Chapter Text
The ocean and I are long time lovers.
Our lips touch as the tide moves in.
We dance to the rhythm of the waves.
And you may come to love it.
But even now, it brings with it the deep secrets of the sea.
Yet Kiri couldn't get enough.
She's swaying against the gentle rush of the wind; it lolls over her like a blanket. She dips her legs into the water and breathes deeply, her chest heaves and then falls on the exhale. Things have felt a little rushed lately, what with various matters having been taken care of, she feels the need to slow the pace. The sudden change has left her fatigued and weary, so she tries to chase the sun to keep her stress at bay.
Another wave laps at her feet, cold water rushing over her. She smiles out to sea, her bangs falling gently over her eyes as she watches a group of hunters settle in at shore. Some separating off from the group and swimming directly towards the ilu pen. Rotxo was one of the hunters to return, Kiri spots him laughing with Lo'ak as they make their way up shore.
He walks past her, unaware of her presence. Kiri doesn't mind all too much, and let's him wander off.
She straightens her posture for a second to relieve the ache in her back before slouching again, it seemed to help a lot. See, Kiri was nearly a whole year along with her first child, so relieving that dull ache, gave her a small amount of relief until she had to stand up again.
"So, this is where you walked off to." A smooth voice said, she heard him laugh. "I guess you have a good enough excuse to neglect your body and it's needs." She playfully rolled her eyes.
"I'm not neglecting my needs; this is a need and I have plenty of time to rest later." She rebutted, turning her gaze to the sand.
Rotxo sighs, he's been doing that a lot lately. "I know, I'm just worried for my prrnen's." He lays a kiss on the side of her head as his hand begins to soothingly caress over her arm.
"So caring aren't you, ocean boy?", She giggles and turns back to the horizon. "I'm never calling you prrnen again." He laughs, shaking his head.
They fall silent as the water continues to push against them, the height of the waves have begun to increase in size as the tide comes in. "I hope the sky people will not disturb us again, I will not let our child grow up in a world like this." Her tone drips with distaste, this is the life she had to live. Eywa knows, this will not be the life of her child.
Rotxo can feel the anger grip her like a vice, and he's come to see that his worries would only worsen.
"Ma Kiri, we cannot promise such things. Sky people will keep taking, no matter the extent of their actions." She lets her head fall back, heaving a heavy sigh. Greed; the intense desire for more. The humans were greedy beings, and they weren't afraid to own up to it.
He spots her change in demeanor, "We will be okay, our family will be okay." Rotxo kisses her temple, to reassure her and to wash away her worries.
We are strong together and as long as we are alive, our baby will know no danger. Is what Rotxo had meant.
She feels his warmth slip away and he's up on his feet. "Now, let's get back to the village, you need food and then rest." His tone changes on the last word, knowing Kiri would disobey and stay awake.
She acknowledges his protective demeanor and relaxes, joining him in hand as they walk back to the village.
It should be illegal to wake up as soon as the sun comes up above the shoreline. She turned over, rapidly blinking her eyes to adjust to the light. "Kiri! Wake up, you promised to teach me today." Kiri grumbled, annoyed by Tuk's enthusiasm and wondered what kind of person was so excited this early in the morning.
"Tuk, give me five more minutes." She managed to turnover and close her eyes again, much to her sister's chagrin.
Her mind didn't let up and continued to poke and prod at Kiri's shoulder. "Pleaseee, you promised." Kiri squeezed her eyes shut once she heard her sulk, knowing she couldn't say no.
She whispered a harsh 'fine' and cursed herself for agreeing to these early morning lessons. Fortunately for Tuk, Rotxo was still asleep. "Get your stuff." Tuk smiled widely and ran to unhook her bow from the stand it was placed on.
Kiri was glad Rotxo had suggested to stay the night with her family, as her aching body made it hard for her to walk the rest of the way back to their marui. Unfortunately, it came with it's downsides.
Kiri grabbed her own and took the small girl's hand and led them off towards the training area. She watched Tuk bounce along the cloth walkways as they passed many marui pods. They stepped off the walkway and onto a long stretch of grass, in her line of sight was five to seven archery stands made of grass and twine. Due to her family using bows, many metkayina wanted to learn as well, resulting in training sessions for the water Na'vi to attend.
"Kiri, when do you think I'll get a hunting bow?" She asked, Kiri quirked an eyebrow. "When you're old enough to take down your first kill." Tuk pouts and grumbles a 'not fair' and Kiri laughs.
"No more sulking let's get this over with. I wanna go back to sleep."
Kiri unsheathes her bow and bends down to grab an arrow. "Keep your eyes on me, okay?" Tuk nods her head enthusiastically and sees to it that Kiri was now hooking the nock to her bow and reeling it in, so her arm straightens.
"Pull, take a deep breath in. Steady your arm and exhale when you shoot, like so." She demonstrates the action, although it's hard to do so with her stomach but, does it anyway and let's go. "See? Just like that." Kiri smiles and watches Tuk do the same.
However, the arrow lands near the top of the archery board.
Tuk pouts, "I thought I would get it this time."
"And you will, here let me show you." Tuk tilts her head. Kiri moves Tuk's arm so it's straight and flush against her body, "Now stand tall, suck in your stomach and take a deep breath." She instructs, "Don't forget to exhale when you let go."
She follows as Tuk repeats her directions. "Good, now deep breath and shoot." Tuk releases the arrow, and although it doesn't land in the middle, she manages to hit close to the center.
"Yeah! Good job, Tuk." Kiri cheers, her sister is bounding around, excitement bubbling inside of her.
After a few more tries of demonstrations, her younger sister was able to hit the board dead on.
Most of the village was awake as they were heading back to their marui. "Kiri? I don't think I would be able to.. kill anyone." She ruffles Tuk's hair and smiles lightly, "That's okay, you'll have me, and mom and Neteyam."
"What about, Lo'ak?"
Kiri snorts, "That skxawng can't shoot a gun straight even after dad taught him." This sets Tuk off in a fit of giggles.
"You were up early." They stop and Kiri smiles, she turns and sees Rotxo behind her. "Tuk, go see if mom has made breakfast. Go on." Tuk skips off and Rotxo has his arms wrapped around her body, hugging her from behind.
"I didn't wake up to you this morning." He's kissing her neck and they're swaying together. "You can blame Tuk for that." She laughs when she sees him roll his eyes.
He sighs into her neck. "Gonna need to keep you with me at all times." She finds his subtle jealousy cute, the way he was trying to hide that it didn't nother him.
"You big baby, I was fine. Nothing to worry about." She smiles gently, kissing his forehead. "Is the baby, okay?"
Kiri nods, "Apart from the contractions, the baby is healthy." She feels his ease up, concerns lifting from his body. "That's good, you should go get some rest." He squeezes her hand and gives her one last kiss before departing.
She swings around and staggers back towards their shared pod. By the time she's back, Kiri's body had started to ache, and she sits down. Exhaling a heavy sigh, she lays down, back flush against her mat.
She runs her hands over her stomach and begins to sing. Her child kicks at her belly and she keeps singing.
Hopefully, her daughter will love it here.
Rested well and hungry, her first thought was to walk to her families marui, and as she looks around, she realizes Rotxo wasn't there.
A childish grin dances across her lips at the thought of her mate. His eyes, unforgettable like a book she would want to read if Pandora were to offer her any. To swim to an island ashore, to bask in the morning sun as it dawned, crisp and clear. His stupidly perfect smile, that always happened to be present when he would see her. He smiles at her like he does the ocean, with longing to be close to her. She couldn't forget his laugh; it was like watching through the reflective surface of the sea. She was drawn to the sound of it, like a child and it's treat.
He was at last too surreal that she almost thinks she has made him up, a figment of her imagination. He was an experience that she wishes to have again and again, over and over until her last breath. Kiri wants to feel her face strain from smiling too much, she wants her chest to always feel like she's running when they laugh, she wants her heart to swell at the call of her name. Kiri wants everything to feel so soft and warm when she is with him.
She wants love. That is all.
Everything, she wants it all with Rotxo.
Eywa knows they were meant for each other.
Soon, Kiri is walking the path back to the main village, her ears twinge at the sounds that surround her. She greets the local families as she passes through, a slight hop in her walk as she steps onto the cloth walkways, making her way towards her families marui.
Her back is sore from the distance she put in to walk here and soon has to sit down to catch her breath.
Neytiri nearly rushes her with worry, handing her a bowl to fuel her up. "Eat, I will not let my daughter go without food. Come." After she spoon feeds Kiri the first bite, Neytiri smiles and lets her eat the rest.
"Thank you, Ma." She whispers, Neytiri gives her a small kiss before sitting down.
She glances around and sees Neteyam talking to Ao'nung whilst Tsireya and Tuk play out in the water. "We are having a lazy day, today." Her mother points out.
Kiri knew how much her mom valued relaxing days and did nothing but smile. "How are you, Ma Kiri?"
She shrugs, bringing her spoon to her mouth and eating. "I'm sore, and the baby is kicking really hard. And sometimes it feels like I'm gonna give birth at any moment." Neytiri worried, Kiri was still young and again, this was her first time as a mother.
Neytiri hears her sigh, and she could feel how heavy the thought weighed on her. "What is wrong?"
She begins to stroke her arm when she sees Kiri burst into tears. Due to her pregnancy her emotions were heightened, and her mood swings were everywhere. Thankfully she was able to keep them under control... most of the time.
"What if I'm a bad mother?" She cries, and leans into the touch. "My sweet child, you're going to be a great mother. I do not see a more deserving mother, than you." Neytiri believes her children will be strong and free-willed. Very emotionally in touch.
"Sa'nok are very strong wielding, and do not second guess their position. So, why should you?" Neytiri asks, Kiri shrugs, but her mother was right. Sa'nok never second guess their motherly positions.
"Does it have to do with me, being a half-breed?" She questions and Neytiri is almost hurt that she would think such a thing.
"Where you came from, has nothing to do with being a mother. Only a skxawng would dig so deep." Kiri agreed, she was an idiot to overthink something like this.
Neytiri sighs, "Do you think Grace would second guess this? Your mother was referred to as Sa'nok amongst the Omatikaya children." Kiri did a double take at this information. "Really?" Neytiri smiles at her daughter shift in attitude.
"Yes, even as a dream walker, she was important to the children." Neytiri smiled, all those years with Grace and now being able to talk to her child about how much of an impact she had on their clan, was a very memorable moment.
She wished Grace was here to tell Kiri herself.
"Your child will grow up with a strong mother and your mate.. I know he is very lucky to have you." Eywa, she loved how Neytiri viewed her, even though she was now a young adult.
Neytiri took the empty bowl out of her hand and set it to the side. "Thanks, Ma." Kiri gave her a hug, enveloped with her scent before pulling away.
"Now, go. Your mate must be waiting." Kiri looked to the sky, she noticed the sun was past the tree line outside her home and thanked Neytiri before leaving.
Kiri made it to the beach and met Rotxo along the way. She let her feet sink into the ground below as they walked along the shoreline. "We do this a lot, don't we?" She asked, holding his hand as they kept strolling.
"I do see that, yes."
"But it's always been our thing." She points out, and he agrees. They were walking along the shore before they even considered each other friends. It was only on that faithful day that they decided it would be more.
"And it will stay this way for a long time."
She grins cheekily, "I hope so, ocean boy." She teases.
"I promise." He adds.
They fall quiet, enjoying one another's presence. Rotxo watches her ears twitch as a gust of wind hits them, and her hair falls out of her face. She reminds him of the sea, so much left to uncover yet, still feels like home.
She catches him staring, "What? Do I have something on my face?" He shakes his head, "No, I just like the view." She rolls her eyes and pushes him playfully.
"What? Am I not allowed to say something like that?"
She bites her lip and shakes her head 'no'. She hisses playfully and backs away when he laughs. "Oh, so you want to play this game?" She knew the hot water she was getting herself into and began to fast walk when he started chasing her.
Cacophonous sounds of giggles and playful laughter filtered through the air as they acted like kids, evading each other and teasing one another before stopping to calm down and just relish in each other's presence.
"Where did that energy come from?" He asked, running a soothing hand down her back. "I have no clue but, I'm definitely doing it again." She stated laughing.
After a few minutes of catching their breaths, Rotxo asks, "What do you want to name our daughter?"
She ponders on this thought; they had discussed this a few times before but had never settled on a name. "I don't really know.." He nods his head, indicating that he was listening.
"How about, Ko'näne?" Kiri thought it over, but ultimately decided against it. "I want a name that brings something new."
"Maybe, Ngäì?" He is met with the same answer.
Many names were presented to her, but one had stuck and thanks to Rotxo, they were able to settle on one.
"Äìtxäl."
A daughter born under the eclipse.
"I love it." Rotxo thinks so too.
Kiri thought it would suit their daughter as the next would be the day she was born, so the timing and choice of the name was perfect.
The sun soon began to fall, Kiri feels the warm embrace of his arms around her. She sways with him as they cast their gaze to the sea.
This is my home. Here, with him.