Shooting Stars | Lo'ak¹

Chapter 10: Joy Ride

"I'm peachy," He said.

"Do you want help?" Ja'lia questioned.

"No, I want you to leave me here to wallow in my own self-pity," Lo'ak mumbled, causing Ja'lia to roll her eyes and grab one of his hands to hoist him up off the ground. Once she finally got him up, he removed his arm from his face and glared at her.

"I told you to just leave me," He whined.

"Stop being a baby," Ja'lia said, laughing.

Lo'ak opened his mouth to say something, but both of their ikrans decided to finally make an appearance, so he decided to keep his mouth shut.

Lo'ak and Ja'lia each walked over to their ikrans and greeted them.

"Hey, Tarya. Long time no see, huh?" Ja'lia greeted, and Tarya nuzzled her head against Ja'lia's body. "Do you want to go for a ride?" Ja'lia asked, and Tarya squawked in agreement.

Connecting her queue, Ja'lia hopped onto her ikran and watched as Lo'ak did the same with his. Once both of them were ready, they ushered their companions off the ground and soared into the night sky. They both yipped and cheered as the feeling of flying was euphoric to both of them.

Suddenly, a thought rushed into Ja'lia's mind, "Are you going to get in trouble for flying?" She asked, and Lo'ak glanced at her confused until his eyes widened in realization. "Oh, shit," He grumbled.

"Has it been a month yet?" Ja'lia questioned, and Lo'ak shrugged.

"I don't know, but I was probably going to get in trouble for sneaking out anyway," Lo'ak sighed.

"We used to do this all the time back home," Ja'lia said, furrowing her eyebrows, "Why would you get in trouble?"

"Because Dad hates me," Lo'ak whispered, and Ja'lia's heart clenched.

The two teens had had conversations about this before, but it never got any easier. Of course, Jake was hard on his two sons, Lo'ak especially, but that didn't mean Jake hated him. Jake loved all of his children. He just had difficulty figuring out how to properly express that love for Lo'ak and Neteyam.

To Ja'lia, it made sense why Jake was so strict. He was trying to protect his children. She understood his behavior, but she also understood Lo'ak's feelings. Jake trying to protect his children didn't excuse his behavior, and it certainly didn't make Lo'ak's feelings any less valid.

"Lo'ak, you know he doesn't hate you," She said, directing her ikran to move closer to Lo'ak.

"Yeah, well, it certainly feels like he does," Lo'ak whispered.

"Come on," Ja'lia said as she urged her ikran to fly back down to the ground. Lo'ak was stunned by her action at first, but he soon followed her lead and went down to the ground as well.

Once they both hit the ground, Ja'lia and Lo'ak jumped off their companions, and Ja'lia grabbed Lo'ak's hand and pulled him down to the ground with her. Lo'ak laid on the grass first, and Ja'lia followed as she used his arm for a pillow.

It was silent as Ja'lia tried to think of how to approach the upcoming conversation, "I know that Jake is hard on you," She murmured, and Lo'ak turned his head to look at her.

"I know that it feels like he hates you," She said, looking up at the stars, "Trust me. Sometimes it feels like I hate him for the way he treats you," Ja'lia continued, and Lo'ak stayed silent as he listened to her.

"But then I remember everything that the Sky people have done to him, and your family, and the hate for your father fades away," Ja'lia said as she saw Lo'ak from the corner of her eye, "He's doing his best; and I'm not trying to defend him. He hurt you, and for that, he needs to apologize, but-" She took a deep breath.