Little Miss Perfect | Neteyam¹

Chapter 01: Troublemaker

Trigger Warning: Descriptions of violence, blood, war, and other mature themes are discussed in this book. It will follow the storyline of the movie, with additional scenes of my own creation. This is your warning.

Italicize - someone's thoughts or a story from the past

Bold - sign language

Marali stood by her father and listened to him go over the rules she's heard hundreds of times before.

"No disobeying orders. You are to only observe from above, not fight. You are to be as far away from any danger as soon as you are made aware of it. If Jake says to leave, you do it. And for my heart, please, no matter what, do not go on the ground. Also, most importantly, don't let anything happen to Lo'ak or Neteyam, Marali. They are your responsibility." Norm said, pulling his daughter into a hug.

"But dad, what if-" Marali begins, but automatically closed her mouth as soon as her father pulled away from the hug, and to gave her a look. The girl sighs and nods in agreement letting her father know she understands.

"I mean it, Marali. I'll be assisting the ground team today. If I see you down on the ground, there'll be no missions for a month and no leaving the campsite either," Norm said, kneeling to be at eye level with his daughter.

But what if Lo'ak or Neteyam go to the ground, Dad? What am I supposed to do then? Am I supposed to abandon them? Leave them to fend for themselves? No. I can't because I'm supposed to protect them.

Marali had to fight the urge to roll her eyes, but instead, she nodded her head in agreement for the fear that if she opened her big mouth, she would start an argument that only get her into trouble.

The girl had been biting her tongue to prevent arguments a lot as her stress levels continued to grow. The effects of the war and having to keep track of four other people besides herself were starting to wear on the young teen. Not to mention the fact that she was barely sleeping, constantly waking up from the nightmare that's haunted her dreams for months.

"Are you even listening to me, Marali? You know you can't be this out of it on the mission. If you aren't feeling up for it, I'm sure I could ask Jake-" Norm was interrupted by his daughter.

"No! I mean, no, it's okay, Dad. I'm sorry I got distracted. I was thinking about how I should make my way over the Tíli. You know, to make sure everything is good and ready to go. Wouldn't want anything to go wrong." She exclaims, silently scolding herself for her sudden outburst.

It didn't seem to bother her father, rather, he seemed proud of her for thinking to check her ikran for any issues.

"That's my girl. Now go make me proud, kiddo." Norm said, giving his daughter a 'thumbs up' and a bright smile.

"I will, Dad. I promise." Marali assured, giving her dad the cheesiest smile she could muster at that moment.

"I love you, baby girl." Norm said, pulling the girl into a tight hug once more before ushering her to her ikran.

He didn't even give me time to say it back.

Marali scoffed as she made her way over to Tíli. When she made her way over to her ikran, she let her thoughts wander, thinking back to the conversation with her dad. His phrases and mannerisms often confused the poor girl. While her father was fluent in Na'vi and had his own Avatar that made him look like Na'vi, he frequently used human phrases. He would say cuss words here and there when something went wrong, giving her a 'thumbs up' when he wished her luck.

Sky people are weird. I'm glad that I was born in Pandora as a Na'vi.

After making sure everything was good with Tíli, the girl heard someone approaching behind her. She yelps when she feels a slight yank on her tail. The girl turns around to see Neteyam smirking and Lo'ak laughing his ass off.