Jake had called a family meeting the next morning to inform the kids of Spider's situation, and that he was, in fact, alive. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Tcelia and Neteyam already knew. They played along, pretending like it was the first time that they were hearing the information as well though, not wanting to share with Jake that they had been eavesdropping on his private conversation.
Lo'ak immediately insisted that they go and save him, backed up by Kiri, but Jake shut him down instantly, reasoning that it was exactly what Quaritch wanted. Tcelia swallowed the nauseous feeling that rose in her as she pictured Spider, alone and afraid, forced to work with the enemy. She felt a hand placed atop her bent knee and she looked over. Neteyam was looking at his dad as Jake spoke, but his hand rested gently on her knee, as if he had sensed her worry for Spider.
At least there had been one good thing that had come out of learning how close Quaritch was to them, Tcelia thought glumly. Tcelia and Neteyam were back to being friends again. When Neteyam had followed her into the forest after they had overheard Tonowari and Jake, he had promised to go back to normal. He had tried, Tcelia knew that, but he still seemed almost awkward around her, as if he was forcing himself to act as if everything was back to usual. It wasn't until Tcelia had woken up from her nightmare and Tcelia had been allowed to braid her black pearl into his hair that he had completely become her old Neteyam again.
She tried to ignore the unwanted butterflies in her stomach at the sensation of Neteyam's large hand on her knee.
Pictures from the night before flashed through her mind. The way he had looked at her as she had slipped the pearl into his hair, just below the one she had given him, and braided the black locks back together. She hadn't wanted to go back to the pod then, not wanting to wake up and shatter the illusion in case Neteyam would return to the way he had been the past week. But she could also see that Neteyam needed to rest.
Placing herself down in the sand, overcome with sudden boldness, she patted the spot beside her. Their eyes had locked as he slowly placed himself down beside her, and he had swallowed, as if nervous. She had nestled up against him, placing her head on his chest and an arm around his torso. She could feel him freeze, inhaling sharply, and Tcelia squeezed her eyes shut, praying to Eywa that he wasn't contemplating what the nicest way to push her away could be. She could feel his heart beating rapidly as he, ever so slowly, wrapped his arms around her. His arms had tightened, securing her to him as if he never wanted to let her go. She had savored the feeling, knowing that it might never happen again, staying awake to make sure that Neteyam would fall asleep. It hadn't been long before his breath had become regular, Tcelia's head rising and lowering evenly with his chest.
The memory and the butterflies in her stomach completely disappeared as she tuned into what Jake was saying, replaced with guilt. How could she have been thinking about something as silly as a crush when Quaritch was so close, when Spider was in danger?
"There are going to be some new rules set up, alright?" Jake looked around at them individually, making sure that everyone was listening. "No swimming after eclipse, okay? I don't want you wandering around in the dark, then accidentally losing your way and ending up outside the reef." He looked at Lo'ak pointedly, who ignored him, glaring at the ground.
"How stupid does he think we are?" Lo'ak grumbled to Tcelia as Jake removed his focus from Lo'ak and continued his speech.
"Lo'ak!" Neytiri scolded, indicating for Lo'ak to pay attention to what his father was saying.
"Alright, second rule," Jake lifted two fingers, "No adventures too far inland. We don't know what could be waiting for us in there. For all we know, Quaritch has set up a base and is spying on us as we speak, planning how to take us down." Tcelia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. That seemed a bit excessive. If Quaritch really had found them, Tcelia doubted that he would be sitting and twiddling his thumbs, as if waiting for some sign from Eywa on when the right time would be to strike.
"And finally. Do not try to play the hero and go looking for Spider. Alright, I get that he's your friend and I get that you want to help him. But if it goes wrong," Jake looked around at them again, taking Neytiri's hand in his, "We could end up losing each other. Do you all understand?"
They all nodded silently, and Jake sighed, dismissing them.
Tcelia was wading around in the shallow water with Kiri, as Tuk played further out. They had been together since Jake had dismissed them, at a complete loss for words. Kiri seemed to be in her own world of worry and Tcelia didn't want to intrude. It would be stupid to ask if Kiri was alright, because they both knew she wasn't, so they had spent time in silence together, comforted by each other's presence. Tcelia felt restless. She wanted to be doing something constantly so that it could take her mind off everything, but there was nothing to do. She had walked the same strip of sand for the past hour, her mind screaming at her to take action, to just do something.
After another half hour, judging by the sun's position in the sky, Tcelia couldn't do it anymore. She excused herself to Kiri, heading off to Norm and Max's camp to see if they needed help with anything. Trudging towards the camp, she heard voices coming from behind the helicopter, and Tcelia instantly recognized Lo'ak's voice.
She headed straight for the other side, clearing her throat as she approached. Lo'ak was seated on a trunk that had been dragged into the clearing, chatting with Norm as she rounded the corner, but as he looked back to see who had come, his mouth froze mid sentence, shooting to his feet and coughed awkwardly. As she heard Norm let out a bark of laughter, Tcelia almost regretted not eavesdropping before she had announced herself, curious to know what they had been talking about. She shot Lo'ak a bewildered look before she headed over to the avatar fitted cot, sitting down.
"Please do not stop on my account," Tcelia teased, "I am in need of a conversation to take my mind off everything."
Lo'ak had managed to settle down again, looking slightly less flush. He rolled his eyes as he slowly placed himself back down on the trunk again, looking over at Norm, who was sitting on the detachable stairs. They seemed to be communicating without speaking, Norm widening his eyes and Lo'ak shaking his head furiously, as if Tcelia wasn't sitting right there and could see everything they were doing.
"What?" Tcelia asked, looking back and forth between the two, furrowing her eyebrows, "What aren't you telling me?"
"The uhh-" Norm tore his gaze from Lo'ak, looking at Tcelia, "Uhh, it's the – the thermometer!" he exclaimed as if he had been grasping for something to say. "The thermometer has been malfunctioning again, so I was just trying to convince Lo'ak here to help us fix it again."
She looked over at Lo'ak who was nodding vigorously. She narrowed her eyes, not believing a word they were saying, "Alright," she stood up, "Let us go fix it then."
The boys looked at each other instantly then back to Tcelia, before Norm spoke, "You know, I think Max might have said that it was a – a one-man job this time actually..." Norm winced at his poor attempt at coming up with an excuse, and Tcelia could see out of her peripheral vision that Lo'ak was shaking his head in disappointment at Norm.
Tcelia groaned, sinking down on the bed again, "You know, it is fair if you do not want to tell me," She rolled her eyes, leaning back on her hands, "But at least be better at coming up with fake excuses."
Norm grinned sheepishly, "Copy that."
"Where is Max anyway?" Lo'ak chuckled, pushing two beaded braids away from his face. Lo'ak must not have had been here for that long, Tcelia thought, if he didn't know where Max was.
"Sleeping." Norm shrugged, "Aside from running tests, there is not a whole lot to do out here with the limited amount of lab equipment we have."
The three of them fell into a slightly boring but also comfortable talk about the discoveries that the scientists had made whilst on the island, which almost made Tcelia forget her constant concern for Spider and Quaritch.
"Tcelia!"
Tcelia was ripped out of her thoughts as Tsireya waved a hand in front of her face. They were sitting by the bonfire, eating dinner and Tcelia had zoned out once again.
She blinked, "Sorry Reya. I do not know why I keep zoning out."
In truth, she did know, but Jake had told them not to tell anyone about Quaritch's whereabouts. It would only cause panic among the Metkayina clan, and that was not something that was necessary at the moment. She stared down at the forgotten half-eaten fruit in her hand, not feeling hungry in the slightest.
"I was talking about the celebration a week from now." Tsireya bit into her own fruit, "You know, the one that is being held to celebrate the return of the Tulkun?"
Tcelia looked at her blankly, not even entirely sure that she had ever been informed of any celebration approaching. It also seemed a bit pointless to celebrate someone who had already left and weren't returning for another year, but to each their own, Tcelia thought.
Tsireya let out an exasperated sigh, the glow from the flames licking her skin and painting her in an orange light, "I have told you this a million times, Tcelia."
So, she had been told…
"Right," Tcelia pretended to remember, nodding her head, "And what about it?"
"We need to figure out what you are going to wear," Tsireya eyed Tcelia's body, scrutinizing her chest cover. "Maybe you can borrow some of mine. It is required to wear custom Metkayina clothes, so that-" she pointed at Tcelia's top and bottom, "Won't do."
Tcelia rolled her eyes at the girl but agreed to have Tsireya help her figure something out. As Ao'nung settled down beside Tsireya, drawing her attention away from Tcelia, Tcelia turned to Lo'ak who was sitting on her other side, chatting with Neteyam.
"Did you guys know that a celebration for the Tulkun's return is being held in a week?" Tcelia whispered to them, leaning her body closer to them.
"No?" Lo'ak said, furrowing his brows, looking just as confused as Tcelia had been, "No one told us."
"Actually," Neteyam looked at each of them pointedly, "dad did tell us. You guys are just really bad listeners." Tcelia and Lo'ak exchanged a look, rolling their eyes at Neteyam.
"Or maybe," Lo'ak began, "We are too busy actually having lives to always focus on what dad says."
Lo'ak had been joking, but still, a quick moment of hurt flashed over Neteyam's face before he could school it into a look of indifference. Lo'ak had been looking down at his food as he had said it, not noticing his brother's reaction.
"Whatever," Neteyam said as he stood up, "All I am saying is that I knew about the celebration." And then he left, heading towards their pod.
Tcelia sighed, pushing Lo'ak by his shoulder, "What did you have to say that for?" she accused as she threw the remains of her food into the fire, standing up to follow Neteyam who had already disappeared into the village.
"What did I say?" Lo'ak yelled after her, confusion laced in his voice. Tcelia ignored him, determined to catch up to Neteyam. She didn't get very far before someone grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop in her tracks. She turned to see Ao'nung looking down at her.
"Where are you heading off to, forest girl?" he smirked as he looked down towards where Neteyam had disappeared. He knew that she had been following her and he was obviously having some fun with it.
Tcelia rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest, "What do you want Ao'nung?"
Ao'nung's smirk grew bigger, "Wow, she has teeth tonight. Woke up on the wrong side of the pod this morning, did we?"
Tcelia smacked his arm, "Not funny. If you do not have anything important to say, then goodnight Ao'nung," She turned on her heel, but Ao'nung chuckled, grabbing her arm again, and twirled her to face him.
"Wait, wait." He laughed, "I actually do have something to share with you, so if you would just give me a chance to explain that would be great."
Tcelia sighed, uncrossing her arms, and looked at him expectantly, "Well then?"
"Tomorrow," he began, flashing his teeth, "Meet me here just an hour after sunup. I want to show you something that will definitely take your mind off whatever has been worrying you lately."
Tcelia eyed him suspiciously, "Are you not going to tell me what it is?"
"That would ruin the surprise though," his lips formed into his characteristic smirk once again and Tcelia rolled her eyes.
"You know what? Fine," she agreed, anxious to end the conversation and get to Neteyam, "I will be here at sunup." She turned, leaving Ao'nung behind.
"An hour after sunup!" He yelled after her. Tcelia waved a hand in the air, indicating that she had heard him as she headed towards the Marui.