ronal’s mother (who we’ll call fe'ahn) and your aunt were partial friends, ones where your aunt would help fe'ahn with the smaller ceremonies; more commonly funerals

sometimes they would gather together, but their visits to one another were far between as one preferred isolation, and the other being tsahik

and yettt, guess who was always with fe'ahn? that’s right!! ronal

and guess who was always with their aunt? you!!

so, on every occasion that your aunt went to the tsahik marui or healing tent- you were both there, hovering around each other while watching fe'ahn nurture wounds and your aunt weave baskets for the ceremonial flowers, or braid new nets for the gatherers

but she was a shy child, one that would rarely speak to the lesser known children of the clan

you were not, however

and so, you would sit by her after only moments of being in the marui and try to poke conversation out of her

it would not work and you knew it wouldn’t everytime you tried; the tsahik was strict with the rules in her healing pod, where chat was not welcomed while she healed those who were hurt

but you were young and not much of an authority pleaser, so you would still try

over time you became bored with watching fe'ahn heal wounds and care for the needy, so you would sit just outside- of course where aunty could see you - and puppy-eye ronal to sit with you when her sa'nok had little chores for her

and she would

she never talked much because there would always be a point where she would have to mash a paste, or grab an ointment, or perhaps a family member of the patient

but she divulged you when she could, and you enjoyed it greatly

it made you so happy knowing that you had this little friendship with her, something of deepening relation the more you met outside of your family’s meetings

while ronal had many friends, she did not regularly express secrets, or her wishes, dreams and nightmares that wore her down with them

but you? you were something that warmed her, made her feel happy even in the dullest moments

fe'ahn began to notice, only from the slight curl or wag of her tail when you entered their family mauri to give gifts, or to ask for a few hours of ronal’s time to just play

she could see that you held similar reactions to one another; your ears would shoot up and fan towards ronal instantly when you saw her, something you used to do as a child when you saw your favourite toy

she (fa'ahn) would sometimes dream, as a result of her connection to eywa

usually these dreams had large and ceremonious meanings

but nearer to when you and ronal had turned 14 and 15, respectively, she dreamed of navi’s touching; holding hands, tsaheylu and a blurred, but much bigger stature na'vi than what she would have expected for you and ronal to grow into, crouched with a smaller figure jumping into their arms

she decided that was enough to understand that you and ronal were to be mated

but not enough to make ceremony of it

there was the distinct feeling of something else

and as eywa’s interpreter, she made sense of it after time

the picture of the bigger stature grew more frequent in her dreams, and at the sacred tree

the flashes of images of the three figures, two of which she easily guessed, became less blurred and did not disappear so quickly

allowing her to ponder for seconds longer

but

by the time it got to the point where she had a good idea on who the larger figure was

there was no need

she had passed both you and ronal by so many times in your little corner of awa'atlu

she wondered how she never saw the third figure

one that grasped at the both of you so delicately; on soft hand that thumb the nape of your neck, and the other which curled delicately at the hip of the metkayina’s tsakarem

one which matched so well in her visions, her sweet sweet dreams

perhaps she unconsciously turned a blind eye? seeing her daughter grow so quickly and fit so well in the arms of two mates was something her mind did not want to ponder on

all three of you mated when you were in your early 20s

only a bit later than expected considering how long you had courted each other

you didn’t mind

but ronal was the more impatient one out of the three so there was always this constant whining to you when she began to get more sick of years long courting rituals

it didn’t matter now, as all three of you had aged past said point and grown into your respective roles

with her mothers position, ronal became the highly awaited tsahik while tonowari and you were the olo'eyktan’s

the duties of clan leader were spread evenly between both of you, where duties varied on who did what every other day to make sure neither were overworked with any of the heavier activities

when your sweet little tsireya was born, she was made tsarkem, so lighter duties of tsahik went over to her; you made sure she was not to touch any wounds (gruesome ones) until she was older; her younger years would not be subject to boiling and infected injuries, or the over scented oils of handmade medicinals

but before then, you and wari would make sure to help ronal with her duties when she was beginning to become overworked

commonly, both of you helped more when ronal was carrying ao'nung

even in the early stages, you specifically ensured that she sat in something comfortable, and that there was something warm for her joints considering she kneeled a lot

unfortunately for you, she became more flustered the further along the pregnancy went

so she would constantly slap your hands away from her waist and hiss whenever you or wari tried to help her stand up or sit down

neither of you took it to heart and would just smile softly at her before reaching out again, knowing that she genuinely would need the help to kneel or stand considering her ankles got sore easily

while waiting for ao'nung to be born, you would take the time to find new shells and beads from your hefty basket to create his own waytelem

there were a few shells set aside for when he was birthed and for the achievements he would make in his early years

but most of the space on his waytelem after his first year would be left with no beads set aside, as you all wanted him to pick his own out considering he would have the capacity for walking and talking by his second year of life

when he was born, you didn’t have time to garner whether he looked most like tono or ronal

you were enamoured with his chubby cheeks, and the way his lips were constantly pursed

or even the way his eyes roved around your face whenever you held him, occasionally looking up at the roof which held lots of dangling trinkets and large courting carvings that his parents had made for one another

when ronal had tsireya in the small amount of time after ao'nung, tonowari would, more often than not, take at least one (he was berated for taking them both) of his children out onto warm sand while you coddled and swooned over the other

all of this took place in the front of the marui where, even when pasting and gauzing wounds, ronal would keep close eye on the both of you

you were both always soft, of course, you just had the slight ailment to play with them like they were older and walking, rather than month olds who still needed their heads held properly

when both the children were around 11 and 12, all three of you had (what you believed) was one more (it wasn’t xoxo)

äpo was a sweet boy

shyer than ronal had been when you were just children

and had behaviour which you could only describe as clingy

he was always around your legs, across your lap, wrapped to your front or tugging at the ends of your tail as he played a day-long game of 'following the leader’

you adored it

he did the same with the rest of your family

he would constantly be snuggled into tonowari’s back or stomach, claiming he was the warmest of the three of you so therefore he was his bed for the night (and every night after that, you should have never crafted him a hammock considering it was never touched)

if not tonowari or you, he was with ronal

he was next to her, silent as a mouse as she created pastes

she would softly demand for another bowl, or a herb to further crush into

he had a niche taste for holding onto the hair of her kuru, admiring the pretty blue stone on top of her hair- the one you had picked and carved for her

when she took it out, she would temporarily pass it onto him

where he would squeal and hold it out onto any light that was available to watch it sparkle

when the six (banging like rabbits damn) of you slept, you would all always cuddle into the netting which tonowari and constructed in the corner of your mauri

it was supposed to be a sitting spot, or something for a single person taking a nap

but the netting was always filled with these soft things, you believe ronal would pick them up when she used to go deeper into the forest of the back of your island, and they were just too irresistible to not sleep on everyday

so the netting expanded, taking up a large section of your home (prime time to take down the netting and sleep on the floor like everyone else dum dums)

and the three of you would be suffocated with your mini’s

äpo would roll across the three of you at the start of the night

ao'nung would be under your arm on the edge of the net, saying that 'it’s too warm’ to be cuddled under both you AND ronal (sleeps in the middle because she deserves the attention of everyone)

tsireya would be between wari and ronal

she would usually wrap her tail around ronal’s calf while her hands cuddled around her fathers stomach

again, he was an oven so he was like her own heating pad

only äpo would move about in the night, where he would take turns of sleeping on the bottom of everyone, the top, and on the sides, before finally resting with his siblings

it was a comforting part of your day, knowing that all 6 of you were in one place, and so cosy-ed up? ronal would probably tell you you had a fever from how warm it made you feel

when the sully’s made their way over to your part of the reef you didn’t dare go to meet them, not curious enough to know why they were here or watch unsettled arguments arise with ronal and someone

when tsireya and ao'nung both came back, temporarily before they had to head out again, you had been braiding äpo’s hair as he decided to lay in the sand and RUB his head into it, so you had cleaned and moisturised it with oils

ao'nung was complaining as soon as he got in, talking about 'forest freaks’ and how he 'had better things to be doing as olo'eyktan’s son’

you’d click your tongue and pinch the root of his tail, where he’d hiss and pat your hand away

tsireya mentioned that 'wari had said they were going to train the sully kids, where she described each of them with such sweetness (especially this.. lo'ak?)

you left with them, standing on the edge of the shore where little äpo made large holes in the sand and squealed when you took him into the water to splash him

while playing, you would keep a keen eye on the children, watching your own kids help the others to breathe properly and swim

when it came to evening, you prompted the children to tell the three of you about their day with the sully’s, sitting your head comfortably on ronal’s thigh where you would caress her tattoo every now and then

ao'nung was never happy when he talked about the dark blue children, taking after ronal and her distaste in the whole family

tonowari was more neutral, appraising jakesully and his leadership role in their war and in his previous clan

you pressed him to tell you about them, considering you hadn’t met any of them yet

ronal made a face the whole time, harshly ripping her food apart before eating

so you’d swat her hip and shake your head every time you made eye contact with her

she would always get over it temporarily when you went to bed every night, the kids- minus äpo -went to their own mats, which left the four of you to dog pile on one another and talk softly before you slept

sleeping behind 'wari, you would run a finger across his shoulder blades and rub smooth circles into the heaviness of his back

he would keep one hand curled on the back of your knee where it was draped across his own leg, and the other hand rubbing the bottom of ronal’s baby bump

ronal always slept soundly, having tono’s warm palm smooth circles on aching joints which she lowly grumbled about hours prior

happiness would never last when there were demons in na'vi bodies running around the near islands and commandeering the ocean

you just didn’t realise it would hit your family so directly

ronal had come up to you, tears clumping her lash line as she softly patted the air above your chest, afraid to touch

you should’ve known when she took you out and the hunting and guarding members of your clan looked so sorrowful

if they had known, what else could it have been?

with the sounds that came out of your mouth, she may as well have been gutted

there was a blistering red object pinned to her hide, beeping in a frantic pace that matched your heart, while a larger orange cylinder hung off of her side

your eyes heart from how much you cried, and you couldn’t stop the warm hurting of your chest as you heaved frantic cries

ronal stayed back, taking the death of your sister badly considering her connection with the tulkun’s and eywa

tonowari wrapped an arm across the blades of your collarbone, having to pull you to his chest when you refused to move from her, ni'awtu, and take your eyes off of her rolled back ones

you never realise that jakesully and neytiri were even there until they glided past on an ilu, underneath your sweet sister, and took a look at the thick, red stick which beeped

'why jakesully,’ you would sob, 'why the tulkun? why her?’

neytiri couldn’t even look you in the eyes, you and ni'awtu reminded her too much of seze

jakesully would bounce back between your eyes and the ocean, fear of what he would feel if he looked too deeply, 'they are hunting us, drawing us out without causing too much collateral damage to get to us’

you did not know what collateral meant, but it sounded venomous on his tongue and riled up anger you had never felt before

you hissed and spat, clicking for the tsurak which tonowari sat on, sitting behind as you whispered, begged for him to take you back home

he did, with the three following behind you

over the short period of watching you sob your heart out on him, an anger only staged for war built into tonowari’s chest, where it heaved with a need of air as you all neared to the shore of awa'atlu

you stayed near tsireya and äpo while the clan shouted, holding an arm around the side of her face which nestled into your waist for comfort, and wrapping äpo into your other arm as he hid his face into your neck, whimpering every time the clans voices raised

they had never seen the clan so hostile, and it scared them

the sully’s tried to calm everyone, constantly being spoken over by the rage of clan members

their children begged for everyone to listen, and finally, listen they did

when jakesully finally vocalised his knowledge of what the demon na'vi were trying to do, and what would happen if the clan went to war the way they wanted, 'wari could only look at you and ronal for the final word, anger to thick to think clearly

ronal placed her hands in the crook of his arm and nodded

you looked at jakesully and neytiri

they were scared just like you, jakesully’s eyes begging for you to listen

giving them one last look, you pursed your lips and nodded to tonowari, 'tell the tulkun. now’.

everyone ran

in the midst of it all, you should’ve gone with tsireya and ao'nung

you knew their affiliation with the sully kids and you knew how much trouble they all got in together

only an hour before were you listening to tono’ retell the story of payakan to lo'ak

however, the first thing on your mind was to get äpo in to marui safe before you left to help your mates tell their brothers and sisters to leave

he was crying silently in your shoulder, where you rubbed his back in hopes that it would calm him

but the scene prior scared him so badly, and he was only a child

when you went to leave him in your home he sobbed louder, knowing you were about to go

'please don’t! i’m scared sa'sem..’

he cried and smeared his tears on your leg, screaming and clinging to you

you sighed sadly, 'sweet boy, i have to help sempu and sa'nu with the tulkun, you know this..’

'please don’t leave! i’m scared!’

so you stayed

'wari and ronal came into the marui soon after, kissing yours and äpo’s heads

you all sat near one another, äpo sniffling in his fathers shoulder as he snuggled into his side, ronal cutting up bright purple fruit for dinner while 'wari threaded a fishing net

it was peaceful, temporarily

yet, it was no wonder that the peace was disrupted by the sully’s once more

'the kids are under attack! they were defending a tulkun. it’s your kids too!’

you all rose, äpo looking around confused as he tried reaching out for one of your arms when you passed him

'sound the alarm!’ the hunting crew in front ran

you watched ronal gather her spears, blood pumping

'ronal no, please stay back’

she glowered, 'i ride!’

both you and 'wari watched as she ran to her tsurak, prepared defend her children and clan

'i will take äpo to a caretaker, you go’ he tilted his head, brows furrowed. 'i will fight tonowari. go, i will be with you in a moment. wait for me’

he huffed and quickly ran to grab his own spear

all the while, äpo was sobbing and shaking with tears, crying for any one of his parents to listen

'i’m so sorry yawntutsyìp, we have to go’

he thrashed in your arms, making it hard to carry him

so you laid him over your shoulder as you gathered the last spear on the rack, running across the walkway to a large marui that already held some of the younger children and elders

'oel ngati kameie, fotìsi’ 'be safe, olo'eyktan’

you signed respect to him and the other caretakers one last time, woefully ignoring your sons sobs before you yipped and ran to the shore

the rest of the clan was there, your tsurak obediently allowing you to connect the kuru’s together before you swam off

the synchrony of the clan and shared vigour might have been beautiful to observe if it weren’t for the circumstance

you did not remember much of the fight, only small parts

like watching your daughter and two of the sully kids strapped to the large ship’s railings

you would click your tongue, hoping she would respond back; chest feeling less heavy weight every time she did

you don’t remember how it went from jakesully riding on his own to the whole clan riding with him, but you remember the feeling of rage watching clan members fall into the ocean, seeing the fast speed of the demons weapons and how much damage they did

what you remember the most, however, was the moment where you reached out of the water after the ship crashed and began to flood, tailing it towards the three children

another of sully’s children had jumped onto the top of the ship as well, where you both worked swiftly to cut of the bright orange bands from their arms and wrists

'sa'sem!’

you kissed the cheeks of your daughter, laying your forehead on her own as you breathed in heavily, 'it’s okay, i’m here. you’re safe now..’

you looked over at the three sully’s, 'are you all okay?’

the smallest one looked on the verge of tears, so you swaddled her into your side and placed a hand on the top of her head

you looked back at the two, repeating yourself, not looking away until you got an answer

breathing in, you hummed and stood, 'we need to leave now, it is dangerous’

lo'ak shook his head, looking back into the ship

he turned to his brother 'they’ve got spider, we’ve gotta get 'im’

you chuffed, 'you are not going back in there! you need to leave with me.’

'he’s our brother, we need to get him!’

you hissed, turning back to the little girl and your daughter, 'go back home, take her back to her parents’

she opened her mouth to protest, you glowered and that was the end of it 'go, tsireya!’

as they ran off the ship you looked to the boys, 'neteyam, please go back home, i will help your brother.’

the brothers shared a glance, 'it’s that or i look for him myself. now go!’ a strange sound came out of the eldests mouth, something near a hiss but you believed it wasn’t out of disrespect

you turned back to lo'ak and allowed him to lead you to this 'brother’ of his, dodging the humans in large shiny suits with smaller metal pieces in their hands

you landed roughly on the ships floor, taking out some humans with your spear, others having flimsy masks ripped off of their faces

lo'ak grabbed 'spider’, a little human boy with pale, almost pink coloured skin, and bright hair that was styled in the same way to jakesully’s, before the three of you jumped down further into the ship

'thanks lo'ak’ you huffed, grabbing both their arms and pushing them 'let’s go! we need to leave now!’

in a sudden change of mood, from smiling to fear, lo’ak stared behind the human boys head, who whipped around quickly, eyes wide

'go!’

there was sudden fire, quick and loud, forcing the three of you to run left and hide round a corner

with the gun lo'ak had picked up previously, he aimed around the corner and sloppily shot rounds towards the two demon na'vi who breached towards you at a deadly pace

think think think

there was a large body of water in front of you, free of debris and no humans surrounding it

'this way!’ you grabbed both boys elbows and ran, throwing them in front of you into the water before you jumped

you ducked through a large piece of metal that forbade you from reaching air, breaching to the other side and placing both hands on the boys heads

'are you both okay?’ you tilted their heads to the side, looking over their chests and backs for any wounds

'yes, yes, we are fine. thank you’ it was sincere, no matter how sharply he said it

you turned at the sound of movement behind you 'tsireya!’

she opened her mouth to explain, but you shook your head and ducked it into the water; clicking loudly in hopes your tsurak was still close by

miraculously, it was

you slid on, making the bond, reaching a hand out to the human boy who graciously lept on the back and held on to your waist

both the ilu and your tsurak swept through the waves, trying to find neteyam, jake or neytiri

'wait wait! kiri and tuk are still back there!’ you felt your patience begin to thin considerably, did you not send tuk and her back home?

'we cannot go back! we need to at least find jakesully or take you all back to awa'atlu’

you made sure to keep eye contact with all the children

none of them would leave your sight while you were still here; they would be safe in your hands

they all obeyed, thankfully

you neared two dark blue figures near a rock edge, 'dad!’ and allowed the children to climb, giving the human leverage so he did not fall

you breathed out when you saw that neteyam was there too; you had kept them safe

swiftly, neytiri landed not soon later, grasping the face of her two sons, smothering their foreheads with kisses

unwilling to ruin the moment, you hesitated, 'jakesully…’

'your daughters, tuk and kiri, they are still on the ship…’

neytiri breathed as spider continued, 'the m-midship, at the moonpools’

'what?’ 'come with me, i’ll take you there!’

you motioned for tsireya to join you on the back of your tsurak, 'i will take the-’ 'wait, no!’ ’-kids back with me’

he nodded hurriedly to you, pushing lo'ak and neteyam towards you, 'go with her, go!’ he gave a stern look when they made a point of refusing

you motioned for neteyam to get onto the ilu, where he obediently connected and shuffled to let lo'ak on the back

'stay with them, i mean it lo'ak, do not leave’ 'yes, sir’

both parents plus spider took off while you watched, making sure they reached the ship before all of you left

you should’ve known it wouldn’t have been as simple as 'following the leader’

you should’ve sat on the ilu with lo'ak, made sure he didn’t do anything stupid

your lack of thinking meant he jumped off of the back of the ilu and started a fast pace towards the burning ship, 'lo'ak no, please!’

you saw neteyam beginning to swim the ilu towards him, but you grabbed him by the shoulder and shook your head venomously as your nostrils flared 'he will be fine, neteyam, we have to go back home..’

he breathed, watching lo'ak take the last few metres to swim before reaching the ship, turning back to you and setting a pace towards awa'atlu

signing in relief, you reached for tsireya’s hand, clinging tight

you had no idea what happened in the time you left that rockside and returned home

but when they returned, they looked so tired and drained, huddled close together with payakan huffing in the back as he nuzzled lo'ak

neteyam ran to them, and they all just seemed to collapse

with no need to worry anymore, you turned your attention to finding your family, holding tsireya close to your side

'wari! ronal!?’

your head turned on a constant pivot as you walked across the walkway, peeking in to the healers pod and where you had originally left äpo

'ao'nung!?’ they were fine, they had to be fine, so where were they?

you walked quickly to your marui, adjusting your hold on tsireya’s back, rubbing smooth circles with your thumb

you breathed out, a small smile settling on your face

they were all there, ao'nung sat outside on the edge of the walkway while äpo was curled in ronal’s lap, asleep, as she rested against tonowari’s shoulder

'you’re all okay..’ a sense of relief filled you and tsireya ran to her brother, crushing him in a hug as she sobbed

tonowari quickly stood up at the sound of your voice, dropping the items he was fiddling with

you ran, wrapping your arms around him and pressed your head as far into his chest as you could, ’tìyawn.. we didn’t know where you were’

'with jake, i was with jake’

he breathed in, rubbing a cold nose across the line of your jaw before pressing soft kisses to you forehead and eyes 'thank you, great mother’

'sa'sem!!’ a crash on your legs forced you and 'wari apart, where you quickly knelt down to pull your son into your arms and rush a hand through his hair, 'your braids have come undone yawntutsyìp…’

he shook his head, curling into your arms further as fingers scratched at your back, 'please don’t go again’

you hummed, commiting to a smoothing rhythm with your hand on the back of his neck

there was another crash, except it was on your back and a much larger figure

you felt more relief than you’d ever felt 'ao'nung, oh ma ao'nung. i missed you so much’

his nose was cold when he rubbed it against you back, having obviously been outside for a while

you took your hand off of äpo and delicately stroked ao'nungs shoulder, staring at him lovingly

you felt three hands touch on different parts of your body

tonowari had both his hands on your cheeks, where he stared down at you with a glimmer in his eyes, pressing more soft kisses to the side of your forehead

tsireyas hand touched the free side of your waist as she laid her head against ao'nungs on your back

ronal, your darling ronal, came to the free space on your left, where you were unable to hold her due to no free hands

instead, you curled your tail around her thigh, an adoring smile growing on your lips, 'ma’muntxate’

in such a content space, you could not bear to let go

so, you all sat in front of your marui, on a slither of the walkway, holding onto each other until eclipse neared and the children had to be put to bed

you rested in such undeniable comfort, the children in the middle while the three of you wrapped around them like a protective shrug

na'vi glossary –