Chapter 5: The Circle of Life

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Aveau became an adult around NYE. Now that she was older and her father had clearly aged, she tried to do more to help. Not that Roketi especially wanted that. He'd take his sweet time retiring and stayed active until very late in life.



The beginning of adulthood marked the first time Aveau communed with the Elemental Ancestors. She'd been worried about doing it, because she wasn't sure it was her right. Roketi reassured her that it was. It was an incredible experience, and she even asked for their judgement at the end. Unfortunately, their veredict was that she wasn't doing enough to honour the islands and their culture.



Determined to impress the Elementals (and fullfill her Island Life ambition), Aveau threw herself headfirst into Sulani's tradition. First step: throw a Kava Party.

The game's mechanism for kava parties totally sucks and really threw me off. She did get a silver medal, which isn't bad for the first time!



She tried to attend all the potlucks and festivals she could, especially now that she didn't have to go to school.



Aveau even took up fire dancing. She seemed to be pretty good at it, too -- I don't think she ever had an accident while trying it!



She was, of course, still soulmates with Giana.



To try to help Mua Pel'am even more, Aveau joined the conservationist career. In a way, it was clear all along that it'd be the perfect career for her. Above, she's surveying the wildlife at a fishing spot.



She also learnt some new skills and information -- like how to identify and spray an invasive species that was attacking the island's palm trees at the time.



She was working so hard, she passed out halfway through her next meeting with the Elementals. At least their judgement was favourale this time, and they were happy with her efforts.



Those efforts definitely paid off in other ways, too. Aveau finally achieved a gold-level kava party!



By and large, Aveau and Roketi still kept to many of their old routines and traditions. She could still stargaze with him, and still loved it. They didn't know that was the last time they'd stargaze together.



Roketi could feel his end approaching. In some ways, he hadn't achieved certain things he'd dreamed off. For example, he never made it to the top of his career, even though he'd retired so late. On the other hand, he had a fully upgraded spaceship and -- best of all -- an amazing daughter he was incredibly proud of. He'd also achieved his lifelong ambition. He didn't regret a thing about his life, not at all.



His death was a terrible blow for Aveau. She just couldn't believe it.



For a while, all she wanted to do was stay in bed all day and cry. She tried to go to work to distract herself, but it was no use.



She couldn't even bring herself to bathe or clean the house.



She still had Giana, of course, and Marco. The latter dropped by regularly and helped tend her plants. After all, he knew what it was like to lose a parent. Aveau didn't think it was really the same thing. At least Marco still had his sisters, and now he had a wife as well, but Aveau's only relative was Roketi and now he was gone.



Then, one day, Aveau just didn't feel like crying and staying in bed all day. She was still sad about Roketi's death, and would probably always be sad to her, but she also wanted to live her life. She wanted to go out, work, meet new people.



First step: taking a shower and cleaning up the place.



There were some good news. Mua Pel'am was finally fully restored to the way it had always been. Aveau was ecstatic. She never thought she'd see this happen in her lifetime when she'd started picking up trash from the beach all those years ago. And now, it was finally a clean, beautiful place. She only had to work to keep it that way.



Something else that helped her in those days? Her adoptive son Neil. He was living with his evil sister Catherine, and now that she was all alone, Aveau didn't see a reason not to take him in. He was a good, if often sad, child.



He was a bit nerdy, and Aveau did her best to encourage his love of books and read him stories.



She also helped him with his school projects, like Roketi had helped her when she was a child.



Even though she'd never replace his parents, Aveau loved him and tried to do her best for him.