Chapter Text
I see you in every new day that comes upon our shores.
The soft ever glow of the evening sun warms her face, outside in the safety of her village, she greets a mother and her small child as they pass through. Aware and yet, unaware of the presence that she offers. She meets the curious eye of a child whom had started to watch her, smiling when she waved. The child giggles and throws a ball, letting it bounce a few times before catching it. Kiri offered her time and indulged in a game with the child.
It's an almost bittersweet feeling. In the near future this could be her child. She watches the child who soon grows weary of the game and wanders off for a more better distraction, Kiri hands her the ball before she leaves.
Just as she leaves, she makes out Lo'ak and Tsireya, hand in hand walking up to her.
"Where is Rotxo?" Tsireya asks, looking into the marui to see if he was there.
Kiri shrugs. It was a good question, unfortunately she did not know.
"I don't know.."
Tsireya shakes her head, a little disappointed that he was not by her side. Lo'ak pipes in, just as curious as his other half.
"Is he not supposed to be.. here? With you.. and the baby?" He questions, and honestly Kiri had no clue where he was or what he was doing but, she trusted him.
"I'm sure, everything is fine. He has better things to do." And if it wasn't for the way Tsireya and Lo'ak were holding each other, you would have thought Tsireya was his mate, considering the way she reacted.
"Nga lu nìteng lemweypey, Kiri. Po tìkin neur tok fìtsenge." And whilst she didn't want to admit it, Tsireya's voice whilst speaking Na'vi, scared her. Kiri knew she only spoke Na'vi when she was truly upset.
(You are too patient, Kiri. He need to be here.)
"Nga lu Sa'nok, Po lu sempul. Nga lu soaia. Nga lu tsengpe Po neur tok." Tsireya smiles solemnly, granting Kiri the comfort she needed.
(You are mother, he is father. You are family. You are where he need to be.)
Lo'ak nods, agreeing to every word she spoke. When they leave, her world feels still. Nothing rushes past, no overbearing loud noises that would be the warriors coming home, just the light sound of the ocean coming past and onto the sand.
More or so, she guesses Rotxo is with Ao'nung and Neteyam, off chiding somewhere only they know. But she hopes he will return home soon; she doesn't like being kept away from him for too long.
Kiri trudges back into her marui. As her due date rests ever so closely on the horizon, she's secluded to her home and five to six metres from the door. She hated it. Kiri had voiced her irritant nature towards the rule with Jake but, seeing as they were both stubborn and in no rush to change. Jake's word stood strong.
Sighing, she really wishes she hadn't been so hotheaded and listened because, whilst she wouldn't admit it, relaxation came easier when she was by herself and with the baby.
She breathes deeply, the warm air flowing through her home filling her lungs. Exhaling in peace. The evening sun cast long shadows on the ground, slanting rays of the setting sun gave a warm orange tinge to the sky. But now, as it starts to set, all of that slowly falls away. Inviting the cool night to cover the horizon.
Warm light filters into her marui, bringing with it the warmth of the night.
Rotxo comes in, catching her off guard and startling her. “Ma Kiri, I did not see you there. My apologies.” Kiri brushes it off. “It's okay, Rotxo.”
He nods his head, still feeling a little guilty.
“Where were you? You were gone for a while.”
He turns around after setting his things back down in the original places. ”Just somewhere.” He chimes, smile on his face.
“Ma Kiri, I have somewhere I want to take you..” He responds. She tilts her head, “Now?”
“Yes, now.” She can feel his excitement buzz in the air. “What for?” He brings a finger to his lips. “Cannot say.” Kiri (after much convincing by her counterpart) agreed to go.
Kiri tries again to see if he will spill what he's trying to do. Unfortunately for her, Rotxo catches this before she even opens her mouth.
"I won't ruin the surprise now." He smirks slyly, relishing in the small win.
Kiri defends herself by convincing him she was just looking at him.
He tsks, shaking his head. "I know you, Kiri. And you are not as secretive as you think." She erupts into a fit of laughter.
"You caught me." She giggles, knowing that she can never pass anything when it came to him.
"But, seriously, where are you taking me?" She questions and his answer is a hand out, to which she takes.
"You will see."
She trusts his judgement and lets him settle her on the awaiting Ilu. Her stomach bubbles with excitement as to what waits for them. He takes both her hands and pulls them around his waist, making sure she was secure and comfortable.
"You ready, forest girl?" Still with the nickname.
"Let's go, ocean boy." She challenges. And he sets off. Still taking the easy way out and staying above the water.
Over the rush of the wind and the white noise, Kiri shouts for him to go faster. She forgets he still has the humor of a teenager and watches him laugh.
"You're a skxawng."
Once pass the reef, Rotxo takes Kiri on her offer and picks up speed once they're in the clear. Her hair bangs fall to the sides as she closes her eyes, taking comfort in the way the wind relaxed her. If only she could do this in the sky. What she would give to be up there right now with her Ikran.
They stop at a slant in the wall, the slope merging into the water, with a small platform that would lead them up and into the grass above. Rotxo takes her hand and helps her up. Whilst slippery, they made sure to grip the rock as best they could manage to hoist themselves up.
"This is beautiful." She mentions, stunned as Kiri, whilst living here amongst the wonders of the ocean, has never seen this side of the reef before.
"My mother used to come here with us, when we were small children." Her heart strains and for some odd reason, she feels she is trespassing.
Rotxo's eyes soften, a small tearful smile. "Now, it is our turn to continue the tradition." He runs his hand over belly, smiling, and Kiri sees although his eyes were here, his mind was really somewhere else.
"My mama would have loved you." He caresses her cheek softly, and to this day, he has never seen someone so captivating.
He wipes his eyes and takes her hand. "Here, we must go." Rotxo whispers excitedly, and they rush towards the unknown.
To Kiri it was unknown but, to her mate, he couldn't wait to see her reaction.
Rotxo stops suddenly, drawing the concern of his mate.
"Here." In his hands was a piece of cloth.
"This must go over your eyes."
He walks behind her to slip it on, but the slightest hesitation and hitch of breath catches his eye.
Rotxo kisses her temple, placing his hand on her chest. Her heart was beating rather fast.
"Do you trust me?"
She nods. Of course she does.
He nods to signal he was going to try again. This time, tying off the cloth and taking her hand.
Kiri relies heavily on her sense of hearing, touch and smell.
Her feet move through wet grass, the dampness of the forest touches her skin, sticking to her like the heat of the day. The flowery scent mixed with the strong redolence of the timbered woodlands. Although, she could definitely sense the sliminess that covered most trees.
They stop, and her ears rise. She hears faint animal noises, ones to her that were very familiar.
Were they going to eat her?
She feels Rotxo's touch slip away, his feet growing ever so faint and then nothing.
Did he just leave her to defend herself?
"Rotxo?" She whispers.
No response.
A moments silence was soon disturbed by his voice.
"You can take it off now." She hears him say, and she had never taken something off so fast.
Apart from you know what but, that's for another time.
She adjusts her eyes and once they focus, she stops moving, breathing, the lot.
Rightfully so, because standing there was her Ikran.
And oh, how beautiful she was. Almost two years without her and they were finally reunited.
"Wait- d-did you.. how?" She's crying, smiling when she embraces him quickly before turning towards her Ikran.
She throws her arms around her neck and nuzzles her face as deep as she'll let her go. "I missed you." She admits through tears.
"Thank you, Rotxo- but how?"
He smiles. "I had help from your parents. I wanted this to feel special."
"And you did."
She looks at him again, smiling through tears. "Thank you."
"It's all for you, Ma Kiri."
How lucky was she?
"How about that ride you promised to take me on?" He chimes, helping her onto the back of her Ikran and following suit.
She connects her queue and takes a deep breath, letting herself become re-immersed with every point of her spirit sister. Letting her senses become enveloped by her. Re-learning the ways of her banshee.
She pats her neck. "Lets take this nice and slow." Rotxo holds her waist for support and because he has never done heights before, let alone flying.
They lift into the air and Rotxo can't help but, squeeze her sides lightly, resting his head on her shoulder and closing his eyes. He feels them move, lifting higher into the air and moving swiftly through the sky. Kiri notices the way his eyes shut against her shoulder and tries to coax him into opening them, not wanting him to miss out on the beautiful scenery.
"It is alright, Rotxo. I am here, it's just like riding an Ilu. You're just lighter." Her reassurance and confidence in what she was doing, alongside the fact that she knew exactly what she was doing, was enough to heed him out.
And he opens his eyes.
They were flying over Awa'atlu, his home that he had become so accustomed to, looked breathtaking from above. He might even place the beauty of his home, before Kiri.
"This is amazing. It looks beautiful at night." He smiles and seeing him act this way offers for her to take off.
"Ready for a real ride?" She asks, hands buzzing with anticipation. He nods, and she turns around and they speed off into the night.
Laughter erupts from him, and his smile tells her everything she needed to know. They swirl through the air, wind moving through their hair, running over them. She dives down, Rotxo wrapping his arms around her chest, as her Ikran skims the water. He's in awe of how much control she has. He leans over, hand rushing through and disturbing the water. He cheers loudly, and it gets lost to the wind. Rotxo has never had so much fun.
Kiri moves left, and her banshee flies through a hole in a rock, immediately taking off into the sky.
"Hold on!" She yells.
"Why?"
Before he could scream, Kiri dives down. Turning her Ikran so she's spiraling downwards. Rotxo giggles childishly, his skin cold yet his body was on overheat. He loved it. They don't stop and the creature's wings tuck in as they hit the water. Flying underneath before being redirected upwards. He shakes his face of water and grins widely.
"This is so much fun!" He shouts passionately.
"Do you want to go upside-down?" She suggests.
He nods his head enthusiastically, anything at this point, he'll agree to.
They soar towards the stars and Kiri rotates so their world is turned upside down, literally.
He breathes heavily, his heart pounded with joy, thoughts running on override that he wasn't thinking of anything. He was carefree.
Kiri savored this feeling of contentment and utter glee. Love rippled through her as an unexpected wave of admiration for him consumed her.
She's glad she can give back to him, even if it was something small to her. It was absolutely everything to him.
Kiri turns them upright, now just slowly flying. Letting Rotxo admire everything he could up high, from a new point of view that he had already admired down on the ground.
"Thank you, Kiri. This was everything to me."
"No, thank you."
And as they let the night accompany them on this short flight, Kiri will hold this moment dear in her heart.
They kiss so passionately, letting their love flow through them.
Profound love and joy was found with each other. That's something they couldn't deny.