Not the same

the distraction

chapter twenty-one.

Za'nara woke up at the crack of dawn and headed down to the beach. She splashed the fresh water on her face and down her arms and legs. She called to her ilu and swam out near the spirit tree.

She sat on her ilu, staring out at the tree for what felt like hours. Trying to find closure from the last time she plugged into the spirit tree, and how she wished she could tell her mom all about her and Lo'ak.

"Oe hupx nga, Sa'nok." Za'nara called out.

(I miss you, Mother)

As she sat there, zoning out from the world, she didn't even notice someone swim up next to her.

"Hey." Ao'nung greeted her.

"Ao'nung." Za'nara whispered. "Hey."

"What are you doing out here?" Ao'nung asked. "After what happened last time."

"Just came here for some peace of mind." Za'nara explained.

"Oh." Ao'nung replied. "Well I'm glad your doing better at least."

"Thankyou, Ao'nung. I appreciate that." Za'nara thanked. "Your a good friend."

"I know we've had a bit of a shaky past but I am deeply sorry for how I have treated you and I'm glad to have you as a friend." Ao'nung smiled.

"I forgave you a long time ago, but I appreciate you saying all that, I'm glad to have you as my friend." Za'nara replied.

"There's this place, just past out by Three Brothers Rock that I've wanted to show all of you guys for ages but we aren't technically allowed there." Ao'nung explained. "The stars glow over the water and the bioluminescence glow under the reef and it's amazing to see at night. I really want to show it to you guys. I've only seen it a few times before with my Father."

"Oh I've got to see this, is there any way of convincing your father?" Za'nara asked.

"No, I've tried but he won't let us go there alone and he doesn't have time to take us there." Ao'nung explained. "We would have to sneak there, but we would need a distraction."

"Come on, let's go find the rest of the group and come up with a plan." Za'nara suggested, racing away from the tree.

They both headed to the shore to find the rest of the group.

{At the shore}

Ao'nung and Za'nara gathered all of the rest of them and sat down at their spot near the shore and told them their idea.

"We would get caught." Tsireya said to her brother.

"That's why we would need a plan." Za'nara replied.

"I for one am all for it." Lo'ak replied to the suggestion.

"Count me in." Kiri agreed.

"Me two!" Tuk yelled.

"How would we convince mother and father to allow us?" Tsireya asked.

"We weren't going to ask them..." Ao'nung replied.

"Your crazy." Rotxo replied.

"How exactly were you just not going to ask them?" Neteyam asked.

"We would need a distraction." Za'nara replied. "Something to keep them occupied for an hour or so."

"What about our parents? They would notice were gone." Neteyam asked.

"Yeah we need to come up with a plan for that too." Za'nara replied.