A/n: This movie was amazing and also terrible because I am not joking, for the majority of the movie I had no idea what any of the kid's names were then they killed off my favourite character aka the only of the kids with any lick of sense in him and then kinda downplayed it imo. It's like Neteyam died and they were all depressed and then kinda forgot about him until the end. His whole character seemed underrated which I kinda hated , but whatever, so here is my way of coping/ getting closure: writing a fanfic about it.

This is my first multi-chapter story where i haven't actually prewritten all the chapters before posting so i will go off of what you guys want, and see where it goes ;)

P.s. just in case you didn't know, the thingies that the Metkayina ride are called ilu. The normal ones, not the warrior's ones. ;)

The water was choppy around him, his ilu easily maneuvering regardless. It matched his mood. His worry for his siblings was like the choppy waters but he'd seen Lo'ak, Tuk, and Reya by the railing so now he was able to navigate the waters.

He hopped off the ilu, telling it to wait as he bounded onto the deck and got out his dagger, getting to work on their handcuffs.

Reya and Tuk were first, the former helping the younger one onto the ilu and away from the ship. He couldn't help himself when he got to Lo'ak.

Teasing Lo'ak about always having to be saved by him, he sawed through the orange material quickly. Whatever his brother had said earlier about Payakan being more of a brother to Lo'ak than him was forgotten. He'd make sure his brother knew that. He knew he set high standards for his younger brother but he didn't do it intentionally. He'd make sure his brother knew that too. And that Lo'ak knew no matter what he said or did, or that he himself said or did, he knew that he never wanted Lo'ak to be like him and be his own person, one that he would always love and support unconditionally.

He may be teasing Lo'ak right now about having to always be the saviour but that was the truth. He never complained about it because that was his job as the older brother; to keep his younger brother out of trouble. He did his best at it, but damn was it a hard job. No matter what he did he either ended up succeeding and his brother being annoyed at him for it, or he failed and got in trouble with their dad for it.

All that mattered in that moment though was just getting out of there, safely and… of course Lo'ak had another crazy stupid idea.

"Spider's in there! We have to get him, we can't leave him."

It was a brilliantly stupid idea, but he knew that no matter what he did or said, his headstrong stubborn ass of a brother would go anyway. So he might as well go too, just to make sure his brother didn't get himself killed. He breathed out slowly, hating himself but he looked into his brother's eyes and nodded.

Finding Spider didn't take long. Neither did dealing with the other Sky People. They freed Spider quickly and started running but it seemed that there were other people there because shots were fired. The bullets clanged on the metal all around them as they ran. Lo'ak had gotten a chance to use the gun he'd picked up earlier and killed one of the men, but they didn't stay too long.

They managed to find a place to hide. He peeked around the edge of their small alcove and saw more men. How many were there?

He took the gun from Lo'ak, giving them instructions as he came up with a plan. He started shooting and they started running again, bullets flying all around them. He felt a small twinge in his chest just before he dove into the water after his brothers.

Water was something he'd gotten really familiar with recently, learning to swim, dive, how to hold his breath for longer. He'd gotten pretty good if he said so himself. That's how he knew something was wrong.

He hadn't been able to tell just as they'd jumped in the water, but after a few seconds underwater, his chest had started stinging really badly. He noticed the red in the water surrounding him, floating in small clouds coming from his chest. It didn't take long to connect the dots. It was getting harder to swim by the second, even just keeping his head above water using most of his quickly depleting energy.

His brother and Spider noticed him lagging behind after what seemed like an eternity to him. If he'd been in his right mind, he might have been a little hurt, if not angry at Lo'ak for not being aware of his surroundings and his fellow soldiers. But they weren't on the battlefield and he was injured so he couldn't care less.

Their reaction when he told them he'd been shot was almost instant. They immediately went to help him, which was good because his arms were starting to feel real heavy just about then. He must have been in worse shape than he thought because he hadn't noticed Reya come on her ilu. Vaguely he noticed that Tuk wasn't with her, but the thought barely made it through the fog starting to cloud his mind so there was no way he could do anything about it.

Everything started to blur, everything happening in fractured pieces. One second he was in the water. The next, he was being helped onto the ilu. Cutting through the water seamlessly, the way only the Metkayina can manage. Being held upright. Someone talking, saying his name. It sounded garbled like they were speaking through water. A small part of his brain laughed at the terrible pun.

Then he was on a rock somewhere, the rough surface poking into his back but he couldn't care less. Any pain he felt from that paled in comparison to the pain coming from his chest, making almost everything else feel numb.

Was that his dad? When had he gotten here? Why did he look so worried? Scared? His dad was never scared, he was the bravest person Neteyam knew. But here he was, frantically giving instructions to Lo'ak, shouting.

A sharp pain made his vision go black for a second, Lo'ak's hands putting pressure on the wound in a futile effort to stop it from bleeding. His dad was holding his hand. Was he saying something?

He wished he had the strength to talk. He wanted to tell his father that everything would be okay. That he was the strongest person he knew and he knew that if he died here, even if it took time, his dad would find a way to be okay. He wanted to say that he was sorry, for leaving, for failing at his job of being the older brother. His job had been to keep an eye on the family for his dad, but now he was leaving them.

His mom had appeared now too, and he could see the distress on her face. She'd always been more emotional than his military dad but it still hurt every time he saw her like this. And knowing he was causing her this pain? He couldn't bear it. He wanted to hug her and comfort her but he couldn't.

His world was starting to go dark.

This couldn't be happening. He'd only just gotten used to living here. Everything had been going fine. He didn't get to say goodbye to Kiri or Tuk.

Tuk. He'd never been too close to her because she mainly stayed with Kiri when they went on missions which was almost every day, but he still felt so protective of her. He was the oldest and she was the youngest. She had three siblings older than her to take care of her, but he'd always tried to still have a connection with her. And now he'd be gone.

He wanted to cry. Cry because of the pain physical, emotional and mental; cry because he didn't want to leave; cry because he knew he couldn't, because he was the oldest, he was supposed to be strong, strong for the others, for his mom, his dad, his brother.

But he didn't cry. Not as his vision started to fade. Not as he started feeling cold. Not even as he took one last look at his family around him. His brother, always getting him in trouble because of his crazy ideas; Spider, who might as well be his brother; Reya, who he never really got to know well; his mother, whose tears made his heart twinge; until finally, he looked into his father's sad eyes, his father who had always been strong and formal with him and Lo'ak but still loved them so much he gave up his title of chief to keep them safe. The one he'd always looked up to no matter what.

The last one he'd see before the darkness swallowed him whole, and he embraced the light of Eywa.

A/n: … so, what did you think? The ending was so hard to write, and I finally managed at 10:35 pm the night before I have two really long days ahead of me and should really sleep. But, but, I did finish it. That is the first chapter done. I'm expecting to write at least 3 more chapters, all just different character's perspectives of his death and what happens after. Expect to see Lo'ak's pov, Jake's and maybe Neytiri's too or Tuk. It's also possible i might have an outsider's pov/ someone who wasn't there when he died. Lmk what you think.

Some things such as events or dialogue may not be 100% accurate but I didn't want to go through the whole movie again just to get stuff right in a fanfic, even if I did have access to the movie when I can pause it myself, just in case some people are really picky about that. Anyway, enough talk. Stay safe, be kind, and see ya soon in the next chapter!

CrowofArcadiaOaks