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moonlightsolo · 1 year

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the eastern sea.

summary: fleeing the omatikaya clan means you’re leaving everything you’ve ever known behind. the native reef people of awa’atlu are not very open-minded with your kind- but with neteyam by your side everything will be perfectly fine… right?

pairing: neteyam sully x fem!na’vi/human reader

warnings: spoilers for atwow, metkayina being kinda rac!st (im sorry they’re mean), smooching, angst, nete fighting ao’nung n his goblins for you 😩

note: if none of y’all leave feedback n just simply leave a like i will block u (not really) but give me some attention to feed my ego!!!!!!!

part one | part two | part four | part five

your heart aches.

it mourns for the life you’re leaving behind; the only one you’ve ever known. the forest, the people of omatikaya, and of course… your home.

you watch the ceremony in tears with your fingers intertwined tightly with neteyam’s. his grip grows stronger as the time goes by from attempting to control his emotions.

jake sully has surrendered his leadership as olo’eyktan. the position is to be taken over by another na’vi named tarsem.

you can’t help but glance up at the sully boy, his round eyes watery but with no threat to spill out onto his cheeks. he’s trying to stay strong for his family, and for you.

your heart hurts for him, knowing that should have been him. neteyam was next in line after toruk makto and that opportunity was stripped away right in front of him.

jake leads his family down the steps of the tree of souls, ears pointed downward in defeat as the people, your family, cry out from everybody’s departure. some reach out to touch the shoulders of your group as you walk by, a sign of farewell.

you can’t help but stifle sobs into your free hand, unable to hold back your tears as you walk through the gathering of na’vi.

neteyam leads you through the crowd, his thumb rubbing circles into the top of your hand as he nods softly as to say goodbye to a few people.

the boy helps you climb onto the back of his ikran, now almost eye level with you. he pauses for a moment to look into your eyes, a smile barely grazing his lips before situating himself in front of you.

you take one last look at the clan, the ones who accepted you for who you are. not knowing if this will be the last time you will see them, and to feel the forest around you.

jake chirps out a rallying yelp, echoed by neytiri, kiri, lo’ak, and neteyam; all signaling they’re ready to depart.

jake is the first to take off, his ikran gaining speed as it rises in the air. next is neytiri and tuk, followed by kiri on her own ikran, lo’ak on his, and finally, you and neteyam.

your arms tighten around his slender waist, digging your cheek into the warmth of his back. you stare down at the clan that grows smaller as you ascend higher into the sky.

eventually you break free from the forests embrace, flying off the coast over the rough ocean. you take the time to admire the entirety of it; the massive trees that usually tower into the sky above you, look so small from up here.. the magnificent flora and animals that live amongst the grass, like the mountain banshees that scatter the wind, making you wish that you had enough time to rastle your own.

your grip tightens around neteyam, a soft sniffle sounding from your nose. one of his hands release from the reins of his ikran to hold your forearm, his thumb gently rubbing your skin in attempt to comfort you. it takes everything to break your gaze from the forest, taking the easy way out by nuzzling into his back.

the warmth emitting his body and the soft sea breeze slowly lulls you to sleep, your grip never falters from around his waist but a nap ensues.

a crack of lightning startles you awake, sending you into a panic.

how much time has gone by?

you’re drenched from the rain, but somehow covered in neteyams shawl. a gust of wind catches under the ikrans wing, sending you both in a zig zag pattern in the air. your arms squeeze his waist tightly, almost worrying that you’ll crush him under your vice-like grip.

the water droplets catch on your lashes, making your eyes squint as the harsh rain hits your bodies at an angle. the dark sky flashes with lightning, loud booming thunder vibrates everything around you.

as neteyam rounds a large rock, a wave crashes against the stone sending the water upwards into the sky. the sea mist cascades over your body, making you gasp in shock as the salty water splashes over your bodies.

the six of you power through the storm, the sunrise creeping through the darkened clouds slowly replaces the rain. your head feels too heavy on your shoulders, as if it’ll topple off into the depths of the sea below you.

you sleepily blink as you come to, the warmth of the sun lays upon your back like a warm hug. “we’re almost there.” neteyam glances behind his shoulder to look down at you. the boy looks equally, or even more, as sleepy as you.

you lean over the ikran, gasping at the crystal clear cerulean water. you revel at the sight of the colorful reefs and sea animals beneath the surface, hoping you’ll get the opportunity to swim alongside them.

your eyes catch an island in the distance, a tall grassy mountain sitting by itself in the water surrounded by rocky formations.

there it is… awa’atlu.

“it’s so beautiful.” you breathe out with a wide grin, eyes taking in the new environment.

you unravel from your embrace around him, leaning backwards with your arms out in the wind like a bird. the feeling of the warm wind flow across your body is freeing, as if you’re soaring through the sky like an ikran.

neteyam can’t help but smile at you and your excitement, but inside, his heart is uneasy. he doesn’t know if the metkayina will welcome his family into their clan, even after this strenuous journey they’ve endured.

on the outskirts of the island, the ikrans sail over a seabank filled with natural pools. the sea people amongst the grounds holler and yip at the presence of flying banshees breaching their perimeter.

as you grow closer, you realize that there are thick mangrove trees that cover the entire coast, shading it from the strength of the sun. a loud horn sounds from the somewhere in the village, making your ears perk up.

all five ikrans circle the village looking for a spot to land. neytiri and jake spot a sand bank, pointing for the rest to follow.

neytiri is the first to land alongside jake, instantly helping tuk off the animal.

once all the family’s ikrans land on the sand, neteyam sighs in defeat as he steps off, “here we go.” he mumbles with a bite to his voice. he reaches a hand out to help you off, but you’ve already slid down the side and hopped into the sand.

you stare down at your toes wiggling in the white powder that is so unfamiliar to you. it’s like dirtbutit’s so warm and soft.

with every yip coming from the growing crowd of reef people, your ears twitch. “on me.” jake gestures to the four of you to follow. neteyam’s hand barely grazes over your lower back to guide you between lo’ak, kiri, and himself- all he wants to do is keep you safe.

jake walks forward with his hands out in surrender as the foreign clan starts to surround your much smaller group. the amount of eyes you can feel on your skin makes you pull neteyams shawl tighter around your upper body.

neteyam and lo’ak sign ‘i see you’ to two younger metkayina boys, who surprisingly don’t return the gesture. “easy. just be cool.” jake says calmly to his boys.

“look! what is that?” the shorter one laughs as he points at the neteyam and lo’aks tails, “is that supposed to be a tail?” the comment makes the taller one laugh as they circle your group like predators on prey.

the taller one locks eyes with you, making your gaze shift from neteyam and then back to him. “and you’ve brought a sky demon.”

although it was meant to be a statement, his words sound condescending. you refuse to look back up at the boy, shuffling closer to neteyams back.

lo’ak is too enamored with a girl to pay attention to what was going on. his round eyes watch her emerge from the water, which makes neteyam slyly smirk at his brother from his evident staring.

“it is too small. how do they swim with it? that one doesn’t even have a tail!” they keep throwing insults at you and the boys, pointing and cackling.

“enough! roxto, ao’nung.” the girl scolds the metkayina boys by slapping their hands.

so that what their names are.

the girl raises her eyes, making eye contact with lo’ak. “hey.” the younger sully boy awkwardly nods at her, making her giggle and look down.

you can’t help but stifle your laughter, making neteyam look down at you with the same look. your attention is quickly taken away from the budding romance by three large flying fish leaping over your heads.

a few droplets of water fall onto your face and before you could wipe them away, neteyam beats you to it by swiping his thumb across your salty skin.

a large metkayina man decorated in bright colored garb emerges from the sea- the olo’eyktan, the chief. your heart thumps rapidly against your rib cage as he grows closer to jake.

“tonowari, i see you.” jake signs to him, which the larger man quickly signs back. he makes the gesture to each family member, including you. his eyes linger on you for a moment, before continuing on. phew.

you know you don’t look like the others. your skin isn’t that beautiful shade of blue, but more resembling your mothers with darker opaque stripes on your skin.

a woman pushes her way through the crowd, her piercing gaze burning a hole through your clan. she does not look happy at the sight of the forest people on her turf.

“i see you, ronal.” jake bends down, as well as neytiri. the woman doesn’t reciprocate the greeting.

“why do you come to us, jake sully?” tonowari questions.

“we seek uturu.” jake gestures to his family.

“uturu?” the tsahìk looks baffled by jake’s sentence, and you can’t help but watch her reactions.

“a sanctuary for my family.” jake adds desperately.

“we are reef people. you are forest people. your skills will mean nothing here.” tonowari speaks, watching his mate weave throughout your clan with a demeaning stare.

“so we will learn your ways, right?” jake looks over at neytiri for help.

your breathing stops when ronal weaves through your group, her hand snatches neytiri’s tail to observe it before grabbing tuk’s arm to lift it.

“their arms are thin.” she moves onto kiri, gripping her tail painfully, “their tails are weak… you will be slow in the water.”

kiri protests as she pulls her tail out of ronal’s hands, furrowing her brows at the touchy lady.

the tsahìk grips kiri’s hand to show it off to her people, “these children are not even true na’vi. they have demon blood!”

her eyes dance over the forest people, before making contact with your own. her face drops as she looks you over, making your breathing halt in your chest as she rushes over to you.

“and they‘ve brought a demon with them!” she exclaims to her people, her hand strongly grips your wrist, jerking it into the air for everybody around you to gawk at.

gasps and hisses travel throughout the crowd at the sight of you, making your head hang in shame and tears spring to your eyes. you knew this would happen. they wouldn’t accept you for who you are. you’re considered an outsider, an enemy.

neteyam hisses as he yanks your wrist out of her grip, his arm protectively wraps around your shoulders to push you behind him. before she could argue with the boy, jake takes a step forward between the three of you.

“look! look!” jake lifts his hand to her face, showing off his five fingers as he flips his hand, “i was born of the sky people and now i am na’vi. her mother was born of the sky people and her father was a na’vi! alright, she can adapt. you can adapt. we all can adapt, okay?”

neytiri places her hand on your shoulder to comfort you before walking up to ronal, “my husband was toruk makto. he led the clans to victory against the sky people.”

ronal almost scoffs at her words, “this is what you call victory? hiding amongst strangers? it seems eywa has turned her back on you, chosen one.” she directs the nickname to jake in a derogatory tone.

neytiri’s shoulders push back as she hisses at her, causing ronal to hiss back just as angrily.

as the commotion ensues, you look up at neteyam with a weary look in your eyes. he can’t help but reciprocate as he glances at you, before going back to watching his parents with the leaders of the sea clan.

“toruk makto is a great war leader,” tonowari places his hand on jakes shoulder, “all na’vi people know his story.” he speaks to his people, “but we, metkayina, are not at war.”

tonowari turns to jake again, “we cannot let you bring your war here.”

his words make your heart drop, is he going to turn all of you away after this entire time?

“i’m done with war, okay?” sully holds tuk on his hip as he tries to explain himself, “i’m just- i’m just trying to keep my family safe.”

you gulp as tonowari and ronal share a few silent glances before she nods reluctantly, “toruk makto and his family will stay with us,” your body tenses up as he continues, “treat them as our brothers and sisters. they do not know the sea, so they will be like babies taking their first breath.” you wince at the comment.

“teach them our ways so they do not suffer the shame of being useless.” he stares down jake as the last word leaves his mouth.

jake let’s out a breath, a soft sound of disbelief. “what do we say?” he softly touches tuk’s shoulder.

“thank you.” she smiles up at the chief.

“my son ao’nung and my daughter tsireya will show your children and the girl what to do.” he gestures to them by his side.

“father, wha-” the boy goes to complain, but he’s cut off by the older man, “it is decided.”

the girl from the water smiles beautifully as she steps forward, almost excited to be in charge. “come. i will show you our village.”

tsireya leads everybody to their new home over a bouncy net material that hovers over the water. tuk starts to hop with one of her hand holding yours, even if your arms are full of supplies you bounce along with her.

tsireya stops in front of an empty marui with a big smile, “this is for you. your new home.”

jake says something you can’t make out, but you can tell by how neytiri drops the rug on the ground that she’s upset.

the rest of the day is taken up by unloading every piece of luggage into your new home, and setting up for the next day.

there’s one extra pod, where jake and neytiri will stay, that connects to the main room while the rest of you will find a spot in the large living area.

once your space is set up in the corner of the marui, you can’t help but walk outside to watch the sun sink into the horizon. you sit down on the bouncy weaved fabric, swinging your legs over the clear water.

the sun casts a golden hue over your skin, the warmth embraces you and pulls you in. you take a moment to breathe, to let your brain rest from all the commotion going on behind you.

the sully’s are having a family meeting, one you’d rather not be apart of. you can slightly overhear jakes voice, picking out some sentences.

“learn fast, pull your weight, don’t cause trouble, got it?”

you almost scoff at his orders, like they’ll listen to him- especially lo’ak.

“sully’s stick together.”

the saying makes your lungs pause mid-breath, and for some reason it makes your heart ache. you know the sully’s accept you, and they will always be there for you, but you’re different.

you’ll always be different, and today showed you that will never change.

a hand on your shoulder startles you, making you jump in your spot and looking behind you with frantic eyes.

your gaze softens when you see neteyam’s face, looking down at you with concern in his eyes. “are you alright?” he takes the quick moment between your response time to sit down next to you, his thigh pressed against the side of yours.

“i am…” you take a deep breath before continuing, “i’m just taking it all in. trying to think of all the good reasons why we’re here.”

his arm wraps around your shoulders, his forearm hanging over the front of you. instinctively, you lean into his chest, letting out a soft sigh.

just his touch alone relaxes you, bringing you to a tranquil state, “i’m sorry that they said those things about you. you know you’re not a demon, right?”

his words make you laugh slightly, “yes, i know i’m not a demon.” one of your arms snake around his back to hold onto him while the other rests on his thigh.

before either of you could say anything, someone walks up behind you both.

“you kids okay?” jake plops himself down beside neteyam, making you pull yourself slightly away of his embrace out of embarrassment.

“yes, sir.” you mumble, nodding your head as you sheepishly glance down at your feet hanging over the darkening water.

“it’s going to be hard for you to adjust to this lifestyle, kid. for all of us, but you especially.” jake talks directly to you, making your eyebrows furrow.

“just let me know if anyone… and i mean anyone gives you any trouble, okay?” jake gives you a curt nod, “thank you.” you mumble out gratefully, sending a smile his way.

“‘course. everyone is heading to bed now, so i’ll leave you kids to it… just uh.. be safe, yeah? don’t do anything i wouldn’t do.” jake looks at neteyam specifically, before slapping his hand down on his sons shoulder and standing up.

“dad.” neteyam hisses out in embarrassment, earning a chuckle from him as he walks inside the marui back to his family.

you laugh softly and lean back into neteyams side, arm returning to the spot around his waist. the two of you sit there in silence as the sky grows darker, listening to the soft waves breaking on the shore.

you let out a little yawn from your fatigue finally catching up to you. the grip around his waist loosens as your body succumbs to your exhaustion, making neteyam smile as your sleepy head bobs.

the sully boy gently lays both of yoh back on the netted structure you’re sitting on, positioning your head on his chest with his arm wrapped around your frame. his eyes attempt to fight the heaviness weighing down his eyelids, but it quickly pulls him under with you.

…..

“hey, wake up.” someone’s voice calls in your dream, “are you two alive? wake up!”

you suck in a sharp breath when the cushion underneath you is suddenly pulled out from under your head. the bright sun blinds you, almost making you hiss from the sensitivity. your hands come up to shield your eyes, squinting as you look around at the now brightened environment.

a large figure steps in front of the sun, casting a shadow on your body and forces the light to illuminate the back of their head. it’s neteyams dad.

where are you right now? why aren’t you in the marui? did you fall asleep outside?

“are you going to sleep all day or actually get up and do something with yourselves?” jake lectures with his hands on his hips.

you look over to your side, bumping your forehead on the sharp shoulder owned by neteyam. “ouch.” your voice cracks from your dry throat.

“your siblings are getting ready to go out in the water with tonowari’s children. i expect the two of you to go with them.”

oh wow, he’s being stern like a dad.. with you. your brain can barely comprehend any words right now from still being half-asleep.

“hello?” jake calls out into the silence.

“uhuuh yes sir. we’re getting up now.” neteyam spits something out, making you scramble to your feet along with him.

instead of getting up smoothly, you and neteyam’s limbs get tangled together causing you to topple back down to the ground. the bouncy material causes you both to fly into the air and back down on top of each other.

elbows dig into each others sides, knees clack together, and heads bang with a loud crack. you’re sitting in a jumbled mess, groaning and laughing in pain.

jake exhales loudly, one of his hands rub his temples in frustration. “just make sure you’re ready in five.” he starts to walk away, “i can’t deal with those two…” he mumbles to himself.

neteyam is the first to stand after your fit of giggles, picking you up along with him. he stumbles his way back into the pod with you before plopping your feet on the ground.

you stand tall, stretching your arms high above your head with a much-needed yawn. neteyam takes the opportunity to fit his head in the opening of your arms so he could give you a hug.

he nuzzles into your neck like a cat, rubbing his nose under your jawbone. “i don’t want to get ready.” his breath fans over your neck, making you shiver.

“me either. i don’t want to hang out with those kids.” you grumble which makes him chuckle and look down at you, “you don’t like someone?” he asks as if he’s surprised you’re being mean.

the gleam in his eyes makes your stomach flutter- as if he wants to devour you and worship you all at the same time. he leans forward to kiss you, his lips perfectly molding with yours.

neteyam takes his time kissing you, relishing in the fact that you’re here in this foreign village with him. he pulls back with a sigh, making your face crinkle with worry, “what’s wrong, nete?”

“it’s past five minutes.” he whispers teasingly, making your eyes roll.

“fine, i guess we should get ready.” you reluctantly pull out of his embrace to search for your things to get changed, forcing neteyam outside for your privacy.

you can hear muffled conversation from outside the pod, making you hurry up and scurry outside hoping it’s not his dad.

“come on, you skxwangs. we’re all waiting.” lo’ak gestures with his head for you two to follow him.

on the way there, you find kiri and tuk waiting. tuk squeals your name and practically jumps on you to hug you tightly. “oh hi, tuk!” you gently squeeze her.

“come on! they’re leaving without us!” she lets go to follow her brothers down to a deeper part of the water, almost a dock of some sort.

tsireya, ao’nung, and roxto are waiting at the end, their conversation stopping once they notice the five of you walking up.

“you guys ready?” she calls out with a dimpled smile.

“let’s go.” ao’nung and roxto dive into the water first. tsireya sighs, motioning with her hand for everyone to follow as she jumps in right behind them.

your heart skips a beat from the excitement of finally being able to swim, “come on!” you slap the back of your hand against neteyam’s chest before sprinting down to the end of the dock.

you leap into the air and let out a loud whooping yelp, before crashing into the ocean. once the bubbles around you clear up, the environment around you comes to life.

the terrain is so different from the forest, being underwater is the first, but there is so much life swimming every where around you.

you dive a little deeper, admiring the large colorful rocks and coral that decorate the sea floor and roots of the mangroves. that’s where you see tsireya and the two metkayina boys, ao’nung and roxto. above you, lo’ak and neteyam are slowly following with tuk floating right below the surface.

you continue to swim, your smaller limbs somehow keeping up with the natives. especially with your barely healed ankle. you spin around to swim on your back to glance up at the boys, smiling wide. your fingers wave at them, making lo’ak elbow neteyam in the side to look down at you.

after receiving a smile from your nete, your attention is taken away by a plant surrounded by fish that sparkle under the sunlight. you grin as they circle around your head before swimming way, blending in with the rest of ocean.

you glance up at neteyam and lo’ak and instead of meeting their eyes, you see their feet kicking as their heads stick above the water.

quickly, you push off the bottom of the ocean to send yourself upwards until your head breaches the surface.

“you alright?” you breathe out heavily, inhaling some fresh air as your arms wade to keep you afloat.

“you’re so fast. how are you doing it?!” neteyam cackles at you as his hands reach to pinch your waist. you squeal and send a splash towards him.

“slow down! we can’t keep up.” tuk whines, making you paddle over to her, “do you want me to swim with you?” you happily offer.

she nods excitedly with a beam, her arms flying around your neck to hug you.

tsireya and the other two pop up, “are you guys okay?”

“yeah. they’re just not good at swimming.” you say playfully, earning a killer side eye from neteyam and lo’ak.

“maybe good at swinging through trees…” ao’nung says cockily, making his sister hit his head with her hand.

“come on, bro.” lo’ak grumbles.

“we don’t speak this finger talk.” neteyam motions with his hand, “i will teach you.” she replies.

“follow us. we’ll go slower.” tsireya smiles and nods before disappearing under the water again. you suck in a deep breath, grabbing tuk’s hand before ducking under the water with her.

tsireya leads all of you to a shallow sandbar where a few other metkayina are hanging about.

ao’nung is the first to stand up with the rest of you following behind. he clicks his tongue and whoops to summon three underwater animals.

“these are ilu. if you want to live here, you have to ride.” he explains to the group as the animals wait for instruction.

this is your first time making tsaheylu with an animal. your kuru has always been just like everyone else’s, encased in a long braid down your back.

tsireya leads lo’ak to one, while roxto helps neteyam. you’re left with ao’nung.

the metkayina boy gestures for you to follow him into the water, “have you ever made bond with an animal before?” he asks.

“no, i haven’t. this would be my first time.” you say a bit nervously. he almost chuckles, you can tell he holds himself back saying something smart. he leads you into the shallow part of the water, holding onto the animals neck to steady it for you.

“just climb on. gently.. gently.” he guides you onto its back until you’re straddling the saddle. he holds up the part of the animal where you connect your kuru to.

the pink tendrils emerge from the ends of your hair, tangling with the ilu’s.

your entire body goes still as your nervous systems become one, a shock of electricity buzzes throughout your nerve-endings. the animal chitters under your thighs, making you suck in a breath that you didn’t know you were holding.

you can’t help but let out a happy laugh. you can feel the animals heartbeat in sync with your own, how it’s lungs expand with every inhale, breathing amongst yours.

“there you go.” ao’nung chuckles at your excitement, before slapping the back of the animal. it squaks and takes off, diving deep into the sea scarily fast.

the pressure of the water sends you flying off, twirling and spinning in as it leaves you in the dust. you kick with all of your might to make it to the surface, wanting to take a deep breath but instead you cough up water.

the salty liquid burns at your nostrils, making you gag as you try to breathe.

you make your way back to the sand bank, crawling up onto the wet sand and flopping onto your back. your chest heaves as you try to breathe normally, shielding your eyes from the sun beating down onto you.

tuk appears above you, seemingly upside down from your view. “are you okay?” her voice is full of worry as she looks over your face.

you can hear people cackling to the side, making your head turn towards the sound. it’s ao’nung and his stupid friends. you groan as you turn towards at the sky, squeezing your eyes shut. “yeah, tuk… i’m fine.” you breathe out.

you sit up with a painful whine, gripping your side as you stand up fully.

tsireya emerges from the water with a panting lo’ak, obviously he’s having some trouble too. “we can get started on learning how to hold your breath.”

your eyes dart around the area for neteyam, heart starting to race when you can’t find him.

“where is-?” you’re cut off by two hands slapping down on your shoulders, making you look up at whoever is behind you.

“where is who, hm?” neteyam flashes his smile down at you, his wet braids drip water droplets onto your warm skin. you let out a relieved breath when you realize it’s him, instantly leaning back into his chest.

his arms casually cross over your shoulders, holding you into place as he looks around at everyone. “so what are we doing next?”

“come.” tsireya motions with her hand to follow her. she leads the three of you onto some rocks, climbing over them and dodging the sharp edges with her feet.

kiri pops her head out of the water, calling to tuk so she can bring her back to the village. somehow the girl already found her own ilu after splitting from the group in the water. you know she has her own way of doing things, especially things that deal with nature.

you wave to them both before neteyam grabs your hand to pull you along with him.

tsireya, lo’ak and roxto are sitting in a circle on a flat part of the rocks. you sit down between neteyam and lo’ak, crossing your legs.

“breathe in…” tsireya puts one of her hands on her chest and the other on her belly as she inhales. you follow her movements, taking a deep breath and exhaling just like her. “and breathe out.”

her hand extends, holding something imaginary in her fingertips, “imagine a flickering flame. you must slow down your heartbeat.”

her eyes travel to lo’ak who was staring a hole into the side of her face. the boy stills as one of her hands press against his chest and the other against his stomach. “breathe in… breathe from down here. breathe out slowly..”

lo’ak continues to breathe with her instructions, but you can tell he is tense from how close she is.

“lo’ak, your heartbeat is fast.” she looks up at him.

“sorry.” he quickly looks away, “try to focus.” she mumbles as she intently listens to his breathing.

you glance up at neteyam and roxto, holding back a laugh as you breathe along with them. the tension between those two could be cut with a knife.

“let your mind go clear.”

after going through a few more breathing excercises with tsireya, she decides you’re all ready to practice the new techniques underwater. she summons the ilu’s to the surface, diving into the water and mounting onto the back of hers.

you take a deep breath before jumping into the water, using all your muscles to pull yourself onto the back of your own. once you make bond with the animal, the similar shiver bolts down your spine. you gently pet the animals head, smiling as you internally calm them down.

someone’s eyes burn into your skin, making you look to either side of you. neteyam is staring at you with a proud grin on his face, sitting on the saddle of his ilu. he sends a wink your way before diving under the water, making you gasp.

you’re right behind him, diving straight down into the water. your ilu know to swim faster because you want to catch up to him and this time, you make sure to hold on tight.

you chase him around a tall root of a mangrove, your hand reaches out to try and grab his tail but the boy is way too fast.

neteyam makes a sharp turn upwards, bolting towards the surface where tsireya and lo’ak are sitting. you roll your eyes and follow, breaching the surface with a big inhale of fresh air.

“you scared i was going to catch up to you?” you tease him, leaning forward on your saddle to look past lo’ak’s body to talk to neteyam on the other side.

“scared? i’m just too fast foryou.” he replies arrogantly, making you playfully gasp in shock.

“low blow, bro.” lo’ak laughs.

“say that three times fast. i dare you, lo’ak.” you squint at the younger brother, earning a splash of water sent your way.

“on that note, i’m going back to the village.” your ilu starts to swim forward slowly, “you guys coming?”

neteyam starts to follow you, but the other two stay behind. “i’m going to help lo’ak with his breathing. we’ll be right behind you guys.” tsireya smiles at the two of you.

neteyam and you share a silent glance before shrugging and taking off under the water. the two of you chase each other until you meet the waters edge, hopping off in the shallow water and swimming the rest of the way to shore.

neteyam helps you walk as you tread through the wet sand, laughing and giggling about the day.

“and then.. and then you went like this!” you motion with your hands as if they were the two of you underwater. your hands cross over each other as you demonstrate to him how you swam together.

as both of you walk farther up the beach, you finally realize that less and less metkayina are around you.

you lift your eyes up from your hands, darting around to see them scurry out of your way. as if you were diseased. your heart drops to your feet and your hands fall to your sides, slapping against your upper thighs.

“don’t worry about them. keep going.” neteyam urges you, one of his hands come up to your shoulder to pull you closer to him.

“i just can’t believe they’re still so afraid. if i was going to do something to them, i would have done it already.” you huff out in frustration, continuing to walk up towards the village.

neteyam leads you back to the marui, his arm sits around your shoulders. almost possessively, to show that you are not to be messed with.

when you walk inside you see kiri, who perks up at your presence, “i was waiting for you! come!” she jumps up from her spot on the floor, grabbing your wrist to pull you out of neteyams grasp.

“hey! where are you going?” he calls after you, making you turn your head and shrug.

“somewhere you don’t need to be!” kiri calls back to him, making you giggle as you follow her. she continues to pull you along to the end of the walkway, hopping off into the white sand.

“kiri, what are we doing?” you softly laugh as you stumble through the sand behind her, “i just need to show you something.”

your eyebrows furrow, but you continue to oblige. she pulls you down into the clear water, landing on her knees. “look!” she dunks her head underwater, staring at something in the sand.

you follow her movements, pressing your face into the cool water as you lay on your stomach.

she points at a tiny pinhole in the sand, almost barely visible to the naked eye. as the gentle waves caress the back of your head, and over the two of you, a little bubble pops on the surface of the hole.

kiri smiles wide, pulling her head to talk to you. “did you see it?”

you sit up, resting back on your heels and blinking a few times as you try to understand why she’s so excited about a bubble. “i did.”

“you think it’s stupid, don’t you.” she sighs, shaking her head. “no! kiri, i don’t. of course, i don’t.” you shake your head, grabbing her wrist to hold her hand.

before either of you could respond, you see something poking out of the hole. kiri hushes you and plunges her face into the water to watch a little claw extend from it.

you can’t help but play along, putting your face into the water to watch the creature emerge. until it sees two giant faces hovering above, and scurries back into its home.

the two of you lay there, feet kicking above the water as you watch the bubbles pop and the creature tease you by popping out and going back in. it’s quite therapeutic actually. just laying here and watching bubbles.

muffled conversation and splashing grows louder in the water as a few pairs of feet come closer to you and kiri. your head is the first to emerge from the water, blinking away the liquid from your lashes.

oh great mother. it’s ao’nung and his friends. this isn’t going to be good.

“huh? what’d you say?” kiri is the first to speak as she sits back on her legs, looking up at the group of boys.

you sit up along with her, staring up at them as your heart pounds. you’re ready to fight if they try anything.

“are you guys some kind of… freaks?” ao’nung asks as if it was a serious question.

“he asked if you are a freak.” roxto repeated the question, like the little ass-kisser that he is.

your eyebrows furrow as you scoff, your hand grips kiri’s to pull her out of the water and up toward the dry sand.

“no, we are not.” kiri rolls her eyes as you drag her up to the shore.

“are you sure? i mean you’re not even real na’vi, and that one isn’t even supposed to be here.” the boy continues to make fun, but all you do is tune it out.

“come on, kiri. let’s go.” you try to pull her along but he continues his rant, “the demon speaks!” he exclaims as the cackling boys crowd around you, harboring you both in the middle.

“i mean look at her! her skin isn’t even the same as ours, and look at their hands! i mean look at them!” ao’nung reaches out to grip kiri’s wrist while another boy grabs yours.

you attempt to pull away, but his strength is too hard to overcome.

“hey!” someone shouts from across the beach, making your worried eyes look behind you. the boy let’s go of kiri, but the one holding onto you doesn’t let go just yet.

it’s lo’ak. oh eywa this isn’t going to end up well.

“back off, fish lips.” lo’ak walks up to ao’nung who looks down at the sully boy, “oooh look another freak.”

roxto grabs lo’aks tail, “aww, look at his little baby tail!”

he quickly turns around and pushes him off, “don’t touch me.”

the boy holding onto you pushes you to the ground as he lets go of you, making you grunt as your body comes in contact with the sand.

kiri runs to your side to help you stand up, glancing over at lo’ak getting surrounded by the group, “leave us alone!” she yells at them, but her voice falls to deaf ears.

your ears twitch when you hear fast footsteps approaching from behind you, making your head spin around to see neteyam marching forward.

one of his hands grip ao’nung’s shoulder to pull it back before pushing him, making the boy take a step back.

“you heard what she said.” neteyam points at him, pressing his index finger against his chest, “leave them alone.”

another one of ao’nungs minions starts to say something, but he raises his hand to shut him up.

“back off. now.” he shoves his finger against his chest harder. ao’nung stares at neteyam with his head cocked to the side before raising his hands in surrender with a little smirk.

“smart choice.” neteyam takes a step back, his head turning to look over you and kiri, “and from now on. i need you to respect them, and keep your hands off of them.”

one of the boys hiss at neteyam, making you grimace in disgust. kiri sticks her tongue out at him as you flip them the bird, knowing they probably have no idea what that means.

“let’s go.” neteyam says, letting lo’ak pass him, then kiri and you. he puts an arm around your shoulder to pull you into his side as you walk away.

“you okay?” he asks you quietly. all you can do is nod, and wrap your arms around his waist and smoosh your face into his side.

“buh-bye!” one of them call out sarcastically.

“look at them. they’re all freaks. the whole family.” ao’nung comments as you walk away.

lo’ak stops in his tracks, taking a deep breath as he turns on his heel.

“lo’ak.” neteyam warns him to stop.

“i got this, bro.” he raises a hand as if that would stop neteyam from worrying.

he waltz right up to ao’nung, “i know this hand is funny. look, i’m a freak. an alien.” he holds up his pinky, wiggling it in the air.

“but it can do something really cool. watch.” he starts tightening his hand into a fist, “first, i ball it up real tight, like this.”

“and then..” he cranks his arm back and throws a hard punch right into ao’nungs jaw. the boy stumbles back in shock before another fist is slammed against his face, and another.

the last one sends the boy down to the ground, blood seeping from his nose. “it’s called a punch, bitch! don’t ever touch them again.”

ao’nung hops up and growls loudly at him before tackling lo’ak to the ground. lo’ak somehow gets on top of the boy before he’s pulled off by his tail.

neteyam sighs and scratches his head, knowing he’s going to have to help. he pulls away from you and storms into the fight. you and kiri watch with wide eyes as neteyam throws a few heavy-handed punches and kicks before he is pummeled to the ground as well.

“stop it!” kiri tries to call out to them, but of course they don’t listen.

“so stupid.” you grumble with your hands on your hips as you watch it play out.

you and kiri start to giggle as they drag each other by tails and ears across the sand, making them scream out in pain.

“hey, hey! stop! break it up!” jake storms forward, pushing the boys away from each other.

some metkayina boys scurry away, running into the village. lo’ak has to be peeled away from ao’nung, while neteyam stands and surrenders with his hands up.

neteyam and lo’ak are ushered back to camp away from the fight and past you and kiri.

after the boys are lectured and forced to apologize to the chief’s son, neytiri makes you and kiri help with making food.

you can’t help but think about everything they said to you and kiri.

calling you a demon, and her not a true na’vi. making fun of how you both have five fingers instead of four, how your skin isn’t the same color as theirs.

you didn’t even realize tears were dripping down your cheeks until kiri lays her head on your shoulder, hugging you from the side. she lets out a loud sigh, making neytiri’s eyes rise from the food she’s wrapping in front of her.

“what is wrong?” she asks, completely disregarding the food now.

“nothing.” kiri dismisses the question, as your head hangs low to hide your face. obviously something is wrong, but neytiri doesn’t want to push it.

it’s barely been two days, and all you want to do is lay back in the lush grass, smell the earth and dirt around you and feel the soft sun rays kiss your skin.

the weather here is harsh, and the ground is gritty and seems to settle in the worst spots. you want your forest back, to be able to leap from tree to tree with neteyam, kiri, and lo’ak.

you want to be with neteyam, to watch him grow into his position as olo’eyktan. you knew that these reef people would never accept you; you’re an outsider, a half breed, alien, and a sky demon. you’ll never be more to them than that.

as the sky transforms from blue into pinks and oranges, you finally finish your chores. neytiri and kiri leave the pod to deliver the food, leaving you alone in the marui. you walk over to your corner to sit down on your blanket and pull a book out of your pack to read. you sit back against a pillow that is supported by the wall.

a human book nonetheless; one that norm gave you before you left home. neteyam plops down next to you, almost ignoring him from how immersed you are in the book.

the boy pulls you into his side, almost half on his chest. “what are you reading?” his eyes skim the page as he rests his chin on top of your head.

“something norm gave me. about uh, science stuff.” you laugh.

“what kind of science stuff?” he questions.

“cells… and humans… and anatomy…” you breathe out.

“sounds boring.” he hums.

“it’s not that boring. it’s about my body. maybe you should read it to learn more about it.” you tease him slightly, making the boy slightly stiffen under your weight.

“give me that.” he snatches it from your hands, pulling it up to his height. “oh it says here… that when you are being clingy and annoying it means you only want one thing.”

your eyebrows furrow, spinning around in your spot to stare at him. “and what is it?”

“me.” he chuckles, handing the book back to you.

you snatch the book from the air, eyes skimming over the page to see what he was reading but it’s all about cells and mitosis. nothing about what you need.

“ugh! you ass!” you slam the book shut and throw it to the side. you can’t help but take the opportunity to climb on top of him, straddling his waist since that you’re finally alone together.

his hands find your hips instantly, holding onto your body tight. your eyes dance across his features, looking over his swollen lip that was cut open during the fight and the bruises slowly becoming more evident on his blue skin.

“what’re you staring at?” he questions with his big round eyes looking over your face too.

“you.” you giggle out, leaning forward to press a soft kiss against his lips. he winces slightly from the pain, making you pull back.

“no, no. i don’t want to stop kissing you.” his voice is breathy as he leans forward to capture your lips with more force this time.

he ignores the pain, kicking it to the back of his mind as he deepens the kiss. he hasn’t been able to kiss you like this in forever, everything has been so chaotic.

“do you realize how hot it was to see you fight for me today?” you mumble into the kiss, making him pull back slightly.

“it was hot?” he asks with a laugh.

“so hot.” you nod, grabbing his face with your hands to pull him back to you. one of his hands slither away from your hips, up your spine and to the back of your top.

his fingers play with the threads, ready to untie it before someone clears their throat to the side. you practically throw yourself off of neteyam, scared that it’s one of his parents.

“aye!” he calls out as you fling yourself backward, following you down to the ground to cushion your fall with his hands. this puts you both in the worst position with your legs wrapped around his hips and him on top of you.

his head turns towards the person standing at the entrance, his features contorting in anger. “what are you doing here?”

it’s ao’nung.

“look, i’m sorry for interrupting whatever that was…” the bruised boy holds back a laugh, “but it’s about your brother.”

neteyam looks down at you with disappointment written across his features. he lets out a loud sigh before standing up and walking outside to talk to the boy, “this better be good.”

while they’re both outside, you get yourself situated back on top of your blanket, watching the conversation grow more heated by the second.

you don’t expect neteyam to grip the back of ao’nungs neck to push him forward and lead him down to jake sitting with kiri near the water.

you fly up onto your feet, scurrying forward to follow him. but jake is already storming away with ao’nung, flying right past you with neteyam following.

kiri jogs up to you, her hand coming up to rest on your upper arm. her eyes are wide with panic, and her body slightly trembling from the bad news ao’nung must’ve just told them.

“it’s lo’ak. he went outside of the reef and he’s missing.”

tags: @k----a27s @aspenreadsfanfic @aliseaaah @bellwhether @xoxobabe @koalalafications @embersfae @mae-is-crazy @softhetixx @minkyungseokie @iwanttohitmyself @neqeyam @lovedbychoi @lala-1516

note: hope u guys liked this one!! obvs there will be another part so if you wanna be tagged inbox me or comment <333

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