"The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies."
Trigger Warning: Mentions of abuse.
Italicize - someone's thoughts or a story from the past
Bold - sign language
Spider looked like he had seen a ghost as Marali's words echoed in his head. They were going home. Why were they going home? He thought that they were perfectly happy here. Spider felt confused, angry, and guilty all at the same time as he looked at Marali with wide eyes.
"Are you okay, Spider?" Kiri asked worriedly as she walked over to the human boy.
"I'm fine," Spider said, causing his voice to crack as he craned his head to look at Kiri, "I'm just a little shocked. I didn't think we were ever going back," He said as his voice grew quiet.
Marali watched Spider and observed his behavior to see if she could decipher why he was acting so strange, however, she came up empty-handed when she saw indescribable emotions on his face.
She decided to shrug off his reaction to go sit beside him and talk about how excited she was to go home.
"Jake, I thought you couldn't go home? Because the people have to pretend you are dead?" Spider said as he furrowed his eyebrows at the older man.
Jake sighed as he looked at Spider, "I'm not going with you guys,"
Of course, the fact that Jake couldn't go with them had diminished their excitement a little, but Jake assured all of them that he would be fine staying in the Metkayina clan. He informed them that he and Tonowari had grown quite close and that he still needed to continue his training, so that's what he would be doing while they were gone.
Spider nodded his head deep in thought before he spoke again, "Why exactly are we going home?"
"We are going to teach Tsireya, Ao'nung, and possibly Rotxo the Omatikayan way because we learned their ways," Kiri explained.
"And also because Tsireya and Lo'ak like each other so her parents felt that it was fair that she visits our home back in the forest," Marali added. Spider made an 'o' shape with his mouth as he absentmindedly nodded his head.
All of the teens gave each other confused looks, but as they were going to ask Spider what was wrong, Tuk came crashing in as she leaped towards Marali.
"Woah, Tuk." Neteyam said as he caught Tuk, "Mari's still hurt remember?" The boy reminded, and Tuk's smile dropped. "I'm sorry, Mara," Tuk apologized.
"It's okay, Tuk Tuk." Marali assured as she used her good arm to get ahold of Tuk. "Do you want to tell me what you are so happy about?" She asked and just like that, a smile had been brought to Tuk's face once again.
"We're going home!" Tuk cheered, wrapping her arms around Marali's neck.
"I know," Marali informed.
The three Sully teens looked at the scene in disbelief as Tuk continued to talk to Marali about how excited she was to be going home. They knew that Tuk loved Marali, but they didn't expect her to not even pay attention to them also being in the pod so that she could celebrate with them as well.
"Aren't you going to hug us too, Tuk?" Kiri asked, and Tuk glanced at her sister before she shook her head.
"But you're hugging Marali," Neteyam said.
"Marali is my favorite," Tuk said with a smile.
Their jaws dropped as they looked at Tuk in betrayal, "But we're your siblings," Lo'ak scoffed.
"And Marali's my best friend. Plus, she's nicer than you, and she plays with me when I ask her to," Tuk said as she looked at Marali, who had a teasing smile on her face.
"I play with you," Neteyam scoffed, and Kiri nodded her head in agreement.
"I don't," Lo'ak said.
"And this is why you're my least favorite," Tuk teased with a smile, and Lo'ak playfully glared at his little sister. "And besides, Neteyam, you never play with I want to play," She said, crossing her arms over her chest as she pulled away from Marali.
"Tuk, I'm too old to play dress up." Neteyam said, and Marali looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "And we can't even fit into the outfits you pick out," Kiri said.
"That's why you two are tied," Tuk shrugged.
"So, let me get this straight," Neteyam started, "Marali is your favorite, Neteyam and I are tied," Kiri continued, "And I'm in last place," Lo'ak finished, waiting for Tuk to confirm what they had just said.
"Yep," She popped, and the three siblings glanced at each other before they stalked toward the youngest child.
Marali slowly backed away as she knew what they were about to do to Tuk, and she wanted no part in it as she feared that she may end up injured in the process. Before Tuk could even realize what was happening, Neteyam snatched her right up and allowed his other two siblings to tickle her.
Tuk squealed and thrashed around, trying to get away, but it was of no use. Neteyam was ten times stronger than her, and the only thing that she was doing was wasting her energy. Her giggles echoed throughout the pod, and Jake and Neytiri watched in amusement as the three oldest siblings continued to mercilessly tickle their youngest sibling.
Eventually, the tickling came to an end, and Neytiri told all of them that it was time for bed. So, all of the children pulled out their mattresses and did their best to fall asleep with the excitement and adrenaline still coursing through their veins.
It took a little longer to fall asleep that night than it usually did, but soon everyone in the Mauri pod welcomed sleep with open arms.
~~~~
It was a couple of days before they left to go back home, and Neteyam and Marali sat on the beach as they soaked in the sunlight. Marali had been aching to go for a swim, but her shoulder still wasn't fully healed. She was lucky that Norm was allowing her to occasionally take off the sling so that she could move her stiff arm.
Eclipse was going to happen soon, and Marali decided that she wanted to take advantage of the cool evening they were experiencing in the Metkayina clan. Marali laid her head on Neteyam's shoulder as she let out a sigh.
"What's wrong?" He whispered as he placed his head on top of hers.
"I don't know." Marali said as she watched the waves come crashing onto the sand and as they retreated to where they belonged, "I mean, I'm excited to go back home. But there's a part of me that's going to miss it here, you know?" She said.
"Me too," Neteyam agreed.
Silence fell over the two teens before Marali thought of something that caused a laugh to escape her lips. Neteyam lifted his head to look at her confused. "How do you think Ao'nung is going to do?" Marali laughed, and Neteyam shook his head as a small smile fell onto his lips.
"I don't think he's going to do very well at 'swinging through trees'," Neteyam said, causing Marali to laugh even harder as she remembered Ao'nung's words from when they first met.
"Definitely not," She agreed as she watched the Sunlight start to disappear, signaling that they should get back to the Mauri pod. "We should probably head back," Marali said as she got up off of the said and waited for Neteyam to get up as well.
Both teens started to walk towards the pod, as they continued to joke about how Ao'nung would do back in the forest. They knew that Tsireya would do fine as she was always willing to try and learn new things, however, Ao'nung had always been more stubborn than his younger sister.
"What about Rotxo?" Marali asked, and Neteyam thought about it for a moment before he decided to speak, "I'm honestly not su-" Neteyam was caught off guard by a voice yelling.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" A voice yelled.
Kiri. They both thought to themselves.
Neteyam and Marali glanced at each other before they burst into a sprint to get to the pod as fast as possible.
When they reached the pod, they saw Kiri pushing Spider as he fell onto the ground. "Kiri, what are you doing?" Marali asked, running over to help Spider up.
"I wouldn't help him if I were you," Kiri spit, shooting daggers at the boy she considered to be her best friend.
"Why not?" Neteyam asked, walking over to where Marali and Spider were.
"Because he did something," Kiri said cryptically, and the two teens looked at Spider to see if he would specify what exactly Kiri was talking about. Spider put his head down as he stared at his feet.
"What's she talking about, Spider?" Marali questioned, confused. Spider, however, remained silent and refused to look up at any of them. "What the hell is she talking about, Spider? What did you do?" Marali said, raising her voice.
"I don't want to talk about it," He whispered, causing Kiri to scoff. "I guess you should have thought about that before you told me what you did," Kiri said bitterly.
"If you don't tell them, I will," The girl threatened, and Marali looked back and forth between the two as they had a stare-down.
"Will someone please just tell me what's going on?" Marali pleaded.
At this point, the rest of the Sully family arrived at the pod and stood on the edge as they noticed Kiri's stiff posture. "Kiri, what's wrong, baby girl?" Jake asked, and Spider grew even more rigid.
Kiri gave Spider a look that told him she was going to give him one last chance to come clean before she did it herself, but he still refused to open his mouth. He couldn't get any words to come out as the fear started to take over his body.
"Bro, are you okay?" Lo'ak asked Spider worriedly.
"Oh, he's fine," Kiri said, "But you want to know who else is fine?" She asked.
"Kiri, please don't," Spider begged, and Kiri rolled her eyes at him.
"Quartich is. Because Spider saved him," Kiri said, and the entire pod went silent.
No one moved, and no one talked. If a pin were to drop, the sound would be able to be heard throughout the room as everyone at that moment froze. Marali's arms slacked to her sides as she looked at Spider with wide eyes.
"Spider, what's she talking about?" Jake questioned as he stood in front of Neytiri and Tuk.
"I-" Spider stopped because the words got caught in his throat. "While Lo'ak was saving you, and I was saving Mom, Spider decided to go on a little escapade to save the man who tried to kill us," Kiri said, venom laced through her voice.
"It wasn't like that," Spider defended.
"Then what was it like?" Marali whispered as she felt Lo'ak and Neteyam stand protectively beside her.
Spider let out a shaky breath as he looked at his friends, "I thought I was doing the right thing,"
"You thought saving the man who tried to kill my family, was the right thing?" Neytiri snarled, causing Jake to grab her arm to prevent her from pouncing. "Neytiri, get Tuk out of here," Jake said, and the mother's head snapped in her mates' direction as she begrudgingly took the youngest out of the Mauri pod.
"You guys don't understand I-" The human boy was cut off, "Then make us understand, Spider," Marali said, causing Spider to flinch at the harshness of her words.
"I wasn't thinking," He whispered, and Lo'ak scoffed, "You weren't thinking? How do you grab a hold of your Dad, and bring him up to the surface without thinking?" Lo'ak questioned in disbelief.
"How could you do something so horrible?" Kiri asked.
"He's my Dad, okay? He's my family," Spider said.
"No, we were your family," She said, motioning between herself and the Sully family, "I was your family."
"Mara, please-"
"No, you don't get to call me Mara anymore. You're not my friend. I guess I can't even consider you family." She spits as she felt her anger start to grow. "Because friends don't do what you did. Family doesn't do what you did."
"He protected me!" Spider shouted.
"He beat you, Spider!" Marali retorted, and hurt flashed across the boy's face. "Don't think I didn't see those cuts and bruises on your back," Marali informed.
"At least Quartich cared about me! He's the only one who ever gave me the attention and love I needed," Spider sneered.
"You call those yellow bruises on your back love?" Neteyam asked, and Spider grew silent.
"People who love you don't hurt you like he did, Spider. They don't hurt them like you hurt us," Marali whispered.
Spider scoffed at Marali's words, and her head snapped in his direction, "You don't love me. Hell, I don't even think you care about me," Spider said.
"I don't love you? I don't care about you?" Marali questioned as she took wide strides towards the boy, "Look at this scar, Spider," She said as she point to the scar on her shoulder. "Do you remember how I got this scar?" She asked, and Spider reluctantly nodded his head.
"I got this scar protecting you from a thanator you pissed off because I care about you. And do you remember when I got this scar?" Marali pointed to the faint line on her stomach. "I got it saving you from falling to your death because you thought it would be smart to jump off of Lo'ak's ikran,"
Spider watched as Marali continued to point out injuries or wounds that she's received throughout the years from saving him. "I never would have done all of those things if I didn't care or love you, Spider. Because I do, I love you. Even after what you did, I can't find myself hating you." She said with anger written all over her face.
"I never asked you to do any of that for me, Marali," He whispered, and Marali growled as she lunged for Spider, causing him to stumble back in fear. "Who the hell do you think you are?" Neteyam snapped, pulling Marali away from the human boy.
"Come on, guys. If you cared about me, then why did you leave me behind when they captured me? It felt like you guys didn't even look back." Spider said.
"Do you really think we are that shallow?" Kiri said, rejecting the boy's words. Her anger and pain only grew when Spider remained silent. "I guess you do, huh," Lo'ak said in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, but that's how I feel," Spider shrugged his shoulders.
"You guys couldn't love me in the way I needed it. I needed a parent. I wanted to feel the type of love you have with Norm," He said as he glanced up at Marali, "The type of love you have with Jake and Neytiri," Spider then looked at the three Sully teens.
"That," Marali motioned towards the boy's back, "isn't love you should experience from a parent. Especially when this Quartich isn't even your biological father," She continued to criticize.
"Like how Norm isn't yours? Or Jake and Neytiri aren't Kiri's?" Spider snapped before he saw the look on Marali and Kiri's faces. "Wait, I didn't mean that-" Kiri cut him off. "Yes, you did," She whispered, and Neteyam and Lo'ak watched as the tears fell down Kiri's face.
"I don't know what's going on with you, but this isn't the Spider that I know. And until he makes an appearance, don't talk to me." Marali said as she broke free of Neteyam's hold and walked over to Kiri.
"I'm sorry," He whispered.
"Not as sorry as you're about to be," Marali said as she grabbed Kiri, and pulled her out of the Mauri pod with Neteyam and Lo'ak following closely behind.
Spider then looked at Jake and prepared for Jake to also yell at him, but it never came. "Aren't you going to yell at me?" Spider asked.
"No," Jake said.
"Why not?" The boy questioned.
"Because I understand why you did it," Jake informed, and Spider stared at him. "No, I don't like that you did it, but I understand. However, they won't understand." Jake said, and Spider instantly knew that he was talking about his family.
"They're never going to forgive me, are they?" Spider asked.
Jake sighed as he got down to Spider's level, "They're hurt, Spider. This wasn't exactly a small betrayal. Give them time," Jake said, and Spider nodded his head.
The argument between them came flooding into his mind, and his words came into his head. He couldn't believe how cruel had been to them. Accusing them of not caring about him, of not loving him, he now understood their anger even more.
"I'm going to do everything that I can to get to them forgive me," He said, determined.
"It's not going to be easy," Jake informed.
"I don't care. I love them, and I'll do whatever it takes to get my family back."
Unedited. 06/11/23
Word Count: 2,859
Hey everyone!
Hopefully you enjoyed - I don't know how to feel about this chapter.
I would like to inform you all that this book will be coming to an end soon. I want to give it an open ending to possible continue it for the next Avatar movie. However, I will be coming out with a Lo'ak book, if any of y'all are going to be interested in reading it.
If anyone would like to make a cover for the book, please feel free to reach out. The one on the book is generic because I have no artistic skills.
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