Two ghosts - Lo'ak

Chapter 27

Pandora reef

Metkayina clan

The morning after the battle

Li'teya slowly opened her eyes as the moonlight shone through the gaps of the mauri. She quickly shot up, checking her stomach for the fatal wound which almost killed her, and all she found was the pink scar across her small middle. She let out a large sigh. She was still alive. Tsu'tey was snoring lightly as he snuggled closer to his stuffed toy. Teya kissed his forehead before sneaking out of the mauri. The village was peaceful at this time, everyone was asleep, trying to recover from the previous night, but every time Li'teya closed her eyes, she was back on the ship. Lo'ak dying was on a constant loop in her head. She could still feel his heart stop underneath her hands, the moment when his life left his eyes and his last words like an echo "Our stars". He could have said anything to his family for the last time but chose to speak to her. He used his last seconds on her.

"Li'teya"

Every moment since they got back, his death had been on her mind. How could it not? He died in front of her and came back to life.

"Li'teya"

Maybe she was dead, and this was all a dream. Lo'ak never returned, and she was stuck in an eternal hell, forced to watch his death on repeat for eternity.

"Li'teya!"

Teya didn't know she was crying until she felt the salty tears drip down her cheeks. Her vision was blurry from tears, and she couldn't quite make out the na'vi in front of her.

"I ... um", she couldn't speak; Teya was too caught up in her head. Teya wiped her eyes as she focused on the person. "No, you're dead; you died. You're not real," she muttered, hiding her head in her hands.

Lo'ak grabbed her hands, forcing her to look at him. "Te, I'm right here, I'm ok, we're ok", he mumbled sadly. He rubbed his fingers over her knuckles but stopped when he felt something wet. He looked at her hands; they were covered in blood.

"You're bleeding, princess".

Li'teya yanked her hands away from him ashamed, but Lo'ak stole them back. "I thought you'd stopped Te?" he inspected her knuckles which she had scratched raw.

"I don't even realise I'm doing it," she admitted.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, trying to comfort her as much as possible.

"Couldn't sleep. What about you? Why are you awake?" she retaliated she didnt mean to sound harsh.

Lo'ak sighed. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Li'teya dying. Eywa showed him what he was leaving behind: Li'teya bleeding out. He watched as her blood coated the floor, the whimpers of pain she let out and how scared she was of dying. He felt like he was trapped in hell, forced to watch her death on repeat as punishment for being a disappointment.

"Couldn't sleep either", he muttered. Silence fell across the young lovers. Neither of them knew what to say.

"I can't stop watching you die", she started, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Lo'ak stared at the girl. "Every time I close my eyes, I watch you die, and even though we're here, it's killing me."

Lo'ak pulled the girl closer, resting his forehead against hers. "I'm here; I'm not going anywhere. We're going to get through this, and we're going to get through it together," he whispered, stroking circles on her damp cheeks.

Teya nodded lightly, kissing his lips softly. Lo'ak quickly returned the kiss, pushing Teya back and making her arch her back. Butterflies erupted in her stomach. Every kiss felt like their first. Full of love and passion.

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The sun began to rise from behind the horizon peaking through Tsu'tey's mauri. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up. His eyes scanned the hut. His father was still asleep, but no sign of his sister. "Teya?" he whisper yelled, but there was no response. Tsu'tey didn't want to worry his father, so he snuck out of his mauri to see a panicked Neteyam rush out of his.

"Have you seen Li'teya? She's not in the hut," Tsu'tey asked as Neteyam ran towards his best friend.

"No. Lo'ak's gone too." Neteyam returned.

"What if they actually are ..."

"No, don't say that; they are alive", Neteyam denied. He refused to believe his little brother was dead, and he saw him breathing and talking last night and couldn't have made that up.

"Then where are they?" Tsu'teys voice cracked slightly. He could see Neteyam break down too.

"We'll find them; they couldn't have gone far" at that second, a quiet laugh made Neteyam's ears stick up. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" another laugh rang out

"That. It sounds like laughter," Neteyam said, walking towards the voice

"Mate, eclipse has just ended. Nobody will be awake yet," Tsu'tey argued, following behind Neteyam.

"Bro, I'm telling you, I heard ..." Tsu'tey crashed into Neteyam's back as he abruptly stopped.

"Why'd you stop?" but Neteyam didn't need to answer. He motioned his head towards the beach where their siblings lay laughing. Li'teya's head was in Lo'aks lap as the pair laughed uncontrollably at something.

Both brothers laughed in relief. "They're alive".