Lost and Alone

Leaving?

"My baby, my baby. You're my baby, say it to me."

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Ney'lana was lying on her mat that same night, while all of her sibling was on top of her. Neteyam with his head on her legs, Loak with leg over his back, and head tucked into Ney'lana's side, Kiri on her other side with her hand laying on the other side of her neck, while Tuk layed on her chest. While the boys fell asleep easier, it was harder to help Kiri and Tuk sleep. She made sure she put Tuk to sleep first, then looked over at Kiri to help her so that their conversation was private.

But Ney'lana couldn't sleep a wink. The sounds of Tuk crying. The bombs. The guns. The screams. And most of all, his voice. It was all added to the collection of sounds that haunted her on a day to day basis. She sighed deeply before untangling herself from her siblings. Once she got out, she placed them all together so they, hopefully, wouldn't wake up and notice she was gone and start a whole riot. She walked around for a while, trying to distract her mind when she saw Tarsem's hut.

She slowly walked into Tarsem's hut, knowing that most of the clan would still be awake at this time as it wasn't all that late. But he wasn't even in it. She sighed for the millionth time that night and stood beside a table like structure, waiting for him to come in.

"Ney'lana?"

His deep voice cut through the silence that she was in, making her shoulders jump a bit. Tarsem noticed this and knew something was off. Usually, she would have already known he was there, or just the fact she never jumped like that set him off. But Ney'lana wasn't in her right head space at the moment.

Yes, everything that had happened haunted her mind at the moment, but there was one thing she knew would never go away. His deep, scratchy, disgusting, horrifying voice filled her thoughts as he talked about her. Not her. She didn't care about him talking about herself. But Sey'lana. That coward of a man had no right to mention the fallen twin. It was a miracle to Ney'lana that she didn't see her sister in a corner somewhere when she was trying to fight off the avatars.

"I ugh... I heard about what had happened. Are you alright."

He moved over to his mat, putting the stuff in his hands down, making sure to keep his eyes on the women. Ney'lana just kept her hand on the table and back towards him, playing with the little string she had found hanging off the tapestry that hung from the wall the table was up against.

"Yes, everything is fine. The children are fine. I ugh, just comforted the them, made sure they got to sleep, and felt alright."

Tarsem just hummed before standing up straight again.

"Well, who has made sure you were fine and that you were comforted, put to sleep, and felt alright?"

Tarsem knew Ney'lana. He knew her better than he knew himself, probably. He knew her daily schedule, her ways to sneak out of the hut at night. He knew almost everything about her. So, of course, he knew what she would be like in this situation. She would be so focused on her siblings, and if they were alright, as usual, and never made the time to comfort herself or find someone to. She always put herself at the very last of her list of priorities, and it was always something he made sure to scold her about.

"My mother was there, Tarsem. Of course, I was comforted."

Without the duo knowing, Jake and Neytiri had left the hut not long after Ney'lana, as they had watched her leave. After a while, they grew worried and came to Tarsem to try and find her. Neytiri was the one Quaritch was talking to when he mentioned Sey'lana. And when Ney'lana appeared with a bullet in her leg, she had figured out quickly that Ney'lana had stayed behind to fight off the avatars. Neytiri knew exactly what was going through her daughter's head.