this one to me feels much more oc-like than a reader-insert (bc of all the details i added) but a few of yous said to keep it as a reader fic so i hope this is okay!! don't hate me if you can't relate to it please n thanks <3
also sorry for the weird formatting of my fics/the random bold or italics or small text idk tumblr hates me and keeps doing it!!!
comfortember day five: treehouse (+day eight: grief/mourning)
aaron hotchner x gender neutral reader
aaron is there for you, just like he always is, after you lose your mother.
word count: 2.1k
warnings/content: parent loss, death of reader's mother, hurt/comfort, some emotional conversations and sad topics, mentions of crying, pet names, kissing, hugging, established relationship.
lyrics that inspired this:
"do not enter" is written on the doorway / why can't everyone just go away / except you / you can stay / what do you think of my treehouse? / it's where i sit and talk really loud / usually / i'm all by myself
comfortember masterlist here!
also on ao3!
the treehouse
You step out into the back garden and take a deep breath, closing your eyes as you allow the crisp air to wash over you. Aaron steps out moments after and closes the door quietly before his hand finds your lower back.
"You okay?" He asks, his voice just above a whisper. It's almost drowned out by the sound of mourning doves overheard.
You shrug, your shoulders feeling as though they’re being weighed down by the heavy armour you’re trying–and failing–to shield yourself with. “I will be.”
“Yeah.” He looks around the garden and lets out a short, flat hum. “But no one is expecting you to be okay, you know that, right? There’s no time limit; you’re allowed to grieve.”
“I know.”
“I know you do, sweetheart. But I just wanted to remind you.” You turn to look at him and, at the sight of his genuine concern, your brave face crumbles. He wraps his arms around you immediately, pulling you close and enveloping you in his warmth. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay, I’ve got you. I’ve got you, yeah?”
“Yeah,” you whisper as you cling to him, trying your hardest to hold back your tears but failing miserably. “I know.”
“Good.”
“I just don’t know what to do.”
Aaron presses a kiss to your forehead. “You don’t have to do anything.”
You pull back and look up at him, confused. “Yes, I do. I have to… to get rid of everything and sell the, the house. And do all the paperwork and figure out what to do with her antiques and, and, and–”
“Hey, hey,” he interrupts you gently, pulling you back into a tight hug. “Don’t worry about any of that right now. I’ll do that.”
“What, no–”
“Let’s not talk about this now, okay? We’ll sort it out later or tomorrow. Give yourself some time to think about it.”
“But what do I do in the meantime? I can’t just… sit around.”
He thinks for a moment. “Show me around.”
“What?”
“Show me around the house. Tell me everything you can, anything you can remember, and I’ll listen. I wanna know what life was like for you.”
You almost burst into tears at his words. “Really? You wanna know about my childhood?”
“Sweetheart, I wanna know everything about you.”
***
You take Aaron inside the house, taking him to the living room. The room hasn’t been touched in a few days, save for a few files on the coffee table you checked earlier, and you feel sick at the thought of leaving the house behind once everything’s packed away. Then the thought of having to pack everything away makes you feel even worse and you sway on the spot. Aaron notices you falter and reaches out to squeeze your arm gently, standing beside you patiently.
“I don’t know what I’m gonna do when all this is gone.”
“It doesn’t have to be gone,” he replies. “You can take it all.”
“And keep it where?”
“In our house, in a storage container… there’s many places.”
You think for a moment, holding back tears, before shaking your head. “No. I need to… to let it go. Not all of it, but I can’t keep everything. She wouldn’t wanna weigh me down with all her stuff.”
“Alright,” Aaron says, squeezing your arm again and leaning to press a soft kiss to your cheek. “Take anything you need. I promise we’ll find a place for it. That sound good?”
You nod and lean into him for a moment before slowly making your way through the living room, grabbing the objects with the most significance to you and telling Aaron about them before sorting them into a box to take back to the house. You pack a few of your favourite DVDs, ones you’re sure won’t even play anymore with how scratched they’ve become, as you tell Aaron vague memories of watching them as a kid. What happened when you watched them, who you watched them with, how you felt–anything that comes to mind because you know he’s listening.
A few family photos are displayed on the TV stand, as well as a cabinet in the corner, and you relive the memories of when they were taken as you tell him all about them. He asks to look at one closer and you give it to him, watching as he smiles down at a photo of you with your old dog. “You looked happy.”
“I was,” you reply, nodding. “Some of the time, anyway.”
He gives you a small smile and hands you the picture. “I know what you mean.”
You continue to walk him around the house, showing him dents in the wall from where you hurt yourself and little drawings you hid behind drawers and peeling wallpaper. He listens intently, smiling at your happy anecdotes and comforting you when tears well up in your eyes as the worst memories cloud your mind. You show him your childhood bedroom, telling him about friends that used to come over for sleepovers and the first time you kissed someone behind the open door so no one would see.
“My first kiss was with Haley,” he replies. “In the theatre room at our school.”
“Isn’t that where you first met her?”
“Yeah. I kissed her in the same spot I first saw her.”
“Aw,” you smile as you grab an old diary and throw it into your bag. You’ll read that later when you’re alone so you don’t embarrass or upset yourself anymore in front of Aaron. “You’ve always been a romantic, how cute.”
He blushes and presses a kiss to your cheek as he passes by, making his way to your desk and flicking through a few papers you left there when you were last over. “You think you’d want these?”
“Probably not, doubt they’re important.”
Aaron nods and begins to open the drawers, pulling out miscellaneous items and silently dividing them into piles of things you might want to keep and things you’d throw away. You watch him with a sombre smile, feeling your chest ache at the realisation that he knows you so well and that his love for you is endless. When he catches you watching him, he pauses and raises an eyebrow. “You okay?”
“I love you, you know that, right?”
“Of course I do,” he replies, closing the drawer and walking back over to you, wrapping his arms around your waist to tug you close. “I love you, too. More than you’ll ever know.”
“Hm, I don’t know. I think I have a pretty good idea.”
“I don’t want to doubt you, sweetheart, but I really don’t think you do.” He presses a sweet kiss to your lips, channelling all his love into it. “I can’t even begin to express how much I love you. I just… do.”
You press another kiss to his lips to hide the tears welling up in your eyes. The love you feel for him is so strong it feels like you might burst. He kisses back, letting you take the lead. Pulling back, you look deep into his eyes and smile the first genuine smile you’ve been able to manage since you first heard the news. “I love you more.”
Aaron chuckles. “Sure you do.” He presses a chaste kiss to your lips with a hum. “Ready to carry on?”
“Yeah,” you mutter, going to pull away before a thought strikes you and you let out a sharp breath. Aaron pulls you back into his arms immediately, looking down at you in concern but keeping silent to give you a moment to think. “Sorry, I just… realised that that was gonna be my last kiss in this room.”
“Is that a good thing? Or bad?”
“I don’t know,” you reply honestly, feeling out of it. “I don’t like the thought of everything we do in this moment being the last of anything, but… the fact that it’s you that I’m doing all this with… yeah, I think that’s a good thing.”
He smiles sweetly at you, love shining so clearly in his eyes, and presses a kiss to your forehead. “Then let's stay here for a little longer.”
“We should get it over with, I don’t wanna waste all your free time off work. You deserve to get some time to yourself.”
“Oh, honey,” he sighs, wrapping his arms around your shoulders and resting his head against yours. “This isn’t a waste of my time. Trust me. I want to be here, with you, for you, and that’s all that matters. Don’t think like that, okay? I’m here because I want to be, not because I feel like I have to. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah,” you whisper. “It does.”
***
“I guess that leaves the treehouse,” you shrug, feeling drained as you step back outside with Aaron following you. You stare up at the treehouse, wondering if it's necessary to go up there. “You don’t have to come up. It’s pretty small.”
“I’ll go wherever you go.”
“You’re so cheesy,” you say with a small smile, even when his words mean the world to you.
He smiles at you. “You love it.”
“I really do.” Making your way to the treehouse, you glance at Aaron and allow a small smirk to dance over your lips. “Don’t stare at my ass as I go up.”
Aaron laughs. “No promises.”
You roll your eyes and begin climbing, risking a glance back to find Aaron’s eyes firmly on the ground and being as respectful as ever. It makes your heart skip a beat. Reaching the top of the ladder, you look at the treehouse's entrance and cringe at the big ‘DO NOT ENTER’ sign hanging beside the doorway. It was a sign you carved yourself when you were younger. When you look inside the treehouse, your heart aches as memories flood through you. It takes you a few seconds to force yourself inside but once you clamber in, you call down to Aaron to let him know he can join you.
The sound of him climbing up surrounds you as you push yourself into your favourite corner, one filled with soft padding and blankets. A few of your favourite books are scattered across the floor and pictures of you and your childhood friends cover the walls. The nostalgia hits you hard and you bite your lip to stifle a sob.
Aaron joins you, crawling inside and looking around with interest. As he gets comfortable in the small space, his long legs curling against himself to fit, you realise it’s the first time anyone’s ever been in the treehouse with you. Or at all.
He remains silent, waiting for you to be the first to talk. You appreciate that.
“I used to come up here a lot,” you say after a few minutes. “To read, to think, to talk to myself out loud… everything.”
“And did it help?”
“Yeah,” you nod, reaching over to grab one of the books beside you. It’s one you’re sure you’ve read a million times over, the pages worn and yellowing and a small layer of dust covering the outside. “It was nice. Peaceful. Somewhere I was never bothered.”
“I had a place like that,” Aaron muses, smiling at you. “Not as personal as this, though. It was a bench a few blocks from where I grew up, hidden by a few overgrown trees. I liked it.”
“Did you go there a lot?”
“Whenever I could. Couldn’t go much in the winter because of the cold, though.”
You huffed out a laugh. “Same here. Still came here even if I meant I almost froze to death.”
His smile becomes sad but there's clear understanding in his expression. “Yeah.”
The two of you sit inside the treehouse for almost an hour, talking about whatever comes to mind. Aaron listens intently to every word you say, his comforting hand drawing patterns over your thigh and eventually over your side when you move to curl up against him. You feel yourself drifting off at one point when the exhaustion settles deep in your bones, feeling so safe and warm and loved and comforted beside him, but you force awake to finish back up in the house.
Aaron follows you inside, as he always has and always will, and comforts you through everything that comes after that. He helps you pack up the house, assuring you over and over that you can take however many boxes you want back to the house you share with him. He sits with you for days after, mostly in silence when the grief catches up to you and you can hardly think, never once looking as if he’d rather be elsewhere. He holds your hand throughout the funeral, never once leaving your side or once letting you think for a moment that you’re ever alone. And even after it’s been weeks, months, years, since that moment, he’s there for you whenever you need a shoulder to cry on. Just like he always has been.
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Memories
Pairing: Lo’ak x Omatikaya!Reader, Lo’ak x Fem!Reader
Anonymous Request: “Would you ever consider writing lo’ak calming down reader after they have a panic attack?” + “Can you write where reader has ptsd or smtg.”
Summary: As a warrior of the Omatikaya clan, you’ve witnessed a lot of death. Lo’ak and his family help you deal with the PTSD, and soon things get better. When you leave to stay with the Metkayina, reckless actions drag you back into old memories.
Warnings: Panic attack, PTSD, death of a family member, angst. Please do not read if you are triggered by gun violence or the loss of a family member to gun violence.
Word Count: 4,647
Notes: I have mild anxiety and panic attacks, so I just wrote this from my own experience and from some research. This fic could be considered kind of graphic, so please do not read if that is going to bother you. If you think I didn’t add enough warning or I should add more tags, pls let me know.
No smut like I usually write, so I’m not so confident in this, but I hope y’all like it❤
The Elders used to tell stories of the First Great War. They would gather up the young children and sit them in a circle. They told stories of fire and death and destruction. They told of the monstrosities that occurred at the hands of the Sky People; how Na’vi were slaughtered for defending their home. They told of the human’s greed. The stories remind us of what the sky People did.
The Elders tell the stories so that The People never forget.
For years, almost two decades, they were just stories to you; Memories of a time long before you were born. Sure, they were true events, and yes, it was horrible, but the war was over. The People were at peace and you had no reason to worry.
But peace cannot last forever.
You were out in the forest hunting when the Sky People returned. The stars in the sky grew, their blinding light shattering the dark night. Massive ships descended with a mechanical screech. Their machines tore through the forest, setting everything ablaze. You remember choking on the dark smoke, your lungs burning as you sprinted for safety. You remember crying when you looked back at the damage. It felt like they had torn out a part of your soul, creating a hole in its wake.
When the Second War came, you fought beside your brothers and sisters. You were a good warrior and dedicated to the cause. You quickly grew to be a leader amongst the fighters, even sitting in on strategy meetings with the Olo’eyktan. So many of The People were lost, so much land destroyed. You tried to keep your spirit up, but over time you lost your happy demeanor.
In the course of one year, you were forced to watch the people you loved die.
One by one it happened, like the RDA was intentionally picking on you. Everyone had lost someone, but why did you have to lose everyone? Your parents, your sister, your best friend. Pieces of your heart and your sanity chipped away, bit by bit.
Their deaths weighed on you, and you withdrew from the clan. You had no family to go home to, no friends to talk to. No one seemed to want to be around you, and you couldn’t blame them. You were a magnet for death, destined to be a sole survivor. You stopped going to evening meals and you barely slept.
It was hard to sleep when you saw the dead behind your eyelids.
Lo’ak was the one person who you could talk to. He found you one night outside your family's old home. You had been so distant from him, stuck in your own head. The two of you had always been close friends and he worried about you.
“Y/n?” He whispered as he lowered himself to sit beside you. You were staring off into the distance, your eyes blank. He laid a hand on your shoulder. “I’m not going to ask if you are okay, because I know you are not. But please, let me take some of this burden.”
Your knees were pulled up to your chest, your arms hugging them, as you turned to look at him. He had watched you lately, and it was like you were withering away right in front of his eyes.
“I just,” His voice cracked. “I know it is hard, I do. Just…please talk to me.”
Your eyes watered as you tried to hold back the emotions. Your voice was scratchy from going unused. “I cannot stop seeing them.”
You met his eyes. “I see my sister in the other children, how she used to run around, carefree, just like them.” Your voice picked up as tears fell down your face. “Sometimes I learn something new and I-” You stumbled over the words. “I turn to tell my mom, and she’s not there.”
“Oh, y/n,” Lo’ak whispered sadly.
You continued as if you didn't hear him. “Sometimes I think I see my dad, but when I turn to look for him he is gone.” You laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Eywa is punishing me. I keep getting these, these things. Episodes where I am stuck rewatching their deaths.”
Lo’ak pulled you closer to him, draping his arms over your shoulders. You shook as tears racked through your body. You were so, so tired. “I cannot even sleep, Lo’ak. I’m the reason they’re dead and they haunt me for it.”
His grip tightened, pressing your face to his broad chest. “It’s okay, It’s okay. Their deaths are not your fault.” He felt himself getting emotional at seeing you so distraught. “They live within Eywa, they are not gone.”
“But they feel gone!” Your voice cracked at the sudden shout. “No one else feels the way I do. Something is wrong with me, Lo’ak.” You sounded as if you had given up all hope.
“It is okay to feel these things. It’s normal after seeing so much.” He reassured you, his hand rubbing your shoulders. He hated that you had been dealing with these emotions alone for so long.
Your cheek was squished against his chest, your tears marking his skin. “I don't know how to make them stop.”
Your words were barely a whisper. Lo’ak kissed the top of your head, trying to soothe you. “We can figure out a way. Some method of coping. You don’t have to do this alone anymore.”
And you didn’t do it alone anymore. That night was the first time you slept in the Sully's hammock. They let you stay with them and you became part of their family. You grew close to their kids, and even considered Tuk and Kiri your sisters.
The family quickly learned of your night terrors. Sometimes you didn’t move, frozen in terror as you screamed out for help in your sleep. Other times, they found you thrashing wildly on your sleeping mat. Jake tried to wake you once, attempted to calm you, but you fought him in your sleep. You tried apologizing the next day, but he wouldn’t have it. He told you that it was called PTSD, something you get after a traumatic event. He explained that he used to have it from his war on Earth. Jake said you might heal someday, but that it was hard.
A couple weeks later, Lo’ak was the one rushing to your aid at night. He slid onto the mat beside you and wrapped his strong arms around you. Something about the pressure calmed your thrashing. He stayed there, whispering words of comfort against your ear until your body relaxed against his. The family realized soon after that Lo’ak was the only one able to calm you. He woke every night to repeat the motions, and at some point they decided it was just easier for him to sleep next to you. The family grew used to you sleeping on the same mat, your back to his chest.
His presence helped, and over time the terrors started to wane. You were able to go weeks without them, and everyone slept much better. Lo’ak was always there when you needed him. Despite your problems, he accepted you and helped you work through it. You guys worked out a method of bringing you out of panic attacks, and it worked.
Lo’ak was your rock. He kept you safe from yourself, grounding you in your moments of weakness. He was the calm in the middle of a storm, the light in the darkness. You spent months slowly falling in love with him.
The two of you spent a lot of time together, gathering or just talking walks in the forest. He accompanied you to the spirit tree most of the time, to support you in your efforts to see your family.
You were leading him there now, but had different plans for your evening. You stopped at the tree and faced him, the soft glow of the Spirit Tree casting light over his face. “Lo’ak,” You reached to press a hand against his cheek. “You have always been there for me, always cared for me. You accepted me for who I am, flaws and all.
“You deserve to have someone take care of you, tihona.” Cuteness. You smiled at the nickname. It was something he’d started to call you, and you often found yourself blushing at it. “And you do not have any flaws, not to me.” He said that part softly, his eyes locked on yours.
Lo’ak had known for a while that he loved you, but had yet to say anything. He didn't want you to think he was only helping you heal because he wanted something out of it. He needed to make sure you felt the same.
“You are everything.” He said, leaning close. “Everything to me.”
“Lo’ak,” You whispered, glancing at his lips.
He didn't need to hear more, instead pressing his lips to yours. The kiss was slow, and gentle. Lo’ak pulled you into his body by the waist. He had waited so long to feel the press of your lips against his. When you pulled back for air, he finally said the words that had been aching to leave his mouth.
“I See you.”
“I See you, Lo’ak.” You answered.
....
A couple months into you and Lo’ak’s relationship, your life was uprooted. Sky People had built avatars and were using them to hunt down the Sullys. After an extremely close call, Jake made the decision to take his family and leave. No one questioned if you were going along. You had no one in your life, and you and Lo’ak were promised to each other. You weren’t mated yet, but there was no question that you would leave with him.
It was difficult to convince the Metkayina to let you stay, but Jake assured them that all of you would adapt. You worked with the kids of the Olo’eyktan to learn their ways, and grew to be friends with them. Lo’ak and Neteyam had a rocky start with Aonung, but they too settled into friendship with him.
No one knew of your past or looked at you with pity. It was a new start. Tsireya was a close friend, her honesty and positive attitude reminded you of your sister, and you enjoyed her spark of life. Aonung was decent too, the two of you often sparring together. Life in Awa’atlu was growing on you. You opened up more and the Sully family began to see you shift towards the happy girl they knew before the war.
Your group of friends often spent the day together, chasing each other around the island and playing stupid games. You were doing that now, sitting in a circle inside the Sully pod. Kiri called the game “Truth or Dare.” She sat to your left and Lo’ak to your right, his knee pressed to yours. The simple touch made your skin heat, and you found yourself blushing anytime his eyes found yours.
“Okay….truth or dare, Rotxo.” Tsireya said, eyes twinkling mischievously.
He rolled his eyes. “Dare, obviously.” Rotxo always chose dare. He claimed it was “manly.”
“I dare you to kiss Kiri.” Tsireya said smugly. Her words elicited a blush from both Rotxo and Kiri, the latter tapping her fingers on her leg nervously. “Unless you do not want to.”
You knew that both of them liked the other, and chuckled at Tsireya’s matchmaker tendencies.
“No, no, I want to.” The words rushed from Rotxo's mouth, causing the rest of you to laugh at his awkwardness. He sat beside Kiri, so neither needed to move to complete the dare. Their lips pressed together quickly, and then they both yanked their heads away. The rest of you laughed at their antics, Neteyam and Aonung teasing them.
Giggling, you turned to Lo’ak. “They would make a cute couple, huh?”
He smirked, his four fingered hand coming to rest on your knee. “Not cuter than us.” You smiled up at him, and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.
“Guys look!” You turn your head to see Aonung digging through stuff in the corner.
“Aonung, you should not be going through their stuff!” His sister scolded. At her words, you turned back to the group.
“I found a gun!” The boy spun around, Jake’s gun in his hand. Sunlight glinted off the metal, and you froze at the sight of it.
“Hey, put that down.” Neteyam demanded, strutting over to Aonung. “That is not a toy.”
Aonung didn’t listen, instead bringing the scope up to his eyes. “This is so cool. How many people has your dad shot?”
The older boys continued to argue over the weapon, Neteyam tugging at Aonung’s arm. A dull whine was starting to build up behind your ears and a feeling of unease settled in the pit of your stomach. You placed a hand over it and looked over to Lo’ak, who was already watching you intensely. His brows were furrowed in worry, and he grabbed your hand.
“It’s okay,” He said to you under his breath, before addressing the fighting boys. “Seriously Aonung, stop. You do not know how dangerous those are, you can’t just go playing with it.”
The situation shouldn’t make you as nervous as it does. Yes, it’s a weapon, but you’ve been around plenty of weapons. You’ve been around guns many times, Jake even keeps one around constantly. But right now all you can focus on is the dark metal of the gun and Aonung’s finger by the trigger.
Aonung either didn’t hear Lo’ak or pretended not to hear, because he continued fighting with Neteyam. He was trying to keep it away while Neteyam reached over his shoulders for it. “Skxawng, give it he–”
Pop. Pop.
The crack of the gun firing made you flinch as everyone around you ducked for cover. It’s a blessing that Aonung’s recklessness had not left anyone injured. Instead, there are two holes in the floor of the marui pod. The room is silent for a moment, before everyone starts to raise their voice at the culprit. They’re yelling and he’s defending himself and Lo’ak is saying your name.
The sound of the gun firing replays in your head, over and over.
Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop.
You could never describe to Lo’ak what the attacks felt like; You were never able to put the feelings into words. The only way you could describe it was like this horrible, terrifying feeling that took over your entire body. It was like every single nerve in your body was crying out in fear. The flashbacks were the worst. They felt like someone holding your head underwater, forcing you to watch but unable to help.
You’re not in Awa’atlu. You’re back home in the field where your parents died.
The sound of a crash was followed quickly by the shouts and war cries of your party. You were attacking a shipping convoy and had just blasted the train off the tracks. You led the ground troops, directing them to get the supplies and get out quickly.
“Incoming!” Jake’s voice is heard over all the chatter and the groaning of burning metal.
Two gunships round the corner, their guns trained on the team. “Take cover!” You shout, ducking behind a piece of debris. The sound of rapid shots rings out.
When it’s over and the gun ship has moved on, you stand to assess the damage. You see your parents a few yards away, and watch as they start to walk towards you, their arms loaded with supplies. They don’t see the second gunship turning back.
You sprint towards them, jumping over obstacles and yelling for them to run. The words had barely left your mouth when the gunship fired. You watch as the ship litters their bodies with bullet holes, right in front of you. Their faces were twisted in shock and pain. You stumble as you run for them. Their bodies fall to the ground, supplies scattering. By the time you make it to them, they are long gone. You run your hands over your mom’s body, trying to stop the bleeding somehow. But it’s impossible; There are too many wounds.
The gunship had come back and was gearing up to shoot again when someone's hands dragged you to your feet. “Y/n! We gotta go, we gotta go!”
“I can’t leave them!” You try to grasp onto their bodies, to stay with them, but Lo’ak is dragging you by your arms. You fought him and he was forced to half-drag, half-carry you away.
You blink and the scene changes, becoming the familiar green and browns of the forest.
“Do you see anything?”
You groan. “Nothing is happening at this post.”
You and your best friend, Ok’iye, are on a recon mission to scout one of the Sky People’s outposts. You’ve been there for a few hours already and have yet to see anything worth taking back to Jake.
Ok’iye lays beside you as you hid in the foliage. You lay on your stomach with binoculars held to your eyes as he looked through the scope of a gun.
“Ok’iye, what are we even looking for?” You question, turning to face him.
He glances over to you, a grin on his mischievous face. “I think Jake is pranking us, because there isn't–”
A dark splotch appears in the center of his forehead. His blood and flesh splatter across your face and chest. His blood is warm and you can taste it on your lips. His smiling face goes slack as blood flows out, marring his dark blue skin. It all happened so fast, and you duck down to hide from whoever is shooting at you. You don’t know how long you stayed like that, but eventually the day turned to night. You laid there next to his body for hours, cowered in fear.
Once you are sure it is safe to leave, you start making your way home, Ok’iye’s lifeless form over your shoulder. You couldn’t leave him, you would say to yourself. He needed a proper ceremony so he could return to the Great Mother.
You carried him for 2 hours. You didn’t cry for him or mourn him. You were just kind of… numb.
Later, Jake told you that it was something called shock, your body’s way of protecting you from the pain.
Sometimes you can still taste Ok’iye’s blood.
The scene shifts again. You’re still in the forest, but now you're in a meadow and the sun shines brightly.
You walk through the meadow, your little sister on your heels. Sey’ax is a curious kid, and she likes to tag along with you when you scavenge.
“Okay, stay in the meadow so I can keep an eye on you.” You order, an endearing smile on your face.
“I know, tsmuke!” The girl laughs at you before running off towards the creek to play.
You hadn’t thought twice about bringing her along. You did it all the time and this was safe territory. You walk through the forest, gathering berries and other materials. You can hear her laughter a few yards away, and smile to yourself as you pop a paskalin berry in your mouth.
You didn't see the human soldiers coming. You didn’t know they were there until you heard the familiar screech of a bullet leaving the chamber of a gun.
You drop your basket, fear squeezing your heart as you sprint to where you last saw her. You find Sey’ax’s lying face up in the stream, her laughter long gone.
“Oh no, no, no!” You fall to your knees, rocks digging into the soft flesh as you sob over her. Sey’ax’s blood turns the water red and it swirls around you. She is barely conscious as you cradle her in your arms. “You are okay, Sey’ax. I will get you to Mo’at.” Your throat is dry, tears spilling down your face.
“Tsmuke, help me.” She pleads, her voice a ragged sigh. Her last breath is used to ask you, her big sister, for help, and yet you can do nothing but watch as the light leaves her gold eyes. You hold her to you, begging the Great Mother to not take her, to not take the last person you had.
The Sky People had shot her, a child, for nothing. She did not attack them, she had nothing to give them, and yet they murdered her. Your cries echo around the clearing. When you look down at your baby sister, you find your hands stained red with blood.
She was a child.
••••
To you it felt like hours, like you were really living those days over again, but it was only a few minutes. At first, Lo’ak couldn't tell if you were having an attack or if you were just shocked. You stared unblinking at the hole in the floor.
“tihona? Y/n, talk to me.” He shuffled to kneel in front of you, placing his hands on your shoulders. His voice sounded muffled, like he was talking to you through water. You were unresponsive to his words, which quickly grew the attention of the other teens.
Kiri lifted a hand to cover her mouth. The whole family knew of your past and the episodes of sudden panic you got, but she was surprised nonetheless. You hadn’t had one in so long. Kiri had finally started to think you were healing.
She came to your side, holding your hand. “Y/n, you’re okay.”
The words may have sounded comforting to her, but in your head her voice sounded like Sey’ax. Your skin felt hot, like there were real flames searing into your flesh. You heard what you thought was your sister's voice and panicked. “No, no, no, no.”
The group watched as you lashed out. Your hands came up to your ears, trying to keep the haunting sound of her voice out of your head.
“Hey, it’s okay. You are okay.” Lo’ak’s voice filtered through, and he briefly came into your eyesight, but then his face morphed into Ok’iye’s. The wound on his face dripped blood, trailing down and into his eyes and mouth.
You can feel his blood, warm against your face, and claw at it desperately, trying to scrape it off. “No, no, no, no. Go away!” The words are a jumbled mix, some kind of mix between a groan and a wail. “Go away!”
Lo’ak grabbed your wrists, holding them so you couldn’t injure yourself. You caught his chin with your nails, leaving an angry, red welt in your wake.
Tsireya cried out as she watched. “What is wrong with her?”
Rotxo and Aonung stood close by, their faces an ashy white as they stared. Neteyam growled under his breath, protective of the girl who had become a sister to him. “This is your fault!” He pointed a finger at Aonung, poking him in the chest.
Their voices reminded Lo’ak that there was an audience. “Get out! You all need to leave.” You thrashed in his arms with tears rolling down your face. Your mouth was parted, but no sound came out, only gasps for air. “Seriously, Neteyam, get them out of here.”
The older boy jumped into action, hastily ushering everyone out of the pod. “Is she going to be okay?” Tsireya asked Kiri, her own eyes watering at seeing you so distraught. Their voices were muffled as Neteyam led them from the home.
“Y/n, I need you to breathe.” Lo’ak pleaded. His pulse raced but he did his best to maintain a calm composure for your sake. You weren't taking in any air, and he was scared you'd pass out. “Breathe, tihona, please.”
Helplessness and overwhelming fear made your body shake. Lo’ak maneuvered himself behind you, sitting you in between his legs, so he could wrap his arms around you. Not only did it allow him to apply pressure, which would help, but it was also able to keep you from hurting yourself further.
Your head was foggy, and it felt like you were floating. It was a cold and empty feeling. A faraway voice filtered through. “Y/n. Come on.” It said, “You are not there. It’s not real.”
I'm not there.
“Come back to me, it’s okay. You are okay.”
You tried to focus on Lo’ak’s voice, to center yourself. Your eyes drifted around the room, but your vision tunneled as you searched for him. “Lo’ak.” You whimpered, voice barely audible.
“I am right here, my love. I got you.” He cooed. Your heart beat erratically and you were gasping for air.
“No,” You cried out, twisting in his hold.
“It is Lo’ak,” He said, rocking you gently. “You aren’t there, y/n.”
“Lo’ak?” You repeated, crying out for him.
Lo’ak started leading you through the steps. “Count from 5, okay? I’ll do it with you. Mrr,” he started.
You copied him. “Mrr.” 5
“Tsing.” 4
“Tsing.”
Your breathing began to become less erratic as you counted. Slowly, your senses were starting to come back to you, piece by piece.
He ran his hands over your arms comfortingly and spoke softly. “Tell me something you can see.”
You looked around the room, your gaze finding a blue blanket in the corner. “A blanket.”
“Good, you are doing so good.” He cooed. “Tell me something you can smell.”
You inhale softly through your nose, welcoming the strong scent of the communal fires in the village. “Fires.”
“Good, good. Something you can feel.”
You shifted a bit in his hold, your breathing finally back to normal. Your head ached, but it was normal after an attack. You leaned back against his chest, feeling the rhythm of his heart against your back. “I feel your heart.”
Lo’ak hummed behind you. No longer were you buried in flashbacks, but they left their toll on your body. You feel weak, emotionally and physically, and you want nothing more than to just fall asleep. It’s a bone deep tiredness, and settles into the corners of your mind and your body.
As you came down, you started to cry again, this time softly. You were mortified that you had regressed so much, and even more embarrassed that your friends had been there to see it. They must think I’m a monster, you thought. It only made you cry more.
“Oh, hona,” Lo’ak sighed. “I got you, I got you.”
“I am sorry, I am so sorry.” You mumbled, hating yourself. You hated doing this to him. You felt like a constant burden on him and his family. How could he possibly love you? You were broken, you thought.
“Shhh. You have nothing to be sorry for. Everything is okay.”
Lo’ak held you for a long time. He knew that you needed time to process and recuperate. He had seen you sleep for days after an attack, and wasn’t surprised when you started to drift off.
He moved you to lay down, leaning over to grab a blanket for the both of you. Lo’ak draped it over you, and cuddled into your resting body.
He thought for a long time about the two of you. You had such a hard life before and you had lost so much. Your pain felt like his pain. He wished he could bear the pain for you.
He prayed that he could keep you safe, but knew deep down that he could not protect you from your own memories.
••••
Later, his father and the rest of the family filtered into the pod for the night. “She okay, son?” Jake asked, concerned etched on his face.
“Yeah,” Lo’ak answered. “She’s going to be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”
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