀʀɪ x ꜰᴇᴍ!ᴍᴀᴛᴇ!ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ
✧ 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 : ᴛᴏɴᴏᴡᴀʀɪ ʟᴏᴠᴇꜱ ᴛᴏ ɢɪᴠᴇ ʜɪꜱ ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ ᴡɪꜰᴇ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪꜱ ᴛᴏ ɢɪᴠᴇ, ᴇᴠᴇɴ ɪꜰ ɪᴛ ᴍᴇᴀɴᴛ ʜᴏʟᴅɪɴɢ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ʜɪꜱ ᴏᴡɴ ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴜʀᴇꜱ
MDNI ✯
❈ Warning : Thigh Riding, fingering (f receiving), breast play, soft dom tonowari, edging, tsaheylu making, dry humping.
❈ Word count : 0.8k proof read.
"word" - dialogue
❈ Note : I loveeeeee Tonowari's thighs omgg those damn thiccc thighs! (I want him to squish my face between them)
❈ Glossary : Tweng - loin cloth, Yawne - beloved, paskalin - sweet berry, Muntxate - wife, mawey - calm
ᴋɪɴᴋᴛᴏʙᴇʀ | ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ | ᴛᴀɢʟɪꜱᴛ
Moonlight filtered through the flaps of your mauri as your desperate moans sounded through the thin walls of your shelter, your wet gliding over the expanse of your mate’s thigh, his skin glistening with your juices as your breaths labored with the effort to get some kind of friction, hips rolling over his thick thigh as he squatted in front of your quivering body riding his thigh.
“My My yawne, you really need to cum, huh?” He whispered in your ear as it was pinned back to your skull, your breaths shaking as his large hands rested on your waist, guiding your hips in smooth rolls, moving one of his hands to your heated core, pressing his fingers against your throbbing clit, rubbing circles with them, heightening your already overwhelming pleasure.
“Ummm fuck… wari, kiss me!” your demand was immediately satisfied, lips colliding, his tongue taking over your senses, your languid thrusts on his thigh sent tingles running up your body, the sound of wet slaps of the skin was imprinted into the back of your haze fucked out mind. “What do you want, honey? Tell me, do you want my cock to fill you up? Hmm?” He crooned in the kiss, placing and marking the skin below your chin and Jaw.
Your eyes rolled back in your skull, incoherent words spilling out of your mouth but he took the sign, he leaned back on the wall of your shared mauri, his thigh so wet with your slick that you slipped right down with a yelp at the sudden change of position when he tilted his thighs upward, the mound of your pussy bumping on the joint of his hip, a moan pilling from your plump lips “what was- that for?” you rasped out, grinding your cunt on the tight bulge under his tweng, the bud of your orgasm was just starting to unravel, he groaned throwing his head back pushing down on you down on his tight little problem while gritting his teeth “shhh I need you soakin’ loose for me, honey, when i stretch you open with my cock, i want you nice and loose f’me” his low whispers where enough to send shivers running down your spine.
He quickly slid a hand down burying two digits deep inside your gummy walls, curling and scissoring them until you were a whimpering mess above him, head buried in his chest, hips still moving in fluid motion, fucking yourself on his fingers nice and slow, taking your pleasure, getting more and more vocal as you neared your release, just mere hair length away.
Your pants and whines were music to his ears as they flicked back and forth at your sweet voice, as you begged him for more, voice loud and careless from the amount of pleasure coursing through you, his fingers brushing against your sweet spot repeatedly making stars burst through your vision “wari… I’m gonna… I’m gonna cumm'' you don’t know that was a demand, a plea or a request because you were far too gone to think about it “cum for me, paskalin, let me taste you” as if on command, the coil snapped, gushing over his thick fingers as your head fell over his shoulder, eyes drooping close, sweat beading on your pristine teal skin bathed in fire light “good girl, yawne” he growled massaging and rolling your swollen clit between his fingers, not giving your poor pussy a break, even while you came down your high.
Your breathy moans kept his cock throbbing hard, to intensify the aftermath even more, he connected your Queues together, a series of moans could be heard as he kept you nestled in his lap, toying with your pussy, nipping at your shoulder and neck with a content sigh as this sight was only for him.
He pulled back within a blink of an eye, he laid you down on the mat hovering above you as he trailed a line of kisses from to the base of your throat, to the valley of your breasts, kissing and sucking on one of them while kneading the other roughly, his other hand spreading your legs wide, finally resting it on the plush of your thigh as he nuzzled his hips between them, rubbing his clothed cock against your dripping folds, you groaned as you felt his tightness, your hands coming up and tangling them in his long locks, thrusting your hips up, eyes closed, lips parted, begging for more.
His warm taunting chuckle on the swell of your breast made goosebumps rise on your torso, seeing your desperate need for him to dick you down “mawey, Muntxate, have patience” his hand cupping your wet cunt, sneaking in his middle finger and claiming another desperate whine from you “wari… please!!” another chuckle from him was your only answer from him, throwing your legs over his shoulder as he removed his fingers and his loincloth, brandishing his cock out and pressing it on your folds, coating it with your juices before aligning it with your awaiting hole “you ready, baby girl?” your eager nod made his smirk widen “don’t worry, pearl, we just started for tonight” he chuckled as he pulnged in…
𝐀/𝐧 : Tonowari and his thighs are going to be the death of me!!!
Yawne : @taylormarieee, @persefolli, @eyweveng, @deadgirlrin, @eyrina-avatar, @avatarsslut, @neteyamsoare, @bobthe-turmpetman29, @nonniesworld, @zanabelle99, @thehoneymushroomhealer, @neteyamgfs, @xylianasblog.
©Neteyamyawne2023 | All Rights Reserved. Do not repost on other platforms, copy, steal, or translate any of my works!
#ᴄʜɪʟᴅ ᴏꜰ ɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ / ᴍʏ ᴡᴏʀᴋꜱ#ᴇʏᴇ ᴏꜰ ɴᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ / ᴋɪɴᴋᴛᴏʙᴇʀ#ᴡɪʟᴅʟɪꜰᴇ / ᴍᴅɴɪ#lunaskinktober2023#tonowari smut#tonowari x reader x ronal#tonowari x ronal#tonowari x reader#tonowari#tonowari x y/n#tonowari x you#tonowari x oc#atwow tonowari#tonowari angst#tonowari atwow#tonowari avatar#tonowari scenario#tonowari fic#tonowari fluff#tonowari fanfiction#tonowari imagine#tonowari headcanon#avatar meme#james cameron avatar#avatar 2009#avatar movie#avatar#avatar 2022#avatar 2#avatar angst
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AVATAR KINKTOBER DAY 2
EATING OUT
FEATURING : MILES QUARITCH X INGYEN
miles loves his wife. miles loves every perfection and flaw that comes with ingyen. miles can't get enough of her whenever he steals a kiss from her and she returns it with one and caresses his head in a loving way.
the way she hunts with a professional posture and a concentrated expression without taking her eyes off the target. her hands and fingers cling onto her bow with ease.
how she cooks with concentration and love when he sits there if she needs anything. watching her cut the ingredients and gives him taste tests of what she made. her ears perking when he hums in delight at the taste.
miles loves everything about her.
but...
miles loves her ass and her tail.
he can't help but admire it from behind whenever he gets the chance that she does something with and without her knowledge.
right now, he sees how her tail swishes every once in a while when she's arranging her bow string... he's just gotta have a taste of her.
ingyen, in her own little world, prepares for the hunting party and adjusting her string when she felt the usual five fingers on her thighs and his body pressed against hers from behind.
she hums, "miles, you know not to start touching me whenever you want. i'm almost going hunting and i am not staying to entertain you in such-" miles cut her off by placing a trail of kisses from her neck to her shoulders, "darling, learn to have some fun with your mate."
his teeth graze her skin when he licks to rub his scent all over her and slightly pants at the sudden urge to taste her juices on his mouth, "i'll be quick and you can go to your hunting like nothing happened." he chuckles teasingly as one hand tugs down her loincloth and the other tugs her tails, "such a perfect ass you got and i can't just ignore it without admiring it first."
miles chuckles and growls lowly in her ear before he lets go of her tail to bend her with her ass up, exposing her wet, dripping pussy from the nibbling he did on her neck. grabbing both of their queues and connecting together for a more intimate but good intention for her to feel his emotions and thoughts about her. he moans a little at feeling her lust building up and her need to be filled.
the recombinant licks his lips hungrily while his body shakes at the position he has her in, ''i won't take too long, cupcake. let me have my meal before you leave. i have to have this sweet pussy of yours first."
ingyen wanted to protest and hit him on his head until she felt him spread her pussy lips apart with his thumbs and run his tongue against her clit with a shudder in his breath. her body shudders, gripping her bow tightly trying to hiss at her mate, ''ma miles, nítam-! ah!"
my miles, enough!"
she moans when he starts teasing her clit with the tip of his tongue, flickering her bud to see her wither against his touch. miles chuckles against her dripping pussy when ingyen moans with her tail wagging in front of his face. he grabs from the base of it and tugs her ass towards him to push his tongue deeper inside.
her gummy walls were squeezing his thick tongue causing his mate to bite on her bottom lip and arch her back further, "ma miles- fìxtan sìltsan!
my miles- so good!
her tongue stuck out as she pants with pleasure as miles continued to sloppily make out with her clit and her juices were dripping down his chin.
ingyen felt she was about to see eywa herself the minute miles slightly tugged her folds to tease her. she tried looking over her shoulder but the pleasure was so intense, it was better for her to enjoy it.
miles notices this and separates his mouth from her pussy and turns her around to have her leaning on the wall of their home, using his strength to put her legs over his shoulders and picked up where he left off with her pussy.
it was unexpected and out of nowhere that he manhandled her in such a way but watching him look up at her with those, piercing golden eyes made her moan more louder and arch her back. feeling and thinking his thoughts through their bond made this more intimate and intense as if she were in his perspective at worshipping her.
she started moving her hips to make him make out with her pussy aggressively. every time his nose nudges her clit with his nose, she whimpers and grabs his bit of hair to pull on.
miles starts pushing his tongue deeper and deeper, watching her lips tremble and eyes spewing tears of pleasure that he started to hump the air. his cock was aching to be inside her but wearing her out is far better. tasting and teasing her was his favorite part.
ingyen feels it. she is going to cum. her tummy wanted to release. the more he kept eating her out and spelling his name against her pussy, she was going to explode. she tapped his head with teary eyes and pleaded, "ma miles, i'm close.....- stop...!"
miles didn't listen and his movements were getting aggressive at the way her pussy clenched tighter and tighter, "i'm... slurp....not stopping until..... slurp..... you come and when you do..-" he chuckles menacingly while licking a long strip of her clenching hole, "i'll enjoy your juices in my tongue, tìyawn~."
she was going to curse him out but he licked, nipped, and used his tongue to thrust inside her pussy to get what he wanted from the beginning and tugged her tail harder.
both of them whimper when their bond increases with ingyen thrusting her pussy smothering his face completely and moaning with a high pitch yell. miles palming his huge erection with his hand, moaning into her sweet pussy causing his eyes to roll to the back of his skull. he groans, not give a damn that he'll end up breathless.
at last ingyen screams in pleasure, wrapping her long legs around his head to pull him closer as she reaches her limit and miles braces himself for the greater good by tugging her tail closer to his mouth and nose, and palms himself faster while licks her bud repeatedly as the bond was telling him she's at her limit.
"oe za'u, ma miles!" her mouth hangs open when reaching her climax, spurts of her juices come out on his face and he thrusts into his palm and comes with her.
i'm coming, my miles!
ingyen's body quivers and her sight became blurry from her cries as she relaxed her body the best she can after her mate ate her out.
miles licks every part of her pussy and thighs that were wet from her juices to not waste any of it. he pecks her clit and chuckles at the sight before him, "so pretty. so perfect, my love. oh, how could i ever resist my mate and her sweet pussy." he praises her while admiring her fucked out state.
the recom gently places his mate on the floor for her to stand but her legs buckle from their session and catches her in his arms. she glares at him, "what? you liked it."
she rolls her eyes at his comment, "i told you i was going on the hunt and you did what was forbidden." she grips onto his biceps for leverage and he chuckles once again, "you felt good though. i love eating you out and you can't be mad about it." miles pecks her cheek and caresses her face, "still going on that hunt, mamas?"
ingyen shakes her head with her ears pressed back sending him another glare, "no, you made me weak and i won't be able to concentrate. i'm staying home."
miles kisses her passionately with her scent all over him as he carries her bridal style to their bed, "good because i'm going to fuck you dumb, my love."
that day and night... nobody heard from them. spider knew if his mama didn't go on a hunt, it was because of his dad and chose to stay with the sully's in the mean time is safe to go home.
AVATAR KINKTOBER TAGLIST
@pandoraslxna @skinmittensgoblin @eternallyvenus @winxschester @perseny @cleverzonkwombatsludge @reallysparklychaos @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @liyahsocorro @violet-19999 @drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed @ratchetprime211 @analuw @alexandra-001 @grimistangel @ok-boke @misscaller06 @theunfortunateplace @vivangothic @hrlzy @zoetrope1997 @summertimedepression @shit-i-say-shit-i-think @hazelwebsterboo @babyduk213 @myh3artttt @lala-1516 @xylianasblog
#lunaskinktober2023#avatar 2022#avatar 2009#avatar#na'vi oc#blog post#omatikaya#pandora#miles quaritch#miles quaritch x oc#jake sully#jake sully x oc#tsu'tey#tsu'tey x oc#tonowari#tonowari x oc#neytiri#neytiri x oc#eywa
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New avatar fanfic
Hey guys!! I'mfeeling inspired and I think I'll be writing a new fic soon. This time, one made by myself. Of course, Tonowari will be there since he's my fav character (water daddy💦🥵), but I'm not sure who to pair him up with.
F for Ronal😢 sorry, I like her but my imagination just doesn't let her be with her mate. the wilder, the better😈😈
#atwow fanfic#atwow#atwow fanfiction#avatar the way of water#avatar#james cameron#avatar fanfic#avatar fanfiction#tonowari#ronal#jake sully#neytiri#aonung#tsireya#neteyam#loak sully#kiri#tuktirey#omatikaya#metkayina#tumblr polls#poll#tonowari x reader#tonowari x oc#tonowari x jake
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“Your son lies with our ancestors. You... are Metkayina now”
✦ Series ✦
⋘ 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎... ⋙
✦ One-shots/Two-shots ✦
⋘ 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎... ⋙
✦ Drabbles ✦
⋘ 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎... ⋙
#neteyamssyulang#james cameron avatar#avatar the way of water#tonowari avatar#tonowari x fem!metkayina reader#tonowari x reader#tonowari x ronal#tonowari x oc#tonowari smut
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Tonowari - “Teach them our ways so they do not suffer the shame of being useless”
Notes - Main Masterlist || Navigation || Avatar Taglist || Avatar Rules
Started - 4/6/23 || Last Updated - 7/11/23 || Total Works - 3
Genre Key:
✿ = fem!reader || ❖ = gn!reader || ♛ = black!reader || ✸ = albino!reader
💙 = na’vi!reader || 🧬 = avatar!reader || 🎧 = human!reader
✲ = smut || ※ = suggestive || ❀ = fluff || ♨︎ = angst || ✂︎ = hurt || ☂︎ = comfort || ♥︎ = romance || ★ = platonic
⌘ = modern au || ◎ = smau || 📲 = texting au
📥 = request || * = newest
❖ — DRABBLES.!
⇨ Jealous? ✿ + 💙 + ♨︎ + ❀ + ♥︎ + 📥
❖ — HEADCANONS.!
⇨ Coming Soon!
❖ — ONESHOTS.!
⇨ So Needy ✿ + 💙 + ✲ + ♥︎
⇨ * Honey ✿ + ♛ + 🎧 + ※ + ❀ + ♥︎ + 📥
❖ — TWOSHOTS.!
⇨ Coming Soon!
❖ — SERIES.!
⇨ Coming Soon!
©️ inlovewithpandora━━━ 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 | All rights reserved. Do not repost, reupload, translate, modify, or claim my work as your own.
#❖ — 🖇️: 𝑰𝑵𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯𝑷𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑶𝑹𝑨 ~ 𝑴𝑨𝑺𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑳𝑰𝑺𝑻.!#avatar fanfiction#avatar james cameron#avatar the way of water#avatar fandom#tonowari x daughter reader#tonowari x metkiyana reader#tonowari x reader#tonowari x ronal#tonowari x y/n#tonowari smut#tonowari x you#tonowari x fem!reader#tonowari x oc#tonowari drabbles#atwow fanfiction#atwow x y/n#atwow tonowari#tonowari fluff#tonowari angst#atwow masterlist#atwow x you#atwow fluff#tonowari x metkayina!reader#metkayina clan#tonowari#tonowari x human reader#tonowari x f!reader
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Tonowari
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ You are Metkayina now
*ੈ✩‧₊˚ Smut
Tonowari headcannons
Type: Headcannons
Genre: Smut
*ੈ✩‧₊˚ Dark
Overly possessive partners
Type: Headcannons
Characters: Ronal, Tonowari, Neytiri, Miles, Zdog
Genre: Dark
…
Toxic Tonowari (Coming soon)
Type: Headcannons
Genre: Dark
#tonowari x y/n#tonowari avatar#tonowari headcanon#tonowari#tonowari smut#ronal x tonowari#tonowari x ronal#tonowari x reader#tonowari x you#tonowari x oc#tonowari fluff#tonowari angst#avatar#avatar the way of water#atwow x you
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Tonowari Masterlist
Main Masterlist Avatar Masterlist
none
none
Calls to Me
Helpless (with Jake)
none
#tonowari#tonowari x oc#tonowari x reader#tonowari x you#tonowari smut#avatar way of water#avatar the way of water#avatar wow#avatar#tonowari avatar
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My other two twin OCs: Tony and Neah.
They are Tonowari's and Nashira's (my other oc) children, and also, Spider siblings!
Yes, siblings, Nashira is his adoptive mother ^^
(Btw the bunny is not mine, credits to the artist I couldn't find)
#avatar the way of water#tonowari x oc#avatar tonowari#spider socorro#spider got a big sister and a big brother
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Our Nest: Tsrul
Fic description: your daily life and a backstory of how you became the new chosen tsahik of the Metkayina village, including caring for your Metkayina brothers and sisters, your marui hut, and your headstrong mate: Tonowari, brave Olo’eyktan <3 who takes care of his people, most importantly: his mate 🤍 through trouble such as heat. Together they make happy memories <3
Tw: starts off with fluff/ storyline— with some smut halfway in. Smut warnings: Heavy service kink, dom-coded Tonowari, sub-coded fem reader. Inclusion of heat and rut cycles (omegaverse) Na’vi mated pair. Setting: Metkayina village.
18+ MDNI
The warm beam of the Pandoran sun warmed your skin, as you tossed and turned on the mat of your shared marui hut. It’s been around ten months or so — since you had mated for life with Olo’eyktan of the Metkayina: Tonowari.
—————-
At first he seemed intimidating, fierce. You grew up as a simple village woman, and only got his attention a few years ago: when your spiritual talents were discovered. You felt a direct connection to Eywa. You could hear her at times, feel physical sensation in group rituals connected to the spirit tree, far off the reef. People began to notice. After the death of Tsahik Ronal in the war with the sky people, ultimately — the clan, including Olo’eyktan himself, have been looking for a replacement. You were their answer, their only hope. Tonowari himself went to the tree of voices to seek out if you were really the next Tsahik — and his next mate.
The ancestors approved.
It was decided. You were to be the next Tsahik. At first he seemed intimidating, fierce. You did not mate with him at first, simply got to know him, work with him. You advised the people greatly, led rituals in connecting to the great mother. As time passed, you soon found out the inner temperament of the great warrior, Tonowari.
He was sweet. Gentle. Caring. He was strong — a noticeable size difference between the two of you. He would keep an eye on you when you swam with your Tulkun sister. He even gave you your very first Metkayina tattoo. He taught you how to ride tsurak. (skimwing) You taught him how to better pray and connect with Eywa and the ancestors at the sacred sites. The two of you began to care for each other.
So it was — one beautiful night, with the blue halo of the Pandoran moon shining over the calm reef, you hopped on tsurak with him. You giddily clung onto his broad shoulders as the two of you quickly rode to the outskirts of the reef: the spirit tree. Underwater, his blue eyes piercing yours, as the two of you mate for life before Eywa.
“I will provide. My mate, my love, as long as you are with me, I will be lefpom (happy).” This he promised you, as you ran your hands through his hair, as the two of you connected with each other with tsaheylu. He never broke his promise.
~ present day ~
The Pandoran sun felt pleasant on your skin, as you tossed over in your mat. Your eyes squint — attempting to adjust to the brightness. Why was it so bright in there?
You sit up, confused. The string of beads that served as the entrance was closed, yet you saw some of your mate’s hunting tools scattered on the side. Where was your mate? You look around the hut, mindlessly picking up a few of the stones you were using for purification last night. “Wari?,” you croak out.
A sharp pain makes its way through your stomach, and begins to spread to the rest of your body. It was dull, bothersome, and you felt it as you barely got yourself up, your ears bent, tail swishing erratically. You try and think, the two of you were bonded, and so you tried reaching out for him through tsahelyu, to figure out where he may be.
You saw nothing, except visions of him outside the reef. The pain started to get worse, and your body began to burn, tingle, ache. You knew this pain before. It was your heat — without your mate, you couldn’t relieve yourself, and couldn’t uphold duties of Tsahik of Awa’atlu, your village. Clutching your lower stomach, you laid down and prayed to Eywa that your mate would sense your situation, and come back. A few of the townswomen gathered around your Marui, asking if they can send a message to Tonowari.
~Eastern sea, outside the reef ~
Tonowari and his men were currently on a few tsurak (skimwing) searching for a missing ilu. “Ma’Olo’eyktan!!,” a young Na’vi approaches the group of Na’vi men, met with concerned looks.
The Olo’eyktan’s blue eyes rapidly switched onto the young Na’vi. “You may speak, boy. What is it?.” “Tsahik. Your mate. She’s in…, well…” “Do not say it. By Eywa’s will, no Na’vi should come near her at the moment,” the chief’s tone of voice suddenly turned sour, as he realized that his mate was in a vulnerable state, unprotected. Worst of all — without him there.
The chief then tells his other men to continue without him, rushing his tsurak back onto the other side of the reef, where the village was. His strong calfs bulged as he balanced on tsurak, riding the waves, his long hair curled a bit from the breeze. He huffed, thinking about the despair his sweet mate had to have been in. He should not have gone outside the reef today — he had an inner feeling, yet he ignored it. His mate had taught him better…
He rushes onto the sand, climbing his way up to the marui. The scent hits him right in the face — it was very obvious what you were going through in there. He huffs in anger as he shoos away a few young Na’vi men from outside your hut.
He steps inside, bracing himself for what’s to come.
~~
“Wari. Ma muntxtatan. (mate) I’ve missed you,” you barely whisper out to him, the pain has gotten more intense, since you were by yourself. “Look at me. Mawey, (calm) my love,” he says as he sits next to your curled up body, his large hand tracing circles over the small of your back, which did make you feel a bit better — only a bit.
“It hurts a lot…,” you trail off, turning around to look at him. His large forearm moves further, moving you closer to him, so he is holding you in his lap. With his other hand, he trails a finger over your tattoo (the one he has given you) on your chest. “I know, my love, ma sevin, (pretty) I will make it go away. I should not have left you. I gave you a promise, my mate, to protect. I should have been here,” he tells you, in a serious tone.
You were too delirious on his scent to really understand what he was talking about, yet you smile and nod, whining a bit, clawing on his large forearms, hoping that he would get the hint. He did.
“Tsaheylu,” he agrees, connecting the two of your queues. Some of the pain is transferred over to him — and some of the arousal as well.
His large hand gently cups your cheek as he brings you in for a kiss, a passionate one, lasting longer than you expected. Your soft lips meet his, dancing a bit with each other, your tiny hand reaches to trace his necklace. “Ma tsrul,” (nest) he affectionately calls you, as he feels through tsaheylu that it is time to go further.
He lays you down on the mat, admires your face, your eyes closed, panting, hot from the heat that’s overtaken your body. “Do not worry, Mawey, ma syulang,” he tries to calm you, as he feels you burning up beside him. His hands trail over your body, your thin arms in comparison to his large ones, your thin tail, that striped pattern he loved so much.
In desperation, you run your fingers through his hair, grabbing his square and chiseled face. “Wari. Want it in, ma mate…,” you trail off, hoping he gets the picture. He did. Your hands work quickly to untie his cloth, he checks outside the marui quickly to make sure there are no unwanted visitors. His strength shows as he rips your cloth right off, revealing your very wet and puffed lips, to his already erect, ten inch cock, leaking a bit of pre-cum, mushroom shaped head all swollen.
“Does my syulang want my knot?,” your mate taunts you, as his cock slips in with ease, sliding into place like a puzzle piece, as he begins gently thrusting in and out of you, filling you up so perfectly. <3
You agree, begging for him to give you his knot, through bursts of short moans. “Ma munxtate, (mate) she is so demanding, asking for this,” he taunts. “She is lucky to have Olo’eyktan as her mate, to protect her, breed her even, she is truly his, truly mine,” he grunts out, in between thrusts, as his hands grip your hips so tightly, the skin there begins to be irritated.
“Ma Wari, yes, I am yours,” you agree, his words and powerful thrusts sending the both of you over the edge. You feel his knot swell inside you, an evolutionary safeguard to make sure that his seed takes inside you. You assumed it was the right time, perhaps, for your nest to grow.
His knot fully swells inside you, and he moves you over to the side, so you can lay on top of him, his wife, warm chest a comfort to you, as you can down from your heat induced pain. You felt a warmth in your womb, a warmth that felt nice <3 that felt, right. As if it was meant to be, by Eywa’s grace.
“Ma munxtatan. Irayo. (Thank you),” you say, as you pepper his face with kisses. He smiles a warm smile at you — “of course. It is my job to protect, to make sure that my mate is happy. I could not oversee the village without you — and my life would be empty without my Tsahik by my side, overseeing our marui — our tsrul (nest).” The two of you fall asleep together, knot still intact.
~~ A few months later ~
You mostly stayed in the marui nowadays, coming out occasionally to lead prayer sessions. You were happier than ever, serving your mate and the community, as well as having a new life inside you <3 finally being able to carry on your mate’s genes, his legacy and yours, making a new one, a child, the very start of your family!!
The both of you spent hours decorating and moving things around in the marui, to make sure that it would be just right for your future little one <3
Tonowari also grew very protective of you, throughout your pregnancy, he would not let you gather herbs alone in the inland’s of the island, or allow you to go out at night without his supervision. That was fine with you, you knew you were safe in the hands of your mate, a powerful leader <3 and you loved nothing more than being his mate, his Tsahik.
A/n: Thanks for reading everyone <3 if you enjoyed this post, pls help a writer out and reblog!
Avatar tag list: @jake-sullys-whore @aerangi @drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed @23victoria @brioffthegrid
#liz’s masterlist#avatar smut#tonowari smut#tonowari x you#tonowari x y/n#tonowari x oc#tonowari hot#tonowari scenario#jake sully x reader#jake sully smut#jake sully x you#jake sully headcanon#avatar x reader#avatar x na'vi reader#avatar x y/n#avatar x you#liz writes 🖤
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tsamsiyu ta'em - returning to your roots
Masterlist - part fifteen
Summary: Spider's decision leads to a brother and a sister's worst argument yet. Some things come to a head.
Pairing: Ronal/Tonowari/Original Female Character
Tag: #tsamsiyu ta'em fic
posted on ao3
Word Count: 20k+ (I am so sorry 🙏)
Overall warnings: mentions of torture, trauma/ptsd, vomit, slight body horror, canon-compliant, mature language, slow burn, polyamory, found family, cool aunt agenda, rushed, time skips, fluff, angst, major character death, child endangerment, etc.
Taglist (bold indicates "could not tag"): @motheroffae @undeniableadrenaline @mooniequeen @shit-i-say-shit-i-think @heart-an0n @amiets2 @slutforsmut4ever @yeosxxx @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @sucker4angstt @inolaphoenix @ilovechickenwings @tojisleftarm @andyfromku @ivysully @lightandshadow31 @jamie-poopoo @brittney69
A/N: Here it is... the ultimate Spider appreciation chapter. I couldn't afford to split this chapter into two parts like I did last time... so if you think some things aren't rendering on Tumblr, please please please click the link to the ao3 version. Enjoy!
Kayla would be the first to admit that she wasn't good at making her kelku feel like a home. Still a soldier at heart, she retained the mindset to keep her quarters clean, organized, and empty of any clutter. The only thing she owned was the weapons with the safety on, cleaned, and tucked away from sight, along with the little necessities she first packed for her trip to the reef, such as the hammocks that are always packed away every morning after a night of rest. As for Spider, all he had was the breathing mask on his face, the loincloth he wore, and the few packages of human rations Kayla and Jake had found for him in a drifting harpoon boat after their battle with the Sky People.
So, needless to say, the marui pod Kayla was so graciously given by the clan leaders of the Metkayina looked more like what the Sky People would call a bachelor pad back home. At least, that's what first came to mind when Kayla took one look at her new home and decided something needed to change. She had a new place of residence and she even had a teenager living under her roof, a teenager who barely had anything growing up that he could proudly call his. Kayla decided that she needed to make this place look and feel more like a safe space Spider could come to when he needed to get away from the world, which is how Spider found her hours later.
"What's that supposed to be?"
Kayla looked up to spot the teenager in the entryway, staring oddly behind his mask at the object she was trying to put on the far opposite wall of the pod. She looked between him and the large branch which she had spent dedicated time to cutting and molding into a flat surface, before her ears lowered in embarrassment, "Uh... a bookshelf?"
Setting the long wooden board down on the ground for Spider to get a better look, Kayla huffed in exertion and decided she would have to find an easier way to hang up the makeshift piece of furniture she had created.
Spider's expression only grew more confused as he looked at the warped plank of wood before stating the obvious, "You don't own any books."
"Yeah..." Defeat was already evident in her voice, already aware she had spent hours of wasted time on this project but had stubbornly hoped it would pull through. She stared longingly at the wood piece, ears still drooping with shame, "But I was hoping that putting other stuff on it would liven the place up. I guess it's not as homey looking without any books."
"Wait, what?" He cranes his neck up to look at her, puzzled as he crosses his arms over his chest, the knife cut barely even a scar now, "What are you trying to make it look like?"
"Nothing," she mumbled, now staring down at the makeshift shelf as if it had offended her. She was mentally kicking at it and herself for not succeeding in one stupid little piece of home decor. Realizing that Spider was still oddly watching whatever was happening to her face as she had these thoughts, she decided to straighten her back and head toward the exit, motioning the kid to follow her.
"You know what? You and I are always out of the house anyway. It doesn't need to be fancy. Let's go. I'm thinking of taking you kids out exploring."
Spider takes a moment to watch her leave before glancing back at the 'shelf.' Squinting his eyes, he shrugs and turns to follow her outside, "Cool, sounds like fun."
~~~~~~~~~
Kayla brought Spider to Jake first and asked about taking the kids out into the jungle, expressing how she wanted to show them the waterfall she had previously mentioned to her brother. Before he could reply, Jake was interrupted by Tsireya, who just so happened to be stopping by to see Lo'ak and Kiri. The reef girl expressed her excitement and claimed she knew the spot Kayla had mentioned and how she would love to go with. Of course, Kayla wasn't about to say no to sweet Tsireya, and that made Jake cave in and agree to let his children go with them.
He watched the group leave with a small smile before getting back to work on strengthening a newly woven sheath for his hunting knife. He wasn't left alone for long as Neytiri had come home from a morning hunting trip she flew around the island.
She had been silent at first, before looking around and asked, "Ma Jake. Where are the children?"
"They're exploring out in the jungle with Kayla," immediately, he felt the tension in the air, peering up to spot his mate looking fearful, her eyes glossed over in a way that made his gut hurt with guilt. He realized he should've waited until she got home to discuss whether or not she would be okay with letting their children venture out after everything they've been through, but he was hoping this would be a good step forward for all of them.
"They'll be fine, baby," he encouraged softly, "It's just like what we do on date night. It's not like I left them alone."
"I do not like the idea of them being so far away from the village."
"I promise it will be no different than when Kayla watches them at home. She's bringing them to a well-known spot to take a load off and have fun. Tsireya mentioned that she knew the place so it's not like anyone would get lost. They're in good hands."
Neytiri sucks in and lets out a shaking breath but eventually closed her eyes and nodded once in solemn agreement. Jake wanted to feel relief that she wasn't up in arms about this, but he couldn't find it within himself to feel that way. He knew exactly where she was coming from, where her thought process was. He couldn't blame her for being worried, the two of them both thinking the same thing as heavy, grieving silence filled the air. Jake immediately reached out to grasp Neytiri's hand and she clutched tightly onto him.
"Jake-- Devil Dog, do you copy? Jake?"
The sound of the long-range radio abruptly breaking the silence brings both Jake and Neytiri's ears and tails to perk up in alertness, and their eyes immediately harden to ones resembling warriors. Recognizing the voice patching through, Jake reaches for the radio and presses the device close to his lips,
"Dirty Falcon, I read you. What's going on, Norm?"
"Jake, we have a situation."
~~~~~~~~~
It ended up feeling like a school field trip as Kayla found herself with not only Spider and her nieces and nephew, but the other reef children they claimed as their friends. Once Tsireya had been invited, so were Ao'nung and Rotxo, making Kayla the single chaperone of six Na'vi children and one human.
At first, everyone could tell both the suspicious and curious nature the two reef boys felt upon being officially introduced to Spider, but at least they were civil, and they even looked surprised when Spider greeted them in perfect, proper Na'vi. It also helped that both Tsireya and Kiri were adamant about making Ao'nung and Rotxo converse with Spider, determined to make them all friends.
Rotxo didn't appear to mind Spider at all, being the more curious one and asking the human teenager obnoxious questions that got Spider to laugh. Ao'nung, however, was a different story. He kept his distance and ignored Spider entirely, only nodding once in greeting the human boy and sticking close to the other kids he knew better. Even though the chief's son wasn't hostile toward Spider, Kayla still kept a close eye on him anyway. Tsireya and Kiri were good mediators of the group and took the lead as they traveled further and further into the jungle. Tuk was a breath of fresh air for everyone, constantly laughing and running circles around the group with excitement as they ventured further toward the center of the island, ready for a new change in scenery.
It was Lo'ak who appeared to be the most estranged out of all of them. He had been quiet the whole way to the waterfall and only spoke when spoken to, faintly smiling whenever it was Tsireya who addressed him. However, Lo'ak was acting more closed off than usual and strayed away from the group as they walked. Kayla made sure to keep an eye on her nephew as well, knowing that his situation at home wasn't the most ideal. Lo'ak was purposely spending time out of his family's marui as of late, either seeking Spider out and hiding away in Kayla's hut with his childhood friend, or he tried blending in with the reef children and was constantly hunting or helping out with chores around the village. He was practically doing anything to keep him away from his family and especially his father, only returning to the Sully marui to sleep and eat.
Kayla noticed how Jake didn't address this as a problem, which is why she was keeping an eye on her nephew. Even though Jake claims to finally See Lo'ak, he is still treating his son much like before. If Kayla was anyone else, she'd leave it the hell alone, but she wasn't. And if she needed to be harsher to her brother about it, then by Eywa, she was gonna do it. She'd do anything for these kids, and that even surprised her to admit that.
It was easy for her to reach out to the children. Her nieces and nephews gave their hugs and trust to her willingly, without trepidation, almost immediately upon meeting her for the first time. Maybe because of that, it was easier for Kayla to accept their hugs and trust when she confidently knew they thrive on receiving touch as well as giving it. Even children who weren't as familiar with her, like the reef children, gravitated toward Kayla, either because she was unique-looking as an avatar, or she was just more laid-back and unserious compared to most adults they knew. For Spider, it was a healthy mixture of both.
For adult humans and Na'vi, it's different. Mature and aware of how the world works, Kayla would rather try to shield the children from the horror of life for just a little while longer if no other adult was going to do it.
The waterfall was tall and led down into a quiet, beautiful lagoon. Animals scattered from their water hole when the Na'vi children appeared, and Tuk laughed as they ran away. Immediately, the reef children encouraged the others about what to do by shoving one another to get to the water first, jumping high, and splashing into the lagoon. Spider and the Sully kids laughed and soon followed, even climbing up to the very top of the waterfall to jump down from once Kayla was confident that the water was deep enough to do so.
Kayla watched the kids play in the water while also exploring the waterfall herself, venturing into and standing in the small alcove hidden behind it. Curious, she whoops and lets her voice echo off the walls of the small cave, and the sound rang in her ears. She smiled as an idea struck her, heading back out of the alcove and rejoining the children. None of them appeared to notice anything until she approached them, first going to Little Tuk and pointing out the waterfall.
"Go behind there and scream and laugh as loud as you can. Come back and see if your sister heard you or not."
Tuk giggled excitedly at what she assumed was a game her aunt had in mind and ran toward the waterfall. The teenagers look between Kayla and Tuk curiously but don't mention anything as they watch the youngest child of their group disappear behind the waterfall. It took a few minutes, but Tuk reemerged, out of breath and grinning as she skipped over to her sister, "Kiri! Kiri! Did you hear me?"
"No, I didn't," Kiri smiled encouragingly at her sister before taking a glance at her aunt.
Kayla smiles, tilting her head toward the waterfall, "You next, Kiri."
"Yes! You next!" Tuk drags Kiri out of the water by the hand, "I'll come with you! Let's try to scream as loud as we can, and if anyone out here can hear us, then we win!"
The Sully girls go behind the waterfall while the rest of the teenagers stare questionably at Kayla. She only shrugs, flashing a smile of understanding at each of them, "You kids have been through a lot lately... I thought maybe you'd like a place to scream out your frustrations without anyone hearing you. Only if you want, but I think you need to let some things out."
When Kiri and Tuk return, the other teenagers glance at each other with knowing expressions. Spider whispered Kayla's intentions to Kiri when she still looked confused, and in response, a grateful look took over Kiri's face as she nodded at her aunt.
Tuk was none the wiser as she ran up to Kayla, "I wanna do it again!"
"Go ahead, sweetheart."
"Will you come with me, Auntie?"
"Of course."
After that, one by one, each of the teenagers decided to slip away while the others were playing in the lagoon to have a few minutes alone behind the waterfall. When each of them returned, they appeared relaxed, lighter than before, and acting their age. Kayla internally pats herself on the back, calling it a success, especially when Ao'nung had loosened up and shared a short conversation with Spider.
If anyone noticed Lo'ak's eyes were puffy and red when he returned from behind the waterfall, they didn't mention it. They only smiled because he was smiling again.
They must have been there for hours, but eventually, Kayla called it a day and everyone was much too tired to argue. On the way back as they trekked through the jungle, Spider kept close to Kayla's side, instinctively keeping a watchful eye out as they walked through the trees, in case something decided to try and grab at the weakest link in the group which at the moment was Kayla with a sleeping Tuk on her back, making her slower than the teenagers. Something caught his eye while they walked, and it was Kayla's songcord swinging in the wind from side to side each time her leg moved forward. He noticed the cord was longer than he had last seen it, the end now sporting a wooden bead and a shell soon after.
"That's new," he simply states.
Her ear flicks in his direction, and he watches as she looks down to see what he is referring to. Sunlight was right above her, casting a shadow over her face, but even Spider could catch a sudden shift in her expression. If he had blinked, he would have missed the shift. It was there one moment and gone the next, but he noticed a smile on her face, full of fondness, before she shook herself out of it relaxed her expression, and replied, "Yes."
The shift was all he needed to know, "Who gave it to you?"
She squinted her eyes curiously as she looked down at him, "What made you think it was given to me?"
"Answering a question with a question. Isn't that what you soldiers call 'deflecting?'" He smirked.
He didn't expect her to laugh, but he felt secretly pleased with himself when she did, "Touché, kiddo."
~~~~~~~~~
As they reach the village, the reef kids realize what time it is and decide to depart, needing to return home to their families. Kayla and the Sully children thanked them for their company and the fun day before waving them off and returning to their own marui.
Only, it wasn't much of a warm welcome. Upon entering the home, Kayla immediately noticed Neytiri's absence... and the murder set in Jake's eyes.
He huddled near the radio, waiting for the rest of his family to return home as he tried to figure out how he was going to break the news to them. In the meantime, Jake had sent Neytiri away to let out her rage and grief. He knew it wouldn't have been a good idea if she had stayed for this conversation. When Kayla and the children entered the kelku, Jake's murderous gaze immediately greeted Kayla. She froze when she was the first target of that glare, and once the teenagers saw Jake, they froze in the doorway as well, immediately scared with their backs straight.
Kayla kept still as she watched Jake's eyes. She only relaxed a little as she came to the conclusion that Jake's anger wasn't directed at anyone in particular, but he looked vengeful and was aging beyond his years. He looked like a broken man, a father who lost it all. He looked so grim with his eyes nearly staring up at Kayla through his forehead. She knew that whatever happened... it wasn't good.
She sets down Tuk and quietly asks Kiri to take her. She walks up to Jake and keeps her voice down in case he wants this kept between them, "What's wrong?"
His eyes flicked to the kids standing around behind his sister, all of them looking confused and worried other than the bleary-eyed Tuk. He glances back at Kayla and deeply sighs through his nose before deciding to keep his voice at a normal, steady tone. He thought the kids deserved to know, too,
"Norm just called. They intercepted some RDA radio chatter. Quaritch is alive."
No one dared bat an eye as the news sank in, frozen in place and staring at Jake as if he had murdered a puppy right in front of their eyes. The air turned rigid and eery all around Kayla, the air sucked out from her lungs as though a bucket of ice water ran down her back. She swallowed thickly, trying to react as neutrally as possible... hoping that out of all the times Jake could possibly read her like an open book, this wasn't one of those times.
Kiri's voice was the first thing that rang out, "Spider?"
Kayla's spell is broken and she immediately unfreezes, whipping around in search of the human boy in question. She finds him instantly as he reacts fast to Kiri's question, pulling away from the group and backing up toward the door. Spider looked frightened and ashamed, his breath irregular as he took one hand and grabbed the opposite elbow, eyes wildly flicking between everyone in the room, Kiri, Lo'ak, and Jake most of all. He looked cornered, despite the doorway now being directly behind as he would not stop backing away. He looked absolutely horrified, and the guilt only ate him alive when his two best friends stared at him with worry and confusion, unaware of the damage he had done.
"I-- I'm sorry."
Jake's eyebrows furrow and his tail twitched, "What--"
"It's not your fault. Spider," Kayla consciously places herself between Jake and Spider, finally finding her voice in the growing tension of the room. Spider turned his body and gazed to the doorway, ready to bolt as Kayla found herself raising her voice, "Look at me--"
The order makes his back stiffen and Kayla internally lashes at herself for ordering him around so formally like a soldier when that wasn't her intention. Slowly, however, Spider finally peered back up at her, and she tried to soften her gaze and voice, "Don't."
Jake finally rose to his feet, his presence right behind his sister and making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, "Kayla, what are you-?"
"It's my fault."
All eyes return to Spider, and he forces himself to stay still, the smallest one in the room. He keeps his eyes on Jake, trying to relay what he is trying to explain with just one look. Jake analyzed him, eyes slowly squinting in confusion until Spider could see something click behind those dull, yellow eyes. He saw the denial set in first, then the bargaining, then the anger... and then it stayed that way. Jake's eyes begin to harden, and Kayla is suddenly very aware of the raging volcano slowly starting to brew behind her but she refuses to look back. Goosebumps ran down her back and every instinct told her to run, but she kept her feet planted and her eyes on Spider, trying to talk him down from his ledge with just one look.
Lo'ak is the first to ask. He wasn't known for being observant, but as Tsireya had claimed, he was a quick learner. Lo'ak looked between his father and his friend and realized that something had happened. Something unforgivable. Despite possibly already knowing what it was, Lo'ak had to ask... in case he was wrong, "Spider... what did you do?"
Kayla felt a large hand completely envelope around the circumference of her arm and she winced when that hand gripped on tightly and spun her around. She bites back the yelp that nearly escaped her lips as she's being stared down by the enraged Toruk Makto.
"You knew?" Jake accused in a low, deep voice.
She couldn't help it. Her eyes widen in fear, for once, of her brother. As much as she wanted to lie to prevent him from glaring at her like that... she couldn't afford for that rage to turn onto Spider. She rolls her lips, her voice raspy and betraying her bravery, "I... Yes, I knew."
Something snaps in place inside Jake's eyes, a harsh growl eliciting from the back of his throat, "Come here."
His grip only tightened further around Kayla's arm as he dragged her out of the marui, away from the children who now shook in fear of their father and for their aunt. Kayla wished she hadn't just been paraded around in front of them like that... secretly afraid as though she had angered her own father.
He pulls her out and harshly shoves her in front of him to confront her. Kayla immediately tries to bargain and plead her case before he could get any bright ideas, "But-- you don't understand--"
"Yeah? Enlighten me then," he snarled.
"You can't just ask a kid to leave his own father to die-!"
"You're not his mother, Kayla!" Jake finally roared, the volcano bubbling over.
"I don't care!" Kayla roared back as her fear gave way to anger. Suddenly the volcano was met with an unforgivable tsunami, "He's just a kid! All of them are just kids! You can't expect them to fall in line and be your perfect little soldiers for a war that YOU started!"
Jake seethed and pushed back, "He's old enough to know that he's responsible for his actions."
"Maybe, but even grown-ass adults refuse to admit their faults, present company included," the intended lashing hit dead-on, earning Kayla a wince from her brother. She didn't want to claim that victory over him, however, as the tightening viper in her chest began to unravel, "You say I'm not Spider's mom, and you're right. But you're not his father. Hell, you barely even father your own kids, so why should you father a kid who's not even related to you?"
"Don't you start--"
"You're a good dad to your daughters. Fine. I'll give you that. But you're too hard on Lo'ak, now more than ever. He just lost his brother for fuck's sake, Jake. You of all people know what that feels like!" She screeched.
"Lo'ak is the older brother now. He needs to learn to be responsible for his sisters."
"Oh, like how you were such a great, responsible brother after Tommy died?"
Even Jake's anger gave way to a slight feeling of discomfort and maybe even fear as Kayla suddenly began to laugh in such an unhinged manner, the maniacal grin she gave him sent chills down his spine, "Really? We're adding lying to the list now? Did you treat Lo'ak like a failure because he's reckless or because he's just like you? 'Cause, that's what I see. He's just like you, Jake, and that terrifies you because you know he'll screw up again and again. Just like you."
She took a step forward and Jake took a step back. He wished he hadn't, as his fear only made Kayla smile more, "So tell him that. Tell him the truth. Tell him how Tommy was the golden son, not you. You were never the golden son, not even when you became a marine and lost your legs for your dedicated service. Tell him how you were always the disappointment. Tell him how low you got in life when your brother was murdered and how you abandoned your sister when things got too hard."
Jake tried to regain the upper hand, needing to get this conversation back on track, "This isn't about me or Lo'ak. This is about Spider--"
"I wasn't finished," his jaw clamps shut when his sister's eyes bore into his, the viper in her chest now baring its venomous fangs, "You left me to die on that god-awful planet. From my experience, I know that Lo'ak and Spider would never even think of doing that to someone, let alone their own sisters. I believe Spider saved his father for the sake of being kind, compassionate, and merciful—three traits I doubt he inherited from the sperm donor. Spider is no savage. His doesn't kill as needlessly as you once did."
"He spared a monster's life--"
"Can you blame him? After what Neytiri had recently put that kid through?" Jake's ears lowered at the mention of his wife, and while Kayla wanted to be proud of her brother for always wanting to defend the woman he loved, she couldn't abide by that. She continued before Jake could even try, "Quaritch tried to save Spider from your wife. Can you honestly blame a child for saving the life of someone who was actually looking out for them for once in their young life? Yes, Spider may be young but he's also good. He wouldn't just let someone die, no matter how terrible and not if he could help it. That wouldn't make him any better than Quaritch."
"Kayla, I don't think you're hearing what I'm trying to say. Spider saved the man who promised he'd come after me and kill my whole family if I didn't kill him!"
Kayla's physical fangs made an appearance as she placed the blame entirely on a third party, "Then maybe you should've done a better job at killing him! I was there, Jake! I heard him loud and clear."
She finally closed the distance, prodding an angry finger into the center of Jake's chest as she seethes out, "You don't get to tell me how to parent. You don't even know how to parent, so you don't get to tell me when and where I can protect Spider. You can't even protect him from your own wife, so why should I trust that you have his best interest at heart?"
Moving around him, she definitely shoulder checks him on the way back into the marui, unaware of the wince that briefly succumbed his face, but he didn't react apart from that. He didn't even turn around. He only listened to the sound of her stomping feet, growing further and further away from him.
Kayla was on a mission as she sped back to the marui, only stopping her charge when Spider cut off her path, the human teen storming away as both Kiri and Lo'ak were seen exiting the kelku to chase after him, "Spider, wait!"
Kayla panics a little inside when Spider doesn't even react to his friends calling out for him. She reached out and gently grabbed his shoulder before he escaped too far, "Heyheyhey-- Spider? What's wrong--"
"Just leave me alone!" He screams and Kayla's instant reaction is to let go of his shoulder as if she had injured him. She took a step back like she had been shocked, frozen as she caught a glimpse of his face through his breathing mask, seeing the obvious red cheeks and angry tears uncontrollably slipping down his young face.
Kayla tried her best to relax, regain her patience, and hide her anger toward her brother so Spider wouldn't misunderstand. Breathing deeply, in and out, she tried to speak in her best, soothing voice, "... Okay."
At first, Spider looked shocked before it immediately melts into anger and frustration, his teeth seething out his aggravation as he glared at her, "Shit-- Why do you have to be so understanding?!"
"I just-- I want to help you, kiddo--"
"Just leave me alone! Please!"
He had raced off without ever giving himself the satisfaction of seeing Kayla's expression crumble into defeat. Kiri approached her aunt at this moment, briefly grabbing her hand as she moved to follow her oldest friend, "I got this, Auntie. Spider, wait!"
Kiri continues to chase after the human teen, while Kayla helplessly watches them both eventually disappear into the center of the village, beyond her sight.
Spider wasn't expecting Kiri to continue following him. He thought he'd lose her in the village, but by the time he reached the edge of the jungle and moved further in, he knew his attempt to escape detection was futile. Eventually, he caves in and waits for his friend to catch up, all the while he tries to calm down, his conflicted emotions fueling his panicked, harsh breathing.
"Please, Kiri, just go--"
"Sucks for you, Monkey Boy, 'cause I'm not going anywhere," Kiri immediately starts off when she finally caught up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "We just got you back--"
Spider huffs in disinterest, "After how long? Weeks? Months? Why couldn't-- Why didn't--"
Kiri could see Spider struggle with his next words. She could tell how angry, betrayed, and confused he was trying to express, and eventually, she figured out what he was trying to say and managed to voice his questions for him, "Why did we run instead of going to look for you?"
He didn't say anything, just trying to catch his breath. His silence was answering enough for the Na'vi girl as she continued, "I wanted to. Badly. But Dad believed you would be safer as long as you were away from us. And if we left, you would be even safer."
"That's bullshit." He glowered, still seething behind his mask.
Kiri's ears lower, a sentiment she felt in regard to Spider's statement. She had once thought the same when her father relayed that same excuse to her when he first told her that it was impossible to save Spider and that they were leaving the Omatikaya.
She nods in agreement, "... Only a little. Dad thought that if we took off, then you couldn't tell the Sky People where we were."
The betrayal wins over control of Spider's expression, staring up at her with such pain and disbelief, "I would never--"
"I know. I know," she was quick to reassure while taking another step closer. She managed to pull him further toward her until her arms were fully wrapped around him, her chin resting on the top of his head. She lowered her voice to something soft and soothing, "I wish we tried harder, Spider. I really do, and I'm so sorry."
She moves her hand up to gently grasp the back of his head, "But Kayla didn't give up. No, she stayed in the forest and kept looking for you, even after we had left for the ocean. She was so determined to find you, especially after she earned her ikran. Dad said that she even wanted to go after you, alone, when they heard you were sited at reef villages in the south."
Silence followed and if he currently wasn't standing stone-stiff in her arms, Kiri would've thought he had fallen asleep. The sounds of the flora and fauna around them were calming all of Kiri's senses, and she tried to bleed that feeling into Spider, gently tightening her grip around him.
Finally, Spider caves in, his shoulders slouching in defeat until he finally allows himself to lean into his best friend's embrace. His thoughts sounded far away as he spoke, "I... I wish she found me sooner."
The words haunt Kiri, her mind trying to wrap around everything that those words could possibly mean. She squeezes him a little tighter as she mumbles into his hair, "Spider... what did they do to you?"
Silence filled the air once more until he managed to settle on one word, "Nothing."
Kiri pulled away and Spider winced thinking he had upset her. But she doesn't move very far, only so that she can meet his eyes, her hands resting on both of his shoulders, "War orphans stick together, remember? You're my brother, Spider. You may not be able to see it, but I wholeheartedly believe that. You can tell me no living being will ever know."
He wanted to tell her everything. So badly it almost felt like it could burst out of his chest at any moment. He wanted to share certain parts he initially left out when he tried catching her and Lo'ak up on everything he had seen while captured. He wanted to explain why he has nightmares, and why he's afraid of waking up in a cold, sterile room. He wanted to tell Kiri that he saved Quaritch for more than just pity or kindness. How the man, no matter how terrible, saved Spider's life more than once, or at least saved the boy from unimaginable pain and torture.
The thought of those white lab coats immediately sends Spider's mind into a spiral. That awful, bright, and blinding machine, spinning rapidly around his head, his eyes forced open to watch as he began to feel the blood drip down his nose... his memories forcefully being ripped away from him...
The only thing that stops his nightmares from continuing is the thought of Quaritch, the man who stopped that machine from eating away at the boy's mind.
Spider wanted to tell Kiri everything... but the fear of her not being able to understand was much stronger, "I... I can't... I'm sorry."
She squeezed his shoulders reassuringly, "Don't be."
"No, Kiri--" He corrected himself, letting out a shaking breath, "I'm sorry for letting Quaritch go. Neteyam-- Quaritch-- He held a knife to your throat."
"And my mother held a knife to yours. We're even."
It was meant to be a joke, but it quickly fell flat on her tongue once his posture changed right before the last of the sentence even left her lips. He bristled like a scared cat, eyes hard with a flat tone of voice that made Kiri instantly regret her words, "That's not funny."
"You're right. I'm sorry..."
He pulled away despite the hurt expression on her face. He pointedly avoids looking her in the eyes, "I think I need some space... please..."
"Okay. Just... whatever you decide to do, at least tell us first... Please?"
"Yeah... okay..."
~~~~~~~~~
Surprisingly, Spider finds himself alone for the first time in who knows how long, sitting comfortably up on a large branch while watching day turn into night over the entire island. He's met with the familiar silence he often found himself in back at home in the Hallelujah Mountains, but lately, he hadn't been familiar with the concept. It was likely that the last time he was by himself was when he found Quaritch at the bottom of the ocean and lifted him up to the surface. Ever since then, he was always in the company of someone else, either Kayla or the Sullys.
He wasn't sure if he liked it or not, if he was being honest with himself. He wasn't sure if it was because of his time spent with the Recoms, but it almost felt as though everyone in this village was keeping a close eye on him, even the Sullys, people he knew he used to trust with every fiber of his being... but now that trust has been questioned.
He wasn't blind. He noticed how on edge Kayla always appeared when he and Neytiri were in the same room.
He didn't want to believe he was a hostage, especially not with his childhood friends and companions... but it honestly didn't feel that different compared to when he was with the Deja Blue Squad. Spider didn't want to make a comparison, but much like the Sullys, Quaritch never let him out of his sight.
So, he took this breath of freedom to his full advantage, climbing from tree to tree, swinging from branch to branch until his arms and legs ached. He felt alive again, even laughing to himself. When he finally sat down to watch darkness slowly encompass the island and the bioluminescence come to life, he was able to finally breathe his own air, even if it was only through his mask. A moment of freedom, to be himself without walking on eggshells around everyone he was with. Then again, he knows it's not real freedom knowing that no matter where he went, he was stuck on this island with the Sullys, and maybe they knew that, too, which is why they're letting him believe he's alone, even if only for the night.
The paranoia was going to eat him alive, he was sure of it. The fact that he could no longer blindly trust the family he's always desperately wanted to be a part of was killing him. And now that they knew he spared Quaritch's life... he felt as though he could never let his guard down around them ever again.
Apart from Kayla. Spider felt safe enough around her to believe she'd understand, and she did. She didn't fault him for his choice when he initially told her. Kayla was the only one who didn't truly understand the full extent of Spider's parentage, even though she had been told, but since she wasn't ever hurt by Quaritch the way everyone else who lived on Pandora before her was, she didn't have that pain that kept her from fully accepting Spider.
Not that it was any excuse to neglect a child for the sins of their father. Spider knew that. He knew it was wrong, the way he had been treated, but up until recently, he couldn't fault anyone for it... or maybe he just never let himself believe he could on the off chance everyone would fully accept him one day.
Hearing Kiri talk about how Kayla never gave up on him, how she searched for him relentlessly even when she had no reason to, made Spider feel both relieved and guilty. Relieved that there was at least someone out there who pitied him enough to know that he didn't deserve this and needed to be rescued, but guilty that she had to be the one to do so. She wasn't family to him. She had no ties to Spider and no reason to care for his safety and well-being, but she did, nevertheless. He wasn't sure how to feel about an adult who didn't have any familial relations to him all of a sudden give a damn about him, mainly because he didn't want it to be out of pity.
Kayla clearly wasn't his mother. Spider had a picture of his mother taped to the ceiling above his bunk when he was living with his foster family for years. He knew his mother's face and he knew her name. Kayla wasn't Paz Socorro, back from the dead.
... But he would be lying to himself if he didn't think about it. He had wondered a time or two if Paz were alive, would she be like Kayla? Worse? Better? He didn't know when he started comparing his mother to Kayla, but once he realized that he was, he was ashamed of himself and forced himself to stop. Spider didn't have a mother anymore. He wished he did, and that's why he knew he was allowing Kayla to look out for him a little too much.
In the eyes of the Na'vi, he could be considered an adult... but he wasn't Na'vi, as much as it pained him to admit it. He was human, and from what he's learned, kids his age barely had to worry about anything past schoolwork and who was going to take them to prom... whatever that was. He heard Kayla mention a prom once but wasn't fully listening. Whatever it was, it made Norm and Jake laugh, reminiscing their old human lives back on Earth for a little bit.
Kayla was a firm reminder that Spider was a human child and should be able to act as such. She's been trying to drill that into all their heads, adults and children alike. She wasn't exactly hiding it as she continued to berate how Jake parents his children and how he makes them grow up too quickly. Spider admired her for that... but almost despised it whenever she came to his defense because he knew he didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve to be treated or coddled like a kid... not after what he did.
He didn't deserve to be loved and cared for.
He sucked in a sharp breath, horrified by his own thoughts. Suddenly he was too scared to be left alone, and so he raced through the jungle and back to the direction of the village.
It was late, so he thought if he snuck into Kayla's kelku, she would be asleep and he wouldn't have to try and explain himself. The thought of her catching him after he snuck out was both terrifying and... strangely domestic. He actually felt himself smile at the idea of Kayla berating and lecturing him for sneaking out and not coming back until the late hours of the night.
But that didn't happen. Instead, when Spider walked into the marui he'd been calling home for a little while now, Kayla was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed. To ignore his conflicted emotions, he took the time to fish out his rations when his stomach rumbled in protest. He takes a deep breath as he switches his breathing mask out for the cannula nose tubes that are always stashed inside the exo-pack for emergencies, slowly breathing back out and in through his nose once he feels the familiar tickling feeling of oxygen run through his nostrils.
He eats his dinner in silence, looking around the marui to find that Kayla's failed project of a "bookshelf" is still lying there, looking pathetic. His chewing slowed as he remembered how embarrassed and frustrated she looked when she wasn't able to make this pod feel "homey." He had been confused by her attempt to make this place feel more comfortable and home-like, and now, after everything Kiri told him, Spider wondered if Kayla was trying to do all this for him? For his sake?
It was suddenly hard to swallow his food and Spider relinquished the idea of eating, setting his rations aside and brushing his hands together. Something settles in his mind, determined and unrelenting. He forced himself not to overthink as he marched over to the sad excuse for a plank of wood and lifted it up, inspecting it. No, he wasn't known for putting together furniture that didn't come with instructions, but he wasn't thinking about it anyway. He was pretty sure the shelf was a lost cause and he could show Kayla how to properly decorate a Na'vi home tomorrow. But for now, he fetched his knife and began to carve out a small shape into the wood.
He had been crouched over his small project when Kayla had finally returned home, exhausted and after nearly spending all night worrying herself sick over the kid she placed in her care. She stopped in the entryway, however, when she recognized the small human painted in blue stripes, casually working on something in his hands whilst he rested on the heels of his feet, as if he had never left. Spider looked up at her entrance, and when Kayla peered down, she noticed his knife in one hand and a small, rounded bead in the other.
Sighing in relief, she stepped forward and knelt beside the teen, reaching out to gently hold the back of his head but stopped once she reminded herself not to do so. She pulled her hand back and Spider watched her carefully, trying not to appear cautious or worse, appear as though he wanted Kayla to reach out and comfort him.
"Spider..." She eyes him down with a careful inspection until she's satisfied that he's not physically hurt, "Are you okay?"
He nodded because he wasn't sure if he'd be able to lie properly if he spoke up.
Kayla relents after that, leaning back and breathing out another sigh. He goes back to work on his bead once he realizes she won't be asking any further questions. She watched him work instead, now curious once he successfully finished the bead and was now moving on to adding it to a familiar piece he kept on his loincloth.
"Is that your songcord?" She asked.
Spider nodded again, "Yeah."
"It's beautiful. What's the significance behind the new one?" She indicated to the new bead.
Spider paused, trying to figure out how to answer without actually giving it away. He briefly found himself glancing back over at the bookshelf he left in the corner of the room, the one Kayla had tried to make with her bare hands, the one she was trying to use to make Spider feel more at home, the one that now had a chuck missing because Spider wanted to commemorate it onto his songcord. Finally, he answered what he knew would be vague, but it was still the truth,
"Safety."
He bowed his head in shame, following up with a soft mutter under his voice, "I'm sorry."
With his songcord forgotten, she somehow knew he was talking about the events that transpired today and she immediately reassured him, "You have nothing to be sorry for, Spider."
"Yes, I do. I was such a jerk. Like you said-- you're only trying to help me. But I keep getting you in trouble with Jake--"
"Nope," she immediately shut that thought process down, anger blooming inside her, but not because of the teenager in front of her. She made sure her reassurance was heard loud and clear, firm and confident, "You're not. What Jake and I have going on has absolutely nothing to do with you, kid."
He carefully peered up at her, "... Family differences?"
She snorts dryly, "That's putting it lightly."
"Still. It's a little annoying that you won't accept an apology from me. You're a bit too understanding."
Kayla smirked, "Tough."
"I'm almost convinced I could get away with murder in front of you."
"I mean-- If it's necessary..." he's startled into laughing and Kayla smiles at the sight. She finally gains the courage to reach over and pat his knee, "I'm only human. To be human is to be flawed."
His laughter dies down, but the humor remains. He flashes a fox-like grin, his voice teasing, "Sucks for you humans, doesn't it?"
Kayla laughed through her nose as she feigned a stern, motherlike voice, "Okay, smartass, go to your room."
"This is my room!"
~~~~~~~~~
Kayla wasn't sure if Neytiri had been told that Spider saved Quaritch, but just in case, Kayla made sure that Spider was nowhere near the Na'vi woman and none the wiser so he could enjoy a good fishing lesson with the Sully kids and Tsireya.
Well, the Sully kids minus Lo'ak. Jake decided it would be a good idea for his son to join the adults in this discussion, much to Kayla's distaste. She wasn't sure if Jake was just being petty and rubbing it in her face, or if he genuinely believed that Lo'ak was grown up now and needed to be a part of this instead of being outside and hanging around other Na'vi his age.
Nevertheless, as Kayla stands near Lo'ak in their family marui, Neytiri tries discussing what measures they'll need to take to send Spider home and Jake silently listens. Kayla made the smart choice to keep Spider away from the kelku today as Neytiri was nearly ready to go out on a tirade... hence why Kayla stood close to the door. Neytiri wanted to scream and curse when she initially discovered who was responsible for Quaritch's life, and then she proceeded to ramble about sending Spider back to the Forest, whether to leave him with the Omatikaya or have the Sky People deal with him. Whichever option they choose, Neytiri follows up with the comment that Spider couldn't stay here anyway because he will run out of much-needed resources soon.
While Kayla knows that Neytiri is just trying to get rid of him, the Na'vi woman makes an excellent point. Spider needs human food, medicine, and of course other supplies such as spare masks, none of which are provided here and are limited to what she had stashed away in her own marui.
"What if they capture Spider again?" Jake tried to reason with his wife, though it wasn't for the same reason as Kayla, which angered his sister, "Now that he's been to this village, he'll know where to lead the Sky People for the next assault because they're not going to stop just because we took out the Recoms."
Kayla snarled, her arms tightening around her chest as she glared at Jake, "Spider didn't give away the Omatikaya and he's not going to give away the Metkayina."
"Of course, he would!" Neytiri hissed back, pointing an accusatory finger at Kayla before Jake could retaliate, "He's the reason my son was--"
"No, Mom. It was me," all eyes turned to Lo'ak and the poor boy looked as though he was holding back tears. His voice shook as he forced himself to continue, "I convinced Neteyam to stay and help me save Spider. If... If Neteyam didn't come with me, it would've been me instead. I had the gun. It should've been me."
Kayla carefully turned back to catch Jake and Neytiri's reaction, and she was not disappointed. Both of Lo'ak's parents appeared horrified, staring down at their son as if he said the most horrific thing imaginable.
Lo'ak lowered his gaze, not wanting to read into what their expressions meant, whether his parents were horrified that he got his brother killed or if they were horrified that he would blame himself and wish the roles were reversed. Either way, he couldn't stand being in that room for a second longer, sheepishly tilting his head toward the exit as he peered up at Kayla, "Auntie... can I talk with you outside for a minute?"
She nods and doesn't spare a second glance at Jake and Neytiri as she follows her nephew out of the marui. She thought they were just going to step right outside the home, but didn't question it when Lo'ak decided to lead her further away.
Once they were walking along the beach, Kayla decided to be the first to address why he brought her here, "What's up, kiddo?"
"I... wanted to thank you for what you said to my dad yesterday. You stood up for me."
Kayla stopped in her tracks, dread prickling down her body, "You heard that?"
Lo'ak weakly chuckles, "You weren't exactly quiet. I didn't mean to snoop, I swear."
She paused to think about this before realization hit her, remembering how Spider stormed out the second she returned from her argument with Jake, "Was Spider listening, too?"
The Na'vi teen's ears lowered as shame crossed his features, nodding with hesitancy, "Spider... he was pissed at me."
"Why?"
"Because I wasn't angry at him."
Even that statement shocked her, tilting her head down to him, "You're not?"
"No, I..." Lo'ak exhaled slowly, guilt wracking through his mind while forcing himself to speak, "I want to hate him... I want to be angry at him for letting that monster live."
"But you're not."
"No. I'm not."
"Why?"
"I don't know," when she appeared unimpressed by that answer, he simply shook his head, "I'm serious. I don't."
She watches her nephew for a moment, his mannerisms as he looks down at his feet to hide away from the world. Slowly, she opened her mouth, "I might know. Because you already lost one brother and you can't afford to lose another."
Lo'ak's head shoots up in her direction, yellow eyes wide with eyebrows scrunching together. Kayla watched as his face began to crumble and shatter before she took a step forward and gathered the boy in her arms, shushing him softly as Lo'ak's body was wracked with soft, silent sobs.
He held on tightly to her, his voice so quiet and small, "I want to wake up, Auntie. This all feels like a bad dream; something I can't wake from. It hurts all the time and it won't stop. It should've been me... I wanted it to be me..."
"Lo'ak-- hey... hey. No," she softly comforts, her heart breaking at the state of her nephew, scared of what he was saying about himself but trying to be supportive, "Don't say that. You don't mean it."
"But I do! I convinced him to come with me to save Spider! He would still be here if it weren't for me!"
"Do you regret it?"
His cries stutter for a moment, shocked by the question as he tilts his head up, "What?"
"Do you regret saving Spider?"
"N-No."
She pushes back the stray braids he kept on one side of his head, "Even though he saved the man who was behind your brother's death?"
"I don't get it. Why are you trying to make me angry?"
"I'm not, I swear," she shook her head as her eyes started to warm and blur, the sight of her nephew so broken and grieving was a harsh reminder of the other nephew she lost, "I'm just saying... if you don't regret it, then I'd say it was worth it, and I'm sure Neteyam would, too. The fact that you would rather trade places with Neteyam than regret saving Spider tells me you don't blame Spider for what happened."
Her words both shattered and mended his heart, his cries slowing down with silent tears still running down his face. He squeezed her waist before letting go, stepping back to wipe his eyes, his breathing still shaking as he nodded, "Spider's my brother, too."
Kayla smiled gently even as her own tears slipped down her cheeks undetected, "Do you think Neteyam felt the same?"
"I think so. I just... wish nothing happened the way it did. One of the last things I said to 'Teyam before everything went to shit was how determined I was to save Payakan because he's my brother. Neteyam probably hated me for that..."
"He didn't. I'm sure of it."
Lo'ak huffed quietly, taking one hand and clasping it over his opposite elbow, "You don't understand..."
"How come?"
"Because you've never lost a brother."
Kayla's eyes widen, feeling as though she had just been slapped in the face, "Lo'ak... has your father never told you anything about your Uncle Tom?"
"N... No?"
She had never, not once, ever felt the kind of rage that just rolled in her gut, rumbling like a cornered animal. Kayla would later pat herself on the back for how quickly she had managed to shift her face into a clean slate before Lo'ak even noticed the shift in her eyes. Instead, she keeps her voice leveled, "You should ask him. Because I can tell you right now... he and I know exactly how you feel."
Either Lo'ak didn't catch onto what she was saying, or he was wise not to venture further into that viper nest. While his sobs had vanished, one stray tear still managed to slip past his detection, "Brothers forever. We should have been brothers forever..."
"Lo'ak, look at me," he does so, barely blinking when she reaches down to wipe away the tear. She managed a smile, one that showed her age as she expressed what she's known for a very long time, "The word 'forever' is not meant for people. People can't live forever. 'You know what does live forever? Memories. Stories. Songs. Those last forever, just as long as there's someone who will remember them. You and Neteyam will always be brothers, forever, even when you're no longer around, as long as there are still people here who remember you. Okay?"
~~~~~~~~~
The communal meal that night was lively and honestly, it was something the Sullys needed. For the time being, they kept the newest sign of danger to themselves and Kayla hoped that it wouldn't eventually bite them in the back. She knew eventually she and Jake would have to tell Ronal and Tonowari about Quartich-- then again, she could just have Jake do it. She technically didn't need to get herself involved as her brother could speak for all of them, but somehow, she had become the spokesperson between her brother's family and the clan leaders of the Metkayina. Kayla didn't volunteer or even detested it, but one day it just happened and she's been playing along ever since. So now that the responsibility fell onto her, she had been thinking of when would be a good time to speak to Ronal and Tonowari.
Now would definitely not suffice as Kayla spots the clan leaders across the way, toward the head of the line of Na'vi eating amongst each other. Ronal and Tonowari were speaking to an elder, all serious and respectful, until Tsireya and Ao'nung joined them. Both leaders spot their children at the same time before gently dismissing the elder and moving to converse with their son and daughter, likely to hear about how their day went. Kayla watched openly, knowing that neither of the clan leaders could see her from her spot. It was a bit cowardly to watch them when she knew she wouldn't be caught, but she allowed herself to be selfish in this moment.
That is, until Jake interrupted her. He hadn't noticed what his sister was distracted by as he moved to sit beside her with his plate of food in hand. Once he's crouched next to her, the spell is broken and Kayla is suddenly aware of his presence and pointedly only staring down at her meal laid out in front of her.
Jake takes a moment to settle in before speaking at a low level, "Whatever you said to Lo'ak... thank you. He looked more lively than before."
She hummed, unimpressed, "Believe me, he would've looked better if it was you."
"Yeah, well... according to you, I don't say the right things."
"As a brother, sure," she shrugged, uncaring and a bit too brutal with her words. She didn't have the energy to put a filter on it, "But you can't afford to be like that when you're a father. Unless you're trying to be like our old man."
"... That was low."
Her ears pinned back against her skull, pausing the small wooden cup of water she held to her lips before taking a sip and lowering it back down, "Yeah, I guess it was. You... never told your kids about Tommy."
Jake winced, and suddenly he was aware of the storm beginning to brew as if electricity was radiating off his sister's skin. He could feel the charge and resisted the urge to move away, "... No, I haven't."
"Are you going to now?" Her question wasn't curious or sarcastic. It was surprisingly calm, but perhaps that's what made it all the more terrifying, "They might open up to you if they knew you lost a brother once, too."
Jake found himself opening his mouth despite knowing it was a bad idea. Grace always did call him a jarhead for this, among other things, "I thought you'd be angry that I never talk about him."
"Oh, believe me, I'm furious," she eyed him up with malice in her eyes, a fire that couldn't be doused by any ocean as her own voice dropped low into something quiet yet venomous, "No one gets to defile my big brother's memory like that. No one. How would you feel if Lo'ak decided to never mention Neteyam again? How do you think his sisters would feel?"
Jake watched her face with what could be described as guilt, "You're right..."
And there they were again. At a stalemate. For a moment, things looked as though everything would get better between siblings. Now, it was back to square one. Kayla thought she could move on from what she felt regarding her brother, but when she's always so close to forgiving him, something always reels her back. Kayla was sure he was tired of this as much as she was, but neither one has been able to find equal footing, no matter how hard they tried to mend what's been broken.
Instead of trying to mend it even further, Kayla spoke as if she was resigned to it, "I'm sorry it's come to this."
He didn't need to ask. He knew what she meant, and he nodded in agreement, "Me, too. I was out of line the other day."
"You were scared. It's hard to blame you..." She shrugged, "Quaritch is still out there. He's your demon as much as Ardmore is mine."
Jake processed that for a moment, staring off into space before letting out a long sigh through his nose, "Well, the good news is we have the element of surprise. Quaritch doesn't know about you."
He didn't miss the way her tail rose to alertness or the way her ears suddenly moved to attention. She even looked guilty, eyebrows scrunched together as she cringed, trying to hide her face behind her drink as she spoke,
"Jake... Quaritch knew who I was."
He was just as alert now, "What?"
"On the ship, when we were fighting, he found out who I was."
"How?"
She reached for her collar, gently grasping the chain around her neck before lifting it up into the air, letting her dog tags slip out from underneath her crop top. They glimmer faintly in the firelight as Jake reads her name from the tags loud and clear in his head.
"You were wearing them?"
"Old habits die hard."
Jake couldn't argue with that. He knows he was just as guilty about old habits. His hand rose to rub his eyes when he felt the muscles in his brows twitch from stress, "... I guess we're all going to have to be careful then."
"That's an understatement."
~~~~~~~~~
Another nightmare. Another night of trying to convince himself he was safe. Spider doesn't like the fact that Kayla is always so willing to talk to him about it, even though he knows that she's just doing her best. He knows he'll eventually have to talk about it, but for now, he'll continue to wake from his nightmares and refuse to talk about them when Kayla asks about them at the moment.
This particular night was bad, worse than the rest, and by morning, Spider was definitely short with his tone and his patience. He kept to himself, not willing to talk or indulge anyone by proxy. Kayla decided that further irritating him wouldn't be a good solution, so she offered to leave while he stayed in the marui, stewing with his ill temper.
Kiri must have tried to draw him out because a short while after trying to talk to Spider, she found her aunt in the shallow water of the reef and helped her with the net she was throwing out while she shared her concern,
"He was tortured... wasn't he?"
Kayla glanced at Kiri out of the corner of her eye, wishing she could lie to her. The only reason she didn't was because Kiri already looked confident that she knew the answer. As young as she was, she had already been through so much-- she wasn't naive about the world, which hurt to admit.
Kayla returned to her task, taking a deep breath, "Yes, I'm pretty sure he was. But he hasn't said anything to me."
"Not to mention what my mom did to him..."
It honestly shocked Kayla that it took this long to have this conversation with Kiri. She had secretly dreaded this moment that would eventually have to happen with her niece, knowing that it would be hard to comfort her while also trying to explain her mother's actions as neutral as possible, despite her own opinion, "That woman who held a knife to Spider's throat... that wasn't your mother, sweetheart."
"You haven't spoken to her very much." Kiri simply states.
Kayla's lips drew a thin line, "No."
Not only that, but Kayla had been actively avoiding Neytiri, only tolerating the other woman's presence if she knew Spider would be forced into the same vicinity as her. Kayla knew it wasn't entirely Neytiri's fault and it wasn't fair to blame all of Spider's trauma on her, but it was easier.
Kiri accepted her aunt's short reply before quietly admitting out loud, "I was scared."
"Of your mom?"
"Yes, but mostly for Spider. For years, I tried to convince myself that my mom loved Spider in her own way, and I tried to convince Spider, too. But then she held a knife--" She winced, lightly hitting the palm of her hand against her forehead, "I feel so stupid--"
"You're not stupid, Kiri," Kayla quickly reached out to take her niece's hand, drawing it away from her face, "You're an optimist. That doesn't make you stupid. Listen. Your parents love you. They'll do anything for you."
"Yeah," the thought of all those dead bodies, the fire, the explosions, the sinking of the ship, and of course, the fear in Spider's eyes, "That's what scares me."
"It is a scary thought... but I understand how they feel. I mean-- I know I'd do anything for you kids now, as cheesy as it sounds."
"It's not cheesy," Kiri faintly smiles, "You're family, Auntie. We know you only want what's best for us."
"Yeah?" She huffs in amusement, "Someone should tell your father that."
"Would... Would you have done the same thing? If you were in my mother's place?"
Kayla peered up at the sky, a little thrown off by the question but wasn't at all surprised that Kiri was curious. She had never thought about it before if she was in her brother's position. If she was in Neytiri's position.
"I'm not sure I can imagine being in your mom's place, sweetheart. I can't imagine what it's like to lose a son. It's possible Neytiri wasn't entirely aware of her actions. Or she was. Who knows? I just know one thing. If it were me, Spider would've never been in harm's way to begin with, I promise you that."
Kiri tilts her head up and watches the sky with her aunt, not entirely at peace, but content, "I think I can live with that answer."
~~~~~~~~~
Another nightmare and Spider couldn't take it anymore. He needed to tell someone something, and if it wasn't about what he endured within Bridgehead, then it could at least be something useful. After all, while the Recoms were learning how to be a Na'vi from him, Spider had been learning a thing or two from the Sky People as well.
He searched and found Jake and Kayla on top of the large mangrove trees, attending to their ikran, not wanting their banshees to feel neglected and unloved while they lived their new lives on the water. Everyone with eyes can see that the older Sully siblings are at odd ends with each other, but that's nothing new to Spider and the family. It wasn't any different from when Kayla first arrived on Pandora, so... even though it wasn't anything new, it was a little concerning that she and Jake were still at odds with one another. Although, maybe they were trying to get past it as they tasked themselves with the ikran.
Kayla smiled to herself while running a single hand down Thena's snout before she caught movement out of the corner of her eye. Looking up, her alertness melts into an open-minded smile once she realizes who it is, "Hey, Spider."
Jake looks up at Spider's name and nods in a short greeting before the boy steps closer, hesitant, "I... have to tell you guys something. I know why the Sky People are back. I know why they're here and I know what they're after."
Despite their disagreements, Jake and Kayla are still very much the first generation of Sullys on Pandora as they both turn to look at each other at the same time, then proceed to do the same as they look back at Spider.
"We already know they want to take this world as their own," Kayla replied.
Spider simply shook his head, "It's more than that."
Jake's eyebrows furrow, "They're not mining again?"
"No. Worse. They're hunting tulkun with a purpose. Not just to piss off the Na'vi. There's uh... a liquid substance found in the brain matter of tulkun called Amrita. Apparently, it completely stops human aging in its tracks."
"What?" Jake frowned.
"It's worth millions of dollars. They told me that Amrita is what's paying for RDA's whole operation on Pandora. The military, the city, the labor force..."
Jake stares off at the distance, deep in thought with a grim expression on his face. Kayla doesn't appear phased by the news, unsurprised by the Sky People's motives. When Jake turns to her, she voices her resigned thoughts, "I told you. Earth was dying by the time I left. Things must have gotten even worse since then if they were getting this desperate."
Jake watches her carefully before nodding in agreement, "The olo'eyktan and the tsahik should know about this."
"I'll talk to them," Kayla volunteers before Jake could even move. She pulls away from her ikran and moves to the human boy, an arm out to guide him forward, "Spider."
The teen followed her lead without question, and Jake couldn't avoid the wary, cautious glances both his sister and the boy managed to glance back at him before they went back to the direction of the village. He's left alone to his thoughts and his attention-seeking ikran.
When they reach the chief's marui, Kayla insists on speaking her piece first, telling both Ronal and Tonowari about who Quaritch is and why he is dangerous being left alive, then she lets Spider talk as he explains why the Sky People were after the tulkun. Both clan leaders listen to both of them intently, and when Spider mentioned witnessing the death of a familiar tulkun and her calf, Ronal's hand instinctively rests on her pregnant belly, horror slowly dawning on her face.
"My Spirit Sister and her baby were murdered... for this?"
Spider's eyes widen, unaware that the tulkun he witnessed being butchered was actually the tsahik's Spirit Sister. Guilt rattles in his chest at the thought of Ronal's distress, unaware of Tonowari's large hand gently encompassing his small shoulder until the olo'eyktan spoke,
"You have done well to bring this to our attention, boy," Tonowari spoke gently, waiting until Spider peered up at him before he gracefully nodded once down at him, "Irayo."
Spider nodded back, unable to think of anything else to say other than an apology when he saw how broken the once stern tsahik looked, "I'm sorry I couldn't do more."
He says this while looking up at Ronal, whose ears pin back as she tries to contain her composure. She almost couldn't stand the pitied look the tawtute boy graced her and she had to look away. With whatever Ronal didn't say, Kayla made up for by placing her hand on Spider's other shoulder, opposite of Tonowari's,
"You did what you could, Spider," she gently consoled.
"She is right," Tonowari adds, much to Spider's surprise and Kayla's gratification, "You would have endangered yourself if you had tried putting a stop to the murder of Ro'a. You are small and have no weapons."
Spider didn't take the chief's observation of his size to heart, still caught up on the name Tonowari called the murdered tulkun. Spider didn't know her name, and somehow that made him feel worse.
Kayla saw the look on his face and thought he was hung up on the idea of not having any weapons, "Something that I promise we will fix. Soon."
Spider simply nodded, still distracted by the memory Ro'a and her calf while absently muttering, "I miss my bow."
"We'll make a new one," Kayla squeezed his shoulder, "A better one, okay? Why don't you head back home? I'll meet you there."
He looks up at her, then Tonowari, then Ronal. He must have seen something curious as he tilted his head ever so slightly to one side. Spider looked as though he wanted to ask a question, but instead, he just nodded in agreement and moved out of Kayla and Tonowari's space, walking out of the marui while only occasionally looking back over his shoulder.
Kayla watched him leave, a little wary that she was sending him alone through the village until she couldn't see him anymore before turning back to the clan leaders. She doesn't appear phased about the fact that Ronal and Tonowari were already expectedly looking at her as she rolled her lips,
"The other reef villages should be told the reason behind the tulkun hunting."
Tonowari bows his head once in solidarity, "I will send word."
Kayla nods and makes a step out of the pod, but she froze with one foot still in. Hesitant, she turns back to the pair, not making eye contact as she opens her mouth, "I need to bring Spider home soon. Back to the forest. He's defenseless and he needs supplies in order to survive on the reef... should he be allowed to stay here."
When she hesitantly glanced up through her eyelashes, she was met with an untelling expression on both of their faces. Ronal is the first to answer, taking a deep breath, "... Do you vouch for the boy?"
"I do."
They exchange a look that Kayla is too exhausted to decipher before Tonowari speaks as he turns back in her direction, "He's a good child. Loyal and brave. If he wants to stay here, he will need to learn our ways."
She feels a tightness in her muscles that she didn't know was there begin to deflate and relax, her lungs expanding more than usual. Her faint smile grew more, gratitude evident in her eyes, "Copy that."
Ronal purses her lips to refrain from smiling back, "Let me know when you intend to leave. I will be sure to provide any provisions you need."
"Thank you."
~~~~~~~~~
A few days flew by with not much to call home about. There was still a live mine of an aura around Neytiri, so everyone purposely kept Spider away from her. Instead, the Sully children would go to Kayla's marui to visit with him or to take him away for lessons or explorations. Spider was delighted to learn he would be taught more about the Metkayina's way of life after Kayla explained Tonowari and Ronal's acceptance of him. He didn't want to get his hopes up, knowing it sounded too good to be true, but he didn't want to let the clan leaders down, let alone Kayla, so he didn't say anything and eagerly followed Tsireya and the Sully children to any lessons they were just as eager to teach him.
Kayla tried her best not to chaperone these lessons, knowing that being a helicopter... guardian wasn't what Spider needed. So, she'd see him off every day to wherever his friends had planned for him and leave them to it, at least comforted by the fact that the Sully children wouldn't let anything happen to Spider, and Tsireya and the other reef children were starting to feel the same way.
That afternoon, she found herself running her thumb over her songcord, sitting down to finally come up with the lyrics to tell her life story. She struggled and didn't get very far by the time Tuk pranced up to her kelku.
"Hey, Auntie? Max is on the radio. He's asking for you."
Kayla smiles and gets up, placing a hand on her youngest niece's head, "Thank you, sweetness. Is your dad around?"
"He's out fishing with mom and the olo'eyktan."
"Alright. The other kids are just down the beach. Go on ahead and I'll see you later."
Tuk runs off excitedly while Kayla makes for the Sully marui. She finds herself alone when she gets there and she crouches down in front of the long-distance radio, pressing it to her lips, "This is Desert Fox, you have the green light."
"Hey, Kayla, it's Max."
"Hey, Max. Everything alright?"
"Everything's fine except for, uh... except for one thing. You haven't broken your link in a while and your body's vitals are... well, I don't feel comfortable with how low they are. You need to come back, and I don't mean just breaking the link and waking up. I need you to bring the avatar back so I can get a proper assessment of both bodies."
She taps her finger against the talking piece as she chooses her words before responding, "Did Norm put you up to this? Normally, he's the one to call."
"Right now, Norm is... pissed off, to say the least. He figured I would have a more level head when talking to you."
"I understand," she sighs heavily, a headache already forming at the idea of having to face Norm's wrath, "I need to bring Spider back anyway. Tell Norm we'll be there tomorrow at about 1600."
"Copy that. Over and out."
~~~~~~~~~
When Tuk had mentioned Max's call to her father, Jake couldn't afford to wait to hear from Kayla about it and went looking for her, concern at the front of his mind. He finds her in her marui and stands in the doorway with hesitance when he notices the bags full of necessities on the floor in front of him. Kayla looked up as she was neatly placing Spider's rations in an easily accessible pouch, to which Jake's ears fell,
"Are you... packing?"
She nods, "Max had called while you were out. He says I've been away too long. I'll take Thena and fly back in the morning."
"Oh... are you sure that's a good idea?"
"I gotta go back. I shouldn't have stayed away from my human form for this long, you know that. I'll take Spider with me."
When Jake flinches and looks as though he wants to argue she immediately adds, "He needs to recuperate and Norm and the others need to see him. They've been so worried, Jake. You need to share the boy with the people who actually raised him."
"No, it's fine. I understand that part. It's just... with Quaritch out there... and now that he knows who you are... it doesn't feel right. He'll have every reason to take both you and Spider."
"I can take care of Spider and myself. I've handled worse than Quaritch, and he wouldn't harm Spider. I'll bring him back, but for the time being, he needs to go home and I need to stretch my human legs."
"So you will come back?"
There's a hesitance in his voice, a small hopeful tone that makes Kayla look away out of awkwardness, "Jake..."
"Right," he corrects himself with a nod, "Don't talk about it."
"No. Do talk about it. But not to me," she managed a small glare in his direction, "I'll come back and I better hear that you and Lo'ak talked."
"About what exactly?"
"Jesus Christ-- Anything, Jake," she snarls out of frustration, staring up at the ceiling as if begging Eywa to clean her brother's ears, "Everything. And make sure he knows that he's not just a replacement."
His eyebrows furrow as a growing need to defend himself begins to form, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean... when exactly did you first start to See Lo'ak? Before or after his brother's death?" Jake's eyes slowly widened as his sister's words bore a hole in his chest. Kayla makes sure her disapproval shows as she continues, "He might not think your parenting is genuine at the moment because you're probably just nurturing Neteyam through him."
"Shit. Okay. I'll talk to him... Are we good?" He motions a finger between the two of them.
"We're getting there," she answered simply, not in the mood to open up another can of worms before she had to leave. She didn't want to say how long it might take for her to finally see eye-to-eye with Jake, but she wanted to. Not enjoying the silence that lingered after her short reply, she took a steady breath in and out of her nose, gaining the courage to look up at him, "Do you... want me to tell everyone about Neteyam?"
His eyes widen a fraction more before he averts his gaze, the broken expression almost unbearable for his sister to see as he stares off at the wall beside him, "If... If you could. I understand if you don't want to."
"It's fine. Leave it to me."
~~~~~~~~~
Thena wasn't overjoyed by all the weight she would have to carry over the ocean, and she showed her distaste by gently nibbling Kayla's shin as her rider was strapping the bags of supplies onto her back.
"Ah," Kayla hissed as she moves her leg out of her ikran's reach, batting her softly with the end of her tail, "Frickin' drama queen. You're going home so quit complaining."
The banshee squawked in retaliation, shaking her neck before huffing loudly through her nostrils as Kayla would say-- dramatically. The ikran was resting on the beach of the village with a small crowd of Metkayina standing around to see Kayla and Spider off, their friends and family included.
Jake was on the other side of Thena, pulling and testing out the saddle, harness, and straps to ensure a safe flight, "Remember to take more frequent stops on the way back. She's not used to carrying so much for such a long distance."
"You got it."
"Still got your compass?"
"Check," she expresses as she indicates to the mentioned object, resting against her leg at the end of her songcord.
"Alright. Fly safe. Have Norm radio us when you get there."
He makes a step toward Kayla, then stops, his hands hesitating at his side before he just decides on firmly nodding. It almost looked as though he was going in to hug her, but decided against it when her shoulders hunched up at the idea. The siblings awkwardly stare at one another before Kayla walks around him and mutters, "See you later."
"Yeah..."
She moves to join Spider where he stands in the sand, his arms folded in front of him as he cautiously watches the Sully children out of the corner of his eye. Kayla peers over at her nieces and nephew, and can see how downtrodden they look, watching both her and Spider.
She offers them an encouraging smile before standing before the human teen. Kayla pinches the bottom of Spider's mask where his chin would be, making him look up at her as she gently whispered, "Hey. We'll be coming back sooner than later. I promise it won't be long. So chin up and go tell them that you'll see them soon. You don't have to say goodbye."
Slowly, he nods and walks away, toward Lo'ak, Tuk, and Kiri. Kayla watched as the siblings all surrounded Spider in a warm, tight hug before she heard the sand moving behind her. Turning around, she was met with Ronal and Tonowari approaching her, and she courteously greeted them by pressing her fingers to her forehead and lowering her hand down in their direction.
Tonowari mimics the motion to her as well with his free hand, his other one gripping his tall harpoon. The olo'eyktan kept a straight face, though Kayla was getting better at reading his eyes, those light blue orbs with specks of green. While he appeared to stand tall and proud over his people, his eyes told a different story, at least to Kayla. She could see a small hesitance in his gaze, trying to remain strong as he solemnly addressed her,
"Safe travels, Makayla te Suli tsmuke te Toruk Makto. Your home here will anxiously await your return."
Kayla bows her head respectfully, forcing down any color threatening to spread up her face. Her eyes dart to the woman standing next to him, catching Ronal's green orbs with specks of gold. The tsahik kept her face firm and blank, though her eyes briefly glanced Kayla up and down in a way that sent the avatar woman down a tunnel of yearning. Ronal's gaze alone was almost enough for Kayla to change her mind and decide to stay on the island for another week.
She quickly regained her words when her mind stuttered, her lips feeling dry as she spoke quietly, "Thank you, ma olo'eyktan. Ma tsahik."
It took a lot of willpower not to step back as Ronal boldly stepped into Kayla's space, grasping the avatar woman's hand in both of her larger ones. Kayla retained eye contact with the tsahik, trying not to crumble under the heat radiating off of the other woman's body, or at the very least, try not to visibly show how both of the clan leaders' presence affected her.
Ronal didn't even blink at this violation of unspoken space between them, lowering her voice for only Kayla to hear, "Eywa ngahu."
Kayla did her best to swallow her nerves and smiled ever so slightly once the words translated into her head. Almost regretfully, she finally steps away from Ronal, gently pulling her hand out of hers and swiftly turning her back to walk toward her ikran. Even as she walked away, Kayla could feel two pairs of eyes on her, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up, but in a more... exciting and promising way. Not like the discomfort she once felt when the clan leaders had first laid eyes on her.
Spider had already finished talking to the Sully children and patiently waited for Kayla beside Thena... but at a safe distance since the ikran was eyeing him a little funny. He wasn't entirely watching Kayla as she approached him, his eyes distractedly flicking between her and the clan leaders watching her depart. He doesn't say a word as Kayla encourages him to climb onto the banshee. He does so, while repeatedly looking back curiously at Ronal and Tonowari. Kayla followed him up onto her ikran's back as she reached her tswin out to form tsaheylu with her loyal steed. Kayla looks around the crowd one last time, from her brother and his family to the clan leaders who had accepted her into their village. She looked away and got comfortable on the saddle, making sure Spider was hanging onto Thena's neck from where he was situated in front of Kayla before ordering in her head for the ikran to take flight.
~~~~~~~~~
By the time the island of Awa'atlu disappeared behind them, Kayla and Spider silently prepared for their long journey ahead. They had to find rock cliffs all throughout the flight so that Thena could rest, more times than when Kayla first flew her out over the ocean, but neither avatar nor human complained, taking the breaks to stretch their legs before they would eventually have to hop onto Thena's back once more.
It was getting dark by the time they began to glide over vast trees and floating mountains, but the world of Pandora was just as bright at night as it was during the day, if not more beautiful, so Thena had no problems as she flew up higher into the Hallelujah Mountains, already knowing her way home.
Even though the mountain appeared inconspicuous, Kayla knew they were at the right spot. She heard a horn blow before she even noticed a single Na'vi, but once the horn had sounded, a chorus of yips and cheers gave away the High Camp's position. A cave was spotted along with torches beginning to light up to beckon her in the right direction, so Kayla grasped Spider's shoulder and instructed Thena toward the cave where she had begun to make out shapes of Na'vi waving her in.
Thena quickly lands the moment the landing zone is cleared, too tired to continue carrying all that weight for a second longer. Spider got off first before Kayla followed suit, breaking the tsaheylu and immediately tending to her ikran, running her hands up and down the beast's neck as thanks while supplying the banshee with plenty of raw meat. The floor of the cave felt cold and familiar beneath Kayla's feet as she looked around at yet another familiar growing crowd as they swarmed around her and Spider. The Omatikaya are all chatting around one another as they stare the two newcomers down, but they appear more relaxed and even happier to see them than ever before.
In the back of the crowd, Kayla caught an accent that wasn't Na'vi, "Look! It's Spider!"
And like dominos, other voices reacted as they drew closer, gently pushing the Na'vi out of the way to get to the human teenager who now perked up at the sound of familiar voices,
"Spider!"
"You're okay!"
"Good to see you, kid!"
"We're so glad you're safe!"
The allied humans, scientists, military, and everyone in between, with smiling faces covered in breathing masks, surround Spider to inspect him and hug him. He faintly smiles at all the familiar faces, adults he had known his whole life, greeting him like he was visiting for the holidays, marveling at how much he's changed.
One of the humans broke away from the group when she spotted the familiar avatar woman beside Spider, a young woman with dark, curly hair as she waved up to the avatar in question, "Kayla!"
"Hey, Jocelyn," Kayla's smile widened into a genuine joy to see her friend, "How's everything?"
"Doing well. It's so good to see you!"
"Makayla Sully!"
"Shit," Kayla mutters when she hears that familiar voice behind her, sounding pissed off. She sheepishly spins around and smiles as if she had just been caught stealing from the cookie jar, "Hi, Norm."
"'Hi, Norm.'" The man in question scoffs mockingly in his avatar form. For someone so lanky and overall nice, Norm Spellman can come off as terrifying when he's pissed, yellow eyes narrowing onto Kayla, "'Hi, Norm?' What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Listen, Norm, before you chew me out..." Kayla cuts off the tirade he no doubt had for her, hand out to stop him while looking around, "There's something I need to do first."
Norm nearly opened his mouth to protest, but then he looked down at Spider and noticed a grave expression on the teenager's face. Spider's gaze meets Norm and shakes his head, all the while Kayla continues looking around the crowd until she finally spots who she is looking for.
Amidst the chaos of everyone greeting Kayla and Spider, she hadn't seen Mo'at approaching until now, and whatever expression Kayla had on her face made the older Na'vi woman very cautious upon walking up to Kayla.
"Ma tsahik," Kayla bowed her hand to her respectfully, despite the grave expression on her face. It felt wrong to call her that. It felt like she was disrespecting Ronal somehow by calling Mo'at that, despite everything the Omatikaya woman had done for her.
"What has happened, Makaylasully?" Mo'at doesn't bother greeting, not once she saw something terrible flash in Kayla's eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Mo'at... I wish I wasn't the one to tell you this."
~~~~~~~~~
Mo'at's cries of anguish could be heard all throughout camp, shaking the very foundation of their stronghold, and once word spread throughout the clan, more cries rang out, mourning over the loss of who was once their future olo'eyktan, who was still a child, echoing off the cave walls.
The Omatikaya had all flown off to the Tree of Souls to mourn Neteyam, while Norm and the other humans attended to Spider and Kayla.
Along with the heaviness in her heart, Kayla felt almost ill when she opened her eyes and was met with the soft-glowing ceiling of her link gurney for the first time in-- god, how long did she stay in her avatar form? Weeks? Months? It's all beginning to bleed together for her now. She waited until the gurney's lid hissed and opened before she removed the censor cage keeping her body in place, taking her time sitting up.
Which she immediately regrets as her arms threaten to give out when they push her torso up into a sitting position, cold and shaking. She wasn't able to restrain the weak groan she let out as her eyes strained and a headache formed right away, her vision dotted and dizzy. When looking down at her feet dangling off the side of the link bay, the woozy feeling in her stomach makes itself known, and suddenly her mouth begins to fill with saliva.
'Shit!'
Kayla leans further over the side of the gurney and vomits all over the floor around her, continuously gagging until her stomach contents are emptied. She spits and gasps for air, now suddenly aware that someone is standing beside her, holding her hair out of her face-- when did her hair get so long?
"Dumbass," Norm mutters, now human and now keeping Kayla's hair up as she continues to dry heave. He's still pissed at her, but it's somehow lessened from both the news of Neteyam and the state Kayla was currently in.
She had to agree with him when she felt her body begin to shake and a thin sheet of cold sweat started to form on her skin. Eventually, she's unable to vomit anything else out and just gasps for air, tears running down her face from how forceful that episode took over her body.
It takes a few minutes, but once she's calm, Norm helps her stand on her own two feet. He hands her an oversized zip-up hoodie, and when she questionably looks at it, he explains, "You're a mess, Kayla. If you don't want to freak Spider out, you need to wear that."
Once she catches her reflection on a nearby surface, she finally understands why. She's horrified by what she sees.
For one, she wasn't ready to see a human female with pale skin, a pointed nose, and light eyes staring back at her, nor the lighter shade of hair compared to the dark, braided locks she had on her blue-skinned avatar. Her human hair was greasy, knotted, and had grown down her back, unlike the kept hair she used to have cut to her shoulders when she first arrived on Pandora. What was more terrifying with how much weight she had lost. Her pants were loose around her waist and her muscle shirt was now baggy, her arms definitely less toned than she remembered. While she had always been pale, she now looked too pale, almost sickly.
By the time she was able to process her appearance, Norm had cleaned up the mess. When he was done throwing away the soiled rags and washing his hands, Kayla finally snapped out of it and zipped the baggy hoodie up over her form, quickly brushing her hair out with her fingers and pinning it up in a tight ponytail. Once she's straightened herself out and is fine with walking on her weakened legs, Norm gives her a disappointed look but says nothing, leading her out of the lab and down the hallway. He stands off to the side of the small medical room the human rebels made as the doors slide open, letting Kayla in first before himself.
Spider and Max look up from whatever conversation is interrupted by Norm and Kayla's entrance. Spider was sitting up on the slab meant for "patients" while Max was asking him concerned questions, questions that Spider wasn't all too happy talking about and was remaining closed off for the time being. He was thankful he didn't have to wear a breathing mask at least.
"Hey, Max," Kayla croaked before quickly clearing her throat and smiling to mask the hoarse tone in her voice.
"Good to see you, Kayla," Max smiled warmly, though she didn't miss the way his eyes shined with concern behind his glasses. Her vitals must not be the only thing he's worried about now.
Kayla quickly looks away and expertly ignores the tension in the room as she approaches Spider, "Hey. How 'you doing?"
"Alright." He responded robotically, eyes squinting at her human form once more and a little cautious about what he saw.
She remembers that he always preferred her avatar over her human form and huffs with amusement, shrugging in her baggy hoodie which made her look so small, "Yeah, I know. I look weird."
"You're not the weirdest-looking human I've met."
She snorts, "Charming."
"But you look different from usual," Spider's eyes scanned her face knowingly, "You look sick."
Guilt rumbles in her gut, realizing she couldn't exactly hide anything from Spider, the ever-observant kid. She feigns a smile of reassurance, "I just need a bit of sun. It's exhaustion from being stuck in that can for too long."
Norm scowled as he moved to join the group forming around Spider's spot on the cold slab. He wasn't impressed with Kayla trying to lie to the kid and playing off the fact that she was vomiting all her internal organs out mere moments ago, "That 'can' is the exact reason why you look miserable Kayla. That weeks-long stretch of neuro-link that you just pulled was stupid and unhealthy. You should've come back the second after you guys defeated the Sky People. I should've pulled your plug the second I realized you hadn't come back in weeks. You shouldn't be separate from your body for that long or you'll start to deteriorate in that gurney," he reaches out and shoves his pointer finger into her forehead to make sure she got the picture, "This body needs to eat, drink, and move just as much as your avatar or you'll eventually wither."
"Okay. I'm sorry," she bats his finger out of her face, sighing in defeat, "I promise I won't stay away that long again."
"Yeah, and just to make up for your stupidity, I recommend staying here for three weeks."
"What?" Spider exhales, eyes widening in distraught.
Kayla's eyebrows shoot up, "Three weeks?"
"Until the both of you are properly evaluated, rested, and healthy again, you're not going anywhere," Norm sternly ordered, glaring between the woman and teenager. Kayla seems to understand that this is the consequence of her actions and nods in hesitant agreement, while Spider, on the other hand, appears a little defiant.
"But... I want to go back." Spider found himself saying, even shocking himself when he did so.
All eyes turn to him and Kayla is the first to open her mouth, eyes shining with sympathy, "Spider--"
"Hold on, you wanna go back to the reef?" Norm speaks up, his grim expression replaced with a surprised reaction as he stares owlishly at the boy, "Why would you? Jake and his family will come back in time, won't they?"
He turns his attention to Kayla, who shrugs, "As far as I know, they plan on staying in Awa'atlu."
"Do you?" He asked.
"Yes."
"But... Spider--" Norm cracks his neck from the number of times he's looked between Kayla and the teen in question, "You'll be the only human."
Kayla frowns at the implication that Spider would be alone, "I'll keep him safe."
"It's not about that, Kayla," Norm shook his head, "I trust you. We all trust you. It's just... the islands are hundreds of miles away and he's human. The seawater is low on the pH scale and can be acidic if a human is exposed for too long. He can get chemical burns."
Doubt clouds her eyes as she stops to think about this, realizing that she has never thought about it before. She cautiously peers over at the other scientist in the room, "... Max, is this true?"
Max was watching the interaction silently up until this point, and while he shared the same concerns as Norm, he was more optimistic in his explanation, "Only if the pH scale is super low and only if Spider doesn't immediately take precautions after getting out of the water. The Metkayina's tsahik likely has something to treat him with. It's also very likely that the kid is immune to most potentially dangerous Pandoran elements after the amount of exposure over the years. He's got tougher skin than even you do. He might be fine."
"He's still not immune to Pandoran air," Norm counteracts while sternly looking between the other two adults in the room, "He needs his oxygen mask on at all times and has to have several spares on hand should something happen, you know that. He can't eat Pandoran food, and he doesn't have a kuru. He's unable to connect to the land, water, and animals unless he's with a Na'vi at all times."
"And he will be," Kayla confidently replies.
"Does he want that?"
Kayla's eyes narrow back at Spellman, "Ask him yourself."
All eyes return to Spider, and while he doesn't like it when people talk about him as if he's not in the room, he hates when all the attention is turned onto him even more. He lowered his eyes to watch his lap as if it was the most fascinating thing in the world, all the while admitting under his breath, "I want to go back. Kiri, Lo'ak, and Tuk need me. And I need them. Kayla wants to go back, too. She wants to stay with her brother's family."
A thought crosses his mind and his lips turn up into a smirk. He raises his head and knowingly grins at the woman in question as he jokes, "It doesn't hurt that the olo'eyktan and the tsahik show an interest in her."
The room deafens with silence, Kayla's jaw nearly falling to the floor in shock by Spider's boldness. Both Norm and Max glance between the two and each other, interest and surprise forming on both of their faces.
Max voices his interest with a faint, equally teasing smile as he glances over at the only woman in the room, "Oh, really?"
Kayla was trying to figure out when and where Spider made such an assumption, her eyes never leaving his until she realized he did this on purpose to get the attention off of him. Finally finding her words, she screwed up her face and playfully snarled at the teen, "Boy, shut up. That's not true."
"No?" Spider's grin only widens, "So gifting beads and shells for your songcord isn't a form of interest? Or taking you out on a date?"
"It wasn't a date. And I never said Ronal gave me that seashell."
The smugness practically radiated off of Spider as he raised a single, knowing eyebrow, "I never implied Ronal was the one who gave you the seashell."
Realizing she had been caught, she felt heat spreading over her face as she frowned, "Has anyone ever told you you're too smart for your own good?"
Spider laughed as Norm's eyes widened further, his mouth opening and closing as he struggled to find the right words to describe where his head was at. Instead, he shakes his finger at Kayla before looking back at the teen in front of him, "Okay, we're gonna put a lid on that conversation for just a minute. Spider, you're welcome to choose where you stay, but don't choose on anyone else's behalf but your own."
The amusement falls from Spider's face, looking away to avoid Norm and Max. He was glad he got a choice, but the fact that Norm appeared so hesitant made the teen feel a little angry and betrayed, remembering all the times he didn't have a choice and when he was captured, "Kayla kept looking for me. She actually tried. Where were you?"
Norm's face falls, "We did try, Spider. We really did."
"But we're just a small group of scientists," Max adds, his voice quiet and soothing.
At first, Kayla could tell that Spider didn't look all that convinced, so she came to her friends' aid, "It's true, kiddo. They tried to help me find you. Norm went out searching with me whenever he could after I earned Thena."
Only when he got Kayla's reassurance did Spider relent the anger and betrayal he felt, glancing between the two men he'd known all his life, "Okay, fine. But I know I'll be safe as long as Kayla is there. She's always had my back."
When he spared a glance over in her direction, Kayla looked surprised and touched, a smile threatening to take over her face as her eyes sparkled at him. Spider looked away, but internally he felt himself smile as well.
~~~~~~~~~
A couple of days go by and Max and Jocelyn are tag-teaming to run as many tests as humanly possible to make sure Kayla, her avatar, and Spider are healthy and able to make the long journey back out over the ocean.
Kayla got the diagnosis that she expected. Her human form was weak from the little use of movement, eating, and drinking. Norm was never going to let her live this down as he continued to berate her throughout the duration of her stay. She was given strict instructions to follow a proper diet and exercise, practically forbidden near a link bay until she regained a healthy weight.
Spider, all things considered, is a picture of health. That is... until he mentioned the vivid nightmares he had been having during one of Max's assessments of him. When asked if he wanted Kayla in on this conversation, the teenager caved and accepted, realizing he would rather tell the woman who had his back than the scientists surrounding him. Kayla was summoned and Spider finally talked about the torture he went through at Bridgehead, mentioning the machine they forced him into called a NeuroSect scanner. He described what the scanner did to him, how it spun quickly around his head with blinding lights, making him dizzy and scared. It felt as though it was probing his mind, collecting brain data while Ardmore questioned him about Jake's location. He described how his head throbbed to the point his nose began to bleed, then Quaritch turned the machine off and Spider blacked out for a split second, his eyes having rolled to the back of his head.
Kayla kept her expression neutral, but on the inside, she felt as though she could scream at the top of her lungs, wanting nothing more than to stomp back into Bridgehead and throttle Ardmore until the bitch's own eyes rolled back and her nose bled. See how she liked it.
But instead of giving in to her anger, Kayla gently thanked Spider for trusting her to know this, and he smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes as he sheepishly asked, "Just... don't ever tell Kiri, okay?"
After the vivid description of Spider's torture, Max confirmed that the nightmares were probably a lasting symptom of what his brain went through. Once Max had Spider confirm that he wasn't suffering from any more nosebleeds or migraines, Max was relieved as he stated that he should be fine. When Spider asked about the nightmares, Max assured him that with time, they'd go away, and that visibly got Spider to relax.
~~~~~~~~~
The conversation that Kayla was dreading had finally come up one night when Norm had her accompany him over to the edge of High Camp, overlooking the vast drop below them, accentuated by large waterfalls. With both of them wearing breathing masks and carrying lab equipment, Norm instructed her on how to take a sample off of a plant near the edge of the cliff, watching proudly as Kayla didn't even bat an eye as she crouched over the cliff, hovering over the plant in question. He remembered her first day at High Camp and how she was nervous to even be near the edge, knowing there was nothing below to catch her.
As they worked, Norm nonchalantly asked, "So. Tonowari and Ronal have been giving you gifts, huh?"
Kayla groaned, lowering and shaking her head in defiance, "Spider is exaggerating. They brought me to the Spirit Tree so I could visit Neteyam and gave me a shell to add to my songcord."
"Kayla. That's no ordinary gift," Norm scoffed, amused at how naive she sounded, "Na'vi are gifted songcord beads or items when they succeed their Iknimaya or if another Na'vi was trying to court them, otherwise, they collect those items themselves or their parents do before they're old enough."
She stayed silent for a moment, continuing with her task of taking samples of the alien plant. She didn't dare look up to meet her friend's gaze as she finally spoke, "I'm trying not to think about it."
"Why? 'Cause it's too good to be true?"
"No, because I'm not-- I... I'm not..."
"If you're about to say 'not worthy', I'm going to dropkick you off this cliff." Norm threatened with a frown, arms crossed in front of him as he faintly glared down at her.
Kayla finally looked up then, a small smile visible on her lips as she tried not to laugh, "Threatening people is my love language, stay off my territory," she offhandedly commented before she looked out over the vast view of the forest below the floating mountains, her mind as far away as the ocean she couldn't even see but knows it's there, waiting for her, "Even if Ronal and Tonowari were interested, it's a bad idea. What would their people think of their leaders if they shacked up to someone like me? And it's not just their people. What about their kids? Ao'nung and Tsireya are around the same age as Kiri and Lo'ak, not to mention they have a baby sibling on the way. Norm, look at me, do I look like I know anything about children?"
He squints at her as if she grew a second head, "Is that a trick question?"
"Infants," she further reiterates, standing up to semi-meet his height, "Do I look like I know anything about infants? I was the baby of my own family. Even after my parents died, Tommy and Jake raised me. I have never learned how to be a caregiver."
"That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard."
She scoffed at how quick he was to reply, rolling her eyes, "Oh, and you hear a lot of dumb stuff in your profession?"
"Kayla, I was working alongside your brother years before you ever showed up. Your brother was the dumbest thing in the world next to the large group of scientists he surrounded himself with. Up until now, I thought he was gonna die still claiming that title."
She deadpanned at his teasing expression, "You really know how to make a girl feel special, don't you?"
"At least Jake wasn't afraid of getting with a Na'vi. What's stopping you from one-upping him and getting with two?" She snorts at the joke, looking away again as he continues, "And so what if they have kids? You're clearly great with children-- don't deny it," she clamps her mouth shut nearly a second after she opens it.
Norm carried on, "It's not like every first-time parent goes in knowing exactly what they're doing. Who knows. You might have your own kid at this rate."
She squinted her eyes with suspicion as she slowly turned her head back in his direction, "If you're talking about Spider--"
"I'm not this time. I mean, obviously, Spider looks up to you as his guardian, but I was talking about you having your own rugrat with Tonowari and Ronal if you so wish."
Kayla's eyes briefly widen behind the glass of her mask before the shock quickly disappears. Norm felt his whole body grow cold when his friend reacted negatively to the statement, her eyes hardening to something grim and impassive as she crossed her arms and looked back out over the wide open sky,
"It's not possible."
Norm's concern was heard in his voice when she didn't look back at him, "Why not?"
"Because Ardmore made sure that was never a problem," Kayla robotically answered, having memorized what she had been told back at Bridgehead until it was engraved into her mind, "My avatar form was sterilized when they created her in a lab. Ardmore had always been thorough and checked off everything on her potential threat list and she made sure that this was one less thing to worry about."
She didn't see the way Norm's face dropped, eyes widening in horror as the news sunk in. He looked as though he had just been punched in the gut, watching Kayla as she already looked so... defeated, as she had already taken the time to accept this fact about herself. Norm was starting to wonder if she was ever going to tell anyone about this or if she was going to take it to her grave. Either way, he didn't want to squander the trust she had in him if he was truly the first one to know about her secret. He wanted to feel honored that she told him at all, but it didn't exactly feel like a secret worth being proud of.
"Oh. Oh, Kayla--"
"Don't," she sternly replied as she turned back to him with fire in her eyes, "Don't you dare pity me. I knew about it this whole time and I didn't care, so don't pity me when this was a choice that I made."
"Did you though? Did you make that choice or did Ardmore make it for you?" He was almost afraid to ask, but he had to know.
"... At the time I didn't care. Kids weren't a priority for me. I came to Pandora to help Ardmore with her little experiment and in return, I could find Jake's remains to bring them back to Earth. That was it. I didn't want kids."
He caught onto her words and stated bluntly, "You keep using the past tense."
Kayla's eyes lower beneath her mask, "... I don't need a child."
"But you want one?"
"I already have one," she finally declares, now a small smile on her face when she comes to terms with it herself, "I have Spider. I have Lo'ak and the girls."
"... You can have Ao'nung and Tsireya, too. And someday, maybe even Ronal's baby."
She appeared to ponder this for a moment before sighing, "Nevertheless... I have more than enough. I have more family now than I thought I'd ever have back on Earth."
~~~~~~~~~
Three weeks went by a lot faster than both Kayla and Spider could anticipate, and once Max gave Kayla the all-clear to link back to her avatar, both she and the teen she was in charge of were starting to get excited to return to Awa'atlu.
While she had been spending so much time on being healthy and gaining weight, Kayla felt as though she completely neglected some people around High Camp. Apart from Jocelyn, Kayla never got to catch up with Txe'la and Meui and how the three of them have been. Once back in her avatar, she didn't want to miss any more chances and took the two Na'vi men back out hunting like the good old days, and even managed to convince Tarsem to go with them when he was free from olo'eyktan duties.
While hunting, the Omatikaya men were catching Kayla up to speed on recent events. Apparently, there's a resistance camp full of humans who had come to Pandora in the second wave of the Sky People invasion. There was an avatar and even Na'vi living among them, one of whom came to visit the Omatikaya. Tarsem spoke of a Na'vi who was originally born from the Sarentu clan, a clan known for their stories and democracy but had since been wiped out by the Sky People. However, a small handful of Sarentu survived and grew up, now fighting to protect Pandora from the same people who murdered their families.
The Sarentu Tarsem spoke of sounded brave and determined to protect their home, jumping from clan to clan to ensure their alliance. The Sarentu's words moved Tarsem when he spoke to them, explaining to Kayla the importance of seeing a clan believed to be extinct suddenly return to bring the clans together. Kayla was amazed by the story, faintly thinking in the back of her mind how she would have to tell Jake about this.
Another individual Kayla felt as though she was neglecting was Mo'at. After everything the Omatikaya tsahik has done for her, Kayla wished she could somehow return the favor. She had started by mourning Neteyam with the older woman, knowing that the grief was fresh in Mo'at's mind and she shouldn't be left alone with it. Kayla did her best to tell Mo'at how everyone was back across the ocean and how they were thriving among the Metkayina. Once Mo'at was told how Neytiri was struggling, she stomped down her grief and got to work, half listening to Kayla's stories as she worked on her project.
Spider was waiting outside the lab for Kayla when she returned from visiting with the tsahik, the teen casually lying across one of its support beams as she approached, swinging one leg off the edge of it. He kept his face blank while staring down at the avatar form he was far more familiar with than the human one,
"How's Mo'at?"
"A little better," Kayla sighed heavily, "Though she's been working tirelessly on a shawl for Neytiri so that I could bring it back to the island with me."
"A mourning shawl?"
"Not exactly. She knows Neytiri already has one but she wanted something specifically for her daughter... a gift from one grieving mother to another." Kayla didn't miss the way Spider ducked his head at her words, avoiding eye contact, "What's wrong?"
Spider slowly sat up, watching his legs swing down over the side of the support beam as he hesitantly muttered, "I... I know I shouldn't... but I miss Neteyam."
Her heart squeezed painfully at those words, sad to see this child so conflicted over the loss of someone so young, "Why shouldn't you miss him?"
"Because I don't deserve it, especially after I let the one responsible for his death get away."
"Spider, we've been over this--"
"I know. But-- still."
She sighed, looking around before deciding to pull herself up onto the beam and sitting down beside the teen, looking up at the cave's ceiling, "You know... for at least the first week without 'Teyam... I felt the same way."
Spider turned his head to look up at her, "Really? Why?"
"Because I wasn't his parent... or his sibling... I was the estranged aunt who only entered his life a year prior. I wasn't extremely close to him as maybe you and Lo'ak were... so I felt as though I didn't have the right to miss him."
Pain passes through Spider's face as he lowers his head again, "... Neteyam and I weren't close."
"No?"
"I mean... when we were younger, sure, but we haven't been for a while. That's why I didn't feel as though I had the right to mourn him."
"Can I... ask why?" She questioned carefully.
"I want to say it was because he was starting to learn all the responsibilities of olo'eyktan, but I know I would be kidding myself. I think he started to distance himself because he wanted his parents to be proud of him."
Kayla caught the hidden meaning immediately, forcing down a wave of rage, "His mother, you mean."
"... Yes."
"I'm sorry, kiddo," she spoke softly, her hand rising to move a dread out of his face, but immediately placed her hand back down before she gave into that impulse, "If it's any consolation... I know he still cared about you."
She didn't miss the way his chin quivered underneath his mask, his eyes stubbornly staring dead ahead as his vision blurred, "It's not."
"I know."
~~~~~~~~~
Rations, masks, mouthwash...
Kayla was going over the list Max gave her several times over, making sure she had all of these essentials for Spider packed and strapped to Thena's back. There were human drinks, food, medicine, and so much more that even she guiltily forgot about. She was ashamed to think she was ready to let Spider stay in Awa'atlu when the kid actually needed a lot more than the bare essentials she managed to scrounge up for him.
Double-checking her harness and straps, Kayla gently places a hand over Thena's nose before stepping away, joining the crowd that wishes to see her and Spider off. Spider stood beside Max as Mo'at was handing him down some healing properties.
"Koaktutra," the tsahik placed a small wooden cup covered in a matching lid in Spider's hands.
Max noticed Kayla's confusion so he elaborates, "Goblin Thistle. Antibiotic balm."
Mo'at nodded to Max's explanation then handed another small mixture to Spider, "Pxorna'."
"Episoth," Max explained, "It's got amazing skin rejuvenation properties, and I think it'll help Spider when he goes into the water."
He takes the mixture from Spider and holds it up to the teenager's face, "As long as you remember to slather yourself in this stuff every night after a long day of swimming, it should help prevent skin cancer and chemical burns. These salves have proven to be safe for human use, I promise. If I happen to visit the island again and I don't see any changes to your skin, then maybe we'll be able to cut the episoth back to once a week and eventually even less so if your skin grows immunity to the pH levels. Until then, every night, bud. 'You got it?"
Spider huffs and rolls his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. I got it."
"Good. And just in case--" Max then holds up a remedy of his own, a small plastic yellow tube that makes Kayla snort with amusement at the sight of it. Sunscreen.
Spider's upper lip twitched at the sight of the tube and half glared at Max, "Seriously?"
"Humor me."
"Fine."
Kayla laughs at their antics and takes the remedies from them, bringing the supplies over to Thena and safely packing them away in their bags. Mo'at takes a moment to place a gentle, withered hand on top of Spider's head and they both exchange a warm smile.
Norm, in his avatar, approached Kayla to help her out and hugged her when they were all set, "I am going to give you a week before I start calling and nagging at you to break your link again, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah," Kayla huffed as she pulled away, unaware of the knowing smile Norm bore as he looked between her and Spider, clearly thinking how similar they already were in words and mannerisms.
"And-- tell Jake everything's okay here. Tell him not to worry."
Kayla smiled then and nods, "Of course. I'll see you in a week."
She moves to say goodbye to Mo'at, the two women gripping each other's arms in departure as they silently speak to one another. Kayla then fistbumps Max and waves to everyone else before gently knocking her knuckle against the glass of Spider's mask,
"You ready?"
"Yeah." Spider grins.
"Alright. Then let's go home."
A/N: I… don't think I have anything to say. I mean, it's a lot all in one chapter so I'm sure there's plenty to say but I can't think of anything ;) stay tuned for more soon!
#tsamsiyu ta'em fic#atwow fic#atwow fanfic#atwow fics#atwow fanfiction#atwow fandom#atwow#ronal x oc#ronal x oc x tonowari#tonowari x oc#tonowari x oc x ronal#ronal x tonowari x oc#ronal x tonowari#tonowari x ronal#tonowari x ronal x oc#tonowari#ronal avatar#ronal#tonowari avatar#avatar tonowari#avatar the way of water#avatar 2#avatar 2009#avatar#james cameron avatar#james cameron#spider socorro#miles spider socorro#spider miles socorro#spider atwow
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Hey girlie🤭It's me perse! You know i LOOOOVE me some Tonowari, AND TUMBLR IS HAVING A TONOWARI DROUGHT🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬!!!!!!! I wanted to request a Tonowari x Reader where they're both young, he's on his journey of becoming Olo'eyktan, and he's courting the reader to be his future Tsahik. I was thinking a little best friends to lovers with some jealous, protective, possessive Tonowari dipped in there.🤭It's all love and keep up the good work🩵
Tihawnu ♡
Pairing : Tonowari x fem!reader
Summary : Request
Song : Dear future husband
Love 🤍
❈ Warning : minor angst, fluff, tiny bit of misunderstanding, confession, jealousy, threatening, protective tonowari
❈ Word count : 2.6k proof read
❈ Note : Perse! I love your request, send me more rahhh, i love protective tonowari and thank you @teyamsbitch for the motivation ILYSM
"word" - dialogue, ~word~ - thoughts
❈ Glossary : Tsahik - spiritual leader, Tsarekam - tsahik in training, sa'nu - mom, sa'nok - mother, mauri & kelku - tent, ma'parultsyip - term of endearment for a child, evi - child, tweng - loin cloth, ma'ite - my daughter, tiyawn - love
You sat with your eyes trained on the mortar and pestle in your hands as you grind the herbs into fine powder, the tsahik keeping a close eye on you while you train under her overlooking, being the tsarekam was tiring you but every drop of exhaustion evaporates from your body as your eyes catches the movement of a tall and handsome metkayina, who you call your best friend, but the thing is, you never saw him as your best friend from the start, though you won't admit it, that's another problem for another time, but also you saw your sister, Ronal, walk right behind him, your blood boiled to see her with him, everyone knew of Ronal's liking over Tonowari, even he knew about her feelings towards him but he always made it his life's Mission to stay away from her and her advances but as you watched her trail behind him like a lost puppy, your anger raised to you brain as you grinded the pestle into the mortar so hard that your hand slipped and all the half an hour worth of grinding spilled over the woven flooring, instantly regretting your anger as the tsahik's eyes glowered down on you, you quickly try to salvage what could be used from fallen powder but your mind remained on your sister and tonowari, somehow finishing your daily chores with the tsahik, you made your way back to your family mauri, though still fuming at ronal's advances you knew you couldn't do anything.
Walking inside the kelku your attention immediately went to your sister who was laying in her hammock, staring at the roof of the kelku with a small smile playing on her lips, you rolled your eyes and dropped the basket in your arms with a loud thud on the floor, your sa'nok instantly turning to face you at the loud noise "are you alright, ma'ite?" She asked in a concerned and worried voice at your display of frustration, you huffed and sat down near the basket, picking at the woven flooring of the kelku "nothing, sa'nu" you said back in quitely, legs drawn to your chest and head perched on your knee, staring at the blacked wood of the fire place, when you feel your mother sit down beside you "ma'parultsyip, i can see something is bothering you evi" her concerned voice filled your heart, her soft and caring efforts melting you enough to answer back "why did you send me to be tsarekam when you knew she would easily surpass me" you huffed angrily but not at her, instead eyeing your sister, she chuckled lightly at your complain "oh ite, do not compare yourself to her, you are different and unique, you will have your moment when the time is right, i know it, eywa makes no mistakes and I know what I'm doing, my child" she smiled at you and kissed your forehead lovingly before getting up and going on with her daily chores while you were left thinking about what she just said but soft chuckles and giggles fell on you ears as you looked at your sister's hammock from were the sound came from and rolled your eyes once again in annoyance before walking out yourself, going to the shore for some peace of mind.
»»————- ♡ ————-««
You floated around in the shallow waters of metkayina, your body facing up to the sky, eyes closed, letting the light waves wash over you, calming you down, but your peace was disturbed as tonowari ran towards your direction, yelling your name "(Y/N)!!!" begrudgingly, you got up but he tackled you in a big side hug, almost knocking you over "calm down, brute, you'll crush me" you chuckled, recovering your balance, his laughter booming around you, of course you knew he was happy, he passed his iknimaya and the celebration that was being held for them in the evening made him even more energetic, you were happy for him with your whole heart but somewhere in there that Little flame of love and jealousy flared but you stayed quiet about it, he saw the flicker of change on your face "hey, what's wrong?" Picking up on your signs, he knew you like the back of his hand, you sighed looking at the waters again "it's nothing, just duties, don't worry about it, it's your big day! Not mine" you smile, playfully nudging him, he's still hesitant but let's go of it.
He knew you'd talk about it when you feel like it, but you knew you'd never tell anyone about this, he changed the subject "you're coming to the celebration, right?" He smirks confidently, but you don't answer immediately and his confidence falters "you're coming, right?! Please, you won't come to your best friend's celebration?! Am I even your best friend anymore?" He said in an overdramatic and playful manner, a hand on his chest in mock offense, which you couldn't help but laugh at "I'll try, I'll try but no promises!" You chuckled, he smiled at that too "I'll be waiting for you" his voice was softer than before, a glint in his soft aqua blue eyes, you both stood there on the shore, staring at each other, neither of you moving or looking away, he puts a hand on your forearm, leaning in to say something but the moment was broken when his friends screeched and howled for him to join them, your face warmed up as you looked away, butterflies swarming in the pit of your belly "you can go, they're waiting for you" your voice was barely above a whisper, he groaned internally but obliged, giving a last side hug to you, he ran of with his friends, turning back a little and waving at you before finally running off with them, but the effects of the hug still lasted way more than you thought they would.
»»————- ♡ ————-««
You stayed on the quite, or for you, the peaceful part of the shores for a long while, it was way past eclipse as you sorted out your thoughts one by one, readying yourself for the next day, you didn't even bother to go to the celebration, you knew it'd just end with you talking to your friends and staring at Ronal who would, most likely, be all over tonowari and you were in no mood to see such utter nonsense but the sounds of beating drums, elders singing the songs of warriors vibrated through the air and tonowari's request for you to come pressed you enough to rethink about not going, even if you, originally, never planned to go, the music and his memory, made you walk up to the lively celebration, the dancing and singing of the event lightening your mood once again, the drums playing in beat with your heart, you bob your head to the music, enjoying yourself for once today, you didn't wear any festive clothing, just your day to day tweng and beaded top, taking a seat near the fire with a drink in your hand, ~this isn't that bad after all, right?~ You asked yourself as a small smile played on your lips, but your thoughts were proved wrong as your eyes fell on the very people you wanted to avoid, your heart sinking down as you saw Ronal putting her arms around tonowari's neck, while he looked constipated to be around her.
Any plans about staying around for the event vanished as you made eye contact with him and he gave you a small smile and a little wave but you were too focused on ronal's hand tracing up his torso and chest, her cheek pressed on his shoulder, you had enough of this scene and got up Huffing, he watched worried as you left the premises after seeing him while Ronal giggled at something she said, who were you kidding? Of course he'd chose her, she's perfect in every way possible than you could ever be, you burst through your mauri and to your hammock, just laying there staring at the ceiling, you were so stupid to fall in love with your best friend but you couldn't do anything now but just watch everything as you die inside little by little everyday watching them together.
A knock on the rim of your mauri brought you back out of your thoughts, you hurriedly wiped your tear stained face getting up to see who it was but stopped in your tracks as tonowari leaned on the entrance, looking at you with a concerned expression "y/n-" he said as he came inside but you were frozen to the spot, he walked towards you, his hand resting on the back of your neck "y/n are you alright? Why did you leave the celebration?" He asked looking into your eyes but you looked away, turning around to your hammock as you played with the strings, your back facing him, not allowing yourself to breakdown in front of him right now "I'm okay, you can go back to Ronal, she must be waiting for you, it's your celebration after all" you spoke in a soft, quiet voice, he looked puzzled at that, after much consideration, he came up behind you, his palm coming down on your waist and you turned around surprised, gazing at him confused, he smiled down at you "why did you leave, y/n? Are you not happy for me?" He asked worry plastered over his face but his question was filled with patience, you felt your walls breaking down at his tone, you were undone by him.
"No– eywa, no! I'm so happy for you, wari, i- i left because…" you couldn't bring yourself to say it, he looked worried as you stopped mid sentence "because what, y/n?" His words were filled with determination, he wanted to get to the bottom of your troubles, this time you didn't hold back "I left because I saw you were busy with your future mate, i didn't want to disturb you and her, it's better i leave before it gets worse for me" your voice getting quieter and quieter with each word but still you stood your ground, eyes glazed with unshed tears, tail curling and swishing behind you "what-? Ronal?! What are you-" then it hit him as if he was thrown into ice cold waters of the ocean, his whole demeanor changed as towered over you, with a quick Maneuver he pulled you closer to him as he snaked his arms around your waist while you stood in shock, pressed up against his chest "who said i wanted her in the first place, tiyawn?" He smirked, his other arm moving to caress your neck, now you looked at him puzzled "wari? What.." but his eyes gazing into yours gave you all the answers you were searching for.
He was glad he followed you here, his long buried secrets were finally being true now, he couldn't contain his happiness, he leaned down his face centimeters away from yours, his eyes falling to your lips then back to your own eyes again "may I?" He asked politely, your heart was beating so fast it could have traveled all across Pandora by now, your mind was racing, this was the one thing you wanted this whole time and now that the opportunity is in front of you, you were a nervous wreck but that didn't stop you from nodding and crashing your lips against his finally, throwing caution to the wind, you wrapped your arms around his neck, fingers curling in his soft curls as his bigs hands pulled you in by your waist, fitting perfectly in your curves as his hands didn't just stop there, going up and tracing small circles with his thumb on your ribs, the kiss was sweet, filled with want and unattended love you felt for each other all these years, you pulled back gasping for air as you smiled like you never did before, he had the same expression as he picked you up in his big arms, spinning you around before kissing you once again "ohh you don't know how long I've waited for this moment" he mumbled happily against your lips, nuzzling his nose to your cheek as you giggled lightly, as this was your dream come true as well.
He sat down on the floor, pulling you into his lap while he unhooked the necklace sitting around his neck and presented it in front of you "will you, (y/n), accept this necklace as my token of love, for the start of our courtship?" You were stunned, you couldn't believe this was happening, no words formed in your mind to speak up, pulling yourself together at last "yes- oh great mother, a thousand times yes!" You squealed hugging him tightly, squeezing him to your heart's content as he laughed, hugging you back while quickly slipping the necklace around your throat, then resting his arms around you firmly, everything was going just perfectly until a gasp was heard from the entrance of your mauri and both your heads snapped to the opening.
Ronal stumbled in, her mouth dropped to form a 'O', the beads and shells if her top and loin cloth clinking together as she walked towards us, tonowari immediately got up, pulling you up with him as your eyes were as wide as saucers, terrified of what she might do you "HOW DARE YOU?!" She charged forward towards you but tonowari got in between, shielding you from her as he glared daggers down at her form "Back off, right now or it won't end good, Ronal" he spoke sternly and for once you were the smug one and she was the one gawking at you two, her eyes welled up with tears "This is wrong!! You were supposed to be mine!" She whined like a child at him, stomping her foot, he rolled his eyes at her "we were *supposed* to end up together, not *have* to, so please I will advise you to stop embarrassing yourself" he said just as annoyed as he always was with her around.
A small group of crowd accumulated outside your tent, they were all her friends, watching Ronal breaking down in front of him and you felt sympathetic for her, getting out of your cover from behind his back, you kneeled down next to her, you knew she truly did love him "hey, I'm sorry-" but you didn't get to finish your sentence as she shoved you back and tonowari growled at her, baring his teeth, instantly pulling you up and behind him protectively, Ronal was taken aback at his act of defense against her, she got up and ran out of the tent, crying, the small crowd of her friends following behind, you sighed, you knew they will now harass you for weeks or even months but you felt bad for your sister, she was your older sister and you felt guilty to hurt her like this but the damage was done, tonowari saw this and pulled you into his arms, kissing your temple lovingly, rubbing your back "shh, it's okay, she was bound to feel this way, it's not your fault and even if she wouldn't have seen us, i was planning to say no to her in the end anyways, so please don't blame yourself over this" his voice like first rays of sunlight, bright and peaceful, you relaxed at his words, looking up at him smiling once again, laying your head on his chest "thank you" you whispered, protected and safe in his arms, his mere presence filling you with such warm comfort as he smiled down at you, his mind screaming in happiness as he knew he made the best decision to say how he felt rather than hiding it, now you were his, his to protect and more importantly, you his to love, forever by eywa's grace.
A/n : i need more tonowari x reader rahhhhhh, i love his big body soo much *faints*
Yawne : @fanboyluvr, @callmeoncette, @lu-the-ghost-reader, @brisbriskett, @saltedcoffeescotch, @ducks118, @itscheybaby, @jackiehollanderr, @elriel-4-ever, @zoetrope1997, @yeosxxx, @persefolli, @im-in-a-pansexual-panik, @teyamsbitch, @elijangwifey, @erosthefae, @murderbirbdany, @thearabloak06, @killua2dot0, @ilovechickenwings, @kylobensgirl, @darling-imobsessed, @majathepapaya, @sweetirilly, @reinap06, @neteyamforlife, @thatgirljas13, @totesnothere04, @arminsgfloll, @babyqueen17, @kikookii, @bigbadsofty07, @g-l-1-t-c-h-3-r, @urfavpansexual.
© Neteyamyawne 2023 | All Rights Reserved. Do not repost on other platforms, copy, steal, or translate any of my works!
#╰┈➤ ❝ yawne asks : ◛ °answered#. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ [reader] ࿐ྂ#↳ *Tonowari* ༉‧₊˚✧#『✎ : one shots 』#tonowari x you#tonowari x reader#tonowari#tonowari x y/n#tonowari x reader x ronal#tonowari x ronal#tonowari x oc#tonowari atwow#tonowari avatar#tonowari angst#tonowari fluff#tonowari fic#tonowari fanfiction#tonowari scenario#tonowari imagine#tonowari smut#tonowari headcanon#avatar#avatar 2009#avatar 2#jake sully#avatar the way of water#jake sully x reader#jake sully x you#avatar fandom#tsu'tey avatar
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ROMANCING PANDORA
VALENTINE'S DAY HOSTING EVENT BY : @eywaite
PROMPT LIST :
one : somnophilia <3
• miles quaritch • jake sully • tsu'tey • tonowari
two : mommy / daddy kink <3
• miles quaritch • jake sully • tsu'tey • tonowari
• neytiri
three : threesome / foursome <3
• miles quaritch / oc / jake sully • jake sully / oc / neytiri • tsu'tey / oc / solek • tonowari / oc / jake sully • solek / oc / teylan
four : <3
five : <3
six : rut / heat cycle <3
• miles quaritch • jake sully • tsu'tey • tonowari
• neytiri • solek • eetu •teylan
seven : wlw / mlm <3
• miles quaritch • jake sully • tsu'tey • tonowari
• neytiri • solek • eetu
NOTE :
hello!
i am back to writing when i am available so i will continue my fanfics that i have put on hold in the avatar fandom. i'm doing this event for fun and fresh start to get back into writing to release more chapters and do more events for you guys with my ocs. i only took one off because i'm not very comfortable with it. and I'll update every character at a different day.
i hope you enjoy it when the first comes out in february 7th! <3
let me know when you want to be tagged on events and on my stories that i'll update soon!
#romancingpandora2024#avatar 2009#avatar 2022#avatar smut#avatar the way of water#avatar#jake sully x oc#miles quaritch x oc#tonowari x oc#neytiri x oc#solek smut#eetu#eetu frontiers of pandora#solek frontiers of pandora#navi oc#omatikaya#avatar jake#miles quaritch#neytiri#pandora#blog post#valentines day
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「 ᨒ TONOWARI ᨒ 」
「 . ݁ ✦ HEADCANONS ✦ . ݁ 」
⋆˙ coming soon ⋆˙
「 . ݁ ✦ ONE SHOTS ✦ . ݁ 」
⋆˙ coming soon ⋆˙
「 . ݁ ✦ SERIES ✦ . ݁ 」
⋆˙ coming soon ⋆˙
© SEVINSAV 2024 | all rights reserved. do not republish, steal, repost, modify, translate or claim any of my work as your own . . .
#avatar#james cameron avatar#avatar the way of water#atwow#tonowari#tonowari x reader#tonowari x y/n#tonowari x you#tonowari x oc#tonowari x fem!reader#tonowari x human!reader#tonowari x blk!fem!human!reader
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🪐Masterlist🪐
Welcome to my masterlist. I am open to writing for more characters in the future if requested. My smut pieces will have * on them. I do not write smut for characters who are minors.
I do not give anyone permission to repost my work for personal use or upload to other platforms. Be respectful
No Minors allowed on my blog 18+ only
🌱FAQ🌱
Lo'ak:
Headcanons:
What They Smell Like
Sully Siblings as Kids
One Shots:
None yet
Series: None Yet!
Drabbles:
None yet
Neteyam:
Headcanons:
What They Smell Like
Sully Siblings as Kids
One Shots:
None yet
Drabbles:
None yet
Series:
Growing Pains Chapter 1: The Stains of War
Growing Pains Chapter 2: The Weakest Link
Growing Pains Chapter 3: Ambush and Anguish
Growing Pains Chapter 4: There is Only Change
Growing Pains Chapter 5: Scorched Heart
Growing Pains Chapter 6: The Fire Dance
Jake:
Headcanons:
What They're Like in Bed*
What They're Like Going Down On You*
What They Smell Like
What They’re Like When They’re Jealous
One Shots:
Love to Love You*
A Taste of Heaven*
I Thought I Lost You*
Jake x Reader x Tonowari*
Request: Back to the Stars
For the Thrill of It*
Series:
Written in the Stars Chapter 1: Happiness is Simple
Written in the Stars Chapter 2: Train Attack
Written in the Stars Chapter 3: Rescue and Loss
Written in the Stars Chapter 4: A Sign From Eywa
Written in the Stars Chapter 5: One Life Ends, Another Begins
Written in the Stars Chapter 6: Joining Union
Written in the Stars Chapter 7: Eywa's Blessing
Written in the Stars Chapter 8: Leaving Home
Written in the Stars Chapter 9: Sanctuary
Written in the Stars Chapter 10: A Revelation
Written in the Stars Chapter 11: The Most Precious Pearl*
Written in the Stars Chapter 12: The Tulkun Return
Written in the Stars Chapter 13: Sully’s Stick Together
Written in the Stars Epilogue: The Gift of the Great Mother
Tonowari:
Headcanons:
What They're Like in Bed*
What They're Like Going Down On You*
What They’re Like When They’re Jealous
One Shots:
Safe in Your Arms*
A Taste of Heaven*
Jake x Reader x Tonowari*
Series: None Yet
So'lek:
Headcanons:
What They're Like in Bed*
What They're Like Going Down on You*
What They’re Like When They’re Jealous
Drabbles: None yet
One Shots:
Burning Desire*
Make You Mine*
Series:
The Songs of Freedom Chapter 1: Sätarep
The Songs of Freedom Chapter 2: A New Tomorrow
The Songs of Freedom Chapter 3: Sarentu
The Songs of Freedom Chapter 4: The Day You Left Me
Teylan:
Headcanons:
What They’re Like When They’re Jealous
One Shots:
None yet
Drabbles:
None yet
Series:
None yet but he is featured in The Songs of Freedom
Tsu’tey:
Headcanons:
What They’re Like When They’re Jealous
Tsu’tey as a Mate
Drabbles:
None yet
One Shots:
None yet
Series:
None yet
Eetu:
Headcanons:
None yet
Drabbles:
None yet
One Shots:
None yet
Series:
None yet
Quaritch:
Headcanons: None yet
One Shots:
Converging Paths
Series: None yet
🌱Divider credit: Saradika 🌱
🌱Listen to me while scrolling:
#mine#avatar masterlist#avatar fics#new avatar blog#avatar explore page#avatar characters#headcannons#avatar series#avatar writing#my writer#Tonowari smut#neteyam suli x reader#neteyam angst#loak x reader#loak fic#loak fluff#loak x you#tonowari x you#tonowari x y/n#tonowari x oc#tonowari x reader#avatar for you#new writer#avatar blog#avatar the way of water#neteyam imagine#loak headcanons#SoundCloud#teylan#teylan x reader
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