#neteyam hurt/comfort

[tired-but-willing]

Thanatophobia

Pairing: Neteyam / Fem!Reader

Word Count: 1,849

Warnings: Violence, major spoilers for Avatar 2

Summary: In the ask <3. I added a little more to it anon, I hope you don't mind. I just got carried away.

I've been shot, you idiot.

Neteyam's words to Lo'ak as he struggled to tread water sent a cold, icy fear through you. He bobbed helplessly in the water, his failing body struggling to keep his head above the water. Instantly, you were reaching for him, your own hands grasping with desperation to keep him up.

"Help!" You shouted to Lo'ak. He didn't need to be told twice. Your urgency snapped him from his stupor. He rushed to be at your side, helping to carry Neteyam between the two of you. A small rock formation nearby was all the two of you could find to lay him on. From there, everything in your mind was a blur of panic. The full Sully family gathered, watching as Neteyam lay dying. Dying. Jake turned him over, checking his back. The bullet had gone through his skin- an entrance and exit wound. He was going to bleed out in front of you. You held his hand tightly in yours as Jake shouted something to Lo'ak. Something about pressure.

You were crying. You registered that Neteyam was, too. His breaths were coming in quick and sharp gasps. His eyes, foggy with pain, locked on Jake's.

"I want to go home."

You sobbed, your head bowing.

"We'll go home." You had never heard Jake so emotional. To you, he had always been stoic. A warrior. Toruk Makto. Now he was a grieving father. "We'll go home, Neteyam."

His breath hitched. Neteyams chest rose up sharply. "Dad-" his eyes; those gold eyes that you loved so much- flitted to you. He breathed your name.

And then he didn't breathe at all.

"Neteyam?" You asked softly. Your hand cupped his face. "Neteyam. Neteyam!"

A scream joined your desperate cries. At your side, Neytiri grasped onto Neteyam's arm, shaking his body to rouse him. His eyes had shut. You kept your hand on his face, though you could hardly see him through your tears. Maybe that was a miracle. It felt like you were going to die with him. Your heart was going to shatter and take you with it. Cries wracked through your body, shaking you. At your other side, Lo'ak had yet to let up on Neteyams chest. He was still trying to stop the bleeding.

The bleeding. Neteyam was bleeding. You blinked rapidly, clearing your gaze. Barely there was movement- a shallow rise and fall of his chest that you had somehow missed in your grief. In an instant, you gripped Lo'aks arm.

"Do not let up!" You demanded sharply. "He is breathing!"

Neytiri and Jake were there the second you spoke, back from whatever reassurance they were providing for each other. You were knocked aside by the latter as he knelt beside his son, bracing his hands on his chest.

"Breathe, Neteyam," he pleaded, shoving his hands down hard once. "Breathe."

Neytiri covered her mouth with her hands, muffling a wail that threatened to escape her. You could do nothing but watch as Jake desperately tried to return life to his child. He turned back to you, eyes wide and frantic.

"I need something to cover the wound!"

You tore at the cloth on your waist, ripping some of it away. You and Lo'ak used it to clog the chest wound while Jake continued to work. It seemed like nothing was happening. Neteyam lay still.

"Eywa," you heard Neytiri whisper. "Great Mother. Please. Please."

You echoed her prayer, shutting your eyes. You couldn't handle watching Neteyam jolt with every thrust upon his chest. You couldn't take watching his near lifeless body- the body of the boy you loved. You weren't strong enough.

Eywa answered your prayers in the form of a gasp. Neteyam's eyes shot open.

Alive.

He was alive.

•••

There was no time to talk following the miracle. You and Tsireya stayed with Neteyam, watching over him. He couldn't speak, drifting in and out of consciousness whilst you sat with him. Each time his eyes slipped shut you would check for his pulse. And each time they opened, you would flash him a reassuring smile, letting him know he was safe.

Following Kiri and Tuk's rescue, you all returned to your village. It was difficult transporting Neteyam, but the difficulty was worth it. It was better than transporting his body.

In the Sully hut, Ronal healed his body using a variety of herbs and prayers. Your Tsahìk sent you away after the first hour of healing.

"You cling too much," she said bluntly. "I cannot concentrate. You may see him when he recovers."

Only, you couldn't. A week later when Neteyam woke up, his family occupied the hut. You wanted desperately to see him. More than that, however, you wanted to give him time with his family. You could remember Neytiri's horrified screams and the hollow look inside Jake's eyes when it seemed like he had died. You knew that they needed time with him far more than you did.

That was what led you here. Sitting on the edge of one of your villages woven walkways, staring dejectedly into the water. The weight of your seat dipped as another joined you. From the edges of your vision, you could spot Tsireya's face. Her expression was one of pity.

"You know he is awake now," she said. "You can go to him."

You kicked your legs back and forth halfheartedly.

"He needs to be with his family."

"He needs to be with you." She nudged your shoulder with her own. "He asked for you, ____. When he could speak."

You couldn't help but be surprised. No one had told you he called for you. His family hadn't left the hut since he'd woken. You could hardly blame them. If you could, you would be there at his side. Tsireya gave you a knowing look.

"It is difficult, is it not?"

"Is what difficult?"

"Loving a Sully."

"What?" You sputtered. "I do not. I am not! I just- he is only-"

"Oh, enough." She tossed her head back and laugh. "I know that look. I know that feeling. You cannot hide these things from me."

Realization dawned on you. You felt like an idiot. "Lo'ak."

"Yes." Her ear flicked with amusement. "Lo'ak. Believe me, ____. I understand what you feel. And I understand what he feels. You should go to him."

"He needs time with his family."

"He has time. You will find they agree. Go."

It was hard to argue with that. Besides; you didn't want to argue. This was an excuse to talk to Neteyam. You were going to take it. You got to your feet and hurried to the Sully's hut. Once you reached it, you noted only Neytiri was inside. She knelt next to his son where he lay on the ground. When you entered the home she glanced up at you and rose to her feet. She paused at your side.

"Treat him well," she murmured to you. "And be wise." She then brushed past you, exiting the home, leaving you alone with Neteyam. He stayed laying flat on his back. He didn't turn to you, but he spoke.

"You saved my life."

You approached him cautiously. "I almost cost you it."

"No."

"Yes." You knelt beside him. A horrid sense of deja-vu washed over you. The last time you were with him, he was on the verge of death, Ronal working over his pale body, struggling to keep him alive. "If I had been faster- if I had pushed Lo'ak to safety instead-"

"You could have been shot then." He looked up at you from his spot on the ground. "That could not happen. I could not-"

"You almost died." Your voice was thick with emotion. "I would have gotten shot instead to prevent it."

"That is stupid."

"No."

"Yes." This time it was his turn to refute you. He sat up slowly, hissing in discomfort but grabbing your hand when you tried to make him lie back down. He held it fast in his own. "Why are you so willing to throw away your life?"

"Why are you so willing to throw away yours?" You shot back. You made no move to free yourself from his grip. He wasn't holding your hand tight enough to hurt you. Even whilst both your emotions were strong, he was still cautious. Considerate.

"I was protecting. That is my job."

"Is it your job to die?"

"____." Exasperated, he said your name. "It is my job to defend what I care for."

"And mine is the same," you snarled. "So there."

Your conclusion was childish. Maybe that was why he stared at you, his golden eyes wide. Eywa, how you loved those eyes. Seeing them full of life could have made you cry from relief.

"You care for me?"

You could recall Tsireya's words. Why not, you decided. "I love you. Moron."

Neteyam continued to stare at you. His hold on your hand tightened for the barest of seconds. "What?"

"I love you," you repeated. "And you almost died. Right in front of me. What would I have done then?"

"You love me."

"That is what I just said."

"I love you."

It was your turn to be stunned. "Oh."

"What?" He gave you a wry smile. "You can say it, but I cannot?"

"No! That is not why-" you groaned, leaning closer to him. His gaze traveled down to your lips before quickly returning to make eye contact with you.

"Then why not?" He challenged.

"Stop talking." You ordered, moving in closer still. "I want to kiss you."

"That is fine with me." His attempt at keeping his composure was adorable to you. While his tone was cool, you could still read excitement and wonder clearly in his expression. You couldn't help but smile, leaning in and pressing your lips to his.

Kissing Neteyam was magic.

His lips were warm on yours. His hands moved to hold you; one on your back, one on your thigh. All warm. A reminder that he was real, and he was alive. You kissed him harder just because you could. He was quick to reciprocate.

Kissing Neteyam was air.

Years of diving had trained you to hold your breath for long periods of time, and you'd never been more grateful for that fact. Neteyam it seemed, had plenty of stamina of his own from the lessons in swimming he'd been given during his brief time with your people. It felt like you had all the time in the world entangled with him, your hand sliding into his braided hair to hold him close.

It also wasn't nearly enough time. Eventually, Neteyam broke away first, taking in deep breaths of air. He didn't look away from you once. His flustered state made you proud. It also made you worry for his injuries.

"Do you need a moment?" You asked.

"No." His response was quick and breathless. "Again."

You were happy to oblige.

[neteyamslovrr]

HOW CAN I LOSE YOU?

summary: prmoised to a stranger Y/N takes flight and finds herself lost in the pandorian forest, only to be found by a omaticayan boy. who knew that strangers could fall in love so fast?

a/n: 5.7K WORDS bro that's more than my assignments. anyway i am incredibly proud of this fic and i hope you enjoy it as much as i do

──── ⑅*❀*⑅ ────

Heat rose through your body, fury filling your insides as the words your mother said repeated in your mind like an intoxicating mantra. You are promised.

Promised? Th only promise is your misery. To think it’s not even someone from your clan. A stranger, an outsider, unknown to you and you were meant to mate. The fury grew even thinking about it.

“Y/N? Respond please.” Your mother held her hands on your shoulder as you refused to look in her direction.

“What? I’m being promised to someone I don’t even know. Am I meant to be excited?” You spat venom at your mother avoiding her eye contact, swatting her hands off of your body.  

“Y/N! Do not speak to your mother like that!” Always chiming in when he wasn’t needed, that’s what your father did.

“Don’t treat your daughter like a peace treaty then!” You shouted back, a sharp finger pointed at your father’s chest. You started to walk backwards, hands shaking from the rage racking through your body. “I’m leaving.”

“No Y/N, you can’t leave now, we have things to discuss!” Your mother was desperate walking fast to match the fast pace you had created to reach your ikran.

“You have nothing to say to me.” Harsh words shot at your mother as you hoped onto your ikran. “Go, Lifo!” Shouting out your banshees name you took off, gusts of wind leaving your parents to stare at their fleeing daughter.

You couldn’t remember how long you had been flying, the ongoing replay of the fight with your parents and the doom of your near future plagued your mind. Leaving your ikran to fly into unknown territory, a dense forest filled with a loud glow that encompassed every lifeform.

Landing on a large tree you disconnected from Lifo, the glow was different to your clan, it was much more apparent, the plant life encompassing every step you would take.

Strolling through the forest, you wandered looking for any food or water, as the unexpected trip took a toll on your body, hunger brewing in your stomach creating soft grumbles that harmonized with the sounds of the forest. Inspecting all of the flora around you, you spotted a purple fruit. You only recognized it as the same fruit grew on smaller trees surrounding your village.  

Picking the fruit, avoiding the thorns on the fruits skin, you took a bite. The flesh of the fruit spilling into your mouth leaving you with an amazing taste and a wash of nostalgia. It was the exact same as home, bringing you back to times when you knew you could run freely and weren’t subjected to a life of misery, a life of lack of love.

A sudden crunch of leaves instantly got rid of the nostalgic feeling you had and replaced them with fear, subconsciously holding onto the knife in the loop of your loin cloth as your heart started to beat rapidly.

“Who are you?” A loud voice boomed in front of you. A tall man, braids reaching his shoulders and hand who also reached onto his knife stood tall across from you, his figure intimidating as he questioned you.

“I mean no harm! I am just lost!” You retracted your hand off your knife to surrender yourself to the man in front of you. “I am from the eastern seas, my ikran and I flew too far.” Pointing to your sleeping ikran in the treetops above the pair of you. The mans eyes softened immediately, you noticed a=how the bioluminescent glow of the forest made his features stand out like a flower in a desert.

“Are you alright?” The man asked coming closer, his hand now also abandoning his knife, knowing you were no longer a threat.

“Yes, just looking for food.”

“You cannot stay in the forest at night, you’ll die.” Panic rose throughout you as you realised you stood in such hostile foliage. Eyes immediately scanning around where you stood, conscious of the danger surrounding you. “Rest within my clan, you’ll leave in the morning.” He wasn’t asking you, more like a demand.

Nodding hesitantly, you clapped three times to wake Lifo up, watching her wide wings flap down to the ground to let you board her. “Please lead the way.”

He nodded, calling his ikran to fly high into the sky waiting for you to follow suit. “What is your name Ikran girl?” He shouted over the noise of the two of your ikran’s flying.

“It’s Y/N…what is yours forest boy?”

“Neteyam.” That’s a pretty name.

Upon arrival you watched as many people hustled to look at the newcomer. Two women rose to the front, the rest parting to make way for them. Assuming they were important, you greeted them with a bow. “oel ngati kameie”

The two repeated it before turning aggressively to the boy you knew as Neteyam.

“Who do you bring here?” An older woman asked, she looked wise. Maybe she was Tsa’hik?

“Her name is Y/N, flew over from the eastern seas and got lost in the forest, she is here to rest.” Neteyam’s voice was serious, his face stern, like a man of leadership. Who exactly had you run into in the middle of this forest?

“I see…” She replied, her eyes gliding over you. Frozen in the moment, her stare was intimidating but so was the hundreds of others that oogled at you. It made the hunger settling in your stomach turn into anxiety.

“Feed this poor girl!” A younger woman replied, coming up beside the Tsa’hik. She was thin, her braids similar to Neteyam’s, feathers adorning her hair, as a small child held tightly onto her hand.

“Yes mother.” Neteyam nodded, he looked at you and your frozen form. Laying a soft hand on your shoulder. “Come, your ikran will rest.” He started walking off even before you could process his words but seeing as he was the only person you knew in this place, it was first instinct to follow him around like a lost child.

He lead you into a tent, inside were fruit baskets and water stored in wooden jars. If you weren’t so shocked by the continuous new surrounding you would’ve rushed to the fruit.

“Hurry and eat, everyone can hear your stomach.” Neteyam said as he stood next to the fruit, picking one up to put into your hands. Picking the fruit out of his hands, your fingers brushed his palm slightly.

It shouldn’t have worked you up so much, but the static between the two of you evoked a small gasp out of you. Neteyam felt the touch too, he just decided to ignore it but seeing your overreaction brought a soft smirk to his face.

“Do not make fun of the guests Neteyam!” A girl pushed between the two of you, giving Neteyam a nudge. She was short, her hair messy and her voice deep.

“I was not sister!” Neteyam scoffed pushing his sister back. She let out an exaggerated gasp holding onto her arm dramatically.

Munching onto the fruit in your hands, you watched the pair of sibling’s bicker in front of you. You would’ve giggled at their antics if the anxiety of being in this new place wasn’t controlling every thought.

“Oh! I haven’t introduced myself!” The shorter girl turned to you curtly. “I am Kiri, Neteyam’s sister. What is your name?”

“It’s Y/N.” You said with you mouth full, face covered in a sticky sap excreting from the fruits skin.

“That’s quite pretty, your name.” You heated up, a compliment was rarely something you received.

“Thankyou very much.” You smiled at the girl, your gaze distracted by Neteyam who overlooked your conversation, a soft smile glistening over his face. It looked like was almost in awe watching the two women converse.

Neteyam shook his head, realising he left himself loose in his thoughts. Looking over at your messy face he was mesmerised, each of your features perfectly matched the other, you looked so soft yet sharp, so tough but so elegant.

He shouldn’t be thinking this, not as an Olo’eyktan, he had duties, responsibilities. He can’t develop a liking for another clan woman.

“Are the fruits…good?” He sounded so awkward, destroying the flow of the conversation between you and Kiri. Kiri snorted in response at her brother, she wasn’t dumb, she knew when a boy thought a girl was pretty, especially when its her brother making a fool of himself.  

You nodded enthusiastically. “They’re amazing, thankyou Neteyam.” You had finally finished the fruit, leaving your face and hands sticky. An uncomfortable feeling no doubt.

“I’m uh glad.” Neteyam responded, being slightly deterred as his sister left, poking him in the spine as she snuck out of the tent, leaving Neteyam alone, with this…girl.

“Why are you all the way in the forest by the way?” Neteyam asked suddenly, his eyes directly upon yours, looking into them, noticing the glint of sadness that washed over your pupils momentarily.

“I argued with my parents. Flew off in a rush and got distracted as to where I was flying. So now I am here.” You shrugged, taking a seat on the floor of the tent, your legs growing tired from your long journey. Neteyam followed your actions and sat down in front of you. Much closer to where he stood.

“Oh, I am sorry.”

“Do not be sorry, my parents should be the sorry ones, but you do not want to be burdened with the quarrels of my family.” A stifled chuckle escaped your throat as you looked up to see Neteyam listening to your ever word.

“I would not be burdened if you decided to talk about it.” His voice was calm, soft, a comforting feeling spreading through your chest as you heard his words.

“Thankyou.”

Neteyam nodded, as he patted just above your knee, a soft hand to comfort whatever grief was consuming your emotions. “Do you want to sleep, or would you like to continue to eat?”

“Uh, I don’t want to eat more than I am allowed to.”

“Well, are you still hungry?”

“…yes”

Neteyam shoved another piece of fruit in your hands. “Then you will eat.”

“Thankyou.” You smiled at him, biting into the fruit once again.

Neteyam was compelled by your presence, he had known you for merely an hour but the magnetic connection he felt as he was drawn to you was undeniable. Was he going crazy?

You noticed his heavy stare on you once more. It made you nervous, his eyes looking through you as you sat in front of him. His beauty was one you had never seen, he poise interested you. Were you attracted to this random man? You must be going crazy.

Chewing the food in a slightly rush you watched as Neteyam’s eyes awkwardly shuffled around the room to try and avoid making too much eye contact with you. With a small inhale you tried to gain the courage to break the awkward tension between you two.

“So Neteyam, you seem important around here, is there a reason why?” Your question surprised Neteyam. He had never met someone who knew nothing of his reputation within the clan.

“I am the future Olo’eyktan, my father is Toruk Makto.” You almost spat out the food in your mouth. You were speaking so casually with the son of Toruk Makto? Not even that, his firstborn son? He must have been staring because you were so informal!

“Oh! Son of Toruk Makto. I should have been more formal!” You rushed to stand up again to bow down to him. Scrambling to your feet with speed, you felt a soft grip on your wrist.

There Neteyam looked up at you, his eyes slightly…disappointed? Was he really that upset about your informalities?

“Sit back down Y/N, there is no need to be so formal.”

“Are you sure.” Your voice was quiet, eyes filled with confusion and hesitance as he nodded giving you the go ahead to sit once again.

“Yes I’m sure…just think of me as Neteyam.”

“Okay, I’ll do that…Neteyam.” He smiled at the sound of his name, the way you giggled as you said it, smile shining brightly in the soft moonlight that slipped through the tents curtains.

“What are you in your clan?” He asked, trying to keep the conversation flowing with you.

“I am the second daughter of the Olo’eyktan. Nothing special.” You shrugged, avoiding his hardening gaze. His hand returned once again to your thigh, an awkward attempt at comfort but still an attempt.

“You are a daughter of your clan’s leaders, that is important.” A stern statement filled with pride, his eyes softening while looking at you.

“Thankyou.” You said followed with a small yawn, eyes watering slightly. Your body was now feeling the fatigue of the long day that was now behind you.

“Oh, that reminds me, sleeping.” A soft chuckle left your lips in response to Neteyam, eyelids now starting to droop subtly. “This is my tent is where I usually sleep but if you would like you can sleep in here and I can sleep in my family’s tent?” He sounded so unsure, to suggest it as if there was another option as to where you could sleep safely.

“I do not want to kick you out of your bedroom.” You said shaking your head.

“But you are a guest you should sleep here safe.” A quick rebuttal

“Well, but this is your tent. This is where you sleep.”

“No, tonight it is where you sleep.” You sighed, pursing your lips together in response to Neteyams final remarks.

“But-”

“No” he stood up, now looking down at you. His figure looming over you intimidatingly. “You will sleep here tonight. If there is any trouble I am not far away.” He smiled at you, offering a hand to pull you up to his level.

“Are you completely sure?”

“Completely. Goodnight ikran girl.”

“Goodnight Neteyam.”

You both couldn’t deny the heat that rushed flowed to your cheeks. Neteyam stifled his smile as he exited the tent, as a smirking Kiri gave him a knowing look. This may have been the start of something terribly amazing.

It was now morning, a restless night filled with anxiety. The new sounds of the world around you, the mysterious moonlight shining into your eyes and to be alone in a brand new clan. It was terrifying.

Waking up for the last time as you decided it was an appropriate time to start off your day. Siting up you examined the tent around you, the small plants and flowers that littered the ground, and carved wooden pieces that were spread strategically around the tent. He must enjoy decorating you thought to yourself.

The curtain of your room slowly opened, a timid hand holding the edge, peeling it open to reveal Neteyam’s face. “Morning Y/N, did you sleep alright?” He asked closing the curtain again as he entered his tent. He looked down at your barely awake form, the sleep in your eyes and overall exhaustion on your face told him that you in fact did not sleep alright.

“It was fine, thankyou for letting me sleep here.”

“There was no way you weren’t going to, mum would have skinned me if I had not let a woman sleep in her own tent.” He chuckled at the thought, a hand being brought up behind his head.

“Either way, I appreciate it. I’ll have to go home soon though, my parents will send out a search party if I’m not back before todays eclipse.” Neteyam frowned, of course you had to leave. But why was there a tugging in his heart to ask you to stay just a couple hours longer, to talk to you longer, to be near you.

“Yes, but you should stay just a bit…longer.” Neteyam sounded so weary, cursing himself in his mind.

You stared up at him, you couldn’t deny that you wanted to be home, yet you had this growing urge to stay by this stranger. Why? Why did you crave his closeness?

“I guess I could…” His face brightened almost exclaiming in joy, but he choked down his urge to shout.

“Cool.” Cool? Oh, Neteyam you had to be kidding.

“Yeah…cool…” The awkward tension was once again returning as you looked away from the boy in front of you, fidgeting with his hands, rocking on his heels to pray something could meld the awkwardness in the room.

Getting off of your makeshift bed you stood close to Neteyam. Closer than any normal conversation would be. His breath was brushing past your ear as he looked down to see you mimicking his fidgeting.

“Would you like to explore the forest with me?” It was a fast, impulsive, brash decision to ask you that but seeing the way your eyes twinkled in response he felt no shame in being so forward.

“I’d love to.” Sharing smiles, you both enjoyed the now comfortable silence between you. A silence two would share in the pining plot point of a romance movie, one that asserts which two characters will be in love.

“Then let us go!”

That conversation led to you being alone in the forest with Neteyam. As he passionately explained all of the things around you, the plants, the animals. He knew you would have them in your clan, but he was enthralled in the spirit of teaching someone all about his life and culture. To have someone listen so intently to something he was passionate about.

“The forest is beautiful Neteyam.” You breathed out resting your back against a large tree trunk, one similar to the one you landed on the night before.

“I am extremely blessed for it to be my home.” His eyes were bright, smile across his face as his gratitude took over his emotions. He looked alluring to you, a sort of instinct drawing you closer to him, even though he was the one walking closer to you, a subconscious decision.

“Neteyam..” It was quiet but seeing him walk towards you unknowingly led him to stand very close to your front. His chest mere centimetres away from yours. “You are close…” Noticing your whisper he noticed how close he was, he was too busy focusing on the plants around him, he had walked right into you.

He froze when he saw your breath hitch, your eyes connecting as his broad chest momentarily brushed up against yours. “I am sorry, I shouldn’t be.” He looked down seeing your flushed cheeks and avoidant eyes. It intrigued him. Why were you so attractive? He shouldn’t think this.

“No, you shouldn’t.” Your eyes shot up to him, desire pooling in your amber orbs. The feeling was taking over your body, this longing for him. Why did you want this stranger so bad? You knew nothing of him other than the fact that your body was calling for him, begging for him.

Neteyam was now the frozen one, lost in your eyes. The desire you felt transferring to him as he felt his chest grow heavy from yearning. “Y/N…” Your name rolled off his tongue with ease, dripping in anxiousness.

Maybe it was to spite your parents, to find someone before you were mated. Maybe it was the overall intimacy of how Neteyam shyly loomed over you or maybe it was the fact that this man in front of you was the most attractive Na’vi you had ever came across and you were just a teenage girl…alone in the forest.

“Neteyam. Forgive me for this.” Crashing your lips against his your eyes shut tight as your hands travelled up his chest to rest behind his neck. He froze, eyes wide as he felt you upon him. Your touch burning as your hands travelled up and down his body.

Accepting your affections, he closed his eyes and continued to kiss you. Lips latching onto one another as he pulled your into his body, his hands wrapped around the small of your back, thumbs digging into the flesh of your hips.

Starting to lose your breath you broke away from Neteyam’s lips. Meeting his heavy breaths and intense stare. “Neteyam-” cut off as he smashed his lips into yours again. This time it was feverish, his body craving you, to taste you lips and feel every part of your body.

You let out small whimpers as Neteyam’s hands travelled down to grab your ass, his hand resting on the flesh. If he was in his right mind he would’ve been repulsed by his lewd actions but in this moment he craved you, and the sounds you made just drove him closer to insanity.

As hands roamed and kisses grew more desperate you and Neteyam separated, hands laying softly on each other as chests rose in sync, breathing loud and eye contact strong.

“Neteyam, I am sorry. I should not have done that.” The feeling of desire soon turned into shame, not being able to look him in the eye, too embarrassed about what you initiated. Neteyam was still, his face showing none of the feelings he was experiencing.

He longed to taste you again, but he knew it was wrong. He had duties to uphold as leader, he couldn’t kiss whomever he pleased. But you were just so intoxicating.

“No.”

“What?”

“Do not be sorry. I kissed you back. I wanted you so badly. No. I want you so badly.”

“Neteyam, I met you yesterday and I’m leaving today. I shouldn’t have been so impulsive.” He forgot that you had only known each other one eclipse. It felt like eternity. He also forgot that you were meant to leave, you weren’t here forever. This was a mere coincidence, meeting you in the forest was a coincidence.

“Come back then.”

“Huh” You stared up at him, you knew what he said. You just wanted him to repeat himself.

“Leave and come back. We can visit I just…I want to get to know you more Y/N. I don’t want to kiss a girl to never see her again.” Neteyam’s hands had rested against your cheek. It didn’t feel like you had known him for hours, more like years. An old couple reuniting, lost souls reconnecting. That is what it felt like.

“Neteyam…how do I explain that to my parents?”

“Don’t.”

“You are being a bit delusional.”

“I know I just… this is stupid. You just want to go.” His ears flattened against his skull, a prominent frown etched onto his face. You sighed holding onto the hand that laid against your own cheek.

“Neteyam. I want to get to know you as well.”

There it was. That was the start. It was the beginning. You both felt something click in your heads that day. That this is what is right, despite it feeling so wrong.

You and Neteyam had now been visiting each other twice a week. You would fly out on long ‘training hunts’ to understand new waters you have explored but in reality you were in the Pandorian rainforest, sat against a man’s chest as he played with your hair. It had become routine now. It was now habit to see each other.

It felt like true bliss. It let you escape from the impending doom that was meeting your future mate. It felt disgusting to think of living with someone other than Neteyam by your side. Thinking about it made you queasy but most of it made you feel lonely. Knowing one day you would have to say goodbye to Neteyam as your family had trapped you into misery for the benefits of clan’s over their own daughter. However, you didn’t think you would say goodbye to Neteyam this way.

You sat on the tree where you met Neteyam. You decided to pick that one as its large waterfall next to it made it easy for you to know where you were as you barely knew your way around the forest.

Early morning is when you would leave your clan meeting Neteyam as the sun starts to move towards peak. This morning however felt different. Neteyam who usually was there before you was nowhere to be seen. It worried you wondering where he was. He didn’t forget or something did he? No. That is stupid Y/N, you cursed yourself.

Being in the forest alone was scary, not knowing all that resides it made you sensitive to the smallest noise. That’s why when Neteyam emerged out of the heavy foliage you had your knife out ready to attack.

“Y/N? Why is your knife out?”

“You scared the crap out of me Neteyam.” Putting your knife back into the loop of your loincloth you pulled your hands down your face in embarrassment. Your heartbeat now starting to calm down as Neteyam gave you a soft embrace hoping to calm your anxiousness.

“Sorry…I was late talking to my family.” You didn’t realise before because of the adrenaline but Neteyam’s voice was sorrowful. The usual playful tone changing into a melancholy tune. But what alerted you the most was his tear-stricken face. Puffy eyes and dark cheeks.

“Neteyam…have you been crying?” you rested your thumb against his cheek, wiping the residue of tears off his face.

“It is nothing”

“It is definitely something…” your concern grew larger as he looked way from your gaze, obvious he was hiding the new set of tears welling in his eyes.

“No. It is not.”

“Neteyam please-”

“NO Y/N! I- I can’t talk about it. I just want, I want to stay next to you.” His voice cracked, in turn cracking your heart. It ached to see him hurt.

“That is okay baby, come here.” He crashed into your arms, falling onto his knees to smoosh his face into your torso. You could feel the wetness of his tears near your belly button but ignored it to continue soothing him, patting his head softly.

As you sat down to meet him on the ground you noticed his more recent tears. It pained you. What was troubling your boy?

“Nete you can tell me if something is troubling you…”

“I don’t want to lose you Y/N.” The sentence was unexpected, making you widen your eyes as Neteyam continued to let his tears fall out with a stone cold face.

“But I am right here.” A lie, you knew you would be taken away at some point, but you would tried to push it down. Enjoy the time you had with Neteyam, but for some reason he was the one cutting it short.

“No Y/N…I have been promised. I-” he paused to calm himself down, his hand gripping onto your thigh roughly. “I am to mate with someone for my clan. It is my duty.”

“What.”

“Y/N please, I had no say in this.” Your lip quivered, eyes starting to water as you gazed up to the already crying Neteyam. The pain in your body felt crippling, like your heart had been plunged out of you. Small sobs coming out of your mouth in a soft whisper as Neteyam muttered constant apologies to you.

Your chest felt heavy, your body felt heavy. You felt like you were tied down, stuck on the ground you sat on, stuck on Neteyam who hung onto you as you continued to cry in his embrace.

“Neteyam. Does this mean we never see each other again?” His heart shattered at the thought. He had fallen in love with you. Everything you did he wanted to be there with you. He craved you and you craved him. But now you were grieving him and grieving whatever could have been.

“I do not want it to be.”

“But is it.”

“Yes.”

The quiet sobs turned into loud ones as you clawed onto Neteyam. He whispered sweet nothings into your ear as he rocked you back and forth. He tried to have a little composure but hearing your pained voice broke him. He had broken you.

“I don’t want to let you go yet Nete. I was planning on never letting you go! Why did this happen!” you had this secret fantasy in your mind. That one day you and Neteyam would mate, that you would come to your home, denounce your parents promise over you and live happily with Neteyam.

But no. You were now both tied to loveless lives. Constantly yearning for each other while being with one whom you never craved like you craved each other.

“I am so sorry my love. I wish I could do something, but I am stuck.” You nodded, you were in his exact position. You couldn’t blame him. But you wanted to scream, cause a ruckus and demand for Neteyam to stay as yours. It drove you insane. Who was going to be the girl that kept you away from your Neteyam. You’ll skin her, kill her, slit her throat if it meant that Neteyam could still be yours.

“I know…let’s just enjoy our time together” it felt like a knife to the heart, like a final goodbye those last eight words. But Neteyam understood. He knew that this was a goodbye. That all good things had to come to an end but that didn’t make the thought of never having you in his arms again not the most painful thing he had ever thought about.

The ride home was the most painful thing you had ever done. You didn’t stop crying until you reached home, your throat itchy and head pounding. You wanted nothing more than to lay in your hammock and cry. To stay there until it was your time to mate and be miserable forever.

Flying into your home you would’ve thought your parents got the message that you were not to be talked to. But who were they to care about your feelings? So they barged into your room, gasping at the state of their sorrowful daughter.

“My child what has happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” You grumbled facing the opposite direction to minimalize the embarrassment you felt of being caught crying.

“We should tell her.” Your fathers voice rung in your ears, making your body go cold. You couldn’t handle anymore bad news, not after this.

“Tell me what.”

“Your mate is to arrive here tomorrow.” Your body heated up, feeling as if your head was on fire with rage. You didn’t even get time to grieve your romance before you were shoved into the hands of a stranger?

“Are you fucking kidding me.”

“Do not speak to us that way.” Your father tried to discipline you, but your rage was nothing compared to him.

“ARE YOU KIDDING?! I DON’T WANT A MATE I WANT TO BE ALONE. FUCK!” You voice was raspy and loud, sure the entire clan could hear you screams.

“You do not get a choice in this. It is for the clan.” You looked into your parents eyes but all you could see is betrayal, how is this fair?

You didn’t have the energy to fight this any longer. Without Neteyam, your purpose was gone. How was anyone meant to fight for their love when their love had been stripped away from them.

“Fine.” Your mother looked at both her mate and daughter with concern. You had given up. “I don’t care anymore, because it is obvious you do not.”

“You brat-” Your mother coughed loudly to stop your father. Sharing glances, you all looked to each other.

“Thank you daughter for doing this.” Sneering you looked directly into your mothers eyes and then to your fathers.

“I am not your daughter.” Their faces had fallen, the same emotion Neteyam had when he first saw you earlier. They had no right to be upset. Not when they chose this.

As your parents left without a word, you curled into a ball, folding in on yourself trying to shy away from the burden of grief and love tugging on your heart. The pain was indescribable, like someone had taken your heart and diced it in front of you.

That morning your mother had put you in your best attire. A top adorned in red beads and yellow feathers that represented your ikran was placed on top of you. Your usually loincloth had been replaced with one of prettier colour and material, more delicate to look at. Lastly, your hair had been let out, reaching past your shoulder blades as a yellow flower was stuck behind your left ear.

“You look beautiful Y/N.” Your mother had her hands over her mouth adoringly. “Doesn’t she look wonderful?” she asked your father as he replied with a proud nod.

A horn was sounded. Here they come. Entitled pieces of shit, thinking that they could mate into your clan. This wasn’t fair, you just wanted to see Neteyam. You wanted to cry in his arms, yet here you were walking out into the crowd of people. Drums being beat as horns blew. You tried to look poised, to try and look like you weren’t writhing in anxiety of who this man would be.

There flew in three ikrans. Why did it look so familiar? Why was the flashing colours of these animals bringing you back to siting in the forest with your love. You must be going insane.

“Neteyam te Suli Tsyeyk’itan! Welcome! Toruk Makto! Welcome!”

What.

No.

This cannot be happening. But it was.

There he stood in front of you. Just as frozen as you. The quiver of your lips came back as you saw him stand in front of you in disbelief.

“Neteyam?” He walked towards you slowly, reaching his shaking hand out to you. You paced towards him, wrapping your hand around his and bringin it to your chest. “It’s! It’s you!” you felt as if you were to burst in relief

“My love, it is you?” Neteyam’s free hand came to caress your cheek, his heart was sparkling, he felt a weight being lift off his shoulders the minute you came into view.

“It is me.” Neteyam’s lip quivered as he sucked in a short breath, trying desperately to not look as if he was a madman. “Kiss me.”

“What?”

“Kiss me Neteyam.” He complied, lips melting together in a harmonious union. Love mixed with the salty tears on both your cheeks as he held you closely to him. You kissed him deeply, ignoring the stares and confusion around you. He was here right in front of you, you would never let him go again. Never.

──── ⑅*❀*⑅ ────

hope you enjoyed please comment and reblog and like I appreciate it so much !!

[plzfeedmebread]

Resplendent

word count: 1220

Pairing: Neteyam Sully x Female! Metkayina! Na'vi Reader Tags/warnings: Fluff, angst, bittersweet, established relationship, adult reader, adult Neteyam, no smut Summary: Neteyam quietly watches you from the shore as you perform a ritual dance in the water, to the utter delight of your daughters.

Author's Note: Set some time after the big battle. Also moved those events further ahead. You and Neteyam are mated and have children before the RDA attacks the reef. Got inspired by the song~

Sa’nu - mum, mommy

Tahni - bioluminescent freckle

Close your eyes.

Deep breathes.

Remember the moves.

Remember the words...

Your heart thrums in your chest almost painfully. You take a deep, slow, calming breath; placing a hand over your heart.

“Sa’nu? Are you okay?”

You open your eyes, looking down to meet the gaze of your youngest daughter. The cool water of the sea comes up to her neck. Sweet thing. You told her, she and her sister could watch you from the shoreline. But they were persistent to be as close to you as possible. The water barely reaches your hips.

You offer a soft smile, reaching down and affectionately stroking her hair.

“I’m okay…Don’t worry my little star. Mommy’s just nervous.” The 5-year-old beams up at you with a toothy grin. Your 6-year-old beside her pats you on the arm.

“You practiced aaaaall the time! You got this.” She offers you her own encouraging smile. You give her an appreciative nod before facing the shoreline once more. You return your face to neutrality, closing your eyes once again.

You hear the disturbance of the water as your daughters move a bit to the side to give you more space to move.

With one final calming breath, you open your mouth and begin the song cord of your family.

---

Neteyam stands under the shade of a nearby tree on the shoreline. His arms are crossed as he watches the three of you.

The evening breeze carries your voice to him. He stands up straight when the sound hits his ears.

When you sing, it reminds him of the melody of birdsong in spring. No matter how many years may pass between you two, every time he hears you play the instrument of your heart, he feels like he could fall in love with you all over again.

He takes in your form as you start swaying in the water, admiring you from top to bottom.

Your hair, thick and long, reaching all the way down to your knees; you and your sisters spent what must have been hours, braiding it into the intricate patterns now adorning your head.

Even from this distance, he can still make out the faint markings of the tattoos framing your face. Though today you also have a thin line of white painting the centre of your face. You could have mud smeared all over and he would still find you to be the most beautiful woman; you have him convinced you are blessed by Eywa herself.

You arms move slow and with purpose through the air; attuned with the words as they fall from your lips.

Your soft lips.

How he wishes he could kiss you right now.

You dip down, submerging your arms into the water. In one fluid motion, you rise back up to your feet, the motion you perform with your hands and arms bring water up with you as you rose. Your arms are stretched out to your sides as you pirouette.

Neteyam’s heart skips a beat as he watches you, and it’s as if time itself slows, just so he can drink in the beauty of your very being.

With your back to eclipse, your front is cast in shadow.

The water falls around you in a shimmering curtain of rain. The last light of eclipse hits the smooth stones woven into the fabric on your chest; causing a cascade of colours to dance across your skin. And when the sun disappears, your tahni come to life like the brilliance of dawn.

It’s one of his most favourite parts of your body. Though you had the scattered stars as did all Na’vi, for reasons he attests only to being blessed by Eywa, you have thin bioluminescent swirls weaving itself around your arms, chest, and all down your legs. To him it’s like a faint galaxy glittering in the night.

He recalls fondly the memory of him knowing each and every star on your body intimately.

And in the fading light of the day do you shine before him. Resplendent as you are in the day, so too will you dazzle the world around you in the darkness of the approaching night.

His heart throbs something fierce when you open your eyes after dipping into the water once more. Even behind the curtain of water, or the netting of the fabric draped over your head, your eyes glow with a fierceness he knows all to well. It pierces his very soul, a warmth sweeping over him.

He drinks you in more as you bend your form this way and that. He wishes he knew the intricacies of your dance; understood what each fluid motion meant, the significance of each swish of your tail, or the ways you angle your hands and bend your fingers.

You close your eyes as you near the end of the cord song.

As you perform another twirl, you playfully swat the water with your thick tail, splashing your daughters.

Their uncontrollable gigging brings a smile to your face. You open your eyes as you continue to dance, giving them a loving look. They’re splashing each other with reckless abandon as they try to imitate your moves. You can’t help the unrestrained laughter their antics bring you.

Neteyam laughs quietly to himself as he watches his girls playfully flay about in the water. Every day since their birth he’s given thanks to both you and the Great Mother for blessing him with such miracles. He hadn’t thought it was possible to love something as much as he loved you.

He feels a stray tear fall down his cheek. But he doesn’t move to wipe it away. Instead he continues to smile as he watches your song and dance coming to its conclusion.

You turn to face the horizon, and his gaze drifts to his girls.

They’re singing something he can’t quite make out, but he loves the sound nonetheless.

And when their eyes meet his, finally noticing his presence, they wave at him wildly, giggling all over again.

His smile grows wider, and he offers them a small wave back.

---

One final pose, and you hold the final note of your song, eyes still closed. You hold that note until your lungs and throat burn.

You hear the excited cheers of your daughters as they shower you with praise. Your breathing is laboured as your heart pounds in your chest, but you offer them a bow and a small smile of gratitude.

You turn yourself to the horizon before you finally open your eyes. The ritual dance has come to and end.

You rub the cool ocean water on your cheeks, in your neck, and down your arms; all in an effort to cool you down from your laborious activity. You breath deep in from the nose, and slowly exhale through your mouth, calming your rapid heartbeat.

The girls still giggle beside you, resuming their unrefined dancing; now also singing their favourite lullaby in lieu of a songcord.

Sufficiently cooled off, you turn your head to your daughters to admire them in their silliness.

Your brow nits in slight confusion though, when you see them waving at something behind you, giggling all the while.

You turn around, curiosity in your eyes.

But the shoreline is just as empty as when you arrived.

---

Author's Notes: It was a private funeral dance 😢

[mymelodymia]

golden locks // Neteyam x twin sister reader

Summery: born blonde in a dark haired world

Warnings: bullying, insecurities,

Age: 15

Place/area: pandora, metkeyina clan

Pairings: Slight jake sully x daughter reader // neteyam x twin reader // loak x older sister reader

A/N: idk just thought this would be cool. And this is probably so crap I'm literally writing this half asleep

💀˚~˖𓍢ִ໋ ♡*°◇🎧✧˚.⋆◇🦢+*°♡+

You emit a sigh as you sat on a dock with your legs dangling off the edge. Your ears perking up as they heard footsteps approaching you.

Jake sat down beside you, dipping his feet into the water as well.

You flashed him a smile and spoke "hi dad"

"Hey babygirl" he replied with a slight chuckle "how are you sweetheart?"

"Fine" you replied sweetly. He patted your back and rose to his feet. He walked you to your marui so you and your family could sleep.

----------------------

You awoke to your younger brother loak roughly shaking you awake

"Y/n! Y/n! Come on!" He groaned while smaking you with a pillow. You whined and put the pillow over your head, and loak just tore it off.

"Bro what?!" You shouted at him sleepily while he dragged you up by your hand

"Nothing i just wanted to annoy you" loak replied, running off so you wouldn't murder him

"brat!" You yelled in the direction he ran in. You started your morning after sulking for a moment

--------------------

As you finally finished your chores, duties, ect, you plopped down on the sand to allow your body to rest

But this moment of peace didn't last long. You began to hear snickering behind you. You turned toward the sound to find aonung and a few other boys standing there

Aonung still had a bruise from the fight with your brothers last week

"Guess you do fit in here" aonung spoke with a chuckle "with the sand"

you sighed and stood. Spinning on your heel to walk away from these bullys.

Though, they kept teasing you.

Usually you didn't let it get to you. But this time felt...off

You felt tears sting your eyes when one of them pulled your hair. They let go soon after

You spun around and hissed at the boy. "Ooh im so scared" said the boy

You looked around to see if anyone you knew was around, which there was not.

One of the boys mothers called out for him and they all snarled. You let out a sigh of relief when they sprinted away from you

You walked toward a tree, your back pressing up against the rough bark. You slid down to sit on your knees.

You lightly played with the sand beneath you. You heard more footsteps behind you the moment your soft hands cluched a fistfull of sand. Instead of a bully, it was only your twin.

"Hey teyam..." you spoke to him in a dull tone

"What is it, sister?" He sat beside you, placing a hand on your shoulder. "Nothing."

"Dont give me that. I wont hesitate to get dad into this." He hissed. "Jeez i sound like loak..."

You chuckled sadly at his amusing realization. You looked back down at your knees, the Bioluminescent freckles dotted carefully along your legs in a wavy path from your hips, all the way to your ankles.

Neteyam placed two fingers under your chin, his thumb in a light grip just above. He lifted your head and gently turned you to him

"Aonung?"

"Aonung..." you whisper while nodding your head in small movements. Your twin pulled you to his chest in a tight embrace.

"Dont worry, its ok. Loak will handle them" you giggled at the image of your baby bro beating another guy to a pulp for you. Again.

Neteyam brushed some of your hair behind your ear. Running his delicate fingers through it gently.

He pulled you back toward him, with your eyes closed you felt the soft skin of his forehead meet yours.

You let out a small sigh before completely melting in your best friends arms. Your own arms wrapping around his waist and your head resting against his chest.

With every beat of his heart, with every breath he took, every stroke of his fingers running through your beautiful hair, you felt loved. Special. And that your bullys didn't matter.

💀˚~˖𓍢ִ໋ ♡*°◇🎧✧˚.⋆◇🦢+*°♡+

A/N: guys please read this I spent so long on it 😭

🤍tags🦢

(I dont have anyone on my avatar taglist yet)

[bookworm551]

The Great War | Neteyam x Omatikaya!reader

Summary: You and Neteyam were childhood friends, always looking out for each other, but when the Sky People returned, neither of you could have anticipated the way it would affect your relationship with one another.

A/N: This is my first fic in a hot minute, so I got a little carried away. Part one of probably three, but we’ll see haha. I’ll be posting this to my AO3 account as well under Witbeyondmeasure501. Also, yes, I had this T.S. song playing on repeat as I was writing this.

7.9k words

Pairing: Neteyam x Omatikaya!reader

Warnings: Canon-typical violence, mentions of death, angst.

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

War can stain the most beautiful things.

Not only does it burn your home, take away your loved ones, or drain your health, it casts its shadow over every happiness you have, even when you aren't always able to see it. It was naive of you to think that your relationship with Neteyam would be any different, that it would be unaffected by the weight of the war.

Both of you being young and ambitious, you were enlisted by his father to be aerial scouts, a job that was relatively safe but still helpful. You and Neteyam were proud of each other for doing something useful, and you were grateful to have each other in the field.

As time wore on, things got riskier. You would both come back with more cuts and bruises than before, but the time you spent tending to each other's wounds definitely made up for it. In fact, sitting together and applying healing balm to your injuries as you exchanged jokes and stories helped you both forget the dangers waiting beyond the entrance of the village.

The strain had started out subtly. When the two of you were 15, during one of the raids, Lo'ak had convinced Neteyam to join the ground troops in plundering the Sky People's train full of weapons, and in the process, the older Sully boy was injured and had to be rescued by his father, who proceeded to reprimand him as soon as they landed safely in the village. You watched him walk to a healing tent with injuries to both his torso and his pride and ran over to walk with him.

"It's not your fault," you told him as you came up to his side. "Lo'ak was being a skxawng, you should not have gotten in trouble for him." Neteyam sighed in irritation. "Not now, please," he said curtly. He was holding his injured side with his hand, and it seemed to pain him to climb over the higher parts of the cave floor. You lept up to the ledge in front of him, turned around, and offered your hand to help him up. "I am fine," he said and ignored your hand, opting to pull himself up instead and grunting in pain.

You rolled your eyes at him. Normally, he was very rational and composed, but if there was one thing that put him in a bad mood, it was being reprimanded by his father. You knew that the pressure of being the oldest son to Olo'eyktan weighed on him constantly, and the war didn't make anything easier for him. Still, you didn't appreciate his attitude towards you when you did nothing wrong, especially because you weren't quite used to it from him.

Time wore on, and so did the war. Once, when you were about a year older, you had been grazed by a bullet on your side. It was nothing serious, a flesh wound that you could take care of yourself, so you decided not to say anything, but when you all returned, Neteyam noticed. He always noticed.

"What is this?" he asked, moving your arm out of the way to get a better look at the graze that was slowly oozing blood. "Nothing serious," you responded quietly, looking around to make sure he didn't attract any attention to you. Neteyam looked at you with a hard stare. "You were shot," he stated matter-of-factly. "You need to go to my grandmother or Kiri."

You shook your head in protest. "There are others who need their attention more than I do," you explained. "I can take care of this myself." He held his stern gaze, but you knew his rational brain would agree with you that there were more serious injuries for the healers to care for. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he took you by the arm and muttered, "Come on."

You protested weakly before realizing that he was taking you back to his personal tent. Once inside, you sat down as he pulled out some salve and cloth he had stashed away. In the time since the Sky People had returned, you had both become proficient at mending wounds. Without saying anything, he lifted your arm and rested it on his shoulder so that he could begin cleaning your wound unencumbered by it.

Under your hand, you could feel the tension in his shoulder muscles. You studied his face as he worked in silence. At the first touch he made to your graze, you tensed and hissed in pain. "Sorry," he muttered, carefully working to clean it with a damp cloth. "It's fine," you responded in a strained voice. Silence settled over you again as he attended to you.

Usually, he would try to ease your discomfort by talking or trying to crack a joke, but this time he worked in silence. It made you a little uneasy, so you tried to lighten the mood. "If you think this is bad, you should have seen the other guy," you told him with a small smile.

No response.

He continued working in the salve with focused attention. Though you knew he was being as gentle as possible, you couldn't help but grimace in pain and tighten your grip on his shoulder. He stopped working for a moment to give you some reprieve, glancing at your face to make sure you were alright before continuing his job.

"It is not that serious," you whispered, desperate to break the silence that was now making you feel nervous. To that, there was a small response in the form of a scoff, but Neteyam's face remained stone cold as he reached for a cloth to bandage you with.

Watching him, you could see the effects of the war on his face. Across his cheeks and forehead were faint scars from the action he had seen. Even his expressions had changed to a much more serious look. It used to be almost effortless to make him smile, but recently, it was something you didn't see very often. Even in your current circumstance, he would've at least said something back, but his silence indicated to you that he had something pressing on his mind.

You tried again. "You know, next time maybe I will just go to Kiri," you said teasingly. "She and I have much better conversation than y-”

"You could have been killed," Neteyam snapped finally, cutting you off.

"What?" You replied in confusion. It wasn't that you didn't know you could have been killed; that was obvious. It was his tone of voice that caught you off-guard. He had never snapped at you like that before.

"You could have been killed," he repeated in an angry voice. He pointed at the graze on your side and then moved his finger a few inches over to the center of your stomach. "A few degrees over and you would be dead." You sighed, regaining your composure after being caught off-guard by his tone. "I am aware," you told him calmly, "but, as you can see, I am not dead." He wasn't amused.

"I am being serious," he said gravely. "You are lucky to be alive." You were starting to get annoyed. "So are you," you shot back. "So are all of us every day we return home because every day we go out and fight is a risk, a big risk." He stared at you with hard eyes but said nothing. You took a breath to try and calm yourself. You didn't want to fight with him.

With your hand still resting on his shoulder, you gave him a gentle squeeze and rubbed your thumb along the side of his neck. "I take my chances, and so do you," you told him. "But that is what we do to keep the People safe." His gaze finally softened, and he sighed and shook his head. After a beat, he whispered, "This was too close."

You couldn't help but give a small smile at him. He was being protective, and you couldn't fault him for being stressed about the war. You felt fortunate that neither Neteyam nor yourself had been injured too badly in the war, but you couldn't deny that this was a close one.

It wasn't the last close one either.

As you both got older, you were given more responsibilities with the war. In being closer to the action, you both saw more blood stain your lives. You still continued to patch each other up when necessary, but after what was said when he helped you with your bullet graze, neither of you could really bring yourselves to smile much after those missions.

Over the course of time since you had been involved in the war, your relationship with Neteyam had undergone a serious shift. Before, you were both bright-eyed and happy, enjoying your days running around together with your friends and his siblings. It was easy to be around him, to be open with each other.

You used to listen to him talk about his father, once a sojourner from the stars and now the leader of the Omatikaya. You knew how the responsibility of being the oldest son to Olo'eyktan rested heavily on his shoulders. He used to listen to you complain everytime you got in trouble for being out too late. The first day after he had bonded with his ikran, he had taken you flying above the forest.

After years of being at war, the gaiety in your relationship had eroded. Conversations about the stars turned to war strategies. The physical touch that used to be so casual and thoughtless went from playful pushes and hugs to careful and deliberate tending of wounds. Your words evolved from friendly challenges and jokes to variations of the words "Be safe."

The care you had for each other never wavered; on the contrary, in fact, it strengthened. However, you were both becoming hardened versions of your previous selves, and it made it difficult on your friendship. With every mission, your former carefree self fractured off.

Of course, the biggest shift occurred when your mother died.

She was in a hunting party when you were 17, just on the verge of becoming a fully realized member of the clan. She was an excellent hunter, possessing more patience than you ever could. She and the others in the party had gone just to the edge of what was considered the safe zone. Since the clan's migration into the mountains, it was difficult for the Sky People to attack them directly, but Jake had set a perimeter for their safety.

That day, there had been a troop of Sky People in large mecha-suits placing heavy explosives around the area to level the ground to start building a new station for their soldiers. Many members of the party decided to engage with the Sky People, but they didn't realize that they would be quickly outnumbered by the human soldiers and their machines.

You weren't there in the hunting party that day. You were sitting just inside the entrance of the village campsite when the two survivors of the party returned covered in blood. You recognized Kana and T'seyet as they slid off their pa'li. You knew that your mother had been with them.

Your blood ran cold. The two Na'vi were rushed to the healing tent, but not before they confirmed that the rest of the hunting party had been killed.

You felt like your spirit had been pulled from your body. It took a few moments for you to do anything. Lo'ak and your friend Ehlaya were standing not far from you and were by your side in a moment, but you didn't register their presence until Lo'ak touched your arm. You turned towards him in a daze, your eyes wide and uncomprehending. "My friend," Ehlaya said softly in a horrified tone, "I am so sorry."

You looked at her distraught face and that suspended moment of silence came crashing down as a wail rose out from your mouth. Your vision blurred, and your knees gave out. Lo'ak managed to catch you before you toppled to the ground, but grief poured over your body like ice water. You couldn't hear your friends' words. You couldn't hear your own anguished cries nor the cries of the families of the other slain Na'vi.

You couldn't see that Neteyam had arrived and was crouching before you. You couldn't feel him as he held you tightly to his chest. You just felt grief. Overwhelming grief.

After that day, you were different. Your tone was harsher and your temper shorter. Neteyam, blessed with an abundance of patience and empathy, never left your side through the worst of it. Even when you felt cross with him, he never held it against you, even when it would have been fair for him to do so.

Not long afterward, Neteyam completed the Uniltaron trial and was inducted as a fully mature and realized member of the Omatikaya. His bravery and skill in combat had proven his worth as a warrior of the People. The ceremony honoring his coming-of-age had been one of the first times you had genuinely smiled since the loss of your mother. You watched with pride as he was blessed by the Olo'eyktan and Tsahik.

Now that he was of age, whispers began spreading about Neteyam choosing a mate. His skill as a warrior, his status as the son of Toruk Makto, and his devastating good looks made him desirable to many of the young Na'vi women in the clan. At first, you were amused, especially when his siblings brought it up to tease him. After a while, though, the topic lost its humor as people continued to speculate over whom he would choose.

Deep down, you had always had a faint hope that he and you would be together when you were grown. You never let yourself think about it too much when you were younger, but now that you were older, you realized that the pool of eligible women in the village vying for his attention was a lot larger than it had originally seemed.

To make matters worse, you now thought about it every time you saw him speak with a woman. There were many capable hunters, formidable warriors, and talented healers all around him, and the whole subject left a bitter taste in your mouth.

You began flying in missions again a month after your mother's death. The action and adrenaline gave you a much-needed distraction from the clan gossip. After one mission, when Neteyam came back with a gash on his shoulder, you watched as one of the young healers offered to dress it. You felt a stab of jealousy when he graciously accepted her offer and followed her into one of the tents.

You knew you were being ridiculous, but it still stung when you thought about how it was usually you he went to for such things. You also knew it was ridiculous to think that you were the only woman he would look at. It didn't make you feel any better, though.

With Neteyam being a fully-fledged member of the clan, you started seeing him less. He had become more involved with the war and acted as his father's right hand. You felt him pull away from you bit by bit every day, and you didn't know how to stop it. When you wanted to talk, he was always busy. He was never with his family except late at night before they all went to bed. You spent some time with him briefly during meals or on the occasional hunting party, but his mind seemed preoccupied with other things.

Despite the bleak circumstances, you grew excited for the day you would be able to complete your own Uniltaron trial. You knew it was dangerous, but you felt prepared. A few weeks before your trial, Jake called you and other Omatikaya together, including Neteyam. There were many warriors gathered together sitting around their leader, and you joined next to your friend.

"Listen," the Olo'eyktan began, "we've been getting our asses handed to us out there trying to take out that base." The base in question was the one constructed where your mother had been killed. Your clan had made numerous attacks on it since it was so close to the border, but every time, the Sky People were prepared, as if they knew you were coming. It had led to a lot of bloodshed.

"Now, our enemies know when we're coming," he continued. "I'm thinking they have constant movement sensors or thermal imaging that lets them know we're coming. So, here's the plan."

The plan was simple enough but extremely risky. To avoid being caught on the movement sensors, you and Neteyam would take your ikran only partway to the base where Jake estimated you would still be outside the range of the motion detectors. Then, armed with electromagnetic devices you had stolen in a previous raid, the two of you would covertly place them in a perimeter around the base. Once activated, the field would jam the motion-detecting radar as well as interfere with any thermal imaging.

In addition to setting up the jamming devices, you would also rig explosives near every entrance so that when the Sky People came out to fight, the first wave would be taken out. Once everything was set in place, Neteyam would signal his father with their throat comms, and the rest of the party would fly out and attack.

"Why only two of us?" Neteyam asked when his father had finished his initial explanation. "Why not more of us to set up everything?" Jake nodded his approval at the question. "We can't risk getting picked up by those detectors. I figure if there's only two of you, if they see anything, they'll just assume you're animals. However, it is of utmost importance that you remain as subtle as possible, and do not engage with the Sky People until backup has arrived."

You nodded your understanding at him. You could see why he chose the two of you. Even though your clan knew how to hide amongst the trees, you had proven exceptionally stealthy, even by Omatikaya standards. There was no one in the clan who could find you if you didn't want to be found. Neteyam was the same way, so it made sense that Jake chose you for this role in the mission.

After being dismissed, you stood by the entrance of the war tent waiting for Neteyam to emerge. He often stayed behind to speak with his father after such meetings. Even now, you could hear their voices, and you would have never thought to eavesdrop on them until you heard your name.

With your ears perked up, you couldn't help but lean toward the tent to understand what was being said inside.

"I do not believe she is fit for this mission," you heard Neteyam say. "She has not yet completed Uniltaron, this mission should be for warriors." Your stomach dropped at his words. How could he say such a thing? He wasn't wrong about you not being a fully mature member of the clan, but you had gone on countless missions before, and this was hardly any different.

"Listen, son," Jake countered, "I know you're worried for her, but I'm confident in her ability to help execute this plan. Besides, she has her Uniltaron trial coming up very soon. She is very capable of doing this." Even though you were hurt by Neteyam's words, the vote of confidence from the Olo'eyktan warmed your chest.

Neteyam didn't give up so easily. "Why not just send me and Lo'ak instead, if warrior status doesn't matter?" To that, you were personally offended. Not only were you much stealthier than Lo'ak, but you could actually follow orders when they were given.

"Nice try," Jake said, "but I need someone out there who I know isn't gonna screw around and start fighting before it's time." Vindication.

"She doesn't have the necessary battle experience," Neteyam argued further. "She will be-"

"Enough. My mind is made up. Don't push this anymore." Jake's voice had a hard edge to it that made talking back next to impossible.

"Yes, sir," Neteyam replied obediently, though you could still hear the frustration he was trying to suppress. After a moment of silence, Jake said, "You're dismissed."

You stepped away from the tent before Neteyam could walk out on you listening. Besides, you didn't want to talk to him anymore. You were too hurt and angry at him for trying to get you off the mission to speak to him. You knew if he saw you, you wouldn't be able to pretend like nothing was wrong, and he would eventually figure out that you spied on him and his father.

His words echoed in your head. I do not believe she is fit for this mission. How many times had you flown together into the face of peril? Neither of you could keep track of the number of times you had spent listening in battle meetings, sitting in medical tents after a fight, or exchanging quick words before flying off to let the other know you wished them luck. You thought he saw you as an equal.

Your anger hadn't subsided the next day as you prepared for the mission that night. Avoiding Neteyam took special skill when you were both preparing for a special mission together.

The day passed slowly, but finally, you and the rest of the war party were preparing to leave. Unfortunately, you weren't able to avoid Neteyam anymore, and he came up to you as you were strapping your bow to your ikran, Kazi. Still upset, you gave him a wordless glance before continuing to secure your saddle.

"Nervous?" he asked, noticing your lack of eye contact.

"No," you answered flatly. "I have flown many missions before. This isn't any different." He watched you quietly for a moment. "This is different," he said. "You have never had to be so close to the fighting." You scoffed. "I am capable of handling myself, and thank you for having so much confidence in me," you answered, your words dripping with sarcasm. You knew you would be bad at hiding your anger.

Neteyam noticed your sharp tone and pointed words because he always noticed when something was up with you. "I am confident in you," he defended, confusion crossing his face. "Why would I doubt you?" You clenched your jaw briefly before replying shortly, "You tell me."

"What does that mean?"

You stared up at his face in irritation. He held your gaze, and you could see he was trying to figure out what was upsetting you, so you looked away in hopes that he would drop it. "Nothing," you mumbled, checking the straps on your saddle again for no reason other than to avoid looking at him.

Neteyam grabbed your shoulder firmly and turned you to face him. He looked at you closely, and you could see that a thought had occurred to him. "Did you-" he didn't need to finish the question, you knew what he was asking, and the fact that you knew what he was asking clearly made you guilty. Did you spy on me? You looked away, embarrassed but still upset.

Reading the answer to his unfinished question on your face, he stepped back and took a deep breath in exasperation, running a hand down his face as he fought to stay composed. After a tense pause, he looked down at you, appearing just as frustrated as you felt. "I don't even know where to start with you," he said finally.

Even though you felt bad about eavesdropping on his conversation with his father (and even worse at being caught), you weren't about to apologize when you still felt the sting of his words from the previous night. "It doesn't matter," you told him mutely, "and it doesn't change the fact that I am coming on this mission."

He closed his eyes for a few seconds, a sure sign that he was checking his temper. You hated seeing him like this. It used to be that you could count on one hand the number of times Neteyam came even remotely close to being annoyed with you. Now, it felt like every other time you spoke together, you had some sort of verbal spar.

"I did not mean to insult you," he said in a low voice. "And I am confident in your abilities. I just-" he paused, searching for the right thing to say. "I don't want to see you hurt."

You felt a bit of guilt creep over you, replacing some of your irritation. You couldn't blame him for being concerned. You were worried for him every day he left the entrance of the cave. You knew deep down that all these negative feelings you were both experiencing in your friendship lately were rooted in how much you both cared for each other. When you thought about it like that, it was hard to stay mad at him.

He placed a hand on your shoulder, his touch a comforting feeling you had missed. You looked up at him, this time without any hostility on your face, and he looked at you softly. It was nice, this moment of peace between you two. Then, in a quiet voice, he said, "Please stay back. I can do it alone."

Two sentences and that brief peace was shattered, and your animosity immediately returned. You huffed in exasperation and knocked his hand off of your shoulder. Before either of you could say anything else, Jake's voice called out to the war party, "Let's get mounted, we move out in two minutes."

Shooting one last angry look at Neteyam, you swung up to mount Kazi and attached your queue to hers. She hissed and beat her wings a few times in response to feeling your own agitation, making Neteyam take a few steps back. You patted Kazi a few times to soothe her, not looking down at the warrior. He stood there for a moment in hesitation. This was usually the time when you would tell each other to be careful. You had never flown a mission without wishing each other's safety beforehand.

Finally, he came up to your side and placed his hand on your thigh. You tensed slightly under his touch but didn't try and shake it off. He looked up at you from the ground, and you could see the mix of emotions on his face. "Be safe," he said quietly, and you could really feel how earnestly he meant it.

You should swallow your pride, just let go of your bitterness and say it back. You wanted to, but you were also too stubborn to forget that he wanted you off of this mission. So, instead of reciprocating the wish, you just mumbled, "I will."

You didn't look at him, knowing that seeing the expression on his face would just make you feel worse than you already did. You felt his hand slide off of your leg, and you watched him out of your peripheral vision as he mounted his own ikran beside his father.

In the cover of the night, you and the other warriors flew in silence. You couldn't help but think of the way you left Neteyam. You kicked yourself mentally for not saying it back. You decided when you landed at the halfway point, you would try and make things right with him.

It didn't take long before Jake started flying down toward the canopy of trees. You all followed suit and descended as well. You gave Kazi a few pats when she landed, and through your bond, you implored her to stay with the rest of the ikran. It wasn't so much that you thought the words for her to understand, but it was more like you just wished for her to stay, and she could understand.

You dismounted and zeroed in on Neteyam's lean form illuminated by the glow of the plants around you. Taking a deep breath to reassure yourself, you came up to him as he stepped off of his own ikran. "Neteyam," you said quietly, "I did not mean-"

"All right, you two," Jake interrupted, approaching you and his son. "You know your orders. Stay low, and stay out of trouble. Keep radio contact to a minimum."

"Yes, sir," you both said in unison.

Jake nodded in dismissal. You returned to Kazi and grabbed the sack full of jammers, strapping it securely to your person. You checked that your knives, one on your thigh and the other across your stomach, were securely in place. You held your bow and grabbed as many arrows as you could hold. Giving your ikran one last comforting pat, you turned back to Neteyam.

He was speaking to Jake in a low voice, and your stomach tightened in fear of him revealing that you listened in on their conversation from the previous night. However, you realized this wasn't the case when Jake grabbed his son by the back of his head affectionately and pulled him close so that their foreheads touched. You could remember a time when Jake would have had to stoop to do so, but now the two warriors stood at eye level with each other.

Pulling away, your leader gave a swift nod, and you and Neteyam made your way toward the base on foot. He set a brisk pace that you had to match in order to keep up. The silence between you two was thick and charged with negative feelings. You felt the guilt gnawing at your heart from what you had said, or rather, hadn't said before.

Remembering your resolution to apologize, you figured if you didn't say something now, it would be too late to say anything at all. Once you were well out of view from the rest of the party, you slowed down. "Neteyam," you called out softly. He stopped moving and looked back at you in concern. He was clearly in mission mode and thought something was wrong.

You held up a hand to assuage his concerns. "About earlier," you began uncomfortably. You hated apologizing, and you weren't very good at it. "I should not have listened in on you and your father last night. It was wrong." Neteyam said nothing, and his face stared at you passively. Taking a breath, you steeled yourself before saying, "I'm sorry."

Your apology hung in the air for a moment, and in that time, you had the dreadful thought that he would just turn around and keep moving through the forest.

Finally, he gave a large sigh that let out some of the tension in his broad shoulders. He was a better person than you in that he would always opt for peace over furthering an argument, and he knew how difficult it was for you to apologize to anyone.

"What is this between us?" He muttered questioningly, gesturing loosely between himself and you. "Why is there this anger and bitterness?" He sounded drained and insecure, two attributes that vastly contradicted who he was most of the time. You looked at the ground, ashamed of how you let your relationship deteriorate like this.

"I don't want to fight anymore," he said quietly, walking over to you. You looked up at him and realized just how close he was to you. You could count the individual glowing spots on his face.

"I don't want to fight anymore either," you responded in a whisper. "I'm sorry."

His amber eyes softened as they looked down on you. Dropping his bow, he lifted his arms at the elbow with his palms up, and, following suit, you placed your own forearms on top of his. The two of you stood there holding each other's arms in the dark for a second. It was the closest you had been in a long time.

"I'm sorry, too," he said after a moment. "I should not have said those things to my father." He traced his thumbs over your skin, causing your face to warm. "I'm just worried you will do something stupid like get hurt." This earned him a small smile from you, and it released much of the tension between you.

"When have I ever done something stupid?" You pretended to be offended. He smiled back at you softly. "Too many times to count," he murmured. You wanted to make a smart retort, but as you looked up at him, the way he was gazing back at you made your breathing falter. It was like he was trying to memorize your features, counting the tiny scars and glowing marks that were scattered across your face.

In the blink of an eye, he came back into focus, and you both remembered that you had a greater task at hand. Reluctantly, he pulled away from you and stooped to pick up his bow. Immediately, you missed his touch, but you nevertheless picked up your bow and set off with him through the trees.

You moved quickly through the forest, feeling a lot lighter without the weight of your remorse in your chest. As you got closer, you started moving slower to be more discreet. Creeping to the edge of the clearing, you both peered at the base illuminated by the artificial lights in the darkness. Your heart was pounding as you realized that this was the place where your mother died, and you needed to take a calming breath. Seeming to read your thoughts, Neteyam placed a comforting hand on your lower back.

Shaking yourself out of your thoughts, you set down your bow and arrows and reached into your pack to hand him two of the four jammers. Your orders had been that he would set up one on the north and west sides, and you would set up on the east and south sides.

He gave you a quick nod and moved to start setting them up, but you grabbed his arm and turned him to face you. "Be safe," you whisper as quietly as you could. He gave you a quick smile and replied, "I will."

Okay, you had that one coming.

"Don't do anything stupid," he whispered, causing you to roll your eyes playfully as he disappeared without another sound.

You moved slowly to ensure you didn't raise any alarm. Once you had set up your jammers, you returned to where you had set down your weapon. Neteyam was already waiting for you there. You sidled up to him, and when he noticed your return, he pressed his throat comm and whispered, "The perimeter is set, ready to move to phase two."

Phase two involved activating the jammers and setting up the explosives while the rest of the war party would fly in on their ikran now that the Sky People wouldn't be able to detect their presence.

After Neteyam paused briefly to listen to his father, he whispered, "Yes sir. Over and out." Activating the jammers meant that in addition to disrupting the sensors for the Sky People, it would also interfere with the communication with Jake and the others. Now, the plan was at its most vulnerable. If something went wrong here, there was no way for the two of you to alert the war party.

Neteyam pulled out the explosives from his own pack. He handed them wordlessly to you, and you both silently split up to set up the explosives at each entrance.

The base was relatively small, more of a depot really. It had a large operating unit that was connected by a long hall to the hangar. The hangar had two large bay doors that you knew contained several mecha-suits and other heavy machinery meant for war. In the operating unit, there were two doors on every side except for where the hall tunnel connected. The hangar had one regular door beside the bays and one on the opposite side. Spread across the clearing were several large metal crates that you suspected housed an assortment of weapons.

At each entrance, you placed one explosive and two on each bay door. They stuck to the doors, and you twisted the dial until you heard a click, indicating that they were set. When a human opened the door, the movement would trigger the explosion.

With everything set, all that was left to do was wait. You returned to where you set down your bow and arrows. Neteyam was there waiting, too. You were both crouched on a tree, your arms brushing with how close you were to each other.

Before long, the war party emerged over the trees on their ikran. You felt your heart pound as they approached, knowing that the peace of the night was about to be destroyed by their attack.

As they closed in, Jake and a few others threw grenades into the center of the clearing. They didn't do much damage, but that wasn't the point. Setting off the alarms and turning on the emergency lights was the point. And that's exactly what it did.

Shortly after the grenades went off, there were several large explosions at the doors of the base. The Sky People standing behind the doors had been obliterated. Smoke surrounded the base as the alarms kept blaring. As you had expected, more of the humans poured out of the blasted entrances, and the chaos of battle began.

Amidst the noise, you and Neteyam called out for your ikran. You saw Kazi circle in the air before descending to where you were hiding, but before she could land, one of the humans began firing at her. Screeching in pain, she pulled up and twisted away to avoid the gunshots.

Anger flared in your chest. You pulled back an arrow and let it fly. It made its home in the stomach of your target, but another human nearby had noticed his comrade being shot and looked at where you were crouching on the edge of the clearing. He turned his gun to you and started shooting. You and Neteyam ducked behind the trees just in time to avoid being injured.

You moved quickly behind the trees, the gunfire following after you. You paused behind a tree for safety, nocked another arrow onto your bow, and turned out to shoot the soldier, but when you did, he had already fallen with one of Neteyam's arrows sticking from his ribs.

More Sky People flooded out from the base. You saw Kazi land not far from where you were standing. Still holding an arrow on your bowstring, you ran out from the trees over to where she was waiting.

Several humans stood between you, but their attention was spread all over the place. You shot at one who was aiming at Kazi, and taking your knife from your stomach, you slashed it through the neck of the one closest to you. As you nearly reached your ikran, you saw a small object sail through the air and land between you. You barely had enough time to slow down before the grenade exploded, knocking you backward with its force. Screeching, Kazi flew up frantically away from the explosion.

Ears ringing, you pushed yourself up from the ground as quickly as you could and grabbed your bow. The human who threw the explosive was standing off to the side right between one of the metal crates and the building of the base. You saw as he raised his gun towards your ikran. Anger burned in you. Your mother died here in this clearing, and you would be damned if your ikran was killed here, too.

You pulled back your arrow. He was standing with his side to you, making him a tough target. You opted to shoot his gun instead, knocking it out of his hands before he could start shooting. He stood surprised for a moment as you ran towards him, pulling your second knife from your thigh. The soldier also pulled a knife from its sheath and crouched as you approached swiftly.

Once in arms reach, he sprang forward and swiped at your legs with his knife. You lept right, narrowly avoiding a gash on your thigh, and slashed your knife down at him. You managed to catch his arm, but it wasn't very deep. He reeled back in pain, scowling deeply at you. You scowled back and hissed at him.

He launched himself forward again at you. You tried dodging again, but this time he seemed to anticipate it. Swapping his knife to his other hand, he sliced at your waist, catching the side of your stomach and cutting deep enough that the blood immediately started dripping down your side. He came back at you with his knife, but you managed to parry with your own, and with your other hand, you ripped off the soldier's air mask.

Immediately, he was gasping for breath, and you were able to plunge your knife into his chest. As he dropped to the ground, you fell back against the metal crate behind you. You held your hand over your bleeding wound, wincing at the pain. It was a pretty bad cut, bad enough that you knew you should move away from the fight to bandage it to stop the bleeding.

You stepped away from the crate still clutching your side. Kazi wasn't too far from where you were standing, and the coast was clear for you to hustle over to her.

What you hadn't realized at the time was that not all of the doors had exploded in the first few moments of the battle. You didn't notice that you were standing next to one of those unopened doors. You couldn't hear the footsteps running towards the unopened door from inside. You barely registered what happened as you were thrown back off of your feet when the door exploded before your head slammed against the metal crate, and you passed out.

You weren't sure how long you were out when you came to again. The sounds of voices echoed above you, but it was hard to determine what was being said. You concentrated on bringing the noises into focus. You could discern a woman's voice calling your name above you.

"Mother?" You said weakly. You opened your bleary eyes and saw several faces hovering over yours. "No, child," one of the faces told you. You blinked several times, trying to pull them into focus. You finally made out Mo'at as the source of the voice speaking to you. The other faces above you belonged to Kiri and Neteyam, both full of concern.

You groaned in pain. Your head throbbed, and your side burned. "Do not move," Mo'at instructed sternly. Kiri pushed her brother's shoulder. "You should leave," she told him gently. Neteyam shook off her hand and shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere," he said resolutely.

You reached a hand up toward him. He took it immediately, and you were dimly aware of a warm substance on his hand that you learned later was your own blood.

"Wha- what happened?" you asked weakly. Instead of getting an answer, Kiri held up a smoking leaf and blew toward your face. Breathing in the sweet scent of the smoke, you felt the world become distorted, and you drifted out of consciousness again.

The second time you woke up wasn't so confusing. You blinked your eyes open and found that you were in one of the healing tents. Light was pouring in from the entrance, illuminating the inside of the tent.

You started to move, but a sharp pain in your abdomen caused you to gasp and lie still. From beside you, a figure you hadn't noticed sat up quickly.

"You are awake," Neteyam said groggily. He seemed to have fallen asleep against the side of the tent and was roused by your movement. "So are you," you responded, your voice sounding hoarse. "Have you been sleeping here?"

He shook his head a little. "I didn't mean to fall asleep," he admitted. You hummed. What remained of his war paint was smeared across his face, he still had some blood dried on his arms, and he was trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes. It was sort of comical.

"You look terrible," you told him. "You look worse," he retorted. That made you smile. "How do you feel?" Your hand went to your head. It was still aching, but not as bad as before. Your cut on your abdomen radiated with pain even though you weren't moving. "I've been better," you admitted with a grimace. "What happened?"

Neteyam moved over to you and crossed his legs as he sat. "I'm not sure," he muttered. "One moment, I see you fighting a human, the next, you were nowhere to be seen." He wasn't looking at you as he spoke, his eyes fixed on a spot far away. "When my ikran found me," he continued, "I looked for you and found you bleeding and unconscious." His jaw tensed at the memory. "Your ikran was standing over you, protecting you. She barely let me get to you."

You smiled softly, your love for Kazi warming your chest. "Is she okay?" You asked. He nodded. "She took some bullets to her wings, but she'll be okay," he answered. You were relieved.

"When I got to you," he continued, "you were bleeding very badly. For a moment, I thought-" his voice faltered, and he closed his eyes to regain his composure. Your chest tightened. You reached your hand out and grabbed his arm comfortingly. He placed his own hand on top of yours and sighed.

"I picked you up and took you back here," he said finally. "My grandmother and Kiri worked for a long time to patch you up." You had a flashback of Mo'at's face hovering over your own with Kiri helping next to her.

You lay in silence for a moment. Neteyam was still staring off into the distance, thinking about the events of the night before. You could feel his thumb rubbing gently across the top of your hand. Finally, he let out a sigh and looked at you. "I told you not to do anything stupid," he whispered, his voice tight with emotion.

You swallowed thickly. It was hard to see him emotional when he was always so composed and rational. "I know," you told him quietly. "I didn't mean to scare you." He managed to give you a sad smile and ran his hand over your forehead.

"I should get my grandmother," he said at last, moving to stand up, but you held onto his arm. He looked at you questioningly. You gave him a wry smile. "You seem tired," you said with exaggerated concern. "I think you should lie down for a while. These blankets are quite comfortable."

He stared down at you with a slow smile spreading across his face. "Is that so?" He questioned. You nodded your head solemnly, trying to suppress your own smile. "Well," he said, shifting his position to lie down beside you. "In that case, maybe I can rest my eyes for a moment."

You chuckled at him and then immediately regretted doing so as your wound sent pain throughout your torso. "Don't make me laugh," you groaned. He settled in next to you gently. "I will do my best," he mumbled, pulling you close. It wasn't long before his breathing slowed, and you knew he had fallen asleep.

Part 2

[littlethingsinlife]

i'm sorry (happier part 2)

A/N: I was not expecting the amount of positive feedback for the first part and I was even more surprised to see people asking for a part 2! It was originally created to be a one-shot but a part 2 really fit well with how the first one ended. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you again for all of the love and support! I hope you all enjoy. I also want to thank my friend, @tummymoth, they really helped me flush out and refine my rusty ass writing (also let me word vomit at them till midnight sometimes).

Pairing(s): Past Lo’ak x Omatikayan!Reader, Ao’nung x Omatikayan!Reader, Slight mentions of Lo’ak x Tsireya

Warnings: Lo'ak's POV, Swearing, Ao'nung saying something sus ONE time

More Info: My vision for this part 2 was to create a reply in Lo'ak's pov. So we'll have a look at what he experienced and thought process (not too sure if any of that made sense) but I was inspired by Joshua Bassett's song "i'm sorry" and it played constantly as I wrote this. Hopefully I was able to do right by my idea haha.

Summary: 7,547

Part 1: Happier

Key:

(Y/N) = Your Name 

Lyrics = Bolded Italics 

Flashbacks = Italics

Na'vi Words:

Yuey - beautiful (refers to a person) 

Skxawng - idiot/moron

Marui - Pods where the Na’vi live

Ilu - sea creature similar to dolphins

Ikran - dragon-like creature 

Tulkun - sentient creatures similar to whales

Olo’eyktan - clan leader/ chief

I thought about what I would say

But I’m two years too late

I can’t imagine how you’re doing these days, hmm

Sure, it wasn’t perfect back then

I’ll be first to admit

But it was better than being strangers again, oh

It had been a couple of months since my interactions with (Y/N) dwindled to terse smiles and barely audible greetings. If you asked me to point out the moment our friendship started to change, I couldn’t tell you. When did our bond start to break? When did it even start to crack? We used to talk every day about all the things we did and planned what pranks to pull on everyone, but now? Now, she barely looked in my direction. Now, she wouldn’t even give me the time of day. 

I couldn’t remember when it started, but I knew that it was somehow my fault I grew distant once we arrived in Awa'atlu. I guess I was just so fascinated by the new environment and people, I didn’t even realize a rift started to form between us in the first place, much less that it started to grow. 

The night before we left to find a new home, I held (Y/N) as she let out sobs filled with fear and anxiety. It broke my heart, but all I could do was hold her and let her cry until she was calm enough to tell me what was on her mind. 

“I-I am afraid, what if the sky people come to find us again? I cannot lose any of you; it would break me into a million pieces,” she sobbed. 

“If they find us then we will fight and we will win,” I reassured her, gently rocking her back and forth. 

“You are an idiot, I was so close to losing you, to losing Kiri, Tuk, how do you think it would make me feel to lose the most important people in my life?” she sniffled. My chest ached at how broken she sounded, but the only thing I could do was assure her and offer her more words of comfort as I held her in my arms. 

“I promise that I will be with you throughout the journey as will my family. We love you, and even if you do not believe it, you are a Sully. And you know what my dad always says.” 

“Sullys stick together,” we chorused.

That night, I cradled her in my arms until she fell asleep. 

Fuck, I completely broke my promise to her, how could I forget? Shaking my head, I tried to reason to myself, “Maybe she just needs time alone. I’m sure she’ll come running back soon once she realizes that it's no fun without me, her best friend.” I felt a small, unfamiliar feeling in the pit of my stomach. “Right?” 

I’m drunk too late talking to the moon

Writing songs I can’t sing to you, ‘cause

“Bah! Stop lying, I know you (Y/N). You would have fought alongside me and defended Kiri. You are not the same girl I knew in the forest back home,” I muttered, rolling my eyes and getting up to leave. Honestly, who did she think she was fooling? The skxawng had the balls to insult Kiri, and all she did was sit back and watch. She didn’t even make a move to help until it was to help him by pulling me off. “Talk to me when you’ve come back to your senses,” I called over my shoulder, refusing to look back. 

“Lo’ak! Bro—” a hand roughly grabbed my shoulder, jolting me out of my daze, “why’re you just staring off like that?” I whipped my head to see who the hell it was that was bothering me, only to be met with Neteyam.

“Did you have to grab me that hard?” I hissed before my initial anger gave way to a heavy feeling. “It's nothing, just—just lost in thought” I sighed, shrugging his hand off my shoulder. 

“Right, sure, nothing.” he crouched down beside me. “Don’t think you can lie to me lil bro, you’ve been spacing out more than you usually do. I didn’t even think it was possible to be more empty-headed than you already are,” he stated. 

“Wha—no I haven’t,” I tried to argue, but of course, he wasn’t convinced. 

“Can you stop arguing with me for once and just tell me what’s going on with you, you skxawng?” 

I scrunched my nose in distaste and inhaled sharply, “(Y/N) and I have been…  distant,” I admitted, turning to look at him. “She won’t even look at me. She either only answers me with one word or doesn’t answer at all.” 

He nodded, motioning for me to continue. 

“I—the last time we talked, I said things I didn’t mean. Things that just came out because I was so frustrated and… and angry. It was the heat of the moment and I—” 

“What did you say skxawng, did you hurt her?” Neteyam interrupted, face twisting to show the beginnings of distaste.

“No, no—” I sputtered and raised my hands to calm him before he could go on an hour-long lecture that I absolutely was not in the mood to hear. “At least I don’t think I did… I just wanted to ask her why the hell she was helping fish lips, that’s all—” 

“You didn’t answer me Lo’ak, what did you say to (Y/N)? I don’t care why you did it, I want to know what you said to elicit such a reaction from her.” By Eywa, if he would just give me a chance to get to the point—

“I—I told her that she was not the same girl that I knew back in the forest..." my ears lowered as the weight of what I said slowly sunk in. “And that she could talk to me once she came back to her senses,” I whispered, internally cringing at my harsh words.. 

“You fucking skxawng—” 

“Can you stop calling me that? I already know, you don’t need to keep repeating it…” I scoffed, looking out into the ocean. I’m good enough at beating myself up over the hundreds of times I’ve messed up in this lifetime, I didn’t need another disappointed set of eyes on me.

My ears twitched at the deep sigh he let out. “Look, I’m sorry that I keep calling you skxawng but that is exactly what you are for saying something so hurtful to your best friend of all people. The two of you were inseparable the moment you were born. Even if you don’t want to, suck up your dumbass pride,” my ears flattened again. It wasn’t pride, I’m not prideful. It—it was me needing (Y/N) on my side. We used to always be on the same page, and when she said I was wrong for wanting to defend Kiri against those assholes, it felt like she was siding with them instead of me, and—

Okay, so maybe it was pride.

  “Admit that you were wrong, and go talk to (Y/N),” Neteyam insisted as he put a reassuring arm around my shoulders, jostling me around to prove a point. “Your friendship is so much stronger and Eywa knows that a heat-of-the-moment argument isn’t going to break that. You should have more faith in her.” His gaze sharpened before he schooled his expression into something calmer. “Just talk to her, yeah?” 

“...Yeah,” I mumbled, swallowing down whatever argument was trying to bubble up from my throat and prying his arm off me. “You’re right. I’ll just clear things up with her and apologize. Everything will go back to normal after that, thanks bro—for listening,” I agreed. 

Ever since that day

The things I didn’t say They haunt me, oh

And I know that I’m to blame 

So, go ahead and 

Blame it on me, oh

Our lessons on the ways of the Metkayina were finished, so it was rare for the entire group to be in the same place. But every once in a while, we all finished our chores at the same time and found ourselves near the shore where we first learned to ride the ilu, and sat around a fire hours before eclipse, laughing and exchanging stories. 

The rarity of these moments made me cherish them that much more, but two people continued to miss our not-so-scheduled gatherings the past two moon cycles. How was it possible that they were the only two to keep missing our hangouts? Were they together? Fish lips had better not be doing anything to (Y/N) or so hel—

“(Y/N)! Ao’nung! You guys made it!” Rotxo laughed. 

“Yeah, yeah, quit shouting will you?” Ao’nung shot back as he sat down next to Rotxo, (Y/N) smiling softly as she followed. 

“So, what’ve you guys been up to? We haven’t seen you in what feels like ten moon cycles.” Neteyam questioned.

“Teyam, you saw me earlier today, you literally helped me feed our ikran,” (Y/N) joked. ‘Teyam? When did she start calling him by anything other than his given name?

Ao’nung swatted her side with his stupidly wide tail and swung an arm around her shoulder with a remarkably punchable smile on his face “More like he was trying to make sure you didn’t accidentally give them your fingers for breakfast. They would’ve gotten indigestion.”

“Haha very funny Ao’nung,” she drawled, “I would’ve fed you to Tekay instead, but she would’ve gagged the moment she caught a whiff of you,” she scoffed as she quickly pushed him away by the chest.

“Wait… Do they even have a gag reflex?” Fish lips didn’t budge, he just had a dumb look of confusion on his face.

“No, but they would defy the laws of biology to gag just for you,” she quipped, sticking out her tongue and moving to push him away again, but the skxawng had the nerve to pull her into a headlock. 

“Oh, yuey, the ikran won’t be the only ones gagging on me tonight,” he argued with a smirk. 

Did I want to punch that smirk off his face? Did I want to gag? Both? Before I could make a decision, (Y/N) grimaced, pushing him away again and smacking him upside the head. 

“That’s actually repulsive. You’re disgusting.”

“Dude, keep it in your pants, her family is right there,” Rotxo laughed, doubled over as he struggled to catch his breath.

“Yeah, we’re right here,” I interjected with a smile—wanting to join in on the jokes that were being thrown around—but it was hard to keep my face from falling when I saw (Y/N)’s bright expression falter. 

“Anyway, what were you guys talking about before Ao’nung and I arrived?” she asked in a too-bright tone of voice she only used when she desperately wanted to change the subject. As if everyone came to an unspoken agreement to forget about the conversation before, one by one they all started talking about who they thought would win in a fight—Toruk Makto, or our Olo’eyktan, Tonowari. 

The sound of laughter and excited chatter faded as I replayed the previous conversation in my head. When did they start joking around like that? Why the hell did fish lips call her yuey like it was the most natural thing in the world? How come she smiled so easily with him but faltered when she sees me? She was probably smiling with him right now—

I looked over at her, a pit in my stomach already forming at the idea of her smiling at him, but she looked so distant, so withdrawn from everything around her. Before I could even blink, she put a delicate hand on Ao’nung’s arm to grab his attention and mumbled something in a hushed tone. After a few beats of silent conversation, Ao’nung nodded and gave her a look of understanding. 

Why did he look at her like that? How much time did they spend together to be able to understand each other with just a look? How much time have I wasted breaking my promise to her while she grew closer to someone else? 

 Standing up, I made up my mind that I would talk to her and clear up any miscommunication. There was no way in hell I was about to let fish lips ruin our childhood friendship. Before I could even get close, Neteyam pulled me aside. 

“Bro, why’re you glaring at everyone?” he asked with concern written all over his face.

“Glaring?” I tilted my head in confusion. “I’m not glaring, this is just my face.” 

“No, no.” He shook his head. “I’m your brother, I know your face. Whatever look you’ve been throwing at Ao’nung and (Y/N)? You may as well have been throwing knives at them.”

Behind Neteyam, I could see (Y/N) get up to bid everyone good night and slowly walk in our direction. This was my chance, I just needed this overbearing idiot to leave me alone. 

“Whatever look you think I’m giving to them, you’re wrong,” I denied. “Can you not act like this right now?” My tail flicked side to side impatiently, an obvious twinge of annoyance clear in my tone. I licked my lips nervously as I could hear footsteps coming closer. Leaning slightly to the side, I looked behind Neteyam to see (Y/N) and—

Ao’nung? What? Why is he there? 

“Good night,” (Y/N) muttered, not sparing us a glance as she walked past. I followed her every move and—as if everything slowed down—my eyes narrowed as they found Ao’nung’s hand placed on her lower back, leading her gently in the direction of the marui. 

I know that I’m too late

But I’ll say it anyway

I’m sorry 

I’m sorry 

I’m sorry 

Though it's far too late

“I did it! Did you see that Reya?” I shouted—out of breath—as I showed off the shell Tsireya threw. 

“Yes, yes you did it!” She exclaimed, excitedly wrapping her hand around mine. For someone who spent so much time underwater, her hand radiated so much warmth. So easy to hold. My heart swelled with pride as she continued to compliment me. “You’ve improved so much!”

“Yeah? Well, I had a great teacher,” I joked, nudging her softly with my shoulder. It wasn’t just her hands that were warm either, she just seemed to radiate it.

“Oh stop, you flatter me too much,” she denied, fidgeting with her hair. Was that a blush on her face? “C’mon, why don’t we catch up with the others? Private lessons are officially done for the day,” she announced as she led me to shore. Oh Eywa, she looked so pretty like this, with her hair flowing down her back and the way her eyes cast down when she became flustered. And her smile, it was a smile that could knock the air out of my lungs.

While we walked onto shore, we joked around and laughed with each other, talking about anything and everything. The ease of each reply and joke came as smoothly as gliding through the water on an ilu—as easy as breathing. Laughing at another one of Tsireya’s jokes, my eyes scanned the village as we approached it. Families were winding down for the day as they cooked dinner, although I didn’t see mine anywhere nearby aside from Kiri. 

My smile slowly dropped when I was able to make out Kiri looking frantically around as if she was searching for someone. Tsireya and I made our way to her, worry filling the pit in my stomach. As we got closer, I could see Ao’nung climb down one of the roots of the Mangrove trees and make a beeline toward her. My eyes stayed on both of them, making sure that fish lips didn’t do anything to Kiri. 

Ears twitching I was able to make out the words, “(Y/N)? Did you find her? ” from Kiri as they were carried on the wind toward us.

“Yeah I did, I was able to get her to eat, but she’s not looking too good,” Ao’nung replied with concern lacing his voice.

Brows furrowing, I pulled Ao’nung by the shoulder. “What do you mean she’s not looking good? Where is she? What did you do?” 

“What the hell do you mean? I didn’t do shit, freak.” I rolled my eyes at the insult. He couldn’t use that thick head of his to think of anything else to call me? From the pained look on his face, I could tell that my grip on his shoulder had too much pressure. Good. Served him right.

Before Ao’nung and I could continue our argument Kiri groaned, “Will the both of you skxawng shut up! I’ll go talk to her.” My eyes followed her retreating form as she went to talk to (Y/N)—tail lashing back and forth in agitation all the while—before turning back to Ao’nung.

Who the hell did he think he was? I’d beat his skxawng ass if he hurt (Y/N) in any way. He had no right to look so damn worried. They weren’t even close. What even happened? How long had she been missing for Kiri to go to fish lips of all people for help? Should I follow Kiri? Why didn’t (Y/N) come to me? She always came to me, and if she came to me now, I absolutely would have listened. Why—

“Lo’ak? Hey, are you okay? Lo’ak?” a hand softly placed itself on my arm. Closing my eyes in frustration, I sighed. 

“Yeah, perfectly fine.” 

Damn it, was that when it started? How idiotic and blind have I been that I didn’t even notice that her trust in me started to slip and die when it was right in front of me? Why didn’t I go to her and make sure she was okay? I should’ve punched that idiot’s lights out—

“Ao’nung! Stop pulling me you skxawng, you’re walking too fast, slow down!” a hushed voice chastised. 

“C’mon yuey, we only have about an hour before eclipse, we have to hurry!” His voice grated against my ears as he responded. 

“That’s plenty of time!” (Y/N) insisted. I could hear the laughter bubbling up in her voice as she chased after him. “Please Ao’nung slow down, I can’t keep up.” 

“It can’t be helped, you’re so short—” a whack could be heard. “Ow!”

“I’m as tall as Tsireya, you giant!” 

“Both you and my sister are short—Ow! Alright, just because you did that, you leave me no choice,” Ao’nung said, throwing (Y/N) over his shoulder with a laugh. 

The bickering voices got closer, and my eyes narrowed at the way he held her. My breath hitched as he whispered something in her ear that made her ears perk up and her eyes widen. What the hell was he saying to her? Before I could spring up from my spot, Ao’nung tossed (Y/N) in the water, her yelp quickly interrupted by the sound of her body hitting the water. 

I stayed in my spot as shock zipped through my body. Letting out a breath I didn’t know I held, her head popped out of the water, a playful glare on her face. 

“I told you, you left me no choice,” he stated, guffawing at her expression.

“Oh yeah?” she groused, spitting out seawater as she wrung out her hair. “Well fuck you too. Help me out of here?” 

“Only if you say the magic word,” he taunted, crossing his arms with a smirk. “Otherwise, I’m afraid my hands are tied.”

“Please, oh great son of our Olo’eyktan, help me out of the ocean,” she beckoned dramatically, sarcasm dripping from every word while she rolled her eyes. “It’s about time you recognized my proud lineage, forest dweller,”  he said as his chest puffed out with a hand reaching towards (Y/N). And there was that stupid smile on his face.

(Y/N) rolled her eyes, a mischievous smile spreading across her face as she reached for his hand, making sure to tug with enough force to unceremoniously yank him into the water. 

“So much for the son of a great warrior! Your instincts are shit!”

“My instincts are dull you say?” he questioned as his head popped up next to her. “We’ll see about that!” 

“Wha—AHHH—'' she wheezed. “No, please Ao’nung stop! That tickles!” Her arms flailed wildly in an attempt to free herself from his grasp. 

What the fuck.

  My ears flattened at an angle as I tried to process the scene unfolding before me. When did she start laughing with him? That should’ve been me she was laughing with. Not him, not the skxawng who had been nothing but rude to us since we arrived. What… what was I even saying—Fuck I didn’t know anymore. Why did I feel like this every time I saw them together… laughing and making jokes like we used to?

And it was me, it wasn’t you

It’s cliche, but it’s true 

I wasn’t thinking how I usually do, oh

And is your momma doing well? 

Or does she still hate me? 

But it was hard to watch me put you through hell 

I’m drunk, too late, talking to the moon, ooh

Writing songs I can’t sing to you, ‘cause 

Two weeks had passed since I started noticing the changes in (Y/N)’s relationship—friendship?—with Ao’nung. It was like every time I blinked, I could see her laughing loudly as Ao’nung tickled her with a triumphant smile on his stupid face. Since that day, I had been trying to find a way to talk to (Y/N), but she was never alone. She was always with him and when she wasn’t, she disappeared and I couldn’t find her no matter how hard I looked. 

Now here I was, wandering around trying to look for her as I rehearsed what I wanted to tell her. 

Where could she be? Dinner was in an hour and she wasn’t anywhere near our marui. I had to find her soon so there would be enough time for us to talk. I had to tell her that I miss her, that I was sorry for being so dumb, that I shouldn’t have let my pride blind me, and that I didn’t mean any of the things I said. 

There was only one place I hadn’t looked yet… hopefully she was there. 

As I was getting closer to the root Kiri stalked to, I could see two silhouettes beside each other. An all-too-familiar feeling bloomed in my chest once I registered that she was there with him. 

Her melodic laughter made my steps falter. I clenched my fists tightly, contemplating if I should go over there and pull her away, force her to talk to me, to listen. But I couldn’t, I couldn’t do that to her, not when she looked so content, so happy. 

Ever since that day 

The things I didn’t say 

They haunt me, oh

I know that I’m to blame 

So, go ahead and 

Blame it on me, oh

“Lo’ak? You said you were going to look for (Y/N) and never came back. She’s already in the marui helping mom cook,” Kiri stated, a twinge of annoyance lacing her voice. “Hey, are you listening?” She shook my arm slightly, making me jump out of my stupor. 

“Yeah, sorry, you said dinner was ready?” I asked as I stared off. 

The sand beside me crunched softly as Kiri made a move to sit beside me. “No, I said that (Y/N) is with mom helping her cook. Where is your head at?” she asked as she tilted her head to try and meet my gaze. “Are you alright?” The annoyance in her voice shifted to concern. 

“I’m fine, yep—just… fine,” I brushed her off, hoisting myself up to head towards Mom and Dad for dinner before Kiri yanked me back down. 

“Lo’ak, don’t pretend you’re okay when you’re not. Tell me what’s going on,” she urged. “Maybe I can help you with whatever it is that’s occupied your mind lately.”

I inhaled sharply, debating if I should tell her what had been muddying my mind, the reason why I had been so spaced out, why I had been glaring daggers at fish lips each time I saw his stupid face next to (Y/N)—how confused I was. 

“Stop with the thinking skxawng, you might hurt yourself,” she admonished. “Just tell me. It’s not like I can’t handle it.” 

Huffing, I rolled my eyes and turned away from her to look at the sea. I hadn't even said anything yet and Kiri was already making me feel idiotic. How was I supposed to tell her what's been going on like this? Maybe if I kept quiet for long enough, she would get tired of waiting for me to start talking and go on to eat dinner without me. 

A couple of minutes of silence passed. 

I could still feel her staring at me.

“I’ve—I’ve been conflicted,” I started, tongue feeling heavy in my mouth as I continued to stare at the shoreline. “I don’t know what I’m feeling.”

“What do you mean?” Kiri nudged my shoulder with hers. “Elaborate a little more, I can’t help if you don’t tell me the reason why you’re feeling confused.” 

“...Whenever I see (Y/N) with Ao’nung, it’s as if I can feel my heart aching,” I said, motioning toward my chest to prove my point. “There’s always a… a surge of anger that rushes through me. All I want to do is pull her away from him so then everything can go back to the way things used to be—for us to be okay.”

“Lo’ak…” If I was looking at her, I’d probably see Kiri tilt her head with sympathy. But sympathy isn’t what I needed right now.

“I want her to look at me and smile, to laugh with me, hug me—but now, whenever I get close to her, she’s next to him, laughing with him, cracking the jokes we would make to each other… I just—” I rubbed at my face in frustration. It wasn’t as if the words were hard to come by—I had spent so much time bottling them up that it was hard to stop talking. No, I just hated the fact that I felt this way in the first place. “I don’t understand why seeing them makes me feel like my heart is about to explode—why it makes me want to scream. It hurts.” 

“Lo’ak” she put a hand on my shoulder. “Are you—are you in love with (Y/N)?”

Love?

I sputtered in surprise and whipped my head toward Kiri to see if she was joking or not. What kind of a sick question was that? I wasn’t in the mood for any games. 

“What? No, she’s like my… sister?”

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “If you’re not, then why does seeing her with Ao’nung hurt you so much? Why do you care as much as you do?” 

“I shouldn’t!” I wrenched my shoulder away from her hand and stood up. The need to move around and do something—anything—was too much. There was too much energy thrumming right beneath my skin to sit still anymore. 

“That’s the problem! After everything I said to her, done to her? I don’t have the right to say I’m in love with her. She’s my childhood friend, Kiri. That’s all our relationship has ever been… I just—” I paused in thought and tried to calm down. “I didn’t realize seeing her have so much fun with someone else would make me feel so, so hollow—” 

“Let me ask you something, you have to promise to be completely honest with me, okay?”

I nodded, not even looking in her direction. 

“When (Y/N) tried to pull you off from Ao’nung that one fight months ago, what did you feel? Angry? Betrayed? Jealous?”

Jealous? Did she really think I was sulking for months because of such a petty feeling? I’m not a jealous person. I never have been. 

“Seeing her jump in to get me off him made me feel like she was siding with him and telling me that I was wrong. Her actions were clear as day to me, Kiri.” I started to pace around. “She was protecting him—caring for him when she should’ve been next to me, helping and supporting me. When she did that—I felt like the only person that’s ever been on my side—” I croaked and turned my head to look at Kiri as tears stung my eyes “The only person who didn’t see everything I did as some sort of disappointment or failure, abandoned me and chose someone else.”

“...”

“I know that I could’ve approached her a different way but how could I when I felt so broken?” I inhaled sharply, eyebrows furrowed. “ It’s all fish lips’ fault. If he wasn’t such an asshole, none of this would have happened, and (Y/N) and I would still be the same, she would still be by my side—supporting me, loving me.” 

“Why do you keep blaming it on Ao’nung?”

“Because it is his fault that things have turned out the way it has.” I threw my hands up, exasperated. What wasn’t Kiri getting? “He’s getting in between my relationship—er—friendship with (Y/N)! If he wasn’t there I would be able to talk to her and tell her I’m sorry, but she’s always with him—”

“Stop! Are you hearing yourself?” She nudged at my foot to interrupt and scoffed. “You’re unbelievable, you know that? (Y/N) told me what you said to her, how ‘she wasn’t the same girl’ you knew back in the forest. Do you know what happened when you told her that? Do you know how much pain she was in?”

Pain? I snorted, turning towards Kiri. “Now I know what you’re saying is bullshit. You know how (Y/N) is—if she really was pissed at me she would’ve come to me instead of running to someone else.”

“She wasn’t pissed. She cried because of you, Lo’ak. Because of what you said.” I stopped dead in my tracks to look at her. Kiri's eyes didn’t waver. Another heavy feeling settled on my chest and clawed its way up my throat. If you had asked me what it was, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you. Was I sad? Guilty? Angry? Was I jealous like she said?

I settled on anger.

“If you’re saying what I think you’re saying—”

“The person that found her that night, the one who comforted her? That was Ao’nung. He held her in his arms as she sobbed when I found them.” She stood up too, forcing me to stop pacing. 

“The last thing I want to hear about right now is him, Kiri. What the fuck—”

“Did you ever think about why she’s so comfortable with him now? Why they’re so close? While you ignored her for weeks, he made sure she was okay—made sure she ate every day. He didn’t leave her side until she finished,” Kiri pointed out, and before I could even think to open my mouth to remind her how shitty he was to her especially, she cut me off. “Yes, he was an asshole at the beginning, and yes he has a screwed-up way to show he cares, but he stepped up when you fucked up.” She poked my chest with a glare before she continued. 

“Oh, so I’m a fuck-up now?” I asked wryly. 

“You can’t put all the blame on someone that took care of your best friend. Stop being so blinded by your pride and hatred and see that you’re the real reason why your relationship with (Y/N) isn’t the same as it used to be.” 

My heart sank a little more as I scrambled for something to say. “How could you say that—”

“No, you do not get to interrupt me right now, Lo’ak.” Her eyes flashed with something closer to anger than annoyance. When was the last time I saw her angry? “Listen and listen well. When we couldn’t find (Y/N) and we were looking for her everywhere—he was the one that found her spot, the one she isolated herself to so she could cry alone, and no one would see how much pain she was in. And what were you doing in the meantime?” 

My ears flattened at her rising tone, and I was finally beginning to understand the weight stuck in my throat and chest. Not anger, not even jealousy.

“You were out there with Tsireya, stuck in your own little world.”

It was my fault.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy that you found her but you can’t have both of them. You can’t be that selfish. From (Y/N)’s perspective, you’ve already chosen the one you want.”

“It’s not like I’ve actually chosen anyone yet,” I tried to interject, but all the fight had left my voice as Kiri’s words dug into my skin and sunk in.

“Don’t you dare play with either of their feelings. (Y/N) held so much love for you in her heart, she allowed herself to break to the point of no repair because she didn’t want to show you how much it hurt her to see you at your happiest with Tsireya.” She paused before continuing, her voice losing its edge. “Let her move on, brother. And if it’s Ao’nung that makes her light up the way she used to, then you suck it up and let him. He was there when your pride wouldn’t even let you apologize or even look in her direction. Actually think about how she feels for once.” 

I hated the fact that there wasn’t anything I could say to prove her wrong. 

“It’s all I’ve been thinking about nowadays,” I muttered.

I know that I’m too late

But I’ll say it anyway 

I’m sorry 

I’m sorry, hmm

I’m sorry 

Though it’s far too late 

“I thought I was already doing that,” a faint voice huffed in annoyance. Turning the corner, I saw Ao’nung and (Y/N) standing on the beach together— far too close for my liking. 

“You were, but you got sloppy. Here, you have to move your hips like this,” he said as he corrected her posture. My ears flattened against my head as he put a hand on her hip and gently directed her movement.

Why did he look so gentle with her?

“Ao’nung,” (Y/N)’s voice rang out, clear as crystal despite her uncertain tone. “Are you sure you should be teaching me this? This is a traditional Metkayina dance, right? I’m…” she hesitated, her voice becoming smaller. “I’m not Metkayina—” 

“Yet.” He interrupted, holding her face in his hands. “You are not Metkayina yet. Once you become one of us, you will have to learn the dance to celebrate the return of our spirit brothers and sisters, so why not learn that now?” I hated how reassuring his voice was. The thought of how either of their eyes looked as they held contact made my stomach turn.

“Yeah… you’re right,” she mumbled with an unsure look on her face.

“Woah, hey pretty girl, look at me,” he insisted, laying his hands on her shoulders and bending his neck so they were at eye level. “I’m serious when I say you will become Metkayina one day, so don’t worry yourself over it right now. Okay?” Ao’nung tilted his head to the side, an unbelievably soft expression on his face. “You have me here to help you.”

“Alright…” (Y/N) mumbled, not convinced. 

“If you don’t get rid of that look on your face I’ll throw you into the water,” he said as his face shifted from sincerity to something mischievous. “Or worse… I’ll tickle you,” he threatened.

“You better not Ao’nung, or I swear to the Great Mother herself I will hu—AHH—get away, you skxawng!'' She laughed as she tried to run away, but Ao’nung grabbed hold of her waist and pulled her into his arms. And despite her words of protest, it was clear as day that she was leaning into him while they scuffled on the sand. 

“No!” she shrieked with glee. “You can’t make me go in there again!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that, forest dweller!”

A thought occurred. Should I go up to them? We never got the chance to talk, after all. I took a few steps in their direction before freezing. When was the last time I heard her laugh like that? She had the biggest smile on her face, and the one who made that happen wasn’t me—it was him. 

And if you ever hear this 

I hope you know that 

I’m not proud of who I’ve been, ooh

And if I see you again

I hope you know that 

I wish you nothing but the best

And my biggest regret

The afternoon was quiet, relative silence only interrupted by the crashing of waves. Without much to do, I just sat in our marui and lazed around with Tuk until a horn blew. 

“The tulkun have returned! Everybody—our brothers and sisters have returned!” Tsireya’s voice rang out, and when I poked my head out to see what the fuss was about, I saw the megawatt smile on her face, as she swam by on her ilu. 

The village came to life as everyone mounted either ilu or canoe to make their way to the tulkun. From here, I could see little more than a large group of dark shapes making their way through the water. Payakan himself was dauntingly huge, but to see a whole pod of them show up like this? It was spectacular. I watched the commotion unfold from one of the walkways, lost in thought before I felt water splashing at my feet. 

“Come on Lo’ak! Don’t just stand there, let’s go see the tulkun together!” Tsireya urged, still smiling. Shaken out of my stupor, I grinned widely—diving into the water and clambering onto her ilu. lu may be lithe animals, but I could still feel sinuous muscle under velvety skin as it made adjustments in the water to keep balance. 

“I’ll come, but only if you’re offering a ride,” I joked, gently holding her waist and playfully leaning onto her. The cool water around us made her skin feel that much warmer. It was nice. 

Before I could see her reaction—I would’ve bet anything at that moment that her cheeks had become flushed—we began to quickly make our way toward the rest of the clan and the giant tulkun. 

The air around me vibrated with the excitement and happiness of loved ones returning, and Tsireya was no exception—the speed of the ilu gave away her eagerness to be with her spirit sister. As we leaped into and out of the water, Tsireya’s laughter was carried by the wind and reached my ears. That, and the answering whoops and bellows of Metkayina and tulkun alike, was almost contagious enough to get carried away by the energy surrounding us. 

“My spirit sister is down there,” she said as she dismounted, sliding off her ilu and into the water. “Wait here, yeah?” she smiled at me before diving down.  

I was more than happy to watch the Na’vi around me. Looking around, I was in awe of the sheer amount of tulkun gathered in one area, and how each Metkayina was able to identify their spirit sisters or brothers so easily. Looking down into the shifting waters, I saw Tsireya catching up with her spirit sister, waving her hands around and swimming through the water alongside her.

All around, I could hear people telling stories and the deep, booming calls of the tulkun as they responded with tales of their own. New parents were showing their babies and calves, and as my eyes scanned the horizon, I could see small children holding onto the tulkun’s fins as they were lifted to the glittering ocean surface.  

Not too far away, I heard the sound of a body hitting the water and the sound of grating, but familiar laughter along with an indignant (Y/N) sputtering. 

“Ao’nung, what the fu—” 

“Hey, hey, relax! It’s just some water. There are children here, yuey,” Ao’nung chided with a shit-eating grin on his face. 

“The parents of those children are going to have to explain what it means to return to Eywa once I’m through with you,” she retorted, treading water and becoming even more unamused when he raised his hands in mock surrender. 

“Woah there pretty girl, you’re talking to the son of the mightiest warrior in all of Pandora—”

“That’s funny, I don’t see Neteyam here,” she interjected, pretending to search the waters around them before turning back to Ao’nung and tilting her head, “do you?”

“Just because you said that you can have fun finding your own way back to shore,” he said as he turned his ilu around.

“Oh, c’mon Ao’nung, don’t be like that,” she rolled her eyes and reached a hand towards him. “You’d really leave me here to fend for myself?”

He turned and wagged a disapproving finger at her, “I’ll consider forgiving you if you say word-for-word that I’m the son of the mightiest warrior in all of Pandora. I can’t have you slandering my father’s name, yuey.” She groaned and leaned back into the water. 

“You couldn’t pay me enough to say that load of bull—”

“Nope!” he didn’t give her a chance to defile the ears of any nearby children and crossed his arms. “I wanna hear you say it.”

“...”

“I’m still waiting.”

With a sardonic smile, she finally caved. “Why don’t I do you one better? You’re the mightiest warrior to exist since the time of the First Songs,” she declared, sarcasm dripping from every word as she slapped at the water for emphasis. 

“That’s what I thought, was that so hard?” Even if I wasn’t able to see them, I still would have been able to hear the stupidly wide smile that made its way across his face.

“Don’t be such a big baby and let me meet your spirit brother!” 

“Just because he’s here to visit today, I’ll let that one slide for now.” Ao’nung rolled his eyes, dismounting his ilu to join (Y/N). “Now hold on tight and hold your breath like how we practiced.”

We? Who the fuck was we? Why was he allowing her to meet his spirit brother? Why were they looking at each other like that?

I watched both of their silhouettes submerge and breathed deeply, forcing my thundering heart to calm as I slowly sank my head into the water. At first, all I could see were blobs floating around in the water, but once my eyes adjusted, I could see the fluid movement of Ao’nung talking to his spirit brother. Eyebrows furrowing, I swam a little closer and hoped that I would be able to see what was being signed. With each movement made, it was clear that Ao’nung was translating the clicks and bellows of the tulkun to (Y/N), and whatever was being said made her smile widen by the second. 

I couldn’t watch anymore as my chest burned from the lack of air and I resurfaced to catch my breath. For once, I was thankful for the lack of lung capacity I had. I climbed back onto Tsireya’s ilu. Seeing as she wasn’t back yet, I sat back and leaned on its neck to face the sky.

Did she always glow like that when she smiled? Whenever she was with him—she always looked so happy, so vibrant. Would she have looked like that with me by her side if I didn’t push her away? If I was there for her like I had promised? I wanted to tell her sorry—that I was sorry for taking our friendship for granted, for making her go through it alone. I wish that it didn’t take seeing her smile and laugh with someone else to make me realize how I felt.

I willed my tears to go away. 

Is this how she felt? Seeing me with Tsireya? Great Mother… I was truly horrible, wasn’t I? I wished things turned out differently. Maybe in another universe, I did talk to her—realized sooner, made her happier—but now? Right now, my heart was torn in two, watching as someone else picked up the pieces of the heart I crushed. No amount of words could fix what we used to have, and even though I wanted to whisk her away, tell her I love her—that I see her—that seeing her with him made my skin crawl, I knew I couldn’t. I was no longer worthy to be part of her life, because of me and my actions alone. 

I had become nothing but a stranger. 

Ever since that day 

The things I didn’t say 

They haunt me

I know that I’m to blame

So go ahead and 

Blame it on me, ooh

I know that I’m too late 

But I’ll say it anyway

I’m sorry

I’m sorry 

Hmm, I’m sorry 

Oh-oh-oh-oh, I’m sorry

Taglist: @midnightliacr @immortalbloodhuntress @arminsfloll @whenercolorfulrainbowlol @dakotali @lexilander27 @zatarias-pandora @vanillawhale @kazupop @owaowaowawa @sopiasleeps @siabhshjsjsjsjshznzn @jimfiqs @ihave500hubbiez

[jakescakeislateforourdate]

Rifle Rounds Through Time

You take the bullet for Neteyam and he doesn’t know what’s worse, the prospect that you could have died, or that you lived and every time he sees the scar he can’t forget how you nearly slipped through his fingers.

⚠️WARNING ⚠️ : angst, guns, blood, violence, anxiety, panic attacks, ptsd, arguing between Neteyam and reader.

Please enjoy this garbage!

...

He remembers every second, every minute, of the moment so clearly. It’s like looking into a mirror. He can still feel the rough grind of your handcuffs against his palm as he cuts you loose. He can still hear the slap of your feet along the metal deck. 

All he has to do is see that little scar on your chest, right under your clavicle, and he’s back in that horrible moment. One moment he’s laying next to you on the beach, stargazing. He looks across your features, down to your neck where a beaded necklace he crafted for you rests. On down to the pendant hanging in the hook of your sternum. And then his eyes land on the scar.

The next moment he’s launched back in time. He chokes on the thick smoke filling the air. People are yelling and screaming. You’re right beside him.

RIGHT THERE!

He can feel the brush of your wrist against his as you trail behind Lo’ak. Spider is somewhere inside. The ship groans and protests as it slowly begins to sink. He listens to you breathe.

In and out.

In and out.

He sees a young man dressed in a loin cloth and painted stripes. Spider. You’ve got him. And then there’s the gunfire. He’s leaping off the ship, a spray of bullets in his wake. 

His feet split the distraught ocean surface and the water swallows him up. Bubbles blossom all around him. The swirling of the sea temporarily blinds him and then he’s back at the surface. Gasping. He starts counting heads. 

Lo’ak.

Spider.

Tsireya.

Where are you? 

He turns in a circle. His eyes land on a patch of bubbles bursting on the surface a few feet away. And then he sees it. The look of utter agony on your face as you break free of the waves with a cry. 

There’s blood.

Everywhere.

It’s gushing from the hole in your chest and spreading through the water.

He can’t speak.

Lo’ak is calling your name. Tsireya is wildly clicking her tongue and clapping her hands to call her ilu. Neteyam struggles through the water. His hands find your shaking shoulders as you fight to stay above water. 

“Hold on.” He spits through gritted teeth. As his hand soothes over your shoulder blade he finds the exit point. He feels sick.

Thick, hot, bile rising in his throat.

Keep it together!

He tells himself. There’s so much blood. His hands close over the entry and exit and he presses hard. You cry into him as he attempts to staunch the blood. Lo’ak tugs at his shoulder and Neteyam his ready to cuss him out to Eywa herself. And then Tsireya and Lo’ak are pulling them onto an ilu. 

Yes, a plan.

He thinks. He can work with this. He can pull himself through this with you. He can recall the rush of water over his calves as the ilu carries them away from the ship. He hears you struggling for air; gagging as you choke on your own blood. What did the bullet hit? Your lung? Your heart? It went straight through you. He feels you slowly settle down. 

He’s losing you. 

He jostles you, “Stay awake!” Tears sting his eyes, “Don’t you dare--”

A cluster of boulders appears in his line of sight. He sets his gaze upon it and squeezes you tight. “Come on! Come on!”

A warm, sticky, metallic smelling substance is slicking up his chest where he’s pressed you to him. He doesn’t look down. He can’t. He’s still trying to convince himself that you’re okay.

His father curves around the boulders. His mother is landing her ikran there. People who can help. The ilus squeal and squawk as they practically collide with the rocks. His dad is reaching for him, for you. Jake Sully has to pry Neteyam’s fingers off you so he can look you over. Tsireya and Lo’ak are standing by, Neytiri clutches her son in her arms and looms over you. 

She’s muttering a prayer to Eywa. “Don’t take my son’s beloved. Please don’t, Great Mother.”

Neteyam is crying now, fat tears down his sunken cheeks. He’s expressionless. Staring at the blood oozing down your back and chest and side and—everywhere!

“It’s gonna be alright kid,” Jake is pressing something to both sides of the wound and wrapping the bridle of his mount around the bunched up material to secure it. “Stay with me. Stay with me.”

Neteyam can only watch, gut sinking, eyes watering, in complete horror as your eyes roll up into your head and you ease into limpness. He can’t breathe. He lurches forward and back, Neytiri trying to balance him. 

And then it all goes blank. 

He was awake the whole time but he refuses to even think about it. At some point someone came to save you. They patched you up and sent you home with the Sullys. 

Ronal comes to check on you, to read Eywa’s will over your fate. Neteyam sits beside you. He doesn’t touch you, he can’t without remembering the sliminess of your blood on his skin. He just sits and waits.

...

When you first wake up he’s the same old Neteyam. Smiling, crying happily, cupping your face in his hands. He’s got you. You’re still with him. He cradles you. All he wants is to hold you and feel your heart beating. 

And he’s good for a few days. You’re all bandaged up and he can’t see the wound. 

But you want to go riding one day, just coast on top of the water on an ilu’s back. Neteyam of course accompanies you along with his brother and sisters and Tsireya, and half the clan basically. 

Everyone is playing and splashing, except for you because you’re still in pain, when it happens. You just caught a bad wave and slipped off the ilu. The water sweeps over your head and you’re forced to swim. The movement of your arm makes you swear in pain. 

Neteyam nearly passes out. He’s about to throw a fit. What if no one saw you sink? What if you were unable to swim? What if you drown?

And then he’s yanked back into your near death moment for the first time. Lo’ak has to help you back onto the ilu because Neteyam is so far consumed. What is he to do?

When he snaps back to reality, he grabs your good arm and leads you off somewhere where he can chew you out. He’s fuming, about to blow a gasket. 

When the bandages come off, he can’t hardly look at you for days. He sees the puckering scar and is instantly transported back. He isolates himself and cuts you off without explanation. He tries to keep you from doing almost anything. 

No swimming. 

No ilu riding.

No diving.

No ikran riding.

No going outside.

No! No! No!

Another time, Aonung was playing a stupid catching game with Lo’ak and Rotxo when Lo’ak threw wrong and nailed your hurt shoulder. Neteyam pounced on Lo’ak and tried to wring his brother’s neck. You pulled Neteyam off this time and sat him down.

Neteyam couldn’t be shutting down every time something happened. You take him somewhere quiet and take his hands in yours. “What’s going on with you?”

You plead with him. He’s silent for a long time. His gaze is turned to his toes that he burrows into the ground. He makes a sobbing sound, ready to come apart at the idea of admitting he can’t handle this. 

He feels your hands rub circles up his forearms and biceps and shoulders. He soaks up the warmth like a greedy sponge and curls into your touch. And then he remembers your blood on his skin, his chest, his hands. Neteyam is in tears yet again, the emotional overload jarring him. It all comes out. 

He’s a mess. An absolute mess. Hiccuping and sobbing as he tries to explain what’s up. You’re so shocked to see him like this. He’s never this distressed. He never handles these situations like this. 

“I thought you were gonna die!” He wails and reaches for you. Touching you disgusts him and soothes him at the same time. He bawls into your hair. You stroke his back, patting his sun-warmed flesh while you wait. 

Neteyam is strong. He always has to be because he’s the oldest and he has to look out for his siblings. But when he saw you dying, the life literally draining out of you, he was so helpless and scared. He thought it was all his fault. That everything was his fault because he was not strong enough to protect his family, or his people, or you. 

Neteyam finally gets it all out. Everything is there. The wound is finally free of salt. He holds you until he’s able to push the bloody sensations away and calm his heartbeat. He listens to you breathe. The rhythm and constance of it lulling him into peace. 

Neteyam still gets the flashes. A mishap in sparring, a poorly attempted dive, a cut to the palm while slicing fruit. But he doesn’t shut down anymore. Instead he’ll place his palm just below your ribcage and feel you breathe. He fights the hell every moment he touches you. 

It takes months to finally realize that your are not dead. That you did not die. That he did not fail you. But then war goes on and Neteyam is left anticipating the time you actually do slip through his fingers. And then he understands his father. He just wants to whisk you away and keep you safe.

No more wars. No more fighting. No more death. No more bullets in his beloved.

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

As someone who stalks the Avatar a03 page every day, I want my modern day high school au with Spider. Every modern day high school au is distinctly lacking him, where is my boy next door who is neglected by his foster parents being integrated slowly into the family he’s been friends with since he was little. Maybe they live in an area with fewer kids because it’s the only place with homes accessible for Jake so all the kids are super close and obsessed with Spider bc omg another kid to play with, only old people live here. And Jake and Neytiri always like pls stay for meals cause they aren’t sure anyone is feeding that kid, and he’s a stray cat they found and are trying to tempt back with food and pets.

Also, where is my role reversal metkayina travel to the omaticaya for sanctuary this time fic BUT FOR REAL. Like all of you writing those are ignoring the real comedy and drama in this. Humans destroyed their home and they’re running for safety from the gUYS WITH HUMANS?? Jake being like wait you want to stay here? With us? The human guys, human friends og? Like ur telling me RONAL isn’t gonna judge the shit out of all the humans just casually being around. Give me the comedy of Spider teaching them how to climb trees and shit and they’re like you’re human you can’t teach me anything and he fucking spidermans up there in record time like you were saying. Give me Ao’nung being pissed at Spider being their teacher and Lo’ak and Kiri are defensive but Spider is very understanding because he gets not fitting in and not being made for this. GIVE ME UR SILLY FICS BUT LET ME HAVE SPIDER IN THEM.

[thinkofmehoney]

"Smell that, it's wet grass and smoke in my hair."

Chapter one

Next chapter ->

Summary: the Sully family moves to another city after Neytiri gets a new job there as an Archery teacher. In consequence, the kids go to a new high-school where they meet new people and also face people from their past, and basically just live their lives as teenagers.

Pairings: Neteyam x Ao'nung, Lo'ak x Tsireya, Kiri x Rotxo

Notes: I'm indecisive so I didn't know if I wanted this to be a Human Au or just a Na'vi fic, so you can imagine them as humans or Na'vi! it's up to you! I tried not to describe their appearance too much to make this easier, but I'll use human and Na'vi images for the chapters.

Also, I chose the title because it's a lyric from Townie by Mitski, and it makes me think so much about being a teenager so I think it's appropriate.

Includes: kind of Slice of Life?, High-school au, Neteyam, Ao'nung and Rotxo are 18, Lo'ak, Tsireya, and Kiri are 17, Modern au, enemies to lovers, ex's to friends to lovers, daddy issues, bullying, crushes, hurt/comfort. I'll be updating the tags once I write more!

2.1k words

It was early in the morning when Jake was driving his kids to their new school. They just moved to their new house after Neytiri got a new job as an archery teacher, they decided it was better to move than to have Neytiri traveling everyday, they also saw it as an opportunity to buy a bigger house where they would live more comfortably as the big family they were.

Neteyam glanced at Lo'ak's phone and saw that he was looking at old pictures of Tsireya and him, Neteyam couldn't help but feel worried about his little brother's situation, even though he thought Tsireya had good reasons to break up, but it also wasn't something they couldn't work up.

"Do you still miss her?" Neteyam looked at his brother's face who couldn't stop looking longingly at his ex girlfriend's picture.

"Of course bro, I miss her more than anything"

"and have you talked to her lately?" Lo'ak sighed.

"Nah, I don't think she wants to talk to me."

"I mean, if you ask me, I think she would wanna hear about you, so she'll know that you care about her, like, that's the whole thing about your break up." Lo'ak sighed, putting his phone down.

"I don't know bro, I still feel kinda embarrassed, I was so clueless and thought everything was just fine between us."

"Okay but… Now that we live in the same city as Reya, what would you do if you run into her?" Lo'ak laughed at that scenario, because it was an impossible thing, he thought.

"Bro this is a big city, what are the odds of me running into her." Neteyam stared silently at him, confused.

"Is that actually a joke?"

"what do you mean?" Now Lo'ak was even more confused than his brother.

"Lo'ak, are you being for real?"

"About what?! please don't play with me right now I swear."

"Bro we are attending to the same school as her, and you are both on the same grade" Neteyam felt like he was explaining to a toddler that two plus two is four. "Are you telling me you didn't know that?" Judging by Lo'ak's wide eyes, no, he didn't knew that.

Lo'ak unbuckled his seatbelt, being his dramatic self. "Dad stop the car." Jake looked at him through the rear view mirror.

"Lo'ak don't start, put your seatbelt back on or i'm gonna crash into a tree."

Lo'ak's face was pale as he looked at Neteyam once again "Why wouldn't you tell me about this shit?!"

"Cause' I thought you knew what was your girlfriend's school smartass! that's why she broke up with you, you don't even know something so basi-" Before he could finish, Lo'ak grabbed his hair in a fist.

"Take that back!" Now, Neteyam was trying to push his brother back.

"Get off of me!" At this point, they were both pulling their hair and pushing each other's faces.

"Hey, hey!" Jake suddenly stopped the car, making both of them stop immediately and look at their father with frightened faces "You two are way too grown to be fighting like this, specially you, Neteyam" the mentioned boy's ears laid flat against his head. "Now, both of you, get out of the car and walk to school, let's see if you keep misbehaving like this when you arrive."

The brothers looked at their father with wide eyes, but soon they just looked down and said "Yes, sir" as they opened the door and got out. They weren't far from the school, they could see it from where they were standing, but it was embarrassing that they got kicked out of the car because of their little fight

the walk to school was silent and the tension was palpable, Lo'ak felt guilty and he could also feel Neteyam's anger irradiate from him like fire, but once they got to the entrance, the older brother patted the younger's head.

"If you need anything just text me, okay?" He may be angry because of the scolding they got because of their little argument, but he was still worried about Lo'ak and his situation.

Lo'ak walked fast into school because he didn't wanna run into that particular someone, meanwhile, Neteyam wasn't in any hurry so he just walked like a normal person.

Until he saw Kiri surrounded by a group of guys laughing at her.

After an eventful car ride to school with her beloved family, Kiri arrives to school before her brothers, of course.

"Have a nice day baby" Jake watches her get out of the car with her green backpack "If someone bothers you don't hesitate to ask your brothers for help, okay?" She nodded.

"Alright dad, see ya!"

As she's walking towards the entrance, she spots some beautiful flowerpots with big leaves covering them. She didn't knew yet, but that was part of he gardening club. At the entrance, if you walk a few steps to the side of the building, you will find a narrow but long greenhouse with some vegetables growing inside that the students sowed themselves. outside theres two white benches in between flowers, cactuses and other beautiful plants that are well cared for by the students.

She strongly believes in talking to plants and giving them positive energy to grow stronger and beautiful, she also finds it really therapeutic talking to them, and the best part is that they'll never judge her

Unlike some other skxawnks.

"Look!" She hears a masculine voice getting closer, along with some giggles. "Is she talking to a plant? you gotta be kidding me" It was some Metkayina boys that were getting closer.

"she's a freak, man" Kiri looked at them with furrowed brows and they could tell that she wasn't Metkayina. "And she's not from here... She must be from the forest."

Kiri rolls her eyes and sighs annoyed as she tries to leave the garden, when the tallest boy gets in her way. He had braided hair and a bun along with some loose curls. His blue eyes were so blue they were almost clear, and Kiri always thought blue eyes looked terrifying.

"Hey, chill." He laughs mockingly "I doubt we interrupted an important conversation here, Forest girl"

"Please just, leave me alone" Kiri tries to get out of this situation but the guys just kept walking around her like vultures, making her dizzy.

When Neteyam arrives, is almost like a sixth sense activates on his brain. He gets closer to the laughter, where the garden is, he doesn't understand what's going on until he hears his sister's voice. He walks at a fast pace and throws his backpack to the ground once he arrives to this circle formed around his younger sister.

He sees the taller boy standing in front of his sister, preventing her from leaving while the other boys around them just laugh. By grabbing the taller boy's shoulder, he turns him around, finding a stunned look in his face.

Neteyam didn't even need to raise his voice to be intimidating, his eyes were just enough to feel your blood getting colder.

"Leave her alone," His voice sounded almost like a growl, Ao'nung felt goosebumps. "Now."

Koro, Ao'nung's friend, was quick to talk back, "Who the fuck do you think you-" But Ao'nung stopped him right away.

Looking at him up and down with a smirk, he raised both of his hands in surrender, letting the darker skinned boy know he was done annoying Kiri.

The girl walked towards her brother just wanting to leave the scene, but Neteyam and Ao'nung held eye contact for a few more seconds until the siblings turned around and left.

Ao'nung's friends looked at him confused, while he just kept looking at Neteyam's back, feeling just as confused as them.

"Who's that?"

Once they were far enough, Neteyam quickly stopped to check on his little sister, he scanned her up and down with his eyes and held her head in both of his hands to talk to her.

"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" Kiri avoided eye contact.

"I'm fine, It's just... I don't wanna talk about it right now." The bell rang indicating their classes were starting, the hallway appeared to be busier at every second.

"If anybody bothers you again just call me and I'll rip their throats off with my teeth, alright?" Kiri smiled, Neteyam shuffled her hair and then they parted ways.

The first period was over, the Sully brothers didn't knew anyone yet other than Tsireya, so they were spending their free time at the school gym, not doing anything in particular, just chatting.

"Do you think that if I talked to her we could start dating again?" Neteyam sighed, actually getting tired of the Tsireya situation.

"I mean, you could at least try instead of asking me that same question over and over." Neteyam rolled his eyes.

"Yeah but what if-" before Lo'ak could finish that sentence, a guy came up to them with a basketball in his hands.

"Hey, we need two more players, are you guys up to?" Neteyam smiled and took the basketball in his hands as he walked away with the boy.

"C'mon Lo!" Neteyam shouted.

"Alright, alright!" Lo'ak followed his brother even though right now he just wanted to keep talking about his situation.

Lucky for them, they both played basketball since they were kids when their dad taught them. Neteyam even won some trophies when he was younger, which made his father really proud. On the other hand, Lo'ak wanted to be as good as his brother at basketball and make his father proud too, but he just couldn't, was it because Neteyam was taller? maybe he was faster? or maybe he just jumped higher? he didn't knew for certain, and that sometimes made him feel impotent.

They were getting into their positions when Neteyam noticed something, or more specifically, someone, on the other team. It was the guy that was making fun of Kiri earlier.

When they made eye contact neither of them looked away, Neteyam looked at him with a frown and Ao'nung at first had a surprised look on his face which soon switched into a smug grin.

When the game started, Ao'nung was baffled at how fast Neteyam was, they weren't even playing an actual game, this was just for fun, but the boy seemed so immersed in the game, like a professional player. Everyone noticed how good Neteyam was and how in sync him and Lo'ak were, probably because they played the sport together for years.

The bell rang just in time when their game ended, it wasn't a surprise that Neteyam's team won, everyone congratulated him, he was the new kid and he already was a sensation amongst their classmates, which made Lo'ak feel a bit left out.

"Yo Neteyam, are you joining the basketball team?" a boy from Neteyam's team asked while walking next to him

Neteyam found himself surrounded by people talking to him about how amazing he was at basketball and that he should definitely join the school's team.

"That's amazing son! Do you know when are the tryouts?"

The day was finally over, they were having dinner when Jake asked Neteyam about his day. He knew if he told his dad about the whole basketball thing he would be so proud, and he was, his eyes looked brighter when he heard the news.

"I think they start next week, they also play basket in between classes so maybe I'll practice with them but i'm not sure." He was moving his food with a fork while he spoke, Jake looked at him with a confused frown.

"What do you mean you're not sure? you have to do it! So they'll know you're motivated." He raised his voice unconsciously.

"Jake" Neytiri said as a warning, she knew her husband gets a little carried away when it's about his son playing sports, and Neteyam was such a people pleaser he would do whatever it would take to never disappoint his parents. So if Jake told Neteyam that he had to train 24/7 until he passed out, his son will most certainly do it.

"i'll go to the tryouts too dad." Lo'ak said looking at his father, who looked at him a little less excited.

"That's good, son, but you have to keep your grades up if you wanna be on a team, alright?" Lo'ak sighed and looked down at his plate, expecting a happier reaction from his dad.

"Yes, sir."

"Speaking of joining things" Kiri spoke, trying to ease the tension in the table. "I joined the gardening club, the "tryout" was being good at science so I just signed in." she joked.

"That's great darling" Neytiri smiled "You'll meet a lot of smart people like you then." Kiri laughed softly.

"I hope so, at least I won't be joining a sports team, everyone there is crazy." Lo'ak and Neteyam pretended to be offended.

"At least I won't be surrounded by nerds" Lo'ak talked back playfully, but Kiri looked at Neteyam.

"You'll be surrounded by hot athletic boys that's why you'll join the team" her older brother looked at her with wide eyes and his mouth full of food as he spoke.

"Why are you attacking me! I didn't even said anything!" bits of food fell out of his mouth, Neytiri put a napkin on his mouth, trying not to laugh.

"Teyam that's disgusting! behave on the table!"

Next chapter ->

please reblog and like if you enjoyed this first chapter!

[ash-mcj]

kiantu | blameworthy person

3.6k words | warnings: survivor’s guilt, self-worthlessness | AO3

Yawnetu—loved one Skxawng—moron Stiwisiyu—mischief maker

For the second time that week, Jake found himself searching every inch of Awa’atlu for Lo’ak—who was apparently under the impression that he no longer needed to adhere to curfews. Jake felt that expecting his children home by sundown was reasonable—the majority of the village was tucked away in their maruis by then—but apparently, his son disagreed.

Perhaps more frustrating than the disobedience was that Jake was a damn hypocrite for being irritated at all. When had he ever listened to curfews at Lo’ak’s age? Hell, he didn’t even listen to laws all the time when he was on Earth—though luckily, his children didn’t know about that.

After a while, Jake was beginning to come to the conclusion that Lo’ak wasn’t in the village. If he was out with Payakan beyond the reef at this time, Jake was going to ring his neck until his head popped off his shoulders. He was just about to head for the water, when a familiar voice caught his attention.

“Lo’ak, do not,” Tsireya said harshly, almost pleadingly. Jake silently crept closer to the voice, into the forested area of the island that the Metkayina people rarely ventured into, since the sea provided everything they needed. “Do not ever say that!”

“It is the truth,” Lo’ak stated dejectedly. “Everybody knows, but they are afraid to say it.”

Jake shielded himself from view behind one of the large tree trunks as he caught sight of the pair. They were seated across from each other on the ground, Lo’ak’s head hung towards his lap while Tsireya leaned forward in an attempt to see his face.

“Nobody says it because it is not true.”

“It is!” he sneered, glancing up at her through furrowed eyebrows. “You do not understand, Tsireya—you cannot understand!”

“Then who could?” she asked, her voice soft, but firm—as if she were trying to calm a wild creature and take control of the beast before it lashed out or ran. “Ma Lo’ak, I do not believe that you could find someone who would think the way you do. I think you are the one who does not understand.”

When Lo’ak didn’t respond, she reached out and cupped his cheek with her hand—and he immediately leaned into her touch, nuzzling his face against her palm. His eyes raised to meet hers, and Jake’s breath hitched at the raw pain swimming in them. Jake quickly averted his gaze, the vulnerability in their shared look causing guilt to stir in his stomach at his eavesdropping. Whatever this conversation was, it was not meant for his ears—or anyone’s, other than theirs. Jake should have spoken up when he’d first approached, he should’ve let them know they were no longer alone.

“You do not see the way they look at me,” Lo’ak whispered, drawing Jake’s attention back. Lo’ak’s tight features melted away as he continued, “My mom has barely spoken to me since Neteyam died, barely looked at me. I do not know if it is because she blames me, or if she sees him in me, or what. She is just sad all the time. Cold. I think a part of her died with him. And my dad—” his voice broke, and he cleared his throat as if trying to free the words lodged there. “He blames me. And he is right.”

Jake’s eyebrows pulled together in confusion. He didn’t blame Lo’ak for Neteyam’s death. Sure, he wished Lo’ak hadn’t led the children out to sea for Payakan while a battle was starting—but he could also acknowledge that he didn’t quite understand the bond between him and the tulkun. From what he’d heard about tulkuns, the Metkayina considered them more like people, family, rather than creatures. It was reckless for Lo’ak to put himself at risk, but it was loyal —and hadn’t Jake been drilling loyalty into his children’s heads since they were born?

Sullys stick together.

“Yawnetu,” Tsireya soothed. “You did not kill Neteyam.”

“I did. He wanted us to leave the ship, but I would not go without Spider. If I had not gone in, he would not have had to follow and protect me.”

“He did not have to. He wanted to protect you, because you were his little brother,” Tsireya assured him, her thumb brushing side to side under Lo’ak’s eye. “That was his choice.”

“It was not a choice!” Lo’ak hissed, turning his head to pull away from her touch. “If he went back to my dad without me, my dad would have skinned him! I knew that. I knew that if I ran in, he would follow, because he could not leave me.”

That wasn’t true—Jake wouldn’t have been upset if Neteyam had come to them for help instead of chasing after Lo’ak. Would he? With a sinking feeling in his chest, he realized that he wasn’t so sure of himself. If something had happened to Lo’ak and Neteyam wasn’t there… a regretful part of him knew that he probably would’ve blamed him, at least in some part. Shit, he and Neytiri had chastised him after Ao’nung had left Lo’ak beyond the reef—and Neteyam had nothing to do with it. Because it was the duty of a sibling to protect the others— especially as the oldest. He always instilled that into Neteyam, that he was expected to protect his siblings at all costs. Did Neteyam think that he’d be in trouble for prioritizing his safety? Did Jake make him stay on the ship?

“We would always get into trouble because of me,” Lo’ak said. “I would do stupid things, and he would follow me because he had to—and then we would both get scolded.”

“That is what siblings do.”

“There were a couple times when my dad told us that my recklessness would get us killed one day—but he was wrong. I only got Neteyam killed, while I am still here, bringing shame and disappointment to my family. I wonder if that was what Neteyam thought about as he lay dying. That what we always knew would happen was finally happening—that I was killing him.”

“You are not a disappointment—”

“Stop! I am! That is all that I am, and all that I ever will be!” Lo’ak shouted, barely getting another breath into his lungs before he continued, “And you can not tell me that I am wrong, because my dad has always told me how much I have failed him. Neteyam was the good one—the strong warrior, the responsible brother, the one who was just like my dad, the one my parents were proud to call their son.”

“Lo’ak—”

“I do not care if you tell me not to say it, it is true,” Lo’ak stated. “It should have been me. It would have been so much better for my family if I had died instead.”

Jake’s hand trembled as it came up to cover his mouth while Lo’ak’s words rang out into the quiet clearing and hung heavily in the air. For a moment, Jake forgot how to breathe, unable to think through the pain filling his chest like a poison-dipped knife. Lo’ak thought they would rather he be dead? Had Jake really failed so terribly as a parent that his son, his baby boy, didn’t think he was loved the way Neteyam was?

“Eywa chose him.”

“She chose wrong.”

“She cannot choose wrong.”

“Well, She did. I do not care if She is mad that I say it!”

“Lo’ak!” Tsireya said fiercely, grabbing onto his face with both hands and forcing him to look at her. His shoulders slumped and his fists relaxed into the grass, as if she’d sucked the anger out of him through her skin. “That is enough.”

“She should have reclaimed me,” Lo’ak whispered, almost too quietly for Jake to hear. “I wish she did. If there was anything I could do to switch places with my brother, I would do it in a single heartbeat.”

“Then I am grateful that there is nothing you can do! I love who you are very much, and I would be devastated to lose you. Think of Payakan—you have given him a brother after a life of exile. He would be heartbroken without you. Even Ao’nung and Rotxo care about you—you should see the excitement in their eyes when I tell them we will all hang out. I can not speak for your parents, because I do not know them well, but you must remember that you are not only Suli. You are Metkayina— and our clan is lucky to have you, as a warrior and a friend,” she spoke. Then, softer, she added, “I am lucky to have you.”

Silence followed for several seconds, before Lo’ak’s face crumpled as a broken sob escaped his chest—and Tsireya quickly pulled him into a hug, allowing him to bury his face in her neck.

“My dad hates me,” Lo’ak cried, his voice slightly muffled. “He always looks at me like he is waiting for me to fuck up. I know he blames me for Neteyam—he said it. During the battle, I wanted to help save my sisters, and he told me I had done enough, like he did not want me to help because I would get everyone else killed next. And when I went to find him while the ship was sinking, he thought I was Neteyam at first—and when I said I was Lo’ak, his face just… fell. He wanted to give up, to drown. He did not even want to live for me!”

Jake had forgotten that he’d said that. The moments after watching the life leave Neteyam’s eyes were blurry to him—all he could remember were the haunting sounds of Neytiri’s screams, the grief tearing through his soul, and the fear that gripped his heart at the knowledge that his daughters’ lives were still in jeopardy. But he didn’t blame Lo’ak… right? Thinking back, he remembered when he’d found him in the sinking ship—what had he said?

Lo’ak had apologized, taking blame for Neteyam’s death—and to Jake’s horror, he recalled that he hadn’t refuted the notion. ‘Focus on now,’ he’d said. Did he blame him, then? He knew he didn’t now—Lo’ak couldn’t be blamed for trying to protect his family—but then? When Jake was hurting, and terrified, and his children were dragged into a battle because Lo’ak had run out to sea? Maybe.

“Lo’ak, you must speak to him about this,” Tsireya told him.

“I cannot just… speak to my father. A warrior does not whine or cry, like a child—especially not when they kill their brother. I disappoint him enough—he does not need to know how weak I am, too.”

Jake thought back to several years ago, when a young Lo’ak would come running to him in tears after Neteyam or Kiri had pushed him a bit too hard, or called him one too many mean names, and Jake would scoop him up in his arms, wipe his tears, and ask him about his daily adventures through the forest until he’d forgotten that he was upset. When had Jake shut his emotions down, making him think he wasn’t allowed to have any? When had he made his youngest son feel that he couldn’t be open with him? He couldn’t pinpoint it, but one thing was certain: Lo’ak hadn’t come to him with just about any concerns or complaints in quite some time.

“It is not weak to feel things,” Tsireya argued. “The heart that allows you to feel hurt over your father’s words is the same one that shows compassion to Payakan, and holds affection for me, and races fast with excitement when you go hunting or exploring. You cannot choose which emotions your heart feels—sadness is just one of them. There is no weakness in emotion.”

Lo’ak pulled back and wiped his face with his hands in an attempt to dry the tears. After taking a deep, calming breath, he noted,  “It is dark. Our parents are going to send a search party, if we do not head back.”

“We should go,” she agreed. “Will you be alright tonight?”

“Of course,” he assured her, nodding. “I need to calm down before I go back to my parents, though, so… I am going to wait for a little while.”

Tsireya nodded and placed a kiss on his forehead, before rising to her feet. “I will see you in the morning. Ao’nung said you were hunting with them?”

“Yeah, I will meet you on the beach before we head out.”

“Sleep well, ma Lo’ak,” she told him as she brushed a hand over his braids.

“You, too.”

With that, Tsireya turned and took off towards the village—and Jake quickly ducked behind a tree before he was seen. He had to talk to Lo’ak, he had to tell him he’d heard him—he needed to tell him how wrong he was—but he wasn’t sure how to. Would Lo’ak be angry with him for eavesdropping, and shut him out? Should he talk to Neytiri before trying to deal with this? Jake wasn’t good at delicate, he wasn’t good at expressing feelings.

But this wasn’t about him. It was about Lo’ak.

As the boy stood and took a deep, calming breath, Jake knew he had to talk to him now. It couldn’t wait. Lo’ak couldn’t spend another night thinking he was unloved by the family.

The moment Jake stepped into the clearing, Lo’ak froze, his eyes wide and his back rigid.

“Sir,” he addressed, and Jake flinched as if he’d been slapped. He’d made his sons call him Sir, like they were his fucking soldiers. They were children, and he was supposed to be their dad. “I-I lost track of time, but I was just going back to the marui.”

“It is okay, son,” Jake said, his throat tight in a way that made it a bit difficult to force the words through. “Drop the Sir. Please, just—I never should have expected that of you. I am your father, call me Dad.”

“Okay.”

What was he supposed to say? He figured he should tell him that he’d been listening, but maybe letting Lo’ak repeat the words to his face would be better. More therapeutic for him or something? Fuck, he had no idea.

His body seemed to know what to do more so than his mind did, as he found himself stepping forward and throwing his arms around Lo’ak. He held him to his chest—probably just on the side of too tightly—and let out a shaky breath as he whispered, “I am so sorry, my son.”

“What?” Lo’ak asked, his hands hesitantly coming up to wrap around Jake and return the hug. But the moment was short-lived, as Lo’ak then pulled back to look at him. As soon as his eyes found Jake’s face, he gasped. “You are crying.”

Jake brought his fingers up to his own face, and sure enough, it was soaked. He was crying.

“What has happened?” Lo’ak questioned, fear dripping from his voice. “Is it the girls? Have they been hurt?”

“No, no, your sisters are fine—they are perfect,” Jake calmed him.

Lo’ak relaxed a bit, but his eyes couldn’t help but flicker anxiously to Jake’s tear-stained cheeks. “What is wrong, then?”

“I heard you,” Jake admitted. “Talking to Tsireya just now—I heard you.”

Understanding registered in Lo’ak’s eyes and he tried to step back, but Jake grabbed onto his shoulders to keep him close.

“I have been a shit father, Lo’ak.”

“No, you—”

“Just—let me,” Jake interrupted him. He swallowed several times, before continuing, “I am sorry that I have been so hard on you— and Neteyam. I thought the best way to keep you safe would be to turn you into soldiers, prepared for whatever war you wandered into, but I… I was wrong. I should have taught you how to be warriors without taking your father from you. I wish you would have come to me, when you were feeling these things. I wish I had made you feel that you could.”

“It is okay, S— Dad,” Lo’ak assured him. “It is stupid, anyway—I think my head has just been kind of messed up. I probably hit it on the coral too many times. Kiri said I was dropped as a baby—maybe that is why.”

Jake smiled, a bit sadly, and put his hand on top of Lo’ak’s head. “You were dropped as a baby, but so were she and Neteyam. Parenting can be difficult. You mother and I still have not mastered it.”

“Well, please do not have any more children. I do not think I could survive another sister.”

“Skxawng,” Jake chuckled, and Lo’ak gave him a half-hearted grin. “I used to deflect my pain with humor, too.”

“We do not need to talk about it,” Lo’ak said, his eyes practically begging. “What you heard. It does not matter.”

“It does,” Jake argued. “It matters, Lo’ak—because you matter.”

“I know I do.”

“It did not sound like you knew.”

“I was being dramatic.”

“You were hurting,” Jake corrected. He took Lo’ak’s face in his hands. “You are hurting, and that matters to me.”

Lo’ak was silent for a moment, then sighed. “What am I supposed to say? You already heard.”

“I guess it is me who has things to say,” Jake reasoned. Figuring it was best to start with the most pressing issue, he said, “I handled Neteyam’s death poorly. I said things to you that I did not think through. I felt guilty and ashamed that I could not protect my own children—and I knew that it was me who Quaritch wanted. I let his people take Neteyam’s life instead of giving him my own. But, I knew I could not break then. I had to be strong, and I had to be brave, and I could not let myself crumble under my grief and fear. So I-I shifted that blame from my shoulders to yours. I did not even realize it, until now. I was weak. But you, you were so strong. You went into a sinking ship and saved my life, while bearing the guilt and pain that I could not. I am so proud that you were stronger than me, but you never should have had to be. Neteyam’s death was not your fault.”

“But he was there because of me.”

“Your brother was there because he was a warrior. He would have been there regardless, fighting for our family and the Metkayina who took us in. Spider is not a Sully, but he has been as close as he could get to being family for your entire life. And Sullys stick together. I do not blame you for rescuing him, and Neteyam would not blame you, either. You understand me?”

Lo’ak nodded, and Jake tipped his head to press their foreheads together.

“I have never, even once, wished that it had been you instead of Neteyam,” Jake said. “I need you to get that through your head, boy. I wish neither of you had died, but I swear on everything that I never thought the wrong son did. When we were still in the ship, and you saw my face fall upon hearing your name, it was not that I was disappointed to see you. I thought I had already died. When I realized that I was still alive, and I understood the situation we were in… Lo’ak, I was terrified. I was injured, and I knew I could not hold my breath the way you kids had learned to, and I believed that I was going to drown. And you being there would take you down with me, unless I told you to leave me. I did not give up on you—I gave up on myself. And without your help, I would have drowned. I have never been disappointed to see you—not then, and not any of the times you were a disobedient stiwisiyu. I have always been proud and grateful to be your dad. There is no amount of misbehaving you could do that would make me love you less. I love you so much, my son. I failed you as your father by making you ever question that.”

Lo’ak sniffled as a tear escaped his eye, and Jake pulled him into another hug, resting his hand on Lo’ak’s nape to hold him more securely.

“I love you, too, Dad,” Lo’ak mumbled into Jake’s shoulder, as he clinged to him.

“You said Neteyam was just like me, but you were wrong,” Jake whispered into his hair. “Neteyam was just like Toruk Makto. You are just like me. You did not know me before your mother knocked some sense into my thick skull, but I was a real knucklehead. Her nickname for me was skxawng. I was reckless and confrontational, and I rarely listened to orders. That is why I have always been so hard on you—I have always been afraid that I would lose you, because I know myself.”

“You could have given those qualities to Tuk,” Lo’ak teased, laughing softly. “You already gave me your weird fingers, toes, and eyebrows.”

“Sorry, I did not get to choose,” Jake told him, a smile forming on his face. “But between you and me, I think our fingers and toes make us better warriors. Do not tell your mother.”

“Better balance,” Lo’ak agreed.

“Better grip on a knife.”

this is my first time writing for avatar, so if the characters are a bit ooc...well, i’m still figuring out their voices/personalities. 

likes, reblogs, and (nice) comments are super appreciated ♥

[yesthisismycurrenthyperfixation]

Third prompt from @little-box-of-autism I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! 😈

Prompt at the bottom of the story. I didn't want to ruin the surprise. Just be warned my angst demons were on one tonight.

Taking a deep breath Lo’ak dove down to the Spirit Tree. It had been two weeks since the battle at Three Brothers Rock. Two weeks since his brother had returned to Eywa.

Lo’ak hadn’t felt ready to visit Neteyam before now. Not ready to say goodbye to one of the few people that saw him for who he was.

Hand shaking, Lo'ak reached for his kuru behind his back. Sliding his hand down to grasp the end with a lite, gentle touch. Closing his eyes Lo'ak connected with the Spirit Tree.

He was ready.

“Lo'ak? What are you doing here?” Lo'ak smiled, opening his eyes to see Neteyam standing in front of him. His arms were crossed over his chest and there was a look in his eye that the younger Na'vi boy, couldn’t quite place.

Smile getting wider Lo'ak stepped forward. “Neteyam, brother, I came to see you. I miss you so much.”

“Brother?” Neteyam's voice was cold and angry, eyes flaring with that hard-to-place emotion. “What gives you the right to call me brother?”

Brows furrowed in confusion Lo'ak opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to form a response to his brother's harsh words. Why would he say that? What was going on?

“Neteyam what are you talking about? You’re my brother. We're family, what do you mean what gives me the right?”

“We haven’t been brothers in a long time, you made sure of that.” Neteyam sneered. The younger boy finally recognized the look in his brother’s eyes. It was disgust, contempt, hatred. Neteyam had never looked at anyone like that, as far as Lo'ak could recall. But here he was directing all of it at him, his younger brother.

“What?” He asked in a small, pain filled voice.

“I got so tired of cleaning up your messes. So tired of taking the blame for your stupid shit. But of course, you never learned to follow even the simplest orders. You never grew up and look where it got me.” Neteyam gestured to himself and to Lo'ak's horror a small hole appeared on his big brother’s chest, blood flowing from the gunshot wound that took his life. “I’m dead because of you.”

Tears flowed down Lo’ak’s face as harsh sobs shook his whole frame. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t mean for any of it to happen. I’m sorry.”

Neteyam threw his head back in a mocking laugh. “You're sorry? I’m dead and you're sorry? What a joke. You’re a pathetic excuse for a son. It should have been YOU that died, and not me.” The older boy stepped forward shoving Lo'ak hard in the chest. Making him stumble, trip and fall to the ground. “I should have made it off that ship not you, I had my whole life ahead of me and look at you. The screw up.”

“Please Neteyam, I’m sorry! Please!”

“SORRY ISN'T GOING TO BRING ME BACK!” Neteyam screamed. Lunging forward his hands wrapped around Lo'ak's throat, cutting off his air supply. Blood dripped from Neteyam's wound, falling onto Lo'ak's chest, arms, hands, and face as the younger boy scrabbled at his brother’s hands. Desperately trying to push Neteyam off.

“I'm sorry, Neteyam. Please I’m so sorry.” He mouthed over and over again.

Jake jolted awake, not sure what pulled him from his sleep. Lying there he listened but nothing stood out. All he could hear were the regular nighttime sounds of the village. The gentle lap of waves, the rustle of the breeze through the distant forest, the quiet sounds of animals. Nothing that should have woken him up.

After listening for a couple of minutes Jake felt his eyes start to grow heavy and fall closed when he heard it, a whimper. It was coming from the other side of the Mauri where his kids slept.

“Please” The voice, Lo'ak's voice begged.

Jake was on his feet and moving over to his son within a heartbeat. Through the minimal amount of light coming in through the crack of the door Jake could see his son, covered in a sheen of sweat. He wasn’t tossing and turning but throwing his head from side to side as his limbs twitched sporadically.

“Lo'ak?” he called his son in a quiet voice, not wanting to wake his other kids. “Lo'ak, wake up son.”

“I'm sorry, Neteyam.” The boy whimpered and Jake's heart broke. He had worried that Lo’ak would blame himself for what happened to Neteyam. He had made sure to tell him it wasn’t his fault and knew Neytiri had told the boy the same thing. It wasn’t enough, Jake knew that now.

Reaching out Jake placed his hand on his son's shoulder, intending to shake him from his dream. He hadn’t been prepared for Lo'ak to start thrashing violently. Nor was he expecting his son to start screaming.

“Please, I’m so sorry.” The boy wailed.

Gripping his son by his shoulders Jake shook him yelling at him to wake up. Ignoring his mate and other children as they gathered around in fright.

“LO'AK!” Jake yelled, slapping the kid. It was hard enough to sting and hopefully wake the boy from his nightmare.

Lo'ak's eyes flew open and he jolted up into a sitting position, much to Jake's relief. Pulling him closer, Jake rocked Lo'ak back and forth, rubbing his arms and back in a soothing manner. Shushing him as he apologized over and over again.

“It wasn’t your fault, Lo'ak, I promise it wasn’t your fault.” Jake repeated multiple times to the sobbing boy in his arms.

“What happened to Neteyam wasn’t your fault.”

 

Prompt: "You're my brother." "We haven't been brothers in a long time, you made sure of that."

[neteyamslovrr]

Fly With You

summary: Y/N desperately wants to ride along with Neteyam during the raids but he is hugely against it leading to some cruel words and meaningful apologies.

neteyam x fem!reader, one-shot, hurt comfort, 1.1k words

──── ⑅*❀*⑅ ────

Neteyam rubbed his face in frustration looking down at you and your pleading look.

“Please Neteyam, ask your father if I can join these raids. I’m as good a warrior as the rest of you!” You pleaded with him holding your hands together looking up at Neteyam with pursed lips.

“I already said no Y/N, I refuse to ask, and I refuse to let you go.” He stated in a harsh tone making you frown more then you already were. You both had been alone in the Sully’s tent arguing about the planned raid for hours, yet no progress had been made between the two of you.

You turned to sit on a small log like stool still looking up at Neteyam with an ever-hopeful look. He was your best friend, but not only that. You were to be promised mates soon, to be forever lovers to look over the Omatikaya clan. You were stubborn about following them to the raid tomorrow, you were just as good as a warrior and deserved to be there. But as stubborn as you were, so was Neteyam and he refused to allow you within a 100km radius from the raid.

“Do you not think I deserve to fly with you Neteyam?” The moment you said this you knew it pissed him off. The flicker of fury behind his eyes and slight shake of his head making his braid beads click made you nervously fidget for his response.

“You know I did not say that Y/N” Neteyam replied stoically not a single ounce of emotion in his voice. “You know I did not say that!” he slightly raised his voice pacing backwards away from you.

“It’s called inferring, it’s not hard to tell” you scoffed, rolling your eyes at him. Slightly turning in your seat to face away from your fuming lover. “I just want to be a good warrior! I need to help my people!”

“Why can’t you just listen Y/N?” He pleaded with you; a begging tone interlaced into his voice. Stepping towards you again he faces you. “I refuse to ask to let you go! You cannot come to the raid. It’s dangerous!” Maybe it was the fact that he said that you cannot come or the way he refused to even give you the possibility to let you join him. But it made you jolt up off your seat and be within fingers reach distance to Neteyam. You looked into his golden eyes watching them sparkle with frustration.

“Am I not a good enough warrior for you Neteyam?! Do I not fly my ikran well enough to fly with you?” You threw your hands in the air in frustration. Maybe you were trying to rile him up, get him to react. You just wanted him to agree with you. But the beast you awakened within Neteyam was not worth it.

“You know what Y/N- fine. You’re not a good enough warrior! Did you want me to say it right here? Loud enough for the furthest creatures to hear me! You cannot fly with the warriors tomorrow! Father would never let you! I refuse to fly with you! You are not good enough!” He spat in your face, his face burning and his heartbeat quick. He was left shaking with the anger inside him.

You looked up at him, never had you seen him this way, so angry, so upset with you. Your eyes burned as you held your tears in. His words hurt but you worked them out of him. Yet, that did not stop the ache in your chest, the feeling of your heart beating deep in your stomach.

Just as you were about to say something, you heard the rustle of the tent opening and there stood Jake and Lo’ak back from a flight together.

“I’ve got to go. Neteyam don’t follow me.” You rushed out of the tent smashing your shoulder against Neteyam’s chest.

“Wait no Y/N.” He quietly pleaded watching you whisp away as he facepalmed himself.

“I thought I taught you how to treat your woman well” Jake sneered flicking the back of Neteyam’s head.

It was now the day of the raid, and you laid sulking in your family’s tent recapping the argument between you and your lover. You knew you stirred him up yet that didn’t make his words hurt any less. ‘You are not good enough’ replayed in your mind over and over.

Neteyam knew he must apologize to you. None of the words he meant, he was just sick and tired of arguing with you and hit a breaking point. He saw you curled into yourself on your bed and his heart ached. This is not how he is meant to treat his mate; he is supposed to cherish her and yet here you lay in front of him.

“Y/N” he spoke softly sitting beside you. You shuffle to sit upwards still a great distance further then you would usually sit by him. “I need to apologize to you, I should not-“

You interrupted him by putting your hand on his knee. “Am I really not good enough?” the way your voice cracked slightly and the tears you had tried to hold in hopelessly fell down your blue cheeks made Neteyams heart feel like it shattered into pieces. He grabbed your hips and pulled you into his lap to face him.

“Y/N you are the best being Eywa has blessed upon me, I am grateful every day to share the same air as you. I wake up excited every day knowing I one day will get to wake up next to you for eternity. You are more than good enough. You are the clan’s best warrior and best to be Tsa’hik. I promise every word I said yesterday was because of my anger and was not a true reflection of the utter love I carry for you.” Neteyam held onto you tightly staring into your eyes waiting eagerly for some sort of response  from you.

“But why couldn’t I come” You asked with your head  resting on his shoulder so he couldn’t see the tears you were still crying. He lightly traced his fingers along the stripes of your back with a deep sigh.

“I cannot bare the thought of losing you, I fear a world where you do not reside in it, my beautiful Y/N.” Your quiet sobs turned into loud apologies to Neteyam as you pepper him with kisses.

“I’m so sorry my love, I was too stubborn with you.”

“Do not cry my love, the day is ahead of us.” He kissed your lips softly, smiling sweetly still tracing your back, and together you stayed intertwined with each other enjoying the others company until it was time for Neteyam to board his Ikran for the raid.

──── ⑅*❀*⑅ ────

[plzfeedmebread]

What Do I Tell My Friends Family? Pt. 6

word count: 4003

Pairing: Recom! Miles! Quaritch x Female! Sully! Na'vi! Reader Tags/Warnings: hurt, comfort, feels, lots of crying

Author's Note: Apologies in advance for any grammatical errors! Hope you enjoy this next installment :)))

<previous chapter> | 6 | <next chapter>

The weeks that followed could only be described as uncomfortable. Those of the clan gave you and Quaritch a wide berth. You did not miss their obvious sneers, nor the harsh whispers under their breath. Yet you cannot find it in yourself to fault them; such a reaction was more than understandable, perhaps even warranted.

The humans were far more courteous, even those with Avatars; but they too kept it to what was minimal etiquette. You noticed though, that they were far more cordial with the other recoms. You watched them converse with each other, animatedly talking about something or rather. It made you envious, a feeling you knew all too well.

Quaritch tells you not to worry; says it doesn’t bother him. But you wondered how much weight such words truly held. You’re thankful he and the recoms at least have each other, as bittersweet as it was. On the nights where you would eat dinner with your family, he and his squad ate together in one of their dwellings; the night filled with reminiscing of lives past and wishes for the future. Their revelry is downright infectious, and you often excuse yourself early to join them. It fills your heart with unbridled warmth to see Spider with them too. More often than not he would also join when it was just you and Quaritch alone.

At one point you had gathered all your siblings together, sitting them down and giving them a less graphic (for Tuk’s benefit) retelling of you and your mate’s meeting and eventual courtship. Your brothers, bless them, treated you no different, told you that they didn’t care and were happy for you. When you cornered them afterwards to speak privately, you wept and wept, thanks spilling from your lips over and over again.

They reiterated once more that they were just happy you came back alive and well. Regardless of the less-than-ideal circumstances surrounding your introduction to one another, and his sordid history, they were simply happy you had found your one true mate. Moreover, as far as they were concerned, if Eywa herself deemed it necessary to get this involved in your lives, then she must see something in him. If she could forgive him for his sins, then who were they to hold it against him? He paid his price in blood.

Sweet little Tuk; everything that had happened was perhaps a little too big for such a young mind, but you tried to explain yourself as best as you can to such a young one. She hummed in thought, called you and your mate weird, but if he made you happy like dad makes mum happy, then he must be okay. She was also the only one of your siblings that wanted to actually speak with Quaritch face to face.

You were reluctant, afraid of how mother might react. But little Tuk is rambunctious in nature. She barged in one night when you and Quaritch were having dinner with Spider. Hands on her hips she proclaimed with unwavering authority,

“If you wanna be in my family, then first you gotta apologize!” Her eyes were fixated on Quaritch, who stared back at her with shock all over his face. When he didn’t immediately say anything she elaborated further.

“That time…When you took my big sister…You and those scary people hurt us, and that wasn’t very nice…” She frowned at him, eyes glistening.

When you looked to your mate you saw the guilt in his eyes, how his ears flattened and tail wrapped around his waist. He got to his knees, tried to make himself as small possible in an attempt to be closer to her eye level. And he apologized. He apologized for scaring her, for hurting her. But most of all, he was so sorry he took you. He doesn’t give her any excuses; simply admits he did something wrong and was sorry.

She nods at him, but says nothing else; though you see the tightness of her expression loosen. Spider walks over to her and ruffles her hair which makes her giggle.

“Here kid, I got a little somethin’ for ya,” Quaritch says and reaches into his pants pocket. He pulls out a small wooden carving of a pa'li. He holds out the tiny figurine balanced in the palm of his hand. Tuk’s eyes widen and she grabs it with a loud thank you. She holds it up to her face, turning it around to admire it.

“You made this?” She asks, looking up at him expectantly.

“Yes. Your sister here helped me too. Made sure it looked right.” And it was true; you had spent many nights by his side, carefully instructing him on pa'li anatomy. You were surprised when he approached you and spoke of his intention to carve her the small figurine. He explained he felt inspired when you had offhandedly mentioned her fondness for the animal.

Tuk looks between him and figure a few times, then gives him one final once over before nodding her head.

“Hmm. I guess you can stay. [Y/N] likes you, so…And you’re Spider’s dad, and I like big brother Spider.” She smiles up at the aforementioned boy, who ruffles her hair once again affectionately.

“Okay bye I wanna show this to Lo’ak!” And with that she’s sprinted off before any of you can say anything more.

---

It was disheartening to come to the realization that Kiri was avoiding you. She didn’t outright ignore you per say, but she was always too busy or had other pressing matters to attend to; never was she free to sit and talk to you.

You broke down crying one night, alone with Quaritch. Immediately you were pulled into his embrace. His strong arms held you tight as he whispered comforting words into your hair.

You hadn’t noticed Spider just outside. He had come with the intent to eat with you two as usual, but stopped himself when he heard your cries. He listened to the words you spoke, laden with heartache for your sister.

You didn’t hear him leave either.

---

“You’ve gotta talk to her.” Spider finds Kiri inside watching her mother’s video logs.

“I’m sorry, what?” She turns to him alarmed.

“[Y/N]. You have to talk to her.” He pleads.

Kiri shakes her head at him and turns back to the video.

“I don’t have to do anything. Besides, what’s there to even talk about…” her voice travels off at the end, as if she was unsure of her own words.

“Are you being serious right now? Kiri…” He grabs her by the shoulders and turns her around to face him. She’s at his eye level from kneeling in front of the console.

“What do you want from me Spider? You know as well as I do what he’s done in the past. And she does too; but I guess that doesn’t matter anymore…”

“That’s not fair, Kiri—”

“You wanna know what’s NOT fair, Spider?! The fact that I have wake up every day knowing that the man who shot and killed my mother, is alive and well! And not only that, he’s mated to my sister!” There’s tears in her eyes as her voice rises; the frustration of it all bubbling over.

Spider can feel the anger radiating off of her, white hot and unravelling; a crescendo of emotion bottled up for who knows how long. The dam breaks and she sobs, fists clenched tight.

“So now, he gets to play house with my family, [Y/N] gets her Eywa-given mate, and you get your dad back! And what do I get? NOTHING!”

Spider flinches when she screams.

“What happened to ‘us orphans have to stick together’…? Am I going to lose you too…?” Spider’s eyes grow wide at her admission. Her fears laid out before him; she felt as though she was losing her family to Quaritch? Was she blind? He hates that she’s feeling like this, wishing he knew how to make it all go away. But at the same time, he can’t help but feel his own bout of anger and frustration.

“Kiri…You never were an orphan; not really…You know that, right?”

He looks at her with a serious expression. Her lips press into a thin line at his words.

“You had Jake and Neytiri. You literally call them mum and dad. Me? Who did I have? Yea Norm and the others raised me; but no one was really my parent…Norm was more like a big brother. And I’m not blind or stupid Kiri; your folks never considered me part of the family. Only you guys did…”

She knows all too well what her parents think of Spider. Mother was not as subtle as she thought she was. Father at least treated him well, but there was still this disconnection from Spider being human.

As they stared at one another, it became clear to both of them that there was perhaps a lot of hurt left yet to heal.

---

Despite the passage of time, you have yet to properly speak with your mother. Words left unspoken causing a rift to form between you two. Small at first, you feel the cracks forming as it has been left to sit and fester. She treats you with the same love and care you have always known, but something has undoubtedly changed. It’s there, behind a lingering gaze, the hesitance of touch, the near imperceivable sharp intake of breath, but with no words that follow.

The tension at dinner time is thick, near palpable. Your brothers try their best to fill the awkward silence with pleasant conversation, driving it as far from the topic of your mate as possible. Kiri obviously says nothing, much to your disappointment. Mother smiles but it does not reach her eyes.

When you eventually muster up the courage to speak with Mo’at, you are surprised; you had expected her to be just as, if not more, against it all as mother. But she is pragmatic, understanding that this providence cannot be ignored. Her unique spiritual bond with Eywa allowed a deeper understanding into the intricacies of the Great Mother’s Will. Though she would not forgive him any time soon, she would at least accept his place among her family and her People; if this was Her Way, the so it must Be. She didn’t have to like it, but she did have to respect it.

You asked her how best to approach your own mother. She tells you that you must speak from the heart, but be open to the idea that Neytiri may never accept things as they are. She is not Tsahik and never will be. Though she has great love for Eywa, this hurt cuts far deeper than you may yet understand. She says that Neytiri perhaps needs to commune with her father’s spirit and seek out his guidance. Perhaps even from Eywa herself.

You nod and thank her for speaking with you. You turn to leave but she stops you with a hand on your shoulder. When you turn back around she pulls you into a warm hug. She tells you everything will be okay; Eywa has deigned it so. That she is sorry you have suffered such hardship, but she knows you are strong and capable, and will get through this one way or another.

You cry shamelessly into her embrace for a long while.

---

When next to happen to find yourself alone in the company of your father, you fix him with a question that has been plaguing your mind.

“You know…I’m surprised you’re not as, angry, as mother is about all this.” You watch his face trying to gauge his reaction. His countenance is thoughtful though a scowl does form. He schools his expression quickly.

“Trust me kid; I am.” There is an underlying bitterness in his words that leaves you with an uncomfortable clench in your stomach.

“But…Eywa accepted me and forgave me for my part in the destruction of Home Tree and everything after that. She came to our aid when shit hit the fan, helping us drive back the RDA. She’s done a lot for me and our family. And if what Quaritch says is true, that our Avatar bodies only work because she allows them to? Then I got a helluva lot more to be grateful for. I wouldn’t have Neytiri, Mo’at, your siblings, the clan, or you for that matter.”

Your lips quiver with the strain to not cry. It becomes nigh impossible with the way father is smiling down at you. He places both hands on your shoulders.

“I took a lot from Pandora…But you and your siblings? You guys are the one good thing I put in.” You heart swells and you lose your battle to not cry. When Jake sees your tears he pulls you in, rubbing your back soothingly as you weep.

“No matter how grown up you get, you’ll always be my baby girl…It’s gonna be okay, I promise.”

You sniffle as you try to calm yourself. You are a little fed up with all the crying you’ve been doing lately.

“How can you be so sure?” He shrugs his shoulders.

“Call it a father’s intuition.” This time, you return his smile.

---

Tonight finds you in the arms of your husband. The two of you are deep within the forest, somewhere far from High Camp and Bridgehead. You found a secluded perch on which to lay and watch Eywa paint the sky in brilliant starlight. Your snuggled into his side, head resting on his broad chest. You listen to calm rhythmic beating of his heart. It comforts you.

His arm encloses you, pressing you tightly to him. Your hands, fingers entwined, rest atop where his heart is.

“What’s going on through that pretty little head of yours?” His voice draws you in, pulling your lazy gaze from the sky and to his face. There is a warmth in his eyes, a kind curiosity. He brings your hand up and presses a kiss to your knuckles. You loved it when he was soft and gentle. Though you were, of course, eager and willing for his rougher ministrations when the mood struck.

You smile softly and hum in response.

“Hmmm. Just thinking about how much I love you.”

You are rewarded with the goofiest smile you’ve ever seen adorn his handsome face. Sometimes it feels as though he could never get used to your declarations of love and affection. You wonder if he was starved of such a thing. The thought baffles you, as your people loved freely and were not ashamed to express such feelings to friends and family.

You don’t dwell on it though; resolving to smother him with everything he may or may not have been denied all his life.

You move yourself off his chest but don’t untangle your hand from his. Instead, you lay on your back and pull him as you do. Miles follows, moving himself above you; caging you in between his arms, his face mere inches from yours.

You stare at him; studying. You take note of every luminous freckle, the strength of his cheek bones, the grooves of his nose, the breadth of his jaw. Your hand moves to his face and cups his cheek. His skin is warm to the touch. Your thumb traces the lines of his lips. He closes his eyes and leans into your hand.

When he looks at you once more with a half-lidden gaze, lovesick and smiling, it stirs something deep within you. The flicker of a flame comes to life, its warmth all encompassing. That look of reverence on his face; you never want to stop. Not in this lifetime or the next.

You resolve to protect that smile by any means necessary.

---

The two of you weren’t in your tent this morning, and Neytiri huffs in frustration. After much talks with Jake, communing with Eywa, she had finally decided to try talking with you once more. The next morning of course. But much to her dismay, no one was at the tent when she called. She saw no one inside when she quickly looked inside, but did not linger as it smelt far too much like The Demon.

She cusses under her breath. She knows she’s going to have to get out of the habit of calling him that. Start addressing him by his name.

Unsure of where the two of you might be, she makes her way back to her own dwelling. Jake is there, cleaning one of his guns. He looks up when he hears her familiar footfalls.

“That was quick,” he says, a confused look on his face.

“They weren’t there.”

“Oh. Maybe one of the kids saw em’.”

She nods and sets out to find her other children.

---

Alas, it would prove futile; none of the others had seen either of you since the night before, when you had told Spider you and Quaritch were going out to watch the stars.

Speaking of Spider, where was he? If anyone was going to know where you two were, it’d be him.

Neytiri makes her way over to the scientist buildings; if he wasn’t with her children, he more than likely would be here.

She enters the one housing Grace’s Avatar, and finds Norm up and about, not yet in his Avatar. He turns and is surprised to see her of all people, rather than her kids, enter. Still, he is happy to see her all the same.

“Neytiri? Oel ngati kameie! What brings you here?”

“Oel ngati kameie, Norm. Have you seen Spider? Or [Y/N]?” She smiles and greets him with equal enthusiasm. His expression becomes perturbed at the question though.

“No sorry, haven’t seen Spider since…Huh. Actually the day before yesterday? Thought he was staying with [Y/N] and Quaritch.”

Neytiri’s stomach drops at the notion. Has no one really seen either of you three for the passed two days? And no one said anything? What kind of mother was she then, to not notice?? Her mind starts racing, but she takes a deep breath; calming herself before she spiraled out of control. There was no need to overthink; you may have simply been too busy.

“Have you tried asking the other recoms? I’m sure one of them must’ve seen em’ at some point.” She nods at him; it was a good place to continue.

“I have not. Thank you Norm. I shall go see them.”

Briskly she leaves, not another word said; far too eager to find you as soon as possible.

---

She eventually finds the three of them conversing with some of the other Avatars. She cares not for their topic of conversation, walking up and interrupting them without a second thought.

“You three.” She addresses them coldly; the others sense the rising tension and quickly make their escape.

“Mrs. Sully! What can we do for you?” The bald one, Lyle if she remembers correctly, asks her.

“My daughter. Have you seen her? What of your, leader, or his son?”

Instead of answering, the three of them simply share a look amongst themselves, before they all look back to her. The uncomfortable feeling is back tenfold. There is something in their gaze, an almost apologetic look in their eyes. She hates it, nor does she understand why they look upon her so.

“What? What is wrong?” She demands, the agitation ever growing.

Mansk clears his throat and steps forward.

“Come with us Mrs. Sully…And bring your husband too.”

Her stomach clenches something awful; her mother’s intuition stings.

---

The 5 of them congregate in Mansk’s private dwelling. He gestures for everyone to sit down, get comfortable. Jake too can’t help but notice the sullen looks adorning the others’ faces. Nor his he miss the nervous twitch of his wife’s tail. He grabs her hand and squeezes it reassuring. She looks to him, taking a deep breath as she nods.

Mansk re-emerges from wherever he went, brandishing a tablet in hand. He sits himself in front of everyone, holding the tablet for them to see.

“Here…A message was given to us, to give to you when you came.” He moves his hand and hits play.

Instantly you are on the screen. You are nervously rubbing the back of your neck. Quaritch is sitting next to you; he is leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees and fingers loosely threaded in front of him.

“Hello mother, father, precious siblings…” Neytiri squeezes Jake’s hand harder. She does not like how your voice sounds as you speak.

“If you’re seeing this, then you’re all probably wondering where we—I am…” You pause, hand on your heart and you take a deep breath to calm yourself. Neytiri notices then, Spider mulling around in the background. Back and forth he moves, as if in a hurry.

“I don’t know how else to word this, so I’m just going to come out and say it. I’ve left. WE, have left. Me, Spider, and Miles.” You glance over to Quaritch and smile, grabbing his hand in yours, threading fingers together. Your face returns to that awful tired expression when you look back to the camera.

“I’m sorry I did this without saying goodbye…But this was for the best. If there was even a chance, no matter how small, that any of you would try to stop us…Well, I didn’t want to take that chance. I’m so sorry, I really mean that. For everything…Father? Thank you for taking care of me. I love you, to Earth and back. Please remember to take care of yourself too, not just the family or the clan…

Kids? I know you’re probably gonna hate me for a while, leaving like this and all—but like I said. My mind is made up and I don’t want any of you trying to stop us. I love each and every one of you so much. No one could ask for better siblings. Please be good to each other. And boys? Start actually listening to dad once in a while, yea?”

You pause to wipe a few stray tears. Neytiri is sobbing quietly as she clenches Jake’s hand painfully. She doesn’t see him swallow hard the lump in his throat.

“Mama?” Neytiri sits up straight when you address her directly.

“I don’t think I could every forgive myself for hurting you. I am so sorry, more than words could ever express…You took good care of me, took good care of this family. I am proud to call you my mother, and no matter how far the wind takes me, I will always love you. I hope you can forgive me one day…” You gently place a hand on your stomach.

“I do not want to cause dissent amongst my family, or the clan, any longer…And one day when I start my own family, with the man I love… I don’t want them to feel like they don’t belong. So here we go, somewhere far beyond the horizon, to find a place we can truly call our own…” Your smile is bright and unwavering, even when the tears don’t stop.

“Please keep taking such good care of each other. Promise me you will. Sullys stick together, our family is our fortress, right? Well, these two? They are my family now, they are my fortress, and I will do what I must to keep them safe, happy, accepted...Whether or not the clan or some of you can accept it, know that I love each and every one of you, forever and ever…So until I see you again, May Eywa keep you all safe…Goodbye...”

You wave at the camera before leaning forward to touch something unseen, and the video ends.

Neytiri breaks down then and there. She falls into Jake’s arms, clutching at him desperately. Her wails crack her voice as she calls for you. Jake sheds silent tears as he holds her tight. He fights every instinct in him demanding he grab his ikran and blindly fly after you.

The other recoms sit and silence, heads lowered, as they take in the sight before them.

A mother’s heartache was truly one of the saddest things to bare witness to.

---

Tag List: @drinking-tea-and-be-obsessed, @lvangel98, @rsclopez, @onlyreadz @manymaria111, @kristeen31xxx @mechformers @olivia-the-weirdo @essenceinpink @villirios @rededfoxy @brutecuteness @perseny @fandom-garbage @ttreader @hihhasotherfixations @angel-of-silver369 @royallaufeyson @saltedcoffeescotch @the-hufflebird-girl @ding-dong-big-schlong @netherklutz @moneyoverl0v3 @@episodic8peace @touchedflowers @sarcasticrandy

---

<previous chapter> | 6 | <next chapter>

[peppicola]

The Story in your Breathing (Neteyam lives Au)

Then, a dozen bullets whistle towards Neteyam instead, and a pinching burn spreads from the center of his shoulder and numbs the length of his left arm in less than an instant. He shrieks, feeling another sink into his thigh before he stumbles sideways, almost blinded by the dazzling, fire-like pain. The dryness in his mouth dissipates as the distinct, unpleasantly metallic taste of arrowheads overtakes it, leaving him gagging in the onslaught.

But then something drops down from the overhead rafters, sleek and heavy and Neteyam is being curled to a chest and rolling before his brain manages to process the thought that he’s been shot.

In which, Neteyam has always been to young for this war and Jake isn't going toilet his son die before it's over.

[possessiveandobsessive]

Sorry in advance, this is sad boi hours. I kept imagining Neytiri remembering the day of his second hunt after Neteyam died and I needed everyone else to suffer with me. Also for an extra attack on your feelings listen to this song while you read :)

Here is the first part: Second Hunt

Second Hunt Epilogue: The Songcord

5 Years Later

Neytiri sat in her family's marui pod in Awa'atlu. She ran her fingers over Neteyam's songcord as she had so many times before. Since her baby returned to the Great Mother, she sat with his songcord nearly every day and thought back on his short life. She tried not to let it make her sad, tried to focus on the happiest memories, but today was a difficult day. Sometimes even the happiest memories carried a bitter sting.

Today marked the 16th year since Neteyam had come screaming into the world. 16 years since she became a mother, 16 years since she had something greater than herself to protect with her life. She closed her eyes and tried to fight the tears behind them. She missed him desperately. His gentle smile, his proud nature, his sense of responsibility, the compassion he held for his family, and now he was gone from her.

Her fingers brushed that one specific bead again. The one she kept coming back to, today especially. She remebered helping him pick it out, helping him string it on. She remebered hugging him and singing him his song that night as he fell asleep. She opened her eyes and stared at it. It was a deep blue/purple color, almost black, like the skin of the viperwolf he had killed that day. His first kill. The bead was jagged around the edges, "like an arrowhead!" Neteyam had exitedly pointed out at the time. He loved the bead. Thought it was perfect for the occasion. The way he had looked at her after they strung it on was pure adulation and joy. She'd never forget that expression as long as she lived.

The first tear of many slipped down her cheek silently as she remembered more of that beautiful day. It had been such a big day, for him and also for her. She had hated seeing him hurting, hated seeing him run off to the targets Jake had set up to practice until he nearly dropped. She saw his misery with every shot he made, saw him getting angrier every time the arrow struck true. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and had gone to him. He was so like her, and she knew what he needed. What she had needed. She was equally as hard on herself, felt equal pressure, especially after her sister passed. She had to help him squash his doubt before it consumed him.

More tears fell as she relived that moment in the forest. The moment that fear had turned to pride, where doubt had become confidence, the moment he made his first clean kill. She vividly remebered his face as he had looked back at her after he had said the words and hefted the animal up. His eyes had sparkled and they had shared a moment of mutual understanding. She was sure that he had seen into her heart that day, as much as she had seen into his. One had to have experienced that kind of fear to know so intimately how it had to be beaten, and even at age 11 Neteyam saw her.

She smiled through her tears thinking of that night and replaying it in her mind again while rubbing the bead. She heard Jake come in behind her and tried to compose herself quickly. Today was hard on them both, and he didn't need to see her cry. He caught her hand before she could wipe her tears and squatted in front of her. He looked at the songcord she held and the particular bead she had been staring at.

He looked up at her face then, and gently sat back. "I remember that day too." he said, "I felt so useless. He was hurting and I didn't know how to fix it, but you did. You always knew how to help him more than I did." She gave him a small watery smile and held his hand, "He was my baby, and his heart was so similar to my own. I saw myself in him Jake, and I knew he needed what I had needed." she paused and looked away before lookin back at Jake, "I miss him Jake." she whispered. Jake had a pained expression on his face and blinked rapidly before responding, "I know. Me too. I miss him too."

Neytiri moved to be right next to Jake. She leaned into his side and they both held the songcord. She smiled and looked up at Jake, "But he is hunting proudly with the Great Mother now. He has no fear, only strength and pride. His bow will never waver again." Tears fell as she continued to smile, and Jake finally smiled back at her, "Yeah. Yeah you're right. He's not afraid anymore huh?" She shook her head and looked at the Neteyam's songcord again. She began to softly sing his song as Jake held her tightly. As she sang she closed her eyes and saw that look on 11 year old Neteyam's face again. She held it in her mind, and decided she wouldn't be sad anymore. Not today. Maybe again in the future, but today, now, she felt at peace.

[littlethingsinlife]

Possible Part 2 ? (Ramble)

I am so utterly grateful for all of the love and support you guys have given me on my first fanfic for this fandom and I genuinely was kicking my feet out at the traction Happier was getting! There have been people asking for a Part 2 and I'm definitely considering it. I'm just a little on the fence because I wanted Happier to be a one-shot angst moment when I first thought of the storyline. But after actually writing it and developing it to how it is I can somewhat picture a Part 2. I just need to time develop and work on how I want to properly convey it! I will definitely update all of you if part 2 is guaranteed or not. Again, thank you all so much for the love on Happier!