But who would have thought a jarhead like me could crack the code. Before we knew it, we had five; Neteyam, Kiri, then Lo'ak and Attiah, and little Tuktirey. When we sent the sky people back to Earth, a few of them stayed. Science guys loyal to the Na'vi.
And then there was Spider. He was just stuck here. Too young for a cryo-capsule. Orphaned by the war, he was raised by the lab guys. He wasn't part of our family. He was like a stray cat just always around. Inseparable from our kids. To Neytiri, he would always be alien. One of them.
"He belongs with his own kind."
‿︵‿︵ . ⋅ ˚̣- :・❉・ : -˚̣⋅ .‿︵‿︵
"It's mine!"
"I had it first!"
"Why do I have to give it to you?"
Took a few years to get the language through my thick skull.
"It's mine!"
"Lo'ak, you liar! Give it to me!"
But now when I hear it, might as well be English.
"I hate you!"
"I hate you times infinity! Lo'ak! Penis face!
Lo'ak screams at Kiri's insult while Jake scolds his children for fighting, "Hey, hey, that's enough. Don't make me come over there." He looks through his eyebrows at his kids who are still holding onto the toy they were fighting over.
Attiah, sitting close next to him with her lands in her lap, has a bandage wrapped around her forearm from a previous fall. Her eyes, full of youth, scrunch in the corners as she laughs quietly at her family and Kiri's use of a bad word.
Lo'ak huffs, letting go of the toy dramatically while throwing his hands up and walking away. Jake, Attiah, and Kiri all turn to watch him leave. Kiri, happy she got the toy, shrugs her shoulders, a satisfied smile resting on her lips while she turns the other way.
‿︵‿︵ . ⋅ ˚̣- :・❉・ : -˚̣⋅ .‿︵‿︵
"Ow! Ma,"
"Hold still, child," Neytiri holds strands of Attiah's longer hair between her delicate fingers very tightly while the girl whines. Her hair was in need of a fresh new set of braids, therefore, Neytiri ordered her daughter to sit front of her for the next few hours while she redid them.
"Sorry." Attiah looks up from her lap to see her twin brother already looking at her mischievously. He pokes his tongue out at her suffering, laughing silently thinking his mother was oblivious to his teasing of his sister.
"Don't get too excited Lo'ak. You're next." Neytiri smirks discreetly while Lo'ak's face drops. Attiah laugh outwardly, trying not to move her head while also sticking her tongue out at Lo'ak.
‿︵‿︵ . ⋅ ˚̣- :・❉・ : -˚̣⋅ .‿︵‿︵
"How tall is he?"
Goes by too fast. Like a dream.
"He's that tall," Jake says gruffly while his oldest son is stood with his back to the tree and Jake uses a knife to cut where Neteyam's height is. As he is the oldest and tallest out of the kids, this is a very exciting thing for them to see where their brother is, and in Spider's case, friend is.
Neteyam stands back to smile and Kiri releases an impressed laugh, the other kids joining in. All with smiles.
‿︵‿︵ . ⋅ ˚̣- :・❉・ : -˚̣⋅ .‿︵‿︵
Jake sets up the camera borrowed from the lab guys, pressing the countdown button while the rest of the family get into position. Neteyam and Attiah grab Lo'ak by either arm to put him into his place while he scowls. He's not as bad as Kiri who has to be dragged into the photo by Neytiri.
"Smile skxawng." Neteyam says, wrapping his arm behind Lo'ak's back where Attiah can feel a smile growing on her twin brother's face next to her out of her peripheral vision.
A genuine smile rests on her lips before and after the flash. The family gather around to look at the picture, and pleasantly, everyone is smiling. Even Kiri, who although, still looks so obviously forced.
‿︵‿︵ . ⋅ ˚̣- :・❉・ : -˚̣⋅ .‿︵‿︵
Happiness is simple. But the thing about happiness...
It can vanish in a heartbeat.
‿︵‿︵ . ⋅ ˚̣- :・❉・ : -˚̣⋅ .‿︵‿︵
END OF PROLOGUE :)
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