Chapter Text
Rotxo could only wonder if this is what Neteyam felt as the burning pain rips through him, his consciousness fast as he could just barely make out the fading silhouette of T'sireya, he absentmindedly hopes she got away, when his vision goes dark.
He wakes to an endless sea, he floats there mindlessly, for what seems like years.
His thoughts of what could have been are muffled as Ao’nung's words play through his mind “my friend's path is my path” Rotxo could only feel a faint bitter amusement at how true those words became for himself.
“It was not your time, my child.” a soft voice whispers sadly to him. Dragging him from his jumbled thoughts.
“Huh? Ma-sa'nu [mommy]? Eywa…?” Is his confused reply, he knows what happened, he should be with Eywa now, why was it taking so long?
“My child.. you have suffered so… this was never the plan I had for you… “ The sad voice continues like he hadn't spoken as a gentle mist of rain begins falling on to his face.
“Forgive me child I will fix this, I swear it” the soft tone fading into determination as the rain grows stronger “I'll make it right” he watches as the sea around him starts glowing in an unusual way as if the stars themselves have dropped straight into the vividly blue waters.
“Wait! What's happening?! Eywa where are you?!” Rotxo could only yell out into the endless starry sea, when he looked up, his eyes only met the star-filled sky above him, as the stars shined so bright he could almost make out the shape of two eyes looking back at him.
The sight of it calmed his struggle.
“Beautiful..” Is the only thing he could whisper into the silence.
“Don’t worry my son, my sweet little star… it'll be alright..” the soft voice is all he hears as his vision once again begins to fade to black, the darkness feels peaceful this time, like the start of a restful sleep full of sweet dreams.
“Rotxo.. Rotxo… Rotxo!” A familiar voice pesters him into waking from his very peaceful sleep
“What?!” he responds in annoyance as he's rudely dragged from a happy dream he can't remember.
“Bro, you've been sleeping all morning, it’s time to get up you skxawng [moron].” Rotxo squints as his vision clears to meet the expectant gaze of his childhood best friend Ao’nung, except without the levelheaded air he's gained with all that's happened and the face tattoo he'd grown used to over the past two months.
“Whaa…Ao’nung…?” Rotxo crocked looking around the marui in confusion noticing the lack of things it had gained over the months of befriending the sullies and then looking back at Ao’nung in bewilderment, had the sullies left with their gifts? “What happened? Where’s everyone?.”
“What are you talking about, my friend? Everyone is here as they should be.” Ao’nug chirped seemingly not concerned with the differences in the marui “Get up Rotxo” he groaned but as Rotxo continued to be lost in his thoughts, he sighed realizing that Rotxo had no plans to move, so he reached over and grabbed Rotxo’s hand “Hey! Ao’nug!” he chuckles in response to the half heart protest and pulled Rotxo up till he was standing.
As the pair began walking their way to begin the chores for the day “You didn’t have to” Roxto started but was cut off “yes I did or else you would have slept till nightfall” Aonung joked smirking before his expression shifted to concern “Have you been having trouble sleeping these past few moons? Maybe my Sa'nok [mother] could..” “NO!” he blurted but then shifted his tone when Ao'nung shot him a bewildered look, “No, I’m fine, maybe I was just a little more tired than usual..”
That seemed to satisfy Ao'nung as he remained quiet for a moment while Roxto looked around for the familiar forms of the Sully kids looking forward to seeing them after having what appeared to be just a horrible dream, ignoring the phantom pain of injuries that felt almost too real…
He began to grow more and more anxious as he realized he couldn’t find the usual eye catching unique features of the sullies among his people, he looked over at the calm carefree face of Ao’nug he hesitantly asked “where are the sullies?”
As the calm look on Ao’nug’s face shifted to confusion he began to feel a sense of dread while he waited for the response no doubt coming “who?” is the only reply he receives, he feels an ice-cold chill shoot up his spine as he suddenly remembers the words of the soft voice first ‘It was not your time, my child.’ then ‘this was never the plan I had for you’ and finally ‘I'll make it right’ ran through his mind like an endless loop.
As his heart started to race, only one thought entered his troubled mind, ‘Eywa gave me another chance.’