#Meena's humanized Spider AU

[meenawrites]

Humanized Spider Thoughts

So... this makes me even more sad that his canon storyline but here I am thinking about it. 

What if the Recoms / the RDA had made attempts to "humanize" Spider? How would that go? How would he react? How far would they go? How would the family react?

SO I'm going to try to keep this somewhat close to how Quarritch does respect Spider to a certain degree in canon but like his human memories and frankly RDA's orders make him think this is the best course of action. 

So yeah, recoms hold Spider down as he attempts to bite and snarls and eventually begs them not to cut his hair. They don't really listen obviously, chopping off his locs in one go. They force wash his hair and his body clean of blue paint and scrub so hard that even the usual residue from the plant substance that stains his skin (think henna) goes away. Spider's left with kind of a mismatched chop of baby curls atop of his head and without his stripes, he feels more naked than he does in just his loincloth. They force him into human clothes (tank and cargo pants). The only win he gets in that situation is that he continues to kick off the boots they give him and they give up trying on that front. 

Quarritch had a bit of a war in himself as he watched this process. Like from the person he remembers himself to be from the human memories, he should be all for this, but there's something in him that hates watching Spider scream and struggle so hard against the recoms and scientists that eventually he has to be sedated just for them to be able to finish his hair in peace. There's something horrifying in seeing the emptiness in his eyes as Spider sees his own reflection for the first time, when he moves to touch his hair but his hand hovers just above the cut ends, freezing there and something in his expression just breaks. (Miles is behind the one way mirror during this point so Spider isn't masking as much as he would if he knew he were there). 

It's that pull of regret in Quarritch's gut that makes him save the few beads from the locs they'd cut off of Spider's head and secretly snag what he didn't know was Spider's small songcord he'd made himself and keep them on his person. He thinks about throwing them away multiple times but he never does. 

Spider can't touch his hair during those few months, flinches whenever someone else accidentally brushes against his head (with him being so much smaller than the Na'vi it happens a lot). He can't bear to look at himself in any reflective surface because it makes him queasy. He hates the human clothes that make him feel more "other" and "outsider" than he already does, but every time he escaped in those early days to paint stripes on himself, the recoms would clean him again and shove him a shirt, and eventually Spider gave up, thinking it was better to just stay like that than to keep getting manhandled every time he tries to cover himself. 

He's glad Quarritch lets him stay barefoot. He thinks it would have killed something more of him to be unable to feel the forest soil at his feet, the tickle of moss between his toes, the familiar grooves of tree bark as he jumped through the branches. It was his one constant reminder of Eywa's presence in everything, his sole salvation.

He becomes very quiet, way quieter than he's ever been in his life. The only times he perks up a bit is when Quarritch asks him to teach them about the Na'vi and a little of his old zest for life comes back when he's allowed to speak Na'vi and relive his days of tracking game in the forest. 

Still, he tends to zone out a lot and violently flinch back to himself before getting a haunted look as he looked down at himself. Quarritch hears him cry at night when he thinks no one is listening, quiet, muffled sobs where he goes to touch his hair and his hands twitch away violently. Then go to hug himself only to have to same reaction and dig his hands into the dirt instead. It makes him feel so unpleasant watching it. 

The experience of being forcefully stripped of his Na'vi - ness combined with the mental probing of his mind he was subjected to make Spider retreat into himself if only to protect his own mental state. Him zoning out it really him immersing himself in any pleasant memory he has in the forest, of Kiri painting stripes on him, Neteyam ruffling his hair, flying on an ikran with Lo'ak. He wraps his mind in the memory of lying on the forest floor at Kiri's side, breathing in the smell of the forest, letting it fill him up from the inside and pretending that he could feel Eywa cradling him, a Sky person, in its embrace, that he'd somehow tricked the Great Mother into treating him like a Na'vi and accepting him. 

It gets worse when they get to the ship though. All his feet feel are cold human metal  and he hates it. He can't smell anything but human sweat and protein bars and fuel when he's in the ship and it makes him physically sick. He's kind of just a walking shell at this point and what breaks him further is when they question the Ta'unui clan, when he's made to interpret for them, when Eywa's people see him and his humanized appearance for the first time and it makes him want to crawl inside himself and die. Then he has to watch them shoot an ilu, burn down villages, hunt a tulkun (one of the most beautiful creatures he's ever seen) while he's THERE and he LOOKS LIKE THEM. 

He starts existing in a haze that his memories can barely protect him from anymore, sleeping whenever he can just to escape the feeling of existing like this. To say it scares Quarritch is an understatement. He's terrified to his very core when he compares the fierce fighter he met that fateful day in the forest and the ghost of a boy in front of him. So much so that before they try to draw out Jake Sully with the Tulkun hunt near the villages, Quarritch comes and gives him the beads and songcord he salvaged at the beginning of his captivity. 

It takes a second for Spider to even realize what they are as he tries to crawl out of the numb state of mind he's drowned himself in. It's only when Quarritch leaves them next to him and exits the room that he recognizes them, parts of the person who was taken away from, forcibly changed. He recognizes the bead that Kiri had made for him, the one Neteyam had swiped for him from Jake's faulty attempts, and his sad excuse of a songcord. He's scared to touch them at first, as if they'll dissapear if he reaches for them, but he aches for it, and he holds them to his chest for hours. He keeps them on his person at all times. He can't actually put them on anything because of how short his hair is and the fact that he's terrified someone will take them away from him if they see them, so he stuffs them in a pocket of his cargo pants and can constantly be seen patting that pocket to make sure they're still there. 

He's only roused to action again when he sees Lo'ak and friends held captive on the boat and it's like a cold bucket of water has been thrown in his face. It's spurring him, yanking him out of his own mind long enough to try and get to him. 

But it takes Lo'ak a second to even recognize him, and in the brief moment they have together, his eyes widen and his voice kind of breaks as he sees what they've done to Spider, what he's become, and he can barely say "what did they do to you?" before they're pulled away from each other. 

His best friend barely even recognized him, had been unable to, and that breaks Spider further when he didn't even think that was possible. It convinces Lo'ak even more though that they have to go back for him. 

Spider still manages to crash the ship though, he's holding onto that rush of adrenaline he'd felt upon spotting Lo'ak as tightly as possible before it fades away and he retreats back into his mind. Lo'ak and Neteyam come back for him, and Neteyam cannot believe what he's seeing. He's seized by a furious, raging anger the likes he's never felt before  when he finally gets a chance to look at Spider, to see the circles under his eyes and how he has thinned, to see his shorn curls and the clothes and the glassy look in his eyes. But he doesn't have time to do anything or say anything, he just has to get Spider out. He just has enough time pull him into a fierce hug that has Spider choking up before he's ushering them off of the boat. 

And NETEYAM LIVES IN THIS AU BECAUSE I SAID SO, I CAN'T HANDLE SPIDER'S HUMANIZATION AND NETEYAM DYING OKAY IT'S ONE OR THE OTHER

So Neteyam just shot in like the shoulder or something or frankly maybe Spider sees it and jumps in front of him and he gets shot in the arm, nothing fatal or life-threatening. I'm going with the Neteyam is shot one for the rest of this. 

They do leave him behind though to go back for Kiri and Tuk. Jake barely has time to kind of register just what fate he left Spider to when he sees him but he has to shove that down immediately because he has to go save his girls. Spider is honestly barely holding on mentally at this point. So many of the people he loved had seen him in this state, looking so human, in a state he hated himself in, and now Kiri of all people was about to. But he has to go save her and Tuk, there's no choice in the matter. 

Kiri cries doubly hard when she sees him because not only does she understand how deeply what they've done has affected him but like her mom has a dagger to Spider's throat, about to kill the one person she feels most at home with, the boy she loves. 

Gonna skip over the next part cause this is getting too long but Spider still saves Quarritch if only for the care he showed him and giving him back his beads. He still leaves him but now he doesn't know what to do. He's kind of lost who he is and he doesn't know if he can or should go back to the Sully family. He keeps swimming in their direction because he can't really stay in the middle of the fucking ocean while he decides. Unbeknownst to him though, as the Sully family gathers back together and takes in the fact that they're all alive, it's Neteyam who's like where the fuck is Spider? He hasn't been able to stop thinking about what he saw because damn it, he had already felt so guilty about his parents' choice to just leave the boy behind and hadn't stopped thinking about, but seeing what they'd done to him had ignited that ten-fold and he'd be damned if they lost him again. 

Kiri snaps to attention then because she knows too and her and Lo'ak dive back into the ocean at their parents' protests to find Spider. 

It's Kiri who comes upon him first. He's been treading water some ways away from where they were struggling to decide what to do and wanting nothing more but to STOP THINKING. He wants to duck underwater when she sees him but he's just so goddamn tired and she's swimming towards him with such purpose that he just lets her grab him and lets himself pass the fuck out. 

Part 2 coming immediately after because this is getting too long

[meenawrites]

Humanized Spider Thoughts Pt2

Kiri manages to bring Spider back to shore and her and Neteyam just immediately curl protectively around him. They take him back to the village and understandibly, at first Ronal wants nothing to do with having him there. Jake tries to vouch for him but it's the kids that really get to her. Kiri and Lo'ak argue so hard for him, Tuk is clutching onto his arms that hangs limply from where Jake's holding him in his arms, and Neteyam... it's Neteyam that really convinces her because she's never seen him look so angry and fierce about anything in all the time she's known him. He's always been calm and collected and agreeable and seeing him so protective over this Sky child makes her relent if only until he wakes up. 

Neteyam refuses to get medical treatment for his shot shoulder unless Spider is there next to him, he refuses to have him out of his sight. Kiri agrees and Ronal is forced to treat him while he has one arm around Spider who is still passed the fuck out. 

Ronal does actually check on Spider because she's a Tsahik after all and she can't just leave a kid looking like that even if he is a Sky person. So she inspects him under Kiri and Neteyam's watchful eyes. Spider's kind of lost all appetite because of everything so he's lowkey kind of malnourished, fatigued despite how much he's sleeping because he's just emotionally in distress constantly. She can tell he's not mentally well at all and it tugs at her mother's instinct despite not knowing him. 

He does eventually wake up. Kiri goes to hug him immediately but he flinches away as soon as it looks like she's gonna touch his hair. He can't bear to have her look at him, or anyone for that matter, it makes his skin itch. He just wants to crawl into a hole and never be seen again. It breaks Kiri's heart because all she wants to do is touch him and make sure he's real and hug him until he melts into her. Neteyam convinces her to give him some space. He knows how tight they are and can tell that Spider just can't accept her affection at the moment. 

Neteyam goes all protective older brother on him. He doesn't let anyone touch him, he's constantly by his side. He doesn't touch Spider unless Spider lets him. Once Kiri tell him that his mom made the cut on Spider's chest, she doesn't even let her into Spider's vicinity even when she comes to check on her own son. He makes sure Spider eats, inspects all his food so that he can actually eat it, and is just overall incredibly patient with him. He coaxes him out of his night terrors gently and just makes sure that Spider knows he has a choice in every single interaction they have. 

Kiri comes to see Spider every day and she can only really interact with him under specific conditions. She's not allowed to look at him no matter how much she wants to so she usually sits with her back to him, especially for the first week or so and either just stays there with him or talks to him gently. 

Lo'ak comes to see him by bringing him food and blankets and water. He doesn't really know what to do for him so he lets Neteyam handle it. He's never spotted too far from the marui Spider and Neteyam are in though. 

Neteyam doesn't let Jake in either. If his parents want to talk to Neteyam, he goes to see them and then Kiri is left on Spider watch for that period of time.

Ronal and Tonowari have never seen a Sky child, let alone anyone who seemed so damaged and fragile. She's impressed by how protective and on top of things Neteyam is and she and her mate become curious about the kid. Because ultimately he is a kid and seeing something so wrong with him makes their strong parental hearts ache. They end up finding out bits and pieces about how he grew up, how neglected he was and how he was left to be captured without any rescue attempt and they just get so angry. Kiri is the one to fill them in on a lot of this because she seems to be the one to have the strongest connection to the boy and she's so angry for him that everything she at least knows about comes spilling out of her. 

Tonowari and Ronal are shocked to their core and it takes everything in Tonowari to stop Ronal from stomping over there to cuss them out on how they treated a CHILD. Sky child he may be, but she's learned a lot since accepting the Sully's into the village and first and foremost, all children are a gift from Eywa. Spider was born on Pandora and is by all means one of them and yet he was treating so terribly that he was decomposing in front of her eyes. 

Norm and Max try to come and assess him, but Spider freaks out upon seeing the equipment they have with them and Neteyam turns them away at the door and goes to calm him down. He doesn't touch him or look at him, but he sits close to Spider, letting him know that he doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to do, but Neteyam is worried about him and just wants to make sure everything's okay, that's the only purpose of their visit. If Spider doesn't want it, it's fine. Spider eventually calms down and kind of leans his shoulder into Neteyam, saying that they can come in but he doesn't want them to touch him. 

Neteyam ends up being the one to use the equipment on Spider as they scan him over with a bioscanner and see all the raging abnormal activity in his brain. They can't get Spider to say what they did to him other than him fiercely repeating that he didn't tell them anything over and over. But he doesn't need to because Norm and Max recognize the technology. It had been in research while they were still with the RDA but ultimately the project had been stopped because it was deemed too unethical. Yet here was the evidence of it. 

Ronal insisted on being there because a protectiveness over this kid is building in her chest and once she understands what was done, she's just so enraged, nothing can stop her now from marching to the Sully marui and yelling at them about what they let a child suffer through. A child that according to Jake had grown up with his kids and was a 'good kid' and yet he, as Olo'eyktan, had abandoned one of his clan's own children and fled like a coward. It was his duty as leader to protect the People and he had deemed one of them disposable, a child! Neytiri balks under the accusation and is like he's not one of us but Ronal won't have it, and honestly shuts Neytiri up when she can't help but tell them about the forced tsaheylu Spider was forced to go through, that he didn't break. 

Spider's brain is determined to be way too active like it's just on fire. (I don't know the logistics of what it did exactly but I'll try my best). His brain desperately needs calming waves so Max and Norm give him an alpha stim to be used at least twice a day for an hour on its highest setting. Ronal also comes and creates a paste out of certain relaxing herbs, makes Spider switch to a nasal cannula and spreads paste across his forehead and temples, rubbing it into his skin. Spider spends the next week or so just sleeping and eating and being hooked up to this machine, just letting his brain rest. It's during this time that he eventually lets people touch him. It's Neteyam first. 

He's keeping himself busy while Spider is hooked up to the alpha stim by mending some nets Aonung has brought him when Spider kind of rolls over to face him willingly. Neteyam is careful not to actually look at him, but he can see Spider watching him intently from the corner of his eyes, so he eventually turns carefully and locks eyes with him. Spider twitches a bit at the direct eye contact  but just kind of wordlessly holds a hand out to him. He hates being looked at and hates being touched but at the same time his captivity with the RDA has made him so much more touch starved than he was before that he needs it, and Neteyam has done nothing but make him feel safe and always ask if he was okay. Neteyam immediately takes his hand and gives it a small squeeze. Spider's eyes well up but he closes them and just falls asleep like that, holding his big brother's hand. 

Kiri is next. Neteyam is out doing some physical therapy so she's on Spider watch. Neteyam told her about Spider's progress but she's still careful with him, so she sits with her back to him as always and busies herself with sorting through shells she'd collected from the ocean floor with Tuk. She wanted to share the beauty of the ocean with Spider in whatever way she could so she picked the ones she thought he'd like best and started putting them behind her so he knew it was for him, talking to him all the while about her discovery of the ocean. It pains her deeply to see her best friend like this, she always has to keep herself from crying when she comes here, but she puts on a brave face for him and everything he endured for her family when all he was met with was betrayal. But then she feels something warm against her back and she realizes he's leaning against her. His slowly growing curls brush her shoulder and she can tell how hard he's trying not to pull away from the tension she feels in his shoulder. 

It makes her tear up anyway and she stays there and lets him approach her however he wants while she keeps talking in a choked up voice, passing him shells. Eventually their hands brush as she gives him another. He flinches but doesn't pull away. Eventually his fingers slowly graze against her palm and he very gingerly slips his fingers between hers. Her hands have honestly felt so empty during these months while they weren't together. They were usually always touching somehow, tied at the hip, and being apart from him had killed her, to be unable to touch him and hold his hand. It was the experience of living off of only their shared memories while she was with the Metkayina that made her realize what her feelings towards him really were but she can't burden him with that as he slowly trying to reconstruct his sense of self. 

She takes his hand and it takes everything in her not to turn around and hold him. He'd been stripped of all choice and he had to choose this now, when and how to reconnect. But they have the whole day together so eventually Spider isn't content with just holding her hand anymore. It was his memories with Kiri and her smile and touch more than anything that had kept him somewhat sane during his months of capture, and getting just a taste of her touch wasn't enough, not when he'd missed her like a missing limb. So he eventually tells her to turn around, twice because she wants to make sure he's okay with it. She does slowly, and keep her gaze cast downwards at first, which he appreciates. He holds both her hands and leans forward to rest his forehead on her shoulder. He still hates his hair and letting anyone or anything near it but his need to be touched and held wins out. She asks if she can touch his hair and he's surprised to find himself agreeing. 

So Kiri's hands find his scalp, and her fingers gently scrunch his short curls. Spider hates feeling so fucking fragile about someone just touching his hair, but he does. If Kiri weren't handling it all–him– so gently, he'd probably want to run away. She nuzzles her face against the side of his, one of her hands slipping down to his back to encircle it. And it feels so good. 

Kiri can't help it anymore and she sobs apology after apology, expresses how much she missed him. Spider ends up crying and says the same to her, that he missed her like missing a part of him and he thought about her all the time. 

Eventually Neteyam comes back later than he'd wanted to and finds Kiri and Spider curled up in the center of the marui together, facing each other and glued to each other wherever he can see. Kiri's tail is wrapped tightly around his midriff and his head is tucked into the crook of her neck while her hands are curled almost protectively around his hair. 

Neteyam honestly tears up seeing it and has to step outside to cry. He hadn't showed it, but watching Spider be so afraid and such a shell of the boy he used to be and being so patient and quiet with him had been incredibly difficult for him. He's still a kid too for Eywa's sake and he had been holding it together for the boy as best as possible. He was always so enraged at his parents but also with himself for not having protested the decision to leave Spider behind, for not having insisted they go back for him or tried to rescue him himself even if it would have been futile. 

After learning that Kiri had been entirely accepted by Spider again, no one can hold Tuk back anymore. She'd been held off for weeks from seeing Spider because they didn't think he would be able to handle her energy and she didn't really understand what's going on with him. All she knows is that Spider looks different and he's hurt and she's missed him so much but no one will let her see him. So she slips away from Lo'ak, who was supposed to be watching her, and barrels into the marui Spider is in before he can catch her. Spider is caught off guard and Neteyam and Kiri aren't able to catch her in time before she launches herself at Spider's chest. 

Spider's frozen for a moment while Neteyam and Kiri try to pry her off of him, but then winds up hugging her back. She's just a little kid and he's always been a pushover for the girl and it feels so good that she isn't treating him any differently. Her energy and boisterousness enlivens his spirit. And careless as she is, she grabs his head to look at his short hair when he eventually lets go of him and he braces himself. But all she does is pull it this way and that and say with awe, "Your hair is so pretty and golden. It looks like the spirit grass at the Cove of Ancestors. I'll show it to you!" It makes Spider cry, which is something Tuk's never seen before and it freaks her out a bit wondering what she did wrong so then she starts crying and it's just a cry fest. 

By the way, I know this is so disorganized but bear with me. Ronal has been coming to see Spider every day, re-applying the calming paste on his forehead, making note of the food he could eat and enjoyed from Neteyam and providing it for him. Tonowari has stopped in as well under the pretext of the fact that he's Olo'eyktan and needs to check up on the human's progress but really he's just worried about the kid. As they see Spider recover more and more, they start spending more time with Spider in the marui (with at least one or two of the Sully siblings there with him of course). Tonowari starts telling him stories about the ocean and its creation while Ronal kind of tough loves him and brings him stuff to do like net mending or weaving seaweed or whatever repetitive activity she can find that quiets her mind that she thinks would be beneficial for him. Spider is thoroughly confused about their behavior but he loves learning about the Na'vi obviously and he doesn't question it for a while, trying to soak up all the information he can. 

Lo'ak also gets shoved in by Kiri eventually so that they can face each other properly. Spider musters up a genuine smile for Lo'ak and that's all it takes for the kid to start ugly sobbing to the point that Spider has to get up and hug and comfort him while Kiri calls him a skxawng. 

Obviously, Spider's been sitting still for way too long and Ronal kind of forces him outside to get exercise. She starts leading his physical therapy herself, often joined by Tsireya, and growls at any clan member who even so much as looks at him wrong. Obviously they start in the water since that's always a good way to get back into moving. Him and Tsireya became quite close during this time. Kiri helps too and takes him walking along the beach until he can't anymore. When he's too tired he'll sit and build sand castles in the sand with Tuk or string shells together into necklaces. 

Eventually he starts getting better, laughing more, being a bit more carefree, getting back to the boy they knew and loved. With the help of Tsireya Kiri finds plants that can create a paint similar to that she used to use on him in the forest and starts painting his stripes again. He eventually feels comfortable enough to take off his stupid tank top and then cuts his cargo pants into shorts. 

He lets his hair grow out. Ronal surprisingly just starts taking care of it for him. Lathering it in oils that protect from the saltwater and cleaning it. By this point he's become super comfortable with her and Tonowari so yeah it surprises him but it's so nice to feel so welcomed. 

And I haven't worked all day because of this AU so I need to go but I'll hopefully come back with a part 3 later. 

[meenawrites]

Humanized Spider: Pt 3

So I've made my peace that I'm not getting work done until I get this all out of my system. 

SO

Ronal's leading Spider's physical therapy, he goes on patrol walks with Tonowari through the village. 

The Metkayina seeing both their leaders doting on this kid just kind of accept it, like they trust them and their judgment and I mean the kid's smile is infectious, people kind of wait for him to smile and are like awwwww (because I said so, he should be loved damnit)

Neytiri still isn't allowed anywhere near him or even within his line of sight. She's definitely calmed down since her altercation with Ronal and has been using this time to reflect on herself, especially with Neteyam's clear protectiveness of the boy and Kiri honestly not really talking to her. Hearing what he's been through and what state he was in really put things in perspective for her and she spends a lot of time communing with Eywa in the cove of ancestors and just thinking over her past with Spider. I'd like to think she realizes how her trauma has allowed her to mistreat a child, but yeah. 

Jake doesn't have as many prohibitions on him of seeing the boy, but he avoids him a lot tbh. Guilt is eating away at him and he can't bear to look at Spider, nor his kids tbh cause they're all so angry with both parents, except Tuk (cause she doesn't really get it).

Aonung also starts kind of taking Spider around with him (I haven't forgotten about him). He was pretty reluctant at first about the human but when his mom of all people went all mama bear over him he was like, well there's no reason for me to be reticent then. His big bro senses are tingling every time he sees Spider now and he's just like must protect, he's so SMOL.

Kiri and Spider spend a lot of alone time together, which doesn't go unnoticed by Ronal and Tonowari (and Neteyam, he knows what's up). They're always holding each other in some way or Spider just kind of shoves his head into her shoulder when he wants attention. She takes him out to the reef and shows him everything she's wanted to show him since the moment she got here. Sometimes they just do activities in silence, basking in the other's presence, other times they'll just talk back and forth nonstop for hours. Kiri makes sure to kiss his growing hair every night and run her fingers through it or pulling at his curls and watching them bounce back up so he knows she loves them. 

Eventually, Kiri does confess to him. I'd like to imagine it's during a night where she's snatched Spider away from Neteyam's protective grasp and takes him out on her ikran for a night flight. Spider's has always loved Pandora's night sky and the stars so she gives it to him. He leans back into her and reaches his hands into the sky as if he could touch them and he looks more carefree than she's seen him since he came back. They land atop one of the few trees near Awa'atlu and settle back against its branches. She tells him she wants to talk to him about something and the seriousness of her expression sobers him up quickly. She says it kind of haltingly, and talks in a bit of a circle before she gets frustrated with herself and just kind of yells, "I LOVE YOU!" then immediately slaps her hands to her mouth, peering at him through her lashes. Spider is just completely slack-jawed and speechless. Like he legit can't believe this is real and actually slaps himself across the face, which serves only to jostle his mask painfully and Kiri hurries to grab his face like what the hell are you doing. And then Spider just starts laughing, his hands coming to cover her own. He can't stop laughing but he's also crying (happy tears yall) and knocks his masked forehead against her own and it comes out of him like an animal that's finally been released from its cage, "I love you, Kiri, so much, since I met you" and BAM adorable beans. I'm trying really hard not to slip into writing a fic rn so moving on. 

Spider's pretty much fully recovered by this point and Ronal and Tonowari finally take him aside and seriously ask him if they can adopt him. Well, Ronal kind of just declares they're adopting him and Tonowari has to correct her and is like, "only if you would permit it. We'd like to officially take you in as family." At this point Spider's cried more than he thinks he has in his entire life during his time with the Metkayina clan but he's still surprised when he tears up again and is just like, "are you serious? Really? Like adopt me like you're my parents?" He obviously can't believe it. And Tonowari's like, "yes, we'd like to be your spirit parents." Spider looks to Ronal for confirmation and wildly wonders if this is some sick joke but she looks just about as serious as he's ever seen her. And he just full on cries. Ronal can't hold back anymore and just pulls him to her side and lets him cry while Tonowari lays a hand on the back of his neck. 

But before officially being adopted, Spider thinks it's time to get some closure with the Sully's. So he has Neteyam ask Neytiri and Jake if they'd be willing to meet with him. It's Neytiri who says yes first, surprising all of them. Neteyam is quick to give a lecture to his parents, the first ever and it feels good tbh, about how they've treated Spider, how Neteyam feels about it, and that he cannot stand by and watch as they mistreat him any longer. He's been obedient for a lot of things, but he's choosing to take a stand against this officially. Obviously all the kids side with him. Tuk doesn't really understand what's going on but she adds in her two cents of, "I love Spider I don't want to see him hurt, please don't hurt him."

They go to meet Spider who has Ronal and Tonowari at his back at their insistence. Ronal is fuming and is dying to say something but she respects her new son's wishes. Tonowari is also angry obviously but he's just happy the kid has agreed and he can try to make up for how he has been treated. Spider flinches when he sees Neytiri but he forces himself to stay sitting. Jake can barely look at him but Neytiri actually looks him head on, and for the first time, he doesn't see a trace of dislike in her gaze, just an eerie calm and an edge of softness that's never been directed at him before. 

Spider takes the lead first. He's spent a lot of time thinking about his past and his relationship with the Sully's (or lack thereof) and a lot of Kiri, Neteyam, Tonowari, Ronal, and even Lo'ak (in a clumsy but endearing way) constantly telling him that he had deserved to be treated better, that who his parents were and had done wasn't his fault, that he was worthy, that it was wrong of them to leave him with the RDA. He couldn't really accept it at first, even vehemently denied it saying he understood. And while his understanding of their actions being motivated by trauma and stuff remained the same, he'd finally come to accept that he had deserved better. And he says as much to the two of them. It's nerve-wracking as hell, but it feels amazing to say, to finally express to them how hurt he felt by Neytiri's dislike for him, how awful it had been to have Jake be kind to him but pull away when it began to feel like anything. I lowkey think Jake starts crying tbh while Neytiri just listens calmly and takes everything in.

When he's done, Neytiri speaks first and wholeheartedly apologizes to him, not averting her gaze or anything. She says that he's right, that her experiences clouded her judgment and hardened her heart against him unfairly. It had drawn a thick veil over her eyes and she'd never tried to see him for who he was and not his blood. She makes no excuses for the way she treated him and says she doesn't dare ask for his forgiveness because she doesn't deserve it. She ignored one of the Great Mother's most important teachings and that will weigh on her always. She doesn't apologize for cutting him on the ship because she did what she felt needed to be done to save her daughter. And frankly Spider agrees which has Ronal about to go off in protest, but Spider smiles at her and she backs down reluctantly. Neytiri apologizes for everything else though and swears to Eywa that she will never do or say anything to consciously hurt Spider again, which seriously shocks him. An oath to Eywa is a big deal after all. He almost chokes up because of it. And then actually does when she says, "I see you" and he can feel she really does. 

Jake frankly has no words but tries his best to blubber through an apology about keeping him at arms length, not making sure he as cared for better, for leaving him behind and never attempting to rescue him. I'm not super invested in his apology as I'm writing this rn so I'm gonna skip past it but yeah. 

Spider steals himself then because he's about to admit something big to them. He's already told his new parents and they've coached him on how best to broach the subject. So he tells them that he knows they don't want to hear about Quarritch but it goes hand in hand with their treatment of his and his overall lack of adult care in his life. He explains with some difficulty what was done to him by the RDA, that Quarritch pulled him out of the torture, gave him more care than he'd ever received before and had been the first adult to genuinely care for his life despite how messed up that was. And then he admits to having saved Quarritch, that he made that split second decision because he couldn't just sit and let the only person who'd ever really cared about him drown. Neytiri is shocked to her core. She wants to run and scream but she sees Spider now, truly, and made an oath to Eywa, so she can't help but face up to the fact that this development was her fault. In her fear of how Spider would turn out like his father, she'd inadvertently contributed to this decision. In not going back for him and just taking Kiri with her and leaving, she had created this situation. So she doesn't get mad, doesn't feel like she's allowed to and apologizes to him again, but makes sure he knows that if she ever sees Quarritch again, she will kill him with no hesitation. 

AND THAT'S THAT YALL! For now anyway, I'd accept any asks about this AU (would love to receive some) because I've had a lot of fun writing this even if it hurts me. Spider is adopted by Tonowari and Ronal, recovers, finds his place in the village. Kiri and him go public and Kiri's ready to beat up anyone who says anything about it. Lo'ak is shook and Neteyam's just like FINALLY. Spider and Neteyam are closer than they've ever been. Obviously shit's gonna happen since the RDA is gone but Spider finally feels like he's rooted somewhere, like he's okay and doesn't only have to rely on himself to take care of himself. He's got a family now who fusses over him obsessively. He's about to become a big brother. The love of his life LOVES HIM BACK! And he starts wearing his hair mostly curly and finds his own sense of identity, no longer trying to copy Jake or try so hard to fit in. 

I'd like to say he's eventually blessed by Eywa and can breathe their air BECAUSE HE DESERVES IT! But yeah that's enough for now. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED!

PS Ronal and Tonowari begin making him a new songcord.