Family

Jake

I do feel guilty about making the family leave. Especially Joey. She and I fought a lot over it. I've always considered Joey and I to have a special bond. We understand each other. But with this, she fought me tooth and nail. I understand why, she doesn't want to leave her father behind. I made the point that she can stay here if she wants, but that Neteyam is coming with me, and that seemed to really strike a nerve. There's no arguing with that.

We're packing up our things onto our Ikran. Norm is there, hugging Joey and speaking to her quietly. He was angry when I told him we were leaving too, but since then he's seemed to change his mind. All he wants is for Joey to be safe. It was him that finally convinced her that this was best. I can see from a distance that she has tears streaming down her face. It breaks my heart.

The whole family is quiet, and the air is heavy. My chest is stinging from where I was cut when I relinquished my title as Olo'eyktan. It's a burning reminder that I'm running away. I have to keep reminding myself that this is for the best, that we'll be safe. I plan on taking us to the islands of the Metkayina. There are thousands of islands with thousands of tribes. We could just simply disappear.

Once we're all packed, we mount our Ikran. I make sure everyone is ready to go before taking off. Norm waves goodbye from the shore. Joey waves back, sobbing. Who knows when we'll be able to return?

As the forest shrinks in the distance, I turn and look at my family. Neytiri is huddled over Tuk. Lo'ak, Kiri, Neteyam, and Joey are all facing the other way, watching the jungle fade in the distance. That forest has been their whole life. What we're embarking on, this is a whole new arena for us. Fishing. The ocean. Swimming. It's all new territory. We're going to have to learn all new skills.

Joey and Neteyam fall back aways from the rest of us. He's talking to her about something, but she seems to not want to listen. She's shaking her head angrily. I think this is going to be harder on her than the rest of us. She had a good thing going in our clan. She was really good at everything there. To learn all these new things, some of which will go completely against what she's used to, it's going to be hard on her and her ego.