Thanatophobia | Ao'nung

⋆˚✿˖°ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟛𝟝⋆˚✿˖°

"Because I love her," Ao'nung confessed, and everyone's movements stopped as they looked at the flustered teen.

Did he confess that he was in love with Ni'la? While she was unconscious? Maybe they had heard him wrong. Maybe their minds were playing tricks on them because they were all stressed about what was wrong with Ni'la.

"I love her, okay?" Ao'nung sighed.

Nope. They heard him right the first time.

Ronal blinked at her son. She was proud of him for finding someone that he loved, and the mother knew that Ni'la was the perfect match for her baby boy, but that didn't change the fact that he would only get in the way. The Tsahik needed room to work without her child fussing over his girlfriend, whom he'd just revealed he was in love with.

"Okay, Ao'nung. I understand that you're in love with her, but I still need you to leave. I can't have you crowding the room while I try to figure out what's wrong," Ronal said softly, causing her son's ears to go down as his shoulders slumped.

"Come on, bro," Neteyam placed a hand on Ao'nung's shoulder, and the two boys slowly walked out of the pod.

Once they left, Ronal looked at her husband, causing the man to sigh as he followed after his oldest child. While Ao'nung did leave, he would most likely try to come back into the pod if someone looked away for one second.

Of course, both parents felt bad for their boy, but Ronal was almost positive that there wasn't anything wrong with Ni'la. The girl had most likely passed out from exhaustion. War was no place for a child, and the effects on someone as young as Ni'la could be catastrophic if someone didn't intervene in time.

Nevertheless, Ronal got to work as she performed different rituals and prayed to the Great Mother that Ni'la would be okay and that she would wake up.

Ritual after ritual, the Tsahik grew more tired, and after one more, she decided that it was time to take a break as she had been at it for hours. "Are you okay, Mom?" Tsireya asked in concern, and the woman nodded her head. "Would you get me some water?" She questioned, and Tsireya immediately left to go get her mother some water.

So, Ronal took this as her opportunity to talk to Ni'la.

"You have to wake up, Ni'la. I don't know what happened, but you're strong," She whispered as she held onto Ni'la's hand, and as she looked down at the Omatikaya girl's hand, her heart clenched. Ronal had given Ni'la an extremely hard time when the Sully family first arrived, and she regretted it.

Not only because her son loved this girl, but because no one should talk to children in the manner she did. They couldn't control who their parents were, and it's not like they were bad kids. Yes, Lo'ak had gotten into a little bit of trouble, but that didn't mean he was a bad kid, because the reality was that all of the Sully children were respectable.

"I don't know if you can hear me right now, but Ao'nung loves you, and I know you love him too," The woman murmured. "Even if you haven't admitted it to yourself yet, I know that you do because you look at him the way I look at Tonowari."

However, before Ronal could continue to speak to Ni'la, Tsireya finally returned with her water. "Here, Mom," She handed the cup to her mother.

The Tsahik slowly drank the water before she looked at her daughter. "How's your brother doing?" She questioned.

"Neteyam convinced him to go to the beach to wait for the rest of his family," Tsireya explained, causing Ronal to hum in response.

"Hopefully they'll be here soon," She said.

~~~~

The sun had started to rise, and Ronal was still performing different rituals and healing remedies on Ni'la as the Sully family hadn't returned yet. The Tsahik would take breaks to get some rest or to drink some water, but she would quickly return to her tasks.