lii. we are only children
╰ avatar: the way of water

Neteyam felt Kiri poke at his side where a bruise was forming from one of the many hits he had taken. He winched, eyes screwing shut as he continued to walk towards the mariu pod that he and his family were living in. He wouldn't look up, scared and ashamed to meet the eyes of the Metkayina warriors that surrounded him. He knew they went against Jakes words of staying out of trouble, especially with them getting into a fight with the Olo'teykan's son. Despite the pain spreading across his body; his heart still hurt from the rude things others had said, but he felt a warm feeling of pride for standing up for himself and his family.

Jake's voice was loud and echoed through the pod, he wasnglaring at the kids standing before him and Odessa, "What's the one thing we asked? The one thing!" His gaze was fixated on his two children, Inkire and Lo'ak. Although he did gaze towards his niece and nephew, his anger was much more directed towards his two children.

Neteyam didn't lift his gaze away from the floor, burning holes into the ground underneath his feet. He could feel the heat from his mothers eyes - he knew that she was so protective of her family that she would do anything for them - so when he went against what his mamma had said and got into trouble, it definitely didn't help how he felt.  He gazed upwards when he felt the heat of his mammas gaze, only he was met with a soft one instead.

Lo'ak locked eyes with his father, lips pressed into a line. "Stay out of trouble—"

"Stay out of trouble!" Jake repeated Lo'ak's words, his tone coming out harsh and scary.

Neteyam always struggled when his uncle yelled at him, his siblings and his cousins. His heart would ache in pain and more often then not, despite having to keep a strong composure, he would shed a few tears and sniffle. Neteyam moved in front of the two siblings, facing his uncle with his head held up high. "It was my fault, sir."

Inkire called out her younger cousins name, unable to hold her voice as Neteyam took the blame for them both. ( normally it was her who took the blame, not Neteyam. Why would he do it now? ) "Neteyam ..."

Jake saw past his nephews actions, glancing back at the siblings behind his eldest nephew. He shook his head, sending a look to Odessa who was quick in stepping forward and joining his side. Jake frowned. "I don't think so. You've gotta stop taking the heat for these knuckleheads."

"Look, uncle Jake and Mamma, Ao'nung and his friends were picking on Kiri. He called her and Lo'ak freak, and Inkire an abandoned child." The Everett boy exhaled sharply, his eyes not leaving his mamma and uncle. At the mention of their names, both Lo'ak and Inkire look upwards and let their vision rest in Neteyam who was insisting it was his fault. "I started it. It is my fault. They both were only trying to help me."

Odessa sent her son a soft smile; yes she wasn't happy that he had managed to get into a fight with the chiefs son, but she was happy that he stood up for his family. "Go apologize to Ao'nung."

"Apologize?" Neteyam tilted his in confusion. His mother wasn't going to yell at him? Jake wasn't going to yell at him?

"He's the chief's son, baby. Go make peace, all of you." Neteyam nodded and walked out of the pod with his two cousins trailing behind him.

🌍

"What's wrong, baby?" Odessa sits beside Kiri, dipping her feet into the water underneath her. Plants glow, illuminating everything around her. Kiri responds with silence, prompting Odessa to speak again.  Odessa knows how much her daughter and Spider had bonded over the many years they grew up together. They were two peas in a pod. "Is it spider? Do you miss him?"

Kiri nods, wiping her tears as she does so. "Yes, but that is not it Mamma."

"Talk to me baby, what's hurting your heart." Odessa becoming a mother had changed her in so many ways. She was never this soft, this kind, this caring when she was human. Maybe it wasn't becoming a mother necessarily but instead being permanently transferred to her Avatar.

"I feel her, Mamma."  Kiri breathes out, swishing her feet back and forth in the water. Her eyes catching a glimpse of the fish that moved along with her actions.

"Who?"

"Eywa." Kiris lips turn downwards in a frown. "I hear her breathing. I hear her heartbeat. She's so close, she's just there ... like a word about to be spoken." The daughter inhales, her hands resting against her thighs as she mentally prepares herself for her mamma to say something — good or bad. "You think I'm crazy."

"So, what does Eywa's heartbeat sound like?" Odessa softly asked her daughter Kiri. The mothers head was tilted to the side, her smaller braids swinging slightly. "Baby?"

Kiri pondered what to say. She's always felt like a freak, an outcast, someone who was weird and crazy for what she felt on the inside of her heart and soul. Kiri thought she was crazy. Crazy to believe that she could hear the all mother, Eywa, heartbeat as if he were so close. Like she could reach out and touch it.

What was supposed to be something smaller, a comforting hug and conversation, had turned into a confession. One that flipped a switch inside Odessa's brain, telling her that her daughter was more special than anyone could ever imagine. She and her mate knew she was different from her unknown, yet miraculous birth. But this, what she had just learnt, was something more incredible, more magical.

"Mighty." Kiri whispered, looking up at Odessa with eyes that resembled a new born baby. Bright and full of life and wonder. She felt relieved that she could tell her mamma what she felt and knew.

Before either could say anything more, Neteyam came barreling though the area with Ao'nung in tow. Neteyam switched his eyesight between Ao'nung, Kiri and his mamma, "Tell him what you told me! Now."