Petrichor

He's Not Lying

hi my lovelies, if you're able please listen to The Great Gig in the Sky by Pink Floyd from the first asterisk *** break in the chapter :)

Ätopä sagged back, feeling utterly exhausted. Ilhia was quick to call on Leypa, and he was there in an instant, his hands on her shoulders as he knelt behind her.

She hadn't gotten Kiri to wake. Ilhia had expected as much. Her daughter in law was a healer, not a Tsahik. But Kiri's spots had lit back up in the night, her breathing less shallow and panicky and more deep and peaceful, and that was as good a sign that she'd ever been given. 

It was about an hour after dawn. Ätopä had worked all through the night, never once complaining, never once taking a break, just muttering soft Na'vi and using the ikran tooth and the substances in the jars. 

Ilhia hadn't moved from her spot either. She'd held Kiri's hand as Ätopä worked, helped to move her on her side when her daughter in law asked. Tuk had stayed too, but at some point in the night it had become too much for her and now she was curled up in a ball, her head in Ilhia's lap, one hand on Kiri's arm.

"Take a break, Ätopä," Leypa murmured softly, allowing his mate to drop her head back onto his shoulder. "Norm is here now. The Tsahik will be here soon. I asked her as soon as the sun came up." 

"Your father did not stop you?" Ilhia asked gently, stroking Tuk's forehead. Leypa shook his head. 

"He has been with Neteyam." Leypa's gaze went from his mother to his sister. "My brother has cried all night long." 

It had been hard for the two brothers to ignore. Lo'ak had watched them carefully when Neteyam had pulled their father away, out of earshot and speaking in low tones, but there was no denying in the fire light that Jake had held his middle son for too long. Too long for just worry about Kiri. Lo'ak didn't voice these concerns to his brother.

He and Leypa had ended up sitting on the walkway, Lo'ak's legs too small to touch the water, Leypa's toes just dipping the surface without him trying. And they had sat in silence. The wind changed direction during the night, and Neteyam's cries had been even harder to ignore, the sound carrying easily. 

And at some point in the night, Lo'ak had fallen asleep on his big brother's arm, unable to keep his eyes open.

"Where is your father now?" Ätopä spoke, her voice weary, holding her belly with one hand.

"He and Neteyam are showing Norm where to land. Netty is crowd control." 

If she strained her ears hard enough, Ilhia could hear the sound of the machine over the lapping waves. Then Lo'ak popped his head in, taking in the four of them sitting around Kiri. 

"They are here," he said gingerly. Ilhia nodded, gently lowering Tuk's head to the floor. Her daughter mumbled, but otherwise slept. She carefully got to her feet in a crouch, picking Tuk up so her head rested on her shoulder, and stood, Tuk still passed out in her arms. 

Leypa had just gotten Ätopä to her feet when Jake marched into the hut, Norm in his Na'vi form and the human Max, who Ilhia had grown fond of. He had told her many stories about Jake when he first started using his Na'vi body, much to her husband's dismay.

"Hey Ilhia," they both greeted, and nodded at Leypa and Ätopä. Norm seemed unable to look Leypa in the eye. 

"Let them in," Jake said quietly. Her son hesitated for a split second and then moved out of the way, taking Ätopä with him. Ilhia walked around Kiri and stood next to Jake, watching the humans collect the jars scattered across the floor and lay down their technology. Norm fastened something that Ilhia could only compare to an ionar onto Kiri's face, on her forehead and down onto her cheeks. Max pulled out one of his screens that took a few seconds to load.