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Koänä leaned her head on Trítön's back as he sped through the waters. Tsireya was beside them slightly behind so she could watch Koänä to make sure the girl was okay. She'd occasionally have to splash water onto Koänä when she tried to close her eyes or when she'd seem to be slipping off of Trítön.
" We are almost back." Trítön told them once they neared the reef of the village. He felt his...well he didn't know what she was to him yet but he felt her head lift off of his back.
He quickly looked back to make sure she was okay but he simply saw her looking at all of the stars that shined brightly in the sky. The siblings could see the faint smile on her face and she looked at one certain star in the sky. Tsireya remembered being told once by the older girl that her father came from a star and so Tsireya only guessed that was the star Koänä seemed to be so entranced with.
Once they had gotten into the village Koänä was rushed back by Trítön and Tsireya. The girl fluttered in and out of consciousness but she kept trying to remind herself of one thing,
You have a family to fight for. Stay awake. Stay alive.
It was the only thing keeping Koänä from fading into her path with Eywa.
" MOTHER!" Tsireya yelled as soon as her feet hit the sand. Ao'nung and Rotxo heard the girls yell and rushed to the beach where they saw a near limp Koänä in Trítön's arms. Rotxo immediately got the message and ran to find Ronal.
Ao'nung rushed toward his brother and looked at the girl in his arms. " Let me take her. You need to rest your body, Trítön."
" I don't wanna let her go, Ao." Trítön whispered quietly, holding her body closer to his with new found tears running. " I can't let her go."
" If you do not let her go you will both collapse, Trítön. Please let me take her to mother." Ao'nung tried again. Tsireya walked to them and placed a hand on Trítön's shoulder.
" Let him, Trítön. She needs to be healed and we need to get this blood off."
It took a lot more convincing from both siblings before Trítön let Ao'nung take Koänä. The younger boy quickly ran toward the hut where his mother did usual healings. Ronal had ordered for Ao'nung to place her down before she got to work. She ushered him out and he ran back to the beach to find Tsireya and Trítön in the water, washing the Sully girl's blood off of them.
Trítön was in deep thought as he scrubbed her blood off of his arms. He told her he liked her when he knew he loved her. He wondered if she would live to be able to ever tell him she loved him back. Sure, it felt nice when she at least gave him the closure that she liked him back but to love somebody was a whole other story. Trítön was terrified that he had fallen in love with a hopeless case. He refused to believe she was going to die. He refused. It was Koänä. She was such a strong and talented soul that never gave up fighting. He prayed to Eywa that she would not give up her fight this time. He also prayed to Eywa that she would not give up fighting for the girl to live. He knew Eywa did not take sides but she held a power like no other. She controlled Koänä's life right now and that alone scared him to death.
Ronal collapsed back and let out a long exhale. She had never taken a bullet out of someone before, nor has she ever had to perform such a heavy duty task. She felt proud of herself for it. Tsahík looked at the girl, who's eyes were closed yet she was breathing, with an unreadable expression. Ronal felt many emotions for her. Pity, sadness, anger, empathetic pain.
" It seems Eywa has not given up on you, Koänä."
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The Sully family all layed on Payakan's fin, exhausted from the events that just went down. Quaritch was gone, a huge relief to them, but they all felt a big weight on their shoulders still. Koänä. They were all terrified to go back to the village. None of them would be able to take the news if she had die so they kept an open spot for the girl in between Jake and Neytiri.
" We need to go back." Tuk told her family. Kiri nodded, agreeing with her.
The two girls had been held captive on the ship the whole time when Koänä was bleeding out on the rock. When they saw the whole family come to their rescue besides their older sister, Kiri began to think only the worst. Tuk was too young to understand what had happened and she thought Koänä was just doing something somewhere else on the ship in order to keep them safe. It was when Quaritch held a throat against Kiri's neck and Neytiri held one against Spider's, the mother spat out the words of " a child for a child" . Tuk looked at Neteyam in panic but once she saw her brother's pained face, she knew something had then happened to Koänä.
The whole family knew that they needed to go back. Jake was the first to leave his family in urgency of seeing if his little girl was alive or not. Neteyam and Tuk followed right after him with no hesitation. It took Kiri a moment before she followed. So much had happened in the span of that night and she felt like she couldn't keep up with it all.
" Lo'ak?" Neytiri gently placed a hand on her son's shoulder and gestured to the water with a nod of her head. He looked up at his mother before nodding.
" I'll see you later. Thank you, brother." Lo'ak spoke to Payakan while signing. Neytiri signed a thank you to the tulkun as well. She had hoped it would show at least some of her gratitude. The two left.
Please be alive, Koä. Please, please, please.
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short filler chapter because im starting my lo'ak book rn
lmk if you guys either want a second book or just added on chapters for this story! I'm willing to do both <3
tysm for all the reads and votes and comments. everything makes my day, love you all with my whole heart!
