When the Sully's come looking for Uturu, it's up to Kailua to persuade her parents into letting them stay long term, despite knowing the exact outcome of every decision. It doesn't help matters when she falls for the outcast with yellow eyes who hates her brother.
~

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0ypdkGuQnq83SSSw5JmJzU?si=9f79e0111be9412a

Into The Water, Mighty Eywa & Converging Paths
~

"Kailua?" Her mom called. Kailua turned with a small smile. "Yes, mama?" Despite being 17, she refused to refer to her mama as anything but. Only when she was angry did she call her mother, and even then, it had been twice in her whole life. It took a lot to make Kailua angry, and even more to calm her down afterwards. "Have you meditated today? You know you're supposed to once a day," It was times like this Kailua wished she lived alone; most 17-year-olds did... or at least in their own huts with their siblings. Tsireya wasn't yet 17, so that only left Kailua with her older brother who she would gladly drag across the coral any day of the week.

"Yes, mama. I did so under the sunrise," Kailua assured her. "And? Did you feel anything?" Kailua resisted the urge to sigh loudly. "Mama, you know the rule. I cannot tell you what I see. It may disrupt Eywa's will." She reminded her mom. Ronal sighed loudly and paced. "Daughter, please. I have felt something, a shift perhaps. I need to know if it is a good shift or a bad shift," Kailua thought for a moment.

There was a reason why her mom was so insistent that Kailua tell her about the visions she gets. Kailua only tells her mom when something good or not bad will happen. By Eywa's will, she cannot. They could alter Her plan, and nobody knows what would happen after that.

At least Kailua can understand. Sometimes, if somebody is going to die, she will approach the family with a cryptic message as close to the point as she can get. Such as "family is everything, cherish it deeply" if they simply pass of old age or sickness, an unpreventable death. If they die in battle or get attacked by an Akula, she will say "Make sure you always say you love somebody before you go"

It's not a lot, but it helps her guilt feel less crushing when she walks past the sobbing family.

Her mama had also lost many people; her unborn siblings. That is why Ronal gets on at her for meditating every day. Kailua had yet to see anything about her unborn sibling, never mind bad. She smiled. "Nothing. It is just a shift; the outcome depends on our clan's reaction." Before her mom could interrogate her further, she was pushed over by her brother. Kailua hissed and swept at his legs and began to play fight on the ground.

"17 years old, and you still fight like parultsyìp," Kailua grinned as her dad walked in. "Ronal, leave her be. You know what the rules are," He chastised, affectionately patting Kailua's head as he walked by. Her mom huffed and turned away. Tonowari winked as he placed his spear on the ground. "Now, remember what I taught you, daughter," He said softly, nodding to the headlock her brother had her in. Kailua grinned. She swung her tail up harshly, slapping Ao'nung on the back of the head. He whined, so Kailua twisted his arm over her shoulder, throwing him on the ground. He coughed loudly as Ronal whipped around.

"Tonowari!" She screeched, throwing a bundle of medicinal leaves at his head. "Kailua! That is not how a woman behaves!" Kailua ran out of the hut with Ao'nung on her tail laughing as Ronal tried to chase them.

~

The next day, Kailua woke up to another vision. She woke up silently and moved to her private body of water, where she could gather her thoughts and decipher what the great mother was telling her. She submerged herself with a sigh. When she was born, the clan had thought she was a bad omen... at least until she bent the water to her will. Whenever she cried as a baby, it would rain. Whenever she was happy, it was hot and sunny. When she was just ok, it would be sunny but not too warm. And when she was angry, she caused a monsoon, depending on the rage coursing through her veins. She was a mystery birth, her mom had said. Ao'nung was but a few days old when her mama found out she was expecting again.

And as custom, mates cannot mate for the first 8 weeks of a child's life. Kailua was born eight months after her brother. Despite both of her parents visiting the cove of ancestors, neither of them were given an answer for her birth. Tsireya was born a year later, and it stayed that way until a few months ago. Kailua hasn't said anything, but she's positive her sibling is a brother.

Kailua had become an expert at schooling her emotions. It took a lot for the weather to respond to her, the great-mother wasn't that cruel. She could be happy and sad and angry without making a difference. It was when it was one extreme. During her time underwater, she played with the ripples in the waves.

She made shapes and fake stories and organised her visions. Let them in. She spun. They will ask for Uturu; you must let them in. Grant them sanctuary. Eywa. "But why, great mother?" She spoke. Fate. Was all she answered.

By the time Kailua has surfaced from the water, a crowd had already gathered by the edge of the sand. She pushed her way through, muttering Excuse me to the taller na'vi. She froze in her steps, locking eyes with an amber-eyed, dark blue-skinned na'vi. Uturu! Grant them Uturu! Eywa shouted in her mind. The shout was so strong, it sent her head into a spin. She blinked harshly and pressed her fist into her temple.

She caught sight of her brother and childhood friend Rotxo approaching the family with mocking sneers. Kailua rolled her eyes, speeding up her pace. She extended her hand from her forehead. "Oel ngati kameie, Jake Sully," She smiled. He repeated the gesture. "You must be Kailua, daughter of Tonowari," She nodded with a smile. "Indeed," Her parents finally arrived, so she began examining them. Too thin legs and their tails would struggle to propel them in the water. Nothing they cannot learn though. You must grant them Uturu, my child. They will die without it, and I have bigger plans for them.

Kailua shook herself back into focus, moving towards her parents. "Kailua, leave us. This is not for your input," Mama snapped. Kailua narrowed her eyes. She loved her mom, but she hated how easily Ronal dismissed her sometimes. "No, mama. You must grant them Uturu," Ronal's eyes widened as she growled lowly. "They are not bringing their war here," She said lowly. Kailua stared into her mom's eyes. "You must grant them uturu," She said, emphasising must and uturu, as Eywa had said. Her dad seemed to catch on, for he turned his back to the forest na'vi's and had a conversation with her mom.

It always bothered her how easily they could do that; just converse with each other as if it were nothing. Kailua turned back to further look at the forest family, locking eyes with the golden-eyed boy again. She offered a small smile and wave. "Jake Sully and his family will stay with us!"

Kailua sighed in relief; one obstacle over. "Our daughters, Tsireya and Kailua along with our son, Ao'nung, will teach you. They will help you learn our ways, our culture," She smiled at the family but glared at her brother's sneer. "Be nice, Ao'nung," She warned. "Or what?" He goaded.

Kailua walked off with a bag from the Sully family, willing a wave to engulf her brother. If his spluttering and outraged hiss was any indication, it worked.

~~~~

PARULTSYÌP - affectionate term for children.