Thanatophobia | Ao'nung

⋆˚✿˖°ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟝⋆˚✿˖°

"Hey, ma," The twins' greeted while Ni'la turned on one of their mothers' videos because it could be the last time they ever saw one. They both watched their mother appear on the screen before Ni'la's head turned at her sisters' words. "Dad says we have to leave home," Kiri whispered, leaning down to hug her mother through the glass.

"We don't want to leave you, but we have to protect our family," Ni'la sighed, and Kiri nodded in agreement.

The two girls fell silent as they watched their mother in admiration. Watching Grace's videos had always been one of their favorite things to do besides visiting her at the Spirit Tree, which honestly hadn't crossed their mind until this point.

If they had to leave the Omatikaya clan, at least they would be able to visit their mom at their new home Spirit Tree. However, they didn't want to think about the move. Instead, they spent the next couple of hours listening to a range of videos and taking turns hugging the glass capsule.

Eventually, Kiri and Ni'la decided they should probably go home to get some sleep because they didn't know how long they were going to be flying tomorrow. But before they left, they decided it would be best to allow each other to give their mother separate goodbyes too, so Kiri was currently saying her goodbyes while Ni'la tried to think of the right words to say.

After a few minutes of waiting, Kiri came out of the laboratory, wiping the tears from her eyes, and the girl did her best to mentally prepare herself.

As she walked through that door for what could be the last time, she took a deep breath and walked over to her mother's Avatar before leaping onto the glass. "Hi, ma," She greeted.

"I don't really know what to say. I don't want this to be goodbye. I don't want to leave, but that man threatened our family." Ni'la paused, looking at her mother's frozen picture on the computer screen. "Do you know the man who kidnapped my siblings?" She asked only to be met by silence as usual.

The girl sighed before continuing to talk, "I'm sorry I won't be able to continue your work, but I promise I'll ask Norm to do it for me tomorrow, okay?" Ni'la assured. Grace's Avatar continued to occasionally twitch, and the girl knew that she should get ready to leave.

"I'm gonna miss you so much." She whispered before hopping off of the glass, and before she walked out of the door, Ni'la turned around, "I love you, ma." And as she walked out the door, Kiri looked at her, and it was like their emotions hit them like a ton of bricks. Tears streamed down both of their faces as they slowly walked toward their family's tent.

Before they walked into the tent, both girls' wiped their eyes to see that no one was asleep yet. Neytiri was cradling Tuk as the girl cried into her mother's chest, Jake sat beside his mate with his ears pressed against his head, and Lo'ak and Neteyam silently sat on their mattresses.

When everyone noticed the two girls standing at the edge of the tent, Jake spoke, "Alright, it's time for bed," He said, and everyone laid down on their mattresses beside Tuk, who still refused to leave her mother's side.

The lights went out, and everyone tried to fall asleep. Soon, soft snores were heard around the room, but Ni'la couldn't sleep. Her mind was racing, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get herself to calm down.

Ni'la sat up and carefully creeped out of the tent before walking over to sit at the edge of the Mountain to look over the nightlife of the Omatikaya clan. She sighed in contentment as she watched the bioluminescence of the forest shine through the night. The girl would give anything in the world to be running through the forest right now.

But when her ears twitched, she glanced over her shoulder to see Neteyam walking towards her. "Couldn't sleep?" She asked, and he shook his head. "What's keeping you up?" Neteyam questioned, staring out at the floating Mountains. "I think everything," Ni'la said, and Neteyam looked at her.