Chapter two

It had been a long time since Jake had dreamed. After the Sky People had returned, sleep was something resembling a timed coma. He would fall asleep completely exhausted and rise way too early to fortify and organize his clan as best he could. After the disastrous mission with the train today and fearing for his sons' lives, he had assumed he would not get any sleep at all. Despite his concerns, he felt a deep sleep coming, and by the time he was completely out, he heard a familiar voice.

"Mother, it was my fault! I was not able to resolve the situation quickly. I could have gone to a teacher weeks ago, but I didn't! Jake only tried to help, and then they escalated things by pushing me around." Tom stood before him with his back turned to Jake, facing their mother. It was one of the many times in high school where Jake had gotten into a fight.

This time, his opponent was sent to the hospital with a broken nose. He had felt no remorse. Those boys had tormented Tommy for months, but his brother had always denied his help. After witnessing the bullying firsthand, he had stepped in and defended his brother. Now their mother was taking out her anger on them.

"You must stop protecting your foolish brother, Thomas! He nearly got you both expelled, and we don't know yet what repercussions this will have. Both of you disappoint me!" His mother had always been cold. She seldomly expressed kindness towards her children, only when they excelled in school. Somehow Tommy had reached her utopian standards, but Jake never did. He was good at sports, but that did not seem to impress his mother in the least.

Their father was almost never home to begin with, always at work or overboard. So they were left with their mother, for whom Jake was never enough. During those times, he hated his brother for being the perfect child. So he had ignored Tom in school and hung out with his own friends.

One day, he found his brother with scrapes and bruises along his legs but had not asked. Tommy would not say anything either. He just wore long pants in the middle of summer. Weeks later, he noticed the bruises again, this time on the arms. When he saw them again and again, he wondered where they were coming from.

He had assumed his brother was bullied in school, so when he saw a couple of jerks pushing Tommy around, something in him snapped, and he attacked these boys. He was sent home with his twin, where they had to face their mother's wrath.

He learned the truth behind Tommy's injuries when his mother gripped his arms and threw him to the ground.

"You ungrateful and unnatural child! You said you'd make up for him! Now you just made everything worse!" She kicked Tom in the gut before he had snapped out of his stupor to stop her attacking his twin. She screamed and started attacking Jake when he heard Tom's cry.

"You promised not to hurt him!"

"But you failed! You are just as worthless as your brother."

At that point Jake rushed to sit up in his hammock, his breath coming out in short bursts. Neytiri awoke next to him with a worried expression on her face.

"Ma Jake, what is it?" He took some more deep breaths to calm down, his heart still racing in his chest.

"It was just a dream… I remembered something from a long time ago." Neytiri was silent, but after more than seventeen years of marriage she understood that he would tell her with time. So she waited for him to sort his thoughts.

"I told you about Tom" she nodded. He looked at her face and he could see the slightest twitch in her lip. When he had explained to her what a twin was, she was not able to relate. Na'vi were not able to conceive twins, it just did not happen. So she had said Tom was Jake's clone, which was kind of ironic with how his body was actually made from Tommy's DNA. At some point he had accepted her thinking, personally he found it funny, so he left her to her beliefs.

"I remembered how he protected me from my mother" her brows furrowed at his statement.

"Why would he have to protect you from your mother?" The concept of abuse was something just as alien to her as twins. Jake was glad for it.

"On earth it is not uncommon for parents to hurt their children. It is terrible through and through, but earth itself is a very dark place. Our mother demanded the very best from us. I was not able to rise to her expectations. But Tommy did, and he made a bargain with her. She would not hurt me if he was able to keep me out of trouble and keep up his hard work."

"That sounds barbaric! Ma Jake, what have you endured?" His mate's face was full of righteous anger for his younger self. He let out a bitter chuckle: "I only had to endure her scorn and angry words, but Tommy was beaten and punished for my failings. He was always the more mature one, the one who thought things through. For years I hated him for being the perfect child. I thought only he received our mother's love but I was wrong." Jake shook his head at the memory of his brother lying on the ground.

"I remembered the day I found out about his deal with our mother, and how he had carried all of my burdens along with his own, only to receive her punishment and my anger." He balled his fists with anger and regret and looked at Neytiri, who had tears in her eyes.

"He was my protector and provider. He was my family and today I was just reminded that I was denied the chance to say goodbye." He heard a slightly shuddering breath from his mate.

"Ma Jake, he must have loved you very much. I'm sure that his love for you has not changed," she said and Jake agreed.

"I wish I could have brought his soul with me so he could be with Eywa here. I know he would have loved it here. He would have loved the people and the forest." A tear filled with compassion rolled down Neytiri's cheek.

"Do that, my Jake. Talk to our great mother about your brother. She might treasure his memory for you." After that, they didn't speak. They simply curled up in each other's embrace and slept for the remainder of the night, unaware that Lo'ak had been awake and listening.

The next morning, Lo'ak searched for his father and found him in their tent. He knelt in front of his seated form and sincerely apologized for being rash and impulsive the previous day. Jake was surprised by his son's honest remorse and could only pull the young boy into a tight embrace.

"You are too much like me, and that scares me," Jake said, and Lo'ak thought to himself, 'And Neteyam is too much like Tom.' Jake invited his son to come along to the Tree of Souls, but Lo'ak declined. His father needed time to mourn his "twin," and to give him that time, he offered to entertain his siblings for the day. Jake nodded in approval.

"Just don't go too far," he cautioned. Both of them regretted their choices at the end of the day.

Feel free to leave a comment. I hope you enjoyed reading.