#omaticaya reader

“We’re close to the nest. From here on in we have to look Na’vi, we act Na’vi, we ride Na’vi and that includes speaking the language.”

Spider openly snickered at Quaritch’s pronunciation whilst you kept your grin hidden behind the palm of your hand as you covered your mouth. The colonel didn’t take too kindly to Spider’s mockery, “Something funny?”

“You call that speaking the language? You sound like a three year old.” You couldn’t hold back your snort of laughter at your son’s words. It was true, Quaritch did nothing less than butcher your beautiful language while Spider spoke fluently, it had been his mother tongue whilst living with you after all.

“I think that is too generous,” Spider held his sides as he laughed even more at your mumbled input. Quaritch frowned at the both of you before turning to face Spider, “Well it looks like you’ve just upgraded from monkey mascot to official translator.” Spider twisted his lips, worried about what that might entail for him in the future. Instinctively, you took a step closer, standing in front to partially block your son from view.

Quaritch gritted his teeth as he snapped his eyes to yours, “You got a problem with that? Huh?” Your ears flattened against your head as you bared your teeth. He glanced down at your canines with a smirk before turning back to face his men.

Spider tapped your arm, “Just leave it mom, he’s not worth it.” No he wasn’t. Spider was right, you thought as you reached over to tussle his hair but it didn’t move all that much since his dreadlocks were very thick. He tried to push your hands away but you only pinched his cheek in retaliation. The clearing of a throat made you roll your eyes in Spider’s direction before turning around to see Quaritch looking expectantly at the two of you. “We’re not here to play around and pull each other’s pigtails, so get stepping,” he pointed a finger at you, “You’re up, buttercup, so let’s go. I want all my men on an Ikran by tomorrow afternoon.”

You swished your tail to whip at his legs again as you walked past. The hand that wrapped around it, catching the attempted attack, caught you off guard. Your torso jerked forward as the grip on your tail prevented you from moving your legs in time. A sound crossed between yelp and a hiss left your mouth as you scurried back a step to loosen the pull on your tail.

“You hit me with that thing again and we’re gonna have a real problem, lady.” What you did next was not a very smart choice. It was impulsive, based on the fact you knew it would hurt him. Your arm swung back to grab at the base of his kuru, yanking his head back hard. A snarl of his own echoed through the trees as the hand not holding your tail came up behind his head to grab onto your wrist.

The clicking of guns didn’t phase you. You stared into Quaritch’s eyes with an intense glare who pressed his lips together as your fingers clenched just a bit more around the sensitive anatomy. Yellow eyes stared into yours, you saw the insanity dancing in them that mimicked the rage of fire flickering in your own.

Spider nervously looked between you, Quaritch and the guns aimed in your direction. He rushed to jump in front of you, holding his arms out wide. “Stop it! Just let go of her you asshole!” Quaritch broke away from your glare to flicker his eyes down at Spider. He was baring his own teeth at him, an imitation of his mother’s intimidating snarl. His son’s anger directed at him hit something deep in his cold heart. Quaritch only chuckled, bringing his eyes back up to yours as he released his hold on your tail.

“Easy gentlemen, just a bit of horseplay. Ain’t that right (Y/N).” Your name on his tongue sent a shiver through you. In his voice it sounded like a threat. A low growl rolled from the back of your throat only meant for his ears. Your fingers grasped tighter, “Do not test me, Quaritch.” A cocky grin stretched over his lips and the way his eyes seemed intent on baring into your soul infuriated you. There was something else there too. A faint whisper of excitement about the idea of having him under your control. It startled you enough to yank your hand away from him as if his kuru turned into pure fire to burn your hand.

That stupid smirk of his, how you would love to slap it off his smug face. You had no idea what he was so smug about, you had won this round. Right?

“Gah!” You yelled at him, a noise of irritation as you turned and walked away back to your position in front. You barged past the bald one, Lyle, who stumbled back a step to maintain balance. Your face twisted into a scowl and your tail whipped furiously behind you. The other recoms saw their colonel who only had a smug grin on his face. Quaritch waved his hand, “Keep moving.”

The other recoms slowly broke off to follow you further into the forest, leaving Spider and Quaritch towards the back. Spider scoffed, shaking his head as he started walking. “I don’t know why you keep pissing her off dude, you just got your ass handed to you.”

Quaritch glanced down at his son, “Pissing off the natives is my job description, kid. May as well get some practice.”

“You’re lucky she didn’t chop off your kuru. I’m shocked, using her son as a threat really keeps someone in line.” Quaritch’s lips twisted into a frown as he heard the sarcasm lacing Spider’s words. This kid really detested him. But he didn’t understand why that bothered him so much. This kid was only his through name alone. They shared no DNA, they weren’t even the same goddamn species. But he held memories of a man who had been excited for a little soldier to train, a boy he could mould into a man.

That opportunity was long gone, his boy was not nearly a boy at all anymore. He was almost all grown up and he’d missed it all. He had been nothing to this kid for years. Hell he didn’t even want to keep his name. He’d been left alone in a world that wanted nothing to do with him. Until you’d stepped in. You found him, took him under your wing. You’d warped his mind with talks of tree-hugging nature and love.

Love, just the word alone made Quaritch scoff to himself. To him it was a weakness, it made you vulnerable to your enemies. Gun to his head, he wasn’t even sure if he had even loved Spider’s birth mom. She was one ferocious lady and he was attracted to that, her anger had reeled him in. Their relationship hadn’t been very long plus his job required him to be away for long periods of time, they barely saw each other while she was pregnant and he could count the times he saw Spider as a baby on one hand. He’d been a terrible father, didn’t even consider his son when he’d dived head first into battle with the Na’vi, too hung up on his hatred for Sully to think of anything else.

Your love for Spider seemed to make you stronger, it fuelled your hatred when fighting. When you first met Quaritch wouldn’t admit it but he’d been kinda scared of you. Almost as much as Mrs Sully. You were dangerous in many ways. Your fire never went out, it could roar in anger or it would dim to a calming flame, crackling in contentment. He couldn’t help but be drawn into that. Even with your nails digging into his kuru, he’d felt a flicker of attraction to you. The way your eyes burned into his own, he was unsure whether he wanted to put your fire out or succumb to the flames.

“Your mom is pretty protective of you huh?” He took a breather from his thoughts, they were going down a path he wasn’t ready to explore. Spider raised an eyebrow at him, as if he’d said the dumbest thing he’d ever heard.

“Well no shit, she’s my mom. If you were any kind of parent you’d feel the same way.”

He felt that sharp pang in his chest again, a reminder of his failed fatherhood. He didn’t acknowledge Spider’s pointed insult, choosing to move on to another question. He needed to get the kid to trust him, to try and get some intel on the Sully family. “What was it like growing up here? Can’t have been easy being the only human kid on Pandora.”

Spider furrowed his eyebrows together in a small frown before his face relaxed back to normal. His shoulders shrugged, “It wasn’t that bad. I don’t remember much before my mom took me in. I know some of the Na’vi don’t think of me as one of them but they respect my mom too much to say anything. My mom was always there for me, she showed me unconditional love regardless of being a whole species apart. I dunno, I feel like sometimes she needed me as much as I needed her.”

That piqued Quaritch’s interest, “Why do you say that?”

Spider hummed, unsure if he should continue or not. He was going a bit too deep here, but it was all part of his plan. He needed to play along, try to connect with Quaritch to see if he could make him change his mind on his mission of revenge. He hadn’t told you about his idea, knowing you wouldn’t like it and discourage him from it. But he had to try, it just might work to save Jake and his family. And more importantly, save you.

After a heavy sigh, he continued. “My mom, she had a chosen mate but before they could bond he died fighting in the war. Jake told me that she was all depressed over it, of course, that she never joined in any ceremonies unless necessary and barely left her hut. It was by chance that she decided to go out and fly that day when she stopped at a river and I’d wandered off and found her. Jake said I’d ran away from him when he was trying to convince Neytiri to let him take me in,” Quaritch’s stomach turned at the thought of Jake and his missus raising his boy.

“He ran after me to find me and he found my mom with me in her arms. She likes to remind me how I refused to let go of her but I don’t remember that part. She offered to take me in and I remember one day when I was playing with Lo’ak and Neteyam. Jake pulled me aside and told me how glad he was that we had each other. Apparently she came back out of her shell, being more involved with the clan and just being happier. My mom always tells me she thanks Eywa every day for sending me to her. I do the same.”

Quaritch didn’t know how to feel about hearing your backstory. It was clear your bond went deeper with Spider than he thought. He felt a lump in his throat at the idea of treating this native, no this woman, so poorly when she’d been everything he could’ve asked for as a parent to Spider. Perhaps he could consider a change of heart. Perhaps not. Maybe he had already made his bed and had to lie in it.

Spider mentally cursed at the silence that followed, maybe that had been too much after all. But he needed to make Quaritch feel bad. Feel some remorse, make him think that he wanted to build some kind of relationship. “I guess it was hard to not have a kind of father figure around. I mean, I had Jake I suppose.”

Spider glanced out the corner of his eyes to watch the recom body of his father visibly scowl at the mention of Jake. He knew it would get to him that his mortal enemy was more involved with his own son than he was. And right he was, Quaritch was practically seething with rage, or jealousy, or perhaps both.

Another uncomfortable silence followed, stretching over a few minutes before Spider picked up the pace to join you at the front of the group. Quaritch observed from a distance as Spider lightly brushed his hand over the end of your tail before joining you at your side. Your whole demeanour changed instantly as though just seeing Spider dissolved all of your stress and anger. His ears strained to try to pick up what the two of you were discussing but he was just out of reach to make it out clearly.

He watched as your teeth exposed in a wide smile. It was… different to see your fangs in a non-threatening way. He was only able to see it from the side as you faced Spider but couldn’t help the curious urge to have you smile at him so he could see the whole image. Quaritch cleared his throat as he stormed ahead to the middle of the group, retrieving the gun off his back to clutch it in his hands. He wasn’t about to let his mind go down that road anytime soon. He was a soldier on a mission, nothing more. He didn’t need some native hoochie distracting him from what’s important.

…

The next morning you’d came to the conclusion that walking was now incredibly tedious to you. You wished you had your Ikran close by to run away with your son, or at least fly the rest of the journey. You could feel her in her your veins, she must be close by. Worry coursed through you, she had never been separated from you for so long before. Even in your time of grief you made sure to visit and talk with her although you hadn’t the energy to fly with her. You were missing her dearly.

Last night had been uncomfortable for you to say the least. Quaritch seemed to have changed his attitude with a snap of his fingers. He had yet to say a word to you, not that you minded all that much, in fact you were liking him more when he stayed silent. But that wasn’t why you were uncomfortable.

You’d left the group with the female recom soldier to do your personal business and upon returning you saw Spider laughing along with Quaritch. You were too far to hear what was being said, but the two looked very close. Your son was sat sideways on a log as Quaritch straddled it, facing Spider. Quaritch’s arms moved wide as he spoke, a softer grin appearing amidst his sharp features. Your ears pinned back as an unfamiliar emotion swirled in your chest.

Jealousy. Spider looked just as happy and carefree as he did with you, or with the Sully children. You had been Spider’s sole parent for fourteen years and had never felt like this when Spider bonded with any other Na’vi. Though, you supposed Quaritch was not just any other Na’vi. Quaritch may not technically be Spider’s father but he had his memories, his feelings.

You knew Spider loved you, there was no doubt in that, but Spider had never had a true father figure in his life. Jake Sully was the clan leader and because of that he bared some responsibility for Spider especially with him being so close to his own children, but he wasn’t around enough to be classed as a father to Spider. Spider had never voiced any disappointment or resentment about his lack of paternal roles in his upbringing before so you didn’t think you would have anything to worry about. You supposed that was foolish of you to assume such a thing. Quaritch was his father, not biologically, but he was him nonetheless. It was only natural for your son to want to get close to him, to make a connection.

It was scary for you. You bared no biological tether to Spider. You were not the reincarnated body of his birth mother. If he decided to build a relationship with his father then there was less room for you in his life. Undoubtedly, it was a selfish thought to have, but your heart clenched at the notion of being pushed aside by your son. Spider was everything to you.

You didn’t want to just walk over there, it would let them know that you were bothered by it. No, you settled on making yourself comfortable against another tree, appearing oblivious to their newfound bond.

It was almost an hour later when Spider came over to you. You gave him a small smile that didn’t reach your eyes. Spider sat down next to you, tucking his legs up to his chest and wrapping his arms around his knees. You spoke in a low voice meant only for his ears, “You should be careful Spider, these demons do not look out for your best interests. I’m worried for you.”

Spider sighed, facing his head down to stare at the ground, “I dunno mom, they don’t seem so bad.” You glanced back over to where Quaritch stood talking to Lyle before turning your gaze back to Spider. You tentatively placed your hand on Spider’s shoulder making him raise his head to look at you. Your eyes were wide with concern and sadness.

“Sometimes I worry I am not enough for you.”

“What? How can you say that? No, mom, you’re like the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I love you, mom,” Spider’s words helped to comfort you but your mind was still spiralling with curiosity. You smiled at your son before continuing.

“I only mean that I know I cannot be a true father for you. I have tried my best but I know that it is only natural for you to be drawn to him. I will not stand in your way but I fear he might turn you into something you’re not. His kind only know to ruin, they do not nurture.” You didn’t have to say his name, you both knew who you were talking about. Spider looked away. He knew he should tell you about his scheme to ease your mind but he knew it would only make you more worried. It pained him, but he would have to keep you in the dark for a while longer.

“I know, but I can’t help it. I know he’s kind of an ass, but he’s not been so bad to me so far. You know, if you take away the kidnapping and all that.” You scoffed a laugh out at Spider’s casual mention of the less than pleasant situation you two were in. It was bearable since you had each other. The two of you had talked a little more before getting comfortable to eventually fall asleep.

That brought you back to this morning where you had guided the group closer to their desired destination. You could see the thick ropes of vines hanging down were many young Na’vi had made the climb to choose their Ikran. A fond smile twisted at your lips as you remembered your own battle. Amay was a strong spirit, she had not wanted to go down easy for you. She’d clawed at your legs and bruised your shoulder but eventually she’d given in, with your arm wrapped tight around her jaws she’d settled enough for you to make the bond.

“We don’t have time for you to be daydreaming, missy.” You rolled your eyes as Quaritch came up beside you. With great restraint, you held back a snarky comment and chose to ignore him. Clearly, it was the wrong move to make. Either he was annoyed by your lack of response or egged on even more to try to make you snap at him.

“Woke up on the wrong side of the tree, cupcake?” Your chest heaved with a deep breath, your lips smushed together as you bit back the snarl threatening to come out. You managed to give him a side eyed glare before returning your vision back to in front of you.

“I’m surprised you learned how to shut that pretty mouth of yours.”

And with that, you had enough. Your hand came up to push at his chest. Caught off guard, he stumbled back a step or two to catch his balance. “Gah! I try to keep peace, for Spider. But you make it so difficult.”

Quaritch’s eyebrows creased together as he processed your words. Spider wanted his mom and him to get along? Did that mean the kid was softening up to him? He felt a warmth in his chest at the idea of Spider warming up to him before he squashed it down. No, it was good for one thing only, he was closer to the information he needed on Jake Sully. He didn’t seem to be making much progress on that front though. Were you the missing piece to the puzzle? He had little to no idea of your place within the clan. Perhaps chumming it up with you would be what he needed to put his plans into action. Huh. Seems things were going his way this morning.

You frowned as Quaritch continued to stare at you, his expression frozen in confusion before it morphed into contemplation and finally a small grin. His eyes bore into your own, “Well, seems we should put aside our… differences. For the kid.”

Your lips turned downwards, a disapproving frown at the notion of having to be friendly to Quaritch. It sent a shiver down your spine. But still you gave him a swift nod, “Yes, I agree. For my son.” You put a little emphasis on the word ‘my’ not being able to resist the little dig at him further. It may be your last chance for a little while.

Quaritch only grinned back at you with that cocky smirk you just itched to smack off his lips. He outstretched his left hand towards you and you instinctively flinched backwards, expecting an attack. You froze when none came, just his hand in the air sideways. You looked down at it, confused. “Now don’t tell me you guys don’t have handshakes? Look, it seals a deal made. Here,” Quaritch grabbed your left hand and lifted it to his own, flattening your palm against his before his thumb and the tips of his fingers wrapped around your hand. The first thing you noticed was how large his hands were but you were tempted to chalk that up to his extra fingers. The second was how warm his skin was. Your brow furrowed as you slowly closed your own thumb and fingers around his palm. He raised your joined hands slightly before pulling them back down and drew his hand away. You brought your hand to your side trying to not focus on the lingering warmth of his palm.

You merely kissed your teeth at him before crossing your arms over your chest. “I suppose, if we’re getting along, I should tell you that your Na’vi is still dreadful, like a child babbling.”

“Perhaps I just need the right teacher. I promise I can be a very quick learner.” You scowled at him. Just what was his deal? Yesterday the two of you were at each other’s throats now the second you agreed to play nice he was already trying to spend more time with you. A glance to your left saw Spider who was parading around in between the trees with ‘Z dog’s’ dog tags who was chasing said human boy to get them back. You sighed heavily before looking down at your left hand again. You lifted your gaze to meet Quaritch who hadn’t seemed to take his eyes off of you. “Very well. A deal is made.” You outstretched your hand and Quaritch grinned wide as he shook it with a firmer grip this time. Feeling the strength in just his fingers sent a warm feeling into your stomach. You maintained a stoic expression before pulling your hand away.

“Now, gather your dogs, we’re here.” You walked off through the trees to your right where you brushed some branches aside to see the edge of the mountain you were standing on. The infamous vines hung heavy, hitting the side of the mountain as a silent invitation to grab on and climb to your destiny. The wind whipped around your braids and you closed your eyes to feel it against your skin.

Spider whooped behind you. “This is fricking awesome! I can’t believe I get to come with you this time.” You smiled wide at Spider, you had told him many times the story of how you bonded with Amay and you could tell he was disheartened by the fact he would never experience the same connection. You hoped that being up here with all the ikrans might lessen his disappointment. You waved him over to you. “Come Spider, you will have to climb on my back. This climb will be too dangerous for you to do alone.”

Spider laughed as he leaped over to you, jumping as you crouched to land on your back his arms and legs securely wrapping around your waist and shoulders. Quaritch cleared his throat, “Maybe I should take him, wouldn’t want our guide struggling behind.”

You scoffed, raising your brow at him, not being able to resist your own cocky grin. “I doubt I am the one who will struggle.” With that, you leapt off the edge of the mountain with a loud whoop, hands outstretched to grab onto the vine that passed in front of you. Spider yipped in your ear as you climbed, hearing muffled orders from Quaritch to his men behind you. You didn’t take much notice, embracing your small taste of freedom before you were back under careful watch again.

“Yeah! C’mon mom, you’re smoking them!” You laughed as you moved your arms and legs even quicker, the competitive side of you egged on by Spider’s encouragement. You finally reached the top, hand grasping hard rock instead of vine. You stayed low until Spider was safely off your back before turning around to peek over the edge at the recom soldiers. They were still far behind.

“All the ikran will have flown away before you get up here! Hurry!” Spider chuckled as you taunted them, it was only fair for them doubting your abilities to climb with your son. Spider barely weighed you down and you had made harder climbs than this in your lifetime. Unsurprisingly, Quaritch was the first to reach the edge where you stood with your arms crossed and your hip cocked. He panted softly, clearly he wasn’t used to making such trips like you were. He awkwardly scrambled over the edge, rolling his body onto the hard ground before pushing himself onto his feet. He looked you up and down, not even a bead of sweat on your forehead. “Show off.” His mumbled words only made you grin at him as he turned to wait for his men and one woman.

Finally they were all up and you could continue onwards. Excitement drummed in your veins as you heard the ikrans screeching. You hoped they would deem them all unworthy and throw them off the edge of the mountain. You highly doubted any of them would succeed in an Ikran brawl. You slowly crouched low, coming to the end of the small cave to which you could see all the Ikrans on the other side. Causing a small holdup, Quaritch backed into you and placed his hand on your hip to stop himself from toppling over you.

His touch sparked against your skin. A small gasp and you batted away his hand without a word, trying to shake away the tingle down your back. You walked through the opening to walk to the left, crouching down behind a large rock. The recom soldiers followed suit.

Your eyes darted around looking for your winged sister. She was here, you could feel her much stronger now. But where?

“Younger kids than me do this with their bare hands.” Spider’s laughing brought your attention to Quaritch and Lyle who were holding tranquilliser guns. You hissed, “Skxawngs! You cannot use that here! You must prove your worth for a strong bond.”

Quaritch looked between the two of you, “Jake Sully did it the hard way?” Spider scoffed at him, “What do you think?”

“Our mighty leader did not need help. Even the weakest Na’vi do it by hand.” Quaritch’s face scrunched in anger as he put his gun down.

“Well, alright then.” You hopped up onto the rock for a better view as Quaritch jumped over and walked towards the Ikrans. Spider nudged you, covering his hand with his mouth to hide his laugh. You smiled back at him.

Quaritch found his opponent easily, the blue Ikran rearing up to screech loudly in his face. You watched as his ears pinned back and he hissed at the Ikran. Hm, he’d found a match.

Your brow furrowed as you watched Quaritch race forward to try and wrap his legs around the ikran. It only angered the beast who roared and snapped its sharp teeth at Quaritch to try and get him off. “Did I mention you’re supposed to tie the mouth closed first?!” Spider laughed but you kept watching intently.

“Thanks a lot kid!” Quaritch was angry and you couldn’t help the small smile at his struggling. The Ikran continued to tussle with him and your eyes widened as you saw them getting dangerously close to the edge. You moved forward, crouching low so as to not draw attention from any ikrans. Quaritch brought his hand up to bring his kuru to the Ikran but as he did, the Ikran slipped and the two went tumbling over the edge. You gasped, running but the clouds made it impossible to see. Lyle hurried next to you, also trying to see his boss.

The soldiers didn’t even look sad as you turned to face them. Their leader had just fallen to his death and they felt nothing? Oh how you would never understand these sky people. Lyle sighed after a few moments, bringing a hand to your lower back to push you forward back to where you had come from, “Let’s go, missions over.” Your lips curved into a frown. This was a good thing right? One soldier down? You turned to look back over the edge and then to Spider who was also looking over there. You frowned, cursing to yourself before running back to the edge, calling out loudly for Amay with an Ikran call. Your sister screeched as she flew in from the left of you. You grinned as you grabbed your kuru and jumped onto her back to make tsaheylu.

Just as you were about to fly down for him, Quaritch burst through the clouds riding his Ikran. “Yeah! That’s right!” The soldiers cheered as he held his fist in the air. You looked at Spider who was clearly relieved but was trying to not make it obvious. You smiled softly at him before turning to Quaritch who awkwardly landed on the mountain. He looked at you on your own Ikran that was pointed to where he had just come from. He grinned, “Don’t tell me you were worried about me?”

You scoffed, scowling as you turned your head, “Do not be ridiculous. I worry for Spider alone.” Quaritch’s grin only widened as if he didn’t believe you. He looked you up and down before chuckling, “You can tell yourself that if you want.”

Your ears pinned back as you scowled at him, angry at the insinuation. “Gah! Do not be ridiculous!” You snapped at his direction before climbing off of Amay to stoke her neck who in turn rubbed her head against your side. You didn’t want to look at Quaritch, scared he might be able to see that he wasn’t all that wrong. You had been worried when you watched him fall over the edge. You told yourself it was because of Spider, how he wanted to be close to his father but you knew you wouldn’t be able to keep up the lie to yourself for much longer. He was prying through the cracks in your well guarded heart.

Taglist:

Jake stumbled in the woods, looking around in wonder. But you just stared at him with annoyance as you slowly creoy back into the jungle ignoring him for now. You kept at a distance, looking at him, trying ti get a semblance of where he was.

Your eyes were intense as they stared at him.

He never realized it either, making it easier for you to hide. It was surprisingly he hadn't even noticed you yet, even if it was a bit annoying. Your mind drifted to Hometree again, wondering what your father would say if he found out if you were stalking a dreamwalker. Well you couldn't care right now. You just had to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. Or you would end him.

.

.

.

"Gah!" You hissed at the animals, making them flee. Then you noticed one on the floor. In pain and not dead. Your expression softened and you kneeled besides it, muttering under your breath softly. Then of course he spoke.

"Woah, I gotta hand it to you... That was pretty badass." You didn't speak to him. You continued muttering the prayer, thanking the animal for it's presence and returning it's spirit to Eywa. "Hey, I don't know if you can understand me," he shifted to get up and you glanced over your shoulder, eyes hard and tail shifting, "but I want to thank you for saving my life." You growled at him and he arched his eyebrow. How strange.

He looked so strange...

"Hey, no need for the anger, sweetheart." You didn't know what that word meant. But neither did you care. You got up, removing your knife from the carcass now and starting to walk away. What was his problem? He just came in barging, and he expected you to not be angry?-

You then felt a hand on your tail and you tensed immediately,reacting fast and turning around, tackling him to the ground. You hissed at him and his eyes were wide, hands up, "woah, woah, easy... Easy."

"... You do not thank for this." Your blade was at his throat, your hand besides his head. It would have been so satisfying to just cut... But you didn't. You remembered the sign form the Atokirina. Your shoulders were still tense. But you shifted off of him and he sat up. Looking at you like a cautious kid that accidentally taunted the cat.

"You a parasite in this forest. Leave. Now." You got up and heard him laugh, getting up as well. "Well, I can guarentee I won't be leaving you alone now! C'mon, can't I stay? I have no where to go." "You cannot stay," you started to cross a log that acted as a bridge, "no sky person can ever learn to see." He let out a sound of confusion and you clenched your fists tighter, almost breaking your knife in one hand.

You turned around slowly and he was grinning like an idiot. "Well teach me and maybe I can learn."

You were just about to hit him, until you saw a cluster of Atokirina coming. You let out a quiet gasoline, and Jake looked at you slightly confused. "Uh, what are..." He trailed off as they then started to get on them, and he swatted at one. You grabbed his hand and spoke quickly, "Kehe, rutxe-" he swatted again and you tugged at him, speaking through gritted teeth, "Atokirina!"... He took that as his queue to stop.

He stood still and you let out a shaky breath. "And what are, uhm... Akotirina." "Atokirina." You corrected firmly. "Your tone is horrible. They are spirits of the great tree... Sacred spirits..." you muttered in awe. Soon enough, they disappaited from Jake and you grabbed his hand.

It had been roughly a week since you arrived on the Awa'atlu village's shoreline. When you initially arrived, the Olo'eyktan's son harassed you relentlessly.

There were many things he liked to call you. Freak, weirdo, dimwit, you name it.

There was nothing freak-like about you, per se, but the fact that you were from the forest made you a target to Aonung's bullying. What skills could a woodland girl teach sea people? It was dreadful that you had to hide among them in the first place.

Technically, you had no obligation to go into hiding with the Metkayina clan, but you felt as if the Omaticaya had nothing left for you when your childhood best friend, Neteyam, informed you that he and his family needed to flee.

When Neteyam initially told you that he had to abandon your clan, including you, you wailed into his arms as if he had just perished. You couldn't bear the thought of not being with Neteyam, even if it meant compromising your clan's safety.

The truth is, you overreacted so harshly because you’ve had feelings for Neteyam for years now. You’ve always been unsure if he reciprocated, but there were moments between the both of you where he’d send mixed signals; you didn’t know what shifted or when, but there was just something between you both that felt like you were more than just friends.

And now he wouldn’t be able to stay and see how your relationship would unfurl.

Maybe you were foolish to persuade Jake Sully into bringing you along, but he eventually agreed (albeit reluctantly), since you and his son made each other happy. Neteyam was pleased when you told him you were departing with him.

So there you were, well acquainted with the Metkayina, and accompanied by your dearest friend. Aside from Aonung's pestering, you could put up with it since you knew Neteyam would safeguard you.

However, the more time that you spent with the sea people, the more you began to suspect that it was only you who had detected something between you and Neteyam. You stopped sending hints, even if he overlooked them unintentionally, as it stung too much to persevere.

Aonung eventually stopped attempting to harass you, and you even developed a pleasant friendship with him. Tonowari, his father, had him apologize for his poor behavior; after that, he was actually fairly delightful to converse with.

This was your life now.

...

Neteyam sauntered along the coast, followed by Kiri and Lo'ak. He couldn't take his mind off you; were you safe? Was Aonung bothering you yet again? His father had chided him that he didn't need to be at your side all hours of the day, but he didn't quite understand why his father was amused when he talked about how Neteyam behaved with you. You were his best friend, of course he’s worried!

Regardless, Jake instructed him to keep an eye on his siblings, so he didn't have much of a choice in abandoning them and running to your rescue. Not with Lo'ak prowling behind him in search of trouble.

Neteyam maintained his walk, thinking to himself that he was exceedingly fortunate that you had left the clan for him, and although he wouldn't say it, he was overjoyed.

What he wasn't so thrilled with was how he'd discovered you'd grown closer to that jackass Aonung. You could talk to anybody you pleased, and he knew you were far too pure-hearted to entirely dismiss the Olo'eyktan's son, but why did he feel so bitter whenever he saw you together?

Speak of the devil.

Kiri pointed you out, but when she saw who you were with, she shuddered. “Look, it’s Y/N! And... Aonung.” She deadpanned.

Neteyam was paying little heed to what his sister was saying. No, he was paying close attention to how you were giggling at whatever Aonung said.

What the fuck?

Lo’ak nudged his shoulder. “Bro?”

Lo'ak waved his hand in front of Neteyam's face, which he instantly swept aside. What exactly did Aonung say to make you laugh that hard? You only laugh when you're with him!

Neteyam was practically seething, his fists clenched into balls, as Kiri and Lo'ak snickered to each other out of his earshot. If Kiri didn't know any better, she'd suppose Neteyam was thinking about the finest ways to strangle a (what might as well be) merman.

And truly, he was.

Lo’ak held his fist to his mouth to stifle his laughs. “Dude, are you jealous?”

Kiri placed a hand on Lo’ak’s shoulder, and looked away with a smile plastered to her face. “He totally is.”

Neteyam’s rage was now being directed towards his siblings. “What? No I’m not! Why would I be jealous?”

Lo’ak was still chortling when he pointed behind Neteyam, motioning that he should probably look. He turned around indignantly, and saw that Aonung had a hand on your arm. He was close. Too close for his liking.

And that look. Anyone could see that Aonung was flirting with you. He was maintaining direct eye contact with you, narrowing his gaze. He appeared to be listening carefully to what you were saying, but his smirk paired with his eyes passing over your lips indicated otherwise.

Neteyam just wanted to pummel his stupid, blue face in.

Kiri and Lo'ak burst out laughing as they witnessed Neteyam storm over to where the two of you were. He aggressively inserted his own hand where Aonung's own had originally been, shoving your body into his own by the shoulder. The unexpected intrusion caught you off guard.

“Oh! Neteyam!”

You beamed at his arrival right away, but Aonung frowned. Before you could enquire what Neteyam was doing, he stared daggers into Aonung's head, and hauled you away from him by your bicep. Aonung remained there stunned, staring at your back as you walked away.

“What the hell?”

Kiri and Lo'ak tripped over themselves on their way over to Aonung, howling with laughter, and Lo'ak smacked his shoulder in amusement.

“Sorry cuz, you never stood a chance!”

Aonung’s cheeks darkened deeply. He was thoroughly mortified; he had no idea you were and Neteyam were like that! (You’re not.)

...

Neteyam began to lose confidence throughout the walk once he had pulled you much further away. While you shouted at him to let you go, he inwardly cursed at himself, wondering why he had just done that.

Does he like you?

Your vehement protests about how Neteyam was causing you pain eventually ceased falling on deaf ears. His rage vanished when he realized he'd been treating you like a ragdoll for the entire walk, and he immediately felt horrible. He let go of your arm and buried his face in his hands, ashamed that he had done such a thing to you in the first place.

You rubbed your sore arm, and nudged his shoulder gently. “What’s wrong?”

He looked way too upset, and you rarely saw him like this, if ever.

“Why was Aonung looking at you like that?”

That struck you with irritation. “Are you serious? That’s what this is about?”

His eyes darkened at your words. How could it not be?

You started to raise your voice. “You cannot be for real. You’re just my friend, why are you being so overprotective? If Aonung likes me, that’s my business! Not yours!”

Neteyam snatched your wrist again, evidently upset by what you just uttered. He didn’t know what he was saying anymore. “The only person that can look at you like that is me!”

You went quiet for a time, then realization dawned on your features. “Hold up... do you like me?”

Suddenly, Neteyam’s gaze softened, and he could no longer be furious with you. “How could I not?”

He released your wrist, unsure of what to say next. When he noticed your prolonged silence, Neteyam whirled around, prepared to walk back to his home and cry his frustrations out. He was fighting back tears already; what was the point of telling you this anyway?

You gripped his shoulder and forced him to swivel around and face you. Neteyam could not cover his face, and he felt humiliated because he didn't know why he was acting in this manner. Why was he weeping over a silly look?

He was caught by surprise when you cupped his face in your hands, and wiped the stray tears away. Your irritation had completely dissipated. “You have nothing to be worried about.”

He sniffled. “Why?”

“Because I’ve liked you since forever, but I didn’t think you liked me back. There were so many mixed signals, and you never picked up on my hints, either!”

Neteyam was taken aback. He was at a loss for words.

You rolled your eyes. “Just kiss me, you big idiot.”

Your hand that was on his shoulder was now suddenly imprisoned in his grip, and he jerked you towards his body, lips crashing into yours. He pressed against you with ardor, as if you'd vanish if he didn't embrace you like you were the last Na'vi on Pandora.

Your nimble fingers found purchase in his braids. His hands slithered around your waist, drawing you flush against him, effectively deepening the kiss. He needed you so near that he could only sense your lips against his. When you would try and pull away, his desperate kisses would follow.

You feared Neteyam had forgotten you needed to breathe, because you had to roughly pull his head back by his braids to eventually get him to halt his feverish actions. The minimal bit of pigment on your lips had now smeared, a mark left by Neteyam that claimed you as his. Who the hell taught him to kiss like that?

As you both merely stared at each other, stunned, Neteyam spoke through labored breaths. “All mine?”

“I’m all yours.”

Bonus!

Lo'ak sipped his fruity iced drink, having witnessed the entire exchange from a distance. He patted Aonung's back.

“You wish that was you, huh?”

You and Neteyam have recently mated and you couldn’t be happier with the life is treating you right now. Waking up next to him, flying with him, even the simple things like hunting for food with him. Everything has more meaning now that you two are together. Bonded. Mated for life.

“What is this all about my love, where are you taking me?” you ask eyes full of curiosity and love for your mate. He hops onto his ikran and you follow his movements. “You will see when we get there y/n, it is a place i’ve discovered and I want to share it with you.” He replies with a smirk on his face, and with that you’re off.

You fly with him side by side, admiring his sun kissed face and the wind blowing through his hair. Occasionally drifting your ikran into his, earning a laugh from him. You’ve been flying for at least 45 minutes and don’t recognize the new area you’re in, nothing but the lush forest beneath you.

“We’re here!” He yells over the loud sound of wind in your ears. His ikran dives into what looks like just trees. What is this boy up to you think to yourself. It isn’t until you follow and break the forrest barrier of trees that you realize where he has lead you.

A gasp escapes your lips as you break the bond between yourself and your ikran. Looking around you see the bioluminescence of Pandora’s plant life underneath the moonlight and a beautiful fresh waterfall and spring. Overwhelmed by the beauty of where you are you turn to your beloved Neteyam to find he’s already looking at you. He grabs your hands in his bringing them to his lips, planting a short and sweet kiss. “I discovered this place hunting one night and I immediately knew that I had to share it with you.” Neteyam says with the most pure smile on his face staring into your eyes. “My Neteyam… it is gorgeous I-” You can’t even be bothered to complete your sentence as you take in that you are truly here, with him. Neteyam releases your hands and places his firmly your waist, pulling you into a sweet kiss. Your lips part and you rest your forehead on his.

“I see you y/n.”

“I see you Neteyam.”

Playfulness possesses your body as you run to the body of water, diving in head first. Neteyam following right behind you. You rise from the water with a splash and don’t see your mate, confused by this as you don’t see him anywhere else. That is until you feel yourself being lifted in the water from below siting on Neteyams shoulders. “AAARRRHHHHH” He growls trying to imitate an animal of some sort, a laugh exploding from you as he leans back dropping you into the water.

You hesitate for a second before nodding your head in agreement. The idea of seeing yourself with painted lips has always intrigued you. Marissa stands up to level herself with you and holds up two lipsticks, one is bright red - the one she's wearing, the other one is pink.

"Which one do you want?"

When you catch your reflection in the mirror for the first time, you can't help but break out into a giddy smile. The pink lipstick on your lips makes them appear bolder on your face, and your eyes are instinctively drawn to them. Marissa watches your reaction with a grin and compliments you on how beautiful you look. You too feel special, the same way you feel special when you dress up for celebrations. 

You jump to your feet soon after, eager to find your friends and show off your new look. But your heart shatters into a thousand of pieces when you see their confused faces. Spider and Kiri stare at you with widened eyes, and when Lo'ak follows their gaze to you, he bursts into laughter.

"Lo’ak, shut up," Kiri slaps her brother but it is too late.

"It just looks... weird," Spider adds with a whisper.

You squirm under their stares and make your way towards the exit, eager to get away. But your plans are quickly derailed when you bump into Neteyam. You don’t want him to see you like this.

"Whoa, where are you rushing off to?" Neteyam asks, as he places his hands on your shoulders. You hang your head low, avoiding his gaze.

"Nowhere," you mumble, trying to shake him off. "I'm going home. Just let me."

"What's wrong, yawne?" Neteyam lifts your chin up with his fingers.

You watch as his pupils widen when he catches a sight of pink on your lips. Your eyes threaten with tears, and your lip starts quivering involuntarily out of embarrassment. Surely, he must think you look ugly too. Before Neteyam can even open his mouth, you storm out of the facility.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

When Neteyam sees you quietly sobbing in your hammock, his chest tightens with ache. After finding out the way his siblings reacted to you earlier and scolding them for hurting his beloved, he practically ran to talk to you. 

"Yawne," Neteyam says softly before scooching himself in your hammock.

As you try to wipe away the tears of shame, Neteyam beats you to it, his hands gently cupping your cheeks. You know he hates it when you cry, always blaming himself for it. His face grimaces with pain, while he tries to dry the wetness off your skin. 

Neteyam's gaze then shifts to your lips, and you cringe, remembering that you still had the stupid lipstick on.

"I forgot to wipe it off," you mumble, embarrassed. 

"Leave it. I want you to keep it on."

"But I look ugly with it," you sniff.

"Nothing can ever make you look ugly, syulang," Neteyam leans in, nuzzling your face, "I think you look very pretty."

"You truly mean it? The others were laughing at me..."

"They are stupid children," he scoffs.

"They are."

"You know I don't like it when you're upset,” Neteyam pulls away slightly to look at you, his voice soft and soothing as he speaks, "Will you please smile for me?"

His words make you feel giddy, knowing that he speaks to you in a way that he doesn't with anyone else. You smile right away, eager to please him. He can’t help but smile back.

"Can I kiss you?" he asks cautiously, "I don't want to mess up your lipstick."

"I have a better idea," you chuckle.

You lean in towards Neteyam, and instead of kissing his lips, you plant a soft one on the corner of his mouth. His lips twitch at your touch, but he patiently lets you take your time. Pulling away slightly, you examine the lipstick mark you left on his skin. It’s a little faint, so you press another kiss to his cheek, this time harder. Then another one to his temple, and his forehead. Neteyam laughs under you, fully aware of the kiss marks you’re now leaving all over him. Finally, when his hands catch you by the waist and pull you onto his lap, you can't help but admire your work. Neteyam beams at you, his face and neck covered in pink marks of your lips.

"You’re done now?" he asks, noting your satisfied grin.

"Hmm, I think that’s enough," you tease, "Now everybody will know that you’re mine."

“Let me,” Jake held a hand out as he walked away from the ikran. Many Metkayina circled around and blatantly stared. You could feel the urge to curl in on yourself crawl up your spine quicker than you expected.

Quickly undoing the queue from your banshee, you ran to stand next to Kiri.

Your father slowly took steps toward the crowd, holding his hands out to signal that he meant no harm. Neteyam and Lo’ak followed him.

Cautiously, Jake looked back to you and Kiri and nodded, yet you didn’t move until Kiri did. It was beyond overwhelming to be eyed by a crowd of judgment as you walked, lowering your head in an attempt to shy away from the reality of it.

You heard footsteps ahead and angled your head upward slightly, jaw falling slack as you got a good look at the people before you. Two boys emerged from the crowd, your heart thrumming faster when you locked eyes with one in particular. The mere intensity from his gaze left you unable to breathe.

His aura oozed of condescension.

Neteyam and Lo’ak bowed their heads, fingers to their head as they greeted the mysterious Na’vis.

Waves began rustling beside you and you turned to look, watching as a beautiful girl hopped off of a fish? water dragon? albeit with extreme grace. It made you envious.

Apparently, you weren’t the only one entranced, as you brought your gaze back to the scene around you and saw Lo’ak, blatantly ogling the young woman. It was clear to anyone who had eyes.

“Hey,” he mumbled as she stood next to other Metkayina. She smiled and ducked her head.

Your amusement was cut short when you were reminded of who was behind you.

He took his time in examining you, never seeming interested to return the greeting in the slightest. His eyes seemed to stop on a particular area on the lower part of your body, and a smirk began to pull at his lips.

“What is that? Is that supposed to be a tail?” he asked, moving closer as the other followed behind him closely. They began to laugh loudly, and you noticed the one who caught your eye reaching out to touch it. You quickly turned around and hissed, slapping his hand away.

Your eyes darted to his and you took notice of the way his smirk dropped, now staring at you with a newfound glint in his gaze. His friend snickered behind him.

“Do not! Rotxo, Ao’nung!” you heard from the girl.

You turned around to look at Jake, immediately regretting your actions when you caught a glimpse of the expression he wore. You moved to the other side of Kiri and gripped the cloth that was loosely hung around your arms, looking at the ground.

The loud sound of wind whooshing above you was what got you to look up, eyes widening as you watched a huge creature with a tail and wings soar across the sky, planting itself into the water soon after.

A man half your size hastily hopped off the animal, making his way toward you and your family.

“Olo’eyktan, I see you, Tonowari,” Jake said, greeting the chief, Tonowari his name was. Neytiri and Neteyam mirrored his actions.

“Jake sully,” the chief returned the gesture, settling himself in front of your family. From behind, you could see another woman approaching. She was dressed beautifully, yet she held a distasteful expression on her face.

“I see you, Ronal,” your father was quick to say, your mother following suit.

A best of silence passed before anyone spoke again.

“Why do you come to us, Jake Sully?” Tonowari asked. Your father wasted no time and got straight to the point. “We seek Uturu,” he raised his arms, looking back to us. Gasps were heard amongst the crowd and your cringed a bit.

“Uturu?” Ronal asked, almost disbelievingly. “A sanctuary for my family,” he was quick to add on, Tuk was lifted into his arms and he looked to Tonowari and Ronal with pleading eyes. Ronal looked away, now beginning to move toward Lo’ak.

More moments of silence passed before a single word was uttered.

“Their arms are thin!” she declared, lifting Lo’aks arm to show the people. “Their tails are weak, they will be slow in the water,” she added, swiftly turning and pulling at Kiri’s tail. She muttered a quick ow and moved away from the Tsahik, but Ronal tried again.

“These children…” she paused, grabbing Kiri’s hand and analyzing with potent distaste, “are not even true Na’vi!”

The Metkayina’s gasped, your lips parted and you stared at Ronal with wide eyes. “Dad…” Kiri muttered, turning to look at him. She looked back to her quickly and took her hand back, “yes we are!”

After continuing to criticize your family, Jake decided that he had had enough and shoved his hand into the air, showing that he was born among sky people and proving that adaptation is possible.

Neytiri watched with disliking eyes, stepping out in front of Ronal once close enough.

“My husband was Toruk Macto,” she started, and immediately a cringe found it’s way onto your expression, as did it on everyone else’s, “he led the clans to victory against the sky people.”

At this point you had already zoned out, simply not interested in listening any longer. Gazing upon the beauty of the reef, your eyes accidentally met a pair of familiar blue ones. You held back a snarl, deciding that you no longer felt any interest in him after the stunt he pulled.

He tilted his head and that smirk returned, only this time it was faint. You were thinking of some way to respond, some way to tell him off, until he snapped his head towards the Olo’eyktan.

“—Makto and his family will be staying with us. But they do not know the sea, so they will be like babies taking their first breath. My son Ao’nung, my daughter Tsireya will be showing you to your marui and will train your children.”

“Father why—” he tried to protest, but Tonowari dismissed him before he could even finish his sentence.

At this, you stifled a laugh, watching this so called Ao’nung with humor before smiling sweetly, taking slow steps toward him.

“Please do show me where to go, as I am just a baby taking my first breath.”

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Come this way, we will be training here,” Tsireya said, smiling kindly before walking away. Lo’ak was the first to follow, but it’s not like you’d expected any less. He’d been pining over the girl for the last two days.

“I just don’t understand how she can be so happy all the time,” you muttered to Kiri as you stood, following after, albeit a bit further away than the others, “I hate it here.”

Kiri sighed and looked at you. “You hate it here? Or you hate Ao’nung?” she queried, deciphering your words for you. Just the sound of his name had you bitterly tugging on your bottom lip.

She wasn’t wrong. Here in the reef, it was absolutely stunning, certainly something you could get used to waking up to every morning. There was only one thing ruining your experience. A person, moreover a thing, but you hardly considered him as one.

You made sure to drag your feet extra slow as you reached the rock, gaze never leaving Ao’nungs as he watched with a hardened jaw. Everyone had already found spots, and it would only be your luck that the only available space left would be next to him.

“You will learn how to hold your breath today,” Tsireya explained, looking at each of you to make sure you understood. Tuk raised an eyebrow, scratching a spot on her head, “Don’t we already know how to do that?”

Tsireya smiled, shaking her head. “For longer, Tuk. If you want to live amongst us, you must know how to hold your breath longer.”

“Yeah,” Rotxo snickered, “you guys were terrible yesterday.”

You crossed your arms, looking at him, “don’t you think that if we knew that we’d be coming here, we’d practice?”

He looked to the sky in faux thought. Looked back to you. “Probably not.”

Fighting back a smile, you caught Ao’nung looking at you distastefully in the corner of your eye, smile immediately dropping as you turned to face him.

“What?” you spat.

He quickly looked to Tsireya, grumbling for her to hurry and get on with the lesson.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“No Lo’ak, you have to breathe from here,” she said for the third time, eventually just leaning over to show him herself. She placed one hand on his stomach, and then his chest. “Your heartbeat is fast…”

You watched amusedly, sharing knowing looks with Neteyam and Rotxo. Kiri was occupied with helping Tuk and they seemed to be doing much better than you. It was a bit humbling, watching your younger siblings nail something so simple contrary to you.

You felt a warm hand on your arm and you stiffened immediately, looking at the hand before looking at Ao’nung.

“Need help?” he taunted, wearing the smirk he knew you hated. He leaned closer, the space between you filling fast.

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“No.”

His eyes widened a fraction at your words, and it took a moment for you to clock what you had said.

“Yes. I meant yes, I— You’re close. Too close.” it was painfully obvious how out of breath you were, how flustered you became from just a simple touch.

Ao’nungs smirk grew and he just barely moved away.

“Trust me, I would rather be doing anything else. Just like you,” he muttered, though it sounded nothing like his usual biting and spiteful tone. Your eyes darted to his, brows furrowing slightly. He avoided your eyes and focused his attention elsewhere.

Although his eyes were looking at anything but you, you could feel his hand slipping from your arm and inching closer to your stomach, until finally his warm palm made contact.

You shivered, praying he didn’t notice. He suddenly went serious and his eyes met yours. You could not possibly know why, but you felt your stomach drop.

“…This okay?”

Your heart began to race.

Tongue darting out nervously, his eyes instantly dropped to your mouth and watched the action. You quickly moved his hand away, standing abruptly.

Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch you, the atmosphere suddenly felt suffocating.

Quickly apologizing, you blurted the only excuse you could think of and walked off. Looking over your shoulder, you found everyone paying no mind to it and resuming their previous activities.

Everyone but Ao’nung, who watched as you walked away with a set jaw.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

You had spent the last few weeks acting as if nothing had happened.

Except you were definitely trying to avoid him at all costs, but there were some situations where it was just completely unavoidable. Him and his group of fish friends would pick fights, purposefully irritate you and your siblings. It was always the same with him.

You hate him.

You hate him, you try to tell yourself. You try to convince yourself that you hate the way he looks at you, the way he smiles at you, the way you unconsciously find yourself casting looks into his direction, way more than you truly should.

You mindlessly stare into the dark sky and think over the maelstrom of thoughts and emotions running through you.

The thought that you merely entertain the idea of hating him, yet, do you really?

You’re dragged out of your thoughts before you can even decide, hearing the yelps of male voices. Immediately you stand and walk over to the sounds, and to your (not) surprise you’re met with the sight of Ao’nung and his friends fighting with your brothers. Kiri stood wordlessly behind them, watching it all play out.

“Kiri?! What—”

She bursts out in laughter, doubling over and leaning onto a tree for support.

You watch in bewilderment, not knowing which group to look at. Sighing, you decide to put an end to the fight, grabbing Lo’aks ear and shoving him behind you, glaring at the now frozen party of Na’vi.

Neteyam stood and walk past you without a word, grabbing Lo’ak by the arm and taking him away with him. Your snatched your gaze from your siblings and turn it onto Ao’nung, who was already looking at you.

Storming to him, you harshly grab him and drag him along, set on finding a private area and scolding his damn ears off.

Firmly yet gently urging him behind a large rock, you finally meet his eyes and clench your fists.

“Are you hurt?” you seethed.

“Awh—” he tried to say, but quickly shut up when he caught the look on your face.

“Seriously, do you ever let up?” you whispered, defeated. “Is it impossible for you to go one day without hurting my family in some way?”

Ao’nung could feel his mouth grow dry, and he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

“Now you can’t answer me? But I thought you always had something to say?” you continued, stepping closer. “Don’t you realize how cruel it is? We left our home for our safety, and yet we are treated like this by you. Only you.”

“Wait, if you would just let me—”

“Honestly? I don’t want to hear anything from you, Ao’nung,” you mumbled in defeat, turning to walk away. Ao’nung grabbed your hand and pulled you back firmly.

“Please,” he said in your native language, eyes searching yours deeply.

You exhaled sharply and shook your head, pulling your hand back.

“For the record, I wouldn’t have given a damn if you’re hurt or not,” you said, parting with that. Another lie to feed off of.

You’d be lying once more if you said it didn’t hurt you.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“You know…” you heard from above you.

Looking up, you saw Kiri, Neteyam, and Lo’ak. Already, you knew it was bad news.

“The answer is no,” you stated simply and continued to feed your ilu.

Kiri kneeled down to your height and stopped you from getting another feeder fish. “Hear us out, at least,” she pleaded, looking back to your siblings knowingly. Sighing, you creased your brows and turned to face them, staring expectantly.

“Since, you know, you are the best sister we could’ve ever asked for…” Lo’ak started, using his puppy eyes to his advantage, he opened his mouth to continue, but you held a hand up. “If you all are going to lie, at least get Kiri or ‘teyam to do it. I might believe them,” you smiled, raising a brow to Lo’ak.

“What? But the eyes always worked!” he groaned.

Eyes, you thought. It sent you into a whirlpool of how he would look at you, how his eyes—

You held a finger up in correction, “Used to.”

“Well,” Neteyam jumped in, swiftly stepping in front of Lo’ak to take over, “we wanted to show our appreciation… of some sort.”

“And how will you do that?” you inquired.

“Get on your ilu. We’re taking you somewhere,” he said, calling for his ilu as soon as he finished his sentence, Kiri and Lo’ak doing the same.

Despite your suspicions, you still followed them into the water.

—

The bioluminescence contrasted to the darkness of the night sky was truly one of the most beautiful things you’d ever seen. The sun had just set and you were still following your siblings to wherever godforsaken place they were taking you. You heard Lo’ak signal for you to turn right, and what you saw had rendered you completely speechless.

Large, beautiful rocks that rounded and appeared as half circles, floating rocks like the hallelujah mountains back home, luminous green vines that contrasted the purple color of the tree below the water.

Your amazement never faltered as you admired the scenery around you. Kiri caught up next to you and smiled with you, taking a look around for herself. “It really is beautiful isn’t it?”

“What is this place?” you whispered, turning to face her. She ran her hand through the waves and looked to the tree. “This is their tree of spirits. They call it the Cove of Ancestors.”

“Stunning…” you murmured absentmindedly, slowly venturing deeper into the cove. “Can I go under and—” you turned around to ask, but when you looked back, Kiri was nowhere to be seen. They were all nowhere to be seen.

You blinked, breathing in shakily. You knew they were up to no good, but this? What made them think to leave you alone in a vast ocean miles away from shore.

“Kiri!” you shouted, praying to Eywa she hadn’t really left you. “Neteyam?!”

Fuck. Assholes. You tugged on your lip with your teeth harshly.

You heard a noise behind you and snapped in the direction. Ice struck your nerves. You were stranded in an ocean. Alone. With dangerous creatures all around you.

“Guys!” you tried again, not that you were expecting a response.

Except, you got one.

“You okay?”

You whipped your head in the opposite direction and despite the relief that flooded through your body, you were still extremely pissed.

“Ao’nung?” you hissed.

You stared at him, wondering just what the hell he would be doing here so late at night, until it clicked.

“You put them up to this?” you asked, so quiet he almost didn’t catch it. He watched the way your face dropped and cursed, bringing his ilu forward to meet you.

Turning your head away, you wanted to command your ilu to move away, but you just couldn’t find it in you.

“Let me explain, just follow me to this rock. Please,” he pleaded with you. “Please.”

Silently, you nodded and followed him up the rock. Still you refused to meet his eyes. A hand came up and cupped your jaw, making it harder with every second that passed to deny him of what he wanted.

“I didn’t bring you here to make you upset,” he whispered.

You scoffed and shoved his hand away, finally meeting his gaze. “And why would I believe you? What took you so long to come out! It’s like you get a rise out of—”

“You were scared?” he cut you off. “Yes! …Yes I was scared, Ao’nung. I thought I got left alone.”

“I wouldn’t ever do that to you.”

Wordlessly staring at him, your lips parted unconsciously. Crossing your arms, you looked away. “Well, I wouldn’t put it past you.”

Ao’nung sighed and dropped his head, looking at everything but you.

He merely liked the idea of hating you, because the truth was that he loved you.

“You don’t know?” he asked, you furrowed your brows and looked back at him. “Know.. what?”

“We were fighting because I wanted to tell you this.”

Although you were supposed to hate him, curiosity couldn’t stop you from wanting to know more. You stepped closer into his warmth, hands finding solace on his forearms.

“I see you.”

Shaky breaths intermingled with one another. You felt weak as you took his words into account. Slowly, you slid your hands higher until they met the nape of his neck, really basking in the feeling of his touch.

“I’ve been lying to myself since I first saw you,” you muttered, pulling him closer, “I cannot lie any longer.” Opening your eyes, you hazily examined his features. The features you tried to fool yourself into believing you weren’t in love with. “I see you, Ao’nung.”

Reaching down, he captured your lips in his and poured every ounce of passion and every ounce of his feelings into the kiss. His mouth was doing way too well at swallowing every little noise you made, reciprocating it with low groans and fleeting touches.

You were all too focused on the feeling of how perfectly his lips molded against yours, you grew lightheaded fast and pulled away for air. Still, he continued to pepper kisses over your cheeks, neck and collarbone, desperate for any kind of contact with you.

Your face was flushed and you were out of breath, this didn’t go unnoticed by Ao’nung and he smiled against your skin at the sight of his works.

“Getting a kick out of this Ao’nung?” you sighed, jokingly flicking at his arm.

“Trust me, its a sight I could get used to seeing.”