Invisible String - Jake Sully

6 (Edited)

"Yes, you did it!" Tawn squealed at the little girl in front of her.

She was teaching the younglings how to ride an ilu, the toddlers were doing well, and, by far, this was her favourite group to teach.

Toa, the little boy, dived towards her.

"good job, little Toa!" she clapped her hands at the toddler.

Toa giggled excitedly, "I was so cool right Tawnie!"

Tawn nodded.

"Kids! come, it's supper time!" Lei'la called from the shore.

Tawn nodded and gestured for the kids to walk up the porch. She greeted Lei'la from afar, and waited until the last kid came out of the water before joining Lei'la. 

"Aren't you coming?" Lei'la asked Tawn.

Tawn shook her head no, "I'm going to meet up with Aonung and Tsireya first. They promised to help us with the ilus feeding."

Lei'la nodded before walking behind the kids.

Tawn'kiri walked towards her designated rendezvous with the kids but didn't see them anywhere.

She walked around, trying to find the kids, but no one was in sight.

She huffed, walking towards Ronal's marui to scold the traitors. She was about to turn a corner when she heard yelling and laughter nearby.

She walked towards the sound to be met with the sight of her nephew and his friends tackling Neteyam and Lo'ak while Kiri stood by their side, stifling a burst of laughter with her hand at the boys childish fight. 

Tawn rolled her eyes at the sight and jogged towards them, "hey boys, break it up!"

Aonung turned his head towards her and cursed. He should've remembered that Tawn is closed by.

The group of boys separated. Tawn looked at Aonung, checking for injuries, before she deemed him acceptable enough and smacked his head, "I ought to give you back to your mother for a good hard spanking right now," she scolded, pulling his ear.

"Ow, ow, ow, auntie, please," he cried.

Tawn looked at his friends and hissed at them, making them scurry away, not wanting to be at the receiving end of her wrath.

Tawn looked at the siblings, and her eyes softened at the sight of a beat-up Lo'ak and Neteyam, "are you guys okay?"

"Tawn'kiri? What's going on here?" Tonowari asked, followed by Jake.

Tawn looked at the boys, who looked down guiltily and ushered the three of them to their dads. She looked at Kiri, who hadn't said anything after the fight.

"Are you okay, Kiri?" Tawn walked towards the girl slowly, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable with her presence.

Kiri looked up at her and shrugged.

"Come, I want to show you something," she smiled, carefully grabbing the girl's hand and tugging her towards a spot. "Tsireya and Aounung were supposed to meet me at the shore earlier, but the fight happened." Tawn tried to fill in the silence.

After the dinner with the sully a few days ago, her relationship with Kiri was still rocky. Tawn tried to invite her to her class or an outing with Tsireya and Lei'la, but Kiri sometimes ignored her invitation or bailed on her.

Tawn was sad, of course. She doesn't want Kiri to think she was trying to replace her mother because she wasn't. Tawn made a promise to herself that she needed to move on from her minor infatuation with Kiri's dad after their last dinner. She needed to find her family and not steal someone else's.