Chapter Sixteen | You Can't Take Him
'My baby was my gift to the world to show everyone strength in innocence and purity, and one day I pray my baby will come home to me to tell me of his journey that I can take with him.' – Sarah Sowell
"Aw, c'mon Kyoki, you can do it."
"I know I can – I don't want to."
"Gee, Kyoki, I swear – you're becoming more like a girl every day."
"I am a girl, idjit…"
"Oh, hush – else I will cut your hair in the night!"
Jake gave a groan as Tom, Lanuah and Kyoki had a battle of wills. It happened practically everyday. In fact, Jake felt his daily refrain was, "Stop being mean to Kyoki!" In what Neytiri and Jake had hoped would be the perfect little family, like the ones you witnessed in books and movies, it turned out life wasn't quite that way. Tom and Lanuah, for reasons that Jake and Neytiri just couldn't see, couldn't stand Kyoki. And for that matter, they could barely stand one another. What had happened to their friendship as children? It had disappeared, it seemed. When they weren't battling with one another, Tom and Lanuah snapped at Kyoki, but the ever accommodating one, Kyoki allowed them to. She still adored them, but both her parents knew that their little baby girl hated their torments.
Tom snarled at Kyoki. "So you may be a girl, but that don't mean you have to act like one."
Kyoki flicked her shoulder length hair back and looked pointedly at Lanuah. "Tell that to her, not me."
"Don't sass me, Kyoki," Lanuah growled at her.
"Do you even know what that means?"
" 'Course I do – I know everything."
Jake really couldn't take it anymore. "Guys, if you must fight – which you shouldn't be – take it outside. I mean it."
Tom sighed and shot daggers at his youngest sibling. "See what you did now?" he growled as he walked outside. Lanuah flicked her tail like a whip against Kyoki's face, making it sting. Kyoki fought back the tears in her eyes and just followed them anyway. Jake had to talk to the elder ones about that.
As their brother led them downstairs, Lanuah really couldn't be bothered walking with Kyoki. "Why don't you go and bug Reiqa or Yol Kxetse, huh?" she suggested, in a tone that told Kyoki not to disagree. Kyoki left without a word.
Tom watched as Kyoki went off. He sighed. "Is it wrong she annoys me so?" he asked as he walked off.
"Mmm, I don't think so," came a voice. Tom's ears flickered at the unfamiliar sound, and he turned to see a young woman, not of clan, coming towards him and Lanuah.
Tom's tail flicked, and Lanuah went behind his back; he was her protection against this unknown Na'vi. "This is the Omaticaya clan – you can't just walk in," Tom growled at the intruder. Lanuah bared her tiny half-adult, half-milk teeth to the woman. But as she looked into her eyes, they seemed very familiar… It was as if she had come across them before, even though she had never laid her own eyes on this person.
The eyes that held the familiarity blinked, and a small smile spread across the woman's face. "Oh, I think they'll allow me in," she told the young children.
"Why? Who are you?"
"My name is Kiyeri."
· · ·
"I must commend you two on raising Tom," Kiyeri said to her cousin and her mate. "He seems to have turned out quite all right."
Both Jake and Neytiri were terribly uncomfortable as they had this meeting with Kiyeri. Jake and Neytiri occupied the seat across from the table in the centre of the room, with Kiyeri on the other opposite them. It was the first time they had seen her in ten years. Though they had offered for her to come and see Tom once in a while, she never took them up on the offer. So, for her to turn up now was a bit of a shock to the system. She looked more mature, older now; she would be twenty-six, and Neytiri was twenty-eight. Jake couldn't help but feel old, but more pressing emotions and questions were arising. "Why are you here?" Jake asked the woman in front of him. She was no longer a girl.
Kiyeri slowly turned her head to his, her topaz eyes meeting his own. "You know, I never told anyone about what happened. Everyone assumed I miscarried after I fell off the horse."
Neytiri nodded. "Well, we appreciate you telling that story."
Kiyeri sat up straight. She looked confident, so much more so than she was when she had been here the last time. But there was also a dark look in her eyes, which Neytiri didn't like. "As you can see, I've cleaned myself up. I'm a better person now."
"Yes, you look lovely," Neytiri agreed with a nod, forcing a small smile on her face.
Kiyeri now focused her gaze on her cousin. "I'm in a better place, now."
Slowly, the realisation of the reason for Kiyeri's visit dawned upon both Jake and Neytiri at the same time. Neytiri breathed out slowly, and regarded Kiyeri seriously. She shook her head. "You cannot have him…"
"I didn't tell anyone Tom's true heritage – I can easily do that now," she told them with a razor edge to her voice.
Jake's brow knitted together, and he bit back a snarl. "You do and the Omaticaya won't have an heir. Not to mention Tom would be traumatised – have you ever thought about that?"
Kiyeri gave a smirk, which made Jake clench his fingers, causing his nails to dig into his skin as he tried to fight the rising anger. "Clearly you didn't, either," she told him, "if 'Tom being the future leader' was the first thing that came to your mind. Besides, you two kind of… spoke too soon, didn't you? Aren't those two girls yours? Kyoki is a spitting image of you, Neytiri, and has Jake's eyes." Kiyeri's face turned very cold, her jaw tightening. "Give me my kid."
Neytiri shook her head. "Over my dead body… Tom is our son."
"I want my damn child!" Neytiri just shook her head at Kiyeri.
A low growl sounded from Kiyeri and she stood up abruptly, and Neytiri quickly followed her movement. She quickly moved, finding it easier to reach the door without the obstacle of the table. She blocked the door from Kiyeri. "If you think I am giving my baby to you, you're crazy!"
"He's not your baby!" Kiyeri almost yelled.
"All right, tone it down," Jake said, standing up to his wife's defense. He hoped none of the children heard that, or any of the clan for that matter. Kiyeri tried to push past him, but Jake grabbed her by her arms and yanked her back before she disappeared down the corridor.
Neytiri's ears went back as Kiyeri tried to fight against her mate. "We raised Tom! We are his parents!" she cried desperately to Kiyeri and Jake.
Kiyeri turned on her cousin, baring her feline-like teeth to her. "You were always so high and mighty, wanting nothing but the best for yourself. And that's why you took Tom – you just needed an heir! If you didn't, you wouldn't have taken him!" And, with the icing on the cake, "You self righteous bitch…" Neytiri's face just crumpled at that insult.
Jake snarled and, in a moment where he didn't know if was truly himself, his hands enclosed on Kiyeri's shoulders, and he pushed her against the wall. Kiyeri yelped as Jake flung her against the wall, but it wasn't as hard as he felt it should have been. "I have never hurt a woman in my life but your ass is pushing it," he warned her. He was pleased to see her swallow in fear. "Now… You listen closely. You are going to leave this clan. And you are never to return. If I even hear of you coming within a five hundred metre radius… I will have no problem ordering my warriors after you. Consider yourself banished from coming here."
After his threat had been delivered, Jake let Kiyeri go. Kiyeri was somewhat intimidated by Jake's advance – who wouldn't be? He looked formidable. His eyes pierced hers, and he bared his teeth slightly. Even Neytiri had to shudder a little. Kiyeri stiffened up, going to walk past Jake. The pain in her eyes was clear as she left though. Neytiri and Jake followed her to the steps, and watched as she went to get her ikran to fly off. Neytiri turned to her mate then. "I have… never seen you so forceful."
Jake brought his eyes, now soft, to his mate. "No one is ever taking our son," he told her, in a tone that said it was never to be negotiated, before pressing a kiss to her forehead before leaving to go back to their area.