𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐞𝐟 || ʟᴏ'ᴀᴋ

020

Se'aeylwa

My mother stood, her face scrunched with rage as she loked at me more furiously than I had ever known she could muster.
Neytiri stood alert, quickly striding to the large bow that I had nearly knocked over, and holding it protectively in her grasp.

"How dare you come back after all this time! The audacity to even consider it after you killed your father!" She screams like a rabid beast, eliminating the distance between us a sharp sting erupted through my cheek, the loud sound of contact ran through the area as everyone remained still, and I didn't know if it was because my mother, without context had yelled I had killed my father, or if they where shocked at how easily she slapped me. 

I became aggravated quickly, quicker than I ever thought I could. I smiled in absolute rage as I looked up at her, chuckling at her actions, she must've noticed the glint in my eyes change from a calm sadness to the fire of a thousand suns as I rubbed a hand to my now tender cheek.

"He would've died whether I followed him or not" I say, monotone anger dripping from my tongue, this makes her even more enraged as she grips at my shoulders. 

"It was your fault!" She yells once more.

I chuckle once more, closing my eyes before opening them, trying to reign in the fire buring in my soul. 

"If you don't remember mother let me remind you. He went to visit his spirit brother after you had an argument with him, you where the one to tell him to calm himself with the tulkun, and you where the one who asked me to check up on him. If anything it sounds like you where the one to lead him to his death"

I hear a small gasp as I quickly see Tuk hiding behind Kiri in the corner of my eye, staring terrified at the woman in front of us. Neytiri's hand clamps harder against the wood of the bow each and every second, as Jake holds both of his sons back from doing something they may regret. My mother stands still, and I would've sworn in the moment that I saw steam fuming from her ear. She let go of me in disgust as she scoffs. 

"You are so disrespectful, that you don't even stand in the presence of your own mother!" she seethes, as if she's grasping onto pieces of loose seaweed, trying to confirm how much of a problem child I was. The comment made my head spin, if she where a good mother, and reached out to me in a kind matter, she would know, but of course, nothing is kind with her. I take a moment of silence to observe her. 

She had attained many more wrinkles over her time without me, and tattoo's bloomed across her body, signs of victory and strife. There where much more than I remembered, and I wouldn't be surprised if a woman like her had found a new mate. 

Finding a new mate in Metkayina culture was considered a true act of betrayal, discarding you're mate and replacing him or her with a new one. And I knew she had done exactly just that when I noticed another mating tattoo on her neck. I cringed at the thought, she probably had more children too, maybe even the son she always wanted. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that my father, the man who had been deeply in love with this woman and cared for her like no other, was simply forgotten about by her. 

I knew if the roles where reversed it would not be the same. 

"Do you even visit him?" I softly ask, my face set with a small sliver of hope she was going to say 'yes'. But she scoffs once again. 

"I have no need to, he is buried with our ancestors, there is simply no point. Why do you ask, are you that desperate?" She asks. 

I shake my head in disappointment, looking at the woman I once loved, and who loved me. 

"I ask because now I know you have turned your back on the Metkayina way's, you are much more honourable of banishment now than I ever was" I seethe. This seems to strike a cord with her as she towers over me, trying to assert dominance, I once again feel embarrassed to call this woman my mother as I notice she had removed both my father, and myself form her flimsy songcord. 

"Stand Se'aeylwa, you're coming with me! I can't wait to see what the Olo'ekytan says about disrespecting your elders" She says, gripping my arms with a harsh force as she tries to pull me up, I remain useless as she pulls me, yet I don't move.

"Stand you skxawng!" She demands, I find the energy to push myself away from her as I land on the harsh floor, It seems as if Jake is frozen in shock as Lo'ak bursts through him and crouches next to me, helping me sit up correctly. He takes this moment to stand his ground as he blocks me from the mad woman's view. Neteyam understands what his brother is doing as he does the same, standing next to him, and so does Kiri. 

"Move you forest children!" She hisses. 

"She is my daughter! I deserve to be able to punish her accordingly!"

She's silenced as Neytiri and Jake finally snap out of their daze and group with their children. 

"You will not harm or touch a single hair on her head" She warns, making it obvious to her she was wielding a weapon she knew how to use.

"You can not tell me what or what not to do with my child!" My mother hisses once more. The two woman start seething and hissing at one another trying to assert dominance as Jake hisses louder than the both of them combined. All attention is turned to him as he stares disapprovingly at my mother. 

"You will not harm her while she is under our protection" He orders, I understand what Tuk meant the other day when she described her father, he was the Olo'ekytan of their past clan, and it was obvious that he reeked with power and authority. 

I feel a slight moment of relief as she storms out of the marui, disappearing from out sight. I sigh in relief. 

She's gone.