Little Miss Perfect | Neteyam¹

Synopsis

At the young age of two, Marali was adopted by a human scientist named, Norm. The girl's mother died unexpectedly during childbirth, breaking her father's heart. After the death of the girl's mother, her father was devastated, but he tried to take care of his daughter. It was hard for the man because his daughter was the spitting image of his mate. 

Jake and Neytiri kept a close eye on the single father, helping him when they could, but after two years, he killed took his own life, no longer being able to suffer from the pain of his loss. It was a shock to everyone in the village as they consider life a gift given to them by Eywa.

Norm, a human scientist in charge of the Avatar program after the tragic death of Grace, stepped up to be her adoptive father, the same way Jake and Neytiri would eventually step up to be the adoptive parents to their daughter, Kiri.

Marali didn't have an adoptive mother, but the girl was okay with that because she was just as loved as all of the other Na'vi children with both parents. She considered herself lucky to have Norm and all of the other scientists that still resided in Pandora. Plus, anytime she wanted to have girl talks, Neytiri was more than willing to step up and help the girl when she could.

They both aided Norm in raising the young Na'vi girl, encouraging her to be the best she could be.

Marali often felt the encouragement as pressure. The pressure to be the best at everything she did. She knew why the humans were so hard on her. The other Na'vi were wary of how a human could raise a child that was not of their species. She heard the whispers, saw the stares, and therefore put her all into every single task she put her mind to.

She achieved everything expected of her and then some.

However, if she could go back in time, she would have never tried so hard to become the best. She would have slacked off, broken rules, and had fun. Never did Marali expect the one thing, the one person she so desperately wanted the most in the world to despise her.

She knew of Neteyam's distaste for her. He only hid it when his parents or Norm were around. He would shoot daggers at her with his eyes and then smile like she was his best friend, with the smile never reaching those beautiful eyes she adored so much.

He acted like he hated her when she had never given him a reason to do so. They used to be extremely close, best friends in fact. 

Marali wanted to know what she had done to Neteyam for him to act the way he did towards her, but as the years passed on, she no longer had the time to think over her past actions. She no longer had the time to ponder on his obvious distaste for her. Instead, she decided to protect her own heart by treating him how he treated her.

The sky people had made their return to Pandora, scorching the forest and wildlife with their arrival, forcing the Omatikaya people to take refuge in the Hallelujah Mountains.

Soon the little time she had for herself became the time to watch the Sully children, making sure they didn't get themselves injured, or worse killed.

This proved to be a difficult task, unfortunately, as Lo'ak had never been the best at following orders. He was a free spirit, running free exploring, and having fun with his life. Marali wished she could have an ounce of the courage he had to do what he wanted, no matter how many times he had gotten in trouble with Jake.

Kiri, while more inclined to follow orders from her father, was also a free spirit. She had one of the strongest connections with Eywa that Marali had ever seen. If Kiri was nowhere to be found, Marali knew to look in the forest and follow the flow of energy. When Kiri is found, she's often found in a deep meditative state that she needs to be awoken from.

And Tuk.

Sweet and innocent Tuk.

She craved the ability to roam freely and explore the forest. Due to her young age, and the recent return of the sky people, Tuk hadn't gotten as much time to examine and navigate the forest as her older siblings had. Although, unlike the older kids, she still had most of her innocence intact. Don't let her innocence fool you though she is her mother's child. Limited patience and stubbornness are two things that Tuk lives by.

Soon the training for possible threats became looking out for actual threats.

The young Na'vi girl was one of the only warriors her age, besides Neteyam, permitted to go to the raids. She would fly her ikran and warn those on the ground of any incoming bogies. Hell, she even took down a bogie with her bow and arrow, which resulted in her being grounded for two weeks.

She considered those the longest, most restless weeks of her life. Not only was she not allowed to go on any raids for those two weeks, but she started having nightmares of the screams of pain from her people after a bogie had shot a missile at them. She blamed herself for not shooting the bogie down in time to save her people.

Since that dreadful day, the girl has woken up in a cold sweat, never getting a full night's rest. Sometimes, she even finds herself panicking whenever a bogie gets too close to the Na'vi on the ground.

Soon the pretend battles had become real ones.

What Marali didn't know, though, was that her entire life was about to take a drastic turn...for the worse or better, she still had yet to determine. The only thing she was sure of, was that she wasn't going to try to be the best this time. She was going to slack off, break rules, and have fun. No matter the consequences.

After all, when one life ends,

another begins.