venusplanetoflove

~~~~~~~~~

She wanted to die.

It was either death or this never-ending torment. She hoped her body would just give up under the overwhelming lights flashing directly into her eyes, invading her mind against her control. The Neurosect had managed to get Kayla to pass out several times over the course of the interrogation, and each time she woke, there was the underlying threat of her heart finally giving out under the neurological pressure in her head. Kayla's strength has given out on her every time she tried thrashing around; her wrists cut up from where she tried pulling them out of her metal restraints. Even her screams fail her, hardly any sound past a whimper escaping her cracked lips and sandpaper throat. 

Ardmore and her tall blue lackeys have been hard at work asking her questions, either demanding the whereabouts of her brother or where he might strike next. After a while, Quaritch orders Wainfleet and Mansk to report back to Bridgehead, and Kayla tries focusing on their heavy footsteps as they leave.

Throughout the interrogation, there are words she knows she's supposed to understand, but over time, they mix in with her other learned languages and the sounds of the scanner, until eventually, she could hardly focus on anything other than one thought.

'Your name is Makayla te Suli tsmuke te Toruk Makto.'

The sound of something powering down fills the room, and Kayla can suddenly feel her limbs again, her skin prickling as if the electricity to the machine had suddenly released her muscles. She starts panting as the lights to the scanner begin to slow and dim, the restraining mask on her face losing power and releasing the muscles around her eyes. Kayla nearly sobbed when she regained the ability to blink rapidly again.

"Where is Jake?" Ardmore continues without interruption, looking down at her captive with boredom.

Gulping in deep breaths even as her teeth chattered, Kayla bites back the bile threatening to come up, all the while feeling hot and cold all at once, her body trembling with confusion. She feels blood start to drip from her nose as she eventually manages to focus back on Ardmore, swallowing to try and quench her dry throat, "Can you ask me something else for a change? It's getting boring."

The general's patience flared as she firmly turned to her labcoats, "I don't have time for this. Up the voltage."

"General. If we do that, there's no guarantee she'll survive."

Kayla wheezes quietly in her attempt to laugh, her ribs screaming in protest, "Then all my juicy secrets die with me. No Jake, no avatar..."

Ardmore slowly turns back around, peering down at Kayla with an expression that unsettles the corporal. With relaxed wrinkles around the eyes and mouth, her former general looked far too calm for someone who had just been given an unsavory ultimatum.

"I don't need your avatar," Ardmore finally replies, surprising Kayla and even Quaritch with her statement, "Sure, it's a costly loss, but Amrita from one baby tulkun would cover that loss and make several avatars all at once."

Kayla's strength returns just enough for her to let out a deep snarl that usually sounded ten times more threatening in her avatar body, "You sick bitch-!"

Ardmore reaches out and presses a button on the side of the Neurosect, a high-pitched sound similar to a dog whistle screaming out as she activates the electricity once more, watching Kayla's entire body grow abruptly stiff as the current forces her muscles to lock up. Kayla lets out an abrupt scream, strained from use as she tries to clench her teeth, but her body refuses to follow her command. Ardmore's thin lips curl up in one corner as she finishes her thought.

"To be honest, the only reason why I would've wanted your avatar back would be so I could see what would happen once I trigger your kill switch."

Kayla's ears burn, her first hint that she heard something she was supposed to grasp. She struggled for a moment before she managed to replay the words in her head, her eyes flicking to Ardmore, "My... what?"

The older woman seems far too pleased to explain, "Call it an insurance policy. You see, no thanks to your traitorous brother, we decided that any avatar we created after him will have a means to an end if they so much as think of betraying the human race again."

Kayla didn't miss it out of the corner of her eye; the way Quaritch's ears twitched at this new information, his expression and posture still conformed even as he slightly tilted his head with interest. 

"It's a simple switch, according to my scientists," Ardmore continued, "I push a button, and the moment there's any sign of brain activity, the avatar is triggered into an episode resembling a seizure and dies from sudden cardiac arrest. The heart stops, lack of oxygen goes to the brain, and then certain death. Even if you did escape and sync back into your avatar, you're risking death the moment the control center back at HQ catches any signs of brain activity. Part of me is a little curious, so if you somehow link back to your avatar, I'm thanking you now in advance for quenching my curiosity."

Kayla can hardly process that information as the electricity quite literally fries her brain, making her wish, yet again, that Neytiri was here so she could shove an arrow through her head and put her out of her misery.

Ardmore straightens her uniform casually, "Now. Back to the matter at hand. Where is Jake Sully?"

Her attempt to snarl turns into a weak gurgle in the back of her throat, "You can go ahead and kill me."

A huff of impatience escapes Quaritch, pushing himself away from the wall he was leaning against, "We don't need her intel, General. Given how fast Sully and his goons responded when we cornered their kids, we've narrowed down our search to only a dozen islands close to the area of the latest battle. Just give me a ship, and I will go out there and bring you back--"

"I gave you a ship, Quaritch," Ardmore snaps, raising her voice for the first time in the midst of the interrogation, causing Kayla's brain to pound against her skull, "Now look where it is! It's at the bottom of the ocean! How many resources will I have to waste on you before you finally bring in our guy?"

A deep glare, filled with deep envy and unresolved hatred, crosses Quaritch's scarless face, "You brought me out here twenty-six trillion miles for a single mission. A kinetic hardkill op against one guy. I ain't backing off."

Ardmore appears undeterred, standing tall even when the Recom stood taller, "Then by all means, go be useful somewhere else. Scorsby will be just getting cleared from his physical therapy. Maybe go and form your next battle plan with him. Let him know you want to risk another ship and crew for your manhunt."

Quaritch's jaw visibly shifts, his scowl and piercing eyes looking daggers down at the general standing at his waist height. From what Kayla could see at her angle, it almost looked as though the colonel was planning a mutiny. But then, she blinked, and the moment was over, the tall Recom simply turning away and walking out the door.

His feet are loud even without boots, and Kayla does her very best to focus on each one, counting in her head. One... two... three... four... five...

The sound changes, and it now echoes from a distance. Around a corner, just like Wainfleet and Mansk. Her exit is down a hall and to the left...

~~~~~~~~~

The forest reminded Tonowari of the one he calls home back on his island.

And yet, it felt more dense here, and not a mangrove tree in sight. No marui made out of winding roots that plunge down deep into the water. Instead, the roots dig deep into the ground, obstructing the path Norm Spellman led him down in his avatar form, moving slowly and as quietly as a prowling nantang. 

The dreamwalker makes a motion with his hand from where he stood ahead of the reef olo'eyktan, then freezes. Tonowari wisely does the same, even if he wasn't close enough to see what Norm was seeing. The male Metkayina followed each of Norm's movements and followed every instruction. He was wise enough to know that, even though Norm was technically human, this was much more his environment than it was Tonowari's.

Norm crouches down behind a tree and then motions for him to follow. Tonowari does his best to hide his large form behind the ferns, but it was proven a struggle, especially when his skin was meant to blend more so in rippling water rather than the deep blue night of the forest. From here, his face crumbles with distress as he finally sees what caused Norm to be alert.

The man-made fortress, while massive and an atrocity to everything Tonowari and his people stood for, looked as though it was beginning to return to the Great Mother's domain, overrun by many plants and not posing much of a threat. The fortress known as Hell's Gate, where Jakesuli says he originated from when he first came to this world. 

Surrounding one particular building, not far from where Norm and Tonowari hid, was completely surrounded by Sky People. Not just on foot, but in their metal suits, both big and small, with blinding lights casting overhead and scanning the surrounding perimeter. 

Norm ducks back when the light nearly hits his face, taking a deep breath before focusing on the larger warrior beside him, "Now, remember, she won't look like herself. She looks different in her human body, so you won't recognize her. She needs one of these."

He presents a child-sized mask from his belt. Tonowari's ear twitched when he recognized the face covering the Sky People wear. It's small enough to fit in Norm's large hand as he presents it to the reef chief, showing small parts of the mask to demonstrate how it works, "Put this over her face before taking her outside. You can't just slip the mask over the face and be done. Without activating it, the mask will only release puffs of air. You need to regulate the pressure of the oxygen here and here, or else Kayla will suffocate. This scenario, of course, would only happen if she weren't capable of putting the mask on herself."

Tonowari nods along to everything the dreamwalker says and manages to follow every instruction once Norm has him repeat everything and show all the bells and whistles of the mask. Once satisfied, Norm slings his rifle from over his shoulder to rest snug in his arms while peering through the foliage toward Hell's Gate.

"Now all we have to do is wait for Jake's signal."

~~~~~~~~~

Sometimes, these punks make it too easy for him.

He's barely hiding in the treeline, Hell's Gate just within his grasp, while an RDA grunt does his routine patrol right within arm's reach of the former avatar. It's just one guy, mask and gun, idly whistling to himself. A rookie.

Neytiri crouches beside Jake, her eyes trained on the soldier like a predator to prey, knife gripped firmly in her hand. A few yards to their right, they know Tarsem and his group are waiting for the signal, and then further to their left, Norm and Tonowari are waiting for the right moment to sneak into the facility. 

Jake patiently waits, even as his heart pounds angrily in his chest, silently praying that nothing in his plan goes wrong in the hopes his sister won't be harmed. He had watched Quaritch storm out of the building not long ago, tail whipping angrily behind him. A deep sigh of relief expels from Jake's lungs when the Recom mounts his screeching ikran and takes off, flying off into the night. That leaves one less obstacle in their way.

When the patrolling rookie turns and marches back around to his hidden position, Jake can't afford to second-guess himself, knowing that this might be his only chance. He darts out and bear-hugs the soldier in his massive arms, pulling him back into the brush, crushing the man's larynx in his hand to ensure the bastard couldn't scream for help. The rookie can barely struggle, not against pure Na'vi strength. Jake holds him by the neck while Neytiri darts to crouch in front of their captive, hissing deep in her throat while she holds her knife to the human male, watching him squirm beneath her gaze of pure hatred. 

Jake gives the soldier a moment to analyze his situation before bending his head down to growl low in his ear, "If you value your life, you'll send a message to General Ardmore."

Neytiri's added snarl shakes the soldier's bones, her bloodthirsty glare reflecting on his mask as it fogs with breaths of fear.

~~~~~~~~~

"General, we have a situation."

A man's strained voice sounds over the radio, dragging Kayla's and all the labcoats' attention to the device as Ardmore turns away to press it to her ear, "Go ahead."

"Bridgehead is under attack! Reported numbers of ten thousand Na'vi are flooding our gates!"

Kayla keeps whatever was swelling in her chest to herself, using her weakened strength to keep a straight face as Ardmore spins back around, barely contained fury stretched thin over her wrinkles as she peers down at her captive. The scientists murmur among themselves, fear underlying their muffled voices. Ardmore's gaze snaps up to her labcoats, keeping a grip on the situation by firmly placing orders without a stutter.

"Keep her here. If Sully thinks she's at Bridgehead, then he's going to die for nothing. Lock her up and continue the interrogation tomorrow. Force food and water down her gullet to make sure she stays alive until she spills the beans."

The general barely gives Kayla a second glance before turning to two of her officers, pointing to one, then the other, "You, you're with me. You, you're in charge here until I get back."

Kayla watches Ardmore leave with one other soldier, silently counting their footsteps in her head. Their strides are shorter than Quaritch's, but she manages to count two pairs of boots that take at least ten footsteps in sync with each other before they eventually fade out. Same as before. Down the hall and to the left. 

Her gaze flicks back to the soldier who remains, his posture firm as he stands over the scurrying scientists, his eyes slowly scanning the room. He keeps his fists to his sides, his pistol strapped to his right hip.

~~~~~~~~~

Jake and Neytiri hold firm and keep their eyes locked on Hell's Gate without blinking, breathing heavily with anticipation as the former keeps a tight hold on the rookie soldier, who looks confused as to why he hasn't been let go yet. His captors remain silent, not even paying attention to him. All they could do was wait with bated breaths, hoping that their bait had worked.

Within minutes, their labor bears fruit as they witness the AMP suits and footsoldiers falling back to their gunships, hustling and shouting at one another while clambering on board. The engines start as two smaller figures exit the facility, Jake's ears pinned back as he follows Ardmore's movements with steady eyes until she disappears into her own aerial craft, the biggest of the bunch, an assault ship.

Only some of the ships rise into the air, while two single Kestrals remain running idly on the ground, a small squadron of soldiers surrounding it, and the entrance into the building with trained weapons. The small number of Sky People appear to be staying behind. 

He waits until Ardmore is airborne and gone from the treeline with her small trail of flying ducklings, then Jake effortlessly snaps his captive's neck and tosses the body aside, motioning Neytiri to follow him back toward their ikran, "Let's go."

Neytiri crows, letting it echo throughout the trees as she sprints toward Sa'ata. In answer, a symphony of several whoops and hollers grows louder and higher. By the time Jake and Neytiri mount their bonded banshees and fly up, Tarsem and his warriors have started to burst out from the treeline astride pa'li, charging toward the small squadron of soldiers left behind with earth-shattering war cries that drown out the gunfire that spits rapidly in their direction. Jake and Neytiri quickly dive down to join the fight, covering fire from above while the propellers from Max's old Sampson, Rogue Two, can be heard coming from the opposite direction, trapping the ambushed Sky People. 

~~~~~~~~~

The chorus of war cries could be heard from inside the facility, the ringing in Kayla's ears only strengthening the hope that had been gradually growing in her chest. She watches as the only remaining guard bows his head to focus on the listening device in his ear before glancing up to inform the scientists what is going on,

"There's a small party of rebels outside."

"What?" Many of them exclaim with panic and fear.

The suspected lead scientist is bolder than the rest as he angrily shouts, "We should call the General back here!"

"Didn't you hear?" Another pitches in, "Bridgehead is under attack, and that must remain her top priority. She left a squadron behind for us, so relax. We'll be fine."

A younger and calmer young woman sits in front of a monitor while analyzing the layout of Hell's Gate, "There's an old bunker we can take shelter in while the suits handle the traitors and savages outside."

The guard firmly nods, "Let's go. Take the prisoner, too."

Two of the scientists step up to the scanner, reaching around to disengage the metal cuffs around Kayla's ankles and wrists, removing the mask that held her eyes open. Together, they firmly hold onto both of her elbows and assist her from the slanted slab she's spent many hours on at this point, their movements slow even as the others are anxious to get out of here. 

Kayla takes one step on solid, cold floor before she feels her legs give out and crash her whole body down into the cement. Something snaps as her eyes suddenly roll back into her head, her frail body seizing up and thrashing all her limbs violently in short, uncontrolled convulsions. The scientists all collectively gasp and rush forward to hold down her limbs to keep Kayla from hurting herself in the midst of her seizure, but the guard snaps and pushes them all aside.

"Move! Get out of my way!"

He manages to get through and forces the scientists to back away and give Kayla some space. The guard inspects her for injuries as her movements finally slow down until they eventually come to a halt, her eyes closed. Pressing two fingers to her throat in search of a pulse, he turns his head back to the scientists, "Alright, she's stable. I don't suppose any of you have training on-!"

BAM!

The scientists all scream as the sudden loud noise triggers the guard's brain matter to splatter in red against the nearest wall while his body slumps to the ground, his gun holster empty. Just as fast, Kayla gets to her feet, unfazed, and the guard's pistol held firmly in her hands as she points the weapon at the crowd of scientists, her eyes coldly trained on her next targets, the pale skin beneath her nose still smeared with blood. They all begin to trip over each other while barely taking their eyes off the gun, huddling together like a flock of scared sheep in the corner of the room.

"Wait wait wait!"

"We're unarmed!"

"Don't shoot!"

"We're just scientists!" 

"Yeah," Kayla agrees, her voice completely shot, making it impossible for her to speak louder than a whisper. Her top lip curls up into a snarl, "But you sick fucks still tortured a child."

Her hands and heartbeat are all collectively steady as she opens fire on the small crowd, ignoring their screams as they try to escape or shield their bodies with only their hands. In quick time, they all drop to the ground like flies, piled over one another. Even then, Kayla doesn't stop firing until the gun starts to click loudly with an empty clip, slowly lowering her aim as her eyes scan over the bodies, ensuring that not a single one is still moving. She turns and crouches over the guard's body, retrieving some extra ammo before stumbling over to the control panel. She's watched those labcoats hunching over this screen for hours, paying no mind to her as she screamed and pleaded for her life. Now she wants to see what all the fuss was about.

Notes on her interrogation race down the screen as she scrolls through. No notable information, so thankfully, Kayla never gave them anything actually vital, just memories of before her time on Pandora. Regardless, she scrolls through and deletes every single note, erasing that life as much as she could so it will eventually die with her. Using the codes on one of the dead scientists' badges, she's able to access a few other files that they had transported here from Bridgehead. Adrenaline pumps in her veins as she hears an explosion outside, ducking her head for a moment when the crumbling building shakes all around her, lights flickering overhead. Kayla tries to scroll through the files as quickly as possible, her heart pumping in her chest when she recognizes that it's her own file that they had transported here along with the Neurosect scanner. Noted recently on her file is an order from Ardmore: to destroy all of this information once her interrogation is complete. No loose ends, and no one else getting any more ideas of betraying the RDA.

The grin curling onto Kayla's lips felt malicious while catching Ardmore's mistake, "Skxawng."

She types in keywords such as 'avatar', 'switch', and 'kill switch' into her file, and many highlighted comments pop up wherever said words are mentioned. Darting her eyes over the screen, she frantically searches for an answer, hoping that the solution would be there. If she had the means, she would download all of this information for someone smarter like Max or Norm, but instead, she comes up empty for any information regarding where her avatar's kill switch is and how to disable it. Apparently, that wasn't crucial enough to catalogue.

"Fuck this," she snarled, prying open a panel in the monitor, digging her bloody nails into as many of the wires as possible before tearing it all out, hoping that would delay them long enough.

More gunfire and explosions go off, along with flashing red lights now bathing the entire room, blaring loudly and ringing in her ears. Steam and gas are beginning to seep through, and Kayla quickly deduces that the air from outside is getting into the sealed-tight room. She frantically dives for the dead guard on the ground, wrestling with the exopack and rebreather he had hooked onto his belt before prying it free and frantically securing the mask over her face. She's sure to fasten it appropriately and even snags a normal leather belt from one of the scientists' perfectly pressed khakis, wrapping it around her own waist and securing her pack and new gun holster to it. With her loaded gun in hand, she slips out of the room, and as she suspected, there are exit signs down the hall, indicating to the left. 

She doesn't run, her cold feet padding along the metal floor, sticking to one wall and carefully peering around each corner before she moves on. The halls, however, are large enough to fit avatars and even AMP suits, so she felt small and frail in her state. Feeling too open and exposed, she climbs up onto some toppled crates pushed against the side of the hall and reaches up, painstakingly unscrewing the large vent in the ceiling, her fingertips now split open and scraping raw against such corroded metal. With a strained grunt, she pulls herself up into the now-opened vent, her limbs cold and shaking weakly in protest. Taking several deep breaths through her filtered air, Kayla pushes herself up onto her feet once she realizes the vent is big enough for a fully grown human to walk through. Well, that's awfully helpful.

~~~~~~~~~

The itch to dive into the fray was strong, but Tonowari held back and remained in the shadows as the Omatikaya fought off the small group of Sky People that remained, with Toruk Makto, Neytiri, and Max in the gunship slowly picking off the metal suits and flying machines. Norm's feet shuffle anxiously in the dirt, waiting, his eyes fixed on the doorway, which is currently being shielded by an AMP, firing up at the two ikran and gunship flying above it. Despite his orders, Norm doesn't take any chances of Jake or Neytiri getting hit, so he brings his rifle up and quickly aims, firing several rounds straight into the AMP's glass canopy to get to the RDA soldier within. When the hunk of metal collapses forward, Norm motions Tonowari to follow him.

"Now's our chance, let's go!"

Tonowari can't afford to hesitate, rising from his hiding place and closely following behind Norm, his spear clutched in his hand. With the Sky People too preoccupied with the Na'vi attacking from the front and above, they pay no attention to the two lone Na'vi who slip into the facility right behind their line of fire. That is, until one soldier in a Skel Suit noticed and managed to break off from the fight to follow.

The floor inside is cold and smooth beneath Tonowari's feet, hissing quietly under his breath. Apart from some vegetation making its way into the building, most of the walls are still colorless and sterile, but the flickering lights in the ceiling are what make the atmosphere all the more eerie. Norm's breath is labored while taking his datapad out, revealing a blue-lit map on the screen, "Alright, there's only a few places they could've taken her that haven't succumbed to the elements yet. Follow me."

~~~~~~~~~

Kayla hears a voice below her, a specific, unique voice that has her heart jump when she recognizes it. Norm.

Unfortunately, there's no vent opening right beneath her, so she quickly moves down the air shaft to find one. Her heart is beating loudly in her ears when she sees light on the floor ahead of her, quickly kneeling down above the next vent opening to painfully remove the screws once more.

Tonowari's head looks up when the sounds of small footsteps trail down from right above him, but nothing is there. Norm also heard it, his ears twitching in the direction the footsteps were disappearing, "Did you hear that?"

Kayla nearly sobs with relief, wishing her damaged throat would allow her to scream so her friend could hear her. She raised her fist to angrily pound against the vent, but quickly froze when she saw movement below her. A Skel Suit stands just beneath the vent, and the soldier controlling it is aiming his AK down the hall where Norm's voice came from.

"Hey!" The bastard roars, "Traitorous skum!"

Norm and Tonowari spin around, but neither of them is fast enough to draw their weapons with the rifle already trained right at them. Time slowed as the soldier aimed, and when the single gunshot rang throughout the hall, even Tonowari could admit he had flinched. He quickly turned to Norm, thinking maybe he had been hit, but the dreamwalker was looking back at him with an equally baffled expression. Neither of them was injured. 

Looking back at the soldier, they watch the corpse drop the rifle, cringing when all that could be seen through his mask was a splatter of blood. His head slumps forward, but the stiff suit keeps him standing upright, and the confusion in both surviving males' minds is quenched when a vent latch suddenly swings open with immense force right above the murdered soldier. With bated breath, they both watch as a human female slowly climbs down, hanging off the ledge of the vent by her hands for a moment before she gets her bearings and safely drops down, though she stumbles when her feet hit the ground.

She's small. Smaller than Tuktirey or Spider in comparison. Squished beneath her breathing mask is short, unkempt hair and a bloodied nose, her pale body beaten and bruised beneath simple shorts and a tank top, her bloodied hands shaking violently at her side. Tonowari's eyes scan the female Sky Person until his gaze falls on her hip, held by a belt that didn't fit her, where he caught sight of a small, metal weapon with an unclipped holster.

Instinct kicks in, and he raises his spear, and Norm quickly rushes forward in an attempt to shove it out of his firm hand, "Wait, stop! It's Kayla!"

The olo'eyktan froze, his gaze snapping to Norm for confirmation before slowly turning back to the small figure standing ahead of them. Her shoulders rise and fall rapidly, struggling to catch her breath and keep her footing. Tonowari doesn't know how to react to the small, frail figure in front of them that doesn't at all resemble the strong and fierce woman he knows. Out of all the things that felt strange to him, the storm-colored eyes looking back at him with an equally shocked expression was the strangest. 

Kayla was panting, her vision a little dizzy from jostling herself when she jumped down from the vent, trying to keep her bearings. Her stomach rolls with nausea for a moment, but she forces it down, her ears ringing while her eyes try to make sense of what she was seeing. Norm looked the same. Despite being in his avatar form, he looked normal in this human-like setting. Even with some of the Olangi adornments he wore, he still wore shorts, a shirt, and a vest.

The Na'vi male next to him, however, was not a normal sight in this kind of setting. The harsh light above her is a cold contrast against the rippled stripes along the cyan skin, his paddleboard tail taking up the majority of the hall behind him as it swayed. Even if these halls were built to fit decked-out AMP suits, it still looked far too small for someone as broad-shouldered as Tonowari. It all just looked wrong.

Which, for a moment, made Kayla believe she was hallucinating.

She swallowed some filtered air, but it burned in her lungs as if she had been holding her breath underwater. Blinking several times to ensure she wasn't losing her mind, she glances between Norm and Tonowari several times while trying to make sense of the almost comedic scene in front of her. Seeing them standing next to each other made her realize just how short Norm was.

"What took ya so long?" She managed to wheeze out quietly, a brief smile flickering on her lips before her eyes rolled back and her knees gave out underneath her.

"Shit-!" Norm cursed while rushing forward, managing to catch Kayla in just three long strides before her head could hit the ground. Tonowari's reaction was stalled, but he shook out of his initial shock and took action, rushing forward to inspect Kayla as Norm held her up.

"She's unconscious, and she looks paler than normal," the dreamwalker states while closely looking over Kayla's limp form.

Movement rushes forward in the corner of Tonowari's eye, and this time, he reacts quickly, raising his spear and throwing with a deep snarl.

The spear embeds itself into the chest of another soldier driving a Skel Suit, pinning him to the wall leading out of the building. Norm curses once more, dumping Kayla into Tonowari's open arms so he could grab his own gun and aim it in front of himself, "Go! Get her out of here, I'll cover you!"

Tonowari reflectively held Kayla tighter when he was startled by how weightless she was, frightened that she might slip through his fingers and drop. She was barely the same size as his arm, and she was cold to the touch. Compared to carrying her dreamwalker's body, she was alarmingly frail.

"Jake, we got her!" Norm pressed his fingers to his throat, "We got her, let's go!"

Jake peers down from his position flying above the chaos, quickly spotting Norm with his rifle, firing into the fray from behind the Sky People as Tonowari speeds out of Hell's Gate, carrying something in his arms that doesn't give Jake a lot of comfort.

He presses his own fingers to his comms, "Fall back, everyone. Rogue Two, provide cover until ground team is deep into the trees. Make sure we're not followed and meet us at the rendezvous for pick up."

Swinging lower toward the battle, Jake and Neytiri do their best to provide both Norm and Tonowari cover as they race back to the treeline, while Tarsem and his warriors take up the rear to provide a protective wall astride their direhorses. Max flies at a higher altitude, retreating backwards to fire down into the crowd of remaining RDA, keeping them back even as the rest of the rescue team has completely vanished beneath the tree canopy.

Jake flies above the treetops and eventually loses sight of ground team, continuously looking back over his shoulder to make sure no surprise armada was suddenly giving chase. Seeing only Max in the gunship, Jake takes a deep breath and presses his comms, "Alright, we're clear. Rogue Two, touch down to pick up Tonowari and then meet us back at High Camp."

"Copy that."

He and Neytiri branch off and veer right, going a different route from their party in case they are being followed. Max flies to the planned coordinates of ground team's rendezvous and safely lands, keeping the blades running as Tonowari carefully climbs inside with Kayla still unconscious in his arms. Norm and the rest of Tarsem's party ditch the pa'li and call for their ikran. They take to the skies, and Max shortly follows them back to the Hallelujah Mountains, relying on the banshees to guide him without the instruments. 

~~~~~~~~~

Ronal sat inside Mo'at te Pohatsua Oma'ite's marui, keeping herself busy by inspecting her fellow tsahik's herbs, and the older woman happily obliges, explaining where each one originates in her forest and their purposes. Mo'at does this to distract Ronal after finding her pacing outside, watching from the mouth of the cave in search of the rescue party, her hand resting over her rounded stomach. The Omatikaya tsahik tells stories to fill any silences that come after each herb, even going as far as telling stories about Neytiri's childhood, unaware of some of the disagreements Ronal has had with her daughter in the past. Ronal doesn't say anything, but Mo'at's stories about Neytiri amused her to a point she briefly forgot her worries.

That is, of course, until a horn echoes throughout the cave and Ronal is quick to sit up straight, her eyes darting to the entrance of the marui. Mo'at's movements are slower, but no less alarmed as she explains to the Metkayina tsahik, "They have returned."

Ronal stubbornly helps herself up to her feet even when Mo'at hovered, storming out of the tsahik tent and toward the landing zone, clear signs of a crowd already forming around groups of ikran and a single gunship. Many Omatikaya are smart enough to move out of the way of the reef woman's approach, and she wasn't afraid to shove past some when Mo'at wasn't quick enough to announce her presence to her people. Ronal's eyes looked nowhere but at the metal ship she had seen her husband disappear on when the rescue party initially left. Ignoring the banshees and other warriors who look worse for wear, she moves through them and forces herself to wait at a distance while the ship's rotars started to slow down.

Eventually, Tonowari crouches low to squeeze out of the ship, only standing to his full height once his head is clear from the rotars vacinity. Relief soothes Ronal's heart for only a moment once her mate caught sight of her, then her eyes look down his body for any injuries. He carried something in his arms, or rather someone. 

Ronal's eyes are fixed solely on the Sky Person, and conflict immediately takes over her expression. When imagining what Makayla might look like as a demon, Ronal's imagination didn't prepare her for this. She was so... pale and small. Weak and lifeless. Her hair... there wasn't a glow or even a speck of health to it, dull and dry like plant roots. Of course, Ronal knew that the Sky People didn't have sil or tanhì, but to see her intended without any of the traits she was used to seeing on her face and body was jarring. Compared to her Na'vi-like form, Kayla's birth form was colorless.

Tonowari doesn't take his eyes off of Ronal, able to read each of her expressions and feeling the exact same way. His train of thought is interrupted, however, when Toruk Makto shows up out of thin air, standing in front of Ronal, blocking her view, and his eyes already set on the body in the olo'eyktan's arms. Behind the yellow eyes of a hardened warrior, Tonowari saw fear in Jakesuli.

"Shit," Jake muttered under his breath, his brows pinched and eyes wide when he finally looked away from Kayla. He briefly glances at Tonowari before he's back in the role of a leader, waving for his brother-in-arms to follow him, "Come on, quickly. Bring her over here."

He leads Tonowari and the others toward their allied Sky People's metal homes. Ronal moves to follow with determination in her eyes, but both Mo'at and Neytiri step in her way, the former explaining in a low tone, "Sky People cannot heal by our hands."

Ronal paused, her eyes finally peeling away from Tonowari's retreating back to look to Mo'at in confusion. Norm stops briefly when he catches the reef woman looking a bit distressed and further explains, "We have a weaker immune system than the Na'vi. Any sort of heavy medicine you give her might kill her."

The Metkayina tsahik's ears pin back in further distress, but Norm doesn't have time to unpack why. As Max hops out of the gunship, Norm is rushing him over with a wave of his arm, "Max, get in there and prep for surgery. I'll be in shortly."

He jogs toward the Longhouse to disconnect with his avatar, and Max races to the bio-lab trailer to catch up with Jake and the others. Neytiri doesn't pay attention; her focus is mainly on Ronal. She watches as the reef woman forces herself to stand back, looking almost... helpless, as if reality had just set in for her. The rose-colored glasses had lifted from Ronal's eyes as Jake would most likely say if Neytiri described it to him, and without them, Ronal had to face a reality she hadn't thought of until now.

She wasn't capable of healing Makayla when in her human body. And then, her thoughts drift further than that. Back home, at the reef, is a human boy she intends to bring into her family, and she has no means of being able to heal him if he ever gets hurt.

She had been so distracted by her inner turmoil that she hadn't noticed Mo'at and Neytiri stepping away in favor of Tonowari stepping in, placing a hand on his mate's arm to pull her out of her thoughts. Ronal blinks before gazing up at her husband, her hairless brow ridge furrowed with concern, "Why are you not with her?"

"Their healing marui made of metal is not meant for someone of my size," Tonowari answered, "Their healers are with her now."

The tsahik sharply exhales, still distraught from the way her forehead tattoo shrinks in size as she looks away. She feels his hand encompass the roundness of her belly, a small warmth within such a cold cave. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she accepts the comfort and rests her hand over his, opening her eyes again once she feels more composed.

"Tell me what you saw out there."

~~~~~~~~~

Jake stood at the window, looking into the bio-lab trailer as several of the humans surrounded Kayla, looking so small on the stretcher they set her in just on the other side of the glass Jake stood in front of. He hardly blinks, keeping his expression pensive and grim as they work on cleaning her up and inserting a couple of IV drips. After a little while, Norm, back as a human, walks over to the window and hits a button on the side of it, opening a communication speaker for Jake to talk into.

"What's the damage?"

"X-rays show that her ribs are cracked but not shattered or puncturing a lung. She won't need surgery from what we can physically see, but we won't know any more until she wakes up."

Jake sighs heavily, partially relieved that Kayla wouldn't have to go through surgery. His eyes flick over to her still form on the stretcher as his voice quiets, "What do you think they did to her?"

Norm's jaw moves for a moment before following Jake's gaze, his voice and expression solemn, "My guess, besides physical torture, they used the Neurosect scanner to get information out of her."

He can feel Jake's eyes on the back of his head, so he continues to explain his reasoning, "She... is expressing similar symptoms that Spider described to me when he went through the same kind of interrogation. Now... I don't know how long the kid was under that thing, but given that Kayla looks far worse, I'd say they probably did more to her than they did to him."

The heaviness in Jake's yellow eyes doesn't go away, guilt weighing on his chest while his ears flick in the direction they hear someone approaching. Both he and Norm greet Tarsem with the hand gesture for respect. Once Jake saw the look in the olo'eyktan's eyes, he dreaded asking the question.

"How many men did you lose today?"

"Four warriors, Toruk Makto."

Jake winced with his eyes, glancing at Norm behind the glass when he lowers his head for a moment of silence, respecting the fallen. Jake takes a moment before inhaling deeply, trying to form as much gratitude as he can muster to ensure the lives sacrificed today were not in vain, "Thank you, brother."

Tarsem nods with an aged look in his eyes, not appearing as young as he once did when he was just a warrior under Jake's leadership. The burden of olo'eyktan weighs heavily. Jake exhales through his nose, his eyes fixed on Kayla's sleeping form before looking between Norm and Tarsem, "This stays between us. When my sister wakes up, no one tells her. She would never forgive herself."

"Kayla?"

All three pairs of eyes, human and Na'vi alike, turn back to the stretcher. There, they find Max and Jocelyn hovering over their patient, and slowly, the woman on the stretcher starts to move, her face scrunching in discomfort, her eyes too heavy to lift.

"Kayla," Jocelyn breathes out with relief, her voice quiet and teeth shining in a warm smile.

Jake finds himself taking a deep breath that he didn't realize he was holding, while Norm jogs away from the window to rush to Kayla's bedside. Tarsem leaves to go and inform the tsahiks, leaving Jake alone to feel helpless while standing on the other side of the glass. It was hard to see his sister from this distance, and with the few humans surrounding her bed kept shuffling around and blocking his view. As Kayla starts to slowly move a little more, her friends are patient, and they do their best to encourage her to be careful.

"Easy, easy," Norm warns quietly as he and Jocelyn stand on either side of Kayla's bed and help her sit up, "Take your time."

She made a weak noise, her eyes struggling to open from how bright everything was around her. It takes time for her to focus while there's a low ringing in her ears, the voices all around her echoing and making her head hurt worse than it already was. Kayla groans and finally manages to open her eyes.

For a moment, her friends could all see it. A brief moment of confusion. Then, Max moves from one side of the stretcher to the other a bit too fast, and his shadow briefly covers the light above her head. 

Kayla's heart nearly stops as the light above her flashes, the scanner slowly starting up for another round of agony.

Norm never saw it coming, staggering back when Kayla's knuckles managed to slam into his cheek, pain reverberating in his skull from the impact. Chaos erupts, and Max and Jocelyn quickly try to dive forward and stop Kayla from ripping the IV needles from out of her arms.

"No, don't!"

Kayla shoves Jocelyn's chest and seizes the opportunity to try again. She's not Ardmore's guinea pig anymore. She refuses to let her little minions poke and prod her until she's full of nothing but scars and holes. She successfully rips the needles out, gritting her teeth as blood drips out in their place before kicking Max's gut and leaping off the stretcher. She noticed the thing was on wheels and shoved it into her pursuers as they all recovered from her attack, then she dove for a medical tray and grabbed the first sharp object: a scalpel.

She had been so fast that Jake had blinked and nearly missed the whole thing, horror and confusion wracking through his brain while watching his sister attack her friends like a wild animal, dripping blood from her arm and backing herself up into one corner of the room, scalpel poised in front of her for protection. She finds herself surrounded by Norm, Max, and Jocelyn, each of them bruising or bleeding in some way, shape, or form, their hands up to show they're unarmed once they saw her makeshift weapon.

"Whoa! Waitwaitwait-!"

"Kayla, hang on--"

"It's okay--"

"Get away from me!" She screeched, the sound ringing in their ears as it bounced off the metal walls.

Jake grits his teeth, calling through the window, "Guys, get her to calm down--"

"We're trying--" Norm tried to say.

"Calm her down, or I'll come in there and do it myself--"

"Dammit, Jake, just give us a minute!" Norm snapped as he briefly glared at the window, "You're not helping!" 

Spinning his head back around to their little stand-off, Norm keeps his hands up while slowly taking a single step closer, "Kayla, it's me! It's Norm Spellman! You're safe. You're back with the Omatikaya."

Several minutes pass in that room with only the sound of Kayla frantically breathing, her eyes wild while snapping her gaze to each human face that surrounded her. None of them speaks, and none of them moves, keeping their hands up in her view while she white-knuckles the scalpel in her hand. Something blue moves in the peripheral of her vision, her eyes briefly look in that direction before looking back to the people she deems a threat. She paused, however, when that flash of blue stayed in her head, slowly jogging a memory. Sparing a few extra moments to look longer, Kayla turns her head just enough to focus on that blue in the corner of her eye.

Jake is already looking back at her, brows furrowed while his ears pin back to his skull, the locs falling over and hiding them from view. His gut turns uncomfortably from the way his sister looks at him... as if she had no idea who he was. 

Kayla slowly turns back to the humans surrounding her in that room, her breathing slowly evening out, but she still kept her guard up, scapel held in front of her for protection. When focusing her gaze on Norm once again, she stammers, "Wha... What happened?"

Norm's muscles relax a little, seeing some form of recognition in her eyes. He keeps his voice low and gentle, "Ardmore put you in that neuro scanner. Same one they used on Spider, only we think they upped the power on you. Or kept you in longer, which is why you're feeling confused."

Pieces were visibly falling into place behind her stormy eyes, the tightness in her face slowly relaxing. She catches her breath for all of two seconds before she's frantically looking around with her eyes, "Spider... Spider-- Where-?"

"He's fine, Kayla. Hey, look at me," her eyes move back to Norm while he keeps his expression open and with a small smile, "He's safe. He's back in Awa'atlu. Kayla... everything is fine. Everything is going to be okay. You're safe now, just-- Just give me the scalpel."

Her gaze moves down to the weapon in her hand, brows furrowed with confusion when she doesn't remember when she had grabbed that. Her knuckles slowly return to their normal color as her grip loosens, all the while Norm slowly takes his time to get to her, step by step. Their eyes stay locked, unwilling to blink, as he slowly reaches his hand out to hers.

The scalpel slips into Norm's grasp without a fight, and everyone else collectively sighs in relief, even Jake. Kayla's arms fall to her side, the cold of the room seeping into her skin and making her shiver. Her shoulders scrunch, her head bowed, giving off the impression she was even smaller than she really was. 

Her breath shakes, teeth chattering as she tries to focus on forming words, "Norm... it hurts."

Norm's eyes flick down to her bleeding arm before focusing back on her face, "I know."

"I can't-- can't-- make it stop. My head-- Make it stop--"

Confusion flickers on everyone's face, a weight sinking to their stomachs as Kayla raises her hands to press her palms against her eyes, eliciting a sob from her throat.

"Heyheyheyhey," Norm's alarmed tone is still soft as he takes that last step forward and grabs her elbows, "It's okay. You're gonna be okay."

Tears spill down her cheeks once Norm pulls her hands away from her eyes, her lip quivering as she lets out a small whine, "I wanna go home... I wanna go home, please..." 

Jake's breath catches in his chest, and it gets stuck. Those familiar words repeat in his head, haunting him, mixed with both his son's and now his sister's broken voices. 

Norm, none the wiser about the meaning of such words, tries to comfort Kayla, "You are home, Kay. You're safe."

She shakes her head, regretting it when the room spins around her, a rising feeling growing in her stomach when she tries to even out her breaths. Impending doom is the only thing she feels, her shoulders beginning to rise and fall rapidly when she begins to panic. It overwhelms her, envelops her, and then finally, sucks her into the void, causing her eyes to roll back.

"Kayla-?"

Her knees give out, and she collapses like a sack of potatoes. Norm is quick to grab her but struggles to hold her up when her body begins to convulse and seize. 

"Oh, shit. Watch her head, watch her head." Max urges as he and Jocelyn spring forward to help. 

Jocelyn is the one who manages to clasp her hands on either side of Kayla's head, holding it steady while the rest of her body shakes uncontrollably, noting the bit of drool spilling out of the corner of her parted mouth. Her skin was dewy with sweat, and when Max peels open one of her eyes and shines a small flashlight, they all notice that her pupil was dilated and unfocused. 

"Definitely a seizure," Max confirms and nods back over to the stretcher, "Let's lay her back down." 

Jake felt helpless behind the glass, watching as his human allies returned Kayla's twitching body to the stretcher. Starting to pace anxiously, his mind ran rampant, feeling his skin prickling as if there was something he should be doing, but can't think of it. 

"I want to go home..."

"I wanna go home, please..."

His vision tunnels, the words still echoing in his head, both in Kayla's and Neteyam's voices. His chest tightens, shortening his breath, his hands shaking at his sides while flashes of their helpless, innocent faces haunt his mind. He couldn't save them. All they wanted was to go home, and he couldn't even manage that. He killed his son. He killed his sister--

"Ma Jake?" 

The tunnel in his vision recedes, clearing his sight. His skin feels warm beneath Neytiri's hand as she steps up to him. Her large eyes scan his expression, concern pooling in those yellow orbs, as if she had just woken him up from a nightmare... and maybe she had. Jake managed to take a breath, brows pinched and ears lowered in shame as his eyes met hers. It was plain as day on his face, and she could see it so easily. He was afraid.

Neytiri fears the worst, given her husband's reaction, "Is she alright?"

Uncertainty was not a good look on Toruk Makto, his eyes shifting between the glass and her hand on his arm, "I don't know... she just had a seizure."

"What?"

~~~~~~~~~

When they heard that Makayla had seized similarly to Kiri, the Metkayina clan leaders hurried over to the med bay along with Mo'at. Jake and his woman were already there, standing in front of a clear wall that separated them from the Sky People inside the metal marui. On the other side were the two male tawtute that helped rescue Kayla, no longer wearing their masks as they were safe in their bubble of breathable air. As they peer further in, both Ronal and Tonowari see a haunting sight. Behind Norm and Max was a sickly pale, small woman, unconscious and lying in bed. Among her skin and bones are multiple wires sticking into her frail body, mainly her arms and some in her nose. They were hooked to a machine that drew different-sized lines and made a strange noise. 

Jake spares a glance at the two Reef people before returning his gaze to the glass, "What's the damage, Norm?"

"She has several broken ribs and is fatigued," Norm explained to the small group of Na'vi, his arms crossed and shifting his legs, "She's malnourished, has bruises all over, along with cut-up wrists and fingers--"

"And who knows what other mental damage that was likely caused by the NeuroSect scanner." Max finished.

Norm nods, sparing a glance back at the other scientist before leveling a grim look at Jake, "From what we saw earlier, I wouldn't be surprised if Kayla is prone to epilepsy from now on," he carefully informs, before a dark look falls over his eyes, "And it doesn't help that she wasn't properly caring for her human body anyway--"

Jake visibly bristles, thrown off by this new information, "What?"

Ronal and Tonowari's ears perk up with interest, growing more concerned considering how distraught Jake looked. Mo'at remained firm, but Neytiri's tail raised behind her with alarm, her eyes downcast while thinking about Kayla suffering the same ailment as Kiri. 

"Oh, she didn't tell you?" It was hard to ignore the sarcasm in Norm's voice, "The reason she lost all that weight and looks sickly all the time isn't from Quaritch or any form of torture. Kayla hasn't been breaking her link with her avatar as often as she should, and it drove her human body to start to rot essentially."

Max noticed the upsetting look deepen the wrinkles on Jake's face, so he tried to soften the blow, "Norm--"

But Spellman wasn't catching on, "Why do you think I kept her and Spider here for three weeks?"

The air is heavy from this revelation, with Jake, Ronal, and Tonowari staring at Norm as if he had butchered a young yerik right in front of them, dread wafting through the air while the news sinks in.

Jake's the first to snap out of his shock, eyes darting over to the shorter man behind the glass, "Max?"

In response to his name, the scientist lets out a quick, heavy breath, "It's true. Kayla was suffering from headaches, weight loss, dehydration, and nausea long before any of this. She kept saying that she needed more time."

"Sound familiar?" Norm's voice bore a flat tone while staring straight-faced at Jake.

The intended jab at Jake's character wasn't lost on the former avatar, wincing lightly at faraway memories of a time he was desperate to continue with his neuro link. A time when he was acting irrationally because he felt as if the world was ending, and he still needed to tell Neytiri and her people that their Hometree was going to be destroyed.

It shakes him to think Kayla was feeling much of the same, expecting some impending doom and putting herself on the line because of it. Typical Sully.

"So what'll happen to her now?" He asked.

Both scientists exchange a solemn glance before Max silently volunteers to give the difficult news, "We won't know until she wakes up."

~~~~~~~~~

He shouldn't be mad that he didn't know about Kayla's condition.

It's not like he had seen her in human form for some time. Jake couldn't have possibly known that she had been neglecting her true form in exchange for driving her avatar around with the rest of them. 

And yet... There were all those times when he remembered she refused to break the link... because his family needed her. Many nights of staying awake after Neteyam's death, soothing his wife or his children when it should've been his job. Kayla had done all of that for him. Those moments happened a few too many times, and suddenly, Jake feels guilt eating away at his gut. Perhaps, deep down, he had known that she wasn't necessarily in good shape, but he let it happen because she was there for his family when, mentally, he wasn't. He was selfish.

Things became a blur for a moment. It was so strange to think that earlier today, he was planning a mission to save his sister, and now, he's keeping an eye on her unconscious form, unwilling to sleep himself. He had encouraged Neytiri to leave and be with her mother, while also coaxing Ronal and Tonowari to rest after such a trying day. Eventually, Ronal caved because of her pregnancy, and her husband dutifully followed, internally exhausted from the taxing rescue mission. Jake managed to convince the pair that he would stay here and let them know if anything changed. He had done so to test them, in a way, to confirm what Neytiri had told him. When they expressed gratitude while also hesitating to let Kayla leave their sight, her brother pointedly turned away while clenching his jaw. He wasn't entirely sure why he was mad about that either.

Knowing he would be here for a while, Jake managed to squeeze himself into the lab and sat before a monitor, his knees bent and head low to avoid the ceiling while looking through mission logs and catching up on everything the clan had been up to while he was gone. Their war efforts have been successful so far under Tarsem's rule, so he felt sound in his decision to name the younger Na'vi his successor. Skimming through the files, he didn't find anything interesting. Outside the mission logs, picked up RDA chatter, and the occasional scientist discovery, he thought he was going to start nodding off.

That is, until he saw a video with Kayla's human face as the thumbnail.

Curious, he selected it, and it was like stepping back through time. His sister was sitting in front of a camera, looking healthier, elbows on the table while looking bored, talking directly at the lens,

"Okay... this is... video log..." Kayla's recorded self looked around for numbers before scoffing, "Ah, hell, I'm not doing that. It's not like this is going to be used for science observations or military data like Jake's. The timeline is this: it's been three days since my brother took his family and left the Omatikaya."

Jake's eyes squint at the date in the top left corner of the screen, confirming her statement while she continued, "I've been keeping myself busy with driving my avatar around and trying to work my way up to my rite of passage. Ickneemia, or something like that. I'm still learning the language. The reason I'm so anxious to get the ball rolling is because I need a banshee, and if I can get a banshee, then I can fly and cover more ground to find Spider."

It's like all his failures were coming back around to smack him in the face like the boomerangs they were. The video log was a reminder of how badly he failed Spider that fateful day. Kayla's recording shows her absently biting the skin around her thumb.

"The kids are counting on me to find him while they're gone, and I'd hate to fail them. I'm hoping for their sake -and Spider's- that the kid was unharmed and still kicking." Her gaze turns more grave, her eyes dark in the bad camera light, "I'm worried for him. I'm worried about what Ardmore is capable of. The general is a stone-cold bitch, inside and out, and I can't imagine that my former boss was ever good with kids. If Ardmore is as incapable of empathy as I fear, I could only imagine what harm that could mean for Spider, and honestly, it's been keeping me up at night."

Despite the topic, the video log felt... nice. Almost like Kayla was sitting directly across from Jake and telling him all about her day. She's seen leaning her head back, her eyes tracing shapes up at the ceiling while distractedly confessing the thoughts she's kept to herself, "He doesn't deserve to be brought into all of this. He's just a kid. Back home, he would be learning how to drive a car right now. He's supposed to be worried about an upcoming math test or how to shave without cutting himself. At least, that's all the shit I worried about back then, including the shaving."

Jake laughed lightly, shifting uncomfortably from her boldness.

"--Instead, Spider's been dragged into a war that isn't his to fight... all because no one cared enough to protect him. Maybe that's why I feel the need to keep an eye on him. I know what it's like to be abandoned by family before I'm hardly considered an adult."

The smile on Jake's face immediately drops as Kayla tilts her head back down, staring more at her nails than at the camera. She was deep in thought, hiding away in her mind, dissociating. Her expression was aged and haunted, while no doubt thinking about one of Jake's biggest failures regarding her. 

She blinks and visibly shakes the thought away, her mood slightly uplifted while her eyes dart back up to the camera, briefly flashing a half smile, "Anyway, this is Kayla Sully, signing off."

Kayla reaches over, and the video ends, leaving Jake in total silence. He slowly lets out a breath, feeling sick as his eyes dart over to the makeshift hospital space in the corner of the room, where his sister is now hooked up to machines and looking like she had been mauled by a truck, eyelids closed for who knows how long.

His time alone is interrupted by the sound of his youngest child calling out to him from outside, "Dad! Dad!"

"Tuk?" Jake's ears perked up, immediately alarmed as he got to his feet and stepped out of the pod, "Are you alright? What's wrong, sweetheart?"

His little girl was waving him down the pathway, barely stopping to wait for him as she was eager to run away, a bright, wide smile on her face as she pointed up at the sky, "Auntie's back! Look! Auntie and Spider are back!"

With that, she races off toward the beach, no longer patient enough to wait for her father. Jake's alarmed expression takes a moment, but slowly melts as he tilts his head back to look up at the sky, the unmistakable shadow of an ikran flying overhead.

The rest of the village appears to stir with curiosity as everyone becomes aware of the new entry, heads all occasionally looking up to see if they could spot the mountain banshee for themselves. As Tuk runs down to the beach, she's yelling for the rest of her family, announcing her aunt's arrival as she goes.

Kayla circled the village a few times to ensure the Metkayina was aware of her presence so that they would make some space on the beach for her to land, only feeling comfortable once the horn to announce her arrival was blown. She couldn't see him, but Spider's face was smiling widely as he peered down at the reef village below, anxious to get down there after three, long weeks.

The uproar of the horn and the talk around the village bring Ronal and Tonowari out of their kelku to see what all the fuss is about. They catch sight of Kayla's ikran and visibly appear relieved, shoulders sagging as they share a knowing look. They turn back to their home when both of their children step outside, and Tonowari's hand heavily weighs Ao'nung's shoulder as both father and son stare at one another.

"Remember what I told you," the olo'eyktan says with a skeptical look in his eye, "Respect the boy."

Tsireya smiles brightly and dutifully nods, while Ao'nung reluctantly follows suit. His sister tugs on his arm until he's following her down toward the beach, where handfuls of the village had begun to gather to form a large circle that would act as Kayla's landing zone. 

Thena swings low, flying just above the water at Kayla's command. Tuk is jumping up and down in the sand, waving her arms at her aunt and laughing as she flags the ikran down. The ikran dips low, flying right past the Na'vi girl with the tip of its wing grazing the water surface, playfully spraying Tuk in the face. The girl squeals with delight and laughs, all the while Jake watches this cute display from a distance, his alarm melting in exchange for amusement, chuckling and fondly shaking his head at his sister's playful antics.

"Show off." He mutters to himself.

Tuk continues to giggle and anxiously waits until the banshee finally lands, both water and sand flying everywhere as the ikran comes in for a ferocious landing. Thena barely meets the sand with her talons before Tuk sprints up to her, arms out wide as Kayla is quick to jump off and break tsaheylu.

"Auntie!" 

"Tuk!" Kayla exclaims as she quickly falls to her knees to catch her niece's embrace, laughing with the child as Tuk tackles her in a tight hug, wrapping her small arms around Kayla's neck, nearly sending her into the sand.

Kiri pushes her way through the growing crowd to get to the center, Lo'ak dutifully right behind her. She looked between her sister and Kayla, and then the human boy who had just stepped around the large ikran, making her smile widen with relief, "Monkey Boy!"

Lo'ak beams, quickly following his sister and they race to their friend, "Welcome back, Spider!"

Spider straightens and smiles gently at the sight of his friends running to him, "Hey, guys-- oh, shit!" 

Only for his face to drop into shock when two large, teenage Na'vi tackles his smaller body into the water behind him. The three teens laugh as they grapple and embrace each other in the shallow water, and for added measure, Lo'ak ruffles a handful of wet sand into Spider's dreads.

"Bro!" The human boy squawks. 

"That's what you get for staying away for so long," Lo'ak laughs, "What was up with that? Three weeks, cuz?"

"Hey! Did you save any of that enthusiasm for me?" Kayla calls over playfully as she stands back up, completely forgotten by Tuk who was anxious to join the Spider-hugging pile.

Kiri shoves Lo'ak down and quickly gets up before he can enact his revenge, the teenage girl bounding up and hugging her aunt's waist. Spider doesn't let Lo'ak greet Kayla and holds the Na'vi boy down so Tuk can shove wet sand into his own braided hair, leaving Lo'ak yelping and snarling at the devious pair.

Kayla laughs at the heartwarming sight, looking around and openly smiling at the growing crowd of Metkayina, most of their faces appear welcoming as they meet her gaze. She catches sight of Jake and Neytiri gently pushing through the crowd and meeting one another before walking over to join their family, which reminds Kayla to unpack a bit of her luggage from Thena's back before she can forget.

"Tuk," the girl in question looks up and skips over to her aunt when Kayla calls for her, the woman digging out a small parcel of leaves wrapped around something from one of Thena's saddle bags, "Some of your favorite sundried berries. You have my permission not to share with your dad. And... ah ha!" She fished out something that had gotten caught at the bottom of the bag. Another wrapped gift, which she carefully hands down to her youngest niece, "This is from Popiti. She said she made it just for you."

Tuk beams at the gifts, especially at the mention of her friend, before glancing up at Kayla, "Thank you, Auntie!"

Kayla smiles and moves on to the next child as the rest of the teens have now moved to stand around her, "Lo'ak, I got a new throat mic for you. Uh..." She digs around further before finding what she was looking for and handing it to her nephew, "There you are-- here's the earpiece."

"Thanks, Auntie." Lo'ak grins while taking the new communication device.

"I actually got enough for the whole family this time so we'll pass those around later," Kayla unrolls a cloth that she had tightly tied down to Thena's saddle before handing it to her older niece, "Kiri, this is your new jacket."

Kiri's eyebrows furrow before unwrapping the cloth, holding out a large, avatar-sized safari jacket, once tan but now a little worn from age and sun exposure. Kiri gently squints at the human-made item before her eyes widen with realization, glancing over at her aunt, "Was this my Ma's?"

Kayla nods with soft encouragement, "According to Norm, it was. He thought you should have it. Try it on."

Kiri did so, fitting her arms into the sleeves before wrapping the oversized jacket around her small frame like a safety blanket, taking a deep breath as she pressed her nose into the collar. Kayla smiles sweetly at the sight, "Yeah, it definitely suits you. It's warm and stylish, just like you."

Spider smiles a little and motions Kiri over, asking his friend to help him bring all of his belongings to Kayla's marui. Kiri happily accepts after she's given a moment to appreciate her gift, and with Lo'ak and Tuk's help, they get all of Kayla and Spider's supplies off of Thena's back, and the ikran huffs with appreciation.

Kayla takes a backpack from Tuk before the kids can take off to her kelku, rummaging it before she looks up at Neytiri. Both women paused as they stood in front of one another, their last known conversation playing in the back of their minds, making one another hesitant. Eventually, Kayla clears her throat and provides a gift to the Na'vi woman, holding out the shawl Mo'at made with a look of hesitance.

"Neytiri... from your sa'nok."

Neytiri's tail flicks with interest as she takes the folded-up shawl, holding it out and unraveling it. Her ears pinned back against her skull as she recognizes the fine craftsmanship as if it were her own, eyes faintly growing wet as she sucks in a sharp bit of air. She knows the meaning behind the gift, and a single tear falls down her face. Much like Kiri, Neytiri wraps the cloth around her body and takes in the item's familiar scent, feeling protected under her mother's handiwork.

Kayla averts her gaze, feeling as though she was watching Neytiri in a vulnerable moment before holding out a weapon to her brother, "Jake. I told Tarsem that you lost your tomahawk and so he made you this."

Jake's eyebrows rise in surprise, taking the new tomahawk in hand and testing the weight and craftsmanship as Kayla continues to explain, "As a sign of good faith. He wants you to know that he's leading the People by your example. You haven't been forgotten."

He tightens his jaw, internally touched by the gesture of the Omatikaya's new olo'eyktan. Lowering the tomahawk, he nods solemnly at his sister, ears sinking slightly as he hesitates, "Thanks, Kay. How... how are you?"

She fixes him a small look, apprehensive before she shrugs and looks away, "Never better."

"Everything alright back at base? What took you two so long to get back?"

Kayla's left ear flicked once before she easily answered, "We didn't want to risk the RDA following us again so we kept low until we thought it was safe enough to come back. I was going to radio you... but then I thought Spider and I could turn it into a surprise."

Jake appears satisfied with the answer, one corner of his mouth threatening to rise out of amusement. As he opens his mouth to make a no-doubt smartass remark, Kayla swiftly turns away, "I should help the kids unpack our stuff."

As she turns her back on her brother, she is suddenly tackled by another teenager, and the initial shock melts when she's met with none other than sweet Tsireya with her arms wrapped around the older woman's waist, beaming up at the avatar, "Oel ngati kameie, Makayla te Suli!"

Kayla exhaled a quiet laugh as she smiled down at the reef girl and gently squeezed her back, "Oel ngati kameie, Tsireya," briefly peering up, she noticed the boy standing behind his sister and she nodded once in greeting, "Ao'nung."

The reef boy nods back at the sound of his name, his expression impassive and reminding Kayla just how much he looks like his mother. Tsireya looks around, ignoring her brother's stare-off with Makayla as her little ears begin to fall, "Did Spider not come back with you?"

Kayla's expression melts before looking back down at the reef girl with a small smile, "He's already unpacking back at our kelku. Lo'ak and the others should be with him if you want to follow me with the rest of our things?"

"I would be happy to!" Tsireya explains while following Kayla to her ikran, the girl's sharp elbow nonchalantly meeting her brother's ribs as she passed by him.

Ao'nung coughs, "Yeah, alright."

Together, Kayla and the chief's children manage to bring the rest of hers and Spider's things to her marui, stepping inside and being met with Sully children everywhere, helping Spider unpack. Already, this pod was starting to look more like a home. Someone had actually managed to hang Kayla's "bookshelf" up, dangling it from the ceiling above and letting it hang against the wall, a few of Spider's things already nestled on it. Tsireya and Ao'nung move to help, greeting Spider and asking him questions about his travels and what he had been up to these past few weeks. If Spider was shocked by their sudden interest, he didn't show it, answering expressively, likely comfortable with their presence so long as Kayla and the Sullys were surrounding him.

Both he and Kayla were unpacked and settled back into their home in no time with the help of the children, and even though they all had to part ways to finish their chores, they promised to come back and visit before dinner to catch up and learn what has been happening in High Camp. Kayla and Spider are left in the home, tidying up before the communal dinner. Kayla takes a moment to look at the bookshelf, inspecting all the objects now placed on top to make it full and more... homey, as she had initially wanted it to look. 

Spider had placed a spare mask there, with a small photo leaning against it. Kayla didn't need to ask to know who the picture was of, observing the woman with brown hair holding a blond baby in her arms. Next to the photo were two sets of dog tags, Kayla's and Jake's that she finally decided to leave off of her person and keep on the shelf as a form of memorium, along with the pictures she once had pinned up in the shack back at High Camp, specifically the one with herself and her brothers.

Satisfied with how her new home looks, she smiles and turns to address Spider, only for her words to fall short. The teen hadn't looked up from covering an ammunition container with a woven blanket, unaware of Kayla eyeing his blond locs as they had been pulled back and held up by a hair band, in a fashion very similar to Lo'ak's and other Metkayina warriors. The band itself was brown and decorated with scattered pieces of iridescent shell. 

"That's new."

Spider looked up and met her eyes before he realized what she was talking about, smiling a little cautiously as he explained, "Tsireya made it for me."

A small twinkle forms in her eye, lips twitching with fondness, "Really?"

"Yeah, although I'm not sure Ao'nung helped her as she claims."

A small pause falls between them as Kayla's eyebrows furrow. Before Spider could even ask what was wrong, the expression melted into something more sincere, a smile replacing her once-shrouded emotion, 

 "Hm. He might've. Kinda looks like his armband. It looks good."

The mask nearly hides it, but she manages to catch a small beam of pride flash over Spider's face before it vanishes at the same time he bows his head, pretending to adjust his exo-pack. Kayla let him shy away as she was currently bombarded with her own thoughts, her smile falling once she knew Spider's back was turned. The thought of Ao'nung and Tsireya providing a gift for Spider could mean many things and Kayla didn't want to jump to any conclusions. However, the timing felt odd, especially after Norm practically had to force her to realize that Ronal and Tonowari very likely care for her more than just an ally or a member of their clan. She couldn't bring herself to say what they likely outright felt for her, but she, deep down, knew it to be true. 

It couldn't have been a coincidence that the children of the Metkayina clan leaders seemed interested in Spider and his adventures, and while Kayla was delighted that the boy was making friends, she couldn't help but feel partially responsible for it. What would happen if she didn't reciprocate any of the clan leaders' advances? Would Spider's new friends suddenly pull back from him? 

She didn't want to believe that the Na'vi could be so sinister, but that was the human in her... suspicious of everything.

~~~~~~~~~

Dinner rolls around and the Sullys are eager to hear about what Kayla and Spider have heard from the rest of their friends and family back in High Camp. While they try not to show it, Jake and Neytiri eye Kayla with a careful expression, as if wanting to ask her about the war but not wanting to break this moment of peace between family members, no matter how strained. Kayla uses this to her advantage, avoiding her brother and his wife for the moment so she can feel more at ease and at home after being away for longer than she intended. The children help her chest feel lighter as they eagerly share everything they had done while she was away, rambling to the point she didn't have to think about anything else other than trying to catch up with her nieces and nephew. 

That is until she felt that familiar gaze practically bleeding into her skin, that gaze she could only feel when there were two sets of eyes closely watching her every move. Looking up from where she sat, Kayla easily spotted Ronal and Tonowari down near the end of the long line of Metkayina enjoying their meals. Both the tsahik and the olo'eyktan meet her eyes without shame, blue and green meeting her yellow gaze, always outnumbering her, always successful in stealing her breath away.

She knows that she was being rude by not getting up to greet them, or for never even seeking them out the moment she returned to the village. After all, they were her hosts and her clan leaders, but there was a small bit of nerves eating away at her courage to approach them. Kayla was feeling intimidated by them, now more than ever, but for an entirely different reason compared to when she first met them. It couldn't be helped after everything Norm pointed out about their past behavior towards her, his words still itching at the back of her mind, making her irritated with her best friend despite him being oceans away. 

While she was taking Norm's words into consideration, she was also, unfortunately, still a Sully. Stubbornly shutting down any doubts or insecurities, she swiftly stood up and told her family that she would be right back before turning and walking through the crowd of Metkayina. Ronal and Tonowari's eyes never left hers as she walked toward them, but hers would occasionally dart away to avoid someone's tail, or to find a path around bodies as they knelt or crouched over their food. It was a good excuse for her to look away, unable to hold such an intense gaze. 

When she finally drew close to the leaders in question, she touched her hand to her forehead in greeting, "Ma olo'eyktan. Ma tsahik."

Ronal pointedly looks Kayla up and down before nodding back and motioning for the dreamwalker to sit down. When Kayla crouched to her level, the tsahik opened her mouth, simply stating, "We have a gift for you." 

The Metkayina woman twists to grab something settled between her and her mate, bringing it up to display in the air with both hands for Kayla, presenting a beaded top. 

Kayla's eyes widened, a small, chill of dread making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up at the thought of wearing something so exposed. That is until she got a proper look at the top in question. It was... well, more conservative than Kayla had expected upon being given a Na'vi-styled top. The pieces meant to hang around the chest area are tightly woven together without a hole in sight, covering as much as possible. The beads were of a variety of blues and greens, and the pattern swirled fittingly like water. Kayla tilted her head as she eyed the pattern, a faint memory forming in the back of her head as it reminded her of that one Starry Night painting she once saw in a museum as a child. Woven grass was braided through the beads and up into a large hoop at the top of the piece, meant to wrap around her neck, with soft, feather-like straps dangling from the sides of the top, meant to hang off her shoulders. 

Tonowari nods to the item in his wife's hands, "I had gathered the material and Ronal had woven them all together."

He then starts to form a closed-mouth smile, his expression soft and genuine, "Consider it a welcome home gift."

Kayla sits back on her heels, gaping at the clothing piece in awe and admiration. Slowly, her hands reach up to take the item, feeling the beads between her finger and thumb as she settles it in her lap. She swallows thickly as she raises her head up to the man and woman sitting in front of her, watching her expectedly. She blinks out of her daze, anxious as her stomach swirled uncomfortably, her conversation with Norm now practically trying to beat its way out of her skull with how loud the words pounded in her head, an awful reminder of what the gift was clearly meant to represent. She remembers the fears she expressed to Norm if she accepted Ronal and Tonowari, recalling her insecurities about her appearance, stature, and infertility. Despite wanting to spare the couple from that, she also didn't want to turn down their thoughtful gift.

She tries to express her gratitude in her small nod toward Ronal, "Thank you."

Ronal simply huffs, ears twitching once at Kayla's response as her large hand reaches forward and pinches the worn hem of the avatar's crop top, "Your clothes have seen better days. And as someone who wishes to be part of the People, You could use clothes made for the People."

~~~~~~~~~

Even though she now had a new top in her possession, Kayla didn't wear it, sticking to her old crop top. She knew wearing it would mean accepting it. It would mean something else, something she wasn't entirely ready to admit to herself or anyone.

If either Ronal or Tonowari was disappointed that she wasn't wearing their gift the next day, they didn't show it, and Kayla honestly wasn't sure if she was relieved by that or not. She tries to ignore it as Jake visits her marui to talk about certain events that unfolded with the Omatikaya while he had been away. She catches him up to speed as much as possible, her brain wracking with all the information she had been dumped with as the messenger between her brother and his old clan.

Their discussion is eventually interrupted by the sound of anxious feet kicking up sand outside, followed by shouting, "Makayla! Makayla! Look! Something's happening to Spider!"

It was like a ball of lead dropped down her stomach as panic ambushed all her senses. Before Kayla could even run out of the pod, however, three teenagers come hurtling inside, some more panicked than others. Kayla first spotted Tsireya, the reef girl's concern as clear as day on her young, sweet face. Her larger hands tugged Spider along with her, the human teenaged boy looking a bit flushed and closed-off, shoulders hunching as if he was trying to look small, or at least smaller than he already was compared to the Na'vi standing all around him.

Ao'nung was the third teenager, and he was standing directly behind his sister and Spider, towering over the pair. Despite the hard expression, his ears were flicking wildly around, almost as fast as his eyes as he looked between Spider and up at Kayla, just as concerned as Tsireya, who was now frantically turning Spider around in her grasp as he tried to yelp and swat at her. Spider clearly wasn't trying to harm her, however, as she then displayed his back to the two adults in the room, "See!"

All worry drains from Kayla as she fights to keep her expression neutral, despite the growing amusement in her chest when she notices Spider's pink and peeling skin. Not wanting to appear as though she was mocking Tsireya's panicked state with laughter, the older woman bites the inside of her cheek to keep back a smile that threatened to appear as she peers down at the child she was responsible for.

"Spider, I told you to put on sunscreen."

"I did!" He exclaimed defiantly, his face flushed with pink underneath his mask, likely out of shame and embarrassment then a small sunburn. 

"And did you reapply any as needed? That stuff only lasts a few hours, you know."

He pointedly avoided Kayla's gaze, still indignant and refusing to reply, keeping his back to her as Kayla hummed, now letting a smirk grace her face, "That's what I thought. You might be fine now, but if you don't start properly treating your skin at a young age, you'll just run into problems when you're older, like skin cancer."

Jake was just as easily entertained by the concerned reef children and Spider's embarrassment, standing off to the side as his tail flicked behind him with interest. He glances between Kayla and Spider, one corner of his lips twitching as his eyes stare fondly and, dare I say, proudly at his sister. 

Kayla didn't appear to notice Jake as she reached for the tube of sunscreen that now made its home on her kelku's shelf, "Come on. You promised Max."

Spider kept his head lowered, ashamed even as he grumbled a small form of agreement and took the sunscreen from her. This teenager was actually full-blown pouting at Kayla, and it made Jake chuckle in amusement, finally speaking up to reassure the boy, "Don't worry about it, Spider. As humans, Sullys tend to burn way worse than that, so we didn't get much sun as kids. We were pretty pale. One look at Kayla and people used to ask if she was a vampire."

Kayla's brows furrowed as she glanced back at her brother, "Shut up, Jake."

"What's a vampire?" Spider asked curiously, trying to mask his shock toward Jake as he tried to wrap his head around the fact that the older man had just categorized Spider under the Sully family. 

"Don't listen to him," Kayla immediately replied as Jake was opening his mouth. One more lighthearted glare from her and the older brother immediately closed his mouth once more, still grinning even as Kayla nodded to Spider and his two shadows, "Now you kids get outta here."

"But," Ao'nung's ears lower, "What about Spider--"

"It's called a sunburn, Ao'nung," Kayla smiles reassuringly, "Humans get them when they're out in the sun too long. It's normal, don't worry."

"I wasn't."

"Mm hm," she smirks, unconvinced as she nods to the open doorway, "Go on. 'Git."

Jake snorts fondly at Kayla's choice of human words as the three teens leave the marui once more. Both older Sully siblings fall into silence as they watch the children leave, Jake's amusement falling into something more thoughtful as he struggles to find the right words, "The kid looks good. You did good."

"I didn't do anything." Kayla brushes his comment off, moving back to the mat she had been previously kneeling on.

"No, I mean... you did right by him. You fought for him when no one else did. He's a good kid," Jake tried expressing how proud he was of his sister without using those exact words, knowing she wouldn't accept them, least of all from him. They sit across from each other, a small lit fire between them as Jake's voice lowers, "He's lucky to have you as his mom."

Her eyes quickly glance up at him and immediately narrow, "I'm not--"

"Kayla, come on. He relies on you. He looks up to you. I know that look better than most. He's trying very hard to live up to you... and part of me thinks he got that from watching Neteyam and Lo'ak."

Slowly, her defensive stance melts as her words soften, "Jake. Hey, stop. Don't do that."

He wasn't sure what she was implying until he realized his vision was blurry, obstructing her face from what was only a few feet from him. Jake immediately blinked and cleared his throat, his voice still tight, "We talked. Me and Lo'ak."

"That's good."

"Yeah... I just wish I had done it sooner. If I did, maybe Neteyam--"

"Don't," She could do nothing else but shake her head at him, "We all carry some form of regret. Just focus on now."

~~~~~~~~~

That night, she found herself adding yet another bead to her songcord, only this time, she successfully weaves it into the growing waytelem all by herself. It was a bead she had seen Spider wear in his hair before but had recently replaced with yet another shell both Tsireya and Tuk had been finding for him. Kayla wouldn't think Spider would notice if he was missing a bead, but she still kept her newfound piece for her songcord a secret, immediately tucking it away once she was finished applying it just as Spider was returning home for the night. He looked exhausted, spending most of the day with Tsireya and Kiri as the two girls appeared adamant about teaching him the ways of the Metkayina. Rotxo had eventually joined them and then what was once a lesson had quickly grown into a game. 

Kiri and Spider decided to try to teach the two reef children a human game they had learned from Jake when they were little, and so Spider quickly found himself on Rotxo's shoulders while Tsireya was on Kiri's. They must have played 'Chicken Fight' for hours, both Tsireya and Rotxo enticed by the simple game of trying to wrestle their competitor into the water, despite being confused about what exactly a chicken was. Neither Kiri nor Spider could answer. They didn't know either. 

Since Spider was smaller, he couldn't imagine lifting either of the Metkayina teenagers, but he'd already had practice with Kiri, so he had managed to hold her up on his shoulders for a round or two, but it still had his back feeling sore by the time he walked home. His hand was crossing over his chest and rubbing the opposite shoulder as he walked into the kelku, met with Kayla working on something in her hands before she tucked it away in her pocket, her hands now focused on cooking some fish over the hearth's fire.

"Hey," she smiled when she looked up to greet him, "How was your day?"

"Good. Tired," he responds shortly, sitting down across from her as he looks into the smoldering fire. A sheepish expression flashes over his face for a moment as he lets his thoughts get the better of him, speaking quietly in case he shouldn't be asking, "So... what am I supposed to call you?"

Her brows furrow in confusion, shadows from the fire dancing over her face, "Huh?"

"It's just that..." he ducks his head, "You don't want me calling you Kayla forever, right?"

Realization dawns on her face when she finally deduces what he is trying to say, her surprise melting into contempt as she replies, "You're not supposed to call me anything other than what you're comfortable with."

He peers up at her with a soft frown, "Again, you're being too understanding. You're not helping my case in believing I could kill in front of you and you wouldn't bat an eye."

"Smartass," she laughed, eliciting a smile to form on Spider's face at the sound. Kayla's nose scrunched up as she smiled back, "You can just call me Kayla if you want. It'll be all up to you for once."

It might not have been the answer he was expecting, but it was one he greatly appreciated and thought long and hard on. 

~~~~~~~~~

Spider thought about Kayla's response as he and the Sully children were listening in on Jake, Neytiri, and Kayla as they argued one afternoon in hushed voices in the security of the Sully marui. Apparently, Kayla had done Neytiri wrong by bringing Spider back to Awa'atlu, and while she had kept her mouth closed about her distaste, it all came to a head when Spider had taken Tuk for a small swim without her consent. 

It was his fault, and while Spider had initially tried to take the blame, Kayla had shot him down and told the kids to go look for Tsireya for the evening and let the adults talk alone. Obviously, the children weren't about to do that and snuck around behind the marui to snoop on their parents' conversation, ducking their heads to peer underneath the wall so they could see the three adults.

"What if she got hurt? What could he possibly do to help her?" Neytiri had hissed to both her husband and his sister, Spider's guardian, "I do not want my baby to be by herself, let alone left with him."

"Spider's responsible," Kayla defended her charge with her arms crossed and glare pinpointed at her sister-in-law, "And yes, he should've asked, but that doesn't mean he's a bad kid, Neytiri. Kids forget things. It happens."

"And when children die, does it just 'happen?'" Neytiri snipes back, clear grief and anger mixing her pools of yellow eyes. 

"It does when someone holds a knife to their throat," Kayla hisses, quick as lightning with her reply as her tail flicks sporadically behind her, "As you likely knew when you did so to Spider."

Kiri's hand snakes up and grips tightly onto Spider's shoulder, both of them doing their best to keep their breathing slow and quiet so the adults they were eavesdropping on wouldn't hear them. Lo'ak makes a point to keep a hand over Tuk's mouth from off to the side of them. Spider swallows thickly as Kayla's retort bounces around in his head, the memory of Neytiri putting him in harm's way still always lingering whenever he looks at her, his hand unconsciously rising to trace the scar on his chest. The way Kiri was gripping his shoulder, he knew she was thinking the same thing. 

"Enough," Jake alleviates as gently as possible, a permanent dent in his forehead from his eyebrows wrinkling with concern and desperation about the well-being of his family members. He glances between his wife and his sister before settling on Neytiri, "Spider isn't a danger to anyone, baby. You know this. He grew up with our children."

"You have never, not once, disagreed with me about the boy until now," Neytiri sneered back, betrayal evident in her eyes as she glanced between Jake and Kayla, "Until she decided to keep him like some pet and bring him around our children."

"Spider is not a pet," Jake retorts softly, his eyes unable to meet hers as her words only made his guilt stronger in his gut, regretting all those years he should've fought for an innocent child.

"And he's not her son," Neytiri growled lowly, "She's not his mother."

Spider watches Kayla's expression fall along with her ears and tail, the sight alone causing an unexpecting wave of rage to wash through him. He barely even thinks, a split-second decision made as he pulls out of Kiri's grip and stomps out of hiding, reentering the marui and pointing an accusing finger right up at Neytiri, venom in his voice as he was quick to defend Kayla, "Then by your logic, Kiri isn't your daughter."

The room falls into intense silence as all three adults zone in on Spider, all of them surprised by his reappearance, their ears falling with shame as all of the children come out of hiding, revealing they had heard everything just by looks alone. Neytiri felt as though she was between a rock and a hard place as she stared into each of her children's disappointed eyes before landing back on Spider, who didn't appear to be done with her,

"If Kiri was born a human, would you have loved her?" The question stuns Neytiri into silence, though she subtly glances at her eldest daughter as Spider continues, "Because that was always your excuse to avoid me. Because I was human. The thing is, I don't think you wouldn't love Kiri any less if she was human. She was born of Dr. Augustine, someone you loved very much."

The name makes Jake wince and Kiri's ears lower, her eyes wet and internally pleading with Neytiri as she stares up at her adoptive mother. Kayla felt as though she couldn't breathe, staring down at the boy she took in with disbelief, unable to blink in case he suddenly disappeared. She was surprised by his quick words in defense of her, unable to stop this small wave of pride desperately wanting to display on her face.

Spider shakes his head as he continues, defeat in his voice after finally accepting the truth for the first time ever in his life, "But if she were human? It wouldn't have mattered. Because you don't actually hate all humans. You just hate me... because of the man who helped create me."

Neytiri's expression settles back into someone filled with anger and takes one step toward him, but only gets one step before Kayla suddenly stands in front of Spider, blocking her path. Both women stare one another dead in the eyes with a deep snarl escaping both of their lips, ready for blood if need be and visibly making Jake and the children uneasy. Spider felt his body move before his mind could catch up, and without a thought, he stepped forward and stood close to Kayla's side, half covered by her body as if hiding from Neytiri.

Kayla's eyes didn't even blink as she glared at her sister-in-law, her voice deep and grinding like gravel, "If you know what's best for you, you'll leave him alone. You will never hurt Spider again."

Jake would've been impressed by the deep, protective growl his sister lets out if it wasn't for the fact that it was directed at his mate. In other words, the sound intimidated him and he genuinely worried for Neytiri if she didn't back down. He noticed his own kids flinch as well, and a faint memory of them reacting poorly to Neytiri's ferociousness against Quaritch only made him want to defuse the situation even more. He understands that Kayla was just protecting Spider, much like how he knew Neytiri would protect her own children, but he didn't want this ending with the two women he valued most in life to continue being at each other's throats. 

Spider looked up at Jake, and whatever expression he saw on the older man's face made him understand what he was thinking. Wordlessly, Spider reached his hand up and gently settled it on Kayla's arm. Jake felt the tension in his own shoulders melt as Kayla's posture began to relax, her tail still flicking irritably, but she had stopped baring her fangs and now only looked at Neytiri with disappointment instead of pure hatred.

"What you went through-- what the Sky People put you through, I understand," she starts out, "I understand why you're hostile to humans. But loss and pain don't excuse the neglect and pure hatred directed toward an innocent child. Spider didn't kill your sister or your father. He didn't destroy your home. Your hostility is directed at the wrong person and he doesn't deserve it."

Neytiri scoffed with sharp fangs, her words not as heated but also still hurting Spider like the knife that was once cut along his chest, "He spared the life of the man who destroyed my home, who killed my father and was behind the death of my son--"

"You were the one who told me Eywa only protects the balance of life," Kayla raised her chin, "You said it yourself. A son for a son. Quaritch already paid for Neteyam's death, even if he didn't die in return. Quaritch will get what's coming to him, in time, but it won't be by harming Spider."

Neytiri stares at Kayla for a good long while, her hatred slowly sinking back down beneath her skin as defeat and grief replace it once more. She takes one look back down at Spider and scoffs, but more quietly than before. Eventually, she turns and looks away, ending the conversation with her back toward them as her mind runs rampant with conflicting thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~

Tsireya noticed the obvious tension among the Sully family immediately. It wasn't hard, really, but one morning, they seemed happy and content, but then the next, they were clearly avoiding one another, or at least the adults were. The chief's daughter noticed the distaste that appeared to stick permanently on Neytiri's face as she followed Ronal out into the water astride a pair of ilu. Tsireya didn't dare try and calm whatever storm was brewing in Neytiri's mind that day, knowing that her mother would quickly straighten it out.

So, Tsireya decides to calm whatever storm was in Kayla's head, since the other Sully female appeared to be just as irritated with something that likely involved Neytiri since they were both being kept far away from each other, by Jake and the children. Tsireya finds Kayla and politely asks if she could accompany her to the crafting pods today. Kayla followed the young reef girl without question and together they walked toward the huts where Kayla had first officially met Tsireya. 

Tsireya didn't waste any time once they arrived. Taking Kayla's hand, she lures the older woman around the large circle of Metkayina who were crafting various different items and stops her in front of one particular Na'vi she had been dying to introduce Kayla to, "Makayla, this is Rutxa. They are our very best weaver, in both crafting and story-telling."

Ruxta looked up at the mention of their name and sharp blue eyes immediately landed on Kayla. Standing to full height, they stood over Kayla by about an inch, clearly more built around the shoulders and legs. Their crafting which Tsireya swears by is obviously shown in their clothes, wearing a beautiful, sharp lapis blue top that wraps around their neck, chest, and back, woven through a cummerbund similar to any Metkayina warrior. The cummerbund was strapped over only one shoulder and decorated with both shells and akula teeth. Rutxa's loincloth was a lighter, aqua color, made of dried seaweed, and decorated with a very long and impressive songcord. Tattoos peek out of Ruxta's clothing and wrap around their shoulders and back, a smaller one inked around their left eye, accentuating their lagoon blue skin. 

"Ah, so I finally get to meet the famous dreamwalker everyone is talking about." Ruxta's smile is wide and cat-like, which automatically sets off something in the back of Kayla's mind.

"Everyone?" Kayla asked, slightly suspicious.

"Don't listen to them, Makayla," Tsireya tugged Kayla's hand so the older woman would look down at her, the reef girl's smile was playful, "Rutxa tends to fabricate a lot of stories."

Ruxta flashes a knowing look down at Tsireya, a look only an adult could possess when talking to someone younger, "Child, if I recall, you used to eat up my stories when you had yet to learn how to speak."

Kayla had never seen Tsireya this giddy before, giggling to herself with a small, amused roll of her eyes in Rutxa's direction before the reef girl tugged Kayla's hand until she was kneeling down between herself and the Metkayina weaver. The three of them crouching together in a small circle, they get to work as Rutxa shows Kayla the best weaving techniques, a feat that the avatar woman had yet to master. Tsireya smiles and watches as Kayla is suddenly dragged into a discussion about the best ways to weave a story as her hands move to bead together a lovely top without having to think about it much, Ruxta easily gets the proper responses from the dreamwalker and even a few stories of her own from her homeworld that intrigued the weaver.

Tsireya took a look outside to determine the time of day before she had to regrettably part ways to find Lo'ak and Spider for their lessons. The reef girl stands and respectfully bows her hand to both Kayla and Ruxta with a sweet smile before exchanging pleasantries and leaving the pod, waving over her shoulder at the pair before disappearing.

Kayla smiled while watching her go before lowering her gaze to continue her work, only to realize a separate gaze was now carefully watching her. She glanced up and noticed Rutxa had not returned to their work and was comfortable just staring at Kayla with a knowing expression. Once they realized Kayla had noticed them, Rutxa flicks their eyes over to the entrance of the pod that Tsireya had just exited through,

"She adores you."

Kayla looks back down at her work, smiling to herself, "I adore her. She's a very sweet and kind person."

"She speaks very highly of you, as does her sa'sem."

The mention of Ronal and Tonowari forces Kayla's hands to pause around the top she had successfully made. It was too small for her, but Rutxa insisted on starting small, so perhaps it could be gifted to a child of the village... if they would want something made by Kayla. The brief distraction doesn't last long as the thought of the clan leaders drives Kayla's ears to flick with interest, even as her eyes downcast, "Their respect is misplaced."

"Is it?" Rutxa hummed while leaning back on the balls of their feet, watching Kayla's expression carefully, "They are grateful to you. We all are. After all, you did save our tsahik's life."

Both her ears and her tail perk up in attention, her eyes slowly following as her brows furrow in confusion, "What?"

"She claimed that you saved her against the Sky People at Three Brothers Rock. You took down another demon and their ikran without even thinking before you flew away."

Kayla's tail leisurely sways as she ponders this, thinking back to that battle, to all the times she had killed a Sky Person or a Recom. She remembered Thena had feasted on one's head when they crashed in the sky, and then there was one shooting into the water... was that the moment Rutxa spoke of? Did Kayla save Ronal's life? She couldn't recall if she saw the tsahik at that moment, everything going so fast and Kayla barely had time to react or else she might've found herself getting hurt or worse. It was difficult to remember any particular point she might have seen either Ronal or Tonowari during the battle, that is before they saved her from drowning and then brought her to Neteyam...

She stops that thought process before it could even begin, sucking in a quiet, sharp breath when another takes over. Was it possible that Ronal and Tonowari were only treating her differently like Rutxa claims? Because she saved Ronal's life? Because they were grateful? Most of the things the clan leaders said or did that made Kayla question their motives only happened after the battle. It couldn't have been a coincidence... could it? Maybe they didn't care for her like Norm and even Spider claimed... so then why didn't she feel relieved? Why did the bottom of her stomach feel like lead?

She swallowed thickly, her jaw visibly clenching as she stared down at the newly woven top, "The praise should go to my brother as Toruk Makto."

Ruxta snorts through their nose, the sound bouncing through Kayla's ears, "Believe me, the whole village is aware of the demanded respect between Toruk Makto and his sister."

"I doubt it," Kayla muttered, "When I hear the village whisper about us, they call us Vrrtep Mesmuk."

"Ah, yes," they hum thoughtfully, "I can understand how that would be seen as an insult. And perhaps it was at the start, but not for some time. After we fought the Sky People with you and your brother by our side, many Metkayina now use your title as a sign of respect. We are honored to have fought beside Vrrtep Mesmuk, and we hope to spread stories of you and your brother to other clans as well. Your brother is Toruk Makto after all, and the story of Toruk Makto is meant to bring all Na'vi together in times of war or sorrow."

Kayla wasn't entirely convinced by this change in behavior, but it was a comforting thought to think, if only for a moment, that the Metkayina were starting to grow and respect her family for who they were and not just what they represented. At the very least... Rutxa didn't seem like the type of person who cared whether or not she was some sort of demon possessing a deformed body, 

"I'm almost afraid to ask what kind of stories you plan on sharing."

Ruxta puffs out their chest, voice playful, "I will have you know I am an excellent storyteller. I was already weaving the tale of a dreamwalker who flew back to our village after a large, victorious battle with a demon child in her arms."

The smile that once threatened to make an appearance falls as Kayla is quick to defend the demon child in question, "That child's name is Spider."

Rutxa catches the tone of her voice and eyes her carefully, "That is an odd name for a child."

She wasn't expecting that response, and it surprised a small laugh out of her, "It's not a conventional name among my kind either, but it's the one he chose and the only name I need to know."

A small wave of understanding flows between the pair, a recognition of respect shining in Rutxa's eyes as they smirk gently, "From what I hear about the Sky People, they are not very understanding of culture outside of their own. I am pleased to see that not all Sky People are like that."

"No," she agreed with a warm smile, "Not all."

~~~~~~~~~

Despite coming to many revelations, only to be riddled with just as many questions, Kayla still found time to be with Ronal and Tonowari, just the three of them. Even though every bone in her body told her to refuse and avoid their presence, she found that her feet were still walking in the direction that Tonowari had instructed her to meet them after their evening meal.

She tried to come up with excuses in her head as to why they wanted her to join them at night. Perhaps it was under the guise that all three of them had been extremely busy ever since Kayla and Spider returned, but that still didn't make her feel better, knowing that to want to spend time with her meant that they cared for her in some way shape, or form. And even though she logically didn't want that... she couldn't ignore certain other parts of her that were seemingly devoid of logic. Parts of her wanted to believe that they wanted her around for something besides gratitude, besides wanting to keep an eye on her or wanting her to do her part and not be useless to their village.

She finds them standing along the beach where they told her to meet them, their toes dipped into the bioluminescent sand, creating a rippling galaxy beneath their very feet. Kayla can't help but think of the Milky Way, a long line of clustered stars lining the island where the sand meets the ocean. Ronal and Tonowari stood at the center of the cluster of stars, immovable planets that demand others to revolve around them, and in a way, Kayla found herself doing just that, moving toward them like an unforeseen gravity pulling her in. 

Tonowari was watching her approach while Ronal was looking up at the sky, watching that familiar, beautiful gas giant with the large crater glaring down at them. Kayla was now standing close enough where she could count the tattoos on both of their faces, so she stopped, deciding that this would have to be close enough, a few feet away, just out of arm's reach. It was for the better.

Tonowari watched as Kayla peered up into the sky, watching the same gas giant as Ronal before the chief spoke up, "It is Naranawm. 'Great Eye.'"

Kayla hummed in understanding, "My people call it Polyphemus, named after a cyclops."

Both pairs of Metkayina eyes are now trained on her, Kayla's ears tucking close to her head out of embarrassment while she shyly explains herself, "It's uh... it's a mythological creature from my homeworld. The Cyclops is a man-eating giant with only one eye at the center of its face." 

"That is barbaric." Ronal simply states with a scrunched nose.

A breath of a laugh escapes Kayla, "And yet, you guys have man-eating creatures here that are considered the stuff of nightmares where I'm from. Polyphemus was one of the pretty popular in one or two stories. His father was the god of the sea-- or something like that."

"God of the sea?" Tonowari tilts his head with interest.

Kayla nods, deciding that it would be inappropriate to share how she imagined Poseidon to look like Tonowari if such a benevolent god existed, "Yeah. Um... depending on what part of Earth you lived on, your faith in certain deities varies. Polyphemus stems from Greek mythology and the Greeks believed in multiple gods, Poseidon being one of them. He was the god of the sea."

"What deity did your part of the world believe in?"

"One god, like Eywa..." Kayla shivered at distant memories of religious trauma, "Only the Great Mother tends to sound kinder."

~~~~~~~~~

Another night, another moment of silent contempt between them. Kayla walked away from that night feeling both lighter and full of anxiety. She almost wanted to demand exactly what Ronal and Tonowari wanted from her, but at the same, they appeared content with the way things are right now, and maybe that was enough for her, too. Then again, she was confusing and frustrating herself with trying to figure out the clan leaders' motives. Wanting to try and distract herself from her rampaging thoughts, she decides to keep herself busy.

By the end of the week, Kayla finds herself barely resting apart from at night. She found time with Ronal by helping her gather any healing or cooking ingredients from high up in the trees where the tsahik would have normally struggled to grab herself. Other times, she was helping Ao'nung and Tonowari hunt and fish. When she wasn't doing that, she was helping both the tsahik and the olo'eyktan with weaving fishing nets, descaling their catches, or carving out a new canoe. Tasks like this usually left a healthy sheen of sweat on her skin, and whether she realized it or not, Ronal and Tonowari's eyes lingered on her even longer during these moments. Kayla would've thought her body was heating up under their gaze if it wasn't for the fact her body was already warm from a hard day's work.

While it's not much of a chore, Kayla still finds herself busy in Tsireya's presence, the reef girl always constantly dragging her around for certain things, like deep diving with Lo'ak or hunting for the most perfect shells with Tuk and Kiri. Sometimes, it was to even help her teach Spider the way of water. While he couldn't learn very much without the use of a kuru, Tsireya still thought it would be important for him to learn how to hold his breath as long as a Metkayina, in case of emergencies where he might lose his mask and didn't have a spare. Kayla strongly agreed with this sentiment and was honestly touched by Tsireya's thoughtfulness. 

Spider was a little amused and even bravely teased Tsireya, asking her if she was worried about him, to which she smiled and lightheartedly smacked him upside the head, driving Kayla into small, fond fits of laughter.

When she wasn't busy with all of those things, she found herself in the presence of at least half a dozen children, children who were eager to learn common English.

She wasn't sure how she got pulled into being a teacher, but once Jake caught wind of it, he was also supportive of the idea. Both he and Kayla silently agree that, after what the children had all been through as of late, it might be important for them to know certain Earth customs, writing, and language. While the Sully children are already bilingual -multilingual now that they have the Metkayina's sign language and tulkun speak under their belt- they do not know how to write the language of the Sky People and the reef children who befriended them even less so. The Sully children, Spider, Ao'nung, Tsireya, and Rotxo had all come to a silent agreement that they wanted Kayla to teach them, and while she wasn't sure why, she didn't want to disappoint them.

Spider found himself being her assistant since he already knew how to read and write, giving helpful advice and even translating some of the things Kayla said as some of the information was hard to initially grasp in fluent Na'vi. The Sully children were able to understand, but when it came to the reef children, let's just say they were grateful Spider was better at speaking Na'vi than Kayla.

While she suspected who taught Spider how to read and write, she didn't want to ask, knowing it was likely a touchy subject to him. She discovers fairly quickly that there's still one too many things the teenager refuses to talk about, and while she was fine with that and respected his boundaries, there were times when her curiosity nearly got the best of her. Nearly.

There are times when she remembers how much this kid has gone through in his short sixteen years of life, it makes her head spin. Other times, she remembers that he's still just a kid, like one particular afternoon as Kayla and Spider were outside of their marui and making their first fishnet together. 

"Spider."

He looks up at his name, surprised when he realizes who it was that called to him. Ronal was staring expectedly at him, and behind her was Tonowari, a tall and strong pillar of strength, holding a familiar weapon in his hand that looked far too small for the olo'eyktan. However, it was the perfect size for Spider.

The teenager finds himself standing to his full height and hesitantly stepping toward the clan leaders, his eyes widening at the sight of a beautifully made bow, already strung and adorning lovely feathers and leather grip, "Is that...?"

Tonowari smiles solemnly, bending down to Spider's height and passing the bow along to him, "For you. We hope it is to your liking."

Kayla felt the soft hint of a smile beginning to form on her lips as she watched Spider take the long bow from Tonowari as if it were a precious child or an injured animal. Spider's hands immediately moved to test the strength of the weapon, fingers gliding across the fine craftsmanship before his eyes peered up at the Metkayina clan leaders, unable to stop the doubt and suspicion in his gaze, 

"You made this for me?"

Ronal's expression remains neutral, calculating, ever the one to point out the obvious, "You needed one."

And Tonowari is always the one to soften her bold statements, "We wanted to make it right and to your size."

"So we had Neytiri help us," Ronal finished.

Both Kayla and Spider visibly stiffen at this bit of information, both adult and teenager frowning with even more suspicion than before, much to the clan leaders' internal distress since that was not their intent. Ronal, despite her audaciousness, wasn't trying to upset either of them and hoped that she didn't say anything wrong. The tsahik was constantly at war in her mind, reminding herself to stay open-minded about other sawtute if she wanted Kayla and Spider to be a part of her family's lives, but it was difficult to keep her mind open when the dead image of Ro'a and her baby was stitched permanently in her memory. 

Despite her conflicted emotions, she didn't want Spider or even Kayla to believe she was disgusted by them. Quite the opposite. In fact, whenever she looked at them, she would sometimes forget they were both human. It was easier to forget when Kayla possessed the body of a Na'vi, but with Spider, he held himself like one, despite being cursed in the body he was born in. Ronal couldn't fault a child for that, least of all Spider. Nevertheless, Ronal was tsahik, and her expertise lies with Eywa. Even if Ronal had some doubt about Kayla and the child she was responsible for, which she no longer possessed, Eywa clearly saw something in them that she didn't yet. 

Spider's next words were more of a statement than a question, "She helped you."

"Yes," Ronal nodded, trying to calm whatever doubt was clearly evident in the child's eyes, "She is an expert at archery. A skilled warrior. We thought she could help us make this for you."

"Yeah..."  He stares down at his new bow, though his mind is far away, back over the ocean and somewhere in the forest. He was thinking about all the times he was a kid, practicing his archery skills, away from prying eyes, wanting to be the best... wanting to be like Neytiri. Back then, he really thought she would accept him if he strived to be like her. After some time, as he grew up, he started to realize that she would never accept him, but that didn't stop him from being very skilled with a bow. He was easily the most skilled with it out of every human currently living on Pandora, and while he no longer strived to impress Neytiri, he had taken the bow as his own, not wanting his true talent to go to waste. 

He thought he had lost that talent when he lost his bow, and he even voiced how much he missed it when Kayla had brought him to speak to the clan leaders all those weeks ago. As he inspected the one now secured in his hands, he couldn't help but feel touched that Ronal and Tonowari remembered something he said once in passing. 

Instead of voicing his thoughts, Spider looked up at Ronal and Tonowari, gratitude evident in his smile, "Irayo. This... this is amazing. I appreciate it." 

Regardless of how she felt toward Neytiri, Kayla also felt herself smiling in gratitude, making sure to look directly at both Ronal and Tonowari so they knew it, too. 

~~~~~~~~~

One must enjoy the little things in life.

Kayla remembers that phrase from somewhere back on Earth, and it sticks to the front of her mind as she's teaching her nieces, nephews, and their friends how to spell their names in the English alphabet. A task she once found tedious when she was a child was now a bright and shining moment she could witness in other children. 

Although if she were to voice how much she regretted not enjoying how to spell her own name as a kid, Jake would've reminded her that her teacher was awful and the bastard forced her to use her right hand to spell her name even when she was more comfortable using her left. Her learning experiences were vastly different from what Lo'ak, Kiri, Tuk, and their friends were used to, and Kayla wanted to keep it that way.

She tries to enjoy the little things in life, like the way Ronal looks while watching her teach. The tsahik was standing just outside the entryway of Kayla's pod, silent to not interrupt, only to observe. Kayla didn't want to believe Ronal was chaperoning her but was just curious as to what all the fuss was about.

Kayla wasn't far off. Ronal has been subjected to Tsireya's ramblings every evening, gushing over how fun it is to learn a new language. Ao'nung isn't as expressive, and yet, he still keeps disappearing to Kayla's kelku with the rest of the children when it's time to learn. Even Tonowari has gone to see what's so interesting about Kayla's lessons, and when he came back the night before, he expressed how intriguing it was and urged Ronal to see for herself.

She had failed to see what her mate found intriguing about these lessons. All Kayla did was have the children repeat everything she said and then ask them to write her lessons down to prove that they had been paying attention. However, the mood shifts when Kayla goes to each child and helps them spell out each of their own, personal names, using a tawtute device she calls a datapad. Everyone appeared excited to use what they learned to see their own name on a screen, and while Ronal didn't understand why, she didn't verbally complain. Regardless of how she felt, it clearly made Makayla happy, her lips almost permanently smiling as she watched every child's reaction when they spelled their name right. 

Once Kayla dismissed the kids for the day to do their afternoon chores, it left her and Ronal alone in her marui, and before Kayla could ask what the other woman was thinking, she already had a question in mind, "Why teach them?"

Kayla tilts her head, curious, "What do you mean?"

"Why do they need to write stories and history when we already express our stories and history through our songcords?"

"It's... it's a little different," she found herself sputtering for the best way to explain, ears darkening a shade as she tried to find her words, "I mean-- well, I guess for Sky People, writing our names is like having a songcord. Every person's handwriting is unique. It's personal. It's their identity."

While Ronal stands there, unconvinced, Kayla is still smiling and hellbent on showing the other woman what she means, "Here, just-- Let me show you." 

She presents the datapad, and Ronal frowns at the sight of the alien device. Kayla writes something on the screen and beams when showing it to her, "This is what my name looks like written in English."

Not that Ronal could read exactly what was written on the screen, but the thought of Makayla's name scrawled in soft swirls and sharp edges intrigued her. Ronal stared at the screen, tilting her head with interest. The image was long, the shapes toward the end growing smaller as if Kayla realized she was running out of space. 

Kayla smiled when she recognized the interest floating in Ronal's eyes, "Can I write your name?"

The tsahik nods once and Kayla turns the datapad back on herself as her finger presses down and erases her name, scrawling down another image -another name- and flipping it back over to show to Ronal. Again, the Na'vi woman couldn't read it, but since she knew it was meant to be her name, she understood why it felt so meaningful to Kayla that she wanted to teach the children how to do the same. Ronal could finally see the appeal, especially since it was Kayla's hand that wrote out Ronal's name. It gave the name a whole new meaning to the tsahik to have it be written by the other woman's finger. 

"Just yesterday, Lo'ak asked me to show him how to spell and write Neteyam's name so he could carve it into a bracelet he intends to make," the mood shifts to something dire and sad, Kayla's smile less bright than before as she quietly explained, "That's why I wanted the other kids to learn. It's just nice to have your own identity written out like this. Where I'm from, people often get tattoos of their loved ones' names when they die."

That image wasn't as impossible to imagine as others. Perhaps it was because she had tattoos of her own, but Ronal could understand why the Sky People would ink their skin with the names of their lost loved ones. It was different compared to why the Metkayina bore tattoos, but it was just as important nevertheless. 

She studied Kayla's face carefully, wondering what she would look like if she bore Metkayina tattoos-- or wore her hair the way Metkayina women would. The thought brings the tsahik to study Kayla's hair, her mouth, once again, saying the first thing that comes to mind without really even thinking about it, 

"Your braids need to be redone."

"Yeah?" Kayla's sad spell is broken as she reaches up to feel the top of her head, feeling the roots that have grown out, unbraided compared to the rest of her locks. A sheepish smile falls across her lips, "I guess it's been a while."

A split-second decision was made as Ronal moved away to kneel down near the entrance of the marui, waving her hand at the space in front of her, "Come. Sit."

Kayla exhales a quiet huff, lips quirked out of amusement as she sets her datapad down and moves to join Ronal, sitting cross-legged in front of the Na'vi woman and dutifully staying still as she feels larger fingers begin unraveling all of her old, unkempt braids. Ronal's hands were rough and straightforward, making Kayla bite her tongue to refrain from yelping out of pain. Ronal only tsked at her when she noticed Kayla's hands gripping onto her own knees to restrain herself, berating the avatar woman for not keeping up with treating her hair properly. Had she done so, this wouldn't be an issue. Kayla had to scoff at the irony of that, and had she been able to see behind her head, she would've caught Ronal smiling. 

Ronal undoes the braids and removes all the beads hidden within. Without a proper comb or a way to soften Kayla's hair, Ronal used her tsahik knife, whittled to a pointed tip and protected by the shell adornment she often kept around her neck. She uses the pointed tip as a comb pick, unknotting the roughest spots in Kayla's long hair, being careful around her ears and kuru. 

The sight of the tswin braid entices Ronal, hands pausing around the base of Kayla's skull, fingers still threaded in the other woman's hair. Ronal eyes the large, singular braid for a long moment before continuing her work, but any time her fingers gently graze the sensitive appendage, she revels the sight of Kayla's skin rising in small, soft bumps. 

Kayla did her best to stay still, keeping her back ramrod straight in an attempt to restrain the shiver she felt going up her spine each time Ronal's fingers passed over her kuru. Kayla wasn't an idiot. She knows how sensitive that spot is for all Na'vi and how important it is for their way of life. Still, she hadn't initially thought about it when Ronal instructed her to sit down as she did her hair. Had she thought it through, Kayla might not have agreed, knowing how... serene and intimate it would feel to have the other woman redo her hair, to trust her to be careful around a very sensitive spot. 

It appears Eywa intends to torture Kayla to no end today as a shadow looms over the entry of her kelku. Tonowari peers inside, stopping by in search of his mate once he had noticed all the children have left their lessons, and evidently found something better. He found Kayla as she sat perfectly still, cross-legged, with his mate kneeling behind her, Ronal hovering over the back of her head as the tsahik focused on braiding groups of her hair, one small lock at a time.

As the olo'eyktan stepped into the pod, Kayla realized just how much space he took up in her small home. To Spider, this place was like a studio apartment. For Tonowari, it was more like a walk-in closet. 

"Perhaps I can be of help?" Tonowari offered brazenly.

Ronal huffs out through her nose, amused, "It would certainly get the job done faster."

Kayla hummed a tiny laugh, caught in the middle of the pair's playful banter, quite literally as Tonowari took a knee in front of her, leaning down awfully close to her as his hands reached for one side of Kayla's head. She sucks in a sharp, silent breath as she stays still for the clan leaders, Tonowari's hands easily the same size as her whole skull. As if knowing the intimidating size difference, Tonowari was careful with his large hands as he gently pulled and weaved the locks of her hair into small and tight braids. Using the beads Ronal initially took out of Kayla's hair, they return the small adornments to their rightful place, settling more comfortably in the woven locks that put Kayla's human hair to shame.

When Kayla was alone with Ronal, it was easy to hide how flustered she felt since she was facing away from the other woman, able to hide her face. Now, she was forced to notice the heat of both Ronal's and Tonowari's bodies, radiating on her back and her front, essentially trapping her as they silently worked on her hair as a team. She envied their teamwork but was enraptured by it at the same time, something warm in her belly making itself known as the thought of them working together to help her came to mind.

"Thank you." 

Her voice felt so small in such a quiet, peaceful moment, unsure of where that gentle tone came from. She cleared her throat out of embarrassment while Tonowari pinned her down with a sweet, gentle smile,

"It is our pleasure."

She doesn't miss the heaviness of those words, whilst simultaneously feeling both of their breaths and bodies so close to hers as they braid her hair. Kayla could feel Ronal's knees pressed against her lower back while one of Tonowari's knees was pressed up against the outside of her thigh. Kayla has to purposely keep her tail wrapped around her own arm in fear that the appendage will betray her and reach out to them. To try and break the silence that lingered far past comfort, she opens her mouth and says the first thing that comes to mind,

"The last time my hair was braided was by Kiri and Tuk. They were trying to teach me how to properly do it myself while also sharing... a very detailed story of how their parents first mated." She snorts sharply.

Ronal hummed quietly to acknowledge her small story, the tsahik's breath gently ghosting small wisps of Kayla's hair as she spoke, "You sound as though the topic made you uncomfortable."

Kayla's nose scrunches up, "I don't know anyone who would want to hear about their brother's nocturnal activities."

"But the topic itself?"

"Uh..." 

'Ah, Hell,' was the first thought that came to mind when she realized the type of topic she roped herself into, a topic she would rather share with almost anyone except the two large Na'vi practically trapping her between their bodies, "Sky People don't really talk so casually about that sort of thing."

Tonowari's eyes briefly glance down at her before returning to her hair, "Really?"

"I mean, the ones I hang out with are not as private. Soldiers are often crude that way, but back home it's considered too... gaudy? It's mostly talked about behind closed doors or with people you can trust, but not flat-out strangers. Unless that excites them, I guess. I don't know, everyone's different. But society as a whole back on Earth doesn't like talking about it in public."

Ronal's eyes meet her husband's for a long while, both of their hands simultaneously pausing in Kayla's hair, making her ears straighten in alertness. She was starting to wonder if she had said something wrong before Ronal's hands began to move once more, in sync with her own response, "The Na'vi believe that it is our sworn duty to share and teach just like everything else. We do not shy away from such discussions because we want our children to learn how to be careful and well-informed early on. To give them such responsibility at a young age tends to make them blossom into more mature, respectful adults."

"Huh," Kayla exclaims, mostly to herself, "That explains why Tuk didn't seem shy at all when she talked about it. Any child her age back on Earth would've been mortified."

Tonowari chuckled, finishing one braid before moving on to another clump of her hair, "The more you speak, the more you make sense to us, Makayla te Suli."

"... That sounds like it had two different meanings."

The olo'eyktan makes a deep noise in the back of his throat, eyes meeting Ronal's over the top of Kayla's head, "When you speak about how children are brought up among the Sky People, the more I understand why you do not react the way normal Na'vi do when presented with songcord beads, clothes, and other gifts."

She tries to smile hopefully, but her eyebrows scrunch together with uncertainty, "Is that... a bad thing?"

"No," he shakes his head with a fond, reassuring smile, "It just means we need to be more blunt."

Her stomach flips as though she is freediving from her ikran, her tail briefly twitching in her lap to show off her anxiety before she manages to pull it back under control. She swallowed thickly when her throat suddenly felt dry, her eyes darting away from Tonowari's before they could express something they shouldn't.

Ronal's voice was closer than before, the hairs on the back of Kayla's neck standing up when she felt the other woman breathe directly into her ear, "Do you wish to muntxa si, Makayla?"

She wanted to shy away from Ronal, to raise her shoulder up and pull her head down when the tsahik's close proximity proved to be too much for her nerves to handle. Both clan leaders have completely stopped braiding and have pulled their hands out of her hair, but didn't return their touch to themselves. Instead, their fingers lingered on Kayla, either brushing lightly over her shoulders and knees, places that they deemed respectful enough not to scare her away. When Kayla tries to take a deep breath in, she is suddenly aware of their scents, mixed together as one, invading her nose. She decided that she needed to breathe less, or else she'd go dizzy.

"I'm sorry, I don't remember what that means." Yes, she does, but she thought it almost sounded like a dream. She needed to outright hear it.

Ronal's amusement was evident in her voice even though Kayla couldn't see her, "Do you wish to mate?"

Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth even as she managed to pull through a proper response without giving too much of her inner thoughts away, "I don't think that's on the table for me anytime soon. Or ever."

"Why?"

"Why would it?"

"It could be. If you feel the same for us as we do for you."

"... What?" Kayla now looks directly over her shoulder, regretting it when her nose gently brushed against Ronal's, not realizing just how close the other woman sat behind her. Ronal's hairless brow rises expectedly, eyes shining with mirth and a certain youth Kayla has never seen in her before. For a moment, it reminded her of a giddy Tsireya.

Tonowari was not so easily forgotten either, one of his hands absently brushing some of the new braids over Kayla's shoulder, lingering at the juncture of her neck, causing more goosebumps to rise in his wake as she did her best not to shiver. 

It felt as though her mind was running through a hundred thoughts per minute, that fatal organ in her chest betraying any sort of logical thinking trying to make its way into her brain. While Kayla may have looked composed -and a little surprised- on the outside, the inside was riddled with inner turmoil, parts of her body trying to fight for dominance in a nauseating dance. Parts of her blew up like fireworks, overjoyed and celebratory, while the rest of her was filled with anxiety, doubt, and the most unimaginable fear. She wanted to dispute Ronal's words; wanting to refuse and say she did not feel the same, no matter how painful it would be to lie. In her head, Kayla knew it would be for the best. She couldn't be involved with them-- involved in their beautiful lives and slice of paradise, no matter how badly she wanted to.

She wished she could bolt, but realized that these clan leaders were smart, purposely keeping her hostage under their undivided attention to her hair braids and beads, trapping her here underneath their eyes and their words.

"You must have noticed our attempt to court you," Tonowari stated with a knowing expression.

She thinly smiled before it quickly faded, as well as her eagerness to refuse them, "I have, but... I didn't want to assume. You told me to not come off as useless when we first met, so I just... I've just been trying my best to help you both out any way I can so that I'm doing my part for the village. I guess I assumed that you've had me helping you so you could keep an eye on me. "

Tonowari winced, regretting the words he spoke when they first met, knowing that it likely played into why Kayla wasn't as open to his and Ronal's courting, "You are vital to our village now, Makayla. You help this clan flourish and thrive through your kindness and determination. These are traits we admire about you, and it's why we always seek out your company. Not because we think you are useless and need a helping hand." 

"But... I am not Metkayina. I am not even Omatikaya. You can deny it all you want, but I'm still one of the Sky People, a dreamwalker," she scoffs with a small look of disdain as she stares off to the side, "No one in their right mind would want to start a family with a demon."

Tonowari tilts his head, "Are you saying Neytiri te Tskaha Mo'at'ite is not of sound mind?"

"That's different," Kayla waves him off, "Jake is different. Jake fully completed his Iknimaya. He passed through the Eye of Eywa and returned, born again in his Na'vi body. He... He can't even be considered a dreamwalker anymore. He buried his demon body a long time ago. I'm not like Jake. I'm still tied to my demon form and my old way of life, a life I don't plan on trying to forget as easily as my brother. My people hate your people."

She then looks back over her shoulder at Ronal, "Up until recently, you hated my people."

"I still do," Ronal corrects, immediately softening her words when she notices shame flash over Kayla's eyes, "But I don't look at you and see the Sky People. I look at you and see Makayla te Suli tsmuke te Toruk Makto. You fought beside us to protect our children. You saved my life. You learned our ways. Your nephew lies with our ancestors. In the Eye of Eywa, you are now Her daughter, even if you still walk Her breast in a demon body."

Kayla's denial was stubborn and eager as she vehemently shook her head with defiance, "My demon body is why you shouldn't choose me as your mate, among so many other things. Unless you're ready to understand my way of life, I don't want to burden you with it. Try to remember that I can't always be here. I'll have to leave sometimes, and it could be weeks on end. It would be difficult being with me." 

Her head movement stops the moment a hand the size of her skull gently rises and slips into place, resting on the side of her head. Kayla's eyes widened as Tonowari softly moved her head so that her gaze landed on his, silencing all of her rambling thoughts as she got lost in the blue oceans of his eyes. While he wasn't smiling, he was being genuine, showing his sincerity by speaking as clearly as he possibly could, his booming voice rattling in her head, "The best things in life are usually difficult, but that's why they are so rewarding."

Both of Ronal's hands move to rest on both of Kayla's shoulders now that the avatar's breath is taken away, unable to respond, "If you do not wish for us to pursue you, just say the word, and we'll stop."

That was surprising to Kayla and it got her voice to return, ears moving in all directions out of shock, "Really?"

"Yes," Tonowari assured with a stiff nod, "We would never force you to mate with us, knowing that once you do, it would be for life. But do not try to stop us if you're worried that we would only See a part of you, not all of you. We want to know you better, to understand the world you come from and how you came to be the woman you are today. We have discussed this in detail, and we agree that you are worth many obstacles that will no doubt be in our way."

At the mention of obstacles, a thought crossed her mind, "And that includes Spider, right?"

"Of course it does." He says this confidently, without hesitation.

"Does it?" Her own doubt is replaced with a small barrier of protection, eager to shield the child in her care as she finds herself sternly looking between the two clan leaders, "Because I don't want you to pretend and treat him normally if all you're going to see is a demon child. If you only pretend to See him just to be with me, then I can't accept this. He's my responsibility, and I intend on always putting the kid first from now on."

"We know..." Kayla's spine stiffened, not because of Ronal's words, but because of the tsahik's hand slowly running a soft, barely-there line down her back with the very tips of her fingers, "And we admire you for that. We want Spider in our lives as well."

Tonowari nods in agreement, "The boy is loyal to those who choose to love him and not to those who are simply related to him. He earns his respect and his place here in our village. He is also a child who deserves a family to properly care for him. The Na'vi don't believe in letting children fend for themselves. Even when they have no one left to care for them, the village as a whole makes sure that the child grows up loved. Spider should have been properly adopted by members of the Omatikaya clan ages ago."

"No kidding," Kayla muttered under her breath, a pang of anger beating in her chest, directed at everyone who wronged such a spirited, kind child. 

But just like that, those thoughts went away, expunged from her mind at the faint touch of Ronal's hand moving down Kayla's arm. Kayla's fingers twitched with anticipation, but she didn't dare move even as Ronal's fingers slowly entwined with hers. Ronal's fingers move with precision and determination, hooking her smallest finger with Kayla's pinky, the strange extra finger that once disgusted her. Kayla tried to stay perfectly still while the tsahik's voice was still rough in her ear, "If you feel the same for us as we do for you, then say you will perform tsaheylu with us instead of trying to spare us from something you think is not worth fighting for. If you want to say no, then do so for the right reasons."

Kayla sucks in a sharp breath of air before shakily exhaling it out, trying to calm her racing heart. While their reassurances were nice to hear, there was still a sliver of doubt wedged in the back of her mind, smaller than before but still loud, not wanting to be ignored. It reminded her of all her insecurities and hardships that she still needed to work through, and despite Ronal and Tonowari's words, her doubt tried to beat her down and say that they would never be with her every step of the way. Deep down, she will never be one of them, so even if they stayed by her side... it won't be for long because, in the end, everyone always leaves her. 

At the same time, her heart was screaming at her to say yes; to agree to everything they were saying because it's obviously all that she wants and more. A family. She never thought she'd gain such a thing by agreeing to learn the ways of the Na'vi. Then again... she didn't think she'd gain anything when she started learning the ways of the Na'vi, and yet here she was, owing it all to her new way of life for what the Metkayina clan leaders were offering her. 

In the end, the Na'vi are precisely why she gave her answer as she took a deep breath, "I feel the same. I do. I feel the same for both of you... but I'm not ready. I want to do this right. I want to take this slow. I know I'm asking a lot... with the war coming and your baby on the way. But I want to officially become true Na'vi before anything else. I still haven't completed my Iknimaya. Every person is born twice, right? I have yet to be born a second time; to earn my place among the People forever. Tradition states that only then will I be able to choose a mate, right? You want to learn my ways, but I also want to learn yours. I want to do this right. Let me do this right." 

They sat and listened to her, and in the end, wide smiles graced both of their faces. Neither of them appeared disappointed by Kayla's answer. In fact, they almost looked proud of her decision, the expressions on both of their faces would've easily made her knees weak had she been standing.

Ronal's hand squeezes hers, "We accept your terms, Makayla."

"Nothing would make us happier," Tonowari's hand moves, Kayla's ear flicking in the direction of the hand in question but otherwise doesn't acknowledge it. His hand slides off the side of her face, and while her skin now feels cool from where he once was, his fingers trail down the side of her neck and down her shoulder before gently grasping her arm, where his palm immediately warms up her skin once more. Kayla watched his face carefully, noting the way his eyes seemed to scan over her figure, causing a pleasant shiver to run up her spine, her heart giving no indication of slowing down. Finally, Tonowari's deep ocean eyes find her honey-colored ones, and she felt as though she was being sucked into the void as those same eyes started to inch closer and closer.

"May I?"

The breath he lets out with his question brushes over Kayla's chin, her mouth parting slightly as she tries to gain more air to slow her heart rate down. She didn't mean for her eyelashes to flutter, but she definitely caught Tonowari shamelessly watching the act and decided she wasn't ashamed either. She nods once, unable to form a word as he leans closer until she knows that the air she's breathing is his as well. Instinctively, she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

Her left ear twitched when Tonowari leaned into the side of her face with his, gently rubbing them together as he loudly inhaled a slow, long strain of air through his nose. Kayla opened her eyes, frowning out of curiosity. At first, she thought he was leaning in to kiss her, but it wasn't until Ronal had moved her newly braided hair off her shoulder and started to do the same to the right side of her face that something in her brain finally clicked. 

Her nose was bombarded with a mixture of smells now beginning to seep into her skin-- their scents, blended together and with hers, as the way it should be. Kayla felt dizzy, as though their scenting had some sort of drugging effect, but in a desirable way that made her feel high, proud to be branded by these two beautiful Na'vi.

She almost lost her resolve then and there, wanting to forget what she said about waiting, but she managed to push through. Always resilient, but no longer when it came to her future mated pair.

A/N:

Jake: Don't judge my parenting until you become a parent yourself.

Speaking of, you noticed something indicating a different kind of wildlife has been through here. A campfire just outside the lab on the forest floor and Na'vi-designed woven baskets and material stationed around it. Signs of the natives using this place as shelter. One of the remaining Sarentu acted as your guide and protection for the journey here, and explained that it was normal for any friendly Na'vi to rest at the scattered field labs throughout their journies and you would likely see more of them. They didn't say much else after that, however, wishing you luck and leaving once they were sure there wasn't any nearby danger around.

Taking a deep breath through your mask, you walk up to the human-fashioned shack surrounded by wildlife and vegetation. It hadn't been used in some time, so you take out your SID device and use it to power up the small complex, watching as the lights and terminal flash then power back on as if good as new. Someone had tried to turn this place into a more welcome environment, placing various small potted plants all around the space and in makeshift shelves made of tree branches. It looked a bit hippy, and you wouldn't be surprised if the former RDA-turned-rebel who lived here used to be a botanist.

Looking up, you took note of the netted hammock that was storing extra supplies and luggage up above to keep out of the way. Looking down, you're careful to watch your step as occasional rubbish and cables scatter across the floor, left abandoned by its former resident. One side of the small lab was clearly meant to be for business, hosting a work bench, the terminal, and additional medical supplies and weaponry.

On the other side, it looked more like a living space, sporting a portable counter fridge, bookshelves, and of course all of the freaking house plants. One corner looked like a reading nook, with a bean bag made of several different colored-fabric, surrounded by papers and empty paper coffee cups, the lights above giving off a warm atmosphere. Setting down your things, you decide on tidying up your new home before settling in for the night.

You must have been cleaning the space for hours by the time you heard a faint rustle outside. Looking up, you spare a glance at the rifle on the wall before bravely deciding to check out the noise without it. It's your first night here... surely there wouldn't be any danger right away, would there? As you step out of your new base, you glance around until you notice the unlit campfire. Standing there stood a male Na'vi, but not just a random stranger.

You recognized So'lek as one of the most significant Na'vi faces who tend to prowl around Resistance HQ. Everyone knows who he is, everyone knows his story, and everyone -including humans- knows to give him a wide berth. His sharp eyes had been looking directly at you, since he noticed you before you saw him, and his gaze narrowed with suspicion just as you gasp in shock.

"Oh! Hello."

His hard stare is the only thing keeping your feet frozen to the floor of your lab before he knowingly states, "You are from the headquarters."

You nod, faintly shocked that he remembered your face, especially since neither of you have shared a word until now, "Alma and Priya asked me to man this lab so it stays functional for botany research and RDA activity."

"I see."

You relax some, only for a thought to dawn in your head as you point to the Na'vi made structure right outside your new home, "Wait, is this your campfire? Have you been living here?"

"When I occasionally travel through this area, yes."

Nodding, you open your arm out wide to gesture to the whole yard outside the lab, "You were here first, so help yourself to whatever is yours. I'll stay out of the way."

"No need," he shakes his head then, the first movement he ever made upon recognizing you, "You will be staying here for a lot longer than I. And besides, I prefer to rest outside."

"Alright, will you be resting here for the night? I think it's supposed to rain so I plan on shutting down the place and locking myself in."

"I am moving on for the night. Just needed some things I left behind. I will be coming back this direction on my way to HQ in three days."

"Sounds good. Safe travels."

He nods and turns to go, before pausing two seconds and then tilting his head back toward you, "Stay alert while you're out here, 'eylanay. Do not ever let your guard down."

~~~~~~~~~

His words were haunting and bothersome, but you suppose he doesn't have a choice than to be that way after everything he's been through. Plus, he's from this world and knows its dangers better than you do. The thought that something could be lurking just outside or staring at you through the window sent chills down your spine.

As you stated, you locked down the two large doorways that open up the shack and secure all the windows, waiting until the oxygen levels are steady before removing your mask. You had closed everything up just in time, the storm hitting just moments after. Out of everything beautiful here, you didn't envy Pandora's storms, so fierce and terrifying... and you were alone.

A beep pings from your terminal and you try to pretend you didn't dash over to answer it, "Hey, Priya."

"Hey! Did you settle in okay? Is it scary? Is it dangerous? Oh, what am I saying? Of course, it's dangerous! And scary and dangerous are almost one in the same--"

"Priya, I'm fine," you smile to yourself, unsure if you missed her ramblings or not, "Everything's fine. It's actually quite peaceful here."

"Oh, good!"

"And it's comforting to know that So'lek treks through here often enough to where I won't feel completely alone and he could check in if I need any help."

"You saw So'lek?"

"Yeah, he just happened to be passing through."

"That's perfect! Oh, that makes me feel so much better! I'll make sure to send another radio with him next time so that you two could chat between each other or if you need him to check on you. Oh, this is gonna be great! You guys can chat to each other whenever you need some company!"

"Uh, Priya...?"

"I mean, just think about it! You're going to be living alone in the middle of the forest and he's constantly traveling alone. It's perfect! So cool!"

"Okay..." You try not to sound a little put-off by her suggestion but decided to kindly cut her off, "Hey, I think I'm gonna clock out for the night. I'm tired from the cleaning."

"Cleaning? Why did you need to clean?"

~~~~~~~~~

Three days later, So'lek comes back through, as promised. He immediately finds you outside, in your mask, wearing worn-out clothes while you work around and monitor the plants that the resident before you had planted. The plan was for you to continue their work, and while you weren't a botanist, you figured that the notes the previous tenant left behind could help you continue their research.

Looking up from taking notes, you noticed So'lek standing a half a dozen yards away from you. To attempt at being friendly, you wave him over and feel both surprise and pride when he walks closer to join you.

"I half expected to find you dead already."

"Only half?" You snort in amusement, "It's nice to hear that you had some faith in me, if only a little bit."

He kept his face blank, not reacting to your tease, "I still would never drop my guard if I were you, 'eylanay."

"Yes, yes, I know," you take note of the direction he came in and come up with your own observation, "Are you heading back to HQ?"

He nods and you flash a small smile of sympathy, "A word of warning? Priya is going to be handing you a radio to bring back to me when you get there. She wants to make sure you and I keep in contact should I ever need help."

You don't miss the small grimace on his face when you mention Priya. You can't entirely blame him, knowing that Priya is a lot to handle for someone who prefers to be left alone, and everyone knows how desperate Priya is to make Na'vi friends, So'lek most of all.

He nods once more, schooling his face back to something more neutral, "Very well. Is there anything else you need from Headquarters?"

"Uh... when do you think you'll be coming back through?"

"Less than a week."

"Maybe some rations then, just to be safe."

~~~~~~~~~

That is basically the gist of your conversations with So'lek for the next upcoming month. Every time he comes through, whether heading to or from Resistance HQ, he makes time for small talk, talk that only lasts less than ten minutes, then he's gone before you have time to say goodbye. It doesn't bother you a whole lot, but that could be from the feeling of loneliness. You'll take a few moments of conversation with practically anyone and anything if it will keep you sane from your solitude, even So'lek, who was hardly one for words to begin with. Part of you wondered if you'll end up like him if you continued working alone in this lab without anyone else to talk to you.

He never stays the night at his campfire, or maybe he does and he happens to leave before you even wake up. Either way, you never see him sitting outside or sleeping by the fire as you imagined he once did before you came along and took his space. He brings back any supplies you ask of him whenever he's on his way back from headquarters, and sometimes he brings items that Priya practically had to beg him to take to you. They weren't necessities, but you appreciated the comics and recordings of guitar solos one of the Resistance members likely cooked up. You didn't believe Priya would be capable, but you had to wonder whoever was sneaking you dirty romance novels among those supplies, and how your suspicions only heightened when you realize the novels were about a human female and her alien male lover. Despite how horrified you felt when discovering that little surprise hidden among your rations, it was... comforting, to say the least. It helped keep you sane and one with your humanity. You were also thankful that So'lek didn't appear to notice what he was tasked to give you.

One month turns into two, and there was a patch of weeks where you hadn't seen So'lek at all. A part of you told yourself not to worry, knowing he had a mission that took him in the opposite direction of your field lab, or at least that's what Priya told you. The other part of you, however, couldn't help looking out your window before bed every night, wondering if he'd be there the one time you looked. Suddenly you found yourself immerced in those dirty romance novels just to keep yourself from worrying too much, and you were beginning to question your mind when you realized you had begun to picture the male alien lover to look like So'lek in your head as you read.

That one fateful day you decide to leave the large doors completely open to let the fresh air through the lab was the one day you shouldn't have even gotten out of bed. You heard the deep growl first, then your hairs on the back of your neck stood on edge. You were inside the complex and quickly look around for your rifle, but the moment you made too quick of movement was when the thanator leaped into action. It roared loudly, deafening your small ears, as it leapt up onto the walkway leading into the lab before prowling right inside as if it owned the place, it's eyes never leaving you for a second, practically freezing you where you stand. You internally curse whoever designed those doors to be big enough for a thanator and you hope they're rotting in Hell. As the beast corners you into the smallest space of the lab, a part of you hopes you'll meet that inventor in Hell so you can kill them again yourself.

The thanator's nose scrunches as its snarling muzzle curled up, its limbs lowering closer to the ground, ready to strike. When it bows its back to pounce, you faintly catch sight of a collar or some form of restraint around the creature's neck, clearly of RDA make judging by the worn and chipped yellow paint coated over the metal. You wonder if it would be the last thing you ever see, a creation made from the ones you swore to fight against.

An entire barrage of gunfire shrieks through the air, bullets raining into the thanator's side at the same time it cries out in pain. So'lek inched forward until he leaps up into the lab, stepping into the open doorway and continuing his assault until he empties the entire clip into the beast's hind. As he's going to reload, the thanator decides to retreat, mewling and whining in pain as it tries to limp out of the opposite door it came through. So'lek had other ideas, however, loading his rifle once more and emptying out another whole clip into the beast, even after its body fell dead outside.

So'lek finally stopped, the silence ringing in your ears after being forced to be in the same small space as an assault rifle. He hops back out of the lab and trudges over to the dead body outside, knife in hand just to be safe. You take your time, gasping for breath as your mask hissed and testing your shaking legs out as you slowly but surely step right outside the door to see for yourself.

"I... I thought thanators were territorial?" You find your voice, swallowing down saliva when your chords cracked from fear, "Last I checked, this place wasn't in any known territory."

"These are the Severed kind our Sarentu informers have been running into," So'lek explained almost robotically while nudging the dead creature with his foot, "Animals whose kuru have been cut. Experiments, courtesy of the Sky People."

"There... Usually, there are two of them, right?"

"Nor mentioned he managed to kill one, but not its partner. This must have been the one that got away." He paused as if remembering something, before his eyes finally peer up to meet yours, "Are you alright?"

Your exhale isn't very strong, and your voice quivered, but you nod, "I... I think so. Just... shakened..."

His eyes squint, but he didn't look as though he was judging or analyzing you. He looked... for lack of a better word, concerned, "Perhaps I should take you back to base camp."

You shake your head while trying to muster a weak, joking smile, "I think I need to sleep for two days straight before I do that. That took a lot out of me."

He doesn't comment and instead offers to help clean up the mess of bullets and anything the thanator might have knocked out of place while causing a rampage through the base. You don't refuse or even agree, you just nod and move back inside to get started.

The two of you clean up in silence, all the while So'lek keeps a close eye on you, and you pretend not to notice. It's hard not to, however, since his gaze can drive your skin to rise and heat up unlike anyone you've ever met before.

He noticed how your hands were still shaking as you pick up a couple of fallen books, "'Eylan..."

"I'm alright," you wave off, too strung up to even acknowledge the achievement of gaining a new friendship status with the hard-won Na'vi man, "Just... too tense. How did you know I needed help?"

"I was already on my way here. I picked up the animal's scent and started to run and hope I wasn't too late."

You didn't dare assume that tone in his voice was trembling. You knew that assuming anything out of someone who kept his cards close to his chest would be wrong. Your eyes briefly look up at the Na'vi man, a faint smile on your lips, "You weren't. You were right on time. Thank you..."

Unbeknowst to you, So'lek's chest squeezed almost painfully at the sight of your grateful smile. Even through all that adrenaline and fear, you were still standing and unharmed, which relieved him so much to the point that it frightened him. He didn't think he would feel such fear when he had first caught the scent of the feral palulukan mixed in with the one he had come to associate with you. And yet, his legs moved before his mind was made up, running faster than he ever thought possible out of desperation.

To hear your reassurance that he had managed to save you on time strikingly comforted him, and yet, he didn't feel as though you were completely safe despite the danger being gone. He moved his eyes to watch the world outside your window to avoid your gaze as he spoke,

"I do not feel comfortable moving on and leaving you here alone tonight. If it will help, I will keep watch as you rest."

With his eyes off yours, he failed to notice your face heat up or the bug-eyed expression you sent his way. Of course, you knew you wouldn't sleep very well tonight and would like nothing more than to have some company after nearly dying. However, you also tried to play it cool and nonchalant. After all, this man did warn you to always keep your guard up, and you would hate to disappoint him, despite the odd friendship you now shared.

You simply shrug as a way to try and hide your embarrassment, "I know it'd be useless to try and convince you otherwise, so do what you want."

You activate the doors to slide completely shut, locking the two of you inside as you listen for the familiar hiss of oxygen being filtered in and out. Only when the terminal deems it safe do you remove your mask and walk over the mask station. You hang up yours and retrieve a smaller one for So'lek, handing the device to him. So'lek expertly breathes into the mask once and then lets the device dangle around his neck before he moves to the window. You watch him retreat before moving over to snuggle into the bean bag resting in the corner, trying to ignore the tall Na'vi now standing by your window as you close your eyes.

While he kept watch, he also occasionally watched you as well. You looked even smaller than usual, lying curled up in the bean bag as if trying to disappear from the world. After everything you've been through today, it's understandable you'd still be antsy, but So'lek had to commend you for how brave and put-together you appeared to be in the face of danger. He doesn't know many sky demons who are capable of that, which is why he had found himself conversing with you more than he should have over the course of these months.

Since the day you first arrived at Wooden Glen, an ugly part in his head immediately told him to stay back, keep away from you, and try not to get used to your scent. Despite hating most humans -with the Resistance balancing on that tight rope-, he surprised even himself when he didn't feel those emotions toward you. You, who immediately gave him space and didn't question him. You, who respected his boundaries and opted to live peacefully in the same space when you learned he would occasionally rest at the lab. You weren't defensive or suspicious, and you didn't expect anything from him. Sure, most of the Resistance fighters were like that -hence why they no longer worked for the RDA- but none of them were you.

So'lek may be hard to talk to and therefore found it hard to form bonds, but he's not blind. He knows beauty when he sees it, and despite hating almost everything the Sky People create, he didn't hate whatever method of creation made you. You were not Na'vi by any means, yet he couldn't help the way his eyes scan your body, so much smaller in comparison to his, and wonder what it would be like to press you into him. And your scent-- oh, your scent. Somehow, it lingered in his nostrils even from miles away in a vastly different part of Pandora. There wasn't much to your scent. It wasn't perfume or deodorant. Nothing distinct, and yet he knows it's you the moment he catches a whiff of it. It's not a bad scent. It's just you. He internally knows that there's nothing bad about it, least of all you.

So you could imagine the horror he felt when he had drawn close to the lab that day, only to smell a thanator in your general direction.

Unaware of his staring, you felt unnerved and restless now that you were finally trying to sleep. You weren't sure if you had laid there for hours or mere minutes, but you began to toss and turn, your heart beating loudly in your chest and unable to slow down.

So'lek noticed your transgressions immediately and voiced his thoughts, "You should get some sleep, my friend."

"I can't," you murmur quietly, "I'm too jumpy and too tense... Too cold."

He wasn't sure what came over him, but the sight of you restless and your claims of being cold pulled him from the window. He strides across the room and crouches in front of your form, ignoring the shock and hidden worry behind your eyes. You had grown still, a little cautious as to what would happen or what he would do if you moved. You get your answer as his large hand slowly rises up and rests over your forehead. You didn't dare move, feeling the heat of his palm against your face, and-- by god, his hand was so large, it could easily fit your whole skull without a problem.

He stomps down whatever he is feeling in his gut when his hand presses against your skin, a little shocked at how smooth you feel beneath his touch. He hadn't experienced many humans before, especially not up close and personal. The softness of your skin was... new and an interesting sensation. So'lek couldn't help but wonder what the rest of you might feel like beneath his touch.

He huffs with a faint smirk on his lips, "You are definitely cold."

Despite seeing anything other than a scowl on his face for the first time, you couldn't help the slight sting of your sarcasm emerge, scoffing and lightly swatting his hand away, "Thanks, Captain Obvious."

His eyes squint in confusion, "I do not understand."

"Never mind," you wave it off easily enough, starting to sit up before you notice So'lek inching closer, beginning to crowd your space. Your jaw nearly slacked before you picked it back up and found your words again, "Uh... what are you doing?"

He wasn't entirely sure himself. His usual instinct to stay away was nonexistent. A different instinct took over, and he wasn't sure if it terrified or intrigued him, but the scent you were giving off definitely wasn't helping him form a clear thought.

"Warming you up."

He said it like it was the simplest thing in the world as if your heart didn't just threaten to leap straight out of your mouth as his large body suddenly started to surround you in every sense of the word. It could've been from being so touch-starved and lonely, or it could've been your attraction toward him. Either way, your body immediately felt hot, and he wasn't even completely touching you yet. If you had half a sensible mind, you would immediately look away from the intensity of his sharp, yellow gaze, hiding the blush beginning to creep up over your face, but you didn't. You found yourself entranced by him, unable to look away.

He's pressing into your space now, completely pinning you into the bean bag, and yet you didn't feel scared or suspicious of ill intent. You felt yourself trusting his slow methods... as if he was testing to see what you would do. The long length of his strongly corded body overpowers your smaller form, encompassing you with his... well, everything. He took up your vision, your touch, and your hearing, and suddenly, you felt your mouth go dry with the need to taste as well. His eyes flick down, away from your eyes, and your mouth unconsciously opens in a silent gasp. You watch his eyes stare intently at your lips, his strong jaw visibly tightening underneath his skin. His face leans closer to yours until you feel his hot breath fan over your face, forcing your eyes to blink. He briefly looks up to watch your pretty eyelashes flutter before finally opening his mouth.

"Yes or no, sevin 'eve?"

You don't know what that means, but your body shivers in response regardless. You're scared to reach out and touch first in case this is all just a dream after falling asleep while reading those romance novels. You don't miss the way his brow ridge furrows as if in pain as he watched you wet your bottom lip and find the words to speak,

"Yes."

He's molding your lips together before the word even fully leaves your mouth, forcing you to inhale through your nose and feeling dizzy by the scent of his musk. His lips were bigger than yours, making the kiss sloppy until the two of you found a rhythm that suited you both. The air was stolen from your lungs as he seemed hellbent on constantly chasing your lips whenever you needed to pull away to breathe.

You weren't sure how long you kissed, losing track of time, immersed in the sensation before you were all too aware of the wet patch forming between your legs with the way he carefully laid his weight down on your pelvis. You find yourself moaning into his mouth, and his reaction is instantaneous.

His hands are finally on you, starting at your waist and moving up, pushing the fabric of your shirt up as he goes to expose your skin to him. Your heart leaps at the feel of his large hands, practically covering your entire waist, able to expand his fingers over the soft valley of your stomach.

His amazement is replaced by a scowl when his hands push your shirt up enough to expose your bra, "Why must your people feel the need to cover yourselves in so many layers? This is criminal."

You're not offended, finding yourself breathlessly laughing at his expense. You move your hands to grab the hem of your shirt and pull it over your head, "If you think that's bad, you should try unhooking this thing."

He frowns but doesn't protest, taking his mask and breathing in its contents, waiting for your instruction as he stares down at your bra as if it offended him by simply existing. Dare I say it almost looked as though he was pouting if such an expression existed within So'lek. You bite your lip to refrain from laughing more and gently grasp his hands. He clearly had the strength to pull away, his hands so much larger than yours, but he lets you guide him to the expanse of your back where he's met with the strap of your bra. Small hooks kept the offending piece of fabric together, and while he tried to fiddle with it, it only made his frustration grow.

You're not surprised when he finally gives up and just rips the bra apart like it was nothing, but you still groan in slight annoyance, "I only have a few of those, you know."

"You will not be needing any of them from here on out," he states gruffly, with confidence, as he moves down to plant large, smooth kisses down the front of your neck and toward the space between your now exposed breasts, your heartbeat strong against his lips.

So'lek was determined to be rid of all of your bras in the near future. He'll burn them if he has to. This world is not a place for the Sky People's opinions on indecent exposure, nor is their culture and fashion welcome in So'lek's eyes. As if he needed another reason to hate the Sky People, their insistence on covering someone as beautiful as you up was the cherry on top.

His hands and mouth move onto your breasts, squeezing and kissing, licking over both of your nipples. You were more pliable and squishy compared to Na'vi women, but So'lek loved it because it just meant there was more of you to hold. He liked the feel of your tits, warm and heavy in his palms. Why need a bra when his hands are literally right here?

You lean back, sighing up at the ceiling and gasping when he slips one of your nipples into his mouth, unknowingly arching your back to push your chest further into his hands, much to his inner delight. His tongue is wet and rough, running circles around the bud until it forms into a peak then he moves on to the other one, keeping his hand occupied on whichever tit that wasn't currently in his mouth. Your skin rises wherever he touches, and your hips involuntarily try to move, your need for anything to press between your legs only growing when So'lek gently bites his teeth around the tit he was playing with. You nearly rock your hips up at the feel of his fangs sinking slowly into your skin, not puncturing or causing you to bleed, but causing a bruise to form when he finally pulled away, your breasts now slicked with his saliva and one marked with his teeth.

His breath was unsteady now, his eyes blown out of proportion, hiding the yellow color behind those black voids of a pupil. His eyes rake over your form, smugly enjoying how flushed you look with wet, kiss-bitten lips, tangled hair, and scrunched eyebrows, Sitting back on his hunches and taking it all in, So'lek's eyes finally land on your lower half, your thigh muscles clenching at the way his expression turns to hunger.

He hooks his fingers into the hem of your bottoms and helps peel them off your legs, again, showing his disapproval when his need to see all of you is obstructed by your panties.

His hands reach down to grab a hold of the panties, but you find enough willpower to remember to pull away as you fix him a stern look, "I am not letting you rip these."

He scoffed half-heartedly, "They are already ruined," he emphasizes this by gently beginning to rub a finger over your clothed clit, the bold movement surprising you enough to forget your words and gasp out in pleasure. The movement of his fingers sent your head spiraling, unaware you were so worked up to the point that a simple touch had you needy for more. He leans over you, keeping his finger's speed steady as his voice whispers into your ear, "Do you not feel how soaked and uncomfortable they feel?"

You groan in response, silently agreeing that the wet fabric rubbing against your most sensitive area wasn't as pleasant as say his fingers. Part of you wanted him to rip the panties off you so he could quickly return to drawing circles and figure eights over your clit, but the more logical part in your head reminded you that underwear was more crucial than a bra for everyday life. You wiggle your hips and with So'lek's help, you manage to get the panties off at least one of your legs and let it dangle around your other ankle before kicking it off all the way.

So'lek's breath stuttered as he stared down at the tight, shiny wet cunt between your legs, so small that his thumb nearly envelops half of it as he continues to play with your now bare clit. The slick makes it easier to rub and your moans slip out of your mouth without a fear of anyone else hearing. The thought of being able to let you make as many lewd noises as possible without anyone around sent a thrill up his spine.

He found himself moving until he was lying on his stomach, his head inching forward between your legs. Once you realized his intentions, your body began to writhe with anticipation, a little nervous but wanting this all the same. His hot breath fanned down the inside of your leg and gusting over your pussy, making your inner walls unconsciously clench around nothing.

When you felt the wet warmth of his tongue run up the seam of your pussy, you're startled into moaning up at the ceiling, "Fuck, So'lek--"

"Mm..." he mumbled, the vibrations sent straight into your heat and making your skin tingle. He's unashamed of how loud he was being, drinking you up like he's a man trapped in the desert, his moans and tongue causing the most erotic sensation that you have never felt before. His tongue dips into your greedy hole as a gasp is stolen from your lungs.

He hummed as if he just tasted the sweetest fruit, "Kalin."

"Oh, God..." You respond, moving your hips to press further into his mouth. He doesn't seem to mind and eagerly takes as much of you as he can, pressing his nose into your clit as he licks up what he could only describe as your sweet nectar.

He takes it a step further once he knows you're wet and ready and inserts a finger into your entrance, slowly pushing it despite there wasn't much resistance yet. He carefully watched the way you bucked and arched your back as if your body was trying to decide to pull away or push for more. Your eyes were closed, wanting to just feel every sensation, the bottom of your stomach already warm and fluttery. Once So'lek added a second of his large fingers, he felt a tiny stretch against the initial ring of muscle, but it gave way barely a second later and welcomed him into your tight warmth. He slowly pulls his fingers in and out, trying to commit the sound of you and your responsive body to memory, all the while licking up your slick and pressing his nose into your clit.

It felt as though he was in several places at once, and the growing ache was igniting a pleasant, burning fire within you. Every lick and every thrust of his fingers were barreling you closer to some unforeseen peak, threatening to push you over the edge. You rock your hips against his face, thighs beginning to tremble around his head. He moaned deep into your pussy as he felt the muscle of your inner thighs flex and pressed down tightly around him. It was glorious and exhilarating, driving So'lek to pump his fingers in and out of you, faster and faster.

"Ah~!" You jolt, hands quickly reaching down and tangling into his hair, helping you thrust your hips more closely into his face. The sounds coming from your mouth and pussy was so obscene, normally, you'd feel embarrassed, but right now you weren't even paying attention. You were more focused on grinding into So'lek's face, chasing after your own release, feeling it rise and rise as the coil begins to dangerously tighten.

"So'lek--" Your plea is abruptly cut off by a moan escaping your lips, your body trembling in response to him curling his fingers just right inside of you. It drove you into a frenzy, now grinding your hips faster as you cried out, "So'lek! Do that again-- fuck... I'm so close..."

He moans, going even faster while repeating the movements you begged him to mimic, his tongue eager to lap you up and taste everything you could give him. Your fingers tighten in his hair and the sensation nearly makes his eyes rolls back, more eager than ever to feel and see you finish.

You're unable to warn him as your climax barely had time to build up before it snapped and let go, your screams of pleasure filling up the lab as your pussy pulses and sends waves of hot ecstasy up and down your body. The whole time your orgasm clings to you, so does So'lek, his tongue and fingers still working in and out of you, riding out your high. He groans when you spill into his mouth, your thighs uncontrollably shaking all around him and your pretty little noises add to his already aching cock.

By the time you're beginning to relax and turn to jelly in his hands, he finally pulls his mouth away, gasping deeply for air only to choke and remember than he needed the breathing mask around his neck to do so. Licking his lips, he brings the mask up to his face and takes long, deep breaths, in and out, closing his eyes and moaning when his smells you on his own breath. Opening his eyes, he finds you with your eyes still closed and a small, satisfied smile on your face. It feels as though he has no choice when he leans down to kiss you, wishing to feel that sweet, irresistible smile with his own lips. You hum lightly, kissing back with your hands gently soothing his scalp where you had initially pulled his hair, a soft moan escaping his lips when the soreness is slowly massaged away. You can feel his moan on your lips, the taste of his tongue intoxicating once you realize he tasted like you. You shift underneath him, needing more as your hands move to start disrobing his chest pieces and loincloth.

"Mawey..." he moaned softly, even as his hips moved to give you better access to his tewng.

Despite not understanding him completely, you could tell by his tone that he wanted you to slow down. You had to crane your neck to peer up at him, and suddenly his reluctance immediately caves, his heart clenching with the way you stare up at him with half-lidded eyes, long eyelashes, and wet lips. He manages to unclip his vest before diving back in to kiss you, savor you, his large hands on either side of your face, fingers raking into your hair.

You sigh in content, closing your eyes while you return the passionate effort, trying not to get distracted as your hands begin to untie his loincloth. You feel him before you can see him, both of you pulling out of the kiss to gasp as your hand grabs a hold of his cock. The fact that your hand couldn't fully wrap around the width told you all you needed to know, and once you caught a glimpse of him, your mouth began to water.

Your fingertips and thumb were nearly an inch apart, unable to touch. Maybe it was your imagination, but the only thing you could compare to describe the size of So'lek's cock was your own forearm, much to your distress and excitement. There was no way he was going to fit, but by Eywa, you needed to try.

Using your free hand, you gently grab the back of So'lek's neck and pull him in for another kiss, just to be sure he didn't make any other protests. For added measure, you slowly move your other hand up and down his length, causing full body shivers to erupt across his back. You catch a bead of precum at the tip and slather it over his cock, making your movements easier on his sensitive, uncut skin.

It was easier to coherce him than you originally thought it would, moving the both of you until you were flat on your back, bean bag forgotten, with So'lek hovering above you, his hips flush between your legs. His cock stood tall between your bodies as your hand continued to move up and down the impressive length. His eyes squeeze shut, a small snarl on his lips as a growl runs through him. Both of his hands are planted on either side of your head, holding him up as he tries to regain control of himself, enjoying your touch but trying to restrain the overbearing thoughts that involve plunging deep inside of you no matter how loud you scream.

"Ma'kalin... I do not want to hurt you."

"Please..." you whimper desperately, hand moving up and down his cock faster while you arch your back to try and get closer, "I need you... I promise to tell you my limits."

He paused to consider this, opening his eyes to watch yours for anything, and all he could see was your lust and desperation for him. His ears lower, wondering what he did to deserve such a need for him, and how he could've possibly deserved it. Regardless of his inner demons, his own need for you clouds most of his usual judgments and he surrenders to you, nodding once before spitting into his hand and gently moving your hand off of his cock. You both moan as his hand rubs up and down his length, and hopefully the saliva and pre cum you had spread earlier would be enough to slip inside your tight heat with ease.

You sit up, and for a moment he's alert at the idea you are changing your mind, but you smile and grab his mask, lifting it up to his mouth, "Take a breath first."

"Curse this thing," he mutters under his breath, his tail twitching behind him at the soft sound of your laugh. He does as he's told and takes a deep breath before letting the mask fall back around his neck.

He lies you back down as your lips meet once more, tilting your head to deepen the kiss. Your movements stalled when you felt the tip of his cock press on your clit before slowly dragging down toward your entrance, making your breath hitch in anticipation.

So'lek parts from the kiss and briefly brushes his lips over your soft cheek, "Now it is your turn to take a breath."

You nod obediantly, expanding your lungs as you deeply inhale just as he began to press his cock into your pussy. Your hands immediately fly up to hang onto So'lek's hair once more when you felt your pussy begin to stretch around his cock, his movements so agonizingly slow but you appreciated it once that ring of muscle that held his length like a vice grip in your entrance began to burn. You slowly exhale, albiet a little shaky at the uncomfortable stretch. Looking down, your internally horrified that he's barely two inches inside of you. A soft whimper escapes your throat and So'lek is swift to reassure you, dipping his head into the crook of your neck while his hand reaches between your bodies to gently rub your clit to ease the pain.

"I know..." his presses a kiss into the side of your neck, "I know. You are doing so well, ma'kalin, taking my cock so well..."

You mewl beneath his praise, taking a better, deeper breath as he pushes another inch inside. The burn isn't as painful and as his thumb continues to rub your clit, the stretch almost feels arousing. You already want to move your hips up to meet his, but you remain still instead, hellbent on the idea of getting him to fit in as much as possible before doing anything else.

It's a few minutes of patience and determination, but eventually, you can feel the tip of So'lek's cock breach the top of your cervix, bumping into that special, spongy spot that makes you whimper with pleasure.

"By Eywa..." So'lek groans quietly into your neck, "Feel yourself, ma'kalin."

You do as your told and reach down to where you know his thumb is currently rubbing your clit, only to pause when you felt something unfamiliar on your body. A large protrusion beneath your skin, sticking out of your abdomen. You look down between your bodies and moan. So'lek was only able to fit his cock a little over halfway in, and whatever he could fit was now forming a large bulge in your belly. You reach and press down on the bulge, the instant response was So'lek gripping tightly onto your hips.

"You..." he sounds as though he's been punched, groaning when you unintentionally squeeze around him until he finds his words, "You are so tight. I can feel every inch of you squeezing my cock."

"Does it hurt?" You ask with a small hint of worry.

A small quiver of a smile rises in the corner of his mouth, able to hide it in your shoulder as his kisses a small freckle on your skin, "In a good way. Always a good way. Keep tightening around me and I might finish without even moving."

A staggered breath escapes your lips, closing your eyes just to feel it all. The feel of being so full, the feel of his finger on your clit, the feel of his large body on top of you, both of your bodies moulded together, despite difference in size. Your gummy walls clench, and you feel the way his cock twitches in response, followed by a small snarl that released from deep in So'lek's chest. Your hands gently card through his hair and be sure to avoid his kuru when you guide him out of the juncture of your neck to look at him. You're not disappointed by his expression, his hairless brow pinched together in blissful agony, a small bead of sweat dripping down from his forehead and over the scar on the side of his face. You find your fingers following the pattern of the scar, tracing it and catching the bead of sweat, wiping it away.

He opens his eyes at your small gesture, staring wide eyed at you as if he had made some sort of new discovery. Your stomach fluttered in response, meeting his gaze as a roar of need waves through you. Without breaking eye contact, you move your hips and it only helps his cock slip further inside you.

He nearly buckled then and there, startled to the point he needed to remember to hold himself above you so you wouldn't be crushed. He growls deep in his throat, the bridge of his muzzle scrunched up as he grit his teeth. Unbeknowst to him, his reaction made your heart skip a beat, and if he wasn't already buried deep inside you, your legs would've no doubt clenched together to relieve the heat beginning to grow. Taking your hint, So'lek begins to moves his hips, pulling out and only going as far to leave the tip inside before sliding back in, your stuttering breaths mingling together as the ridges of his cock bumps and fits in all of the grooves of your aching walls, creating the most erotic friction you knew no toy could ever recreate. The idea of this man ruining all other sexual experiences for you was both enticing and mournful, knowing you would never be able to properly get yourself off ever again. Then again, you wouldn't mind always having to go to him in order to climax from here on out. Just as long as he felt the same.

Slick with sweat, your bodies slide together as So'lek finally starts to pick up the pace, the sound of skin slapping together filling up the lab that was your little corner of paradise. Each of his thrusts punches a moan out of you, your hands moving to get a better grip on his body, only to leave long and angry scratch marks up and down his back, your legs wrapped tightly around his hips.

The pleasant sting of your nails only encourages So'lek to rut more roughly into you, growling and snarling in your ear, an animalistic desire driving him to chase after your cervix with every thrust. The instinct to mark you all over clouded his mind, but he purposely clenched his jaw to refrain from doing so. For now, the scent he already left on you would be enough to mark his claim. It was also driving him to his climax quicker than he wanted, not when he wanted you to reach yours first. It wasn't just a want. It was a need for him.

Needing to help you reach your peak faster, he puts his hands and tongue to work. He had to hunch a little uncomfortably to reach his intended target, but it was all worth it when one hand was figioursly rubbing your clit while his tongue swirled around one of your nipples, driving the coil in your stomach to start winding up unbearably tight, already oozing out small waves of ectsasy like warm honey.

"So'-- fuck!" You gasp, your body already beginning to shake, "I'm going to come--"

"Do it," he growled out, unintentionally turning the phrase into an order as his hips stutter before returning to their previous pace, "Come on my cock, sevin 'eve. Let me... by Eywa-- hear how good I make you feel."

His cock rams right into the best spot inside of you, your screams heightened as you began to see stars, "Fuckfuckfuck!"

You grab onto the only thing you could reach, his forearms, and let yourself go. Your toes curl as the coil inside you snaps, sending wave after wave of pounding pleasure through you from head to toe, flooding all of your other senses with the rush of your high, making your head feel light. Your mouth had fallen open in a silent scream, too overwhelmed to make any other sounds.

Your pussy was clenching and unclenching around So'lek's cock as you come, and the sight of you made his own head feel dizzy. The breathy groans he lets out makes your walls clench tighter around him, and after a few more quick thrusts, he's burying his cock as deep as he could get and spilling inside your already full pussy, painting your pulsating walls in large streams of white. He has to remove his hands from your body to keep himself upright, and even then you faintly notice the way his arms shake from such intensity. You two take those few moments to remain still, basking in your shared orgasms, panting heavily and not wanting to move if it meant the high would fade faster.

You had thought he had emptied everything inside you, but when he slowly and agonizingly pulled out, he was still spilling out a few short streams of cum and they end up landing onto your stomach, his cock twitching as he watched his essence stream down your skin and leak out of your pussy. His heart was still racing and his muscles were tense, unable to relax as his cock continued to twitch as he tried to catch his breath.

You take pity on him and move your arms around his frame, manovering him until he's lying on his side next to you. His muscles finally relax once he's not holding himself up, groaning quietly once he manages to press his mask to his mouth and take another breath.

He's reaching for you tiredly even before he's letting the mask drop around his neck, "I will clean you up..."

"Not now," you reply, boldly curling up into his chest to keep warm once the air in the lab had cooled down. You close your eyes and smile to yourself, "Just take your time. I'm in no rush."

He's hesitant at first, but he eventually wraps his arms around you, trying not to think too hard about this little tawtute currently safe in his embrace, your breathing starting to slow as you're finally relaxed enough to go to sleep, using his chest to rest your head. With the cloud of lust lifting, his mind is at war while his heart is at peace. He knows he shouldn't be selfish after what just happened, but he secretly wishes to have this moment all the time. Every night with you would be marvelous... but he's not sure if that's what you want, despite having just fucked you silly.

He lets himself be selfish for a little while longer, just for tonight, his fingertips lightly following the path down your spine, creating goosebumps on your skin, and lulling you to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~

Reference photos for the field lab HERE!

MASTERLIST