Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Dad! Please lift me up to the sink please I wanna help you out with washing the dishes too please dad?!" the five-year-old girl says holding up her arms as she waited for her dad to take her into his arms and place her on the stool to help. He knew that his little girl wouldn't move a muscle until she was on the stool so that she could help, and who could say no to her adorable little face. Twenty-five-year-old Ao'nung dried his hands, smiling to himself and carefully picked up is daughter, Amaia and placed her gently on the stool next to him where she could rinse out the soapy dishes. It was just the two of them in their two-bedroom apartment, which was quite big and spacious perfect for a hyperactive five-year-old. It has always been the two of them (minus his family who were always there to help them out whenever it was needed), ever since the day Ao'nung found little Amaia abandoned in an alley way one cold night five years ago. He had taken her to his apartment first without any hesitation cleaned her up and changed her into something a bit warmer, although his little sister's clothes that were left behind were a little too big but still provided warmth and wrapped in a blanket took her to his mother to get the little baby checked out. Although the little baby was malnourished, she was generally a healthy bundle of pure joy and happiness giggling about at all the little pokes and jabs Ronal did in order to distract her from the injection to calm down the small fever she as a precaution in case it got worse, her smile brightening the room.

Ao'nung burst through the door with bags filled with formula, baby bottles, diapers, blankets, and clothing in a variety of colours, this was a way as well to clear his head and calm down from the various emotions of sadness and anger at whoever abandoned such an innocent life. He silently vowed to take care of the baby as if she were his own daughter even if he was still quite young (being twenty years old) but he was still determined to take care of her. This vow was quietly whispered to his mother, who in turn gave him an approving nod accompanied with a wide smile happy with her son wanting to keep the baby and to raise her. Ronal had been a doctor for a long time and had seen both the good and the bad of the foster care system but had mostly seen how badly the system effects young children. Especially when they are not placed in good homes and cannot/do not want to say anything to because they are either scared to or they do just want to belong to a family and do not know any better.

However, Ronal knew that this baby would have the happiest home ever, and she would make sure that the baby had the happiest home as well and help Ao'nung through it all if need be. Ronal knew Ao'nung the best, he was an absolute sweetheart, a big softie with huge muscles, sun-kissed skin or tanned skin, which was decorated with black traditional tattoos that began from is arms and ended at his neck these were beautiful black swirls and patterns, and there were more to come as they told his life's story. Ao'nung had gentle eyes that were strikingly baby blue in colour, soft round face, with high cheek bones, a strong nose, a mole above his lips like his mother's and long voluminous black curly hair that reached mid back when not braided or in a bun. Ao'nung was the spitting image of his father, Tonowari, when he was much younger, just a little bit taller, both true gentle giants.

"Mama is it okay if we can sleep here, I don't have car seat for her, I can't take her home with me and I don't have anywhere for her to sleep at my apartment", Ao'nung said pacing around the room showing worry in his tone. "Either way how would I be able to take her back because I don't have my car, I used your car to buy stuff and took a cab which honestly was not safe, but it was an emergency, so I had to make an expectation. But wait where will she sleep my apartment is a one-bedroom apartment, and I don't have a crib where she can sleep unless she sleeps on my bed, and I take the couch but that wouldn't work out what if-". "Ao'nung! Calm down!" Ronal says sternly rocking the baby gently in her arms, the little one sleeping with a small smile on her face enjoying the rocking motion. "Ao'nung calm down son, we still have Roa's crib in her bedroom we have yet to pack it up, you can take it with you tomorrow, for now we can move it into your old room, and you sleep with her tonight. Your father and I are a little too old to share a room with a newborn baby, well I am assuming she is a newborn sort off, but Ao'nung I must ask you are you extremely sure about taking her in as your own. Do not misunderstand me, I am not at all opposed to the idea of you taking her in, me and your father will help in any and every way that we can, but I want you to be sure so that she grows in a loving home you have to love her 100% because she deserves a loving home, a loving family it won't be an easy journey raising a child, but it is worth everything" Ronal says gently while looking at her son sternly.

Ao'nung looked at his mother and without any hesitation said yes, he was 100% sure about raising the little baby like his own daughter, while looking at the baby who was peacefully sleeping smiling at her gently. "You'll have to talk to your father and get in touch with the family lawyer so you can go through the process of adopting her and you'll be able to call her your daughter, but first you need to report to the police that you found the child abandoned just in case there's a missing person's report on the baby, but I doubt it", Ronal says while tiding up the room. "So, what will you name her?", Ronal asked turning to Ao'nung, "Amaia" he says quietly as he looks at the little bundle of joy in his younger sister, Roa's crib (named after Ronal's older sister who sadly passed away from a shooting incident). A smile was gracing Ao'nung's face as he saw her sleeping in the crib as he is filled with happiness, joy and a bit of fear wondering what the future has in store for him but one of the biggest things he feels is a huge sense of peace.

Little Amaia had sun-kissed skin similar to Ao'nung just being a little bit darker than Ao'nung's, her eyes weren't blue they were a bright mixture of an amber-gold, and she had black curly hair. Many people had easily mistaken her to be Ao'nung's biological daughter, even though he never said anything to anyone to correct that statement he proudly accepted it. One of the best moments of his life was when Amaia called him "Dada" at a small family dinner event, which consisted of Rotxo, Tsireya, Roa, Tonowari, Ronal, Rotxo's grandmother (who proudly claimed the child as her great-granddaughter, as Ao'nung, Tsireya and Roa were pretty much her grandchildren considering how close everyone was to each other they were practically family), and lastly him. Ao'nung had been upstairs while the family in the backyard grilling, setting up the tables and bringing put different foods to eat, he was changing Amaia into comfy warm clothes since it was cold outside. While he was changing her and blowing raspberries at her tummy she squealed and giggle and out loud said "Dada", Ao'nung froze thinking he misheard when she said it again "Dada" with much excitement while giggling and squealing.

He immediately finished dressing her up, took her downstairs as he was crying tears of pure joy, his heart melting, outside towards his family. "Nung, what's wrong? Is everything okay with Amaia?", Tsireya asked worry in her voice, Ao'nung sniffed and said stuttering, "Nothing is wrong, everything is okay she just called me, 'Dada' I don't know how to react it was her first words, and they were 'Dada', I know I'm crying, I promise these are happy tears I can't stop them, I'm so happy". On queue Amaia not knowing what had happened squealed loudly, clapping her hands and said "Dada" again, his family surprised from the words that came from the little baby and were extremely overjoyed and surprised to see Ao'nung melting and crying tears of overwhelming joy from the fact that the baby called him dad.

Raising Amaia at first was particularly difficult at first with Ao'nung not having found a routine with the baby and learning all of her needs especially when she wakes up crying at night (the first time he woke to her crying he was confused, scared and on the brink of tears, extremely stressed out). He later knew sometimes she needed to be changed, feed, or rocked back to sleep and this led to Amaia mostly sleeping on her dad's chest in his room since he refused to leave her alone in her own room. The worst time for Ao'nung was when he had to ferberize Amaia because every time she started wailing, he was in her room like yesterday, and this was when Ronal decided he and Amaia stayed over the house until Amaia was ferberized making sure Ao'nung actually ferberized her. He had help not only from his mother and his father but also his younger sister Tsireya whenever he needed the help even if he does not say it because he does not want to be a burden, but his family were extremely supportive and excited at the new addition to their growing family. Over the course of five years Ao'nung was working a part time job at his favourite surf shop, luckily his boss was extremely friendly and chilled even congratulating him on baby Amaia. He was a part time student at university doing a business degree hoping one day to take over his father's business (he owns and manages majority of the Luxury hotels in Awa'atlu) Ao'nung wanted to get a degree and apply for a job and work his way to the top, he didn't want to just have the business handed over to him but rather earn it from his father, and Tonowari happily agreed secretly proud Ao'nung decided to do this on his own.

Ao'nung was doing all of this all the while raising Amaia as well (obviously with the help of his family supporting him), even with his busy schedule he always made sure to spend time with her in the morning and at the end of the day, constantly calling her throughout the day just to say hi. One time though he forgot to call and check in on Amaia and say hi, after getting permission from his lecturers and making an excuse of having "no one to look after her", he brought Amaia with him to his classes for about two weeks. So many students were extremely shocked to see that he had a kid let alone he was a single dad on top of that, and many rumours spread about where the mother was, and why he was raising the baby alone. Stuff he ignored he did not care the people important to his life knew the truth about him and Amaia and his best friend, Rotxo absolutely adored his niece (he and Ao'nung have been friends since they were born with Rotxo being a month older than Ao'nung, they were practically brothers). Even Rotxo's grandmother considered Tsireya, Roa and Ao'nung to be her grandchildren (Rotxo's parents had tragically died in a car accident, they were close family friends to Tonowari and Ronal). Rotxo was nothing short but a fun uncle who lets Amaia basically get away with murder, the flour is all on the floor and she's covered in the evidence he'll likely join in the mess and make "snow angels" and create more of a mess as long as there's a smile on her face. During those two weeks Rotxo made sure no one touched that baby it was only him or Ao'nung her dad, considering most of the girls found her cute and admired her. Rotxo also worked at the surf shop part time with Ao'nung and whenever Ao'nung was busy helping out a customer around the shop he would have the baby with him behind the cash till tending to her, he was the best uncle.

Amaia was growing up in a home that was filled with love, warmth, joy, and happiness one of her favourite things to do is colouring in her grandpa's tattoos, this started around the age of four when she tried to colour in Tonowari's tattoos while he was watching a movie on a Sunday afternoon. He was startled when he felt very tiny hands gently grab his arm then a crayon, he chuckled to himself, picked her up, and set her on his lap and let her continue whatever she was doing. Unfortunately for Amaia it wasn't working because the colour wasn't appearing on him, she went from sulking to just being sad. This pulled all of Tonowari's heartstrings and decided to take her shopping for some paints that were safe to use on someone's skin, they had a wonderful day shopping she even was able to get him to buy her any sweets she wanted, it became their thing to do. She loves having a girl’s day with her grandma and aunty Tsireya when she wanted them to do their nails together and for them to match, baking and cooking with uncle Rotxo, and with her dad, she basically does everything with him.

Ao'nung was truly happy with the decision that he made five years ago, it was hard but a journey he was truly happy that he was taking with his daughter Amaia. He smiled to himself and his little baby girl helping him out with the dishes,’ knowing tomorrow was going to be the hardest day for the both of them since they have not been away from each other the whole day. Amaia was going to her first day of school ever and as much as he wasn't thrilled leaving her at school, she was extremely excited not knowing that she won't see her dad until the afternoon, a day that will change both his and her lives forever, but it will become one of the best things that has ever happened to the both of them, leading to more happiness to come.

Chapter Text

7:30am and Ao’nung had a crazy morning luckily, he works from home majority of the time in marketing and sales, but he always went to the office just in case he was needed and only stayed home if he needed to (most of the time it’s to spend time with Amaia). This was convenient since today was Amaia’s first day at school and he didn’t need to be by the office by 8:00am which worked in his favour has he dropped off his daughter straight to her class holding back the tears. Amaia was trying to be strong too, she was extremely anxious, shy, and scared not wanting her dad to leave her alone as she genuinely thought that she was going to school with her dad, but after her dad gently explained it to her, as he was helping her get ready. She widened her eyes and said she didn’t want to unless her dad was going with her the whole day to her classes and began to tear up a little bit, was she clingy, absolutely when it came to her dad since she loved him dearly and loved being around him along with the family, and Amaia dearly admired her dad. The thought of being in a new environment without her dad by her side was terrifying but she was trying to be his brave little girl even if it meant being away from her dad until 13:30pm when schools out, she doesn’t remember the last time she’s been away from her dad or her family for a matter of fact. Its 7:30am, Ao’nung pulled into the school and was getting ready to leave the car with Amaia and walk her to her class although she was terrified deep down, she was a little excited to start learning though even if meeting new people made her nervous.

Currently Ao’nung was walking down the corridors of the school holding Amaia’s hand smiling as he walked towards her class passing by other parents with their children somewhat excited and scared to be dropped off by their parents and left at school. Amaia squeezed her dad’s hand tight feeling extremely nervous about the many other children and adults that she sees on the corridors making their way to their respective classes and giving their children tearful but encouraging goodbyes. It wasn’t only the children that cried some parents had tears in their eyes even if they were holding back excited but anxious about their child’s new chapter in life, wondering where all the time has gone their children growing up so fast. They got closer and closer to Mr Spellman’s first grade classroom; this was her homeroom teacher Ao’nung had gotten the message and classroom number of Amaia’s class the day before when the school sent out emails to the parents informing them of which class their children were in and what to bring for the first day of school.

Mr Norm Spellman was her teacher for the year for nearly all the subjects that were needed as it was easier for the children to have one consistent teacher than more than one it would get confusing for them. Norm was nothing short of a sweetheart who had moved from teaching eighth graders to teaching first graders and had come highly recommended in the last school that he was teaching in, and students absolutely adored him for his kindness and his excitement to teaching was contagious. All the parents knew that he was a reliable teacher, and their children were in good hands, knowing this it had put their minds at ease and if anything were to happen, they know that the school will contact them immediately. Ao’nung on the other hand respected Mr Spellman and was happy with the fact he was a great teacher, especially with the recommendations but this did not make Ao’nung ready to leave Amaia at school alone. Although he didn’t want to leave her as he got closer to the classroom, he didn’t have much of choice but to take her to school since homeschooling wasn’t an option. It was not an issue of Ao’nung being a bad father and not wanting to send his daughter to school, he was protective of Amaia since she was extremely shy around people and often start to hyperventilate in social situations where all eyes were on her. Amaia was a quiet shy child, who mostly kept to herself reading books or colouring in something with beautiful bright colours enjoying nature, she was only confident around her family but anyone new she had extreme difficulty talking to them or say hi (early stages of social anxiety).

Ao’nung had already informed Mr Spellman about Amaia, and the teacher had promise to watch out for her, and he promised that she would only have one other person sitting with her instead of sitting at a table of four. Ao’nung was truly grateful for this and had apologized for any inconvenience it might have had but Mr. Spellman assured him it didn’t at all, he wanted to make sure all the children were comfortable especially on their first day. Walking side by side holding her hand Ao’nung and Amaia finally reached Mr. Spellman’s classroom where other parents were also saying goodbye to their children giving them hugs, kisses, and words of encouragement. Some children were happy while some children were crying because their parents were leaving them even some parents were holding back tears as well leaving their child behind. Ao’nung being one of those parents holding back his tears having to leave his baby girl alone at school, but he knew she would be ok and hoped and prayed that her desk mate would be kind, patient and eventually, hopefully become best friends.

They stop by her classroom not directly in front of the door because it would block the children from entering the classroom, Mr. Spellman standing off to greet the parents and the children as well as answer any questions that the parents might have for him. Ao’nung took Amaia, bent to her height to cheer her up a bit and wipe away her tears that were staining her chubby cheeks, anxious about her first day at school away from her best friend, her dad. “Hey, no its okay my little sun, don’t cry it’s going to be okay my sunflower I promise, I already talked to Mr. Spellman and you’re sitting with only one other desk mate. From what I heard she is a sweetheart, very kind, and patient, so it will be okay, take your time opening up to her, remember if you can’t say it aloud write it down okay, I made sure to pack you some blank flash cards to write on. I promise to come pick you up after school, we can get some ice-cream and do whatever you want, be as brave as you can be today ok?” Ao’nung said as he wiped Amaia tears remaining calm so that she doesn’t feel his distress and cry harder it would shatter his poor heart.

He fixed the collar of her school uniform, which was a white short-sleeved dress shirt, a deep blue skort, white socks and lastly black and white old school vans, the school allowed the kids to wear any type of takkies or vans for comfort and it either had to be black or white or both. Amaia’s hair was braid into Dutch braids just like her dad’s (they decided to match today with hair, the same white dress shirt, deep blue jeans, lastly with black and white old school vans), something they enjoyed to do is match outfits whenever they go out or even stay at home. One kiss on the cheek, a forehead kiss and a little boop to her nose from her dad, she was smiling and giggling at the love she received, “I love you my little sunflower, be brave today, okay?” Ao’nung says giving his daughter a big bear hug. “I love you too Dada, I promise to be brave and do my best,” Amaia says hugging her dad back. She let go, kissed her dad twice on his cheek, held the straps of her back and walks towards Mr. Spellman standing by the door of his classroom talking to another parent ushering the child insider leading him to where he will sit for the rest of the year.

Once he was done, he faced Ao’nung and Amaia, when he looked at Amaia he had looked a little surprise but said nothing and greeted the pair, “Hey Amaia, I’m Mr. Spellman your first-grade teacher, come let me show you where your sitting, and talk to your desk-mate.” Norm ushered her inside after telling Ao’nung that he will talk to her desk-mate first, then come outside to answer any questions he might have for the teacher. Once seated at the table that, and a few minutes later a little girl walks in with Norm leading her towards where Amaia was sitting, “Hey Amaia, this is your desk-mate Amari Sully” Norm says pointing at the girl, when they both look at each other they are in complete utter shock.

Chapter Text

Amari Iris Sully was the daughter of single dad Neteyam Eytukan Sully, she was adopted by Neteyam, 5 years ago when he heard crying coming from the abandoned park (which was closed off and was going to go under construction). Neteyam was walking past the park on his way home one evening normally people don’t walk past there in the evenings due to the creepy feeling it gave some people, others just felt unsafe to be around that area when it was nearly dark. He could easily defend himself, so Neteyam was not worried when he walked past but got startled by the cries that rang through the cold night, these were loud painful cries of a baby who was left all alone in the playground area of the abandoned park. At first, he had thought he was hearing things but when he pushed through the red tape that marked the area as a no-go-zone and went towards the sound, he was surprised to see a pink and white blanket that seemed to squirm around. Neteyam paused before he could approach the small squirming bundle, wondering if this was some kind of sick joke or a prank or if this was to lure people in and then be attacked or robbed. Neteyam approached the squirming bundle and what he saw absolutely shattered is heart, a small baby girl whose nose and cheeks were red from the cold and her continuous cries.

It broke Neteyam’s heart to see a small little baby dressed in two blankets and a diaper with nothing else that kept her warm enough to battle through the cold winter night. He took off his jacket, gently picking up the crying baby wrapping her in his jacket to provide warmth and although this did help give the warmth the baby wanted it did not completely stop her cries. This made Neteyam wonder just how long she was left in the abandoned park in the middle of winter, when was the last time she had eaten anything, or if this was a missing child that people were looking for although there were no reports of a missing child in his area. Luckily at the time his Aunt Sylwanin was visiting her younger sister (his mother) with her husband Tsu’tey, he took the baby to his aunt who was a pediatrician in order to get her checked out to see if her life was in any danger. The baby had a fever and was a bit malnourished, her life was not in any danger, he was by the baby’s side since she only calmed down when he was around. Tears were stinging Neteyam’s eyes as he was holding the baby after his aunt was done checking her and making sure she was fed and given medication for her fever.

The reality of the situation had hit him hard realizing that someone who probably was the parents since there were no missing reports made or anything related to a baby was made, they had ditched the baby. This subject hit home for Neteyam since his brother Spider was adopted by Jake and Neytiri, after they had found him wandering the side of the road dishevelled. Spider had bruises on his body, include some cuts where he was still bleeding from, his clothing was torn, he was barefoot, his feet covered in blisters indicating that he has been walking for a long time now without shoes and he looked like he was being under fed. Jake and Neytiri at the time were out on a date and decided to have a little picnic date, some time away from the kids who they left with Jake’s brother Tommy who was more than happy to babysit them and give the couple some time off.

They were driving back home when they saw him walking on the side of the road before, he collapsed, they had immediately stopped the car, Jake rushing to his side gently picked him up and placed him the car. Spider was around five years old that day when he was rushed to hospital, that day the doctor’s had found all the injures that were on Spider were consistent to physical abuse. He was a foster kid and luckily the hospital had not called his foster parents after Neytiri and Jake bought him to the hospital saying they found him wandering the road alone and in the state that he was in. The foster parents were found guilty of physical abuse amongst other things, the whole time Jake and Neytiri had testified on behalf of Spider since they found him wondering around. All this time Spider had asked about Neytiri and Jake if he could visit them so he could thank them properly by gifting them his teddy bears, all this time they had a gift for him. All the while the court case was taking place Neytiri and Jake reached out to the foster agency in order to begin the process of adopting Spider, the process went smoothly and even though it took a long time it was worth it.

It was a month after the court case they decided to visit Spider, he was jumping from joy, and they gifted him with a photo of a bedroom with his name but their last name, Spider Sully. “Spider, we wanted to know if you wanted to live with us and become a part of our family, this is a picture of your own bedroom that you can have and many other things that you want and need we will get if for you. Here’s a picture of our family, of your family only if you want it to be.” Neytiri said gently to him trying her best not to overwhelm him. Spider nodded furiously crying tears of joy as he jumped up to hug both Jake and Neytiri, excitedly they packed his things and left that day with both the Sully’s becoming a Sully himself, Miles “Spider” Tom Sully.

Excitement had filled a five-year-old Neteyam as he waited for his new brother to come, it was not like he didn’t love Lo’ak or Kiri any less or his new baby sister who was still in mummy’s tummy. He was just happy to have someone the same age as him in the house, more boys in the house to pull pranks with on their dad or sometimes with their dad on mom or on Uncle Tommy or Uncle Tsu’tey. Neteyam was just excited to have a new addition to the family, while Lo’ak was nervous to meet him, and Kiri was curious about Spider ever since their Mum and Dad had sat them down to tell them about Spider. The siblings alongside Uncle Tommy (since he lived nearby was looking after the children) were setting up a small welcome home party.

The minute the door opened he ran to meet his parents well more specifically Spider, “Woah there, buddy remember calm he’s still new to everything okay?” Tommy said grabbing Neteyam by his waist and holding him still. “Ok, ok, ok Uncle Tommy I promise I’ll be calm, Pinky promise” Neteyam said. They all introduced themselves to Spider, and Spider introduced himself to his new siblings, Neteyam betrayed by his excitement ran towards Spider and hugged him squeezing tightly that Jake or Tom couldn’t really get him off of Spider who seemed shocked but happy, they all then helped him to his new room and had a feast afterwards to properly welcome him. Later that night all three kids slept with Spider in his new bedroom that looked exactly like the picture Neytiri and Jake had showed him, Spider was finally happy, and the rest was history.

Neteyam still hadn’t and wouldn’t forgive Spider’s foster parents and what they did to him, all of the Sully siblings had a close relationship with each other but many times whenever Spider had a nightmare, he would find comfort with Neteyam and talk to him. With everything that Spider had been through, it filled him with disgust knowing that there are people who are able to actually do that to an innocent baby, it was at this moment while waiting for his dad to come back home he silently made a promise to the sleeping angel in his arms to love her and raise her as his own. A promise Neteyam soon learnt was the best decision he could have ever made in his whole entire life, raising Amari had been difficult at first as a single dad but he had lots of help from his family.

Juggling between raising a daughter, being a full-time student studying to be a doctor and helping out at his aunt’s clinic as doctor in training had been quite difficult given that he wanted to spend every waking minute with Amari. Often at times if not all the time he would always have Amari in his classes (not during test or exams though), he didn’t want to put too much on his family especially his mom and dad (even though they didn’t mind it all).

Neteyam threw a party the first time she said “Dada” to him on a Sunday evening when he was spending quality time with her playing with her toys together when she squealed excitedly and said “Dada” with the biggest smile on her chubby little face. Neteyam froze thinking that maybe he was hearing things since Amari had started to babble in her baby language, but when she repeated it again his heart melted, smiling even though he was crying. He picked up Amari and hugged her as tightly as he could without harming her, showering her face with kisses as she squealed and laughed finding the kisses ticklish. Neteyam later on called his family to tell them that Amari had said her first word and wanted to invite them to a party to celebrate her saying her first word, it might seem to be something insignificant to celebrate for others but in the Sully family even the smallest achievements they celebrated.

Amari was a beautiful baby girl who had sun-kissed tanned skin, very lighter than Neteyam’s darker golden-brown skin (which he inherited definitely from his mother), unlike her dad who had bright amber-gold eyes, she had beautiful baby blue eyes just like her grandpa Jake did and long black voluminous curly hair. She had not looked anything like Neteyam which was fine since she was adopted people often would point that out doing this purely out of curiosity and he would never truly tell people she was adopted or anything about his daughter, Neteyam just ignored that question saying nothing since the question always started with a compliment about how cute Amari was, he would thank the person and go about his day. Amari grew up in a household full of pure warmth, love, and chaos in the Sully household even though she and her dad lived in an apartment they visited their family so often that it was the same as living there with them.

Amari enjoyed trying to braid uncle Spider’s hair as he read her his favourite childhood book, luckily, he had long curly blonde hair with a golden hue to it like his dad Jake, very thick and healthy unlike the day he was found. After her grandma Neytiri taught her how to braid hair she ran to her uncle wanting to braid his hair, since it was longer than her dad’s and grandpa’s hair, doing pigtails and putting blue bows at the ends of each braid she did. It became one of the few things her and uncle Spider did together whenever they were visiting home, other times she is with uncle Lo’ak who would play video games while she sat on his lap watching. Lo’ak had made sure to get video games that were kid friendly games so whenever he was playing while she watched on his lap, he would let her play as well, an activity they enjoyed together but Lo’ak knew it wasn’t healthy for them to always play video games.

This ended up with Lo’ak getting Amari her own little mini skateboard the next day for an early birthday gift, going to the skatepark and the rest of the day consisted of Lo’ak gently pushing Amari on the skateboard and let her go for a little. Much to Neteyam’s horror the day did end with her coming with a little bruise on her knee, but she had so much fun and Lo’ak didn’t get in any trouble as the bruised knee was a result of an older kid accidentally bumping into her, but Amari had the time of her life and this became a thing for uncle Lo’ak and Amari, amongst other things but this was her favourite one by far.

On other occasions she would spend her time with grandpa Jake watching a movie together, or a game together, or her absolute favourite would be her and Grandpa Jake fishing together sometimes with Neteyam and other times without Neteyam, it was their bonding activity that she grew to love considering how scared she was of her grandpa only to find that he’s nothing than a teddy bear on the inside who would let her get away with anything. There was a time they stayed just the two of them when he was on leave, they planned a movie day and went out to buy every snack that she wanted. This ended up with them going shopping for all the toys and clothing that she wanted, when asked why he brought anything she wanted Jake answered with a simple answer that made sense “I am weak to cuteness.”

Everyone who knew Jake Sully, knew he had an extremely soft spot for his family, especially his children and now his first granddaughter, and although they are not spoilt (partly thanks to Neytiri), Jake would spoil them in other ways as well. The good thing about this was the bond her and Jake formed that day, and when Neteyam learnt why she wanted so many things that day she simply replied with the sweetest answer “Because grandpa carried me the whole day, he's like a big teddy bear and I wanted to give the clothes away to all the other kids who need them”. When Jake learnt of this his heart melted and every time Amari visited or at random the family visits Amari and Neteyam, Jake will carry her the whole day, she was coddled by her grandpa without question.

Her other favourite pass time was spent helping to cook or bake with her grandma Neytiri who was more than willing to have her help out in way she could and learn how to cook by watching her. They always prepared breakfast and dinner for everyone in the Sully household something Amari absolutely adored doing with her grandma all the while she tells her stories from the past and how her and Grandpa Jake met. Gardening with Aunt Kiri made her fall in love with all the plants of the world pretty much, her and Aunt Kiri grew such a close loving bond and Kiri found it enduring whenever Amari showed interest in learning more about gardening. They would go shopping together for seedlings, potted plants, and books for plants specifically kids’ books for plants, taking up Kiri’s hobby, her bedroom and a small potted plant growing orchids (her favourite flower) and in her dad’s room a small potted plant growing blue irises (his favourite flower).

Lastly Aunty Tuk and her always spent time doing art together, weaving bracelets for everyone at home as gifts and playing in the backyard together with the family’s dogs, Seze and Bob. Painting anything was one of the few activities she enjoyed doing with Tuk to the point where they almost always got into a paint fight and were basically covered in a variety of colours. Luckily, every time they painted Tuk always put a bonnet on her head and Amari’s to protect their hair from getting any paint on it. Tuk essentially taught Amari how to paint nails and now she makes it a point to always try and paint everyone’s nails in the house and uses her cuteness to her advantage. Tuk and Amari made it a point to have spa days together along with Neytiri and Kiri often at times doing it at home with Jake or Lo’ak or Neteyam or Spider joining them sometimes, but it was mostly a girls day type of thing and sometimes it meant no boys allowed.

Amari adored her big family as they adored her, always showering her with love and affection, but her number one best friend was her dad Neteyam that she absolutely adored and looked up to the most. They did everything together especially taking care of the plants together which are growing beautifully and braiding each other’s hair. Often times they would have their own spa days at home when they are not visiting their family, painting their nails beautiful colours, and his daughter would decorate his hair with trinkets and little bows while he did the same with her. These were the few things that Amari and Neteyam did together, they always enjoyed spending time together even if she went with her father to school or to his workplace. She unlike Neteyam who was a little sad about not seeing his daughter the whole day, was excited for the first day of school, not knowing it will change their lives forever.

Chapter Text

Neteyam tightly held Amari’s hand as they walked down the hallway towards Mr. Spellman’s first grade class relatively early considering it was only 7:00am and there was only a handful of parents were there bidding their children goodbye, allowing themselves to get acquainted with the teachers while the children get acquainted to their fellow classmates. Neteyam and Amari had come relatively early because Norm or Mr Spellman (Amari’s first grade teacher) wanted to speak to them first about Amari’s desk mate. Norm had been a long family friend of Jake and Neytiri being close to Tommy as well, he was basically the Sully kids uncle he was a part of the family and had met Amari many times before the little girl was comfortable and began to talk to him about her favourite books to read and asking questions about what first grade was like ever since she found that he was a teacher.

When Norm learnt about the situation with Amaia Tangaroa’s social anxiety, he immediately knew that Amari was going to be the perfect person that she could sit with, giving Amaia a desk mate instead of isolating her which could fuel her social anxiety even more. Amari was the best desk mate for Amaia due to her personality although she is considered to be the opposite of Neteyam she was still shy when it comes to meeting new people that she thinks are kind or remind her of her dad, but anyone rude or mean she tells off. Amari was an extremely gentle soul and extremely patient that it was almost frightening how patient she truly was, once waiting for a flower to bloom early in the morning as the sun rose up, she had waited for three hours which is a lot for a five-year-old child, but it was something that she had gotten from Neteyam.

Amari had been extremely excited to go to school and make new friends who were around her age, she had even made a bracelet for her desk mate once she learned that she was going to sit next to someone, hoping that they will become best friends forever. “Hi Mr Spellman,” Amari said excitedly with a wide smile squeezing her dad’s hand in excitement to have Uncle Norm as her teacher ever since he told her that he was a first-grade teacher. “Hi Amari, I can see that you’re excited for your first day of school that’s a good thing. I need to talk to you and your dad, and don’t worry you’re not in any trouble just wanted to let you know about your desk mate.” Norm said looking between Neteyam and Amari.

“Your desk mate she’s very, very shy, and sometimes might find a little difficulty talking to someone new and getting to know people, she uses little keycards to communicate the first time around. I know that you sometimes like use keycards to communicate with others and I think you will be able to ease her into opening up more and allow her to be comfortable.” Norm said talking directly to Amari, who was nodding excitedly, just happy that there was someone who use keycards to write down what she wants to communicate with someone else. They all walked into his classroom to show them where her seat will be and for her to finally settle down even though she was bubbling with excitement on the verge of exploding with pure joy.

“Her desk mate’s father did talk to me, and I hope you don’t mind that I put her and Amari together, she does have social anxiety, and it can escalate, so I thought maybe putting Amari with her will be a good idea considering that Amari is understanding, and they’ll be able to talk to each other. But I need to know that you’re okay with this I’ve already told her desk mate about the arrangement, and he was fine with it, I just need to know if you’re okay with this arrangement Neteyam?” Norm says. Neteyam blinked the tears away wondering where all the time went his little baby girl all grown, starting her first day at school it bought tears to his eyes, those very tears he was blinking away. “Yes of course, I’m ok with it I think it’s actually sweet that you trust her with this responsibility and that she found someone similar to herself. I’m just so worried this is going to be the first time we’ve been a part majority of the day, will she be okay, what if she needs me and I’m not there for her Uncle Norm? Oh gosh is this what my parents felt when they sent us to school for the first time?”

“Neteyam breathe, everything is going to be ok and if anything goes wrong that is an absolute emergency, I will contact to you promise, but she’ll be ok and she’ll be safe nothing bad is going to happen.” Norm said trying to put Neteyam’s worries to ease. He understood it was difficult for parents to adjust when their children go off to school as it was for the children as well especially when they are attached to the hip (like Neteyam and Amari), but Amari seemed extremely excited for school it outweighed her anxiety from being away from her dad.

When Jake and Neytiri first dropped off Neteyam and Spider at school for the first time, it had been tears between the four of them with Spider and Neteyam holding hands begging their parents to stay with them. After convincing the boys they eventually went to class without them after saying heartfelt goodbyes and luckily, they were in the same class and had a wonderful first day at school. Jake and Neytiri went home and spent most of the day hugging Kiri and Lo’ak who were at home being looked after by Norm and Tom, when their parents went to drop off Spider and Neteyam at school, Norm was a bit shocked to see the ex-marine who is usually either intimidating or happy looked so sad.

Norm wasn’t surprised seeing Neteyam react the same his parents did when they dropped off their children at school, he decided to head towards the door to greet other parents who were making their way towards his classroom smiling to himself finding it endearing that Neteyam like his parents was extremely close to his daughter. Neteyam was left alone with Amari (who was sitting by her desk setting it up eager to meet her desk mate) “Hey my little orchid you excited?” Neteyam said crouching down to her level while smiling at her gently. “I am papa, I’m really excited and I can’t wait to meet my desk mate too, I made friendship bracelets and I wanna give one to my desk mate I really hope she’ll like it. Wait dad can we please, please have lunch together?” Amari said excitedly.

“Oh, my little flower, we can’t have lunch together you’ll still be in school, and parents won’t be allowed into the school unless they call us to come pick you up during the day or home time when I come pick you up. I’m really sorry.” Neteyam said while gently rubbing his daughter’s head. “But I promise after school to pick you up and we can get anything that you want I promise.” Neteyam added when he saw his daughter’s lips quiver a little bit when she learnt that she would not be able to have lunch with her dad but brightened up at the thought of seeing him at the end of the school. She got up from her chair and hugged her dad tightly squeezing him “I love you papa.” Neteyam hugged his daughter back just as tightly “I love you too my little blue tulip.”

He gave two kisses each on her cheeks bidding her goodbye after making sure Amari was going to be okay, he rushed to work feeling a little sad that his baby girl wasn’t with him as he goes off to work tears still stinging his eyes. Neteyam knew his daughter was going to be okay and today was going to be okay for everyone, and oh boy was he both wrong and right at the same time.

It’s around 7:30am when Amari finally met her desk mate, “Hey Amaia, this is your desk-mate Amari Sully” Norm says pointing at the girl, when they both looked at each other they are in complete utter shock. Amari was completely shocked, “Hi I’m Amari Iris Sully, you can call me Amari or Iris I don’t mind, and your eyes are really, really pretty, they look exactly like my dad’s eyes, they are like sunflowers.” Amari said excitedly. Amaia on the other hand was completely flustered as no one besides her family ever complimented her eyes since they were different from her family whose eyes were baby blue or sky blue, “Hi I’m Amaia Tangaroa, thank you so much, and your eyes are really pretty too my dad also has blue eyes too they remind me of the ocean it’s so pretty” Amaia shyly said. Amaia had said this so quietly that even though Amari heard everything that her desk mate said she did struggle a bit, noticing that her desk mate was extremely shy and anxious she grabbed her keycards and wrote down what she wanted to say and gave it to her.

Amaia was shocked when she received the keycard and internally, she felt so happy that someone did the exact same thing she did when she was extremely shy and couldn’t talk properly since there were times where she stuttered and was too embarrassed to continue talking. Once Amaia sat done and unpacked everything she needed, she started talking to Amari through the blank keycards writing what she wanted to say out loud and although she was slow to write Amari was patient and would often smile to her sweetly. Amaia felt so safe and although she was going to take time to fully open up to Amari, but she knew eventually she will, Amari was excited and happily presented her bracelet that she made and Amaia took it happily ask her if Amari could tie it around her wrist.

Amaia truly felt like she was going to have a nice day although her dad was not with her and Amari felt happy to make a friend on the first day, she was excited to introduce her to her family. All the while Norm had kept an eye on the both of them to see if everything was okay and he was shocked that both the girls did not realise that they looked exactly the same just different eye colour. They looked identical, like long lost twins and he wondered if any of their families knew about this, but he doubted it since nothing was ever said between the two families. He knew the Tangaroa family through Lo’ak who was dating Tsireya and knew that she had a niece named Amaia her brother’s daughter however was truly shocked him was that the two children or their fathers have never crossed paths or that both aunt and uncle never saw the other’s niece. Norm knew that there will truly interesting events that will unfold when the two families meet and see the children together.

Chapter Text

It was only 12:30pm when the phone rang in the Sully household luckily Jake had been at home when the call came through since he was on leave making sure to be available at all times just in case anything happened, and he needed to pick up his granddaughter, Neteyam had called him earlier asking if he was going to be able to fetch Amari after school since he became extremely busy in the clinic. He hadn’t been expecting to drive to his granddaughter’s school earlier then their designated home time, he was trying to keep within the speed limit worried as he made his way to Amari’s school. All Jake knew as he was driving was that they had been playing on the playground that ended up with Amari, her desk mate (who he didn’t know, nor has he met the desk mate) and another little boy whose parents already picked him up, at the nurse’s office waiting for their respective parents to pick them up. The boys were playing near where Amari and Amaia had been sitting and one of the boys had a glass bottle that they dropped near the girls due to the rough play, and it had broken into pieces. The said boy, Anewa had panicked since it was a brand-new glass bottle that his mom had gotten for him and specifically told him not to take it to school was apologizing profusely to Amari and Amaia. All three of them were picking up the pieces of the glasses with they’re bare hands which led to them to getting cuts on their palms and crying from the three of them considering that it really hurt, at the time the teacher was not near them in the playground.

They were rushed to the infirmary for the nurse to tend to their cuts which luckily were not very deep but still was painful and although it was difficult to calm down two five-year-olds and a six-year-old the nurse was able to tend to their cuts and decided to call their parents. Anewa’s mother had already picked him up when Jake arrived at the school making his way to the nurses’ office in order to pick up Amari after he got her backpack from Norm. He was mildly surprised when the nurse informed him that Amari didn’t want to go until her best friend goes home too; she didn’t want to leave her all alone waiting for her dad to pick her up. Jake was more than happy to wait for her desk mate to be picked up as long as they all waited together if it was something that was allowed by the school and more importantly the nurse since it was her office which she happily agreed.

When he walked into the infirmary where to little girls were sitting together in one bed near the back of the room exchanging lunch since their lunch bags which had their lunches was the only thing that they had when going to see the nurse. Amari looked up and saw her grandpa she squealed and jumped down the bed and ran to hug him “Grandpapa!” she said with the biggest smile on her face from ear to ear “What are you doing here? Is dad coming? Where’s grandmama?” jumping up and down from joy at seeing her granddad. “Woah slow down baby orchid, I’m here to pick you up because your dad got a little stuck at work and asked the school to call me and grandmama is working today so I’m here little peanut. I heard from the nurse that you wanted to wait for your friend to also get pick up so I was wondering that maybe I can wait with you and her instead of being all alone, grandpapa missed you so much.” Jake said squeezing Amari and kissing her chubby cheeks while she giggled at the ticklish feeling. “I missed you to grandpapa, come meet my friend, her name is Amaia Tangaroa, she’s my desk mate and my best friend,” Amari said excitedly dragging Jake towards the bed where Amaia. Jake knew Amaia from what Tonowari had told him about his first granddaughter considering that they both were very close friends that went way back to the days when they were bunkmates in the military until now.

Jake owned an architect business that worked closely with Tonowari’s business being one of their clients and vis versa, however Jake had never seen Tonowari’s granddaughter, and he had never shown pictures to him of Amari either when he thinks about it not knowing why. However, he did not expect to be looking at an exact copy of his granddaughter only with amber-gold eyes he even looked between the two subtly to see that he was truly seeing doubles with different eye colour. “Amaia this is my grandpapa. Grandpapa this is Amaia, she’s really shy and quiet and super nice.” this broke the trance that Jake was in and gently waved at the girl who seemed absolutely terrified at Jake which made his heart drop a little. “Hey Amaia, I’m Jake, Amaia’s granddad, also I’m really close friends with your granddad actually Tonowari, we go way back, we’ve been best friends for a long time.” Jake said very gently as to not scare her more and wondered how Tonowari will react when he sees Amari. Luckily, the girl relaxed a bit for the next minute or two Amari and Amaia were talking to each other occasionally asking Jake what was like when he first started school and how him and Tonowari became friends.

Tonowari Tangaroa was also making his way to his granddaughter’s school after receiving the call, unfortunately Ao’nung was busy at work, thankfully though Tonowari was on leave and home at the time the call came through. He quickly got out of his car making his way to the office as he feared the absolute worst knowing the little information of her being in the infirmary, he assumed that maybe she had panicked as well and needed to be fetched early. His worries didn’t exactly die down when he learnt that she had gotten cut alongside her desk mate and the other child as well in attempts to pick up the glass. Tonowari rushed to the infirmary when the nurse told him to go through and that his granddaughter was waiting with her best friend, what he didn’t expect was to see his long-time friend there talking to Amaia and Amaia’s best friend which he assumed must be the granddaughter Jake is always talking about. What shocked Tonowari the most was when they all turned to face him and he saw doubles, completely shocked to see two Amaia’s he looked over at Jake wondering if he was seeing the same thing and the silent nod confirmed everything.

“Grandpa you’re here!” Amaia said smiling ear to ear as she runs to hug Tonowari, who was ready to catch her relieved that she was somewhat ok just worried about the bandages that are wrapped around her left hand. “Are you here to pick me up? Where’s Dad and Grandma?” she says jumping in excitement to see her granddad hoping that her dad was following behind him. “Hey dewdrop it's just me fetching you, grandma and dad are at work and couldn’t come I’m sorry. But lucky for you we’re going to go for some ice-cream and maybe if they want, we can invite your friend and her grandpa too how does that sound?” he said gently carrying her over to the bed where Amari was sitting, and Jake seated in the chair by the bed. Amaia briefly turned to Amari and Jake to ask if they wanted to join them, Amari turned to Jake pleading with the best puppy eyes that she could use, “Don’t worry baby girl of course we can go, and you can have anything you want then we’ll go past your dad to get you checked out” Jake says standing up with her backpack and carrying her. Jake knew that him and Tonowari were going to talk about the fact that Amaia and Amari looked exactly the same just like Jake and Tommy, and how they will approach their fathers about this. If they are truly long-lost twin sisters, it would be ideal that they are raised together but for now they were truly overjoyed that the girls were friends who were celebrating that they were going to have some ice-cream.

Jake’s Pov:

As I place Amari in her car seat and place her bag with her, my thoughts were running from the fact that Amari and Amaia looked exactly the same, yes, it’s possible for people to look alike but they looked exactly the same minus the fact that Amaia had eyes that were golden amber. It was unbelievable they both looked exactly the same and given that Amaia and Amari were adopted it could be possible that they were long lost sisters given that they were basically copy and paste. “Hey baby girl, how are you? Did you have good day?” I asked an excited granddaughter and not really concerned about the cut on her left hand which is shocking really. “I had so much fun, Mr. Spellman is really, really nice and I made a new best friend, and she gave me a friendship bracelet, and she’s wearing my friendship bracelet too. She reminds me of papa, and she loves animals and plants too, her favourite colour is purple which is my favourite colour too, I can’t wait to introduce her to the family.

Then we helped Anewa pick up his glass bottle that broke then we got hurt not really so great but at least we helped and no one else got hurt right, but I loved today and now we’re going for ice cream, one of the best days I’ve had.” Amari squealed in delight in the backseat I have a feeling she was just happy to get ice cream. “Aww baby girl that’s really great, and after we get ice cream, we can stop by the clinic, and your dad can tend to your cut again for you and your best friend?” I suggest secretly hoping that Tonowari will agree to the arrangement. After pulling up to the ice-cream shop near the beach I excitedly let Amari out and she eagerly pulled me towards Tonowari and Amaia, as Amaia did the same with Tonowari who was carefully carrying two beach towels. Once they hugged each other again, and Amaris gave Tonowari a hug as well, they skipped their way towards the store all the while me and Tonowari followed them behind having our own conversation. “You are seeing what I’m seeing right? They’re practically identical twins, I mean we should probably tell the whole family about this. Or should we just tell their respective parents.” I asked turning to Tonowari who was essentially just as puzzled as I am about what he saw as well. “Wouldn’t it be better if we sat Amaia’s father down and Amari’s parents with the twins in the same room, so that they could see for themselves, and they’ll take it from there?” he suggested since the situation just seemed so unlikely to explain without them seeing it in front of them.

“Well, I was taking Amari to see Neteyam at the clinic that my sister -in-law owns he’s a paediatrician, maybe you can call Amaia’s dad to pick her up from there as well and they can officially meet. I know he’s going to see her when they’re closed so it will just be them, do you think that will be okay?” I said while we sat on the sand watching the girls as they ate their ice-cream while laughing and talking. “I think that’s good idea, Amaia will also get checked out as well and luckily there is privacy especially if there’s no one else there, I’ll just message Ao’nung to meet us at the clinic just send me the address” he said while pulling out his phone assuming that he was sending a message to Ao’nung. I also quickly texted Neteyam to tell him that Amaia, her grandfather and her father were going to join us since she also needed to be checked making sure I didn’t tell Neteyam what happened just yet since knowing him, he will worry about it and stress too much on the situation that it might cause him to panic.

Around 16:50pm we made our way to the clinic, it took us ten minutes to get there, luckily the clinic closes at 17:00pm and when we got there it was closed besides Neteyam who was waiting for us near the door so that he could open for us as quick as possible and knowing him, he was extremely worried about why Amari was fetched from school so early. I park the car and had gotten out of the car waiting for Tonowari, “Hey baby boy how is you doing? How was your day?” I said crushing him in a bear hug, “Hey dad I’m ok just tired my day was long. Where’s Amari?” he asked while hugging me back. “Do not freak-out she wanted to ride with Tonowari and her new best friend at school there was a little accident one of the boys dropped their glass bottle and it broke. So, the boy who dropped the bottle, Amaia your daughter’s best friend and Amari decided to try help him out and picked up the pieces with their bare hands. They got cuts on their palms which aren’t deep the nurse did clean it up and bandaged it nicely she just advised to get it checked it out and change the bandages then we took them for ice-cream.”

I could see Neteyam’s panic starting to set in, but luckily before he could say anything Tonowari stepped in, “Neteyam its good to see you again.,” his attention turned to Tonowari, “Hi Mr. Tangaroa, it’s good to see you again I hope you are well” Neteyam said shaking Tonowari’s hand. “Papa! Papa! Papa!” Amari called out lifting her hands waiting for Neteyam to pick her up which he did greeting her back lovingly he promised to talk properly at home for now he needs to check both Amari and Amaia’s cuts. “Neteyam this is my granddaughter, Ao’nung’s daughter, Amaia she a little shy” Tonowari said gesturing to the girl hiding behind his legs as she slowly emerged from her hiding spot when Neteyam crouched down to say hi. “Hello there, I’m Doctor Neteyam, I’m Amari’s dad it's really nice to meet you Amaia.” He softly said with a gentle smile gracing his face. “Hi” Amaia shyly said so soft that I almost missed it, and she was standing fully by Tonowari’s side holding his hand meaning that Neteyam could fully see her. Neteyam slowly stood up having already placed Amari down and she was next to Amaia, and I could see his eyes ever so slightly darting between the two girls knowing that he was trying to process what he saw in front of him.

He turned to me and Tonowari, we were both nodding in confirmation about what he saw and yes, they looked exactly the same, they were basically identical twin sisters, before he could say anything he was interrupted with Ao’nung who was approaching us. “Dad, Mr. Sully hi I’m so sorry for being late and Neteyam hey” Ao’nung greeting us a little out of breath showing that was rushing to get here, “Little sunflower I missed you so much, I heard what happened are you ok?” Ao’nung said as his daughter ran to his arms nodding that she was okay while me, Tonowari and Neteyam waited for his reaction.

“This is Amari, my granddaughter and Neteyam’s daughter, they both got cuts on their palms,” I said while gesturing to Amari who was now next to Amaia as she had made her way back to Amari and were holding hands, honestly it was the cutest thing ever. “Hello” Amari said enthusiastically, “Hi it’s nice to meet you Amari, I’m Ao’nung Amaia’s dad” he said gently his eyes darting between the two girls, he stood up and turned to all of us shock written all over his face. “Maybe we should go inside, and I’ll have their cuts checked out and see if they need anything else to help with their cuts, I’m really so sorry girls but I promise it won’t hurt okay,” both girls nodded and we all walked inside the clinic, this was going to be truly interesting.

Chapter Text

“Alrighty all done you and good job on being so brave I have a treat for you both and next time please, please, please don’t pick up any glass go tell an adult if you see broken glass on the floor or if anything of yours is broken that is glass okay?” Neteyam said very gently, very softly while smiling at both the little girls who just seemed a tad bit tired although happy that they were fine overall. Tonowari and Jake had gone back home but after they caught up and expressed that they should do it more often, even convince their wives to do double dates as a means of spending more time together, considering they will become in-laws soon due to Lo’ak and Tsireya getting married but also now there is the possibility of sharing grandchildren through their eldest sons. They left Neteyam to examine the girls and Ao’nung was filling out paperwork for Amaia since this was their first time her and Neteyam needed the details since Amaia will need to come back here to check out the cuts and make sure that they are healing and there’s no infection. “Okay bad news is that you both won’t be able to write anything or colour in anything since your left hands are injured and no school tomorrow just in case your cuts need to heal” Neteyam said as he was writing down sick notes for both the girls so that they can tell the school tomorrow and show them proof that it was recommended that they stay home.

“You both stay here I just need to talk to Dad outside, okay?” while getting up and gesturing for Ao’nung to follow him outside his office into the hallway so they could talk about the obvious. “I didn’t want to mention this, in front of the girls but you need to be extra careful with Amaia and make sure she does absolutely nothing tonight and tomorrow. Her cut could possibly start stinging even worse and bleed again her injury was a little deep but not so much that it needed stitches. I do fear though it might need stitches if it does reopen, and if it does in the middle of the night no matter what please call me and come straight to me, I’ll give you my address and I can stitch up her cut I have everything at home.” He spoke gently and softly hoping that neither girl was listening at the conversation as he didn’t want to cause any distress or worry about their cuts since they seemed absolutely happy about their first day of school minus the incident. Ao’nung was nodding along to what Neteyam was saying but was a bit dazed about today’s events and the fact that work was extremely busy today which he did not appreciate given that he wasn’t able to get his daughter from school today especially when the incident occurred.

Luckily Neteyam had seemed to notice this and decided later to text his best friend everything he had just told him, Neteyam himself was in a daze at what happen his guilt was eating him up as well with the given situation and decided tomorrow he would spend the whole day with his daughter. Neteyam grabbed a cup of water for Ao’nung, and they sat down on the chairs that were opposite his office door so that they weren’t too far from the girls with both of them still in a daze from the incident and the fact that their girls are possibly long-lost twins which was a shock for both of them. “Should we talk about today or tomorrow a lot has happened today and they both seem ok, maybe a little shaken from the cuts and the blood but they’re ok it seems. I’m sorry I’m just babbling now, are you okay?” Neteyam said turning to Ao’nung you looked ahead taking in small sips of the water that was given to him.

“I’m sorry my mind is far from here, maybe its best we talk about it tomorrow I’m staying home with Amaia tomorrow maybe you and Amari could come over, they’ll probably just be happy to see each other really.” Ao’nung softly said almost scared that he will be heard by the girls who were still in Neteyam’s office talking to each other and enjoying the treats that Neteyam had given them as a reward for their bravery. “It’s been too long Teyam, you’re a dad now who would have thought no offence bookworm. What ever happened to the guy that you are still madly in love with remember you use to always tell me about?” Ao’nung chuckled looking at Neteyam with amusement as he sees Neteyam blushing. “Hilarious Nungie if anything I didn’t think you would be a dad, a single dad on top of that just like me. I still haven’t told him for starters, yes, we still talk, and no I’m not telling you who it is, my lips are sealed.” Neteyam said while playfully shoving Ao’nung, “How about you and your mystery crush, what do you refer to them, your precious sunflower was it or the sun to my moon throughout high school?” giggling at the sight of Ao’nung become extremely shy and blushing profusely.

“It was both thank you very much and we still talk although he has been busy but now, I know why and no I haven’t told him anything or asked him out I doubt he likes me though, and yes Teyam the person I like is a guy, you can pick your jaw off the ground now otherwise you going to catch a fly.” Ao’nung laughed as he pinched Neteyam’s cheek affectionately. “Yes, Teyam I like guys too, I’ve known for a long while to be honest the guy that I’m hopelessly in love with he was my gay awakening, and I know, I should have told you it’s just my life got really busy and I wasn’t sure how to come out to you though, only Rotxo and Tsireya know. I haven’t told my parents and my grandmother yet.” Ao’nung shyly responded to Neteyam’s shock about him coming out. “We should probably get going I’m pretty sure that the girls are pretty tired from their day it’s been long for the both of them, but I’m really happy they found each other though.” Ao’nung was getting up making his way towards the door when was abruptly stopped and pulled into a hug by Neteyam. He wrapped his arms around Ao’nung’s broad shoulders while Ao’nung slowly wrapped his arms around Neteyam’s waist fully embracing him, “Thank you for telling me, Nung I know how hard it was but I’m so grateful that you shared this moment with me and I’m so proud of you” he whispered gently it almost lulled Ao’nung to sleep.

When they broke from the hug, they both were red, blushing furiously since this was their first hug that they shared ever since they New Year’s Day, it was odd considering even as best friends they were very physically affectionate to each other. As they opened the door, they saw Amari and Amaia sitting on Neteyam’s chair which was big enough for the both of them to fit, they had both fallen asleep on each other with soft smiles gracing their lips as they snored quietly. Amaia’s head was on Amari’s shoulder, Amari’s head was on top of Amaia’s head, and they were hugging each other as if trying to cuddle up together and they were watching cartoons on Neteyam’s laptop. After gushing over their daughters and the scene that was before them, they each gently woke their daughters up so that Neteyam could close up and after struggling to pack up his desk and hold Amari, Ao’nung took her essentially carrying both the girls.

Ao’nung had been insistent on waiting for Neteyam while he packed everything and closed up the clinic, while doing this Ao’nung had both girls in both arms as he waited for Neteyam, and he had draped them both in his jacket to keep them warm given it was nighttime the air was a bit chilly. Not wanting them to catch a cold he also waited inside by the main entrance while Neteyam made sure that everything was in order, leaving behind a note that will indicate that he was not coming to work tomorrow. When he made his way to the main entrance where Ao’nung and the girls were waiting the scene in front absolutely melted his heart, his best friend carefully had both his arms wrapped around the girls while humming a lullaby. It was the same lullaby he used to hum for Neteyam whenever he struggled to sleep due to the nightmares, he would often have due to PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder) when he got shot during a home invasion when he was twelve years old.

Flashback: Neteyam getting shot had led to the Sully family moving to Awa’atlu where Tom lived, and Jake’s best friend Tonowari (who both suggested the move) and even though the move was hard especially with Ao’nung at the time being the bully he was throughout that year, picking on mostly Kiri, Spider and Lo’ak not so much Neteyam as he was barely going outside as he was still recovering. However, they were able to capture the people who committed the crime, and this allowed for Neteyam to start going outside more often, leading to him confronting Ao’nung and calling him out on his bullying. Luckily Ao’nung had changed when Lo’ak covered for him after ditching him in an abandoned house that was near the outskirts of Awa’atlu, where the forestry was thick, one could easily get lost and it was considered to be extremely unsafe by every adult and they had all warned their children to never go in that area.

Twelve-year-old Ao’nung had approached Neteyam terrified as to how he would react given the fight that they had a few days ago when his friend group bullied Kiri, it led to Neteyam grabbing Ao’nung by his hair and leading him inside to tell his mom and dad who were panicking about where Lo’ak was and the Tangaroa family was there. At the time they were fortunate enough to have had the neighbour's kid follow the boys and saw them ditch Lo’ak there, Payakan (who was fifteen and lived with his mother) rescued him from the rabid dog that nearly bit them both, Payakan managed to carry Lo’ak and rode his bicycle in the direction of his house after trapping the dog. They had reported the dog to the authorities, and it had been captured, and Lo’ak was safe (with a few scratches from fending off the dog, which likely did not bite him and running away) although with a scolding from his parents since he took the blame for Ao’nung who still didn’t get out of trouble either way as his parents weren’t all too impressed that he had taken Lo’ak there.

All four parents were extremely grateful to Payakan for bringing back Lo’ak safely and ever since then he had essentially become a part of the family with the kids accepting him wholeheartedly not paying attention to any of the rumours that people had said about him since he was just a misunderstood kid. All was forgiven and Ao’nung had apologized to Spider, Lo’ak and Kiri, he explained further that he was like this as he did not know how to deal with the death of his Aunt Roa, Ronal’s older sister, since she was like a second mother to him, he was angry at the world for taking away his aunt. It did not help that his friend group was generally mean to everyone, and he had felt that he should be mean to everyone as well so that he could fit in and not lose his friends, Ao’nung was really vulnerable and did not know how to express his emotions properly. All three of the Sully children were able to forgive him, but with Neteyam it had taken a little while for him to forgive Ao’nung but eventually he did and overtime, Neteyam and Ao’nung became very close best friends. End of flashback.

Neteyam smiled fondly at this memory since it was the beginning of their friendship and deep understanding that they had for one another as they went through personal struggles and found a way to lean on each other which in turn was why they had a close bond. Even now they were still close best friends even if they do not speak to each other every day and barely see each other in person they always know that they have a home in one another no matter how far apart they were not matter how long they have not seen or talked to each other. What Neteyam saw was a big cuddly gentle giant who has come a long way when it comes to expressing his feelings humming to both girls who were currently sleeping in his arms, which caused for both girls to faintly smile as they slept. “Hey ready to go?” Neteyam whispered quietly making sure not to wake the girls up, “Yeah, question your little girl, Amari is she okay? She was squirming a bit, and it seemed like she was about to burst into tears at any minute, she’s calm now though, but I thought I should let you know.,” Ao’nung whispered just as quietly so that he doesn’t wake up the girls.

“Oh no, she has night terrors from time to time, but she usually calms down when I cuddle up with her and hum a lullaby which would explain why she calmed down with you so truly thank you for that Nung.” Neteyam had explained while he locked the main entrance making sure the alarm system was on as quietly as he possibly could but from the looks of it Amaia and Amari were not going to wake up anytime soon. He knew firsthand that cuddling with Ao’nung is like hugging a teddy bear that was as soft as a cloud and radiated a comforting warmth hence the nickname teddy bear was given to him by Neteyam which often was used as an indicator that he wanted either a hug or cuddles. “It might be a little difficult to get her into the car without her maybe crying so I need a favour before I take her, I need to play her favourite song from my phone then set it in the car then you can place her if that’s ok. Oh, I sent you my address since I’ve moved in a bigger apartment than before hopefully, I’ll see you tomorrow I’m sure the girls would love to spend time together tomorrow”, Neteyam said as they walked towards his car whipping out his phone as he scrolled for the song that would help Amari to be calm since he couldn’t not hold her and drive at the same time it wasn’t safe for either of them really.

Luckily Ao’nung’s car was parked next to Neteyam’s car, so it was easy for them to place both the girls in the car and bid each other farewell until tomorrow morning. When both girls were secured in the car with Amaia having taken Ao’nung’s spare jacket that was in his car using it as a blanket both Neteyam and Ao’nung hugged each other goodbye with the promise of seeing each other tomorrow and funny enough Ao’nung live in the complex building on the opposite side of Neteyam’s complex building with only the road separating them (Ao'nung had only moved in last year). Both fathers smiling at this knowing that now they will make sure to see each other every wakening second mainly so the girls could get use to each other especially since they are most likely blood-related given that they looked exactly the same but so that they can build a sisterly bond that goes beyond friendship growing their little family.