Italicize - someone's thoughts or a story from the past
Bold - sign language
Lo'ak and Ja'lia froze in their tracks as they felt Jake's presence behind them. Ja'lia side-eyed Lo'ak and whispered, "He's right behind us. Isn't he?" She asked, and Lo'ak nodded his head in confirmation.
"Yep, do you think we have enough time to make a break for it?" Lo'ak whispered back, and Ja'lia was going to respond, but Jake placed both of his hands off to the side of their shoulders. "Nope," She said as she turned around and looked at Jake.
"Hey, Jake," Ja'lia nervously laughed. Lo'ak also greeted his father, but Jake didn't respond as he looked as if he was about to explode any minute.
"Did I, or did I not tell you that you weren't allowed to sneak out with Ja'lia until your punishment is up?" Jake gritted out, and Ja'lia immediately stepped in front of Lo'ak protectively.
"It was my fault," She insisted.
"No, it wasn't," Jake denied, and the girl groaned in frustration.
"Yes, it was. I kidnapped Lo'ak," Ja'lia stated, and both Lo'ak and Jake looked at her like she had two heads. The father then glanced between the two teens, unamused. "You kidnapped Lo'ak?" He asked, and Ja'lia smiled in confirmation.
"How did you kidnap him?" Jake questioned.
"How did I kidnap Lo'ak?" She repeated his question.
"Yes, how did you kidnap my son who's quite a bit taller than you and also weighs more than you, without waking us up?" He said, adding to his question.
Ja'lia thought about it for a moment before responding to the father's question, "Well, I snuck into your tent, and then asked Lo'ak if he would go to our spot with me." She started to explain. "Of course, he refused because you said that he wasn't allowed to leave with me for the time being, but I wasn't having it, so I dragged him out of the tent and begged him," Ja'lia continued.
"Lo'ak was still persistent in following his punishment, so he told me no again. That's when I hit him over the head, and knocked him out," She finished, feeling pretty proud of the explanation she had come up with.
"You hit my son?" Jake asked.
"Yep," She said proudly, and Lo'ak glared at his friend.
"Then why doesn't he have a bump on his head?" Jake said, catching Ja'lia in her lie. Her smile fell off her face, and she gulped as she realized that Jake had caught her. "He heals fast?" She squeaked.
"I'm sure he does," Jake said sarcastically. "But since neither you nor Lo'ak like to listen to my rules and expectations, then I guess you two need some separation to understand what you did wrong," Jake said.
When Jake said those words, both teens stared at the man in shock. He did not just threaten to separate them because they snuck out like they had done multiple times before.
"You did not just say that," Ja'lia said in disbelief.
"Dad, you can't do that!" Lo'ak raised his voice.
"Oh, I can, and I will," Jake threatened.
"Ma Jake, what's going on?" Neytiri asked as she walked out of the tent while rubbing her eyes. Ja'lia went over to Neytiri and looked up at her in worry. "Jake is threatening to separate Lo'ak and me," Ja'lia informed.
Neytiri's head snapped in her husband's direction as she eyed him in caution, "You're what?" She asked.
"I told Lo'ak that he wasn't allowed to go on any late-night adventures with Ja'lia anymore, and he deliberately disobeyed me," Jake reasoned, and Neytiri still wasn't satisfied.
"Again, you what?" She seethed.
Lo'ak was Ja'lia's safe space, and Neytiri feared that if Jake separated the two that Ja'lia would go back to the way she was before. She feared that the teen girl would revert all of the progress she had made in the past couple of months. Neytiri wouldn't let that happen if she had anything to do with it.
"Neytiri, they are always with each other. They could benefit from some separation," Jake said.
Neytiri stalkingly walked toward her husband, and Jake knew that he should stop while he was still ahead, but the man genuinely thought he was doing what was best for them. "Do you remember what happened the last time we tried forcibly separate them?" Neytiri questioned, and Jake sheepishly nodded his head.
"So then, what makes you think this time will be any different?" She asked, and Jake saw how pissed off his mate was.
"But it would be different this time-" Jake was cut off by his mate, "Finish that sentence, and you can find another tent to sleep in tonight," The mother threatened as she walked over to her son and Ja'lia.
"Come on, let's go get some breakfast," Neytiri said, and Ja'lia glanced back at Jake triumphantly as he blankly stared, wondering what the hell just happened.
Jake had just been bested by a teenager, his son's best friend. He knew that it wasn't a good idea to separate the two, but he was just thinking of their future. Of course, Jake would be happy if they got together one day, but he never saw any signs of one of them liking the other.
The father didn't want Lo'ak or Ja'lia to get hurt when one of them found their mate one day, and if the two teens kept going the way they were, it was bound to happen sometime soon.
~~~~
When Ja'lia walked into the Sully family's tent, she was immediately greeted by the other three siblings. "Lia!" Tuk cheered as she ran over to the teen girl. "Where were you?" The little girl asked.
"Lo'ak and I went to our spot last night," Ja'lia informed, and Neteyam smirked at his friend, who glared at him in return.
"Can I come next time?" Tuk questioned eagerly.
"No," Lo'ak bluntly stated, causing his little sister to pout. Ja'lia smacked Lo'ak upside the head as she went to sit beside Kiri. "Hey, Kiri," She greeted.
Kiri was working on a new outfit, and Ja'lia watched in awe as Kiri meticulously worked on her top. "Is that for you?" Ja'lia asked, and Kiri looked up at her friend with her eyebrows furrowed. "Didn't you want me to make you a new outfit?" Kiri asked, and Ja'lia's eyes widened in shock.
"I was just joking, Kiri. I didn't think you would take me seriously," Ja'lia said.
"You need a new outfit anyway," Kiri murmured, and Ja'lia felt her heart clench.
The girl had been switching between the same three outfits for an entire year as they were some of the last things she had that her mother made her. She did need new outfits, but she had been clinging onto the ones her mother made, and putting off having new ones put together.
As Ja'lia watched Kiri piece together her new outfit, she noticed that it looked almost identical to what her mom made her, with Kiri's special twist.
"Thank you, Kiri," She whispered.
"It's no problem, Lia," Kiri said as she placed the final pieces on Ja'lia's top and handed it to her. "I tried to make it as similar to the outfits that your mom made you, but I did give it my twist. I hope that's okay," She continued, and Ja'lia pulled the girl in for a tight hug.
"I love it," She mumbled.
Both teens sat still in the hug for a minute before Tug came over, and wanted to know what was happening. "Kiri, did you make Lia cry?" Tuk said, standing with her hands on her hips as she had her eyes narrowed at her sister.
"No, she didn't make me cry, Tuk. I'm happy," Ja'lia said as she reached for her top to show Tuk.
"See, look what Kiri made me," She said, holding the top out for Tuk to inspect.
When Tuk saw the new top that Kiri had made Ja'lia, her face lit up in excitement, "Can you make me one?" She asked with the biggest puppy dog eyes anyone has ever seen.
"I have to finish making Ja'lia's outfit, Tuk," Kiri responded, causing the little girl to frown in disappointment. "But, I promise once I'm done with her outfit, I'll start on yours." This sentence brought the smile back to Tuk's face as she ran over to tell her mother that Kiri was going to make her an outfit.
"Mama, guess what?" Tuk said, pulling on her mother's arm.
"What's wrong, baby?" Neytiri said as she continued to make breakfast for her family.
"Kiri is making me a new top! Exactly like Ja'lia's!" Tuk squealed, and at the mention of Ja'lia's name, Lo'ak's head shot in her direction.
Lo'ak was going to ask what was happening with Ja'lia, but he was interrupted when Spider came into the family's tent. "Hey, guys," The human boy greeted.
Everyone in the tent returned his greeting, and he went to sit on the other side of Kiri that wasn't occupied. "Did you want to repaint my stripes today?" Spider asked, and Kiri didn't look at him as she continued to work on Ja'lia's bottoms.
"I can't right now. I'm doing something for Ja'lia," Kiri informed.
Ja'lia looked at Spider's stripes and saw that they were extremely faded. Spider wanted the stripes painted on his body because he wanted to fit in with the Na'vi teenagers. He was the only human boy; so Ja'lia understood that he probably felt isolated and alone.
She also noticed that he looked slightly disappointed when Kiri told him she was busy working on something else, so Ja'lia did something she never thought she would do.
"I'll repaint your stripes," Ja'lia volunteered, and the entire tent fell silent. Everyone looked at the girl with wide eyes as she placed her full attention on Spider. "You want to repaint my stripes?" He asked, wanting confirmation.
"Yeah," She shrugged, "Unless you don't want me to,"
"No, it's okay. I mean, I'm just- thank you," Spider stuttered over his words.
"No problem," Ja'lia said, and both teens stared at each other before Ja'lia spoke again, "Where is the paint?" She asked, and Spider promptly ran out of the tent to go and grab his blue paint.
It was silent in the tent, and Lo'ak walked over to sit beside his friend. "Did you volunteer to do something that would help Spider?" He asked as he grabbed the top out of her hands, and inspected it.
"I'm trying to be nice," Ja'lia said, glaring at her best friend.
"You're never nice," Lo'ak teased, and Ja'lia's jaw dropped.
"I'm nice!" She exclaimed.
"Yeah, and I'm always on my best behavior," He said sarcastically, and Ja'lia hit his shoulder.
"I'm being serious, Lo'ak. Tuk, don't you think I'm nice?" Ja'lia asked.
"You're the nicest person I know," Tuk said enthusiastically, and that didn't seem to help Ja'lia feel any better.
"Kiri, do you think I'm nice?" Ja'lia asked, hopeful.
"You have your moments," She said.
The girl looked back and forth between Lo'ak and Ja'lia before she finally let out a sigh of relief when they both laughed at her.
"You should have seen the look on your face, Lia," Lo'ak chuckled, clenching his stomach.
"I can't believe you believed us," Kiri said as she breathily laughed. Ja'lia shot daggers at her friends. "I hate you guys," She pouted.
"Aww, we love you too," Kiri said, smiling at Ja'lia.
Eventually, Spider came back with the paint in his hands, and Ja'lia immediately got to work. Spider only wore the stripes on the upper part of his body, and the girl who volunteered to paint him had been thankful for that.
"After Ja'lia's done painting my stripes, do you guys want to go to the lab?" Spider questioned, and all of the teens beside Neteyam agreed to go.
Neteyam did want to go with his siblings and friends, but he had other responsibilities that he had to put first. Sometimes he felt jealous that everyone else that he was close with could do whatever they wanted, while he constantly had to train. But then, he thought about how all of his sacrifices would one day be worth it.
~~~~
All four teenagers were walking toward the laboratory as Ja'lia had finally finished repainting Spider's stripes.
"You know those stripes don't make you any bigger, bro," Lo'ak teased.
"Yeah, well, I can still kick your ass," Spider retorted, causing Kiri and Ja'lia to roll their eyes.
"Boys," Both of them muttered, looking at each other.
As they walked into the laboratory, they noticed that Norm was coming out of his link capsule. Ja'lia was going to go and greet him, but she stopped once she heard what Spider was talking about.
"Yeah, haha guys, real hysterical. You know what really sucks though? Is that you can breathe Earth air for hours, and I can only breathe your air for like 10 seconds." Spider said, and Ja'lia went over to grab an oxygen mask as she took in deep breaths.
"Yeah, monkey boy, that really sucks, for you," Kiri joked, pushing the human boy, causing him to stumble back. Ja'lia snorted when she saw Spider hiss at Kiri. "Do they always have to do this?" Lo'ak said, and the girl beside him smirked at his annoyed expression.
"Don't ruin their fun," She said.
Soon, both Kiri and Spider stopped play fighting, and they went over to talk to Max and Norm.
"Hey, Max," Kiri and Ja'lia greet.
"Hey, kids," Max responded as he looked down at his clipboard.
"Hey, what's up, Max?" Lo'ak said as he headed towards the scientist. Ja'lia tuned out the boy as she noticed the Kiri was walking towards Grace's Avatar. Ja'lia had always felt bad for Kiri because she didn't know who her father was, and she never got to meet her biological mother.
It was a cruel fate that was given to the Na'vi girl, which is why Ja'lia had always done everything she could to be Kiri's friend and to protect her from the other teens who made fun of her. "Hey, ma," Kiri said, jumping on top of the glass capsule her mom's Avatar currently resided in.
Kiri smiled at her Mom as she leaned down to hug her through the glass.
Once Kiri had been done talking to her mother, she hopped off of the capsule and went over to the computer to turn on one of her mother's old video logs. Ja'lia listened to Grace's foreign words as she could only recognize words and phrases here and there. She knew some English, but she wasn't fluent in the language, and she didn't plan to become fluent either.
The moment of silence that had fallen upon the two teen girls was disrupted when Lo'ak and Spider came over to where they were.
"So who do you think knocked her up? Pretty sure it was Norm." Lo'ak stated, and Ja'lia's jaw dropped at his words while Spider laughed.
"Totally," Spider agreed, and Kiri looked between her brother and her friend in disbelief.
"You do not deserve to live," Kiri said, and Ja'lia nodded her head in agreement. "I can kick their asses if you'd like," She whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.
"I heard that," Lo'ak glared, and Ja'lia smiled cheekily at the boy. "That was the point," She continued to smile before Lo'ak looked back at his sister.
"No, no, no. Think about it, right? I mean, he's the teacher's pet. He's out at the lab with her all the time." Lo'ak teased.
"I would kill myself. I would drink acid," Kiri said.
Norm wasn't a bad guy, in fact, he often took on the fatherly role to those children who had lost their parents, but to have him as a biological father seemed like a completely different story. Ja'lia could only handle Norm so much before she had to take a much-needed break.
The teens looked at the screen to listen to Grace talk, when Norm appeared in the background. It looked like Norm had been filling out some paperwork as he glanced to look at Grace before turning his attention back to the documents he had been working on.
"Bro, you're right. He's, like, in every shot. Bro, look, look, he's giving her the looks." Spider said, covering his face with his arm. "Hey," Kiri scolded, and the smile fell off Spider's face, however, Lo'ak continued to tease Kiri.
"See, I'm thinking their two Avatars were out in the woods all alone," Lo'ak said, and Ja'lia scrunched her nose in disgust at the mental image he just caused. "Gross," Kiri pushed Lo'ak, causing him to stumble back.
"Guys. I mean, sometimes it's not so great to know who your father was" Spider said solemnly.
Ja'lia blankly stared at him, and Kiri and Lo'ak suddenly became serious.
"Whatever. Don't even remember him," Spider said, jumping off of the metal bar he had been sitting on to face Grace.
"No, Spider," Lo'ak tried to comfort the boy.
"Dude," Spider said.
"Spider, you are not him," Kiri said, wrapping her arms around him.
Ja'lia awkwardly watched as her friends tried to comfort Spider. She wanted to say something, but she didn't want to make matters worse, so she decided that her best option would be to just keep quiet.
Although, the silence was disrupted when the grumbling of Ja'lia's stomach brought everyone back to reality.
"Gee, Lia. Are you hungry?" Lo'ak asked, looking at his friend.
"No, my stomach just growled for the hell of it," She said, rolling her eyes.
Lo'ak ignored her words as he said goodbye to Spider, and walked back to their tent so that they could see if dinner was ready or not. Once they made it back to the tent, Neytiri told them that dinner was ready, and all of them quickly walked toward where the rest of the people would be.
As soon as Ja'lia's eyes landed on the food in front of her face, she immediately dug in, receiving disgusted looks from Lo'ak.
What? She was a growing girl, and she didn't exactly care if she looked pretty while eating or not.
Once she was done eating, she asked to be excused because for some reason she was extremely tired after eating her meal. When she reached her tent, she immediately pulled out her mattress and plopped down to allow her body to sleep as it was practically forced upon her.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, she felt lips on her forehead, and someone murmured goodnight before she completely lost consciousness.
Unedited. 06/18/23
Word Count: 3,099
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