Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A few rays of sun were fading as the usual midsummer storm clouds took their place in the clear sky above Pandora’s seemingly endless forests.  It was a strangely nice and sunny day for the rainy season.  The capital of the region, named after its tribal inhabitants, took advantage of it.  Omatikaya’s people were out re-thatching the roofs of their marui, a task usually reserved for early fall, while kids enjoyed playing outdoors without getting soaked. 

A young man with dark golden hair, blue eyes, and a stoic expression watched it all from inside a small building on the edge of the village’s center.  It didn’t look like it belonged with the rest of the traditional architecture.  But it did.  There were several of these single level buildings built from the same materials as the marui, but their designs were too unnatural and too square.  They didn’t flow and ebb with naturally. 

They belonged because the foreigners who lived in them were accepted by the Na’vi.  The indigenous people of Pandora did not just let anyone live within its borders, but the several dozen people who lived in them had earned the trust and acceptance for all they’d done for Pandora and the People in the past. 

“Spider.” came the voice of one such person.  The young man turned away from the open window that looked out into the village center where he watched parents gather their children before the inevitable rain started.  The man had darker skin and dark hair that was starting to gray.  His smile was as warm and comforting as his tone as he asked his guest, “Would you like to sit down?” 

Still stoic and silent, Spider nodded and crossed the room to sit down with his legs crossed on a blanket woven with bright colors and stunning pattern.  The older man had been sitting down waiting for the younger man to come over for a good twenty minutes before asking.  He didn’t want to rush the impromptu therapy session. 

“We haven’t had in session in over three months, Spider.” the man said, glancing down at the holo-tablet in his hands. 

“I know.  And...I really appreciate you making time for it, Max.” Spider said, looking down at his hands before rubbing his left thumb along a thick scar about two inches long with a rounded right angle at the end higher up the forearm.  A few of his long dreads and braids fell down the sides of his face.  It was a way of “hiding” as Max had put it years ago when Spider first started with regular therapy sessions with Omatikaya’s only non-spiritually inspired psychologist. 

“I always have time, Spider.” Max said with a nod as he watched Spider trace the scar.  He’d know this young man his whole life.  All the way back to the day he was born.  His mother, Eywa keep her, was so happy to have her little baby boy.  He cleared his throat and asked, “Why did you want to have this session?” 

Spider immediately sat upright and put both his hands on his knees to stop fidgeting, “Oh, yea...I, um...” 

Max could see the gears turning, but Spider looked a little lost.  He smiled again and said, “You and Neteyam are going to university next week.  Are you concerned?  Excited?” 

“I am.” Spider said with a nod but no expression to match the enthusiasm in his voice, “We’ll be dorming together, so that’s cool. Knowing my roommate. Probably won’t see much of each other outside of that though...” 

“Maybe more than you think, even though you have different majors.” Max said reassuringly. 

“Yea...maybe...” Spider said, his eyes dropping to nothing in particular, “I’d already be a junior if I’d gone...before.” 

Max’s smile faded to sympathy but he kept it from crossing to a look pity.  Spider hated that.  A lot of people still looked at him that way after three years since... 

“Spider,” Max said, not waiting for Spider to look up at him this time, “You seemed pretty adamant you were in a good place and, professionally speaking, well-adjusted after the trauma you endured at the hands of your father.” 

Spider closed his eyes tightly, like a migraine had suddenly erupted behind them.  But it wasn’t a headache causing the pain; it was the memories.  He clenched his fists on his knees tightly as he took in a breath then let it out slowly.  Grounding.  Five things to ground himself in the moment and not that horrible part of his past.

Number one...Spider was safe with friends and family in Omatikaya... 

Number two...Spider was not in the middle of nowhere in the United States... 

Number three...Spider was wearing the traditional Na’vi tewng and adornments he’d made himself…

Number four...Spider was smarter and understood the world now more than ever... 

And number five...Spider was not fifteen years old anymore... 

Max knew what Spider was doing and did not interrupt.  The first few months after the incident, Spider was relentlessly paranoid.  Afraid at all times that something horrible would happen.  That someone was always holding a gun to the back of his head.  But anyone would feel that way after-... 

“I want to talk about it again.” Spider said, loud and sudden.  The jumbled way the words fell out of his mouth startled Max and the trusted therapist immediately pulled a handkerchief from his shirt pocket.  Spider accepted it with sweaty, shaking hands and rubbed the thinning cloth hard at the tears that cascading down his cheeks.  “One last time…”

Sure, he was an eighteen-year-old young man with the physique of all the strong clan warriors.  Spider, like all the other kids, grew up with an entire jungle for their backyard.  Deep rivers and oceans to challenge them to see who could hold their breath the longest.  Barren deserts that could burn their feet or frigid mountaintops to freeze their fingers.  He learned to hunt and fight and survive like all the other kids. 

But not all the other kids had to survive what Spider had when he was only fifteen-years-old... 

Chapter Text

It was the perfect Pandoran day.

Not that there was really a bad day in July in the country of Pandora.  The warm Pacific currents traveled down the east coast of South America in just the right way that it split and swirled along most of the archipelago’s east coast.  It kept the waters warm almost all year long and the cooler mountainous parts of the island chain were farthest from its largest capital.

Omatikaya.

It was a beautiful and thriving blend of traditional Na’vi culture with some limited technological influence.  Enough to compete with the rest of the fast and too busy world.  And admittedly, the advances came from the limited residents who were not born there.  Their machines were scrutinized almost as much as the people who came to be reborn into the Na’vi.  But that was a long time ago…

…longer than most of the ages of the tribe’s children.

Fifteen-year-old Spider was no different than most of the kids his age.  He knew the stories.  It was heavily ingrained in their education.  Hours spent around the cook fires of their parents and elders, listening to the great wars between Pandora and the rest of the world.  Or at least, it felt like it was the WHOLE rest of the world when they spoke.

Smoke and fire rained down upon the smaller villages on the coasts in the way of tear gas and bombs.  They didn’t have the protection of the thick forests like Omatikaya.  All for the sake of “progress” and resources.  It took great and unfathomable tragedy for the native people to receive aid and protection from the giants among the United Nations.

Hanging in a frame Spider had made himself from young bamboo shoots was a photo of one of the Pandoran giants who ventured out to face the nations on their battlefield.  His mother.

Pa’Zan Socorro.  Or lovingly known as ‘Paz’ by her friends and family.  Spider’s mother was a diplomat.  The first of many of Pandora’s ambassadors to make themselves known and their voices heard in the last three decades.  Her famed photo was tacked against a curved support beam of the marui she raised her son in.  Right next to his hammock so she was the first thing he saw in the morning and the last thing at night.

It was his mother’s decision to leave the battlefields of Pandora to the unknown challenges that inspired Spider to always see beyond the familiar and understand not everything is as it seems.  That even someone who was not Na’vi could have Pandora’s best interests at heart.  Or perhaps it was because Spider, himself, was not full Na’vi…

Not even half, really.

His mother, Pa’Zan, was half Na’vi.  Her father was a doctor from Portugal.  He was part of an organization named Medecins Sans Frontiers, something Spider learned later from the lap of his Na’vi grandmother when she told him the old stories from her fishing village that had been destroyed by outsiders.  But its people survived due to people like his grandfather.

“Where’s the…?” Spider asked himself as he looked around from where he was crouched over two bags.  One was a decent sized trunk that he’d been slowly filling with a new wardrobe and other gifts to celebrate the next adventure.  He might be in the minority for someone his age for being excited for school, but it was hard not to when he was accepted into a part time program at an international university at just 15!

His cool, blue eyes scanned the floor around him.  It was pretty organized until he pulled clothes out of the trunk to shove into a small rucksack when he received a letter a few weeks prior containing a plane ticket.  The destination on the ticket called for a very different wardrobe.  He was used to it, of course, having traveled with his mother to many countries before she passed.  But it still felt strange being out of the traditional tewng he grew up wearing….

A plane ticket from someone he had never met and, quite frankly, forgot existed.  His mother never spoke about him…nor did any adult in his life…

The name of the sender on the envelope was ‘Col. M. Quaritch’.  That name was only ever recorded in one other place in Pandora.  Spider’s birth record.  In fact, it was where his first name came from.  That ‘M’ stood for Miles, though no one had called. Spider by that name since he started climbing before he could crawl.

The elusive envelope was found under the rucksack when Spider picked it up.  The envelope with the plane ticket and a handwritten letter…

The teen sat back on his heels as he pulled them both out and unfolded the letter.  The neat cursive handwriting didn’t say much, but it was enough that Spider spent the last month deciding if the ticket was worth using…

Miles,

Though I been told you go by Spider,

I’m not so good with getting mushy with words, and I’m sure you figured it out, but I’m the dead beat dad who hasn’t spent a day in your life.

I don’t have excuses, but I do have reasons.

If you want to know what they are, feel free to use this ticket to meet me before going off to your fancy university.  If you don’t, I wouldn’t blame you.

Regards,

 M. Quaritch

Spider just stared at the words; he’d read them enough times to know what was written.  He sighed and ran his hand up through his wild dreadlocks to the back of his head.  Supposedly, the man who wrote this letter was his father.  Just by his choice of words, Spider could tell he was a gruff and hard man.  Certainly not what he was used to as Jake had always been a good guy, even when he was being stern with him and his youngest son for causing some kind of trouble.

“Ah, damnit!” Spider cursed to himself as he glanced over his shoulder to see the sun sinking lower than halfway in the sky.  Meaning he was late for midday meal with the Sullys.  He quickly shoved the letter and ticket back in the envelope and then the whole thing into the front pocket of the bag.  He was on his feet and dashing out of the marui, grabbing a woven netted bag of fruit he’d gathered that very morning.

”Hey, Spider!”

Spider waved in the direction he heard his name and a familiar voice.  It was no surprise to see Norm, a botanist and linguist from America, outside in his garden.  The marui Spider and his mother had been built close to a small communications center years before he was born, so many of the foreigners were his neighbors.

His wife, who had been focusing her attention on the antenna on top of the communications center, called down while waving a wrench, “You still need that lift tomorrow, chico?”

”Yes, ma’am!” Spider said with a half smile.

”Alright, if you insist…” Trudy said, shaking her head a bit before going back to work.

Norm and Trudy were the oddest couple Spider had ever seen.  But they just worked!  She was this petite spitfire and former pilot for the American Air Force while Norm was this tall, gangly nerd who regularly put her to sleep talking about Pandora’s flora.  Both of them came to be part of the Na’vi, living in Omatikaya, before he was born.  He didn’t know the reasons why they left America…but most of the foreigners didn’t talk about it.

No matter the reason, he was glad to have such good neighbors.

The Sully marui wasn’t far but he was already late, so Spider sprinted through the grassy paths between the rest of the village.  He was just hoping he wouldn’t arrive too late to receive a gruff look of disapproval from the village’s Olo’eyktan, Eytukan.  Fortunately, his wife the Tsahik, Mo’at, was much less judgemental of her grandchildren.  Even those not born from their daughter.

Since it was a rather large family of three generations, the Sully marui was separate from the clan leaders while basically sharing the same support beams on one side of the marui.

”Spider!” Cried a young girl’s voice happily.  Spider had barely turned into view when the youngest Sully children, Tuktirey or just ‘Tuk’ most of the time, was barreling in his direction.  The oldest Sully child, Neteyam, must have been entertaining her outside to keep her out from under foot from those preparing the meal.

”Tuk, did you eat everything already?” Spider asked jokingly as he caught her in a hug with one arm and lifted her high off the ground.

Tuk laughed then said, “No, but I could because I’m SO hungry.”

”You’re late, Spider.” Neteyam observed as he joined them, offering to take the fruit so Spider could fully hold his sister.

”Sure am…good catch, bro.” Spider said sheepishly.  Neteyam had inherited a very punctual trait from his father’s military past.  He and the other Sully son, Lo’ak, had no problem busting his chops for his ‘old man’ personality that meant following all the rules and never having real fun.  “I was just packing…and…lost track of time…”

Neteyam nodded a bit, understanding how that could happen.  The letter had been the subject of a lot of talk between all the teens, despite the adults discouraging it to avoid adding stress to Spider’s decision…

”Spider.” 

Spider shifted Tuk better on his hip as he looked up to see the Sully matriarch coming out of the marui with a calm smile on her face.  The kids walked over to meet her by the entrance.

”I see you, sa’nok.” Spider said, able to draw his left fingers down from his forehead while holding Tuk.

”I see you, Spider, I am glad you arrived.” Neytiri said as she returned the Na’vi gesture to greet others.  Even though Spider was not her son, it alway warmed her heart to hear him call her that.  It didn’t happen all the time, but Spider lived under their roof from age 7 to 13.  When her friend Paz was terminology diagnosed, she didn’t even need Paz to confirm that Neytiri would alway back Spider feeling welcome and loved.

“Hi, Spider.”

The next person to greet him by name had a softer voice.  Spider’s smile somehow got even bigger when he looked at the teenage girl standing on the threshold of the home.  She always dressed in beautiful colors and lots of elements found in the forest.  Her smile was gentle and always made all Spider’s troubles disappear.  Her golden eyes competed to shine against her red hair, even on cloudy days.

”Hey, Kiri.”

Chapter Text

Kiri led Spider through the marui by the hand after setting Tuk down.  While his hands were rough and calloused from less graceful tasks, hers were soft and gentle to hold.  Healer’s hands.  They had to be delicate and careful with their trade.  Unlike Spider who took on any task thrown at him from hunting and mending fishing nets to soldering new wiring in refurbished electronics and updating old systems.  

“By Eywa, Lo’ak get off that thing!” Kiri snapped with an exasperated sigh as they passed him sprawled out in the middle of the floor with a tablet held above him.    

“In a minute, mom .” Lo’ak said with just as much sass before apologizing to the Metkayina girl he was talking to on a video call.  

“We got that thing so we can talk to Spider when he goes to school.” Kiri said, sounding even more like a mom when she did.  Spider chuckled under his breath, quickly stopping when she looked over her sun-kissed freckled shoulder to glare at him.  It was all in good fun.    

“Lo’ak, it is time to eat.” came a much more authoritative mom voice when Neytiri passed them with Tuk to where everyone else was gathered for lunch.    

“Ok!” Lo’ak said quickly as he rolled over onto his stomach and jumped up, “See you tomorrow, Tsireya…”    

Kiri just smirked as she rolled her eyes and shook her head.  Spider, on the other hand, took full advantage of the blush they could see creeping across under Lo’ak eyes and batted his eyelashes a few times while asking, “Don’t let us make you too shy to end a call with ‘I love you’, bro…we won’t judge.”    

“S-shut up, dude!” Lo’ak sputtered out.  Everyone knew Lo’ak had a crush on the daughter of the Metkayina chief the moment they met two years prior at an ocean festival.  They had the most unofficial official relationship.  He tried to turn it around on them and forced a grin, “Like you and Kiri can talk!”    

Spider and Kiri both froze then looked at each other.  They were another cute couple no one could deny.  Even as toddlers, there were photos of them waddling down the forest paths hand in hand like they were at that very moment or napping in the same hammock with happy moms watching over.    

“Well…of course, dude.” Spider said, smiling a bit as Kiri blushed herself, “Kiri knows I love her.”    

“Ugh…you guys are gross…” Lo’ak remarked, defeated.  Despite the defensiveness the youngest son of Neytiri and Jake was displaying, Spider and Lo’ak were as close as brothers.  There was even a brief time in their younger years when he would try to ‘protect’ Kiri from Spider’s advances.  Because that hand-holding was definitely scandalous to a seven-year-old…  

Spider and Kiri kept themselves from laughing as Lo’ak trudged by to join the rest of the family.  She gripped his hand a little tighter and her smile softened into a smile that made Spider feel safe and protected.  Probably his favorite smile, but honestly?  He loved everything about her. Grandmother Mo’at had said they were destined to be together the first time she held baby Kiri.  Even if he wanted to deny it, best not to tell the tsahik she’s wrong…  

But they were only a fifteen-year-old boy and fourteen-year-old girl…they needed to be kids first too.  

It was hard to think of Spider as a kid though…  

The meal Neytiri prepared with the help of her kids, not including Lo’ak due to his distraction, was a feast!  Skewered meats, glazed fruits, whole fish stuffed with mushrooms.  It was a good thing the communal life was the standard for the People because they were going to need some help finishing up the leftovers.  

Spider knew why Neytiri had gone to such lengths…and it wasn’t until the end of the meal someone said something.  This was a celebration!  But not the celebration they originally thought.  The whole village and many from the other territories were going to celebrate his acceptance into an international university at his young age.  But that day’s celebration?  

Meeting his biological father for the first time.  

“You ready for this, mate?” Jake asked with a watered-down Australian accent from his spot next to his wife.  He wasn’t really Australian anymore, at least in the legal sense of citizenship.  Like all the others not originally from Pandora.  Spider could tell the old marine, who traded Australia for America long before he ever came to Pandora, was in pain despite the nice weather as he massaged hard above his right knee.  

“Yea, I…” Spider started, pausing under everyone’s gaze.  Tuk wrapped her arms around Neytiri’s and leaned against her as a pout came to her face.  She didn’t want her extra big brother to go away, not even for school.  But the older kids and adults didn’t want him to go for other reasons...  

Just who was this man?  Spider’s biological father was some American soldier named Miles Quaritch?  Admittedly, it was the name written on Spider’s birth records but Paz had never spoken of the man.  Not even to Neytiri.  And more importantly, why did he want to meet his son out of the blue when he had fifteen years to make an attempt?  

“It’s confusing.  Hard to explain…” Spider said, casting an extra glance at the tsahik.  It did not go unnoticed by Mo’at, but she kept her lips pursed and observed the conversation.  

“I think it’s weird…” Kiri grumbled next to him, distracting herself by picking seeds out of the fruit she had been eating.  

“Seriously, bro.” Lo’ak agreed.  If those two were agreeing, it was definitely weird.  

“I know…I just need to know him.” Spider said with little means to convince anyone.  

“I never knew my dad and I’m ok with it.” Kiri said even quieter.  It made the circle go completely silent.  

Kiri didn’t just not know her dad; she didn’t know her mom either.  Not by herself, anyways.  Kiri’s mother was a world-famous botanist and teacher named Grace Augustine and, as far as any records go, was the first non-Pandoran person was accepted by the Na’vi people to live among them.  The story goes that she left Pandora for an ecological conference before Kiri was even a year old and disappeared without a trace...  

“Kiri, I didn’t mean-…” Spider started but she cut him off with a sharp look.  

“I didn’t say it for pity.” Kiri explained, but the tightness in her throat couldn’t be ignored in her voice, “I’m just worried, Spider.”  

“It is concerning.” Neytiri said strongly.  They both looked to the Sully matriarch.  It was clear she was hiding a lot more than concern behind her strong expression.  She cleared her throat and continued, “It is only for five days and there will be a chaperone at all times.  Yes?”  

“Yes, ma’am.” Spider said astutely with a nod, “Miss Trudy is going to be with me the whole time.  On and off the plane.”  

While Neytiri would prefer to send an army to protect any of her children from potential harm, at least she could trust the spitfire pilot to keep Spider under her watch.  She didn’t miss a thing.  Her and Norm’s group of children orphaned from the war didn’t get away with anything!  

“Eywa will keep you safe.” Neytiri said with a nod, her eyes downcast with the tone in her voice.  

Spider also nodded, but a bit of guilt swirled in his gut over it.  He had a strong bond with so many people in Omatikaya, but it was Neytiri who healed him after his mother passed away.  He still missed Paz, of course, but Neytiri sealed the cracks of broken heart of seven-year-old boy who was too young to understand what ‘terminal’ meant when someone got sick.  

There were still signs of Spider in the Sully home even though he had moved back into the marui he shared with his mother when he was thirteen.  His height was notched in the central pillar.  He was the tallest until the stronger Na’vi genetics pushed Neteyam and Lo’ak passed him.  It would only be a matter of time before the girls outgrew him too!  

After a somewhat uncomfortable ending to what was supposed to be a celebratory sendoff, the Sully marui returned to normalcy with Tuk being an adorable distraction and Lo’ak itching to go out into the forest to find something special for his special guest tomorrow.  In the midst of Neteyam lecturing Lo’ak that it would be better to just get up early to get her something fresh instead of sleeping in, Spider and Kiri packed up pouches of leftover food to drop off on their walk back to Spider’s marui.  

“Spider...” Kiri finally said after gifting some of the food to elderly neighbors before continuing on their way, “I’m not just worried...I’m scared...”  

“Why are you scared?” Spider asked, a little surprised, “I used to travel all the time.”  

“Yea, but that was with your mom.” Kiri said then quickly followed up with, “And it’s not that I don’t trust Trudy.  I can’t-...I can’t really explain it.  We’re all thinking the same thing...why now?  Your mom went to Eywa years ago.”  

“Maybe he...didn’t know about me.” Spider admitted sheepishly.  That was the excuse he told himself for years...  

“Maybe not...so how come he does now?” Kiri asked quietly, concern all over her face.  

Spider didn’t have an answer for that one.  He just sighed and the conversation ended there.  They went about the rest of the day per normal.  Spider helped Kiri gather herbs for the healers and she helped him finish packing for his upcoming trip.  They also climbed some precariously tall trees to collect a specific fruit used by the Na’vi for painting their skin adornments.  Spider wanted to make himself fully presentable to meet his father.  

There wasn’t a lot of conversation between them, but silence never felt uncomfortable for them.  They didn’t always need to speak to understand the other.  

When it started to get dark, the pair decided to move Spider’s hammock outside and strung it between two trees behind the marui to get a better view of the upcoming aurora.  Pandora was magic on Earth.  It was blessed with warm oceans, fertile rainforests, and sky that regularly lit up with all the colors of the universe.  

They relaxed back in the hammock, their legs hanging over the side as they stared at the sky.  Kiri rested her head on the arm Spider had wrapped around her shoulders and played with one of his beaded locs.  The sky had started turning vivid shades of blue and purple.  They were surrounded by calmness, and yet...  

“Your heart is beating so fast...” Kiri whispered, feeling the pounding in Spider’s chest beating against her cheek.  

“Yea...” Spider agreed awkwardly.  

“You want to talk about it...?” Kiri asked, neither of them looking away from the dancing colors in the sky.  

“...I’m scared too, Kiri...” Spider admitted quietly.  

The teen girl wanted to tell him to stay then.  Don’t go meet this mysterious man claiming to be his father.  Stay where he was safe.  With his family.  With her...  

“But I don’t think meeting him is what scares me...” Spider said, trailing off with a loss of how to explain it.  She didn’t rush him and the words came back when she stopped playing with his hair and spread her hand out flat over his heart.  He moved his free hand up to grasp hers.  

“Do you remember when I went through uniltaron ...?” Spider asked.  

“Of course I do...” Kiri answered.  How could she forget?  Aside from him being so young at the time, Spider’s vision incurred by the mixing venoms were a jumbled mess than left him physically ill with burning fevers and unable to eat for days.  She had never been so scared in her life.  Not even when she went through uniltaron a few months prior...  

“Every time I tried to climb the great tree in my vision, I kept falling...” Spider said, reliving the vision bestowed on him by Eywa, “...and every time I got back up, I was tangled in those strange roots.  They didn’t belong.  They weren’t part of that tree...but they caught me every time.  I still don’t know if they were there to help me or...hold me down...”  

Kiri bit her lip as she listened.  It was a confusing vision that, even know with grandmother’s help, Spider had not deciphered.  

“Sometimes I think Eywa returned me too soon...” Spider added.  

“Don’t say that, Spider.” Kiri said sharply, leaning up to look him straight on and causing the hammock to sway.  “Eywa does not make mistakes like that.  If you had stayed any longer, you wouldn’t have come back to us at all.”  

Spider smiled slightly in an attempt to console the glossy shine in Kiri’s eyes.  She closed them tightly and sniffled quietly.  Seeing her cry always weakened him.  She snapped back to attention and looked at him with a firm gaze.  

“Maybe Eywa does want you to find out find those roots...” Kiri said quietly, “... or maybe She’s warning you that those roots are dangerous...”  

“I’ll be careful...and I’ll come back.” Spider reassured as he gently pulled her down onto his chest with his strong arms around her.  Kiri did let out a sigh, but it was more in defeat than it was reassurance.  She did melt into his arms as he leaned his cheek into her hair to give her forehead a gentle kiss.  

“You better...or else I’ll have to come find you...”  

Chapter Text

Spider was ready.  Well, he had everything he needed for the trip from Pandora to Lima, Peru then to Washington, D.C.  He had his bag all packed with five days worth of clothes and other necessities; his passport and tickets were safely stored in the inside pocket of a yerik skin satchel he’d hunted, skinned, and tanned himself.  He was dressed in appropriate clothing and shoes for travel outside Pandora.

He was ready…right?

But Neytiri knew otherwise.  She could see how nervous Spider actually was to make this trip.  When he traveled with Paz as a young boy, Spider was always so excited to leave just so he could come back with stories and gifts for the other children.  And he would certainly have some stories from this trip.

”Spider.” Neytiri said as she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.  Trudy was making all the final checks on her seaplane while Norm and their gaggle of children made the tasks ten times more difficult by trying to help.  The rest of the Sullys were there, of course.  The olo’eyktan and tsahik.  And much of the village, as well.  

“Yes, sa’nok?” Spider asked, keeping a strong smile on his face in front of the crowds.  He was nervous as hell to make this journey.  Kiri had voiced her opinions last night and the teen boy did his best to reassure her that everything was ok.  But he was just as anxious as she was.

”Let us go for a walk while Trudy finishes with the plane.  Where it is quiet.” Neytiri suggested, noticing him fidget with the hem of the unfamiliar fabric covering the upper half of his body and chewing on the inside of his cheek.

”Um.” Spider said, glancing back at the plane.  He didn’t want to be a bother and delay Trudy if she was ready to go.  But it was clear by the way she was now shouting in Spanish as Norm tried to get the gaggle of laughing kids under control, he had some time.  He looked back up to Neytiri and nodded with a smile.

Relief washed over Spider when he and Neytiri left the beach down a path slightly overgrown with tall grass away from the crowds on the beach.  Just like her adopted daughter, her best friend’s son was most at home among the trees.  He placed his hand on a smooth-barked tree of swirling blue and yellow hues then stopped walking.  Neytiri stopped short beside him.

”Neytiri…” Spider said softly as he let the feeling of the tree against his palm ground him, “…do you think ma sempul…will…like me?”

”I do not see a reason to, Spider.” Neytiri said, keeping her own concerns at bay with a smile and placing her hand on his shoulder again.  Tension released in it slightly and she continued, “You are a very good and smart boy.  Your father is lucky to finally know his son.”

”I don’t understand why he wants to…” Spider said.  His brow furrowed in confusion when he looked up at her, “Why now?  Why didn’t he want to meet me before?”

”I do not know.  I did not know of this man until he wrote that letter.  Your mother, Pa’Zan, kept little from me, Spider.” Neytiri said gently.  She and Paz had been inseparable since they could crawl.  They were more than friends; they were spirit sisters.  No one took Paz’s terminal diagnosis worse.  But she was able to keep herself strong by pouring her love for Paz into caring for her one and only child.

Spider sighed a bit and nodded slightly, “Maybe she didn’t want anyone to know.  Or…maybe she didn’t want him to know…”

”Maybe.” Neytiri said with her own sad nod, “But be that as it may, you have decided to act on what you do best.”  She smiled and lifted his chin gently with hand, “Be a bridge.  You have always been more than Na’vi.”

”Sometimes I wish I was all Na’vi.” Spider said.

”Why?” Neytiri asked, slightly concerned.  While Spider was one of the very few children with blood mixed of Na’vi and outsider living in Pandora, she’d hate to think he felt any less one of The People.

”Then I’d know who I was…I wouldn’t have to wonder.” Spider said with a shrug.

Neytiri felt sad for the boy all of a sudden.  She’d notice sometimes how other children would make fun of him for not looking like the other Na’vi kids.  That didn’t help with his struggles with connecting with others and the Great Mother after his mother returned to Her.  But with mixed children of her own, Neytiri was just as much a force to be reckoned with as Paz had been when she caught anyone insulting Spider by what was on the surface.

”The Great Mother gave you a vision when you passed uniltaron .  Yes?” Neytiri asked, crouching slightly to be eye to eye with him.  She was average height for a Na’vi woman, well over 6 feet tall by a few inches.  While Spider was still growing, it was unlikely he would ever be as tall as the Na’vi.

”Yes, ma’am.” Spider said astutely.

”No journey through uniltaron is laid before us like a flat path, ma yawntu , but it is a path nonetheless.  You are brave to take this first step outside what is known.” Neytiri managed to say.  Her heart was screaming to take hold of Spider and never let him go.  Like any of her other children, she wanted them to grow to be their own person.  But also she wanted to keep them safe from harm.  Spider had already lost much in his short life and was following in his mother’s footsteps.  Even if the next step was…uncertain.

Spider and Neytiri had spoken only a few short times about him meeting his father, but he could tell she was holding back how she really felt.  The logistics of travel were minor compared to the decision for a fifteen-year-old to make about whether to keep his promise to his mother or potentially uproot his entire life to meet his father.

“Sa’nok…am I making a mistake?” Spider asked in a quiet voice, one that only really came out when he felt like a little kid instead of a young man.

Neytiri stared into his cool blue eyes as she pondered the question.  They had the same determination and fierce loyalty to always do what was right behind them.  Of course she was worried.  They all were.  But she would not stand in Spider’s way of what he believed was the next right thing…

”No, Spider.” Neytiri said as she leaned forward to touch her forehead to his and they closed their eyes at the contact.  “You are doing what you believe with all your heart is right.  And I could never think less of you for choosing what is right.”

It was the boost Spider needed after he’d exhausted all his confidence reassuring Kiri the night before.  It got him through the goodbyes to his friends and the closest people he had to family.  It got him through the blessings from the Tsa’hik for Eywa’s protection on his journeys.  It got him through the inspiring, yet stern, talk from the Olo’eyktan about keeping his guard up against the ‘outside world’.

”You should come back sooner than you’re supposed to!” Tuk said with a pouty lip as she wrapped her arms tightly around Spider’s middle.

“I promise I’ll be back before you even notice I’m gone, Tuk.” Spider said, returning the hug.

”Just think of all the presents Spider’ll bring back, Tuk!” Lo’ak said, hoping he would also be in the roster of receiving gifts.  Mostly to pass along to his “not girlfriend” from the Metkayina village.  Lo’ak and the other Sully kids had never left Pandora so they lived vicariously through Spider until they were able or wanted to venture out of the South Pacific paradise.

”It’s not a shopping trip, Lo’ak, he’s meeting his father for the first time…” Kiri said flatly.  It was clear by how she was scowling and crossing her arms that she was still upset by the whole event.

”Yea, and his deadbeat dad has a lot of birthdays to make up for.” Lo’ak blurted out before he could put his tactlessness in check.

”Lo’ak!” Neteyam snapped, joining in the scolding of the youngest Sully son.

”It’s fine, guys.” Spider said as he let Tuk go and she reluctantly let go to step back into Neytiri’s waiting side.  Honestly, Lo’ak could be right and the man was just a deadbeat hoping to get fifteen minutes of fame reuniting with his half-Pandoran son.  Maybe the Olo’eyktan’s lecture about not trusting outsiders was still too fresh.

”Just be careful, kid.” Jake said, ignoring his boys starting to bicker, “None of my old contacts could give me any info on this guy…but I’ll keep looking, alright?”

”Thanks, Jake, but I think it’ll be too late soon.” Spider said with a forced smile.  Jake Sully was never the stand-in parent like Neytiri had been after Paz died, but he still treated him the same as his own kids.  And that meant looking out of them, up to and including his contacts trying to find out the military record of this Miles Quaritch guy.

“Keep your chin up, mate, we’ll see you soon.” Jake said approvingly, able to fully hide his concerns behind an emotional wall that was fortified over years of always marching towards the next battle.  That all changed when an international mission brought him to Pandora and he was the world different for the first time.  A world worth protecting; a woman worth everything.

Spider nodded as he gripped the strap of his bag tighter and looked at Kiri.  She also had a pout on her face but it was more to try and stop her lip from quivering.  This tugged his heartstrings and he walked over and put a hand on her shoulder.  She looked up with her bright, gold eyes and sun-kissed freckled cheeks before returning the gesture by placing her hand on his shoulder.

”Please be safe…and call us whenever you can?” Kiri said, feeling she’d already said enough the night before during their private conversation.  Her eyes wandered over his strong facial features to the dusty, blonde dreadlocks decorated with new beads she’d made from clay and carved wood.  She lowered her voice as her eyes started to glisten, “Come back to me.”

”I’ll always come back.” Spider said softly with a solid nod.  Kiri believed him.  He always kept his promises.  They were two sides of the same coin.  Souls intertwined over years of love and support for each other for their shared childhood experiences.  Kiri always believed Eywa put them on each other’s paths and Spider thanked the Great Mother every night for doing that.

After going down the line of delivering big smooches on their kids’ cheeks and giving Norm a deep kiss that made most of the kids express their exaggerated disgust, Trudy climbed into the open cockpit door before looking back for her passenger, “Alright, Spider, daylight’s burning!”

”Yes, Miss Trudy!” Spider said quickly over his shoulder while keeping his eyes on Kiri.  She forced a smile and nodded.  He adjusted his bag again when he took his hand back then made his way over to the other side of the plane.  He stopped before the Sully family was out of sight and looked back at Neytiri.

The matriarch was surrounded by her family, one arm wrapped around her very sad youngest child and the other hand grasping her husband’s.  She looked very calm and reserved.  Neytiri smiled enough to bring a smile to the boy’s face.  Every person had a role in the family - a place that could be replaced by anyone else.

Neytiri, at least for Spider, had always been the center pillar.  No matter what pressure leaned against her, she remained strong.  Even when he moved into the Sully marui, with their four children younger than him, it only seemed to make Neytiri stronger.  Family was their fortress and Spider was grateful to be part of and protected by it.  She released her husband’s hand to raise her left fingers to her forehead then drew them down with grace.

“I see you too, sa’nok…” Spider said to himself as he returned the gesture and boarded the seaplane.