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ILYANA THOUGHT the reefs were lovely, even though she had only seen them briefly from above when she arrived at Awa'atlu. For some reason, Ilyana started to appreciate the fact that the fauna appeared to be much more tranquil than it was in the forest because the previous few days had been violent.
The day after they arrived, it was already the next morning, and Tsireya urged them to join her brother and his friend for a morning swim. Of course, the Sullys couldn't refuse her request. Ilyana, Kiri, and Tuk all screamed before rushing into the water, and Lo'ak and Neteyam sprinted ahead, diving into the ocean first. The Sully children all observed the aquatic life swimming around them; Kiri appeared to be the most entranced by this and started swimming forward while beaming. The Sully kids were delighted by the new environment as Tsireya turned to face them and grinned at them. They all moved forward, taking in more of the surroundings, but stopped when they needed to swim for oxygen at the surface. As Tsireya signed something to the siblings that none of them understood, Lo'ak submerged his head in the water. In confusion, they all raised their arms. Instead, she simply gestured for them to approach; they then took another breath before diving back down.
The forest Na'vi attempted to follow the trio in front of them, but their swimming skills lacked Neteyam grabbed Lo'ak, and Ilyana's shoulders pointed to the surface as they all swam up together.
"How do they hold their breath for so long?" Neteyam asks his siblings, and Ilyana shrugs her shoulders in reply. The two boys dipped their heads in, watching as Tsireya Roxto and Aonung swam up to the surface.
"Are you all right?" Tsireya queries them.
"You're too fast! Wait for us." Tuk complains as Ilyana swims beside her.
"Just breathe." Tsireya advises them as Aonung rises from beside Tsireya.
"You are not good divers. Maybe good at swinging through trees, but.." He tries to insult but is stopped when Tsireya slaps him on the head.
"Come on, bro. We don't speak this finger talk, guys. We don't know what you're saying." Neteyam tells the trio.
"I will teach you." Tsireya reassures.
"Where is Kiri?" Roxto speaks up
"Kiri?" Tuk asks
"Who?" Aonung asks
"Kiri."
"Did you see her?" Tsireya asks them as they all turn their heads checking if she was behind them.
"No." Ilyana mumbles in worry
"I'll find her." Tsireya offers earning a nod from the Sully siblings.
Not long after the younger girl found Kiri and told them she was safe Tsireya led them to meet Ilu. Aonung makes a clicking sound at the back of his throat calling them over.
"These are ilu. If you want to live here.. you have to ride." He tells the siblings.
Ilyana stood with Tuk beside her as Lo'ak got taught how to ride the ilu by Tsireya. After following Tsireya's instructions he held onto the grip taking a deep breath before setting off.
"Hold on!"
He loses control as he rockets through the water second after second. After taking a deep breath, Ilyana puts her head into the water and watches as her brother fails the challenge of riding an Ilu by falling off and rising to the surface. In response to his failure, Aonung laughs aloud as Tsireya covers her lips to stifle her chuckles.
"Forest girl." The eldest Sully hears from beside her. "It's your turn."
Ilyana follows the kid with the turquoise skin to her right, motioning for her to accompany him over to the Ilu. Unsure of what to do, the girl just stares at the boy standing opposite her.
"Well, get on her then." The boy sasses.
"All right." The girl responds, doing right as he said.
"Make the bond." He tells her
Ilyana watches as the tendrils wrap around each other and immediately feels the bond.
"Woah." She mumbles
"Feel her?" He queries the forest girl causing her to reply with a soft hum.
"Hold there, forest girl." He tells her.
"I have a name, you know?" She cheeks but Aonung looks up at her and ignores her.
She looks back at him before thinking
Forward.
She now travels at the same speed as Lo'ak at first, and after taking a deep breath, she submerges herself underwater. She holds on to the Ilu as tightly as she can before releasing when it gets too challenging. She rising to the surface and watches as the group smile and clap. Ilyana squints her eyes confused.
"Not bad, forest girl." Aonung compliments
"Thanks?" Ilyana appreciates however it almost sounded like a question as she said it.
"Ilyana!" Tuk celebrates grabbing her waist pulling the girl in for a hug taking her by surprise. Aonung and his friends soon left and Lo'ak and Neteyam both returned to the marui while Ilyana stayed with Tuk and Tsireya. Tsireya handed the youngest Sully the Ilu food who fed the animal with no hesitation followed by a soft giggle as she cradled the Ilu's face.
"I love her already."
"Do you want to feed her?" Tsireya asked Ilyana kindly.
"No thank you." Ilyana smiles and shakes her head declining the offer.
"I love your name. Ilyana. It's really pretty." Tsireya compliments earning Ilyana to smile softly.
"Thank you. I like your top. I think it's unique." Ilyana replies to the girl causing her to smile brightly. She then guides and teaches Tuk how to ride an Ilu and the young girl got the hang of it in no time. The three girls dived into the waters and followed Tsireya watching the wildlife communicate with each other in many ways. The girls were soon joined by Kiri who had seemed to have already adapted to the reef clan.
Eventually Tsireya gave the Sully kids a break and let them cool off for about half an hour before then continuing with lessons learning breathing exercises.
"Breathe in." The girl guides the Sully kids by inhaling deeply.
"And breathe out." Then they all exhale at that command.
"Imagine flickering a flame. You must slow down your heartbeat." Tsireya then leans over to Lo'ak placing her hand on his abdomen. Ilyana's move lays agape trying to stifle in a laugh.
"Breathe in. Breathe from down here. Breathe out slowly." She guides him.
"Lo'ak, your heartbeat is fast."
"Sorry." He whispers
"Try to focus." He nods his head
"Breathe in."
Neteyam and Ilyana glance at each other with a smirk on their face and then they both look to Roxto who also has a smirk on his face. Kiri looks at the trio rolling her eyes at their immature ways. Once their breathing exercises were over they were allowed to ride their Ilu chasing each other and having races before rising to the surface.
"I won, Neteyam!" Ilyana celebrates sticking her tongue out at him causing him to roll his eyes and pout.
"You are learning to breathe." Tsireya tells them causing them to cheer in happiness.
After their eventful day, Ilyana heads back to the Sully mauri and is welcomed by her mother preparing dinner and her father outside having a conversation with Tonowari. She walked over to her sleeping mat grabbing the Toruk Makto toy that was once hers but was now handed to Tuk onto a small shelf.
"You're back early." Her mothers speaks up
"Yeah, I got a bit sick of Lo'ak." Ilyana jokes
"That's rare." Neytiri smiles looking at her daughter who's hair was still in braids hair tied out of her face probably to make her lessons easier to some extent. She knew her daughter missed the forest and she knew that feeling all too well.
When her father entered the mauri, he observed his teenage daughter sitting on the floor with her hands resting on her knees. She rushed to follow him when he signalled for her to do so and sat down next to Jake when they arrived outside the mauri. While watching the waves crash into the lake, they observed in silence for a while.
What's going on with you? Her expression remains unchanged when Jake questions his eldest daughter.
"I'm bored. I miss home."
Jake inhaled deeply and turned to face behind him facing his mate smiled brightly at him encouraged to continue speaking to Ilyana.
Since the start of the war, their father-daughter bond has deteriorated a little, and it needs to mend. Ilyana admired and respected her father for everything he did to protect her and her siblings, but she was the only one ( aside from Neytiri, of course ) who truly understood how terrified he was for their safety and what Quaritch would do next. This fear really tore him apart.
"When you were younger, do you remember the first time I told you about the roller coasters we had on Earth?" Ilyana snorted as Jake spoke quietly, remembering the incident with pleasure.
"And when I finally gave in to your pleading and built you one, you made your own instead."
"We put them to the test to determine which one was better, and mine ended up breaking—not even on the first drop." Ilyana says thinking back to her younger, foolish self and laughed loudly. She laughed, and that was one thing Jake had really missed. the chuckle that, when it appeared, lit up the room. He longed for the laughter to never end.
"I remember when you told me that a dove was a symbol of impurity and violence, while a raven was a symbol of purity and peace." Ilyana spoke up continuing the motif of earth in the conversation.
"Wrong way round, Yana. A dove was a symbol of purity, while a raven represented impurity." Jake corrects grinning at the girl.
"Whoops." She replies shrugging her shoulders. Their peaceful moment is interrupted by commotions closer to the shore. Jake excused himself and then made his way over to the area of the chaos. Then minutes later returning with Lo'ak and Neteyam bruised.