OC x Neteyam story
"Oel ngati kameie, ma Tarya."
"Oel ngati kameie, ma Neteyam."
*
"If you fight, you don't fight alone. Nìsoaia."
"Nìsoaia, Tarya. T...
"She has been through so much. And there is yet to come."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
HIGH CAMP: THE HALLELUJAH MOUNTAINS 2170: LATE AFTERNOON
The journey back to High Camp was not a feeling of success. The excitement that stemmed from taking down the train, stealing the weapons and hightailing it back to base was all but existent now; the effect having worn off the moment the gunship entered the airspace.
Instead, a grave sincerity washed over the Sully's as they followed the ground and air assault teams on the Ikran back to the floating mountains. Not a word was uttered amongst the family. Not a single look shared.
Their focus was now on getting back to base safely, and ensuring that the young girl lying in Neytiri's arms made it back alive, and lived to fight another day.
Jake had promised her father on his death bed that he would protect his love and daughter. And when he could no longer keep that promise for Marali, he made a promise to her to protect her daughter.
He had to keep that one, at least.
For, as Marali had said, her dying words, Tarya was now his. One of his own. And Jake would continue to protect her as such.
And this begins with ensuring her survival.
As she lay there, pressed up against a mother, Neytiri couldn't help but worry. For, Tarya was just as much her own daughter as she was Marali's. The girl was born just before Neteyam, and she had looked after her as if she were her's.
In a way, Tarya was the practice Neytiri needed for her first born son. And the girl was a godsend.
Holding her in her own arms, it felt like a knife had been dragged from her stomach to her ribs, tearing through her vital organs but missing her heart, allowing that to beat just so she could feel the pain a little longer.
For, it wasn't just the pain of holding the young girl in her arms that broke her, it was knowing her mother, a sister to Neytiri, was gone. Taken in the same way her father was, with Jake as her last shadow.
And now, Neytiri and Jake were guardians. Just like how they had adopted Kiri all those years ago, Tarya was now one of their own. Though the situation was far more different, accepting her into the family would be the same.
This was a girl who had grown up alongside their children, she was practically family already. It would be Tarya's acceptance that would prove difficult.
