xlivi. you make me worried
╰ avatar: the way of water

ODESSA stumbled as she landed on her feet, having just slid off her Ikran. Her impale wound had stopped bleeding, but it was still flaming with intense pain. Her son slid off her Ikran, one hand against his chest and the other going to help steady his mother. Odessa smiled down briefly, glad that he was okay besides the few wounds littered across his body.

"Neteyam!" Lo'ak called out as he rushed forward. The whole time he had been pacing back and forth once they reached their village, he wasn't able to stop thinking about his cousin and what had happened. He knew that none of them would have been hurt if they had been in the sky where they belonged. "You're okay!"

Odessa wrapped her arm around her son as she watches Jake get off his Ikran and rush towards his family. Jake looked mad, beyond mad. She doesn't even want to hear what he'll have to say; he won't just lecture the children but he'll lecture her too. "Jake, brother, I do not what to hear whatever you'll have to say."

Jake stops, ignoring the hand she holds up, spots of blue peak out from her blood covered hand. The growing leader gazes at his two children and nephew, glaring at them with an expression that they are growing to know so well. "Jesus," The man groaned, throwing his hands into the air. "I let you three geniuses fly a mission ... and you disobey direct orders!"

Odessa frowns; she wonders how long she should let Jake discipline her son because that's her responsibility. But she has no fight left in her today, her body aches and she swore her heart had stopped when she was worried about her son being blown to pieces. "Jake..."

"No Odessa!" Jakes voice is harsh and he isn't going to just let Neteyam not get the discipline he needs for disobeying the leaders direct order. "You don't ever get mad at them, they need to learn that they can't just do whatever they want with no consequences. I get you wanna be the good cop, but if you wanna be the good cop than you'll have to let me be the bad cop."

Odessa only looks towards the ground, Jakes words ringing in her head over and over again. She can't stop hearing what he's said, and it makes her want to just collapse and curl into a ball. The more she speaks out against her brother, the more she speaks out against the Olo'eyktan too.

Kiri steps towards Odessa, her sight dropping to the red blood that covered her lower stomach. She grimaced, gently stepping forward to remove her mothers hand so she could see the whole damage done. "Mamma, you are injured." Kiri's voice was quiet, soft. But it was what Kiri would always sound like, soft, quiet, and somedays, fierce.

"Mamma! Mom!" Tuk comes racing forward, having been a few steps away from Kiri who was faster. Both mothers knelt, despite the heavy glare that was set on both of them. "You are back!"

Tuk threw herself into Neytiris arms first, breathing in the smell of fish ( that had been fed to the Ikrans ) and clean fresh air. Then she made her way to Odessa, placing herself in her mothers wide open arms. She didn't notice the blood or the noise her mother had made, instead choosing to focus on the fact that her mom and mamma were right in front of her.

"Kiri, Tuk, Ak'tari, how about you go and help your grandmother with the wounded, please?" Odessa asks softly, choosing to give the three a choice.

Jake doesn't like that Odessa had been so soft and kind to the three children. He turns, focusing on the three younger ones out of the bunch. "Ak'tari, Tuk, Kiri, go help your grandmother, now please."

The three scurry off to where they know their grandmother is, not bothering to complain or argue.

Odessa legs her gaze settle on the children; watching her niece, Inkiri is the one who steps forward. "Sir, I take full responsibility."

Neteyam and Lo'ak both turn towards Inkire, eyes wide. Yes, she more often takes the blame — but before they can even get blamed Odessa helps them wiggle out of trouble. Both know there's nothing they can do at this point, because arguing with Jake would leave them with a much worse punishment.

"Yeah, you do. That's right, because you're the eldest, the older sister, you gotta act like it," All three of the teenagers eyes drifted anywhere else rather than Jakes. It was like someone had stabbed them in the chest, only to fill the hole with something that would leave a scar for the rest of their lives.

"My Jake," Niave calls out to her mate, her head tilting to the side as she flashes a small smile. "Your nephew and sister are both bleeding."

Neteyam turns, going to reassure his aunt that he is fine and that she shouldn't worry about him. But both his mothers don't agree with a single word ghat comes out of his mouth, both pushing him towards the tent where the other injured were.

Jake sighed deeply and Neteyam and Neytiri both walking away. He would have assumed that Odessa would have gone too, but she stayed and stood behind the two Sully children. "You two do understand that you almost got your cousin killed," The two Sully gazed at each other, nodding their heads when they turned to look back at their father, chorusing a 'yes sir' in sync. There was so much disappointment in Jakes eyes, something that everyone could see. "You both are grounded. No flying for a month. Now see to the ikran. All of them. And get that crap off your faces."

Jake walked off, not having much else to say, and left the siblings alone with their aunt. Odessa wraps her arms around their shoulders, pulling them into her side. "My niece and nephew, your father doesn't know how to be a good cop. Let him yell every time and then I will talk to him. Soon he will be more okay with the things you two do."

ODESSA had been tended too, her body now wrapped in all the places she had injured herself in. She gazed at all the children who sat around their grandmother who tended to Neteyams wounds. She switched her gaze to her brother, who was loading the many guns he had with bullets.

Jake looked up, feeling a heavy gaze on the side of his head. He could feel her growing feelings in the air. "Dessa, what is wrong?"

"You called me Odessa, Jake. I do not call you Jacob." That was one thing that was bothering her, but it was the smallest little thing that weighed against her heart. "Neteyam, Inkire and Lo'ak try to live up to you. It is very hard for them all." The woman paused, "They want to be like you, and they want to live up to everything you have done."

Jake halted his actions with the gun he held, taking a breath. Pausing to show that he was actually hearing what his sister was saying. "I know,"

Odessa noticed that Jake's form was tense. She choose to crouch down to where he was, keeping eye contact with him. "You are very hard on them, them all."

Jake tore his eyes away from his sister, focusing on the gun. He knew she was right, but he felt as if he needed to defend himself from her words. "I'm their father and uncle. That's my job."

"This is not a squad," Odessa snapped, taking in a big breath of air when she realized that she shouldn't have snapped. "Family. We are family and we need to act like it." Odessa needs to knock it into his head that they are not a squad anymore, that they are a family with kids and mates and lives. She needed his heart to ache, to clench, so she could help him understand that things may have to change. She could sense the sadness radiating off her brother, softening her gaze as he glanced up.

"I thought we lost them," He paused, slightly sniffling as his eyes watered. He wouldn't never want to lose anymore ever again, to anything. "Like how we had lost Grace, Trudy, Tsu'tey and everyone else."

"My brother, we will not lose them."