Like Water || Neteyam

Chapter 2: the Best Birthday Gift

You and Spider were the oldest amongst the children, but as expected, the Sully kids quickly outgrew you in size. Even little Tuk stood an inch taller than you, and she was merely six. Before you knew it, Neteyam, Lo'ak and Kiri all had to sit or kneel to be somewhat at eye level with you.

This is why you've always envied your dad for having an avatar. With an avatar body, he could explore the outdoors like a real Na'vi without the constraints of a mask or worrying about running out of oxygen. However, based on your standards, you think he didn't necessarily use his avatar to its fullest potential. Until this day, Norm has still not bonded with an ikran. Why? His explanation was, why get an ikran, when he could simply ride a pa'li (which he is quite skilled at compared to Jake) or fly on a Samson? You knew your dad, the true reason was he has always had a fear for heights. He would gladly fly in any aircraft that was technology-secured which he deemed safe, but when it came to climbing the Hallelujah Mountains to bond with an ikran, he would give it no second thought, especially hearing that Na'vi children have died during Iknimaya.

Unfortunately, you inherited your dad's trait in being scared of heights. Strangely enough,  you've still dreamed of riding atop of an ikran despite your fear, because one of your favorite Na'vi phrases has always been sivako (rise to the challenge). Your wish was granted eventually when Neteyam completed Iknimaya. He invited you to fly with him as soon as he was confident in his own flying skills, which took little to no time, for he is the son of Toruk Makto after all. You quickly got used to the feeling of flying with him. The more you flew, the more you found your courage growing. This made you greedy, for you also grew to wonder, would you ever be able to fly on your own? This was of course, not possible, unless you get your own ikran; to get your own ikran, you must first have your own avatar.

Ever since you've grown old enough to understand the idea of an avatar, you've longed for one. As far as you knew, the creation of an avatar is extremely complicated and time-consuming. It is hard to believe that the scientists would go through great depth to make one for you, not for science or research, but purely because of your personal wish. You yearned to be able to run as fast as the Na'vi, to swing and jump from tree to tree. You dreamed of binding with your own ikran and soaring through the skies. You also wished Neteyam didn't have to lean down or kneel every time just to take your hand in his and to look at you in the eyes, you wished you could walk straight to him and give him a hug. But these were all just wishful thinking. After all, Spider was the more Na'vi one of you two, if one deserved an avatar, you believe it'd be him.

You did neglect one thing: your dad works with a group of scientists, he just so happens to be a scientist himself, and he would do anything to put a smile on his daughter's face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Dad, are we there yet?" you heard Norm push open a door before leading you in.

A week before your sixteenth birthday, Norm could no longer contain his excitement, announcing that you were about to receive the best birthday gift ever. You had not the vaguest idea in what that could be, so you waited patiently.

On the big day, you began to feel nervous when Norm insisted on blindfolding you before leading you to your gift.

"Almost, one more second!" he led you a few steps deeper into this room, at this point your heart was pounding so loud you swear he could probably hear it.

When the blindfold was removed, you stood there in utter disbelief, not able to immediately process that this was really happening.

"Well, this is it. Happy birthday Ira." Norm muttered behind your ears as he pressed both hands into your shoulders, enjoying every second of your astounded expression.