꒰ ˶• ༝ •˶꒱

quiet. a mere grumble under his breath. if you were not leaned over him like this you would not have even heard him. such an odd twinge to his tone; laced with something you can’t quite decipher. can’t quite pick up on. it isn’t necessarily anger, but something flirting along the lines of it.

“me? don’t tell me you have went around spreading rumors that i am possessed by eywa’s evil sister again. i thought you stopped that when we were kids.” you laugh through it, because the jagged edges of his timbre are making your fingers itch. “you’re going to ruin my reputation.”

he scoffs. condescending, dismissive. normally you’d take that as a good sign; a call back to his regular grating demeanor. at this specific moment, however, you find annoyance in it.

“your reputation is fine,” he tilts, gives a particularly harsh press of his knife that makes you think this just might be the time where it snaps. miraculously, it doesn’t. “so completely fine.”

“then what could they possibly find reason to speak of me for?” you press, rubbing your thumb over the cord of his necklace, twisting it around your fingers. “i have not caused any trouble lately. haven’t set fire to any maruis. why, there’s nothing that i can think of that could possibly warrant—“

“they speak of your lack of mate.”

his hands are working harder, less refined. jaw clenching, deltoids growing stiff below you. it’s all starting to air itself out, his jaws have cracked open just enough that you can finally see the pretty pink pearl that rests on the bed of his tongue. but it is not enough, not yet.

“then all they speak is the truth,” you shrug over him, keep your gaze locked on his movements. you want to be sure, before you jump to the assumptions that are creating hurdles in your mind. “there is no harm in speaking of public knowledge.”

“they—“ he hitches, twists his face up like his next words are sour on his tastebuds, “they are voicing their thoughts on potentials for you. they think.. rotxo is the best option.”

“oh, yes. rotxo would be a fine potential mate.”

and, ah. there it is. the coup de grace.

ao’nung snaps his head around towards you so fast you hardly have time to lean back to avoid getting smacked in the chin by his skull. there’s a fissure between his brows, his eyes have widened past the aggravated slits they were before. his mouth is cracked open in disbelief, of the fact that you agreed with him or another matter, you aren’t sure. either way, it is clear now what has been getting under the heir’s skin.

he's jealous. and you can't help but find that the slightest bit amusing. it's not often you have ao'nung in the palm of your hand like this; akin to a bug squirming under the pad of your thumb with no clear route of escape. you think you can play this up, just a little.

"you do not think that," he states, like he needs to speak it into existence. like if he says it then it will ring true, change your mind.

(he doesn't need to change your mind, but he doesn't need to know that right now).

"why would i not?" you hum, tip your head like you're truly contemplating it. "he is sweet. has a tender heart. and he is always so quick to help me. he doesn't even complain. i think taking him as a mate would be a good decision."

"the only thing good about rotxo is his hair," ao'nung spouts, rolls his eyes at you as his face fills up with indignation. "stupid, pretty boy goody two shoes."

"oh, you're right! and he's nice to look at," you agree, nod your head right along with it, "how could i forget?"

his cheek dips; he's sucking it in between his teeth. you've really done it, you think. setting him off has never been so easy. sure, it’s never too hard to get him riled up in the middle of a bickering match. but like this? aggravated over, what, exactly? the thought of you with someone else?

maybe you’re enjoying this a bit too much.

“he is not your type.” a bold proclamation, ao’nung spits out. grasping for straws; searching blindly. “you would not go well with him.”

“i think he is my type, actually,” you dispute, and he’s stopped all his movements now. knife long forgotten as he seethes over every word you speak. “kind. loyal. good morals. easy on the eyes. yes, definitely my type. that checks off the list.”

he purses his lips, knots up his brows. “that cannot be the list.”

“no?” you peruse, play into him. he makes this too easy, really. “what do you think is on the list, then? moody? messy? long hair? a tendency to be mouthy? being the chief’s son?”

that earns you a shove off of him; a click for him to realize you’ve been fucking with him this entire time. biting back your shit eating grin would be impossible so you don’t even try to. nor do you stop the laughter that bubbles out of you as he goes back to his knife work and curses you under his breath.

you reach for him again except this time you walk around until you’re in front of him. one hand on his shoulder, you lean down to shove the knife and sharpener out of his hands and plop yourself right into the slot his crossed legs have made. his gaze is narrowed at you, his lips jutted. you simply smile—innocent, sweet—as you slide your hands around to cup the nape of his neck.

“i don’t think rotxo could handle me,” you murmur, sickeningly saccharine in such a direct contrast from seconds before. ao’nung doesn’t budge. “and the good ones are always so boring. if he was my mate, when would i ever get the chance to get up to trouble?”

“you are trouble,” ao’nung scoffs; acting annoyed, fed up. but his hands give him away as they meet the dimples of your lower back, as they slide up your spine to hold you secure so you don’t fall backwards.

his facade of pretending to not care has never been too full proof. there’s been cracks in that glass since day one.

“your trouble,” you grin. your fingers begin to draw circles along the back of his neck, tease at his hairline. “you made me this way, you know.”

“i made you nothing,” he rebuts. “you are the one who always comes up with the pesky ideas that get us scolded.”

“ah, you’re right,” you agree with a faux sigh. “humor and brains. i guess i’m the funniest and smartest person alive. truly, you should be honored.”

ao’nung rolls his eyes, peels his hands off of you. “forget ability, i do not wish to handle you now. rotxo can have you, for all i care.”

“oh?” you quirk, begin to stand up. “should i go see what he is up to—“

“sit,” ao’nung orders before you can rise no more than a few inches off of his lap; hands gripping your waist to tug you back down. the playfulness drains from his eyes, that annoyance—jealousy—flashes across sea foam irises for just a moment. “you are not funny.”

you bite the edge of your lip, making your grin turn slanted. he is so fun to tease, to toss around. his palms are warm on the dip of your waist. sliding your hands further back, you skim your finger along the side of the braid encasing his queue. faint, light. he tries to hide the shiver it causes but you pick up on it regardless. and that only makes you grin wider.

“they will speak of me until i choose a mate,” you hum as you lean closer to him, minimize the distance between your faces. “rotxo is not the only name that will be paired with mine. they all like to place their bets, you know.”

“their bets are stupid,” ao’nung mutters; gruff and rumbling out of his chest as his attention flickers, falters, the closer you get.

being this close is nothing new. being this touchy is nothing new, either. but it’s almost like your skin is buzzing, your energies feeding off one another in the moment that sends you tumbling into a smug streak. or maybe, that’s just the power ao’nung holds over you and you’re scared to admit it.

“you only think they’re stupid because your name is being outnumbered in the betting pool.” maybe that’s a little mean, but it’s fun. your fingertips are heavier now, more directed as you trace the divots of his braid with one hand and gauge the rise and fall of his chest with the other. “if you were winning, would they be stupid then?”

“i am winning,” ao’nung conveys, so sure and lacking any sense of doubt in the slightest; a variance from a few moments before. and that, well, that actually makes you falter—for just a second.

“and how do you figure that?” you mumble out the question into the minute slot between the two of you. bated and breathy.

ao’nung hooks an arm around your waist, his other hand sliding up to grip the hinge of your jaw. not harsh, not rough, but firm. cradling you carefully but securely; solidly. your breath hitches, your fingers pause on their skimming across his queue encasing.

“because i am the only one who gets to do this,” he says. blunt and honest and certain as he closes the gap severing you.

he kisses you full and deep and warm. he kisses you like he has not eaten in days and you are the one thing that can sate his hunger. he kisses you like the ocean kisses the shore; yearning and all consuming, and rushing back once more as soon as their lips must part.

and he does; chase your lips as you pull back to catch your breath. places one, two, three pecks there before he deems it a safe retreat. his eyes are lidded, but no longer from frustration. that signature crooked, haughty smirk of his is curved into his pale lips. and instead of smacking it off, you’re considering how many more kisses it would take to wipe it away.

“oh yeah,” he chuckles, lips brushing over yours as he’s already leaning in again. “so winning.”

and you can’t help but agree.

You, who always disappeared in the early hours of the day, only to return for supper, claiming you were on yet another “quest.”

You, who would spend all your time dawdling, choosing to explore the forests surrounding your home instead of training for your iknimaya. Your rite of passage to becoming one of the people.

You, who despite slacking off every chance you got, could still best Neteyam in every training activity. No matter how lazy you seemed, you had the talent. The potential to be as good of a warrior as Neteyam did.

He loathed it. The way the elders would bring up your name alongside his in hushed gossips about your generation of warriors. Loathed the way he couldn’t even disagree with them.

Because when all is said and done, you were an incredible warrior, and he couldn’t stop thinking about how you could beat him without breaking a sweat.

Neteyam never understood how you were so much better than him when he’d spend tenfold the amount of time you would honing his skills. It didn’t make any sense.

And he absolutely despised how your face was the first to flash in his mind when others were talking about his generation’s strongest warriors.

He swore to Eywa that he would never admit out loud how much he respected you after that. How much he admired your abilities. Because knowing you, you’d be all smug about it.

But he hated how you chose to walk the path of a healer. He thought of it as wasted potential. You could’ve been by his side as his equal. Instead choosing to hide your talent for combat, confining it to the walls of your healing tent.

Although, maybe it was for the best. He wouldn’t have to see your stupid grin every time you’d successfully complete a hunt. That stupid face that he’d be forced to see for years to come.

𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧…

You had spent the better parts of your childhood training for this day. The day you could finally complete your rite of passage. Your first chance to mark your transition into adulthood.

Everyone (you and your friends) made sure Neteyam knew that they wouldn't let him live this day down if he failed his first attempt at his iknimaya. Especially when the both of you stepped forward simultaneously to begin your challenge, focused intensely on the multicoloured mountain banshees in front of you.

When your eyes landed on one, slightly tucked away behind a few others, it stared back, a piercing screech cutting through the air as surrounding ikran began taking flight.

Neteyam watched as you almost immediately found your ikran, his eyes still searching for one of his own, eyes finally locking with one.

He watched as you swiftly muzzled the ikran, mounting yourself on its back as it fought back, desperately trying to undo the binds around its snout. The way you quickly made tsaheylu without a moment's hesitation.

He hated the sound of your scream as the banshee dove off the cliff with you on its back, the chance to complete your iknimaya and earn the title of ikran makto. The way he couldn't check whether you were okay or plummeting to your death without risking his own life.

When he finally made tsaheylu with his ikran, his first thoughts weren't to show off that he had completed his rite. It was to calm his frayed nerves, to see for himself that you were safe.

As if his ikran understood already, it took a nosedive off the edge of the floating mountain, only pulling out of it when he was a mere inches away from colliding with another set of floating rocks.

His head immediately snapped towards the sound of cheering. Your cheering. When he turned to look beside him, he saw a bright flash of colour. The colour he had seen minutes prior dive off the ledge that had left a sense of dread that settled in his stomach as he thought of the worst case scenario.

You settled into a steady pace beside him, eventually landing back on the edge of the floating mountain, cheers from your fellow warriors erupting around the two of you.

Neteyam hated you. Not because you had bonded with an ikran and beaten him (in his books) yet again.

But because the thought of you dying in front of his very eyes terrified him more than he would've ever thought, because he looked for you first when he successfully completed his iknimaya. Not his friends, not his younger siblings, not even his father whom he desperately wanted to please.

He hates that your reaction to him completing his rite meant more to him than anyone else.

Not that he'd admit it out loud.

As if it couldn’t get any worse for the boy? His ikran was mated. To none other than your brightly coloured banshee. Meaning the two of you were almost always beside each other in flight formations.

Neteyam swore from that day onwards that Eywa had it out for him.

𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞…

There was nothing Neteyam hated more than finding himself in his grandmother’s tent, watching you dance around with practiced ease. Your graceful, methodical movements held purpose as you grabbed everything you needed before turning to him.

Why did you just have to excel at everything you did? You had learned the ways of a healer in mere months, working your way up to now learn directly from his grandmother.

And why was he always the one you tried new recipes on? Surely he didn't visit the healers quarters that often...

As much as he really didn't want to stroke your ego, the ointments and salves that you'd test on him always worked better than he thought. He couldn't even remember he was injured within the next few days.

Sometimes he’d have the misfortune of being treated solely by you, left alone by his grandmother as you’d rub salves across his injuries. The heat of your fingertips leaving him painfully aware of his surroundings.

You’d let out quiet teasing comments as you massaged the ointments into his skin. The mighty warrior being so reckless with himself on hunts and missions, leaving him exposed in front of you.

He’d let out small hisses as you’d cover more tender areas. Mentally cursing himself for allowing you to see this part of him that he tries so desperately to keep hidden from everyone in the clan.

Yet he slowly eased up as you continued, the tension leaving his shoulders and he felt your touch. He knew you could feel it too.

The poor boy knew you’d hold moments like these over his head 'til the day he died.

He could practically hear the amused chuckles, the hushed whispers that would follow him for the remainder of the day once he left your tent. Because for Eywa knows why, he was always treated by you if not his grandmother. Not another elder, not his sister, just you.

But what he hated the most about having you as the one who would tend to his injuries, was the fact that he knew you would keep moments like these secret. You could tease him all you want, but you wouldn't tell a soul about anything that happened between the two of you in your healing tent.

He knew that he didn't have to worry about any unwanted attention directed his way afterwards, that you respected him and his privacy as much as he did you.

He hated you for being the way you were. For being someone he could feel himself relax with. Someone he didn't have to worry about putting a front up to.

𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧…

He hates this. Hates you for and your ridiculously flirty comments towards him. Hates himself for being unable to control his heart rate whenever he hears them. And he absolutely despises the young na'vi that's been following you around like a lost viperwolf pup.

The boy had been by your side practically every second of the day ever since you saved his life after a raid gone wrong.

That was weeks ago.

He couldn't even go to you when he needed to be patched up anymore.

He was rigid the first time he walked into your quarters and saw him sitting beside you as you explained the best healing techniques. And you noticed how tense he was the whole time with the additional presence.

He hated how your once private moments were now being turned into teaching lessons in a party of three.

Curse you for noticing. Because after that you passed the word to his grandmother, ensuring she was the one to tend to him instead of you.

But what really ticked Neteyam off was the fact that you were entertaining the boy. You allowed him to follow you around, smiling and laughing at things he said, inviting him out when you left the village to gather supplies for healing.

You used to ask him to go with him. Granted, he waved you off every time, claiming he had duties to finish when in reality, all he was really doing was ignoring the way his heartrate would spike around you.

Now it was like he was a mere afterthought.

Perhaps it was his fault. He'd been so wrapped up in whatever you made him feel and how to get it under control that he had completely brushed your feelings off.

Neteyam absolutely hated you for just existing at this point. Because how could one person know everything about him when nobody else did. Not even his family.

He hated that your absence left such a big gap in his daily life. He hated that he'd grown so accustomed to having you constantly around. And he absolutely hated the way his heart ached at each laugh and smile that others could pull from you during times you used to spend by his side.

But there’s no way he was in over his head. You had to feel it too. The connection, the spark. There was no way you didn’t. So why were you just acting like he was the same as every other na’vi you talked to?

He almost tripped over himself when he heard whispers of another na’vi wishing to court you. Moments from his younger years playing through his mind.

You when you'd beat him in hand to hand combat. Your smile as the two of you flew beside each other after completing your iknimaya. Your gentle hands across his back as you tended to his injuries.

But Neteyam hated you. Everything about you. That dumb smile and those sweet words you’d whisper. You infuriated him.

𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧…

You’ve cursed him. At least that’s what he told himself.

And how did he come to this conclusion you may ask?

Because as of recently, he’s been unable to get you out of his head. Everything he did somehow reminded the poor boy of you.

His apparent distress was very noticeable as well. His grandma noticed the way his eyes snapped to the entrance of the hut. Almost as if hoping it was someone in specific.

He brushed her off when she gently asked about it.

His siblings noticed how much of a pushover he’d been as of lately. He hardly scolded Lo’ak when he did something stupid. Didn’t stop Kiri from wandering the forest on her own. He didn’t even try to decline Tuk when she asked him to play dress up with her.

They even cornered him after another week passed of complete compliance. Forced him to spit out whatever had him so dazed.

He wished he could give them an answer. But truthfully, he hardly knew himself what was happening. Everything was attacking him all at once. And knowing his siblings, they wouldn’t let him live it down.

Neteyam knew something was wrong when his father pulled him aside, asking him if everything was okay. Telling him he had a distant look in his eyes.

He tried brushing it off, convincing himself more than his father that everything was fine. That he was just tired.

But the way his head turned to Jake at the mere mention of your name told a completely different story.

The boy immediately tried to play it off, covering his anticipation with a cough. But his father already clocked it.

Turns out he and Neytiri had their suspicions about the pair of you for years. You were the only one Neteyam seemed to deem worthy of mention over meals. The only one they noticed to have the skills to rival their son’s.

You pushed him to be stronger, better. Without knowing it, he had shaped himself into the na’vi he was in the best ways possible because of you.

Neteyam thought about it. About having you by his side all these years. All the times he’d dust himself off after having his ass handed to him. When he’d seek you out to tend to his injuries over others (he always claimed it was because you were probably with his grandmother anyways).

He thought about how he hated all those moments. Or… how he thought he did.

Jake seemed to notice the gears turning in his son’s head and let out a chuckle, patting him on the shoulder.

‘You know what you have to do.’ He offered a small smile as he dismissed Neteyam for the rest of the training session.

Did he? Not really. Was he going to try anyways? Yes, yes he was.

It didn’t take him long to find you chatting with that same skxawng that wouldn’t leave you alone. The anger that bubbled in his chest as he saw you smile at someone else practically confirmed his feelings for you.

He pulled you aside, not even bothering to excuse himself in front of the other na’vi boy.

For a moment, he just stared at you. At the face he spent years convincing himself he hated. At the one he fell for somewhere while dancing along the line between love and hate.

Neteyam didn’t wait for you to speak—to question why he abruptly interrupted your conversation with the other boy. He just went for it.

Truthfully, the boy had absolutely no idea where to start. The whole situation only happened because of an impulsive decision. But that didn’t stop the words from tumbling out.

Somewhere along the lines of ‘I hate you.’ and ‘I see you,’ Neteyam had lost track of what he was saying. It wasn’t until you physically cut him off that his mind caught up to his mouth.

You kissed him. Gentle, fierce, so sure of yourself. It was so… you.

He hated you. Hated the way his knees nearly gave out on him as you returned his feelings, the way your smile had his heart pounding in his ears.

Neteyam hated how much he loved you.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜

How Neteyam ended up in this position was beyond him. With you lying next to him, his arm around you, looking up at the stars.

But he was by no means complaining. In fact, he was savouring every second of it.

His eyes flicked between you and the sky above, thoughts racing in his mind. Thoughts about how stupid he was. How he could’ve lived like this—with you like this with him—a long time ago.

Because his feelings were always present. Dormant beneath his ribcage, covered with the excuse of rivalry and hatred. He knew they were there. Just didn’t want to admit it.

You gave him such a hard time about how long it took for him to come to terms with his feelings.

Despite it all, he didn’t regret a single thing. He grew to love it all.

You and your stupidly smug grin as you’d hold up the first catch of the hunt. He adored the sparkle in your eyes knowing your skills had shone through again.

The way the two of you were forced beside each other during flight formations because both of your ikran couldn’t be apart from each other for longer than they absolutely needed to. He silently learned to appreciate knowing you’d be nearby, watching his back during raids.

Your experienced hands that he used to hate feeling all over him. The gentle touch he had come to savour as the heat your fingers left cut through the sting of the treatments.

How jealousy took over his sense of reason every time he saw you smile at something another boy said. He never learned to love the ugly feeling it left in his chest, he just knew he trusted you, and he loved you for your loyalty.

He used to hate the way you slowly consumed his thoughts. The way everything he did reminded him of you. Yet slowly, he accepted it as the days went on. His thoughts of you pushed him to do his best.

No matter how ridiculous you were, or how infuriating you could be, you were wholeheartedly his. He wouldn’t trade that fact for the entirety of Pandora.

He loved you. Your quirks, your strength, even the stubbornness that challenged his. He didn’t know why, or how. He just did. And he learned to let the feeling blossom as your relationship grew.

Neteyam didn’t know what he did in his past life to earn you in this one, but he prayed to Eywa that he could work hard enough to earn you again in the next. And every one that followed.

it was meant to be a short trip. he was told that it would only take three days at most. his father had ordered for him and a few other warriors to go meet with ta'unui olo’eyktan to talk over the reinforcements of their reef borders. for many years, they had been allies who helped each other in times of need and ao’nung knew that if he were to take over his father as olo’eyktan of the metkayina, he should be able to handle a few talks about border control.

unfortunately for him, their discussions lasted longer than anticipated. though ao’nung was glad to be surrounded by sand and water rather than the humidity of the forest, he still did not feel at home.

ao’nung felt that there was something missing, and deep down in his heart knew it was just you that he missed.

it had gotten to the point that everything he saw reminded him of you, and ao’nung was beginning to think he was losing his mind. the only consolation he found in his time away was an imperfectly shaped light blue pearl.

during his third morning away from you, ao’nung swam long enough that it would have been impossible to miss it. the way that the midday sun shone through the water, almost making a spotlight, was the only sign he needed from the great mother to take it with him. the pearl was something so simple and yet so reflective of you, that he knew it was something that you would love. the shape was unique and elegant, just like how he saw you.

ao’nung spent the rest of that afternoon with the artisans of the ta’unui elders. they taught him how to create a pendant out of the pearl, and helped him fashion a necklace to bring home to you. they teased him for being clueless and clumsy with his hands, yet they commended ao’nung for being a thoughtful suitor. ao’nung told them stories about you two growing up together, but he did not share that you were already arranged to be mated. when he finished, ao’nung was touched by the older women who prayed to the great mother to bless your courtship.

honestly, ao’nung had no idea if you would see the necklace as a courting gift or if you would even bother to wear it at all. the only thing he knew was that he wanted was to impress you, and he was willing to accept any reaction you would give him.

ao’nung kept the pearl necklace close to him over the next few days. he used it as an anchor to get him through the meetings and endless discussions, and ao’nung found comfort in knowing you would be the one holding it soon.

hours after eclipse, their party arrived late and exhausted on the shores of awa’atlu with nobody to greet them. though he wanted nothing more than to just leave them and go home, he knew he had to say a few words as their leader. so, ao’nung told everyone that they did well, and that they deserved a good night’s sleep after their week of hard work before dismissing them.

in silence, he hastily made his way to his marui on the outskirts of the village. ao’nung wanted the comfort of his own space, and he did not care about the hunger in his stomach enough to look for something to eat as he walked through the entryway.

much to ao’nung’s surprise, there was a basket of fresh fruit sitting on the table. he curiously peeked under the covers of the plate beside it, and found that they contained his favourite dish.

that night, ao’nung went to sleep with a belly full of food, and dreams of you wearing a blue pearl necklace.

⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄ ⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄ ⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄

“you came home late last night.”

“mama!” you shrieked in fright, and turned to look at the woman with your hand clutching your chest.

“and have you seen my fruit basket, ma 'itetsyìp?”

“you scared me!”

“you’re too jumpy for a woman covered in all those tattoos,” she tutted, and you heard you father laugh from outside.

“i am jumpy,” you crouched down to pick up the comb that you dropped. “because my mother has made it a habit to creep up on me.”

“ma 'itetsyìp, i was simply asking if you have seen my basket,” she chuckled. “i planned to bring fruit to the tsahìk, but i cannot seem to remember where i’ve placed it.”

you continued combing your hair and replied with as much nonchalance as you could muster, “i have not seen it, but i’m sure it will turn up somewhere, mama.”

your mother met your eyes in the mirror with a hint of suspicion in her gaze. she did not for one second believe that you did not know where the basket was, but she was more curious than angry about why you were lying. she racked her mind for what you could have possibly done with her dear basket, but your mother figured you would give it back soon enough. hopefully, it would come with an explanation for the unusual secrecy.

“hm, i suppose i do have plenty of other baskets to choose from,” she pondered. “but what of you coming home late?”

your father peeked his head from outside your window.

“i’m heading to meet with the olo’eyktan,” he announced. “ao’nung’s party came back last night.”

“that is great news!” your mother watched you as she spoke to her mate. “i hope that he had a successful trip.”

“me too, ma muntxate,” your father replied to her sweetly. “i’ll let you know later. see you both tonight!”

“see you later, papa,” you smiled at him briefly, before you addressed your mother. “and to answer your question, i came home late because i forgot something at the teacher’s hut.”

“did you go to meet ao’nung?”

“are you going to ignore what i literally just said?”

“i just find it funny that your father said ao’nung returned last night, and you also came home late last night,” your mother was adamant to get something out of you before you left.

“that is called a coincidence, mama.”

unfortunately for her, you did not want to give her the satisfaction hearing what she wanted to hear. the woman still has not learned the art of subtlety, but you were innocent of her accusations. you could tell she expected more by the way her brows furrowed together. perhaps she would be happy to even just hear you say ao’nung’s name, but you did not.

instead, you busied yourself by gathering the things you needed for your morning lessons with the children of the clan. you had a hectic day ahead of you because after the children, you were going to have lessons with some of the older kids. though the idea of being surrounded by hormonal and moody teenagers was daunting, one of the elders asked you last night if you could take over for today. since he said that he had to take care of his sick grandson, there was no way that you were going to say ‘no’ to him. this only meant that you knew that there was a good chance that you would be busy until dinner.

“it would be a shame if ao’nung had to leave again soon.”

you shook your head to stop yourself from laughing.

“mama, i am going to be late,” you sidestepped her. giving her a kiss on the cheek before you head out the door, you added, “but i will see you later. please tell ronal tsahìk that i said hello.”

as your day started with chattering children who were full of energy, ao’nung was on the other side of the village.

he was one of the first few people to arrive to the chief’s hut, walking in only minutes after your father did.

“ma ao’nung! it is good to see you!” your father patted him on the shoulder. “how was your trip home?”

“kaltxì, ma leyokoaktan,” ao’nung grinned at him. “i nearly fell asleep on my skimwing, and we got home later than expected because of some rough weather yesterday morning.”

he received a guffaw in return.

your father was a kind man, despite what the sharp angles and hard corners of his face might say to those who did not know him. he was the best hunter out of the whole clan, and he was close friends with ao’nung’s own father. the two of them carried out their iknimaya together as boys, and have been through battles side by side over the years. he was a strong man and made sure that you would be strong too, hence why you were so talented with a spear and crossbow.

despite your skills and being decorated with many tattoos similar to the other warriors, you rarely attended these meetings. ao’nung knew that you chose to stick to teaching the children and took on other roles in the clan because you believed that there has been too much violence in the reef already. you wanted a better future for the metkayina, a peaceful future, and ao’nung supposed that it made sense why the elders arranged for your mating.

the clan needed a leader with ao’nung’s warrior spirit, but it also needed a compassionate and kind leader like you.

“did you manage to eat when you arrived?” your father asked with concern.

“i did. there was food left in my marui,” ao’nung replied. “but i am unsure who left it there. i assumed that it was my mother.”

“she must have known you would be starving!”

your father rather liked ao’nung. he thought that ao’nung was strong, clever, and accomplished. he knew tonowari and ronal well from their many years of friendship, and trusted them like his own blood. just the fact that they raised ao’nung told your father all he needed to know about the young man. when the elders convened to pair you together, your father could have cried with joy.

as the conversation flowed between them, and more people entered the hut, your father made an observation with a laugh.

“you’re beginning to look more like your father each day, boy!”

“are you sure about that, ma leyokoaktan?” ao’nung acted offended. to tease his own father, he added, “i think i get my good looks from my mother.”

the joke was a hit among the other warriors who laughed, and the olo’eyktan jokingly glared at his son.

“when everyone is finished making fun of their chief,” tonowari said sarcastically. “then i would like ao’nung to share what he achieved in terms of our border agreements with the ta’unui.”

at the stern mention of his name, ao’nung stood tall in front of the strongest warriors of the metkayina. instantly, he stepped into the role of their next olo’eyktan, his expression turning serious. looking at the expectant faces of the hardened soldiers of his clan, ao’nung knew that this would be a very long day.

by the time all of your lessons ended, you were hungry and you just wanted to sleep.

it was a good day for you. the children were as excited to learn more about the reef as they always were, and you had prepared fun activities to keep them busy. later on in the day, you were happy that the teenagers were less moody than you expected.

the only minor setback you had today was due to one of the boys named kotxa.

everything was going great, in your humble opinion, and it was all going to plan. the group of seventeen year olds had already bonded with their ilus and were skilled swimmers, so you had less to worry about. your lesson was focused on hunting. all of them were excited and followed your instructions closely that you thought you would be returning to the shore at sunset without any trouble.

you were proved wrong because kotxa decided to annoy lei’ara.

when you got back to the beach, everyone was congratulating lei’ara for her catch of the day. it was a heavier glider fin compared to the others, and you believed that the girl deserved all of the praise she received. however, kotxa came out of the water with an even bigger glider fin loosely held in hand.

you easily found out that the two of them have been competing for top rank in their age group when lei’ara lunged at kotxa. you watched at the two rolled around on the sand, not knowing if you wanted to laugh or intervene. the boy did not even look phased as she pinned him down and hissed that he was trying to outdo her. kotxa’s only reply was “it’s just a fish, ma yawntutsyìp.”

“lei’ara, enough,” you finally stepped in before any blood was spilled by her hands. “you have both proven your points.”

with one more hiss at him, lei’ara let her friends drag her off of kotxa. the boy stood up with a smug expression before you addressed them all as a group.

“you all did well today regardless of what you caught or did not catch. be proud of your efforts, and do better tomorrow. now, go home and prepare yourselves for dinner.”

they all thanked you for your lesson, and bid you farewell.

the only one that stayed behind was kotxa. he offered to help you carry the nets and spears back to the hunter’s shed, which you gladly accepted. the walk was quiet which you were grateful for, and the boy only spoke just as he was about to leave.

“i wanted to tell you that i was going to give the glider fin to lei’ara,” kotxa looked more nervous and unsure than he did on the beach. “before she attacked me, i mean. it might look like i was trying to outshine her, but i wasn’t.”

it was enough to remind you that men truly were stupid at every stage of their lives. you chuckled knowingly at his confession and the doubt on his face before giving him a few words of encouragement.

“you know, kotxa, if you wanted to court lei’ara then you should use your words, aside from your actions. you cannot expect the girl to understand your feelings unless you voice them.”

in return, kotxa beamed at you, and bowed in thanks. he walked away with more self-assurance in his stride, but you frowned at his back. you did not like that the boy reminded you of ao’nung.

you spent the whole week trying to not think of the man, keeping yourself occupied with lessons and other duties. yet, it was only now that you allowed your thoughts to drift back to him being physically back on the island. ao’nung was somebody who was consistently around you throughout your whole life, and you figured that this was the only reason why you noticed his absence more than usual during the week. that was all.

you told yourself that it only felt strange because there was nobody hovering or annoying you.

after organising the hunter’s shed for tomorrow’s morning hunt, you decided that you deserved to skip dinner after the day you had. as you walked, you let your thoughts flow freely like the water you loved. you always liked being alone and enjoyed the peace that came without having other people around. you heard the clan’s lovely music and the sound of merriment fade into the distance as you walked aimlessly.

blinking yourself back to reality, you realised that you were only a short distance away from a familiar hut. you were standing close enough that you were able to see that there was a fire lit inside, but you did not hear any voices. you do not understand how you ended up here, but you should have turned around as soon as you recognised where you were.

your feet took you to ao’nung’s marui.

somehow, over the course of the past few weeks, ao’nung became someone you found yourself gravitating towards. that idea alone was scary because you never sought him out before. though the two of you had known each other your whole lives, due to your families, you were never truly friends. more often than not, ao’nung was just there no matter where you were.

you should have turned around and went home, but you did not.

you recalled the different incidents that happened recently in your lives as you strolled. a few weeks ago, you pranked ao’nung in front of his friends and the same evening, you fell asleep in his arms as you both stayed in the water. when you woke up, you apologised for your impoliteness, and blamed it on how exhausted you were and how soothing the water was. all ao’nung said was that he did not mind holding you, and the two of you returned to the shore.

a few days before ao’nung left to meet the ta’unui clan, you braided his hair with the same seashells as your own, and ao’nung showed it off to his friends at dinner. after the meal, you nearly pounced on an omatikayan woman named zamrey. she was a friend of the sully family, joining them to visit awa’atlu. she made advances towards ao’nung, whom everyone knew was promised to you, but you did not say a word. zamrey was constantly disrespectful and insulted you by calling you a bitch, which is where you drew the line. before you managed to land a punch, ao’nung took you away from the dinner crowd, and you allowed him to distract you. you spent the evening talking about anything and everything you could think of until you both fell asleep.

the thought of the woman reminded you of your most recent altercation.

yesterday, after your morning classes, tsireya invited you to join their group to come swimming with them with the tulkun. as always, you were hesitant about it but the younger girl was too difficult to say deny. tsireya’s bright eyes only held warmth and affection that you only nodded in response. you figured that it had been a while since you had time to swim with your spirit sister, and it would be a nice to spend time with them under the afternoon sun.

tsireya was smart enough to warn you that zamrey would be there as well, but you did not mind as long as the girl kept to herself. you were not joining them for her, you were joining because it was nice to be wanted. you liked seeing everyone’s face light up when they saw you, and you realised that becoming their friend was easier than you thought. it was always a regret of yours to have dismissed the sully children when they first arrived to your island, but they were always good-natured despite your hostility. you supposed that part of your resentment had to do with how ao’nung became friends with them so easily despite all their problems at the start.

your spirit sister, yiren, was overjoyed to see you. she asked about your family, about the children you taught, and you returned her questions with your own. it was even a surprise that she asked about ao’nung. you had vented to her before about your dissent towards your mating arrangement with him, but yiren seemed to be curious about the man after not seeing you for so long.

as you sat on her fin, a short distance from where the others spoke with their own spirit brothers and sisters, yiren continued to mention ao’nung.

“you are with his friends, yet he is not here.”

“he is away with the ta’unui clan, and tsireya invited me,” you explained aloud while signing. “why? did you not miss me?”

“of course i have missed you, sister,” yiren let out a sound that sounded like a laugh. “but i see you are different now.”

“different?”

“there is love in your eyes when you speak of ao’nung.”

you gasped and splashed yiren at her appalling words. the tulkun made another laughing sound at your reaction, before everyone beckoned you both over to go to the nearest shore to rest. the afternoon was spent in good company, and you had hopes that you would be invited to more of these days out.

it would have even been a perfect day for you if zamrey learned to keep her mouth shut in your presence.

it started after your volley game. due to the uneven number of players, you offered to play on the boys’ team which they welcomed wholeheartedly. your team won, and the boys were all singing your praises to tease the other girls. rotxo, in his excitement, hugged you by the waist and swung you around for leading the team to victory.

it was all fun and banter until zamrey walked over and spoke to you with a patronising voice that cut through the whole group’s laughter.

“be careful, kiri. i guess she’s a snake too.”

you simply raised your brows at her and ignored the insult, trying to salvage the remaining piece of your patience. it was a difficult feat, but you tried your best since you would have hated to ruin the day.

unfortunately, zamrey had the survival instincts of a leaf.

“you’ve been flirting with nungy’s friends all day. i wouldn’t be surprised if you did more than that behind his back,” she scoffed and rolled her eyes. “you don’t deserve him.”

“that’s okay. you can have him if you want, zamrey,” you laughed at her empty words. “only i don’t know if he’ll want you.”

the fight was not pretty in the slightest.

zamrey slapped you first, probably thinking you would be caught off guard. yet, unlike the other night around the fire, nobody was able to stop you from finally putting her in her place. there were gasps of surprise, and you felt a hand landing on your shoulder as if to stop you, but zamrey was standing near enough that she had no way to avoid your attack.

you bared your teeth at her before grabbing a fistful of her hair. zamrey immediately lost her footing and tumbled in the sand, screaming in pain. you overheard from kiri that she was a fine singer in their clan, but it was clear that zamrey underestimated your strength. to add on, the girl did not know was that you have been trained to be a warrior of the metkayina before you chose to be a teacher instead. zamrey tried to pry your fingers off her in panic, but your grip on her hair never loosened as you dragged her by the hair on the sand.

“let me go, you bitch!”

you managed to straddle her torso and yanked her hair some more, getting close to her face. she stopped moving, but still clung onto your wrist that held her in place. you stared into her eyes that showed you only fear, but you were not satisfied yet.

you managed to strike her face once before hissing.

“stay down.”

in hindsight, it was barely even a fight and it did not last long at all. you let go of zamrey with another shove into the sand before releasing her hair. once you were apart, you walked away without a scratch, but you had a feeling that you left her with a few bald patches that day. it was never your intention, but it was a relief to know that zamrey would leave you alone after seeing what you were capable of. you ended up excusing yourself from everyone, who looked to be in proud and in awe. instead, you spent the rest of the day swimming around with yiren.

shaking your head at the memory, you approached ao’nung’s home.

there was a buzz that settled under your skin, and it was hard to admit that a small part of you was excited to see him. the bigger part of you tried to ignore it. when you opened the flap of his marui to announce your arrival, the buzz vanished into thin air.

ao’nung was kissing zamrey.

the sight of his lips on her’s paralysed you, and your breath caught in your throat. clumsily, you let go of the flap and took a staggered step back. you did not want to alert the couple that you saw them, so you moved as quickly as your body allowed.

in your haste, you must have made more noise than you thought, because there was suddenly a rustling sound that came from inside. your legs were not moving fast enough for your liking, and you hated the thought of being caught in this way. so, before anybody could spot you, you jumped into the water below.

ao’nung was kissing zamrey.

you were grateful that ao’nung chose a hut that was close to the water, and you were far enough from the main village that the area was not as well lit. swimming as fast as you could, you easily made it to a nearby rock, and hid behind it in time to hear ao’nung’s voice call out.

“who’s there?”

the waves crashing around you were loud enough that you knew it would be impossible to hear your laboured breathing from his position. quietly, you rested your forehead on the cool stone, and thanked the great mother for keeping you hidden.

once again, you were alone with your thoughts, only this time it did not bring you peace. instead, it led to your throat tightening and your eyes beginning to burn.

ao’nung was kissing zamrey.

your vision blurred, and you did not understand why. you tried to swallow the lump in your throat, yet it only hurt you more. you brushed your hair out of your face in an attempt to clear your head. it was hard to tell if ao’nung left already or if he said anything else, but you stayed where you were. there was no reason for you to feel so affected by what you saw.

you had no idea why you were struggling to take deep breaths. each inhale you took was too shallow. you were certain that you were not keeping any air in your lungs at all. your fingers gripped the rock harder, your nails digging into it. you were trying to find something stable enough to ground you and bring you back to your senses.

nothing was working.

ao’nung was kissing zamrey.

why was nothing working?

shutting your eyes tightly, you began to pray to the great mother. everything was hurting and you were beginning to panic. the tightness in your chest was not easing even as you rubbed a shaking hand over it. the waves around you did not feel soothing as they usually did, and the night’s breeze did not cool your skin like you wished it would.

you were foolish to even think about seeking ao’nung out.

it was reckless of you to let your heart lead you there. the two of you were barely even friends. you were not mated, and your arrangement was only there because of the elders’ persistence. it should not have mattered to you what he did with other women. even if it was a woman who showed you disrespect countless of times since her arrival. you meant it when you told zamrey that she could have him. there was some part of you assumed ao’nung would never want her, but you were wrong.

you forgot that it was you that he never wanted.

ao’nung was kissing zamrey.

you recalled all of the lessons that you grew up being taught by the matriarchs of your family. they only ever mentioned and told you about how stupid men could be. now, you wondered why they never told you the second part of their advice. nobody spoke about the ways that women could be stupid too.

you had to find out on your own that women were stupid when it came to love. your grandmother still loved your grandfather despite his shortcomings. your mother still loved your father despite his flaws. love was stupid in itself, and this is what troubled you now. ao’nung did not love you, and the feelings you had for ao’nung could not be love either.

you knew that love was not supposed to feel like this.

all of your prayers to the great mother were answered after some time, and soon enough your breathing returned to normal. with a small peek around the rock, you saw that the light in ao’nung’s marui was gone. relieved, you swam away until you were far from the shore with no specific place in mind.

that night, you tossed and turned with an aching heart, and you were forced to see the image of ao’nung’s lips on zamrey’s every time you closed your eyes.

⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄ ⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄ ⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄

ao’nung woke up the next morning with the plan to finally give you the necklace he made. he easily made his way through the village without any interruptions, which he was grateful for. he could feel the pearl bouncing around in the small pouch by his hips as he took confident steps towards your family’s marui.

when ao’nung arrived, your mother was just about to leave.

“good morning, ao’nung,” she did not expect to see him alone.

“good morning, ma leyokoakte,” he greeted her, noticing the surprise on her face. “is something the matter?”

“oh, it is nothing!” your mother’s eyes met his. “i just assumed that my daughter would be with you this morning.”

“why would you think that?” ao’nung asked in confusion.

“she did not come home last night, ao’nung,” she replied, slowly becoming confused too. “and i know that she had slept in your marui before?”

“ma leyokoakte, i came here because i have not seen your daughter since the day i left.”

for as long as ao’nung has known you, there was rarely a time you ever slept anywhere apart from your home. the night your mother was talking about, when you slept in his marui, was spontaneous and unplanned. that was different to now because you were with him and ao’nung knew that you were safe. this time, you clearly did not bother to inform anybody about where you went. your mother’s words made him frown, and caused dread to slowly fill his stomach.

your mother could see where ao’nung’s thoughts were going based on how his face changed.

“i am sure my daughter will show up during the day,” she tried to comfort him. “let us not worry, ao’nung.”

“yes, i will try,” ao’nung sighed in defeat, and your mother patted him on the shoulder as she walked away to the weavers hut.

ao’nung knew the older woman was right, but still, he spent the rest of the day like a lost child.

all of his friends came him and ao’nung thought that you would too. they filled him on different news, and when he asked them, they told him about you. childishly, ao’nung thought it was unfair how everybody saw more of you than he did, and it did not help him feel any better about not seeing you in the morning.

pril told him about how fun your lessons were yesterday, and all the new things she learned about different reef creatures.

tsireya told him that she kept you company during his week away, and that you were kept busy by the elders who asked for help around the clan. she told him about how zamrey picked a fight with you few afternoons ago when the omatikayan girl felt brave. ao’nung was more than happy to hear that you walked away unscathed.

neteyam and lo’ak told him that zamrey kept to herself since the fight, and the girl did not bother you. additionally, kiri shared that zamrey had left awa’atlu at dawn, claiming that she missed the forest.

lastly, rotxo told him that during recent mornings, he heard some of the other hunters teasing do’uram about his feelings for you again.

despite all the stories involving you, ao’nung still had not seen your face for himself. he went to all the places he thought he would find you, like the teachers’ huts or the hunters’ sheds, but you were nowhere to be found.

even during the evening meal, ao’nung attended in hopes of catching a glimpse of you, but he was disappointed to see that you skipped it as well.

he ate quickly and made his way to your family’s marui for the second time with a plate of food, in case you had not eaten. to his dismay, you were not home still. ao’nung was wondering if even ate at all while he was began his walk to his marui. he was silently praying that eywa would show him the way to you, but he knew not to get his hopes up.

just when he was about to accept defeat, ao’nung suddenly heard your laugh in the distance. with hopeful strides that his eyes would finally meet yours after so long, he immediately followed the sound and thanked the great mother for answering so fast.

ao’nung easily found you on the beach, but all of the hope he felt was replaced by a sinking feeling in his chest.

you were laughing in the water, splashing to’arum. he was far enough that he could not hear what you were talking about, but he could see your wide smile and round eyes invested in what your friend was saying. ao’nung thought back to what rotxo told him earlier, and the teasing hunters. did this guy think a single week away would be long enough to get rid of ao’nung?

he hated that the thought of you sleeping in ru’ormo’s marui last night crossed his mind.

suddenly, ao’nung’s feet moved before he realised, and he began marching towards the two of you. both of your ilus popped out of the water, and ao’nung knew he would not reach you in time. you quickly left, another laugh trailing behind you in the sea breeze. it took everything in his body not to jump into the water and swim after you. when it came to you, ao’nung had a feeling that he would be able to do it.

for a moment, he could have sworn he saw your eyes flicker in his direction as you sped away, but ao’nung considered that maybe his eyes were only playing tricks on him out of pity.

the walk home was silent to the point that ao’nung wondered if his ears were blocked because they still had water in them. the image of you laughing before you were submerged in the water kept replaying in ao’nung’s mind, and he wondered how he went a week without you at all.

ao’nung laid in his hammock, and began counting all the stars he could see outside his window. it was something that he often did when he could not find the peace to sleep. the method worked since he was a child, and he thought that it would work for him again.

that night, ao’nung gave up on the stars. instead, his focus drifted to the weight of your pearl necklace feeling heavier in his hand than it did that morning.

⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄ ⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄ ⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄

for the next two days, ao’nung thought it was just a coincidence that you became so busy that it was impossible to get even just a few minutes of your time.

he found out from your mother that you took on more lessons with the teenagers of the clan. it surprised him that the lessons involved hunting, a task that you only enjoyed as a pastime. ao’nung tried not to think about it too deeply, but since your midnight escapade with ru’atmo, he hated that there was a small chance that this new project of yours had to do with the hunter.

by the fourth day of your avoidance, your little game of hide and seek was not so little anymore. what began as something amusing turned into a nightmare for anybody who had to spend time around ao’nung.

his father noticed that ao’nung’s mind wandered during their meetings. his mother noticed that ao’nung was not eating as much as usual. tsireya noticed that ao’nung did not speak unless spoken to. pril noticed that ao’nung always had a frown on his face.

to say the least, everybody noticed that ao’nung was moping.

you, however, were oblivious to the fact. having thrown yourself in your duties, you managed to find a way to ignore the slight dull ache that lingered in your heart.

this is not to say that evading ao’nung was easy. the man was as persistent as a moth to a flame. you left your home early and arrived late at night, just to make sure he would not catch you there. during your lessons with the children, you made sure that you left early before some parents came to pick them up. there was a chance that ao’nung would try to use pril as an excuse, so you made sure to keep her at arms length too. it was wrong, but it was necessary. there should be no favourites in the classroom anyways.

what brought you joy during this time were the teenagers.

they were lively, and they were fun to be around. they were fearless, and you knew that the future of the clan would be in safe hands because of them.

funnily enough, you also enjoyed teaching your lessons because kotxa and lei’ara were great entertainment. the boy seemed to have followed your advice because there was a sudden lack of violence from lei’ara. the two of them appeared to have reached some sort of mutual agreement as well, if you were to judge the way the girl no longer pushed him away when he stood too close.

you never had a teenage romance for yourself, but you liked watching theirs bloom in front of your eyes. if you never gave him any advice, kotxa would have been stupid enough to keep annoying poor lei’ara. when they end up mated in the future, you planned to take all the credit.

the sudden shift did not go unnoticed by your family either.

your grandmother wondered why you rose with the sun, and why you returned when the moon was bright. your mother wondered if you were eating enough food, and if you were getting enough sleep. your father wondered why you began hunting more frequently again, and why you were spending more time with tu’amro.

when the sixth day came, ao’nung was unbearable to be near.

despite his moody attitude, his friends forced him to come with them to their favourite cove. they said it would be good for him to be away from the village for a few hours. it took a lot of coaxing, but eventually they all left before noon. when the group finally arrived, ao’nung kept to himself.

after a few hours, ao’nung sat on one of the tree stumps near the edge of the cove just watching the waves crash against the rocks. neteyam decided to finally step in when he watched his best friend throw something in frustration. he walked over slowly, not wanting to startle the other man, and picked up the object from the sand.

“this is a beautiful necklace, brother,” neteyam settled down on the rock beside ao’nung. “why throw it?”

it was a pearl necklace. the light blue colour of it reminded neteyam of the matching seashells you and ao’nung still wore in both of your hair. neteyam did not need to be a genius to know what ao’nung intended to do with it.

“because i don’t want it anymore.”

“why is that?”

ao’nung did not give him answer. truthfully, he did not know what to answer or where to even begin. his inner turmoil was so obvious that neteyam decided that it would make things easier for his friend to open up by hearing a story.

“did i ever tell you that when i first started courting my mate, i thought she did not like me,” he asked, watching the ebb and flow of clear blue waters on the shore.

“weren’t you two best friends before you mated?” ao’nung found himself asking, though he did not even plan on giving neteyam a reply. he knew exactly what his friend was trying to do.

“we are still best friends,” neteyam corrected him with a laugh. “but yes, i fell in love with her when i was just a boy.”

at that, ao’nung looked away from the sea and turned to his friend. he took note of how neteyam’s eyes were glossed over at the mere thought of his mate. she was no stranger to ao’nung, having met her multiple times over the years, and he knew her to be the light of neteyam’s life. outside of his duty and responsibility, neteyam had a mate who accepted him simply as he was. it brought a small smile to ao’nung’s face. his friend did not have an easy life, and he was happy to know that someone took care of him when he neglected himself.

ao’nung’s smile dimmed when he imagined you getting along with neteyam’s mate. you would probably like her.

“we were eighteen when i decided to act on my feelings, but i almost gave up when i thought she did not reciprocate,” neteyam shook his head at his own stupidity as he recalled memory. “remember that feather zamrey gave you?”

“what about it?”

“in our clan, the women give a feather to the suitor that they claim,” neteyam explained, watching ao’nung’s expression. “and my best friend gave one to me on the day i almost gave up.”

ao’nung wondered what would have happened to neteyam if he gave up. would his best friend have fallen in love with someone else by now? then again, ao’nung knew that eywa never made any mistakes. neteyam and his best friend were destined to be together. they would find their way back to each other, and that was beautiful. was your mating arrangement with him the will of eywa too? or did your families meddle too much, and forgot that the great mother had the final say in the end?

in the middle of his pondering, ao’nung realised what neteyam actually revealed.

“bro, you should have told me!” ao’nung exclaimed. “i wouldn’t have accepted it if i knew.”

“well, i thought there was no need. i was not sure if you were claimed by another,” neteyam teased his friend. “until you showed up with blue seashells in your hair.”

his comment shut ao’nung up.

he knew that neteyam was right. ao’nung never courted you, and you never actually chose him. he was handpicked for you by the elders, and you obediently accepted it because you believed it was the right thing to for the clan. the way you were gentle with his hair and let him sleep on your lap was because you were kind. even if ao’nung annoyed you endlessly, you were still kind to him. the seashells were just a fluke. you only did it because zamrey gave him that feather, and you wanted to prove something to her. you never wanted ao’nung since the beginning.

it suddenly dawned on him that he wished you did claim him. ao’nung hoped that since he fell in love with you, you would eventually feel the same for him.

“now tell me, brother, what weighs on your heart?” neteyam wanted more than anything to help his friend. he saw the heartache in ao’nung’s eyes, and how much pain he was in. he did not want to pry, but he knew that ao’nung needed a push in the right direction.

“you wouldn’t be asking me that if you didn’t know.”

“i would not be asking if you just admitted it to yourself.”

“my heart belongs to her,” ao’nung sighed. he could feel his chest constricting as he spoke, “but she does not want it.”

“how are you sure about that if you never said it to her?”

neteyam was looking into the distance when he felt ao’nung finally turned to face him. he met his eyes with a knowing look. it was all ao’nung needed to see before taking the necklace from neteyam’s hand.

“you’re too wise for your own good.”

“and you’re too stupid, brother.”

while ao’nung poured out his heart to neteyam, you were just finished wrapping up your morning lessons.

for the first time in days, you allowed yourself to linger in the teachers’ hut. you knew that ao’nung and his friends went to the cove before noon, and you could breathe freely for the next few hours.

“ma karyu?”

pril could tell that something was wrong.

she might have only been ten years old, but she has known you her whole life. whether it was in the classroom or in her house, you were around. almost every day, your mothers would have breakfast or tea together, and you joined whenever you were free. she did not know much about mates yet other than what she learned from her parents. from eavesdropping on your mothers, when she should not have, pril knew that you and ao’nung were going to be mates too.

she could tell something was wrong, especially when pril realised that you and ao’nung were both sad.

“yes, ma paskalin?” you fretted instinctively. “is everything alright?”

“you don’t smile as much as you used to.”

“i’m smiling at you right now, ma paskalin!” you chuckled. it was easy to forget that pril was no longer a baby who could not form her own thoughts, but you could not deny her words made you nervous. you taught your classes without a hiccup or stumble, thinking the children would not see past your mask.

you thought that you hid your broken heart well.

“that’s only because you have to,” pril shrugged. “ao’nung does not smile like he used to either.”

“maybe your brother is just tired from his duties, ma paskalin,” you soothed, tucking a braid behind her ear. “he is busy becoming our next chief.”

“i heard mama and reya say his heart is broken,” pril said innocently. “but i don’t know how you can break a heart if it’s inside of your body.”

you felt guilty hearing her words, knowing that you had a part to play in his misery just as he did in yours, but you refused to let it show on your face.

“i have to go, mama will be looking for me,” she spoke before you could reply. “i’ll see you tomorrow, ma karyu!”

pril’s words stuck with you for the rest of the day.

during your hunt with the teenagers, her voice echoed in your mind, and you hated it. in fact, you kept all of your conversations over the past week lighthearted and only stuck to surface level topics to prevent this from happening. there was too much on your heart and mind that you had not spoken to anyone outside of your family or students, but yiren and pril got to you. their words made the dull ache in your chest feel heavier than it did the past few days, almost like it was begging to be heard.

you should not have gotten comfortable.

you also should not have assumed that kotxa and lei’ara’s truce would last longer than a few days.

to be fair, the boy had every right to be angry. kotxa spent the whole class watching lei’ara help ayvon, one of the other boys in the group. you found it strange, seeing as ayvon showed himself to be well capable in all your lessons, but you did not say anything. kotxa kept to himself during the hunt, seemingly unaffected, but you should have known better. he eventually snapped when ayvon blocked his shot, and took the hammerbrow that kotxa was hunting.

by the time the group returned to the beach, it was a full blown fistfight. kotxa threw the first and second punch, then ayvon threw the third.

“you’re a fucking asshole, man,” ayvon wiped blood from his lip.

“takes one to know one,” kotxa taunted the other boy.

some of the boys’ friends tried to pull them apart, but they were much stronger and too angry at each other to care.

“kotxa! ayvon!” you were shouting as you broke through the crowd gathered around them. “that is enough!”

lei’ara was the only one that heard you.

“ma karyu, just let them just kill each other,” she said, rolling her eyes at the scene. “at least then we’ll have two less stupid boys in the world.”

“lei’ara, i cannot just stand here and allow this,” you tried to keep a serious tone despite finding her comment amusing. “how did this happen?”

“kotxa yelled something about ayvon breaking bro code,” the girl snorted. “and now, they’re there.” she gestured half heartedly to the boys rolling around with each other.

shaking your head in disbelief, you took a step forward to finally intervene, but an arm blocked you from going further.

your gaze wandered up the arm of familiar tattoos, and landed on ao’nung who looked every bit the chief he was raised to be. you nearly kicked yourself for letting his mere presence stun you, but it had been more than two weeks since you saw him so close.

he looked as sad as pril said.

you did not know that ao’nung saw you even when he was still in the water. if he was being honest, ao’nung had no idea what to expect when he left his friends at the cove. he only had thoughts of getting to you on his mind. neteyam’s advice made ao’nung realise that he would never know your true feelings for him as long as you never knew his.

when he came closer to the beach, ao’nung saw you surrounded by a group of rowdy teenagers. upon closer inspection, you were actually shouting at two of them who were punching each other on the sand.

eywa, what the fuck were you teaching in these classes?

once he made it close enough, he instantly saw how you were about to put yourself in between the boys’ fight. the possible risk of you getting punched in the process led to ao’nung moving on instinct, and using his body to shield you. he took another step forward while his eyes stayed on the wrestling teenagers.

“boys, i believe ngeyä karyu said that is enough.”

your trance on his face only broke when ao’nung’s voice boomed over the crowd of students. the hard lines of his face and the crease in his forehead were enough to make a seasoned soldier cower, let alone a seventeen year old. at the sight of him towering over them, all of your students scattered with mumbled apologies and respective bows towards the chief’s son.

the way he commanded attention so easily was not lost on you.

ayvon snarled at kotxa one last time before listening to ao’nung’s orders, and the boy stomped away behind his friends. before kotxa even thought about going after him, you stepped around ao’nung and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“kotxa,” you attempted to pacify him. “it is not worth it.”

“you wouldn’t get it,” he scoffed at you. “ayvon’s a dickhead.”

“watch your mouth, boy.”

you rolled your eyes at ao’nung’s sudden tough act.

ao’nung did not mean to step in, but he also did not appreciate the boy’s language whilst speaking to you. he recognised kotxa as one of the older warriors’ son. ao’nung would have no problem mentioning kotxa’s bad language in the presence of his teacher to his father at their next meeting.

he swiftly bowed towards you apologetically, but it was easy to detect the hurt in kotxa’s eyes when he looked up. he unconsciously glanced at lei’ara’s lingering figure, and you knew that the boy just needed someone to see through him.

“do not mind him,” you ignored ao’nung and patted the younger boy on the shoulder. “maybe i wouldn’t get it, kotxa, but lei’ara is waiting for you. she did not leave with ayvon.”

kotxa’s jaw slackened as he met your eyes, understanding what you were trying to imply. you only gave him a sly wink in return, and called the girl over.

“lei’ara, please take kotxa to the healers,” you asked politely. “i will see you both for our lesson tomorrow.”

she nodded obediently, and the two of them quickly bid you and ao’nung farewell before lei’ara shoved kotxa along. you watched in amusement as you heard the girl nagging him for getting into trouble, and observed how kotxa happily accepted all of her scolding in silence.

with the beach empty, you were officially alone with ao’nung.

he felt weak in your presence. you had not even looked at him, but seeing you so near was causing ao’nung physical pain. to anyone else who did not know you, you might have looked completely fine, but ao’nung saw through it all. your posture was rigid, your ears stood up as if on high alert, and you moved as if you could feel him watching you. ao’nung wanted to step closer, but he had a feeling it would only push you further from him so he stood still.

you did not speak a word as you began to gather the hunting equipment that your students left behind.

“why are you avoiding me?”

without looking up, you answered smoothly.

“i am not avoiding you.”

“if you are not avoiding me, then why have i not seen you at all since i came back?”

ao’nung did not want to assume that you would miss him as much as he missed you, but he hoped that you would have at least felt his absence. it was a silly fantasy that ao’nung had, praying to the great mother that distance would make your heart would grow fonder of him.

you were still avoiding eye contact, busying yourself with the nets and spears you used during your lesson. usually this would be a mindless task, but having ao’nung hovering over you made it slightly more difficult.

“we are both busy people,” you retaliated lightly. “this is not as absurd as you are making it out to be, ao’nung.”

“ma sevin.”

“stop calling me that.”

ao’nung was frustrated by the evident way you spoke so calculatedly. hearing you say his name as a way to show you were keeping him at arms length was frustrating. you made it clear through a few words that you planned for everything to work in your favour alone. you wanted this conversation to happen under your terms and while you were a mastermind at work, ao’nung planned to thwart your efforts of keeping control.

“ma sevin, can you please look at me?”

just as it did earlier, his voice commanded your attention.

though you wanted to ignore him, your eyes briefly met his. the teal of his eyes were full of curiosity, and something else you could not name.

“why are you avoiding me?” ao’nung repeated his earlier question. when you did not reply, he hesitantly added, “is… is it because of du’onro?”

without a second thought, you slapped him across the face.

your self control and patience only went so far, and you let yourself explode. his mention of tu’amro reminded you too much of zamrey insinuating that you were a snake who went around with different men behind his back. whilst you were not mated yet, you held enough respect for ao’nung and your arrangement to not even consider other men. you would be damned if you were to allow either of them speak to you in that manner. they deserved each other if they both thought this way about you. breathing heavily, your eyes widened as you realised what you had done.

across from you, ao’nung could feel his cheek throbbing.

“you slapped me!”

“because you do not get to ask me about who i keep in my company, ao’nung,” you hissed. “i certainly do not ask you.”

“i can’t believe you slapped me!” he childishly exclaimed again. “i was only asking!”

“we are not each other’s keepers,” you threw the spear you were holding into the sand. “we are both adults who can spend time with whoever we wish.”

“okay, fine. you’re right, ma sevin,” ao’nung agreed. “but i want to know why you suddenly do not wish to spend time with me.”

you were struggling to hold back from speaking your mind. you wanted to lash out at him. you wanted to tell him why you felt so irritated with him. you wanted to scream at him for being so stupid. you wanted to confess that you did want to spend time with ao’nung. all of the words were on the tip of your tongue.

“because you vex me!”

“i vex you?” ao’nung did not mean to yell the question. “do you really think that you do not vex me? with all your running away?

“hm? but what do i have to run from, ao’nung?” you countered dismissively, bending down to pick up an arrow.

“you’re scared of something real happening between us.”

ao’nung might as well have physically slapped you back, and it would have hurt less than his bold statement. you hated that he was able to see right through you. whatever messy feelings you felt for him were not even real to you until you saw zamrey in his arms almost a week ago. avoiding him was the best thing you could do to protect yourself from facing the truth.

“i simply do not wish to be humiliated by you any further.”

“humiliated by me?”

the both of you were going around in circles. ao’nung had no idea what you were even talking about. he tried to remember anything he recently did to embarrass you and came up with nothing. he was incredibly pleased that the two of you were actually speaking now, but this was not what he expected. at this point, neither of you were going to get any proper answers if all you did was continue to speak in riddles.

“if you want to speak to the elders to change our arrangement, then please just do so,” you sighed defeatedly. “i will not stand being your second choice.”

“what do you mean by ‘second choice’?” nothing you said was making sense anymore, but ao’nung saw how your words were tumbling out of your mouth like water breaking through a dam.

“you should know exactly what i mean, ao’nung!” you turned and angrily jabbed him in the chest. “that woman has been nothing but awful towards me, and you still kissed her!”

ao’nung knew he had a track record of being stupid, but this topped everything else he had ever done in his life.

he was stupid for not realising what you were trying to say until now. you wanted him to end your mating arrangement. you did not want to be his second choice. you were the person he heard outside his marui. you saw him the night zamrey kissed him.

his mind focused on the admission that you sought him out the day he came back from the ta’unui clan.

ao’nung deduced that you must have not intended to reveal that you witnessed the kiss. with the way you looked at him with wide eyes and took a small step back after your outburst, ao’nung could tell that you had meant to keep it to yourself. you quickly dropped the weapons you were holding, and began walking away with your tail giving away your distress.

you did not have to deal with this confrontation if you did not want to, but ao’nung was not going to let you go so easily.

“sevin, listen to me,” ao’nung was well aware of how desperate he sounded and looked, but he did not give a fuck. “i pushed her away as soon as it happened! you have to believe me.”

“i actually do not have to believe anything, ao’nung!” you called behind your shoulder. “it does not matter to me what you do with other women, but i want no part in it.”

“zamrey came onto me, and i pushed her away. i swear to you, sevin. i would never touch her,” ao’nung was beginning to panic seeing you shake your head in disbelief. “i do not want her.”

he had no desire to speak to zamrey since the night she called you a bitch, much less kiss the girl. when she came unannounced to his marui, ao’nung immediately asked her to leave, but she managed to plant one on him as he was directing her towards the door. it lasted less than a second because ao’nung shoved her away from him, and told her that he never wanted to see her face again.

everything he had already said to you was true, but you were more stubborn than all the women in his family combined. you continued walking away from him, and ao’nung knew he had to say something to make you understand.

“oel ngati kameie.”

you slowed in your tracks, your ears flattening against your head at ao’nung’s vulnerable confession. the words he said were not to be taken lightly, and despite your prior hurt and anger, you found yourself softening. ao’nung took your slight pause as a chance to run in front of you, and block your path.

still, you kept your hands to your sides and you forced yourself to study the sand beneath you. ao’nung’s voice was still ringing in your mind, and you knew he would not say them if he did not mean it. you could not deny that your curiosity was piqued. your eyes slowly trailed up his frame, and landed on his fingers clumsily fussing over the pouch hanging on his hip.

in his state of panic, since he did not want you to walk away again, ao’nung was struggling to both breathe and unfasten the small bag at the same time. when ao’nung finally untied it, he let its contents fall into his palm.

it was breathtaking.

the pearl looked almost like the blue of the sky peeking through a white cloud, or like the blue of sea foam when it crashes against a rock. it was one of the reasons why you loved the colour so much. it always reminded you of the great mother’s creations all being connected to each other.

the shape of it was different too. smooth, but not round. not too small, not too big. it fell flat on his palm. you could only imagine how pretty it would look falling in between someone’s collarbones. it reminded you that flawlessness did not always mean something would be beautiful.

the cord that held the pendant was delicate, but strong. it was obvious that whoever made it did not have all the skills to make it flawless, yet you could see the intention behind it. there were similarities to metkayinan jewellery, though there were indicators that it was of another clan.

it was imperfectly perfect as it was.

“look at me.”

your eyes snapped up from the pearl necklace that glinted in the sunset’s warm light. you were met by ao’nung’s eyes shining with unshed tears.

you two spent your whole lives together, but this was the first time you ever saw ao’nung show this kind of honesty. you knew that he was the type of guy who always put others before him, and when he wanted something for himself, he never said it outright for fear of asking too much. ao'nung often played the role of the jokester, the role of the chief's son, or any role that was expected of the future olo'eyktan. seeing ao'nung bare his heart to you now was enough to make your own heart crack in your chest. you felt your own eyes beginning to water, and closed them so he would not see.

gently, ao'nung leaned his forehead on yours, closing his own eyes. matching your deep breaths, he slowly felt how your body relaxed and leaned into him too.

“ma sevin,” he spoke softly. “i only want you.”

at last, you opened your eyes.

you understood the weight of his words, the warmth of his touch, the meaning of the necklace in his palm. you understood that as the waves crashed against the rocks and sand, and as the sky changed from orange to purple, ao’nung kept his eyes locked on yours.

ao'nung looked at you like he could not see anything else that eywa created, and you believed him with all your heart.

⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄ ⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄ ⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄

“i’ve been looking everywhere for this!”

your mother held up the reddish brown basket for her friend to see.

“oh! that is why it looked so familiar," ronal replied as she prepared tea. "i thought it might have been yours, or your mother's."

"did i forget it here this whole time?" your mother frowned as she set it down beside her. she had plenty of baskets to choose from, but she had not seen this particular one in weeks.

"ma 'eylan, we truly are getting old!" the tsahìk chuckled. "ao’nung gave it to me thinking that i left food in his marui when he returned from the ta'anui."

ronal was thankful that her dearest friend had the foresight of feeding her son upon his return from his travels.

"i give you my thanks for thinking of my son when i did not.”

“but ronal,” your mother responded to her friend wearily. “it was not me who brought ao'nung food that night.”

"if it was not you," ronal tilted her head in confusion. "then who did?"

the two women sat in silence with their tea for a few moments, before your mother gasped in realisation. ronal was used to her friend's dramatics, but she was guilty of equally matching them. it was why they remained such good friends after all these years.

"what do you know?" ronal gasped, and pointed accusingly.

"you are not going to believe me, ma 'eylan."

~~~~~

it was midday when you finished braiding your hair. you rose with the sun at dawn and by the time noon came, you had a new hairstyle. it was not so different from what you usually did, but you recently collected some pearlescent light blue seashells in the reef, and decided to use them. you elegantly incorporated the natural element into your hair, which added a touch of colour that complemented the teal of your skin.

when you were finally satisfied, you offered to prepare lunch for your grandmother, your mother and her best friend who were currently sitting on the floor. in the comfort of your family’s marui, their gossip was a familiar sound to your ears.

“zuspay told me that sro’asi finally left their family marui.”

“that must be why i heard from the weavers yesterday that he has been staying in the communal huts!”

“good riddance! the man brought her nothing but trouble!”

“oh, mama, you must stop with the gossip,” you laughed at the women as you stirred the seaweed broth.

“it is not gossip, 'itetsyìp, if the information finds itself coming to us,” your mother shot back. “we do even not search for it!”

her best friend let out a laugh too before saying, “as tsahìk, it is not my fault that people come to me with their problems!”

they truly were two of a kind.

“well then, i suppose it is also not gossip if i tell you that i saw sro’asi with malua by the shore last night? holding hands?”

you had not planned to share that you had seen something so scandalous, but you were sure that the news would soon travel through the clan anyways. additionally, you were raised by these women so you knew how they operated. something more entertaining would come along within a few days, and sro’asi having a new woman on his arm would be old news to them.

secretly, you were glad that you got to be the one to tell them of the scandal because of their reactions. the way their faces morphed in horror was even better than what you imagined in your head. all three women’s jaws dropped almost immediately, and you were almost worried for their necks when they snapped to look at each other with wide eyes.

“but malua is only a few years older than his and zuspay’s daughter!” it was your grandmother who exclaimed in disgust.

it looked like ronal tsahìk was about to add on her own distressed point, judging by the way her eyes widened further at the information. unfortunately, she was forced to close her mouth when she heard her youngest daughter’s voice.

“mama! mama!”

the beaded tassels of your home’s entryway rattled against each other as a little arm swung through the gap, and pril’s little face peeked through.

“tsireya’s too busy kissing lo’ak to do what she promised,” she was already complaining before she fully entered the marui, but the sight of her disarmed the four of you quickly.

sro’asi and malua would be safe for now, thanks to the child.

“pril, please!” ronal yelped in surprised. “your manners!”

at the reminder, pril looked like she had a bucket of cold water poured over her. sheepishly, she turned to your grandmother and your mother.

“kaltxì, ma leyokoakte,” she slightly bowed her head at your grandmother who bowed back with a smirk. pril repeated the same greeting to your mother, and the woman beckoned her over to give her a hug.

“kaltxì, ma karyu!” pril was still being squished by your mother’s arms as she beamed at you, but you easily returned the grin.

“settle down. we were just about to eat, ma paskalin,” you could not help the term of endearment from slipping past your lips. “then you can tell us your story.”

though you were not supposed to have any favourite students, you could not deny that you had a soft spot for pril. she was sweeter than any fruit that you could find on awa’atlu and at ten years old, she was incredibly smart for her age. it was hard not to love her. you supposed that most of pril’s personality came from her mother, who gave birth to her in the middle of a battlefield, but there was a lot of her father there too. similar to the olo’eyktan, she was compassionate and spoke her mind unapologetically, both inside and outside the classroom.

the clan was aware that pril was a weak baby who had difficulties with breathing and had low chances of survival when she was brought into your world. however, she was now growing up to be one of the strongest swimmers in her age group. it was heartwarming to watch the girl become one of the brightest stars on the island, and even brighter in the water.

after the five of you gave thanks to the great mother and began eating, you signalled to pril that she could speak.

“ugh,” she huffed. “tsireya was supposed to do my hair today but when i found her, she was about to leave with everyone!”

“everyone?” ronal asked, though she knew exactly who the girl was talking about.

“all the sully kids, rotxo, the new girl, ao’nung,” she listed, and you rolled your eyes at the last two people mentioned.

“then ao’nung said to look for mama and ask her to do it for me instead,” pril ranted without even taking a bite of her food. “he said i was in the way of their day out!”

“mawey, ma prrnen,” ronal’s voice could soothe any soul. “your siblings simply missed their friends. i’m sure they will apologise later as they always do.”

“but, mama, she promised,” she cried out. “and if you promise you’re going to do something, then do it!”

pril was frustrated that nobody was listening to her point.

she did not care if tsireya and ao’nung wanted to hang out with their friends, because it was not even about her hair anymore. she was annoyed that they dismissed her much too easily, and you saw right through the sulking act that pril put on.

it was why you did not hesitate to offer braiding it for her like you have already done a few times in the past.

“i don’t mind doing it for you after we eat, if you’d like?”

the child’s ears perked up and she squealed, “will you really?”

“if you finish all of your food, then i will gladly do your hair, ma paskalin,” you cajoled before winking at her. tsahìk thanked you by silently squeezing your hand as you handed her a spoon.

with another excited squeal, pril made quick work of her food, much to all the elders’ amusement. lunch flew by and conversation flowed easily between you women as you all tried to take pril’s mind off of her siblings.

within an hour, the common area of your marui was cleaned and space was made for you to do pril’s hair. your grandmother, mother and the tsahìk returned to where they had been sitting before lunch, their chattering not ceasing for even a minute. it was as if they had not seen each other in weeks when in reality, they all saw each other nearly every day. you quietly excused yourself to grab the supplies you needed for pril.

“you want the same as usual, ma paskalin?” you called behind your shoulder.

“yes please,” she nodded eagerly. “you always do it well, karyu.”

thankfully, the girl only had short hair and you knew it would not take long to braid. pril often complained that having long hair only got in her face when she played with her friends, and it bothered her in the water. even though she was only young, she already preferred the freedom and practicality that having short hair brought her.

while you were preparing your brushes and cords for the girl, you heard your grandmother and mother’s animated voices greeting someone outside. you walked out to see who the commotion was about, and the smile on your face turned into a frown.

“love the hair, sevin. it suits you.”

though you prided yourself in being a patient woman, the man standing in your living room was the only person that has ever managed to test your patience. you did not understand how and why he always found a way to get under your skin, but he did it successfully each time he tried.

what made things worse for you was that he was pril’s older brother, and he was to be your mate in the near future.

“how observant of you, yawnetu,” you replied without a glance.

“isn’t she so pretty, ao’nung?” pril asked him innocently.

he probably only did it to spite you, but ao’nung nodded enthusiastically at his little sister’s question. pril was delighted, but you were irked. the man had only been here minutes and he had charmed her already.

was she not angry at him just an hour ago?

knowing you would not be as easily charmed, ao’nung decided to slyly wink at you too. he only received an eye roll and a deadpan expression in return, before you started arranging your tools on the table beside pril’s seat. he smirked behind your back.

ao’nung loved annoying you.

it was purely because you did not deem him worthy of your attention most of the time, while he wanted your attention all the time. when ao’nung discovered that there was no other way to get it other than pushing all your buttons, annoying you became a daily goal for him. another part of it was that you always became ten times more attractive in ao’nung’s eyes whenever you got mad at him. he loved how you were not intimidated by him like others were, and you never failed to put him in his place. these were the thoughts he kept to himself, but ao’nung already decided that he would probably say it out loud if he ran out of things to annoy you with.

however, you did not even bother giving him a proper greeting in front of the elders which told him that he would not have to admit it anytime soon.

“i thought you were out with your friends?” you asked nonchalantly as you walked passed him.

“he brought me back these seashells for my hair!” pril was giddy as she showed you.

“bribery does not become you, ma yawnetu,” you tutted, glancing at the net full of colourful objects.

the truth is, ao’nung felt guilty as soon as he told pril to leave them alone. he hated that he spoke without thinking and there was no excuse for his behaviour. it had been months since he last saw his forest friends, and he got carried away. ao’nung let his excitement to go to their usual spot, that they had been visiting since their teenage years, get the better of him. when the guilt ate at ao’nung’s insides, he bid farewell to the others at the halfway point to their destination.

tsireya was about to return with him, also feeling the guilt of an older sister who finally did something selfish for once, but ao’nung told her to stay. she was torn between staying and going, but he made the decision for her. he knew that her time with lo’ak was limited since the sully family only visited when their time allowed it. ao’nung figured that he could at least try being a good older brother to both of his little sisters in one go.

“help me find a few pretty things to bring back for pril, and you’ll be off the hook,” ao’nung had said to appease her. he, tsireya, rotxo and the sully children accomplished the task easily as a group, wanting to find the prettiest accessories for the princess of the reef.

the three older women chuckled knowingly at your response. they knew that you never had patience for ao’nung’s whole being, but they saw through you nonetheless. though he was a nuisance, you always continued your conversations when you could simply ignore him. they continued their chattering but kept a watchful eye as ao’nung rounded the table to catch your eye.

“not bribery, sevin, just an apology,” ao’nung confessed. “left them early to say sorry to pril.” he did not want to have to use her name but he knew of your soft spot for his youngest sister.

when you finally looked at him, his heart stuttered, but then you looked away only seconds later.

“smart thinking,” you hummed dismissively. “ma paskalin, help me undo your braids.”

understanding that he was now forgotten, ao’nung sat across from where you stood and started eating the bowl of broth that your grandmother handed to him without a word. your attention was purely on unbraiding pril’s hair, which she began helping you with, but you felt ao’nung’s eyes burning into you. your concentration only broke when your mother began speaking to him about his recent hunt, and you took the chance to take in his whole frame. the soft angles of his face, the tattoos, the broad shoulders. they were nothing new to you.

what truly caught your eye was ao’nung’s hair.

it was not in its usual fashion. instead, its waves flowed loosely over his forehead and shoulders. to your knowledge, this seemed like the longest his hair has been in all the years you have known him. it was a rare sight to see it in its natural state, and you hated the fact that you liked how it looked on him.

however, your observation was ruined when you looked closer.

why was there a fucking feather in it?

“what is that?”

you did not realise that your hands stopped their ministrations on pril’s hair and that you spoke for all to hear. your eyes were still on the feather and your tail flicked behind you. everyone looked confused at your words at first, but before ao’nung could ask what you meant, ronal’s voice cut through.

“i told him it did not suit him,” she scoffed. “and yet he did not listen to me, ma 'ite 'eylanä. please, tell my son that i am right.”

ronal was glad that you pointed it out. when ao’nung visited her with his hair undone and a feather in it the night before, ronal already scolded him to take it out. while it is true that she welcomed the sully family with open arms after years of apprehension, ronal did not welcome this. she hoped you could talk some sense into her stupid son.

it was not befitting of the future olo’eyktan of the metkayina to adorn embellishments native to the omatikaya.

you tilted your head at ao’nung as you returned to your task of undoing pril’s braids.

“oh,” ao’nung watched your eyes zoned in on his head. he subconsciously touched the feather as he spoke, “zamrey gave it to me yesterday when she saw i took out my hair.”

the motion bothered you and you did not understand why you were bothered, which made you even more bothered. you should have just let it go, but you did not.

“zamrey,” you tested the name on your tongue. you knew the omatikayan girl was kiri’s friend but you had no interest in new people. even after two weeks, you still have not spoken to her directly. you had nothing to say to her, but she seemed to be a present figure since her arrival.

specifically, zamrey was very present wherever ao’nung was.

“i planned to do my hair tomorrow and she gave it as a gift. she said it was to say thanks for showing her around,” he shrugged.

there was no reason for him to explain to you, but you were glad that pril’s hair provided a distraction for your hands. you were already two thirds through unbraiding it, her own working hands continuously moving.

you needed something to stop you from ripping the feather out of his hair yourself.

ao’nung noticed how your ears involuntarily twitched in irritation at his explanation, and his confusion only grew. he did not understand why you were as affected as his own mother when the object did not mean a thing to him. he kept it in to not be rude, and ao’nung planned to take it out the next day anyways.

“i see,” you plainly stated, and returned to pril’s hair.

what you saw was that the feather was braided by his ear. you saw the design of the singular braid that held it in place. you saw that the pattern of it was not from the metkayina. you saw that ao’nung did not seem bothered by it at all.

you recalled a past conversation you had with neteyam, one of the sully children. he too had a feather in the same spot, by his left ear. you complimented the pretty green colour of it before, and he was incredibly proud to talk about where it came from. neteyam explained that it was not a courting gift, as women do not court men, but it was a known gesture made by the women in his clan. his mate gave it to him when he was still courting her.

it was their way to show that a man was claimed, and ao’nung was parading it around for everyone in your clan to see.

“and you are going to keep it?”

the words you said were a challenge and there was no hiding the irritation bleeding into your voice. it confused ao’nung even further but amused the older women who understood the meaning behind it without needing an explanation.

“well it would be impolite of me to not keep it, don’t you think?” he answered your question with a question of his own.

you did not reply this time, only taking a sharp inhale of air while your face was covered in disbelief. undoing pril’s last braid, you turned to grab the comb you needed. ao’nung raised his brows in surprise at your reaction. he expected a quick witted reply as usual, but now he really knew something was wrong.

ao’nung caught pril’s eye, and the girl shrugged in return at his wordless curiosity. she was only ten and she knew this discussion was something between adults. then, he looked at the other women in the room who were observing your whole exchange. his mother violently gestured at her ear, while your mother gave him an encouraging nod to keep talking. lastly, ao’nung helplessly looked at your smirking grandmother who took mercy on his idiocy.

“ronal tsahìk, perhaps my granddaughter should do your son’s hair instead,” your grandmother suggested. “seeing as you both have raised concerns about it.”

“sorry?” your head snapped up at the old woman. “b- but i am doing pril’s hair, grandmother,” you sputtered in incredulity as you processed her words.

“ma leyokoakte, that is very kind,” ao’nung chuckled, though his tail betrayed his nervousness. “but she does not have to do that.”

the last thing he expected was for the older woman to put forward such a bold idea. ao’nung was not sure if he could handle having you touch his hair so intimately without dying in your hands. even watching your gentle hands on pril’s hair was too much for his heart to take.

“she can speak for herself,” you glared at ao’nung. he did not have to butt in when you were well capable of defending yourself. he raised his hands in mock surrender, officially letting you take the lead.

unbeknownst to you, during the time that you and ao’nung were bickering over the feather earlier, the matriarchs were already planning their scheme.

they were the ones who first suggested and approved of your mating arrangement when you two were eighteen. it was always their hope that the mating would happen naturally but clearly, the animosity between you and ao’nung hindered their dreams. despite spending your whole lives in each others orbits, both of you were oblivious to your chemistry, so the women took matters into their own hands.

even at present, they had no problem with intervening again.

“what a wonderful idea!” that was your mother, who you pointed your glare at next. she and your grandmother were already standing, their shawls in hand.

“mama, what are you doing?” you panicked. “where are you going?”

“ma prrnen, let us go home. i will finish your hair there,” tsahìk beckoned, the bright smile on her face rivalled the sun.

“tsahìk, i can d-”

“okay!”

the girl jumped from her seat. pril, eywa bless her heart, listened to her mother without a second thought. she was lost on the whole reason why they were packing up, but the girl was smart enough to know when to not argue with the elders.

the three matriarchs had no sense of discretion at all that you probably would have laughed if they did this to anyone else. you could not believe this was happening to you, and ao’nung still had not moved from his place. you do not think he fully grasped that they were being completely serious about you doing his hair.

alarmed, you smacked ao’nung’s shoulder to snap him out of his stupor. he was startled, but understood what you wanted him to do when you pushed him to stand up. ao’nung immediately moved like the trained warrior he was to block the women’s path.

“please, there truly is no need to go,” he insisted. “i can leave!”

“nonsense, ao’nung! i trust that my daughter will do your hair well!” your mother pushed passed him without much force, and the others followed her out.

“mama!”

“i’ll see you at dinner, ma karyu! bye, ao’nung!” pril waved at you both as her body was pulled away by the tsahìk.

the four of them left a trail of giggles in their wake.

alone, there was nothing you could do to avoid him. ao’nung turned around wearing a sheepish smile. he felt bad, but it was not as if he could forcefully push the women back to their seats.

sure, ao’nung liked annoying you but he never wanted to be an asshole who gave you more work to do. he genuinely did not mean to get you both into this situation.

you were taking deep breaths when he broke the quiet.

“they’re still not good at being subtle, huh?” he thought a joke would be a good start. this was not the first time you two have been put in this kind of position by the women of your families.

“i don’t think they ever learned what the word even means,” you exhaled.

“i can leave, sevin,” ao’nung said gently. he did not want to overstep, and wanted to respect your boundaries.

“are you crazy?” you whirled around to face him. “then i’ll get in trouble for not following their orders!”

“they’re harmless,” he laughed at your exclamation. “i’ll just do my hair myself. it’s fine, seriously.”

at the mention of him doing his own hair, your eyes travelled to the feather again and you spoke before you lost the nerve.

“sit down, ao’nung.”

after a moment of contemplation and seeing the expectant expression on your face, he walked over to where you stood. if this was the will of eywa, who was ao’nung to question her?

you expected for him to sit in pril’s vacated stool, but instead ao’nung plopped down on the floor in front of it.

“don’t know how long this’ll take so you might as well get comfortable, sevin,” he teased you.

you rolled your eyes for the umpteenth time today, and settled down behind him. ao’nung knew exactly how to annoy you, and you could tell he was enjoying being sat between your legs. you expected an inappropriate comment anytime soon.

you began combing at his hair, slightly rougher than how you handled pril’s, but ao’nung found it relaxing to be under your touch.

“we would not even be in this position if you did not accept that feather,” you grumbled out.

at that, ao’nung’s head snapped to look up at you.

“alright, what’s going on? why do you suddenly have a thing about feathers?” he probed, hoping to finally get a real answer.

“i do not have a thing about feathers!” you proclaimed as you looked down at him. “i just agree with your mother’s opinion that it does not suit someone of your status in our clan.”

as ao’nung studied you, you remembered that his face was literally in between your thighs. flustered by the thought, you grabbed both sides of his head and turned him to face away from you again.

“don’t be so mean, ma sevin. zamrey was just trying to be nice.”

“zamrey is not nice,” you snapped, in spite of yourself. trying to recover from your outburst, you continued combing his hair as if nothing happened. slightly rough with each tug.

at long last, that was when ao’nung realised what the problem was. he thought back to when he first arrived to your marui and all the words you exchanged. the issue came from the feather in his hair. the feather that came from zamrey. everyone knew he had been spending time with zamrey over the past two weeks. zamrey was nice to him. you did not think zamrey was nice.

ao’nung decided to test his theory.

“she is nice,” he started. “you would like her if you spoke to her.”

“i do not wish to speak to that woman.”

he felt you yank a slight bit harder at the tangles in his curls, and ao’nung almost laughed in victory. he decided to keep playing dumb to see how far he could take it.

“i actually like the wild kind of vibe the feather gives.”

“take the feather out before i rip it out, ao’nung.”

“but it’s already in my hair? why don’t you just braid around it?”

you were offended at this point because why did he care so much about her stupid feather?

“unless you want to have no hair at all, ma yawnetu,” you pulled his head back by the hair to look him in the eye. “then i suggest you start unbraiding.”

if ao’nung thought that annoyance was attractive on you, then jealousy was flat out hot.

your voice held no room for discussion so he finally concluded his little experiment. satisfied with your unusually primal reaction, ao’nung decided to finally do as you asked. he undid the singular braid holding the feather and let it fall to the floor, leaving it in the past without a second glance. you were glad ao’nung was facing away so he could not see your barely concealed relief.

the tension in the marui eased into a comfortable atmosphere. ao’nung sat as still as he could as he felt you finish combing out the curls out of his face. you began your work deftly with the knowledge that the feather would be out of your way.

“do you want me to do the same as you usually have?”

“you can do whatever you want to me, sevin,” ao’nung mumbled distractedly.

in this moment in time, he breathed in your presence like a breath of fresh air.

he liked the peace that your presence always brought. he was used to being bound by his duty to his family, to be a strong warrior who led his people. with you, ao’nung did not have to lead. he could disobey your orders. he could step out of line. he could make mistakes. you did not expect ao’nung to be perfect. when you were together, you allowed him to just be.

ao’nung was a willing soldier in your army.

he mindlessly watched the people cast their nets out into the water. it reminded ao’nung of the nets you often mended for the hunters. the view of the glistening sea brought him back to the day you let him hold you in his arms in the water a few days ago. it was a memory permanently engraved in his mind.

he tasted salt on his tongue. it was not the salt of the sea that he was accustomed to. it was not the the salt of the warm breeze coming in through the marui’s open space. ao’nung realised he was tasting the salt from the soup you cooked earlier. it was a simple dish that he that loved. you made it perfectly.

the sound of the children laughing with their friends in the distance made ao’nung smile wistfully. he thought about pril and the many other students who adored you. they left your classes curious about the world, and ao’nung loved listening to his baby sister talk about you and everything you taught in your lessons.

he could smell the oils you used for your hair. floral and feminine, so entirely you. the aroma of the oils were comforting for him. having spent enough time around you to know your favourite perfumes, being surrounded by your scent was soothing. ao’nung secretly hoped that you would use them in his hair too.

his position allowed him to lean back into your chair and he felt his shoulders against your thighs. the warmth of your skin naturally seeped into his because of how close ao’nung was to you. he closed his eyes to rest them for a moment, savouring the feeling of your fingers weaving through his hair.

somehow, all of ao’nung’s senses led him back to you.

you worked through his hair with a well practiced hand, and soon found out that ao’nung was not so different from the children you often did this for. after about an hour of silence, the man somehow fell asleep in between your legs with his head leaning on your right thigh. he even let out tiny snores that let you know he was truly dead to the world.

who knew that such a big and scary warrior could be knocked unconscious by someone playing with his hair?

it was endearing enough that you were afraid to move too much and wake him. this morning, out of the many topics of conversation covered with your grandmother and mother, the tsahìk mentioned that the olo’eyktan had been restless. he was more adamant that ao’nung took more initiative towards being his successor. you knew that becoming chief was all ao’nung had wanted since you were children, and there was no doubt he was fit for the role. you also knew that this meant more duties and responsibilities for him, and less time for fun.

suddenly, it made sense to you why he wanted to go out with his friends so badly that afternoon. letting ao’nung get a few minutes of extra sleep was the least you could do, especially after he did the same for you in the water a few nights ago.

noiselessly, you reached over for the basket of accessories you planned on letting pril choose from. at the top of the pile were the remaining pearlescent seashells you did not use for yourself.

a silly thought came to mind of putting them in ao’nung’s hair.

you silently mulled over whether or not you were foolish enough to do it, but eventually you began to entwine them through. he usually kept his hair simple and plain, but the memory of zamrey’s attempt to claim your future mate resurfaced in your mind.

you carried on with the thought that ao’nung could just take the shells out later if he really wanted to.

when you were nearing the end, the sun was already beginning to set. you needed to wake him up to reach his kuru, and then you would be finished.

“ma yawnetu, wake up,” you gently nudged his shoulder. “i have to do your kuru.”

ao’nung had not anticipated to fall asleep but he was grateful you did not wake him until now. as he opened his eyes, the orange and pink hues of the sky outside greeted him first. then, your pretty face and soft eyes greeted ao’nung next. his mind went to the thought that he could stay here with you forever.

“you’re done?” he groggily asked, cracking his neck.

“just your kuru left. i did not,” you paused, not knowing how to phrase your question. “i did not know if you rather i did it, or to do it for yourself?”

without a word, ao’nung handed you his kuru and leaned forward to give you better access to it. your hands were slightly shook as you held it.

this was the simplest part out of the process, but the kuru was sensitive for the na’vi and it needed extra care. you could not do this without him knowing. his ears flattened against his head, and his tail gently moved that it hit yours a few times. his body was so reactive to your touch that you could not ignore how ao’nung shivered every now and then.

you worked as fast as you could with the delicate nerves. it was such a vulnerable act that you felt shy touching ao’nung in this way. the both of you would have to do more than just touch, when the time was right, and you two were ready to be mated before eywa. you knew tsaheylu would be even more intimate, but this was already a lot for right now.

in no time, you were officially finished your task.

not breaking the comfortable silence you two had, you handed ao’nung your mirror almost timidly. you immediately stood from your seat and started stretching out your limbs as you paced behind him.

at first, ao’nung wondered why you were not speaking to him, then he realised that he was not speaking either. when he took a look at your handiwork, he realised the reason for your silence.

you adorned his hair with pearlescent shells matching yours. in the golden light of the sunset, the light blue colour was muted, but it was a striking sight. his hair was in its usual style, but the way you added the accessories elevated the entire look. the shells were small and smooth, so they were not a restrictive of any of his movement. you braided them along both sides of ao’nung’s head, which he noticed reflected the position of his tattoos. ao’nung also took note of how they did not look feminine on him like how it looked on you.

instead, they showed a softer look than that of a warrior.

at his silence, you quickly rushed to say, “you said i could do whatever i wanted. you can remove them if you do not like it.”

he did not want to remove the shells. in fact, ao’nung wanted to keep his hair like this for as long as time allowed. he put the mirror down and faced you to see your apprehensive expression.

ao’nung was sure that the great mother put you on this world, only months after him, to be the one who would truly see him.

“i love it. thank you, sevin.”

⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄ ⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄ ⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄

you thought that he would leave as soon as you were finished, but ao’nung insisted on helping you clean up your marui as a thank you. he seemed happy to be your assistant and you gladly put him to work to help with your chores.

he lingered around until the clan was called for dinner.

you walked together for the first time, not really sure how to part ways. you were thinking deeply about what to say next when suddenly, ao’nung grabbed your hand.

“sit with me tonight, sevin?” his tone hopeful.

you never had many friends growing up, not because nobody liked you, but because you enjoyed being alone most of the time. part of you wanted to decline his offer. you thought about sitting with your grandmother and mother like always. yet, the other part of you decided to let ao’nung lead you to his friends today.

his grin spread from ear to ear as you approached them hand in hand. you liked to believe you were a confident woman, but it did not mean you were not intimidated by the group sitting in front of you.

they formed a circle around the fire starting with rotxo. then, it was neteyam who sat in the middle of him and kiri. to kiri’s left was lo’ak, tsireya, then zamrey. you assumed that the seating arrangement had more to do with neteyam and lo’ak monitoring rotxo who was unapologetically courting their sister. you also noticed that tuktirey was nowhere to be found, and assumed she was sitting with friends her own age.

thankfully, tsireya was the one who immediately greeted you.

“ma tsmuke!” she gasped at you. “you are beautiful!”

it was the kind of warm welcome that let you know you were going to be fine. you stepped around ao’nung’s broad frame to get closer, and glanced over your shoulder to smile back at him.

“you are too kind, tsireya,” you thanked her humbly.

“please, sit beside me,” the younger girl reminded you of her mother as she squeezed your hand.

everyone paused what they were doing to greet you kindly, happy that you would finally be joining them for the meal. ao’nung let go of your hand to do his handshakes with the other boys who stood up to make space for him to sit. you were sure that he was going to take them up on their offer but ao’nung waved them off, and rested an assertive hand on your shoulder.

after a few minutes of giving thanks to the great mother for the meal, ao’nung left to get you both some food. you stood to get it yourself but tsireya shooed her older brother away, wanting to chat with you as much as possible. she and kiri gave you their full attention, and zamrey was forced to do the same.

when he returned, ao’nung sat in between you and zamrey, keeping you on the inside of the circle. he wanted to see you open up and be comfortable around the other people he loved.

even after eating, the conversation flowed easily between everyone. they spoke of what they did with the tulkun and how they went to their favourite cove earlier, and you mentioned to them about pril being upset about her hair.

“but do not worry,” you reassured tsireya. “pril had forgiven you the instant she saw those pink and purple seashells ao’nung brought back.”

“i am glad that you were there for her,” she beamed at you.

you thought that you would be able to avoid any further conversation about hair, but tsireya’s eyes flicked to ao’nung, and they suddenly filled with mischievous glint. you ignored the fact that the others’ eyes also scanned ao’nung’s hair since dinner started.

it made you nervous, but before anyone could say anything, ao’nung beat them to it.

“sevin did my hair instead of pril’s,” he boasted, slightly puffing out his chest. in reality, ao’nung was waiting on someone to finally point it out first so he did not look like he was looking for attention, but he could not wait any longer.

ao’nung needed to flaunt his hair in front of everybody.

your eyes widened in surprise at his revelation, and it was all the group needed to hear before their teasing began.

“oh! that’s what’s different!” lo’ak burst. when you neared them earlier, he did not understand what tsireya was elbowing him in the stomach for, but now it made sense. she must have seen the difference in her brother’s hair immediately.

“it suits you, bro,” neteyam complimented kindly. he had an inkling as to why you chose those specific shells, but kept quiet out of respect. neteyam was also aware of your mating arrangement with ao’nung, and he could not wait to get back to the forest to tell his mate of this new development. she always loved hearing neteyam’s updates about you two.

“i said the same thing!” ao’nung agreed wholeheartedly, he never wanted to take these shells out. then, he looked at you seriously “see, sevin? you’re gonna have to do my hair all the time now.”

“ma yawnetu, i would not have done it in the first place if it were not for our meddling mothers,” you slapped his arm with a laugh.

“and i’m sure the elders loved that,” kiri chirped. she always liked you but respected your decision to keep to yourself. there was nothing wrong with enjoying your own company, and kiri understood exactly what that was like. she only hoped that this meant you would be around them more often now.

“trust me, they’re probably showing off to all the other elders right now,” rotxo cackled. after the mention of them, ao’nung looked around to find your grandmother, mother and the tsahìk clinking their cups in a toast. both of your fathers looked to be in great spirits too. he chuckled to himself at the sight.

“and the shells match yours, ma tsmuke!” tsireya squealed and her eyes sparkled. “does this mean what i think it means?”

“do not be so excited, tsireya,” you said coyly, putting a stop to her delusions before it spread around the group. “it shall happen when the great mother wills it.”

the younger girl seemed to only process the part you said about your mating with ao’nung still happening at some point. tsireya was just as excited for it as your mothers, and her face showed it. you honestly would not be surprised if she was secretly helping them with their plans of pairing you off with her older brother.

“but where did my feather go, nungy?”

zamrey’s voice was laced with real disappointment. it was her first contribution to the conversation, and all heads turned to look at her in surprise. you nearly forgot that she was sitting there, being so caught up with tsireya who kept you constantly engaged. it did not help that ao’nung slightly blocked her from your view at times when he fully faced you. you thought nothing of it, but now it seemed like he was doing it on purpose.

you were certain that your face had ‘who the fuck is nungy?’ all over it when you heard lo’ak and rotxo trying to suppress a laugh.

something you could not comprehend was why you were so bothered by this woman. there were many other women in your clan who threw themselves at ao’nung, but you never flinched. you knew that zamrey posed no genuine threat to you. still, it was clear as day that she did not respect you. her boldness to make an attempt at claiming ao’nung, as well as her continuous advances towards the man rubbed you the wrong way. it should have meant nothing to you. while you were not mated yet, everyone knew you were promised to one another.

in the end, ao’nung was yours, as you were his. that was it.

your eyes narrowed on her hand reaching up to touch where the stupid feather once was.

“hands off.”

zamrey gasped and dropped her hand at once.

ao’nung, on the other hand, had wide eyes. who would have thought that you could be so possessive? he was aware of his own jealousy issues with other men in the clan like your friend, du’ruma, but you never showed this side of you before. he realised that he liked it a lot, and ao’nung wanted to be claimed by you. it told him that there was something unspoken between you two that was not there before. for a while, ao’nung believed that there would not be a safety net to catch him as he fell for you.

now, there was a spark of hope in his chest that he was wrong. it was the first time that he ever prayed to eywa that he was wrong.

you intended to leave it at that and return your attention to tsireya and kiri. you knew that there was no need to embarrass the girl any further than you already had. it was not even your aim to embarrass her, you only hoped to get your point across. it was enough for you to imply that you knew what she was doing, woman to woman, and you would not tolerate it any further.

what you did not expect, however, was zamrey muttering under her breath.

“bitch.”

instantly, you whipped around. your patience was at an all time low, but you wanted to make sure you heard correctly.

“what did you just call me?”

“i called you a bitch.”

around you, the whole group’s reactions varied. lo’ak and rotxo gave up on trying to suppress their laughs from earlier and choked on them in shock instead. neteyam let out an sharp exhale like the wind got knocked out of him. kiri suddenly looked down in disappointment, and found an interest in the texture of the sand under her feet. tsireya closed her eyes and pursed her lips in an attempt to hide her grimace. she had a feeling you would not be so forgiving towards the girl.

no other thoughts ran through your mind besides the desire to show zamrey just how much of a bitch you could be. you hissed, and your body instinctively moved before she said any more.

ao’nung almost did not catch the murderous gleam in your eyes before you leapt over him. zamrey gasped in fear seeing your hands reach towards her face but luckily for her, ao’nung was a skilled warrior with quick reflexes.

one of your nails only managed to graze her skin before you felt a pair of strong arms wrapped tightly around your waist. in a blink of an eye, you were suspended upside down in the air.

“and that is our cue to leave. bye guys!” ao’nung declared to the circle, receiving amused waves in return. “time to go, sevin!”

effortlessly, ao’nung had you heaved over his shoulder in front of the whole clan like you weighed nothing. yet, you did not care who saw the scene as long as you were able to claw zamrey’s eyes out. he began walking you both away from the crowd.

“let me go! ao’nung!” you were nearly screeching. your hands pounded at his back. “she called me a bitch!”

“she should not have said that, i know,” he was just as angry as you were, but ao’nung thought it best to prevent you from committing a murder. “i can’t let you go. i’m sorry, sevin!”

“i swear to the great mother, ao’nung,” you tried to free yourself by whacking him in the face with your tail. “i will make sure you won’t be able to have children if you don’t let me go right now.”

ao’nung barely flinched and even had the audacity to laugh at your threat, though he had no doubts that you would carry it out.

“but then we will have no children, sevin!”

“then so be it!” you growled at him. “i don’t care, let me go!”

he was sure that you would leave a few scratches and bruises on his back with the way you were thrashing around in his arms. you had always been one who practised patience well, but ao’nung knew since you were both young that you too had your limits.

as you continued your assault on his back, he eventually brought you to the first place he thought of.

for his recent birthday, ao’nung chose to move out of his family’s marui and move into a smaller hut closer to the shoreline. it was quieter and tucked away from the busyness of the clan. his duties and responsibilities as the son of the chief stayed outside of his personal haven.

you would be the first person outside of his family that he would ever bring here.

by the time ao’nung crossed the threshold of his marui, you were hanging limply on his shoulder. you were still angry at zamrey, but all of your energy was spent. though you had no idea where ao’nung had taken you, it was calm enough that you could tell the main village was far away. it would take more effort than it was worth to go back.

“if i put you down, do you promise not to run away?” ao’nung asked, his grip slightly tightening on your thighs. he was scared you would dash away to finish what you started.

“do you promise that i don’t ever have to speak to her again?”

“i promise.”

your grumbled reply was muffled against his back, but ao’nung grinned when he heard you loud and clear.

“i told you she was not nice, ma yawnetu.”

⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄ ⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄ ⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄

“so she said ‘hands off’?”

the next morning, your grandmother and mother were at the tsahìk’s marui. all three of the elders were gathered around a low table, holding cups of tea that tasted bitter when they spoke of their sweet victory from last night.

there was one person at the centre of their debriefing, and she was happy to spill all her knowledge about what happened.

“indeed.”

“and what did the girl call her again?”

“please excuse my language, mama,” tsireya began, and ronal waved her off to continue. “but zamrey called her ‘a bitch’.”

“so then my granddaughter attacked the girl?”

“she did not get close enough, ma leyokoakte,” the answer came out right away. “ao’nung grabbed her in time.”

“and where did your brother take her?” ronal leaned forward.

“i’m curious as well, ma 'eylan,” your mother giggled before taking a sip of tea. “my daughter did not come home last night.”

at her revelation, tsireya and ronal gasped.

to be frank, your grandmother and mother were happy to know you were starting to live your life outside of the four walls of your home. they knew you were comfortable there, but wanted you to have more fun and be around people your own age. what eased their concerns was their trust in ao’nung to keep you safe and out of harm’s way. there was no need for them to be worried about where the two of you went last night, knowing that the man was more than capable of handling you.

the group of women were more than eager to speculate about your whereabouts but they had to pause their chatter. similarly to yesterday, pril came happily bouncing into the hut.

“pril! where did you run off to this morning?” tsireya planned to spend the whole day with her little sister to make up for ditching her, but the girl was not even home when she woke up.

“i went to ao’nung’s marui, reya. i wanted to see if he had any other shells i could have,” pril began her explanation.

“and did you find what you were looking for, ma prrnen?”

“no, he was still asleep on the floor,” pril pouted dejectedly.

“why would ao’nung be asleep on the floor?” tsireya curiously thought aloud.

after a moment, pril perked up as she remembered something.

“i don’t actually know why he was there. i thought he was in his hammock…” the child’s voice trailed off with uncertainty.

“what happened, ma ‘evi?” your grandmother puzzled.

“when i got closer, i saw oeyä karyu sleeping in it.”

at first, it was silence. then, the tsahìk’s marui erupted in unbridled shrieks of laughter and howls of glee from the four older women.

the topic of sro’asi and malua’s midnight walk on the beach became long forgotten within seconds. usually, it took a few days for something new to catch their attention, but they were beyond thrilled by this replacement falling at their feet within mere hours. it was almost a shame that you were still fast asleep in ao’nung’s hammock to even be aware of it all.

the elders found a new spy to recruit alongside tsireya and unfortunately for you, she came in the form of your favourite student in the clan.

~~~~~

you recalled all the lessons taught by your elders as you noticed your dearly betrothed stupidly try to drown his friends in the water.

the friends in question were a family from the omatikaya clan who often visited awa'atlu whenever they had time in the summer. your first meeting with them was many years ago, when they came seeking uturu amongst your clan. despite your curiosity of the forest people, you dutifully avoided them and stuck to your responsibilities while ao’nung and tsireya taught them how to live like reef people.

truthfully speaking, you never thought that they would understand the way of water like the metkayina did. you firmly believed that like calls to like, and they were called by the soil of the earth. now, as you watched them playing and splashing in the water, you realised how wrong you had been. the dark blue of their skin was breathtaking in the clear water. the sight of it was distracting enough that you had to force yourself to look away.

they looked like they truly belonged to the sea.

you had to keep your mind focused on your work since it was only early noon, and if you finished quick enough then you would be free for the rest of the day. thankfully, you were tasked to work with tu’amro, one of your father’s most trusted hunters, who you grew up alongside. there were a few nets and spears that needed mending after their hunt this morning, and you were an expert having learned the art from a young age. you could have done it all by yourself but tu’amro was kind enough to offer his help which you accepted gladly.

“i would’ve been here all day if it wasn’t for you, tu’am, thank you,” you smiled warmly at your friend.

the boy’s ears perked up at the praise before he slightly bowed his head and replied, “it is my pleasure. i will always be here when you need help.”

the time flew by as you both talked about many things, from your childhood to your future plans. there was something about tu’amro that made you know that he was dependable. he spoke of others with compassion and respect. he was a smart man, not at all stupid like the others.

you were in the middle of gleefully listening to an old story tu’amro brought up, something you almost forgot about from your teenage years. as tu’amro continued to retell the tale about the day of your first hunt together, both of your laughter became louder, and you stomach began to hurt.

“watch out!”

abruptly, your good spirits were interrupted by the sound of breaking ceramic, and the feeling of water spilling all over you. when you came to your senses, it was easy to find that the cause of the accident was a heavy ball made of seaweed.

at the sound of shocked gasps and rushed apologies, your head turned to find the suspects. tsireya, kiri, tuk, and another omatikayan girl you didn’t recognise were the ones apologising profusely. neteyam, lo’ak and rotxo looked just as shocked and apologetic, but they were also anxiously glancing back and forth between you and who you concluded was the culprit.

your eyes narrowed on ao’nung with his hand covering his mouth but failing to hide his laugh, and saw his eyes held no remorse.

there were many instances in the past where you and ao’nung were forced to spend time together because of your families being so close, but rarely did you ever enjoy it. he was too easygoing for a boy who was to be chief, and he brought more trouble than anyone else in the clan. you, on the other hand, wanted to contribute as much as you could for your people in every aspect of your life. there was never a time that you were unreliable, and you easily became one of the most valuable members of the metkayina for your many skills.

soon enough, you realised that being so perfect was a flaw in itself because when you came of age, the elders arranged for you and ao’nung to be mated before eywa. they thought you were the stability that the boy needed if he were to become the next chief, but to you it was a backhanded compliment.

you were basically expected to become ao’nung’s babysitter.

now, as adults, you can see that not much has changed since you were fifteen. looking over at tu’amro, you saw he looked like he didn’t know what to do. “i can finish these last pieces, if you want to go home and change,” he reassured you kindly.

“thank you. i’m so sorry about this, tu’am. i’ll try to be quick.”

you gracefully stood, and took off the soaked shawl to reveal one of your thinner, skimpier tops. you carelessly wore it this morning, not expecting to be in a situation where you would have to remove the cover up, but you didn’t give yourself a chance to second guess your next move. furious wasn’t enough of a word to describe you now. you shot tu’amro another apologetic look before hopping off the marui and grabbed the ball.

if ao’nung needed a babysitter, then he would get the worst babysitter in the world.

as you began to storm on the sand to where the group was standing, ao’nung opened his arms to convey a false sense of regret and shame.

“come on, sevin, don’t be like that. it was an accident!”

the nickname made your blood boil even more than ao’nung claiming it was an accident. despite his stupidity, the man was the highest ranking warrior in the clan and your father’s favourite hunter, with tattoos littering his whole body to prove it. for him to say that he didn’t purposefully aim the ball at you was a direct insult to his marksmanship. in fact, there was a good amount of distance between their makeshift net and where you were working, meaning he needed to use more force than necessary for the ball to reach you.

“accident, my ass!”

your tail was whipping back and forth behind you in unbridled anger, and the shells on your top clinked together due to your rash movements. through your rage, you missed the way ao’nung’s eyes unconsciously trailed on your figure as your hips swayed and your chest heaved against your top.

when ao’nung realised what he was doing, he immediately averted his attention to the man you left behind on the marui.

truth be told, he was actually aiming for to’anru, not you. though ao’nung supposed it didn’t matter who got wet with the way you were only glaring at him now. he would never admit it, but ao’nung felt bothered hearing you laugh so freely with tu’omru. what did that bastard possibly say that was so funny you were constantly giggling? ao’nung knew that du’onra had feelings for you, and wanted to court you when you were teenagers, but it fell through when the elders announced your arrangement.

he was beginning to lose interest in their volley game, and the sound of the waves crashing behind him was a reflection of his conflicting feelings. so when the boys team began losing against the girls, and definitely not because he was getting sidetracked, ao’nung thought to make things more interesting.

he watched you say something quietly to ta’unro before you started heading in his direction. ao’nung rolled his eyes after seeing that du’arno stayed sitting on the marui like an obedient nantangtsyìp. all he knew was that if he were to’orma, he would’ve immediately moved to defend you and made sure that whoever threw that ball would regret it. however, it seemed that you were stuck with a spineless fucker who liked to listen to your orders. ao’nung smirked at the thought.

good boy.

“aren’t you going to say sorry, yawnetu?”

you were already halfway to yelling and you hadn’t even fully reached him yet but at least now, your attention was only directed at him. the sweetness is your voice was so fake that ao’nung’s smirk only widened at hearing the term of endearment. since your mating arrangement was announced when you were eighteen, he began teasing you by calling you ‘pretty’ thinking you would be flustered by it. when you effortlessly countered by calling him ‘beloved’, it was obvious that ao’nung had an equal match. almost eight years later, and the two of you were still committed to it.

“like i said, it was an accident,” his feigned innocence made your glare turn icier, but his next line was the final straw.

“it’s okay to get a little wet for me, sevin.”

“let me show you just how wet i can get for you, yawnetu.”

ao’nung barely had time to register what you said before you grabbed onto his ear and started dragging him across the beach in front of all his friends.

“ow, wait! my ear! sevin, my ear! ow!”

you slightly twisted the corner you grabbed like a parent would to their disobedient child. if you were to be mated, ao’nung would do well to remember that he was to do your bidding. while he wasn’t much taller than you, he was definitely bigger and stronger so he could’ve easily flipped this position, but he didn’t. for the first time ever, it seemed that the man was okay with being put in his place.

“what kind of mate will you be if you don’t even apologise to me now?” you chided him.

you could hear neteyam and lo’ak laughing behind you. rotxo, being best friends with ao’nung, hollered, “just say you’re sorry, bro!” before joining the hysterics. you were too far away to hear what the girls were saying, but tuk and tsireya’s chuckles still travelled to you through the breeze.

“i’m not apologising when nobody even got hurt, sev- ow! well that hurt!” he didn’t understand how your grip somehow got stronger.

ao’nung felt the water reach his ankles, and saw that you were not stopping. your hand stayed attached to his ear until you were waist deep in the water but he still didn’t make a move to stand at his full height. part of ao’nung was excited to see what you were going to do, and another part of him wanted to check to see if da’onru had his eyes on the two of you alone in the water.

when you let go of his ear and turned to face him, you put on an apologetic, almost shy, smile. you began to softly caress his ear in a soothing manner before saying, “sorry, i didn’t want your friends to follow us, yawnetu.”

as you slowly stepped deeper in the water, you put a hand on each of ao’nung’s broad shoulders as if to use him as an anchor, and he allowed it. he truly had no idea where you were going with this and was about to question you, but you began to lazily trace the tattoos on his skin. your touch was so light, and the sensation made him ball his hands into fists at his sides.

ao’nung could feel you breaking down his resolve with ease.

“they’re probably watching whatever show you’re putting on right now though,” he hummed, trying to study your face for clues.

without warning, your legs naturally wound around his waist, and you pouted at him with no hint of malice on your face. all ao’nung could really focus on was how pretty you looked when you weren’t angry at him. ao’nung instinctively let his hands settle on your hips to steady you both, and you giggled.

you fucking giggled, and ao’nung never heard you giggle because of him. he wanted to hear it over and over again.

“they can watch, it’s okay with me,” you glanced over his shoulder to see that all of them were, in fact, gaping. the boys’ looked dumbfounded by the sight of your arms around ao’nung, and the girls were covering their mouths in undisguised delight.

“even to’armu?” ao’nung couldn’t stop himself from asking.

“his name is tu’amro,” you poked ao’nung’s firm chest. “but yes, he’s watching too.”

“i don’t actually care what his name is,” ao’nung scoffed. there was no way he would bother remembering the name of the guy who was crushing on his soon-to-be-mate. “what i care about is the game you’re playing. you know i hate losing.”

“no game. just you and me,” you were still feeling up his skin and tattoos, and ao’nung silently prayed to eywa that you didn’t feel something else. you murmured, “wanted to have you to myself.”

“you’ve got me, sevin. i’m all yours.”

ao’nung’s words were unexpected. you don’t think he realised that his voice lowered and his grip on your hips tightened. it made you wonder if he was being genuine or if he figured you out and was just playing along. you were grateful that the water was cool today to counteract the heat radiating from your skin, but you hoped he didn’t notice you locking your ankles behind his waist.

“was it really an accident?” you asked, with your thumbs stroking the sides of his neck. ao’nung visibly gulped. you could feel his pulse rising under your touch.

“of course it was,” ao’nung reassured you. he was beginning to feel guilty seeing you upset about his actions, but he also knew there was a high chance you’d be less forgiving if you found out the ball was aimed for du’omra. “i’d never try to hurt you.”

“so you didn’t mean for me to get wet, yawnetu?”

“trust me, sevin, i’d love to get you wet in many other wa-”

you didn’t hear the rest of ao’nung’s sentence because your ankles pushed his lower body down. then, you shoved his shoulders as hard as you could to plunge him completely under the water. fortunately, ao’nung didn’t notice that your ilu was swimming nearby the entire time since he was too preoccupied by the way you took over all his senses, and she quickly came to take you away.

you could hear cheers from ao’nung’s friends on the beach as widened the distance between you two. with a quick peek over you shoulder, you saw his head finally surfaced. ao’nung didn’t look a tiny bit impressed by you already, but you still called out to get the last word in.

“is that wet enough for you?”

⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄ ⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄ ⋆.𓆝.ೃ࿔ ݁𓆟:･𓆞༄

unbeknownst to you, ao’nung kept his eye on you until your figure disappeared before swimming back to shore.

all his friends were still very much amused by the entertainment you provided for them, and they continued to tease him saying he deserved your harmless prank. ao’nung laughed with them, while inwardly cursing himself for falling for your tricks. he never considered that you could be such a little minx who preyed on innocent men. you were always so gentle and kind that ao’nung never heard a bad thing ever said about you, but you only ever acted out like this with him.

unbeknownst to you and his friends, ao’nung couldn’t get his mind off how it felt to have your body on his.

what made things worse for him was that your stunt piqued his curiosity about da’muro, and if he ever got that close to you. he hated the idea so much that his stomach began to hurt at the thought.

so, like the stupid man that he was, ao’nung tried giving his attention to another girl for the rest of the day.

kiri brought a friend with her from their forest clan, a girl who introduced herself as zamrey, who was very adamant about experiencing the metkayina life. as the responsible host that he was, ao’nung showed her around the village and tried to make her feel welcomed. there was no denying that zamrey quickly fell victim to ao’nung’s sly flirting. she avoided his gaze after a compliment, or her ears perked up when he stood close.

even so, ao’nung stopped his flirting the instant he started thinking about how you would’ve rolled your eyes at him, and shoved him away instead of accepting his flattery.

up until the evening, there was no sign of you. he spotted tu’ruma at some point with your father and the other hunters, but not you. he greeted your mother and his mother when he saw them happily gossiping about half the village in their family marui. he even saw your grandmother with the village children, including his little sister. you were one of the most favoured teachers in the clan by the children and pril talked about your lessons all the time but still, he didn’t see you there. either you were avoiding him, or ao’nung didn’t know his island as well as he thought.

nonetheless, his eyes landed on you within seconds when the clan gathered for dinner. you changed out of that devastating top from earlier and into a more modest number, but that did not mean that ao’nung found you any less pretty.

there was a reason why he chose ‘sevin’ as his petname for you.

after getting your food, you sat with the elders like usual. you were friendly with many people in the clan, but you only had a few friends like ta’urmo, from what ao’nung observed. he knew that sometimes you’d sit with tsireya when she invited you to, but even then you kept your distance. he secretly hoped that his sister would do the same tonight.

“hey, isn’t that your friend?” zamrey was the one that pointed you out. “why don’t we ask her to sit with us?”

kiri replied, “we always ask her, but she hardly ever does.”

neteyam and rotxo gave each other a knowing look, but lo’ak was too busy fussing over the bones in tsireya’s fish to care. ao’nung was about to wave you over, but out of nowhere, du’arma blocked you from his view. was he a personal guard or something? the guy wouldn’t leave you alone. ao’nung watched as you took ta’umro’s hand, and sat beside him. his stomach was starting to hurt again for some reason.

oh great mother, did this mean he was dying?

ao’nung spent dinner quietly, barely touching his food, and everyone noticed. even you. usually, his voice was the loudest out of the group, but tonight you didn’t hear him. it was so unusual and strange, that your eyes kept drifting towards ao’nung. it appeared that his focus was on the waves crashing by the shoreline, and not the unknown omatikayan girl fussing over him.

you didn’t meant to frown, but your eyes saw her hands on ao’nung’s biceps and it rubbed you the wrong way. this might be her first time visiting awa’atlu but someone should have informed the girl. why didn’t ao’nung tell her that he was already promised to you, especially after what happened earlier? you shook your head at your inane thoughts, and began gathering some dishes to wash to distract yourself.

“i will help you,” tu’amro immediately stood to accompany you.

“thank you, tu’am, but i’d like to be alone,” you declined his offer.

you quickly glanced back and caught ao’nung’s eye for the first time that night. you gave him a small smirk and lightly bowed your head in acknowledgment, before making your way towards the washing area of the beach. once more, ao’nung kept his eye on you and observed how your nantangtsyìp followed your orders and sat back down.

on a whim, ao’nung took this chance to stand up and offer to wash everyone else’s dishes too. zamrey was about to offer her help, but he moved efficiently and hastily. when he began to walk away, heading in the same direction as you, tsireya snorted and whispered something in lo’ak’s ear, who then proceeded to also snort.

“what are you two laughing about?” neteyam asked.

“just that he’s such a lost cause,” lo’ak snickered.

“he’s stupid, that’s what he is,” rotxo retorted.

what they didn’t know was that by the waterside, ao’nung settled himself right beside you. funnily enough, you didn’t mind his presence as much as you normally did. maybe it was because you had a lot on your mind, definitely not the image of a certain hand pawing at a certain bicep, but you liked the peace.

“so, sevin, where did you go after you tried to drown me? i didn’t see you anywhere,” ao’nung was still curious.

“i took a nap,” your reply came naturally and a small giggle escaped you as if you were letting him in on a secret. “honestly speaking, i think that was the first nap i’ve had since we were fifteen,” you added.

that piece of information made ao’nung frown, and he took note of it. ‘she needs more sleep,’ he thought as he watched you coincidentally yawn at the mention of rest.

there were breaks of silence in your conversation, but they were somehow comfortable. sometimes you couldn’t help but point out the spots of food that he missed or didn’t clean well enough, but it wasn’t spiteful, you just liked teasing him.

ao’nung enjoyed how natural it felt to just be with you too. he sometimes nudged you by the shoulder to try get you off balance, but you only nudged him back with a hint of a smile ghosting your lips.

you both worked quietly and quickly through all the dishes, finishing almost at the same time, but the serenity of the moment was broken by a woman’s distant voice.

“ao’nung! are you still there?”

he didn’t want to leave you and go back to the chaos. he looked to see your reaction, and judging by the way your ears uncontrollably flattened and how your eyes stayed on your feet barely touching the water, ao’nung knew you felt the same as him.

“let’s go,” ao’nung suddenly grabbed your hand and gently pulled you up to stand.

“huh? ao’nung, go where?” your eyes widened at the suggestion. you were also surprised at yourself for not immediately ripping your arm away from him and shutting him down.

without answering you, ao’nung began to wade through the water. you took notice that he held your hand firmly, but not so tight that you couldn’t let go if you wanted to. he prayed to eywa that you wouldn’t let go, and tried to hide his grin from you when he felt you only hold on tighter.

you don’t know what possessed you to do this after what happened with ao’nung earlier, and your strong feelings about his stupidity, but you haven’t had so much fun in so long. even now, you knew you weren’t doing anything wrong, but there was a thrill in being alone with ao’nung. he was always the best at doing reckless things in your adolescence while you sat perfectly still with the elders. why not do something fun with him now, knowing it all ends tomorrow?

you watched the bioluminescence on his back as he led you deeper into the water. similarly to earlier, when your feet couldn’t touch the sand anymore, you moved in front of him to wind your arms around his shoulders.

ao’nung openly stared at your face and your bioluminescence flickering, as you lightly traced his skin again. you didn’t understand your fascination with his tattoos. they were not foreign for the metkayina and you were decorated with your own, but still, you felt drawn to his.

they were markings of a good man.

his heart stuttered when you began to wrap you legs around his waist again, but he didn’t hesitate to settle his hands on your hips securely as if they were made to be there. ao’nung casually began to slowly caress your thighs to help you relax even further. both of you stayed quiet for a while, neither one wanting to break the peace.

if you could read his mind, he was thinking about how he could get used to this. he hoisted you up higher before speaking.

“you know, sevin, i’m scared you might be pranking me again.”

“you know, yawnetu, you deserved what you got.”

ao’nung threw his head back in a genuine guffaw, “fine, maybe i did. but i meant it when i said it was only an accident!”

unintentionally, you leaned your head on his shoulder. the sea’s gentle rocking against you was soothing enough that you yawned again. in the distance, you saw two figures on the beach. an slender omatikayan woman and a man, then something clicked in your head.

“let me guess. you were aiming for tu’amro, weren’t you?”

the waves crashed on a nearby rock. ao’nung knew he should’ve said something but he was still conflicted. he didn’t want to lie to you, but he also didn’t know if you would pull away from him if he told you the truth.

“i’m not going to confirm or deny that,” ao’nung chuckled nervously. he took great pleasure in hearing your tired giggles against his shoulder at his answer. you must’ve been too tired to lift your head now.

“but you still didn’t say sorry to me,” you yawned again at the end of your sentence. you didn’t even care about the broken ceramic anymore. you were just beginning to get so sleepy that you were languidly drawing patterns to connect the bioluminescence on his shoulder blades.

“i’m sorry that to’urma is stupid.”

“his name is tu’amro,” he didn’t see you roll your eyes at his childishness, but ao’nung could’ve sworn he felt it.

“i’m sorry he has a stupid name that i don’t care about.”

you yanked at one of his ears without much energy, which ao’nung found much too endearing. you still had some fight left in you even when he could literally feel your body flush against his, and knew you were half asleep.

“i’m sorry for being a pain in your ass, sevin,” ao’nung conceded.

he thought that you were already knocked out when he didn’t get a reply for a few moments, and softly chuckled to himself. he kept his hands securely fastened around you, wanting you to be comfortable and get the few minutes of extra sleep that you deserved.

ao’nung was so caught up in his thoughts of speaking to the elders tomorrow about giving you more time for respite, that he almost didn’t catch you whisper something against his neck.

“good boy.”

men were stupid indeed. ao’nung was stupidly falling for you without your safety net to catch him, and you didn’t even know.

~~~

“You did not want it a minute ago.” His bare eyebrow lifting in a question as he presses further.

“It's just..” soft voice, too busy imagining which top would go the best with your new accessory. Maybe the one with purple flowers, you think to yourself.

“Would be a shame to waste such pretty shells.” You murmur, eyes avoiding his intense stare. Face slightly flushed, trying to play it cool.

“I am sure Tsireya would find a good use for it.” He presses. No real intent of taking it away. He made it for you. Only you.

He tries reaching for it again.

“No!" You let out a muted hiss, fangs subtly showing.

"You gave it to me." Voice soft and low.

"It is mine.” You murmur, eyes drifting away from his.

“What was that?” Ao'nung moves closer, now crouching before your seated figure, knowing well what you just said. He wants to hear you say it again. Confidence fills his body.

“Raise your voice, Sevin.” You blush at his use of words, hugging the necklace closer to your chest.

“I said” You start trying to sound stern. Back straight, looking right at his face again.

“It is mine now.” Slowly, emphasizing each word, asserting your claim.

Ends of his mouth curling upwards as he smirks, satisfied with your words. So possessive, he thinks to himself as he looks at your flushed state.

He could get used to this.

Aonung’s with his friends, water splashing around as they try to one up each other, seeing who catches the most fish in the shallow water by the reef barrier. Aonung’s quiet, too busy imagining what you might be up to in this moment. Days have past since he's last seen you. Your absence heavy on his heart. Gripping his spear tight at the thought of you. Perhaps you are with your mother, helping her around the village, busy with preparations for the festival. Or maybe you are with Tsireya, braiding each other’s hair as you usually do around this time.

The image of you, content smile, eyes shut close as you let Tsireya do whatever she wants with your hair makes him smile.

Would she let me braid her hair, he questions silently. Almost ready to leave his friends to go find you.

His thoughts are interrupted when he feels his friend bumping his shoulder.

“Hey-“ He starts, offended that they dare pull him away from his daydreaming.

Now looking at his friends, he notices their eyes are fixed on the spot behind him. Intrigued, he turns around. Curious what got their attention.

There you are,

taking long strides towards him. You are on a mission, arms folded in front of you, palms tightly shut together as if you were hiding something.

He notices a slight hesitance in your approach, tension evident in your shoulders. Your tail flickering behind you. He might even think you look nervous, unlike your usual self.

He wants to say something, but the words die in his throat as he notices a familiar object gently swaying on your chest with every step you take.

A faint smile forms across his face, heart pounding.

He knew the white polished shells would look great on your turquoise skin.

“Ao’nung”

Letting out a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding.

Oh, how much he loves the sound of your voice.

He does not give you a chance to proceed. His arm reaching out, fingers grazing one of the bigger shells on your necklace.

“I like it on you.” He states, feeling proud. His friends forgotten as the only thing he can now see is you, right in front of him, wearing the necklace he made for you.

You huff, looking past his shoulder. His friends pretending the small rocks by their feet are suddenly the most interesting thing they have ever seen.

His fingers gently press into your chin, redirecting your attention back to him.

You avert your eyes, ears folding down. Taking a deep beath, you look down at the item hiding in your palms.

Removing his hand from your face, you flip his palm upward and hesitantly place the item into his big hand. Taking a small step back, as to free yourself of his heavy presence, barely letting you breathe.

Ao'nung's curious eyes study it, bare eyebrows knitting together.

Heat floods his body as the realization hits. Fingers skimming over the elegant woven details. You must have spent so much time working on it. And you did it for him.

If he wasn't a gone man before, he definitely is now.

His body straightens, mouth dry, no words come out. His head lifts up, big eyes staring right into yours.

Blush creeps up your neck, this time you don't look away.

“We are even now.” Your tender voice pulling him out of his trance.

Mind blank, he lets your words linger. He can hear the distant sound of waves gently crashing against the reef. Soft silence falls over you and for a moment its just the two of you.

You leave him there, a mess. The trace of your touch tingling on his skin. His mind screaming at him to chase after you, but he doesn't.

He moves his gaze from the graceful sway of your leaving figure to the armband softly resting in his palm.

“Yeah, we are.” He whispers to no one but himself. Voice low, genuine.

He’s had a taste of your affection and now he’s hungry for more.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Awa'atlu, Lo'ak is lying on his back, staring at the ceiling.

Not even an hour ago he was dreaming about riding his ilu into a sunset. He was ruthlessly woken up by a loud thud echoing in the open room of his home. His body instantly on alert as he jumped to his feet, hand on the closest object in his reach, ready to fight. Thought, he was not met with an intruder, but a very stressed Ao'nung.

He has long since given up. Now mindlessly listening to his friend's rambling. Ao'nung's moves are erratic, with quick steps, he paces around, avoiding the messy piles of garments scattered across the floor. Each of his hand holding a different chest guard. To Lo'ak, they both look pretty much the same.

"This one makes my chest look bigger." Ao'nung points out, holding up the sturdy piece in his right hand.

"But this one shows off my tattoos more". His bare eyebrows knit together as he studies the piece in his left hand.

Lo'ak lets out a loud heavy sigh, palms slapping against his face in frustration. Now sitting up, he looks at his friend. He's had just about enough.

"Bro." Annoyance evident in Lo’ak’s voice as he continues,

"I promise you, she is not going to care."

Ao’nung looks at him for a brief moment. No words coming out of his mouth. Lo’ak swears he can almost see the gears turning in his head.

Ao’nung’s head snaps to his left hand, eyeing the item he’s holding. His lips softly parted as he prepares to speak.

“You are right, this one is better”. He finally says, not even acknowledging Lo’ak’s words. Clearly lost in his own thoughts.

“She likes my tattoos.” He states, a small smirk forming across his face, his chest puffed up. And with two long strides, he’s gone, leaving behind a confused Lo’ak.

The day before, you asked Ao’nung to join you for your morning swim. Unlike him, you like to start your day early, when the waters of your village are still calm. Ao’nung couldn’t say no, not like he even wanted to, always eager to be in your presence. That night he couldn’t sleep. He felt like a child the day before completing the rite of passage. Excited, yet terrified. He kept tossing around in his hammock, his mind loud.

Sweaty palms adjusting the chest guard, he makes his way to the reef pools. He can see your diving form in the distance, your strong tail swaying, letting the currents guide you as the water glimmers around you. His heartbeat quickens when he gets closer. You resurface, small droplets of water adorning your skin. Your hand holding a small pearl you must have found during your dive. Tsireya's right next to you, admiring the delicate gem.

“Pretty.”

You hear his low voice before you see him. You look up, ears folded down, eyes glued to his broad frame. Years of training reflecting on his body.

You think his words must have been directed at the small gem in palm.

Your body reacts sooner than your mind can catch up.

“You keep it”. You say, thrusting the pearl into his hand. You give him no time to react when you dive back in the water. Your tail splashing him in the process. He lets out a quiet chuckle at your antics. He puts your small gift into the pouch attached to his hip. Keeping it safe as he dives right after you.

The sun is soft against your warm skin, your body relaxed as you lay in the cool salty water of the shallow reef pool, creating a perfect contrast. Leaned back and propped on your arms, you are listening to Tsireya, who is animatedly telling you about the date Lo'ak took her on.

"...and there was this underwater cave, I couldn't believe my eyes" Tsireya goes on, eyes wide, arms moving in the air as to help her express her joy.

You listen patiently, but every so often, your attention drifts towards the heavy arm lying next to you.

Ao'nung sits behind you, his presents calm yet strong. His body drifting closer to yours with every passing second. Tsireya's words fade into the background as his mind is solely occupied by you. Fingers idly playing with the ends of yours braids, his tail thumping in satisfaction. Eyes drifting over you smooth skin, his gaze fixed on the faint freckles sprinkled across your shoulder. What if he just leaned a little closer.

"I have to go." Tsireya says, standing up.

"I will see you later?" She adds with an honest smile, the question directed at you. You give her a faint nod, and with that, she leaves.

The water around you stirs softly, Ao’nung moves, now kneeling in front of you.

“You want me to stay or should I leave?” Unsure whether you want to be alone with him or not. The question is genuine, giving you the space to decide. His ears folded down, tail low.

You look at him. Letting the question linger in the air, you say nothing.

Not wanting to make you uncomfortable, he slowly shifts, ready to stand up.

Your hand reaches out, swiftly catching his bicep, fingers tightly gripping the muscle.

“Stay.”

“Please”. You beg with a whisper.

He surrenders to your touch, letting you pull him closer. His hands and knees in the water as he slowly crawls to you. Your noses almost touching, he studies your face. His eyes staring into yours, he notices the slight blush on your cheeks.

Your hand cups the back of his neck and you guide him to rest his head on your chest. Careful not to put too much weight on you, his body relaxes against yours. The heaviness grounding you.

The water around you stills as you embrace each other.

Your arm lies across his broad back as your finger tips softly brush his side. The gentle drag of your nails along his ribs sending shivers through his body.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep, slow breath, savoring this sweet moment. His soul satisfied with the newfound proximity.