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thewriters64 · 2 months

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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!

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thewriters64 · 2 months

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In Love With The Enemy [II]

Chapter 2: The Son He Never Wanted

pairing: lo’ak x female turned na’vi reader

summary: during the time when jake became toruk makto, you were quaritch’s youngest and most valued soldier, the daughter he never had. but, pandora changed you and you died during the final battle, betraying quaritch and wishing that you had been able to do more. now, you have been reborn again, as a na’vi, tasked with quaritch’s new military avatar crew to kill Jake Sully. taking advantage of this second chance at life, you help the Sullys and fall in love along the way.

genre: fluff, angst ~ slow burn, pining on lo’ak’s part.

warnings: mentions of blood, war, violence

highlights: [more tearjerking jake and reader moments, neytiri and mo’at being like mothers to reader, lo’ak continuing to be an entire SIMP, and ofc tuk being adorably annoying like always]

word count: 9,242

note: how are you all doing?? as always, i’d like to thank you for waiting for this part! i don’t want to spoil anything before you read, but i will note that i just think all the moments with lo’ak are so cute cause he just flirts with her (or tries to) and she plays along, but on the inside she gets all fluttery and is kinda clueless about everything cause no one’s ever acted like that with her so AHHHHH — I really hope you all enjoy this chapter!!

[prologue] [chapter 1]

Keep reading

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thewriters64 · 2 months

Text

Ma Miles - Ch. 21

12.6k words

Chapter warning:

Animal death (hunting), Ritual drugs (glow worm and "scorpion" poison), PTSD hallucination - drowning, child death, death, gunshot wounds, blood

For those of you who doesn't already know, I've been dealing with the loss of a much loved pet. The hiatus that happened wasn't planned, but the emptiness left behind after his passing hit me much harder than I thought it would. I haven't been able to write much at all and so time passed me by. I'm still finding it very difficult, so updates might be every other week instead. At least until I can gather the creativity to write for longer periods of time.

On a better note though, we've officially reached, and passed, 100.000 words on this story! 🎉 I'm so incredibly grateful to all of you for reading the story and for cheering me on while I write it. Your support has been way and beyond magnificent! Thank you so much ❤️❤️

(If you want to be tagged with the updated chapters, please leave your @ myusername in the comments!)

Previous chapter | Masterpost | Chapter 22 - Coming soon

“It’s time, Quaritch,” Jake chuckles as he stands before the bed, Tonowari crowding closely behind him.

Groaning, Miles rolls over to his back, taking your sleepy form with him, his hand spreading across your bare back as you rub your face into his chest sleepily. Behind you, Spider snores loudly, his short limbs spread eagle, his lips parted as he breathes. Shifting his eyes back to the mop of your hair beneath his chin, a content hum rumbles through his chest and then your beautiful eyes flutter open once more to stare up at him. The small smile that crosses your lips has his heart stopping in his chest, taking his breath away - until Sully snorts indignantly above him. Tearing his eyes from yours, Miles scowls up at Sully, a growl ready to leave his lips.

“It is time, my friend,” Tonowari ushers again, poking Sully in the side before getting up from his bent position.

“For what?” Miles growls, noticing how your lips pull into another smile against the skin on his chest, no doubt enjoying the rumbling his raspy voice is making beneath your ear.

“Can’t say,” Sully grins widely down at him, that mischievous smirk sliding onto his infuriating face once more, “Get moving, Colonel,”

“Ronal and Mo’at will be waiting for you at ranteng utralti when the sun is full, Y/n,” Tonowari addresses you, smiling gently when you rub your face against Miles’ chest as you mumble something affirmative.

Rolling to your back, you release his arm from beneath your head and just like that, your sleepy morning cuddle is over. Sighing, Miles sits up in the bed and rubs the sleep from his eyes before yawning. The faces looking expectantly down at him reminded him more of labrador puppies than actual clan leaders, but tough tits, this was just his luck now, he guessed. Getting to his feet, he slowly bent down and draped the blanket over your sleep-warm body, covering you from the other men’s eyes - not that they probably bothered to check you out, but it still made him feel better. Stroking a finger over your cheek, Miles smiles down at you, feeling his heart jump in his chest when you turn your face into his finger and smile.

“Let’s have lunch here today,” He hums, watching as your eyes slowly close and open again. You were always so malleable in the mornings. No scowls, no hisses, no distrust as you clung to him like a lifeline.

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen, Quaritch,” Sully offers, that annoying mischievousness still stuck to his voice.

“Supper?” He asks, raising his eyebrow only to watch as Sully and Tonowari both shake their heads - negative.

“Ronal and Mo’at will keep her company until we return,” Sully smirks and then he moves towards the entrance of your home, just trusting that Mile’s would follow, “Don’t worry, Colonel, we’ll bring you back to her in one piece,”

Growling, Miles shakes his head, sparing the two of you one last look before following the pain in his ass and his equally annoying friend outside. Closing the flap to the hootch tightly behind him, Miles hums as he breathes in the crisp morning air. The sun has barely risen on the horizon, the village still bathed in the bioluminescent hues of Pandora as he walks through it, following the idiots until they reach the beach. There are a couple of dozen warriors waiting for them, their little canoes bobbing in the water, ready to leave when they arrive. Huffing with annoyance, Miles follows Sully when he nods his head toward the furthest canoe. The prospect of getting into the water yet again, in a boat-like transportation with Sully, didn’t sit well with him. The last time he’d been on a boat, well…

“C’mon Colonel, promise I won’t drown you this time,” Sully grins with a huffed chuckle, his eyes all but glittering with humor as he reads Miles’ hesitation like an open book.

“Hilarious,” Miles drawls, scowling over at Sully before taking a deep breath.

Trust - he reminded himself. He needed to trust Sully again if he was to do this. It was the only way to be with them, to be…free of the RDA once and for all. Walking up to the canoe, he pushes it into the water before jumping in with Sully. The shit-eating smirk that he sends him has Miles huffing while shaking his head. Now, Miles had always adapted pretty quickly to any situation he was thrown into. It was what had made him such a great Marine and an even better chief of security for the RDA, but this shit? This shit was uncomfortable as hell. Just the sound of the water brushing past the canoe had goosebumps erupting all over his ridiculously exposed skin.

“You’re doing alright, Quaritch,” Sully offers him after a while, a genuineness in his voice that he hadn’t heard before. “If I’m honest, I’ve been struggling with water too since… well,”

Miles just hums, sucking his bottom lip between his teeth. He’s not about to have a therapy session with Sully, but the admission somehow made him feel a little bit better. After he was healed, he had a helluva time trying to conquer his newfound fear of water, which was absolutely ridiculous. He was a goddamn decorated Marine for fuck’s sake. A Marine didn’t fear water. Yet, when the sea crashed against the roots below their hootch, he had felt his breaths becoming shorter as his palms grew clammy - his heart racing ridiculously fast in his chest. He had refused to call it a panic attack as that would indicate that he suffered from PTSD - and that he most definitely did not.

Not that there was anything wrong with having PTSD, Miles knew a lot of strong men and women who bravely fought through it, but that didn’t mean it was something he struggled with. Too lost in his own thoughts, however, Miles didn’t register when the canoe approached the shore, the sudden stop rudely tearing him out of his thoughts. Clearing his eyes, he notices that they’re in a completely new part of the island groups. Following his old Corporal out of the canoe, he pulls it with him up on the beach like the others have done. Sully joins Tonowari at the front and just like that, something Miles barely recognizes molds his face into a mask of leadership. It was an expression he had only seen twice in his life, once in the video of his own death and the other when they fought on the Sea Dragon. It wasn’t hard to imagine Sully as a clan leader when he looked like this, although the admission didn’t sit well with him. If he were to do this, however, he would just have to swallow his own opinion of the man.

“Alright, gather around,” Sully raises his voice and waits for everyone to join the circle around them.

“We will have a special Iknimaya today,” Tonowari informs when the last soldier joins them, crossing his arms over his chest before looking at each one of them.

“We are in a situation where Iknimaya will be performed in a mix of two clans, the Matkayina and Omatikaya,” Sully picks up, the tone of his voice gnawing on Miles’ patience.

“Today, the Great Mother will test Miles Quaritch, will judge his heart to see if he is worthy of being one of the people,” The big chief looks at him the same way he had when he had first awoken in Y/n’s hootch, but behind his eyes, mirth danced clear for anyone to see.

“C’mon Colonel,” Sully grinned, waving him forward to step into the circle.

Taking a deep breath, Miles shook his head before clenching his jaw, squaring his shoulders as he stepped forward. He had to trust the process, had to trust that Sully would not do him any harm. Yet, trusting him was difficult in a situation where he was surrounded by Na’vi. Sully had lived with them for fifteen years. Had been their leader, had married a Na’vi, and had kids with her. He was as much a Na’vi as any of the others surrounding him.

“Hope you’ve trained with a bow and arrow, Quaritc,” Sully snickers as he steps forward, that annoying grin spreading across his equally stupid face.

“Today, we hunt,” Tonowari’s voice booms to rising cheers around them. “Omatikaya style,”

“What’s going on, Corporal?” Miles grunts, unable to keep the annoyance from his voice.

“You’re gonna be a man, Colonel,” Sully grins up at him, the sides of his eyes crinkling with amusement, “Congratulations,”

“Ngaah,” Miles grunts before placing his hands on his hips, “And how do I do that?”

“Well, your situation is a bit… different than normal. Usually, you would have been a teenager and completed your Iknimaya in the way of your clan, but you know, that’s not where we are today,” Sully explains and it rings a bell in Miles’ mind.

“Y/n made the unit go through Ikni-maya before she would allow us to get the ikrans,” He offers, noting how Sully’s grin widens.

“I know, she told me,” He chuckles before nodding his head toward the forest. “We already know that you can fly and have bonded with your ikran. Although your Iknimaya was never official, we’ve decided to have you hunt for us to complete it. You will have to perform clean kills. Should be easy enough for a seasoned Marine like yourself, right, Colonel?”

It’s a jab at his pride, Miles knows it is - still, he’s helpless to keep the growl from entering his throat. Bending his ears down, his tail whips annoyed behind him. It only results in Sully’s grin spreading wider though. A warrior steps up to Tonowari with two small bowls in his hands.

“You will receive the markings of a Metkayina warrior,” Tonowari steps forward, handing one of the bowls to Sully as he approaches.

“You will bear the mark of the Omatikaya,” Sully offers, that same leader-like mask hiding his amusement from the others.

Dipping two of his fingers into the black goo in the bowl, Tonowari presses the two digits to his forehead, spreading his fingers in a small circle that doesn’t meet in the middle. Next, Sully steps up to do the same thing, his thumb dipping into a yellow paste, this one thicker than the black, before he presses his thumb between Miles’ eyebrows, drawing a straight line up over his eyes, ending it in his hairline. Dipping his thumb into the paste again, he repeats the motion on the other side before pressing his thumb to Miles’ forehead, inside the black circle Tonowari had drawn previously.

“Call your ikran, Quaritch,” Jake hums before yipping for his own, the call shrill in Miles’ eyes.

Putting two fingers to his lips, Miles whistles loudly, uncertain if Cupcake would be able to hear him from this far away. It should not surprise him when no more than ten minutes go by before banshees could be spotted in the distance, quickly approaching them. When Cupcake lands on the beach though, Miles isn’t at all surprised to see Hawnu with her. Reaching his hand toward Cupcake, he greets her with a good forehead rub before turning to Hawnu, hand outstretched to do the same.

“I wouldn’t do that, Quari-” Sully hastily adds before his words die in his mouth when Miles rubs Hawnu’s head the same way he had done to Cupcake.

“I wouldn’t worry too much, Corporal. Hawnu and I go way back, don’t we boy?” Miles chuckles as Hawnu pushes harder against his hand.

“Well, Eywa certainly go a sense of humor,” Sully sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose before staring at Miles again, “The only other person who’s allowed to touch him is Spider,”

“Well, like his father, the kid does have a way with wild animals,” Miles grins back before he steps away from the banshees.

“Touché,” The Corporal deadpans, rolling his eyes. “Bob and I will take the lead. We’re hu-”

“Bob?” Miles can’t help but interrupt Sully.

“What? Like you named your ikran any better?” He shoots back, lighting fast, eyes lighting with amusement when Miles just growls. “What’s her name, Quaritch?”

“None of your goddamn business, Corporal,” He bites, making the connection with Cupcake for the first time since escaping the Sea Dragon.

It punches the air from his lungs as Cupcake screeches. Immediately, his mind is bombarded with worry and pain, the feeling of hopelessness and fear, of heartache and relief. Gasping for air, Miles’ eyes only clear when Hawnu pushes his forehead into his back, all but pushing him forward against Cupcake, the two of them creating a protective circle around him. Distantly, he can hear Sully shouting for him to just breathe, to try and ground himself, but the input from Cupcake is too much. He had made her feel this way.

Desperately, he tries to push apologies through their bond, tries to calm her down enough to take a breath, to fill his burning lungs with much-needed air, but it’s no use. Cupcake screeches again and again, her wings flapping wildly before him until he closes his eyes, fear gripping his heart. The thought of you, however, calms him. Your eyes, your smile, your warmth, your love, it gives him the strength he needs to step forward, embracing Cupcake’s neck as he orders her to calm down. It doesn’t take long before she’s breathing heavily against his chest, the air hot and moist where it hits his skin.

“It’s alright, Cupcake,” Miles hums, stroking her neck, “You’re safe. We’re safe,”

Minutes go by like that, Miles trying his damndest to calm her down, to calm Hawnu down behind him. To his utter relief, Hawnu steps away from their protective circle and then Cupcake lifts her head, shaking it as she spreads her wings wide, ready to glide through the air.

“You haven’t made tsaheylu with her since the ship, have you?” Sully asks calmly, wary of Hawnu’s sharp eyes on him.

“No,” The word comes out raspy, dismissive.

“Alright,” And with that, Sully connects to his own banshee, stepping up to sit astride him.

“You ready, girl?” Miles whispers, receiving a chirp in return.

Mounting Cupcake, Miles grabs onto her as she flaps her wings hard, lifting them both into the air. Immediately, calm settles over the bond between them, Cupcake’s relief at being airborne with him once more. Sully takes them away from the beach, away from the island, and prying eyes, steering them out over the wide ocean. For well over half an hour, they do nothing but fly and Miles realizes then that this is for him, for them. Looking over at Sully, he’s not really surprised to see his Corporal already watching him. Nodding his head that they’re ready, Sully nods back, reading Miles loud and clear as he changes course back to the island they had left.

“We’re hunting sturmbeests,” Sully shouts over the wind as he flies his banshee closer to Miles. “Follow my lead and make two clean kills,”

Nodding his head in understanding, Miles follows Sully’s lead as he takes them over the jungle. Below, beneath the canopies of trees, something huge moved on the ground, making everything around it shake with force. It isn’t until the first clearing appears that Miles gets to see what a sturmbeest is, the bison-like animals smashing everything in their way as they run along the river. Diving down, Sully readies his bow before letting go of an arrow, the force behind it cutting through the air like a knife in hot butter before it hits its target, piercing the soft operculum, making the huge animal drop within seconds.

Miles could do that. Sure he could. Swallowing loudly, Miles felt his mouth go dry as he readied his own bow and arrow. The small amounts of practice Y/n had made them go through probably didn’t make up for the skills he would need to take down one such animal, much less two, but hell, he had to at least try. Picking an animal in the pack, Miles silently asks Cupcake to dive down after it. The next few minutes go by too fast, his first arrow hitting the animal’s soft operculum immediately. Then, unbeknownst to himself, Cupcake makes a summersault and dives anew for an animal Miles apparently must have looked at which made Cupcake decide that this was the next target. Miles is clumsy to get the next arrow out of the quiver, cocking it with shaky fingers as Cupcake approaches too quickly. Still, when Miles lets go of the arrow, it hits home and the animal crashes down to the ground beneath it.

Surprised, Miles lets out a victorious whoop, gripping his bow as he grins widely. Sully is looking at him with surprise of his own, no doubt disbelieving of what he had just witnessed. Unable to help his chest from puffing out, Miles laughs as they dive for a landing, the pack of sturmbeests now long gone, leaving the fallen animals behind. Jumping from Cupcake’s back the moment she lands, Miles jogs over to the first animal, removing the arrow and making sure that the animal was dead before saying his thanks, just the way you had taught him. Repeating the same motion with the second animal, he washes the arrows in the stream before placing them back into the quiver.

“She taught you well,” Sully hums as he steps up behind Miles, kneeling down to wash his own arrow.

“She taught us all well,” Miles agrees, smiling fondly over how patient you had been with them all. “I thought these animals were bound to the mainland?”

“Normally, they are,” Jake hums as he gets up on his feet, “The pack migrated over to this island a few weeks ago. Made for easy access,”

“So what now?” Placing his hands on his hips, Miles waits for instructions.

“Now we wait until the others get our position. It’s on the river, so it should be easy enough to transport the parts with canoes until we reach the open sea,” Grinning at him, Sully shakes his head as he steps over to a big stone, climbing up to sit down on it.

“Spit it out, Corporal,” Miles growls, reading Sully like a book.

“You did well,” He starts, but it’s not really what he wants to say, so Miles just waits, and sure enough, eventually Sully sighs before he continues. “You’re not how I remembered you to be, and yet, you’re somehow exactly the same,”

“Should I have been anyone else?” Miles snorts, unable to poke the sleeping bear.

“You know what I mean, asshole,” Sully chuckles and it’s not the response Miles was expecting.

“Well, getting murdered by your wife, being brought back as a blue friggin tree hugger, discovering the son you left an orphan was raised by your enemy, kidnap said son, having his mother hunt your blue ass down, drowning by said enemies hands only for your son to save you and leave your sorry ass, and then for his mother to save you from certain death certainly changes a man. You should try it sometime,” Miles deadpans, noticing how Sully winces at more than one recap.

“So she hunted your ass down?” He eventually asks, that same glint of humor entering his eyes, and try as he may, Miles couldn’t help his huffed chuckle.

“Showed up outside the gates of Bridgehead like she was some kind of John Rambo incarnate, demanding to see me,” Miles grins at the memory. ”Tried to choke me to death. Damn near succeeded had it not been for Corporal Wainfleet,”

Sully whistles his aspects before chuckling to himself. The grin that spreads across his lips is one Miles had always found charming, something that probably made him accept the younger man into his weird little family.

“Her wrists were bound,” He adds and just like that, Sully loses his composure and bursts out laughing.

“She was bound?” The laughter rings through the open riverside, bouncing off of the trees as Sully laughs and try as he might, Miles couldn’t help his own huffed chuckle as he shook his head.

“Yup,” Miles pops the P, “She jumped me after I threatened Spider. She wrapped her legs around my waist, pinning my arms as she wrapped her hands around my neck. Tried to dislodge her, but I went down like a redwood. Wainfleet entered shortly after,”

“You threatened Spider?” Sully sobers, his eyebrows raised comically high.

“Yeah, it wasn’t a direct threat, more of an implication that he might get hurt. Either way, I did the mistake of referring to myself as his father… Let's just say that hell hath no fury like that woman,”

“You should have seen her when we got back to camp without Spider,” Sully snorts, his ears flattening against his skull. “Scared me half to death, even made Neytiri take a step back,”

“Damn,” Miles whistles imagining just how furious you must have been.

The silence stretches between them as they think about what they had just learned. Intellectually, Y/n’s anger was understandable. Hell, Quaritch had seen time and again when he was younger. War brought out the strongest in mothers, especially when protecting their children. Your reaction to Miles threatening Spider should have been expected, especially with the knowledge that you had left your clan to search for him, walking up to enemy lines to surrender just so that you could be reunited with your son. You must have been a helluva warrior in the tree-hugger clan. Distantly, he wondered if you would have fought in the battle that ultimately punched his ticket and if you might have crossed paths.

“Who is she?” He hears himself ask, watching as Sully’s eyebrows furrow in confusion.

“That’s just it, Quaritch. She isn’t anyone important in the clan,” Sully speaks slowly, choosing his words right, “She wasn’t a warrior, not a hunter, gatherer, or artisan. She helped Norm out with the orphans, that’s where she found Spider,”

“Spider was in the clan?” He could no more help himself from asking as he could help himself from turning his head to fully face Sully.

“He was too young to be put into cryo and when we sent the humans back to earth, he was left alone when the other kids were adopted by the other scientists. Spider just kinda… He didn’t fit in anywhere, but when Y/n came, she would make sure he was properly cared for, that he was active and was fed right.” Sully’s ears droop as he talks, his tail thrashing anxiously behind him.

“It didn’t take long before they were inseparable. Y/n bent backward to give him what he needed and as he grew, Spider and Lo’ak, my second-born son, became best friends. She’s just kind of been there, in the background, ever since. Helping the clan where she’s needed. We never even knew she could be that angry before I had to tell her that you had kidnapped Spider and that we had allowed it to happen,”

“If she’s not a warrior or a hunter, how come she has a banshee?” Miles chose to ignore the other information, choosing his battles.

“Spider…” Sully hums, but doesn’t elaborate.

“Spider?”

“Yeah. They must have been around five and seven or something. Lo’ak had decided it was a good idea to sneak off after the teens that were ready for their Iknimaya, to have a look at the ikrans. Some of the people had noticed them following the party out and one of them had mentioned it to Y/n. When I arrived, I only had enough time to locate them before an ikran spotted the kids.” Sully picks at the knife in his hand, the blade dangerously close to slicing his skin open.

“Lo’ak?” It isn’t lost on Miles how Sully said that this was Lo’ak’s idea and not theirs or even just Spider’s. He specifically said Lo’ak.

“To follow Tarsem and the teens, they would have had to take a pa’li - a horse-like animal, and seeing as Spider is unable to make tsaheylu… Well, it wasn't difficult to put two and two together,” His old Corporal almost looks embarrassed as he continues, “Which is probably how they ended up at the old shack to be kidnapped by you too. Lo’ak called it in,”

“A lawbreaker, just like his daddy then,” Huffing a chuckle, Miles shakes his head, watching as Sully does the same before sobering up again.

“Ikrans will kill children, will kill adult Na’vi if the chance presents itself. It’s just the way of their nature. Y/n tried to talk to the boys, to help them get to safety, but they were just kids - they were too afraid. When the ikran lounged at them, Spider pushed Lo’ak away, shoving him out of harm's way. Luckily, the ikran had miscalculated and missed as its maw clapped shut.”

“How does that explain why Y/n got an ikran?” Miles can’t help his impatience, feeling his skin growing tight as he long to see that Spider is alright.

“Spider went tumbling over the mountain edge with the force of the ikran’s maw and well, Y/n jumped off of the mountain after him. Tarsem jumped on his own ikran and dived after them while I ordered the teens to watch Lo’ak before doing the same. No matter how fast we dived, we couldn’t see them. They were gone, disappearing into thin air. I figured I would have Tarsem send a search party to the bottom of the mountain t help me locate their bodies. A big shadow suddenly flew over us and we had to hide, thinking it was a great Toruk. When we got back up, Y/n was standing there with Spider in her arms, and behind them, Hawnu screeched furiously at us.” His old Corporal looks troubled as he recalls the memory, his brows furrowed as his tail whips anxiously behind him.

“Hawnu saw something in Y/n when she jumped off of the mountain after Spider, something no other Na’vi had shown him before her. He decided that she was worthy of his loyalty, so he picked her as his rider, diving after them. The great Toruk that we thought we saw - that was him gliding over us. For some reason, he willingly gave himself to her, creating a bond, unlike anything that has been recorded to date. Hawnu is the biggest of his kind, a rarity in both size and color. Many Na’vi has tried to bond with him throughout the years, but he has not allowed anyone to do so before Y/n.”

“Hngh… And what does Hawnu mean?” Miles hums in acknowledgment before asking, already thinking that he knows the meaning.

“It means protector,” Sully offers, a thoughtful smile on his face.

Huffing an affirmative, Miles lets it sink in. You had named your banshee protector after he saved your lives and what had he done but steal your lives, taking you away from your home just to hunt Sully? Silence stretches between them again until Tonowari arrives with the rest of his war party, the canoes slowly navigating up the river stream. They teach him how to wield his knife through the animals' thick armor, teaching him how to part and how to save the skin. Nothing goes to waste, he notes as they divide the parts, getting them ready for transportation. The amount of meat would feed the entire village well and the realization made something burst inside of his chest. Pride for providing was not something he would have ever thought he would feel, but there he was, the corners of his mouth lifting as he washed the blood from his arms and chest in the river. He couldn’t wait to get home and tell you all about it.

Freezing for a moment, he let the thought sink in. Home. To you. Shaking his head, he didn’t want to admit to himself that he was becoming soft, but there was little need to admit anything when the truth stared him straight in the face.

“Ready to go back home, Colonel?” Jake huffs behind him, sheathing his knife.

Nodding, Miles steps into the canoe as Jake pushes it all the way into the river. The current takes them to the open sea in record time without them having to do much more than navigate. However, when they hit open water, Sully slows them down to a stop beside Tonowari’s canoe.

“We will take a tsurak back. It will be your challenge for the Metkayina to ride it smoothly,” Tonowari offers, immediately sending chills down Miles’ back.

Sure, he had been training with Sully, but that had been inside the relatively safe enclosure of the seawall. This, however, was not. This was open water. This was the bane of his existence when this new life of his brought him awfully sour lemons, making it impossible to tame it into lemonade. He’d never particularly liked the water, as strange as that was for a Marine, but he’d never had a problem with it like this before.

Grunting something affirmative, Miles bites the inside of his cheek as he watches one of the warriors arrive with three skimwings. He was so not looking forward to this shit, but if it was the only way to be accepted into this clan, then so be it. He would have to do it for Spider - for you. They had given him everything when he had deserved nothing, his discomfort with water would have to take the backseat for the time being. Taking a deep breath, Miles lowers himself into the water, making the first move. Connecting his queue with the skimwing never gets old, the sheer wildness of the animal coursing through his brain at lightning speed as he tries to mount the beast.

It’s easier than he had thought it would be, the animal’s presence in his mind somehow calming him down when all he wants to do is sever the connection and get back into the stupid canoe. But as with most things these days, Miles doesn’t get what he wants. Instead, Sully and Tonowari lead the way while he tries to keep his balance on the skimwing, trying his best not to panic whenever it would dive underwater. The sheer and utter relief he feels when the seawall pops up in the distance is painfully like the dream he used to have when he was young and less blue. The closer they get to the village, the more the sappy feeling of joy overtakes him. The village meant home and home meant you.

“You have learned well, my friend,” Tonowari comes up beside him, his ears pointing forward as he smiles, nodding slightly at him.

“Of course, I taught him,” Sully huffs from the other side of Miles, making him snap his head back to growl at his Corporal.

“You are pathetic, Sully,” Miles hisses, his voice so painfully bothered by the other man.

“Ouch, Colonel,” Sully snorts as he feigns hurt. “You know you’ve enjoyed it,”

Grumping to himself, Miles ushers his skimwing to swim faster. When he’s close enough to the shore, he gently breaks their connection, but not before giving thanks to the animal. It’s like muscle memory, something he just does without having to think about it, but when he realizes it, it stops him dead on his way back to dry land. This tree-hugger shit was getting to him without him even noticing it. Immediately, it makes his mood darken as anger floods his mind. Even if becoming one of the people was the end goal here, he didn’t want to lose himself in the process. He didn’t believe in this mumbo-jumbo stuff anyway, so why did he… -

“Go find Y/n, she will prepare you for the rest,” Sully offers, clapping his hand on Miles’ shoulder as he walks up to the beach with Tonowari.

Y/n. Now that was an anchor he could focus on. Moving one leg in front of the other, he eventually finds himself in front of your hootch, only to find it empty. Raising his head in the air, he lets his eyes glide over the village and nearby hootches, but you are nowhere in sight. Sighing deeply, he walks across the bridges until suddenly, he catches the sound of Spider’s laughter. Following the sound, he’s met with the sight of his son’s grinning face as he looks up at you. There’s a basket by your feet, carefully put to the ground as you jump back and forth after Spider, catching him in your arms and blowing raspberries on his exposed skin. Spider tries to do the same, climbing you like a tree whenever he succeeds. It’s obvious that this is a game you're used to playing with each other, the ease with which you dance around each other, one that only comes with repetition.

Stepping forward, it doesn’t take long before you notice his presence, your ears twitching in his direction, your tail wagging lazily back and forth. You’re happy to see him, he realizes, and then you turn your head, directing the most beautiful smile Miles has ever seen at him. Spider, on your shoulders, grins widely too as he waves him over to them. Huffing a breathy chuckle, Miles is helpless but to move his legs in their direction. Hell, even Quaritch would have been helpless in this situation.

“How’d it go?” Spider asks breathlessly, crossing his arms to rest his chin over his mother’s head, the ears now twitching on each side of his.

“Got two animals and rode a skimwing back,” Miles offers, only for your smile to grow even bigger as you look up at him.

“Awesome!” Spider hoots, his own grin growing bigger as he stares at Miles.

“The warriors are coming back with canoes,” He doesn’t know why he continues to talk, he’s already replied to Spider’s question, but there’s something in him that wants the conversation to continue, if only for a little while more.

“The hunters,” You offer him, your smile gentle as you shift your weight on your feet, making Spider grab onto your forehead to keep balanced. “They are hunters, but some of them are also warriors,”

“Hunters,” Miles repeats, nodding his head.

“Now, so are you,” Your smile is warm and gentle as you lay your hand between his pecs.

“You did good,” Spider adds, his small hand patting Miles’ head, making his ears rotate toward him, open and… happy?

“You look good like this,” You hum, smiling up at him before you move your hand to his right ear, “With your ears relaxed,”

Closing his eyes, Miles takes comfort in the way your fingers gently trace the rounded tip of his ears, your fingertips soft and warm. Sighing, he turns his head into your hand, relieved to feel it open to welcome his head. You take a step closer to him, the heat of your body bathing him in even more comfort. Reluctantly, Miles reaches forward with his hands, gently placing them on your hips as if to test if he’s allowed to or not. But when you don’t move, when you instead caress his cheek with your thumb, he opens his eyes to find yours already searching for his.

“Uh, guys…You’re gonna be late to your own party,” Spider interrupts, making Miles lift his head to look at his son incredulously. The grin Spider offers him could only be described as shit-eating, the knowing look on his son’s face sending sudden heat to his cheeks that weren’t there before.

“Our son is right,” You whisper while continuing to caress his cheek with your thumb. It makes a full-body shiver run through him while his ears twitch as his tail whips a couple of times behind him.

“Awkward…” Spider sing-songs as he steps down from his mother’s shoulders.

“We should go,” You chuckle as you take his hand, making his breath freeze in his lungs, “We have a lot of preparations to finish up before it’s dark,”

“Can I go with Lo’ak?” Spider asks as falls into steps beside you, but Mies barely even hears him. His ears are ringing as his legs move on their own accord while you hold his hand, initiating contact for the first time.

“If that is what you want, Spider,” Your voice is gentle and warm as you speak, the sound itself caressing Miles' ears, “I will be close to your father if you need me,”

“Awesome, thanks Mom,” Spider whoops, but Miles isn’t really sure what is going on anymore. The only thing he is sure of is how warm and small your hand is in his.

Before he knows it, you’re all back in your hootch, the warm rays from the setting sun painting the inside in a golden glowing hue. Spider puts the basket down and starts collecting stuff before you hand him a small satchel that looks as if it’s specifically made to fit his small stature. And why wouldn’t it? Hell, you were a woman to be reckoned with, that was for sure. Everything else Spider wore was made to fit him and it is as if Miles is just realizing what you’re doing for your son. These items were all handmade, were all crafted for Spider. When you had time to make them, he had no idea. Your days were filled with lessons from that old bat with the soul-searching eyes, and when you weren't there, you’d be with him, teaching him the Na’vi way.

“Good luck,” Spider’s small arms wrap around his waist as well as he’s able to before quickly letting go again, and then, his son is out of their hootch like a bat outta hell. What this was about, Miles had no idea.

“Come,” Your hand find his again, gently pulling him with you, “Sit down,”

And so he does, eyes wide open as he stares at you, watching as you kneel before him. The basket sits beside you and inside it, there looks to be a bowl of white goo, some cloth, and a bowl of some kind of watery clear liquid - which, in retrospect as he watches you dip the cloth in it, was just water. Gently, you wipe his face down with the cool cloth, continuing down his shoulders, his arms, and then further. Briefly, embarrassment enters his mind as he’s reminded that you’ve seen it all before. That you’ve seen…worse. It’s a time he would rather forget about, a time when he was more vulnerable than ever before, and yet, you had treated him with dignity, with a respect he hadn’t deserved. Not from you. Not after what he’d done to you.

“Thank you,” He croaks, his voice breaking at the unfamiliar words. “Thank you for being Spider’s mother,”

It stops you dead in your tracks, your eyes widening as you look up at him in confusion. And why wouldn’t you? A woman needed kindness to be able to trust, needed reassurance. He knew for a fact that he had not given you either one of those things. Yet… the way you looked up at him spoke of a different story, one he had yet to understand. So he just watches as you nod your head, a soft smile crossing your lips before you dip two fingers into the bowl of white goo.

“This is ceremonial paint,” You explain to him as you raise your hand to his forehead, running your fingers across his skin in a pattern only you can see, “You will go through Uniltaron today - the dream hunt. It is the Na’vi way, a rite of passage,”

“It will not be easy,” You continue, lowering your hand to rest over the bowl.

“I’m used to difficult tasks,” Miles hums back, daring to poke his finger against your knee.

“This is different. You will swallow an eltungawng - a glowing worm. Then, you will bear a sting from a kali'weya. I do not know the sky people word for it. It will give you a vision in which you will follow,” Dipping your fingers into the paint again, you explain to him how this dream hunt works.

“So it’s like a drug then? I’ll hallucinate something?” Miles offers as you start painting circles on his chest.

“I do not know what hallucination is,” And of course, you wouldn’t know what it was. There hadn’t been a setting on Pandora in which you would need to use the word.

“Hallucination is like a dream, it isn’t real - just something you think you’re seeing,” Miles offers in return only for your hand to freeze on his skin.

“A dream is a vision, it is real,” You challenge him and for once, Miles doesn’t actually want to take the bait. Instead, he nods his head seriously. “It is the Great Mother’s way of speaking to us, to let us know that we are not alone - that she is out there, that we are not forsaken,”

“Alright,” Miles hums gently, before painfully continuing, “I will have a… a vision,”

“You will have a vision and it will guide your way. It is important that you follow it. If you do not, then you will forever be lost within the grasp of Eywa,” The way you whisper the last part makes him pause, understanding what you mean.

“How often do people… not make it?” He’s unable to help himself and by the way you sigh, you had known this too.

“It happens sometimes,” You whisper before continuing to paint him.

“I will make it back to you and Spider,” Miles whispers as he reaches for your chin, gently lifting it so that your eyes meet once more, “I promise,”

It might have been a stupid thing to promise, but he had to come back to you. He would fight the deity herself if he had to, but he would return to you and when he did, he would do his best to become what you needed. Hell, he would live this tree-hugger life if it meant he could be with you and Spider. He would even tolerate the Sullys for you.

“Do not make promises you cannot keep,” You whisper back, your eyes glittering with emotions. “You are strong. You will do well if you follow the vision,”

By the time you have finished, he looks like a Christmas tree. There are stripes and swirls all over his body, but you’re not done yet. Dipping your fingers into the paint again, you motion for him to lower his head, and when Miles does, you put your fingers above his lips, slowly pulling them down, painting the last mark over his lips, his chin, his throat - until they stop between his clavicles where it meets the other stripes. Stepping back, you observe your work, clearly pleased with yourself.

“So… how do I look?” Miles hums, opening his arms to show off.

“Ready,” You smile back at him before reaching out for his hand.

Taking a deep breath, Miles takes your hand, following closely behind you as you lead the way through the village. Distantly, he notices that there are no people around, the village is all but deserted. Walking past the communal area, you take him further into the island until you reach a huge cave. There’s music and song coming out of it, low lights flickering against the moist cave walls, and when they arrive at the center, the entire village is there - waiting for him. It dawned on him then that this was a big thing for the Na’vi, a lot bigger than he had first thought. Distantly, he remembers Sully talking about this moment of becoming a man in the eyes of the clan when they had still been human. The final rite of passage, of sorts.

“Oel ngati kameie, Olo’eyktan. Oel ngati kameie, Olo’eyktan,” You greet both Tonowari and Sully with the customary gesture and their titles before turning to the old bat and Mrs. Tonowari, “Oel ngati kameie, ma Tsahìk. Oel ngati kameie, Tsahìk,”

“Oel ngati kameie, Olo’eyktan.” Miles parrots less elegantly than you did, and when he comes to Sully, he’s unable to help himself. “Oel ngati kameie, Sully,”

His disrespect of Sully does not fall on empty ears, though to his surprise, Sully himself snorts and grins before gesturing back to him. There’s a glint in his eyes that Miles can’t quite place, but when you huff irritably, he realizes that he’s used his one leeway for error on a jab against Sully. So instead, he takes a deep breath and turns to the old bat and Mrs. Tonowari.

“Oel ngati kameie, Tsahìk.” He notices how the old bat smiles at him, so unlike her batshit crazy daughter, before she gestures back.

“Oel ngati kameie, Tsahìk,” Tonowari’s wife is her usual serious self, stiff as ever he saw, but she is polite enough, gesturing back to him as if he was just any old normal Na’vi instead of… well, he wasn’t that guy anymore.

Well, not after this anyway. Had he been, he would have used this to his advantage, to help the RDA get the upper hand on the native population. That would only bring doom and suffering - his specialty it would seem. With this new chance, however, he found that he didn’t want that fate for the Na’vi. His son was here, had been welcomed by the people, despite what Miles had done to them in the past, or even in recent times.

“Miles Quaritch of the sky people, you have proven yourself worthy to go through uniltaron, to put your life in the hands of Eywa for the chance to become an adult - to become one of the people,” The old Tsahìk speaks, her voice ringing through the cave with a steady wave.

“Despite your past, you have proven yourself worthy of becoming Metkayina,” Mrs. Tonowari continues, not missing a beat. “You will walk through the Great Mother’s trial and if you emerge, you will be welcomed as one of us,”

“Miles Quaritch,” The old Tsahìk calls to him, “Are you ready?”

“I am,” Miles hums, his confidence unwavering.

He would complete this rite of passage and then, he would finally get a break from all of this mumbo-jumbo tree-hugger shit. So when Mrs. Tonowari gestures for him to sit in the middle of a series of painted circles, Miles does as told, waiting patiently until you walk toward him, a small bowl in hand. The glowing worm inside of it wiggles around the wooden surface. The prospect of having to eat it doesn’t exactly please him, but then again, he’d have to eat worse things to survive than a glowing worm. Gently, almost too gently, he takes the bowl from your offered hands, letting his fingers grace yours before retreating the bowl. Looking up into your eyes, he bends his head back and tips the bowl, swallowing the worm while holding eye contact. Sully snorts as he steps forward, holding a scorpion-looking creature in his hand. Miles guessed this was the sting part of the rite.

“This is gonna sting like a bitch, Quaritch,” Sully whispers as he rounds Miles, a gesture that has you hissing angrily on his behalf.

Reaching out to grab your hand, Miles squeezes it to reassure you that there’s nothing Sully can do to him, but as he does, Sully lets the scorpion sting once, twice - two more before you hiss at him again. Only then does Sully round his body to stand beside you, a shit-eating grin on his face that lets everyone know just how much he’s enjoying this. Grouching, Miles clenches his jaw at the blooming stings before letting go of your hand. He needs to find his center if he’s to do this with any kind of honor left. Winking at you, Miles closes his eyes as he crosses his too-long legs, resting the back of his hands on each knee while he works on his breathing.

The blooming sting on his back is only spreading, the nausea that follows taking him by surprise. He hasn't felt this way since… He can’t actually remember, but when his chest starts to hurt, in two distinct places, he guesses this new body of his doesn’t actually need the memory to remember. There’s a thumping sound behind him that’s a bit too loud. It makes his ears twitch with every sound, making it difficult to concentrate on his breathing. It doesn’t help when the blooming sting spreads to his front or when different sounds and voices blend into the mix.

They sound so far away, yet, they’re right there. There’s a constant stream of noise bombarding his senses, but amongst them, one he now knows all too well stands out. There’s a steady dripping of water to his left, dripping louder with each heartbeat that pounds in his chest. Miles knows that if he chases that rabbit, he will be lost forever. He needs to hear your voice, to hear Spider’s. Hell, he’d even settle for Sully if only he could recognize something, if only he could find familiar ground to stand on, to hold on until this thing ended. He knows that he can do this, but the pain, the isolation is slowly leading him away from where he needs to go. In a desperate attempt to hold on, he calls out your name, the sound burning up his throat as it emerges. It feels as if he’s swallowed acid, as if he’s breathing fire, but when his voice eventually does leave, it echoes with a sound he’s never heard before - hoarse and almost scared.

He doesn’t register when he’s fallen from his sitting position, but suddenly he’s on his back. There’s water dripping on his face, on his chest, but it might as well have been liquid nitrogen. It feels as if it pierces his skin and then it’s pouring over his body, the water rapidly submerging him until he’s struggling to keep his head over the surface. There’s something holding him down, but when he tries to free himself, the restraints only refasten over and over again. Miles is getting lightheaded from holding his breath, the panic almost consuming him until he’s once more reminded about your words.

This is Eywa’s way of communicating with the Na’vi. Through visions. He must find his path and he must follow it or forever be lost. Quaritch would not be lost. Hell, he had trudged through hostile territory more times than commonly sane, had found himself lost more times than he cared to remember. He had survived Pandora for decades without getting lost. Quaritch would find the path he was meant to follow, no matter what. So with his new resolve, Quaritch takes a deep breath, filling his burning lungs with much-needed air. The fact that it’s air and not water that fills his lungs, has him chuckling gleefully. Oh, Eywa be warned, he would come for her, and when he does, she would learn the hard way that you cannot part Colonel Miles S. Quaritch from what he desires.

Getting on all four, Quaritch growls menacingly. His entire body is on fire and when he opens his eyes, there’s nothing but psychedelic colors swiveling around him, figures he recognizes as Na’vi, stand around him, staring - talking to him - but he can’t understand what they’re saying. Their voices sound garbled and far away. Logically he knows that Miles had agreed to this, to become one of the people, but come hell and high waters, Quaritch would rather die again than join this bunch of thee-hugging smurfs. Forcing one of his legs under him, Quaritch demands his body to listen to him, to stand tall among the natives.

“Woman,” Quaritch growls, waiting for the mama dragon to step forward with her dragonling.

He is not disappointed when moments later, the shape of the woman that has occupied their mind for the past eternity steps forward, their cub behind her. She’s talking to him, her voice soothing the intense fire that’s burning from within him, but Quaritch can’t understand what she’s saying. Everything is wrong and the only thing that can make it right again seems to be the mama in front of him. On unsteady legs, Quaritch steps forward, grabbing harshly onto the woman’s wrist, pulling her even harsher against his chest. The moment her scent fills his nostrils, it soothes whatever was happening to him.

Wrapping his arms around her, he buries his face in the crook of her neck, breathing her in as if she was air to a drowning man. With each breath, the rage inside of him seems to lessen, calming down enough to dampen the control he had over his body. With an ungraceful huff, he can feel his legs giving out, so instead, he hurries to sit down, taking the mama dragon with him. There’s something insanely pleasing when she wraps her arms around him and settles in. The cub steps forward and without thinking, Quaritch grabs his wrist and pulls him in to sit on their laps. This wasn’t his plan, this wasn’t what he had set out to do, but maybe Miles had gotten something right after all. As the poison in his system takes hold over his body once more, Quaritch is helpless but to hold onto his family as -

Family. Quaritch had never had one of those. Sure, he’d had the units through the years, but nothing like this. These two were his people. His alone. The mama had shown them kindness when in all honesty, they had deserved none. Quaritch takes. It’s what he’s always done and when Miles was awoken, that’s what he had done too. Only to have his entire life turn upside down. At first, Quaritch hadn’t understood at all. No tail was more important than the mission and yet…

There’s a pleased feeling bubbling from within him and it annoys Quaritch to no end that this other him, the lesser him, had found this when he could not. Fifty-one years alive and the only thing he took from that was abandonment issues. Yet, this blue monkey hasn’t been alive for more than a year, and he’s already found a woman and Quaritch’s son. It wasn’t fair, but then again, nothing in life ever was.

Taking a deep breath, Quaritch tries his best to get himself under control again. The mama had said to follow the vision, but there was no damn vision. Not that he could see anyway. Growling, Quaritch’s patience wears thin when suddenly a voice breaks through the fog. It’s not one he recognizes, not female, not from a child. It’s only when the mama’s voice joins in that he recognizes it as his own. He’s singing, but Quaritch knows damn well that it isn’t his doing. He doesn’t know any Na’vi songs, but Miles does. He knows the one the mama sings to his son. Miles mumbles the song, clinging to it as if his life depends on it, clinging to the mama. Quaritch can hear his voice call her name and as pathetic as it is, it actually calms him down when she responds, her smaller frame settling firmly within his lap, leaning on him.

So distraught is he, that he almost misses the panther in the corner of the room. Its colors are wrong, but Quaritch knows that nasty bitch better than he knows the Na’vi. Hell, he had barely survived his first meeting with one. She prowls on the outside of the circle, but Quaritch isn’t taking his eyes off of it. He has a family to protect now and somehow, that gives him the strength he needs to stand tall and face the animal. But the animal doesn’t attack, doesn’t flash her razor-sharp teeth against him, or pounce with her dagger-sharp nails swinging at his head. Instead, she turns to leave, walking out of the cave.

“It is important that you follow it…” The mama dragon’s voice calls in his mind as if she was saying the words right then, but she’s still singing with Miles, so Quaritch has to see this shit through.

Walking after the panther, Quaritch emerges from the cave they had first entered only to be met with the quiet of dawn. It had been midday when they had entered and he knew for a fact that they had been no more than a few hours at the cave. This wasn’t right, but he figured that if this was a vision, then nothing would be as he remembered it. And sure enough, when the panther stops just before the sea, Quaritch knows that this is the hallucination that the mama was talking about. The village is quiet as the sun rises in the distance, not even the fishermen had awoken to start their day yet.

There’s a sound in the distance, one that is uncannily familiar to his ears. The rhythmic swishing of air from the rotor blades of a Samson, followed by the heavy hum of Valkyries. In the distance, against the sun, he can just barely make out the black shapes. Deep within his chest, a sense of relief at seeing the RDA settles, but soon enough, it shits to dread as a missile is fired, heading straight for the village before hitting hootch. The surrounding area is up in flames before he’s even able to take another breath. Once the first missile has been fired, there’s a never-ending series that follows its lead as the RDA approaches.

The flames surround what remains of the village by then, the screams of people, of children, filling the air with pain and sorrow. The panther nudges Quaritch’s side before walking off and reluctantly, Quaritch follows. Before he knows it, he’s in Bridgehead, staring down at the remains of Sully and what looks to be his youngest daughter. Behind him, Mrs. Sully wails and screams in her chains, thrashing wildly to go to her husband and child. The new recom soldiers only force her down to her knees as the lead recom turns around to face him.

“Colonel,” Ardmore’s voice greets him, and for just a second, Quaritch’s breath hitches. “Good work. For a moment there, we almost thought you pulled a Sully on us, but your word is as solid as unobtanium,”

“Of course, General,” He recognizes his voice responding, but he’s certain that he hasn’t opened his mouth.

“Too bad about your woman and kid, she would have made a valuable asset,” Ardmore continues, but Quaritch doesn’t follow the conversation.

The panther moves again and when he follows, he’s taken back to the burning village. He’s standing before a Na’vi woman on the ground, her features twisted in blurriness as she gurgles blood, her lungs collapsing as she drowns on dry land. She’s clutching onto an impossibly small boy laying on top of her. It’s obvious by the way he’s trying to cover her that the child tries to protect her, the weeping bullet wounds on his back tell Quaritch all he had to know. Tears roll down the woman’s face, mixing with the splattered blood from her coughing, but it’s not before her eyes meet his that the blurriness dissipates and the tears that had obstructed his vision falls down his own cheeks.

With a heavy thud, he falls to his knees beside the mama dragon and their cub, hands hovering shakily over Spider’s body before he manages to touch his son’s skin. It’s slick with blood and cooling, his ribcage unmoving as he has long since stopped breathing. The mama is clutching onto him when Quaritch tries to move him from her body, only resulting in the blood still left in her body, to seep furiously from her own bullet wounds. They’re littered from her thigh, up her curved abdomen, and across her stomach and chest as if the assailant had been trying to make a dirtbike map on her body.

“Y/n…” Quaritch whispers, but the mama’s name breaks in his throat.

She’s trying to tell him something, but he can’t understand anything she says, the words dying long before they even enter her bloody throat. Her eyes desperately search for his, her hand reaching out for him, but all Quaritch can do is hover his own hands above her body as tears fall from his eyes. Too late, he meets her eyes. The mama’s breath hitches and before Quaritch knows it, she too is forever gone, leaving him behind to wallow in the agony of having lost the only people who ever mattered to him.

People. Huffing a humorless chuckle, Quaritch looks up into the skies. Damn Miles and his fucking nerve to fall in love with this woman, dragging him into this shit too, giving him a taste of the only thing he had secretly allowed himself to dream of. And now, they were gone forever, taken from him by his past. As much as Quaritch hated to admit it, Miles had been right. They were only pawns in a game of chess that the RDA played and once they had outlived their usefulness, once Sully was dealt with, they would be deactivated too. Reaching out for her hand, Quaritch is surprised to find something clutched within it. Opening it, his breath stops as a pair of bloody silver, human-sized dog tags lay in the palm of her hand. Taking the dog tags out of her hand, Quaritch lifts them to read their designation, his heart stopping in his chest when his own human face stares back at him. Closing his eyes, Quaritch locks his jaw as tears sting his eyes, making the world blurry once more.

Getting to his knees, Quaritch binds the dog tags into his loincloth before heading into the sea, leaving his family and the panther behind. If this was Eywa’s vision of the future, then he would throw hands at her and anyone else that would stand in his way. Stepping into the sea, he lets the water submerge him. Quaritch just continues to walk until eventually, he finds himself outside of Bridgehead City, the panther once more by his side. He would avenge his family if it was the last thing he did. Damn Ardmore. Damn Bridgehead. He would burn them to the ground if they stood in his way. As the gates of Bridgehead open, much like they had for the mama dragon, Quaritch walks into the lion's den once more.

Blinking, Miles eventually regains control of his body once more. He’s sitting in the same circle he remembers sitting down in, but in his lap, you and Spider sit, his own arms clutching onto them. Spider’s big brown eyes are staring up at him, a small smile slowly spreading on his lips as he gets up from his mother’s lap. Turning his head, Miles is met with the blindingly beautiful smile that was directed at him.

“You have passed the Great Mother’s trial,” You whisper, your voice a bit raspier than before.

“So what now?” Miles hums, unable to help himself from clutching your hip.

“Now, you are welcomed by the people,” Sully offers from the side where he stands with the old bat and his wife.

“Stand, my friend,” Tonowari starts as he steps forward, a big grin on his face.

Sully and Tonowari reach forward, putting their hands on his shoulders when Miles eventually gets up to his feet. Reluctantly Mrs. Sully lay her hand on his chest, over where her arrows had stricken him, killing him as a human, as she accepted him as one of the people. Surprise is written all over your face as you lay your hand above hers, whispering a quiet “Thank you,” before the rest of the people follow. In the end, Miles’ upper body is covered with the hands of the people, the ones unable to touch him, touching the person in front of them until they were all connected until they all touched him.

“You are now Omatikaya,” Sully announces, a smile of his own offered to him.

“You are now Metkayina, my friend,” Tonowari follows shortly after, his own grin firmly placed on his face. “Now, we feast to celebrate,”

As the hands on his body quickly leave, your hand still remains over his heart, unable to break the contact. You’re looking up at him with worry in your eyes, a question so clearly dancing behind them. But this was a joyous occasion, and before he gets to voice his own question, you are both pulled ahead, leaving the cave behind. What follows is just a series of celebrations Miles has never seen the likes of before.

There’s dance and music, lights and laughter, and amazing food. The hunt from earlier that day has been prepared, seasoned, and made into different dishes that make Miles’ mouth explode with each bite. Spider is staring at him with this weird smile on his lips, the boy just staring as his mother fusses over him to eat enough food. In the end, Spider runs off with his friends and you are nowhere to be seen. Miles doesn’t quite know how he ended up sitting around a bonfire with Sully and Tonowari, but the conversation is light and for once, Miles doesn’t mind the company.

“You know,” Sully stars, obviously already intoxicated, “Your first hunt went better than mine ever did,”

“Neytiri used to smack me, calling me a child and a skxawng almost daily until one day, I suddenly got it right,” The grin on Sully’s face is nauseating, but Miles guess there was something admirable to still be that deeply in love with your wife after fifteen years.

“Y/n did the same to us,” Miles starts, surprising not only himself with opening up, “She had so much patience with our bullshit. Hell, she managed to take a unit of salty, hardened Marines and break our set ways to become tree-huggers,”

There’s more than one head turning when Miles outright laughs at the fond memory. Sully looks as if he’s allowed something sour while Tonowari reminds him of a perplexed puppy. The big guy somehow always manages to turn a situation into something positive, so Miles guesses the puppy comparison isn’t that far off.

“You really like her, don’t you?” Jake eventually recovers enough to ask after Miles continued to share stories about you teaching the nit the Na’vi way.

“Let’s just say that I would go to war for her and leave it at that,” Miles grins, the reference going straight over Tonowari’s head, but it makes Jake huff a chuckle and shake his head.

Tonowari, of course, finds his own meaning in Miles’ words though.

“I hear you. Ronal has that same effect on me,” He says, grinning widely, so obviously still madly in love with his wife, “She snaps her fingers or bats her lashes at me and I’m helpless to deny her anything,”

That makes both Jake and Miles laugh, grinning widely as they look at each other. In reality, there was no stronger force in any universe but two people in love, Miles knew that. But to share his vulnerability like this, with these two men, one of which was his greatest enemy - was difficult. He had never been the kind to share himself, always holding his cards close to his chest. Quarich had done so his entire life, but the more Mile learned, the more tired he got about the prospect of guarding himself from others.

“I feel you, buddy,” Jake echoes, as they both turn to Miles with open shit-eating grins on their faces.

“Oh, hell no. I ain’t that pussy whipped,” Miles balks, but Jake and Tonowari just look at each other with knowing expressions before bursting out with laughter. “Well, I’ll be damned,”

Miles eventually sighs with the realization that he totally is and it makes the other men laugh even harder, Tonowari wheezing as he supports himself on Jake’s shoulder, his former Corporal wiping tears from his eyes. Their laughter eventually fades out though, leaving loose smiles on their faces and a good, safe space behind the bonfire. Some of the other men stood up to leave when their mates approached, bidding them goodnight and congratulating Miles on his success. Miles, however, was still stuck thinking about you and the realization that he totally was whipped.

“I don’t know how to be what they need,” Quaritch eventually hums, a rare moment of trust and vulnerability shining through.

“We’re jarheads, Quaritch, used to taking orders. Just follow hers and you’ll be fine,” Jake starts, slapping a hand on the back of Miles’ shoulder carefully as if to test to see if it would be tolerated or not.

“Breaking the code… it’s not easy, but heck, I somehow made it.” Huffind an affirmative, Miles just nods, deep in thought.

“If you want her, you need to prove to her every day of your life that you’re worthy enough to call yourself her mate,” Tonowari offers, leaning forward to pin him with a firm stare, “And should she bless you by having more children, you lay on the very ground she walks on to protect her tired feet.”

“I ain’t much of a family man, chief,” Quaritch straightens, facing Tonowari head-on.

“These things have a way of figuring themselves out, Quaritch. Hell, look at Spider. Even after all the shit you’ve done, he saved your sorry ass, so you must’ve done something right while you had him,” Groaning, Miles rolls his eyes. He would never back down from facing what he had done to these people, figuring the least he could do was stand through it.

“You are a strong and capable male. There are others among the people who would be interested in becoming your mate,” Tonowari offers, a knowing look in his eyes as he lays the truth bare.

“You have become Metkayina now, you stand free to choose a mate among the people,” The bare thought of choosing anyone other than you physically pained him though, something the others immediately noticed when his ears snapped back against his skull.

“Tell her how you feel, my friend. You might just be surprised,” Tonowari offers gently, watching as Miles’ eyes close while he rubs his hands over his face.

“She already knows,” Miles offers back, a sad smile on his face. “Has known for quite some time already,”

“You so sure about that, Colonel?” Jake offers and it’s the way he says it that makes hope latch onto something deep inside of him.

Nodding to Sully, Miles empties his cup, falling back into silence as the others continue to talk. As the night progresses, he finds himself searching for you among the people, his eyes sorting through each and every member of the clan until finally - finally - they land on your form. You’re sitting with Mrs. Sully, the two of them huddled close as you talk. As if on instinct, your head snaps up to meet his eyes and a small smile crosses your lips. Mrs. Sully bumps your shoulder, whispering something and then she leaves. Getting up on his feet, Miles is annoyed to feel the wobbliness in them as he approaches.

“Have you had anything to heat?” It’s a stupid question, he knows it is, but the way it makes your eyes light up, he can’t help his heart from beating a little faster in his chest.

“I have, thank you,” You smile up at him until he eventually sits down beside you.

“Where’s Spider?” Miles finds himself asking and it’s somehow awkward.

“He’s off with Lo’ak and some other boys, doing teenage stuff,” You huff with a roll of your eyes. It makes Miles huff a chuckle of his own.

“Is he safe with them?”

“He is,” You hum, turning your head to stare at him.

It makes him uncharacteristically nervous, his ears bending flat against his skull while his tail thrashes wildly behind him. Closing his eyes, Miles wills his embarrassment to pass, but when he opens his eyes again, he has no such luck. You are unyielding when it comes to his bullshit and for once, he’s actually comforted by that fact.

“You should tell him how you feel,” You offer kindly before getting up. “It has been a long day, I will bid my goodnight before returning to our kelku. You did well today and I’m very happy for you,”

Miles understands the words you’re saying, but there’s something off about it. Something off about the sound of your voice, something that makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand on alert. You sound almost detached as if you’re distancing yourself from him. The bare thought of it almost has him spiraling before he gets up to follow you around, bidding his own goodnight and thanks. When they eventually get back to the hootch, Miles doesn’t know what to do or say. He watches as you undress, watches as you curl into the bed, and yawn before closing your eyes. You look… sad? No matter what it is, it’s unacceptable. Undressing, Miles crawls into bed behind you, lifting the blankets until he’s slotted tightly against your body. Instinctively, you curl up against him, sighing deeply when his hand snakes around your waste to hold you tight.

“I’m proud of you,” You whisper when his head eventually rests against your shoulder, “But that paint is going to get everywhere by morning,”

“I will clean it,” Miles hums, feeling the huff you let out in response as you hold his hand close to your chest.

He’s barely awake by the time Spider gets back, his small, colder body wiggling over you as he finds his space in the bed. Miles is unable to hold back the smile on his face when Spider’s head rests in the palm of his hand, completely occupying the arm under his mother’s head. Rubbing his thumb against Spider’s forehead, Miles’ heart stops in his chest when Spider sleepily mumbles a “G’nite dad,”. In the morning, he would have to confront Y/n about what was going on and then, he needs to ask the old bat about the visions he saw and what truth they held. Maybe Sully could tell him about his own experience and how that unfolded.

“Sleep,” You mumble before clutching his hand tighter, curling more firmly against him while taking Spider with you, your son already long gone into la-la land.

“Alright,” Miles whispers back, intertwining their fingers against your chest.

He would have to get ahead of this if he wanted to have a fighting chance. The more he learned, the more he knew, the better he could prepare to keep his family safe. Tomorrow would bring about a change, unlike the days until then. As a member of the tribe, Miles now stood free to do whatever he wanted to do, no longer bound to repent. Though that wouldn’t stop him from doing what he could to make you happy. He had gone into this one hundred percent, knowing that if he did, he would have to do it on your terms by becoming a true Na’vi. And now that he was one of the people, your futures had once more opened for change. Only time would tell now…

Chapter 20 | Masterpost | Chapter 22 - Coming soon

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thewriters64 · 3 months

Text

Silent Treatment (Mansk x Selective Mute Sully Reader) Masterlist

Part 1

After being captured with Spider, you tag along with the Recombinant squad

Part 2

After agreeing to join the Recoms on their mission, they set off to explore the forest of Pandora

Part 3

After getting back to the group, Mansk becomes frustrated with uncertainty

Part 4

After having a private conversation together, the group sets off to learn the next part of the Na'vi way of life.

Part 5

After some time passes since the group claimed their ikrans, Mansk and the Reader have an emotional conversation

Part 6

After getting to the training room, everyone bonds and learns of an interesting dilemma

Part 7

coming soon

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thewriters64 · 3 months

Text

I wanna be yours! Ch. 12

(Recom! Miles Quaritch x Sully! Reader x Recom! Lyle Wainfleet)

(Warning for this chapter: smut, oral(f receiving, loss of virginity, virginal penetration, first time, cockwarming, size difference, talk of past trauma, talks of mating, feelings being revealed, and much more)

A/N: this is the longest chapter I’ve ever written, so please give me feedback. This is my first time writing something like this so I hope you enjoy and I would love to hear your feedback. Love you and you support and most importantly your patience)

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

“No! You can’t force me into this!”

“You will be the next Tsahik. It is done” Neytiri informs you. You gawk at both of your parents.

They had inform you will be engaged to be wed to Tarsem. Tarsem is one of the fierce warriors from the clan. He has proved himself many times and you agree he will be perfect to be the next Olo’eyktan. But you didn’t agree to be promised to someone you clearly have no romantic feelings for.

“You can’t do this to me! It’s-“

“Enough! Don’t talk back, Y/n! It’s what’s good for the people” Jake scowls deeply.

Your upper lip twitch, a hiss threatening to spill.

“What about what’s good for me? Have you thought about that?”

Your father sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, “this will be good for you”

“Good for me?! How the hell will this shit be good for me?” Neytiri eyes you warningly, hooking her fingers around your arm to tug you along.

“Hey, lose the attitude before I lose my temper. Where I come from, you’d have that sour face slapped clean off.” Jake warned, earning a sharp glare from your mother.

“Then why don’t you? I know you want to” you coldly remark. Neytiri looked between you and Jake , utterly appalled by what was being said.

“You and Tarsem are engaged to be wed soon. Is this how the future Tsahìk behaves?” Jake says and jabs a finger into your sternum. Neytiri swatted his hand down, hissing at their behavior.

“I never wanted to be Tsahik in the first place!” You shout. Your skin boiling as angry tears fall.

You turn to face your mother, “you were betrothed to Tsu’Tey, were you not?” Jake jaw ticked and your mother seemed taken back by the question.

“Then father came and took you away?”

“Hey!” Jake shouts at defensively, “that’s enough out of you!”

“Or what? You’ll hit me? Fuck you!” You snarl.

“Y/n” Neytiri gasp, she tighten her hand around your bicep, “you forget your place, Ma’daughter”

“Watch your mouth. Or I shut it for ya” Jake growls, “I didn’t raise you to be a fucking brat”

“Ma’Jake”

“Get out of my sight before I lose my temper, young lady” Jake warns you with a look that basically says ‘I dare you to talk back’

“You know what, dad?” You sigh defeatedly.

“What?”

“You protect everyone but you seem to forget to protect the people that’s supposed to mean the most to you” Jake harden gaze slightly falter, but you keep going.

“I’m not a soldier, a comrade, or one of your warriors. I’m your daughter. Someone that needs you. But you can’t even do that. You put others over your own children. You treat us like a squad but we’re your family. You always say ‘I’m a disappointment’ to you and yet you don’t realize how much that hurts to hear from someone who is supposed to be my protector”

Jake and Neytiri watch you with parted lips, Jake holds up a poker face but Neytiri eyes scarce with glossy residue.

“You’re a good Olo’eyktan and husband, dad…” you pause, “But you’re not a good father” with that, you leave, ignoring the way your name is muttered when you do.

Jake watch you scurry off with an emptiness he hadn't felt for a very long time.

You readied the harness on Rawm, attaching your bow and quiver to it before readying your queue for the connection. “Y/N.” You halted at the voice of Spider. She glanced at him, smiling. “Hey.”

Spider jogs up to you and seems to be in a hurry to catch up to you before you leave.

“What is it?”

Spider stops in front of you with his hands on his knees, taking deep breaths like he had run a marathon. Once he finally calmed his breathing, he stands to his full height and looks up at you.

“I heard what happened” that made you sigh frustratingly and look to your left, facing the outside of the cave.

“The word spread fast, huh?” You laugh bitterly.

“I’m worried about you. I know you didn’t take it well being promised to Tarsem” you shrug nonchalantly.

why would it matter? Your father is dead set on having you betrothed to Tarsem without your consent.

“It doesn’t matter what I feel, Spider. I just have to go through with it, whether I like it or not”

Spider bites the inside of his cheek. He knew you better than that, sometimes better than you knew yourself.

“You don’t have to put up a front with me, you know. You’re my sister, I’m always going to be here for you. No matter what” tears prick I’m the corner of your eyes.

You should’ve known better than try to hide how you really feel, Spider could see right through you. You could never lie to him.

“I know, Spider” you whisper, voice cracking, “I hate this. I hate this so much”

You kneel down in your knees in front Spider, and you let him wrap his around your shoulders, trying to comfort you.

“If I were Na’vi maybe we could go and mate right now so you don’t have to mate with Tarsem” Spider jokes lightly. You snort when you pull back and slightly push at his shoulder.

“Don’t be gross” you smile warmly at him. You know about Spider’s insecurities, you know he hates being human and wishes to be a Na’vi like you. But you love him just the way he is and you wouldn’t change it for the world.

“Spider, you’re more Na’vi than anyone I’ve ever known. Even me. You’ll always be my brother”

“But I’m not-“

“No! You’re mine. Our blood may not be the same, but you’re my family and always will be”

Spider couldn’t look at you feeling a little embarrassed at being vulnerable. You carefully cup his cheek and make him look at you.

“To the sun and the moon and all the stars” you say, Spider smiles up at you and wraps his hand around your wrist.

“Stay true to who you are” he finishes warmly.

——

"Is all this really necessary?" You ask, running your fingers along the heavy duty guard secured around Miles' ikran. It was made of a similar material to the Recom's vest, so there was no way it was comfortable.

"It's gear. She likes it."

Cupcake let out a weak screech in disagreement, obviously not liking it. Ikran were meant to have light and form fitting saddles, not pounds of kevlar and gear. You roll your eyes, but smiled when Cupcake nudged at your side, wanting attention and sympathy.

"Seems she likes you too." Miles spares you a glance as he continued to load the side bags with ammo, food, two spare respirators for Spider, and everything else they'd need. Since they now had regular transportation, the Recoms were going to start longer recon missions in the field as they no longer needed to check back into Bridgehead as often.

"Ikran usually aren’t affectionate with anyone other than their bonded Na’vi."

"Well, I do like when you're all lovey dovey with me. Rubbin' off on her like you do me." You easily caught Miles' obvious attempt at a flirtation as you continue tracing the pattern of Cupcakes face.

“If I’m not mistaken. It was you rubbin’ off on me, Colonel” you say, switching your gaze from the ikran to Miles. His back was turned to you , but looks back with an amused grin.

“We headin’ out, boss?” Your spine stiffens hearing Lyle not that far behind you.

You didn’t know how to proceed after that make out session back at their room. You know you’re making it awkward but this was a dangerous territory for you. One is the reason you have a bullet wound on your side and the other is the reason why you’re here and forced to teach them.

You’ve tried to create distance between the two of you. But it’s been hard when you’re near each other 24/7.

“Yeah, get the squad ready”

“Yes, sir” you glance over your shoulder, intending to just to take a peek but Lyle’s eyes are already trained on you.

“You ready, darlin’?” Miles question was enough for Lyle to tear his gaze away from you and move along to his own Ikran.

Switching your gaze from Lyle to Miles. You nod.

“Am I allowed to ride on my own?” You ask.

Miles eyes you with his hands on his hips.

“I won’t fly away if that’s what you’re worried about” you respond, annoyed that he would even think that.

“It’s not like I could” Then you clutched the collar on your neck and jingled it loudly in front Miles.

Miles kisses his teeth with a hard glare towards the collar before looking down at his watch, trying to distract himself.

“Fine, darlin’. I’m putting my trust in you” he points at you with a warning look in his eye.

“Yes Colonel” you smile bright making smiles gaze soften for a moment.

You turn to jog toward the edge of the docks . You yip, summoning Rawm.

Cupcake's jaw dropped slightly as if the animal was excited to hear the noise; the other ikrans around did the same as their heads perked to attention.

Rawm, who soon appeared in front of you. You coo at the Ikran, holding the red and black plate that protruded from the underside of Rawm’s jaw as you stroke her.

“Can I go with you?” You turn to smile down at Spider who is standing close to you, he pats Rawm who chitters at the new affection.

“Is it okay with the Colonel?” You ask before glancing up at Miles, who is busy talking with Lopez and Z-dog.

“I think so” Spider shrugs. You raise an eyebrow at Spider who grin’s sheepishly at you. You couldn’t fight back a smile.

“Fine” you respond. Spider fist bumps the air before climbing on Rawm. You turn towards the Colonel’s directions, cupping your hands around your mouth.

“We’re ready when you are, Colonel” you shout, you heave yourself onto Rawm’s back, with Spider in front of you, you reach behind you to grab your kuru and slid the tendrils of her queue into Rawm’s.

~~~

“Why do I have to fly with you?” You complain for the third time, leaning back against Miles.

Your height difference was perfect - your temple pressed right into the juncture of his shoulder. If he turned even slightly, his lips were at your hair line. Not that he'd thought about it once or twice. Maybe more but that’s besides the point.

“I already told you…” He leaned down to your level, ears pinned back in irritation, “after that stunt you pulled I can’t trust you on your own”

“I said I was sorry..” You mumble, refusing to look at him, actually feeling guilty.

You and Spider thought it would be funny to cut few of the recoms off as a prank, but you didn’t think it through when Rawm pushed Prager off his own Ikran. But it was an accident you swear.

“I promise I won’t do it again” ears pinning to the side of your head, you turn to look up at him with doe eyes.

Miles grins smugly before leaning down close to your ear - so close that you could feel the ghost of his lips on your ear, making you shudder.

“I know you won’t, babygirl” he whispers, lips brushing against your ear. One of his hands sliding up your thigh and fingering at the strap on your hips of your loincloth.

Your breath catches and your eyes widen as your thighs try to squeeze together, combating the rush of arousal that Miles words send straight to your core.

What the hell is wrong with you?

“You’re going to behave, sweetheart? Will you be a good girl for me from now on?” He ask.

“Y-yes” you stammer.

“Yes what?” He taunts.

“Yes sir” Miles pulls his hand away with a pat on your thigh before placing both his hands on your hips.

Damn you, you cocky prick.

After a few moments you couldn’t handle the silence much longer and having Miles hands on you like this.

“Where are we going? Are we there yet?” You ask with bored tone.

“You’ll see, darlin’” he assures.

You lean forward, trying to peer between Cupcake’s neck and wing to survey the terrain a little closer. Miles cursed and tightened his hold on your hips, pulling you farther back along the ikran's neck, as he imagined you slipping off and plummeting into the trees below. He tried not to look down at your bent over form - your ass was almost on full display and pressed into his crotch. Mental images of your bent over for him in other circumstances flooded his mind.

Your hair wasn't pulled back - only the front pieces were pulled back with your hand carved bone pin.

You groan annoyed when your hair wraps around your own face, and pulls it across one shoulder. With the hair secured down, your entire back was exposed.

Over the past few days, Miles and the other had grown used to the amount of skin your outfit reveals, especially the top - which had little coverage across your back. Besides a few cords that secured the front panel down, there was nothing across your entire back. Miles' eyes were drawn your back being littered with scars, some bad, some old.

It was an antagonizing half an hour before Miles finally ordered everyone to land. His blood was pooled at one spot of his body and it certainly wasn't his head.

The moment you touched down, Miles didn't have to worry about the warmth emitting from your body as you slid off the ikran, not even bothering to wait for him to disconnect the bond.

You look around the forest with a large river with a waterfall close by. You turn to look at Miles confused.

Why are we here?

“We’ve been flying a lot longer than we thought. We should camp out here for the night” Miles informs the squad.

They all excitedly start unpacking when Spider walks to your side and you both watch silently.

You notice a familiar ball of fiber in Miles hands. Your eyebrows raise in surprise.

“You kept it?” Miles turn to look at you before looking down at the hammock in his hands.

“It’s useful” Miles shrugs. You admire him, you didn’t think they would have kept it, you assumed he would have thrown them away.

“Hey mami!” You turn away from Miles to Lopez.

“Want to hunt with us?” Lopez points behind him at Ja and Mansk. You glance at Miles and Lyle. Miles seems to be looking at you in the corner of his eye. Lyle shamelessly looking at you as he unpacks.

You turn to look down at Spider. “You’ll be okay on your own?”

Spider smiles at you assuredly, “yeah go ahead, I miss the food from here anyway”

“Okay, I’ll be back soon” you smile before turning and following Lopez to the river.

As the day grew into night, the Recoms had settled around camp. Lopez and Mansk managed to catch two big fish from the river and Spider wanted to show off to the Recoms by demonstrating his cooking skills to everyone over the fire Mansk has built. The dish lacked a few key elements, but it was much better than any type of MRE the RDA had to offer and they couldn't survive on fruit forever.

“So Y/n” Z-dog says out loud which caught everyone’s attention, “I’ve been meaning to ask” she gestures at her own body before pointing yours, “how did you get those?”

“You mean my scars?” You ask with a raise brow. Z-dog nods. You sigh.

“I’m known being a trouble maker back at home. I always end up getting myself into situations that ends me getting hurt” you shrug.

You jerk back when you felt fingers trace over your back, and turn to whoever it was with a defensive hiss with your ears pinned back.

“Sorry” Lopez throws his hands up apologetically. You nodded for him to continue, your eyes squeezing shut as you inhaled a deep breath.

“I remember the ones on your back were fresh when we first took you. How did you get those?” Your ears peek at the question and you met the ember eyes of the man who had his lips on yours 2 days ago.

“I got them from the train tracks” you admit. Miles frown at the information you have given.

“Train tracks” Miles whispers under his breath until realization dawns on him and turns to look at you, “you were there when Sully hit the mag train”

“Yeah, I was too close when one of your Gunships starts launching missiles at us”

“What the hell were you doing there?” Miles growls, surprising himself from his reaction.

“Cause of Lo’ak” responds Spider. Catching Miles attention.

“Who?”

“Lo’ak. My younger brother. The one you had at knifepoint back at the shack” at the reminder, Miles looks down at his hands, trying to force down the guilt he’s been feeling.

“The one that flipped me off” Miles snorts. Yeah there’s no mistake Sully is the father of the kid. He got guts, he can respect that.

“Lo’ak is much of a trouble maker than I am. He wanted to be near the raid when we were supposed to be the look out. He went against order. I followed him. That’s when it happened” you mindlessly roll the beads of your songcord in between your thumb and forefinger, “We ran to get away, a missile was launched straight towards us, I didn’t have time to think, So I pushed him out of the way and I got hit instead. I got pretty banged up and got scolded for it” you roll your eyes when the memory of your father scolding you flashes in your mind.

“You’re the oldest?” Ask Ja.

Since you’ve been with them, they never really ask anything personal, it’s not because they didn’t want to more because they didn’t want to tick you off, afraid they’ll set you off at the time.

“Yeah I’m the oldest of five children”

“Five?” Shouts Lopez, you jump back in surprise by Lopez reaction.

“Lopez!” Scolds Miles.

“Sorry sorry” Lopez waves Miles off making him roll his eyes at him, “Damn, imagine still being with the same woman for that long, have that many kids and still love them”

You look at Lopez confused, what did he mean by that? Are humans rituals different?

“Na’vi mate for life” Spider says. That catches everyone attention.

“Life?” Ask Prager.

“Like I said before. Tsaheylu. The bond, is one of the most important thing a Na’vi can have access to when wanting to connect with the world and nature around us. and that includes each other” you watch as each of them look at each other before grabbing onto their own kuru.

You heard giggling on your left side and see Lopez and Prager jokingly push each others queues a little to close and pull them back when the tendrils slightly graze each other

“Hey!” You slap the back of Lopez head and pull on his ear, making him wince in pain.

Everyone watches you in amusement, fighting back grins, a few looks at Miles to see if he’ll stop you but surprisingly they see him smiling fondly at you and let you torture Lopez.

“Shit!” He winced, “ow, ow, ow, okay okay, I’m sorry”

“You yet to understand how deep and sacred a bond is, Skxáwng. you won’t be able to look at anyone else, you’ll be obsessed” you finally let go of his ear.

Lopez pouts as he touches the back of his ear and tries to soothe it. You look over at Prager who quickly covers his ears to avoid getting his ears pulled next.

“Once you make Tsaheylu, Muntxa si is connection to you, them, Eywa and no one else! It is honouring and making new life. You will not be able to mate with another both spiritually and physically”

The recoms listen tentatively, they don’t know much about the Na’vi culture or their traditions. They didn’t think the Na’vi mate for life, or they didn’t think much of them at all to bother learning their ways, until now that is when you came along.

“What would happen if they accidentally connected their braids? You’re saying they’ll be mates for life?” Jokes Ja, making a few chuckle, you frown at their childishness.

“Yes” that made them shut up real fast, they look at you with wide eyes,"You mate and once the bond is complete, it is a bond for life. It is a connection unlike any other. Once you share the deepest, most intimate part of yourself there is no going back. No action or amount of distance could manage to break the bond, only death."

Ja nudges your shoulders with a snicker, "so, you gettin' down and dirty with anyone before you mate?” The word felt foreign on his tongue as he ask the question.

“No” you respond with an eyeroll.

“You don’t fool around with anyone before mating? You know, have a taste of anyone else?” Ask Z-dog.

"Your culture is very strange. The Na’vi do not mate until they find the one, that what makes Tsaheylu very special for mated pairs” you wish to have that intimate experience with the one you choose for the rest of your life but sadly you won’t experience that instead you’ll be mated to someone you have no feelings for.

“And you’ll mate with this Tarter guy?” Lyle waves his hand. You deadpan at him, you know he’s saying Tarsem’s name wrong on purpose.

“Yes. My father made arrangements for me to be mated to Tarsem”

“Arrangement? Wait a minute,” Miles holds out a hand towards you, he pauses as he tries to process what you said, “you’re telling me you’re having an arrange marriage? What are we in the 1800’s?” He laughs in disbelief. He thought you were possibly in love with the guy to want to mate with him. He never thought Sully would be the type to force his daughter to be with someone.

You look at Miles confusingly, you don’t understand the human innuendo.

“Arranged marriages are quite common in our culture, more for the future Tsahik and Olo’eyktan” you respond.

“Atleast Jake didn’t make you have a third. Remember he almost wanted to wed you to Nanti” Spider shifts in his seat next to you before looking at you.

The memory of Nanti makes you roll your eyes, of course you remember. How can you not? Your father thought it would be good to have two Tsahik and one Olo’eyktan in the clan. Originally he wanted you and Nanti together and added Tarsem but you and Nanti didn’t get along. She was too controlling and jealous. You were glad your father ended the arrangement with Nanti.

“That a Na’vi thing, darlin’? Takin’ on a third?” Miles ask.

“Wait a sec… Polyamorous is a thing here?” Ask Ja in surprise.

“Polyamorous is unheard of but it’s uncommon. It’s rare but it could happen. But it’s best if they mate together” you explain. The recoms look at you confused. This was new and interesting information. They’ve never heard the Na’vi could have more than one mate.

“What do you mean?” Ask Z-dog

“They’ll have to mate at the same time. Two cannot mate then mate with the third or the fourth. That’s misplacing and disrespecting them in the mating ritual” you explain. You watch as the faces of recoms go deep in thought.

Everyone was listening intently at this point. After all, their job was to learn, absorb, and apply knowledge regarding the Na'vi to fulfill their mission. The Recoms were silent, processing the information. Rather than seeing how these mating bonds are the ultimate form of weakness within the Na'vi community, most of them became envious of the utter devotion mates have for eachother.

You didn’t realize how little they really know about the Na’vi, you might have taught them your ways but only the basics, not the culture or traditions.

“Soooo…” Lopez drags out, sparing a glance at Miles and Lyle, “what I’m hearing is you’re a virgin”

You gasps dramatically, eyes widening in disbelief at his giggling face. You hit Lopez shoulder with the back of your hand, “that is none of your business, Lopez!”

Lopez grins as he holds your wrist to avoid being slapped by you again, “I’m not hearing a no” he cheekily responds.

“Gah” you sneer when you pull your wrist out of his grip, Lopez laughs heartily, the corner of your mouth twitching. You know Lopez is just teasing you.

You move to stand up and dust yourself off, you were already walking away when Miles calls for you, “where you going?”

You pause half in the darkness “I’m going to the river to wash up. Do I need your permission to do so, Colonel” you sass. Miles grins as he licks his canines.

“Don’t be a brat” he lightly scolds you “you’re not going alone” he nods towards Lyle, “Lyle go with her”

You cross your arms over your chest, “I’m not going to make a run for it” you snarl. Miles outstretch his arm towards you a way to tell you to calm down, he means no harm.

“That’s not why, darlin’, it’s dark out. It’s for your safety, there could be predators out there” Your harden gaze soften at that, maybe you had reacted a little to fast.

You turn your gaze to Lyle who is already making his way towards you. You don’t know how to feel being alone with him again after what happened last time, you’ve been ignoring him for the past 2 days.

“C’mon baby, let’s go” Lyle places his hand on your lower back and gently pushes you forward.

The walk to the river is awkwardly silent. You’re lost in your thoughts, Meanwhile, Lyle ambles along at your side, matching your pace perfectly. He’s equally as quiet, but he keeps darting looks at you out of the corner of his eyes. Lyle is many things, but he’s never been subtle as long as you’ve known him.

By the time you reach the river, hardly a word has been shared between the two of you. Lyle stops mid step as he watches you kneel down near the river.

Lyle has started tapping his fingers against his thigh, and the frequency of his glances have increased yet again. He clears his throat, and finally speaks up.

“You’ve been ignoring me”

Your ears perk up at attention to his direction, you look over you shoulder, making eye contact with Lyle, you see the saddening and the longing look in his eye, it almost made you feel guilty. You didn’t think it would affect him this much.

“I wasn’t” you deny before going back to washing your hands, splashing water on your arms.

Lyle bitterly lets out a chuckle, shaking his head, “you’re lying to me now?”

You ignore him and don’t bother to respond and he doesn’t like that, not one bit.

“It’s because of what I am, isn’t it?” Hearing the clear insecurity in his voice, you turn your body sideways to look at him.

“What?”

“Don’t play dumb, Y/n” his tone getting a little more aggressive. You were taken back by his tone. Not once has he ever raised his voice at you.

Hearing your name coming from his mouth sounds foreign to you, this is the second time he said your name but this time it sounds like it hurts him to say it.

“Is it cause I’m a sky demon? Is that it? I’m not good enough for you?” He says, the bitterness in his tone is very apparent.

“No! That’s not it at all! How can you think that?” You practically beg. You stand up abruptly and take a cautious step towards him

“How can I not? You’ve been ignoring me like I have some kind of disease or something” he practically shouts.

You could feel yourself cowering back. You can’t do this right now. This was a mistake, something that shouldn’t have happened.

“It shouldn’t have happened. It was a mistake” you drop your gaze, mentally berating yourself.

“Mistake?” Lyle lets out a breath of disbelief and turns away from you, “You can’t honestly tell me you didn’t feel anything”

You pick up your head and see the pain in his eyes, more apparent than ever.

“Lyle,I can’t do this right now” you shake your head, you move your legs to attempt to walk around him but he instantly grabs you by your arm and pushes your back roughly into the closet tree.

You look up at Lyle with wide eyes. He has that crazed and determined look clear on his face.

You attempt to pull yourself away but his arm was like a cage around you, unbudging. Your eyes looked up at his begging to be released.

He let you go after a few more moments of you struggling. Letting his hands fall on your hips, he gently strokes your hip with his thumb, his way of apologizing for being a little too rough with you.

“Something changed between us, and I know you can feel it too” Lyle says, after a few seconds of neither of you speaking.

“No. Lyle, please don’t” you practically beg, pushing at his chest to let you go.

“Why? Cause you’re afraid to admit your feelings?” He presses on.

“It’s not that simple” you can feel anger boiling inside of you. Tears coming down your face as you shake your head.

“It is that simple” your hands starts pushing and hitting at his chest.

“No it’s not!” You shout at him, Lyle grabs onto your wrist to stop you from hitting him.

“Why not? Tell me!” He shouts, the anguish in his voice hurting you even more, all the while he struggles to hold you in place.

“The whole point I’m even here is for you to hunt down my father!” you cry out as you manage to pull your arms out of his grip, “it’s wrong of me to fall for my father’s enemies”

“I stop giving a shit about Sully a long time ago!” Lyle says, anger seeps through, almost like he wants you to understand.

“Why are you doing this to me? Is this some sick game you’re trying to pull on me?” You sob. No, you can’t let anything come of this. This is wrong.

“For fucks sake Y/n” he breathes out, clearly frustrated with you, “I’m trying to tell you I’m falling in love with you”

“No.” You shake your head, not wanting to believe Lyle could feel that way about you.

“Baby…” Lyle whispers as he tries to reach for you but your mind is completely lost.

“You’re not capable of such things” you cry out, pushing his hands away from you.

Lyle uses both hands to cup your face and forces you to look up at him, his gaze softening seeing the tears slide down your cheeks, with his thumb he wipes them away.

“I am capable of anything for you, never doubt the power you have over me” he whispers to you before leaning his forehead on yours, “I would leave everything for you”

Your hands planted softly on his face, pressing your forehead against his. He bumped his nose with yours, taking one of your wrists and mouthing your erratic pulse tenderly.

“You don’t know what you’re saying” you timidly pressed your palm against Lyle’s chest. You pushed him back with all the strength you could muster, eyes blown wide as he stared down at you.

“I know exactly what I’m saying, I only felt this way about one other person, and I never told them. I’m not making that same mistake with you” he responds, moving his hands to your hips. Not once taking his eyes off you.

“There is no woman out there quite like you. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on. When I think about you, try to describe what comes to mind, I’m left speechless. No matter what I say I don’t think there’s words that could ever describe the way you laugh and how your smile lights up a room that makes me feel alive. You are a breath of fresh air, pure, honest, and loveable air.” The way he says it sounds so poetic, it makes your heart flutter. Feeling flustered, you looked away to avoid Lyle’s gaze.

“Baby, look at me.” He cups your jaw to make you look at him, “If you don’t feel the same, tell me. Look me in the eyes and tell me” He whispers, not being subtle when his eyes darted down to your mouth, watching your teeth bite into your bottom lip.

“Please, baby. I have to hear you say it” he begs in his raspy voice.

“I can’t”

“Why not?” he breaths out.

“Cause I’m falling for you as well” you finally admit. Lyle sighs in relief.

Bringing one arm up to your chin, he lifts you face more to him, leaning forward to softly kiss your lips. His face stays too close to yours, but nothing touches. “Lyle?”

“Yes, baby?” with every syllable you feel his lips push up against yours, and you want him closer to you.

“Kiss me again. Please.” Lyle’s hand glides around your neck, the hand on your hips pull you even closer to him until every part of your front is touching him. His lips crash into yours. Peppering kisses onto you until he stills, his tongue tickles around your lips, and you open your mouth, granting him access. Lyle took the opportunity to press his tongue into your mouth, exploring your taste and groaning at your willingness to accept the intrusion.

Needing to feel even closer to him, you move to wrap your arms around his neck, stroking your fingers on the back of his head. Sliding his hands down your body, he cups your nearly bare ass, lifting you up to him. At the feeling of his tented pants, you mewl. “Oh baby, we’ve barely even got started,” the deepness of his voice makes you choke up, unaware of how with just the sound of a voice could make heat pool in your belly.

His mouth left your lips to explore the rest of your face. He began by leaving open mouth kisses along the sides of your face before nipping at the base of your ears. The sensation had your movements momentarily pause as your own pleasure took precedence. "Lyle..."

You could feel the lust pooling in your stomach and quickly migrating downward. You may not have been mated, but you knew what it felt like to touch herself. The touch of another was foreign, but that familiar feeling was mounting even without direct stimulation.

Lyle bit at the base of your neck before licking over the reddened area. He didn't break skin, but if he used any more power he would've easily drawn blood. The sensation of his teeth dragging over your neck satisfied something primal within both. Your head lulled to the side to give him more access - a clear display of trust and want.

He mentally curses at the colt around your neck, disturbing him to claim you even more.

After allowing Lyle to continue for a minute, you pull back as his mouth chased after your skin. Your eyes were blown wide with lust, glimmering as the night light of the forest danced along your skin, deepening the shadows of your features. A glistening trail of saliva covered the entire right side of your neck, running from your collar one to your ear as light bruising was intermittently laid out. The sight had Lyles' pants reach a level of uncomfortable tightness. Your free hand pulled at his vest, despising the gear from keeping his chest out of reach.

Once he was within reach, you returned his favor from earlier, tentatively pressing a soft kiss to the base of his jaw before growing bolder and left sloppy, wet kisses up and down the base of his neck. Lyle groans - how could someone so sweet do this? His hand released your neck and found purchase on your waist, kneading and squeezing at the soft flesh. With the newfound range of motion, you were able to reach up and bite at the base of his ears as well. Lyles' knees nearly buckled at the sensation - the way his fingers tightened around your waist was going to leave fingerprints for a day or two.

"Fuck, baby."

Both of your pupils were blown wide - a side effect of the dim lighting and the lust building in each of your systems. Before Lyle made a move to further your little dance, he hastily unlatched his vest as the material suddenly became constricting.

You smiled before Lyle slowly lower you down onto the ground, his knees in between your legs, keeping your thighs spread, ready to ravage you for all you’re worth. He wasn't going to stop till you were shaking on the ground from too much. He needed you as much as you needed him.

Your hair splayed out beneath you - you looked like the sun. Bright and warm. An essential part of life - you were an essential to his life now.

“Baby, I can’t have you passing out on me,” Lyle’s fingers untie your top, pulling it aside to get a full view of your breasts. Cupping and fondling them until his mouth sucks on each nipple. His tongue circling around until they’re hard and pebbled. His eyes roll up to look at you, but his lips still trail down your body, and you’re overwhelmed by every touch.

Lyle smirks as he slowly traveled down your torso, pressing a sloppy wet kiss at the base of your sternum, “You drive me crazy, baby."

His lips kiss at your stomach, leaving a trail of saliva as he licked up the sweat that collected earlier in the day. You shiver as the moisture cooled instantly in the cool of the night. Lyle pause at the base of your naval before hovering there to glance up at the writhing woman who begged for him to return. Your hands found their way to the back of his head, trying to push it against you but he resisted the temptation to continue teasing you.

“You’re fucking gorgeous, baby”

You could barely form the words, your rebuttal coming out as breathy pleas for his touch, "please, Lyle, I need more."

Lyle nipps at your freshly exposed hip bone, “don't you worry - I'm going to take care of you."

You try to help as Lyle slips the rest of the fabric down your legs. Once rid of your loincloth, Lyle travels back up your legs, beginning at your ankles. Light touches and soft kisses were a juxtaposition to the harsh squeezing and bites as he passed over your knees. As he grew closer to the apex of your thighs, he could smell your arousal. You shifted against the ground in attempts to entice him into doing what you wanted, but there was no need for that. Lyle felt like he was already drunk off your pussy without experiencing it yet.

He inhaled sharply and peeled his gloves off, before throwing them aside.

The way your entire body twitches in excitement as he trailed his index finger along the inside of her thigh. The way your head would roll back and your back arched slightly off the ground, making the dark bruises around the base of your throat more apparent. He loved it all.

You whimper, slightly grinding into Lyles' hand, "Lyle, please."

"Gotta stretch you out first, baby, can't go hurtin' you," Lyle kiss your clavicle, feeling your heart racing in your chest. His voice trailed off, "wouldn't forgive myself."

Holding eye contact, Lyle ran a single finger up the length of your slit before slowly pressing inside, meeting little resistance as your slick eased the entry. He remained slow, especially as your face twinged in mild discomfort as one of his fingers was the thickness of two of your own. Lyle took your pleasurable whimper to continue, beginning to pump the single finger before adding another once your face relaxed.

"Shhh," Lyle hushes you, his large arms curl around your upper thighs and you were sharply yanked down towards him, "I want to taste you. If you'll let me."

Your eyes widen in desire as Lyle starts placing small kisses on your stomach, caressing the soft, rounded curves of your body with his tongue until he's between your legs, staring up at you ravenously.

He lets out a content sigh bathed in lust as he kisses the inside of your thigh, reigniting that fire his fingers had stoked. He kisses up the inside of your leg, closer and closer. So close you can feel the warmth of his breath on your aching pussy.

Lyle’s ember eyes meet yours for a moment, then they're gone, and you let out a moan of indescribable pleasure as Lyle’s warm tongue meets the heat of your pussy, sliding between its folds as he buries his nose against your clit.

Parted your lips the only thing that was released was a guttural groan when a warm mouth enveloped your throbbing clit.

"Lyle!" you whine.

Lyle licks and kisses your folds, occasionally letting his tongue dive between your slick folds to lap at the wetness there.

"Mmm, God Y/n you're so sweet," Lyle moans, using his teeth to gently take your clit between his lips. Your back arches in response and you let out a cry of pleasure as his tongue dances across the sensitive nerves, sending rivets of white-hot pleasure up your back, causing your vision to blur.

Jerking your hips and grinding it slightly, your hands flung forward to grasp Lyle’s wrists. You can feel Lyle smile against your heat, and your grip around his wrist tightens as his tongue dips deeply into your core, plunging into your entrance for the first time and wasted no time exploring.

Your hips spasm as you thrust against the feeling of his hot, slick tongue inside you - your walls squeezing tightly as your back arches.

"H-Hey, ah~!" Your breath was caught in your throat when his thick appendage purposefully grazed over both the shallow and deep sensorial spots inside of your walls.

Your grip on his wrists tightens as you tugged him harder - closer - against your cunt. Lyle let out a soft shaky whine and the hold he has on your thighs was almost unbearably tight.

"Mmmm," Lyle moans, his hands finding your hips as he pulls you even deeper onto his tongue.

"Fuck, Lyle, please," you beg. "I-....I need more," you plead.

Lyle obeys, and your eyes roll back as his cheeks hollow. He sucks and laps at your slick arousal, groaning in pleasure as he sends vibrations through your entire body - drinking from you as if desperate.

Your eyes clench shut as the pressure of Lyle’s tongue penetrating into you had your stomach fluttering. Your toes curled, thighs fighting to be released from his tight hold that was around your thighs.

His tongue reaches all the way down inside of you and tenderly stroked the soft entrance to your womb. You had never felt such a sensation, no this was something else - foreign.

Your stomach tightened and the muscles in your legs flexed. The overstimulation was begging to become overwhelming and you wanted him to stop so you could catch your breath.

However, Lyle did the exact opposite. He pulls away his tongue to swallow the juices he had accumulated before driving it inside deeply and basically stealing your natural lubrication.

The tugging on his wrists only grew harsher the more the ache in your belly grew. Lyle growls in such a low wavelength you almost wouldn't have heard it if it were not for the moan stuck in your throat.

Cool sweat coated your skin while your hair stuck to your jaw and the back of your neck.

Lyle’s tongue was like heaven with the way passion jolted and spread up your abdomen and legs. You were consumed in a hazy lust, entrapped in intense eros that had your tongue lying heavy in your mouth.

Drool dribbled down the corner of your lips and slid down the sides of your jaw. Your eyes were practically rolled into the back of your head as you ground against his face.

The sharp pointed edge of Lyle’s teeth lightly grazed over your clit that was beating like a nervous heart.

It instigated this feeling in your lower abdomen, it was a pulsating sensation that was growing stronger by the second, alerting you of your nearing climax.

Your throat was dry, your neck muscles ached from the strain, and you felt fatigued. It was already such a long and hard day that the slightest bit of energy you possessed was being seeped out of you.

With the nearing of your climax, your spine had a small divet in it that was arching off the ground. Your legs that were still forced into the mating press jolted and twitched in Lyle’s massive hands.

Lyle suddenly hums and graze his sharp teeth over your clit while his tongue inside of you still wiggled about.

Your hips bucked against his face. You were so close.

The feelings you were experiencing were unspeakable. All you knew was that everything just felt so good but so overstimulated.

You were approaching a beautiful release, right at the edge of the cliff where you'd plunge into a reservoir of dazing fulfillment.

And when Lyle forces your hips to grind against his face, your org*sm collided against your nerves and flushed all through your body, surging through your bloodstream while pounding your head with white bliss.

"N-Ngh, ah~!" You cry louder than you should have, bellowing out within the forest that you were sure anyone close by could hear.

Your stomach contracted, and the abdominal muscles were tight from how much you sucked in your gut. You clenched as tightly as you could, squeezing down on Lyle’s tongue.

You let out a loud gasp as Lyle slides two fingers inside you beneath his tongue, pumping them in and out as he never stop sucking and licking sending you into a dizzying spiral of sensations.

“Lyle” you cry out, your hand fisting his wrists as your hips thrust against his tongue. You throw your head back in ecstasy, bringing your other hand to your mouth to muffle your scream of pleasure as you release on Lyle's face, twitching and spasming as Lyle eats out your orgasm, his lips never leaving your sensitive folds.

You could feel that familiar build deep with your stomach. In the few times you experimented and touched yourself before, it had never felt like this - never this good or building this quickly.

With your spine arching from your climax, you lay your head back against the grass floor with your lips parted.

Unadulterated euphoria that displayed on your face was something that you would have been embarrassed to ever show anyone, but at the moment you didn't give a damn.

You were blundering mess from his tongue. Literally, you were seeing stars with your eyes that were still rolled into the back of your head.

If Lyle could have you like this just with his mouth, who's to say what you would become if he used anything else.

As you basked in your afterglow, Lyle devours the liquids of your climax, greedily consuming your essence as if it was the air he needed to breathe.

You pant, gently pulling on his wrists to bring him back up your body. But Lyle gives you two more stubborn sucks, causing you to jerk and shudder beneath him. It had you shaking profoundly underneath him, fidgeting from your oversensitivity.

You glance down at Lyle, holding his eye contact as he made his way back up. He was much slower on the return, nipping and biting at certain patches of skin, as he crawls up your naked body, placing wet kisses all over your skin along the way until he reaches your neck. But you turn your head at the last moment, catching his lips with yours as Lyle hums in surprise.

As you pull back, you admire how your juices linger his face, his entire lower face still covered in your arousal. And you feel a small, heated flutter between your legs once more.

Lyle reaches behind your head and gently caress his fingers over your kuru, making you shiver in anticipation. “Don’t” you whisper.

Lyle instantly removes his hand, respecting your wishes and boundaries.

Lyle grabs you by the hips, pulling you closer against him. Your weeping cunt pressed against his own hardened member, trapped under layers of clothing.

He stands up leaning back on his knees, he untucks his shirt from his belt and peels the shirt off his skin. Your eyes can’t decide where it wants to look at, constantly changing locations on Lyle’s muscular body. Discarding the shirt before unbuttoning his pants, smirking at you nearly drooling over him. Watching intently when he removes his boxers, his cock finally on full display and you gasp. “It’s okay, baby, you can handle it.” With the size of him, you’re not sure. Your body trembles as he kneels down between your spread legs.

“H-hold on,” you tell him breathless. Lyle stops his movement. Adjusting himself to hover over your body. Resting himself on his forearms his face is right at yours.

“You, okay?”

Lyle still lingers over you. His golden ember eyes soft as he watches your face. “Baby, we can stop.”

“No! I don’t want to stop. Please don’t stop” you say breathlessly.

Balancing his weight on one arm, Lyle bent over your torso to move closer to your head. Your eyes were entranced by his every move - his single arm wasn't straining in the slightest, even though he was balancing hundreds of pounds of muscle on the single limb.

Once close enough, Lyle hums again, nudging his nose against your cheek to move your head as he wish. You completed instantly.

“Jesus Christ, baby. You’ll be the death of me." he gives a soft kiss on your lips in which you hum, eyes fluttering shut. he wraps his hand around his cock, pumping it a few times before guiding it to your wet entrance while putting his other palm beside your head to support his weight. He rubs his tip along your little bundle of nerves before slapping his cock against you. The quick jolts of your body has him even more excited.

You bite down on your lower lip trying to suppress a moan when he slides the tip up and down your cunt. mumbling a low ‘fuck’ at the slicky sound of your wet cunt. another loud groan rumbles off his chest when his cock slips in. Lyle stays still for a while before he sits up straight, hooking his hands underneath your knees, telling you to wrap your legs around his waist.

“I’m gonna go slow, okay?” you nod, holding tightly onto his biceps. Sliding his tip through your walls, you freeze, body stiff, as tears sting your eyes. “Relax,” his voice grunts out. You try, you really do, but your body is just tense. Feeling every centimeter of his cock while it slowly slides in.

The tears escape your eyes with the pain of his girth stretching you out. “I’m sorry, baby. You can take it. I’m only halfway.”

“Lyle,” you whimper. You wince a little, wriggling uncomfortably as Lyle pushes further in.

“It’s okay,” he reassures you gently.

“It hurts.”

“I know, baby,” he kisses you again, deep and slow, “it’s gonna a little, but you’re doin’ so well. Almost there. Just relax.”

At that, he snakes a hand between you, using his thumb to slowly massage your clit, still tingly from your orgasm. Everything instantly loosens inside you and he slips the rest of the way in with a stifled moan.

“Oh good girl,” he emphasizes, placing another kiss to your lips. “You okay?”

“Y-yeah, m’just… full.”

Removing his hand from your clit, while holding his position, he kisses away your tears. “Such a good girl for me. You’re doing so well baby”

His girth was the hardest to overcome, stretching you further than you’d ever been able to achieve on your own. There was a dull ache in your pelvis as he finally settled in.

Unknowingly, your vaginal muscles tensed as he pressed forward to the hilt, “fuck."

He was finally close enough that you could kiss him, trying to distract yourself from the ebbing pain as you grew accustomed to his length. He was more than happy to comply, but paused to suck in a breath each time your walls squeezed around him.

“Breathe, baby. Relax for me.” Lyle gently encourages you as he pulls away from your lips and on command, you take in a big gulp of air. “Fuck, you’re so fucking tight. you feel incredible.”

You blink back tears as you focus on your breathing, a shaky exhale of air that escapes your heaving chest while you are slowly split open by his heavy cock. It’s moderately painful, the way the foreign object coaxes your tight walls into expanding around it, unmistakably different from the accustomed stretch of his thick fingers, but with it a warm and inviting sense of unfamiliar pleasure lies just within your grasp.

“Good girl. You’re doing so well.” He praises with heavy pants. His fingers digging into your quivering thighs are sharp, almost possessive in nature as he lays claim to your body, molding your virgin cunt into a perfect home for his thick cock. His advice serves as a reminder to both you and himself as you squeeze unforgivingly tight around him. “Just relax, baby.”

Lyle huffs, his grip leaving your thighs to tangle with your fingers against the grass, dropping his head to lay in the crook of your neck while he remains snug within you. You can feel him twitching inside of you, so unfathomably deep you’re sure he’s greeting your insides, you can only spasm in consequence as he kisses along your hypersensitive skin.

“You look beautiful like this. So full of me. Does it feel good, baby?”

You nod weakly as you whimper out incomprehensible sweet nothings.

“Shh, shh.” His thumb brushes gently along your cheek as he observes your disheveled state. The unabashed, unwavering amount of love, trust, and desire he finds pooling in your teary eyes leaves him breathless as he silently vows to care for you the rest of his days. To leave you rightfully worshipped and satisfied as he makes love to you for the first time, and surely not the last.

“Ready for me, baby?” Lyle softly whispers.

“please move.” You nod, he retreats slowly. You feel weird as he slips out, like your pussy needs him back. When he slides back in, it’s a little easier, but there is still some resistance the further he gets.

As he fills you all the way, you feel the weight of his pelvis. It’s a strange sensation, but one you already sort of enjoy, and you begin to anticipate it.

Lyle repeats the process ten more times, speeding up a little with each thrust, and you can feel yourself relaxing more and more as dull pain slowly melts into pleasure.

“Lyle” gasp out when he thrusts a little harder. “Oh, fuck.”

“You like that, baby?” You nod immediately.

“Want me to do it again?”

“Yes, please”

He does— gently at first until he’s fucking you at a pace that makes your cunt ache. You can feel your wetness drip around him each time he pulls out, and when he drives back inside you, it helps aid his momentum, filling you entirely to the root.

The movement caused your eyes to clench shut, but he continued as your muscles became more relaxed. Once those sweet little sounds started to spill from your mouth, Lyle took it as a sign that he could dial it up a notch.

You gargled between thrusts, your entire body shifting along the ground as the momentum pushes you upwards, "Lyle... you - it feels - so good."

“Such a good fuckin’ girl, aren’t you, baby?” he whispers against your lips, teeth nipping at your flesh each time he sinks inside you. “So good for me.”

Words get lost in the back of your throat.

Lyle lowly moans, "cunt is so, so sweet, babygirl. I'm one lucky man. It's mine, right?"

You whine at his possessiveness, "yours."

Without missing a beat, Lyle continues, "sucking me in so good. Doesn't want me to leave. You want it? You want my cum?" You nod frantically, walls squeezing at the thought of him painting your insides. Lyle smirks, "oh ho ho, I felt that. You want me to fill you up? Have you drippin' when we get back? So much that I need to push it back inside. Gotta keep it where it belongs, yeah?"

You release a high-pitched moan, scratching at his back as the familiar pressure began mounting in your lower abdomen. Lyle felt it as well, but he was trying his damndest to hold off until you came around him. He needed to feel you cum clenched around his cock.

His fingers wind down your body, quickly squeezing your nipple before skilled hand navigated to the juncture of your legs, expertly finding that little bundle of nerves, coasting down to your swollen clit. Creating small circles on your pearl that match his thrusts. Wrapping your legs around his waist, you pull him down closer to you.

You felt light headed as everything suddenly was so overwhelming. You were deprived of air as Lyle continues to smother and kiss you. Your clit, already swollen from earlier, was being relentlessly circled with a heavy thumb. Your entire body continues to rock in time with his deep thrusts, each time pressing impossibly further into you.

"Lyle - I-" you blurt out, “I think I’m c-close

“C’mon baby, come for me. I want to feel you”

It all happens in a blur. Nothing but pleasure exists for a brief moment, however this time, the moment extends— prolonged by Lyle fucking you through it. It repeats over and over— your body seizing like you’ve been electrocuted, before sagging back against the ground, completely fucked out. Yet you keep jolting intermittently as lingering waves pulse through you.

In your moment of overwhelming pleasure, Lyle speeds up his hips in attempts to trail you as closely as possible. He holds you by the hips so tightly that it’ll be a miracle if you don’t bruise, and he snarls like a goddamn animal as he comes, emptying his balls deep inside you. half a dozen pumps of sticky cum lined your walls. His balls continued to tighten as they forced every last drop out, milking him for all he was worth

With one final thrust, Lyle presses as deep as he could, feeling his cock twitch as your walls continues to squeeze erratically. He holds you there for a long, long moment, letting your tight, tight cunt squeeze around him for just a moment longer before the feeling starts to edge into something bright and oversensitive.

Even so, he wasn't going to pull out anytime soon. No, he would stay deeply settled in the silky warmth. Pulling out now may be to jarring for you .

Once your full body twitching finally slowed to a stop, Lyle slowly rolls your conjoined bodies over so you lay against his chest. Nether of you knew it was possible, but you slip further onto his cock before falling limp against his chest. The first bit of cum slipped out, forming a semi-translucent ring around the base of his cock.

Leaning back slightly to look down at your sweat laden face, Lyle smiles at your first-time glow.

After catching your breaths for a minute, you begin tracing circles along his bare chest, “We should be heading back soon. They would be wondering where we are."

He presses a kiss to your sweaty hairline, trying to smooth it down, "let me worry about them, I want to hold you like this a little longer”

You hum, feeling exhausted.

After a while, you began to wince in pain as your hips tensed from the position. Lyle didn't want to lift you off, but it was going to happen at some point or another. He slowly sat up, making sure not to jostle you as you fought the urge to sleep.

Neither enjoyed the sensation as Lyles' strong arms wrapped around your torso to lift you off his soft cock. While the pressure was gone, you suddenly felt empty without him. Your walls constricted, forcing a glob of his cum to slip out of your stretched slit, landing right on his balls. Lyle groans at the sight, forcing himself to look away so he wouldn't grow hard again.

You fall limp against his chest as more of his cum began to slowly seep out, tucking your head into the crook of his neck as you try to find a comfortable position to rest your exhausted body.

Lyle rubs at your bare skin, loving the way your naked body feels against his "get some rest, baby”

You nod your head in agreement. You weren’t going to fight on that one, "but we should be heading back”

“Don’t worry about that. Rest, baby. You need it”

Your breath evened out in under 2 minutes, letting sleep consume you.

(This is my first time writing smut, so I hope it reached everyone expectations)

Taglist: @alexandra-001 @commanderrivercc-3628 @henhouse-horrors @certainkittenpeach @multi-fandom-rando @zzedah @mrstargayen09 @loaksulluyswife @averagehorrorgirl

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