Time passed. Time passed, and everything moved on.
Khalo and Neteyam grew closer and closer, while Ao'nung grew to accept the fact that they were boyfriends now. Ao'nung even kind of befriended Lo'ak, while Kiri opened some kind of gossip club with Roxto.
Of course, Tsireya and Neteyam joined the club, being way too interested in the drama to not. They mostly talked about Tsireya and Lo'ak for Neteyam's amusement. He feared that as soon as he joined them, he and Khalo would be the only ones to talk about.
Tsireya already threatened them with leaving the club if they didn't stop. Of course, she never did.
Tsireya's old friends still didn't talk to her, but by now she had found peace with the thought they would never hang together again. She found new friends and, with them, new things to do. So she didn't have time for them anyway.
Khalo was strictly against the gossip club. He still asked Neteyam after every meeting what they talked about anyway. During these meetings, Lo'ak and Khalo mostly played with Tuk since they're Neytiri and Jake often pressed Lo'ak, Neteyam and Kiri to take care of her.
Also, not so often, since Tuk found a few friends. Weird new friends.
Khalo pov
"Eclipse is the best time of day to be here." Tsireya told the others. With the others, I mean Neteyam, Kiri, Roxto, Tsireya and Tuk. Lo'ak was, as we suspected, visiting Payakan again, and Ao'nung was out hunting with his other friends.
I was riding Mameí on the left side of Rahil and Neteyam, Roxto and Tsireya were a little bit further in front, as Tuk and Kiri were on his right side.
We held our hands in front of our faces as the sun blended us.
"This is our most sacred place." Tsireya continued as it got darker and darker. I looked at Neteyam, watching his eyes serve the surroundings; I guess it had to remind him of the forest.
His eyes twitched around, finally landing on me. I smiled at him, looking forward again.
I still struggled with realizing that Neteyam was now my boyfriend. Even though time has passed, it still feels so unrealistic. Being in love was never something I thought I could experience. As my comment showed, a long time ago.
Before I fall in love, one of us is gonna be dead.
And here I am, ready to grow old with him.
Khalo and Neteyam
They slowly got off of their Ilus, gliding into the water and taking their last breaths before getting ready to dive under.
"It's beautiful." Neteyam mumbled under his breath before he followed Tsireya and Roxto, who were already on their way down. Khalo waited a moment to make sure Kiri and Tuk got along before he also followed.
He quickly made sure to swim next to Neteyam, sharing a glance with him when they passed the first few parts of the underwater tree. The direct connection to Eywa.
They swam right through it before Tsireya slowed down and signaled the others that this was the place. The place to connect to Eywa.
Neteyam looked first at Tuk to check on her, and then at Kiri. He watched Kiri a little. How she made the connection to Eywa and then closed her eyes.
She's home, he thought.
He felt a hand touching his shoulder, and in an instant he knew to whom the hand belonged. Khalo.
'Don't you want to make Tsaheylu?' Khalo signed.
'I just wanted to check on them.' Neteyam signed back, giving Khalo a small smile.
Khalo smiled back. He thought it was sweet. His brotherly caring, always making sure his siblings were okay, but he also knew it had to be exhausting for Neteyam.
'How does you're' He paused, thinking about how he should express what he wanted to ask. 'How does you're connection to Eywa look like?' He finished.
Neteyam tilted his head. He was surprised by the suddenness of the question but also had to think about how he should describe it.
'It's also a kind of tree. I think it's a little smaller. It's our spirit tree, or tree of souls.' He looked at the spirit tree right in front of him. 'It's easier to reach, more chilled, I would call it.'
Of course, the choice of Neteyam's words hurt Khalo a little. It made him realize over and over again that this was not Neteyam's home. But he was also a little happy at the thought Neteyam still carried his home around with him.
'You should take me to it.' Khalo took his Queue, guiding it slowly to the spirit tree. 'One day.'
In the next moment, the spirit tree was dark. Khalo, Neteyam and Tsireya pushed Kiri up as Roxto took Tuk in his hand, making sure she wasn't left behind.
As they reached the surface, Khalo pulled an Ilu nearer, making it easier for Tsireya and Neteyam to lay her on it. Neteyam sits beside her.
"What is wrong? What is it?" Tuk panicked, seeing her brother trying mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Which made it obvious.
"Is she breathing?" No respond.
Neteyam tried it again.
"Is she breathing?" Roxto asked again.
"It was a seizure." Neteyam said, shortly after Kiri finally caught up, directly taking her closer and heading in the direction of the clan.
Khalo called for the other Ilus, grabbing Tuk as he was nearest to her, making Tsaheylu.
"What is that?" Khalo asked in fear but also in curiosity.
Khalo and Neteyam stood with the other Metkayina. As the flying object landed, everyone covered their eyes due to the sand that was flying around.
"That's not a real Na'vi." Slipped Khalo out as a man jumped out of the to him unkown object.
"Neteyam, keep them back!" Jake shouted through the loud noises.
"No. That's an old friend of my father's. He has an avatar. And the thing they came with is a helicopter." Neteyam explained as he signed the Metkayina to step back.
Khalo watched the scene. Jake greeted his old friend, following him into the helicopter and unpacking some stuff.
He didn't like the scene. He didn't think there was something that could help Kiri more right now as the Tsahík.
Khalo turned his body towards Neteyam. "Are you sure they can help her?"
Neteyam didn't answer right away. Knowing his answer would change the way Khalo saw these kinds of sky people.
He shook his head. "Please get your mother." Khalo nodded.
"Is she going to be okay again?" Tuk whispered to her older brother as they sat in front of the tent.
Neteyam nodded. Even though he was, in fact, not sure. He never fully trusted the sky people's ways of handling things. Even if it meant he was sometimes against the beliefs of his father. In these parts, he was like his mother. He still liked Spider and Norm, though.
"Tuktirey, come help." Ronal shouted as she walked towards the tent, Khalo and Tsireya closely following her.
Tsireya nodded to Khalo as a sign of dismissing him. He nodded back.
"They will help her." Khalo sat down slowly next to Neteyam and Lo'ak. "She knows what she's doing." He assured them.
"I'm sorry I wasn't with you guys." Lo'ak said, looking ashamed at the ground.
Neteyam sighed. He knew how guilty Lo'ak always felt.
"It's okay. You didn't know what would happen. You don't have to be around us all the time." Khalo shortly smiled at him, as Neteyam explained. It was still unspoken that they all knew where Lo'ak was always heading off to.
Lo'ak and Neteyam nodded as Norm and Max came out of the tent. Khalo watched them closely. Or better, he watched the machines they carried. He really wasn't willing, they could help in any way the Tsahík could.
"I don't like sky people." He expresses his thoughts.
"You think we do? Bro, these people got us out of our home. But Norm's nice." Lo'ak commented. "And Spider. Spider's also like our brother."
Neteyam gave Lo'ak a look.
And Lo'ak realized. "Never mind. That would be incest. He likes Kiri. But also, Kiri's like our sister. Spider's more like a step-bro." Khalo was confused.
"Step-bro? What even is that? And why would Kiri not be your Sister?"
Again, Neteyam jumped in to explain.
"Step-brother is like your parents had you, after that, they separated and then your mother or father got another partner who already had a son; that would be your step-brother. The same thing with daughter. But that concept doesn't really exist here, and it also doesn't fit with our situation with Spider. He's more like adopted." Neteyam stood in a short silence. "But Mother doesn't even like him because he's human. He still grew up with us, though."
Khalo nodded in understanding. "And Kiri is just our sister. She was born before Lo'ak. Grace gave birth to her. Grace is also an old friend of our father. She's with Eywa now. But not like Spider she's our normal sister. She was raised with us. Spider was just raised along us."
"I would still call Spider my bro though." Neteyam rolled his eyes.
"Not the same way you would call Kiri your sister, would you?" Neteyam asked. It may sound like he didn't accept Spider into the family, he just wanted a clear distinction between his sister Kiri and Lo'ak's brother, Spider.
"Nah." Lo'ak looked over the corner into the tent.
"Kiri! You're awake."
Neteyam and Lo'ak jumped up, directly walking over to Kiri.
--
I held my promise
Like I had so much to do today and I ended up doing almost all of it, scary if you ask me
anywayss, pls if anyone is interested in being my test reader pls contact me