Shooting Stars | Lo'ak¹

Chapter 36: Her Star

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

Bold - sign language

"Ow!"

"Ow!" A voice yelled, and Ja'lia turned her head to see Tuk whining in pain as Lo'ak had pulled her hair for the umpteenth time that day. "Sorry, Tuk," He muttered, loosening his grip on his sisters' hair as he undid the braid, and started over.

Kiri watched with a sad smile while Ja'lia made a bracelet with some shells and a couple of the beads from Neteyam's hair. She thought that it would be a good way for her to make sure that Neteyam would always be with her, both physically and mentally. It had been a hard topic for everyone in the Sully Mauri pod to talk about who would receive what beads, but it was a necessary evil as they forced themselves to move on, so they could heal.

Everyone had gotten to pick what beads they wanted, and it went in order of the parents, siblings, then friends, and they were all happy with what they'd gotten. Ja'lia and Kiri decided to integrate Neteyam's beads into a new piece of jewelry, while Jake, Neytiri, Tuk, and Lo'ak decided to add them to their hair.

However, Spider had yet to decide what he wanted to do with his beads as he often seemed secluded and conflicted with his own emotions. The human boy had asked for everyone's advice, and evidently, none of them seemed to give him the answer he was looking for as he stared at the four beads in his hand with clouded eyes.

But when Tuk cried out in pain again, Spider looked up at the youngest child with furrowed eyebrows, "Bro, maybe you should let your mom or Lia braid her hair," Spider said, but Lo'ak shook his head in refusal.

"I promised Tuk that I would learn how to braid her hair," Lo'ak grumbled as he once again loosened his grip on his sister's hair.

"If I wanted my hair ripped out of my scalp, I would've asked Mom," Tuk muttered, leaning forward to place her chin in the palm of her hand. Lo'ak glared at his sister and mumbled unintelligible words under his breath while everyone else laughed.

The teen had been trying to learn how to braid his sisters' hair for hours, and it seemed that he was making zero progress, but none of the other teens could blame him because Tuk wasn't the best at describing things. Tuk often spoke face with quick movements of her hands, confusing Lo'ak who tried to intently listen to Tuk's rambling. But Lo'ak wouldn't give up on learning.

He couldn't give up. It was now his responsibility to be there for his siblings, even if that meant spending the entire day tearing Tuk's hair out of her head until he got her braids exactly the way she wanted them. The young girl was quite particular when it came to her hair. This braids too loose, or this one's too tight. Did you do this one with your eyes closed?

She acted like she was an expert when it came to braiding, at least in Lo'ak's opinion she did. Lo'ak was almost at his width's end when it came to Tuk's demanding requests when he finally sighed and decided that he would need to ask for some help.

So, he looked up at Ja'lia who concentrated on the bracelet in her lap, and called out her name, "Lia?"

Ja'lia's head snapped in Lo'ak's direction as she saw the pleading look on his face. A giggle escaped passed her lips because she knew what he was asking. He wanted her help braiding Tuk's hair, especially since Neytiri would be back soon, and if Lo'ak wasn't done, that meant Neytiri would have to do it, and Tuk would have Lo'ak's tail if he subjected her to their mother's firm grip.

As soon as Ja'lia started to walk towards the two Sully children, they both let out a sigh of relief because they both knew that Ja'lia would pick up the agonizingly slow pace that was doing Tuk's hair.