"I can't apologize enough for taking so long to see you."
He's already drowning himself in tears by the time his brother reaches out and touches his shoulders.
"So much happened after .. we all needed time to process."
"It is okay, baby brother." He smiles so brightly as he leans in to him just like old times.
"—I am not upset."
"Im... just... so happy.. to see you again." His voice breaks between words as he can't hold back anymore tears, his palms around his cheeks when he can't wipe them away with just a finger fast enough.
"Do not cry, Lo'ak." He moves in closer and brings his brothers face to his shoulder. "—I am okay here."
"You shouldn't be here, though." He strains his voice. "I'm so sorry. You're my big brother. I let you down in the end. It was my idea to-"
"—Don't." Niikeym says sharply, and pats his hand down lo'ak's back.
"Do not blame yourself for what has happened to me."
"We all do." Lo'ak admits, curling into his brothers hold.
"But I was the one who wanted to save Spider."
"Lo'ak." He pulls him back slightly to look into his eyes with a building sincerity.
"You may have been the one who ordered it, but I followed. I knew it wouldn't be fair to leave him behind, so I went with you.
That falls on me.
I should have held you back or refused, but he is our brother, too.
—And just like you, I realized I couldn't leave him, either."
Lo'ak can't even bring himself to respond, only falling more into his brothers hold the more he cries.
And Niikeym refuses to loosen his hold on him.
"What happened after I left, exactly?"
Lo'ak sniffles a bit as his eyes finally open again.
"Dad killed Quaritch. Da'mik and Mom got badly hurt. The family accepted Payakan, and now Uncle Norm is keeping an eye as best he can on the RDA since they're planning on moving in soon."
"He killed him?" Niikeym responds to that bit first. "He's gone?" A happier tone to his voice with the good news.
"Yes, and I hope he stays that way this time." He rubs the back of his hand against his nose. "I'd never seen Dad so devastated, or Mom so broken before, Niikeym. They only held back because Tuk, spider, and Da'mik were at risk."
"How did Mom and Da'mik get hurt?"
He hates having to think about that, and how hard it hit the family as they mourned Niikeym without them both for a few days.
"Spider was helping me look for dad after he fought Quaritch. I find him, but Spider must have gotten lost. We were all away and safe from the ship, but Da'mik refused to leave him behind again. Mom went after him, and they both ended up in comas."
Niikeyms face falls at the realization, his heart hurting for the family he could no longer be there to protect.
"Are they okay, now?"
You and Jake had visited already for the funeral... Tuk hadn't been by to see him because she couldn't process it fully just yet... Kiri, damik, and spider couldn't connect to the tree.. so that only really left Lo'ak as able to come visit him for the time being.
As much as you and Jake wanted to be there every day, there was a reason it was a ceremonial or cultural thing not do it so often.
Life on this planet was about connecting with your past, while using it to move forward. Grateful for your heritage and learnings, but refusing to let them hold you back from growth and emotional independence.
Even if Tsu'tey broke it himself often, to the point where Sylwannin didn't even realize she was dead.
"Yes, thankfully. Da'mik had it so much worse, broken ribs and all. He and Spider have a mobile base Norm brought over for them to use, so they're able to at least take a breather on occasion."
There's a small bit of silence as Niikeym rocks his brother in his arms for a few moments.
"Our time is running short, brother."
And lo'ak's heart sinks.
"-You will run out of air soon."
Niikeym hates to admit.
"... Look ... I need you to promise me something."
He looks up to face him, just as Niikeym reaches out to touch his cheek.
He wishes he were back home, where he could sit in the grass and talk for hours rather than mere minutes as the water would eventually force him to pull away.
"Anything." He says, weakly.
"Do not let Kiri try to visit me. Have her wait until there's a chance to do so at home. It is too much of a risk for her, but I know her. She will try at some point.
Do for her what I can not."
Lo'ak sucks in a sharp breath of air, and more tears flow out as he exhales.
"Of course. I will."
His brothers hand comes to the back of his head, accompanied with a beautiful smile he forces to look at his baby brother one last time.
"Take care of them for me. Keep them happy. Let them know it isn't their fault."
He says.
"I promise."
He reaches the surface soon after, gasping for air as Tsireya comes along with her ilu.
"Lo'ak." She calls out to him, and extends an arm to pull him up and on the ilu behind her.
Despite being in the water, she can see the way he's covered in tears.
She stalls the ilu for a moment, turning around completely to see him as he uses his palm to wipe away any excess water out of his eyes.
"Lo'ak." She says, softer this time as she brings a hand up to his chest.
"How are you feeling?"
He wears a frown so strongly, that same pain hitting his heart all over again.
"It was nice to see him again."
He looks up to the night sky, admiring the stars above as he tries to keep more tears from forming.
"Thank you for waiting for me."
"I'm sorry I couldn't join you, Lo'ak."
And his hand comes over hers as they lean in to one another.
"I'm just.. not.. ready yet."
"It's okay." He says sincerely. "He knows he's loved and missed by everyone.
You supported me more than enough today just by being here."
Their foreheads touch as they listen to one another breathing, and the sound of the water moving around them.
She is the first to open her eyes, and distances a small bit as she moves her hand up to cup his face.
"You know-" Lo'ak starts with. "-my father tells me back on his original planet, they don't have anything like this.—"
And she listens so sweetly as she scoots forward on the ilu and leans into his chest.
"—they destroyed their Eywa.. 'mother nature' they call her. They don't have this kind of connection with their-"
'Dead' is the word left unsaid, as he's still devastated just using that word in a sentence when referring to his brother.
"—well, afterlife.
When they're gone, they're just.. that, gone. He never got to see Uncle Tommy or my grandfather ever again, except in his own memories or photos.."
"I am thankful we're in a place where we can connect with our beloved, then." She says. "We are very lucky to have that."
His arms come around her as she adjusts, her back to his chest now as she relaxes in his hold — and his chin resting on her head.
"I have to be back soon." He unfortunately brings up with a faint sigh. "As much as I'd rather stay here..."
"I know. I need to return, too. I try not to stay too far away with how close my mother is." She says. "Probably not even a month left if even that."
He spares a small smile as she speaks about her mother's pregnancy.
"I think the happiest day of my life was when Tuk was born." He admits so sweetly.
"When my mom told me we would have a new baby in the family... I was so relieved. And getting to see her for the first time, she was so tiny, so delicate."
"Alright, just be careful with her, okay?" Jake reminds. "Come sit down over here and you can see her. Be gentle."
Little Lo'ak is grinning from ear to ear as he excitedly reaches out to grab her as she's wrapped in a soft blanket.
And she's so cute the way she sucks on her thumb and looks up at him. Only a day old at this point.
"Was I this little?" He asks his father, comparing his own fingers to the size of hers.
"Yes you were." Jake laughs at the cute and innocent question.
"You were about a pound bigger, Lo'ak." You walk up and sit down next to him, currently in human form as the avatar needed time to heal.
"You were late coming out, insisting on making me suffer, of course."
Niikeym finally joins, with the others and Norm behind as they all rush in from the main meeting room to the medical lab area.
Niikeym is slow, careful, cautious. Everything you'd expect him to be as he sits beside Lo'ak and looks over her.
As he flattens his hand out to compare sizes all the same as Lo'ak — he notices her fingers, and the skin pattern across her forehead. They're similar to him, and she shares the same number of fingers he does.
A sibling to match with him.
It was bittersweet.
Kiri and Lo'ak had each other, Spider and Da'mik had one another, and now he would have Tuk.
His little mini-me in the world to help guide.
Lo'ak offers her to Niikeym as he's stroking the top of her head, and gives her a small kiss before carefully handing her over.
"Wow, she's heavy!" Niikeym greets her with as her eyes open with wonder up toward him. Hes so fascinated.
"Hi, Tuk. I'm your oldest brother!"
Hes delighted as she makes a cute little noise.
"How long will she be this tiny?" Kiri comes up finally and asks, letting Tuk hold her finger as she looks her over.
"Well, she's going to grow every month, every week, every day." You sit beside her as she continues to smile at her new baby sister.
"It's not too long until she will be big enough to terrorize all of you, so enjoy it while you can."
"Even as she grows - she will never get us to terrorize us!" Da'mik says, also coming to sit in the little circle forming around Tuk. And, as expected, Spider joins him.
"Yeah! She's so small! We can just climb somewhere up high and she will never reach us." Spider agrees enthusiastically.
If only they knew how wrong they'd be.
"Dude, where the hell did she go? Your moms gonna kill you for losing her." Spider scolds Da'mik as they're both a branch apart, panicking as they've lost sight of her.
"I swear she was just under us!" He yells with a fear. "Mom's never gonna let me watch her ever again if I can't find her."
"Next time just leave with Niikeym, bro. I don't get why you have to bring her!" Spider continues to yell.
"Because if I don't she will blab to both of our parents, obviously!"
Da'mik freaks when something grabs for his ankle, and it's only moments after that he slips and falls to the ground with a loud thud in his own heart.
Something he would never, ever, mention to you. Even years out from now.
"Got you!" Tuk laughs out so loudly as she climbs on top of Da'mik and holds the sides of his face and mask with a loud smile. "Hahahaha!"
"Damnit, Tuk. Don't ever scare me like that again!"
"Don't try to hide from me and you won't have to suffer." She sticks a tongue out at him and makes a noise, finally pushing away from him as she walks over to just under the branch Spider is still crouched on.
"No." Spider quickly turns down any thought of surrendering.
"I'm never coming down, Tuk. You're just gonna have to come get me."
Da'mik finally sits up, nothing how Tuk is climbing around the trunk of the tree as she reaches out for Spider.
He ends up in the same situation, though. Jumping a bit too far and instead tucking and rolling on the grass beneath to soften his landing.
"Ha-ha!" Tuk laughs at him all the same.
"I got you both to come down!"
"Alright, Tuk." Da'mik walks up to her and picks her up, settling her on his hip. She's at least still small enough to do that, but within the next few years they'd almost be head to head.
"You've had your fun. You ready to head back for dinner?"
"Oooo!!!" She claps excitedly.
Spider rejoins as he rubs an ache on the side of his head.
"That's not exactly how I planned that going at all. She really fooled us. I almost had a heart attack thinking we lost her!"
"My mother would have shot us both with the same arrow if we did." Da'mik jokes. "Absolutely no mercy allowed there."
"Food! Food! Food!" She cheers.
"Yes, food." Da'mik reaches out and pinches her cheek. "We're going, okay?"
"Lo'ak!" You call out as he makes his way in to the docks, and separates from Tsireya soon after.
He nearly collapses in your chest as you greet him with a hug, concerned about why he had been out so long today.
"Lo'ak?" You ask him again, and he doesn't even respond at first, nor acknowledge your voice as he simply soaks in the moment of having your comforting hold.
It's only when he looks up at you with a broken look in his eyes that you start to truly worry for him.
"What's wrong, honey?"
The corner of his lips are downturned still, and he has a few spare tears still working their way down his cheeks.
"I went to see him." He merely says, not offering much more context other than that.
"Oh, oh, Lo'ak." You only hold him tighter then.
Jake is coming up the way after spending some time with Tonowari, and he looks at you with a saddened expression while gesturing toward Lo'ak — signing 'is he okay?'
And you shake your head no, to which is more than enough of an answer.
He doesn't even ask what happened or what triggered it — just coming up to you both as he joins the hug and lets Lo'ak shift so he's now buried in his chest.
You mouth out 'He saw Niikeym.' And that's enough to bring Jake's heart down to the pit of his stomach.
His hands were going to leave marks on his youngest sons back if they stayed like this much longer, but neither of them care. They needed this.
"It's going to be okay, Lo'ak." You tell him with a heavy heart. "Even if it isn't now, we will get there eventually, together."