●When they got to the shore there was already a big crowd and Lani grabbed Tonowari's hand as they walked through it.

Standing there was her wife, her children and a panicked Jake and Neytiri.

As soon as Ronal noticed the couple she waddled over to them. Nalani held her by her hips and briefly touched their noses together in greeting.

"Ao'nung took the youngest boy out past the reef. He has been missing for hours." Ronal's voice was cold but Lani knew deep down she was worried.

Nalani then looked over at her boy in such disbelief and confusion.

Ao'nung was too afraid to look at her face. He didn't mean for this to happen. He thought it was just a harmless prank and that Lo'ak would be back soon. Pissed off sure, but okay.

He expected her to finally lose it. To yell or hiss at him but she remained as calm as ever. She walked over to him with her usual indifferent eyes. "What have you done?" He could hear the tiniest bit of disappointment in her voice and he winced.

Nalani let her eyes bore into his head but eventually walked off with her ears perked up listening to those around her.

Tonowari was already giving commands for a search party when Lani walked over to them.

She looked over at Jake and Neytiri and felt her heart ache at their worried faces.

It made her think about what if that was one of her children out there. Alone, scared, in the dark and in a totally unfamiliar environment. If he didn't still have his ilu that meant he would be swimming for Eywa knows how long. That's if an akula didn't decide to eat him as a meal.

That lit a fire in her heart and she turned to the search party that was getting ready to leave.

"No one sleeps until the boy is found!" Her voice boomed across them all. Nalani hardly ever yelled so it took most of them by surprise and it let them know how serious she was.

Neytiri approached the trio with a scowl and Jake frantically tried to stop her.

Nalani put an arm of protection in front of Ronal out of reflex while simultaneously stepping in front of Tonowari. She recognized the rage in Neytiri's body language but she met her head on with icy eyes.

"My son is out there, alone, because of your boy!" Her sharp canines were on display yet Lani didn't return her hostility.

Instead she felt sympathy for the upset mother and refrained from triggering her even more. Besides it wouldn't help them find Lo'ak any faster.

"We will find your son and we will bring him back home. Safe." Her eyes were unwavering as she looked between the both of them.

Jake murmured a quiet thank you but anyone could see how uneasy he was.

Nalani shook her head as she looked down at him, "Do not thank me." She gripped his right arm firmly, "My son is at fault here so I will see that I go and find yours personally."

With that, she walked off before either of them could respond. Time was of the essence but she wanted to reassure them that their son would be okay. At least that's what she was hoping for.

As she called her mount, she looked over at both her mates and bowed her head slightly. Her serene eyes showed how much she wanted to resolve this.

They immediately knew where and why she was leaving and that they wouldn't be able to stop her. Tonowari wasn't too worried about her leaving on her own. He knew she was strong and more than capable of taking care of herself. Ronal on the other hand was more hesitant and wished to go with her. For now though, she would finish disciplining their son who caused this mess.

Although, they both felt more comfortable knowing she was looking as well.

♡

It was completely dark now.

Nalani was still dead set on finding her friend's son.

Friend.

That was still hard to wrap her head around but she pushed it to the back of her mind for now.

An innocent was still out here with little to no knowledge on how to get home.

Her ears were standing up completely and twitched whenever she heard movement.

She looked up at the moon in tranquility. Oftentimes it was described as being calm, cold, and absolutely still. One would think that Nalani was like the moon. They were wrong though. She was like the Sun. She loved fiercely and her heart burned passionately for those around her. The warmth her presence emitted was enough to help those around her grow.

♡

Nalani wasn't sure how long she had been searching but when she saw a flicker of light and heard a yelp, she flew towards it. There she saw the boy on the back of a hunter's mount.

"Good job, Osll. Regroup with the others then head home. I'll take him from here."

Lo'ak carefully switched to ride on her Tsurak. He was intimidated instantaneously by her strong stature.

She paid him no mind and quickly started to return home. "Your mother and father are worried. We should move quickly so hold on tightly."

He did as asked but he was clearly uncomfortable and she noticed it.

"I must deeply apologize for my son's actions. What he has done has no excuse. Rest assured, he will be dealt with thoroughly." Her voice was somewhat loud to make sure he heard her and he winced when she mentioned that Ao'nung would be punished.

He knew how it felt to be one big disappointment and couldn't help but feel bad for the other teen.

Nalani took his silence as being shaken up and felt guilt start to eat away at her. "You should be proud of yourself. A lot of children your age wouldn't have survived this long out at sea, alone."

That eased him a little bit more and made him feel better about the circumstances he had found himself in. "Thank you."

They didn't talk again for the rest of the ride.

♡

Nalani jumped off the skimwing and offered a hand to the young teen who hesitantly took it.

Jake and Neytiri instantly swarmed them so she went to give them space when Jake grabbed her shoulder. She looked down at him expectantly.

"Thank you Nalani."

She only let the corners of her lips twitch into a smile, "Just Lani."

He nodded with a halfhearted grin.

Her smile dropped as she looked at her son reluctantly standing next to her husband. She wasn't sure how to deal with him just yet so she decided to stay silent and smoothly walk over to her wife who started to check her over for any wounds.

"I pray for the strength that I will not pluck the eyeballs out of my youngest son!"

Tonowari pushed Ao'nung forward, "No. My son knows better than to take him outside the reef. The blame is his." He forced the boy to his knees by a harsh grip on his shoulder.

Ao'nung had not spoken but only bowed his head in shame. This was humiliating. Having everyone watch him with judgemental eyes...he started to understand how Lo'ak felt around them.

He glanced over at his usually nonchalant mother and for once he could read her eyes. They held a pool of sadness and guilt. He could not fathom why but he figured he would find out soon enough.

Jake took everyone's silence as acceptance and started to guide his son and wife away when Lo'ak spoke up.

"No." His voice was small but caught the attention of those around him.

"This is not Ao'nung's fault. This was my idea. Ao'nung tried to talk me out of it."

At his words, Nalani stepped forward as she knew this was not true. She was going to call him out on it but a simple tug on her arm made her stop. Ronal gave her a look that told her they would discuss it later but Lani already understood why.

Lo'ak taking the blame would allow Ao'nung's reputation to be salvaged.

That didn't sit well with Nalani at all. Ao'nung needed to learn that his actions have consequences.

"It is unwise to lie in the presence of both Olo'eyktan and Tashìk."

Lo'ak gave her a pleading look causing her to sigh but ultimately wave them off.

Jake briefly touched Tonowari's shoulder and looked over at Lani, "I got this." He grabbed his son by the arm with Neytiri following after them.

Once they were out of sight, Nalani looked over at Ao'nung. "What were you thinking?"

He remained silent but this time none of his parents would accept it.

Tonowari made him stand on his feet then Ronal pushed him towards their pod with a growl. "Home. Now."

Nalani made no move to follow them, causing Tonowari to tilt his head at her in confusion.

"I will wait until all of the search party has returned." She also needed time to think of what to say to her troubled son.

♡

When she made sure everyone was safely back in their homes, she started the trek back to her own marui.

Her footsteps were nearly silent even though she was lost in thought.

There was no doubt in her mind that her mates had already disciplined their son but she still wanted to speak with him. She thought that they had an understanding with each other earlier that day but clearly that wasn't the case.

Maybe if she had been harder on him then he wouldn't have done this. Or maybe if she was softer then he would've opened up to her more about his feelings.

If her child was purposely mistreating others, did that mean she failed as a parent?

She came to the conclusion that in the end, her best was not enough.

Ao'nung was sitting outside their home, seemingly waiting for her.

She peeked inside briefly and saw her family eating the meal Tsireya and Rotxo had made while the rest of them were out.

Her hair fell along her back as her long legs bent while she ducked down in front of her son with every inch of her aura screaming tiredness. For a solid minute she opened her mouth many times only to close it when trying to find the right thing to say.

"I'm not going to pretend that what you've done was acceptable by any means. It is beyond childish and honestly, appalling that you would even think of doing something like this." He had to resist flinching with each word that he knew was true. "What would you have done, if the boy had died?"

"I don't know."

Nalani took a deep breath to calm herself down. "That is the issue. You do these things impulsively and then claim you don't know why. But I know you son. I've known you since before you took your first breath or first swim and I know you have reasoning in being this way."

She picked up one of his hands and held it tightly, "So look me in the eyes and answer me truthfully, why did you do this?"

He looked up at the stars then back at his awaiting mother. "I didn't mean for him to get lost. I thought he knew his way back. At the moment it was funny and a little bit of payback but now I see my pride blinded me." He finally looked into her eyes, "I'm sorry."

"It isn't me that you need to apologize to. These actions will follow you for a while."

"I know."

Her face fell for a split second before she was able to harden her eyes. "As punishment you will double your training and will participate in both morning and evening hunts until I say otherwise. Rotxo will not be allowed to join you either. You will also spend your free time shadowing your father until you learn how to behave." Her son had the title of future chief on his shoulders and she needed him to realize that.

Ao'nung had to suppress a wince. Training was already brutal enough on its own but now he had to add more hunts on top of that. It sucked that his brother wouldn't be there to make it more entertaining. And he had to follow his dad around? It felt like overkill but he understood his mother and that what he had done was beyond dangerous.

So that is why he held his tongue and nodded his head. "Yes mother."

She nodded back at him firmly then silently walked inside. Her son didn't follow her in, needing some alone time to think.

Tsireya almost instantly lit up when seeing her mother yet she refrained in greeting her. Nalani seemed to wear exhausted eyes and gained stress lines almost everyday.

Rotxo glanced up from his meal to see if Ao'nung would eventually come in and when he didn't, the boy slowly got up. He looked to his parents for permission to leave which Tonowari waved him off. Within the next second Rotxo was outside to comfort his older brother.

The scarred woman sat next to her wife with a small sigh. She wrapped an arm around her and began eating. "Your son is a handful."

Ronal looked to her mate unimpressed, "My son?"

Nalani grinned at her, "He's an exact clone of you."

The pregnant woman flipped her hair over her shoulder and away from her eyes. When the day was over she let her elegant hair fall wherever it chose to. "And what's wrong with that?"

Nalani chuckled and began to eat, "Absolutely nothing dear." Her eyes wandered to her husband, "I want Ao'nung to work with you for a while. He needs guidance that I'm afraid Ronal nor I can give to him."

He looked a little uncertain and Nalani raised a nonexistent eyebrow, "Is something wrong with that?"

"There's a few things we need to discuss and afterwards I'm sure you'll reconsider."

"Tsireya, leave us." Nalani didn't remove her eyes from his as she spoke.

Tsireya calmly got up, kissed Ronal's head before walking out to sit with her brothers.

Tonowari waited to make sure she was fully gone then moved closer to his wives. His sullen expression made them both worried.

"The villages speak of tragedies amongst the Tulkun."

Ronal gripped Nalani's hand and put the other on Tonowari's lower arm. "What has happened?"

Tonowari sighed, "The sky people are hunting them for reasons we do not know."

"How close to home?" Nalani's mind spiraled with ideas and preparations her clan would need to protect themselves.

"Not close enough to raise an alarm but it is something to be aware of. I do not want to cause our people to panic and have been looking into it with very few men and other leaders."

Nalani was silent and lost in her own head but Ronal was a little bit upset that their mate hadn't told them about this sooner.

"Why haven't you told us until now?"

"Stressing wouldn't be good for either of you but-"

Ronal hissed lowly, "I am Tsahìk before everything else. I should be told anything concerning our people and our spirit-"

The chief returned the favor of cutting her off, "There was no point in worrying you until now."

"Enough." Nalani's stern tone stole both of their attention. "You both are right."

Her eyes caught her husband's, "You should have told us sooner but I understand your desire to keep us stress free for as long as possible. Anyway, It is late and it's been a long night so unless we are in immediate danger, we will finish this discussion tomorrow." Once again she had the final say even though technically she had no official authority over either of them.

Both of her mates agreed with her though and Nalani stood up to call their children.

♡

Nalani hummed to herself while cleaning up what was left of dinner. Tsireya had offered to help and so the two were alone in the peaceful silence of the night.

The older Na'vi turned her attention to her daughter. "Tsireya is everything alright? You've been unusually quiet."

The girl had mostly finished her part of cleaning but wanted to stay in the presence of her overworked mother. Ever since their unexpected guest, Nalani had been taking on a lot more work than usual, trying to lessen the load of her mates.

"Sorry. It's just that I worry for you mother. You're always so tired and I wish to help you more."

Nalani wasn't expecting that at all. Her eyes got a little large until they relaxed when she smiled.

"Come."

Tsireya cuddled into her side like a young child and held onto one of her hands.

"There's no need to worry about me, little one. If anything you should worry about that hard headed older brother of yours." They shared a tiny laugh but then it was quiet once more.

A more serious mood had settled in amongst the mother and daughter. 

"I know things are different now that you're older and you take notice of more things but I promise I'm okay."

Tsireya wasn't exactly convinced but for the sake of her mother she kept quiet and nestled into her side more.●

◇A/N◇

{sooo heyyyy it's been a while how yall doin?}