Little Miss Perfect | Neteyam¹

Chapter 07: Mentor and Mentee

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

Bold - sign language

Last night was the worst night's sleep anyone in the newly occupied Mauri pod had gotten in ages. Everyone in the Mauri pod had dark eye bags and unreasonably short tempers, Marali included. Jake and Neytiri were preparing breakfast while Tuk stood beside her mother, rubbing her eyes. Lo'ak was still attempting to sleep, even with Jake yelling at him every few minutes, and Kiri stared into space as she twisted the beads on her braid.

The girl looked over to see Neteyam rolling his mattress up and putting it away, more quiet than usual. Usually, Neteyam would have assisted his dad in waking Lo'ak up, cracking a joke or two while he was at it, but it seemed like he wasn't in the mood either.

This is going to be a long day. Marali thought to herself.

Did she also forget to mention that they start training today? Marali thought back to when Tsireya came to inform the group right after the family meeting everyone had to intend.

Marali watched as Neteyam grabbed his younger brother's shoulder before speaking, "Family meeting, remember?" Causing Lo'ak to roll his eyes at Neteyam.

"Come on, take a knee. Let's go." Jake said as he knelt in front of the children before him. Marali sat beside Tuk, who had a depressed look on her face, and the girl felt a pang in her chest. "Okay." Jake sighed, "I need you kids to be on your best behavior. I mean it. Learn fast, pull your weight," He paused, looking over at Lo'ak, "Don't cause trouble, got it?"

"Yes, sir," Lo'ak said, hissing when Neteyam grabbed onto the back of his neck in a teasing manner. Tuk and Marali snickered at the two brothers before the girl's face got serious, noticing that Jake was staring at her.

"And you," He said, pausing as if he was trying to think of the correct words to say, "Play nice with others." She looked at him, shocked, before side-eyeing Neteyam, who had failed to hold back his laughter. "I always play nice with others." She said, giving Jake an innocent look.

"What about that one time you pun-" Tuk started to speak but was quickly cut off as Marali tickled the girl's sides, causing her to burst into a fit of giggles.

"I mean it, Marali. I know you can be kind, but you can also be rigid when someone picks on your friends." Jake says. The Na'vi teen looked at Jake, giving him a nod, and softly whispered, 'Yes, sir."

Then Marali looked over to see that Tuk no longer had a smile on her face, and she fell sad once more. "I want to go home," The youngest cried out, wiping her eyes with her hand.

"Aww, Tuk," Neytiri cooed. Jake looks at his youngest with a sorrowful look, slowly leaning closer, "Tuk," Jake softly sighs, "This is our home now." He said, grabbing Tuk's hand as a way to provide comfort. "And we're going to get through this if we have each other backs, right?" He said, looking at everyone.

"What does your father say?" Neytiri asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Sully's stick together," The four children said, almost as if it was causing them physical pain.

"That's right, Sully's stick together. This time with some feeling.' Jake nodded. Marali watched in amusement as all the kids repeated the phrase practically the same way. The only difference was that they said it louder.

The moment had been interrupted as Tsireya had made her way into the pad to inform the Sullys that their training would be starting the next day.