Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

She stood behind a big rock, watching as a mother screamed, cried and sobbed holding her son's lifeless body. She stood there and watched the whole family cry—some silently sobbing while others loudly grieved for the body that went limp in their hands minutes ago.

In the middle of a raging war, with bullets flying and people fighting, she stood there watching them mourn. She wondered how someone could love another so deeply that their cries of loss would send shivers down her back. Even if they were blood-bound, she wondered how such pain-filled sobs could come from another Na'vi.

"They have so much love to give. I wonder how this family will fare after this," she thought, shocked by her own words.

But even so, right there her thoughts started racing about whether she would try to protect that love or choose to look the other way. Deep within her soul, she wondered if she could ever be on the receiving end of such affection.

Snapping back to reality, she could see them getting up from where they collapsed on the floor—some filled with pain, others with blinding rage.

The human boy pulls (who she assumes is the father) toward the water creature, and as he leaves, he turns to the mother, cupping her cheeks and whispering something to her. She stands up, adjusting a big bow in her hands, her eyes radiating rage as she walks to her own flying creature and leaves.

As they do, the other smaller Na'vi stands to go with his father, but the other turns around, filled with rage and disappointment as he says something to the younger boy.

Even with the great distance between them, the girl can see how much those words devastated the boy. His father turns around and leaves without even a single look back. Now only the girl and the boy remain with their fallen brother.

The brother stands readying himself to leave as the girl holds him back by his hands—their skin color contrast evident as they hold hands. She can see them talking to each other, arguing maybe, as the girl stands up firmly, looking into the boy's eyes and leaving no room for rejection.

With a last look to the Na'vi laying still on the ground, they ran and jumped into the water.

The girl still stood behind the rock—thinking, arguing, and fighting with her thoughts.

Why would you even think of doing it? Would helping change anything? Don't be a hypocrite and act like you're thinking of doing this for anyone other than yourself. Do you really think you'll be accepted into the clan if you did this? Alien—that's what they'll call you.

She shook her head violently, willing the thoughts away.

All else aside, I don't want to see this family break because of this.

Her thoughts came to rest as she finally decided. She decided to help.

She slowly swam to the boy laying lifeless on the ground. As she reaches the boulder where he was, she pulls herself up onto the rock and grabs a very sharp-looking stone. Slowly she starts walking toward the boy, hands fidgeting with the rock she's holding, and soon enough she's next to him. Looking down at the boy, she assesses what needs to be done.

...

From a far distance, Aonung turns around looking toward the boulder where Neteyam lay. As his gaze focuses, he sees some Na'vi girl creeping into his sight. She was dark blue like the Na'vi from the Omaticaya clan. Her hair looks long but disheveled, as if tied back in a hurry. Her clothes look like they were made from leaves by an inexperienced Na'vi who knew nothing.

"Was it Kiri?"

He thinks to himself—but no, Kiri was thinner than the Na'vi in his gaze. The more he looks, the more he realizes he doesn't recognize her at all. In a panic, he quickly leaves the battleground and races toward the boulder. As he gets closer, he sees her raise her arms above her head with a sharp rock in her hands—his heart sinking when he sees Neteyam beneath her.

...

The girl raises her hands above her head and, taking a deep breath, slashes her arm open without so much as a flinch—enough to have blood rushing out fast. She crouches down slowly, holding her arm above the boy's chest, letting her blood flow directly onto Neteyam's open gunshot wound.

With her other hand, she firmly holds the exit wound on his back closed. She waits patiently as the hole in his chest fills with her blood, then makes sure it has clotted properly before removing her wounded hand from above his injury.

Closing her palms against the now sealed wound, she takes a slow deep breath and begins concentrating—letting the outside world fade away as she perfectly pictures what she intends to do, calling to her powers while praying to Eywa.

Warmth spreads through her soul as she feels the Great Mother so close—she swears she can hear her breathing. Slowly but surely, she feels her efforts succeeding as the wound closes under her hands, and so she continues with the next step of the process.

...

Aonung races toward the rock on his ilu with nothing but pure confusion at what he's seeing. Earlier, he felt like his heart might leave his chest when he saw this stranger next to Neteyam, thinking she was going to stab him.

But his shock grows even more at what she actually does. As he swims toward them, he feels the waters becoming unsettled and chaotic—the waves fighting against him as if the planet itself is trying to keep him away, no doubt because of what the stranger is doing.

He questions why Neteyam isn't pushing the stranger away or fighting back—but no one had known what happened to Neteyam yet, as they were in the middle of war, which explains his utter confusion. After immense struggle, he nears the boulder as the waters calm and the air's violence comes to rest.

When he reaches the rock, he slowly dismounts from his ilu and pushes himself onto land. He takes every step with extreme caution, staring intently at the pair. Soon he stands just a few meters from the girl—who has her eyes closed and brows furrowed—with a badly wounded hand on Neteyam's shoulder and blood pooled beneath where Neteyam lays. Before he can fly into a rage, the girl's eyes twitch as she slowly opens them—her golden eyes locking onto Aonung's pale blue.

She blinks twice, and as realization hits her, brown eyes stare back at him now.

...

The girl feels a deep hum leave her lips as she finalizes what she was doing, taking the remaining moments to savor Eywa's presence. After which she slowly opens her eyes—finding another pair of pale blue ones staring into hers.

As the last of her power courses through her body, bringing her out of euphoria, realization sets in that the blue eyes staring at her with confusion and traces of anger shouldn't be there.

Chapter Text

The two Na’vi just stared at each other for what felt like an eternity, both their minds racing with different thoughts and questions.

“What is happening right now? I don’t even know what I witnessed. But what is all the blood under Neteyam? Yes, of course, all the blood—did she do this?” the boy thought.

“Did he see? How is he here? What should I do? I need to run,” the girl thought. Just as she was about to make a break for it, a sharp pain shot through her entire body, making her groan as she felt her knees bend under her, sending her to the floor.

Right, of course. I came here to help him without planning how I am going to get out of this later. Serves me right, she thought.

She knew that her incredible, almost frightening, power came at a great strain to her body. It was through sheer will that she wasn’t collapsing on the floor right now.

She had assumed that no one would stray so far from the battlefield and so didn’t take the probability of getting caught into account.

“Okay, so running away isn’t an option anymore. With the rage radiating off him, if I take one wrong step, it will cost me my life,” she thought. Slowly, she looked up to the Metkayina in front of her, who looked like he could die from the confusion on his face and war in his eyes.

He asked her in a barely contained, angry voice, “Fucking explain to me what I am seeing right now, or so help me Eywa, I will not think twice about snapping your neck right where you stand.”

Aonung was completely swallowed by rage, trying to comprehend what he was looking at. He may be a playful Na’vi, but when it came to his loved ones, all his moral code went straight into the ocean.

He could see the blood on the floor (which was enough to kill a person twice), but the wound on Neteyam’s chest was closed, and although not fully healed, it was in good condition. But Aonung wasn’t stupid—the distinct circular shape of the wound could have only come from Sky People bullets.

But if so, then how did it heal so well and quickly? It shouldn’t even heal in the first place.

She looked at him as if trying to decipher what to do next. She steadied herself from the floor into a proper sitting position slowly and looked straight into his eyes, which reflected no fear. This is an extremely dangerous situation.

I doubt he can hear me properly even if I try to explain, and I’m not in a position to fight back right now either, she thought.

“Will you even believe me if I were to tell you the truth?” she asked with a sigh, deciding that lying to him could make him act on his threat and that he was probably very confused from all he saw. She opted for the option of giving him time to cool down.

The boy stared back into her eyes. “No!” he deadpanned, which didn’t surprise her at all.

“Okay then, let’s wait for this boy to wake up. I don’t want to have to explain it to you both twice, and it will be better if you hear what happened from him first,” she said. She also wanted to buy herself time to regain her strength after what she had done.

The boy stood there, first shocked and angry at how she was acting so carelessly, but then thinking if he should do as she said. With a sigh, he decided that even if he were to kill her, that wouldn’t answer any of his questions, and so he started pacing around, waiting for Neteyam to wake up. It wasn’t like he could force the girl to tell him about it anyway. But he made sure to keep an eye on her for any sudden movements, which would then probably make him follow through with his threat.

There was absolute silence between them as they waited, neither willing to converse with the other. The girl was too spent to even lift her head. As they waited, Aonung analyzed the girl sitting in front of him. Everything about her unpleasantly irked him.

The way she was dressed wasn’t suitable for the water—or anything else, in all honesty.

Then there was the issue of where she was from. Aonung knew his home like the back of his hand; he had visited almost all the other clans as well and had never seen her. Since she was a forest Na’vi, he would have surely remembered if he had seen her, as other forest Na’vi didn’t come here. It was like she had just dropped from the sky.

His thoughts were halted as he heard rustling from the previously still boy. Aonung turned his head so fast it hurt, rushing to the boy’s side and kneeling next to him. Neteyam felt his eyelids extremely heavy as he opened them slowly. Next to him, he could see Aonung’s worry-filled face. Aonung held Neteyam’s hand close to his chest.

“Can you hear me? Are you alright?” he almost screamed.

“Keep your voice down. He is just waking up—don’t give him a headache,” the girl hissed, though mostly it was because of the headache she could feel forming at the back of her head.

Rolling his eyes at her, Aonung’s attention snapped back to Neteyam as he felt him trying to get up.

“Slowly now,” the girl said from his other side, and with Aonung’s help, Neteyam slowly sat up.

“Can you move behind him and support his back? I don’t want him to strain his wound, because this is going to be a long talk,” the girl said.

The two boys’ eyes widened at her suggestion, but Aonung moved to do as she said, feeling Neteyam’s back press against his chest as he put his weight on him.

The Metkayina’s ears pulled back, and he could feel heat creeping up the back of his head, but he pushed down those feelings because this was not the time or place for them—not knowing that Neteyam felt the same.

“Okay, so now that you’re ready,” the girl said, “let’s start. Neteyam, can you tell me the events that happened before you woke up? Seeing how calm you are, I don’t think you remember yet.”

Neteyam frowned at the realization, just noticing how uncomfortable his body felt, and he tried to trace back to what had happened.

“We freed Lo’ak’s tulkun from the tracker,” he said slowly, the two giving him time to recollect his memories.

“And then the Sky People chased us, and my brother and sister and Tsireya were caught.” His breath hitched. “I went to save them, and then Spider, and we went out.” His breathing almost completely stopped, his lips quivering as it all came back to him. He could feel bile stirring in his stomach, threatening to spill.

“I was shot,” he said in barely a whisper.

“I was shot, and there was blood—so much blood everywhere,” he said, more to himself than anyone else, his hand reaching up to his wound as he recollected the memories. “And it’s all foggy after, but someone brought me here, and then—”

The two could see his eyes widen in realization, and tears threatened to spill. “My mom and dad were here, and there was crying, and then—” His face contorted with sudden shock, and he felt his stomach turn. He brought his uninjured hand up to his mouth, trying and failing to stop the gagging sounds that echoed from his throat.

“And then it’s all black. I don’t know what happened,” he said as he turned to meet Neteyam’s gaze, the girl watching them silently. “What happened? How am I still here? There was so much blood—it’s like I can still feel it on my hands. There’s no way I…” he said to himself in a barely audible voice, refusing to say it out loud.

“You are correct. That was the moment you died on this hill,” the girl said coldly, as if the words life and death meant nothing to her.

Neteyam couldn’t help but gag at the image, turning his face away and throwing up, his frightened eyes meeting Aonung’s shocked ones as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Aonung’s tail lashed once, then curled around Neteyam’s waist, as if to tether him to the living. He wrapped his arm around Neteyam’s uninjured shoulder, holding him to his chest as the boy trembled. He held him as if his life depended on it. And in turn, Neteyam’s fingers dug into Aonung’s wrist—as if clinging to proof he was alive.

The girl gave them the moment alone. She turned away, studying the horizon. Their grief was not hers to witness, her brown eyes now containing shards of electric blue in them.

As the two recollected their emotions, they turned to the girl and were startled a bit to find her now fully brown gaze fixed on them.

“I think this is the part where you tell us how the man presumed to be dead by his family is here next to us,” Aonung said, not sure he even wanted to know what happened.

Chapter Text

“If you are asking me to explain how I did it, then the answer is NO,” she said.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?! Then why did we wait here so long if you aren’t going to explain anything! Is this all some kind of sick joke for you?” Aonung huffed angrily.

In his angered state, he forgot that Neteyam was leaning on him as he tried to get up, but then gave that idea up, thinking that Neteyam came first.

“I never said I would explain my powers. Sorry, but you’re not worth that kind of trust, especially knowing how you were ready to kill me as soon as you got here,” she flatly stated. Glad that she had suggested Aonung help support Neteyam, she knew that if it came down to it and she had to run away, he wouldn’t leave him alone to chase her.

Neteyam whipped his gaze to find Aonung’s, and the boy slowly avoided his gaze, looking anywhere but at him.

“Look, she was next to you, with blood everywhere, and we were in the middle of a war. I assumed she was the one who injured you, okay? Damn it, I should have just followed through with it,” Aonung said, trying to explain himself. But Neteyam’s thought process was a lot different than what Aonung thought.

“He would kill for me,” was Neteyam’s realization, and it left a funny feeling in his stomach—a feeling he didn’t want to address.

But this feeling didn’t last long as discomfort swallowed him whole again. He groaned as he shifted his weight around, trying to do anything about it, but it was coursing through his whole body.

“I’m not saying that it was unjustified. I’m just informing you that you can’t demand my trust,” the girl said.

“OKAY, I really should have just wrung your neck, damn it. Who the fuck do you think you are? After all you did—” Aonung started to say but was cut off as the girl angrily snapped:

“I’m the person who made it so that you’re not wrapping your arms around the cold body of your dear friend.”

Which shut Aonung up for a second, but the fire in his eyes returned. Just as he was about to retort, Neteyam stopped him.

“Look, I understand that you want to keep your secrets—no, wait, I actually don’t understand—but I think you owe us some kind of explanation,” Neteyam said.

“No, I don’t owe you anything. And if you feel otherwise about it—” She pointed to the battlefield in front of them. “—it’s not too late to change it,” she said with a hard look in her brown eyes. That seemed to shut them up.

The girl sighed in resignation. She understood that their wanting answers was completely valid, but she just couldn’t do it. How selfish of me, she thought. Then she decided to give them what she could.

“But I can tell you that you don’t have to worry about it. What I did isn’t as grand as what you’re imagining,” she said in a tone that implied she was done talking about this.

But Aonung wasn’t done. “Are you seriously that dense or something? You just brought back someone dead, and what?! You call that nothing?” he said, but immediately regretted it as Neteyam flinched. He couldn’t take it back—it was true, which made it even harder to swallow and just confused them even more.

The girl stayed silent as she stared at him intensely. He looked back at her and waited, thinking that maybe he had gotten through to her and that she was going to reveal more, but she just continued staring, her freckles glowing brightly under the night sky.

Neteyam was silent the whole time. It wasn’t that he didn’t have questions, but unlike Aonung, who desperately wanted answers, Neteyam didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to know anything more because then he really would have to accept that he was dead.

Just the thought of it made him want to throw up, and he would have if he hadn’t already emptied his stomach.

“Just forget it, Aonung,” Neteyam said.

Aonung looked at him in shock. He couldn’t even imagine why Neteyam wouldn’t want answers—after all, it wasn’t like he had ever been dead before—and was completely oblivious to the turmoil brewing in Neteyam’s heart.

Aonung tried to say something again, but Neteyam cut him off. “JUST LET IT GO!” he screamed, not knowing where he got the energy from. Aonung reluctantly pushed down his questions, realizing that Neteyam was on the verge of breaking down.

But Neteyam couldn’t shake off one question. He looked into her eyes and asked in a gentle voice, “Why did you do it?”

The girl was caught completely off guard. Out of all the questions, she thought he would persist on, this was not at the top of her list. Staring back at him in silence for a few moments, she decided to tell him (even though it wasn’t the only reason).

“Your mother’s scream of agony as she was calling out your name was unlike anything I have ever heard before. I never thought that such grief-filled sounds could come from a Na’vi.”

Everything fell silent as those words left her lips. Neteyam finally fully grasped that he had been dead—and, most of all, that his family had been there to see it.

He tightened his grip on Aonung’s hand, the other Na’vi doing the same. Neteyam could feel himself getting lightheaded as the emotions flooded him: sadness, anger, worry, and everything else he couldn’t describe.

The girl stood up slowly from where she sat on the floor, now making sure that she had the energy to leave. She looked back at the pair, and before leaving, she crouched down next to Neteyam.

“But I want you to do one thing for me,” she said.

The two boys held their breath, anxiously waiting for what she was going to ask in return.

“Don’t tell anyone that I’m responsible for this.”

The words shocked even herself as her previous train of thought returned:

‘Aren’t you doing this for yourself? Don’t you want them to owe you something and therefore accept you into the clan?’

But as she thought about it, she knew that if people felt like they owed her a debt, she couldn’t establish true friendship with them. So, she didn’t want others to know. There was also the fact that her powers were too scary for people to overlook.

As for Aonung and Neteyam, she would give them a way to repay her, and so if their paths ever crossed again, maybe they could be friends.

“Just do that for me. You can think of it as repayment for saving your life,” she said gently, her eyes trailing down to the wound that was healing well.

“Then what the hell do you suppose we say to explain this to Neteyam’s parents? ‘Oh hey, Neytiri, I know that your son died in your hands, but you were actually mistaken—he just passed out’? Is that what you want us to say?” Aonung said hotheadedly and in a sarcastic tone but regretted it as he saw the glare in Neteyam’s eyes.

“Stop, Aonung. She just literally saved my life here. I’m sure we can do this one thing for her,” Neteyam said, then turned his head to the girl, who had a small smile on her face as she stood up to leave.

“I thank you, truly, for what you have done for me and my family today,” he said as he bowed to her.

The girl was astonished by how sincere he was. It made her smile grow a bit bigger and softer. “It was my pleasure,” she said, the sincerity in her voice surprising herself. Then she turned around and started walking back—but a few moments later, she heard Aonung calling for her.

“At least tell us what your name is, damn it!” he huffed out.

She turned around with a playful look in her eyes. “Maybe next time. If there is a next time, I’ll tell you what it is. Until then, goodbye,” she said, and this time left without looking back, slipping into the water and swimming away toward the Three Brothers’ Rocks

.

.

The pair watched as the girl disappeared behind the boulders toward what they could only assume was the forest of the Three Brothers' Rock, as they had never seen her in the village. Then the two stared at each other, unwilling to break their gaze, their freckles glowing beautifully under the night sky.

Neteyam was the first to break the silence. "We should probably get our story straight before they come back. I mean, they will come back, right? They have to," he said, whispering the last part. The worry in his voice was clear to Aonung; they were both far away from what was happening and couldn't stop thinking about their families.

"Yeah," Aonung said weakly.

After much debate, they decided that Neteyam would act as if he were asleep and would wake up when his family arrived for him. As for Aonung, he would act like he had been at the battlefield all along. This way, they could claim not to know what had happened.

It seemed like a good plan. The only issue was that Aonung was refusing to leave Neteyam's side. If this continued, they were going to be caught together and put in an impossible situation.

"For the hundredth time, I'll be fine waiting on my own here. Day is about to break, and if they even suspect anything, we'll be put in a difficult place," Neteyam said exasperatedly.

Aonung's hands around Neteyam's uninjured shoulder tightened, showing his unwillingness to leave, but he understood that he had to.

Letting Neteyam go, he stood up from behind him, cautiously and slowly laid Neteyam back down into a sleeping position. Staring into Neteyam's yellow eyes, he said softly, "I almost lost you forever if it wasn't for that girl. You can't just expect me to leave like nothing happened," showing a rare moment of vulnerability.

Neteyam was caught off guard, but collecting his thoughts, he said, "I know, and I'm sorry to ask this of you. But when we get back to the village, we'll talk about everything we need to," in an understanding tone.

Now Aonung just felt completely useless. Neteyam was probably the one who had it the hardest right now, and yet he was acting in such a childish way.

Aonung complied and said they would meet when the dust settled. He called for his ilu and left, slipping back to his position without anyone noticing, everything that had happened today weighing on him heavily.

Neteyam lay there, sunlight dancing on his skin as the sun rose. He closed his eyes and thought about all that had happened that night, but before he could think more about it, he heard a group of people—whom he could tell by the soft sobs were his family—splashing through the water as they pulled themselves onto the land, slowly walking toward Neteyam.

Relief flooded his veins as he counted the footsteps and confirmed that his whole family was there. It took everything in him not to jump up and hug his family after all that had happened to him.

.

.

It took her until daybreak to swim to the Three Brothers' Rock—that was how exhausted she was from using her powers. When she got there, she sat down on a large rock and watched in peace as the eclipse ended and the sun emerged, a soft hum playing in her chest. She couldn't believe all that had happened in a single night. And even though she could feel her head throbbing from exhaustion, she didn't find a trace of regret in her decision.

But just as she got up to leave, she saw movement in the water a little far from her. It looked like it was coming toward the land she was on. Hurriedly, she hid behind a rock, crouching down to make sure she wasn't seen.

A Sky boy emerged from the water, dragging a Na'vi with five fingers. He threw him onto the land and took off an orange bag from around his shoulders while the Na'vi coughed up water, trying to breathe evenly.

A flying creature from above landed, and the Na'vi linked with it, readying himself to mount it. He held out his hand toward the boy.

"Come with me, son," he pleaded.

The boy just hissed at him strangely and jumped back into the water. The Na'vi muttered angrily and tiredly to himself,

"Damn Sullys."

Then he mounted the creature and flew away in the opposite direction from the girl.

She stared into the distance at the flying Na'vi, the undeniable feeling that she had just seen something she shouldn't have overwhelming her. But, as always, she turned around and started walking away—though one thing stuck with her:

"Damn Sullys."

Chapter Text

As Neteyam lay there waiting, his family slowly got closer to him, barely contained sobs leaving his mother’s mouth. Neteyam just wanted to jump up right then and there and hug his mother and console her—even though he so desperately wanted someone to console him too, to tell him that it would all be alright.

But instead, he just lay there, desperately trying to get his breathing and heartbeat under control, using every ounce of knowledge he had gathered since he came to this land.

But as his family got closer to him, he could feel his control slipping. He felt extremely guilty about doing this to them; he so desperately wished to tell them everything and cry into their arms, but he pushed down those thoughts and tried to stay focused.

Jake was now close enough to see his son’s face, supporting his mate’s weight by his side, his arms around her, trying to console her as best he could. But the closer he came, the more tears threatened to spill from him.

He stood next to his son’s body, his gaze solely fixated on his face. Kiri, Tuk, and Lo’ak slowly came to Neteyam’s other side as well. Lo’ak was looking away from his brother, unable to contain the guilt he was feeling. Jake’s gaze left his son’s face and traveled down his body, but it didn’t get far as he stopped to look at his fatal wound.

But what he found there wasn’t at all what he expected.

The gaping wound they had left him with was now mysteriously closed. Letting go of his mate, he knelt in front of his eldest son. And as he looked at it, he saw how perfectly it had closed, as if it were a week old—but that wasn’t what he was paying attention to.

No.

He had his gaze completely fixed on the soft but sure rise and fall of his son’s chest.

He couldn’t believe it.

He blinked again, and it was still there. He blinked multiple times, but it was still going.

Neytiri walked around and knelt by Neteyam’s side, next to her mate. She reached out her hand to bring her presumably fallen son into her arms—but Jake stopped her.

She turned her head toward her mate, looking at him with a gaze that told him nothing made sense to her anymore. He gave his mate a pitying look and turned toward his kids.

Tuk stood with Lo’ak, crying in his arms as he cradled her. Kiri was on the opposite side, but she had her head covered in her arms, hiding it behind her knees as she crouched down.

Jake could no longer contain himself. He bent down, hovering his ears above Neteyam’s chest, listening—

And gasped as his ear lay on his son’s chest, hearing his soft but steady heartbeat.

His gasp had attracted his family’s attention, and they looked at him sadly as he checked Neteyam’s chest, understanding that he couldn’t accept that his son was no longer in the land of the living. But Jake couldn’t remove his head from his chest, as if afraid that it would disappear if he stopped for even a second.

As moments passed, his mate looked at him, confused but pitying.

“Ma Jake, you can stop checking now. Please,” she said pleadingly.

Jake didn’t move an inch.

Kiri was looking at her father with such grief in her eyes—but then she heard it.

Neteyam’s soft breathing.

It was so subtle that she almost thought it was just in her head, but she heard it again, her ears perking up—and this time, she burst into tears. She was so confused. She didn’t know if she had just gone crazy from the shock or if this was actually happening.

She went completely stiff, straining her ears for the sound—and there it was again.

She wasn’t mistaken.

She could actually hear his breath.

She turned to kneel at Neteyam’s side and cried, “Dad—Dad, can you hear it? Please tell me you can hear it.”

Neytiri was in complete shock now as she looked at the two. In her state right now, she didn’t have the energy to put two and two together from what they were saying, and so she just looked at them sadly, thinking that they couldn’t come to accept it.

Hell, even she couldn’t accept it yet.

Jake still had his ears on Neteyam’s chest—too scared to get up so it wouldn’t disappear, but also too scared to think that this might just be his grief showing him what he wanted to see. And honestly, he didn’t want to check for his son’s pulse, too terrified that it would break the illusion.

“Dad, please—JUST SAY SOMETHING,” Kiri pleaded.

That seemed to snap Jake out of his trance of fear.

At this point, everyone was looking at the two with confusion in their eyes. Lo’ak and Tuk were now standing next to Kiri, looking down at their father and sister with the same bewilderment. Neytiri had checked out of the whole situation but still gave her mate a questioning look.

Jake finally talked himself into getting up. Reaching out his hand to check Neteyam’s pulse, he felt like it took forever for his fingers to finally connect to Neteyam’s neck—

And the first thing he said was:

“It’s warm. It’s… warm.”

Almost a whisper.

This snapped his family’s attention to him. His mate reached out her hands to hold his shoulders.

“Ma Jake, what are you saying? What do you mean by that?” she asked, finally catching on—and then she reached out to hold her son’s hand.

It was cold.

Her grief almost consumed her again—but as she kept holding on, she realized that it wasn’t as cold as it should be.

Her head snapped back to her mate, who still had his hands on their son’s neck.

“Jake, say something. What do you feel? Is it there?” Neytiri cried out, hope returning to her eyes.

The whole world seemed to stop in that moment as they all waited for Jake.

“Yes,” he breathed out, as if a mountain had been lifted from his chest. “Yes. His pulse is there. I can feel it.”

More to himself than anyone else.

The family was silent for only a moment—before the tears of relief broke through.

“How? My son—my son is still—Oh, Great Mother. Thank you. Thank you for hearing me,” Neytiri cried out, holding her son’s hand to her chest as she wept. Tears flooded Jake’s face, his hands still on his son’s neck.

“I can’t believe it,” he said with a choked voice.

Lo’ak hugged a sobbing Tuk closer to him as he let out cries of his own.

Kiri let her tears roll down her face, muffling the violent sobs that threatened to escape her. She reached her arms out, trailing her fingers toward the wound on Neteyam’s chest—and as her fingers got closer, she could feel a familiar energy emanating from it, mixed with one she didn’t recognize.

She could feel Eywa’s energy surrounding Neteyam. She trailed her fingers further, closing her palm against Neteyam’s wound—but before she could sense the other energy more, Neteyam flinched, no doubt from the pressure on his sensitive injury.

She stopped and looked at Neteyam’s face.

Neteyam decided he could no longer just lie there and pretend he couldn’t hear his family’s sobs. Slowly, his eyes opened, adjusting to the brightness—then shifted his gaze toward his father, taking in his tear-streaked face and disbelieving eyes.

Guilt swelled in his heart.

Then he looked at his mother—and his heart melted.

His mother's eyes shone with utter happiness, as if none of this was confusing. All Neytiri could think about was how glad and relieved she was to see her son open his eyes again—after believing for hours that she would never see that again.

Neteyam couldn't help the way his eyes filled with tears at seeing her. He had been so worried they might be hurt in battle, and now his tears fell freely, as if that was the only thing he knew how to do.

His brother and sisters were now all kneeling next to him, surprised but happy looks in their eyes. The family sat there crying happy tears, relishing the moment. Right now, nobody dared to ask the question hanging in the air:

How did this happen?

A long while passed as the family sat in a circle, Neteyam resting his head on his mother's thighs as he looked up at her happy smile. It almost made him forget her violent cries from moments ago.

Almost.

He shoved down the guilt he felt for extending their suffering—even by a few minutes—and looked into his father's eyes. Jake had a soft smile playing on his lips, but Neteyam could see the confusion beneath it. Neteyam thought it would be better to let them ask in their own time; it wasn't like he was going to tell them the truth anyway.

Tuk was the first to speak as she played with his hair. "But how did this happen, 'Teyam? Dad said you were no longer with us when we asked," she said innocently.

It was true. After the battle had settled, Jake had pulled his daughters close and told them Neteyam had gone to Eywa. He was thankful they hadn't been there to see the light leave Neteyam's eyes, his body going limp in his hands. The sounds his daughters made already haunted him—but mostly, the memory of Neteyam's death would haunt him for years to come.

Jake looked at Neteyam now, waiting patiently for the boy to answer his sister.

Neteyam was freaking out. He could barely keep his hands from shaking, his heart pounding so hard and fast against his ribs that it hurt. Slowly—giving himself as much time to calm down as possible, though it didn't help—he looked at Tuk.

"I don't know what happened. The last thing I remember is looking up at Dad," he said, shifting his gaze from Tuk to his father. He nearly sobbed at the sadness and shame he saw in his father's eyes. "And then everything just went dark."

He breathed out heavily. It was partly the truth—the first part, at least. He had no idea what that girl had done, but guilt sat heavy in his chest. Neteyam hated lying to his father. Sure, he did it every time he took the blame for his brother, but this felt different.

This was different. And it sure as hell wasn't harmless like the other times.

It weighed too heavily on his tongue. His father watched him intensely but was snapped out of it when his mate spoke.

"It's okay, Neteyam. It's okay. You don't have to do anything right now, my son," Neytiri said as she hugged him closer. "Everything will be alright."

And that was all Neteyam wanted—no, what he needed to hear.

He broke down completely in his mother's arms. The poor boy had been through so much in just one night—the confusion, accepting his death, the guilt of lying. He let it all out as he sobbed against her. The others could hardly believe what they were seeing. Neteyam was always strong, never showing his emotions to his siblings, always doing what needed to be done without complaint.

This was an extremely rare moment for him.

His mother wasn't surprised, though. She always seemed to understand him in ways the rest of them never could.

She pulled his head closer, supporting his neck and wrapping her arms around his back. Neteyam did the same, lifting himself slightly—careful not to touch his wound—and wrapping his uninjured arm around his mother's neck as he cried.

The two stayed like that for a while longer, the others giving them the time they needed before Jake finally stood and said, "Okay then, it's time to go back to the village now. We've been here too long. The others will worry."

After the battle, Jake had told Tonowari what had happened and said they would return with Neteyam's body. He could only guess what would happen when they had to explain this.

Neytiri slowly let go of her son, settling him back on her lap as she looked at him with such love in her eyes. In this moment, Neteyam was glad he was back—he couldn't even imagine what his death would have done to his mother.

Everyone got ready to leave, mounting their ilus. Neteyam was too weak to ride on his own—not that anyone would have let him—so he was told to ride with Kiri while Lo'ak stayed by their side to make sure Neteyam didn't fall into the water if he lost consciousness.

Neytiri had been reluctant, suggesting he fly with her instead to keep his wound dry, but quickly dismissed the idea—if he passed out, he might fall to his death. Instead, she took Tuk with her, thinking her youngest daughter needed a break after everything she'd been through.

Jake told Kiri for what felt like the hundredth time to "go slowly" and "remember not to go underwater," as if she hadn't understood the first dozen times.

He would have preferred to let his son ride with him, but for some reason, his ilu wasn't answering his call. So he decided to ride ahead on his tsurak to explain things to Tonowari first. Before leaving, he hugged Neteyam tightly—almost too tightly—and checked his pulse again for reassurance.

Slowly, Neteyam got onto the ilu with his sister, his brother riding close behind them. He leaned his chest against Kiri's, far too weak to sit up straight.

"Sorry," he mumbled to her.

Kiri turned to look at him, her eyes scanning over him before saying, "It's okay. I'll only let you do this just this once, though," trying to lighten the mood.

Then she whispered, so softly only Neteyam could hear:

"I know there's something important about this that you're not telling us, Neteyam."

Chapter Text

Neteyam went stiff behind his sister.

His thoughts started racing. "How did she notice? How? Was Dad just acting as if he believed me then? Oh fuck, I'm so dead if he finds out I was lying." That was all that was going through his head. His ears started ringing from all the blood rushing to his head.

He looked back toward his younger brother, who was avoiding him, and saw he was a bit farther behind them. Concluding that he couldn't hear them, Neteyam slowly raised his head, forcing his eyes to look into his sister's. He expected to find accusations and disappointment, but what he saw instead was just curiosity, plain and simple.

Sure, Kiri was worried about what kind of trouble the things he was hiding could bring, but she was sure that whatever it was, it would be worth it if they could have Neteyam back.

She looked into his eyes, her humorous nature peeking out. "Don't look so frightened now. I'm not gonna eat you," she said with a chuckle. That seemed to calm Neteyam down a bit.

"Aren't you going to ask what it is?" he said as he gazed at his sister.

"Well, I'm sure you would have told Mom and Dad about it if me just asking you could have gotten me answers, but I don't think that's gonna happen. So I'm not gonna press you on it. I just wanted to say that you can come to me if you need any help or even just to talk about what happened," she said in a small voice. She thought that if her brother knew that she already suspected something, then he would have an easier time going to her for help.

And she was right.

Neteyam was a little surprised by the care he felt in her words. He may have expected such a show of affection from Lo'ak, the careless sibling, but not from Kiri. It just made him all the more happier to hear it from her.

"Thank you," Neteyam said, wrapping his arms around his sister's waist and pushing his face onto her back. Kiri chuckled a bit at how he was acting, but all she wanted to do was hug him back too.

"How did you know, though?" Neteyam said, still holding on to her.

Kiri smiled playfully as she turned her head to look at where she was leading the ilu. "Well, that's going to be my secret alone until you decide to come clean to me," she said. Neteyam could hear her smile in her voice without having to look at her.

"Well, that's fair, I guess," he conceded, though frustration prickled beneath his skin. He wanted to know anything he could about what that girl had done.

Laughing at Neteyam, Kiri thought, "Have a taste of your own medicine."

"Hey, little bro, why don't you come up here next to us?" Neteyam said playfully.

Lo'ak looked a bit startled as he pulled himself out of his thoughts. "Uh, no thanks, bro. I think I'm fine here," he said, stuttering a bit. His hesitation didn’t escape Neteyam—how could it? The two had always been close, even if Lo'ak usually dragged his brother into trouble against their father’s orders, leaving Neteyam to take the blame, and Neteyam always followed despite better judgment, then shielding him from the consequences. Still, their bond meant everything to both of them.

"Come on, little bro. Don't tell me you didn't miss me?" Neteyam said playfully, trying to bring his brother's eyes to his.

And it worked. Lo'ak's head shot up, looking into Neteyam's eyes, and what he found there was not blame, not hate, not even anger—just his brother trying to reach out to him.

Lo'ak rode his ilu faster, catching up to them and steadying his ilu next to his older brother, just like he was asked. He hesitantly looked into Neteyam's eyes, feeling himself smile as he saw his brother's smile.

But then Lo'ak felt that even if his brother was acting like nothing happened, he still owed him an apology.

Pulling a sharp breath in, Lo'ak tried to calm his hammering heart. Looking straight at his brother, he just let the word vomit start.

"I'm sorry, Neteyam. I know I was wrong to drag you into that ship against our father's orders. You didn't even want to go—I knew you didn't—but all I wanted to do was save Spider. I know I shouldn't have made you come. I was too in my own head to understand the situation we were in, and my decision ended up—"

Lo'ak was cut off by his brother's hand on his shoulders. As he looked into his eyes, Neteyam tightened his grip on his brother's shoulder. Neteyam's eyes looked incredibly sad. He felt horrible for his brother—he couldn't even imagine carrying that kind of guilt. He knew that saying this wasn't going to help his brother much, but he didn't want what happened to change Lo'ak too much. And so, even if he knew it wasn't going to help much, he was damned if he wasn't going to try. So, in an assuring voice, he told Lo'ak:

"It wasn't your fault, Lo'ak. None of this was your fault."

His brother emphasized the last part because he knew that even though Lo'ak didn't say it, Lo'ak thought that he was responsible for making them leave their home. Back when the war started, he wished that as soon as he found those footprints, he had taken his sisters and run far away from it. But instead, he followed them and almost endangered the whole family's life.

Lo'ak wanted to cry in that moment. He knew that his brother was going to try to get the guilt off him, but actually hearing his brother tell him that with such honesty in his voice made all the difference to Lo'ak.

Lo'ak reached out his hand and also put it on Neteyam's shoulder. He so desperately just wanted to bring his older brother into his arms and hug him like he was trying to squeeze his brother's newly found life out of him. But he couldn't do that right now, thanks to being in this stupid ocean, so he settled for his hand around Neteyam's shoulder.

And for a while, they just stayed like that—in their own perfect bubble.

"That was one hell of a way to tell me I'm invisible," Kiri joked, bringing them out of their thoughts.

"Oh, come on, sis. You know we love you," Lo'ak joked back.

And just like that, they were back to how they always were. Neteyam was scared at the thought that all that had happened may have stolen the relationship he had with his family, but he was so grateful to see that what he would give anything to protect was still here.

The three siblings' bickering continued all the way till the shore was in sight.

"Well, this is gonna be one fucking funny moment," Kiri said, anticipating all the questioning and scrutiny her brother was going to face.

"Yeah, what's worse is that we don't even have an explanation to give," Neteyam said.

"Well, here goes nothing," said Lo'ak, who was probably the only one who wanted to see how this was going to go.

And with that, they reached the shore. Lo'ak and Kiri got off first and helped Neteyam off. Thankfully, the water only reached up to his waist, so he leaned on Lo'ak as they walked out of the water and made their way toward the village.

Jake came running, with Spider trailing behind him. He had met a confused-looking Spider, who’d been searching for them on his way back to the village—and now, pulling Neteyam from Lo'ak’s hold, he supported his son as they walked. Neytiri and Tuk joined them, and for the first time in what felt like forever, the family moved together as one.

As they entered the village, the commotion was already rising.

"This is gonna be one long explanation. Well, not that long, since we have no idea happened—but still," Jake sighed, exhaustion weighing his voice.

Walking through the crowd that parted for them—a sight eerily reminiscent of their first arrival—they felt every pair of eyes locked onto them, specifically Neteyam. The whispers and stares were relentless, pressing in like the tide.

Finally, they reached the chief’s marui, where Ronal and Tonowari stood waiting, followed by Aonung and Tsireya. The family of four approached with questioning looks, their expressions a mix of disbelief and cautious hope.

As they drew closer, Neteyam and Aonung’s eyes met. Aonung was relieved to see Neteyam well, even spotting a flicker of happiness in his gaze—something that had been absent for too long. But their attention snapped back to Tonowari as he spoke, his voice steady but layered with unasked questions.

“Welcome back, Jake. I see you’ve brought your family with you,” Tonowari said, stepping closer and scanning the crowd. His gaze lingered on Neteyam, taking in the impossible reality before him. “Why don’t you all come inside? I reckon we have much to discuss.”

Jake nodded, hoisting Neteyam more securely against his side as they moved past Tonowari into the marui. Ronal and Tonowari followed after dismissing the crowd, assuring them they’d be informed if the matter required their attention. Inside, Jake carefully helped Neteyam sit on the woven floor mats, with Neytiri and Kiri immediately settling beside him. Neytiri clutched her son’s hand, her grip tight enough to bruise—as if he might dissolve into smoke if she loosened her hold for even a second.

Ronal wasted no time. She crouched before Neteyam, her sharp eyes zeroing in on the closed wound on his chest. Her fingers hovered over the scarred tissue, her breath catching. It made no sense—not only was the wound sealed far sooner than nature (or even Eywa’s grace) should allow, but the bullet-torn lung beneath had somehow knitted itself back together perfectly.

She glanced sharply at Tonowari, her lips pressed into a thin line. Without a word, he nodded, understanding the gravity in her gaze. Then, closing her eyes, Ronal pressed her palms flat against Neteyam’s chest, reaching for the energy that thrummed beneath his skin. Eywa’s presence was there, warm and familiar—but beneath it pulsed something else, foreign and shimmering like bioluminescence in deep water. Every time she tried to trace it and see what it accomplished in his body, it slipped away, as if guarded by an invisible hand.

After several fruitless attempts, Ronal exhaled sharply and stood, retreating to Tonowari’s side.

Tonowari studied her face, waiting for an explanation. When she offered none, he turned back to Jake, his voice measured but firm.

“Now would be as good a time as any for you to tell us what happened. You said your son fell in battle, so I don’t even know what to think right now.” His tone held no accusation, only a leader’s need for truth.

Jake dragged a hand down his face. “You’re probably not going to like this,” he began, “but we don’t know what happened either.” He exhaled heavily, the weight of the admission bowing his shoulders.

Ronal frowned. “So what? You expect us to believe your son magically recovered from a fatal wound—one that killed him?” Her voice was razor-sharp, but beneath the skepticism flickered something like awe.

“I hate to say it, but yes. That’s all we understand.” Jake’s voice was gravelly with exhaustion. “The son who died in my arms, the son I left with a gaping wound in his chest… was breathing when I went back to get him.” His throat worked around the words, as if they were shards of glass.

A beat of silence. Then Ronal rested her hand on her stomach as she spoke. “It isn’t unheard of for tsahiks with strong connections to Eywa to heal fatal wounds,” she conceded, drawing hopeful glances from the Sullys. “But no tsahik has ever brought back the dead.” Her piercing gaze locked onto Neteyam, stripping him bare. “So tell us, boy. How did this happen?”

Neteyam shifted, his fingers twitching against the mat. The weight of the question—of everyone’s stares—made his skin prickle. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Jake stepped between them, a shield in every sense. “Look, I get your confusion. We’re all lost here. Neteyam doesn’t remember anything either.” He recounted the events in halting detail: the gunshot, the blood, the way Neteyam’s breath had stuttered to a stop in Neytiri’s arms. And then—the impossible. The gasp of air hours later, the wound already sealing itself shut.

Guilt coiled in Neteyam’s gut. Even if he mentioned the girl, what would it change? She’d left him with no answers, only a heartbeat where there shouldn’t be one.

The back-and-forth stretched, Tonowari and Ronal pressing for details that the Sullys couldn’t give. Finally, with a reluctant sigh, Tonowari allowed them to return home—but not before fixing Neteyam with a look that brooked no argument. “If you remember anything, anything at all, you come to me.”

Nodding weakly, Neteyam let Lo'ak and Kiri help him to his feet. The walk back to their marui was a blur of whispers and sidelong glances.

Inside, the family moved like ghosts, arranging their sleeping mats in a tight cluster at the center of the room. Neytiri pulled Neteyam down first, her arms locking around him the moment he was within reach. Jake settled beside her, one hand resting on Neteyam’s shoulder, as if to anchor him. Tuk curled against Neteyam’s other side, her small fingers clutching his hands, while Lo'ak and Kiri completed the circle, their bodies forming a barrier between him and the world.

Within moments, the exhaustion won. They slept like the dead—or in Neteyam’s case, like someone who’d cheated death entirely.

They thought, at last, they could rest. That tomorrow might bring something resembling normalcy.

Little did they know, fate had other plans.

Chapter Text

Two weeks.

That was how long their newfound peace lasted

TWO FUKING WEEKS

Neteyam wasn't even allowed to leave the marui during the first week—not when his siblings wanted to walk with him, and not even when Ronal had given birth and the rest of his family had gone to see her daughter, Roa. His mother was glued to his side, still in disbelief but glad that her son was really back. 

Neteyam was too spent to walk around anyway. The girl may have repaired his lungs, but the wound was still not fully closed, not to mention that he couldn't go near the water. So he spent the last week resting and assuring his parents that he was fine.

When the second week came around, things had mostly gone back to normal, and he was finally allowed to leave. As soon as the words left his dad's lips, he turned around and bolted out without a look back. The sight made his parents break out in laughter, reminiscing about their children's behaviors. 

Neteyam walked along the shore, breathing in deeply as if he'd been stuck in a hole for the past week.

He walked alone, thinking about all the events that had transpired since that day. To say he was conflicted was the understatement of the year. He was happy that everything was finally going back to normal, but he also felt like he was just sitting on his hands and waiting for something to happen.

He wanted to confide in Aonung so desperately since he'd come back, but he never found the moment—since he'd been quite literally a prisoner in his own home. But today, he would finally be able to talk to him.

Without realizing it, he had walked all the way to their usual training place, where he could see all his siblings with Aonung, Rotxo, and Tsireya playing in the water. He wasted no time walking in their direction, feeling the water against his skin.

He was surprised at how he'd come to regard the water as his home now. Although it could never replace the forest, he found comfort in this sense of belonging he felt here. He never thought it would be possible when he first arrived.

Aonung was the first to notice him, waving at Neteyam as he approached.

"Hey guys, I was finally able to leave the marui," Neteyam said with exasperation.

"Come on, bro. If it wasn't for you almost threatening our father, you know he wouldn't have let you out today," Lo'ak told his brother teasingly.

"Don't even get me started with that," Neteyam said jokingly, smiling at his brother as he got closer. "So what are you guys doing today?" he asked cheerily.

"We're practicing our breathing today. Don't tell me you're thinking of joining us," Kiri said.

"Nah, I can't strain my lungs yet. I'll just be swimming around here. I'm not cleared for training yet," Neteyam said. It was true—he had recovered enough to have his shoulder movement back, but depriving his body of air for extended periods wasn't a good idea now.

"I'll keep an eye on him in case he loses consciousness or anything," Aonung said, surprising everyone but Neteyam. Neteyam knew that Aonung was trying to get him alone to talk about that night.

"Yeah, right. So what? Now you plan to drown my big brother? Seriously, that's low—even for you, Aonung," Lo'ak retorted. Even though they were good friends now, no one here had forgotten Aonung's reckless behavior that had almost gotten Lo'ak killed. Not even Aonung had forgiven himself for that yet.

As Aonung was about to back down, Neteyam said, "No, it's fine. I'm sure we're all past that point, and I'm not stupid enough to follow him out of the reef or anything like that." Neteyam looked at Lo'ak with a joking smile on his face.

And with that, Aonung and Neteyam dove under the water, swimming together as they went to a more secluded space. Neteyam was the first to break the surface for air, looking back to see that they were far enough from their friends. He looked back at the water where Aonung should have surfaced by now.

As he waited, Neteyam felt something wrap around his ankles and begin to pull him down. It was slow enough that Neteyam was able to drag in the breath he would need before going under the surface. He felt panic rise in his chest before he looked down and saw Aonung smirking at him as he pulled him down farther and farther until they reached the ocean floor. They hadn't swum too far away, so they weren't that deep yet—Neteyam could reach the surface fast without much struggle. As they reached the floor, Aonung let Neteyam go, the grin not leaving his face.

"What was that about? You scared me," Neteyam signed, feeling a smile creep onto his face.

"No, you got scared on your own. I even gave you time to catch a breath," Aonung signed back, smirking as Neteyam rolled his eyes at him.

"Don't we need to talk?" Neteyam signed.

"Let's have some fun before that. Didn't you miss the water?" Aonung signed back. Neteyam just nodded with a smile. Sure, Neteyam had grown up in the forest—he even loved it there—but the ocean had a kind of beauty he couldn't deny. It was calming and relaxing in a way the forest wasn't.

And so he let go of all his worries for the moment and swam around with Aonung, admiring the beauty of the ocean. He never expected to have such a calming moment with Aonung; all their other interactions had just made Neteyam want to throw him into the ocean. It was a nice change of pace, and he couldn't deny that he didn't mind the boy's presence as they swam around, admiring the sea life and bickering over which shell was prettier. Finally, they both decided they'd had enough fun and swam back up to the surface and to the shore.

They sat on the sand facing each other, and for a moment just stared before looking away hurriedly at the same time.

"So, uh, how is your wound doing?" Aonung asked, stammering, forcing himself to look at Neteyam.

"Well, the lungs were repaired well, so there's no problem there. As for the outer wound, since I quite literally only ate and slept for eight days, it's almost fully healed. The tsahik even said the scar might go away," Neteyam answered. It wasn't his intention to give details the other hadn't asked for—he just wanted the awkwardness to go away—but he'd only made it worse.

"Well, that's good," Aonung said. "At least that girl wasn't lying when she said you had nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, but I can't help rethinking that encounter with her," Neteyam said, looking at the sand with a serious expression.

"You're right about that. Everything about her was fucking weird—that's the only way I can describe it. The way she was dressed, the way she talked, those dead eyes of hers... but more than anything else, it was those weird five fingers of hers," Aonung said.

Neteyam raised his head, glaring at Aonung furiously, which made the Metkayina go completely stiff. "What do you mean, 'weird five fingers'? Do you think she's a freak just because of that? If you hadn't noticed, my brother also has five fingers. Do you think he's also—"

"No, I didn't mean it like that!" Aonung cut him off. "Look, your brother being five-fingered doesn't make him a freak or anything like that. I'm sorry if it came out that way." Sincerity was clear in his voice.

It seemed to calm Neteyam down. And it was true—Aonung had picked on them at first, but not because they looked different.

He'd been scared of what they might bring with them, scared for his tranquil life to be thrown off balance. His father had always told him that peace was a fleeting thing, and that was why Aonung had been against them at first. But now, he'd gotten to know them and learned to see past the "what ifs" clouding his vision. And he had to admit—he was glad he'd taken that step. Now, he preferred hanging out with them over his old group of "friends."

"I just mean that while your siblings' situation can be explained because of your father's side, hers just adds more questions to the bundle of riddles. There's also the fact that she was clearly not Metkayina, which again raises another question: how did she get here?" Aonung said with a sigh.

"You're right. If she had an ikran, she would have called for it to escape or go back instead of just swimming," Neteyam said.

"She didn't even call for an ilu, which makes me think she doesn't know how to. So she clearly hasn't been around for long," Aonung added.

"We could go on forever listing the things we don't know. So let's leave that behind for now unless there's anything notable I should know," Neteyam said, irritated by their lack of answers.

"Well, there's one thing you probably didn't know, since you were sleeping by then," Aonung started.

"Okay then, let's hear it," Neteyam said, his ears perking up.

"When I looked into her eyes after I got there, I swear I remember her eyes were bright golden. But then—I don't know what happened—they changed to brown so fast I was questioning my own vision," Aonung said, still in disbelief.

Neteyam burst out laughing, so hard his stomach started to hurt. Aonung just stared at him, his ears pulling back in embarrassment.

"I swear, I'm not joking. Her eyes really did change color," Aonung said, trying to redeem himself.

Neteyam was still laughing as he looked into Aonung's eyes, but as he stared longer, his laughter began to die down. Wiping away tears, he said, "Wait... you're actually not joking right now?"

"Do you really think I'd joke about something like this?" Aonung said, desperate for the other boy to believe him.

Yes, Neteyam did think Aonung would pull something like this, no matter how dire the circumstances. But if he hadn't noticed the stiffness in Aonung's demeanor and the tension in his shoulders, he would have said so outright. And what Aonung was saying didn't seem outside the realm of possibility—not when the girl had literally brought him back to life.

With that realization, he stopped laughing and sat up straight again.

"Well, what you're saying wouldn't even be the weirdest thing that girl has done, I guess," Neteyam said, now feeling bad for laughing.

"THANK YOU. Now, was it so hard to believe me?" Aonung retorted. 'Yes,' Neteyam thought but decided not to say.

"Well, there's nothing we can do to get answers anyway," Neteyam said, bringing his knees up to his chest and hugging them. "But it was nice to finally voice all the things troubling me. So thanks for that." He flashed Aonung a smile that almost made the boy's heart stop—though Aonung would sooner die than admit that to anyone.

"Yeah, me too," he started. "I mean, that's pretty obvious since I complained more than you did, but anyway..." He said, laughing at his own words, grinning even wider when it drew a laugh from Neteyam.

Then the two boys just sat in comfortable silence, enjoying each other's presence.
They never thought the day would come when they would ever seek each other out, much less enjoy each other's company—but here they were, sitting next to each other as they gazed out at the ocean. They both wished this moment would never end.

.

.

And just like that, another week passed by in a blur. Neteyam and Aonung had talked to each other alone more times in the past week than all other times combined. They found comfort in each other because those were the only moments they could speak openly about the events weighing heavily on them. But it wasn’t just about that anymore.

After all, there was only so much they could discuss when neither had answers about what had happened. Yet they still continued to seek each other out.

At first, they would sit in silence, gazing at the ocean or the stars if they met at night. But slowly, throughout the week, they began talking more—about their days, their siblings, even the responsibilities and expectations they carried as the eldest sons of two great leaders.

Yesterday, they had gone swimming together, just the two of them, laughing and exploring as they maneuvered through the sea. Aonung had proudly shown Neteyam all the things he’d described during one of their their talks.

It undeniably strengthened their friendship, but there was also something more between them now. They could both feel it—whether in the way they looked at each other or how they addressed eachothers—but neither had the courage to dwell on it.

Neteyam lay on his sleeping mat, clutching the shell Aonung had given him after their playful argument yesterday. They’d bickered over whose found shell was prettier, and Aonung had taken Neteyam’s turquoise one, replacing it with his own pale blue shell streaked with dark purple. He’d muttered something about it being softer than Neteyam’s. 

Neteyam had noticed how Aonung hadn’t thrown his shell away but instead kept it as they swam all the way back and was still holding onto it as they parted ways.

The memory sent a fluttering sensation through Neteyam’s stomach. He clutched the shell tighter, pulling it to his chest as he drifted off to sleep, wishing this moments could last forever.

But of course—when had luck ever been kind to him?

His wishes were shattered as he woke up to the bells of the village ringing loudly in the morning, calling for everyone’s attention.

Chapter Text

Jake was the first to wake up after Neteyam, and then his mother followed by his siblings as they walked out of their marui and followed the crowd to what looked like the shore. 

Neteyam was still rubbing his eyes as he walked along, questioning what the bells were about. They weren't a war call as the whole village wasn't in panic mode, but his questions were answered soon enough as they neared the circling crowd.

He peeked out of the murmuring crowd and towards the center, and there he saw it. A girl was ashore the beach, laying on the sand unconscious, her face down on the sand as she layed flat on her stomach,  her left hand resting next to her head. But what really got him out of his sleep haze was the realization that this girl was the same one that he met that night.

Now fully awake, he was about to march up to the front to get a better look but he was pulled back by his arm.

He turned around to find his father holding on to him, shaking his head no. Neteyam obliged and stayed where he was but he shifted around into a position that allowed him to look at the center fully.

The crowd parted as the chief and his family arrived, making their way to the open center. Neteyam looked at Aonung as Aonung analyzed the girl laying in the sand. He could see Aonung's eyes widen as realization set in. Aonung's head whipped around scanning the crowd, he gave Neteyam a knowing and panicked look as their eyes met.

Tonowari and Ronal got closer to the unmoving girl, standing by her side. Ronal whispered to Tonowari, "Her fingers, look at it." 

Tonowari crouched next to the girl and as he looked at her, he noticed how she was dressed in leaves rather than loincloth, but more than that, more than half of her body was covered in leaves that were made into cloth, which was odd because most Na'vi only cover what was essential, mostly because of environmental factors, but this girl was covering all that she can.

His eyes trailed to the hand that was by her head, and as soon as he noticed her five fingers he stood up and scanned the crowd looking for Jake.

As his eyes found him he called for him to come. Letting go of his son, Jake made his way through the crowd and to Tonowari, standing next to Ronal. Jake's eyes were directed to the girl's hands and then back at Tonowari, as he groaned in anticipation of the questions he was going to face.

"We would like to hear your thoughts about this situation, Jake," Tonowari said, staring at him intently. "I'm sorry but I don't have much to say about any of this, but it doesn't look like she's dead to me, so why not ask her when she wakes up?" Jake suggested hesitantly.

"No, we don't know what this girl might do once she wakes up, or even what she is," Ronal started. "We should give her back to the ocean," she concluded. Her statement made the two men freeze completely.

"Ronal, how could you—" Tonowari started but was cut off by his mate's eyes staring at him intently. "Too many unnatural things have been happening, Tonowari. We can't risk having something like this on our hands right now," Ronal said, her voice breaking and her eyes carrying such sadness in them. It was clear that Ronal didn't even want to suggest such a thing, but she is still a leader before anything else.

"No!" Tonowari deadpanned. "We can't do such unforgivable tasks, no matter how dire the situation is," his voice grew smaller by the second. "I mean look at her, she looks like she's about to reach our sons' age. How could we just..." he said as his voice almost disappeared entirely.

"Look, Tonowari, I understand that it may be hard to believe, but this is necessary. Do you know how many died in the battle against the sky people? Did you forget the tulkun that were slaughtered? My spirit sister was also..." Her hands were shaking, and her voice choked up in the memory.

Even she couldn't believe that she was suggesting something like this, but if it meant protecting what was left of everything, then she was willing to be the devil they needed. "We can't afford to take chances right now," Ronal said as she steeled herself.

"I hear you, I really do, but are we not taking things too far? I think we should all calm down and not rush things right now," Jake interjected, looking at Ronal with disbelief in his eyes.

"Was it not enough for you to bring your war to us?" Ronal said angrily, her patience wearing thin. "Now you want to doom us all by inviting who knows what into our clan?" she huffed out. Jake just hung his head in shame, unable to deny anything she was saying.

He obviously wasn't on board with giving this unsuspecting girl back to the ocean, but he didn't have a say in the matter. He had already brought enough trouble to these people who had been nothing but kind to them.

Tonowari also hung his head, not agreeing with his mate but also not disagreeing with her. He knew that Ronal was only doing what she thought was best for her people. He understood her, he really did, but every fiber of his being revolted at the thought of doing such heinous acts.

"No Ronal, we can't do this, seriously," he said to his mate. She turned around swiftly facing him, her eyes filled with nothing but softness as she looked at him. Her hands stretched out as she touched her mate's face, stroking it lightly.

"You have a big heart, and you know that's one of the things that make you a great leader," she said to him. But then she dropped her hand as she faced the girl again. "I know you won't be able to do this so let me do it for you," she said, her voice completely devoid of emotions.

At this point almost everybody had gone back to the village. While their parents were assessing the girl, Aonung and Tsireya were calming down their people and coaxing them to go back. At the moment the only Na'vi that were present were the Sullys with spider, Aonung, Tsireya, and a handful of Metkayina warriors.

"You two there," Ronal called, getting the warriors' attention. "Come and take the girl. We are giving her back to the ocean."

The statement shocked all those that remained there. Aonung was the first to speak, speed-walking to his mother followed by Neteyam who left his family as he walked to his father.

"You can't be serious!" Aonung said, attracting his mother's attention.

"We are Na'vi, we help those in need, always," Neteyam filled in for him. Neteyam and Aonung's eyes met, exchanging a look as they understood each other.

"What is wrong with the two of you today?" Jake said as he looked at his son in disbelief. Neteyam was never one to disobey authorities, which confused Jake all the more.

"I mean look at her, she's defenseless right now, and what? You just wanna get rid of her just like that?" Aonung asked in horror.

"Shut up, boy. Don't make this any harder on us than it has to be," Ronal hissed at her son. "Unless there's a reason that you're protecting her like this, in which case I would be all but happy to hear it," she finished.

Aonung just hung his head. "I mean, everything about this is just wrong," he muttered. Ronal ignored him as she turned her head back to the warriors approaching. A grimace decorating her face as they got closer.

But the warriors didn't get too close. All of a sudden they could feel the wind picking up speed and then striking down as if it was lightning, pushing everyone farther away from the girl, as if it was protecting her. Tonowari pulled his mate to him as the wind pushed them back and Jake was sent flying down to the floor with a startled sound leaving his mouth.

Aonung could feel chills going down his spine as he witnessed what was happening in front of him.

It eerily reminded him of that night where he was fighting against the waves to get to Neteyam. In this moment he confirmed what he had suspected all along - that night when he was racing to Neteyam, he felt like nature was fighting against him, and just now he confirmed it. And here again nature was twisting its laws to protect her yet again, as if she was Eywa's beloved child.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as the wind finally calmed down. Everyone's faces were colored in pure shock. The Metkayina warriors were still on the ground just like Jake, Tonowari was also pushed back while he held his mate close to his chest. But while all that had happened, the girl just lay there as she had before, not a single hair misplaced from her body.

Ronal detached from her mate's clutches, staring at the scene in front of her in disbelief. But more than that, it was the traces of Eywa's energy that she could feel in the air that surprised her the most. But even in her daze she understood that this girl would have to stay here from now on.

After what they had seen unfold before their very eyes there was no denying that this girl was special.

Special In every sense of the word.

.

Tonowari was the first to try and get close to her again after the wind pushed him back, and as if the wind could read his intentions, it didn't push him back again as he got closer to the girl.
Tonowari crouched down to her side, and then in one fell swoop, he collected her into his hands and stood up.

No one protested against him as he carried the girl and walked back to the chief's marui, laying her down onto a sleeping mat and checking if she was still breathing.

Thankfully, even though it was weak, the girl was still breathing steadily. No words were exchanged as Jake and Ronal followed him into the marui. Leaving the girl for his mate to care for, he went to talk to Jake.

"What are the chances that she is like those other sky people Na'vi?" Tonowari asked Jake.

"To be honest, it's hard to say for sure. But if she was one of the sky people, then she should have had some kind of gun or wire or a tracker at least, and I bet she would have been dressed better. But more than anything, she wouldn't have almost drowned like that. So I would say that the chances are low," Jake concluded his explanation.

Tonowari just nodded. "Well, unfortunately, that leaves us with more questions than answers," he said.

The two Na'vi sighed in unison, cursing at how they couldn't catch a breath these days.

Ronal wrapped up her work and started walking to the two. "She should wake up in a few hours," she said, seemingly lost in thought.

All three of them almost jumped out of their skin at the sudden loud voice. Looking around frantically, they calmed down when they traced the voice to the small girl. Ronal smiled as she picked up her daughter, whispering apologies in her ear.

It seems that with all the commotion going on, she had forgotten to feed the poor thing. Shooting her mate a look, she took her daughter, walking to the other part of the marui to feed her two-week-old daughter. After assigning a warrior to call them when the girl woke up, Tonowari and Jake returned to their daily duties.

.

Aonung and Neteyam met up at their usual spot as soon as Tonowari started walking back with the girl in his hands.

"I can't fucking believe it. She is actually fucking here. Like, how did she even get here?" Aonung said frantically.

Neteyam felt the same confusion Aonung did, but just like always, what happened now left them with more questions than answers.

"Why did you try to save her?" Neteyam asked Aonung, surprising both of them. Aonung stared at Neteyam dumbfoundedly.

Then, pain colored his entire face, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Do you really think that low of me?" Aonung said with a bleeding voice. "So much so that you think I'd be all for killing a defenseless girl? One that even saved your life on top of that?" he asked, his throat almost closing up.

Aonung felt pressure behind his eyes. He felt as though his heart was ripping apart. He knew that he wouldn't be forgiven easily for what he had done, but after all the time they spent togehter he thought that at least Neteyam would give him a chance to try.

At this point, he didn't even want to wait and listen to Neteyam's answer, and just as he was about to turn around and leave, he felt a hand wrap around his wrist, tugging him towards the other Na'vi.

Slowly, he looked away from the sand and up to Neteyam's face. His breath hitched when he saw the soft, sad smile on Neteyam's face as the boy held onto him . Neteyam tugged Aonung closer and then wrapped his arms around Aonung's neck, pulling the boy into a hug.

Aonung just stood there, completely stunned for a second before he wrapped his hands around Neteyam and buried his face into the boy's neck.

"No, of course I don't think that, Aonung. I'm sorry that you could even think for a second that I saw you that way," he whispered close to Aonung's ear softly.

"I was more astonished by how you were able to speak up to them like that. If you hadn't, I probably wouldn't have been able to say anything either," Neteyam finished, his hands still around the other boy's neck.

He was so startled to see Aonung's face contort in pain like that, that he cursed himself for asking the question in such a way. Aonung had been nothing but kind to him since they became friends, but even more than that, it broke something in him to see his face like that because of something he said. He knew better than to be reckless with his words.

Aonung hugged the boy tighter, astonished by such a show of affection from him. The most skin contact the two of them had was when Aonung would hold Neteyam's hand as he led him around in the ocean, so this was a welcomed surprise for him.

"Okay, thank you," Aonung said, at a loss for words.

The two of them just stayed like that in each other's arms for a while, and only separated when they heard Lo'ak and Rotxo calling for them.

To say that the air between them was awkward after that was an understatement. And that's to be expected because even though the Metkayina view skinship as a way of showing affection, the Omatikaya don't—which doesn't explain Neteyam's behavior.

But like always, the two chose to ignore the tingles they felt in their skin where the other had touched. They chose to ignore their hearts that were beating so hard they were afraid the other might hear. They chose to ignore the heat they felt covering their faces, so much so that they thought they were on fire.

.

.

The girl in the marui shifted from her position on her back. Slowly blinking her eyes open, she stared at the unfamiliar ceiling before her. Turning around, she saw she was completely alone in this place. One second and then another passed before she shot up in realization, her chest pain reminding her of what had happened. She looked around frantically, taking in her surroundings before fully coming to herself.

She shouldn't be here right now, in this weird... thing she didn't know.

She wasted no time as she stood up to her feet, dragging a deep breath in and then bolting towards the entrance.

"HEY! WAIT!" said the guy behind her who was by the door, but she didn't stop to hear him out. Fighting down the dizziness she felt, she ran as fast as her legs could go on some unsteady ground. She didn't know what it was, but soon enough her legs touched the sand and she increased her speed.

"SOMEONE CATCH HER!" the guys behind her were shouting, but she didn't care as she pushed between people, running as fast as she could.

"HEY!" she could hear someone call for her, probably one of the people who were chasing her.

"Just fucking give up the chase already," the girl thought as she felt her chest contract with unbearable pain, but she still kept running even though she was about to spit out blood.

Then all of a sudden she couldn't feel the ground anymore as someone quite literally picked her up like a stack of boxes.

"God damn it, put me down!" the girl roared, but the guy just hoisted her onto his shoulders.

The girl felt bile creep into her stomach at the contact, fear setting deep into her bones. She used her free hand to hit and scratch the guy anywhere she could reach, but the guy didn't even flinch. As she fought back with everything she had, she could feel the sharp decorations on his neck dig into her skin, but she continued to fight back as he walked back with her.

"Chief, please, let me carry her for you," said one of the men who were chasing her.

"No, it's fine. Let me handle this. You go and get Jake Sully and Ronal - tell them to meet me at the marui," Tonowari said, authority emanating from his voice. The guy went to do as he was told.

"Just let go of me, damn it! I can walk by myself!" the girl said, doing anything she could to decrease the contact between them.

"Maybe if you hadn't run without a look back, I would have been more inclined to believe you," Tonowari said, chuckling a bit, entering the marui from where the girl had run so desperately.

As soon as he carried her off his shoulder and was about to put her on the mat, she pushed away from his hands with all her might - and she succeeded this time. Falling onto the floor with a loud "thud," she scrambled to get away from the man in front of her.

Tonowari was startled by the violent way she reacted and tried to walk closer to her slowly so as not to scare her, but he failed, and the girl's hand shot up, her palms facing him.

"Just stay away," she said in an angry voice. The girl was fighting back bile that was threatening to spill, desperately trying to will it away.

Tonowari froze completely for a moment before he retraced his steps back, then waited patiently, giving her all the time she needed.

After a moment, the girl slowly raised her head, looking at the man in front of her and scanning his face in an effort to read his intentions, but she was startled as she found nothing but a questioning and confused look in his eyes. Her head just ducked again.

Tonowari looked at the girl in front of him with nothing but confusion. Nothing she did made sense to him.

"I apologize if my actions angered you - that was not my intention," Tonowari said sincerely, which surprised the girl a bit. He was only trying to stop her from leaving; he didn't think it would trigger her anger like this. "Have you calmed down a bit now?" Tonowari asked.

The girl didn't bother to answer his question, but just shot back with her own:

"What do you want from me, all of you?" she retorted.

The poor girl was confused out of her mind right now. Not only did she find herself in an unfamiliar place with no recollection of how she got here, but she also didn't understand why they were stopping her from leaving - and now this man was apologizing and asking about her well-being. Everything was just making her head spin. But the memories of what had happened before she got here slowly started coming back to her.

Chapter Text

The girl stared at Tonowari intensely, scanning his face for anything that would give her answers. The poor man was just staring back at her, stunned by the death glare she was giving him - but more than that, it was the shards of deep electric blue that he could spot in her brown eyes.

He swore up and down that her eyes were a solid brown when he saw her earlier, but it seemed to have changed now. Tonowari forgot for a moment about the daggers she was shooting through her eyes as he tried to decipher what this girl really was about.

But it seemed the girl noticed that something was wrong, and as her demeanor flickered with realization, she whipped her head away, covering her eyes with her hand as she blinked repeatedly as if trying to will something away.

Then in a small voice - so small in fact that Tonowari would have missed it if he didn't have all his attention on her - she said:

"Are you going to kill me?"

The raw anguish in her voice made Tonowari's head recoil back as if he'd been hit right in the face with a bat. But as soon as he opened his mouth to say something to defend himself, Jake and Ronal walked into the room, their eyes scanning the two before them before making their way to Tonowari's side. Ronal looked at Tonowari, waiting for him to explain what was happening. 

Tonowari just looked away from her; the fact that she'd asked that question was eating away at his soul. He questioned how someone could just come to that conclusion as if it was the most obvious answer to the situation. It made him wonder why she could even consider that possibility. Ronal spoke first, pulling everyone out of their thoughts.

"Tell me, girl, do you have any idea how you ended up washed up at our shore after you almost drowned yourself?" she asked with a stern voice.

The girl did remember how it could have happened - the pain in her chest didn't allow her to forget. After she had healed Neteyam that night, she had barely made it back to the Three Brothers Rock forest.

Due to her exhaustion, she ate nothing but a single type of fruit she had gathered from the forest, trying her best in her seriously weakened state. She held out like that for two weeks - she was surprised she didn't throw up when she went out to gather more, since that was all she'd been eating.

But today, she thought she'd had enough. She was so sick of eating the same thing that she decided to try hunting for fish. She sharpened a branch she'd cut from a tree and went out toward the ocean in hopes of catching fish, but without realizing she'd gone deeper than she should have in her weakened state.

She couldn't use her powers as she'd already used all that her body allowed when saving Neteyam, so as the ocean rocked her body left and right, she could do nothing but hold her breath as if it was her last lifeline.

She had tried to swim to the surface but her body had already given out. The last thing she remembered was the burning in her lungs as she finally let go of the breath she was holding, her vision darkening more and more until it went fully dark. Then when she woke up, she was here - in this... weird something. She didn't even know what she was sitting in right now.

But she couldn't say all that to the lady in front of her right now, so she slowly lifted her head but still avoided looking at her as she said, "The last thing I remember is going out to hunt in the ocean.

Then when I opened my eyes, I was here." If she could give a better reply she would, but she just didn't know what to say right now. Her fate was quite literally in these people's hands, and she could already see how they didn't seem to have a good impression of her. She could feel the fear in her chest swell at that realization.

"The water must have washed her up on the shore," Jake said. "I wouldn't be surprised if it carried her all the way here - the currents are a lot stronger at dawn," he finished.

"Well then, isn't there anything more you could tell us? Like where are you from? And how did you get all the way here from the Omaticaya clan?" Jake questioned the girl.

Her demeanor seemed to get more and more tense the more he questioned the poor girl. She brought her knees up to her chest in a weak effort to protect herself. Her eyes looked around the room frantically, looking anywhere but at them.

"Well, can you give us any answers?" Ronal's voice cut through the silence in the room, forcing the girl to look at the three Na'vi staring down at her, which only continued to fuel her fear as she realized the position she was in again.

Tonowari looked at the girl in front of him - the girl who now had fully electric blue-colored eyes. He didn't know what was happening with her, but he wasted no time putting himself between the girl and Ronal and Jake, earning himself a stern look from his mate. "Look guys, I think we all need to calm down," he said in a small voice.

"Before anything, we need answers right now. Too much has happened for us to let this one go," Jake said, looking over Tonowari's shoulder at the girl behind him. The girl had her face hidden behind her knees, her hands wrapped around them as she clenched her eyes shut, as if bracing for impact.

"And I get that, Jake, I really do. But look at her," Tonowari said, leaning his shoulders and pointing towards the curled-up girl. "Are you really going to press her for answers when just the thought of telling them leaves her like that?" he asked in a voice that carried empathy that it suprised jake. "Look, we all have our role in protecting this village, and I understand that you two are also trying to do what you think is best, but right now she's just a child that's scared for her life," 

That seemed to get through to the two of them as they backed off a bit, retreating to the door with Tonowari following behind them. Tonowari looked back at the girl, his chest tightening as he saw the state she was in.

Earlier, as Ronal and Jake were pressing her for answers, he'd seen how her luminescent blue eyes carried such fear that it almost made him look away. His guilt grew even more when he saw how she shut down, curling up like she was bracing herself for the moment they would turn on her.

Walking out of the marui, he was met with Ronal and Jake's questioning looks. "What are we going to do now?" Ronal asked with no bite to her voice.

"She looked like she'd sooner die than answer any of our questions," Jake said with a sigh.

"I can't blame her though," Ronal added with sympathy in her voice. "Waking up to find herself in an unfamiliar place, then having other even more unfamiliar Na'vi bombard her with detailed questions - I doubt I would answer them either."

"Do you want to know what she asked me right before you both entered?" Tonowari said with a sigh, attracting the two Na'vis' attention to him. "She asked with all seriousness, 'Are you going to kill me?' She really asked if I was planning to kill her?!" Tonowari said in disbelief.

Ronal stared at her mate with sympathy in her eyes, moving her hands up to stroke his arms as Tonowari sighed.

"Whatever it is we want to know, I'm not going to question that child who looked like answering it would collapse her entire world," Tonowari finished. Raising his head to meet his mate's gaze, it looked as though they were conversing with their eyes alone before Jake interrupted them.

"Okay then, what do you suggest we do for the time being?" Jake questioned.

"For now let's just keep an eye on her, let her stay here in the village with us," Tonowari answered. He looked down as his mate tightened the grip on his arm.

"We have no way of keeping an eye on her as she stays here. It's not like we can ignore our duties and sit with her all day," Ronal said.

"No actually we do have a way," Tonowari said as he looked up to Jake. The man just gave him a questioning look back. "I want you to assign her one of the warriors that were training under you, Jake," Tonowari started. "They don't need to be someone stern or anything, just someone who can teach her about the ways of the water as well as being observant and efficient enough to keep an eye on what she gets up to. Someone who knows what they're doing will suffice," Tonowari finished.

"Yes, I think I know someone who can fit that description well. He's someone I've been wanting to give special training to. I have no doubt that he is intelligent enough to understand the task," Jake said, looking into the distance.

"Just remember to let him know that we don't want him to follow her every move or anything deranged like that. Just someone who can guard her well while keeping an eye on her, maybe even serve as a companion if the shoe fits," Tonowari said, pulling his gaze back to his mate, who just had a content look in her eyes. 

Ronal would definitely feel better knowing that one of the warriors will be looking out for her, in both senses of the word.

"But there is one more thing remaining," said Ronal. "She isn't part of the clan. We don't even know the girl's name yet, and it is the way here that we don't just accept anyone." She turned her head and looked at Jake. "Their case was different since they came here seeking uturu, but the girl has no one to take her under their wing," she concluded, looking back at her mate and staring into his eyes.

She didn't like the knowing look that her mate gave her, clearly suggesting something she was not going to be very happy with. She stared back at him, her eyes making it clear that she didn't like that idea very much. But her mate just looked back at her pleadingly, and like always she caved, looking away in a huff.

Tonowari just looked up at Jake's utterly confused face and said, "Well since we had been the ones to find her, we are also open to the idea of taking her under our wing."

Jake was completely stunned by what he was hearing. He knew that Tonowari felt sorry for her more than them since she seemed to be close to his son's age and was also very deep in trouble, but he never expected that he would go so far for the girl.

But more than that, he didn't expect Ronal to give in to this idea so easily. She accepted the girl much more easily than she did his family when they first arrived, which led him to conclude that Ronal must have also felt for the girl just as much as Tonowari had.

"I have no objection to that. Let's just hope that the girl goes along with everything," Jake said with a sigh. He told Tonowari that he would go fetch the warrior they were going to assign to her and respectfully excused himself.

Ronal and Tonowari looked at each other for a while, then Tonowari said, "I think it's better if I talk to her alone. You two must have scared her a lot," he said in a low voice, placing a kiss onto his mate's forehead.

"Yes, I think that will be for the best. I will go fetch our daughter and walk along the beach. I need to think for a while," Ronal said, leaning into her mate's touch. And with that they parted ways as Tonowari entered the marui and Ronal walked to the jointed marui room.

As Tonowari entered the room, he found the girl still curled up in the corner. She looked like she hadn't moved an inch. Tonowari stepped closer to her slowly, as if he was approaching a startled animal. The girl raised her head, her eyes finding the man that looked like he didn't know what to do with himself. Tonowari only got as close as he needed to be able to talk to her comfortably.

He sat down facing her in an effort to make himself look less intimidating. And it seemed to work as the tension rolling off her in waves decreased a bit.

"I didn't get the chance to answer your question earlier, about what we were going to do with you," he reminded grimacing at the memory.

"Please, rest assured that nothing like that will happen. Honestly, I still can't believe you asked me that, seriously." He said more to himself, still in disbelief. The girl, of course, didn't believe him—not a single bit.

He looked at her still very blue glowing eyes and cursed in his head. He had an idea about what they meant now, but that didn't mean he believed that idea—it seemed too impossible to even consider.

But he willed away those thoughts as he continued, "For now, we were thinking of having you stay here with us. You can walk and swim around wherever you want, of course, just that you'll have to take someone with you," he concluded.

"So what, now you guys want to keep an eye on me? Anticipate what I'm trying to accomplish?" she asked, anger rising in her chest.

"No, it's not fully for that reason," he started but sighed in resignation. "Look, we're all out of options here. We're trying to offer you the best we can based on our circumstances. It's up to you whether you want to take it or leave it," he said, the authority clear in his voice. 

Tonowari was a kind man, but he was still someone who deserved the respect of everyone. Too bad that this girl had no idea who she was talking to.

But the girl wasn't stupid. She knew that this would help her more than anything. In her weakened state, having a place where she could truly rest would undoubtedly solve most of her problems.

But she couldn't help but wonder if this would truly be a place where she wouldn't have to worry anymore. Against all her worries and what-ifs, she knew that this was for the best.

Joining a clan was something she was planning to do after all—it just came to her in a very unexpected way. But nonetheless, she thanked the Great Mother for this opportunity and made a mental note to be careful of everything as she directed her attention back at the man.

"I feel like there's something you're not telling me about this," the girl said flatly, her eyes returning back to their brown color slowly.

Tonowari felt relieved to see her eyes darken back to brown again. It had unpleasantly irked him since earlier—whenever he thought about how the blue grew bigger in her eyes as Jake continued to question the girl, whatever it was told him that it wasn't good.

"Yes, about that. In our clan, only those who have already become an adult can join if they've decided to leave the clan they were born in," he explained.

The girl nodded along with something like curiosity shining in her eyes. "But I don't suppose you have an ikran yet from the Omaticaya, and I don't believe you're ready to attempt to tame a tsurak yet either," he continued.

The girl just gave him a look of pure confusion, tilting her head to the side a bit. "So since you're not an adult yet, you need someone to take accountability for you," he said and watched all curiosity leave her eyes, replaced with nothing. It almost sent a chill down his back.

"So all that talk about taking me into the clan was a joke or something? Cause I can't see how there's a way out of this," she deadpanned. Her matter-of-fact way of speaking was a bit funny to Tonowari.

"If you would like to, me and my family are open to take you in," he said, pulling a surprised gasp from the girl in front of him. Her eyes shot up as she waited for some kind of punchline, but when it didn't come she said, "Wait, are you actually offering to take me under your wing right now?" she asked, the genuineness in her voice making Tonowari laugh out loud.

"Yes, I am offering you that. We would be glad if you would like to join our family," he said, the laughter still remaining in his voice.

"Oh I see, you mean in a strategic kind of way—like to keep the people from questioning anything," the girl said, surprising Tonowari.

"I mean that would make sense more than anything. I doubt you would invite a stranger to join your family genuinely. I'm guessing that you plan to train me so that I can attempt taming the tsurak or something like that as soon as possible, then I can head on my own way. Am I correct?" she said, looking up at Tonowari.

Tonowari was frozen by what she said for the second time today. He couldn't understand why she would jump to such elaborately crazy conclusions rather than accept that someone could genuinely mean what they were saying.

He looked back at her with sad eyes and a soft smile on his face.

"No, child, you couldn't be more wrong," he started, sincerity clear in his voice.

"I am genuinely inviting you into my family's circle. After all, I don't believe that genuine bonds can only be formed with those who are related to you by blood. Anyone who truly seeks to form a connection with another will always have that chance. After all, I spent my children's entire life forming this bond between us—it is not just blood that ties us together but also memories and moments we have spent together. I have no reason to believe that it wouldn't be possible for my family to do that with you as well. I am always open to having a third daughter," he finished with a laugh.

The girl's eyes were wide open, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing even though it was so clear it still echoed in her mind. Her brown eyes now contained shards of deep purple in them as she stared back at Tonowari.

"But of course, the hand has to be extended from both ends to make a connection," Tonowari said. And the girl looked back down to the ground.

The war in her eyes was clear—she didn't know if she could really trust this man in front of her, but the sincerity in his voice was like none she had ever heard.

But now other thoughts were the ones plaguing her mind. Even if she were to believe him, could she really hold him accountable to the things he said when there was so much he didn't know about her? Could she be sure that he wouldn't change his mind if he were to find out about everything? Could he even accept the fact that she was the one behind the mystery behind Neteyam's wound, much less everything else?

Tonowari could see the war in her eyes. He knew that what he had said had gotten through to the girl, but he couldn't know what was causing her to have such conflict in her eyes as he barely knew anything about her—hell, he didn't even know her name yet.

So he did the only thing he could to help right now, and that was to give her time. And so he did just that.

"You don't have to give me an answer right away, you know?" he said, successfully halting the war in her eyes. "Just know that our hand will always be stretched out for you, if you ever decide to take it," he said in a calming voice that seemed to help the girl breathe a bit easier.

"But there is one question I would really like for you to answer for me," he started. "Nothing major—I'm gonna leave that for whenever you're ready to talk about it," he said, then looked at the girl and waited for her answer.

"Okay then, I'll hear you out, but I won't answer if..." she trailed off, not wanting to be disrespectful to the man that had only been kind to her.

"Yes, I understand," he said, barking out a laugh.

"What is your name?"

he finished, laughing again when the child's eyes grew in size.

The girl realized just then that with the amount of things he had to explain to her before she could even think to hear one of his questions out, she had forgotten that he didn't even know her name yet.

She felt a laugh bubble in her chest at the realization of how ridiculous it all sounded when she thought about it, and with a small smile curving her lips, she answered in a voice that mirrored his own sincerity:

"Virey. My name is Virey."

Chapter Text

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The small smile stayed on her face as she told him her name.

For someone looking in from the outside, this introduction could look like it was no different than any other, but the significance it implied could be felt by both of them.

They could feel the bonds of trust being established between them, even if the distance between them could fit three Na’vi comfortably.

“It was nice to meet you, Virey. You can call me Tonowari from now on—or ‘dad’ works too, but I doubt that would go over well with you,” he said, barking out a laugh at the offended look she gave when he suggested she call him dad. But he knew they would get there one of these days.

As they were conversing about living arrangements, they heard a light tap on the door and Jake calling out that he had brought the warrior they were talking about.

He greeted Tonowari with the “I see you” sign, and so did the Na’vi behind him as they walked toward them. The girl braced herself at the sight of Jake, remembering the interaction they had before, and Jake just gave her an apologetic look in return.

They sat next to Tonowari, making sure to keep their distance from Virey, which she was grateful for.

“Yes, you’re finally here, Jake. I see you have brought the person that will be assigned to her,” Tonowari said, looking at the guy in front of him, who bowed in respect to his chief.

“Yes, this is Reyam. I would say he is one of the most skilled of the youngsters training with me. I’ve made sure to fill him in about the situation,” Jake said as he put his hand on Reyam’s shoulder.

Tonowari gave Jake a nod and turned to introduce Virey. “This is Virey. You will be tasked with looking after her until she has adapted to the way of the water—and yes, that means you will be teaching her the ways of breathing, riding an ilu, as well,” Tonowari said, facing the boy, who gave a sharp nod in return.

Then he turned to the girl, who looked at him confused. “This is Reyam. He’s one of the finest soldiers in training we have right now. I assure you, you can rest easy with him guarding you. I also figured you might as well train in the way of the water—only if you want to, of course.” He concluded with an assuring nod, to which the girl gave a hesitant nod in return.

Earlier, when they were discussing where she would be staying, she had sternly refused to stay in this marui with Tonowari’s family, even though it had semi-private rooms. He was surprised because that was the only thing she was adamant about, so they had settled on giving her the detached marui behind their house, which was being used as storage.

But the girl didn’t mind it at all—she actually welcomed it more when compared to the previous option he had given her.

“Virey will be staying at the marui behind ours,” Tonowari pointed out toward a small window. 

“I’ll leave the schedule of how you two are going to meet and at what time up to you both. Just make sure Virey returns to her marui before it’s too late.” Reyam nodded in agreement with a “Yes, sir.”

“Okay then, now that this has been taken care of,” Tonowari said, getting up, “I will leave you all to converse with each other.” Just before he walked out the entrance, he looked back and added, “Please take her to the cloth makers as soon as possible. She looks more like a bundle of leaves than she does a Na’vi.” He laughed, and Jake joined him.

Reyam looked at the girl properly for the first time since he arrived, a smile almost escaping him at how she rolled her eyes at the chief—but the chief was telling the truth, he thought.

Tonowari left the marui and walked along the shore, looking for his mate and infant daughter. A smile broke across his face as he saw Ronal sitting on the beach with their daughter in her hands.

He walked up to his mate, sitting next to her, as he took their daughter from her arms, holding her close to his chest as he studied his mate’s tired face.

“Tell me, my love, what is troubling you so?” he asked her.

She just looked back into his eyes sadly. “I’m just wondering if we really made the right decision by taking her in,” she said with a sigh.

Tonowari looked back at her in understanding. It was considered a great honor—and a show of morality—when a family took in a Na’vi who was completely alone in this world, for any reason.

And even though this had been brought on by unexpected circumstances, they had meant it when they said they were prepared to see her as their real daughter. But he sensed there was something more his mate had yet to tell him.

He gave her a look that said just that, and with a sigh, Ronal sucked in a breath, steadying herself to tell him the thoughts that hadn’t left her mind since she had tended to Virey earlier.

“When I was treating the girl earlier, I noticed things on her body that made me stop in my tracks,” Ronal began. Tonowari listened silently, wondering what she could have seen that weighed so heavily on her. 

“She was covered in cuts throughout her body. They were healed completely, but the scars were there if you looked for them.” She exhaled sharply. Tonowari’s breath halted as he pulled his daughter closer to his chest.

“And it wasn’t as if she got them once or twice from knives or spears in battle. They were all done deliberately, with full intention behind the cuts—concentrated around her torso and back.

The scars looked like they came from such deep wounds, I can’t even fathom how they healed,” she finished with a shaky breath.

Tonowari understood what she was implying. Switching the arm holding his daughter, he wrapped his free arm around his mate, pulling her into his chest as if shielding her from her own thoughts.

“And to think I was going to send such a tormented soul back to where she had barely survived… How could I—” she began, but Tonowari gently cut her off, hushing her dark thoughts away.

“It’s alright,” he soothed. “It’s alright, yawne. Eywa has spared you from that regret—don’t let it consume you now.”

His words seemed to calm Ronal slightly. “And the girl is still here. If you want to make up for what you almost did to protect us, then give her a chance to be accepted,” he finished, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Ronal wrapped her arms around her mate’s waist, using her free hand to stroke her daughter’s cheek. A small smile touched her lips as she watched the infant sleeping peacefully in her father’s arms.

“I guess Eywa has blessed us with another daughter, then,” Ronal chuckled, her eyes still fixed on the infant. She straightened up and looked at Tonowari. “I will try to give her a chance,” she said, pulling a smile from her mate as she returned to his arms.

That was all Tonowari needed to hear. He knew Ronal didn’t accept outsiders easily, so when she had agreed earlier to take the girl in, he had wondered why.

Now, he understood the weight his mate had been carrying—and he was glad she had confided in him. He truly believed Ronal would try to give the girl a fair chance now.

Yet, despite the relief, he couldn’t shake the image Ronal had described—the scars littering Virey’s body. It explained why the girl had been wrapped in a cloak of leaves, but it only raised more questions.

Who could have done this?

And why?

.

.

Back at the marui as Tonowari left, Jake got up to leave as well, saying that Virey and Reyam should discuss how they were going to move forward, and walked out of the marui.

Virey looked at the Na’vi with striking teal skin. His physique was lean and muscular, like he held both strength and grace. His figure was long; his dark hair was styled in a topknot, with loose strands falling down his back.

His hair had a texture of soft ringlet curls falling down his back, and some rebellious strands decorated his face. Intricate, swirling tribal tattoos covered his arms and chest, adding to his otherworldly appearance. His tattoos were a darker teal, providing contrast against his skin tone.

A simple, light-colored sheathed knife hung around his neck on a cord.

As the girl’s gaze landed on the knife handle, she thought, “Well, I guess he is still a warrior in training, even if he is stuck with babysitting duty.”

Reyam was doing his own analysis as he saw the girl, but all that came to his mind was a bundle of leaves. After the chief had pointed it out, the boy couldn’t stop seeing the resemblance.
He cleared his throat in an effort to stifle the laugh that was bubbling in his chest, attracting the girl’s gaze back to his eyes.

“I should probably take you to the cloth makers like the chief said,” Reyam pointed out and moved to get up, but the girl remained stiff in her position, an indecipherable look in her eyes.

"Is there a chance that I can just take the materials and do it myself?" she asked, a hint of desperation in her voice. Reyam just stared at her.

He couldn't understand why she would need to do that. From the leaves she covered herself with, she didn't look like she knew how to make clothes, but he just thought that it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"We can at least ask if nothing else," he said as he rose to his full height. The girl followed after him. As they walked side by side, Reyam saw her fully for the first time.

Virey was an average height for a girl - she was a bit taller than most Metkayina women, but he was at least a head taller than her, or maybe a bit more than that.

They walked in silence all the way to the cloth maker, the sun high above them. Reyam called out to one of them in the group, who smiled widely as she got up and walked to them. She greeted them with the "I see you" sign, which Reyam returned, but Virey just looked back at the girl, confused.

"Sorry, she's new here," he said, trying to excuse Virey's rudeness.
"It's all right, I can tell. I've never seen her before. Is she one of the Sullys' friends that came to visit?" the girl asked, questioning why an Omaticayan was out here, far from home.

"Who knows," Reyam said, dismissing the girl's question. "Never mind that - that's not why we're here. The chief said to get her some cloth, but Virey asked if she could borrow the materials and make her own." Reyam finished, looking back at Virey, who gave him a blank look.

"Sorry, but I don't think we can give her the sewing materials. But if she has a specific thing she wants to wear in mind, I can help her make it here," the girl suggested with a smile. Reyam looked back at Virey, waiting to hear what she was going to say.

"Yes, I have an idea in mind. I appreciate your help," Virey said with all the seriousness in the world channeled into her voice. That seemed to catch the other two off guard.

"Okay then, no need to be so tense. You can come with me to the back and we can start working on it now," the girl said, and chuckling a bit, she turned around and started heading back to gather the materials they would need.

Virey started following her but turned back sharply when she felt Reyam following them, startling the boy a bit.

"You don't need to come with me to watch me make the clothes, do you? I'm not a child, I can find my way back to the assigned marui by myself," she said, looking intently at the boy.

"I get that you hate the feeling of being followed, but you haven't even been here for half a day. I don't think it's wise to walk around on your own when you don't know where anything is," he said tiredly.

 He was already annoyed at how he was pulled out of special training, which he had worked very hard to get, just to watch and teach a girl that no one - not even the chief - knew anything about. But he was honored to think that Toruk Makto thought of him when he needed someone to trust, though he couldn't help but resent Virey a bit.

"I'll be fine. I'm sure you don't want to be here right now anyways," Virey said, turning back and leaving towards where the girl went.

Reyam watched her as she passed through the exit and left.

Now he felt a little bad for her - it wasn't his intention to make her feel like she was a burden when none of his problems were her fault.

He knew more than anyone how horrible that felt. He thought of following her to apologize, but what was he gonna say? 'Sorry, I'm just annoyed at being pulled out of special training for this'?

So instead, with a sigh, he just turned around and left, going back to the training grounds.

Virey and the seamstress were finally able to agree on something. When Virey first told her what kind of clothing she wanted made, the girl kept insisting that Virey reconsider.

What Virey asked for was very simple - she wanted the loincloth to cover her from neck to ankles, which for some reason baffled the seamstress.

The seamstress had never even seen the clothes that were being described by Virey, but after a hundred arguments they seemed to find some middle ground.

Rather than being fully covered like Virey wanted, or covering only the essentials like the seamstress wanted, the loincloth would cover Virey's arms down to her elbows, and would cover her torso down to her lower waist (effectively covering the scars on her back and upper waist).

For the bottom clothing, the seamstress was able to stretch the fiber they had left and let the loincloth cover both the front and back of her thighs till her knees, with slits down the sides to allow for better movement in the water.

And so, even if it took them until night fell, the girl made the clothes for Virey. Virey thanked the girl profusely for what she had done for her, at which the seamstress just smiled genuinely.

But even after she discarded the leaves and wore the clothes made for her, she stuck out like a sore thumb - mainly because she was wearing enough fiber to make ten normal loincloths, probably even more.

But the girl didn't mind as much; just the thought of having so little coverage horrified her. She understood that everyone has their own way of doing everything.

She started to walk back to the marui that was assigned to her, but everywhere she turned, all she saw were other identical marui.

She stopped in her tracks, groaning, admitting that she should have just accepted Reyam's help, no matter how she felt about it.

After trying to find her way again multiple times, the girl just gave up with a sigh and walked out toward the sea. But she didn't get into the water - she knew that she was still far too weak for that.

Instead, she stood on the shore and admired the night sky being reflected on the ocean.

Taking a deep breath in and enjoying the scenery in front of her, she thought of all the events that led her here.

But more than anything, she was glad that she was accepted into a clan like this.

If this was like the time when she was alone in the forest, she would have been freaking the fuck out at the notion of not finding her way back to her safe cave.

After all, the open forest wasn't safe for her, especially when her powers were weakened.

But here, she knew that people were looking out for her, and that was the only reason she was able to see the reflection of the starry night in front of her. It made her all the more grateful.

"I knew you would be here somewhere," a voice said from behind her, startling her out of her haze as she whipped her head toward it.

She calmed down as her eyes met Reyam's, a small playful smile on his face, and she just knew the 'I told you so' in his head.

She rolled her eyes as she looked back to the ocean. Reyam walked up from behind her, directing his gaze toward the ocean she was looking at.

"Your home is truly beautiful," the girl said in a quiet voice.

"Yes, it is, but you should see how it looks from under the surface at daytime," he said to her, turning his gaze to meet hers as he continued,

"That is when you will truly fall in love with this place."

The curiosity that engulfed her eyes almost let a laugh slip from him.

"Come on, it's getting too late. I need to send you back before anyone worries," Reyam said, turning around.

"Is it really that late already? I don’t think I’ve been out for that long?" she questioned, catching up to Reyam as they walked together.
"You must have spent a long time walking around lost. Did you notice you were actually going farther and farther away from your marui?" he said, the laugh clear in his voice.
"Yes yes, I know. I shouldn’t have refused your help like that," the girl said, rolling her eyes again. Reyam seemed to have that effect on her.

But his demeanor shifted, and his voice got serious as he said, "No, actually I’m sorry." He apologized, shocking the girl with his statement. 

"I took my anger out on you when you had nothing to do with it, and I bet you were just going to sleep outside if I didn’t come looking for you, weren’t you?" he said, turning his guilt-filled gaze to look at her.

"Well, I would have tried to look for it again at some point," Virey answered, trying to lessen the guilt.

"I’m not normally like that, I assure you that nothing like that will happen again," the boy finished

The girl sighed as she brought her hand up to her face to rub her eyes. "I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have let my frustrations of the day out on you when I knew you were just trying to help," the girl tilted her head, "no matter how you said it."

Reyam grimaced playfully. "Was it really that bad? I thought you didn’t notice," he said.
"Oh no, it was painfully obvious that you didn’t want to be doing all this, almost from the beginning," Virey chuckled, finding that torturing the poor boy to be fun.

They continued walking back in mostly comfortable silence, with a few questions and directions being thrown around here and there.

Back at the chief’s marui, Ronal and Tonowari had sat their children down to break the news of their new sister. But they just stared at each other back and forth, waiting for one another to start, until Tonowari sighed and decided to speak first

"I’m sure you both remember the events that went down this morning," he began. Aonung went completely stiff next to where he was sitting beside his sister. Tsireya just had a knowing look on her face as she listened to her father explain.

"We have decided to take her in under our wing," said Tonowari, deciding that ripping the bandage off was better.

That startled everyone, including his mate. Ronal didn’t expect him to just tell it to them outright like this.

"Wait, what? Sorry, I don’t think I understand, Dad?" Aonung began, honestly confused. "You mean you’re going to accept her into the family? As in, she’ll be one of your children from now on?" Aonung asked in disbelief.

To which his father just nodded.

"And she actually agreed to this?" Aonung said hesitantly.

"Well, there were some slight problems, but yes, she did agree to it," Tonowari said, remembering how the girl had made a break for it earlier that morning. He decided to keep the details about their conversation - that it was a genuine invitation - just between him and his mate. The children shouldn't be told such a serious matter.

Everyone was pulled out of their thoughts by Tsireya's giggling.

"I knew it, Father!" she said, continuing to laugh. Aonung looked at her as if he'd been betrayed.

"I knew you wouldn't just send her back as soon as she woke up. The way you carried her back when she was unconscious reminded me of how you would carry me when I got tired from swimming too long," she explained, earning a smile from her father.

But everyone was shocked again when another unexpected person started laughing.

Ronal burst out laughing while still holding roa in her hands, accompanied by her other daughter joining her as she laughed with her.

“I guess things were decided long before we even tought of them” ronal said in between her laughter.

Aonung stared at them both in disbelief, trying to stifle down the laugh that was making its way through his own chest.

“You guys cant be serious?” was all Aonung could manage to say before his own laugh over took him and he joinded this mother and sister. The fact that they were laughing at absolutely nothing just made them laugh even more.

Tonowari just stared at his family happily, he was happy that this didn’t go as horribly as he thought it might, he was surprised by such an unexpected reaction. He smiled contently, glad to see that his efforts of instilling kindness into his children wasn’t fruitless.

Then he spotted Reyam and Virey as they neared the marui. He was about to call out to his new daughter to introduce her to his children but stopped himself when he noticed the atmosphere between the two of them.

Tonowari was always known to be heavily observant - it was one of his greatest assets as a leader.

As he watched the two from outside the window, he decided that introductions could wait and to let Virey and Reyam have their moment. But he stayed by the window until the two outside parted ways, bidding their goodbyes.

As he saw Virey enter her marui and confirmed that she was back safely, he finally detached himself from the window and went toward the mat that he and his mate shared, wrapping his arms around her as he lay down after saying his goodbyes to his infant child in the cradle next to them.

Chapter Text

Reyam felt restlessness coursing through his entire body as he participated in his training. Last night, as he was walking Virey back to her marui, she had told him that he could go back to his special training for the week to come.

He asked her why they weren't starting training soon, but all she said was that she didn't feel well and would be taking the week off to rest. She didn't give him any more details, so he didn't ask any questions.

But the fact remained that he was given an order to guard her, so he felt like he was in the wrong place as he swam through the ocean.

He knew that Virey wouldn't appreciate him standing outside her house like a stalker, and he was also strictly told not to do that as she wasn't some hostage that was to be monitored, so he didn't see any reason as to why he shouldn't honor her wish.

By the time late afternoon rolled around, they had wrapped up their training and were drying off in the sand.

"Hey, let's go get some food," one of his companions said.

"Right, let's go. Wait, where was it again? I think it was on the left side of the training grounds, right? No wait, or was it the right?" another one asked. "Where was it again, Reyam?"

But Reyam was not listening. He had gone completely still as he just remembered something extremely important that he had somehow forgotten, not even crossing his mind once throughout the day.

He stood up hurriedly and shot some apologies about not being able to join them for food as he started running toward none other than Virey's marui.

"Eywa, how could I forget?" he muttered to himself as he jogged. "How could I forget to show her where the food area is?" he mentally berated himself for his mistake.

He was specifically told by the chief to show her around the village. Jake even made it a point to tell him that the girl knew nothing, but not only did he leave her alone yesterday (which almost led her to sleep outside), but he also forgot to tell her where she could get food.

He seriously considered the possibility of something being wrong with him but shoved it away as the chief's house came into view.

.

.

Virey woke up from the best sleep she had in a very, very long while. This was what it meant to be able to rest without feeling like her life would be in danger if she slept too deeply - it gave her back some of the energy she desperately lacked.

As she looked outside, she could see that it was already afternoon. She felt her stomach clench as she got up from her sleeping mat, arranging it into a corner.

She hadn't eaten anything since she came here, and with all that had happened since she opened her eyes after arriving at the island, food was the last thing on her mind.

She moved toward the entrance to go get some, but then halted as she remembered she didn't know where to find food here. But as she looked out, she decided to go and ask anyone who was present in the chief's marui. And with that in mind, she made her way toward it.

As she peeked over the entrance, the last thing she expected was everyone to be there, staring back at her as she tapped at the entrance.

"Virey, good afternoon," Ronal was the first to greet her. "Perfect timing, come on in," Tonowari added.

The girl entered the marui and bowed in a show of respect as she got closer to the family sitting there. She saw a girl younger than her smiling up at her, to which Virey just tilted her head in confusion, which only made the girl smile more.

"Come sit with us," Ronal invited her, which only puzzled Virey more as that was not how she remembered her. "This is a good chance to introduce you to my children."

"AONUNG!" Tonowari called out to the semi-private rooms as Virey sat down facing the girl who was still giving her a genuine smile.

"This is Tsireya, she is 16 years old, soon turning 17," Tonowari introduced his daughter.

"Hey, I'm Virey. I turned 19 pretty recently," Virey said, directing her gaze at Tsireya, surprising Tonowari and Ronal by how openly she introduced herself to their daughter when they didn't even know the girl's age yet - but they knew it was all their fault.

"It's nice to meet you. I can't wait to introduce you to the others. I'm sure we'll all get along well. Mother said that you're still recovering, so let's go once you're well," Tsireya exclaimed happily.

"Uh, yes, of course," Virey said hesitantly. For some reason, she had a feeling that the boy she saved would be there as well, but she wasn't ready to meet anyone from that night yet.

So you can imagine her shock when the guy who threated her life walked out of the room and sat by Tonowari's side, and then her shock was even more magnified when Tonowari introduced him as his son.

"This is Aonung, he is my eldest child. If you were to need any help and happened to not find me, know that you can always go to him," he exclaimed proudly, holding onto the nape of his son as he shook him a bit.

But the one who was really rattled was Virey. Aonung and Virey's eyes met, a silent conversation passing between them before Tonowari spoke again.

"So tell me, child, what brings you here today?" he asked.

"Oh right," Virey said as she had forgotten her reason throughout her shock. "I wanted to ask where and how I can get food here," she started. "I mean, does everyone just hunt for themselves, or is there some other way?"

Tonowari and Ronal exchanged a look before Ronal spoke. "There is a part of the village where food is stored. Anyone can go there to get something they want at any point of time," Ronal explained.

"Did Reyam tell you where it was?" Tonowari questioned.

"Uh no, I don't think he mentioned that," the girl said as she readied herself to get up, her hunger becoming more unbearable by the second.

"So then did you have anything to eat yesterday, maybe a fruit or anything?" Ronal asked in disbelief.

"No, I was too preoccupied with getting my clothes made that the time flew by before I could remember, and by the time we were done it was nightfall so I assumed that it wouldn't be available anymore," she said, not noticing the storm her words were cooking up.

She honestly thought it was no big deal, but she was getting really hungry by now.

Aonung noticed her impatience and turned to his father.

"I will go with her to the food storage, show her how things work there," Aonung said, and after earning a nod from his father, he stood up and gestured for the girl to follow him, which she did. And the two walked out of the marui.

"There is no way that you and Tonowari are related," the girl stated with a laugh in her voice. "I mean clearly, such a kind man couldn't have produced such..." she trailed off as she looked at his annoyed eyes. "Whatever you are," she finished with a chuckle.

"Oh please, save it. I don't wanna hear it," he said, the laughter clear in his voice.

Virey was about to retort back when she saw Reyam jogging up to them. She continued to stare at the boy with a puzzled look on her face.

From what she told him yesterday, he shouldn't be looking for her for the next week at least. But she heard Aonung's tongue click as he laid eyes on the boy that was approaching them.

"Nice of you to finally show up to do your job," Aonung said as the boy caught up to them.
"Oh no, it's fine. I told him that I will be resting for the week, so I'm more puzzled by why he is here right now," said Virey.

It seemed like Aonung already knew why the boy was frantically looking for Virey. He figured that it must have finally hit him that he never told her where to get basic fucking food and water.

Aonung could feel his anger rise just thinking about it.

"Hey Virey, sorry about this. I forgot to tell you where you can find food and water yesterday," he said, grimacing as he said it out loud.

"Oh, it's fine. Aonung was just about to take me there," the girl said, not understanding where this was coming from.

The realization that the girl hadn't had anything to eat until now punched Reyam straight in the face. He felt immense regret at the thought and was just about to apologize profusely when Aonung cut him off.

"My father would like to see you. He's at the family marui," Aonung said sharply.

Reyam realized that Virey must have gone to ask the chief about where to find food - the very thing the chief had tasked him to do.

Hanging his head, he nodded toward Aonung and started to walk past them, but he looked back at Virey and said,

"Can you please meet me at the beach like yesterday?" he asked her, planning to apologize there properly.

The girl only took one look at him and realized his intention. "Yes, of course," she said. With a short "Thank you," Reyam started to walk toward the chief's marui.

"What was that all about?" Aonung asked, clearly talking about the conversation he was completely excluded from.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," the girl joked as they started walking to their original destination.

Aonung got the message she was sending and didn't press any further.

"Why didn't you tell them that it was me who helped Neteyam?" Virey asked, her sudden shift of topic giving him whiplash.

He snapped his head toward her fast, but he just decided to answer honestly - mostly because he found no reason to lie to her.

"Because you asked us not to tell anyone, but mostly it was because Neteyam wanted to keep your secret. I just went along with it," the boy deadpanned.

"I see. How is he? Neteyam? Is he healing well?" she asked, genuinely wanting to know.

"Yes, he's doing great thanks to you. His wound is almost closed fully and he has had his full range of motion back for a while now," Aonung said happily.

"Well, that's good to hear," Virey stated, closing the conversation in comfortable silence.

As they reached the food storage place, he watched the girl pile fruits into her hands. She even made him carry some for her. They walked out of the storage to an open area, laying all the fruit down.

"Thanks for the help. I'll let you go now - I'm sure you have a lot to do," Virey said, a fruit already in her hands but waiting for Aonung to leave.

It was already late in the afternoon, and he didn't have much of anything to do, but he understood that it was her way of asking him to leave. With a playful remark, he walked off toward the village, leaving the girl alone like she wanted.

Virey didn't spare any time as she started eating. She had felt so hungry that she was moments away from attempting to cook Aonung in the time it took them to walk to the storage.

After inhaling all the fruits and nuts she brought, she walked toward the ocean to wash away the stickiness on her hands from the fruit juices.

As she washed her hands, she couldn't help but admire the glimmering sand under her hands in the water. It sparkled from the moonlight it was reflecting, and the ocean was still warm from the sun that had been hammering down at it only an hour ago.

She couldn’t help but admire this place.

She got up and started walking to the beach part that she and Reyam had talked about earlier - or more honestly, she walked in the direction she thought would lead her there.

.

But of course, why did she think that it would be any different today than it was yesterday? She found herself completely lost yet again.

She looked around from where she was standing, looking for anything that might look familiar to her. But she found nothing.

With a groan of resignation, she walked toward the ocean and walked out toward the sea just like yesterday, letting herself be absorbed by the sight in front of her - so much so that she didn't notice how the time flew by until a sound startled her out of her thoughts.

"I knew I would find you somewhere down the line if I just walked by the beach," Reyam said, his voice carrying humor.

Virey turned her head to look at the boy standing behind her.

"Did you get lost again?" he asked with a small smile, walking up beside her, making Virey roll her eyes at him.

The two just stood there for a moment - Virey looking back at the ocean and admiring it while Reyam thought of how to start what he wanted to say.

"I called you out here today because I—" he started but was cut off by the girl as she finished for him.

"Because you wanted to apologize for what happened," she said with her gaze still on the ocean. Then she turned her head to stare into his eyes as she said with a small smile, "I know."

Reyam turned his full body toward the girl, and she followed suit, turning her body to face him, her questioning eyes not leaving his for a moment.

"It was wrong of me to divert from my duties like that when I was given the responsibility, and you were the one who ended up paying for my mistakes. I'm sorry for that. I was too eager to go back to training that I unconsciously ended up disregarding the responsibility I took for you. I wanted to apologize properly for that," the boy finally finished, bowing his head to the girl in sincerity.

"Please raise your head. I forgave you for it the first time you apologized. This was just an honest mistake - I understand that," the girl said, mirroring his sincerity.

As Reyam raised his head, he could see the smirk on her face accompanied by mischief in her eyes, and there he understood that his fate was sealed.

"Did Tonowari really scold you that badly?" she asked, teasing the poor boy.

"To be honest," Reyam started with a groan, "I have never seen the chief so angry like that. Just the memory of it gives me chills." He shivered from remembrance.

The girl chuckled to herself a bit. But a serious silence followed.

"I hope you don't have to keep apologizing to me like this in the future," she said with a sigh.

Reyam understood what she meant. It wasn't that she didn't like the apologizing itself, but she hoped that the things that would lead him to apologize didn't happen.

"I will try my best," he said sincerely.

For another moment, only the sounds of soft waves could be heard. Reyam reached behind him toward the small leather pouch tied to his loincloth, and reaching inside, he collected something that Virey couldn't see before he turned back to her.

"Please give me your hand," the boy stated as he stretched out his free palm.

The girl hesitated before she stretched out her left hand to him but immediately shrank away a bit as he tried to wrap his palms around her wrist.

Reyam noticed and, rather than trying again, held the two ends of the bracelet that was previously in his palm and raised it up, showing her what he intended to do.

Then he brought the bracelet close to her hands, pausing for a second trying to keep contact as minimal as possible between their skin as he tied the bracelet around her left wrist.

The bracelet had many small circular pearls. The fiber passed through tiny holes that were embedded into the pearls, and in the middle lay a soft pale blue pearl that was bigger than the rest surrounding it. It made for a perfect contrast against Virey's dark blue skin.

"I found the pearls when I went swimming today. I thought it would only be fair for you to have them instead since I... you know, since I should have been showing you around instead," he stammered, embarrassment almost overtaking his features. 

"You can think of it as my promise to not make any more mistakes," he added.

He expected Virey to laugh at him or tease him about it. He never would have expected what he found instead.

Virey had a genuine, full smile on her face. Her eyes contained large shards of shimmering deep purple in them, contrasting against the human brown they were overlaid with.

"Thank you," she said, her voice reflecting the genuineness in her eyes as she brought back her wrist, playing with her new accessory with her other hand.

Reyam was completely stunned. He never thought that such a small act of kindness could mean so much to another Na'vi.

But looking at the girl now, he thought it was worth all the trouble he had faced when making it for her in such a short timeline. They stayed silent, neither of them moving an inch.

Virey's eyes returned to their human brown, her smile fading as her expression normalized, but her eyes still carried traces of the moment.

"Tomorrow, I will come to your marui around midday," Reyam said as he turned to walk the girl back to her marui, just like yesterday.

"Like I said, there isn't much I can do in the water," she replied, walking next to him.

"That may be the case, but there's so much you can learn about the water even if you aren't in it," he began, turning his head to look at her. She just tilted her head in confusion, pulling a chuckle from Reyam.

"For example, we can start with sign language. I'll show it to you tomorrow," he said, leaving a comfortable silence between them as he walked her all the way back to her marui. They parted ways after bidding their goodbyes.

Chapter Text

Reyam woke up from his sleep when the first ray of sunlight pierced through his marui. And just like always, he got ready and walked out to join his friends at the beach.

Yesterday, after the chief scolded him, he had decided to halt his serious training for now. Today, as well, he was just going to go out of the reef for a hunt with his friends, Naran and Arzen, until it was time to go teach her.

“Well, let's go then,” Naran said. And they all collectively went into the water with their hunting tools.

Reyam felt at home in the water as he admired the sea life. He had already seen it thousands of times before, but it never failed to take his breath away time and time again.

As his friends chose to swim out in the open water, he preferred to swim through layers of corals, maneuvering his way around peacefully.

“Come on, the others are going to take all the fish at this rate,” Naran signed to him.

Reyam just rolled his eyes as he made his way out of the corals to his friends. He always caught more than his friends anyway, no matter how much of a head start he gave them. But today, he didn’t have that much time anyways.

“Fine,” Reyam signed back, and the two went their separate ways to hunt.

“I can't believe you caught such a big fish,” said Naran as Reyam’s head broke the surface of the water, the fish in his net as he made his way towards the reef rocks and to his friends.

There was another Na’vi aside from Naran and Arzen, whose name Reyam didn’t remember.

They sat on the rock as they all caught their breath.

“Well, today was a workout, alright,” Arzen said in a huff, to which the others didn’t reply, just huffed along.

“By the way, I heard you got pulled out of training,” said the nameless person. Naran and Arzen went stiff beside their friend, wondering what the hell was wrong with the guy who said it.

Reyam didn’t reply. He didn’t think there was anything to reply to—he was the one who chose to halt his training for now, although it seemed like the other guy thought otherwise.

“Man, it must suck. And just to guard some girl at that. I can't believe they pulled you out of special training for that,” the man continued, completely ignorant.

At first, Reyam wasn’t going to dignify him with a response, but this man just seemed to keep pushing.

“Well, I can see why you weren’t even considered to be trained under Toruk Makto,” Reyam retorted. “He would have lost his mind by how much he would have to dumb everything down for you.”

That made the other boy’s face go red as Naran and Arzen, who were training with Jake—although they weren’t in the special training—broke out in giggles.

“Come on, man, why would you say it like that?” the boy said, seriously offended, to which Reyam just scoffed as he rose from where he was sitting.

He looked at his two friends, who were still dying of laughter, and said, “Well, I'm gonna head back now. It's almost midday.”

After saying his farewell, he jumped into the ocean and swam towards the village.

.

Virey was walking to the food storage with Tsireya. She didn’t know what it was, but she seemed to feel at peace when she was with this girl.

She woke up a few hours after dawn. She was baffled by how the whole village was already bustling with life. She, on the other hand, was not a morning person.

Thankfully, her marui was shielded by the chief’s house, so she could sleep in for hours longer without the sun waking her.

Tsireya was chattering away happily to her new sister, telling her about her friends, family, and village, too, as Virey listened intently to all she was saying.

She was grateful for the girl filling what could have been an awkward silence, but it seemed they would never know whether it would be awkward or not.

As they got to the food stall, Virey started collecting the fruits she had yesterday but was interrupted by Tsireya’s question.

“Do you not like fish?” she asked her.

“Uh, not really, but I don’t know how to eat them,” she replied.

Tsireya just smiled and said, “Well, good thing I'm here then. I can show you how,” and she led Virey towards the fish section.

Virey was surprised to see the cooked fish that were piled in a tightly closed basket. For some reason, she didn’t think they would have cooked fish.

Tsireya pulled out two fish and was about to close it when—

“Can you grab one more for me?” asked Virey, to which Tsireya happily obliged.

And as they walked back, Tsireya holding fish and Virey holding fruit, “It will be a sweet treat,” she told her when Tsireya gave her a questioning look.

They walked to an open area and got ready to dig in.

“So first, you lay the fish down,” started Tsireya, “Then you cut its head and tail off, then slit its side.”

Virey just watched the girl work and mirrored it on her own fish.

“After which, you can just flesh out the meat and eat. Be careful for small bones, though,” the girl finished.

After which, the two continued to eat, Tsireya’s voice filling the air. The girl's bubbly self was welcomed by Virey as she broke out her own laugh here and there.

Virey found Tsireya’s honest nature to be refreshing, and it kept her at ease. If it was her grumpy brother instead, she would have sent him away with some excuse by now.

The two cleaned up after themselves and started walking back to their marui.

As she got closer, she saw Reyam leaning by the marui and standing up straight as he saw them approaching.

He greeted the chief’s daughter with the “I see you” sign and was about to do the same for Virey but decided not to, thinking that she didn’t even know what it meant yet—which was his fault as her “teacher.”

“I’m gonna go join my friends in the water now,” Tsireya said, smiling at Virey and waving goodbye as she left the two alone.

“Shall we then?” Reyam said as he turned to walk in the direction that he wanted to take her.

“Sure, but where are we going?” she asked, walking with him.

“I’m gonna teach you some basic things today,” he said.

They walked along the shore and sat down on the sand. It was a little farther out of the village, so only the water could be heard.

“I’m gonna start teaching you the language we use in the water, but first,” he started, “I’m gonna start with the greeting we give each other.”

“Right, I was gonna ask you what it was all about.”

“It’s a greeting almost all Na’vi greet each other with. I’m surprised you don’t know it,” he stated, but before he asked her more about it, he stopped himself as he looked down at her fingers and decided to leave it alone.

“In words, it is said, ‘I see you.’ It holds deep and significant meaning as it symbolizes a connection and understanding between individuals. We only give it to those we hold in high respect and wish to form a connection with,” he finished.

Virey was lost in thought for a moment before she gave him a nod back.

“You hold your hand up like this,” he showed her, “pressing your fingers to here, then you extend it to the person you wish to pay respect to.”

“So, something like this?” she started as she tried. Reyam chuckled a bit.

“You almost have it right, but keep your elbow down to show your face when your fingers touch between your brows,” he explained, showing her again.

And like that, their lesson continued. Reyam moved on to other signs as well after she perfected the ‘I see you’ sign.

He taught her just the basics, like come, go, right, left, and, more importantly, how to signal to others that she was out of air.

He was astonished by how fast of a learner she was. He didn’t have to repeat the signs more than three times, which made his job a lot easier.

And as night fell, he would walk her back and bid his farewell before going back to his own place.

.

Virey spent the last three weeks in this peaceful rhythm. Her sign language had gotten a lot better now, courtesy of Reyam—so much better, in fact, that Reyam was surprised when she got all of them right when he quizzed her.

She had also been spending a lot of time with Tonowari’s family and had gotten a lot closer to everyone—even Ronal had warmed up to her.

Her powers were back to their full potential since she rested well over the past three weeks.

She woke up really early today—so early, in fact, that she worried that this place was rubbing off on her. But of course, she couldn’t beat the locals to it, as the village had already woken up before her.

She decided to take a walk along the beach today rather than wait in her marui for Tsireya or Reyam to fetch her.

The cold breath of the ocean made her feel like she was coming back to life. She enjoyed the sound of the waves crashing against each other as she walked to Eywa knows where.

She was pulled out of the silence when she saw two Na’vi along the shore in the distance. As she got closer to them, she saw Tonowari and another whom she assumed was the second in command talking.

As she got closer, Tonowari dismissed his subordinate and turned to face the approaching girl with a smile.

“Hello, Virey. I didn’t expect to see you up at this hour,” he said to her.

The girl just gave a small smile in return and said, “I guess this place is rubbing off on me,” to which Tonowari laughed.

“How are your lessons going? I heard from Ronal that Reyam has been teaching you other things while you’re resting,” Tonowari said curiously.

“Yes, he taught me all the basics, like greetings and their meanings, as well as the language used in the water. I like to think I’m keeping up well, from how he has been running out of things for our lessons,” Virey said, chuckling at the memory of Reyam’s face as he desperately searched his head for their daily meeting.

“I see. Reyam is a fine warrior in training. I’m sure he will have a lot to relay to you now that you have decided to go back to the water,” Tonowari said with a laugh of his own.

“I should probably leave you alone now. I’m sure you have a lot to tend to,” Virey said, shifting the sand underneath her as she was deciding on something.

Tonowari waited silently for the girl to decide on whatever was troubling her.

Virey sucked in a breath as her thoughts came to rest. She took a step back and stared into Tonowari's eyes.

“I see you, Tonowari,” she signed to him, bowing.

Tonowari was stunned for a second. He understood that this wasn't just a simple farewell—no, this was so much more than that. He could see that she had put a lot of thought into this.

He smiled at the cryptic girl in front of him as he finally understood what this meant. He realized that this was her answer to his question from before. It was her extending her hand to meet his.

The smile grew on his face even more as he returned her greeting with his own.

No more words were exchanged between them. A smile lingered on Virey's face as she walked past Tonowari and continued her walk along the shore.

She didn't go back to her marui until the time she was supposed to meet Reyam.

.

Reyam woke at the crack of dawn, like always, and went out to meet Naran and Arzan in a hurry. After they exchanged their hellos, Reyam was the first to speak.

“Come on, guys, let's go,” he said, already starting to walk toward the water, leaving his friends to catch up behind him.

Naran and Arzan exchanged a look at their friend's behavior. Reyam was always the one who liked to take his time when he did anything—ever since they were children, while they would race and fight against each other over everything, he would take his time finding joy in whatever he was doing, even if it was swimming through a path they'd used ten thousand times. So they were very surprised to see him rushing them now.

But they followed without saying anything for the moment. They swam around, playing and hunting like they always did in the ocean, but they couldn't help but notice Reyam's elevated mood throughout everything. He even caught more fish than usual.

As they dragged their nets out, Arzan walked to Reyam and snatched his net from his hands.

“You know damn well we don't need this much fish. You're going to empty the ocean at this rate,” Arzan said, releasing most of the fish back into the water.

“What is up with you today? You never overhunt—and I mean never,” Naran added as they walked back from storing the fish and sat down on the beach.

“No, it's nothing,” Reyam said to his friend, but Naran didn't believe him for a second—how could he, when he could feel the excitement in his voice?

“Come on, out with it already,” Arzan said.

The three were really good friends. They grew up talking and playing with each other as if they were siblings, so it was obvious why he wasn't telling them what had him so excited—it was because he himself didn't realize it yet.

Arzan and Naran exchanged a look that said just that, so they used a different approach.

“What are you going to be getting up to today?” Arzan asked knowingly.

“Virey and I are finally going to start training in the water. I'm so glad that I don't have to keep wrecking my head to find things to teach her,” Reyam answered, unsuspecting.

“There it is—so that's what got you so excited,” Naran exclaimed.

“Well, I guess so. I mean, I ran out of things to teach her because she learned everything too fast. Seriously, the girl is too smart for her own good,” Reyam said as he chuckled at the memory of how baffled he was when she passed his quiz with flying colors.

Arzan and Naran just looked at their friend like he was a stranger—and in this moment, he was one.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the two falling behind him as they froze.

“Seriously, Reyam excited about something other than training?” Arzan asked Naran.

“I mean, he is excited about training her, but still—I can't believe it,” Naran exclaimed.

The only things Reyam had been interested in were always in the ocean. All he liked to do was swim around endlessly, enjoying the sea life, so it was already weird that he cut that time in half.

And now, on top of all that, he was praising someone else—it was too much for his friends.

In all the times they'd known him, they'd only heard him praise three people at most, and none of them were anywhere close to their age.

It was hard to receive praise from someone who was the best in anything they competed in, and they knew how much he treasured his words. But now, he was acknowledging some girl he was teaching.

Reyam finally noticed they were frozen behind him and turned around to talk to them.

“What is up with you two today? Come on, let's go,” he said, oblivious to his friends' confusion.

“What’s up with us?!” Arzan exclaimed.

He couldn't believe his ears, but Naran stopped him with a shake of his head, thinking it wasn't their place to point anything out as he caught up to his friend, and they started walking together.

Once midday arrived, he bid his friends farewell and moved towards the chief’s marui.

He stopped in front of Virey’s marui and called out to her.

Her head peeked out of the covered entrance and went back in after she saw him.

When she emerged again, she had her hair tied back with leather.

“Hey you, so where are we going to train today?” she asked.

“Let’s go towards the water from the food storage—it’s shallow there,” he said to her, and they made their way there.

“I can't wait to show you the sea life under the water,” he began excitedly. “It's so beautiful that you may not want to get out.”

“Yeah, I can see that happening,” the girl said as she pictured what it would look like.

Reyam had always talked about how beautiful it was, so she couldn’t help but be excited about it.

As they reached their destination, Reyam told her his plan for today.

“For now, let’s first get you acquainted with the water. So for the first half, I'll just show you around the ocean,” he said as he walked to the water. Splashing sounds could be heard as he got in waist-deep.

“Come on,” he called out to Virey, who started to walk and was next to him, the water reaching around her chest.

“Take a deep breath in and follow me into the water. You remember all the signs, right?” he asked just in case.

“Yeah, how can I forget when you taught me so enthusiastically?” Virey joked.

The boy just rolled his eyes at her.

“Take a deep breath in,” he said and went under the surface.

The girl sucked in a deep breath and followed the boy underwater.

As her eyes adjusted to the water, she almost let go of the breath she was holding as she gazed at the sight in front of her.

The sea was so much better than it was in her head. Even all of Reyam’s descriptions combined didn’t do it justice.

Many different fish swam around in schools. Corals lay in intricate designs—if she fell in, she knew she wouldn’t find her way out.

The girl just halted and stared at the ocean in admiration.

Reyam laughed as he watched her, a small amount of air escaping him.

Her reaction was even better than he expected, but she had completely forgotten his existence and was swimming around, leaving him behind.

The boy just trailed behind, letting her enjoy the moment.

She followed a small school of fish as they swam, laughing as she admired them.

Without noticing, she had gone a lot deeper into the ocean and was too mesmerized to remember to go back for air.

She came back to her senses as she felt her lungs burning up. Leaving the fish she was following, she swam towards the surface, but each kick of her feet seemed to make her lungs burn up more.

As she felt her movement grow slower, a hand wrapped around her arms, taking her up to the surface.

She inhaled a deep breath as her head broke the surface. As her breath calmed down, she stared back at the boy, worry coloring his face.

He spoke softly to the girl he was holding.

“Hey, hey, just breathe, try to calm your heart,” he started.

“Deep breath,” he said as he breathed with her.

“Sorry, you were doing so well, I completely forgot you were a beginner,” he apologized hurriedly.

“It’s fine, just—” the girl started as she twisted her arm from his hand, trying to free herself.

“Please just let go,” she breathed out.

Reyam hurriedly let his hand loose, as if he had forgotten he was holding her.

“Let’s go back. Is your breathing steady?” he asked, to which the girl nodded.

“Stay close to the surface,” he said and dived in. The two reached the surface and walked out to rest on the beach.

“I guess I should have started with the breathing lessons,” he said more to himself.

They only rested for a little while before returning to the water.

“So, you already did really well on your breathing, so I’m just gonna tell you the basics,” he said as he got closer to the girl.

“The tricky part is learning how to slow down your heartbeat. Lucky for you, you have me to teach you that,” he joked.

The girl just rolled her eyes as she chuckled at his statement.

“The key is to breathe in from here,” the boy pressed his hand on his stomach. “Then, you have to be one with the water, feel the wave and the direction it's heading,” he said as he closed his eyes.

Virey did the same, putting her hands on her stomach as she tried to apply what he taught her.

Reyam opened his eyes and stretched his arm out to feel Virey’s heartbeat but was taken aback when she slapped his hand away violently.

Even she seemed surprised by her actions. She didn’t mean to hit him so hard.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you,” Virey said frantically.

The boy looked at how she seemed to be retreating back into her shell, but before she did, he raised his arms up in surrender and took a step back, successfully halting her apology.

“I must have surprised you, I understand,” he said softly. “No harm done,” which calmed her down.

“I want to check your heartbeat to see if you’re doing it correctly. Can I?” he asked, to which the girl didn’t answer, but he could see the hesitation in her eyes.

“Okay, that’s fine. We can try another way,” he told her reassuringly, but he couldn’t help but question why.

It wasn’t the first time something like this had happened either—back in the water just hours ago, and again when he gave her the bracelet, and other times as well when he was teaching her sign language.

Every time he noticed it, he pushed his thoughts away, but with what happened now, he was finding it hard to just push it out.

Still, he knew it wasn’t his place to question her, so he let it go yet again.

“Maybe let’s switch things up then,” he said, snapping the girl out of her head.

“Why don’t you try to feel my heartbeat, see how slow it is?” he said to her, walking closer again.

Virey thought about it for a moment before she hesitantly lifted her arms and put her hand on his chest.

At first, the skin-to-skin contact made her want to wrench her hands away, but she resisted, keeping her hands on his chest.

As moments passed, she felt herself calm down more and more as she focused on the heartbeat beneath her hands. Its slow, steady rhythm was grounding to her, and as more time passed, she didn’t feel the need to pull her hand from where it rested.

She pulled her left hand from where it hung by her side and put it on her chest.

Then she slowly started breathing, trying to slow down her heart to match his.

She felt completely calm as her heart started to slow down, so she pressed on.

Reyam was more stunned than anything else.

He didn’t dare move an inch from where he was grounded. When he suggested that she put her hand on him instead, he was fully ready for her to say no, so this was very unexpected for him.

But he let the girl do as she pleased in this moment, seeing how focused she was.

And as the girl put her own hand on her chest, regulating her breathing, he couldn’t help but stare at the bracelet on her wrist—the very one he gave her that night by the beach.

It looked as beautiful as he thought it would against the contrast of her skin.

His gaze was pulled from her hands as he saw two people approach the storage. They were a bit farther into the water, but anyone who paid attention could see them.

And just as luck would have it, Tonowari and Ronal were the ones walking toward the storage, holding their infant daughter in their hands.

Ronal was the one to notice them first, raising her eyebrows at Reyam, who just looked like he could die from embarrassment at any moment.

But Virey was completely oblivious to the whole situation, as she had her eyes closed.

Reyam’s situation didn’t get any better as Ronal directed her mate’s attention from one daughter to the other.

Tonowari took one look at what was happening farther away in the waters before he freed one of his hands by leaning his daughter against his chest and wrapped the free one around Ronal’s shoulder, directing his protesting mate away from where she was going to march up to them and toward the storage.

Virey opened her eyes just as Ronal and Tonowari went out of sight.

As she felt Reyam’s heartbeat quicken beneath her hands, she looked up at the poor boy with questioning eyes.

“No, it’s just—” he started, not knowing how to relay the information.

“It’s just Ronal and Tonowari were walking to the food storage and—” he trailed off.

“And… I don’t see the point here,” Virey said, unaffected.

“I think they misunderstood what was happening, alright,” he rushed out, even more embarrassed at having to say it to her.

“What’s there to misunderstand about this? They already know you’re giving me lessons on breathing,” she said, honestly not seeing the problem here.

The problem was that he was the one who should have been regulating her breathing, not the other way around.

From the way it looked, it would give anyone the wrong impression, but it’s not like he could say all that to her, so instead, he just chose to run away.

He just exhaled in exasperation before diving into the water, leaving Virey on her own.

Virey just smiled mischievously as she stared into the water where Reyam dived.

She understood what he meant when he told her about it—after all, she knew how much Reyam held Tonowari in high regard, so he naturally didn’t want him to misunderstand what was going on.

But she didn’t expect Reyam to just bolt like that.

She didn’t mean to upset him with her words like that, and so, sucking in a breath, she followed the boy underwater.

Reyam was swimming ahead of her, and from the distance between them, she knew she had no chance of catching up to him.

So instead, she made a tiny cut on her fingers and watched the water dissolve her blood.

Her eyes glowed golden as she summoned her energy and twisted the currents around her body to push her toward the boy who was getting farther away.

And with some struggle, she caught up to him.

His eyes grew big in surprise as he laid his eyes on her, wondering how she could have caught up to him.

He stopped as he saw her glowing eyes, and as she swam closer to him, her eyes returned to the human brown he was familiar with.

“I didn’t expect you to just dive like that,” she signed to him, to which he just looked back at her, still trying to process what he just saw.

The girl waited for him to reply, but when he said nothing, she continued.

“If it bothers you that much, I’ll just explain it to them for you.”

That seemed to snap him out of his thoughts, and he signed back.

“Come on, up to the surface,” and so they did.

“I was just embarrassed, alright, that’s all,” he said back to the girl.

“Alright then, if they ask me about it, I’ll tell them it was a misunderstanding—so no need to be embarrassed,” she said, looking away from him.

“We should head back. It’s already getting late,” she told the boy before diving and swimming away.

He followed right after, but as they swam together, he saw how slow she was going compared to before. It just made him all the more confused.

.

.

Another three weeks passed by in a blur since she started her training in the water.

Since their breathing exercise, Reyam had also taught her how to call for an ilu and how to ride it as well.

The first few times she tried, she was wrenched away from it by the current from the speed, but slowly, she had learned how to hold the handle properly and how to position herself depending on the current.

She couldn’t help but admit that Reyam was an incredible teacher, but her strong connection to Eywa also helped her greatly in this journey.

Through it all, she and Reyam had grown incredibly close.

They started hanging out after lessons, going on rides on their ilu, and exploring the ocean together.

And Virey actually started regarding him as someone whose company she enjoyed, and that was very rare for her.

The most she could manage was to tolerate others at best—the best example being Aonung.

So she felt down about their lessons coming to an end, as he had told her that there was just nothing more he could teach her as they were walking back to her marui.

She didn’t understand why she felt so down. She knew that they had to part ways at some point, but the closer they got to her marui, the farther she wanted it to be.

She couldn’t understand why she was feeling like this.

She felt like she was losing a friend, but there was just more to it—so much more.

As they stood in front of her marui, she looked up at Reyam, who looked down himself.

He looked at her as she started walking to her marui, then met her eyes as she turned around to look at him.

“Well, I guess this is it,” she said, trying to keep their separation lighthearted.

“Yeah, I guess so,” said the boy, conflicted.

Virey looked back at the eyes that were staring at her, and letting a sharp breath in, she said, “It was nice knowing you, Reyam,” with genuineness clear in her voice.

With that, she was about to turn back and go to her marui before Reyam stopped her.

“Hey, wait, why are you acting like this is going to be the last time we meet?” he said, successfully stopping her before she turned.

“Didn’t you say that the lessons are over?” she asked with a hopeful voice.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t be meeting each other anymore. I’m also your guard, remember?”

“Yeah?” she breathed out with a smile, relief washing over her.

“Hell yeah,” he said, feeling himself smile as he saw hers.

“Now tell me where you and Tsireya will be meeting the others?” he said.

After telling him that she would come around in the afternoon, they bid each other farewell, and Virey entered her marui with a hum in her chest, playing with the bracelet on her wrist.

After watching her go into her marui, Reyam turned around and just realized what he had done.

He was, in fact, talking from his behind when he told her that he was still her guard.

Although it did start out that way, Tonowari had told him that he no longer needed to three weeks ago.

But he couldn’t just watch as they parted ways like that—the very core of his being revolted against that idea.

So he just said what came to his mind in that moment and almost burst when he saw the smile it brought out of Virey.

He walked back to his marui with a smile on his face, pushing down the thoughts that were questioning his actions.

Chapter Text

Tsireya felt restless as she waited for Virey to wake up from her slumber.

Today was the day she had been waiting for six weeks—she was finally going to introduce her sister to the rest of her friends.

She had almost been unable to sleep from the excitement last night, and now that she was awake, she just wanted to storm into Virey’s marui and drag her out to meet her friends.

She kept pacing around the marui, checking the sun to tell the time again and again as her family just stared at her from where they were sitting.

“It’s the fifth time you’re checking the sun. Give it a rest already,” Aonung said, annoyed, but he couldn’t help the excitement he was feeling as his feet tapped the floor repeatedly.

He couldn’t wait to see how all this was going to go down.

“Both of you just calm down,” Ronal started. “You know she is never up at this time.”

“Yes, Mother, but I just can't help it,” Tsireya said as she walked to her mother and sat down next to her.

Her mother just looked at her beautiful daughter as she began to play with her daughter’s hair.

“Just remember to look after her until she warms up to your friends,” she said, her hands still in her daughter’s hair. “You know how Virey is—it takes her time.”

“Yes, Mother, I know. You have told me that for the third time already,” Tsireya said as she sighed but still leaned into her mother’s touch.

“That applies to you too, Aonung,” she said to her son, who rolled his eyes as he said, “Yes, I know. You are saying that for the third time too.”

Ronal smiled as she thought of how far this family had come.

Virey had become the missing piece—the middle ground they hadn’t even realized they needed.

She was the one who indulged Aonung in his playful bickering while also being the older sister Tsireya adored chattering to.

She could see the happiness in Virey’s eyes as she spent time with the two.

She had been skeptical of how this was going to go at first, but now she was just glad for the decision they had made.

Although the things she had seen in Virey still weighed heavily on her mind.

She knew Virey was trying to shed light on some of those unanswered mysteries—without them asking.

She had told Tonowari, in passing, that she wasn’t from the Omatikaya clan.

She had let slip to Ronal that she had never seen an ikran before.

Ronal recognized these moments for what they were—Virey trying, in her own way, to open up.

And Ronal had decided to let her do it at her own pace.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Tonowari entered the marui, their infant daughter nestled against him.

He had taken her for a walk along the beach.

He glanced at Ronal, then at their children, amusement flickering in his eyes.

“They still haven’t given up?”

“No, I've told them multiple times that she wasn’t going to wake up now, no matter how much they wanted her to,” Ronal replied, exasperated with her children.

“To hell with this, I’m gonna go wake her up,” Aonung said and tried to get up, but his dad was one step faster than him.

As he stood next to him, Tonowari put a hand on his shoulder and kept his son still.

“You aren’t going to do a thing. And what does what you just said even mean?” he questioned his son’s language.

Aonung just shrank back to his seat—he couldn’t tell his father that he picked this up from Lo’ak (just like how Reyam did from Virey).

“I need you guys to take care of Virey when you take her to your friends. You know how she is,” Tonowari started but was interrupted by his son.

“Yes, yes, we know. Eywa, you two really do say the exact same thing,” he pointed at his parents.

“You know she is our sister too, right? We’re not treating her like one just because you said so,” his voice softened toward the end, his sister nodding firmly beside him.

Tonowari looked at his son in surprise—he didn’t expect his son to be this attached to the girl already.

When the Sullys first arrived, he had been so reluctant to even give them a chance.

Although now, he was practically attached at the hip with them.

Tonowari had worried the same hesitation would apply to Virey, but it had taken Aonung only two months to grow this close to her.

A small smile tugged at his lips as he wrapped his arm around his son’s neck, pulling him close.

“Look at how grown up my son is now. I almost can’t believe it,” Tonowari mused, shaking him playfully.

“Dad, come on,” Aonung groaned—annoyed but happy all the same.

Tonowari only grinned, holding his daughter with his other arm as the family continued talking and playing while they waited for Virey.

Then, at last, she arrived.

Virey walked into the family marui, announcing herself with a light tap on the entrance frame.

She greeted them—and barely had time to sit down before Aonung and Tsireya shot up from their seats.

Without warning, Tsireya hooked her arm through Virey’s, while Aonung placed a firm hand on her shoulder.

Before she could blink, they were pushing her right back toward the exit.

Virey blinked at them, her expression a mix of confusion and mild alarm.

She swallowed the instinct to wrench herself free from their grasp.

“Be careful in the water and don’t—” Ronal began, but her son cut her off mid-sentence.

“Yes, yes, we know. You were about to say that for the tenth time,” Aonung groaned over his shoulder as he and Tsireya pulled Virey along.

Tonowari and Ronal exchanged a glance—then laughed at their children's antics.

Virey somehow managed to detangle herself from them without them noticing too much.

She could no longer swallow down the bile, but she didn’t want to tip off the two.

Still, she applauded herself for being able to take it for that long.

And as the two walked toward the ocean, she could see the group of Na’vi that were already in the water, waving toward them.

They wasted no time as they made their way toward the Na’vi calling for them, the ocean water cool against her skin. It reached around her chest by the time they stopped.

Her eyes immediately found Neteyam’s, and she smiled at the sight of him, the boy doing the same.

Her eyes trailed down to the wound she had closed, and her smile grew even more.

She pointed toward her chest and mouthed, “I’m glad,” to him quietly, to which the boy was taken aback at the sincerity in her eyes before he smiled back at the girl.

The group was too concerned with their hellos to watch their exchange.

Tsireya turned to Virey and gave her a smile before starting the introductions.

“Everyone, this is Virey. Come on and introduce yourselves,” she said cheerily, and they all exchanged greetings, introducing themselves.

Virey felt awkward the entire time—she was moments away from just wading out of the water and toward her marui.

But that was before she laid her eyes on the sky boy in front of her.

She remembered he had introduced himself as Spider, but she felt like she had definitely seen him somewhere before.

She stared at the boy intently, trying to figure it out, and she was so wrapped up in her thoughts she didn’t see Aonung’s questioning look as his gaze traveled between her and the human boy.

Virey finally remembered where she might have had seen him—it was after she had saved Neteyam and went back to the Three Brothers Rocks.

It was the boy she saw who had dragged a mean-looking Na’vi out of the water.

His son? she thought, but she was pulled out of her thoughts as Aonung came up to her.

“Really? Monkey boy? Out of everyone, you choose him?” he said to her, successfully misunderstanding her gaze.

“What are you talking about?” she said, utterly confused.

He looked into her eyes and felt relief wash over him as his misunderstanding was cleared up.

“So, where are we going today?” asked Lo’ak, who had his eyes on Tsireya.

“You guys want to race to the reef rocks?” Aonung said, shooting a look at Neteyam and Virey, who just nodded in return.

And as the group agreed, Aonung began the countdown, everyone readying themselves to bolt underwater.

And as Aonung shouted, “One!” they all dived in unison, racing toward the reef rock—everyone except Neteyam, Aonung, and Virey.

“I can't believe that worked. Idiots,” Aonung laughed as he made his way toward the other two, who were laughing by themselves.

“We should probably move before they realize we aren’t following,” Virey suggested as she caught her breath.

“Sure, follow me—I know a secluded place,” Neteyam said and dived into the water, the other two following.

And soon, they reached a boulder that was way out of anyone’s line of sight.

“How do you even know a place like this?” Aonung exclaimed as he broke the surface, pulling himself onto the boulder, followed by the other two.

“This isn’t even in the top three of the secluded areas I know,” Neteyam said, laughing at Aonung’s shocked face.

The three sat on the edge, their legs in the water as they looked out at the ocean.

Neteyam was sat between Virey and Aonung. He turned his head to her and said, “I’m sure you already know, but we won’t press you for answers. We just want you to shed some light on what happened that night—or, more so, I’m really curious to know how you did it,” the boy exclaimed.

Virey looked at Neteyam in surprise—she didn’t think they brought her out here just to satisfy their curiosity.

She actually thought they would press her on it so hard that she came prepared with a small cut on her hands, but the open way they were communicating what was on their minds just made her want to be more open with them.

“What if you don’t like what I have to say?” she said, turning to face them both with a serious expression.

“What will you do then?”

“Are you going to k—” she started but was frantically interrupted by Aonung.

“Hey, hey, calm down. Don’t go jumping to conclusions with such a sad expression.”

Aonung couldn’t believe what he was about to hear.

Sure, he had threatened her when they first met, but that was honestly because he thought she had hurt Neteyam.

He didn’t think that she would still be holding onto it like this.

Neteyam was just as stunned as Aonung.

How could she think that the person she saved would be all for killing her?

And even if she wasn’t the one who brought him back to life, he would never just end someone because he didn’t like what they said.

It frightened him how she just accepted that people would go for her throat if she made one misstep.

“If you don’t want to tell us, that’s fine. If we don’t hear what we expected, that’s fine too. We are just asking because we want to know—it’s your secret to keep if you choose to do so,” Aonung assured the girl.

Virey smiled at how they reacted to her half-said statement, and with that, she decided to trust them with this secret.

She held up her hands, fingers spread wide, as if they had never seen them before.

“As you already know, this extra finger means I was human once,” she began, stating the obvious. The boys nodded.

“And I’m sure you know how advanced humans are in many things—especially healthcare.”

“Yeah, it used to amaze me, watching Norm work,” Neteyam added.

“I was really interested in medicine for a while, so I learned a lot about the body's mechanics,” she continued, but Neteyam cut in.

“Even humans can't bring someone back without complicated tools and strange liquids,” he pointed out.

“That’s where my connection to Eywa comes in,” she said.

“I start by filling the wound with my own blood. The energy within it, combined with Eywa’s power, transforms the blood and repairs the vital damage—the parts of the body that are necessary for survival. In your case, that meant your lungs. If they hadn't been pierced, I could have healed the outer wound more completely.”

She glanced down at his chest and smiled.

“But you seem to be doing just fine.”

“Okay, but that still doesn’t explain how it actually works,” Aonung said, his mind working overtime to keep up.

“I’m getting there,” she assured him.

“The rest of the blood travels to the brain, shocking it into starting the revival process. Did you know the brain tries to bring itself back up to fifteen minutes after death?”

The boys were already lost, exchanging baffled looks.

“But it fails because the body isn’t fully repaired. So, if I fix the damage first and then send the shock, the brain can do the rest on its own,” she explained, oblivious to their growing confusion.

Neither of them understood a word she had said.

“That’s why I told you this isn’t that grand,” she concluded, looking at their stunned expressions.

“Yeah, there’s definitely something wrong with you if you think that’s not grand,” Aonung said, leaning back on his hands.

“At least one person in the family is a genius,” he added with a laugh, making her smile.

“Now imagine if I had dumped all this information on you that night while you were half-conscious,” she teased.

The boys grimaced at the thought.

“You’re welcome.”

“I didn’t understand a single thing she just said. Did you?” Neteyam muttered.

Aonung shook his head. “Not a clue.”

“How did you even know it would work on a Na’vi?” Aonung asked.

She shrugged.

“I took a chance. He met the requirements.”

Neteyam raised a brow.“And those are?”

“There are three strict, unbreakable rules. One, the body must not be moved from where it died. Two, the person can’t have been dead for more than an hour. And three, it requires an enormous amount of energy.”

“Don’t you remember when you woke up? I’m sure you felt exhausted,” she asked Neteyam.

He nodded.

“It takes a lot of energy—from both me and the person I’m healing—to complete this.

"Obviously, that means I can’t do it more than once until I fully recover, and that takes a long time.”

“Was that why you postponed your water training?” Aonung asked.

She sighed.

“That was why I almost drowned. I barely survived those two weeks in the forest.”

The boys exchanged a glance, finally understanding the extent of what she had risked to bring Neteyam back.

The question was inevitable.

“Why?” they both asked at the same time.

She met Neteyam’s gaze. “Think about how your family would have been if you had actually died,” she said.

The mere thought of it made him pale.

“That’s what was running through my mind when I saw them crying for you that day.

"I couldn’t just turn away.”

She exhaled, the weight of it settling over them all.

.

“That was one hell of a tiring conversation,” she sighed as she stood up, signaling that she was done talking about this.

The two boys swallowed down one question that was lingering in both their minds.

How did she become a Na’vi?

“Well, let’s go back then. They must have noticed we aren’t with them by now,” Neteyam said, and the two got up, diving into the water as they swam back.

They arrived at the place they should have a little later than midday, and the blame was all Virey’s.

She had gotten sidetracked by the sea life’s beauty so much that Aonung was close to tying the fiber around her hand and just dragging her with him.

As they were walking out of the water and onto the beach, Tsireya came running to them and started hitting her brother.

“You scared me, moron! You should have just told us,” she said.

Aonung just laughed as he dodged her hits.

“What were you guys up to that you had to leave us behind?” Lo’ak asked.

“We would have just brought you with us if we were going to tell you this simply,” Aonung said in a distinct way that made it obvious he was mocking him.

Neteyam just hit his arm, making Aonung roll his eyes.

“I’m gonna get back into the water before all this bores me to death,” Virey remarked, pulling a laugh out of the group.

With that, the group just broke up as they swam away.

Aonung and Neteyam swam away on their own, followed by Tsireya and Lo’ak, who seemed to be collecting shells.

Rotxo, Kiri, and Spider swam away on their own as well, leaving Virey by herself, which made her happy as she could finally explore the ocean.

She had struggled a bit to swim to the floor of the ocean when she and Reyam were training at first.

She had mentioned to Reyam how she had a higher body fat percentage than most Na’vi and that was why she struggled to get under (and also the reason she didn’t drown), to which he had replied with, “What the hell is fat?”

That had made Virey roll her eyes, cursing how she had forgotten where she was.

But now she knew exactly how to handle that.

She swam down all the way to the ocean floor, and there she saw a large group of golden fish swim toward her.

She stretched out her hand, and they swam, circling her hands.

The fish around that area started to move toward her as well, keeping her company as if she was nature’s beloved.

She only broke away from them when she felt her lungs burn from the lack of air.

As her head broke the surface, she could see that it was already the afternoon.

She had been so wrapped up in the ocean that she hadn’t even noticed the time when she had gone back up for air the other times.

She made her way toward the shore, and a smile broke out on her face as she saw Reyam waiting for her there.

“I almost thought that you stood me up,” he said, smiling as he walked to the girl.

“To you? Never,” she said, laughing as he joined her in the water.

“So what, you would do that to someone else?” Reyam asked with a hopeful voice—hopeful for what? He couldn’t tell you if his life depended on it.

“Maybe,” Virey said, her laughter not faltering for a second. And for some reason, that made him feel like he could combust right where he stood.

“Now that you’re here, I can finally go further out to explore,” Virey said as she readied herself to dive back into the water.

“Does that mean you were waiting for me?” Reyam joked, his voice teasing.

But it seemed to stop Virey in her tracks as she realized that she was unconsciously sticking close to the shore, waiting for Reyam.

“Shut up,” she said back to him, her voice a little shakier than she intended—which the boy didn’t notice.

She dived into the water as if to drown out her thoughts, and it seemed to work.

They both swam farther into the ocean than they ever had before, Reyam showing her how to maneuver herself between intricate corals and also how to break them in case she was trapped in one.

He was not taking his chances with this girl who had gotten lost at least twice before.

It was getting really late at night, but they were way out into the sea, so they called for an ilu to get back.

The thought of Tonowari’s angry face was all Reyam could think about as they waited for their ilu.

When they finally came, he helped steady Virey’s ilu as she mounted it first.

The boy looked away frantically as she brought her bond forward and connected to the ilu, but he had to tighten his grip on the ilu until the bond settled.

Virey had her eyes shut, frowning as she tried to calm the ilu through their bond—their hearts beating as one.

The first time Reyam told her about the bonding, she truly didn’t believe him.

He, in turn, couldn’t believe that she had never done that before, as she seemed not to know anything about this.

But she could feel that what he was saying was right.

The first time she tried bonding with an ilu, she was so nervous that the ilu couldn’t be calmed, as she transferred all of those nerves to it.

She couldn't forget how Reyam had fallen over in the water laughing.

Now, she finally knew how to keep it calm, but it was still tricky to mount it when she was on her own.

“You really want to get me killed today, don’t you?” he told her, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Virey just laughed in response as he mounted his ilu, and they raced toward the shore.

Like always, he walked her to the marui, then returned to his own—careful not to wake his family as he slipped into his room.

Chapter Text

It had been three weeks since Virey started spending time with Tsireya and her group. In the afternoons, she would explore more of the ocean with Reyam. Bit by bit, she found herself warming up to the people she now spent every day with. Though their tasks mostly involved collecting things from the ocean for the village, she didn’t mind—it gave her more time in the water.

What she didn't expect, however, was how close she would grow to Kiri.

Something about Kiri felt familiar, though Virey couldn't explain it. Calming. Comfortable. To top it off, they had more in common than she ever realized—whether it was their shared love of the ocean or the way they both rolled their eyes whenever Aonung and Lo’ak started fighting.

They just clicked.

And lately, they'd been exploring the ocean together more than they had been doing so alone. For both of them, that was rare.

Today, Reyam had told Virey he wouldn't be able to make it to their usual afternoon meetup—training had gotten in the way. So, she had planned on swimming alone until nightfall. But as she sat on the beach, waiting for her meal to settle before heading back into the water, Kiri found her and plopped down beside her.

"Are you also waiting for the meal to settle?" Virey asked, pulling a laugh from Kiri.

"How did you know that?" Kiri questioned, amused.

"Who knows?" Virey shrugged, grinning.

They laughed again.

"What do you say we go into the forest today instead?" Kiri suggested.

"I’ve never been in there—I don’t know my way around," Virey said, as if that were a valid reason not to go.

"So what? Good thing I’m here then," Kiri said, standing. When Virey didn’t move, she sighed, adding, "Come on, get up. I don’t normally offer help, you know."

That seemed to do the trick—Virey groaned but got up anyway.

As they ventured into the forest, Kiri was baffled to hear Virey say she couldn’t climb a tree. That led to an impromptu lesson, which, to Kiri’s surprise, Virey picked up faster than expected—she was still a forest Na’vi, after all.

Once she got the hang of it, they traveled from branch to branch before eventually settling on the ground. The trees here weren’t like the ones in the deeper forest—or so Kiri claimed.

They walked, talking and laughing about anything and everything until they reached a large clearing covered in soft grass. Without hesitation, they collapsed, laying down as they gazed up at the sky. The sun had nearly reached its peak.

"It was nice walking with you," Virey murmured. "We should do this more often."

"If only the ocean wasn’t so beautiful," Kiri mused. "I’d have a lot less trouble picking which one to explore."

They both broke out into laughter.

Then, as if a lullaby had been sung just for them, sleep crept in—slow, steady, inevitable. Their eyelids grew impossibly heavy.

"Hey, Virey... what do you think about taking a little rest here?" Kiri mumbled, barely awake.

Virey hummed in agreement, shifting to get comfortable in the grass.

Sleep overtook her effortlessly.

Beside her, Kiri had already drifted off.

.

.

It was late in the afternoon when Aonung and Neteyam emerged from the water, playfully shoving at each other as they made their way onto the beach to dry off.

Aonung had been contemplating asking Neteyam something for weeks. The thought had lingered in the back of his mind, building, unraveling, then tightening again whenever they spent time together.

He turned his gaze from the ocean to the forest Na’vi in front of him, his eyes drifting to where their hands rested in the sand—so close that if he moved even slightly, his fingers would brush against Neteyam’s.

He wrenched his gaze away, forcing himself to stare back at the horizon.

His heart hammered in his chest, heat flooding his face. He sucked in a breath—then exhaled slowly, trying to find the resolve to move his hand.

He just needed to go for it.

With that thought, he started to lift his hand—only, in his nervous haze, he didn’t notice that Neteyam was doing the exact same thing.

Their fingers met halfway, intertwining effortlessly, resting against the sand.

Aonung let out a shaky breath, struggling to steady his heartbeat, forcing himself to recall every lesson on self-control he had ever learned—but it was useless.

Slowly, he glanced at Neteyam.

The other boy kept his gaze fixed on the ocean, but his ears were pinned back, and his tail swayed left and right—betraying his excitement.

Neither of them let go.

They stayed like that, fingers curled together, until the sky burned bright orange.

Then, Rotxo arrived.

The moment shattered.

Both of them slowly pulled their hands apart—as if trying to stretch out the last lingering touches for as long as they could.

Rotxo’s knowing gaze flicked between them before he spoke. "Have you guys seen Kiri?"

Aonung sighed, irritated at the interruption. "No. That’s usually your forte."

Rotxo gave him an apologetic look. "Last time I saw her was midday, when we came back for food. She disappeared after that."

"So what?" Aonung huffed. "Maybe she went for a swim without you guys. She always does that."

"No." Rotxo’s voice had an edge now—concern creeping in. "She always tells us not to wait up when she goes out for this long. I don’t think she’s in the water."

That caught Aonung’s attention.

"Yeah, that’s true," Neteyam added. "She usually lets us know when she’s gone for this long."

Aonung groaned, reluctantly pushing himself up. "Fine—whatever. She’s probably in the forest or something. Let’s go."

He didn’t wait for a reply, already striding toward the trees.

Rotxo gave Neteyam an apologetic look—he knew he had interrupted something.

Neteyam looked away shyly before following Aonung into the forest.

Neteyam led the two water Na’vi through the forest, tracking Kiri toward its heart. As they neared the open clearing, weaving between the trees, the sight before them made them freeze.

It wasn’t just one spirit. Not three. Not even five.

Dozens—pure forest spirits—hovered around the two sleeping Na’vi. Some rested upon them, others floated in the air, swirling like gentle embers in the twilight. But even more astonishing was the ground itself—the grass rippled, as if it was breathing in sync with the slumbering girls.

Aonung and Neteyam exchanged looks, then motioned for Rotxo to stay put before cautiously moving forward, each one heading toward their sister.

Slowly, they crouched beside them, reaching out to shake them awake.

Virey and Kiri stirred—not like they were waking from sleep, but as if surfacing from a deep trance. Their eyes met, and in that moment, realization flickered between them.

"Are you okay, Virey? Can you hear me?" Aonung repeated, snapping her attention to him.

"Yes, yes—I’m fine," she said, trying to piece together the flood of revelations in her mind.

Neteyam and Aonung exchanged glances but ultimately stepped back, deciding to give the two some time alone. "Get back to the marui when you’re ready," Neteyam instructed before leaving with Aonung.

Once they were gone, Kiri and Virey turned to each other.

"You heard it too?" they asked at the same time—then grinned, confirming what they both suspected.

"Finally," Kiri exhaled. "Someone can prove I’m not just going crazy."

"Or maybe we’re just both crazy," Virey joked, laughing.

"In your face, dad—I’m not imagining things. I have physical proof now," Kiri grumbled, directing her frustration toward someone who wasn’t even there.

Virey gave her a questioning look, so Kiri began explaining—how she had connected to the spirit tree, how she had almost died after seizing underwater, how she had been forbidden from ever linking to it again.

Virey’s expression twisted in horror at the thought of being cut off from such a connection. Unthinkable. That reaction seemed to satisfy Kiri.

But then, Virey surprised even herself.

"I think I can help you connect to the spirit tree."

Kiri’s eyes widened with excitement as she leaned in, eagerly urging Virey to explain.

Virey blinked, stunned. She had just voluntarily offered to show Kiri how her powers worked. And she couldn’t bring herself to retract the offer—not when Kiri was willing to expose such a vulnerable piece of herself.

She felt how much this meant to Kiri—heard it in the way her voice tightened at the mention of being forbidden.

"Basically, I can create a bubble of air around you by pushing the water away. So even if you were to seize, I’ll make sure you have enough air."

Kiri stared. "What the—? But how?"

"You know how the world of Pandora itself is alive, right?" Virey prompted.

Kiri nodded. "Yes, I can connect to fish and plants when I link with it—but how can you do that with water?"

"Let’s just go tomorrow," Virey said, laughing. "I’ll show you how it works. And if everything goes as planned, you might even be able to connect to the spirit tree again."

Kiri already knew—she wasn’t sleeping tonight. Not even for a second.

"Just remember—this is our little secret, okay?" Virey whispered, raising her fingers to her lips.

Kiri mirrored her. "Dad would kill me if he ever found out," she giggled, imagining his furious expression.

And with that, they bid each other farewell, each heading back toward their marui.

.

The next day, Virey and Reyam met at the food storage around midday.

"Hey you, so how did the training you ditched me for go?" Virey teased, grabbing two fish from the basket.

"Come on, I didn’t ditch you." Reyam sighed, taking a fruit into his hands. "It went alright. And by alright, I mean it left us heaving and dying by the end of it. Jake is really something else."

"I’ll make it up to you," Reyam offered, stepping a little closer as they walked out. "Let me take you somewhere this afternoon."

"Yeah, sorry—I can’t make it today," Virey said casually.

Reyam froze. He had spent half of yesterday wishing he could ditch training and run off with her, and now he had to wait another day?

"Well... okay, that’s fine," he mumbled. It wasn’t like he could tell her to cancel her plans and go with him—even if he really wanted to say just that.

As they walked, Reyam rambled about Jake pushing them harder than ever lately. He grabbed the plate Virey was carrying and set it down in front of her when they reached an open spot.

By all logic, he should have left then. He should have gone back to his friends.

But he stayed.

Since he wouldn’t get to see her this afternoon, this would have to be his compromise. And, surprisingly, Virey didn’t shoo him away like she would have anyone else.

So they stayed—talking, laughing—until an excited Kiri came sprinting toward them, Lo’ak, Aonung, and Neteyam trailing behind.

Aonung took one look at Virey and Reyam sitting together—the food still spread out on the table—and nearly choked.

His very own sister—who always shooed him away when he intruded on her alone time at the food storage—was willingly letting someone sit with her?

"Come on, let’s go already!" Kiri urged, tugging at Virey’s arm.

Virey chuckled as she stood. "Okay, okay, we’re going."

She glanced back at Reyam, who was waving her goodbye. "Don’t even think about bailing on me tomorrow."

Reyam grinned. "I wouldn’t dream of it. You better not either."

And with that, Virey and Kiri disappeared into the crowd, passing by Lo’ak.

"Since when did those two get so close?" Lo’ak muttered. "I mean, Kiri’s been ditching us for Virey more often than not—but still."

Kiri had always been more interested in spending time alone with nature. It was her thing. Anytime they asked about it, she would just say they wouldn’t understand.

But Virey did.

That’s why the two clicked so effortlessly.

Aonung and Neteyam exchanged a look, thoughts flickering back to yesterday.

The spirits surrounding the two girls as if representing that they were in Eywa’s hands.

That was still something they couldn’t wrap their heads around. Aonung had told Neteyam outright—he had never seen so many pure spirits in one place before. He hadn’t even thought there were that many in the forest.

But for now, they kept it to themselves.

It wasn’t like there was anyone else who could understand the two girls well enough to tell them anyway.

.

Kiri and Virey swam farther out into the ocean, beyond where anyone could see them.

"Come on, tell me more about this already," Kiri groaned, her curiosity nearly unbearable.

Virey sighed, then began. "Okay, so basically, I use the energy in my blood to manipulate the water—to twist and shape it how I need. You know how Pandora is alive, but water has no consciousness?"

She made a small cut on her finger, watching as the blood dissolved into the ocean.

"So, since I can't link to it like you do with plants, I use my blood’s energy to will the water to move. It only works because water doesn’t have a mind of its own."

To demonstrate, she raised droplets from the ocean into the air.

Kiri stared in disbelief, then quickly grabbed a piece of coral from Virey and made a small cut, letting her blood mix into the water. She focused, trying to lift the water just as Virey had—but groaned when nothing happened.

She glanced up to see Virey laughing as she gathered the scattered droplets, forming a large sphere of water—then promptly dropped it onto Kiri's head, sending them both into a fit of laughter.

"Seriously, why can’t I do it? I understood what you explained," Kiri pouted.

Virey smiled at her, but there was a hint of sadness in it. "You need to be connected to Pandora to do this. If you link with the spirit tree and try again, I’m sure it’ll work for you."

Kiri frowned. "But you’re not connected to it right now—so how can you do it?"

The question made Virey’s smile vanish instantly, her eyes hardening. She turned away, gaze settling towards the direction of the Cove of Ancestors.

Kiri swallowed. Sore subject. Virey wasn’t ready to talk about it. She had already shared so much.

"Well, whatever." Kiri shifted the conversation. "Tell me how you’re going to let me breathe underwater."

The change in topic brought the light back into Virey’s expression as she looked at her friend.

"Like I told you before, I'm just going to create a bubble of air around you."

She pointed to the water beneath them. Slowly, it began to hollow out, expanding wider and wider until it formed a space just big enough to fit Kiri’s head.

"Go on then," Virey urged. "Put your head in the hollow part and move down slowly so I can seal it over the top."

Kiri took a breath, then dove beneath the surface, positioning herself under the hollow space. As her head emerged into it, she looked up at Virey and grinned—excitement bubbling up inside her.

Virey tried to close the water above her—but the bubble collapsed completely, soaking Kiri.

They burst into laughter again.

It took several tries, but eventually, they figured it out.

Kiri was finally underwater with a bubble of air wrapped snugly around her face.

She couldn’t believe it had actually worked.

With a surge of joy, she broke to the surface, her smile big on her face.

She wanted to squeeze Virey like she was trying to get the life out of her, but she knew that the other girl wouldn’t appreciate it—so instead, she made a mental note to make Virey a necklace.

It was already early in the afternoon now.

Kiri and Virey secretly swam to the Cove of Ancestors.

And as they finally arrived, Kiri looked at Virey happily, no longer able to wait.

Virey made another small cut on her finger, letting her blood drop into the water. "Remember—not more than an hour. That’s already pushing it," she warned, her voice firm.

Kiri nodded eagerly.

Just like they had practiced, a bubble of air formed around Kiri, and Virey did the same for herself as they swam toward the spirit tree.

Kiri couldn’t hold back the tears that welled in her eyes as she pulled her queue from behind her and slowly connected to the tree. Her father had forbidden her from it—it had nearly broken her. But now, finally, she was back.

The moment the connection was made, her eyes fluttered shut, and a smile spread across her face.

Virey felt a surge of happiness watching Kiri experience it again. She pulled her own queue forward, connecting to the spirit tree—and the rush was immediate.

The world of Pandora unfolded before her in its entirety—the islands of Awa'atlu, the forests of the Omaticaya—it was as if Eywa herself were guiding her on a journey. But then, the visions turned dark.

She saw the human base deep within the forest—machines ripping into the earth, fires burning, toxins seeping into the trees. The ocean was no safer. A massive demon ship prowled the waters, and the horrors continued—tulkuns slaughtered, their blood staining the waves red.

Then, she saw him.

A cruel-looking Na’vi, speaking with a human.

And before she could fully grasp what she was seeing, something yanked her back—hard.

Her breath hitched as she snapped into her physical body, eyes darting to Kiri, who was already looking at her. The same understanding shone between them, but Kiri’s held something more—fear.

The realization struck—this vision had been given to both of them.

Pandora was asking them for help.

Virey quickly signed to Kiri—they needed to get to the surface. Only then did they notice that nearly an hour had passed since they had connected. They carefully detached from the tree and swam up.

Kiri was the first to speak as they broke through the surface.

"How?" she stammered in disbelief. "How is this possible? Dad said Quaritch was finally dead. He said we were safe." Her voice trembled—it was more to herself than to Virey.

"What are you talking about? Who’s Quaritch?" Virey asked.

Kiri exhaled sharply. "Back when my dad joined the Na’vi, he and my mom killed that man. But somehow, he got a Na’vi body on top of coming back to life. And now—now I see that he's not dead. Again."

Her voice carried a note of resignation, as if this was an endless cycle.

"The son of a bitch is obsessed with my father," she muttered bitterly. "clearly he has too much free time on his hands. I can’t believe we have to off the fucker again."

Virey laughed at Kiri’s frustrated rant, but the weight of the visions lingered in her mind. As she replayed the destruction she had seen, her laughter faded. She had grown to love this world—and watching humans tear it apart as if it were nothing ignited something raw inside her.

If it came down to it—if she had to choose—she knew where her loyalty lay.

Pandora had given her joy, purpose. The human world had only ever taken.

Even the way she had ended up here was reason enough.

She swallowed her thoughts, turning back to Kiri, who was lost in her own mind.

"We need to tell my dad about this," Kiri said suddenly.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Virey raised a brow. "You know we’re dead if he finds out what we did here."

Kiri’s gaze flickered, her frustration bubbling. "I mean—how did he even survive? It doesn’t make sense."

Virey nearly told her what she had seen—some human boy dragging Quaritch out of the water. But she hesitated. She was sure the Na’vi called him 'son'—but they had also said that spider was raised by others in the forest. Until she knew for sure, she wouldn’t point fingers.

Kiri interrupted her thoughts. "Come on, let’s go back on the ilus. We can figure out how to tell my dad without getting killed for what we just did."

Virey laughed, shaking her head, but called for their ilus.

As they rode back, staying above the surface to keep talking, they wracked their minds for a way to tell Jake.

But by the time they reached the shore, they still hadn’t figured it out.

One thing was clear—he had to be warned.

If they didn’t, none of them would be able to control the disaster that followed.

They bid their goodbyes for the day, saying that they would talk more about it tomorrow when they met up.

This whole thing left Virey shocked.

She knew how destructive humans were—after all, they came here after killing their own planet—but she was worried for the people of this world more than anything.

She was glad that they had Jake, at the very least, and she was also determined to use her own powers in any way she could to help them in this crisis.

She thought they would need any and all help they could get.

But she was still extremely reluctant to tell them about her powers.

She had told Kiri about it because it seemed like the Great Mother was telling her that Kiri was someone she could trust.

But it seemed that Eywa wanted her to help Kiri as well.

The thought made her smile.

The planet seemed to protect its people in ways that no one fully understood.

But she was pulled out of her thoughts as the Na’vi in front of her said, “Well, you two look like you had a lot of fun.”

She shot her head up to stare back at Aonung, who had an indecipherable look on his face.

She shrank away like a kid who was caught in the act.

Aonung just sighed, not even bothering to ask what had happened.

“Come on, it’s already late. I’ll send you back to your marui,” he said, turning and walking away.

The girl caught up to him, grateful that he didn’t ask.

But she really didn’t want to go back yet—night had only fallen barely an hour ago.

But she just let him for now, thinking that she would just sneak out later.

She bid her brother goodbye and slipped into her marui, settling onto the mat.

She loosened the leather that held her hair back, combing her fingers through it as she waited for the perfect moment to sneak out unnoticed.

As the village grew silent, she peeked outside, scanning for any wandering Na’vi.

Seeing no one, she slowly crept out, tiptoeing onto the sand with her back hunched like a thief sneaking away.

Only when she reached the water did she let out a quiet laugh of triumph, convinced she had just pulled off the perfect crime.

Little did she know, Tonowari had seen the entire thing.

From his place in the marui, he had watched her careful escape and chuckled as she disappeared from view, letting his daughter believe she had gotten away with it.

He had expected this—the moment his son mentioned sending Virey back early, he knew it was only a matter of time. After all, the reason she slept in most mornings was because she stayed up far later than the rest of them.

As he sat with his mate, still occasionally glancing toward Virey’s marui, Ronal noticed his amusement and smirked.

"This girl—she could have just told us," she laughed.

"Yeah, well, she’s not exactly the type to ask for permission when she’d still sneak out even if we said no," Tonowari said, turning back to her.

Ronal gave him a knowing look. "You’re still going to stay up and make sure she gets back safely, aren’t you?"

Tonowari let out a low laugh. "I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t."

She shook her head fondly. "Then I’ll keep you company. We have plenty to discuss anyway."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead, and they continued their conversation, the quiet night stretching on.

.

Virey, on the other hand, was completely enjoying herself in the sea.

She was twisting the waters around her so that they would shoot her into the air like a dolphin as she swam around, enjoying the ocean.

She couldn’t get enough as she launched herself into the air from the water again and again, her eyes glazed purple, overlaying the golden they had become as she had fun with her powers—completely oblivious to the boy watching her from a distance.

.

Reyam couldn’t sleep that night.

He tossed and turned, trying to will sleep to come to him, but it inevitably failed.

After Virey told him that she couldn’t make it to their afternoon hangout, he had been moping and groaning to himself so much that his friends couldn’t bear to be near him, so they suggested they go back into the water—and so they did.

He swam around so much that he thought his limbs were going to fall off, so he couldn’t understand why he couldn’t sleep.

He sat up from his sleeping mat, sighing in resignation, and decided to just go for a walk by the beach.

He slowly slipped out of his marui, successfully not waking his parents, and started to walk down the beach.

He was lost in thought as he looked out into the ocean, remembering the night that he gave Virey the bracelet.

Although Virey didn’t seem to know, in Metkayina culture, gifting a person a bracelet or necklace meant that they wanted to form a personal bond with that person.

He was surprised to see that her accessory collection remained so little.

She wore an armband that had been gifted to her by her family and the bracelet that he had given her—that was all that she wore.

It made him a bit sad, but just the image of Virey wearing accessories that some guy had given her seemed to invoke a type of anger in him.

He came to a halt at the realization of what he was just thinking.

Why would he be pissed at that?

He already knew that she had started garnering attention from some of the warriors in training.

He had heard some of them telling the others how they weren’t able to look away from her when they saw her with Kiri in the water, but he had dismissed the thought, saying that none of them had a chance in hell.

But the idea that someone was lurking around her like that made rage rise in his chest.

Before the boy could dwell more on why he was reacting in this childish way, he was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a laugh in the distance.

His ears perked up as he located where it was coming from.

He started to swim in that direction as he felt the sound going farther and farther.

He knew that almost everyone would be asleep right now, so he couldn’t figure out who it could be.

And as his head broke the surface, he had his answer.

He saw Virey swimming into the water and shooting up into the air like she was riding on an ilu—the only problem was that there was no ilu in sight.

He couldn’t fathom how she was doing it, but that wasn’t the thing he was dwelling on right now.

It was about how beautiful he found her to be in that moment.

She had her long hair out of the leather that used to tie it back, and it was like it was dancing in the air as she shot up into the sky.

He couldn’t help but think of how beautiful she looked as he saw her laughing happily as she stayed in the air.

His breath hitched, his heartbeat picking up speed as he took in the sight in front of him.

He shook his head violently, getting himself out of the daze he was in.

And the question of how she was doing it surfaced as he stared at her, watching her do it again and again.

Virey could feel the eyes that were boring into her as she came to a halt, resurfacing from where she had just fallen in from.

She looked around frantically, trying to locate the eyes she felt.

Panic rising in her chest, but her heart calmed down as her eyes found Reyam’s blue ones.

And even before she got close to him, she could see the question on his face.

Reyam was completely stunned—he didn’t expect her to be the one who was going to swim to him.

He had actually fully expected her to bolt as soon as she saw him.

But his attention was brought back to Virey as she resurfaced in front of him, her eyes containing small shards of electric blue as she looked back at him.

“Just ask me,” she said, her voice quiet but firm.

“Just ask me, Reyam.”

She repeated herself, making it clear—she was ready to tell him.

Virey hadn’t expected to share her secret with two people in one day.

But she had seen the confusion growing in Reyam for weeks, the silent questions piling up behind his eyes.

If this had been three weeks ago, she would’ve done everything in her power to avoid answering him.

But now?

Now, he was one of the people she trusted.

She’d rather tell him than watch him pull away because of something she refused to explain.

Reyam was caught off guard.

He knew how reluctant she was to share anything beyond what was necessary.

So for her to do this—there was only one explanation.

She trusted him.

His chest tightened at the realization, a warmth blooming deep inside him as he let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding.

And so, instead of hesitating, he did exactly as she had asked.

“How did you do it?” he asked in a breathy voice, to which Virey just smiled.

“How did you do it?” he asked again, his voice barely above a breath.

Virey smiled.

“I can't really explain the mechanics to you—you wouldn’t understand.”

A teasing glint sparked in her eyes.

“But I can show you instead.”

Reyam wasn’t sure if he should feel insulted or grateful for the offer.

Virey laughed at his conflicted expression.

“Come on, I’ll just show you. Better yet, why don’t you try it yourself?”

That caught him off guard.

“Just swim really fast and get close to the surface,” she instructed, giving his shoulders a light push forward.

“Leave the rest to me.”

Reyam hesitated for a split second, lingering on the fact that she had touched him—but said nothing.

Instead, he dove underwater, doing exactly as she told him.

He could feel the water tightening around him, compressing more and more as he neared the surface.

And then—

A startled laugh burst from his lips as he suddenly found himself launched into the air.

The world tilted beneath him, and for the first time, he felt it—really felt it.

Not like when he rode an ilu.

This was different.

This was free.

The cold water embraced him as he plunged back down, resurfacing moments later.

He turned quickly, searching for Virey.

The second he spotted her, he swam fast.

“So, do you understand how it wor—” Virey began, but Reyam cut her off. His face getting closer to hers more than needed.

“Again,” he said, his smile wild, breathless. “Please, I want to do it again.”

Virey stared for a moment before laughing at the boy in front of her, thinking how cute he looked in that moment.

“Sure,” she said, smiling. “As many times as you want.”

He wasted no time.

Reyam felt the water tighten around him again as he shot upward, reveling in the sensation.

He didn’t stop this time—he did it again, laughing as he was launched into the sky.

Virey followed, propelling herself into the air alongside him.

And so they continued, soaring and splashing, their laughter ringing across the waves.

.

“Time really does fly when you’re having fun,” Reyam said as they walked onto the beach, heading toward the chief’s marui.

“And I wonder who it was that refused to stop,” Virey teased, chuckling to herself.

Reyam rolled his eyes, laughing.

He hadn’t had this much fun in a while.

“Thank you,” he said suddenly as they reached Virey’s marui, startling her slightly.

“For doing that for me. It was really fun.”

“We can always do it again,” she said, turning to him with a smile.

“As many times as you want, remember?”

Reyam grinned enthusiastically at that before bidding her farewell, heading back along his familiar path.

.

“Did she finally return?” Ronal murmured, resting her head against her mate’s chest.

“Yes, she’s back. And just like you suspected, she must have snuck out to meet Reyam,” Tonowari chuckled.

“They’ve been spending a lot of time together—ah, young love,” Ronal mused with a laugh.

Tonowari hummed in amusement, but his mate wasn’t done.

“Looks like I’ll have to give her the talk soon, huh?” she mused.

“The poor girl doesn’t even know what mating is. I remember how excited she was telling me about bonding with an ilu for the first time, and now I have to explain that she can do that with a Na’vi too?” She laughed outright at the thought.

Tonowari just shook his head, sympathy clear in his expression—but not for his mate.

For the poor girl who was bound to die of embarrassment.

Chapter Text

It had been two days since Kiri and Virey had gone to the Cove of Ancestors, and since then, they had spent all the time they could find alone, wracking their heads to try and come up with a way to tell Jake without risking their secrets.

But they had come up with nothing yet.

So today, Virey told her that maybe they should try and think alone to see if they could come up with anything.

So instead of trying to find a way to tell her dad, Kiri was walking along the beach, lost in thought as she collected shells and put them in a leather pouch that was attached to her loincloth.

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t see the person in front of her until she collided with him, the force of it sending her back—but she was caught before she fell to the ground.

Rotxo held Kiri in his arms as he saved her from the fall, and for a moment, they just stared back at each other, the world around them blurred—until Aonung spoke up.

“You can let go of her now, geez,” he said, rolling his eyes at the two.

And that seemed to snap them out of the trance they had fallen into as they both jumped back from each other.

Aonung just looked at the two in front of him and decided to give them this time alone.

“Anyways, I need to go. I have to meet with my father,” he said and shot Rotxo a knowing look before he turned around and left.

The two of them just stood there in silence before Rotxo spoke up first.

“So, what are you up to now?” he asked her, to which Kiri showed him the shell she was holding.

“I was looking for shells to make something, but I can't find anything that I like,” she told him.

“Wanna come with me for a swim?” Rotxo suggested, surprising Kiri.

“I know a good place where you might find ones that you like,” he added hurriedly.

Kiri just smirked at him as she said in a teasing voice, “And how would you know what kind I like?”

But she didn’t expect the boy to go completely red at her question, so she tried to redeem herself.

“I’m just joking, of course you know this place more than I do—it's your home.”

“Come on, lead the way,” she said as she emptied the pouch.

She didn’t really like any of them anyway.

Rotxo just smiled as he followed her toward the ocean.

Rotxo had always been the silent noticer of the group—he knew everyone’s likes and dislikes, where they went when they were sad, or even when something was weighing on their minds.

So it wasn’t that much of a surprise that he knew what Kiri’s favorite shells were.

But when it came to her, he noticed more than he did for anyone else.

Back when the Sullys first arrived and she had disappeared into the ocean by herself, he was the one to notice that she was gone—even when her brothers hadn’t.

And after the incident at the Spirit Tree, he saw how much not being able to connect to it hurt her.

He had tried to appease her in any way he could, but what he didn’t account for was how attached to her he would grow as the two of them spent time together.

The more he learned and noticed about the girl, the more he couldn’t stay away from her.

He was brought out of his thoughts as Kiri put a shell in his hand.

He looked down at a beautiful spiral-shaped shell and looked back at her.

“You like those ones, right?” Kiri signed to him as she smiled at the boy.

“You always put them in your pouch when you find them.”

Rotxo felt his heart swell at the gesture.

He knew that she was just doing this to get back at him for what he had said earlier, but the fact that she actually noticed was the thing that captivated him the most.

She was always seeing him in ways that other people didn’t.

He took her hand in his, attracting her gaze from the shells to himself, and he pulled her with him as he swam away.

Kiri just went with what he was doing, wanting to see what he was up to.

They swam around, playing with the fish and trying to catch each other as they disappeared through the intertwined corals.

They laughed and joked with each other, completely forgetting the reason they had gone into the water.

.

Virey, on the other hand, was taking this much more seriously than Kiri was.

She sat by the porch of her marui, thinking deeply about how to tell Jake without setting off any alarms.

She frowned, shaking her head as frustration built from not finding a solution for so long.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as Aonung plopped himself next to her.

She gave him a questioning look as she turned to face him, already tired from thinking about this nonstop for the past three hours.

“Come on, out with it already,” he started.

“You’ve been sighing, lost in thought, as if you have a thousand things on your mind.”

Virey looked at him with no expression on her face.

Aonung sighed as he looked at his sister’s face, as if she were deciding whether he could be trusted or not.

He said his next words softly.

“You know I’m your brother, right? Whatever you need me to help you with, know that I will always be here—even if I don’t act like it sometimes.”

And with that, he started getting ready to get up but was stopped by his sister’s voice.

“Will you really help me? Even if you can’t tell your parents about it or have to lie to them?”

Aonung understood that if he answered this question wrong, she would never come to him for help.

Treading carefully, he said, “I will always be here to help you, no matter what you’re trying to do.”

He knew his sister well enough to know that she would never ask him for something that he couldn’t give, so he really meant what he was saying.

But when she said nothing in return, Aonung hung his head—he felt his sincerity was being rejected harshly.

But the light returned to his eyes with his sister’s next words.

“I need your help with something, Aonung.”

His head shot up from where it was hanging, and he stared into his sister’s eyes.

Her previously human brown eyes now had small shards of deep purple in them, contrasting beautifully against her brown eyes.

But he was too busy being happy about the words that had left his sister’s lips to care about anything else.

“Go on, tell me what you need. Your brother here is way more capable than you think,” he said, the smile on his face wide.

Virey laughed at the scene in front of her.

She knew that Aonung cared for others more than he let on, but she didn’t think that her trusting him would make him this happy—it just made her happier in return.

But it was short-lived as she thought about the things that had led them to this conversation.

Aonung, noticing the shift in her mood, understood that what she was going to tell him wasn’t just a simple matter that could be fixed in a day or two.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t have troubled his sister so much.

“Quaritch is still alive,” she said, deciding that there was no roundabout way to deliver this information.

Aonung’s jaw hit the floor at what she had just said to him.

He knew all too well who this Quaritch was, but after the battle that had nearly taken Neteyam from him, Jake had told them that he was dead—so it had never crossed his mind again.

Chills traveled down his spine as he remembered that day—how they had almost been caught by the humans if it wasn’t for Kiri’s strange power, how Tsireya had been held at gunpoint to threaten their parents into giving up Jake, and the chaos that had followed after.

He couldn’t help the fear that was radiating through his entire body, and now Virey was telling him that the man who had led all that chaos to them was still alive.

He couldn’t help but think that he was going to come here and disrupt their peaceful life all over again.

“But how?” he said disbelievingly.

Virey knew that he wasn’t questioning her or that he didn’t trust her.

Kiri had told her about all that man had done, and she understood that Aonung just didn’t want to believe what he was hearing right now—so she decided to tell him how she knew.

“Eywa showed me when I went to the Spirit Tree,” she said.

Aonung whipped his head toward her as she added, “And I also saw someone dragging him out of the water after I returned to the Three Brothers Rocks after healing Neteyam.”

She decided to leave Kiri’s story out of this because it wasn’t her secret to tell.

“So he has been alive this whole time?” he asked in disbelief, bringing his hands to his head as he massaged it.

“I’m sorry this is happening, Aonung, but we need to warn Tonowari and Jake about this—we can’t just sit around with this information in our hands,” she said in a hurried voice.

“And this is where the ‘but’ comes in, right? Cause if it were so easy to just tell them, you would have done it already,” he said with a sigh, trying his best to process the information and fear as fast as he could.

Virey shrank away a bit as she told him, “I don’t want them to know that I saw a vision from Eywa.”

Aonung stared at her, wide-eyed.

“Then how are we going to explain all this?” he asked her.

“Yeah, that’s kinda what I was hoping you would help me with,” she stated with a grimace on her face.

“At the moment, I have zero ideas.”

Aonung just exhaled heavily.

“Alright, it’s fine.

"If you don’t want to tell them about it, then we just have to find another way.”

He understood that his sister would like to keep her powers and her connection with Eywa a secret as much as she could.

But they all already knew that she had a great connection with the Great Mother, as they had been there and seen it all the day she was washed up to their shore.

They just didn’t know the extent of it.

“Do you have any ideas?” the girl asked, pulling him out of his thoughts.

He just sighed in return, shaking his head no.

But his head whipped up to his sister’s as an idea struck him.

“What if you only tell them the last part of the story?” he started, to which the girl tilted her head in confusion.

“You know? The part where you saw a human drag a Na’vi out of the water that day.”

“Yes, but they could think that it was just any other Na’vi,” she said back to him.

“You can just tell them that he fit the description when we were telling you stories about him,” Aonung said, happy that he was able to fix his sister’s worries while also possibly saving everyone’s life.

Virey stood up as she thought about it.

The more she thought about it, the more it seemed doable, but one part of the puzzle remained.

How could she tell them for sure that it was Quaritch who had been saved?

If only she could identify him better—

Her thoughts halted completely as she remembered something basic about this.

Something that would help her identify it for them for sure while also keeping them away from asking questions.

“Of course! How could I forget?” she said, more to herself than anyone else.

“I must have spent so much time here that I have forgotten about the existence of modern technology.”

“Modern what?” Aonung asked her.

That was one thing he had yet to hear from Lo’ak, he thought.

“Can you please find Jake and tell him to come to the chief’s marui? I’ll go call Tonowari,” she stated as Aonung rose to his feet, ready to go to the training grounds.

“Please make sure to tell him to bring any record that he has about the humans that turned into Na’vi—especially ones that have pictures,” she said.

Aonung didn’t understand half of the things she said, but he made a mental note to repeat those exact words to Jake.

With that, the two set off to find them.

.

Aonung found Jake at the training grounds and walked straight to him.

“Hey, Aonung, do you need something?” he said to the boy who was approaching, dismissing the subordinate he was talking to.

Aonung stood there for a moment, contemplating how to get him to the chief’s marui.

All that was on his mind as he looked for him was where to find him, so he hadn’t prepared what he was going to say.

“Please come to the chief’s marui,” he said.

He couldn’t tell him everything here, as he didn’t want to alarm the people around them in case Jake reacted badly.

“We have some information that I think you will really need to hear,” he continued.

“And also bring those weird human things that you have with you—we’re going to need them.”

Jake looked at the boy in front of him in complete confusion.

What could be so alarming that he was called into an unscheduled meeting?

And why would he need to bring his human device?

But he couldn’t question the boy, who looked like he had given him the best explanation he could, so he just chose to oblige instead.

He told the Na’vi he was training to take a break until he came back and marched toward his marui to grab his device.

“Ma Jake, is something wrong?” his mate asked, looking up from where she was making arrowheads.

“No, nothing’s wrong—at least, I hope so. I was just called to an emergency meeting at the chief’s marui,” he said as he collected his device.

“Hopefully, it’s something minor,” he said, placing a kiss on her forehead as he walked out the door and toward the chief’s marui.

.

Virey found Tonowari talking to his second-in-command toward the food storage area.

And as she walked up to him, he excused himself to talk to his daughter, who had a very serious expression.

“Tell me, child, is something the matter?” he asked in a soft voice.

“Please come with me to your family’s marui. I have also called for Jake there. There’s something I need to tell the two of you,” she stated.

Tonowari looked at the girl, trying to figure out what had her so worried.

Seeing Tonowari’s silence, the girl added, “Please just hear out what I have to say. I won’t keep you for long.”

“Of course, I’ll hear out what you have to say. Come on, let’s go,” he said as he walked toward his daughter, and the two made their way toward the marui—greeted by the sight of Jake already waiting for them.

“Hello, Tonowari,” Jake said, getting up and greeting him.

Tonowari returned his greeting.

“What was so urgent that you had to call me for an emergency meeting?” Jake questioned.

And Tonowari immediately found his son's guilty gaze avoiding him, then turned his eyes toward Virey, who was doing the same.

He realized that the two of them must have used his name to get Jake here, which made him chuckle as he made his way toward Jake.

“I want you to hear out what Virey has to say. She said that she had something important she wanted to tell us,” to which Jake turned his gaze toward the girl who was approaching them.

“Look, you’re probably not going to like what you’re going to hear, and you might not even believe it—but please hear me out,” she said, to which the two men nodded.

She pulled a sharp breath in as she decided to just drop the cold water on their heads.

“I have really strong reasons to believe that Quaritch is still alive.”

The whole room went deathly silent, as if time had stopped—each of them holding their breath for their own reasons.

Aonung and Virey were waiting to see how the two in front of them would react. But the two men were completely frozen, as if they couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

Jake was the first one to speak.

“What the hell are you—” but he was stopped by Tonowari’s raised hand. And as he turned to face him, Tonowari’s gaze was telling him to watch his tone as he spoke his own.

“Tell me, Virey, what are the reasons that made you come to this conclusion?” he said, trying to calm himself as best he could.

“So back when I was out, living outside the reef, I saw a Na’vi that was dragged out of the water by some human.

"And as Aonung and the others were telling me stories about what happened, I realized that he fit the description perfectly,” she said, trying her best to explain it to them.

“Dragged out by a human boy,” Jake repeated to himself.

“No, it can’t be.”

The other Na’vi were looking at him, not understanding the dilemma he was going through.

His thoughts were racing endlessly.

It couldn’t have been Spider—I mean, it wouldn’t make sense.

But why wouldn’t it?

He had found Spider roaming the sea, which meant that he must have gotten out of the turned ship—but that wasn’t concrete evidence.

Still, it also meant that it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, because it meant that Spider was unaccounted for from the time after midnight till dawn.

He was pulled out of his thoughts as Tonowari repeated his name for the third time.

“Are you all right, Jake?” he said.

But Jake didn’t answer as he turned his gaze toward the girl.

They had yet to conclude that it was Quaritch who had been saved, but he was already questioning the integrity of the boy who had grown up among his children.

He felt disgust for himself rising in his chest.

“We have no concrete way of telling that it was Quaritch who was saved,” Jake said as he collected himself out of his thoughts.

“Actually, we do,” the girl said as she pointed toward Jake’s device.

“I’m sure you can find at least one or two pictures or recordings of him—we can use that to confirm.”

When Jake gave her a distrusting look, she added, “If you think that I’m going to lie to you, you can spread out other Na’vi’s pictures as well, and I’ll tell you which one Quaritch is—that way, you can make sure I’m not lying.”

The way she was talking—like she knew they wouldn’t trust her—broke something in Tonowari.

But he had no way of assuring her that that wasn’t the case.

“For what it’s worth, I trust you, child. Please know that,” he said in a last-ditch effort.

He was glad to see Virey’s eyes soften from when they had hardened at what Jake had said.

After some time, Jake had finished assembling the pictures they would need.

He laid out twelve pictures, all of which were of the Na’vi who were once human.

He earned himself a glare from Tonowari in the process, but he couldn’t help but want to make sure that there were no mistakes made.

Virey stared at the images in front of her and didn’t waste a second as she pointed toward the fourth picture.

Jake groaned as he saw the image she had pointed out—and it sure as hell was Quaritch’s.

He couldn’t believe that that guy had become a thorn in his side for a second time.

Virey stared at Jake and thought that he still didn’t believe her, so she added, “Did you go back to make sure that he was dead?”

Everyone’s attention shot her way, but she had her eyes fixed on Jake.

“Did you go back and confirm that the fucker is actually dead after everything had settled?” she repeated herself.

To which Jake just hung his head low, giving a small shake of his head.

“I thought so.” She said, her eyes narrowing on jake.

"Then why are you acting like this is an impossible situation? Get yourself together already. Don’t you understand that this means we don’t have time? While you all were enjoying this peace without even confirming his death, he may be out there planning how to massacre all of us. It means that they might attack us at any moment,” she said, surprising herself at the anger that was overtaking her.

But it was true that they would have been a lot better prepared if they had actually confirmed his death months ago.

“I understand what you mean, but calm yourself, Virey. This is a former Toruk Makto you’re talking to,” Tonowari said as he got closer to his daughter.

“Sorry, I don’t know what came—” she started, but Jake cut her off.

“No, don’t be sorry. Everything you said was right.

"And I appreciate you coming to us with this information—you may have just saved all our lives,” Jake said, getting up and looking at Tonowari, who nodded in return.

Virey and Aonung walked out of their marui, understanding that they needed to leave the two alone so they could prepare and process the bomb they had just dropped on them.

“I can't believe that actually worked,” Aonung exclaimed, a smile on his face.

“Yeah, I can’t believe it either,” she said back to him.

Then she stopped to look at her brother fully.

“Thank you, Aonung—you really might have just saved us all,” she said to him, sincerity clear in her voice.

Happiness swelled in his chest as he looked at his sister.

“You are always welcome,” he said back to her in a soft voice.

.

Back in the marui, the two men just stared at the kids as they walked out, a pleased smile on their faces.

Tonowari couldn’t help but smile at his children.

“I can't believe I just got scolded by a child who’s younger than my eldest son,” Jake exclaimed, pulling Tonowari’s gaze from the exit.

“And she was right about it all too—I couldn’t even deny a single one.”

Tonowari just laughed at the complaining man in front of him before his demeanor grew more serious, and he sat across from Jake.

“So, what are we going to do about this?

"You know that it is only a matter of time before they come to attack us, especially because they already know where you are,” Tonowari said to Jake.

“Yes, we definitely can’t just wait around for them this time.

"Our best bet is to attack them before they do us,” he stated.

Tonowari gave him a surprised look.

“But didn’t you say that we shouldn’t attack them before?” he asked, recounting what had happened in the battle before this one.

“Yes, but this time, they must be seriously weakened from the battle before—that’s probably the reason why they haven’t attacked us yet,” he continued.

“They’re probably waiting for reinforcements to arrive, and if that happens, we won’t stand a chance in hell.”

The silence that followed was deafening.

The two got up from where they were sitting.

“I will go and warn all the chiefs around and keep them in the loop about what is happening—as well as try and get information if they have seen the demon ship so we can pinpoint it,” Tonowari said as he moved toward the exit.

“I will also contact Norm and see if he can pinpoint their location. Let us meet up tomorrow and see if we need to move in any particular direction,” Jake said as he collected his devices.

And with that said, the two set out to do what they needed to, telling their mates about their discovery as well.

.

Reyam felt the ominous air pick up around the village.

Midday, throughout his training, he had seen Aonung come to tell Jake something, and those two had walked off toward the chief’s house after.

He couldn’t put his finger on it, though.

And not only that, but they were also given a long break, which was followed by the cancellation of training for at least the next three days.

He felt unease rise in him as he saw the chief talking to his second-in-command, who had a disbelieving look on his face as he heard what was being said—then turned to assemble his men as they set out toward the other villages in the area.

Naran nudged his side with his elbow, trying to get his friend’s attention back to the group.

“Seriously, what is wrong with you now?” Arzan added as he looked up at his friend.

“You’ve been zoning out since earlier when we were given the break.”

Reyam’s attention slowly returned to his friends as he crouched down to join them.

“I don’t know, guys, but I feel like something is really wrong here,” he stated.

“So we get a break from training for once, and now you think your whole world is collapsing?” Naran said, chuckling a bit.

But his laughter was cut short as he saw his friend’s hard gaze.

“Wait, you’re actually being serious right now?” he asked him.

“Yes, I really do feel like something is seriously wrong,” he stated again.

“Well, we’re just warriors in training—there isn’t much we can do anyway.

"We just have to hope that you’re wrong,” Arzan stated, looking up at the sky.

But they all knew that they were wishing on nothing, as Reyam’s instincts had never been wrong about these things.

.

Aonung and Virey were talking about how they thought their father would choose to go about using the information he was given.

“All I’m sure about is that we can’t give them any more time than we already have,” Virey said, to which Aonung nodded.

“Do you think I can tell someone about this?” Aonung asked her, to which she just watched him wide-eyed.

“He needs to know about this.”

“I get what you mean, Aonung—I really do. But this is really crucial information—it may just be the deciding factor in this war,” Virey said with a sympathetic voice.

Aonung really wanted to warn Neteyam about it, just in case anything happened.

Virey looked at her brother with sad eyes, but she couldn’t just let this information get around—not when she still suspected something.

But the torn look on Aonung’s face was about to make her do something that she never would in such high-stakes situations.

She was going to take a chance.

But if she was going to do this, then she would have to do everything in her power to make sure they weren’t heard.

And there was no better way to do that than underwater.

“Go and bring Neteyam with you,” she said groaning.

Aonung snapped his head toward her.

“Make sure that you don’t tell him anything yet. If we’re going to do this, we have to do it right.”

Aonung didn’t waste any time as he nodded to his sister happily and went off running toward Jake’s marui.

Virey stood there as she waited for them to return, but she saw Kiri and Rotxo emerging from the water, laughing—and even though she hated the idea of interrupting them, she walked toward their area.

.

Kiri stopped laughing as she saw Virey approach her with a serious face, then looked back at Rotxo.

“Sorry, but it seems I need to go—I have something I want to talk to her about,” Kiri said as she started making her way toward Virey.

But she was stopped when she felt a hand around her wrist pulling her back a bit.

She turned around to see him, her breath catching in her chest as she saw the smile on his face as he said—

“I really had fun today. Let’s do this again sometime, yeah?”

She returned his smile with her own, nodding her head.

And once he had his confirmation, Rotxo slowly let go of her hand and made his way back to the water.

“Swoon,” Virey said as Kiri got close to her, making Kiri roll her eyes at her.

But she saw the smile that crept onto her face.

“Enough about that—tell me what’s up with you. You had a pretty serious look on your face,” Kiri said, the smile dropping from her face.

Virey looked around their surroundings intently, making sure that there was no one who could hear her as she got closer to Kiri.

“While you were in la-la land, I found a way to tell them about the whole thing,” Virey said, and Kiri’s head snapped to her.

“Really? So they’re preparing now?” she asked, to which Virey nodded her head.

“Thank Eywa—there really may be light at the end of this tunnel,” Kiri exhaled.

“But please make sure to keep this information to yourself. Remember, you can’t trust anyone with this,” she told her in a stern voice.

Kiri looked up at her—she felt like Virey had a specific someone in mind.

But she just nodded her head sharply, thinking that she must have a reason as to why she hadn’t pointed it out yet.

“I’ve been swimming around for too long without food—I’m gonna go get some.

"Wanna come with?” she asked Virey but just left on her own when she shook her head.

Neteyam and Aonung came running almost as soon as Kiri was out of sight.

“What is going on with you guys?

"Can you just tell me already?” Neteyam asked.

“Just come with us—you’ll want to hear this anyway,” Virey said, exhausted.

Everything about this was making her tired—she just wanted to fall back into the peace she had before all this.

The three of them swam toward the isolated boulder Neteyam had shown them.

And as the two of them got onto the boulder and looked at the girl, questioning why she wasn’t getting out of the water, she took a knife from her side and made a cut on her fingers.

The two of them just gave her a questioning look.

“I’m gonna make sure that you two can’t be heard. Just stick your hand out of the water when you’re done,” she said to them.

And without explaining anything, she raised the water of the ocean and made it so that it formed a cave around them, completely sealing them inside.

After that, she just lay on her back, floating in the water like plastic, letting the water drown her thoughts.

.

Inside the cave made of water, the two of them were freaking out.

When the water rose from the ocean like it was a tsunami, they had almost screamed their hearts out—Neteyam had even pulled out his knife, his reflex kicking in.

But now, they were surrounded by water that wasn’t collapsing on them.

“What the actual fuck,” Neteyam breathed out. “Did you know she could do this?”

“No, I didn’t suspect a thing,” Aonung said back to him, still looking around.

“Okay, now you’re making me scared. What’s so important about what you’re telling me that even Virey is exposing such a secret to make it happen?” he said.

Aonung just looked away from him, grimacing.

“Listen to me—I need you to be calm about what I’m going to tell you,” Aonung started.

And as he told him about Quaritch being alive, Neteyam did anything but stay calm about it.

“How the hell—what are you even saying?” Neteyam stammered in disbelief.

“There’s no way—my dad said that he had drowned, that we are safe now.”

Aonung brought Neteyam into his arms and held him tightly, already knowing the flashbacks that he was seeing.

He felt Neteyam shake his head in his arms.

“No, that can’t be true,” Neteyam said.

But he already knew how Virey had identified him from a roster of other Na’vi, so he had to accept that this was real—the man who had turned his whole life upside down was going to come back and try again.

He wrapped his arms around the boy who was hugging him and buried his face in his neck, feeling the other boy’s heartbeat against his chest.

He let himself focus on it and tried to calm down the fear that was running rampant in his chest.

Aonung pulled back and cupped the boy’s face in his hands, letting his fingers stroke his cheek as he stared into the boy’s eyes.

“We are going to be all right.

"Our fathers are already informed about this, and they are doing everything they can to prepare to end this war once and for all,” Aonung said in a reassuring voice and brought the boy into a hug again.

They stayed like that for a while, until Neteyam had regained control of his thoughts again before pulling away.

“Please remember not to tell anyone what I just told you—our lives may really depend on this,” Aonung said in a serious voice, and Neteyam gave him a sharp nod in return.

“Thank you, Aonung,” he said, looking into his eyes.

“For telling me about this—I’m glad to know you can trust me like this.”

Aonung felt like he could combust right then and there.

Even with all the things that were racing in his head, just some words said to him could halt them just like that.

“So, now that that’s out of the way, how are we going to get out of this?” Aonung said, wrenching his gaze away and onto what they were surrounded by.

“She said to just stick out our hand,” Neteyam said, laughing as he remembered Virey’s fed-up face.

“Okay, but in which direction? I really don’t get how that girl thinks sometimes,” he exclaimed and decided to walk toward the direction they had seen her last.

“Well, here goes nothing, then,” he said and pushed his hand toward the wall of water.

It felt as though he was breaking the ocean surface—but with so much tension in it.

He waited like that for a few seconds before turning to Neteyam.

“Am I doing it wrong or something?” he said, with a puzzled look, to which Neteyam laughed.

The tension of the water that was surrounding Aonung’s arm disappeared all of a sudden, and the water above them came crashing down on them.

“Really, sis? Was that necessary?” he exclaimed as he looked at her.

She was laughing softly from where she lay on her back in the water.

He gave his sister a sad smile when he saw her worn face.

He knew that there was something more bothering her—something even greater than the traitor she suspected was among them.

And he felt so useless knowing that he couldn’t help her, even if he wanted to so desperately.

What could he do when he knew nothing about it?

Neteyam gave Aonung a sympathetic look as he saw him watching his sister with such a sad expression.

He wanted to do anything he could to help the boy who had held him together when he was about to fall apart, but the best he could do right now was not ask Virey any more questions.

“Come on, lovebirds, let’s go,” Virey said tiredly, successfully snapping the two boys out of their thoughts.

“What are you saying? What’s gotten into you today?” Aonung said as his ears pulled back.

“Yeah, good luck convincing me that you spent all that time telling him about one matter that doesn’t even need an explanation.” she turned her head to him slightly.

"Didn’t you forget that I was out here waiting for you both?” she said like it was nothing.

There really was something wrong with her today—if it had been any other day, she would have just let them think that they had gotten away with it.

Aonung just stayed silent, not denying any claims—and that just made both Neteyam and Aonung even more embarrassed as they realized it.

“Come on, let’s go already,” she said.

But this time, she didn’t wait for them as she dived in and made her way toward the village.

It was the afternoon as they emerged from the water and onto the beach, Aonung and Neteyam behind her.

“Hey, Virey, come with us and let’s go get some food,” Aonung said with a soft voice as he got closer to his sister.

“Sorry, you two can go without me—I’m not really hungry right now,” she said back to him.

Aonung turned his worried gaze toward Neteyam, who shook his head no.

“Okay, but please get something before you return to your marui, okay?” he said to her as he made his way back to Neteyam, and the two walked off together toward the food storage.

“I really hope she remembers to get something—she didn’t look too good,” Aonung said as he walked with Neteyam.

“Yeah, I feel like this whole thing is rattling her more than she let on,” he replied, worry lacing his voice.

“What can I do to help, Neteyam?” Aonung said as he turned to look at him.

“I don’t know what I should do,” his voice broke as he said it out loud.

“Oh, Aonung, I’m so sorry—but I don’t have the answer to that.

"All you can do is be there for her if she decides to tell you,” he said as he brought Aonung’s hand into his own and held it to his chest.

None of them let go of the other’s hand as they walked toward the food storage.

.

Virey was still standing at the beach from where they had parted, looking out at the sea.

All that had been on her mind was warning Reyam, but she couldn’t just tell him everything like Aonung did with Neteyam—otherwise, this situation might truly spiral out of control.

Still, she felt like she had to do something.

She couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to him just because she had decided to stay silent.

So, without any particular plan for how she was going to say what she wanted, her feet started to march toward the training ground.

As she reached it, she was relieved to see that most of them were still there, even though they were on break.

She maneuvered her way around the place, looking for any signs of Reyam.

She finally found him sitting with two other Na’vi, who noticed her first—one of them nudged Reyam and directed his friend’s attention to her.

As soon as she saw the smile that broke out on his face as he laid eyes on her, she could already feel the tension behind her head lessen.

He got up in a hurry, mumbling something to his friends, who just told him to go, and made his way toward Virey—but he frowned as he looked at her tired face when he got closer.

“Hey, Virey, is something the matter?” he said, getting so close to her that her neck hurt when she tried to look at his face.

Reyam was worried about the state she had come to him in—he just wanted to wrap his arms around her and pull her close to his chest when he thought about her tired face.

“Come with me—I need to talk to you about something,” she said as she pointed toward the direction and left.

He followed her without question, not wanting to tire the girl any more than she already was—she looked ready to collapse at the moment.

She halted only when they were far out enough that no one could see them anymore.

She looked back into Reyam’s eyes, still deciding on what to do—he stayed silent as he waited for the girl to speak.

Virey exhaled as her thoughts came to a rest—she decided to tell him what she could.

“Listen to me very carefully—for the time being, I want you to stop going outside the reef,” she started.

Reyam just looked back at the girl with worry in his eyes.

“I know what I’m saying is unreasonable, but please—just listen to me.”

He couldn’t understand where all this was coming from, but he had a gut feeling that it was probably linked to their training being stopped.

The more he stayed silent, the more Virey just looked exhausted, so he decided to oblige her for now—thinking that he would ask her later when she was in a better state, because right now, she looked like she could collapse right where she stood.

It wasn’t going to kill him not to go hunting for a few days, but it looked like it would her if he protested right now.

“All right,” he said, his agreement bringing her eyes back to him from the ground.

“All right—I won’t go out. But please, tell me what this is all about when you can.”

Virey gave him a tired nod, but she was glad that he didn’t push her for answers.

“Right now, please let me take you back—I’m really worried about you,” Reyam answered, getting close to her.

“I’ll just rest here for a bit—all that swimming must have gotten to me,” she said.

She hadn’t eaten well for the past two days—and not at all today—so her steps were unsteady, to say the least.

On top of that, she had used her powers today, leaving her really diminished. She didn’t even know how she was going to make it all the way back to her marui.

Reyam knew that she was just saying that to get him to leave.

She looked really unsteady even when she was just standing on two feet. So this time, he chose not to honor her wish and leave her alone.

Instead, he was about to suggest something that might earn him a glare from her—but it was worth it if there was even a small chance that she could say yes.

“Let me carry you back, Virey,” he said in a soft voice.

Her eyes shot up to his, glaring at the boy in front of her enough to make him shrink a little—but he still continued.

“Please, Virey—you don’t look so good. Let me help you.”

She knew that he was just trying his best to help her—after all, she was the one who had come to him in this sorry state.

And taking his offer was the best option if she wanted to make it there without collapsing.

“I’m not light, Reyam—are you sure about this?” she said, trying to deter the boy in front of her.

But he just gave her a sad smile as he got closer.

She couldn’t help the fear that filled her chest as his hands came around her shoulder.

Her hands were drawn to her chest as she felt his other arm around her knees, and as he lifted her from the ground, she couldn’t help the way her body tensed completely.

Her eyes clenched shut as she tried to swallow down the fear that was overtaking her.

She tried her best to keep their contact as minimal as she could.

Reyam looked down at the girl in his arms, and the horrified look on her face had bile stirring in his stomach.

Even though he knew that Virey wasn’t very fond of physical contact, it broke his heart seeing how she reacted to his touch—but he was already thankful that she was even letting him do this.

He walked to her marui, following the usual path they used—but no one used that path at this time of day.

As he neared her marui, he saw Aonung waiting out on the porch.

He stood up from where he was sitting as he saw the approaching boy, then looked down at his sister in his arms.

His heart dropped to his stomach when he saw the state she was in—he had made a mistake when he left her at the beach.

He should have tried harder to make her come with him or spoken to her two days ago when he noticed that she had something on her mind.

He looked up at Reyam, who was looking down at his sister with worry-filled eyes.

Reyam leaned his head down a bit and said to Virey in a barely audible voice, “We are here—can I enter your marui and lay you down?”

He asked, but there was no response.

Instead, he felt how the eyes she had clenched so tightly were just closed now—and the frown on her face was gone.

He looked back at Aonung, who seemed to think the same thing.

He directed Reyam to his family’s marui, and as they walked in, he saw Tonowari and Ronal conversing about something serious, and Tsireya was in the corner of the room.

The two stopped talking and turned to the entrance.

Ronal wasted no time as she made her way toward Reyam, directing him to lay the girl in his hands down on the mat.

Reyam really didn’t want to let her go right now, but he hugged her to his chest tightly and did as he was told.

The family gathered around her, waiting for Ronal to tell them what was wrong.

Ronal examined her daughter thoroughly, and with a sigh, she stood up and turned toward the group.

Ronal grimaced, giving her mate a look. "It seems she passed out from stress."

Tonowari nodded, then turned toward Tsireya and Reyam.

"I need you both to leave for a while—we need to discuss something you can’t be here for."

Tsireya hesitated, her worried gaze lingering on her sister before she quietly nodded and stepped out of the marui.

Reyam, however, wasn’t as willing.

He didn’t want to listen to Tonowari. He wanted to stay, to hear whatever had caused this girl to pass out in his arms—to understand what had pushed her this far.

But right now—he couldn’t do what he wanted.

With a forced nod, he stepped back, turning toward Ronal one last time, eyes clouded with concern.

"Please tell me—" his voice was low, strained. "Will she be all right?"

Ronal gave him a small smile, soft but reassuring. "Don’t worry—I’ll be here to take care of her."

Reyam exhaled deeply, hanging his head as he finally turned away, stepping out of the marui.

Aonung remained. He already knew what this conversation was going to be about—that was the only reason he wasn’t asked to leave.

Ronal’s gaze drifted toward her unconscious daughter, her expression tight with worry. "Poor thing... What could have weighed on her so heavily that she would pass out because of it?"

"Do you think it’s all the stress from trying to tell us about Quaritch?" Tonowari asked, glancing at his son.

Aonung shook his head.

"That’s part of it, yes—but I feel like she’s carrying something bigger—" his voice was quiet, conflicted. "Something she’s so reluctant to even acknowledge."

He exhaled. "It’s like just thinking about it scares her—and we’re not doing a damn thing to help her."

His jaw clenched. "Even when she has done so much to help us."

Tonowari’s expression shifted. Quiet understanding settled into his features as he reached out, placing a firm hand on Aonung’s shoulder, pulling him close.

.

Chapter Text

It was dawn the next day when Virey woke up, feeling much better than she had before.

The last thing she remembered was listening to Reyam’s steady heartbeat calming her down as she lay in his arms.

She looked up at the familiar ceiling and blinked as she tried to regain consciousness.

She turned around and was surprised to see the whole family sleeping in the room and not in their semi-private quarters.

But more than that—shouldn’t she be in her own marui right now?

She sat up on the mat she was sleeping on and was able to see how everyone was sprawled out around her.

Aonung was sleeping in front of her, his back to her.

Tsireya was curled up beside her stomach.

Ronal was asleep beside Tonowari, her head resting on his chest.

Her infant sister was in her crib next to her.

She shifted around, trying to get comfortable, but ended up waking up Aonung.

He slowly rose and turned to look at her.

“Hey, little sis, how are you feeling?” he said, his voice soft, his eyes still heavy with sleep.

Virey could already hear the worry in his voice without him even saying anything.

She gave him a soft smile back.

“I’m fine.

"Did I worry you?”

Aonung just let out a small laugh as he turned his body fully to her.

“Nah, don’t even think about it,” he said, trying to relieve some of the guilt in her eyes.

He so desperately wanted to just hug her right now—but almost their whole friend group knew that she didn’t like physical contact, although they couldn’t figure out why.

“You must be hungry.

"You slept for so long, and you didn’t even have anything to eat yesterday,” Aonung said, stretching.

All the noise woke up Ronal, and as she made her way to her children, she had a sad look in her eyes as she gazed at the two of them.

“Tell me, child, how are you feeling?” Ronal asked.

“I feel much better—but also like I could eat the world,” Virey replied, smiling as she tried to lessen the tension.

“All right, then—you can go with Aonung to the food storage,” she said, and the two got up, ready to leave.

But Tonowari’s voice stopped them.

“Remember that we will always be here—whether it is help you need or just someone to talk to,” he said as he lifted his infant daughter from her crib.

“Thank you,” Virey said, and the two walked out of the marui to get food.

“I really hope she heard you—truly,” Ronal said to Tonowari.

.

Virey and Aonung made it to the food storage, and Virey piled food onto Aonung’s arms like there was no tomorrow.

She wasn’t lying when she said that she could eat the world.

Aonung didn’t complain as he let his sister do as she wished.

But what he didn’t know was that she was also adding a bunch of his favorites.

And once she was done, they went toward a clearing, and Aonung was relieved of the food he was carrying.

Virey sat down hurriedly, and Aonung watched her with a smile as she decided which one to eat first.

“Well, I’ll leave you alone, then,” Aonung said as he chuckled and turned around.

Virey looked up at him from the fruits she was about to choose.

“Hey, wait—aren’t you hungry too?” she said, stopping him in his tracks as he turned back around.

“I got all your favorites too,” she said with a smile.

And Aonung didn’t need to be told twice as he plopped himself down in front of her with a wide grin and picked up a fruit.

Virey just laughed at his reaction—she didn’t think that it would make him this happy.

As they finished eating and cleaned up after themselves, Aonung looked at his sister with mischief in his eyes.

“What the hell is that look for?” Virey asked, giving him a questioning look.

“I should probably tell you to go and appease your boyfriend—he looked like he was about to cry when Tonowari asked him to leave yesterday,” Aonung said teasingly.

And Virey didn’t need to ask to know who he was talking about.

Embarrassment crept up on her face as he said that to her.

“Shut up—worry about your own boyfriend,” she retorted back.

Aonung just laughed at his sister—but if he was actually right and Reyam was her boyfriend, he knew he wouldn’t be laughing about it.

“Anyway, I need to go do something,” she said, looking away from him as if the answer was written on her face.

She was going to go and look for Reyam.

Aonung burst out laughing as he realized what the “something” was, and he dodged a bone that she threw at him as he made his way back to the marui—giving her the time she had asked for.

Virey just laughed to herself as she remembered their conversation and started to walk toward the training ground.

Her mind was in a better place today.

.

Reyam couldn’t sleep a wink yesterday.

All he could think about was how worn out Virey had been when she came to warn him.

And unlike every other day, he hadn’t gone out of the reef hunting with his friends.

So with nothing but this worry left in his hands, he made his way toward the training ground—only to remember that training had been canceled yesterday.

He groaned out loud, feeling like everything was against him today.

But he was startled out of his thoughts by a voice behind him.

“Does training being canceled really frustrate you this much?”

He turned around fast and was met by familiar brown eyes.

Virey looked much better today as she stood there—the smile had replaced the frown on her face from yesterday.

“I guess I also played a part in your frustration because I asked you not to go hunt,” she said as she got closer to him.

“Well, I’m still alive, so no need to worry about me.

"What would help me greatly is if you told me you’re okay now,” he said back to her in a sigh.

“Would you sit with me by the beach?” Virey said—and didn’t wait for an answer as she made her way toward the shore.

Reyam followed behind her and sat close to her.

“Thank you for what you did yesterday,” she started.

“And yes, I’m better now.”

Reyam turned his gaze toward the girl, who had hers on the ocean.

“Can you please tell me what happened to make you that exhausted?” he asked her pleadingly, his head hanging low when she shook her head no.

She sucked in a breath, her eyes containing small shards of electric blue, as Virey asked him her question.

“If I was capable of things that you never would have thought possible—”

She turned her head to meet his gaze.

“Things that are almost frightening—would you also point your blade toward me?”

It stopped Reyam’s breathing completely as he stared back into her eyes, his thoughts racing about what she was even trying to say. But he couldn’t read her intent.

So, instead of searching for answers, he chose honesty.

He turned his full body toward her, his eyes staring directly into hers.

“Power will either be feared or revered—not by the things it can do, but because of whose hand it rests in,” he said, his voice unwavering.

“And I have spent more time with you than anyone else since you came here. I have seen your character. I have seen who you are for myself.” He continued.

"And no matter what anyone says—any amount of power in your hand is to be revered. If anyone turns their blade against you, I promise to protect you.”

His eyes gleamed with unshakable conviction, “I will always be on your side. Always.”

Virey couldn’t help the smile that broke out on her face as she heard his words—the shards of blue in her eyes now replaced with shimmering purple.

She looked down at the sand, then turned her gaze toward the ocean.

“Thank you.”

Virey stirred slightly, shifting to face the water again.

Her hand rested beside Reyam’s, their little fingers intertwined, neither of them pulling away.

The silence stretched between them—comfortable and unspoken.

Slowly, their fingers curled further, until their ring fingers were intertwined as well.

They stayed that way—simply watching the waves and enjoying each other’s company.

.

It had been two days since she sat out on the beach with Reyam for the whole day, neither of them wanting to separate as their hands stayed intertwined.

Aonung had literally had to pry his sister off the sand when he went looking for her as it got late.

He had pinned Reyam with an unwavering glare when he was finally able to get her to come with him, to which Reyam had just looked away from him.

And he had asked her multiple times while walking them back, only for her to act like she didn’t know what he was talking about—almost driving him crazy.

His father had even laughed at him when he had told him about it.

And today, he, Neteyam, Virey, and Kiri were out talking about everything that had happened, where no one could see them.

“I really can’t wait until all this is over—I miss hunting outside the reef,” Aonung complained for the fifth time.

“You guys really better kill that guy off for good this time,” he said to Kiri and Neteyam jokingly.

The two had laughed at first—but their demeanor grew somber after they locked eyes.

“Don’t tell me you feel sorry for the son of a bitch,” Virey said as she looked at them.

“No, no—it isn’t that,” Neteyam started, and Virey just looked at him, confused.

“It’s just that there’s something that we probably shouldn’t tell you guys about,” Kiri said as she looked away from Virey’s piercing gaze.

“Yeah, well, I shouldn’t have brought Neteyam back to life as well as told any of you my powers,” she said mockingly, trying to coax the information out of them.

Kiri and Neteyam exchanged a look before Kiri spoke first.

“It’s just—we think that this is gonna be hard on Spider,” Kiri said hesitantly.

“Why?

"Would he feel sorry for him because Quaritch was human once or something?

"And after all that demon did?” Aonung asked, confusion written on his face.

“No—it’s because Quaritch is his dad,” Kiri started, shocking Aonung and Virey.

“I mean, first he thought that his dad was dead—but then he came back to life.

"Then we killed him again, and now he’s come back to life, and we have to do it all over again.

"It was already a hard pill to swallow, and now it’s turned into an endless cycle,” Kiri exhaled.

“Well, damn—that’s a hard position to be in,” Aonung exclaimed, and they waited for Virey to say something.

But she was completely frozen at what Kiri had just said.

Son.

Spider was Quaritch’s son.

But she definitely remembered Quaritch calling the boy who had saved him "son."

Her breathing came to a complete stop as the pieces came together in her head.

“Did you just say that Spider was Quaritch’s son?” Virey asked.

The group came to a complete halt at the cold voice she spoke with—the anger rising in her was evident.

“Tell me, Kiri—did you just say that Spider was Quaritch’s son?” she asked again, raising her eyes from the floor toward Kiri.

Kiri was taken aback by the anger in Virey’s eyes—none of them had ever seen her this agitated before.

“Yes, but you can’t take your anger out on him just because of that,” Kiri said, not understanding where this was all coming from.

Virey didn’t wait to give any of them an explanation as she dived into the water and headed toward where they had left Lo’ak, Tsireya, and Spider.

The three of them followed her in a hurry, not understanding a thing about what was going on—but she was too fast for any of them to be able to close the gap.

Virey walked out of the water and scanned the beach, her eyes zeroing in on the three she was looking for.

She wasted no time marching up to them.

“Hey, Virey, what’s up with you—” Lo’ak started, but was cut off as Virey marched right up to Spider and grabbed him by his hair.

The boy tried to fight back, but she was still a Na’vi and him, a human—so she outmatched him when it came to strength.

“Hey, what is going on with you?” Lo’ak started as he made his way toward Virey, who was dragging Spider by the hair toward the chief’s marui.

Aonung, Kiri, and Neteyam were also surprised by the scene unfolding in front of them.

“Hey—just let him go, okay?” Kiri started.

“He has nothing to do with it—he wasn’t even born yet.”

“THIS ISN’T ABOUT THAT,” Virey shouted at them, startling everyone.

But she didn’t stop as they got closer to the chief’s marui.

Neteyam tried to reach for his friend’s arm, but was stopped as she screamed at him—

“DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME.”

She directed the boy up the porch and into the marui.

Jake, Tonowari, and Ronal were there discussing something—but were stunned by the scene unfolding in front of them.

Virey shoved Spider toward the three of them, letting her hand drop to her side.

Aonung, Kiri, Neteyam, and Lo’ak were in the marui—Tsireya had just taken Tuk and left, thinking that she shouldn’t see whatever was about to go down.

“What is going on, children?” Jake asked as he got up from his seat and walked toward them—the other two doing the same.

Spider just shifted around from where he stood and looked back at the girl who had dragged him by the hair all the way here.

“Tell them—that night of the war, tell them what you did,” she said with an angry voice.

Spider just turned his gaze away from her guiltily—realizing that she knew.

“Tell them where you were and what you were doing,” she said, but continued when the boy was still silent.

“All right—if you aren’t going to say anything, then I will do it for you.”

She snapped her gaze from Spider toward Jake.

“The day after the war—when I saw Quaritch being saved—he called the person who saved him ‘son.’

"And today, I find out that this guy here not only knew that Quaritch was alive—but he was also the one who saved him.”

The room went deathly quiet as what she had just said settled into everyone’s mind.

Neteyam, Lo’ak, and Kiri had devastated looks on their faces—but more than anyone, it was Jake who looked like he was about to cry.

The kid who had been raised playing among his own children—the one who had been there when Quaritch had told him that as long as he lived, he would always come after his family.

The one who had seen all of that—was going to be responsible for all the bloodshed that was going to flow because of his one stupid mistake.

“I’m sorry,” Spider said.

“I’m really sorry—but please try to understand me. I didn’t save the person who was trying to kill your family. I really meant no harm—I just wanted to save the person who stopped the others from torturing me,” he tried to frantically explain himself.

Virey’s eyes softened a bit as she heard him.

She knew all about how he wasn’t fully accepted as a Na’vi, and she understood how some of the Na’vi would only see his father when they looked at him.

But this was so much bigger than him.

This was so much bigger than just any individual.

“So, you saved the man who said to our faces that he would kill us,” Neteyam said, his voice dangerous.

Lo’ak stayed silent. Replaying in his mind how neteyam almost died to save spider.

“You saved the man that made us leave our home, our people, and our everything behind?” Kiri said, her voice breaking.

Spider shrank away in guilt, and all he managed was—

“I’m sorry.”

The three of them just walked out of the marui without saying anything.

“If we were to try and kill him again, would you stop us?” Jake asked, looking into Spider’s eyes.

Spider had seen how much chaos his father had brought to them, and the more time he spent here, the more he regretted his actions that night.

So he was telling the truth when he said—

“No, sir—I wouldn’t try and stop you.”

Jake turned away from him as he said—

“Unfortunately, I don’t believe you. You can do as you see fit in this situation,” he said, turning to Tonowari before he too walked out of the marui.

Spider felt that he was about to faint as the weight of the consequences came crashing down on him.

He brought his head up and fixed his eyes on Tonowari, who looked at him with firm eyes—but there was sympathy behind them.

Tonowari called for his second-in-command.

“For now, he will be monitored throughout the whole day—assign him someone that understands the situation,” he said, and with that, Spider walked out to go meet his guard.

Virey walked to Aonung, and as she reached him, she said—

“You should go after Neteyam—he must be taking all this pretty hard.”

Aonung nodded at her and gave her a look she couldn’t understand before he turned around and left to look for Neteyam.

Virey went back to her marui, contemplating if she had done the right thing.

She really didn’t want to put all of them in such a tight position—but she wasn’t sure where Spider’s loyalty lay.

So she had told Tonowari about it to make sure that nothing blindsided them in this war.

Everything was hanging by a thread—she couldn’t take any risks right now.

But maybe it was because they were both someone who had been taken in by people that weren’t their biological family—she couldn’t get Spider’s devastated face out of her mind.

.

Aonung found Neteyam in the forest.

He slowly got closer to him, trying his best not to startle him.

“Hey, are you okay?” Aonung asked.

He knew it was a dumb question, but that was all he could do right now.

Neteyam sighed as he turned around to face him.

“No, Aonung—I don’t think I’m okay. I just found out that the boy I consider my brother saved the person who has been trying to murder my family,” he said exasperatedly.

He felt bad about taking out his anger on Aonung—but if he didn’t, he felt like he was going to burst from it all.

“The reason that I was shot and almost killed—the reason I was dead—was because I was trying to save Spider with Lo’ak.

"And now he’s telling me that he saved our enemy,” he continued ranting like that for a while.

And Aonung didn’t interrupt him.

He let the boy vent to him all he needed.

Neteyam sighed as he finished saying all he wanted to—he felt his chest get lighter.

Aonung just looked at him with a small smile.

“But you would still forgive him, wouldn’t you?”

Neteyam just looked away—not able to deny what Aonung had said.

Sure, it was going to be hard—really hard—but he could never stay mad at Spider forever.

And he knew that.

Aonung wrapped his arms around Neteyam, surprising him.

But he leaned into his chest as he wrapped his hand around him.

“You know, I love that about you. How you’re so open to giving people another chance. I mean, that’s how we became friends,” he said, earning himself a chuckle from the other boy.

They stayed like that for some time before they separated.

And Aonung looked into Neteyam’s eyes.

“Once all this is over—I want to take you somewhere,” he said to Neteyam, finally saying the thing he had been contemplating for weeks now.

“Okay—once all this is done,” he replied to the Metkayina.

.

Neytiri, on the other hand, wasn’t taking the news well.

“I knew that he would do something like this—I knew it,” Neytiri said, pacing around the room.

“A demon’s child still came from a demon at the end of the day.”

Jake sighed as he looked at his mate.

He knew that all she was saying was out of rage, but he kept the words that tumbled out of his mouth next.

“Maybe it’s our fault—we never made him feel like he was accepted because he was human.”

And the glare that he received from Neytiri told him that he was sleeping outside tonight.

But what he had said stuck with Neytiri.

Her rage turned to guilt as she thought of all the times she had rejected the boy just because of the things that had happened before he was even born.

She sighed, everything weighing heavily on her as she sat.

.

It was late into the night, but Virey still couldn’t fall asleep.

She sighed as she got up from her sleeping mat and walked out of her marui—but she headed toward the forest instead of the sea.

She followed the path that she and Kiri had taken before, and it led her to the clearing.

She sat in the open field on the soft grass and looked up at the starry night, enjoying the peace and quiet.

The problem was that it wasn’t quiet—she could hear some sniffling noises in the distance.

With a sigh, she got up from her comfortable place and walked toward the sound.

She wasn’t that surprised when she saw a human boy crouching, leaning on a tree with his knees to his chest and his face buried between them as he cried.

She sighed yet again and walked toward the boy, making him flinch as she plopped herself down next to him.

Spider raised his head and saw the girl sitting beside him.

“What are you doing right now?” he asked her, sniffing.

“Beats me. To be honest, I should have turned around as soon as I heard anything,” she replied, shrugging.

She looked at the boy’s confused face and exhaled.

“What you did was wrong—there is no justifying it,” she started. “You betrayed the family that raised you with love—even if you have your own reason for doing so.”

She turned her gaze toward him.

“But are you really not going to at least try and prove to them that you regret it? If they see you for who you have become instead of the little brat who endangered the family again, they may accept you back. They are your family, after all.”

Spider was stunned at how this girl was talking to him as if she hadn’t just dragged him by the hair and forced him to see the consequences.

But he could more or less understand why she had done it.

“Trust me, kid—blood ties don’t really matter as much as you think they do. After all, I would choose the family that I have now over any blood relation,” she said to him.

Then she grimaced as she continued.

“And I’m sorry for dragging you like that earlier—I was blinded by rage.”

Spider just hummed in return.

He didn’t really feel any way about what she had done—he knew that it would have come to light sooner or later.

Virey had just wanted to make sure that they weren’t blindsided.

He was pulled out of his head as Virey stood from next to him and started walking toward the place she had come from.

But she turned around and said—

“Humanity isn’t worth sacrificing your happiness for—remember that, all right, kid?”

“Who are you calling kid? I’m older than you,” he stated, not able to let it slide this time.

The girl just laughed at him as she made her way back, making him smile too—but what she had said stuck with him.

Everything she had said did.

.

It had been a week since the incident with Spider went down, and the three siblings had been slowly letting go of their anger toward him.

Spider had also taken Virey’s advice and tried his best to redeem himself.

Even Neytiri had been trying to get over it—telling herself that no harm had been done and that she would kill this demon as many times as she needed to.

.

Virey had spent the entire afternoon with Reyam, and as usual, he was walking her back to her marui.

They had gone swimming in the more secluded parts of the ocean, laughing and launching themselves into the air like they were riding an ilu—just like that night.

Now, standing at the front of the porch, she bid him goodbye, insisting he leave before turning toward the entrance of the marui.

But before she could step inside, she heard Ronal call her from the window.

Sighing, she made her way into the marui, settling down in front of Ronal—who was far too amused for her liking.

“So, I see you’ve been spending a lot of time with Reyam these days,” Ronal began.

Virey groaned, already anticipating where this was headed.

“I’m not saying anything is happening, or will in the future,” Ronal continued, undeterred.

“But you are nineteen years old—it’s time you knew how things work.”

“No, thank you—I think I’ll be just fine,” Virey interjected quickly.

Ronal ignored her.

“The first thing couples do when they decide to spend their lives together is mate before Eywa. That means they must connect their queues at the Spirit Tree.”

Virey stiffened, her face burning. “Wait—what do you mean? Like how we connect to ilus?”

“Yes, child—but unlike the bond with ilus, this connection is permanent and deeply emotional,” Ronal explained.

“When a Na’vi connects to another, they become bonded in body, mind, and soul. It also means they can enter each other’s thoughts in that moment.”

Virey shrank back at the idea of someone—anyone—being able to access her head so easily.

“There’s no need to fear it,” Ronal assured her. “They can only go as far as you allow them to. Mostly, it’s used to feel how much the other loves them. But it also allows them to share moments of great significance.”

That eased some of Virey’s unease.

But then—Ronal kept going.

“Once the bond has settled, the two Na’vi continue the mating process, and their bond remains connected as they—”

“Please!” Virey frantically cut her off.

“I already know what follows, so you don’t need to continue. Please!” She begged.

But despite her pleading, Ronal still finished her explanation, saying everything she intended to.

By the end of it, Virey was curled into a ball, completely overwhelmed.

Ronal let out an amused laugh at the sight of her thoroughly mortified daughter.

As Tonowari entered the marui and saw the state that his daughter was in—then at the playful look in his mate’s eyes—he already knew what had happened here.

Virey shot up as soon as she saw Tonowari come in—she didn’t trust what her mother would say next.

So she hurriedly muttered some excuse and rushed out toward her marui—falling asleep immediately from the torture she had endured today.

.

The next day, Virey woke up extremely early for some reason.

She decided to take a walk outside but was surprised to see everyone hustling—as if they were preparing for something major.

She saw the Metkayina warriors carrying spears—lots of them—and others sharpening the heads and making new ones.

She thought that maybe Jake had predicted that they would attack soon, and so they were getting ready for that.

So she passed by them and made her way toward the food storage.

After she had her fill, she went to the cloth-making area and begged the seamstress to give her some tools.

And to Virey’s surprise, she said yes—even if Virey had to bug her until she did.

With the tools in her hand, she made her way toward her marui and bid the outside goodbye—because she was going to be working there for a long time today, maybe even the whole day.

.

“Is everything ready?” Jake asked Tonowari, who gave him a nod in return.

Today, they were going to attack the human ship located south of them—it wasn’t that far from the island they were on, which was why they had decided to strike there.

They were going to try and destroy the ship today.

They turned as they saw Neytiri approach them—her bow in her hands, dressed in her warrior’s outfit.

She was going to be giving them aerial support by taking down as many drones as she could.

The three of them exchanged nods, and Jake and Tonowari made their way toward the ocean—Neytiri toward her ikran.

As they assembled all the warriors, a loud war cry was let out by Tonowari—which signaled that it was time to move.

And so they all raced toward the south, spreading out just like they had planned.

Neytiri flew high above the clouds as she raced toward it.

.

This information was only disclosed to the warriors and not the entire village—so Aonung was puzzled when he couldn’t find his father in the afternoon.

He looked around for him everywhere, but still couldn’t find him.

What was even stranger was that he couldn’t find most of the warriors either.

Almost everyone was gone—aside from those who were left behind to protect the village.

He ran into Reyam while he was looking for his father at the training ground, and Reyam told him that almost all training—including the ones led by Tonowari and Jake—had been canceled all of a sudden yesterday afternoon.

That left Aonung really unsettled—his father never canceled plans last minute like that.

The eerie feeling in his stomach grew more and more—before Reyam’s and Aonung’s attention was pulled by the horns of the village radiating through the air.

One that signaled that a flying creature was approaching the village.

His heart dropped at the thought that the humans had come to attack them.

They rushed toward the crowd that was forming—his heart calming down as he saw that it was Neytiri’s ikran.

But that relief was short-lived when he saw the man that she was carrying—the man he had been looking for all afternoon.

He pushed past the few people who were surrounding Neytiri—his mother coming running toward them as well.

As Aonung finally reached the center, he felt a weight press down on his back—a suffocating pressure—as he took in the sight before him.

His father lay there—a deep, brutal wound carved across his chest.

Despite the Tsahik’s desperate efforts to stop the bleeding, it would not relent.

The crimson still poured from him.

Tonowari raised a trembling hand—resting it gently against Ronal’s face, wiping away the tears that streaked down her cheeks.

Aonung collapsed at his father’s side, his own hands pulling Tonowari’s to his chest—as if he could hold him there, keep him tethered.

His father’s gaze softened completely.

Aonung hunched forward, shoulders curling inward. He knew.

“My son.”

Tonowari’s voice was gentle. Final.

And then—his hand went limp.

Aonung broke.

The tears came fast—unstoppable—blurring his vision as the light drained from his father’s eyes.

Neytiri flinched, looking sharply away—unwanted memories clawing their way to the surface.

But it was Ronal’s cry—the sound that tore through the air like blades—that made Aonung tilt his head back, eyes burning as he stared up at the sky.

He felt the tears streak down his neck.

Then, as his gaze flicked toward his mother—he caught Neteyam’s watery eyes staring right back at him.

His head shot up as he looked at Neteyam.

“GO GET VIREY RIGHT NOW,” he screamed, startling the boy out of his haze.

“GO GET HER NOW,” he repeated himself—and that got Neteyam turning around and bolting toward the chief’s marui.

.

Virey sat deep in thought, carefully crafting holes into the shells and pearls she had been collecting for weeks.

She had several things she wanted to make, but she decided to start simple—boring holes into the shells.

Earlier, she had heard the village horns but hadn’t known what they signified.

It probably wasn’t anything she could help with, so she had continued working, ignoring the unease in her chest.

Then—her thoughts were brutally interrupted.

A loud, frantic banging against her marui frame shattered the silence, followed by Neteyam’s urgent voice.

“Virey, please—come out. We need your help. Something happened.”

That was all it took.

She dropped everything she was holding, rushing out without hesitation, jumping off the porch in one swift movement.

“What is it?” she demanded, scanning his face—the terror in his eyes unsettled her.

“Calm down and tell me what happened.”

“They went out to battle the humans today, and I don’t know what happened but—” Neteyam’s voice cracked, frantic.

Virey barely had time to process what he was saying before the next words hit her like a blade.

“It’s Tonowari.”

Everything inside her froze—then snapped into motion all at once.

She grabbed Neteyam, pulling him as she ran, her voice cutting through the chaos:

“Take me to him. Now.”

Their feet pounded against the earth, the wind rushing past them as Virey sent a silent plea to Eywa—Please, please, let no one have moved his body yet.

A single tear slipped down her cheek. Her eyes—blazing, electric blue—narrowed as she zeroed in on the crowd gathered in a tight circle ahead.

She didn’t need to see what lay in the center.

Ronal’s anguished cries told her everything.

She shoved through the bodies blocking her way, violently, without hesitation, until she reached Tonowari’s unmoving form—Aonung already collapsed beside him.

Grief threatened to consume her—but she forced herself to focus.

Her gaze scanned his body.

The wound—a single, deep cut across his chest.

Virey exhaled a heavy sigh.

“It’s just one cut. It’s not even that deep. This is an easy fix.” She murmured the words, forcing herself to stay calm, gathering her mind, gripping onto focus. She turned—locked eyes with Aonung.

He stared at her expectantly—his rationality and grief barely hanging by a thread.

“Get everyone as far from here as possible.”

Her voice left no room for argument.

Aonung remembered the violence of the air and water that night—the sheer force of her power.

He nodded. Without a word, Virey reached for her blade—only to realize she had dropped it in the marui during her frantic exit.

She didn’t hesitate.

She reached for Aonung’s chest, pulling the knife strapped there without asking. He didn’t react.

Instead, he stood, moving toward his mother, gently prying her from his father.

“What are you doing, Aonung?

"Let me go!” Ronal protested, her voice raw with grief.

But her son didn’t listen.

His grip was firm as he dragged her away, ordering those gathered—including Neytiri—to step back, to move away from his father.

Most of the warriors had already gone to battle.

Those who remained followed him, though they stayed close enough to see.

Aonung held his mother tightly against his chest, anchoring her as he ordered the warriors to remain still.

Virey cast a glance at the confused faces behind her but forced herself to focus—to block them out.

She took a shaky breath, knowing that the secret she had protected so fiercely was about to be exposed to more people than she had ever imagined.

But for Tonowari—for the man who had only ever shown her love and understanding—she would do it without hesitation.

Her hand tightened around the blade.

And then—she slashed her arm open. Just like she had done for Neteyam.

Only this time, in her frantic state, she had cut too deep.

She didn’t care.

Her blood spilled onto Tonowari’s chest, soaking into the wound.

She watched carefully, breath uneven, waiting for the gash to fill completely.

“This is nothing,” she told herself, forcing her mind to still. “Nothing compared to what I had to do for Neteyam.”

She gave it time—letting it clot, settle.

Then, she covered it with her hands.

And just like before—just like that night—Eywa’s presence embraced her.

But she couldn’t bring herself to enjoy it.

There was no space for awe. No time to revel in the warmth of the Great Mother.

She could only concentrate—only heal.

She sealed the wound as much as her body allowed, moving swiftly into the next phase.

Behind her, Aonung and the others were blinded by the sheer force of the wind that swirled violently around them.

But Ronal—she felt it.The undeniable presence of Eywa—radiating from where she had left her mate and Virey.

Something in her chest tightened.

The way Aonung had immediately called for Virey had already told her there was more to this than she knew.

Something they hadn’t told them. But right now—it did not matter.

Aonung’s arms tightened around his mother, shielding her from the whirling sand, just as Tonowari once had.

And then—silence.

The air calmed, the storm easing. As they turned their gazes toward the center, they saw her.

Virey sat in a kneeling position, her head hung, her body too exhausted to hold itself up.

Her injured arm lay limp at her side, but her other hovered over Tonowari’s nose—checking his breathing. Then, down to his heart.

The wound—it was nearly healed. It looked weeks old now.

Aonung stared, barely breathing as she retracted her hand. Then, slowly—she turned to him.

He only needed one look at her eyes. And that was all the confirmation he needed.

His father was not lost.

But before he could fully process his emotions, movement caught his eye—the warriors.

Their spears were raised.

Before Aonung could react, Reyam burst through them, muscles coiled, body moving faster than instinct.

He ran toward Virey, putting himself between them.

His knife was drawn as he held it in a reverse grip, pointing it toward the warriors who came to a halt.

His other hand stretched out, palm facing them—a silent command to stay back.

His eyes—wild, blazing, fierce—darted across the scene, scanning for any sign of danger.

“Don’t even think about coming closer.” His voice was low, sharp, edged with warning.

“Or so help me, Eywa—I will slit your throat without hesitation.”

It sent chills down Aonung’s back as he looked at his friend and didn’t recognize him.

Ronal had seen the exchange between Aonung and Virey and had regained a part of her rationality at the realization that her mate was still alive.

And even though she just wanted to run there and make sure of it, she knew the situation could turn fatal if she didn’t act fast.

She slowly got closer to Reyam, her hands raised to show that she didn’t mean him harm.

But she knew that he wasn’t worried for himself right now.

“Calm down, Reyam—what you’re thinking isn’t going to happen,” she said, trying her best not to startle him.

“Stop lying,” he snapped. His voice curled, sharp as his blade. “They were going for her with their spears raised.”

His free arm shifted, trying to shield Virey from view when Ronal attempted to look past him and at her daughter.

Aonung came up to his mother slowly.

“What should we do? He’s not going to let us anywhere near her.”

Ronal clicked her tongue. “The boy’s gone feral. Tunnel vision. All he sees is protecting her. The warriors made a mistake—one they can’t undo easily.”

They lowered the weapons they were holding, but Reyam didn’t move to do the same.

“No one is going to hurt her, Reyam—just calm down,” she said, trying to take a step closer.

“Step back,” he said, hissing at her with his fangs bared. “She knew this was going to happen.”

"She knew that you would turn your blades toward her if it were ever to come to light. I made a promise that I would protect her when that time came—and I will die on this hill.”

There was no hesitation. No doubt in his words.

All he thought about was keeping her safe. And right now—they weren’t safe.

Ronal knew reasoning wouldn’t reach him—not like this.

She shifted tactics. “She’s bleeding, Reyam. Let me take a look at her.”

That—that was what broke through the fog.

His eyes left them for the first time since he had stood there—dropping his blade as he kneeled next to her.

He hesitated to bring her into his arms, as he didn’t know how she would react.

Virey saw his hesitation and made the decision for him—by leaning onto his chest, finally getting some of her own weight off herself as she leaned into him more.

Reyam was surprised, but his eyes softened as he looked at her.

He brought his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into him—close, secure—as he stood up carrying her.

He didn’t say anything—nor did anyone try to stop him—as he carried the girl toward the chief’s marui.

“Thank you,” Virey said in a small voice as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

Reyam lowered his head, pressing his forehead to hers, rubbing against her gently—like a quiet, protective creature offering comfort.

.

Ronal ran to her mate and fell next to him as she looked at him.

The previously open wound on his chest was closed shut and healed well—just like Neteyam’s had been.

But Tonowari’s was even better.

She pressed her hand to his heart and felt it beat against her hands. Again and again and again.

She couldn’t believe what was happening.

“He’s alive,” she said in disbelief.“He’s alive—but how?”

She started—but was interrupted as her son just brought her into his arms again, knowing that it wasn’t his secret to tell.

Ronal ordered the warriors to take her mate to the chief’s marui carefully—she didn’t separate from him for even a second.

.

Reyam laid Virey down on her sleeping mat carefully, covering her with a blanket.

She stirred slightly, her eyelids heavy, but still managed to open them just enough to meet his gaze.

“I’m going to be asleep for a while now,” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.

He nodded, encouraging her to continue—though the sadness in his expression was impossible to mask.

“I’m scared,” she admitted, eyes flickering with large shards of blue. “Of what’s going to happen when I’m unconscious.”

The words shattered something in him.

“Don’t worry,” he murmured—making his voice as steady and assuring as possible.

“You can sleep peacefully here. I won’t leave until you wake up.”

She held his gaze for a moment longer.

Then—as his words settled into her—a small, tired smile pulled at her lips. Soft. Trusting.

It was all the reassurance he needed.

As soon as she drifted into sleep, Reyam reached down—picking up her knife from where it had fallen earlier. His own had been left at the scene.

Then, without hesitation, he walked toward the marui’s entrance and sank down beside the frame—blade in hand.

He had meant what he said. Not for food. Not for water.

Nothing would make him leave her.

Chapter Text

Reyam stayed true to his words when he said he would not leave her. That day, he only let the Tsahik in so that she could patch up her daughter as she slept, and Ronal didn’t push it, understanding that he wasn’t in the right state of mind to even try and talk to him. So she let him stay and protect the girl he was ready to kill for.

Her own mate had yet to wake up either, but his heartbeat remained strong. However, the sight of him dying in her arms still had her checking it every two hours at least.

Neytiri had told her that she left the battlefield because Tonowari wanted to spend his last moments with his family, and even though her thoughts were racing with the things she witnessed, she flew back to the battlefield to support her mate.

Aonung told her that it must have taken a toll on both of their bodies to perform the miracle they did, but the certainty in his voice told her that he already knew about this.

Aonung would bring Reyam food and water three times a day, in fear that the boy would really starve himself rather than leave her, but Reyam still wouldn’t let him near Virey.

Back when Reyam told them that she had known this would happen, he felt like they had all failed her in all the ways imaginable—to make their family member feel like that.

Aonung had been seeking out Neteyam more than he ever had before. He sat with the boy on the beach, both of them looking towards the ocean. They told each other everything that had been troubling them, comforting each other through this time. Because they could all feel how much it was weighing on them. They felt suffocated. All that surrounded them was fear and confusion. Their loved ones got hurt, and they could do nothing but watch. They just wanted all of this to end. They wanted to go back to the rhythm they had before all this.

It was late in the afternoon when Jake returned with the warriors, thankful that at least 90% of them were alive—even though they were injured. The humans did expect them to attack like this, and so they got the drop on them, but they still couldn’t accomplish the mission, which was to destroy the mothership.

The aerial attacks were too hard to counter, and Neytiri wasn’t enough to destroy all of it. But they had at least almost completely wiped out the water ships that were deployed. Jake thought that if they could attack them again before they got reinforcements, then they really might be able to pull it off.

His head hung low as he made his way to the chief’s marui, wanting to console Ronal, who had just lost her mate. He wasn’t yet informed of the miracle that was performed because he had been fighting for everyone’s life out there.

As he knocked on the frame and entered, the breath was almost knocked out of his lungs when he saw the almost-healed scar on his friend’s chest. He looked at Ronal, who saw the confusion in his eyes and directed him to sit down. Neytiri came almost right after he sat down.

She stood at the gate as she said, “I would have explained it to you if you didn’t leave everyone behind and race here after giving the retreat order.”

It was true that Jake had come here without a look back—he was worried for his friend, and the grief was about to consume him whole.

Ronal directed Neytiri to sit down as well, and she recounted everything that had happened to him.

Jake put a hand over his mouth in both confusion and awe as he heard her explanation.

“I think she did the same thing for your son too,” she concluded, and both of them understood as they nodded their heads.

“We owe a great debt to the girl,” Neytiri said as her eyes softened.

The souls left all their bodies as Tonowari sat up slowly and said, “So that’s what happened—that’s how I’m still here.”

He gazed at his trembling hand before balling it up into a fist.

Ronal wasted no time as she ran towards her mate and fell into his arms. Tears were streaming down both their faces—they had really thought that they had lost each other.

Neytiri and Jake gave a sympathetic look to the two in front of them, understanding everything they had been through. Ronal didn’t move from her mate’s arms as he laid back down, but now a small smile was on his lips.

Jake told Tonowari everything that had happened on the battlefield in an effort to fill the silence—until his mate flicked his head in an effort to shut him up.

“They’re too tired, my love. Now is not the time,” she said sharply, to which Jake just gave an apologetic smile.

Tonowari opened his tired eyes as he asked, “Where is everyone? Although I’d rather not have my children chatter right now,” he said, chuckling.

Ronal exchanged a look with Jake and Neytiri, deciding to give her tired mate a break after all he had been through.

So she said, “Yawne, it is nighttime now. Everyone is asleep.”

Tonowari was too tired to question anything, so he just hummed in response and fell back into a deep sleep.

Ronal didn’t move as she chose to sleep on his thighs.

Jake and Neytiri also went back to their own marui.

.

The next day, Aonung went straight to his family’s marui after stopping at the food storage and grabbing Reyam something. He had spent the night out at the beach with Neteyam. He felt a lot better after that—Neteyam just seemed to have this calming effect on him that no one could replicate, and he knew he did the same for Neteyam.

As he entered the marui, he saw his mother sleeping on Tonowari’s thighs and his father slumbering away as well. But the breathing he could hear calmed him down.

After checking his sister’s quarters and making sure she was there instead of with stupid Lo’ak, he went back to his own quarters. He lay on his mat and stared up at the ceiling, thinking about all that had happened.

.

Ronal stirred as she felt her mate shift beneath her. She glanced up—he was still asleep—then turned toward the window.

The sun had already climbed well past midday.

Carefully, she rose, deciding to fetch something for Tonowari after checking in on their children and feeding her infant daughter.

As she made her way back from the food storage, she spotted the Sully children heading in her direction.

“Hello, Ronal,” they greeted in unison, gesturing the “I see you” sign.

She returned it.

It was clear—they had something to ask.

The way they shifted uneasily, glancing between each other, spoke volumes.

None of them seemed to know who should go first.

Finally, Neteyam sucked in a breath and stepped up.

“How is everyone? I heard from Dad that Tonowari is awake,” he said, then rushed to add, “He’ll need a lot of rest at first, but he should be fine—”

He kept rambling, nervous, until Ronal’s soft laugh cut him off.

“He will be fine, Neteyam—thank you for asking… and also, for telling the Tsahik how to do her job,” she teased.

Neteyam’s face flushed red, but he laughed at her tone—his siblings joining in.

“You kids should get something to eat,” Ronal instructed as she turned to leave.

But Spider’s voice stopped her.

“What about Virey? Will she be okay too?”

His question shocked nearly everyone.

Ronal’s brows twitched slightly, but she gave him a reassuring nod. “Yes—she’ll be fine. Nothing is seriously wrong.”

Then, without another word, she walked away.

The group, however, almost fully turned toward Spider—expressions ranging from surprised to suspicious.

Spider blinked at them. “What?”

“What’s up with us? What’s up with you?” Neteyam shot back.

Lo’ak crossed his arms. “You just asked about the well-being of someone who exposed your secret.” He didn’t bother to mince his words.

Spider sighed, shifting awkwardly as he took in their reactions.

Then, he steadied himself.

“The way I see it—she actually gave me the chance to redeem myself,” he explained. “If the secret I kept had caused serious harm, then I doubt I’d have been able to live with myself—much less mend my relationship with all of you.”

He exhaled, slower this time. “So, in a way… she kind of saved me.”

Silence.

The group hadn’t expected that.

They hadn’t expected him to approach this with maturity—to accept his mistakes so openly.

One of the reasons they had been so angry at him was because he had initially justified his choices—defended himself instead of owning up to what he had done.

But now?

Now, they realized—that hadn’t been his true intent.

“Well—” Kiri’s voice broke the quiet as she bumped into him playfully. “Someone’s got a crush.”

It was the first time she had smiled at him since the truth came out.

Spider noticed.

“Oh, shut up,” he shot back.

And just like that—the tension dissolved.

The easy banter returned, and the group moved forward—just as they always had.

.

As Ronal finished preparing the food, it was already night. Her children roamed into the room like ghosts—no doubt everything that had happened had sucked the life out of them. Tonowari also woke up, looking much better, although he still felt like he could go right back to sleep if he lay down again.

They all sat in a circle as Ronal gave them their food. Tonowari’s portion was almost twice his usual size, but just when he was about to complain, he was pinned with a look from his mate that made him accept it quietly.

He looked around at his children and noticed that Virey was nowhere in sight. “Tell me, children, where is your sister?” he asked, and the shift in the room didn’t go unnoticed by him.

Ronal gave her children a look that told them what they needed to do.

“She went out to the ocean with Reyam earlier. You know how she doesn’t like to get interrupted when she’s with him,” his son said.

Tonowari didn’t believe him at first, but he thought that was something Virey would do, and his headache from lack of food was getting in the way of his rationality.

“Leave the girl alone for today. You know how kids her age are,” Ronal said, desperately trying to stop him from thinking about it.

Tonowari just nodded, not fully convinced, but Tsireya tried to distract him by telling him about her day and what she did with friends as they all ate.

.

It was late afternoon the next day when Tonowari put his foot down and demanded answers. After yesterday night, he woke up midday today with almost all his energy back, as his wound was almost fully healed. His children were with him as they played and tried to distract him, but he couldn’t keep himself from worrying any longer—and the way they were acting only added to his thoughts.

“Where is Virey? It’s been two days since I woke up, and you can’t tell me that she wouldn’t have come to see me in that time. So tell me, what is happening?” he said as he felt the anger rise in him.

Ronal sighed as she looked away frantically. She knew she couldn’t keep it from him forever, so, deciding that he was better now, she came clean.

“She’s unconscious,” she said with a grimace. “She’s been unconscious for two days now.”

And with that, Tonowari’s heart dropped.

He stood from where he was sitting in a hurry, but the dizziness knocked him back. He put his hand on his face as he tried to calm down, then looked up into Aonung’s worry-filled eyes. He stretched his hand to his son, who took it, understanding what he meant. Slowly, Aonung helped his father up to his feet, Ronal going over to his other side to support him.

Tsireya held the covering on their marui frame open for them, and the family made their way toward their daughter’s marui.

When Tonowari reached his daughter’s marui, he saw Reyam standing up from where he leaned on the frame—then looked down at the dagger he was holding. His mate gave him a look that said there was a lot more to this story.

“Hello, Chief. I am glad to see you are doing well,” he said and gave the “I see you” sign, to which Tonowari returned.

“I’m going to see my daughter,” Tonowari said in a firm voice that left no room for argument.

Reyam looked away from him, seriously thinking about something before he looked back and gave a sharp nod.

Tonowari let go of his son, steadied himself slowly, then started walking up to the marui.

He passed Reyam, who was at the entrance, and his eyes were extremely sad as he looked at his unconscious daughter. Reyam looked back at him and said, “She told me she would be asleep for a while. I don’t think there’s anything seriously wrong.”

Then he walked and sat at the porch, trying to give Tonowari as much privacy as he could.

Aonung came up to him and stood next to him.

“Why? You wouldn’t even let me see her no matter how many times I asked,” Aonung said sadly.

Reyam looked away for a moment, contemplating what he was about to say.

With a sigh, he looked back at the boy and said, “She told me how the Chief was one of the most understanding people she had met. She said she was glad that he became her father. I figured that someone she would like to be visited by was someone she talked about like that.”

“Wow, I didn’t expect you two to be this close,” Aonung continued. “And me—did she say anything about me?”

Reyam looked at the boy in surprise, then gave him a soft smile.

“She said she didn’t expect you to be such a warm person, but more than anything, she didn’t expect that she would be so attached to you,” he concluded with a chuckle.

Aonung was happy at what he heard, but he gave Reyam a confused look.

“Then why didn’t you let me see her?” he asked.

Reyam sighed as he looked away from him.

“Sorry, that was all me. I knew that you would never hurt her, but my body just wouldn’t listen.”

Aonung chuckled a bit.

“Should you even be telling us all this?” he asked the boy.

“She always tells you guys what she thinks and feels about you. You just don’t listen or see it,” Reyam stated.

“And you can?” Aonung retorted, a bit offended.

“Yeah, I can. You know how she is,” he started. “She may not say it in words, but she always shows you—and isn’t that better?”

Aonung nodded, thinking of how she was slowly allowing him to do the things she would shoo him away from before.

But he was startled out of his thoughts when Reyam brought his hand up and ruffled his hair.

“What the—what was that about?” Aonung said.

“I’m just trying to cheer you up,” Reyam said with a chuckle.

“Yeah, well—coming from someone younger than me, it’s kind of an insult,” Aonung retorted.

“Come on, I’m not younger than you by much—it’s only by a few months,” he said back.

.

Tonowari was looking at his daughter’s exhausted face. He sat with her until he couldn’t keep himself up from the fatigue and had to go back to his own marui, leaning on his son.

As he sat there, he asked Aonung and Ronal to tell him what was happening—and so they did.

They recounted everything that happened after his death, how the warriors made it worse, everything that happened with Reyam, and finished with how he was refusing to leave her alone.

Tonowari pinched his nose tightly as he listened to it all, sighing at how tired the story was making him.

“I understand that it was a scary situation—but to point their spears at the chief’s daughter?” he said, sighing again.

“For now, they are being confined. They understand their mistakes and have also agreed not to tell anyone what happened that day. All the people know is that you took a wound to the chest and survived—they don’t know of her involvement,” Ronal informed him.

He nodded, thinking that they had at least done one thing right.

After having their meal, Tonowari lay down to rest again.

Ronal had told him that even though the wound was closed, he had lost a lot of blood and needed rest.

Aonung excused himself, and instead of going to his own quarters, he went out of their marui and walked toward Virey’s.

As he got closer, Reyam stood from where he was sitting on the porch.

“Are you still going to shoo me away?” Aonung asked teasingly.

Reyam just laughed as he directed him inside.

Aonung laid the mat that he had sneaked away on the floor.

Virey’s marui wasn’t as big as the chief’s, but it was big enough that there were at least two meters between where Virey slept and where they laid their mat.

Aonung looked up at Reyam and narrowed his eyes.

“You weren’t sleeping next to her, were you?” he asked.

Reyam’s eyes widened at what the boy suggested, and he frantically denied it.

“What? No! I would never do that without her permission.”

Aonung’s eyes narrowed even more.

“Are you saying that you would do that with her permission?” he questioned further.

Reyam literally stepped back.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying at all. Can we please just go to sleep?” he said and didn’t wait for Aonung as he lay on the mat with his back to him.

Aonung just glared at the back of his head before he walked over to his sleeping sister and kneeled on one knee, examining her relaxed features.

“Good night, sis. And please wake up soon,” he said, then got up and went back to the mat they were sharing, lying down with his back facing Reyam’s.

.

It was midday the next day.

Reyam was by the door frame, leaning on it, and Aonung had gone to bring them food from the storage when he heard some rustling from the back.

Panic rose in his chest as his head turned—but was replaced by pure relief when he saw Virey was up and in a sitting position.

His eyes met hers as he kneeled down next to her.

“Hey, Reyam—I’m glad to see you,” she said with a soft smile.

And Reyam all but melted.

“I’m glad to see you’re awake now,” he replied, his eyes still on her.

The silence was disrupted when they heard things falling from the frame—and whipped their gaze that way to see Aonung’s shocked face with fruits all over the floor.

He walked quickly toward his sister and kneeled next to her, flinging Reyam away and making her chuckle a bit.

“Hey, you’re awake,” Aonung said happily.

“Yep. Did you miss me?” she said teasingly.

Virey slowly stood, steadying herself. Unlike before—unlike the time she was alone in the forest, trying not to let exhaustion consume her—she had slept peacefully for days. Her energy had fully replenished.

And yet, as the memories settled, she wasted no time.

She bolted from her marui, feet pounding against the ground as she raced toward the chief’s marui.

The instant she entered, her eyes locked onto Tonowari—standing there, Ronal at his side.

She didn’t wait.

She ran to him.

Then, without hesitation, she threw herself into his arms, gripping him in a tight embrace.

Tonowari froze for a moment, startled by the rare display of affection—but he welcomed it.

Carefully, he knelt, his arms wrapping around her, holding her close as he felt her tears soak into his shoulder.

Virey might have the power to bring someone back from the dead, but that didn’t mean she was unaffected by it.

She had truly believed, for a moment, that she had lost him.

Her grip tightened around him before she pulled away, her breath uneven, eyes blurred with tears.

She scanned him quickly—assessing, searching.

Her gaze landed on the wound she had healed, lingering there for a moment, checking for anything wrong.

And when she concluded that he was truly all right, she couldn’t stop herself.

She hugged him again.

Tonowari let her.

Just as he had done for Aonung. Just as he had done for Tsireya.

She remained there—pressed against him—until her tears finally dried.

Then, slowly, she pulled back.

Tonowari watched as she straightened, her posture steady, and rose back to his full height.

“I’m glad to see you’re all right,” Virey said, now that she had finally calmed down—now that she knew everything was truly okay.

“And I’m glad to see you’re okay too, my child,” Tonowari replied, his eyes soft as he looked at her—the girl who was finally smiling up at him.

Then—hunger hit her like a bullet.

“Is there any food here by chance?” she asked, placing a hand on her stomach.

The entire marui burst into laughter.

“What? I haven’t eaten in days,” she defended, completely unaffected by their amusement.

But that was what had them laughing—how she could go from crying and worrying one second to thinking about food the next, the instant she had confirmed that all was well.

“What is it?!” she exclaimed, genuinely confused as their laughter only grew.

Still chuckling, Aonung stepped closer. “I brought plenty to your marui—come on, let’s go.”

He nudged her toward the door.

Meanwhile, Reyam was struggling to hold himself up by the marui’s frame, his laughter spilling freely at this hilarious girl.

Virey glanced back at Tonowari, who gave her an assuring nod between chuckles, silently telling her that everything was truly fine.

Satisfied, she turned back toward the exit—but paused beside Reyam, who was still heaving from laughter.

“Are you just going to stay here, or are you coming with us?” she asked.

He nodded, falling into step with her—still working to catch his breath.

The three of them plopped down in a circle after Virey gathered the shells and pearls she had dropped earlier when Neteyam had called for her.

She told them to look away as she worked.

“Are you making an accessory for someone? I already told you what it means if you give it to someone,” Aonung complained.

Virey rolled her eyes.

“No, don’t tell me—you already have your eyes on someone?!” Aonung exclaimed, leaning in.

“Oh, please shut up, brother. It’s not like that, all right?” she said, fixing him with a look before taking a fruit from the pile and popping it into her mouth—giving him no time to argue back.

Reyam just sat there, unmoving from what she had just said.

She didn’t deny it, was all he could think of.

But more than that, he couldn’t figure out which mother-fucker was going to receive a necklace made by her—the first one she had made, he might add.

He just laughed with Aonung, trying to disguise his dilemma.

As they sat there eating, Aonung told Virey that the warriors were punished and that they had vowed to keep what had happened a secret, to which she nodded enthusiastically.

She also took the time to tell Reyam about all of it and how it worked.

Though it played out similarly to the way she had told Aonung and Neteyam, Reyam grasped it better than they had.

When they were done eating, she shooed them away.

“I want to be alone for a while—I’ll come join you by the beach later,” she said.

She stood by the frame, watching as Reyam finally stepped down, followed by Aonung. But before her brother could leave—she stopped him.

Aonung turned, confusion flickering across his face.

Virey had a hand extended to him.

“I’ll see you later, all right, brother?” she asked.

Something settled in Aonung at those words.

This was her trying. She was trying to get closer to him—to connect.

Even if it meant pushing past her fears.

He extended his own hand—gripping hers tightly.

She did the same.

Virey smiled before letting go, turning back into her marui.

Aonung stood there for a moment before finally joining Reyam, who was still deep in thought.

“Wipe that look off your face,” Aonung muttered as they walked toward the ocean.

.

It had been almost a week since Virey woke up, and slowly but surely, they were all getting back to the rhythm they had before.

Virey had been spending her time in her marui until midday, then she would go out to meet with Reyam and her friends. They had all started hanging out with each other.

But one thing was looming over their heads—the fact that they had yet to destroy the mothership located in the south.

She was spending time with Aonung in the chief’s marui, where all three of them were boring holes into shells and pearls in their collection.

Jake and Tonowari were in the next quarters, discussing their next actions.

She really wanted to offer them help in any way she could so that she could finally be done with all this and truly go back to the way things were.

So she gave Aonung a look, who nodded in return, before she slowly tiptoed toward the next quarter, making sure that she wasn’t seen.

“We don’t know what to do about the aerial attacks—they are our biggest obstacles right now,” she heard Jake say.

“Maybe we can ask for help from the Omaticaya clans so that they can support Neytiri,” Tonowari suggested.

“No, that would take too long—they might get reinforcements by then,” Jake said, sighing.

They were interrupted when they heard a thud by the door—and then saw a pearl slowly roll into view.

Jake chuckled a bit as Tonowari sighed before he called out, “Come on out, Aonung—we already know you’re there.”

His son had done this multiple times before, so imagine his surprise when his least mischievous child walked into view.

His jaw almost hit the floor.

He may have expected this from Aonung or even Tsireya—but Virey didn’t even make it to the top ten.

Jake laughed out loud as he said, “It’s always the ones you never expect,” because even he didn’t have her in mind—despite knowing that they were just next door.

“Um, hey—did I interrupt anything?” she said, trying to fill the silence.

But she steeled herself as she decided to just go for it—courtesy of Aonung, because he’s the king of working without a plan.

“I think I can take care of the drones for you,” Virey blurted out.

And now—it was Jake’s jaw that needed help.

“Just come with me. It’s better if I show you.”

She turned without waiting, striding toward the exit.

Jake and Tonowari exchanged a glance before rushing to follow—while Aonung, curious, decided to go along as well.

As they reached the beach, Virey turned to Aonung. "Can you take us somewhere secluded? Preferably with boulders."

Aonung nodded, calling for the ilus. Soon, the four of them set off.

When they emerged from the water, Virey crouched near the shoreline, making a small cut on her finger, watching as it dissolved into the sea.

Mischief sparked in her eyes.

Without warning—the water around them rose.

It encased them, swirling just as it had the night she revealed her abilities to Aonung and Neteyam.

Jake and Tonowari startled, their instincts kicking in instantly—knives drawn, backs pressed together, ready for an attack.

But then—Aonung and Virey collapsed into laughter.

Jake and Tonowari shot them confused, irritated glances. Why weren’t they worried?

"Gosh—you should see your faces right now," Aonung wheezed between laughter, leaning against his sister as she struggled to breathe from amusement.

It hit them.

This—whatever this was—was part of what they had come here to learn.

Still annoyed, they waited as the two gathered themselves, wiping their eyes before Virey finally spoke.

"Don't worry—this was all my doing."

Jake and Tonowari exchanged another look—what?

Aonung and Virey straightened, and Virey began explaining.

Tonowari examined the cave-like structure of water around them, taking it in with awe. "This is incredible."

"You can say that again," Jake murmured, still stunned.

He took his time studying the phenomenon.

Then, finally, he asked, "But how does this help us?"

Virey turned to him. "Right now, I’m only applying enough tension to hold it together. But if I magnify the pressure—" She paused, shifting her stance. "—and then aim in a direction and shoot—"

"It’ll be like a rain of bullets," Jake interrupted, exhaling sharply in disbelief.

Virey grinned. "Exactly." She gestured toward a boulder nearby. "Let me show you."

She gathered a large sphere of water, hovering it in her palms as she walked away from the target instead of toward it.

"If I have one target—" she fired a single stream of water, piercing the stone.

"But if I have multiple—"

The sphere morphed, splitting into multiple compressed spheres, each firing off in rapid succession—literal water bullets, striking repeatedly.

When it was over, she returned the remaining water to the surroundings, then turned back to Jake.

He was still in awe.

"Wow. That was incredible," he muttered, moving toward the now-damaged boulder, running his fingers over the deep water-made indentations.

Tonowari and Aonung were just as stunned, though something akin to pride swelled in Tonowari as he looked at his daughter.

"But can’t you just do that to the main ship? You’re like a whole army by yourself," Aonung asked, still staring.

"No," Virey shook her head. "The main ship is fortified against real bullets—so my water wouldn’t do anything to it."

"But the jets—" she began, but Jake cut in.

"—have much lighter and softer metal, meaning you can drop them like flies," he said under his breath, piecing it together.

Virey beamed at him. "Exactly. Finally someone who understands."

Aonung chuckled, knowing how fed up she had been with their cluelessness.

Jake glanced up—first at Virey, then at the cave of water surrounding them.

"Wait—so you can control all the water around us, right? Doesn’t that mean you could—"

This time, Virey cut him off.

"Make literal sponges out of you right where you stand? Yes, I can. And very easily, may I add."

She smirked playfully, but the words sent a shudder down Jake’s spine.

He turned his gaze back to the swirling water.

Anyone caught in this was dead without question.

"Then why didn’t you explain this before scaring us like that?" Tonowari asked, laughing.

Virey chuckled. "Well, I guess Aonung is rubbing off on me."

That statement gave Aonung more pride than anything else.

"This is genius—it solves almost all of our problems without disrupting the rest of our strategy," Jake said, walking back toward the group.

He looked at Virey, his expression sincere. "Thank you—for offering your help."

"And of course, we’ll keep this a secret," he added.

Virey just smiled at him—at the man who had answered her unspoken questions without her needing to ask.

Tonowari, however, wasn’t done.

“I insist that there be people protecting her when she steps onto the battlefield.”

Jake gawked at him.

Protect her?

They’d need to protect people from her—not the other way around.

“She isn’t trained for it, and what if someone managed to get close to her while she was concentrating on protecting us?” he said, putting his foot down on the matter.

To answer his question, she would surround them with water and fill them with more holes than we can count, Jake said in his head.

“I mean, look at her.” Tonowari gestured to his daughter, who gave them a small smile. “She’s harmless.”

Yeah, right. She makes Swiss cheese out of metal, and she’s harmless? Jake said in his head but exhaled.

“Fine,” he relented. “But to keep this information contained, we need to choose someone who already knows about it.”

“I’ll go with her,” Aonung jumped in immediately. “She’s safe with me.”

Tonowari raised an eyebrow. “Then we need another person to keep you in line.”

Chuckling, he eyed his son.

Aonung just rolled his eyes but didn’t argue. It wouldn’t hurt to have someone else.

“There’s Reyam,” Virey offered casually. “He already knows all about this.”

Aonung rolled his eyes again, making Tonowari laugh at his reaction.

Jake nodded. “Okay—so the three of you will take down the drones. Or—more accurately—Virey will, then we’ll move in.”

But Virey shook her head.

“Either you move in first, drawing out the drones, and then I shoot them down—or we stay and pick them off as they start coming out.” She paused. “Both options have risks.”

Jake gestured for her to continue.

“If we choose the first, anyone caught in the crossfire could be seriously injured if they don’t retreat in time. But if we stay in one place and shoot from there, we become easy targets because our location will be obvious.”

Tonowari and Jake considered this, falling silent.

Then Jake raised his head, about to ask something—but Virey cut him off.

“I will not choose between the two options—that’s your job, with all due respect,” she said flatly.

The two men laughed.

“No, child—that wasn’t what he was going to ask,” Tonowari chuckled.

Virey exhaled in relief.

Jake smiled. “I was going to ask how good you are in the water—so you kids can keep moving and won’t be picked off easily.”

Virey lit up at that. “Oh, I’ll be fine if we have to keep moving. I think that’s actually a really good plan.”

Jake nodded. “Alright then. I’ll inform Reyam. Now all that’s left is sorting the details with the warriors—then we can finally end this war.”

He met Virey’s gaze. “Really—thank you. You have no idea how many lives you’re saving.”

Virey simply smiled—but what sent her over the moon was the pride-filled look in her father’s eyes.

Tonowari clapped his hands together. “Now—how do we get out of this?” He gestured at the walls of water surrounding them.

“Please just don’t drop it on our heads again, sis,” Aonung grumbled.

But—it was too late.

The water collapsed—but only on him.

Aonung blinked, realizing what had just happened. Then—he took off running, laughing as he chased after his sister.

Virey bolted toward the ocean, dying of laughter.

“You really want to challenge me in the water—after everything you’ve seen?” she teased, reaching the shoreline, ready to dive in.

“I’d be damned if I don’t try,” Aonung shot back.

Then—a splash. Virey disappeared into the water.

Aonung followed without hesitation.

Jake and Tonowari remained, watching the two disappear into the waves.

Both men smiled.

This—this was what they were fighting so hard for.

To give their children a life filled with moments like this.

With laughter. With joy.

Chapter Text

Virey sat in the Sully family house after Aonung had chased her relentlessly in the water. She finally stopped using her powers and played fair—he caught her easily then.

By afternoon, they had played enough and headed back. Jake found her on the beach and invited her for dinner, while Aonung threw her under the bus for making him swim after her all afternoon, saying he’d tell their dad that she would be coming back late.

So here she was, seated between Neteyam and Kiri, with Lo’ak, Tuk, and Spider in front of her. Jake and Neytiri faced each other, completing the circle.

“Thank you for accepting our offer to be here,” Jake started, breaking the tension.

“Thank you for inviting me,” she replied, trying not to panic over what to say.

“How did you master underwater breathing so easily?” Lo’ak asked, eyeing her curiously.

“Well, I like the water, so it didn’t really scare me all that much,” she answered.

Lo’ak had warmed up to Virey, bonding over what he called their "shared mark"—their five fingers.

“Yeah, right. Aonung and Rotxo nearly drowned us when we got here. They couldn’t believe someone could just not swim well,” he grumbled.

“Oh, come on, it wasn’t that bad,” Neteyam defended.

“What the—have you been spending too much time with fish lips? Now you’re defending him?” Lo’ak pinned his brother with a suspicious look. Neteyam just looked away, and before Lo’ak could put things together, Virey spoke up.

“Well, maybe it was just you who had a bad experience. Maybe your teacher was too lenient,” she said, steering the conversation.

Lo’ak looked guilty—she had hit the mark.

The tension fully broke, and the kids fell into casual conversation and play, their parents watching with fond smiles.

As dinner wrapped up, Jake and Neytiri offered to walk Virey back. As they reached her marui, she spoke first.

“Thank you for inviting me. I had fun with your children.”

“No, Virey—thank you,” Jake began.

“Thank you for everything,” Neytiri finished.

Their sincerity stunned her. She smiled and nodded but didn’t turn away—knowing they had one more question.

Her hesitation told them she was open to it, so Jake asked outright—

“Why did you decide to save him?”

Virey laughed softly, shaking her head.

“He really is your son—you all ask the same question,” she mused before her tone shifted.

“That night—I was there. When Neteyam died in your arms,” she said, lowering her gaze to Neytiri, whose face tightened at the memory.

“I remember thinking—” she exhaled, “how such an anguished sound could come from a Na’vi.”

Her gaze flickered back up.

“It made me wonder how a family could move on from something like that.”

They remained silent, afraid to interrupt—afraid she would stop if they did.

“I couldn’t just turn away after seeing all that.

"So I did what I could to help,” she finished with a small smile.

“I know we’ve said this before, but thank you,” Neytiri said, voice thick with emotion.

“We are in your debt.”

“You’re welcome,” Virey replied before turning and entering her marui.

Jake and Neytiri turned back toward their own marui, Jake’s arm wrapping around his mate.

“She’s a sweet child,” Neytiri murmured.

Jake’s face froze.

“Yawne—I told you she said she could kill me where I stood, didn’t I?” he muttered, pulling her closer.

Neytiri laughed.

“So what? She’s a child with teeth—that’s good.”

Jake groaned.

She was just like Tonowari.

.

And just like that, the day to settle the war once and for all came.

Aonung went to disturb his sister early in the morning.

“Come on, sis, wake up already.

"I waited for hours after I woke up,” he complained, determined to wake her up.

“Aonung, I swear to god—you better stop talking so loudly,” Virey said in her sleep haze, to which Aonung laughed.

“Seriously, wake up—we need to plan how we are going to move and from where to where,” he said, knowing his sister would listen to reason.

Virey groaned as she sat up.

“I’ll come meet you by the shore—you get Reyam,” she said, deciding to get ready.

Aonung wasted no time as he went by the training grounds and fetched Reyam.

As they were walking to the shore, Aonung said—

“The day is finally here,” to which Reyam replied—

“We are finally going to end this war.”

The two of them sat at the beach, waiting for Virey.

“Please just try and cooperate, okay?” Reyam groaned, thinking about how Aonung goes off on his own when he hunts with a group.

Aonung just laughed before he got a bit serious.

“Don’t worry—this doesn’t just involve me only, after all. We are both protecting someone.”

Virey plopped herself down, facing the two of them.

“Okay then—so how do you think we should move?” she said, getting comfortable.

Aonung drew a circle in the sand as the ship.

“Obviously, we have to keep circling the same places—but how can we do it in a way that won’t interfere with the others but also keeps us hidden?” he said, deep in thought.

“There’s also the fact that they may send underwater ships after us,” Virey noted, to which Reyam raised his palms and said—

“I can take care of those. The special program Jake has taught us all we need to take them down.”

And all of them nodded—one problem solved, at least.

The three of them talked until the time they needed to move out neared.

They more or less made a strategy of how and when they were going to keep moving—but ultimately decided to keep it as random as they could so that no one just waited for them.

They went to where the warriors were assembled and called for their ilus.

They knew they looked odd with their ilus among warriors with their skimwings—but they needed to stay behind anyway, and none of them had completed the rite of passage yet.

In the war, they would be swimming without their ilus.

But before they mounted, they saw the Sully children approach them.

“Hey guys—we didn’t know that you all would be going to the battlefield,” Lo’ak said, itching to join them.

Neteyam stepped forward, his worried gaze fixed on Aonung.

He desperately wished to accompany them, but his father had strictly forbidden him—saying he should stay here and protect his siblings.

Mostly Lo’ak, so he wouldn’t run off to the battlefield.

Their involvement was strictly secret—the warriors wouldn’t even know who was going to be shooting down the drones.

They were probably going to think that it was Neytiri.

Aonung got closer to Neteyam, mumbling something about coming back soon.

Virey wanted to give them the moment alone, but there wasn’t much she could do.

She walked through the group and attracted their attention.

“Don’t tell me you guys are gonna miss us or anything,” she said, successfully pulling their gazes from the two boys.

“Oh please—you wish,” Lo’ak started. “But still—be careful, alright?” he said, looking away.

Virey just smiled at him.

She knew he cared for people more than he let on—just like Aonung.

She figured that’s why they made good friends.

“We will,” she replied.

“Don’t go dying on me now—you know there’s still something you can do for me,” Kiri said, referring to their visit to the Spirit Tree.

And the two just laughed together, Virey nodding at her.

Spider came up to her, and Virey looked down at the boy.

“Well—they already said it, but third time’s a charm, right? So don’t die on us,” he said to her, to which Virey just gave him a playful smile.

“Yeah—and don’t let the guilt crush you too much,” she said.

Then—she saw from the corner of her eyes that Aonung and Neteyam were done with what they wanted to say.

So she walked past Spider and the group—toward their ilus.

The warriors moved out with a loud cry from Tonowari.

And with a single look back, they set forth as well—purposefully trailing behind the warriors.

“Thank you for that,” Aonung said to her, implying he knew what she did back there.

“Of course,” Virey said before they dived under the water.

They followed behind the warriors, trailing as the ship came into sight.

Virey and Neytiri had spoken before the war, deciding Neytiri would shoot down the machines on the ship instead of the jets—so Virey wouldn’t have to hold back while shooting.

As they neared the field, the warriors split in two, following Jake and Tonowari.

The three kids dismounted from their ilus, directing them away.

They dived in, swimming east of the ship as planned.

Aonung couldn’t believe what was happening—the water tightened around him, pushing him forward, and it freaked him out.

When they surfaced, he was the first to speak.

“What the fuck was that? Did you feel it too?” he said, whipping his head to Reyam, who looked confused before a grin spread across his face.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never gone swimming with her? She can even launch you into the air—it’s really fun. But I guess that’s reserved only for me,” Reyam gloated, effectively pissing Aonung off.

“Oh, shut up,” he said before turning to his sister.

“You’ll take me to do whatever he’s talking about, right, sis?”

Virey laughed at the two.

“Sure, brother—but not all the time,” she said.

Aonung nodded, turning to Reyam to gloat—but Reyam still had that smirk, mouthing Whenever I want.

Aonung nearly flew off the handle before his sister spoke.

“Focus, guys—just like we planned, okay?” she said, eyes still on the ship.

“Don’t tell me you’re nervous,” Aonung joked.

But Virey didn’t reciprocate.

“Yeah, I am—like, I’m really nervous right now. There’s a lot riding on us.”

She looked at them both, and they glanced down at the water.

They were nervous too—that’s why they were talking so much.

“Get serious, guys—we can’t afford any surprises right now. It’s not just our lives hanging on this,” she said, turning to the ship, knowing they got her point.

A loud war cry erupted from the stationed warriors—Virey took it as her signal.

She drew her dagger, cutting her fingers, watching the blood dissolve in the water.

“Now then,” she said, summoning a large sphere of water, letting it hover above her arms.

“Time for some seriously overdue payback.”

Her cold voice sent shivers down their backs, making them silently thank Eywa she was on their side.

Soon enough, the jets took off.

The humans knew they were their best bet—water ships were easily countered by the water Na’vi.

They saw Jake on the battlefield, so there was no one to shoot down the jets.

Which made it all the more baffling when jets started falling one by one—with not one, not three, but multiple holes in each.

They thought maybe Jake had taught someone to use a gun.

But what kind of gun doesn’t make a sound?

“Alright, guys—that’s three down. We gotta move,” Virey said, turning to them.

“Wow—that was incredible. It’s one thing to hear about it—but to see it in action…” Reyam trailed off, turning to Virey.

“You’re incredible,” he said in awe.

Virey’s eyes widened at how openly he said it before a laugh broke out of her.

She blinked—the pure admiration in his voice catching her off guard.

Then, she laughed again.

“Alright—thanks, I guess,” she chuckled, shaking it off.

“Come on, let’s go.”

She dived first, still chuckling.

Reyam, still stunned, stared as she disappeared under the water—until Aonung snapped his fingers in his line of sight.

“Hey—eyes off my sister before I fucking blind you.”

The threat was sharp.

Dead serious.

Then—Aonung dived in after her.

That seemed to snap Reyam out of his haze, and he quickly followed.

They continued circling, shooting down drones—but Virey knew how smart the humans were.

They would soon figure out their locations—or at least estimate them.

When they surfaced, she turned to Reyam.

She wasn’t leaving anything to chance.

“I think you should go underwater and keep an eye out for the water ships. It’s about time they sent them,” she said.

They had already talked about this, so he nodded before diving under to keep watch.

.

Back on Jake’s side, he finally got on the ship, fighting off humans wearing war machines. He was struggling—to say the least.

His warriors were outnumbered, so he did as Tonowari asked—letting out a cry for help.

It signaled half of Tonowari’s group to race to him.

Soon, they made it to the ship.

As Tonowari boarded, Jake was the first to speak.

“I didn’t expect you to come yourself,” Jake said after decimating his opponent.

But they were interrupted by a voice they all knew—and hated.

“How the fuck are you still alive? I’m sure I gave you a pretty good slash across the chest,” Quaritch sneered, charging toward Tonowari.

Jake intercepted.

“I’ll leave him to you,” Tonowari said, heading to support the others.

The bastard came at him, knife gleaming—aimed straight for Tonowari.

Jake barely acknowledged Tonowari’s words.

His focus was locked on the man before him—the one who had hunted his family relentlessly.

They clashed.

Each strike, harder than the last.

Jake forced Quaritch back, leading him deeper into the ship—away from the warriors, away from his people.

If Quaritch lost control, Jake wouldn’t let him turn his gun on both ally and foe alike.

Gunfire blasted—then clicked empty.

Steel replaced bullets.

Blades cut deep. Fists collided.

The fight escalated beyond combat into a brutal struggle for dominance.

Quaritch’s arms wrapped around Jake’s throat.

A vice grip.

Jake gasped, vision blurring, lungs screaming.

He needed to break free—now.

He balled his fist, swung backward—prayed his aim was right.

It connected.

His knuckles cracked into Quaritch’s face, shattering bone—his nose breaking instantly.

Quaritch’s grip faltered, pain flashing across his face.

Jake didn’t hesitate.

He lunged, forcing Quaritch forward, trapping him in a chokehold—tight, unyielding.

“Don’t you wanna know how I’m still alive?” Quaritch rasped.

Jake already knew what was coming next.

“Shut up, dipshit—just die already,” he snarled, tightening his grip.

“Your own family betrayed you—it was Spider who pulled—” Quaritch started, but choked, unable to finish.

Jake would’ve been disoriented if he hadn’t already processed it.

Now—all he felt was disgust.

“Fuck you—the kind of father throwing your son under like he’s a pawn,” Jake spat, his grip never loosening.

The struggle lasted forever.

Until Quaritch’s movements stilled.

Jake panted, chest heaving.

It was done.

Except—it wasn’t.

Quaritch lay motionless.

But Jake knew better.

The man had nine fucking lives.

Jake sighed, remembering Virey’s words.

Make sure.

So—he did.

His blade plunged into Quaritch’s heart.

Then—he sliced His throat—again. And again.

Each cut poured out the rage boiling inside him.

Until Quaritch’s head separated.

Jake kicked it away.

Finally—finally—he breathed.

His family. His people.

They wouldn’t be hunted anymore.

He turned, refocusing.

The ship.

It still needed to burn.

He found the boiler room, overloaded the pressure—gave his warriors just enough time to escape.

Then—he ran.

Bursting into the open air, signaling the retreat.

.

Everything had been going well.

Until Reyam’s head broke through the surface, his voice frantic.

“They’re coming—three of them!”

Virey’s chest tightened.

Three?

They couldn’t handle that—not in any lifetime.

But hiding underwater wasn’t an option either—not when the Sky People were counting on it, likely waiting for them to disappear below.

If they did—that would be when the remaining drones were deployed.

Aonung swam closer, breaking her spiraling thoughts.

“For now, we need to move,” he urged.

Virey nodded, refocusing.

“We’re going to be moving really fast—so you two need to make sure—”

She was cut off by Aonung.

“—to try and not get nauseous, yeah, we know. Trust us a little, okay? You’re not responsible for everyone.”

His words stunned her for a beat.

She scoffed at herself, shaking her head.

“Of course—how insolent of me to try and control everything. The powers must be getting to my head. Sorry, guys.”

Reyam and Aonung chuckled, their amusement grounding her.

Then—they dived.

She propelled them fast, cutting through the water.

But no matter how fast they moved, the enemy kept finding them.

Again.

And again.

“This isn’t going to work—we need to shake them off,” Virey said as they broke the surface.

“The best I can do is support you two by slowing them down.”

Reyam and Aonung nodded at her.

“It’s fine—our job is not to destroy it. All we need to do is make them unable to follow us,” Aonung said.

“To do that, we need to stop the things that keep going in circles—but breaking them is out of the question,” Reyam said, puzzled.

But his head shot up as an idea came to mind.

“Let’s try our best to sabotage it—like drop vines and other things into it. I think we can pull it off if they’re slow,” Reyam said, looking at Virey.

Virey nodded.

“I’ll try and slow it down as much as I can—but I can’t stop it.”

And with that, the two boys went back under and started collecting as many vines as they could handle—while Virey made another cut just in case as she got close to the human ships while staying hidden.

She looked behind her as they nodded at her.

She tried her best to create as much pressure on the ship as she could—but she only managed to cut the speed in half.

She continued putting pressure on the fans, slowing them down.

The two started moving as fast as they could, racing to one each—then the third.

They didn’t look back as they fled as fast as they could after.

As their heads broke the surface, Aonung looked around to make sure they had all made it.

Then—they heard a loud cry from the ships.

Their heads turned—that way—just in time to see all the warriors jumping into the ocean and riding away as fast as they could.

The three scrambled to do the same—realizing this thing was gonna blow.

The explosion’s waves crashed onto them, pulling them under.

Virey grasped Aonung’s extended hand as he pulled her up to the surface—but they only managed to get a breath in before another wave flung them apart, sending them flying in separate directions.

When it all finally calmed down, Virey shook her head in the water, trying to ease the ringing in her ears.

Her head broke the surface, and as she looked around, she realized she had no idea where she was.

She could see the crumbling ship—but swimming toward it was too risky.

And her ilu wasn’t answering her call—no doubt scared off by the explosion.

.

Jake and the other warriors regrouped after the explosion.

“It’s finally over,” Jake said as he neared Tonowari—but Tonowari wasn’t paying attention.

He was looking for his kids.

They should have returned by now.

They knew the assembling point—unless they had been caught in the explosion.

That thought made his heart drop.

Then—he saw Aonung racing toward them and wasted no time reaching his son.

“Why are you alone, Aonung? Where are the other two?” Tonowari asked, Jake beside him.

“It’s Virey,” Aonung said, replaying the moment her hand slipped from his.

“I think she was taken further by the waves. Reyam is out there looking for her.”

Tonowari nearly lost it.

He gripped his skimwing, preparing to dive—but Jake’s hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“What?!” he snapped, the anger in his voice making Jake nearly let go—but he held on.

“She’s a smart kid. She’ll send us some kind of sign to let us know where she is. We may miss it if we’re underwater,” Jake reasoned.

And just as he finished—their answer came.

A massive ball of water rose into the air—far behind the crumbling ship.

None of them said another word before diving in, racing toward it.

.

Virey let her hand fall back into the water after sending the signal—praying they saw it.

Soon enough, someone moved toward her fast.

Reyam’s head broke the surface—his hands finding her shoulders.

“You’re okay—thank Eywa,” he said, frantically checking for injuries.

Virey smiled at him—but after assuring him, she realized Aonung had yet to surface.

“Where’s Aonung? Is he okay?” she asked, the horror of his hand slipping away returning.

“Yes—he’s okay. He went to look for the chief while I searched for you,” he said, calming her down.

But then—they felt movement in the water.

When they went under—they saw it.

One of the water ships, approaching.

The explosion must have freed it from the vines—but that didn’t lessen their horror.

They swam deeper into the ocean, Reyam gripping her hand as they made their way into the coral.

But no matter how many times they turned—the ship didn’t relent.

It only got closer.

And closer.

And closer.

Fuck—how much do they pay these guys to be this stubborn? Virey thought as they tried to widen the gap.

It wasn’t working.

Reyam held her hand, leading her into the tighter corals.

They maneuvered through them—but the ship plowed forward, breaking apart the brittle rock.

Then—they came face to face with a dead end.

They couldn’t fit through any openings in sight.

Reyam pulled her close, pressing her against the coral—shielding her.

But she could still see the ship getting closer—looming behind his shoulder.

Then—a single, straight spear shot through the water.

Breaking the glass—letting the water flood in.

Tonowari scanned the area, and his eyes found hers.

Reyam turned to see—before he let Virey go, facing the chief, who quickly approached his daughter.

Tonowari scanned her for injuries—found none—then took her hand, shooting Reyam a grateful look.

Reyam’s chest swelled at the recognition—the quiet nod from the man he respected most.

They made their way to the surface.

Virey inhaled deeply, scanning around her.

And as soon as she found him—she swam to him.

Wrapped her arms around him.

He did the same.

They had really thought—the other was going to get hurt.

She exhaled slowly as she pulled back.

She was tired—barely holding herself together.

The chase had nearly made her pass out.

They called for their ilus—but only one answered.

Aonung volunteered to swim, muttering about how the other two had been doing the real work anyway.

Reyam mounted the ilu, pulling Virey on with him.

“Can I lean on you? I’m sorry—I’m just really spent,” Virey said, nausea crawling up her throat.

Reyam’s eyes shot open.

He knew she was trying to get used to contact—but he didn’t think she would ask this.

“Yeah—of course,” he said, looking forward, breath hitching.

She barely adjusted—just collapsed against him.

Her face rested against his shoulder blades, arms loosely wrapped around his waist.

He went completely stiff—blood rushing to his head.

She should warn him before startling him like this—

Except—she already did.

“We should start heading back,” Tonowari repeated himself, snapping Reyam out of his haze.

“Yeah—yeah, we should.” His voice was still off.

“Where was it again?”

Tonowari and Jake laughed at how their best student was fumbling.

“Just follow,” Tonowari said, grinning.

They turned to each other, exchanging a quiet joke about how kids these days were too easily distracted as they made their way toward the village.

.

The whole village welcomed them as they all returned in victory. Although many were injured, casualties were minimal.

Aonung had found their ilus when they were returning and was saved from having to swim all the way back, but Virey refused to get off, saying she was too tired to ride and that she was comfortable here.

Everyone laughed out loud, thinking, What has gotten into the girl?—everyone being Tonowari and Jake. Reyam was too rigid to laugh, and Aonung was too busy eyeing Reyam suspiciously.

As they neared the shoreline, Reyam spotted his parents and waved at them. Their eyes filled with relief, then pride, as they watched their son—then confusion as they looked at the girl behind him.

Virey supported herself off Reyam, letting go of him slowly as she dismounted from the ilu. Aonung muttered something about going to find someone and left, but before she could excuse herself, Reyam spoke up.

“Come on, let me introduce you to my parents. They have been dying to see you,” he said as he directed her to them.

Reyam jumped into his parents’ arms, hugging them tightly. After a while, he pulled back and leaned his shoulder to show who he brought.

“Virey, this is Nenet, my mother, and Tohaku, my father,” Reyam said.

Virey greeted them with the “I see you” sign as she got closer.

“Hello, my name is Virey,” she said, introducing herself.

But the two parents looked at each other, and the mother said, “Oh, we know, alright. So you're the girl that my son praises like it’s his job,” his mother said, smiling at the girl.

“Well, thank you, I guess,” she said, not knowing how to reply to it, then turned to look at Reyam. His ears were completely pulled back like he was embarrassed, but Virey couldn’t understand why.

He walked towards his mother, signing something Virey couldn’t see, so she took it as her sign to leave them alone.

“It was nice meeting you both,” she said, looking at them. His father had his arm around his mother as if he was holding her back. “I’ll see you, Reyam, okay?” she said, turning her gaze to him, and he nodded. Then she walked off.

“‘I’ll see you later,’ huh?” his dad said, getting close to him.

“Dad, come on. I told you it’s not like that,” Reyam said, his eyes still on Virey as she made her way through the crowds. His dad obviously noticed and said in a teasing voice, “Do you want it to be like that?”

Making Reyam turn to him hurriedly, “Dad, come on!” he exclaimed, then started pushing his parents towards their marui.

“Let’s go. I’m hungry,” he continued, and in a barely audible voice, he said, “It’ll never happen anyways.”

But his dad had heard it and gave his son a sympathetic look.

.

Night had settled, wrapping the ocean in a blanket of darkness.

Far from the celebrating village, Neteyam and Aonung swam side by side, their movements quiet, steady.

Virey had promised to cover for them, telling them to take as long as they needed—so Aonung had decided.

He was finally taking Neteyam to the place he had promised—the one he had waited for everything to settle before showing him.

He turned, signing, “Do you have enough air?”

Neteyam nodded. So—they went deeper.

The ocean swallowed them whole, the world fading into complete blackness.

Neteyam couldn’t see anything—nothing—except for the warm grip of Aonung’s guiding hand.

Then—a glow ahead. Faint at first. It was strange, given how deep they were.

Moments later, his head broke the surface—and his breath hitched. The sight before him stole the air from his lungs.

A cavern—alive with glowing plants, their soft light reflecting off the water, painting the space in hues of blue, violet, and gold.

It was breathtaking.

He couldn’t bring himself to look away. Not until Aonung pulled himself onto the rocks, offering a hand. Neteyam took it—letting Aonung pull him up.

The boy beside him was fidgeting.

Aonung swallowed, steeling himself, before speaking.

“So, do you like it?”

He forced himself to meet Neteyam’s eyes—

And his heart nearly stopped.

That smile—bright, genuine.

“It’s beautiful,” Neteyam murmured. “I can’t imagine ever wanting to leave this place.”

Aonung exhaled, heat rushing to his face.

“Well—if you stick with me, I’ll always bring you here whenever you want.”

His ears burned at the implication.

Neteyam understood exactly what he meant—but he wanted to hear it.

So he gave Aonung a look that said just that.

Aonung inhaled deeply, stepping closer.

Slowly, he took Neteyam’s hands in his, guiding one to his chest—right above his racing heart.

Neteyam’s breath hitched at the erratic pulse beneath his palm.

“I like you, Neteyam.”

His voice was steady—yet full of weight.

“I’ve liked you since the day I gave you the blue shell—all those weeks ago.”

His thumb grazed over Neteyam’s knuckles as he continued.

“I love how you smile at me—with those bunny teeth of yours I can’t get over, I love how you fight for the things you believe in, I love how you look into my eyes—and really see me, I love how I can talk to you—about anything—without fearing judgment.”

He let go of Neteyam’s hand—only to complete the sign.

“I see you, Neteyam, and I want nothing more than to spend forever showing you how much I love you.”

Golden eyes met his—blazing, full of unspoken emotions.

Neteyam felt like he might combust.

He hadn’t expected this—such an open, raw confession.

But he didn’t make Aonung wait long. He took Aonung’s hand—pressed it to his own chest.

Just like Aonung had done for him. A smile spread across his face.

“I love you too.”

“I love how warm you are—even when you don’t show it, I love how you always try to help in any way you can, I love how you look past your own biases—and try.”

He lifted his hand, signing it back.

“I see you, Aonung.”

“And I’d be honored if you let me show you as well.”

The two of them brought their foreheads together, breaths mingling in the cool cavern air.

Neither moved. Neither needed to.

They simply stayed—feeling their heartbeats slowly calm, steadily falling into sync.

Chapter Text

It had been four days since they returned victorious, and the village had been celebrating the defeat of the Sky People ever since. But today, training was finally resuming, and Reyam had been over the moon about it.

He woke up early like he always did, heading out to hunt with his friends. The moment his body cut through the water, he felt the kind of peace he hadn’t experienced in days. He swam through familiar paths, weaving between corals, then pushed beyond the reef with the others to begin the hunt.

“Are you glad we’re restarting training? Do you really hate us that much?” Naran asked, dragging his net onto the reef rocks.

“Of course I am. What if we get rusty from all this sitting around?” Reyam shot back, hauling up his own net.

His friends rolled their eyes, settling onto the rocks to catch their breath before he joined them. They talked about the war—what it had been like for them. Reyam told them what he could, carefully skimming over Virey’s powers.

Then—laughter from behind them snatched their attention away.

“You know she’s the chief’s daughter, right? Are you really going to try your luck with her?” one of the boys teased.

“You actually made her a necklace too? Wow, man, we wish you all the best.”

They clapped the boy on the shoulder, shaking their heads with amusement.

“Get your hands off me—I’m already nervous as it is. I’m gonna go now.”

The guy being teased stood abruptly, heading for the shore. His friends cheered him on as he dove into the water.

Naran and Arzan exchanged glances, then turned back to Reyam—who hadn’t looked away from the boy disappearing beneath the waves.

“Okay, so what happened after the big explosion?” Arzan asked, snapping his fingers in front of Reyam’s face.

It took a moment, but Reyam finally refocused.

“Yeah, well… after that, we all just returned.” His voice was absentminded.

He stayed distracted for the rest of their conversation, staring out toward the ocean as his thoughts wandered. Eventually, Naran and Arzan just shrugged and decided to take their catch back to the storage room.

As they were walking out of the food place with a few fruits in their hands, Reyam spotted Virey and Kiri laughing with each other. As they got closer to say hi, Reyam froze when he saw what was on Virey’s neck.

A necklace decorated with pearls and shells was now hanging on Virey’s previously bare neck. He was sure she didn’t have anything on yesterday night—he was with her, so he would know. That meant she received it today.

All he could think about was what he saw on the reef before he came here—and now, the necklace Virey had on.

Kiri and Virey spotted them and got up as they neared.

“Hey, guys,” she greeted Naran and Arzan before turning and smiling at the still dazed boy. “Hey, Reyam, can we meet up later? There was something I want—”

She started but didn’t get to finish before he interrupted her, muttering, “Sorry, can’t do today,” then walked off without even glancing at her.

“Okayyyyyy,” she said, confused, staring at his retreating back.

“Ouch, that was a brutal rejection,” Kiri said, wincing.

“You can say that again,” Virey said, turning back to them.

Arzan and Naran just exchanged a look and decided that it wasn’t their place, so they said their goodbyes and walked off.

Kiri and Virey headed toward the water to explore the ocean and stayed there past midday.

.

Virey returned to the marui and decided to go looking for Aonung in the chief’s marui, but she knew that there wouldn’t be anyone there.

She walked in without knocking and made her way to her brother’s quarters, peeking in—before pulling her head back just as quickly when she saw he was with Neteyam.

They had their hands on each other, Aonung leaning his head on Neteyam’s thigh as he looked back at him—but she was already caught.

“Virey, was that you?” Aonung called out to her in a calm voice.

She cursed in her head before replying, “Sorry—I didn’t see anything.

"You two can just continue—don’t worry about me,” she said, about to walk out before their laugh stopped her.

“It’s fine, sis—you can come in,” he said, still chuckling, so she went into his room slowly.

They didn’t move an inch from where she found them as she made her way to them and sat on the mat.

“I thought you guys were keeping it all a secret?” she said, looking back at them.

“Yeah, well—we would have scrambled away if it was anyone else, but it’s you,” Neteyam replied, finally pulling his eyes away from the boy under him and to her—making her chuckle.

“Well, that’s good to know,” Virey said, smiling at him, feeling honored that they would divulge their secret to her.

The three of them talked like that for a long time.

She saw how Neteyam was playing with Aonung’s hair and chuckled—but almost laughed out loud when she saw the hand on her brother’s chest.

“By the way—how are you here today?

"You almost always hang out with Reyam,” Aonung asked, turning his head to her.

“I don’t know—he blew me off, so I thought he had something to do today,” she said, shrugging.

But Aonung was just baffled at Reyam’s audacity to not even give her a proper reason.

Neteyam sensed that he was about to fly off and pressed the hand on his chest down, shaking his head no when Aonung gave him a confused look.

Virey took that as her cue to leave, even though Aonung really didn’t mean it like that.

“Well, I’m sure you two wanted some time alone anyway—I’ll be leaving now,” she said, and didn’t wait before she walked out toward her own marui.

Neteyam flicked Aonung’s head.

“Why did you say it like that, idiot?” he said, looking down at him.

Aonung rubbed the spot as he said, “I know, I know—I’m sorry, okay?

"I didn’t think she would take it like that.”

“You know Virey isn’t one to stay where she doesn’t feel wanted,” Neteyam said, putting his hand back in his hair.

“Yes, I said I’m sorry—” Aonung began, but was interrupted when Neteyam leaned down and pressed his lips against him.

He completely melted as he kissed him back—his hand around Neteyam’s neck as he pulled him down.

When Neteyam leaned back up, Aonung shot up and turned toward him, his hand cupping Neteyam’s face as he pulled him in closer—and kissed him again.

.

Reyam was beating himself up as he sat on the porch of his family’s marui, staring up into the night sky.

He had acted so utterly disgraceful earlier this morning—he couldn’t believe he had just left like that.

And she was saying something too.

He just wanted to drown the past self that had done that when he thought about it.

“Fuck, what the hell was wrong with me?” he said, putting his hands on his head.

“That’s the third time you’ve said it,” his father said, walking up to his son and sitting beside him.

“Okay, lay it on me then—what happened?” he asked, and his son shifted around before he decided to tell him everything.

His father sighed deeply as Reyam told him about what he had heard on the reef—and then how he had acted toward Virey.

“Oh, son—what had gotten into you?” he said, sighing again.

Reyam just shrank away, knowing that his dad was right.

“I don’t know, okay? It’s just—after what I heard and then what I saw, I just don’t know,” Reyam replied.

“You’re gonna be on one hell of a hook until you figure out how to apologize properly. Now—tell me what they are,” his father said.

He had taught him since a young age how to apologize.

“First—I have to acknowledge my mistake. Then—apologize without making excuses. And then—the hard part is figuring out how to make it up to her,” Reyam groaned out.

To which his father laughed out loud.

“Come on—let’s go inside and ask your mother for help. I’ll help you make something for her,” he said, still chuckling at how badly his son had messed up.

And Reyam followed him—beating himself up when he heard his mistakes again as his dad told his mom.

And she pinned him with a look.

.

Reyam and his father spent the whole night making Reyam’s apology gift—and Reyam held it in his hand now that it was finally complete.

He hugged his dad in thanks and was about to walk out when he stopped him.

“You know that feeling that blinded you when you saw the necklace on her?” his dad said, a grin spreading across his face when his son turned back, confused.

“That sounds a whole lot like jealousy to me,” he concluded, laughing—and quickly made his way toward his quarters when his son threw something at him.

.

It was midday when Reyam bolted out of the marui with his face flaming.

This—his dad was wrong about. There’s no way that was it—it was just…

His thoughts trailed off.

Then—what was it? But he pushed those thoughts down as he looked for her.

He checked almost everywhere—but he still couldn’t find her.

He went to all the places she usually frequented, but she wasn’t there.

And he wasn’t audacious enough to call her out of her marui after what he had done yesterday.

As he was walking out after checking the food storage, he saw Aonung and Neteyam approaching—so he went to ask them about it.

The only thing that kept Aonung from jumping on the guy approaching them was the hand that held Neteyam’s—but his anger was clear in his eyes.

“Hey, guys—I’m sorry to interrupt. Have you seen Virey today by any chance?” Reyam asked.

“Oh, I don’t know—where were you yesterday is what I wanna know,” Aonung said mockingly.

And that told Reyam that she must have mentioned what had happened.

“I mean—if you’re audacious enough to blow her off like that without a reason, I don’t think I wanna tell you,” Aonung continued—but shrank back at the piercing look from Neteyam.

“I know what I did was wrong—that’s why I’m looking for her, okay? To apologize,” Reyam said pleadingly.

For some reason, he felt like they knew.

Neteyam eyed Reyam for a while before sighing.

“You can find her by the waters at the chief’s house.”

And Reyam shot him a look of gratitude before he ran off there.

Aonung turned to look at Neteyam like he was betrayed—but his eyes softened when he felt Neteyam ruffle his hair.

“You know—it is not our decision to make,” he said, pulling Aonung toward the storage.

“Yes—but we could have just chosen to stay silent,” Aonung complained—letting the other boy drag him as he laughed.

.

Reyam saw her talking to Kiri as he neared the chief’s marui.

He stayed by the side until Kiri noticed him and nudged her friend.

Virey turned to see him, then back to Kiri as they both got up.

At first, Reyam thought that she would just ignore him like he had ignored her, but he saw her say her goodbye to Kiri as the girl entered the water—before Virey turned and walked toward him, stopping in front of him.

“So what? Now you have time to talk?” she said with a blank expression, which made Reyam wince.

“No, I’m here to apologize,” he said, hanging his head.

Virey’s eyes softened a bit as she looked at him.

“What I did was wrong, no matter the excuse, and I’m really sorry for acting like that,” he said, bowing his head to her. “I swear it will never happen again.”

He raised his head to look at her and was relieved to see that she had softened a bit.

The way she had looked earlier really had him worried that she wouldn’t forgive him.

“Walk with me along the beach. I want to know what was on your mind to make you act like that,” she said, and she didn’t wait for a reply before she started walking away—a small smile playing on her lips when he fell into step next to her.

Reyam really, really didn’t want to tell her that embarrassing excuse of an excuse—but he did so anyway.

His ears turned crimson when she laughed out loud at him.

“This is a necklace that Kiri gave me, you idiot,” she said, still dying of laughter.

But that piece of information made him more relieved than embarrassed.

Still, Virey’s eyes grew serious as she looked into his, asking her question.

“But why did you react like that?”

The silence stretched between them as the question echoed in Reyam’s head, his body going completely stiff.

Virey’s eyes looked at him with a bit of hope shining in them—hoping for what?

Even Virey didn’t know.

A few seconds of silence passed between them before Virey tore her eyes from him and said, “Forget it. It’s fine.”

She snapped his body and mind from their frozen state.

“Well, now that you’ve said your piece, aren’t you going to make it up to me?” she said, the smile back on her face.

It hit Reyam that he had yet to give her what he made.

He stopped in his tracks as he reached for the pouch at his side.

“Me and my dad made it for you, after I told him how badly I messed up yesterday,” he said, stretching out his hand—but paused as he looked at her for permission.

He continued when she nodded.

Taking a step closer to her, he took a section of her hair that was in front of her ear and tied the fiber that had various light teal, pastel, and white charms, with some of the shells carved into hearts and leaves, to her hair.

The accessory dangled beautifully from where it was tied, contrasting against her dark hair and skin as it stretched down to her collarbone. link for image of accessory

Virey pulled it from where it hung as she looked at it, even going as far as to check her ocean reflection.

“It’s beautiful. Thank you,” she said as she turned toward the boy who was looking at her with a smile.

“I’m glad you like it,” he replied.

And the two of them kept walking before Reyam stopped her again.

“Wait—yesterday, you asked to meet because you wanted something, right? What was it?” he said as he looked at her.

And she looked away from him, deciding if she should tell him or not.

“Well, I asked to meet up because I wanted to give you something, but I’m not so sure anymore,” she said, looking back at him.

And the pure pain that flashed across his face had her second-guessing what she had just said.

“Oh, Virey—I’m so sorry,” he said, understanding the extent of how much he had messed up.

“I’m not saying that I’ll never give it to you—just not now,” she said hesitantly, trying her best to console the boy who was making her feel like she had kicked a puppy.

But her statement seemed to calm him down a bit.

He steeled himself—telling himself that he would earn it—as the two continued to walk.

.

It had been three days since Reyam came to apologize to Virey. After that, they continued their regular meetups in the afternoon.

That day, Reyam went to vent to his dad, who just smacked him up the head again as he laughed.

Today, however, he got out after telling them not to wait up for him.

Virey had told him yesterday how much she wanted to see colored sea life, so he was going to take her to where she could see them. He told her how they glowed beautifully at night but that the color was still beautiful during the daytime.

But she was hell-bent on seeing them at their best time.

So here he was, leaving the house when he should be asleep right now.

As he neared the place they had said they would meet up, he saw Virey standing there, looking out at the ocean.

Her head turned to him slowly as he neared, and he couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she looked—especially now that the accessory was hanging from her freed hair.

She had been letting her hair go more and more these days, but Reyam stopped that dangerous train of thought before it could go any further as he got near her.

“It took you long enough,” she said. In her excited state, she had come too early, and Reyam already knew she would do that. That was why he had left earlier.

“Come on, let’s go,” Virey said as she started walking to the water.

Reyam chuckled before following her.

He led her deeper and deeper into the ocean, occasionally coming back up for air before they dived again.

They played in the maze of corals, trying to catch each other and stopping to admire the sea life—calling each other over whenever they found something interesting.

This time, though, they went much deeper into the ocean in their excitement—and toward what he wanted to show her.

And as they finally spotted the purple jellyfish dancing around, glowing in the darkness of the ocean, she felt like she was about to release the breath she was holding.

She unconsciously leaned in, drawn to them, her eyes wide with wonder as she watched them move gracefully against the water.

Everything about them was hypnotizing.

Clusters of purple, glowing jellyfish drifted like ethereal spirits through the darkness.

Their translucent bodies pulsed gently, their glow shifting—deep violet at the core, then softening into lavender at the edges.

Their tentacles swayed, trailing in elegant, mesmerizing arcs, carried effortlessly by the rhythm of the water.

The jellyfish moved in a silent, entrancing ballet, twisting and curling, their movements so fluid they seemed weightless.

Occasionally, one would pulse outward, expanding like a delicate flower blooming underwater before gliding back into formation.

The light they emitted was otherworldly, flickering in time with the ocean's breath.

They didn’t just float—they danced.

Reyam watched her and smiled, looking back at the jellyfish.

She was reacting just like he had when his dad had brought him here the first time.

The burning in her lungs was finally what snapped her out of the haze she was in, and she looked at Reyam, who was admiring the fish.

She tapped the side of his arm to get his attention.

“I need air,” Virey signed to him.

He nodded and looked up, assessing how deep in they were—before realization set in.

He looked back at her as he signed, “Do you have enough to go up?”

His chest filled with horror when she signed, No.

Even though he was faster than her, he wouldn’t be as fast with her—and Virey didn’t bring her knife with her today.

He looked back at her hesitantly before he signed, “I will give you air.”

Then—he saw her eyes widen as she realized what he meant, looking away as they both felt their ears heat against the cold water before she looked back at him and nodded.

Reyam moved closer, hand reaching out, cupping her face gently.

His thumbs brushed along her skin, feeling the subtle shift in temperature as he pulled her against him.

Their gazes held for a moment, tension rippling between them like the tide.

Then—his eyes fluttered closed.

He couldn’t tell you why if his life depended on it.

Their lips met, the water pressing against them, sealing them together.

Reyam wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her fully into him, locking their bodies in place as he gave her his breath.

Her hands made their way to his neck pulling him to her as she took in the breath he offered—warm, steady, intentional.

Their lips stayed against each other as the ocean swallowed them in silence, except for the quiet pulse of glowing jellyfish—still dancing around them.

Both their eyes slowly fluttered open as they detangled from each other, feeling their hearts race.

“We should go up now,” Virey signed, her eyes darting away.

And the two of them made their way up quickly—sucking in a breath once their heads broke the surface.

The realization of what had just happened hit them like a truck.

They knew it wasn’t just about the air.

It wasn’t even close to being just that.

It was so much more than that.

“Thank you for today,” Virey said, shoving away the embarrassment that crawled up her face.

“You’re always welcome. Let’s go then,” Reyam said, his breath unsteady.

And with that, they swam to the shore, and Reyam walked her to her marui in complete silence.

.

There was something really wrong with Virey, and if she could have had some way of hiding her identity, she would have gone to the Tsahik by now.

Whenever she closed her eyes, all she could remember was what had happened with Reyam in the ocean.

She groaned as she shifted around on her sleeping mat, trying to will sleep to her.

She huffed out as she sat up.

“He was only trying to give you air—you’re the only one obsessing over this,” she muttered, then groaned as she lay back down.

.

Reyam was restless all over.

He was sprawled out on his sleeping mat, trying to find a good position—but it was like there was none.

He physically wanted to detach his head from his body and beat it up because it couldn’t stop replaying the memory.

“Fuck,” he muttered as he sat up.

“What the hell is wrong with you? She just wanted a breath from you, damn it,” he said—then groaned when he felt his usually calm heart jump at the mention of the moment, falling back onto his mat.

.

The next day, Virey was with Kiri, Lo’ak, and Spider as they sat with food in front of them from the storage.

Virey was sure they were talking about something—but she really couldn’t pay attention, even if she tried.

She turned her head toward the reef rocks, staring into the distance.

Reyam should be hunting now, she thought—but snapped her head back toward her group when she realized what she had just thought.

“What is up with you today?” Kiri said, looking at her friend like a stranger.

Virey snapped out of her haze as she looked back at her.

“What? What’s with me?” she said.

To which Kiri was so close to rolling her eyes—but she stopped herself.

“You’ve been distracted—like your mind was somewhere else,” she said in a bored voice, pulling Spider’s and Lo’ak’s attention.

“No, I’m fine. Nothing’s up here,” she said as she straightened, looking back at them.

The three of them exchanged looks and decided to just leave it alone, thinking that she probably didn’t know anyways.

“Well—anyways, I heard that the tulkun will be returning soon,” Lo’ak said, jumping enthusiastically.

“Man, I can’t wait. I remember it was such a beautiful harmony the last time they came to us singing,” Kiri said, relishing in the memory.

“Rotxo said that he would introduce me to his brother—I can’t wait to meet him.”

And now—it was Virey, Spider, and Lo’ak who were exchanging looks.

“You’ve been spending an awful amount of time with him—don’t tell me—”

Lo’ak was interrupted by Virey, who sensed Kiri’s reluctance and came to her defense.

“Says the guy that can’t take his eyes off my sister,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

There was something about Tsireya that made Virey incredibly protective of her.

But she knew that Tsireya felt something for the boy—so she was going to leave it alone.

And she knew it wasn’t her decision to make anyways.

Lo’ak went silent at the mention of Tsireya.

“Now that I think about it—should I start taking her from you? I’m sure she would prefer me over you any day,” Virey teased—fully joking.

But the boy looked like he was about to cry—he knew how much Tsireya loved Virey.

Virey leaned in fast at the sight.

“Hey, hey—I’m sorry. Calm down, I’m just kidding, okay?” she said.

And that seemed to snap him out of his haze as he went back to laughter.

This was one of the reasons why Virey had warmed up to Lo’ak—the boy was so incredibly genuine, even though he tried to mask it with aloofness.

Spider jumped at Lo’ak, his arms around his neck as he pulled him to the ground—and the two started to wrestle against each other, making the two girls laugh.

But—just as her eyes found the storage entrance, she saw Reyam and his friends walking out.

Their eyes met—and stayed on each other.

He turned to start walking toward her—but hesitated and stopped.

So he settled for waving hi at her—to which she did the same.

She really didn’t like this awkward state they were stuck in after last night.

She looked that way until his body disappeared—then her head snapped back again, and she held it in her hands as she groaned.

The three were just watching her like she was going crazy.

And she felt like she was—by how much this weird situation was eating away at her.

She exhaled, with her hands still on her head.

She was never one to keep dancing around something anyways—so she was going to talk to Reyam about it and try and fix whatever this was.

With that thought, her mind started to clear—and she looked up at her friends.

“Okay—something is seriously off with you today,” Kiri said, looking back at her.

“Yes, yes—whatever. It won’t kill me anyways,” Virey said, and continued the conversation about the tulkuns.

.

It was late in the afternoon when she found Reyam waiting for her at their usual meetup place.

As she neared, he got up from where he was sitting and turned to face her.

The air surrounding them was seriously hard to breathe—and it didn’t help when they looked into each other’s eyes, then looked away frantically as if they had been caught stealing.

He heard Virey exhale before taking a step closer to him, his gaze making its way back to her.

“I think it’s time we just talk about it,” Virey said with an off voice.

“I don’t want what happened to make things awkward between us, Reyam.”

Reyam let a breath of his own out as he looked into her eyes.

“I don’t want that to happen either,” he said, to which Virey nodded before looking away as she said, “Then I think it’s best if we try and forget about it.”

Her voice was strained to her own ears—but Reyam had a dilemma of his own to notice anything else.

Forget?

She wants to forget about it?

Did he want the same thing too?

No.

The answer was simple.

He didn’t want to forget the moment he shared with her—but then what?

What does he want?

“Okay, let’s do that then,” he said, matching the tension in her voice.

Sure—he didn’t want to forget, not at all.

But it was wrong of him to say that when he didn’t even know what he wanted.

So at least until he figured it out—he didn’t want to lose her by making a stupid decision.

Virey looked into his eyes as calm finally settled in them—and let out the breath she was holding.

“How about we try something different today?” she said, the smile returning to her face as she walked toward the water.

“Something different? Don’t tell me you were holding out on me,” he said, catching up to her.

“Well—I’ve been saving it for myself, but I guess it won’t hurt to let one person in on it,” she said, standing back up from where she placed her blood in the water.

“Tell me—have you ever walked on water?” she said, her eyes sparking with mischief.

Reyam looked back at her, confused—he shook his head no, obviously.

“Do you want to try walking on it?” she said with a smile on her face, her eyes starting to turn golden as she started walking back.

Her foot was really treating the water like it was the ground—her eyes still on Reyam’s wide ones.

“There really isn’t anything you can’t do,” he said, completely in awe—making Virey laugh as she took another step back and stretched her hands out to him.

He gripped it as he stepped forward to her, exhaling a shaky breath.

He couldn’t believe it—as he felt the water pushing back at him instead of breaking.

He took a step closer—and she took one back.

They continued like that until he finally got used to it.

So now—they were literally walking on water, Her hands still in his—as they enjoyed the breath.

Chapter Text

It had been two days since Virey cleared the air with Reyam, and they had more or less gone back to the way things were—except that they had been trying to keep contact between them as much as they could.

But it wasn’t anything major.

It was such little things that even they themselves had yet to realize they had been doing—things like holding each other’s hand for way longer than needed, and leaning on each other when they sat on the beach to rest from a swim.

But both of them were much happier than they used to be.

.

Today, she was taking Aonung to do what she had promised him on the day of the battle—and she had offered to take Neteyam as well, to which Aonung agreed enthusiastically.

So they were swimming away from everyone and to a secluded place.

Once they arrived, she turned around—to see the two of them in her face like excited puppies.

“So—how are we gonna do it? He said it was really fun,” Aonung said, almost bursting.

“I can’t wait anymore either,” Neteyam continued.

“Yes, yes—I get it. We just arrived, calm down. I’ll show you how it’s gonna be,” she said and told them to wait.

She launched herself into the air just like she did other times—feeling the air against her skin before crashing back into the water and swimming toward them.

And laughed at their shocked faces.

“So—go into the water, and swim really fast toward the surface,” she explained, like she had for Reyam.

And the two dove in, in a hurry—making her laugh as she stayed behind.

She launched them into the air, chuckling as she heard them laughing before they splashed back down and made their way to her.

“That was so cool, sis—come on with us, let’s do it again,” Aonung said as his head broke the surface.

“I can still feel the thrill from it all,” Neteyam said next to him.

She looked at them, smiling as she continued.

“Go on—you guys can have this moment to yourselves. Think of it like a date,” she said, winking at them.

And the two looked at each other.

They really did want to have this time together—but not if that meant leaving her behind like this.

And Virey could see right through these kind souls.

“Go on already—I’ll come bother you later. This was what I wanted to do from the beginning—that’s why I said to bring Neteyam,” she said, laughing.

And that seemed to work, as the two of them dove back in.

She took some water from the ocean as she pulled herself up onto some land—and started twisting and turning the water hovering between her hands, as the two boys had the time of their lives playing.

Before she got bored—and joined them.

.

They played until past midday, before making their way back to the village.

“That was so much fun—I wish we could do it again,” Neteyam said as he took the hand Aonung stretched out.

Yeah—these two will not be able to keep this a secret, was what Virey was thinking—as she saw the way they gazed at each other.

“Oh—right. Dad and I wanted to talk to you about something,” Aonung said to his sister as he reluctantly looked away from the boy and toward her.

“Okay—when?” she said hesitantly, not knowing what this was about.

“Right now, if you’re free,” Aonung said as he walked to the chief’s marui—with Neteyam’s hand in his, making her roll her eyes before following.

“Okay—but what is it all about?” she asked.

To which Aonung just said, “You’ll see.”

And they walked to the marui—and stood at the entrance.

“You kids are finally back,” Tonowari said as he peeked out of the frame and stared at the three—his eyes lingering on the hands of his son, that were still holding Neteyam’s.

Before his eyes glinted—and he said, “Well—come on in then.”

And disappeared back into the marui.

“You guys really don’t know what a secret even is—do you?” Virey said, chuckling as she looked at them, then started walking to the marui.

Aonung kissed Neteyam on the cheek when his sister’s back was turned—and bid him farewell, as he followed her into the marui and sat on the mat.

Aonung and Tonowari stared at her.

“Am I in trouble or something?” she said, utterly confused—making the two of them laugh.

“No, child,” Tonowari said, still chuckling.

“I’m sure you’ve heard that the tulkun will be returning soon.”

“Yes—I’m very excited to see it. Kiri and Lo’ak are in my ear constantly about this,” Virey said, smiling at the memory of how they couldn’t stop talking about it.

“So—you know how everyone has one tulkun, right? I have my spirit brother—and so does Tsireya,” Aonung said.

“I really can’t wait to meet your brother and sister too,” she said—then, just to make sure, she added, “You will introduce me to them, right?”

“Of course I will—even if I have to drag you all the way there,” Aonung said, laughing.

Introducing one’s tulkun to another meant that you had a meaningful bond—and that you expected them to stay in your life for as long as you both lived.

“How do you feel about bonding with one yourself?” Tonowari asked his daughter—and the room went completely silent.

Bonding with a tulkun was a really great honor—but she didn’t expect them to tell her that she could possibly bond with one.

“My spirit brother’s sister still has yet to bond with a Na’vi—so what do you say if we introduce you to her?” Aonung said, nudging her with his shoulder.

The tulkun were very intelligent and highly emotional beings—that’s why she was so excited to meet them.

And now—they were telling her that she could bond with one.

“I really want to bond with one,” Virey exclaimed—and the open way she said it took the two by surprise.

“Of course—you will have to spend time with her first, because this is a serious matter,” Tonowari said, happy to see his daughter so excited.

“I’m sure the two will get along fine,” Aonung said—and promised to introduce her when they came.

.

The day that she had been waiting for finally arrived—two days after the talk she had with her father.

She woke up to the horns of the village being blown—and at first thought that they were being attacked—before she heard the whole village making noise.

She got ready in a flash and went out of her marui—toward her family, who were already gathered.

As soon as she joined them—they all went into the water, passing the reef as they swam toward the tulkun that were approaching—while they sang beautifully.

Everyone had abandoned what they were doing—as they went out to meet their brothers and sisters.

Aonung took Virey’s hand as he swam toward his brother.

Tsireya was following—looking for her sister—then left once she found her.

Virey stayed behind Aonung as he greeted his spirit brother.

He told her his name was Zuwin—excitedly in sign—and she heard the tulkun make a sound as it started turning.

She watched her brother as he caught up with Zuwin and told him everything—including all about Neteyam, too.

And the tulkun squealed in excitement.

But before Aonung could go off with him, he signed to Zuwin about wanting to introduce him to someone—and brought Virey forward.

“This is my sister—Virey,” he signed.

And Virey did the “I see you” sign.

The tulkun replied with a sound of his own—and she looked at Aonung to interpret.

“He said he’s happy to meet you,” he signed to her—making her smile underwater.

Aonung went on to ask Zuwin about his sister—and told him he wanted to introduce Virey to her.

To which the tulkun made a sound—calling for her.

Aonung and Virey went back up for air—and didn’t wait before going back.

Aonung and his brother chattered while they waited for his sister to arrive.

Virey tried to understand what Zuwin meant—but she couldn’t grasp much.

She wondered how Aonung could.

Aonung was chattering away about all that had happened since the war—when Zuwin’s sister arrived—almost just as big as Aonung’s brother.

The two tulkuns conversed—which Virey didn’t understand at all—before she heard Zuwin’s sister make an excited noise as she flipped onto her back—before turning again.

It filled Virey with happiness—to see the tulkun so excited about meeting her.

Aonung brought her forward again—as he introduced her—and she greeted the tulkun with the “I see you” sign.

To which she earned another noise—and looked at Aonung to interpret.

“She sees you, too—and wants you to go with her,” Aonung signed to her.

And Virey didn’t waste time—as she held onto the tulkun’s fin.

But before she left—she signed to Aonung, “What is her name?”

Aonung replied with a smile.

“Mirai.”

And with that—the tulkun took off—as she led Virey away from the others and toward the open ocean.

Virey was flung from the speed she was going—but laughed as she heard Mirai make a sound.

She was sure she was laughing at her.

It took a few tries—but now, she wasn’t fighting for her life as she held onto the fin anymore.

And could actually enjoy the ride with her.

Mirai took her all over the ocean—without straying too far from the reef—and occasionally, she would jump into the air—to let Virey catch a breath.

Virey didn’t want to go back—even when she stayed out there with Mirai until late afternoon.

Mirai slowly came to a stop—as Virey climbed to sit on her fin above the surface—her legs dangling in the ocean.

“I really had fun with you today,” Virey signed to her and laughed when she heard Mirai make a sound. Although she didn’t understand what she was saying, Virey could feel the intent.
“I want to be with you like this all the time,” she signed, then continued, “until you have to leave at least.”

She felt like she was already getting attached to Mirai really badly.

She heard Mirai make a sound like she was agreeing with her, so Virey just decided to go with what she said next.
“I will wait for you at the reef every morning,” she signed, pointing at where she would be, and she almost burst from happiness when she heard the affirmative voice from Mirai. The tulkun slowly swam to the reef, and Virey patted the skin above her eyes as she got off her fin and onto the reef rocks. She turned around and bid her goodbye, staying to watch until Mirai was swallowed by the ocean.

She turned around and made her way back to the village, still relishing the feeling she had when she was with Mirai.

As she got there, she checked to see if Aonung was there but chuckled, knowing exactly where he was.

.

After Aonung saw his sister leave with Mirai, he turned back to his brother, who told him that he was happy to see that his sister had found someone.
“I want to introduce you to someone special, come with me,” Aonung signed and heard his brother squeal as he grabbed his fin and directed him towards the reef, his heart melting when he saw Neteyam waiting for him there just like they had planned.

Aonung hurried Neteyam onto Zuwin’s fin and told him how to hold it. And as soon as Zuwin confirmed they were ready, he sped towards the open ocean, taking the two boys to explore the sea outside the reef. They explored with him, laughing and smiling as they enjoyed the moment they were sharing. It was only when night fell in the late afternoon that they stopped to rest—or more like Neteyam and Aonung had to beg Zuwin to.

Now they sat on Zuwin’s fin with their hands on each other, Zuwin eyeing them curiously. He made a sound, and Aonung turned completely red. Neteyam looked between the two, confused, and set his questioning eyes on Aonung, who looked away desperately but gave in with a sigh.
“He asked if we are going to mate when we become adults,” Aonung said, his ears turning red.

It took Neteyam a few seconds to process what he had just said before he almost died of embarrassment, but he couldn’t stop what came out of his mouth next.
“We are, right?” he asked, looking into Aonung’s eyes.

Aonung stared into his eyes before a smile spread across his face as he took Neteyam’s hand and placed a kiss on it.
“Yes, I would mate with you in every lifetime if you’ll have me.”

Neteyam looked at this Na’vi who made him feel things he never thought possible. Just when he thought he couldn’t love him any more than this, Aonung did something that just made him fall harder every time.

Neteyam trailed his free hand along Aonung’s jaw as he cupped his face and brought it to his own, kissing him softly before Aonung wrapped his hand behind Neteyam’s neck and pulled him into the kiss.

They pulled back to stare into each other’s eyes and were about to kiss again when they felt the fin they were sitting on pull them down into the water, crashing onto them again before they broke the surface.
“Come on, Zuwin,” Aonung said between laughter, his smile spreading even more when he laid his eyes on the boy laughing behind him.

.

After Virey came back from the reef, she had pestered Tsireya to tell her all she knew about how to understand the tulkuns, and Tsireya explained that there isn’t a sure way—only a way to understand them better, to which Virey nodded enthusiastically for Tsireya to continue. She learned everything she could about it until it was time to meet with Reyam.

She went back to her marui to grab the gift she wanted to give the boy, excitement bubbling in her chest as she picked up the accessory she had made for him and walked the familiar path to their meetup place, the hand with the gift behind her back as she made her way to the boy standing by the shore. He turned to face her when he saw her approaching, her hands behind her back as if she were hiding something.

“What are you holding behind you?” Reyam said as he took a step toward her and leaned in to see it, but she just leaned backward as she laughed.
“Come on, aren’t you going to show me?” he said, turning his body sideways as he tried to look behind her, but she was faster—leaning to the side, and the two of them swapped places.
“Okay, okay, I will,” she said, her eyes gleaming with purple shards in them. “But first, will you kneel down for me?”

Reyam looked at her as he bent one knee and kneeled down in front of her.
“Now close your eyes, and no peeking, okay?” she said, and Reyam chuckled at this demanding girl before closing his eyes.

Virey brought her hand from the back forward and held the ends of the necklace she had made.

Reyam felt something cold rest in the middle of his chest, then felt Virey’s breath on his neck as she tied it around his neck. She leaned back up and told him he could open his eyes.

His eyes traveled from the smiling girl to the necklace now around his neck. His hands brought the stone forward as he fully saw the necklace she had made for him.

Three shells hung on each side of a big, tear-shaped gem that was deep purple and contrasted beautifully against his skin. image of the necklace

“I found the gemstone when I was swimming in the ocean, but I used my pressured water to shape it like this. I did the rest of it by hand. I wanted to respect your culture,” Virey said, smiling at his reaction.

Reyam could see that she was telling the truth. There were scratches on the shell where it was bored for the fiber to pass through, then there was the beautiful purple hanging. He felt like he could stare at it forever, his heart swelling with happiness as he looked back at Virey.

“The gemstone in the middle is unique. It’s the only one of its kind that is shaped that way in this world because I manually did it, so take care of it, okay?” she said, her voice heavy with sincerity.

Reyam felt like his chest was about to explode. The first accessory that she had made, and on top of that, she was giving him something that she had put so much effort and time into.

He could no longer deny what he was feeling anymore, nor act like it wasn’t there.

He loved this girl, and he didn’t know how to tell her.

Where did he even begin?

How could he put into words that every time he was near her, it felt like he was standing at the edge of the world, dangerously close to falling? That he had spent weeks—maybe even months—trying to convince himself that the feeling would pass, that it was just admiration, just loyalty?

“I will take care of it,” he said, his voice thicker than he intended. “I swear I’m gonna ask to be buried with this,” he said, making Virey laugh, and the eyes he looked back into were fully covered in dark, shimmering purple.

It stopped him dead in his tracks as he looked into them.

“Your eyes…” he said before he could stop himself.

Her smile faltered as she quickly turned away, covering her face with her hands.

“Yeah, I know—they’re weird. Just give me a moment.” She blinked rapidly, trying to steady herself.

And Reyam couldn’t stop as he walked close to her, cupping her face and turning it upward as he lost himself in her purple eyes.

He was standing so close to her that her chin was touching his chest as he looked down into her eyes.

“They’re mesmerizing,” he said, still lost in them.

She smiled softly, letting him look all he wanted.

Reyam couldn’t move—couldn’t think. He stared too long, like if he blinked, her unbelievable eyes would disappear. He drank in every detail—the delicate freckle that glowed under the night sky before stopping at her lips. Oh, how badly he wanted to just bend down and cover them with his own.

Instead, he swallowed hard, forcing himself to step back, clearing his throat—wishing he could clear his mind just as easily.

Virey looked down at the sand too. She had felt it.

Had half convinced herself that he was actually going to do it. But he hadn’t.

And Reyam?

He had never felt more lost.

Virey looked at a very confused Reyam. She really wanted to ask him what that was all about—why he was looking at her like he would exchange the world for her—but instead, she chose not to add any more confusion to the boy who looked like he was about to die from it.

“You said you were going to introduce me to your tulkun,” Virey said, deciding to give him an out.

Reyam shook his head, shelving his thoughts for later and telling himself to focus on this significant moment.

He took her hand in his, surprising her, as he led her toward the water and didn’t let go until they made it onto the reef rocks. She gripped it tightly too.

He called for his spirit brother, Mikayra, and after a few moments, they saw him emerge from the water and into the air, splashing water all over the two of them as he fell back into the ocean and made his way to them.

Reyam hopped onto Mikayra’s fin, then extended his hand to Virey, who took it as she got on as well.

“Hello, brother, this is Virey,” Reyam signed with a smile, to which his brother replied with an excited sound that reverberated in the silence of the night.

Virey signed, “I see you,” to Mikayra, who made a squeal of his own.

“He’s glad to meet you too,” Reyam interpreted for her.

The two of them sat on the tulkun’s fin, Reyam telling her how she could grip onto the fin by putting it between her leg and thigh. And as Reyam gave the signal to his brother, he swam down into the ocean. Virey raised her hands up like she was on a roller coaster, Reyam doing the same as he imitated her. Mikayra only took them above the surface for a quick breath before diving back in.

Now they were sitting on his fin as the three of them talked while staring at the open sky.

Reyam translated what Mikayra was saying to Virey.

“Training is finally resuming like normal tomorrow,” Reyam said excitedly, and Virey gave him an ‘Are you serious?’ look.

“What? It was so irregular recently,” he shrugged, and Virey just decided to ask him her question outright.

“Why do you train so hard?” she said, startling Reyam. “I mean, I know that it’s a really hard regimen, but every time, I get the feeling that you’re driven by something,” she finished, staring into his eyes.

His eyes widened a bit before he decided to tell her, his face turning away.

“Back when I first started hunting outside the reef, I went out with my father to hunt one day, and out of all the days something could have happened, an akula attacked us. And even though my father was a great warrior, he got seriously injured because he was trying to protect me,” he said, grimacing at the memory. “He made a full recovery from it, and he tells me every day that it wasn’t my fault, but I just can’t keep from thinking that if I was strong enough to hold my own, then all that wouldn’t have happened,” he said with an exhale.

“I guess that’s why I try to do well—I don’t want to get the person who’s trying to protect me hurt,” he finished, looking back at her eyes that shone with so much understanding that it felt like she was there when it all happened.

“Well, you are the best at everything you do,” Virey said, smiling.

She had always thought Reyam was different in how he processed things.

He saw his own mistakes before anyone else could point them out, always striving to be better, always thinking deeply about everything, never acting recklessly. She liked that about him—that he was self-aware without being self-indulgent, that he wasn’t someone who pretended to be invincible.

Virey had always admired him. But it had never been something she thought too deeply about—it was just a quiet appreciation, a presence she naturally found herself gravitating toward.

It was his dedication—the way he trained harder than anyone else. Not for glory, not for recognition, but because he truly believed in protecting the people he cared about.

The way he carried himself—he never sought praise, never demanded attention. He was just there, quietly doing his best in everything he put his mind to.

It was like cold water was splashed on her head as the realization of what she was feeling hit her.

She loved this boy.

She loved Reyam.

And suddenly—nothing else existed.

The silence stretched between them as she looked back into his eyes, his smile, and the freckles on his face that glowed in the moonlight.

But so what if she realized she loved him? She didn’t even know how she would tell him, never mind if she even could.

But oh, how she wanted to tell him.

She wanted to say it right now, let the words slip into the quiet night, let them carry over the waves, let them belong to him.

But something stopped her. It wasn’t fear—not exactly.

It was the understanding that this moment was too perfect in its simplicity.

All her thoughts and worries just seemed to melt into distant space as she looked at him.

She knew that she would have to tell him about it someday, but right now, she just wanted this moment to last forever, so she swallowed down the words that were making their way to her tongue.

“I guess I kind of am,” he murmured, responding to her earlier words.

.

Reyam woke up the next day at dawn, like always, and made his way toward the place he and his friends met. They turned to him as he spotted them, greeting each other as he neared, but both of them went quiet as their eyes trailed down to the necklace hanging on his neck.

“It’s beautiful. How did you find such a well-shaped stone?” Arzan asked as he got closer to him, and the light sparkling in his eyes told them everything they needed to know.

“I can’t believe that Reyam beat the both of us to it. I never would have expected it,” Naran exclaimed.

“Oh, shut up, both of you,” he said, rolling his eyes as he made his way toward the water, but his hands found the stone hanging there as he played with it, the euphoria of last night’s memory washing over him.

He went back to his house around midday and found his parents' eyes zero in on him as he passed through the frame, then down to the breathtaking necklace hanging on his neck.

His parents exchanged a look as he sat down on the mat with his father and mother.

“So tell me, son, who bestowed upon you such a beautiful necklace?” his mother said teasingly, even though she already knew what would come out of his mouth.

“It was Virey,” he said, looking away, a bit embarrassed.

The two looked back at each other.

“So, is my son seeing someone now?” his dad asked as he got closer to him.

“Uh, no,” he said hesitantly.

His father sighed as he sat back and was about to ask why, in Eywa’s name, he didn’t, but Nenet gave him a look to leave the boy alone. They knew that he would come to them in his own time.

.

It took Reyam three days of obsessing over it for him to finally consult his dad about it. He embarrassedly called his dad to the porch of the marui that night.

“So, are you finally ready to tell me about it?” his dad said, chuckling as he sat next to his son.

“Dad, I think I like Virey,” he started, his ears pulling back as he turned to face the other man. “Like, I really, really like her.”

Tohaku just smiled, looking at the sweet boy he had raised before he ruffled his son's hair.

“Okay, son, it’s great to see that you finally realized it,” he said to him.

“But I’m not sure if she likes me back, and just the thought that she doesn’t—” he started, but his father stopped him.

“Don’t think like that, son. The only way to know how she feels is to ask her about it.”

Reyam shook his head.

“But what if it destroys the relationship we have now? She’s incredible—so much so that I can’t fathom it, no matter how many times I try. So I can’t really bring myself to think that she would be into me.”

He felt like a boulder was lifted off his chest when he finally said it, but the thought of it made his throat close up.

“Oh, my son, I guess I have to accept that you really have grown up now, even having someone you like this much,” his father said, bringing him into his arms. “It isn’t your decision to make. All you can do is tell her how you feel and increase your chances as much as you can,” he laughed as he said the last part.

Even though Reyam knew that, it felt nice to hear it from his dad.

He chuckled as he said, “Which brings me to my next dilemma.” He straightened, looking into his dad’s eyes.

“I have no idea how I’m gonna confess.”

The older man just laughed at what he had just heard before looking at his son again.

“And that’s why you have your old man here to help you.”

“Yes, but I don’t think I have anything to give her that will top what she gave me,” Reyam said, his hand instinctively going to the purple stone. It held so much more meaning than anything.

His dad’s eyes trailed down to the stone. He marveled at how beautifully it was shaped and how the hole made for the fiber to pass through was so cleanly done.

“You are right, it’s going to be really hard to top it. My Eywa, how did she even do this?” his dad said and smiled at how his son agreed enthusiastically when he praised the girl.

“Let’s go out to the ocean tomorrow. I’ll take you somewhere you can find a very rare stone to give her,” his dad continued.

“It’s so rare and hard to find that Na’vi have had to dig for three days before they can finally get to it. If you are as serious as you say, are you willing to do that for her?” his father asked seriously and was satisfied when his son gave him a sharp nod.

“Okay then, let’s go to sleep early,” his dad said, getting up and pulling his son with him, laughing as his son muttered something about him knowing everything as they made their way back to their marui.

.

Chapter Text

Virey had been spending the last week in a constant rhythm of peace and happiness. In the morning, she would go out toward the reef to meet Mirai, and she would spend her time talking and playing with the tulkun. She was even starting to understand what Mirai was saying so much better now, and when they got tired, they would just float on the open ocean, harmonizing with each other.

She knew that tulkuns loved music, but she never thought they would be so good at it. And in the afternoons, she would go and explore the sea. She couldn’t fathom how she kept discovering something new every day, even though they had been exploring it since she came here.

She had been in that constant cycle for a little more than a week now.

Right now, she was sitting on Mirai’s fin with her forehead on the skin above the tulkun’s eyes as the two harmonized with each other.

She felt so at peace with her that she didn’t even want to open her eyes, but once they were done, she leaned back and looked at the tulkun she had come to love so much.

“Do you want to see something?” Virey signed to Mirai, who agreed with her.

She took the blade from her side and made a cut on her fingers but was startled when she heard a very sad sound come from Mirai.

She looked back at Mirai, confused at first, but mentally beat herself up as she understood why—the tulkun were highly empathetic creatures. They felt for their loved ones so deeply, which was why people only introduced those they held dear to them.

She patted the skin above Mirai’s eyes with her uninjured hand.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel like that,” she signed to her, truly apologizing and only cheering up when she heard Mirai’s voice.

She put the fingers she had cut into the ocean, then pulled out a spear of water from the sea. The curious creature she was sitting on made an excited noise as it waited to see what she would do next. Virey laughed at Mirai’s reaction, then started to show her the figures she could make with the water in her hands, getting Mirai even more excited.

She felt herself plunge into the water and saw how the tulkun was turning on her back excitedly, laughing as she watched.

She followed her under the surface, and the two of them turned synchronizing. She spent the next two days showing Mirai everything her powers could do, satisfying the creature’s curiosity.

The first time she did the dolphin jump, Mirai insisted that they jump together. And so they did. They played together like that, Virey jumping into the air like she was a tulkun beside Mirai. But Mirai ended up jumping too high, and Virey saw how she came crashing down on her, the tattoo on the tulkun’s white skin visible. But the loud, happy sound that came from Mirai made it all worth it for Virey.

She could feel the love that Mirai had for her expand more and more every day they hung out.

It was the afternoon when they finally stopped to catch their breath, Virey sitting on her fin like always.

Mirai had asked her if she was an adult yet, to which Virey said no—then heard Mirai laugh at her.

“What? Are you saying you are then?” she signed to her, a little embarrassed but didn’t expect Mirai to confirm.

She even told her that she was looking for a mate.

“Well, I wish you luck, Mirai. Make sure to introduce me,” Virey signed, smiling, to which Mirai let out an affirmative noise before she asked her if she had a potential mate.

Virey’s eyes softened completely as the image of Reyam flashed in her head.

“There is one person,” she signed to her, “but I didn’t tell him yet.”

The tulkun made an understanding noise to her, making her laugh.

And Virey continued to ask Mirai all about tulkun culture, to which Mirai happily told her everything.

.

She was still high from all of it as she was walking on the reef rocks but was pulled out of her thoughts when a very hard shove threw her into the ocean.

She gasped as she resurfaced from where she had just fallen, getting the hair out of her face as she looked for who pushed her—and she didn’t need to struggle when she spotted a group of boys, the same ones Kiri had warned her about, laughing as they joked amongst each other.

“Are you gonna throw that extra finger at me?” a tall boy her age in the middle said, probably the one who pushed her.

Virey just rolled her eyes as she said, “How original,” before diving in and swimming toward the village, successfully dropping their smiles.

She couldn’t believe that there were still those who acted like that at their age.

She wasn’t going to meet Reyam today—his dad had told her that he and his son were doing something, so he wouldn’t be able to make it for a while.

So she went straight to her marui but saw that her brother and Neteyam were sitting on her marui’s porch.

“Hey, guys. Do you need something?” she said as she got closer.

The two of them were so lost in thought that they didn’t even see her until she spoke.

Neteyam looked away as Aonung spoke.

“Hey, Virey, we wanted to talk to you about something,” and that told her that it was a sensitive matter.

“Okay, come on in then,” she said as she entered her marui, the two of them following behind her, and the three of them sat on the mat.

She waited for a while for them to speak up before she said, “I may be able to do a lot of things, but I can’t read your minds.”

And Neteyam exhaled as his grip on Aonung’s hand tightened.

“I wanted to ask you how same-sex relationships were viewed in your world,” Neteyam blurted out, and that told her everything she needed to know.

“You’re worried about how your father will take the news of the two of you, huh?” she said, and the two of them nodded in relief. She would have waited for them to say it if it were anything else, but she could see that Neteyam didn’t want to acknowledge that his dad might be against it.

“Well, it was different for everyone. How old is your dad again?” she asked.

“I think he will be forty-nine,” Neteyam said, and Virey winced, unsure of how he was going to take it.

“Again, not everyone sees it the same way, but same-sex relationships are not that rare for Na’vi,” she said, offering the only information she could think of that would cheer him up.

“Yes, but Dad was born and raised among the sky people. He was a proud Marine too,” Neteyam said with such a sad look at the thought of being rejected by his father.

This was a really hard situation they were in.

Aonung tucked one of Neteyam’s braids behind his ear.

Virey really didn’t want to add to their load already, but this was something they needed to know about—otherwise, it might not end well.

She exhaled as she continued.

“Look, guys, I really don’t want to add more to your chests, but I heard some rumors that were going around about the two of you,” she grimaced at how both their heads shot up.

“I think it would be better for your parents to hear it from you than anyone else, but this is your matter,” she said, closing her eyes.

“Yes, I know that, and I do want to tell him, but I just don’t know what he will say,” Neteyam said, his voice breaking.

She had seen how Jake acted like his children were more like his soldiers, and she really wanted to smack the hell out of Jake when he “ordered” Neteyam to go back to the marui when the two stayed out late one night. But she truly did believe that he loved them—a complete moron in showing it, but still.

“You know, Neteyam, you can’t just say ‘yes, sir’ every time your dad tells you to do something you don’t want to without an explanation,” Aonung said, pulling the two out of their thoughts.

“Yes, but it’s my dad. How can I disobey him?” Neteyam said, looking back at Aonung.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you have to obey him without question. You’re his son—you’re allowed to ask questions,” he cupped his face as he continued. “You’re allowed to see him as your dad, because he is one,” he said, kissing his forehead.

Neteyam closed his eyes as he leaned into him.

Virey just looked away—the only reason she wasn’t giving them this time alone was because she felt like she would break their moment.

“So tell me all about how your world was. Dad rarely talks about it,” Neteyam said, turning to her, making Virey chuckle.

The three of them kept talking until way past nightfall, exchanging information about their worlds as they sat there, fascinated by the other’s stories—until they heard Jake calling out for Neteyam.

The three of them quickly got up as they went out of her marui and found Jake a short distance away.

“It is way past nightfall. Where were you?” Jake said, making Neteyam’s head drop a little.

“Back to your marui now.”

He made Virey’s blood boil by the way he was speaking to him—even Ronal never spoke to her like that.

Neteyam passed his dad’s figure as he continued walking, and it only took Virey one look at her brother’s pained face as he watched his father leave for the dam to break.

“Gosh, it must be hard to be your child,” Virey said in a sharp tone, surprising all three of them.

But she didn’t offer an explanation—all she did was give Jake a look full of contempt and disgust before turning around and going back to her marui, Aonung following after her, his mind still shocked. He had never seen his sister give a look like that to anyone.

Jake was also completely stunned. The contempt she held for him was so clear in her eyes and voice that he wouldn’t miss it if he tried. It had him taken aback as he looked back at his son.

Neteyam was first shocked, but all he had was a grateful look now, understanding how she was angry for him, before he turned back around and started walking to the marui, leaving a very stunned Jake to try and process everything.

Virey sat on the mat, with Aonung stumbling in front of her.

“Hey, sis, is everything okay? I mean, I didn’t expect you to get that agitated,” he said as he joined her on the mat.

But Virey was still silent, still considering if she should tell him.

“I mean, it all kind of came out of nowhere,” Aonung said, his hands finding the back of his neck.

“No, Aonung, it didn’t just come out of nowhere. It’s clear to anyone who spends time with the Sully kids,” she said, finally calming down.

It seemed like everything was hell-bent on dragging her down today.

“I thought that he would be different because he spent a lot of time here in this world, but I guess not,” Virey exhaled and chuckled a bit as she looked at Aonung’s confused face.

Fuck it, she thought, and she just decided to tell him.

“Where I come from, parents don’t even know how to care for their children, much less show them love and understanding. Hell, they probably don’t even want them—the only reason they have them is because there’s some stupid government reward for it,” she said, disgusted at the memory.

“So, except for a very select few families, most of the children just grow up without proper care.”

“Eywa, that’s messed up,” Aonung said, his head in his hands, everything she had just said boggling his mind.

Here, children were gifts from Eywa and were loved and wanted by the family they were born into. There was no such thing as accidentals because intimacy itself wasn’t what brought forth children—even if their tsaheylu was connected, it was the parents’ wish and prayer as they mated with their tsaheylu intertwined.

“So, you can understand why I’m pissed to see Jake dismiss his kids like that. Who cares if he loves them deep down if they don’t know about it?” Virey said, feeling her anger bubble up again.

.

The next day, she went to meet Mirai by the reef rocks and was waiting for her where she usually did.

She looked around to get even a glimpse of Reyam, but he wasn’t here.

She sighed again. His dad had told her about a week ago that he was taking his son away for a while. She had asked why he couldn’t come to tell her, and Tohaku just smiled at the girl before he told her that Reyam was preparing to leave.

She had wanted to question it more, but she couldn’t just disrespect the man like that, so she let it go.

But a week without him was really too much, and what was worse was that she didn’t know when he would be back.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt something small hit her back.

She turned to see that it was a small rock—and the same goddamned boys behind her were the ones to do it.

Her eyes almost fell from how hard she rolled them as she looked back at the open ocean, waiting for Mirai.

But she could still feel the rocks on her back. They weren’t painful at all but still fucking annoying.

All she could think about was how free they must be to come find her for this.

If she could, she would just surround them with water and suffocate them until they started crying—but no matter how tempted she was, she would talk herself out of it before going over the edge.

She just completely ignored them as she waited for Mirai, and soon enough, the water told her that she was close.

She stood up from where she was sitting and was about to make her way into the water—but the voice that came stopped her.

“What? You want a piece of us?” she heard one of them say, and it hit her that they must have thought that she stood up to confront them.

She started laughing at how these guys were acting.

She spared them a glance before Mirai finally emerged from the ocean, and she got onto her fin as the two left without a look back.

She connected her forehead with the skin above Mirai’s eyes as she greeted her like always, and the two continued on their way.

She stayed with her until the sun went down today—since she wasn’t going to meet Reyam anyway—and she also needed some rest after how she went off yesterday.

She really didn’t want to leave Mirai, but with the promise of seeing her tomorrow, she got off the fin and crossed over the reef.

“You were out late today,” said a voice behind her, startling her a bit before she turned around.

A tall Na’vi male stood there with his hands crossed. She didn’t know who this guy was, much less why he was speaking to her, but she thought she had seen him with the group of boys earlier today.

The way he said that—like he had been studying her schedule—made her feel grossed out.

She didn’t reply to him as she dove straight into the water and started swimming away, but she felt something wrap around her hands and pull her back.

She turned to see the boy on the rocks before she wrenched her hands away and used the cut from earlier today as she made the water push her forward and toward the chief’s house.

She didn’t wait to see if he had followed her as she quickly made her way to the family house instead of her own and breathed out heavily when she finally entered the marui.

Only then did she register that Ronal, Tonowari, and Aonung were there, looking up at her.

Aonung got up from the mat as he made his way to her.

“Hey, are you okay? Did something happen?” he asked.

“Oh no, everything’s fine,” she said, still glancing at the door.

“Where were you before?” Ronal asked her daughter.

“Oh, I was out spending time with Mirai,” she said, smiling as she finally calmed down.

“You have been spending a lot of time with her,” Tonowari said happily.

“If I could, I think I would stay with her forever,” Virey said, half serious.

“Oh, come on, don’t tell me we’re that boring,” Aonung exclaimed as the two of them walked to their parents and sat down.

“It’s just—they are so fascinating. Their songs, culture—everything about them is intriguing,” she said, and the three laughed at how genuinely she said it as they continued their discussion.

.

The next day, she made her way to the reef rocks like she always did, but instead of waiting in her usual spot, she took a step down and crouched as she waited for Mirai behind a boulder that she could only hope hid her well.

The encounter she had last night still made her feel uneasy, and even though nothing had happened yet for her to tell anyone, she still wanted to try and avoid him.

She couldn’t understand what the hell was wrong with those guys—her encounters with the villagers were pleasant but minimal, so she didn’t expect someone to approach her like that.

Thankfully, nothing had happened as she felt Mirai approach and leave with her on her fin.

The encounter was the last thing on her mind as she spent time with this lovable creature.

She couldn’t even comprehend what Ronal must have felt when she saw her spirit sister killed—Aonung had told her all about it.

She hugged the tulkun she was standing on at the memory of that—or at least, she tried to hug her.

But it was fine since Mirai understood what she was trying to do and replied with a voice of her own.

She took her way deeper into the ocean than any other time before.

She felt the darkness surround her the deeper they went, holding onto her fin for dear life.

Then she saw them—the purple jellyfish that were dancing in the ocean, just like the day when Reyam’s lips touched hers.

She beat herself up mentally as she remembered how she had suggested that they forget about it.

Who was she kidding?

There was no way she could come back from that, and she knew it.

But she didn’t know what he wanted—that was why she had suggested it.

She felt her heartbeat quicken at the memory of it.

Oh, how she couldn’t wait to see him again.

He had left before she could even figure out how she could tell him how she felt about him.

Of course, the prospect of him rejecting her feelings did things to her brain that she couldn’t understand, but she knew that she wasn’t one to shove down her true feelings for anything.

Because then—the relationship she had would just be fake.

And that scared her more than any rejection.

She felt herself gasp as Mirai finally broke the surface.

After admiring the jellyfish, Mirai had raced up for air, fearing that Virey would drown—and she was right.

Virey was still breathing heavily as her hand rested above Mirai’s eyes.

She heard her make a worried noise and hurried to console her.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” she signed as she calmed down. “Thank you for taking me there—it was beautiful.”

Her happiness swelled as she heard the tulkun was glad to hear that.

It was late afternoon already when she got off her fin and bid her farewell, then crossed the reef rocks and dove into the water, feeling the cool waves against her skin as she made her way to the marui.

She saw Aonung and Neteyam by the porch of the chief’s marui as she got out of the water, making her way toward them, smiling and greeting them when she reached them—the two of them doing the same.

.

Aonung and Neteyam stood near the porch, waiting—but for what, Neteyam wasn’t entirely sure.

Or maybe, he did know.

He was waiting for some sign, something that would tell him everything was going to be okay—that telling his father wouldn’t make things worse, that it wouldn’t change things between them forever.

But there was no sign.

Just his own thoughts, weighing him down like stones in his chest.

Neteyam had always understood what was expected of him.

Be strong. Follow orders. Keep moving forward.

His father had drilled those lessons into him from the moment he could walk.

You’re the eldest. You set the example. You protect your siblings. You obey.

And he had obeyed.

Even when he hadn’t wanted to.

Even when the weight of it all made his lungs burn.

It wasn’t that his father was unkind—he loved them—but he was strict, raised in a world that had shaped him into someone who led with discipline, not softness.

Affection was rare. Approval came through success. Weakness was unacceptable.

And Neteyam… didn’t know how this would be seen.

Would Jake be proud?

Or would he see it as another way Neteyam had failed him?

Would he think it was something to be corrected, something Neteyam had gotten wrong?

Would he tell him that this wasn’t the path he imagined for his son?

Neteyam swallowed hard, staring down at his feet.

He already knew how his father would respond if he excelled at training, if he took charge during hunts, if he followed orders without question—he knew those things would make Jake proud.

But this?

He had no idea.

And that terrified him.

He felt Aonung squeeze his hand—grounding him, pulling him back from the spiral.

Then—Virey stepped out of the water, smiling, completely unaware of the war raging inside him.

She greeted them casually, but before she could ask why they were standing there, Jake emerged from the marui.

And just like that, Neteyam stiffened.

Virey rolled her eyes at Jake so hard it was a miracle they didn’t fall out of her head, and Aonung visibly stifled laughter. Neteyam barely processed it—his focus was entirely on his father.

“I don’t wanna be here anymore. Bye,” Virey said, walking off without another word.

Jake frowned slightly, watching her leave.

“What could I have possibly done to piss her off?”

Tonowari crossed his arms.

“She never gets mad at people.”

“Yeah, that’s what I wanna know too,” Jake muttered. “But for some reason, I feel like me not knowing would just make her even more pissed.”

And he was dead right, all three of them thought.

“You better clear things up with her soon,” Tonowari advised, patting his shoulder. “It’s a really bad look to have someone who never gets mad be mad at you.”

Jake sighed but nodded.

Aonung and Neteyam walked away laughing.

But the laughter faded when they reached a secluded area.

Neteyam exhaled, rubbing his face.

“Remind me to never get on her bad side.”

“No way—she loves you. I doubt she’d ever get mad at you for anything,” Aonung chuckled, slinging an arm around his shoulders.

Neteyam’s expression shifted.

“It feels good to know that at least one person accepts us.”

Aonung froze.

For a brief second, he wasn’t sure if he heard that right.

Then—he saw it.

The heaviness in Neteyam’s eyes, the quiet devastation hidden beneath layers of restraint, the way his fingers tightened slightly around Aonung’s wrist, like he was holding onto him to keep standing.

And suddenly, everything hurt.

Aonung’s throat felt tight as he pulled Neteyam into his arms, crushing him against his chest.

“I don’t know what to do, Nung. I’m so worried about my dad.”

The words were raw, edged with silent desperation.

Aonung held him tighter, his fingers pressing into Neteyam’s back, as if that alone could somehow shield him from the fear threatening to consume him.

“I’ve got you,” Aonung whispered.

But Eywa, how helpless he felt.

Each silent tear hitting his shoulder felt like a knife to the chest.

And he would have done anything to take them away.

.

Two days later, Aonung was in his quarters in the late afternoon when he saw Neteyam peek into his room and start walking toward him without a word.

“Hey, Teyam, what’s up—” he started but stopped when Neteyam just got into his arms and curled against him, hugging him.

He looked down at the boy, confused, before his throat started to close up when he heard him sniffling.

He brought his hand onto the boy’s hair as he tried his best to comfort him, not moving an inch as they just stayed tangled against each other like that.

It took a while before Neteyam actually calmed down, but he stayed against his lover, their bodies pressed against each other.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” Aonung whispered close to Neteyam’s ear and felt a small nod from where Neteyam’s face was pressed against his chest.

“Dad said that I should be monitoring Lo’ak so he doesn’t get into trouble after something happened, but I said I didn’t want to. He said something about it being an order, but I just walked out and came here.”

“Oh, Neteyam,” Aonung said as he hugged the boy closer.

“I’m not a machine, Aonung. I have things I want to do too, and seeing my dad dismiss me like that…” Neteyam felt his throat close up as the memory returned.

Aonung cradled him as much as he could.

“I don’t want to go back there today,” Neteyam said softly.

But they both knew they couldn’t stay here. They could get caught by anyone, and even though Aonung wouldn’t mind, he felt like Neteyam couldn’t handle anything more today.

Aonung sat up straight, pulling Neteyam up with him, staring into his eyes before he started gathering the mat they were just lying on.

Neteyam looked at him, confused, as he asked, “What are you doing, Nung?”

“We can’t stay here because my family could come at any moment, and we don’t have a marui of our own,” he said, finishing gathering the mat they would need, and staring into Neteyam’s eyes. “So we’re going to go to the only person who seems to understand.”

.

Virey heard a knock from where she was weaving some fibers together.

She went out and was surprised to see her brother with a mat and Neteyam standing behind him.

“Hey, Virey, sorry to intrude on you like this,” Aonung said, looking around, not knowing how to ask. “Can we please stay with you for today?” he just blurted out.

“What?” Virey questioned, not knowing where this was coming from.

“Look, something happened with Jake, and my quarter isn’t that private, so—” he stammered.

Virey looked back at Neteyam and was taken aback at how exhausted he looked, so she stopped Aonung’s rambling.

“Come in. You can put the mat in the corner,” she said as she walked in.

“Thank you,” Aonung said, grateful to her, as he directed Neteyam onto the mat after laying it where she said, then walked to her as she called him.

“What’s going on, Aonung? He looks tired—like seriously mentally exhausted,” she said, worry lacing her voice.

“It’s just—something happened with Jake. It was—” he started but paused as he looked back at the boy and hesitated to tell.

“Okay, it’s okay, Aonung, you don’t need to tell me,” she said, worried for both of them.

This was a really hard situation, and it was no doubt weighing on their relationship.

“I don’t know what to do, Virey. I don’t know how to help him,” Aonung’s voice broke.

Virey looked at him sadly before wrapping her arms around him.

Aonung hugged her back, longing for someone to comfort him too.

It was the sound that came from Neteyam that had them looking back—he groaned as he shifted his body from facing the wall to them and said, “It hurts.”

That had them both walking fast to the boy, kneeling by his side.

“Okay, tell me what hurts, Neteyam,” Virey said as she couched next to him.

“It’s my stomach—it hurts,” Neteyam continued, and Virey had a good idea of what this was about.

She stretched her hands and stopped for permission, and he nodded for her to continue.

She pressed around his stomach and confirmed her guess as he groaned when she pressed certain places.

“Oh my Eywa, Neteyam, this is stressing you out too much,” she said with such a sad expression on her face.

Aonung moved to a sitting position behind Neteyam to let him lean on him, hugging him from behind.

“What do you mean—this is because of stress?” Neteyam asked, confused.

“You’re worried about everything so much that it’s physically starting to hurt you,” Virey explained to him kindly, then sighed as she came to a decision.

“I think it’s best that you stay here with me for a while—get some rest and stay away from the source of your stress,” she said, and Neteyam just looked at Aonung, who nodded at him.

“But what if Dad comes looking for me? What will he think when—”

Virey just cut him off.

“You see? That is what I mean when I say you need to stay away. Any thoughts you have of him just send you spiraling down a rabbit hole, so just leave it to us and forget about him for a while, okay?” Virey said.

“Please, Neteyam, just get some rest,” Aonung said, nuzzling into his neck.

“I’m not gonna confine you here or anything—I just want you to get better,” Virey added.

Aonung gave her a very grateful look—he knew how much she cherished her space, so he was glad that she would still do this to help.

It took a bit of convincing, but Neteyam agreed to stay with Virey until he was better, then soon fell asleep, hugging Aonung while he played with his hair.

“Thank you, Virey—really,” Aonung said, his eyes still on Neteyam and his hands in his hair.

“Well, it worried me to see him so mentally drained like that. His father’s approval must mean a lot to him,” Virey said from where she sat with fiber in her hands.

“It does,” Aonung said.

And the comfortable silence stretched between them.

Until it was disrupted when they heard Jake calling out his son’s name.

Virey got up as she made her way to the door, quickly telling Aonung to just leave this to her—that Neteyam was sleeping in his arms anyway.

Jake was about to call out again when he saw her getting off the porch and walking toward him, telling him to follow her away from the marui and toward the shore.

Tonowari also followed them, leaving his marui, but Virey didn’t care as she stopped and turned toward the man.

“Let me ask you—what do you see your children as?” Virey said, her tone sharp.

The two men were completely taken aback, not knowing where this was coming from.

“They are my children,” Jake said, deciding that this was probably connected to why she was angry at him.

“Are you sure that’s how you see them? Then why do you treat them like they are machines to take orders?” she said.

That offended Jake.

“What do you even mean by that? I have never treat—”

But she cut him off, completely fed up with all of this.

“Then why do you order them like they are one instead of explaining when they ask? They are not your soldiers—they are your children, and you are their father. They have the right to treat you like you are their father,” she said, feeling the anger rise in her.

“Look, my parenting methods may look different, but I still love my family.”

“And do they know that?” she asked, deciding not to mince her words.

“Do they know that you love them? I doubt that someone who can’t even explain something he asked of them will take the time to let them know that.”

Virey didn’t hold back.

She was done tiptoeing around the truth, done letting Jake dismiss the emotions that were clearly destroying Neteyam from the inside out.

“Do they know that?”

Her words hung between them—sharp and merciless.

Jake opened his mouth, a knee-jerk response ready—but nothing came out.

Because he didn’t know.

Not really.

He had always assumed—assumed his kids knew, assumed that his methods were understood, assumed that love could exist without the need to say it outright.

But assumption wasn’t proof.

And now, standing in front of Virey, with the memory of Neteyam walking away the night before, hunched like the weight of the world was on his shoulders, Jake realized—he had no real answer.

Because he had never asked.

He had never stopped to consider whether his children actually felt the love he knew he had for them. Had never questioned whether his discipline overshadowed his care, whether his attempts to protect them had left them feeling more controlled than nurtured.

Virey didn’t give him room to retreat.

“I don’t give a damn if you were a Marine or whatever—it is your responsibility to work through it and show them the love they deserve. Not theirs to understand why you’re negligent.”

It hit him harder than any battle wound he had ever endured.

Jake’s hands clenched at his sides, his body still, the ocean breeze barely registering against his skin.

Not because he was angry—but because he was reckoning with the truth.

And it hurt.

“How do you think they feel when they see other Na’vi children receive love but not them? That kind of so-called parenting may have passed on Earth because everyone there is just as bad as the next—but not here, not in this world. So I don’t care what kind of training you have to unlearn, but you are their father, you will always be their father. They’re just waiting for you to treat them as your children.”

That particular knife twisted in his gut.

He had spent so long focusing on keeping them safe, on training them for the harshness of the world, that he had never truly seen them—not in the way Virey was talking about.

Not in the way a father should.

And suddenly, he remembered moments—dozens of them—where Neteyam had done exactly what was expected, had nodded, had obeyed.

But had he ever asked why?

Had he ever checked if Neteyam was doing those things because he wanted to—because he understood his father’s reasons—or if he was simply going through the motions, afraid of being anything less than the perfect eldest son Jake had shaped him to be?

The thought unnerved him.

Because now, looking back, he wasn’t sure if Neteyam had ever felt like he had a choice.

Jake’s chest tightened.

Virey exhaled, her anger cooling slightly, but her words remained firm.

“Neteyam will be staying with me for a while. You stressed him out so much that his stomach is hurting. You can come around when you're ready to talk to your son. Did you hear what I said? YOUR SON.”

She didn’t soften the blow.

Didn’t offer him reassurance.

Didn’t give him an easy way out.

She expected him to face it.

To acknowledge it.

Jake barely nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

Virey walked, passing by Tonowari, pausing only briefly.

“I’ll take whatever punishment there is for speaking to him like that, but I’m not gonna sit and watch as he destroys those kids.”

And then she left.

Jake didn’t move.

Didn’t breathe properly.

Tonowari said something—words of caution, advice, maybe something reassuring—but Jake barely processed them.

Because he was still standing there, staring blankly at the waves.

His mind was spiraling.

Because for the first time in a long time,

He felt like he had completely failed as a father.

Chapter Text

The next day, she woke up at freaking dawn when she heard some shuffling in her room.

She turned her body, groaning as she opened a very heavy eye and saw Neteyam look back at her, completely frozen from where he was crouching.

She couldn’t see what he was trying to do, and she didn’t care right now.

“Damn it, Neteyam, we talked about this yesterday night. I told you not to wake me up,” she groaned as she stirred on her mat.

“Sorry, sorry. I really didn’t think that would wake you,” he said, wincing as he slowly got up.

He was feeling a lot better today.

Yesterday, when those two asked him to stay away from his family’s marui, he thought it would be futile, thinking that it would plague his mind anyway—but he was glad he listened now.

He took some of the fiber on the floor and decided to weave something as he slowly made his way back to his mat.

She had told him not to touch or go through her stuff very strictly yesterday, so he didn’t dare touch any of the shells as he sat back down on his mat.

Virey woke up a while later, and he laughed as he watched her stretch and get ready.

“Aonung told me that you leave early and come back late,” he told her with the fiber in his hand.

“Oh, yep, I’m going to meet my Mirai,” she said happily, making him chuckle.

“I talked to Aonung, and he will come here before I leave. Hopefully, he remembers to bring food,” she said, then turned around as she finished brushing her hair down.

“It’s not to monitor you or anything, just—” she said, but Neteyam intercepted.

“Yes, I know. I can leave whenever I want,” he said, chuckling, and Virey just smiled at him as she got up.

“Just try and rest, okay? And don’t even think of doing anything with my brother in my marui,” she said sternly but laughed as Neteyam went red.

“Speak of the devil,” she said as she looked out and saw Aonung approaching—and he had food with him, thank Eywa, she thought.

She urged him in, taking two fish from his hands as she sat down to eat.

Aonung just laughed—he had already anticipated that and brought four—as he made his way to Neteyam.

“Hey, you. You look much better today,” Aonung said as he kissed him on the forehead, making the boy laugh a bit as they sat facing each other.

“Well, I leave you to it then,” Virey said on her way to the door, the bones properly disposed of.

“I thought I was about to die earlier when I woke her up,” Neteyam exhaled as soon as she was out of earshot, making Aonung laugh as he looked at him.

“I promise you, if that was me, I would have had to go to the Tsahik for the head injury I would get,” Aonung said, still chuckling.

“So, what do you wanna do today?”

“For today, I just wanna stay here. But could you bring me some shells? I wanna try making something,” Neteyam said, to which Aonung just ruffled his hair.

And Neteyam wasn’t kidding about that.

He didn’t leave the mat—much less the marui—enjoying the time with Aonung as they talked about everything and anything.

He could feel his mind calming from the turmoil it was in as he continued like that for two days, only going on occasional walks with Aonung when Virey kicked them out, saying she needed her alone time.

And now was one of those times.

Aonung and Neteyam were walking along the shore, hand in hand, as they gazed at the bleeding sky.

Neteyam felt like he could do anything in this moment—he brought the hand that held his lover’s to his chest, pressing it there as he leaned down to kiss it.

“We will be okay,” he said, with his lips close to Aonung’s hand.

“We’re gonna be okay,” he said, closing his eyes.

Aonung couldn’t help the smile as he saw that Neteyam’s worries had finally come to rest.

It wasn’t that Neteyam had suddenly forgotten about all his worries—but he simply decided that it would all be worth it.

Whatever their union might bring, he would do his best to protect it.

Aonung caressed Neteyam’s cheek as he turned him to face him.

“I’m glad,” he breathed out, relief filling his chest.

Neteyam’s eyes were glazed with tears as he looked at this boy who was so worried for him—who loved him so much that the knife that was in his own chest was boring into him too.

He closed his eyes as his lips finally found Aonung’s, kissing him softly as he let go of his hand and wrapped it around his neck, pulling him into the kiss.

And Aonung didn’t wait as his hand found Neteyam’s back, pressing him to his chest.

They sat by the beach, enjoying the breeze.

Neteyam sat between Aonung’s legs with his back to him as the boy played with his hair.

“You seem to like my hair even more than I do,” Neteyam chuckled.

“I love playing with it. You should come find me when you want to unbraid it,” Aonung replied.

“Then why don’t you do it now? I was thinking of it anyway.”

Aonung just nuzzled into his neck happily as he started to unbraid it, making Neteyam chuckle.

Aonung was always rubbing against him in some way—whether it was when he greeted him in the morning or anytime too, he just loved nuzzling against the boy. Neteyam just concluded it to be a Metkayina thing.

“I want to tell my mom about us,” Neteyam said out of nowhere, startling Aonung.

Aonung held Neteyam by his shoulders as he pulled him back so he could see his face.

“What—what did you just say? I don’t think I heard right,” he said in complete disbelief, making Neteyam laugh.

“I wanna tell my mom that I have an incredible boyfriend,” he said loudly, still chuckling, and Aonung felt like he could burst from happiness as he squeezed the poor boy to his chest.

But the way he specified his mom meant just that—he wasn’t ready for anyone else to know, yet.

The two boys made their way to the Sully family marui, and Aonung was the one who checked inside and called for Neytiri, telling her he wanted to see just her.

She walked with him, confused, until she saw her son waiting for her by the shore.

She walked to him and crouched as she brought him into her arms.

Jake had told her about what had happened that night and how Neteyam wouldn’t be back for a while.

Neteyam hugged his mom desperately—he had missed her so much, even though it had only been two days.

The two stayed like that for a while before she sat next to him, Aonung on his other side.

He told her what he had been doing and how he was in the days she hadn’t seen him, assuring her that he was fine.

His demeanor grew more nervous as the words weighed heavily on his tongue the closer he was to telling her, and Aonung could sense that, so he put his back against Neteyam’s stiff back, smiling when he finally relaxed.

As the sound of the waves was the only thing that could be heard, Neteyam sucked in a breath as he let the words flow out of his mouth.

“There was something I wanted to tell you, Mom,” he said, pulling her gaze from the ocean to him.

“Yes? What is it about?” she asked, unknowing of the war brewing inside him.

But he didn’t want their relationship to stay secret, like he was ashamed of it.

He was proud to be with Aonung—that wasn’t what he feared.

It was how his family would react, mostly not knowing how they would take it.

He looked into his mom’s eyes proudly as he said the next words.

“I’m dating Aonung, Mom, and I would like to get your blessing for it,” he said, cringing at the last part—he felt like he was asking for his hand in marriage.

Neytiri’s eyes shined as she let what her son said repeat in her mind.

She raised her hand, tucking his braid behind his ear with a smile on her face as she said, “Really, my son? I’m glad you found someone.”

And that was all he needed to hear for his racing heart to calm down.

“Yeah, Mom, he’s great,” he said with an exhale, leaning into her touch, making his mom laugh as she bent to see the boy beside him.

And now—it was Aonung’s turn to go stiff.

“Uh—yes, ma’am, your son’s a marvel,” tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them, dying of embarrassment when her laughter grew louder.

“Oh, my Neteyam,” she said, bringing him into her side as her laughter calmed.

“I can’t believe you’re grown up enough for this already.”

Neteyam chuckled—she knew that he was already considered an adult back in the forest because he had completed his rite of passage there, but it seemed he would always be a child to her.

The three of them just continued talking, mostly Neytiri telling stories of Neteyam’s childhood as the night sky stretched between them.

“Will you be coming with me back to our marui?” Neytiri asked, even though she already knew the answer, and just nodded when he shook his head.

“And Mom—please don’t tell Dad yet,” Neteyam said, looking away.

And Neytiri’s eyes turned sad when she finally realized what had been weighing on him so heavily.

She brought him into her arms.

“I will keep this a secret,” she started.

“But please know that your father and I will always support you in anything you decide to do,” she said, pulling him back before placing a kiss on his forehead, then walking away.

“That felt a lot better than I expected,” Neteyam said as they were walking back, and he felt Aonung’s arms around him tighten as they walked back to the marui.

.

It was late afternoon the next day when Jake came to Virey’s marui.

Virey and Neteyam were laughing as they sorted out shells that Aonung had collected when they heard a knock on the frame, then Jake’s voice as he asked to talk to his son.

Virey turned her head to look at Neteyam, asking him what he wanted.

“I wanna talk to my dad,” was all Neteyam said as he felt his stomach turn.

Virey nodded as she stood up, thinking that it was best they stayed inside—she didn’t trust Neteyam’s legs.

She walked out of her marui to see Jake’s exhausted face.

“You two can take as long as you need,” she said and passed by, making her way to the shore.

Jake exhaled as he made his way into the marui and felt pressure build behind his eyes as he saw his son sitting there, looking up at him anxiously.

He walked to him and sat close, facing him, and the silence stretched between them.

“Are you doing better now?” Jake said, startling him out of his thoughts.

“She told me that your stomach hurt because of…” he began but felt his throat close up.

“Yes, I’m doing better now,” Neteyam said.

And Jake exhaled as he decided to just start somewhere.

“I am sorry, Neteyam—truly. I never stopped to look back and see everything from your perspective, and in my attempts to protect you, I didn’t see that I was the one causing you pain,” he said, closing his eyes as the tears built.

“I made you feel like you weren’t allowed to make choices. Like I only saw you as a soldier instead of my son. That’s not what I wanted—but I see now that that’s exactly what I did.”

Jake brought his hands around his son’s neck as he stared into his tear-glossed eyes.

“I messed up—I know that. I was so focused on keeping you safe that I didn’t see how much I was hurting you in the process. I thought discipline was the best way, but I never stopped to think about whether you felt loved and understood in the middle of all of it.”

The tears started falling heavily from Jake’s eyes as he said it all.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me instantly. But I do want to fix this. I want to listen more—to actually hear what you want instead of assuming. I need to do better, and I will. I swear to you.”

Neteyam just started crying too as he looked at his father—all the things he had wanted him to know tumbling out of his dad’s mouth.

He nodded as he said, “Let’s try, Dad. Please—let’s try.”

And that made Jake sob—to hear that his son was so hurt by him that he was begging for him not to go back on his word of trying to listen.

He brought him into his arms, cradling him with trembling hands.

“I’m so sorry, Neteyam—I failed you,” he said with a broken voice as he heard his son sob into his chest for all the times he couldn’t, for all the times he had to push it down, swallow his tears, and nod in obedience.

He felt him shake in his arms, and Jake’s heart just tore itself apart.

The two of them finally calmed down as they let go of one another, Jake clearing his throat as he looked at his son and was grateful to see that the boulder was off Neteyam’s chest.

“Let’s go home, son,” Jake said and felt relief flood over him when Neteyam nodded.

As he was gathering some of the things he had made while he was staying there, he saw Virey enter with an indescribable look on her face.

Jake was standing in the middle of the marui when he turned to look at her, Neteyam going beside him as he finished gathering his stuff.

“I’m going to go back to my marui now,” Neteyam said to fill the deafening silence, and Virey nodded.

“Thank you for all you did for us,” Jake said, referring to the night she had knocked the truth into him.

“Only someone from Earth would have been able to see it anyways,” Virey said, looking at the ground before she turned her eyes onto Jake, her face expressionless as she added,

“You know, I really thought you could have been different, but you’re just like the rest of them.”

And the sheer disappointment in her eyes made Jake take a small step back.

She walked toward Neteyam and hugged him before passing by him as well.

“You can see yourselves out,” she said without turning back.

The two walked out of the marui and onto the shore.

Jake had disappointed people before.

He had faced anger, frustration, and doubt.

He had been accused, criticized, held responsible for failures beyond his control.

But it had never felt like this.

As he walked beside Neteyam, the words Virey had left him with weren’t just lingering—they were settling deep, carving themselves into a place he couldn’t ignore.

"You know, I really thought you could have been different. But you’re just like the rest of them."

It wasn’t rage, wasn’t bitterness—it was disappointment.

It, again, forced him to realize he had failed in a way that someone outside his family could see.

That someone from a completely different world could look at him and see nothing different from every other failed parent she had known.

That kind of disillusionment was devastating.

And that hurt more than anything else.

He hadn’t been expecting forgiveness—not yet—but he had at least assumed that after his apology, after everything, the weight would feel lighter.

That Neteyam would feel better.

That he would feel better.

She had seen him at his worst—had watched firsthand as he ignored everything Neteyam had been silently suffering through, had witnessed the aftermath of his neglect before he even realized it himself.

She had expected better—even if just for a moment—that he was somehow different from the others she had known.

That he had somehow broken the cycle.

And now?

Now, she saw him exactly the way she saw them.

Jake exhaled, pressing his fingers against his temple, trying—failing—to push it down.

Would Neteyam have forgiven him if Virey hadn’t been the one to force him to see the truth?

Would he have apologized at all?

Or would he have let things continue, convincing himself that he was doing the right thing?

And the worst part was—he didn’t know the answer.

"I’ve disappointed people before, but never like this."

His voice was quiet, strained.

Neteyam glanced at him but didn’t answer right away.

"Virey isn’t as forgiving as you guys think," he finally said, and there was no malice, no resentment—just truth.

Jake nodded slowly.

"Well, she’ll just have to see for herself that I truly do regret everything," Jake said, bringing his son to his side as the two walked together.

But even as he said it, doubt crept in.

Because regret alone had never changed anything.

He had to prove it.

And right now, he wasn’t sure if that would ever be enough.

.

The next day, Virey woke up late, finally going back to being able to sleep without some early bird disturbing her.

She got ready and made her way to the reef after grabbing some food.

What was out of the ordinary, though, was seeing the tall Na’vi that had creeped her out that day at the spot where she usually waited for Mirai.

She stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw him and turned around to go away—she was not going to deal with this weirdo today.

But she was too late, as he had already noticed her.

She couldn’t even understand how he could have known it was her—there was a great distance between them.

She made a run for it back, but a shove just knocked the air out of her lungs before she could cross the rocks.

Her back hit the boulder as she looked at the guy in front of her.

"Why are you always running from me?" he said.

His voice was too casual, too calm—like he was entertained by the very idea of her trying to escape.

That was really grating on her last nerve.

She didn’t even look into his eyes as she tried to bypass him—only to stop before she hit his chest, recoiling with disgust.

She groaned in annoyance as she looked up at him, and she could tell that there was intent behind his eyes.

She rolled her own, not wanting to talk to this waste of space.

"Oh, come on, don’t be like that. You have yet to even say a word to me," he mused, getting closer.

She was so close to just undercutting him or kicking him where it hurt when she saw the water rumble.

Mirai was here, she thought.

She didn’t even graze against this guy as she ducked under his stretched arm and dived into the ocean, shifting to hold Mirai’s fin.

The tulkun made a surprised noise, expecting her to be on the reef waiting for her—but she happily turned, stirring Virey away from all her confusion.

All Virey was thinking about was who the hell that guy was and his audacity to shove her against the rock like that, even trying to stop her from leaving.

Once they were far away enough, she sat on Mirai’s fin and told her about what had been going on recently—about Neteyam and Aonung and her disappointment with Jake.

She vented to this creature who made her feel like she could tell her anything.

Mirai was a bit angry when she heard about Jake’s dismissal but was glad to know that he was going to try and do better—telling Virey to try and forgive him.

But Virey just pressed her lips as she signed, “No matter how many times he apologizes, it won’t erase the nineteen years that Neteyam felt so wronged.”

And she pouted a bit when Mirai pointed out that even Neteyam had given his dad a chance to make up for it and heal their connection.

“I know that it isn’t my place, I just can’t help it,” Virey signed, frustrated, to which the tulkun replied with a soothing noise of her own, trying to calm the girl from her agitation.

“And these days, the person I want to see the most isn’t even here anymore,” Virey signed, and that told Mirai that all her frustration was probably because of that.

She made a sad sound when she saw Virey’s face.

Virey just smiled at this creature who seemed to feel for her more than anyone.

She hugged her, not able to help herself anymore.

“I miss him,” she signed. “So much.”

And the tulkun said to hold her fin, desperate to try and cheer her up as she took her down to see the jellyfish again.

.

Reyam’s head broke the surface of the water as he inhaled deeply.

“Don’t push it too much, son—you might pass out underwater,” his dad said.

“Yes, but,” he wheezed out, “it’s already been more than a week since I left. I can’t believe it took us a week to get to the place,” he said, pulling himself up to the surface.

“Like I told you, this is a very rare stone we are looking for, and on top of that, you said you wanted to add the transparent pearls as well as the blue-greens. None of those are easy to find—we’re gonna have to keep digging for much longer than a few days,” his dad stated, reminding him that it was his idea.

“I know. I just want to give her the best ‘cause that’s what she deserves,” Reyam grumbled as he drank some water.

“I didn’t even get to say bye to her,” he said in a small voice.

“I miss her.”

Every time he surfaced, gasping for air, he thought about how Virey would laugh at him for struggling so much.

How she would probably make some offhanded remark—something teasing but never cruel.

He wanted to hear that.

He wanted to turn around and find her standing on the reef, arms crossed, grinning, watching him with quiet amusement before calling out something like—"Had enough yet, warrior?"

But when he turned to look?

There was only the empty horizon, stretching endlessly before him.

He had been digging through the ocean with no sign of what he was looking for, but his resolve didn’t falter.

Tohaku just ruffled his son’s hair.

“Take a break and eat something—I’d rather not deliver the news of your death to her,” he said jokingly, but the thought of it sent shivers down Reyam’s back, sending him to grab something from the pouch.

He could only wonder what she was doing, or if she was faring well.

.

Virey gasped as Mirai resurfaced from the ocean.

No matter how many times she saw the jellyfish, they just kept getting prettier and prettier.

She thanked Mirai, who told her that she would take her to see the blue ones next time, exciting Virey beyond reason.

It was already very late in the afternoon, and she knew that she needed to go back soon—but thinking about that Na’vi just added to her reluctance.

Still, she got off Mirai’s fin when night fell, pressing her head above Mirai’s eyes as she bid her goodbye and made her way across the rocks in a hurry.

Virey barely had time to react.

One second, she was landing on the other side of the reef, and the next—his voice cut through the night air, closer than she expected.

“Don’t tell me you got back this late just to avoid me?”

She heard him say from her side, but again—she didn’t wait.

She tried to plunge into the water, but she felt him hold her elbows as he threw her back onto the rock she had just climbed down from.

And that was it—she was done tolerating this guy who just couldn’t seem to take a damn hint.

She kicked her legs up and struck his groin as hard as she could.

She knew this guy was a lot stronger than her, and she wasn’t going to take chances.

She didn’t wait to hear his groans as she plunged into the water, cutting her fingers on the new ring she had just sharpened, and swam fast to the family marui.

By the time she reached the family marui, Virey’s lungs were burning, her muscles tight—but the worst part?

Her mind was spiraling.

The way his grip had held.

The way he had thrown her back, like it was nothing.

Like she was nothing.

She went straight to her brother’s quarters, peeking in to see that he and Neteyam were in each other’s arms as they lay on the mat.

She backed out of his quarters slowly, steadying her breathing from her swim here, and listened as her rational thoughts returned.

She didn’t even know the guy’s name—much less what he looked like.

And what was she gonna say, anyway?

She decided to just leave these two alone for today—they had been through enough already.

She went back to her marui, and even though she thought that she might be overreacting, she put her knife where she could grab it easily.

.

The next day, she wasn’t going to take chances like yesterday—she asked Aonung and Neteyam to walk her to the reef and maybe come by to get her in the afternoon. The two of them happily agreed.

“I wonder what that was all about,” Neteyam said when they were walking back from leaving her with Mirai.

“I know—she normally loves her time alone when she goes out,” Aonung continued. “For now, all we can do is be on time.”

They both sighed as they made their way back and went to grab some food.

Today, Aonung was going to try and braid Neteyam’s hair in the Metkayina cultural design, and he couldn’t wait to get to it.

He sat Neteyam down between his legs as soon as they got to his quarters, with a brush and a parting shell in hand, making Neteyam chuckle as he obliged the boy.

He had already unbraided most of his hair yesterday, so he finished unbraiding quickly and brushed through his hair—earning a slap to his thighs when he pulled on a snag.

He parted Neteyam’s hair and started to braid it just like his own.

“How are you so good at this?” Neteyam asked as he touched two of the braids that were already done—before his hand was slapped away by Aonung.

“You should try having a sister with long hair—she used to bug me to do it for her since we were kids,” Aonung said, his hands still braiding. “I guess I discovered that I enjoy it that way,” he said with a chuckle.

“What about Virey? Has she ever let you do anything with it?” he asked.

“Well, no. She never lets anyone touch her hair. Now that you say it, I’ve never seen her braid it or anything—it’s either tied or just let go,” Aonung said as he finished the one he was holding.

“But her hair is a marvel—it’s all the way down to her back,” Neteyam admired, making Aonung chuckle as he finished the last of his braids.

“There you go,” he said. “Now turn for me—let me see how it looks.”

Neteyam shifted around shyly before he turned to face him, and Aonung’s breathing visibly hitched—he completely forgot how to breathe as he looked at the boy in front of him.

“Well, how does-“Neteyam started but didn’t get to finish as his mouth was covered by aonungs hungrily, a snort escaped him before he leaned into the kiss, kneeling between aonungs legs as he wrapped his arm around his neck and aonungs hands found his back. Their mouths stayed against each other as Neteyam's hand stroked the back of his neck before slowly moving down Aonung's chest, trailing against his neck. He pressed on his chest as his fingers trailed to his nipple, putting it between his fingers as he pinched it softly.

He felt Aonung jerk a bit, but his mouth still stayed on his as his hands moved slowly up and down Aonung's spine and finding the base of his tail with his fingers pressing the base as he rubbed around it, making him shiver.

Aonung smiled against Neteyam's lips as his finger moved to the boy's waist, where he knew was sensitive. He felt a whimper leave Neteyam's lips from where Aonung's finger pressed on his belly button, circling around it.

They both felt the electricity in the air as their eyes fluttered open slowly, looking at each other as they pulled back.

The spell shattered when they heard Tsireya calling for Ronal by the door before sighing as she left, and the two of them slowly separated.

“We should probably go get Virey,” Neteyam said, embarrassed as he remembered what he had just done.

But the other Na’vi just smiled as he leaned forward and kissed his cheek before getting up—a silent reassurance not to worry about it, telling him that he would never go too far.

The two of them got out of the marui and made their way to the reef rocks, wincing as they saw how they were late.

They had expected her to wait for them alone, but Virey was still sitting on Mirai’s fin, signing to her before she saw them and bid her farewell.

“You’re late,” Virey said jokingly, her eyes glazed with mischief.

“Yeah, sorry—Dad kind of held me up,” Aonung said, looking away as he lied through his teeth.

But Virey laughed as she said, “At least make sure that both your lips aren’t swollen when you decide to lie,” and laughed even more when they froze right where they stood.

She turned around to look at them, only to catch something she didn’t want to see—far behind both of them, that Na’vi was leaning against the wall as he waved at her.

But she just rolled her eyes before pushing the two towards the water in a hurry to get away from him.

.

“So, the rite of passage is going to be held two weeks from now,” Virey said knowingly and almost laughed when she saw how Aonung and Neteyam stiffened.

They were sitting in her marui, sorting out usable and not usable fibers that Ronal had given.

“Yeah, are you going to be participating?” Aonung said, trying to deflect.

“No, but I know that I’m looking at two people who can’t wait for it,” she said jokingly, and the two of them could combust right then and there.

But her eyes grew a bit sad when she remembered that Mirai would have to leave after that.

The rite of passage here is held once every six months when the tulkun return.

Those who want to become adults will have to bond with a skimwing and then go on their first hunt alone with it.

“I’m kind of nervous for it—I don’t think I’ve trained enough,” Neteyam said, pausing as he looked up.

“Yeah, but why are you doing it? You told me that you had already completed it in the forest,” Virey questioned.

“Yes, well—Dad said that it would help us in adapting to their culture and that we need to be warriors here too if we want to fight,” Neteyam explained, not knowing how she was going to react to Jake being brought up.

“Oh, well—makes sense, I guess. But do you want to do it?” she asked, her eyes narrowing a bit.

“Yes, I do,” he said, understanding what she was asking.

“I feel like there are too many unspoken words floating in the air,” Aonung said as he gave up trying to understand what was going on, making the two of them laugh.

.

Neteyam was walking back to his marui when he saw his mom waiting for him by the frame, a smile breaking out when she laid her eyes on him.

“You’re finally back, Neteyam—come with me to the beach,” she said, hugging her son as the two walked there and sat next to each other.

“Is something wrong, Mum?” Neteyam asked, turning his head to look at her.

“No, son—everything’s fine. I just wanted to talk to you,” she began, meeting his eyes.

“I’m sure you know that the rite of passage is going to be held soon,” was all he needed to hear before his knees were drawn to his chest, making Neytiri laugh.

“Come on, Mom—Dad already gave me the talk, okay?” he said in a desperate attempt to deter his mother, but she continued anyway.

“Yes, but this is different. What role do you think you’re going to play when the time comes?” Neytiri said, then laughed when her son went completely red before his face disappeared behind his knees.

“Mom, please,” he said, still in disbelief at what she had just asked him.

She was still chuckling before her voice turned a bit serious.

“Really, Neteyam—otherwise, one of you could get hurt,” she said, and Neteyam peeked at her.

“I don’t know, Mom,” he said, lying through his teeth. He had an idea of how it was all going to go, and his mom sensed it.

“Well, alright since your dad has already told u about what to do, I'll just have to tell u the other side,” she continued, and Neteyam just wanted to plunge into the ocean.

“You’re a woman, though, so how could u know?” he asked with his face still buried.

“I'm not blind, Neteyam, I can gauge how this is going to go,” and that made his ears go so red that his hearing stopped for a while.

 “All I'm trying to say is that there will be some things that you will need,” she said gently, her hands caressing his forehead.

“For either of u, mating could be painful at first because u aren’t a woman, but you're trying to be in the place of one,” and she kept going when she saw her son's face finally emerge from behind his knees.

“Then what kind of things will I need?” he said in a hushed voice, making Neytiri smile.

“I'll prepare everything u two will need and give it to u after the rite of passage,” she said and brought her son's head to lay it on her shoulder.

Neteyam knew that his mom was just trying to help, and now he feels like he reacted in such a childish way.

“Thank you, Mom,” he said, to which Neytiri just hummed in response, her hand still in his hair.

.

Neteyam had been dancing around the topic of telling his dad about his future mate for a whole week now.

He knew that he had to tell his dad about it before the rite of passage, and he really was going to tell him yesterday—he even sat him down saying so—but he chickened out at the last minute.

And now, he was in the family marui, chopping some fruit while his dad was cleaning his gun.

Jake kept glancing up at his son worriedly.

He couldn’t figure out what Neteyam had been trying to say yesterday, and now his son kept fidgeting while glancing back at him the whole time since Lo’ak and Kiri had walked out earlier.

Jake exhaled as he put the parts in his hand down and turned to face his son, deciding to do the only thing he could.

“Neteyam, come sit with me for a while,” he said, calling to his son.

Neteyam turned to see his father before abandoning the knife and walking to sit in front of him, his eyes shifting nervously from the mat to his dad.

“I want you to know that you can tell me anything—whatever is on your mind—I promise to hear you out till the end,” Jake said, and Neteyam looked into his dad’s eyes and exhaled the breath he had been holding all week.

“There’s something I want to tell you, Dad,” he said, earning himself an encouraging nod from Jake.

“I have someone that I love—someone that I have decided to mate with,” he began, his eyes going to Jake’s wide ones.

“Really, my son? I’m happy for you. When will I meet them?” he asked sincerely, a small smile on his lips.

Neteyam’s eyes clenched as he continued.

“It’s Aonung, Dad—he’s the person I want to spend my life with,” he said, opening his eyes to look at his dad, who was stunned into silence.

He sucked in a sharp breath as he waited for Jake to say something but continued shortly.

“I’m sorry if I disappoint you, sir, but I truly do love him,” he said, feeling the pressure build behind his eyes.

Neteyam had prepared for the worst.

For hesitation.

For misunderstanding.

For disappointment.

Not because he believed his father was cruel—no, he knew Jake loved them.

But love didn’t always mean understanding.

And there had been so many moments—small, seemingly insignificant ones—where Neteyam had questioned whether his father truly saw him.

Not as a warrior.

Not as a protector.

As his son.

So when the words finally left his mouth, when he confessed the truth that had been pressing against his ribs for weeks, he braced himself.

For a pause too long.

For a deep inhale that carried hesitation.

For a question—not of curiosity, but of doubt.

And instead, he got acceptance.

Immediate. Unwavering. Undeniable.

"Of course I'm not disappointed. Nothing you do can ever disappoint me, son. I'm so proud that my son has found someone he would love to spend his life with."

Jake’s arms were solid, wrapping around Neteyam before he could even process the words, and that was when the relief crashed over him.

It wasn’t just words—wasn’t just a promise of support—it was proof, tangible and real, pressed against him in the form of his father’s arms, in the unshaken certainty in Jake’s voice.

His breath hitched, and then—without meaning to—he laughed.

A broken, breathless laugh—half relief, half disbelief—because he had spent so long preparing himself for the worst, and now it all just felt so silly.

Relief flooded Neteyam’s chest as he finally heard the words he had been waiting for.

“So you’re not against it?” he asked, just to be sure, his voice still tight, hesitant—because he had spent his whole life making sure, double-checking, striving for certainty before moving forward.

And when Jake reacted the way he did—when his expression shifted from reassurance to heartbreak, as if the thought of Neteyam ever doubting his love was unbearable—it nearly undid him.

"I will always support you in anything you do, Neteyam, and I am so sorry if I made you feel like I wouldn’t."

Neteyam squeezed his eyes shut, swallowing hard, his hands gripping onto his father’s shoulders, holding on like if he let go now, the moment would slip through his fingers.

And for the first time in weeks—maybe even longer—the weight in his chest was gone.

No more second-guessing.

No more worrying.

No more bracing for impact.

Just relief. Just acceptance. Just love.

And as his mother entered, as Neytiri smiled softly—already understanding without needing an explanation—Neteyam let himself relax completely.

That night, he slept between his parents—smiling as all his worries finally came to rest.

Chapter Text

There were three days left until the rite of passage, and Neteyam was preparing his cloth for it when he saw his dad standing against the frame of his semi-private quarters.

He looked up at his dad, confused, shifting from where he was tightening the stripes of the cloth he wore around his waist.

Jake just sighed as he walked in and joined his son on the floor, looking around nervously before he clenched his eyes shut, exhaling before finding his son's again.

“So, the rite of passage is in three days,” Jake started, stating the obvious, and Neteyam just looked back at him, even more confused.

He sighed as he continued, “You told me that you two have been together for a while now. I’m sure you’re going to complete the mating bond as soon as you two become adults,” hitting the mark.

And Neteyam just groaned as he saw where this conversation was going.

“Dad, please, don’t do this to me,” Neteyam croaked out, his palms finding his face.

Jake chuckled a bit but grew a bit more serious when he opened his mouth, but Neteyam just stopped him again.

“Really, Dad, Mom has killed me enough with this,” he said, his ears turning red.

But Jake still continued, thinking that no one knew more than Google, and fumbled as he told his son all about the day’s worth of research Jake had done.

Neteyam shrank smaller and smaller until he ended up curled on the floor, his dad chuckling as he finally finished and saw the state he was going to leave his son in.

.

“I swear to Eywa, they just want to kill me,” Neteyam complained to his lover as they were walking towards the reef to get Virey.

Aonung laughed as he heard him complain his heart out—although he could relate, as he remembered his own dad fumbling through it before Ronal just flicked her mate’s head and took charge of the conversation.

“Seriously, I can’t believe my mom asked me that,” Neteyam said, telling his future mate all he had been through as they walked along the reef rocks and toward where she would usually wait for them.

They saw Virey lying on her back on the tulkun’s fin, but what had them stop in their tracks was the Na’vi that was watching her intently from a distance.

The two of them exchanged a look, confirming that the other had seen it too.

“Okay, that’s fucking weird,” Aonung said, his eyebrows raised.

“I bet that’s why she asked us to come get her. She always wants to avoid any situation she can,” Neteyam said as they got closer to her.

Virey sat up when she saw them approaching and rested her hands above Mirai’s eyes, bidding her goodbyes.

The tulkun had told her that she wouldn’t be able to meet her like always because they were preparing to leave, and Virey just nodded with sad eyes as she got off the fin and walked toward the two boys.

“Come on, sis, cheer up. You’ll see her again in six months or less,” he said, pulling his hand onto her head in a comforting way.

“I know, I just can’t help it, okay? Everyone seems to be absent these days,” she said, and the two exchanged a look, knowing she was referring to Reyam.

She had been going to their usual meetup spot for a week now—she would just sit there, even though she knew he wasn’t coming.

“Come on, let’s get you some food,” Neteyam said, nudging her shoulder with his.

And the three of them made their way to the food storage area and walked back to her marui because she insisted that she had something to give Aonung.

They waited for her out on her porch as she dug through her things, looking for it before she emerged again with both her hands behind her back.

She stood in front of them, smiling as she brought her hands forward.

She was holding two matching armbands in her hands with intricate but similar designs—small shells and pearls were embedded in them between the fibers, making them even more intricate.

The two of them held their breath as they looked at what was in her hands before looking up at her.

“I made it for the two of you, to wish you luck for the passage—and I guess to serve as something like a wedding ring,” she said, chuckling at their baffled expressions.

“I’d be honored if you wore them on the day of the challenge,” she said, placing the respective ones in their hands.

Aonung gripped it in his hands before he stood up and hugged his sister, not knowing how to tell her with words.

And Virey understood that as she hugged him back.

She felt Neteyam join in as he said, “Thank you, really.”

And the three of them hugged like that for a while before she left to go to the place she had been going to for the past week.

“Did you know she was making this?” Aonung said, his eyes still soft as he looked at his sister’s retreating back.

“No, of course not,” he said as he brought his gift to his chest. “I can still feel the thought and care that went into this armband,” he said.

And the two of them walked toward the shore, hand in hand.

.

Virey was sitting by the shore, looking out at the ocean, completely lost in thought when a voice had her head turning so fast that it hurt.

“So, you missed me this much?” said a voice behind her.

She stood up, her disbelieving eyes still on the person behind her.

The guy she hadn’t seen for almost three weeks now—the one she couldn’t even go minutes without missing—was behind her, with a smile on his tired face.

Reyam stood a few steps behind her, with his hands stretched out, inviting her for a hug.

For weeks, he had imagined this exact moment.

Her face turning toward him.

Her eyes widening in disbelief.

Her body closing the distance before words could.

And now, as Virey launched herself into his arms, as her warmth pressed into him like something tangible, real, Reyam let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding.

Because the truth was—he had missed her more than he ever thought possible.

It hadn’t just been the physical separation—the weeks away, the endless diving, the exhaustion settling into his bones like something permanent.

The aching silence where her voice should have been.

And now—now she was here, pressed against him, frustration bleeding into relief as she pinched his side, refusing to let go as if he might disappear again.

"Where were you, you idiot?"

He laughed, the sound rough, tired, but so incredibly full of affection.

"Yes, I'm sorry," he murmured, resting his forehead against hers, letting himself breathe her in, letting himself feel every second he had missed.

They sat together, the ocean stretching endlessly before them, as Virey filled him in on everything he had missed.

He listened—really listened—absorbing every detail, feeling every moment he should have been there for.

The two of them stayed like that as the night sky stretched between them, and now they sat on the beach of their usual meetup spot as she told him everything that he had missed while he was away, occasionally playfully hitting his head, saying that he should have been there.

But she didn’t tell him that Aonung and Neteyam were together—thinking that it was their secret to tell.

"So tell me, what grand adventure did you go on that made you disappear for three weeks?" she said after she was done filling him in about everything, and Reyam shifted on the sand as his demeanor grew serious.

He took Virey’s hand and pressed her palm onto his cheek, leaning into her before turning his blue eyes on her.

Virey’s breathing completely stopped as she looked into them.

"After the rite of passage, could you make time for me?"

His voice was softer than usual—careful, yet firm—his fingers covering hers as if securing her presence, as if needing the confirmation before he could continue.

"There's something I want to tell you."

It wasn’t just about the rite—he wasn’t even participating.

It wasn’t just about waiting.

It was about her.

About his feelings for her.

About everything that had been growing inside him, something that had refused to fade, something that had only intensified despite the distance.

And when she nodded—when her eyes softened with understanding—only then did Reyam finally let himself rest.

.

He wanted nothing more than to tell her all about his feelings for her—that swelled indescribably even when they were apart.

But he had just gotten back from the place where he had spent the last three weeks—and was indescribably tired—but still wanted to see her before he collapsed.

He stumbled into his marui after taking her back to hers and saw that his mother was waiting for him with a bowl in her hands.

He sat next to her as he took it, Nenet’s hand finding its way to his hair as she massaged the tension from her son.

"Where's Dad?" he asked in between slurps, to which his mom scoffed as she said, "Your old man fell asleep as soon as he touched the mat. I barely managed to untangle myself from him with how tight he was holding me," she said.

She still couldn’t believe that her son had the energy to go out and look for the girl—or maybe he was just running on the craving to finally hear her voice.

That thought made her chuckle.

She took the bowl from her son and guided him to his quarters, taking his weight as his legs were finally giving out as she laid him on his mat, taking off the straps for daggers around his chest—but left the necklace—as she walked out of his quarters and to her mate, going back to his arms.

.

The day for the rite of passage came in a blink of an eye.

Neteyam sat in front of his mother as she braided his hair, putting beads at the end.

She tied the band he always wore around his waist and made it just tight enough.

She moved to fetch the regular armband he always wore, but he directed her toward the one Virey made.

“This is a beautiful gift,” she said as she took it and slid it onto his arms.

It fit him perfectly.

She then moved to give him the bow that his father had made for him and the arrows that she had sharpened, placing them into his outstretched hands, completing everything as she pulled back to see her son—smiling as she saw him standing there proudly.

She moved her arms up and down from where they were on his shoulders before directing him to sit down for her to apply the face paint for him.

.

Ronal was doing the same for her son.

She finished half-braiding his hair and brought the rest together with a leather strap, putting a shell with fiber embedded into it and tying it to the bundle of hair.

She put the armband he had given her on him and changed his necklace to one with a bigger tooth in the middle and the small ones surrounding it.

As he walked out of the marui, he saw his dad waiting for him with a very sharp spear in his hand.

He passed on the spear to him and held his son’s shoulder as he tightened his grip—looking into his eyes and giving a single sharp nod, which Aonung returned.

They walked out and toward the crowd of people.

Aonung separated from his family and joined the others who were participating this year.

Neteyam came and joined them as well, and the two of them exchanged a nod, praying for the other’s safety.

Tonowari let out a loud cry, settling the murmur as he began to give the speech to the soon-to-be adult Na’vi standing in front of him, anxiously shifting from where they stood.

As he concluded his speech, the warriors opened up the path to which the unbonded skimwings were waiting in the water.

Silence set in as the group of Na’vi waited to see who would be the first to go in—instead of all of them rushing in like last year.

Aonung gripped his spear tightly as he took a few steps and jumped into the water, looking for any of them to catch his eye.

One of them snapped its jaw at his outstretched hand, which he retracted just in time, leaving that one as he swam deeper.

His eyes locked on one, and he swam to it fast, catching the handle.

But before he could bring his queue forward to bond, the creature shot into the air.

He gasped as he felt his grip loosen on the handle and plunged back into the ocean.

But he didn’t relent—as soon as it landed in the water, he swam to it again.

This time, he let his hand pass through the handle and bent his elbow with the handle in between.

The creature tried to shake him off, but to no avail—it sprang into the air and down into the ocean again and again.

But Aonung didn’t falter.

He put the spear in his other hand between his thighs as he brought his queue forward and finally made the connection.

The creature finally calmed as it settled above water.

Pride filled his chest as he saw his people, and he let out a loud cry before sitting on the saddle properly and diving in with his skimwing—going beyond the reef for his first hunt.

Relief flooded Neteyam’s chest as he heard the cry of success from Aonung.

And he looked next to him as he saw a girl plunging into the water next, then shortly emerging with a skimwing she had chosen—as it tried to shake her off like it did with Aonung.

Another five people or so went and succeeded before the silence settled again—with none of them going forward.

He took a sharp breath in as he stepped forward and jumped into the water, letting his eyes adjust as he looked around.

He swam further, looking for his chosen one.

His eyes settled on one that was as big as Aonung’s—he knew he was an overachiever anyway.

He kicked his legs as he swam to it and gripped its handle.

The creature shot up like the others, and he groaned as he felt his grip falter, sending him back to where he had just gotten out from.

But he swam to it again—having a clear plan in mind this time.

His hands shot up and went in the gap instead of holding onto the handle.

He quickly transferred his bow to the hand before the creature started to struggle again.

The bow he was holding onto wouldn’t fit through the gap—not now that he had anchored it.

The creature leaped in and out of the water, making him dizzy.

But his grip didn’t loosen.

He brought his queue forward and connected to the creature—finally calming it down.

And he let out a cry of his own when he heard his mom’s proud one before he set off into the open ocean.

.

Aonung soon returned to the village with a big fish in his hands, dismounting once his skimwing landed by the beach and giving his fish to those who were preparing the feast.

He looked around before his eyes found Virey’s, who nodded at him, telling him that Neteyam had succeeded.

And he let out a sharp sigh of relief—there was no doubt in his mind that Neteyam would be back with a catch of his own.

And soon, he saw him make his way to the village, getting up from where he was by his family’s side as he walked to him.

Neteyam also dismounted and delivered his fish as he quickly made his way to the boy that had just left his family’s circle—to him.

They met halfway and didn’t exchange words as they brought their foreheads against each other.

Their eyes closed as they pressed against one another.

Aonung’s hands found their way from his shoulders down to his hands as they interlaced their fingers—feeling the other’s breath on their chest.

Their families just smiled at these two lovebirds—who had just declared their relationship to the entire village.

No one interfered—they let the two sort out their own worries and emotions in quiet acceptance before they finally pulled back and stared into each other’s eyes deeply.

“I see you,” they both said as they sighed to each other, their eyes completely soft, smiles on their lips as they walked back to their families.

“There’s no way,” Lo’ak said like he had been betrayed as he looked at his brother, who was just laughing at him.

He looked at Kiri, who just rolled her eyes at her brother’s ignorance—then he sought his parents’ eyes, who did not look shocked at all—then back to his brother.

“It won’t kill you,” Neteyam said as he ruffled a stunned Lo’ak’s hair.

And just like that, late afternoon arrived as all the now-adults had come back from their hunt, and the village was sent into celebration mode as the feast commenced.

Neteyam had been so nervous that he couldn’t keep anything down the day before, so today, he ate like a glutton—talking and laughing while surrounded by his family.

The rhythm that everyone had settled into calmed down, and Lo’ak had his head down from when he drank the alcohol while his dad wasn’t looking.

Kiri had also joined in on his shenanigans and was now poking at Lo’ak absentmindedly.

Neteyam felt hands wrap around his waist and looked down to see his mother’s hands tying a pouch to his loincloth.

He looked up at her, embarrassed, but she put a finger to her mouth before she turned to her mate.

Neteyam looked down before he got up from his seat and exchanged a look with Aonung before turning his back to him and walking away from the village and toward the ocean.

“Shouldn’t you follow?” someone said—and he didn’t need to look to know who—before he got up and walked toward where he had seen Neteyam.

He found him sitting on the sand, drawing something with his fingers before the man’s eyes shot to him.

“I thought you would take longer,” Neteyam said as he rose up.

“And make you wait? Never,” Aonung said and held both of Neteyam’s hands in his as he kissed them.

A small smile spread on Neteyam’s face as he looked at the man he had come to love so much.

He kissed him softly on the lips before their eyes—locked on each other—turned toward the direction of the Cove of Ancestors, and they walked into the ocean as it swallowed them whole, making their way toward the spirit.

Once they reached there, they attached the water creature that gave them breath underwater to their backs and resurfaced at the Cove of Ancestors—right above the spirit tree.

Neteyam looked into the pale blue eyes that were staring into his, their bodies close together.

“My Neteyam,” Aonung said as he brought his hand forward and rested it on his cheek.

Neteyam leaned into his touch.

“Oh, how I’ve come to love you so deeply,” he continued, bringing their foreheads together.

“I could spend forever telling you how much I love you, and it still wouldn’t be enough,” he said, putting his hand on his queue as he brought it forward, the white tendrils underneath peeking out.

“But I would love nothing more than to try—with the rest of the time I have—if you would let me.”

Neteyam all but melted as he heard everything—engraving this moment into his brain.

“The love I have for you swells every second I spend with you, no matter the situation we are in,” he said as he pulled his own queue forward.

“And I would love nothing more than to spend the rest of my life showing you.”

The two brought their bond together and watched as the tendrils intertwined with each other, the feeling coursed through both of their veins as they felt their breath get heavier, their foreheads still leaning on each other.

Aonung was the first to send the love that he had for the man in front of him through their bond, and Neteyam felt like he was seeing stars as the euphoria coursed through his entire body, making him shiver. His hand wrapped around Aonung's neck as he pulled him closer to him, the feeling still coursing through him, his breathing getting heavier each second. Then Neteyam did the same, showing Aonung the depth of his feelings, how he makes him feel with just his presence, he showed him, everything, just like Aonung did for him.

The two of them slowly opened their eyes and stared into each other's as their bond finally settled, their lives will now forever be intertwined as long as they both live.

Their breathing finally calmed down, and they swam toward a secluded part. Aonung kissed Neteyam as soon as they were out of the water, their bond still connected. They slowly kneeled on the soft sand underneath them, and Neteyam lay back, aonung supporting his waist as Neteyam's back found the sand. Aonung let his hand on Neteyam's waist wander up to his chest and his collarbone.

Neteyam’s hand went down from his neck to his chest and found his nipples, rubbing it like he had craved for days now, before pinching it between his fingers. Aonung jerked as he groaned from what Neteyam was doing, but it didn’t stop Neteyam, his hands stayed there as he twisted it softly.

Aonung's hands found their way to his waist, making Neteyam moan before his hand went further down and to the side of his loincloth, tugging at where it was tied. he put it to the side after he freed it and moved to do that to his own clothes.

“The pouch,” Neteyam said breathless, their lips only separated when Aonung straightened to untie his own loincloth. Aonung threw his cloth to the side and reached for where he had discarded Neteyam's. He took out a small container and looked back at an embarrassed Neteyam as he leaned down to kiss him again.

Neteyam felt a hand around his inner thigh, stroking along as it went further. He felt pleasure coursing through his veins as aonung stroked him, his breathing growing ragged with every up and down of his hand.

He was going to catch his breath when he finally let go of him, but all air left his lungs as he felt slick fingers nudging him. But Aonung leaned down, kissing his face as he asked if he could continue. Neteyam looked up at the man who was looking at him with so much love and adoration, like he was the most beautiful thing on earth, and nodded for him to continue. His head shot back as he felt two fingers spreading him.

He couldn’t contain himself as the moans started slipping out of him, the hands between his legs moving for a while before a third was added. He let out a painful groan as the burn spread; Aonung’s hand stopped moving, and his worry-filled eyes looked into Neteyam's glazed ones before he brought his face down to rub his nose against Neteyam's. Neteyam chuckled at this adorable man and his way of showing affection. He took a deep breath and nodded for Aonung to continue.

The fingers slipped out of him after aonung made sure he was ready, he poured the rest of the liquid onto himself and nudged at where his fingers where, looking at him in silent question, neteyam nodded and felt his eyes shoot open as he felt him enter, his head recoiled as he gasped from the pain, he shut his eyes closed and pressed a hand on Aonungs waist, stopping him.

“It hurts,” he said, grimacing. He didn’t expect it not to, but this was too much, pressure built behind his eyes as he slowly opened them.

Aonung took his trembling hand from his waist and kissed it. He was only half way in, but he pulled out slowly as he saw his lover's face contort with pain, but Neteyam stopped him before he could fully unsheathe himself.

He looked into Aonung's worry-filled eyes, studying the glowing spots on his face.

Neteyam took a deep breath before his eyes were back on him. “Slowly, go in slowly,” he said to him. He pulled Aonung down, pressing his chest to him, and Aonung nodded as he slowly pulled pushed in, pulling back whenever Neteyam squeezed his hand where their fingers were interlaced. After some time, he was fully inside Neteyam and felt the pleasure rise up his spine from the heat of his body as he tightened around him.

His eyes would roll back whenever the boy under him stirred, trying to get u to the thing that was rearranging his insides.

He steeled himself not to move as Neteyam adjusted to him, groaning as he felt Aonung pulsing against his insides.

Neteyam swallowed hard, breathing out huffs from being spread apart like this as he told Aonung he could move.

Aonung only pulled back a small amount before shooting his hips forward, and Neteyam saw stars from the pleasure that coursed through him.

He moaned out as his hands wrapped around Aonung's neck, his hips shrinking back as if he was trying to push Aonung out, but the boy on top of him put a hand on his waist, keeping him there as he groaned out.

Aonung stilled for a moment as he leaned down, breathing on neteyams neck before his hips moved back, making neteyam groan as he felt the previous full stomach feel empty but aonung didn’t wait as he pressed in again, neteyams nails dug in to his shoulder.

once the ring of muscle that was trying to push him out with all its might finally relaxed he kissed neteyams forehead as he calmed him down.

His hands traveled from neteyams chest to his waist then down to his lower stomach, neteyam gave him a confused look from all the haze as he saw aonung’s smirk, but the question was soon answered when he felt aonung press on his lower stomach.

Pleasure overwhelmed him as different, foregn voices started to leave his mouth, he could feel himself going crosses eyed from it all.

Aonungs smirk only grew more when he heard the noise that was leaving the boy under him, so he decided to continue.

Neteyams ears grew red as he heard the sounds that were leaving his mouth, he felt the pressure on his stomach lift and the over whelming pleasure eased and he thought he could finally breath again but he felt aonungs finger travel around the area he was pressing on before, his finger pressing here and there like he was looking for something.

A gasp left his lips when he felt aonung press a certain part, then the smirk of the boy on top of him.

“wait,” he started but it turned to intangible noise when he felt aonung press it with his fingers. his vision went cloudy from the tingles that overtook his body as his head shot back, only for it to happen one more time as the boy pressed on it again.

Aonung's impatience grew as he laid his eyes on the boy under him, he bent down to his ear to whisper to Neteyam.

“that was just pressing it from the outside, what do u think will happen if I pressed from both sides?” he said in a deep voice that made neteyams ears flick.

When his eyes shot open as it finally settled in.

He saw his thumb was pressing on the part from before and just when he opened his mouth to ask what he was doing aonung pressed in to him, pulling the boy by his waist as he hit the point that he was pressing before.

Neteyam's vision went black as he felt it being pressed from both sides, his back arched as he rode out the pleasure coursing through him. Aonung groaning out on his own as he felt neteyam tighten around his hard self. Pressing into him deeper and harder, every time he pulled out

The two of them continued as the night sky stretched above them, and once they were done, their bonds that were intertwined finally came undone, and Aonung moved into his arms as the two of them just fell asleep there, basking in each other's love.

Chapter Text

Virey turned back toward her family after Aonung disappeared from sight and watched as Tonowari and Ronal exchanged knowing looks, Tsireya laughing behind her hands over her mouth.

Tonowari turned his knowing gaze toward his eldest daughter and pointed somewhere far behind her.

She turned to look at Reyam’s startled self staring back at her before he looked away.

She turned back, laughing, and was about to ask if she could leave when Ronal said, “Yes, you can leave.”

And she didn’t wait—as she stood up and went toward the boy.

They walked away from the festival in comfortable silence before they stood facing each other when they were far away.

Reyam shifted around from where he was standing, his nervous eyes landing on Virey’s confused ones before a small smile played on her lips.

And that didn’t help his heart calm down.

Reyam had faced many challenges in his life.

He had fought against raging tides, dove into the deepest waters, pushed his endurance beyond its limits—he had mastered the physical tests expected of him.

But this?

This felt like the hardest thing he had ever done.

Standing before Virey, watching her eyes search his, waiting for something he had yet to say—his heart wasn’t just beating fast.

It was pounding, each pulse loud, almost painful—like his body was physically reacting to the weight of the moment.

His fingers curled around the pouch at his side, gripping the necklace inside as if it would ground him—remind him why he was doing this, why he had spent weeks searching for something worthy of her.

He exhaled as he desperately tried to calm his heart with all the lessons he had ever learned—but one look at Virey’s eyes, and it went back to its erratic state.

“Thanks for meeting me here,” he said awkwardly, his voice rougher than he meant it to be—like he was forcing out words before his nerves could swallow them.

Virey chuckled softly, tilting her head as she looked at this boy—trying to figure out what had him so nervous—amusement flickering in her gaze.

And it only made his heart jump worse.

He wanted to just say it.

But how could he?

How could he put into words something that had been growing inside him for so long, something that had swelled beyond reason, something that had settled into his soul like it had always been there?

How could he make her see, make her understand that this wasn’t just admiration—wasn’t just affection—

It was love.

And not fleeting.

Not shallow.

Not something that would fade just because time passed or distance pulled them apart.

It was undeniable, unshakable—something that had been quietly carving itself into him for longer than he had realized.

And he was terrified—because once he said it, once the words left him, he couldn't take them back.

And if she didn’t feel the same—

The thought shook him.

So instead, he reached for the necklace first, asking her to close her eyes.

Because maybe—just maybe—if she felt the weight of the gift, if she saw the care put into every detail—she would understand the meaning behind it even before he spoke.

He got close to her as he fetched it from the pouch on his side and held the two ends as he leaned down and tied it behind her neck.

As he secured it around her neck—as his fingers brushed against her skin, tracing the glowing freckles across her collarbone—he felt himself falling deeper.

He had loved her for so long—

And now, he could no longer hold it inside.

He took a step back and told her to open her eyes.

She looked at the boy who was looking at her softly, then down to her neck, which was previously bare, and saw a necklace that took her breath away.

Starting from the top, there were three round pearls that exhibited a striking iridescent green color with hints of blue and purple on each side—giving them a shimmering and almost opalescent appearance.

These beads were followed by transparent pearls that had a subtle rainbow-like shine.

At the bottom of the necklace, there were two larger, circular-shaped pendants Which were a mix of striking black and shimmering electric blue—swirling as if they were liquids. link for the necklace image

A piece of the deepest ocean.

Something rare.

Something precious.

She looked up at him, her eyes containing shards of purple before her hands reached up for them as she admired it more.

“It’s beautiful—I’ve never seen any of them before,” she said as her eyes rose to his.

“That’s what I was doing with the time I was gone. Everything on it is extremely rare and can only be found deep under the ocean in the northernmost mountains,” Reyam exhaled as he looked at her.

She was still looking at the necklace, her fingers lingering, her expression shifting—not just admiration, but understanding.

Understanding that this wasn’t just a gift.

This was proof.

Proof of his devotion—proof of everything he hadn’t yet said.

“Thank you—truly.”

She said in disbelief, her breath hitching at the thought that he would go so far for her.

And then—her voice softened.

"But why, Reyam?"

His heartbeat stopped.

She was looking at him now—really looking—purple eyes gleaming with something so fragile, so vulnerable—like she wanted the answer but feared it at the same time.

“Why would you go that far?”

And there was pressure in his chest—something pressing against his ribs—something too heavy to keep inside any longer.

So he grabbed her hand—his grip firm but trembling—and pressed it against his chest.

Against the place where his heartbeat was wild, erratic, impossible to control.

"Because I love you, Virey."

The words left him in a breath—not hesitant, not careful—just honest.

She stared, her lips parting slightly, and for a second—just a second—he felt like the world was holding its breath with her.

So he stepped closer, his fingers reaching up to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear—his heart screaming inside him, demanding he say it properly, fully, without regret.

"I've loved you since before I even realized it, and I wanted to tell you in the best way I could."

Her breath shook.

Reyam’s throat tightened, but he pushed forward, his hands cupping her face so gently—as if she were the most delicate, precious thing he had ever held.

"I love how calm you are but still get excited over small things. How you live for yourself and do only what you believe in."

Her skin was warm beneath his hands, and he could feel the way she leaned into his touch—the way her heartbeat seemed to match his, fast and uncertain.

"I can go on forever telling you because there simply isn’t anything I can’t name."

"I love you, Virey."

He repeated.

Her eyes shimmered, and Reyam felt himself straining—waiting—praying for her response.

Because he had said it.

He had laid himself bare.

And now—everything depended on her next words.

She smiled.

A soft, slow, achingly beautiful smile—one that made his chest tighten painfully because it told him everything before she even spoke.

"I love you too."

His breath stilled, his muscles locked, something inside him unraveled completely.

Virey held onto his fingers, weaving them together as she leaned into his touch, pressing herself closer as she whispered—

"I love how you are dedicated to the things you set your heart on. How you do everything for yourself, not for others’ opinions of you. How you find joy in everything you see, even if others don’t."

"I love you, Reyam."

The words settled deep inside him, embedding themselves into his bones—so permanent that he knew—

There was nothing in this world that could ever erase them.

She stepped back, but her hands never let go of his.

And then—

"I see you, Reyam."

She signed the words, soft but firm, with full certainty, and Reyam felt his throat tighten, emotion threatening to consume him completely.

So he did the same, raising his hands, giving her everything back in a whisper.

"I see you, Virey."

And as they knelt together, their foreheads pressing against each other, Reyam finally let out a breath.

Because now—

Now, she knew.

Now, she was his.

And there would never be a day where he wouldn’t remind her of that.

.

The next day, Virey woke up with no recollection of how she even got back to her marui, but she was sure he had walked her back.

She smiled to herself just at the memory of him—he was hers now.

She shot up before she convinced herself to just stay in bed all day, thinking about and reliving yesterday—only to smile to herself at the mere mention of it.

She got on her feet as she walked to get ready, thinking there was something seriously wrong with her.

She left her marui and was walking toward the food storage when she saw Aonung and Neteyam swimming toward the village.

She smiled when she saw how Aonung was the one doing all the swimming.

As they got to the shore and Aonung extended his hand to Neteyam, who took it, she walked toward them.

“Hey guys, so tell me—when is the wedding?” she asked, startling them as they straightened and turned to look at her amused eyes.

Aonung took Neteyam’s hand, signaling to her that their mating was successful.

Her eyes softened as she looked back at her brother.

Aonung and Neteyam were smiling back at her.

“I’m glad.”

And once Aonung had calmed from the high, his eyes zeroed in on the necklace she was wearing.

“What the hell? Who gave you that?” he asked as he took in all the rare pieces.

The smile that broke on her face told him everything he needed to know.

She took her hand, and her fingers trailed the transparent pearls—the memory of yesterday coming back to her mind.

“It was Reyam—he gave it to me,” she said as her eyes returned back to both of them.

Aonung’s jaw almost hit the floor when he saw the face she made and heard the voice she said it with—he never thought she could sound so affectionate.

He looked back at his mate, who was just as shocked.

“So wait—are you two like…” Aonung asked in disbelief.

“Yeah.” She laughed out.

“He’s mine now,” she said in a voice that made her sound like the happiest Na’vi ever.

Aonung put his hand on his face, and Neteyam laughed at his mate’s reaction as he hugged his free arm.

“I looked away for one night—one night—and this happens,” he said more to himself, making Virey laugh out loud before she got closer to him and hugged her brother—bringing in Neteyam by his neck too.

“I’m so happy for the both of you.”

She said, relief filling her voice, with her head on their shoulders, and the two of them pulled her in by her back, their fingers interlacing where they touched.

Even if it was small, there was a chance that Eywa might have rejected their mating—and it had made her a bit anxious, as she had seen firsthand how much those two treasured each other.

She pulled back, and her mischievous eyes locked on her brother.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to rest then—because I doubt you had any yesterday.”

And their faces turned red—but she wasn’t done yet.

She took two steps back and said—

“Oh, and brother—please don’t forget the aftercare. Your poor mate was limping.”

She turned around, laughing as their ears pulled back, running away—but not before she saw Aonung carry a protesting Neteyam off his feet.

As she was making her way to the food storage, she could feel the looks that people were giving her—no doubt admiring the necklace, but also seeing how deep her connection must be for the person to go so far.

It made her uncomfortable, to say the least—but she would be damned if she took off the necklace just for that.

She met Kiri and Lo’ak, who were sitting with Spider, after she took some food from the storage and joined them.

All three of them were collectively staring at her new accessory—Kiri slowly raised her hands, and her fingers trailed from the pearls to the soft stone in the middle.

“This is beautiful—how did they even find something like this?” she said, still marveling at the thought.

And Virey laughed at how everyone seemed to say the same thing—but her eyes still softened as she told them who it was.

“No way—was that why he disappeared for three whole weeks?” Kiri said.

“You were so mopey then too—I bet you didn’t know, huh?” Lo’ak said, smirking, making Virey roll her eyes.

“So, are you two dating now?” Kiri said slyly as she got closer to her.

“Yeah,” she said, smiling at her as her hands found her neck.

“He’s my boyfriend now.”

Kiri’s eyes widened as she looked at her friend like a stranger.

“I didn’t think you had it in you,” she said, laughing as she leaned back.

“Well, looks like you lost your chance,” she said, bumping her shoulder against Spider’s, who just rolled his eyes at her.

All of them just burst out laughing as they continued to eat—talking about everything and anything.

.

Reyam had woken up at dawn like every other day—but he was so much more energetic.

His hand instinctively found the stone hanging on his neck, and the memories of last night flashed through his head—making him laugh to himself before he went out to meet his friends.

He met them by the shore like he always did.

“Hey, Reyam,” Naran said as he hugged the friend he hadn’t seen in a while, followed by Arzan.

“What the hell happened, bro? What made you disappear like that?” Arzan said, to which Reyam replied—

“Come on, let’s hunt first—I’ll tell you about it after,” he said and didn’t wait as he went into the water, trying to channel his energy into everything else.

“How many times do I have to tell you,” Arzan said as he put half the fish in Reyam’s net back into the ocean.

“Don’t overhunt,” he stressed.

Reyam just laughed at his pissed-off friend as they walked up to the rocks and sat down.

“So, tell us already—the anticipation is killing me. And that stupid smile you had all morning isn’t helping,” Naran said, out of patience.

As if it were possible, his smile grew even more as he got comfortable in his seat.

“So,” he started dramatically.

“Guess who was lucky enough to be dating the girl of his dreams.”

He laughed at his shocked friends.

“No way,” Arzan said in complete disbelief.

“There’s no way,” he said—but the proud look on his friend’s face told him otherwise.

He felt Naran hold his shoulders as if he were trying to steady himself.

“Are you sure you didn’t just imagine it all?” Naran asked in disbelief.

And Reyam considered it for a moment—it definitely wouldn’t be his first time if it were, hell, not even his fifth.

But her eyes, her voice, the warmth of her cheeks as she interlaced her fingers with his—it was too real.

“Shut up,” he said and spent a minute or so watching his friends’ disbelieving eyes.

“So it really is true,” Arzan said in a defeated voice like he was betrayed.

“You really have a girlfriend now?”

“And I bet that’s what made you disappear, huh? You can’t imagine our shock when you one day just stopped showing up to training—only to hear from Jake that your dad had asked for a leave for you.”

“Yes, but it was all worth it—since she’s mine now.”

Reyam said in his own happy little world—but once the news settled into his friends’ minds, they exchanged a worried look amongst each other.

Both of them thinking that it was only a matter of time before he heard about it.

Just the thought sent shivers down their spines.

They placed the fish they had caught at the food storage and walked back to the training ground.

Jake’s voice vibrated through as he commenced the training.

.

Virey and Reyam were walking along the shore as he told her about the grueling training they had today.

“That sounds exactly like Jake,” she said, smiling at him as he did an impression of when they were told to “put your back into it.”

He looked down at the girl beside him, and he felt his heart swell.

He couldn’t help himself and hugged her out of nowhere—like she was a cute teddy bear—making her laugh.

It was something he had to express physically, or he’d burst from the sheer happiness of having her.

She hugged him back, laughing.

“What’s up with you now?” she said between chuckles.

“Leave me alone—I still can’t believe I can do this whenever I want to,” he said as he squeezed the girl in his arms more, making her laugh again as her face pressed into his hard chest—music to his ears.

“Are we really going to stay like this the whole time?” Virey said, even though she had her arms around his waist too.

“Yes.”

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, then brought his cheek to hers and rubbed them together.

Virey couldn’t help but laugh softly at this big cat that was refusing to let her go, her hands making their way up to his hair.

“Okay, come on—let’s go into the ocean already,” she said.

But he just tightened his grip before letting a sigh out, the warmth of his breath lingering on her neck, before he pulled back and looked into her eyes.

“Please,” she said, amusement in her eyes.

And that was all it took to decimate whatever was left of his resolve—not that he had any with her anyway.

He kissed her cheek as he straightened up again.

“Okay, come on—let’s go,” he said and took her by the arm and into the ocean.

They swam until they saw a big colony of corals that were intertwined.

Virey pointed toward the surface, and he followed her up, both of them taking a deep breath as soon as they broke through.

“Let’s play in the corals like we used to,” she began, making him smile.

“I missed doing that with you.”

And that was it—something in Reyam’s chest swelled beyond recovery.

He got closer to her as he traced her face with the back of his fingers, sliding it back and cupping her face.

He leaned in until his nose was touching hers—then both their eyes closed as she felt his lips touch hers, moving softly against them.

He pressed his lips to hers gently.

She felt their breath against their connected mouths as her hands were on his neck, her fingers caressing his nape softly, tilting her head to press her lips to his more.

Their eyes stayed closed as their mouths separated, Reyam pressing his forehead to hers softly—acknowledging the significance of this moment they were sharing.

Virey’s hand traveled down from his neck to his erratically beating chest, and Reyam chuckled as he felt her there—he had noticed how she always found his heartbeat calming in ways he couldn’t understand, whether it was steady or beating wildly like right now.

“Is this your way of saying you don’t wanna play with me?” Virey said jokingly as their eyes fluttered open.

“When have I ever been able to say no to you?” he said back to her with a smirk.

And her eyes stayed on him all the way until her head disappeared underwater.

“This girl,” Reyam laughed out before he followed her underwater.

She raced to the corals and twisted her body to pass through the narrow space—and Reyam followed to catch her—Virey pulling her hand back just before he could grab it.

They played like that—Reyam trying to catch her, then Virey chasing him once he did—until they could no longer see in the water.

Reyam bid her goodbye after he took her to the marui and was about to turn around—but Virey bent down from where she was standing and kissed him on the cheek before turning toward her marui with a smile.

All he could think about was how this girl was going to be the death of him—as he made his way back, stumbling once every now and then because his mind was clouded.

.

The next day, Tonowari and Ronal called their daughter to their marui just before she could escape.

“Come on in, young lady,” Ronal said playfully as she guided her to the mat, and the three of them sat.

Her parents couldn’t take their eyes off the necklace she was wearing.

“I never thought I would actually get to see the stone of the deep ocean,” Ronal said with disbelief, making Virey smile.

Tonowari looked up at his daughter with a smile.

“So tell us, child—who gave this to you?” he said in a soft voice—although he kind of already knew.

“Reyam gave it to me.”

She said, and Ronal leaned back against her mate after she was done admiring, looking at him with a playful look.

“So then—does this mean my daughter found someone?” she said, to which Virey nodded.

Their demeanor grew serious as they explained to her what this meant.

“Virey, we need you to understand that this means he is serious beyond words could explain,” Tonowari said, looking into her eyes.

A soft smile spread on her lips, and her hands instinctively found her necklace.

“That’s good to hear—because I am too,” she said.

And the sincerity that laced her voice made her parents’ eyes widen as they looked at each other.

“Oh, my Eywa—I can’t believe all my children are already this grown up,” Tonowari said, sighing as he looked up at the ceiling, his hand covering half his face.

Ronal and Virey just laughed at each other as they saw his reaction before they let her go to meet her friends.

.

“So, what are we doing today?” Virey asked Kiri as they were cleaning up from the feast they had.

“I have nothing planned—Lo’ak and Spider were the planners, but they seem to have run off somewhere,” Kiri said as she disposed of the bones, and the two of them walked to the shore to wash off the stickiness.

The two of them stayed after, watching how the sand sparkled in the water, laughing as they drew something in it.

But their silence was interrupted when they heard a group of Na’vi approach them, laughing.

They both looked up from where they were sitting in the water—up to their hips—as the group approached, joking with each other.

The two of them stood up.

“And what kind of freaks do we have here?” said one guy in the group.

Virey didn’t recognize any of them, but it seemed Kiri did.

The two of them looked at each other, and Virey tilted her head toward the ocean, telling Kiri to swim away with her—and Kiri nodded.

The two of them turned their backs to the group and walked into the ocean, never turning around even when the others called them names.

Once they swam farther away, Virey told her to come up to the surface, and they both did.

“I don’t like this, Kiri,” Virey said, to which Kiri just looked away.

“It’s fine—they won’t do anything if we just ignore them. Trust me, that’s best,” Kiri replied.

“Yeah, I get that. But I don’t like how they approach us only when we’re alone—it’s giving me the creeps.”

Kiri just smiled, trying to hide her worry about what Virey had just pointed out.

“Oh well—it’s not like either of us remember their faces, much less know their names,” she said, making Virey laugh before the two of them went into the ocean, exploring and trying their best not to think about what had just happened.

.

They stayed in the water until afternoon, and they were walking out of the ocean when they saw Lo’ak and Spider approach them.

“Hey, guys—we looked everywhere for you,” Lo’ak said as he looked at them.

“Don’t tell me you were in the ocean all day? What happened to going to the forest?” Spider added, and Virey looked at Kiri, who shook her head no before she sighed.

“Nothing—we were just looking for shells,” she said, but Spider looked down at their limp pouch and raised an eyebrow but decided to leave it alone.

“Anyways, I’m gonna leave now—same time tomorrow?” Virey asked Kiri and smiled when the girl nodded before she walked off to where she was meeting Reyam.

She got to the place and sat down on the sand to wait for him, the memory of what had happened in the morning playing in her head.

“Freaks,” they said.

She knew that she was different from them, but it really wasn’t that big of a deal—everyone is different in their own way.

“I guess there are stupid teenagers anywhere you go,” she said to herself as she looked out at the ocean.

She felt hands by the side of her head, and they wrapped around her eyes.

She felt panic rise in her throat before her hands felt the ones on her face.

She let out a breath before a smile covered her face.

“Who am I?” said a voice by her ear, making her smile even more in mischief.

“Hmm—who ever could you be? Is it Aonung or Rotxo?” she said and heard a low laugh coming from him—he saw what she was doing.

“I really don’t know who this is—oh mister mystery,” she said, laughing.

She felt the hands on her face pull her back before her lips were pressing against his with soft movement.

He pulled back but still stayed so close that she could feel his breath on her lips.

“Now tell me—who’s the only one who can do this?” He said with mischief lacing his voice, and Virey gave in.

“Reyam,” she said, and she heard Reyam’s soft laugh of victory before his hands let go of her eyes—but her head remained tilted up as she saw him looking down, so close to her.

She couldn’t help herself as her hands shot up behind his head, pulling him down to kiss her.

“One more time,” she said before connecting their lips again, feeling Reyam smile against her mouth.

He pressed into her more as he held her shoulder.

Her eyes were lidded when they finally separated, but she didn’t move.

She felt Reyam sit next to her, and she leaned onto him, her head resting on the crook of his neck as her back pressed against his chest.

Her eyes closed as she felt his steady heart.

Reyam raised his hand and pushed the hair that had fallen on her face behind her ear, the hand on his other side resting on her shoulder as he took the rest of her weight on him.

His cheek rested on the soft hair of her head as his head leaned on hers.

“Did something happen, Virey?” he said softly as he looked out at the ocean.

“No—everything’s fine. We just swam for too long today,” she replied, with no intent of moving from where she was.

And Reyam hummed to her in response—as he let her rest on him all she wanted.

She stayed like that until the night sky stretched above them, only their soft breathing in the air as the wind danced around them.

.

It had been two days since that happened, and Kiri and Virey had been doing everything they could to avoid that group that just seemed to gravitate toward them.

Virey would keep an ear out, and as soon as she heard them coming, the two of them would just swim away into the ocean.

Today, they had decided to go into the forest, thinking that they wouldn’t come looking for them there.

They sat by the clearing where they had first realized they were the same.

“I can still remember that day like it was yesterday,” Kiri said from where she sat in front of her.

“I wish we could just sleep like that—I could still feel the ground’s pulse from then,” Virey replied to a nodding Kiri as she remembered the presence of Eywa that had surrounded her.

“By the way, look at this flower here,” Kiri said as she plucked it from the ground. “Do you know that if you put it in the water, it will sparkle like the sun? Although it dies quickly after that,” Kiri told her.

“No way—come on, let’s go try it,” Virey said, and they were about to get up before they remembered why they were here in the first place.

They plopped back down with a sigh as they understood that the other had thought the same.

“This is pissing me the fuck off,” Virey said in a sharp voice and turned to look at Kiri, who had the same pissed look.

“It’s not like we can ask Lo’ak and Spider to stick with us either—‘we don’t wanna do that mundane thing,’” Kiri said as she imitated Lo’ak’s voice.

Then the two girls stared at each other before laughing out loud.

“Those adrenaline junkies,” they both said and went back to their laughter.

.

She left Kiri once Lo’ak and Spider returned in the afternoon, complaining about how the two girls were just finding new places to hide every day, and then made her way to where she would wait for him—a handful of those flowers with her.

A smile broke out on her face when she saw him standing and looking out at the ocean.

He turned to see her as she got close.

“Hey,” she said as she kissed his cheek, and Reyam couldn’t help but just bring her into his arms before he burst, making her laugh.

“Come on, let’s go into the ocean,” he said to her, but she stopped him.

“Wait—there’s something I wanna see first. Hold this for me,” she said and gave him the flowers in her hands before making her way to the ocean.

She made a small cut by the sharp shell she had made into a ring and siphoned five small spheres of water to hover above her hand as she walked back to him, her eyes shining with curiosity.

She brought the first sphere of water forward and took a flower from his hand.

“It’s dark out now—so I can’t wait to see what this is gonna look like,” she said excitedly and just smiled at the confused look of Reyam before she pushed the flower into the water.

It took two seconds for it to softly start shining.

Reyam watched her with the kind of quiet awe he rarely put into words.

It wasn’t just the way she moved—though that alone had him mesmerized.

The way she held the water like it was an extension of herself, commanding it with ease, as if shaping the world around her was as natural as breathing.

No—what really got him, what really undid him, was the way she lit up.

The sheer anticipation in her eyes, the way her breath hitched ever so slightly just before she dropped the flower into the first hovering sphere—he caught it all.

And when the water began to glow, when the soft shimmer spread out in pulses like a heartbeat, Reyam almost laughed—because, of course, it did.

Reyam let out a surprised noise as he looked at the glowing water—then back to her eyes, which were on him.

And the way she turned to him, expecting his amazement—he knew in that moment there was nothing in the world he wouldn’t give to see that expression a thousand times over.

He knew that he had fallen for this girl—who had been decimating his world—deeper, as if that were even possible.

The light died out, but an idea brightened in their minds.

She brought the other four spheres forward and put the remaining flowers into them.

She lifted them into the air as they spun slowly in circles, both their eyes following them as they glowed from above.

The two of them looked at each other before they started laughing, the light dying from above them.

“Thank you for showing me this,” Reyam said as he hugged her, and Reyam pressed his chin against her hair, closing his eyes for a moment.

Virey smiled as she snuggled closer to his chest.

“You’re welcome.”

The two of them walked into the ocean and disappeared under the surface, exploring it like they always did.

.

Kiri and Virey had been successful in avoiding the group for more than a week now, and even though they would really love to be spending this time alone right now, they accepted the offer to join Lo’ak with the rest of their group today.

Aonung and Neteyam sat by the beach, hand in hand, as the rest of them played in the ocean.

They had challenged each other to see who could find a specific type of shell that could be found in this area, and the person that won would obviously be granted bragging rights for the whole day.

And although Virey wasn’t much of a bragger, she certainly wasn’t a sore loser either.

She had found seven of them already and put them securely in her pouch—and now she had just found her eighth one.

She put it in her bag and turned to swim up for air, but as soon as she broke the surface, she barely had time to suck in a breath before something wrapped around her ankle and violently pulled her back down into the ocean.

She looked down to see the Na’vi that had creeped her out by the reef when she would go to meet Mirai.

He had the same amused eyes as he pulled her down into the ocean.

She twisted and turned her ankles, but it was like he had a death grip on her.

She felt her lungs burn from her erratic pulse, and with one final burst of force, she yanked her leg up—only to slam her free foot down with every ounce of power she had.

The grip he had on her ankle loosened, and she swam fast.

Her chest felt like fire, the pressure of inhaled water choking her, but she forced herself upward—breaking through the surface with a desperate gasp, coughing so violently it tore through her throat.

She didn’t stop. Didn’t look back. Didn’t check if he was following her—she just swam toward her brother as fast as she could.

She stumbled a bit as she finally reached the beach, still coughing from the water that was in her lungs as she made her way to them quickly.

Aonung got up as he walked toward her with a concerned look.

She barely had the chance to steady herself before strong hands caught her—Aonung first, his grip firm but careful, grounding her.

"Hey, hey—calm down, just breathe," he murmured, his voice low, serious, eyes scanning her frantically, already knowing something was wrong.

“What happened?” Neteyam said, his hands on her shoulders.

Virey looked back at where she had just come from as her cough finally settled.

“Some guy just tried to drown me—what the fuck?” she said, still in disbelief.

And the quiet that settled was deafening.

“What do you mean, Virey? Who tried to drown you?” Neteyam’s voice was tight now, his body rigid.

Aonung was too stunned to speak.

“I don’t know who the fucker is—but he pulled me down by my ankle,” she said, trying to ignore the pain from all the coughing as she looked back at them.

Aonung put one hand on the back of her as he pulled her to his chest to calm her down—then turned his eyes toward his mate, who nodded at him before making his way to where Virey had just come from, even if the guy was probably gone by now.

This wasn’t just an accident. It wasn’t harmless.

It was deliberate.

She sat with Aonung next to her when she finally calmed down.

“I don’t understand—I don’t even know him. Was this some sick joke?” she said more to herself than anyone else.

Aonung looked at her worriedly, thinking about who it could have been.

He knew that Virey barely even talked to others, much less made enemies, so this was even more confusing.

But once he found this guy…

His thoughts were interrupted as he saw his mate emerging from the ocean, his eyes locked on him—but he sighed when Neteyam shook his head as he got close and sat next to Aonung.

Virey let out a long breath as she finally calmed down—then turned to look at the two boys who were watching her with worry-glazed eyes, making her chuckle as she reassured them.

“Don’t worry too much, guys—I’ll be alright,” she said and felt Aonung wrap one hand around her shoulder before she turned to him.

“If anything happens—and I mean anything—come straight to any one of us, okay?” he said in all seriousness, stunning Virey before she gave him a small smile.

“Okay, thanks,” she said and got up to make her way toward where Lo’ak was calling her over to where they were all seated on the sand.

“Come on, hurry—we’re about to count our shells,” he said, making her laugh as she sat down.

They counted all the shells they had found, and Virey lost to Kiri by one—Lo’ak had only found five, which was the same for Spider.

“Looks like I have bragging rights today,” Kiri said, smirking as she leaned toward her brother—who looked like someone had just told him he was about to be tortured.

He looked away as he said, “Damn it—whose stupid idea of a prize was this?”

His.

It was his idea.

The whole group just laughed at his misery, and they didn’t go back to the ocean as they discussed what they were going to do with the shells they had collected.

Afternoon arrived before they could even come to a decision on that.

“Kiri can have mine too—in whatever she decides to make,” Virey said as she got up.

Lo’ak looked at her like she had betrayed him, making her laugh a bit as she bid them goodbye and made her way to the place where she was going to meet Reyam.

She saw him standing there, waiting for her.

She hugged him once she got close and was almost squeezed to death by him after he said something about how adorable she was before he took her hand and tugged her toward the ocean.

She didn’t move at first—hesitant as she remembered what had happened earlier—but gave in when she saw the confused look on his face, letting him pull her into the ocean.

His hands stayed in hers as he took her to where some interesting plants were growing on the rocks underwater.

Virey was fascinated by it all—she poked one of them, only for it to contract and close its open petals, making her smile.

As she was looking at it more, she suddenly felt a presence behind her—her pulse spiked as she turned around in a hurry, startled by it.

Her eyes met Reyam’s startled ones—no doubt not expecting her to react that way—then he saw how her frown eased as she took in his face.

“Come up to the surface,” Reyam signed, and Virey nodded—back to her normal self.

Their heads broke the surface, and the two just looked at each other for a second.

“Hey, Virey—is something the matter? You’re kind of jumpy today—” he started, but was stopped by the soft kiss she placed on his lips before pulling back, making him blink once.

“Okay, but—” he started again, but was interrupted by her kiss again.

“Really—” he started again, but she kissed him again and pulled back.

He opened his mouth to say something else—only to be shushed again, making him laugh.

His hands went on either side of her neck, his thumbs tilting her jaw up as he pulled her to him—connecting his lips with hers, moving softly against them as his body pressed to hers.

He connected their foreheads as his lips left hers.

“So this is your new way of shutting me up, huh?” he said, still pressed to her as his eyes fluttered open to stare into her apologetic ones.

“Okay—I’ll fall for it,” he said, feeling Virey kiss him again, softly smiling at him apologetically before she returned underwater.

.

Chapter Text

A week had passed since that day, and things were more or less the same. She hadn't seen that guy again since, and the scare of it all was finally wearing off. She had gone for a swim alone, too, but thankfully, nothing had happened.

Virey had been keeping an eye out to look for the nameless guy, but to no avail. She had told Kiri about what happened that day, and the girl was seriously pissed. Today, she was sitting with Kiri at the clearing by the food storage. The two of them were waiting for their food to settle after they had cleaned up.

“Well, maybe we should go into the forest rather than wait here,” Virey said to her, to which Kiri just sighed.

“But this forest isn’t big enough to do anything. You should have seen the ones back at the Omatikaya clan.” She started the rant about her old home like she always does, but Virey just laughed as she listened intently, thinking that nothing was going to stop her now.

But it did, and it wasn’t anything pleasant.

The guy who tried to drown her plopped down next to them like he had no reason to be ashamed. Virey looked at Kiri, wide-eyed, telling her that it was this guy, and Kiri's eyes grew in size once she realized it.

The only thing that broke their eye contact was the hand that stretched out to touch Virey’s face. She violently slapped his hand away before he could and turned her glare to him.

The guy shook the hand she hit with a smirk as he looked at her.

“I saw you looking for me so desperately these days, so I came here to see you,” he said like he didn’t even know why.

Virey was sizzling with rage as she looked at him, but she took a deep breath in, telling herself that that was what he wanted. As she exchanged a look with Kiri, both of them got up to leave.

“Oh, come on. You’re going to leave me just like that again?” he said, and the fun in his voice made both of them roll their eyes. But the “again” was what caught Kiri’s attention.

“What was that all about?” Kiri asked her. “The guy was giving off bad vibes in waves.”

“Back when I used to go meet Mirai, I had some… seriously unpleasant encounters with him,” she said, making Kiri’s eyes go wide.

“Since all the way back then?” she asked in disbelief, making her nod her head.

“What’s worse is that we don’t even have a name, and we can’t just say he has short hair—a lot of Na’vi do,” Kiri said, sighing.

“I really don’t want to just sit and wait for what he’s going to try next, but I don’t really have much of a choice here,” Virey said, frustration bubbling in her chest.

Kiri put her hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down—but just their luck, they ran into the group they had been avoiding well for a whole two weeks.

“Why now?” Kiri said under her breath as they got closer to the two of them, laughing amongst their stupid selves.

“Birds of a feather really flock together,” one of them said as they took a step closer, and the two girls just couldn’t hold back their eyes from rolling.

“That is so old,” Kiri said, making her friend laugh. “Seriously,” she said, turning to her friend as she felt herself cracking up.

“This is new,” one of them said, getting closer. “So what, now we are worthy of your words or something?” He got all up in Virey’s face before Kiri shoved him back with a hand on his shoulders.

“What the hell is your problem?” Virey said, agitated.

“Like, seriously, just leave us alone,” Kiri filled in for her, but the group just looked at each other before they laughed.

“So you guys really don’t know what’s happening, huh?” said the person that was pushed back, walking to them again and pushing Kiri back with one hand, making her take a step back again and again and again.

Virey was really fed up. It was only midday, but everything was just hell-bent on pissing her off.

A fist connected to the guy’s jaw, knocking him to the side with just the force of it.

Virey shook her hands from what she just did before she took Kiri’s hand in hers, and the two of them ran into the forest, half the guys from the group chasing them, and the one that was pushing Kiri was on the floor holding his face.

The two of them ran till they could no longer hear the guys behind them. They put their hands on their knees as they tried to steady themselves, breathing hard. But once part of their brain calmed from the adrenaline, they stared at each other for only a second before they burst out laughing. They laughed till their legs gave out and had to lean on each other to stay up.

“Seriously, girl,” Kiri wheezed out in between laughter. “That was badass,” she said, making her laugh even more.

“I wanted to do that since he got in my face,” she said, and once the adrenaline settled, the gravity of the situation dawned on them both.

“This is seriously concerning,” Virey said, now that she caught her breath.

“And he said something about us not knowing what all this was about,” Kiri said, her brows furrowing.

“What was that all about? Everything that happened today was confusing,” Virey added, then looked at Kiri. “Can you maybe tell your brothers or Rotxo so that we can identify the Na’vi from earlier? He’s the one that’s irking me the most.”

And Kiri nodded. As afternoon came, the two of them bid each other farewell, and Virey made her way to where she would meet Reyam.

She slowly sneaked up behind him and latched onto his waist, squeezing him as much as his abs would let her.

Reyam reached behind him, laughing as he tried to free himself. They struggled against each other, Reyam even trying to spin as fast as he could, her legs lifting off the floor from the momentum, but she still didn’t let him go. He sighed as he raised his hands in mock surrender.

“I give up, just tell me what I have to do,” he said, the laughter in his voice clear, but Virey’s eyes glinted as she knew the perfect exchange.

“The only thing I will accept is if we go explore the forest rather than the ocean,” she said, and Reyam jokingly let out an offended huff.

“How could you do that to me?” he mused, making her laugh even more. “You really won’t take anything else?” he said, and felt a shake of her head. “Not even shells or pearls?” he said and shook her head again. “I’ll shower you with hugs and kisses,” he said and smiled as that made her pause.

“The ransom has changed—I want to explore the forest and get your hugs too,” she said, and Reyam laughed at this hilarious girl, feeling the heat of her face rise from where it was pressed against his back.

“Okay then, your request has been accepted. Now will you please let me see your face?” he said, still smiling, but Virey didn’t move. She tightened her grip once before she finally let go and stood straight again, but hands surrounded her arms as soon as she let go, making her take a step back. Reyam’s face rubbed onto hers playfully, making her laugh.

“I’m still not changing my mind—we’re going to the forest,” she said, still laughing, but Reyam still continued.

“You’re late today,” he said, and Virey put her hand in his hair as she apologized.

The two of them went into the forest, Virey pulling him by the arm to take him to the clearing that she found with Kiri. The two of them lay on the soft grass as they talked under the night sky that was stretching above them, their fingers interlaced.

As time flew by, the two of them got up from where they were sitting.

“So,” Virey started, pulling Reyam’s gaze to hers. “How do you like the forest?” she said, a playful smile on her face.

Reyam just sighed as he looked away. “It was… fine, I guess,” he said, not wanting to admit it. “But I would still take the ocean any day,” he added, making Virey laugh.

“Well, that still means you enjoyed your time here,” she said, her smile spreading, and Reyam walked closer to her.

“Yeah, well, I don’t think the place is a factor to that,” he looked into her eyes as he continued. “I’d probably enjoy even being thrown off a cliff if I’m with you.”

And Virey’s eyes widened before she added, “Me too.”

Reyam looked away, but a mischievous glint sparked in his eyes as he remembered something from earlier.

He took a step towards her, pulling her gaze to him as he took another one, and Virey instinctively took a step back.

“But there is something I wanna ask,” he said, walking Virey back till her back was pressed against a tree. He put his hand on either side of her, caging her in as she looked up at him, the corners of her mouth tilted up with a bit of confusion in them.

“Earlier, you said you wanted to go to the forest and also take my hugs,” he said, leaning down to her face. “Does that mean you don’t like my kisses?” he said, the smirk on his face remaining.

Virey let out a soft laugh when she understood what he was talking about, and Reyam brought his face closer to hers, so close that their noses were almost touching.

“So does that mean you don’t want my kisses?” he said again, and Virey just let a breath out as she laughed again.

“Then let me rephrase,” she said, her palm traveling from his waist up to his chest, then onto his neck slowly. “I want to go to the forest, and also add your hugs and kisses,” her eyes narrowed as her fingers curled around his neck.

“I want all of you.”

And that undid something in Reyam’s chest. His hands went from the tree to her neck, his thumb pressing her jaw up, and Virey pulling him in by the neck as the two of them pressed their lips together softly. Reyam tilted his head as he pressed onto her mouth, moving slowly against each other and enjoying every second of it.

Reyam groaned against her lips as her fingers moved from his nape to the base of his queue, a shiver going down his spine as one of her fingers brushed against the tendrils hidden in his hair. Her hand traveled down his spine slowly and pressed against the upper base of his tail, forcing his lips to separate from hers as his head fell to the crook of her neck, his breath hitting her chest, clenching his teeth as he groaned. Virey’s tail was wrapped around his thigh, keeping him close.

His head rose from her neck and onto the tree her back was resting on, and he found the mischievous smirk on her face as she looked up at him.

“Seriously, you’re something,” he breathed out as he leaned down to connect their lips again, pressing his body against hers, wondering what he was thinking to challenge her like that when he knew the control she had over him.

.

They were walking back to her marui after making it out of the forest, but even they didn’t know how they managed to separate from each other.

Virey’s demeanor grew serious once they reached her marui. She walked up and sat on the porch and invited Reyam to do the same.

She took his hands in hers as she looked up into his eyes and exhaled as she thought about the things she was going to tell him.

A hand trailed her forehead and tucked a hair behind her ear.

“Whatever you want to tell me, just know that I’m here to listen,” he said, looking at her, and Virey gave him a soft smile.

“So do you remember back when you went to the north with your dad?” she said, and Reyam nodded his head. “I would go out to the reef to meet Mirai, and there was this guy that just creeped me out,” she said, her hands tightening around his as she told him about the encounters she had with him and how much it weirded her out. “I mean, I gave him a good kick to you-know-where and even got Aonung to accompany me to and from there, but he just keeps coming back,” she finished and felt a hand wrap around her head as he brought her into his chest, pressing her ears right above his heart in an effort to calm her. And it worked—she could feel all the agitation that was about to boil over calm down.

“And that’s not even the worst part,” she said as she straightened to look at him and told him all about how he tried to drown her, how he wouldn’t let go until she kicked him as if she were trying to break his nose. That, and Reyam’s eyes were filled with horror.

“I can’t even remember his face, much less know his name, so I’m really having trouble understanding where all this is coming from,” Virey said, but Reyam just pulled her into his arms, and she hugged him back.

“Whatever he’s doing is wrong. You don’t need to understand or know why—either way, it’s unforgivable,” he said, pressing her to him. Virey just smiled as she wrapped her hands around the boy who was doing his best to comfort her.

.

The next day, Lo’ak and Spider didn’t leave the girls alone after they told them what happened.

“They really have a knack for seeking you guys out when you’re alone,” Lo’ak said with a frown.

“Yes, but I’m sure there’s more to this whole thing,” Kiri said, remembering what the guy said.

“It’s whatever. If they approach you when I’m here—” Lo’ak said and bumped his fists together, making all three of them laugh.

They cleaned up after they finished eating and walked out of the clearing.

Kiri was walking beside Virey and touched her arm to get her attention.

“So, I talked to Rotxo about the guy yesterday,” she said once she had Virey’s attention. “He said he might know who it is, but he isn’t sure, so he’s gonna be on the lookout too.”

Virey gave her a grateful smile before it turned into mischief. “So, you and Rotxo, huh?” she said, making Kiri roll her eyes at her, but she still smiled.

“I didn’t think you had it in you,” she threw the words back at her, elbowing her side softly before Kiri—

Spider interrupted them.

“What are you both mumbling about?” he said, walking faster to catch up to them.

“Nothing you should be worried about, monkey boy,” Virey said, her hand shaking his mask before she ruffled his hair, and he pushed her hand off him.

“For the last time, I’m older than you—stop treating me like I’m your little brother,” he said, making her laugh as she left the two to walk up to Lo’ak.

“You already lost your chance with her,” Kiri said teasingly, bumping her shoulders against his.

“Oh, please, shut it,” he said, and the group walked towards the ocean, preparing for exploration.

.

A week went by in tranquil peace. Kiri and Virey even started hanging out alone again, but none of the people from before came to bother them again.

Today, Virey and Reyam were going to go on their first swim outside the reef together. Virey had wanted to show him the beautiful caves she found at the Three Brothers Rocks, and they had decided to meet on the reef. Virey chose the furthest place from where she would wait for Mirai, just in case.

Her head broke through the surface as she finally reached the reef from the village. Pulling herself up the rocks, she walked up, her back pressed against the rock as she waited for Reyam, where they had decided to meet.

Her memories went back to the glowing bioluminescent caves that she would spend hours looking at before she was pulled out of her thoughts by a voice close to her.

“It's good to see u again,” and she didn’t need to look to know who this was.

She turned around to walk away and only got a few steps in before she felt a hand around her elbow, but she didn’t wait for him to pull her back.

She turned around and shot her fist to hes face, striking his cheek, but he caught her hand before she could pull it back holding it above her head as he turned her and shoved her back to the reef rock, the hand he was holding was now trapped between the rock abouve her head and his hand.

“You know, it really doesn’t have to be this way. Why do u always rush to hit me?” he said, bringing the fingers of his free hand to touch his assaulted cheek, but as soon as Virey regained herself, she didn’t reply to his question; she shot her knees up, kicking him between his ribs.

But it didn’t deter him at all.

Bile started to rise in her throat as she remembered the hand that was holding her. he brushed the knee that was pressing between his ribs down as he took a step closer to her, she wanted to raise her foot to hit him where it hurt but his own foot was pressing hers down so hard that it was painful.

She pinned him with a glare as a hiss left her mouth, she brought her free hand up and punched him in the chest and his face as hard as she can but he just caught them like it was nothing, he definatly was a warrior in train she thought as she cursed him out in her head.

He just brought the hand he caught to join the other one, and just like that, his free hand went down to wrap around her neck, forcing her to raise her head.

“Well, u really are something,” he said in an amused voice as he looked down at her.

Then a smirk played on his lips as he added, “I wonder what he will say if he saw me kissing u,” he added, and the look in his eyes made Virey recoil back onto the rock.

He started leaning down to do just that, but Virey's forehead connected with his nose, hitting him as hard as she could with the hand that was restraining her neck.

She pulled against the hand that pinned hers when she felt the hand on her neck loosen, but it didn’t work, no matter how much she tugged at it.

He brought his hand to his injured nose before refocusing his eyes back on the girl who was fighting him with everything she had.

She turned her head from side to side, resisting the hand around her neck that was trying to tilt her head up; she knew what he was attempting to do.

He made an annoyed voice before his hand left her neck to hold her jaw up, his fingers were holding so tight it hurt.

“Fuck you,” she said between gritted teeth, fighting the bile that was crawling up her throat as she felt this strangers hand on hers.

He paused, and an amused chuckle escaped him before he put his face close to hers. Virey pressed her lips into a thin line, trying to do the only thing she could.

He was only inches away from her face when he stopped, “Wow, you really don’t want to kiss me that much, huh?” he said as he looked at the thin lines her lips had become.

Virey glared at him as if she could break his face if it was hard enough, which only amused him more. He smirked as his hands left her chin and traveled back to the back of her head. “what are u…ugh” the disgust in her throat rose as his hands found her queue, bring it forward and letting it go, she looked up at the boy, the glare mixing with confusion only to be filled with horror when he reached back for his own queue.

“Tell me,” he said, bringing it forward and holding the tip “What will happen if I bond with u right now?”

The bile stirred in her chest as she desperately tried to hold it back. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. They weren’t at the spirit tree, so the chances of Eywa accepting it are seriously low, but even if it were, the thought of it absolutely terrified her.

Her eyes grew wide as he brought his queue tip towards hers.

“Are u serious?” she said in disbelief, halting him. His eyes were indescribable as he looked at her. “Do u think he will go find the vitra fruit for u?” he said in wonder, like this was some big game.

The vitra fruit, which translates to the soul fruit in English, was the only thing that was capable of breaking the mating bond that binds the 2 souls together, but they are extremely rare.

So rare in fact that the Na’vi believe that one will only find the fruit if it was Eywa's will, but even then, these kinds of cases where most common when two Na’vi bond with each other for political reasons, and when one finds a na’vi that they love, so they decide to separate.

The one who wishes to separate them will have to fight their love's mate to the challenge of vitra, and will only be allowed to leave to look for it if they win the challenge. So, she couldn’t make heads or tails of what he was saying.

“Ohhhhh,” he said, his smirk growing bigger as his hands that held her wrist tightened. “You're not thinking of telling on me, are you?” Virey almost scoffed as she heard him. Anyone who tries something like this will obviously be banished, but if he was actually to succeed the bond, then it was a death sentence, and he knew it, so there was only one obvious reason why he was still here.

“You don’t think I’ll tell,” she said as the realization settled, hitting her like a brick, her chest tightening as she saw his smile grow.

“Oh, I KNOW u won’t tell” he said his hand dropping his queue as he held her chin again, her head pressing into the rock as she tried to back away “I mean think about how embarissing it is to tell anyone about how u were violated like this” his grip tightened on her face, she hissed at him again, her teeth bared before the bile rose in her chest as she clenched her teeth.

She knew then, that this guy wasn’t just doing this; he was a predator, and he knew exactly where to strike and just what to say, eywa know just how many others he had threatened like this.

Her nose scrunched as she watched him bring his queue to hers, pure horror in her hard eyes as she watched, praying to the great mother for lightning to just strike him down.

The hand that was holding hers was gone before the guy could even react, a very hard shove sent him flying to the floor, and Virey used her now free hands to cover her mouth as she tred to swallow the nausea that was crawling up her chest.

“What the fuck are u doing, Ateyo” the voice that vibrated through the air was low and dangerous. She felt familiar hands wrap around her shoulders as he held her close to him.

“Hey, Virey,” he said something, but she couldn’t hear him as she was too busy fighting her own body.

Reyam's glare turned towards the boy who was looking up at him from the floor. If only he weren’t steadying Virey right now, he would punch this guy's face in.

Virey finally calmed down enough to open her eyes and see what was going on.

“You have terrible timing,” Ateyo said as he rose from the ground.

His hands found the cheek that Reyam had slammed his hand into after pushing him. He could feel the inside of his mouth bleeding, and his lips were split.

That statement made the rage boil in Reyam's chest.

“what the fuck is going on here” virey said as she steading herself to stand on her own, but she could feel pain shoot up from the foot that was being crushed a while ago.

“Man, I really would have loved to see your broken face, but I guess all I have to do is steal her from you,” Ateyo said with such malice in his voice that it made the nausea return as the memories came back to her.

“Just like all the others,” he added before he turned around and walked off.

Virey felt her legs run to the other side of the ocean as she emptied her lunch.

The nausea wouldn’t leave even when there was nothing else to throw up, she stayed there kneeling as she dry heaved, pain exploding in her chest with each breath.

Reyam passed her the water pouch tied to his lion cloth, one hand holding her hair back.

She took it from him and drank two sips, only for that to come right out too. He rubbed her back, not knowing what else he could do as worry filled his chest.

The absolute shock and rage he felt when he saw her held like that just for someone’s sick game with him was tearing at his heart.

Virey finally calmed down, she washed out her mouth with the water he gave her, and was even able to stomach some sips of water. She straightened from where she had bent to throw up, only to lean back on the chest of the boy behind her.

Reyam held her shoulders as he pulled them back to the rock to lean on it as he let her throw her weight on him, his hands were softly caressing her hair, but her hands held her queue tightly to her chest, as if something was threating it.

His chest was filled with pain as the memories of what he just saw kept flashing in his head.

“I’m sorry, Virey,” he croaked out, his voice so broken that it surprised her. She pulled her head back to look into his eyes, and the tears that were rolling down his cheeks made pressure build in the back of her eyes as she pressed her lips together.

“I’m so sorry,” he said, fresh tears rolling down his face when he blinked, and Virey brought her hand to his face, cupping his cheeks as her thumbs brushed away his tears.

She brought his forehead to hers, pressing their noses together as she said, “This wasn’t your fault.”

She opened her tear-glossed eyes to look into his. “Whatever this was, it wasn’t your fault, Reyam,” she said, biting her lips as the memories tried to choke her throat.

Reyam just brought this girl into his arms, his chest pressing against hers as he sat her on his thighs, his hands cradled her, stroking the back of her head to give her as much comfort as he could. Even after everything that had happened, after how he failed to protect her, she still tried to comfort him.

His eyes filled up with tears just thinking about it all, but what really made it hard for him to breathe was the tears that were falling onto his shoulders from the girl he loved—the girl that he swore to protect.

He felt the dam in his eyes break as he heard her muffled sniffles, her hands that were wrapped around his neck tightening. He held her closer to him as if that was even possible.

Chapter Text

Reyam only pulled back when Virey’s breathing steadied. He rested her head on his shoulder, looking down at the sleeping girl. The night sky stretched above them as he gathered her into his arms and stood to cross the rock they were leaning on, carefully so he wouldn’t wake her. He called for his ilu and tried to keep her out of the water, but she didn’t wake up, even when her feet were in the water.

Once he reached the village, he walked with her in his arms to her marui, laying her down on the mat after he tied her hair back. She stirred softly once she was on the mat, but her eyes fluttered open gently once she lost his heartbeat.

She pulled the boy down with her, laying her head on top of his chest. Her eyes grew heavy once she got what she wanted. Reyam’s hand found her head and stroked her hair, making Virey laugh softly.

“You seem to like my hair,” she whispered, sleep already overtaking her, but the deep hum that vibrated in Reyam’s chest made her smile before she fell asleep.

.

The next day, she woke up at midday, and the first thing she heard was the steady heartbeat she couldn’t get enough of. She lay her head there even after waking up, enjoying it for a while before she straightened and laughed when she saw Reyam’s sleeping self sprawled out like that.

She was brushing her hair as she finally processed everything that had happened, but she still couldn’t understand how he was so ready to just bond with her, as if this whole thing wasn’t serious.

She figured that he thought he would kill or something, but that made no sense, and the way he truly believed that she wouldn’t tell anyone about this made her think that he has surely done that before.

Thankfully, Reyam got to her before anything could happen, so now that the shock of it all wore off, her mind cleared up—and she was pissed, to say the least. But even if she was so hungry, she still didn’t want to step out of her marui. She guessed it wasn’t something she could so easily forget. She recalled the exchange between Reyam and whatever his name was and thought that this was probably not new for the guy.

She heard rustling noise behind her and smiled as she looked back at her stirring boyfriend, who sat up before his eyes opened.

“Hey, sleepyhead. I recall you bragging about how you always woke up at dawn—so what’s this?” she said teasingly, and Reyam blinked open his eyes, a sad smile resting on his face as he took in the girl in front of him.

He went to her side and hugged her, pressing his chest to her back as his head rested on the crook of her neck, nuzzling into her, making her laugh.

“I can’t believe a day came where you woke up before me,” he said, his lips still on her neck.

“I should thank the universe—you’re a sight to see when you’re asleep,” she said, chuckling, and she could feel the heat rise onto his face.

“Do you want me to get you some food?” he said, understanding what was going on.

“Yes, Reyam. Then you and I need to have a serious talk,” she said, exhaling the memories that threatened to resurface as her hands found their way to his hair. She felt him nod, but he didn’t immediately get up—he stayed snuggling against her for a while before he got up to leave for the food storage. He piled as much as he could into his hands before he walked out, when he saw Kiri, Lo’ak, and Spider come up to him, asking about her.

“Sorry, guys, but I don’t think she will be coming out to meet you these days,” Reyam said apologetically to them before turning on his heel—he couldn’t bear to keep her waiting.

“What was that about?” Lo’ak said, but Kiri was silent. She could feel that something probably happened because she failed to find the freaking guy.

Reyam got into her marui and laid down the food he brought in front of them, and the two just ate while enjoying each other’s presence.

Once they had cleaned up, Virey called him to sit on her mat, and so he did, swallowing hard when he saw the small smile she was giving his troubled face.

“I don’t blame you or think it was your fault,” she started, looking into his eyes. “I just wanna know what it was all about.”

But she could see that her words did nothing to take the guilt off him as he breathed out and straightened.

“You may not believe me,” he started, but she intercepted him softly.

“I do, I believe you, Reyam,” she said, putting her hands on his.

He gave her a weak smile as he sucked in a breath.

“Since all the way back when we were just teenagers, he’s been obsessed with hating me for some reason,” he started, surprising Virey.

“My friends say that it’s because he always lost to me, so he tries to take everything he can from me,” he said and forced his eyes back to a wide-eyed Virey.

“And I’ve noticed that too. Whenever a girl just gives me an accessory or anyone tries to get close to me, he would do everything in his power to make them like him instead, but I feel like theirs more to it all, I mean we were just fine, existing in our own circles, but everything just changed when we became teenager’s.”

“And I didn’t really care about it because he never hurt anyone—that’s why he didn’t come to mind when You told me,” Reyam said, his hand leaving his head and reaching for the girl who was still in shock.

Reyam swallowed hard, forcing himself to keep his focus on her—on the way Virey’s wide eyes held a quiet shock, how she was listening so intently, but still had a flicker of disbelief in her expression.

And really—he didn’t blame her.

Because deep down, he still didn’t fully believe it himself.

He had spent years brushing off this rivalry, chalking it up to petty competition, nothing worth losing sleep over. Sure, the guy had always been bitter, always found ways to insert himself where Reyam least wanted him to be, always tried to take things from him just to prove that he could.

But it had never felt dangerous before.

It had never felt like something that would actually escalate into something real—something that could hurt Virey.

And that was what twisted inside him now—the quiet, sharp guilt settling deep into his chest.

Because maybe he should have seen it coming.

Maybe he should have done something earlier.

Maybe ignoring it for all these years—pretending it didn’t matter, refusing to engage, refusing to acknowledge it as anything more than childish jealousy—had given him the space to believe he had control over the situation, when in reality, he never did.

"I never cared about it because he never hurt anyone."

The words felt hollow now.

Because now he had hurt someone. Now he had gone after the one person Reyam truly cared about.
And Reyam hadn’t done anything to stop it.

He sucked in a breath, steadying himself, trying to push back the ache of regret settling in his bones.

But he couldn’t escape the thought—

What if he hadn’t gotten there in time?
What if he had done something worse?

His fingers trailed her face and cupped her cheek, his thumb stroking them.

“I’m so sorry, Virey. I never thought that he would do this,” he said, his breathing hitching as he remembered it.

Virey’s eyes grew sad as she looked at this boy who was tormented by what happened more than her. The fucker knew exactly where to hit him, and that realization made rage boil in her chest.

The possibility haunted him, clawed at the edges of his mind, but he forced himself to keep his gaze on Virey—to stay here, in this moment, instead of spiraling into what could have happened.

Still, he couldn’t help but notice the way she was gripping his hands now, tighter than before.

Like she was realizing something too.

Virey hadn’t let herself think too deeply about it all—about how he would wait for her when she went to meet Mirai, how he acted like she was nothing. But most of all, she didn’t want to acknowledge the moment he almost drowned her, or what it all actually meant.

But now, as Reyam spoke, as she saw the subtle pull of guilt behind his eyes, the tension in his shoulders, his hands, his voice—she felt the realization slam into her all at once.

This wasn’t random.
This wasn’t just a moment of cruelty from someone she didn’t know.
This was about Reyam.

It settled uncomfortably in her chest, the weight of it suddenly too heavy, too real.

Had he always been dealing with this? Had he always been pushed into some unnecessary competition? Had someone always been trying to take from him?

Her hands found their way to his, interlacing their fingers as she pressed his palm to her face more.

“It wasn’t your fault, Reyam. You don’t have to apologize for the things out of your control,” she said, looking into his eyes and sighing as she saw that her words didn’t help him at all.

“So he’s targeting others around you because he can’t get to you?” she started, but she couldn’t help the disbelief in her chest. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe Reyam, but she couldn’t fathom that there were people who really acted like this.

“Seriously, what kind of movie does he think he’s in?” she said with a hand on her head as she shook it. “I can’t believe there are people who act like this at our age.”

Reyam couldn’t help but chuckle as he heard her.

“Arzan and Naran had seen through what the guy was doing when he was trying to turn them against me,” he said, pulling her attention back to him.

“Why didn’t you tell someone about this, Reyam?” she said, sitting closer to him.

But he just huffed out in exasperation. “What would I even say? That someone was trying to isolate me?” he said, and virey shivered uncomfortably as she remebered the guy telling her that she would never tell on him.

“But then why did you never fight back?” she asked, pulling his eyes from the ceiling to her.

“I guess I just didn’t know how. Even when he would try to seriously hurt me when we were training, I only did enough to subdue him. I thought that he would grow out of it eventually, but I guess it all just made it worse,” he said, sighing.

“I’ve never even hit him until… yesterday,” he said, grimacing.

Virey pulled his head down, resting it on her lap as she stroked his hair.

“I can’t believe I’m the one being comforted when you were hurt,” he said but didn’t make a move to get up.

“I’m fine, Reyam, really,” she said, and now that she understood what was going on here, she realized that she wasn’t the target—it was him all along.

Her chest swelled with sadness as she thought about all the things Reyam must have endured from him, all because he didn’t want things to escalate. He quietly accepted being hated for things he didn’t do.

She leaned down to kiss his cheek and stayed as she stared into his eyes, a small smile spreading across her face as her thumb brushed the hair on his forehead.

“They don’t deserve you, Reyam, really,” she said to the sweet boy that she’d come to love so deeply. He smiled up at her weakly, his hands going to the back of her head as he pulled her down, kissing her softly, taking the comfort that she was offering.

Virey hadn’t left her marui for three days now. Sure, she understood that she wasn’t the target and she really was fine, but it was going to take her some time to truly get over it, and this was a manifestation of that fact.

She had known that since the first day she refused to leave for a walk and when she asked Reyam to stay with her when night fell. But one other thing she knew was that she wasn’t like Reyam.

She wasn’t going to sit here and believe that Ateyo would just let go of his hate in time because this wasn’t just normal rivalry—it was more ominous and dangerous, especially because she had seen firsthand how far he was willing to go, and she wasn’t going to hand him the chance to try again.

Even though it had been hard on her, she had been building the courage to tell her father about what happened. But even now, as she heard her brother knocking on the frame worriedly, she couldn’t just shove down the thought of keeping it a secret.

She pulled in a sharp breath as she steeled herself. She was going to tell them about this, even if she was shaking like a newborn deer. This matter was too big to just leave be.

“Come on in, Aonung,” she said. She had sent Reyam to the training ground, saying that she had something to do, and he reluctantly left, so it was just her and her brother when he finally entered.

He walked to her slowly. “Hey, sis, is everything okay?” he said, getting close to her.

“Hey, Aonung, is Tonowari free right now?” she said, grimacing. She really didn’t want to do this, but she would—even if she had to bite her tongue for it.

Aonung looked at his sister and could already tell that something was seriously wrong.

“Yes, he’s with Mom. Come on, I’ll take you there,” he said, and she took the hand he extended, letting him pull her up from the mat.

The slight tremor he felt when he held her hands had him drowning in worry as he led her to the family marui. He gave his father a look that said this was serious as he led her to sit in front of him on the mat, and he sat beside them.

Virey’s deep exhale vibrated through the silence as she forced herself to look into their eyes. Taking in a deep breath, she started from the beginning.

She turned to face Aonung. “Do you remember when I asked you to accompany me to the reef all those weeks ago?” she started, and Aonung nodded.

“There was this guy that just refused to leave me alone,” she said and continued to tell them about the encounter she had with him and why she had asked that of her brother. Aonung chimed in as he told them what happened in the ocean that day—how he had tried to drown her.

Ronal’s angry eyes turned to her mate, asking if he knew about this, and he shook his head no.

Virey felt her chest tighten as she continued the story.

“Something happened a few days ago,” she said, and the silence that settled in the room was deafening—because they knew that whatever had happened was what had brought her here today.

“I met him on the reef, and…” she paused, looking down, thinking of how vulnerable she was going to be when she told them this.

She pressed her lips together before continuing the story. Tonowari brought his daughter into his arms halfway through it, his eyes wide with disbelief as he listened.

“He tried to… force a mating bond on me….” she started, her eyes stung from the weight of the words as she said them, her voice dying in her throat, her teeth clenched tightly as she tried to suppress the emotion that wanted to spill over, her throat closing up.

She didn’t even know how to say it fully, but she knew they understood. Tonowari’s hand found the back of her head as he tried to comfort her, and the boulder that had been pressing on her chest finally lifted as she said, “His name is Ateyo.”

Because she knew they would do something about this.

Aonung didn’t say anything as he stood from where he was sitting and walked out of the marui.

He knew who this guy was. He had talked to him on many occasions, as he was one of the best warriors in training, but he could feel the muscles in his hands contract as Virey’s voice echoed in his head.

.

Reyam had just left Virey after she sent him away. He was standing in the training grounds with his friends, polishing their spears, but his mind was elsewhere, and they knew that, so none of them were talking.

What brought Reyam out of his thoughts was the grating voice of Ateyo from across the room. He turned his head to find it, only to lock eyes with him. The rage in him spilled over as he looked into the eyes that didn’t even have a shred of remorse in them.

He got up from where he was sitting, ready to go and pummel the guy into the ground, but he felt hands hold him by his shoulder. Arzan had seen through him and was holding him back from where they both stood.
“Think about this rationally, Reyam. I don’t know what happened, but—” Arzan started but was cut off by him.

“Exactly,” Reyam snapped back. “You don’t know what he did,” he said and looked back at the guy that had a knowing smirk on his face.

He truly believed that Reyam wouldn’t be capable of breaking his face—not because he wasn’t stronger but because he knew that the boy had never retaliated. But this was different for Reyam. Just the thought that he would even try something like that made him seriously consider killing him.

Reyam shook off his friend’s hand as he was walking towards the smirking boy when a hand came out of nowhere and held the necklace that Ateyo was holding, using it to throw him to the floor on his back.

Aonung was on top of him before he could process what was going on. His fists were hitting his face as hard as they could, but he only got two hits in before Ateyo shielded his face with his hands. But Aonung kept on hitting him again and again anywhere he could reach before he held his hands, pulled the boy to him, and his fangs dug into his shoulder.

A pained scream vibrated in the air as Aonung broke his skin and dug his teeth in. He pulled his face back and dug his knees between his ribs before getting off him. No one stopped him as he dragged the boy, protesting on the floor by his hair, pulling it out of his skull, as he took him to the chief’s marui.

Virey had almost completely calmed by the time Aonung burst inside the marui. She turned to see her brother drag him in by his hair as he let him kneel on the floor and slammed his face onto it. He stuck his knee into the boy’s waist as he pulled his face up from the floor.

Virey didn’t even flinch as she saw what was going on, neither did Ronal or Tonowari. Aonung let the hand in the boy’s hair go, and the boy fell on the floor with a thud. He groaned as he looked up at the chief and his mate, his eyes narrowing on Virey, who turned her head up to look down at him.

“Get his parents now,” Tonowari’s voice vibrated through the air and to the warriors outside, who made an affirmative noise as they went to fetch them.

His parents walked into the marui in a hurry and took only one look at the chief’s angry face to understand how dire this was.

Everyone outside was dismissed and out of earshot as Tonowari told them what their son had tried to do, and they looked truly ashamed as they looked down at him.

“she’s lying, I swear” ateyo said as his eyes turned from his fathers to the girl, before tonowari shifted so that he could no longer see her.

“eyes on the floor, boy” ateyo heard his father say, his ears flattened as he complied. Aonung almost lost it when he heard the entitled voice of the boy, and was only calmed by his mothers hard grip on his shoulder, her eyes telling him no.

He exhaled a long sigh before turning to look down at the boy as he said, “if I ask jake that u had been to training in the 3 weeks the tulkun were here, what do u think he will say” his voice cut through the tension in the air.

Ateyo cursed under his breath as he realized that she had told them everything. His dad looked at him expectantly, his eyes begging for all this to not be true but his sons silence made the pressure build in his chest.

“I cant stress just how serious this crimes are, The punishment for even attempting such a thing is banishment, it goes against everything that we belive in, to think that u would even consider to use the gift of connection like this,” Tonowari said with a voice so authoritative that the parents could do nothing but press their mouths together.

“He has two days to leave the island and the reefs, and if you come even close to her in that time, you will be publicly executed. Considering that your father and I have been through battle together, this is as much time as I will spare,” he concluded, and Ateyo looked away as he tried to get up, but his father’s grip on his nape tightened, forcing his head down.

“Apologize to the chief’s daughter,” he said, his voice strained.

Ateyo’s eyes found the brown that was staring down at him like he was an insect. He groaned as he looked away in defiance, but his face was once again slammed into the floor by the hand on his nape.

“I said apologize for your actions,” his father said, his throat closing up.

“I’m sorry,” strained out of his throat. He turned his eyes back to hers when silence radiated through the marui, but there was no forgiveness for this guy.

His father raised him with the hand on his neck as he apologized with his mate, and they walked out of the marui.

Aonung cleaned the hand that touched the guy. He went straight for his sister, bringing her into his arms, and a small smile spread across her face as she hugged him back.

She walked out of the chief’s marui and found Reyam on her porch. He stood up as he saw her approaching him.

“Hey, Virey,” he said, with no words coming into his head.

She took the hand that was by his side and put it on her cheek, her fingers in between his as she leaned into him.

“It’s okay. Everything is okay now,” she said, wrapping her hands around his waist as she brought him in. But the guilt that was in his eyes made the words taste like a lie on her tongue.

.

The next day, Virey was hanging out with almost all of her friends. After what happened in the chief’s house yesterday, Aonung had come to her marui with his mate.

They both knew that the probability of him coming after them again, even if it was years later, would have made her angry, but she knew that there was nothing she could do about it.

Neteyam had only known of the incident where the guy tried to drown her, so he asked her if anything had happened, and she told him a very short version of what had happened, not wanting to recall it all.

Neteyam’s eyes dried from how wide and unblinking they were when he listened to it all, he hugged the girl to his shoulder, not knowing what else to do, but gave his mate a look that aonung returned.

So today they were all going to hang out together as they walked through the village, although it was mostly the others not wanting to leave her alone, they didn’t know what exactly had happened, but they could feel that something did.

They were walking around when they spotted people running to the training ground, and they looked at each other as they followed.

.

Reyam and his friends were sparring against eachother in the training ground’s in mock battle, their spears were back on the stand as they all agreed to do hand to hand for today, and he was almost fully concentrated when, ofcoarse, a voice toar him away from the rhythm he was about to settle to.

Naran dropped his hands from where he was in fighting stance as he looked at the annoying presence behind Reyam, then back to his friend, who exhaled before he turned to face the person he was contemplating killing.

“Don’t look at me like that, you're never going to see me again after today,” Ateyo said, annoying him even more.

“Man, I really didn’t think she would tell, but before I go, I just wanted to make sure of one thing,” he said, and the smirk that played on his face was downright ominous. “She must really hate u right now.”

That made Reyam stay so still that he wasn’t sure if he was breathing.

 “I mean u are the reason that all this had happened, huh?” he continued, but Naran stopped him, “What the hell is wrong with u?” Ateyo said something back, but Reyam wasn’t listening.

The guilt pushing on his chest just made it harder to breathe

She didn’t blame, she told him so herself, but was that how she truly felt when he himself said to her that it was his fault?

Was he sure that she really didn’t think it was his fault?

He didn’t know, he couldn’t answer any of it

“I should have just bonded with h-” Ateyos' voice tuned back in, but it wasn’t long before rage swallowed it.

Reyam jumped on him as he pushed the boy to the ground, a surprised noise left Atyoe’s mouth before a sickening crunch vibrated in the training ground, pain shot up in Ateyo’s face, his eyes watering, followed by a hit on his cheek that had him spluttering blood.

He made a severe miscalculation when he came to taunt the boy who had been ignoring him all his life.

It was never that Reyam was incapable of violence, he simply chose not to indulge in it, and he was learning this new piece of information first hand as the guy that never even speared him a huff was beating his face side to side.

Blood stained his hands as he repeatedly hit the guy under him. Ateyo knew that everything was being kept under wraps so when reyam heard him talk about it as some sort of final “fuck u” he just fell into the rage that had been bottling up for years now, letting his frustrations and agitation take control of his with every hit, and what sent him over the edge was how this boy kept using virey like she was some tool, and when the realization settled into him he was ready to kill Ateyo, he simply didn’t trust that he wouldn’t come back to try again.

He felt a pathetic last-ditch punch to his side, but that didn’t stop him as he put his weight behind every hit, some blood even getting on his face, when he felt two pairs of hands on each side of his shoulder pulling him back.

Naran and Arzan were doing their best to try and get him off the guy before he actually beat his face in, but Reyam was hell bent on killing him.

His surroundings only came back to him when Naran screamed into his ears to stop, telling him that he would be banished to if he did.

It was like his eyes remembered to see things other than his target, he looked around to see the other na’vi crowding the area as they watched in shock then down at the bloodied face of the boy, but the thing that had him standing up was the girl that was watching him with an understanding look and a small smile.

Virey wasn’t afraid.

Not of Reyam.
Not of his rage, not of the blood on his hands, not of the way his breathing was uneven, sharp, still on the edge of something uncontrolled.

She had watched him, every moment of the fight, every strike he landed, every ounce of fury that spilled from him—and she hadn’t flinched once.

Because she understood.

She understood that this wasn’t a blind act of violence—this was a response to something much deeper, something that had been festering for years, something Ateyo had been cultivating with every smug smirk, every stolen moment of peace, every bitter attempt to take from Reyam what he could not earn himself.

It wasn’t just about her.

It was about all the times Reyam had swallowed his anger, all the times he had turned away when he should have stood his ground, all the times he had let it slide because fighting back had never felt worth it.

Until now.

Until Ateyo pushed too far—until he dragged her into the war he had waged against Reyam, until he turned her into a pawn for his own twisted obsession.

And Reyam—who had spent his whole life choosing restraint, refusing to feed into the battle, refusing to let his own rage dictate his actions—had finally let himself feel it.

Virey knew that feeling.

She had felt it too—that need to protect, that need to cut off the threat before it could slither back, the certainty that nothing else mattered except ensuring it never happened again.

So how could she fear him?

How could she fear someone whose anger wasn’t aimless but righteous—not reckless but controlled, not born from malice but from a need to end something that had tormented him for too long?

She saw it in his eyes when he looked at her—how even now, even with the blood still drying on his knuckles, his worry was greater than his fury.

How even now, his first instinct was to reach for her, not to demand comfort but to offer it.

It was about why he fought at all.

And there was nothing in this world that could make her fear that kind of love.

He got up as he walked toward her, his hands reaching to touch her face before Aonung got in between, his hands raised with his palms facing the boy.

“Reyam, I need you to calm down before you come any closer,” Aonung said, as if he was approaching a wolf that was protecting his mate. And that was when Reyam saw the bloodied hand that was reaching out.

“She’ll be fine with us. Come to her marui once you have calmed down,” he repeated.

Naran and Arzen were by his side, telling him to come with them to wash up. He stayed rooted in place, his eyes on hers as he felt his friends tug at him, but his legs only moved when he saw her nod at him, promising that she would wait for him in the marui.

.

Virey was sitting in her marui like she promised him, replaying the scenes she had seen earlier. But the image of it all didn’t make her flinch or feel scared—because she knew what it was all about. She felt a knock on the frame and pulled herself out of her thoughts as she heard Reyam’s voice asking if he could come in.

Reyam ducked as he entered the marui and only took two steps in before he froze. All he wanted to do was run to her and bring her into his arms, but the small voice that kept telling him that she blamed him kept replaying in his head—the voice of Ateyo telling him that she hated him. And even if she did, could he blame her for it? Wasn’t it his fault that all of this had happened in the first place?

Virey looked up at the boy and could see the war in his eyes, and she could guess what it was about. She stretched out her hands toward where he was standing, and Reyam hesitated before he walked to her, taking her hand in his carefully as he joined her on the mat.

She looked into his eyes as she waited for him to say something, but Reyam had trouble even looking into her eyes, the guilt crushing him now that his mind was clear.

“Please, Reyam, just tell me what’s troubling you so much that you can’t even look into my eyes,” Virey said with a strained voice.

And Reyam just looked back at this girl who cared for him in ways he never thought possible. He exhaled as he forced his eyes to look into hers.

“I’m sorry, Virey. About everything,” he said.

Reyam had never felt more fragile than he did in this moment.

He had spent days suffocating under guilt, convinced that everything was his fault, convinced that no matter how many times Virey told him otherwise—how could she truly mean it?

But now, sitting here with her, feeling her soft hands cradling his face, her warm breath brushing against his skin, he realized something.

And Virey knew he was apologizing for so much more than what had happened by the reef. She moved into the arms of the boy who welcomed her, with her knees on either side of his legs as she cupped his face and kissed him softly, feeling him lean to press onto her lips more. She looked into his eyes once their mouths separated.

“Just tell me, Reyam,” she said, her eyes telling him that she would reassure him, no matter what it was.

He brought his head down to the crook of her neck, sighing as he straightened up to look at her.

“Do you really think that it wasn’t my fault?” he said in such a vulnerable voice that her eyes grew heavy.

He hated how his voice cracked as he said it.

Hated how he felt like a wounded animal, unsure if he could even trust the warmth being offered to him.

“Oh, Reyam,” she said, bringing his head to where it was as she hugged him. “There’s no doubt in my mind that this wasn’t your fault, and anyone who says otherwise is wrong,” she said in the most assuring voice she could muster, and she truly meant it.

Reyam believed that she was telling the truth—he really, really did—but even as he kissed her, he just couldn’t shake the blame that was eating away at him.

The words settled inside him, pressing against the parts of him that had been wounded for days, filling the spaces that had been hollowed out by self-doubt, by Ateyo’s venomous words, by his own inability to forgive himself.

And still—there was a part of him that clung to that guilt, stubbornly refusing to let go.

And Virey sensed it.

Of course she did.

So she did the only thing she could to make his mind believe that she was telling the truth.

She would show him.

She leaned into the kiss, her lips softly moving against his. Reyam tilted his face to kiss her more, the hand on her face caressing her cheek. Once their lips separated, he looked down at her brown eyes that now contained large shards of purple, but he couldn’t believe what she did next.

Virey tilted her chin up, slowly leaning back a little as she bared her throat to him, showing him how much she trusted him.

Reyam was stunned into silence as he took in the scene unfolding in front of him. Baring one’s throat to another meant that they trusted that person never to hurt them—beyond any words could even begin to explain—and he never thought that he would receive such an honor.

Even Na’vi who have mated for life rarely show such affection. The small doubt that he had in himself slowly faded as his face got closer to her exposed neck.

He trailed kisses onto her bared throat, nuzzling his nose on it as he made his way back up.

“Thank you,” he said to the girl that chose to honor him.

“Thank you, Virey,” he continued, as his lips brushed along for a while before she tilted her head back and looked into the eyes of the boy who was staring at her with nothing but love and adoration in his eyes.

The small glint of doubt he had was nowhere in sight as she leaned in to kiss him with a small smile on her face, her hands going up to free his hair from the leather that held it back. One hand found its way into his now loose hair while the other stroked his jaw, sliding onto his neck.

His lips left hers to kiss down the crook of her neck and onto the collarbone he had wanted to put his mouth against for days now. A small sound escaped Virey’s lips when she felt his fangs brush against it, and that almost drove him crazy.

He frowned as he tried to get himself under control, his breath resting against her skin. She looked down at the boy who stilled, wondering what happened.

Her hand in his hair, which had previously stilled, went down to tilt his jaw up, looking into his face, then down at the lip he was biting to keep himself restrained. She leaned in to kiss the lips that he was almost bruising, and he pressed his head forward to kiss her more. She took his upper lip between her teeth, softly pulling on it as she looked up at him.

And that was it.

He needed to leave before he lost the sanity that was already hanging by a thread—and Virey wasn’t doing anything to help it.

He groaned out as he leaned back slowly, trying to think of anything other than the image of her lidded eyes. He looked up at her to see her head tilted in confusion, and he couldn’t help but curse under his breath.

Virey leaned in to kiss him again, completely oblivious to the turmoil brewing in the poor boy’s chest as he struggled to keep the leash on himself.

But Aonung’s voice came like a saving grace, stopping her mid-track. Her head turned toward the door before she got off him, and suddenly, he could breathe again.

“Hey, Virey, is everything alright?” he asked, and Reyam didn’t waste any time as he got up abruptly, making his way to the door.

“I’m kind of really tired today, so I’m gonna go home,” he said and bolted out of her marui—only to come face to face with her brother, who had a brow raised as he looked at the guy rushing out of his sister’s marui like he was caught doing something.

Reyam just muttered thanks and didn’t even see Neteyam as he ran away from the girl who was shaking his entire world.

Aonung ducked as he entered his sister’s marui and saw her sitting on the mat, mirroring the confusion on his face.

Neteyam and he walked over and joined her on the mat.

“There was something we wanted to ask you about,” Neteyam said as he got closer to her, his mate frowning that he left him, and Virey just laughed at the scene.

.

Chapter Text

It was dawn the next day when Ateyo’s time in the village had expired. Reyam had broken his nose badly and also fractured his cheekbone, but the Tsahik had refused to look at him, so his mother had given him a pain-numbing salve as a last gift.

He was to leave the reef at once. Once he passed those rocks, all Na’vi law would no longer apply to him.

Five warriors were stationed to ensure that he did nothing but leave, and their orders were to return only when he had entered the open ocean.

They all knew that no one could survive there for more than a handful of days, especially since he hadn’t been given any weapons. It was practically a death sentence, and now he faced the last remaining rock he had to pass to stare death in the face.

He looked back at the warriors, who were staring at him like they wanted to kill him, before his hands found the rock above. Pulling himself up, he took one last look at the village before landing on the other side, where he could see nothing but the open ocean.

The all-consuming fear he had been feeling for the past two days came back full force as he took the steps down and now faced the ocean itself.

He felt pain explode in his throat and looked down to see an arrow stuck in his neck. He was unable to scream as it had struck his vocal cord, but blood soon started to fill his throat.

He turned toward where the arrow had come from, coughing up the blood that was slowly suffocating his lungs, and saw Neteyam with his bow and arrow, another one already loaded.

He turned his body to try and beg the Na’vi to stop, only for another arrow to pierce his chest. His legs grew unsteady from the shock and fear, and then a splash could be heard—the water invaded his already injured lungs. He felt his consciousness fade as the pain grew more and more unbearable.

Neteyam looked down at the place he had just fallen from. He waited for minutes to make sure he had drowned, then set his bow and arrow on his back. He climbed the reef rocks and landed on the other side.

“It’s done,” he said to Aonung, who was leaning against the reef rocks. “He will never come back.”

Aonung wrapped his arms around his mate’s shoulder, bringing him in to kiss his forehead.

“Thank you, really,” he said, to which Neteyam shook his head. “I was the one who said let’s do this, and I don’t regret it; someone needed to put him down like the rabid dog that he was,” he said with an unwavering voice that reflected what he truly thought. Sure, he could have given Ateyo a very easy death, that was how skilled of a fighter he was, but why would he show such mercy? It was mercy enough that he didn’t torture the mother fucker.

The two of them made their way toward Virey’s marui, telling her that he was finally dead and putting her mind at ease. She stood up and bowed to them properly as she thanked them both, surprising them, but they just brought her into their arms.

.

It had been two weeks since the turmoil with Ateyo had passed, and things were finally settling down. Reyam had been spending every waking moment he could with her. She had told him multiple times that the incident hadn’t affected her as much as it had him, but he still tried to do everything he could to make her forget all about it.

After Ateyo’s banishment, his parents had come to Virey, wanting to ask for forgiveness, but she had firmly refused to see them at first. She was finally moving on from everything that had happened, and the sense of safety she used to feel had returned to her—but the guy’s parents were hell-bent on meeting her.

They would come by the chief’s marui, asking to talk to her, and she had refused them multiple times, but they just kept coming.

Even now, Tonowari was just coming back to the marui after telling them that she didn’t want to meet them.

“I don’t understand why they are hell-bent on this,” Virey said, irritated, and Tonowari just smiled as he sat down in front of her, his young daughter in his hands.

“Virey, they are trying to make up for their son’s mistakes,” Tonowari tried to explain, but that just pissed her off even more.

“I don’t want them to make it up to me. What happened, happened. It wasn’t their fault, and I know that, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to forgive their son,” Virey said in as calm a voice as she could muster, and Tonowari just raised his hand to ruffle her hair.

“They’re not trying to ask for forgiveness for him; they are trying to pick up after him. Everyone is trying to move on from everything,” he said softly, retracting his hand.

And Virey just brought her knees to her chest.

“I know that they just lost their son. They are probably looking for closure, but I’m doing my best too, and I can’t help someone else before I help myself,” she said, looking down.

Her father just smiled at her as he moved to bring her to the other side from Roa.

“What are we going to do with you? Trouble seems to follow you wherever you go, my child,” he said as he patted her arms, making her chuckle.

“Well, maybe it’s because I deal with it well,” she said, making him laugh and wake his sleeping daughter. He stood up fast as he tried to lull her back to sleep, and Virey got up as well, leaving them to it.

She walked along the shoreline, the sand soft under her legs as she enjoyed the morning breeze and the sound of water against itself. For the first time in a while, she walked along the beach alone, feeling completely safe.

She spent the rest of the day alone, trying to catch up on her missed-out alone time, but she still went to meet Reyam in the afternoon.

She saw him sitting by the beach and slowly tiptoed behind him, getting closer and closer. Just when she was about to wrap her hand around his neck—

“I know you’re there, Virey,” Reyam said, a laugh rumbling from his chest.

She collapsed on him with a sigh, her chest pressing against his back as she wrapped her hands around his neck.

“These days, you have been too good at spotting me,” she said in a huff, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“You just make too much noise,” Reyam said, chuckling as he turned his face to her, and for a second, they just stared at each other like time had frozen—her head still on his shoulder before she leaned in to kiss him.

He met her halfway, moving his lips to match hers as his body fully turned to hers, pulling her to him by the waist, her hands now on his neck as he kissed her deeper. He felt her breath on him, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood. He broke their contact as he abruptly stood up, leaving her stunned as she blinked up at him.

“Come on, let’s go into the ocean,” Reyam said and started walking away with his face red. Virey was still stunned as she blinked again.

“Okay…” she said to no one in particular and followed him into the ocean.

She’d noticed this particular pattern these days, but it’s not like she could say that to his face.

.

“So, what are we doing today?” she said to Kiri, who looked away shyly, making Virey’s eyes turn to Lo’ak and Spider.

“Poor little Virey,” Lo’ak started, musing. “Your friend is going to ditch you for her boyfriend today,” he continued, and Kiri’s face almost exploded before she threw a bone at him.

“Oh, I see. Well, I guess it’s just us three then,” she said and turned to them, and now it was Lo’ak’s turn to look away.

“You’re ditching us too, aren’t you?” Virey said as she looked at him. “Well, I did see Tsireya wearing a rather beautiful bracelet yesterday. I guess that earned you a date, huh?” she continued, leaning in, but Lo’ak just stood up before she could say anything more and bolted out of there.

“I didn’t even get started,” she said and turned her mischievous eyes to Kiri, startling her before she also hurried to stand up.

“Nope, I’m not gonna hear it from you,” she said as she straightened, then turned just before she bolted.

“Remember, she’s taken, and her boyfriend almost smashed someone’s face in. I wouldn’t try anything if I were you,” she said, and Spider’s ears went red. Kiri bolted before he could say anything, making Virey laugh before she turned her head to him.

“So, it’s just you and me today,” she said to him. “Got any ideas for what to do, kid?”

“For the love of god, stop calling me ‘kid.’ I’m older than you! And no, no ideas here,” his outburst made her laugh a bit before she stood up.

“All right then, let’s just go into the ocean. There’s something new there every day,” she said, and saw him rise in front of her, and the two of them made their way into the ocean.

She gasped as her head broke the surface, breathing in the air she had deprived her lungs of.

“God, I still can’t believe you guys can hold your breath underwater for so long,” Spider said as he emerged from the water.

“I would teach you, but it would be useless since you’re always wearing this,” she said, swimming closer to him and stretching her arms out to put a hand on his mask.

“Man, it must suck. You can’t even eat with us because of this thing,” she said, making Spider chuckle as she turned his face to examine how it worked.

“Yeah, well, this mask is the only thing standing between me and death in four minutes. So, when I think of that, I don’t have room for resentment,” he said, laughing when Virey’s fingers landed on the plastic keeping the air out.

“Yeah, but does the vacuum-like pressure hurt your skin or something?” she said, getting even closer to his face as she marveled at how this was made.

A hand wrapped around her waist from behind her, and the hand she had extended to touch his mask was now underwater as an arm loosely wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her back.

She turned her head to see Reyam staring intently at the boy in front of him, who looked like he was caught between a rock and a hard place, and it didn’t take a genius to see what was going on.

She shot Spider an apologetic look, who nodded before he disappeared underwater, then turned fully toward Reyam, who put a hand on her waist again, pulling her to him and rubbing his face against hers, making her laugh softly.

“What’s the matter now?” she said, and he looked away guiltily.

“Sorry, it isn’t that I don’t trust you or anything,” he said, then looked down at the water they were floating in, embarrassed about what he was going to say next. “My friends just got in my head,” he said in a small voice, looking away again.

It took Virey a second to process what he was saying before she stifled a laugh and looked around. And sure enough, there they were, dying of laughter as they leaned on each other, and Virey couldn’t help but laugh as she turned back to this big, scary cat that didn’t even know what it was doing.

“I was just studying the mask,” she said as her hands emerged from the water and turned his face to look at her.

“I know. I don’t know what came over me when you got close to his face,” he said, his ears burning red, and Virey couldn’t help but smile as she looked at him.

“Seriously, you’re adorable,” she said, stunning him, then shocking him again as she brought her lips to his before pulling back.

“Go on. I’ll see you in the afternoon like always. I’m sure your break is already over,” she said, and Reyam grumbled as he tightened his grip on her waist, pulling her to him to nuzzle his face against hers one last time before he swam away to his friends by the shore. Their laughter started again as he emerged from the water.

“Shut up. You guys don’t even have a girlfriend to get jealous over,” he retorted, and that seemed to work as they walked away in silence, Naran mumbling something about it being by choice.

“My life flashed before my eyes,” Spider said as he emerged from the water, making Virey laugh.

“Seriously, don’t even think of coming close to me from now on. You should have seen it from my eyes,” he said, making her roll her eyes.

“Don’t worry. He’s harmless,” she said as her eyes survived falling off.

She clearly has never seen her boyfriend, Spider thought, as the two of them went back to the water.

.

Another week passed by in a flash of perfect peace and rhythm, and Virey’s memory of the times she had before was starting to blur. She didn’t try to change that—although the lessons it had taught her would never be forgotten, the memory itself would not be missed.

Today, Tonowari had called her into the family marui in the morning, saying that he had something to discuss with her.

She greeted her father as she entered the marui and sat on the mat, joining him and Aonung.

“So,” Tonowari started with a huff, “the rite of passage is coming up in four months,” he said, and that told her why their faces were equal parts happy and not.

“I’m sure you’re planning to participate this time, huh?” Aonung said, pulling her eyes to him, and she nodded—before the expression dropped from her face as she remembered that Reyam had never actually confirmed it with her in words.

Her mood only soured more when she thought about how he had been pulling away from her touch recently.

Aonung’s brows raised as he looked at the conflicted girl, wondering what could have been wrong.

Virey was thinking about whether she could just assume something so permanent, so she decided to confirm everything with Reyam first.

“You can take as long as you need to decide—just come find me when you do,” Tonowari said, seeing the war in her eyes, and Virey nodded as she got up from her seat and went out to meet her friends.

She knew that what she was thinking was irrational—that she really couldn’t be questioning his intentions when she was wearing the proof around her neck—but had he ever said that he wanted to mate with her?

That thought stopped her dead in her tracks by the shore.

Had he ever even mentioned mating to her?

No, he hadn’t. Not even once.

Virey breathed deeply as she thought through the turmoil, but the images of how he had been retreating from their simple contact kept playing in her head. She took in a deep breath, telling herself to calm down, her hands reaching for the necklace instinctively.

Once she could breathe again, she remembered that the solution to all her questions was simple—all she had to do was ask him, and he would tell her, just like he always had.

With that thought, she made her way to the food storage.

The afternoon couldn’t come soon enough, as Virey waited for him at their usual place and jumped up when she heard his footsteps.

“Hey, you—late as always,” she said as she steadied herself.

“No, you’re just as early as always,” he said, chuckling, and Virey couldn’t help but kiss him, standing on her toes to reach as high as she could as her arms wrapped around him. He leaned down to kiss her back.

She leaned in to kiss him again, but she felt him pull back by the hands she had around his neck. She tried to look into his eyes, but he kept averting them from her. She let go of him and stepped back, looking at him for answers—because, as always, the worst-case scenarios were coming to her mind.

“Come with me to my marui. There was something I wanted to ask you anyway,” she said, breathing out as she decided it was time to talk about what she had been noticing for weeks.

They sat on her mat facing each other as Virey looked into his eyes.

“Tell me, Reyam—what’s up with you these past few weeks?” she asked, and his eyes averted from hers in confusion, as if he hadn’t noticed it himself.

“You’ve been pulling away from me more and more these days,” she said, trying to keep her voice as calm as she could, and Reyam looked back at her, surprised.

She brought his hand up to her face, pressing it softly against her cheek as she looked at him. A sad smile played on her lips as she said,

“Don’t tell me you’re tired of me already.”

Reyam’s eyes grew in size as he took in what she had just said. He knew she was just saying it in a joking manner, but even the thought that it had crossed her mind was tearing at his heart.

His hands rested on her waist as he pulled her into him, sitting her down on his legs.

“I can’t even process what you mean—because it simply isn’t possible,” he said, bringing his face close to hers once he saw that the answer had satisfied her small doubt.

But she wasn’t done with her question yet.

“Then why do you pull away from me, Reyam?” she said in a voice that told him she had noticed it for weeks. He beat himself up mentally for thinking she wouldn’t—because of course she would.

He took a deep breath in as he decided to spill the truth to her.

"I'm attracted to you, Virey," he said, making her blink at him. "I'm so attracted to you that I'm having trouble keeping myself in line," he continued, shifting her so her knees could be on either side of his legs, caging him in.

"I want to hug you all the time, kiss you every waking moment. I want to feel your body against mine," he said, trailing kisses along the crook of her neck. "I want to touch you anywhere I can, all the time, and the level of my desire for you only keeps growing the more I do it," he said as his head lifted from her shoulders, his hands leaving her waist to tilt her jaw up.

Looking into his eyes, she could see the blazing fire he was talking about.

But this wasn’t powered by lust—it barely even had anything to do with it. It was flowing from the deep love he held for her, and every time he came in contact with her, the affection swelled in his chest, magnifying his need for her. She could see it as clear as day in his eyes.

She leaned in to kiss him, moving against his lips softly before pulling back. “Then go ahead—hug, kiss, and touch me all you want. I’ve never held back from doing so when I wanted to, because you’re mine.”

A deep rumble left his chest as he smiled down at the girl claiming him as hers—and she was absolutely right. Every part of him belonged to this girl because his heart would only beat for her. He leaned down to kiss her, but her hand on his chest stopped him, making him groan like he was deprived of air.

She looked into his eyes, frustration building by the second from not being able to touch her. “Tell me you want to be my mate,” she said, surprising him.

But before he could open his mouth to question where this was coming from, she explained. “You have never said that you want to mate with me, so I want to hear it from your lips—even if it’s just for confirmation.”

His eyes widened before completely softening at her. For her, he would go a step further and show her just how much he wanted to mate with her.

His hands went back to his head, pulling his queue forward. He held the ends and lifted them, the hair that had been covering the tip falling away to expose the tendrils reaching out.

A gasp left her lips as she looked at what he was showing her—the tendrils that should have been hidden behind his hair were reaching out, despite knowing they weren’t at the spirit tree.

“Every second of every day that I am in your presence, my tsaheylu reaches out to you—begging to form the connection and finalize the bond that will tie us together for the rest of our lives,” he said before covering them again with his hair and pulling his queue back.

“Not a single day goes by when it doesn’t, so yes, Virey—I want you as my mate more than I want my next breath.”

The hand that was holding him back went down as the words settled into her chest, carving itself into where the doubt was as Reyam finally connected their lips, his hands traveling down from where he held her jaw to her neck, then down to her waist to pull her to him more.

Her hands traveled from his neck to his nape, making him groan as one of her fingers brushed against his queue, and her tail was wrapped around his waist.

His mouth left hers as it made its way down her neck and onto her collarbone, her breath landing on his ears as she looked down at him, making his hair stand.

The hand on her waist moved slowly to the middle, his fingers creeping up the lion cloth that covered her. Reyam's face turned up, his eyes asking for permission, to which she gave a small nod, embarrassment creeping up behind her back.

Reyam connected his lips with hers again, the hand on her waist going up and past the cloth covering it, his other hand traveled up and down her back pressing in the base of her tail, making her head to go down to the crook of his neck and the sounds that escaped her almost sent him feral.

He breathed in as the hand on her waist slowly made its way up to the middle of her chest before he slowly cupped one on the side, making her groan from where her head lay on his shoulder.

He trailed down kisses from her collar bone to the middle of her chest, cursing the na’vi who created cloth when he was forced to detached his lips from her skin as he rased her loincloth and buried his face between her chest, making Virey gasp as she felt his toung aginst her free chest, his hand still cupping the other.

She groaned as she felt his tongue against her chest, his other hand pressing on the base of her tail, and a stifled moan escaped between her gritted teeth.

She could feel Reyam's pulse quicken from the hand she had on his neck. She raised her head from his shoulder, trailing kisses up his neck and onto his jaw, stopping in front of his ear before she let out a soft blow, making him jerk against her.

Before she felt him smirk where his lips were pressed to her chest, she felt his teeth softly scrape against them, causing her to hold her breath as her head fell back onto his shoulders, her breath hitting his chest and sending shivers down his spine.

She pulled the hand on her tail to her face as she leaned against it, her breath heavy as her head grew dizzy.

Reyam forced his head to pull back from his chest with one last roll of his tongue against it as he straightened, understanding that this was as much as she could take right now.

His lips found hers instinctively, moving softly against hers before her head fell to his chest. She pushed him down, laying his back against the mat as she positioned herself for comfort, resting her head on his chest to listen to his erratically beating heart, which was calming down slowly, but it still helped.

Reyam looked down at the girl who managed to fill the need that was begging for her, any part of her and yet some how he only craved her more, and the realization that he will never have enough settled comfortably in his chest, because he would chosse this any day than the hole he created trying to stifle the need he felt for her.

.

Today was finally the day she was going to meet Reyam’s friends. Kiri had insisted that she and Rotxo come with her, just in case they didn’t get along. So now, Kiri, Rotxo, and Virey were waiting for them as they talked amongst each other, mostly Virey teasing the two of them before Kiri placed a hand over her mouth.

“There really is nothing you can’t say, huh?” Kiri said, holding her friend's mouth, making Virey laugh, before she spotted two boys approaching.

“Hey, guys,” Naran said once they got close. Virey looked around for him but turned back to them.

“Where’s Reyam? I thought today was a break day,” she asked, and the two of them looked away.

“Yeah, well, Jake kind of held him up. I think it may be a while before he can join us,” Arzan said, to which Virey just nodded, and they went into the water.

She spent time with them in the water as they signed to her here and there, getting to know each other.

She saw Rotxo, and he signed, "Reyam’s here—come up to the surface," and she nodded, swimming behind him.

Once they broke the surface, she took the hand Rotxo held out for her as she made her way to Kiri and Reyam, who had already met a lot.

She went to Reyam’s side, wrapping her hands around his waist as she tucked herself into him, Reyam’s hand resting on her shoulder.

And Kiri just looked at her like she was a stranger.

“I never thought you would actually be the affectionate type—you wouldn’t even hug me,” she complained as she stepped forward and wrapped her hands around Virey’s waist, making her laugh.

“Okay, okay, I get it. Sorry,” she said, patting Kiri’s back as she laughed.

When she let go, Virey saw Naran and Arzan staring at the four of them.

“Man, I feel so single right now,” Arzan said, to which Naran added, “When is this kind of love going to find me?”

The group laughed as they went back to the water.

That afternoon, Virey and Reyam sneaked away from the group and went to the place they would always meet at.

Reyam sat on the sand, extending his hand to Virey, who took it and let him guide her to sit between his legs, her back pressed against him as his hands played with her hair, his face nuzzling the crook of her neck.

“So,” Virey started, “the rite of passage is in three months.”

A small chuckle left his lips.

“Yes, and I can’t wait until it’s here,” he said, kissing her neck.

“We’re going to participate together,” she said, leaning back against him, chuckling when a hum left his lips against her neck before straightening.

“After the festival, will you meet me here?” he asked, turning her face to him, his heart melting when he saw the smile on her face.

“Yes,” she said, leaning closer. “I will.”

And with that, their lips came together, moving softly against each other before pulling back.

Reyam’s hands went down to her waist, pulling her closer as he rubbed his face against her neck, making her chuckle, before he paused.

“By the way,” he said as Virey looked back at the ocean, “why don’t you wear your hair in any particular style?”

His breath hitched when she paused completely before exhaling.

“I guess it’s because I don’t have a culture of my own,” she said, leaning back against him. “I look like the Omaticaya, but I’m not from there, so I can’t wear their braids. And I don’t look like the Metkayina, so I can’t wear theirs either.”

She sank down completely, her head resting against his thighs, and looked up at him, her hand moving to his face as she touched his cheek.

“So I guess I just don’t belong anywhere,” she breathed out.

Reyam bent down to kiss her cheek, then moved up to her forehead, lingering there before straightening and looking down into her eyes.

“No way—you belong with us, and I’ll personally slit the throat of anyone who says otherwise,” he said in all seriousness, making Virey laugh softly before she silently stared into his eyes.

“Really?” she asked, shards of purple emerging in her gaze.

“Really,” Reyam replied, leaning down and connecting their lips.

.

For the past two months, Virey had been training with her brother to prepare for the rite of passage. She knew how well she got along with creatures, but she wanted to train just like the others anyway.

And although her skills with the spear hadn’t improved much, her riding skills had—every day she returned from the session with him feeling like he had broken every bone in her body. Reyam would sometimes have to carry her back to her marui while she complained about how her brother was trying to kill her.

But today, she finally had a day off from the hellish training, and Reyam had agreed to meet her at midday instead of in the afternoon. So now, she was sitting with Kiri, waiting for the time to come.

“He’s just so lovable,” Kiri said for the hundredth time, making Virey chuckle.

“I can’t believe you two aren’t together yet. Like, what is going on?” Virey asked, genuinely confused, but Kiri just averted her eyes.

“Tell me, Kiri, how do you feel about him?” Virey asked, leaning in, and Kiri exhaled.

“I’m not an idiot—I know how I feel about him, okay? The problem is, I don’t know how he feels about me,” she said, sighing. “And what if I confess to him and it turns out he isn’t into me? What will happen to us then?”

Virey looked at her friend sympathetically.

“Well, okay then. Let’s say you don’t tell him—wouldn’t that mean your relationship with him would be built on a lie? And a lie that’s suffocating you, no less,” Virey said, and Kiri winced at the thought of it.

“Look, Kiri, it’s not like I’m speaking from experience or anything, but it’s called a confession for a reason. But hey, if you really think this is just some fleeting crush and that it’ll go away soon, then sure, just bury it,” she said, smiling at her friend when she shook her head.

“I’m actually surprised it’s not Spider—I thought you liked him at first,” she said, and Kiri looked at her, baffled. She wrapped her arms around Virey’s neck and pulled her playfully.

“How could you? What the hell?” Kiri said, both of them laughing.

“What? Maybe it’s because I’m so much taller than him, but he’s kind of cute,” Virey added. “He’s like the little brother who’s mentally older, you know?”

And that just made her laugh even more.

“Man, I can’t wait to tell him what you just said,” Kiri said, letting her go to wipe away tears from laughing too hard.

Virey was looking at her laughing friend with a smile of her own before her eyes narrowed on a familiar-looking Na’vi approaching them with his hands on his neck.

Her smile grew when it shifted to the girl who was finally calming down, making Kiri freeze as she recognized the look in her dear friend’s eyes. She whipped her head to see Rotxo approaching them both, his eyes shifting everywhere but at them.

Her head turned back to her friend, who had a devious look in her eyes as she pulled some water from the ocean and shaped it into tiny hearts, spinning them around Kiri’s head.

She laughed as Kiri shoved her away playfully, dropping the water on her friend.

Rotxo finally calmed down as he got close to them—only for his heart to try and hammer out of his chest when his eyes found Kiri’s. He swallowed his nerves as he spoke.

“I was wondering if you were free right now,” he asked, fumbling as he continued to explain. “Our instructor canceled out of nowhere, so I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come with me to the sea,” he continued, overexplaining before Kiri stopped him, getting up as she spoke.

“Yes, I get it,” she said, the laughter echoing in her voice as she continued. “Of course, I’d love to go with you.”

She turned her head down to look at Virey, who had a "It was that easy" look on her face, making her roll her eyes before she faced the boy again.

“Oh, great,” he said as his smile grew. “Then thank you for giving me this honor, my lady,” he said playfully, extending his hands to Kiri, making her laugh as she took his hands, and the two of them walked into the ocean.

“You can come out now,” Virey said, her eyes still on where her friend had disappeared before she turned back—and sure enough, Ao’nung and Neteyam sheepishly walked out of where they were hiding.

“I just knew you guys were the ones who put him up to this,” she said, laughing at them before they joined her on the sand, her brother sitting next to her with his mate as he held his hand.

“How did you even know we were there?” Neteyam asked, puzzled, and Virey just smiled as she looked at him.

“If it was just you, there was no way I’d know,” she said obviously—since the Omaticaya grew up in the forest, where they learned not to make noise. “But you had this big oaf with you who can’t stay quiet to save his life,” she added, and Neteyam and Virey laughed as Ao’nung feigned mock offense.

“Yeah, right—try and challenge me in the water,” he retorted, and that got the two of them quiet.

“Why are you all even free in the first place?” Virey asked, making a knowing smile when they averted their gazes.

“You ran away, didn’t you, Ao’nung?” she said like it was obvious, and his silence answered for her.

“I mean, sure, I would expect it from my brother, but I never thought I’d see the day when you would follow him,” she said, laughing as Neteyam’s ears pulled back.

“Well, it’s about time you loosened up—I guess your mate is rubbing off on you,” she added as she continued to tease them before Ao’nung wrapped his arms around his mate.

“Just leave us alone, okay? You want your training to get harder?” he exclaimed, and that made Virey look away as she reevaluated if teasing them was worth her bones breaking.

The three of them continued talking like that until midday arrived, and Virey left to find Reyam.

She waited for him by the beach where they always met, watching how the water reflected the sun beautifully.

A hand snaked around her waist, pulling her into a hug as he nuzzled his face into her neck, making her laugh.

“You’re as late as always,” she said, turning to face him.

“Again—you’re always early, even when I come earlier,” he said, placing a soft kiss on her cheek.

“Yeah, well, that’s how much I want to see you,” she said.

And that was it for him—he felt like his heart was about to beat out of his chest.

Virey took his hands and pulled him toward the forest, and he laughed as he let her drag him all the way to the clearing they had gone to before. She only let go of his hand once they reached the middle of it.

“So tell me, Virey—what do you have planned today?” Reyam asked the retreating girl.

“Well,” Virey said as she walked back toward the trees, her eyes still on him, “why don’t you try and find me?”

Mischief grew in her expression as she blended in with the forest.

Reyam laughed as he walked toward where he had lost sight of her. He looked around, only to hear her voice from far behind him in the trees.

“It’s not gonna be that easy,” she said, chuckling.

He rushed toward the sound, only for her to speak from behind him again.

“Really, mighty warrior?” she teased, the laughter in her voice echoing.

But the same thing kept happening over and over, no matter how fast he rushed to where the voice was coming from.

His hand rested against a tree as he looked around.

“Come on, Virey—come out already,” he said jokingly.

She appeared from behind a tree a bit farther ahead of him, the smirk evident on her face before she leaned back and disappeared again when he approached.

He rushed over, placed his hand on the tree, and looked behind it—but she was nowhere to be seen.

Her voice appeared again from somewhere behind him.

“Come on, use your head. What should you be listening for right now?” she said, laughing as she threw him a tip.

“Really—when I catch you, Virey…” he said, chuckling to himself.

But he heeded her advice—he closed his eyes and tried to focus on any rustling. He rushed to where he heard it, looked behind the tree—but it was empty.

With a sigh, he raised his hand in mock surrender.

“Okay, Virey—I give up,” he said.

He looked around when only silence filled the air. “I know you can hear me.”

“Yes, I can,” said a voice, startling him.

He looked up to see her smiling down at him while sitting on one of the tree trunks.

“Wow, you really don’t know your way in the forest—you didn’t even look up once,” she said, laughing at the man on the ground.

“Yes, yes, forest guru,” he said, laughing when he saw her tail flicking around.

“Come on, let’s go get some lunch,” he said, spreading out his arms, daring her to jump to him.

“You’re joking, right? There’s no way you won’t fall back if I jump to you from this height,” she said, looking down.

He just smirked up at her, accepting the challenge.

“All right then—it’s not my bones that will be breaking,” she said, as she started to slip down from the branch and toward where his hands were outstretched.

His hands caught her by the waist, bending to soften the impact when she landed against his chest, her arms wrapping around his neck.

“There we go,” he said, his hands settling on her back as he put her down on the ground. He chuckled when she said, “I guess you are one hell of warrior, huh,” before loosening her grip around him and landing on her feet.

It was late afternoon when they finally reached the food storage and grabbed something to eat. They joined Kiri and Spider when they found them in the clearing, eating together as they talked and laughed.

They were cleaning up when Kiri suddenly remembered Virey’s words, and mischief sprang into her.

“Oh, right—Spider,” she said once they had all finished up. “Let me take a look at you,” she said, staring intently as she got in his face.

“What the hell is wrong with you now?” he said, leaning away from her.

“What? I’m just trying to figure out what Virey thinks is cute about you,” she said, making the boy she was analyzing raise his brows at her.

“What is it?” she said, turning to look at Virey, who was laughing at her.

“Seriously—I don’t see it,” she continued, then turned to Spider. “Do you?”

But he was deathly still as he looked toward Reyam. Kiri followed his gaze—and winced when she realized the mistake she had just made.

Reyam looked at the poor boy like he wanted to skin him alive, his eyes watching him like prey, and he only looked away when Virey—oblivious beside him—placed a hand on his shoulder as she stood up.

“Well, while you continue looking, I’m gonna head back—I have training in the morning,” she said, shivering at the thought.

She glanced at her friends, who gave her awkward smiles, before shifting her gaze to Reyam, who was also getting up.

“Come on—I’ll take you back,” he said, placing a hand on her shoulder as he led her away.

But he still turned back to flash the poor boy a glare before walking away with her.

Kiri and Spider let out a breath they hadn’t realized they were holding.

“I never thought he could actually look like that,” Kiri said, leaning back, shivering at the memory.

“Why does this keep happening to me?” Spider muttered, still feeling the chills up his spine.

“He looked like he was seriously ready to kill me,” he added.

“Sorry, man—I didn’t think he’d react like that,” she said, patting his shoulder as if she hadn’t just made him an enemy.

The two sighed in unison.

Meanwhile, Virey complained to Reyam about the grueling training all the way back to her marui.

Once there, she stepped onto the porch, leaned up, and kissed his cheek before heading inside.

But just before she reached her mat, a knock at her marui stopped her.

She turned around to see Reyam walking in.

“Did you forg—” she started, but was abruptly interrupted when his lips crashed into hers.

She blinked at his closed eyes, confusion flickering across her face before she finally closed her own and leaned into the kiss.

She felt his legs go behind hers before he pushed her softly, and leaned down with her on her mat. He pressed her shoulders back, laying her down fully on the mat as a questioning sound left the lips that were against his.

His hands found her neck and made their way down to her waist. Her fingers at the back of his nape went down his spine as her tail wrapped around his thigh, his knees on either side of her legs, caging her in.

She breathed in once his lips left hers to travel down her neck, kissing her skin all the way down to her collarbone and only letting go to travel down to her waist, kissing her there before his chin rested on her stomach, looking up at her for permission.

She looked down at him, confused, and nodded before her hand found his hair, brushing softly against his queue, making him shiver as he nuzzled his face against her waist, making her chuckle.

She felt a small pout against where he was nuzzling her as he traveled up her chest, his hand cupping one while his face traveled to the other before he paused.

“Am I cute enough for u?” he said, surprising her from where his face was hidden under her clothes.

A soft laugh made its way up her throat when she realized why he was acting like this, and she could feel his face heat up from where it was pressed, making her laugh even more.

Reyam pressed his lips together before he took her into his mouth, rolling his tongue against her chest. A huff left him when he heard her still chuckling, and a glint sparked in his eyes.

Virey gasped as her head shot back when she felt his fang against her, groaning when he rubbed it between his teeth, then felt him smirk from where he was kissing the skin he pulled on before taking her in his mouth again.

She chuckled again before reaching her hand down into his hair, feeling his breath against her as her fingers trailed down his queue, holding it as she brought it forward and held it around the end as she turned it up, exposing the tendrils under.

She felt him groan as her fingers got close to it, the tendrils wrapping around her finger softly, and Reyam's head rested back to the middle of her chest, the pleasure coursing through him, breathing heavily as he leaned up, covering her with her cloth again as his face got close to her.

She pulled back the fingers that had tendrils slowly, covering them with his hair as she let go of his queue.

His breathing was still heavy as his face approached hers and kissed her lips softly, hugged her around her waist as he collapsed next to her on the mat, looking down into her purple eyes.

She smiled at him before her hand ruffled his hair.

“You're adorable,” she said, chuckling, “so much so that I can't help but think ur more of a cat than a navi,” she said, answering his question from before.

She kissed the smile that broke out on his face at her statement, although reyam made a note on to ask her what a “cat” is but she seemed to love those things by the way she said it so he didn’t mind as he brought her closer to him and nuzzled his face against her, making virey think that she was right to call him a cat.

Chapter Text

Two weeks later, Virey woke up to the village rumbling with joy, and she didn’t need to ask why.

The tulkun had returned.

She got ready in a flash and ran out to meet her family, all of them jumping into the water together—racing with her brothers to pass the reef and climbing in a hurry as they plunged into the open sea, Tonowari laughing behind them.

The three of them swam around with the others, searching eagerly. Tsireya left excitedly when she spotted hers.

Virey spotted Mirai and only gave Aonung a tap on the shoulder before she ran off to her, greeting her enthusiastically. The two of them turned, synchronizing in happiness, before Virey held onto Mirai’s fin, and the tulkun swam away, cutting through the water and leaping into the air just for her.

She only stopped once the afternoon arrived.

Virey sat on Mirai’s fin as she told her all about what had happened.

Mirai marveled at the necklace Virey was wearing, telling her how rare it was and asking who had given it to her. The pure happiness that radiated from Mirai when Virey told her she had found someone she loved healed something deep within her.

“He was gone for three weeks to get this for me,” she signed, laughing as Mirai expressed her joy for her.

“I am too,” she sighed. “I’m so happy.”

Her hands reached for her necklace before she hugged Mirai when she learned the tulkun hadn’t found a mate yet.

“I’m going to participate in the rite of passage this time,” she signed.

Mirai made a knowing sound, making Virey laugh, before mentioning a special kind of skimwing that would participate this time.

Virey’s ears perked up.

“Tell me more about it,” she signed eagerly.

Mirai told her about how they only participate once in their lifetime, coming from a special group known for their exceptional abilities in both water and air.

Virey’s overachiever side began to take over.

“Tell me what it looks like—I’m going to make this as grand as I can. I am still the chief’s daughter,” she signed, making Mirai laugh.

Aonung had told her that the rite of passage wasn’t just for the individuals—it could honor their families as well.

Mirai described them—red stripes on their wings, much larger than normal skimwings, and more aggressive.

That last part made Virey hesitate, but she shelved the thought for later and asked Mirai about her travels, telling her she couldn’t wait for the next time they returned—because that would be when she could bond with her.

She plunged into the water as Mirai turned in happiness, making her laugh out loud.

Night arrived when Mirai brought her to the reefs.

“I will wait for you here every morning like always—and I’ll bring Reyam tomorrow,” she signed.

The tulkun happily agreed before Virey climbed off her fin and bid her goodbye.

She shoved down the blurred memories that threatened to resurface as she made her way back to the village and toward the food storage.

.

Reyam sat on his tulkun’s fin in the afternoon, telling him all about what had happened.

The tulkun asked about the gorgeous necklace he was wearing.

“Virey gave this to me,” he said, his hand instinctively moving to touch it.

Mikayra made a happy sound, asking all about it, then flipped in excitement when Reyam told him that they were together now—expressing his joy and saying he couldn’t wait for the rite of passage to finalize the bond that would tie them together.

“I can’t wait,” Reyam sighed to the tulkun, bidding him goodbye before swimming off to get some food.

As he walked in, he spotted an Omaticaya stacking piles of fruit—and he didn’t need to ask to know who.

He took the large fruits she was carrying, watching her face twist in confusion as she opened her mouth to say something—only to smile when she saw it was him. She grabbed a fish for him as they walked to sit together.

Reyam sighed as the load was finally placed, and the two of them sat facing each other—digging in hungrily after spending the day with their tulkun and forgetting to eat.

They only remembered to speak after they had downed more than half of what they had brought.

Virey looked into his eyes intently, making him pause before she said, “Are you free tomorrow morning?”

He looked around awkwardly before nodding.

“Then,” she started, “will you come with me to meet Mirai?”

A small smile spread across her face, and he swallowed before replying, “Yes, I’d love that.”

The two of them decided where to meet, and he walked her back to her marui.

.

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye.

She met Reyam at the reef—both of them doing their best to swallow down the memories this place held—before Mirai finally emerged from the water.

Virey climbed onto her fin first, the tulkun making an excited noise when she felt a second person behind her.

Virey walked forward with a smile, greeting her before tilting her shoulder.

“Mirai, this is Reyam—he’s my future mate,” she signed.

The tulkun made another sound, while Reyam’s heart hammered in his chest at what she had just referred to him as.

He walked closer to Mirai and signed, “I see you.”

The tulkun replied before telling them to hold onto her fin—then took them out into the open ocean.

The two of them were now on Mirai’s back, sitting with their legs crossed, waiting for the sky to darken so that Mirai could take them to see the blue jellyfish.

“Go away already,” Virey said to the sun, annoyed, making Reyam chuckle as he looked at her.

“While we wait,” he said, pulling Virey’s gaze from the sky as he leaned toward her, “tell me one thing from your world that we can try here.”

Virey blinked at him, surprised, and tried to dig through her mind for anything that didn’t require a phone. She suddenly jumped up when she thought of something.

“Wait for me here,” she said as she made her way to Mirai and asked her to play one of her harmonies. The tulkun agreed happily, and Virey climbed back onto her back.

“If there’s one thing I miss from my world, it’s the music—gosh, just thinking about it makes me want to cry,” she said, making him laugh as he got up.

“Dance with me,” she said, placing his hand on her waist.

“Wait, what? What kind of dance is this?” he said as she took his hand and curled around it, laughing.

“I don’t know—just do whatever you want,” she said, trying to match whatever Mirai was playing.

Reyam shook his head at her before sighing with a smile and finally joining her.

The two of them kept at it with their nonsensical moves, laughing at each other’s ridiculous poses as they enjoyed their time together until the afternoon fell, and they descended into the water to see the beauty Mirai had spoken of.

.

For the past three weeks, they had fallen into a peaceful rhythm.

In the mornings, Reyam would go with Virey to meet her tulkun, and in the afternoons, she would go with him to meet his.

And just like that, there was only one day left until the rite of passage.

She sat with Kiri and the others, eating and laughing as they did every day.

Only today, she wasn’t meeting Reyam—he had told her he was preparing for something.

So she made her way back to her marui, thinking the extra rest wouldn’t hurt anyway.

But when she arrived, Aonung was sitting on her porch, and he stood up as she approached.

“Hey, brother,” she said, smiling at him.

He reciprocated, his eyes softening as he thought of how fast time really flies.

“Hey, Virey—I wanted to give you something of my own as a coming-of-age gift,” he said, stepping closer.

“I know you like to keep your hair down, but you can still wear this tomorrow when Mom gets you ready,” he said as he retrieved the accessory he had made for her.

He held the two ends, fitting it onto her head to see if it was right before taking it off again and placing it in her hands.

A silver-colored piece with green gemstones and bead accents lay in her palms. It had a central imperfect circle design with a larger green stone and smaller ones lining the band. There were also fibers with green, black, and clear beads hanging as decorative elements. his gift to her

“It’s beautiful,” she said, looking up at him with wide eyes.

“I’m glad,” he told her with a smile, pulling her in for a hug before wishing her luck and leaving.

Virey gripped the gift in her hands as she walked inside.

She was definitely going to make this as grand as she could.

.

The day arrived in the blink of an eye.

Reyam sat in front of his mother as she braided his previously loose hair, securing the free half into a bun with leather before reaching for the chest pieces and sliding them down his outstretched arm.

She placed the necklace adorned with fangs around his neck—he had given Virey’s gift to his father for safekeeping and tied it himself.

She slid the armbands decorated with crushed gemstones onto his arms before standing up and looking at her ready son with nothing but pride as she led him outside.

His father was waiting with a long, new spear—its spearhead black.

He handed it to his son with a smile, nodding to signal to the family that it was time.

.

Virey was in the family marui quarters as Ronal braided her hair as she had done for Aonung—letting half of it fall freely before tying it back with leather so it wouldn’t get in the way.

She placed Aonung’s gift atop her head, tying the fibers behind her ponytail, and let the circle dangle on her forehead as if she were wearing a crown.

Then, she placed a necklace adorned with fangs around Virey’s neck.

She had taken off Reyam’s gift for the first time, giving it to her father—she didn’t want to risk losing it.

Ronal held her daughter’s shoulders, pride shining in her eyes as she finished, and with a sharp nod, she led her outside.

Tonowari was waiting for her, Aonung standing beside him.

She stood before her father, staring into his eyes as he handed her the spear he had personally crafted.

She held it in both hands, laying it horizontally as she clenched her fists, then let go with one hand, holding it vertically.

With a sharp nod from him, they all walked out of the marui.

She felt her father’s hand tighten on her shoulder as they reached the crowd, before he exhaled and released her—heading toward the place where he would deliver his speech.

She went to join the other participants.

She exchanged a nod with Reyam before straightening toward the chief.

Tonowari let out a cry, silencing everyone as he began his speech to the adults-to-be.

Then, he sat back down and gestured for the warriors to open the path to the skimwings.

Unlike last time, they weren’t calmly sitting in the water—probably because of the abnormal one, Virey thought.

And as the horn vibrated through the village, none of the participants moved.

She dragged in a long breath of air before she started walking to the water, flexing the wrist with the spear before plunging in.

She dodged around the unsettled skimwings as she made her way deeper into the sea, looking for the one Mirai had told her about, and she paused when she saw the big wings marked with red, adding to its majestic look.

She dodged the snap of its jaw, but instead of going to the harness and struggling with it, she went in front of its eyes, letting it analyze her and see if she was worth its allegiance.

The creature paused as it looked at her. It stayed completely silent, not attacking her or offering her anything—it was testing her, testing how far she would go, and she knew it.

She stayed rooted in place even when she felt her brain screaming for her to go back, staring into its eyes before it lowered its own, bringing its neck closer to her, and she smiled as she realized she had passed.

She made a small cut on her finger, letting it dissolve in the water before reaching for her queue and making the connection, letting it settle before she moved to hold the handle and sat properly.

Let’s make this as dramatic of an exit as we can, she thought as she started to ride back into the air, using her powers to tighten the water around them and letting it shoot them way up into the air, gasping for air as they finally reached the surface.

She looked down at the surprised faces of the people before she found the proud ones of her father. She shot the hand with the spear up into the air, letting a loud victory cry loose from her throat, and heard them cheer back for her before plunging back into the water and toward the reef.

Reyam smirked as he saw her get back into the water, thinking of how much of an overachiever she was, but still couldn’t help the pride swelling in his chest as he saw the rare skimwing she bonded with.

He breathed out as he walked up front, not waiting to see who would go next, as he jumped into the water, dodging the skimwings that tried to attack him as he looked to choose one.

He spotted the biggest one he could find—who was he to criticize her when he was just as bad—and swam to it.

He put his hand through the gap of the handle instead of holding on to it and transferred the spear to the hand in the gap, holding it horizontally so he wouldn’t be flung off as the skimwing shot into the air, jumping in and out to shake him off.

But his grip on his spear only tightened, and he used his free arm to bring his queue forward and connected it to the skimwing as it was diving in, instructing it to shoot up, letting out a cry—which his parents returned—before he plunged back into the water, feeling sorry for the next person that would have to try and top their performance.

Aonung chuckled as he looked at Reyam get back into the water.

“This dramatic, overachieving couple,” he said, feeling a laugh bubble in his chest.

Neteyam laughed next to him. “They make us look bad, don’t they?” he said.

“But I can’t believe she actually went for the rare one,” Neteyam continued. “I knew she was a show-off when it came down to it, but still.”

Aonung chuckled as he heard him, but he couldn’t help the pride that was growing in his chest.

“Yeah, well, that’s my sister for you,” he said, making Neteyam roll his eyes at him before laughing as they went to sit down with their family.

After a while, almost all the ones who had succeeded had gone out of the reef to hunt when they saw Reyam emerge from the water with his catch, giving it to the ones preparing the feast before he started looking around for his girl.

His eyes landed on Aonung questioningly when he didn’t find her, and he felt his previous worry return when Aonung shook his head.

He looked towards the reef before making his way to his parents, who hugged him into their arms, congratulating him as they sat down.

“Don’t worry, she will be fine,” his father said when he noticed his son’s concerned look. “She’s probably looking for the biggest fish she can find—looks like you found your match,” he said to him, making him laugh, though the frown still remained.

Tohaku looked to the reef and saw the wings marked with red emerge from the water. He chuckled as he said, “See? She’s here. And look at that in her hands.”

His son’s head shot up in the direction he was pointing, and he saw the big fish in her hands as she passed it on. He was already getting up and moving towards her while she was looking around for him and moved to meet him halfway when she spotted him.

He took her face in his hands as he connected their foreheads together, Virey’s hand resting on his chest as she felt his heart, exhaling the breath he was holding now that she was in his arms.

They stayed like that for a while, pressed against each other’s foreheads, calming themselves.

With one deep breath, they opened their eyes, staring into each other as they both took a step back.

“I see you, my love,” Reyam said as he signed, bowing to her.

Virey gave him a small smile as she returned, “I see you, my Ember,” she said, bowing to him in turn.

They held their soft gaze for only a second before going to sit in their family’s circle.

Her parents gave her a happy looks as they had watched their exchange, and she returned it with a smile of her own.

“I’m glad that you have found someone you want to spend the rest of your life with,” Tonowari said as he removed the fanged necklace to put on the one she had trusted him with, making her smile as she looked down at the necklace that represented Reyam’s promise.

“Me too,” she said as her hand reached for it.

Ronal and Tonowari exchanged a look as they glanced at their daughter.

Aonung’s hand wrapped around her shoulders as he broke the silence.

“But seriously, sis, did you really have to bond with one from the rare clans? You made all the rest of us look bad. And if that wasn’t enough, you shot into the sky like that,” he complained.

“It just means I’m that much better,” she mused, making him scoff.

“But it was still cool, wasn’t it?” she added, teasing him.

“To be honest,” he said, looking away, “it was freaking badass. sent chills down my spine,” he added, surprising Virey.

She chuckled as she thanked him.

Reyam also rejoined his parents, exhaling as he sat down. His father laughed at that as he took off the fanged necklace and put on the one Virey had given him.

His son instinctively reached for it, tugging on it as he thought about today.

His dad took his son’s hands.

“Jake gave it to me yesterday. I didn’t know you were planning something like this, but I put it in your room for you.” he said, reaching for his shoulder and shaking him.

The remaining adults came back with their own catches, and the feast began past midday.

It was filled with laughter, joy, dancing, and music, with the new adults celebrating with their families.

“I’m telling you, sis,” Aonung’s drunk self started, “if he does an—”

Aonung started, but Virey shot a hand to his mouth, staring him down into his crossed eyes.

“Gosh, seriously—who gave you alcohol?” she said in exasperation before letting go of the head she was holding up, and Aonung’s head hit the table, making everyone laugh.

Virey’s eyes landed on her parents, who just gave her a nod.

She stood up and made her way toward the sea, looking out at the ocean as she waited for him.

Reyam watched her until she disappeared before turning to his parents to ask.

“Yes, you can leave,” his dad started, making his mate laugh.

Reyam was all but ready to bolt when his dad stopped him.

“You remember everything we taught you, right?” he said, making him embarrassed.

Reyam gave him a nod.

His father’s demeanor grew serious as he looked into his son’s eyes.

“This moment is much more special and significant than anyone could comprehend. Handle it well, son,” he said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Reyam gave him a sharp nod as his father let go, and he made his way to their meetup spot.

“Did I make you wait, my love?” he said as he got closer to her, kissing her cheek.

Virey laughed softly as she shook her head, her purple eyes staring into his blue ones.

He held her hand as he led her into the ocean, the waves swallowing under the bleeding sky.

The two of them made their way to the Cove of Ancestors and broke the surface only when they reached the Spirit Tree—facing each other.

His hands emerged from the water, cupping her face as his thumb stroked her cheek.

“My love,” he began, staring into her eyes, “even now, as I look at you more times than I can count, my heart races like the night I first saw you in the water,” he said, taking her hand with his free one and pressing it against his heart.

“Every part of you has been so ingrained into my soul that I can’t even remember the times before you. I can’t breathe when you are not near,” he said, bringing their foreheads together.

“My love for you has grown in ways that I cannot express. I could be reborn thousands of times, but it still wouldn’t be enough for me to tell you how much I love you. I could use every breath I have, every waking moment I am alive, but I still wouldn’t cover even a fraction of it,” he said, reaching his hand for his queue, bringing it forward, exposing the tendrils beneath.

“I love you, Virey. I will love you in every timeline, and I would be honored if you would let me use this one to show you with every breath that I have left.”

Virey’s purple eyes stared into his as a small smile played on her lips.

“I’ve come to love you in ways that I can’t understand either, and every moment I spend with you makes me wish it could last forever,” she said, bringing her own queue forward and exposing the tendrils beneath.

“And I would love nothing more than to show you, too.”

And with that, they brought their tsaheylu together, their eyes closing as their foreheads touched.

Their breathing deepened as the bond that would tie them together settled.

Reyam sent the love that he felt for her through the bond they now shared, and Virey’s heart started hammering in her chest as she fell into it.

It was like she was falling into a deep ocean that had no bottom as his affection for her coursed through her entire body—showing her how just being near her undid him in ways he didn’t understand.

She leaned her forehead against his more, reaching for his neck, pulling him in as her breath quickened—then she did the same.

She showed him how his existence made her chest feel full and how deeply she loved him, just as he did her.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her in as his heavy breath landed on her neck.

The two of them slowly opened their eyes, staring into each other as their bond finalized—tied together in a way that not even death could sever.

.

Their breathing finally calmed as they emerged from the water around the chief’s house.

The human in Virey had stubbornly refused to go to a secluded island, but thankfully, the festival was still at its peak on the opposite side of the village.

So they walked hand in hand, their bond still connected, along the familiar path to Virey’s marui.

Reyam kissed her as soon as he passed the frame of the marui, walking her back to her mat with their lips still connected.

He held her waist as he laid her down on it, making sure her back was comfortable before his lips finally left hers.

Virey reached her hand into his hair, freeing it and watching as it fell down.

He smiled from where his lips were pressed against hers, as he trailed down a kiss, his hand reaching down to hold the fabric around her chest, pulling it up as he looked at her with a question. She nodded and let him undo the ties on her back, the loincloth slipping from her as he took it to the side.

He kissed her lips before trailing down her neck and onto her freed chest. He took her in his mouth while the other was cupped in his hand.

She felt her breathing pick up as he rolled his tongue against her chest, his other hand reaching for her back and putting her tail between his two fingers, making her groan as he fiddled with his fingers.

The grip of her tail around his thighs tightened as he continued before letting her tail go. Her head tilted as she felt his fangs brush against her, chewing on her lips when he took the sensitive skin between his teeth, only for him to do the same for the one that was cupped in his hands.

His hand trailed down her waist, and he looked up at her, continuing down when she gave him a nod. His hands went to the side of her hips, untied the thin fabric, and moved it to the side before doing the same for his own.

He felt her hands go down his spine and press at the base, sending shivers down his spine from where his mouth was still on her chest. His free hand moved to her knees before sliding down her thighs, his thumb pressing on her inner thigh, before he leaned back up.

Virey exhaled when his mouth finally let go of her before opening her eyes to see him. he leaned down to kiss her, then pressed his lips against her forehead before straightening again his hands going up as he put his fingers in his mouth, slicking them as much as he could.

She gasped when she felt two fingers against her, and looked at the boy who paused, asking her for permission.

Embarrassment crept into her face as she looked away. Reyam smiled as he looked down at the girl he was kneeling between, before bending down and nuzzling his face against hers, their noses rubbing together, his forehead leaning against hers, as their eyes met.

“Please,” he said with a small smile. She groaned as she looked away and clenched her eyes shut as she nodded, but Reyam didn’t move. he kissed her lips, moving against them slowly before trying again.

“Please,” he said, looking into her eyes, and she gave him a small smile before nodding, her hands going around his neck. She huffed out as she felt him push his fingers in, tightening her hand around him as he moved. She groaned out against his neck when he added another one, her hands going into his hair as he kissed down to her waist.

He straightened as he slipped out of her, and she felt like she could breathe again, only for it to disappear when she felt something bigger nudge against her.

Her hands left his hair as they flew to cover her face, the blood rushing to her head was ringing in her ears as embarrassment swallowed her whole. She knew that this day would come, but it didn’t lessen the impact at all.

She felt fingers sliding on the hands that were covering her face before she felt a soft blow of air around them. She lowered her hands just enough to see his face from where he leaned down, her face on fire, his eyes soft as he looked at her.

He took her hand and press it on his chest, and her eyes grew wide when she felt it hammering before her eyes found his. He took her other hand and put it on his ear, and she felt like she was touching hot iron. It was clear what he was trying to say, he was telling her that she wasn’t the only one.

He bent down to kiss her lips, staying there until he felt her calm down a bit before looking into her eyes again.

“Okay,” she said to him in a small voice, kissing him again as her hands gripped his shoulders. Reyam stayed as he leaned down, kissing her neck as he pushed in slowly.

Virey felt pressure build behind her eyes from the pain that was shooting down her legs, She gasped as she struggled to register it.

Reyam groaned as he looked down to where he was pushing in, he froze as he looked up to Virey's face covered in pain, her teeth clenched tightly like her eyes that only relaxed when he pulled back until he was almost full out, even though he wasn’t even halfway in yet.

He nuzzled her face, trying to lessen the frown on her face before looking back at her still shut eyes. She opened them slowly, looking into his worry-filled eyes before she felt him kiss her forehead again, finally letting go of the breath she was holding.

“I'm sorry,” he apologized, making the girl under him chuckle before she wrapped her arms around his neck

“Slowly,” she said close to his ear and felt him nod before she groaned out again. he pushed in slowly, giving her time to catch her breath before pushing in again. He felt her nails scrape against his back, but he knew it was nothing compared to what he was doing.

He laid her head that was on his shoulders slowly back on the mat once he was almost fully inside her, pleasure shooting down his back as she felt her tighten around him, and eywa, all he wanted to do was push in the rest of him too, but from the way she was already struggling he decide not to.

“Don’t do that,” he said as he leaned down to kiss the lips she was brushing before directing her lips to his neck.

He groaned as he pulled out of her slowly pushing back in and felt her teeth dig into his shoulder, he was sure that it drew blood, he pulled out a small amount as he did it again slowly, repeating until he felt her relax, her teeth releasing the skin she had bitten before he leaned back up, his heart hammering as he looked down to where they were connected before looking up at her.

His fingers traced the glowing spots on her waist before going down to where they were connected, and pressing down just above it, he smiled as a soft, intangible voice escaped her.

He pulled out again and pressed his fingers as he pressed into her, and the moans that escaped her were music to his ears. He pulled out more and more as he repeated what he did, and his hands traveled to her waist as he felt her relax fully, and all the sounds that escaped her were of pleasure.

She felt his hands tighten on her waist as he pulled back, and her eyes grew wide as he snapped his hips forward with more force than before, pleasure coursed through her entire body as he repeatedly did it with more force each time, and she couldn’t hold back the sounds that were escaping her.

Her head snapped back when he pressed on her lower stomach, her mouth opened, but the sound died in her throat, and her back arched when she felt him pull out, only to snap back in faster, and the hands on her stomach made it so that he was pressing against her insides.

She cursed when she felt him breach deeper than before, as if it wasn’t bad enough already. He smiled as he looked down at the girl that he was undoing, pleasure shooting through his entire body when he felt her from the hand that he was pressing, only to press in harder, reaching deeper than he should.

Her hands shot to his abs as she tried to slow him down, the euphoria overwhelming her brain, but he pressed forward, sensing the pleasure through the bond that connected them.

The soft voices that were leaving her throat turned breathless by each snap of his hips and she felt something shatter from her core as it spread through her entire body, her hands falling from where they where on his stomach, and he groaned as he felt her tighten, he bent down, his arms holding him up from where they rested next to her shoulders, the pleasure unleashed from his core spreading through him as he felt it leave his body.

He breathed out as he looked into her lidded eyes, and connected their lips, feeling her groan as he slipped out of her.

He kissed her till the hands around his neck loosened, and he fell next to her, leaning on his shoulder as he wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her to him as he kissed her forehead.

They fell asleep tangled together, and his arms didn’t let her go as he pulled her close.

Chapter Text

Virey woke up when she heard movement in the room, and—oh, Eywa—everything hurt.

The pain radiated through her entire body as she curled up, her tail and hands wrapping around her stomach.

She slowly opened one eye to see the reason for all this—completely frozen from where he knelt down to assemble their clothes.

“Out,” she said, and—damn—even her throat hurt.

“Get out right now,” she groaned, throwing whatever she could find at his head.

Reyam remembered to blink when he saw something flying at him, dodging it at the last minute—only for another object to fly at him again.

“I said out,” Virey repeated, throwing something else—again and again—forcing him toward the door.

He stood just outside as the strings fell across the entrance, obstructing his vision.

“So—she kicked you out, huh?”

He heard a voice behind him, making him turn around fast.

“And you might want me to patch up your back.”

Ronal stood there, laughing as she looked at him, arms crossed.

Reyam brought his hands up, holding his neck in embarrassment—only to wince and pull back.

He looked at it and saw multiple bite marks.

“Yes—but I can’t just leave her like this,” he said, his face red with embarrassment as he looked at her.

Ronal smiled at him.

“Good to know that you at least know that,” she said, stepping closer.

“Come with me—I’ll give you the things you need,” she said, leading him to the marui.

Thankfully, no one was there.

She took him to where she usually treated patients.

“Wow—these are deep,” she said, chuckling as she looked over his scratched-up back.

He felt like he could die right there.

She was stifling her laugh as she noticed his red ears.

She finished bandaging everything—even the bites on his neck—then handed him a cloth and a container of water, along with something to help with the pain.

“Try to massage her—if she even lets you near,” she said before sending him out.

Reyam covered his heated face as he walked away, but she stopped him.

“Remember—you can’t leave her, no matter what,” she said seriously, and he nodded.

He wasn’t going to, anyway.

Then she laughed.

“I can always patch you up if she splits your head open,” she added, making him chuckle as he stepped outside.

But that was a real possibility, he thought as he stood in front of the entrance.

He took a deep breath and walked in. He saw that Virey had put her clothes back on, but it wasn’t proper - just enough to cover her.

He only took two steps before dodging something that would have hit him square in the face, barely saving the water he held.

Virey groaned as she stretched her hands around, looking for things to throw but not finding anything, so she settled for just turning her back to him as she curled up more. Reyam's head protruded from where he was hiding behind his hands, and he slowly walked to her.

He kneeled, pulling the water next to him, he put the cloth in the water, then drained most of the water out before putting it on her neck, he did the same thing around her face and arms, and Virey let him. One, she was extremely tired, and two, the cold cloth against her skin was actually making her feel cleaner.

She cursed at him when he went below her top, dunking the cloth in the water before he shifted to clean her legs.

“Reyam, I swear…” she started, embarrassment creeping up her face when he went between her legs.

“Please let me do this, my love.” The metkayina's ears were pulled back from it, too, trying to push down thoughts of last night as he wiped her down. He fastened her clothes properly before standing up and taking the water to the corner. when he returned, he lay down next to her, pulling her in by her waist as he let her use his arm as a pillow, his other hand softly massaging her thighs before moving to her waist.

.

It's been 2 days since he mated, he was still elated by the fact, with virey and she still didn’t want to leave her marui, and for the past two days he was glued to her, bringing her food and water and everything and was now in his room only after she shooed him away, saying that she needed her time alone.

Reyam lay back on his mat as he looked up at the ceiling of his room, it was too early to go meet his friends. His hands reached up to touch the bite marks on his neck, the one she left on him that night.

He felt shivers down his spine as he recalled the memory, closing his eyes as he leaned on his arm, a small smile on his lips as he remembered her, everything about her. he was down bad and he knew no one can save him from it, not even himself, but it’s not like he wanted to be saved anyways.

Somehow, when he opened his eyes, it was past the time he usually left. He scrambled to get up, collecting his hunting tools as he rushed out to meet his friends, greeting his parents in a hurry as he ran past them.

“Well, this is a first,” Naran said, elbowing him in the sides after he greeted them, and Reyam just laughed as he rolled his eyes.

And the three of them went to do their daily hunting.

Reyam’s head broke the surface as his hands slicked his hair back. He stood in the water, waist-deep, before starting to pull up the nets.

Arzan whistled as he looked at his friend, who was still in the water, taking note of the attention he was garnering from the Na’vi around them.

“Looks like someone has quite the fan base now that no one is actively spreading rumors about him,” he said, making Reyam frown as he continued pulling the nets to the reef.

“Yeah, right,” he said, plopping down next to his friends. “I think you’re all forgetting that I’m mated, and to an impo—”

“To an impossibly amazing girl, might you add—yes, we know,” Arzan deadpanned, rolling his eyes. “It’s like the thousandth time you’ve said it,” he added, making them all laugh.

“But hey, would you look at that,” Naran said, pointing to the sky. “Now that we all have our own skimwings, we can hunt much faster.”

Naran and Arzan had taken the rite of passage before Reyam, and they would always use an ilu to match their friend’s pace—something Reyam had always been grateful for.

“Yeah,” he added, looking at them with appreciation before a few others joined them as well, talking and connecting with all of them.

Once the poison in his peers’ ears—Ateyo—was gone, his former friends had come to talk to him, telling him how Ateyo had told them lies and apologizing for not even asking him about it. Reyam didn’t really hold it against them. He knew firsthand how far the boy was willing to go, so he could only imagine the lengths of his lies.

Reyam, Naran, and Arzan bid goodbye to the group as they made their way to the food storage, giving their catch away.

“I can’t believe that plague of a guy was the one poisoning everyone against us,” Naran said in disbelief as they left the storage, and Reyam’s hand reached for his neck as he grimaced.

“Well, thankfully, I had you guys with me. It probably would have been impossible to bear without you all, so thank you,” he said sincerely, and his friends just smiled before bumping against his shoulders playfully, shoving each other all the way to the training ground as their normal rhythm of banter settled over them.

.

Virey started helping out around the village while Reyam assumed proper warrior duty, but what remained unchanged was their afternoon meet-up.

A month later, Aonung, Neteyam, Virey, and Reyam were going to go out beyond the reef with their skimwings after taking a day off.

Neteyam was fastening the harness on his ilu when he saw his brother and Tsireya on the reef.

“No, Lo’ak, you guys can’t join us,” he said as he walked to him, staring into his brother’s defiant eyes.

“Come on, bro, we’ll be fine,” Lo’ak said, making Neteyam sigh.

“Lo’ak, why do you always have to be like this?” he said, looking away, and Lo’ak frowned at him.

“What do you mean by ‘like this’?” he said, a bit offended. “Well, I’m sorry that I have things I want to do,” he retorted.

“No, Lo’ak, you know that’s not what I mean,” Neteyam said, feeling wronged as his brother put words in his mouth.

“Just go back, brother. It’s dangerous,” he said before Aonung cut in between them.

“You know how Jake is,” Aonung said, looking at Lo’ak. “Just leave it for today—we can go another time,” he said before turning around with his mate as they walked back and mounted.

“I’m serious, Lo’ak,” Neteyam said before diving in, catching up to Virey and Reyam with his mate.

Lo’ak huffed out as he looked at where they had gone and called his ilu.

“Lo’ak, you know how dangerous this is,” Tsireya said as she got close to him.

“I’ll just have to show them that I can keep up,” he said before diving in.

Tsireya paused, conflicted about what to do, before calling for her ilu and diving in after him.

The four of them were having the time of their lives as they swam with their skimwings.

The waves here were much harsher and higher than the ones in the reef, and they made sounds as they jumped in and out of the water—enjoying the way it crashed against them.

Aonung and Neteyam smiled at each other after plunging back in from trying a stunt when Neteyam looked back—and, lo and behold, his brother was there further behind him.

But more than that, he had talked Tsireya into following him.

He and Aonung slowed down as they let the two catch up, rising above the surface and calling to the couple in front of them.

“I can’t believe you,” Neteyam said as he got closer to Lo’ak. “Coming alone is one thing, but what were you thinking dragging Tsireya with you?” he berated.

But his brother was too happy to listen to him, remembering how the waves had crashed against him.

“I didn’t know Jake’s son was coming,” Reyam said as he got closer to the group, greeting him and Tsireya with the “I see you” sign, his mate doing the same beside him.

Virey eyed everyone before sighing and cutting her fingers as she put them in the water—just in case, she thought.

Neteyam was still berating his brother, who had stopped listening after the third What were you thinking?, when Reyam felt the water shift beneath them.

He looked down to see the water shaking, before snapping his head back up.

“Everyone, spread out—something’s approaching,” he said, but it was too late.

It flung everyone into the air, Lo’ak and Tsireya losing their grip on their ilus as they were blown away.

Their ilus didn’t return—scared off by the akula, which was swimming away as it chased them.

It turned its focus on the two scrambling Na’vi once the ilus had escaped, rushing toward them.

The two of them swam in opposite directions, barely dodging it as it slammed into the corals behind them.

Tsireya felt hands wrap around her outstretched arms, pulling her—she saw her sister motioning for her to hold on from where she was perched on her skimwing, and so she did.

Virey turned away with her, but not before she saw it go after Lo’ak.

Neteyam raced to his brother, swimming as fast as he could and grabbing Lo’ak’s hands, pulling him to the side—barely dodging the akula before being flung away.

His skimwing was rushing toward him from where it had landed, but it wasn’t going to make it in time.

He wrapped his arms tightly around his brother, turning him away—shielding Lo’ak with his back as the creature closed in, his eyes squeezing shut.

Lo’ak looked over his brother’s shoulder as the akula gained on them—only, it was swimming slower.

Virey extended her hands, tightening the water around the creature with all her might—but she could barely slow it down by half as she struggled.

But it was slow enough for the two warriors—Aonung shot his spear through the water, striking its neck, and Reyam raced forward on his skimwing, delivering the finishing blow.

Neteyam looked back to see blood staining the water red before Aonung separated him from the boy he had been holding, checking him over before they all surfaced.

Reyam was beside a coughing Virey, her sister patting her back.

“I’m fine,” Virey said, clearing her throat.

“I just breathed in some water before I reached the surface,” she said now that all of it was out.

Neteyam was checking over his brother and sighed when he found nothing.

“Yeah, go ahead—tell me all about how right you were,” Lo’ak said, nodding—surprising Neteyam.

His eyes grew sad as he looked at his younger brother, realizing that this was how he thought of him.

“Come on, guys—let’s go back,” Aonung said, pulling Neteyam against his shoulder with a frown directed at Lo’ak—surprising him—before mounting his skimwing, Neteyam doing the same.

Lo’ak rode back with Reyam as they returned to the reef—before Virey and Reyam decided to go out alone.

.

Aonung and Neteyam were walking along the reef rocks when Aonung finally had enough of Neteyam’s huffing and puffing.

“Okay—just tell me what’s wrong,” he said, taking his hands. “Let it out on me.”

Neteyam looked into his mate’s eyes before sighing again, making Aonung chuckle.

“It’s just…” he began. “I can’t believe that’s what he thinks of me,” he said, looking away as Aonung nodded in understanding.

“I mean, sure—I know I can be strict sometimes,” he said, but smiled when he heard his mate scoff.

“Okay—a lot of the time,” he corrected, making Aonung nod in agreement.

“But it’s never because that’s just what I’m supposed to do—or because of Dad’s orders or anything.”

“It’s because I care for my brother,” he finished, letting Aonung pull him into his arms.

“I guess, at the end of the day—my brother doesn’t see me,” he said.

And the sadness laced within his voice made Aonung hug him even tighter.

“No, Neteyam,” he said, his hand patting his head.

“You two just need to have a calm talk—with a sprinkle of honesty,” he added, making Neteyam laugh as he pulled him back.

“You know how my sister and I are so different?” Aonung started, and Neteyam chuckled as he nodded.

“But we still understand each other—because we actually sit down and talk,” he said, kissing his mate on the cheek.

“Yeah, right—be glad you have sisters. If I tried that with Lo’ak, he’d just scoff at me,” he said, looking away, and Aonung simply gave him a small smile.

“Try before saying that, okay?”

And he kissed him.

Neteyam was lost in thought as he let Aonung’s words sink in.

.

When Lo’ak, Kiri, and Neteyam made their way back to their family marui, they saw their dad waiting on the door frame, and they already knew what was about to happen from the angry look on his face. Word had already made it back to him about how Lo’ak had acted, and now he was looking down at his youngest son with a frown on his face. The three of them froze as they neared the porch, Lo’ak trying to look anywhere but at his father.

“Lo’ak,” Jake started, and his ears pulled back just from the tone before Neteyam jumped in, just like he always did.

“Sir, I take—” he started, but Jake cut him off with a sigh.

“No,” he started. “No, you don’t. Not this time, son,” he said as he straightened from where he was leaning on the frame.

“What were you thinking, Lo’ak?” he asked, pinching his brows together. “And to take the chief’s daughter with you? What if something had happened? Why are you always like this?”

Lo’ak just had his eyes glued to the floor as his father’s disappointment settled in his chest, and he just murmured, “Sorry, sir,” before he turned around and took off.

“Hey, wait,” Jake said, his hands leaving his head, but it was already too late. He sighed before turning to face his other children, but he froze as he saw his eldest son’s glare before Neteyam took off after his brother. He already knew why Neteyam was mad.

Kiri just sighed at him—clearly, he didn’t have a shred of knowledge in how to express worry. It was almost laughable before she walked away from their marui too.

Jake just looked at the empty space where his children had been moments ago before a presence next to him made him turn.

His mate was next to him, her hands turning him by the shoulder as she looked at him.

“You are too hard on them,” she said softly, and Jake just looked away, making her smile at him.

“Ma’Jake, they are your children. They need your understanding as well. They need you to see them.”

Jake just sighed. He didn’t mean to get angry, but he somehow always ended up expressing it that way. Back when they had their first battle after they came here, he had done things that he couldn’t even ask forgiveness for from his son. It still disgusted him when he thought about how he made his youngest son feel responsible for Neteyam’s death.

“You’ve done enough already.”

The memory of what he had said resurfaced, and he shook his head violently, trying to get rid of it.

“I will go look for him,” he said to his mate, who just nodded before she let him go, and he walked down the porch.

.

Neteyam found Lo’ak along the beach. He was leaning on a rock when Neteyam sat down next to him. He turned to see his brother before he just groaned and tried to get up.

“Come on, brother, just talk to me,” Neteyam said as he held him back, and Lo’ak turned to look at him as he scoffed.

“As if you would actually understand me,” he said, trying to shake him off, but Neteyam held on, maintaining eye contact before Lo’ak just sighed and sat back down.

“I know that I sometimes act out and stuff, but that’s just because I want to do things with you guys. It’s not like I’m trying to actively hurt anyone,” he said, thinking about what had come over him to just spill like this.

Neteyam just looked at him before bringing his brother’s head onto his shoulder, making him laugh. Since they were in the forest, Neteyam knew that his brother just wanted to be accepted by others, just like everyone else, but because of his five fingers, he was made into a sort of outcast.

Even when they came to the Metkayina, the reason why Lo’ak had followed Aonung and his gang out was because he truly thought that they would befriend him if he just showed them that he was like them.

“Oh, Lo’ak,” Neteyam said, sadness rising in his chest.

“I’m not like you, I know that, but that doesn’t make me—” he started, but Neteyam cut him off.

“And what exactly does ‘like you’ mean?” he asked, feeling his brother’s head lift.

“I can’t just do what I’m told, follow orders without question, and all. I guess that’s why I’m such a disappointment to Dad,” he said, chuckling, but the sting in his eyes was clear.

“Lo’ak,” Neteyam started, pulling his brother’s gaze to him. “I don’t just follow orders either, you know. Besides, if I did, I wouldn’t let you keep dragging me into trouble,” he said, and Lo’ak just chuckled as he added,

“You wouldn’t keep following me, you mean.”

But Neteyam just rolled his eyes at him before he continued.

“I do all those things because I care for you all. I don’t want to see you all get hurt. I don’t look out for you just because Dad said so—I do it because you’re my brother,” he said, trying to explain to Lo’ak.

“And Dad,” Neteyam started, wincing, “the only way he knows to express anything is through anger.”

Silence fell over them before they burst out laughing.

“Bro, you’re so right,” Lo’ak said, still wheezing from it all. “I guess there are some things that even Dad can’t figure out, huh?” he continued, wiping his tears away before the glint of sadness came back.

“But I do wonder if he really does feel anything but anger for me,” he said, looking up at the sky, and that made Neteyam sigh, his grip on his brother’s shoulder tightening before he just gave him a sympathetic look—because he knew that the answer to that couldn’t come from him.

Lo’ak threw sand onto Neteyam’s distracted face before he jumped up. Neteyam blinked it away before he jumped up, racing after his brother as he laughed, a handful of sand ready for when he caught him.

.

“I can’t believe you followed that dumbass, Tsireya,” Aonung said for the hundredth time, making Virey roll her eyes so hard that her mate was worried they would fall off.

“Seriously,” Aonung continued to berate Tsireya, who was just looking down before she felt her older sister’s hand pull her by the shoulder.

Virey gave Aonung a look that told him to calm down before she looked down at the girl in her arms.

“I understand why you followed him,” Virey started and continued before Aonung protested.

“But what you both did today was extremely dangerous, Tsireya. Something could have happened before you got to us,” she said calmly.

She wasn’t trying to scold the poor girl—Eywa knows she had heard enough of that from her brother—she just wanted her to understand how dire it could have been, and Tsireya knew that as she leaned into her sister.

“I’m sorry, we really didn’t mean to cause anyone harm,” she started, and Aonung was going to say something about the “we” before Virey pinned him with a look.

“You guys don’t understand Lo’ak,” she said, huffing out.

Virey just smiled even though Tsireya couldn’t see her before her hands patted her sister’s head softly.

“Just because he has a reason for his actions, it doesn’t make them right, Tsireya,” she said, making Tsireya bite her lips.

“I know,” she said, eyes glued to the sand. “We just wanted to go with you all,” she added, and felt her sister pull her in more.

After that, they walked in silence along the bleeding sky before they saw two blue Na’vi in their way, wrestling with each other.

“You already threw it in my face,” Lo’ak said, still blinking from the sand in his eyes as he tried to stop Neteyam from throwing more in his face.

“Serves you right for even thinking about it,” Neteyam said as he tried to do it again, wrestling his brother’s arms.

He only stopped when he looked up to see the group of four laughing at them, Lo’ak thankful that he was saved before his eyes landed on Tsireya, who was hiding her smile with her hands.

He stood up fast, getting his hair in place as his brother just rolled his eyes at him before making his way to his mate, and Aonung all but melted as he saw her smile, even if it was for the hundredth time.

Lo’ak and Tsireya called for their ilus, Lo’ak turning around when they arrived. The two of them were in their own world as they left without even an explanation to the four.

“Seriously,” Neteyam started as he looked at their disappearing backs. “I can’t believe the two aren’t dating yet,” he said and turned to see Aonung and Virey looking down at the water like they had beef with it.

Neteyam chuckled as he felt sorry for his brother. Convincing Virey was one thing, but Aonung was a whole different case. He would be lucky if he made it out alive.

“Come on now,” Neteyam said, finally breaking their stare as he walked to Virey and took her arm, shaking her. “Don’t be like that, you know what kind of kid he is.”

Virey laughed at the brother who came to her, knowing his mate wouldn’t budge before she felt the leather strap holding her hair loosen from his shake. It slipped out of her hair, carried by the wind for a short distance before it fell to the sand.

“Oh, sorry,” Neteyam said and picked it up as he gave it to the girl. She just chuckled before taking it from him, collecting her hair as she turned to Reyam, asking him where they would go today.

Neteyam took a step back to his mate, admiring the girl’s long hair as it flowed down her back before his eyes landed on the healed scars of her upper torso—normally covered by her cloth, but visible when she raised her arms.

He looked at them, confused, wondering how such deep-looking scars could have healed so well—but also how she had gotten so many of them. His hands unconsciously reached out to touch them, his fingers sliding against them before a hard slap broke his trance.

Virey’s hair stood on end when she felt hands slide against it, and for a moment, it was like she was locked in her body before she turned to hit his fingers away, staring into his startled eyes with her frantic ones. She unconsciously took a step back to Reyam, who just looked down, confused, before he held her shoulders.

Neteyam blinked before what he had just done settled into him.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, taking back his stinging hands. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me,” he quickly apologized.

Aonung looked at his mate, confused, before glancing back at his sister.

Virey looked down at the floor, breathing out a calming breath before looking up at Neteyam, confused.

“Uh, it’s fine,” she said, not knowing what else to say before turning to her mate, who guided her away, knowing she was looking for an escape.

“Anyways, guys, we’re gonna go,” Reyam said with a confused look that matched theirs, and they nodded at him.

Neteyam just flexed his stinging fingers as he turned to see his mate, who gave him a sympathetic look.

“You know that people could be sensitive about scars,” Aonung said, bringing him into his arms as he kissed his forehead.

“I know, I was… surprised by it, I guess,” Neteyam said as his mate pulled back and leaned in to kiss him.

Neteyam’s hand made its way to his neck, pulling him in, their lips moving against each other softly.

“u haven’t been paying attention to me latly” aonung said as he pulled back and neteyam just smiled at him as he took his hands before they started walking far away from the village.

Neteyam slowly sunk to the ground, his knees around either side of Aonung's hips as he pushed him down, chests pressing together. His lips were parted, and his eyes were half-lidded. Aonung grinned up at him and cupped the back of his neck, bringing him down into a kiss. Their eyes fluttered shut, melting into each other's touches, grinding their hips slowly against each other. Aonung's fingers tangled in Neteyam's hair; he tugged gently, tilting the Na'vi's head slightly to the side.

Aonung ran his hands down Neteyam's back and cupped the soft flesh of his backside, dragging him closer. The Metcayina ran a finger up and down the base of Neteyam's tail, chuckling quietly as it began swishing around before wrapping around his wrist loosely, seemingly against Neteyam's will.

Neteyam was quiet as Aonung slowly untied the strings of his loincloth at the side of his hips; the Metcayina held them in place for a moment longer, searching Neteyam's eyes for any sign of discomfort.

When he found none, he let the cloth fall to the side, still held up by delicate strings wrapped around Neteyam's tail. Aonung tangled a single finger in the strings and pulled lazily, as if he were just playing around.

The loincloth slid down Neteyam's thigh, uselessly falling to the ground next to them along with the pouch attached to it. Neteyam swallowed, a blush coating his spotted facade. He placed a hand on Aonung's cheek, tingling coursing through his body. Neteyam shivered as Aonung turned his face to kiss his palm.

Aonung reached behind Neteyam, hand wandering lower until his fingertips brushed against what he was looking for. Neteyam's breath hitched, the feeling foreign. He spread his legs slightly wider and leaned forward, resting against Aonung. "Ao’," he whispered, voice filled with nervous affection. "It's in my pouch."

Aonung nodded to himself and reached for the small leather case. He did not have to ask what he was supposed to find, he already knew. He took a small container from the pouch before setting back aside.

The Metcayina opened it and dipped his fingers into the colourless oil inside, coating them generously. Neteyam took the container from him, keeping it securely locked in his palm, not wanting to lose sight of it lest he might need it

again.

"Can I?" Aonung asked gently and placed a single fingertip against Neteyam's entrance, pressing just a tiny bit to emphasise what he meant. Only when Neteyam nodded did he begin to ease the digit inside, mindful of the other's sensitiveness.

Neteyam was completely at his mercy, eyes closed and cheek leaning against Aonung's shoulder. His brows furrowed for a moment before he relaxed again, a heat filling his core. Slowly, another finger joined the first, making Neteyam's breath hitch audibly.

Aonung ran his hand over the inside of Neteyam's thigh, guiding the dark blue-skinned Na'vi to spread them as he lay him on his back, panting softly from the stimulation of Aonung as he moved his careful fingers in a rhythmic motion, watching Neteyam squirm under his heated gaze.

Aonung pressed his fingers as far as they would go and curled them, drawing a gasp from Neteyam. The Metcayina carried on like this for what felt like an eternity until Neteyam stopped him with a hand on his wrist.

Neteyam sat slowly, untying Aonung's loincloth strings swiftly and pulling the clothing away, all but throwing it to the side. Aonung wondered for a second if he was ever going to find it again. The ocean Na'vi's hands hung limply by his side. He inhaled sharply as Neteyam wrapped a delicate hand around his member with no hesitation, testing the feel of it.

"This is different," Neteyam murmured so quietly that Aonung almost did not hear him at first in his daze.

The Metcayina hummed in question. "Different to what?"

Neteyam smiled shyly, averting his gaze. "I have never touched anyone like this before, not even when we first mated."

Aonung bit the inside of his cheek, warmth flooding his chest as Neteyam slowly began to move his hand. "Neither have I."

Neteyam turned hopeful eyes to the other male. "Have you ever kissed anyone else before?"

Aonung's cheeks flushed further, and he shook his head quickly, breathless. "Only you."

Neteyam jerked him off for a while longer, taking his time and playing with the tip of Aonung's member when he realized it was the most sensitive part. His eyes drooped, tongue darting out to wet his dry lips, and he all but killed his mate. Aonung leaned forward and kissed him affectionately.

The teal-skinned Na'vi gently removed the forest Na'vi's hand from his member and drew him closer by his waist. They kneeled in front of one another, naked and yearning to complete this dance. Neteyam handed the small oil jar to Aonung, urging him to coat himself.

Aonung did not think twice, heart slamming wildly against his ribs in anticipation.

Neteyam reached down, lifting his hips, butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. He knew that from this moment forward, there was no going back. Neteyam inhaled sharply before he began lowering himself down onto Aonung, binding the two of them together.

Aonung watched him, his pupils blown wide, mesmerised by the delicate yet fierce beauty in front of him. He set the jar down and placed his hands on Neteyam's waist, helping him move.

They moved slowly, sweetly against each other, bodies burning with desire. Aonung wished he could stay in this moment forever. He leaned forward until Neteyam was lying on his back, his legs brushing against Aonung's sides, toes curling as his head lolled back. Aonung placed a protective hand on the back of Neteyam's head, shielding him from hitting his head into the ground.

Aonung leaned closer to kiss him, holding his cheeks in both hands, but he did not stop the movements of his hips, pressing into the smaller body repeatedly, rocking Neteyam forward with each thrust, only to pull him back down. Neteyam's soft moans echoed around them, filling the silence, and merging with Aonung's own groans and pants.

The Metcayina pressed his face into Neteyam's neck, shivering as his body erupted in tingling sensations, their bond heightening every little emotion that rocketed through their bodies and

Aonung leaned closer to kiss him, holding his cheeks in both hands, but he did not stop the movements of his hips, pressing into the smaller body repeatedly, rocking Neteyam forward with each thrust, only to pull him back down.

Neteyam's soft moans echoed around them, filling the silence, and merging with Aonung's own groans and pants. The Metcayina pressed his face into Neteyam's neck, shivering as his body erupted in tingles, their bond heightening every little emotion that rocketed through their bodies and allowed them to feel what the other felt in that moment.

Aonung pulled out slowly and guided Neteyam onto his stomach. The forest Na'vi glanced back at him curiously as Aonung lowered himself against his back and kissed the tip of his ear, chuckling as it twitched from the sudden touch. Aonung dipped his fingers into the oil again and lightly applied it to his lover's skin, watching as Neteyam squirmed slightly from the coldness.

"Comfortable?"

Neteyam nodded slowly, still watching him from the corner of his eye before he closed his eyes, lips parting as Aonung pressed into him again. Neteyam's legs were stretched out behind him; it was a very different sensation this way. He reached back and grasped Aonung's hip with one hand, guiding him, urging him to move again.

Aonung felt like the air from his lungs was slowly stolen away. He flicked his curly hair behind his shoulder, moving it out of the way as his hips snapped forward into the delicate, submissive body under him.

Aonung pressed a kiss to Neteyam's shoulder before slowly parting his lips, movements not slowing for even a second nor speeding up. He stayed in perfect rhythm. His teeth sank into Neteyam's skin, drawing a whine from the shorter male. His body clenched around Aonung, causing a stutter in his thrusts.

"Aonung," Neteyam pleaded, voice cutting off as tingling erupted all over his belly.

The Metcayina hummed against his shoulder, a wordless question.

"Touch me," Neteyam whispered, pressing his hips back against Aonung's. Aonung smiled softly and moved to kiss the side of Neteyam's neck, sucking on the skin lightly before he adjusted his posture and reached forward between Neteyam's legs, taking a hold of the forest na'vi's erection. Neteyam moaned softly, overwhelmed by the pleasure.

The Omaticaya's toes curled, muscles tensing as pleasure washed over him in intense waves. His release coated Aonung's hand, filling the other male with an even deeper desire. Through their bond, Aonung could feel everything Neteyam felt.

Their hearts beat as one. It only took him a little longer to find his release, holding Neteyam's relaxed form tightly against his chest, not pulling away, pressing deeper. "Neteyam," he gasped softly, drawing a soft smile in response. Aonung's weight fell on top of Neteyam's body, pressing him further into the soft sand.

Neteyam stretched his arms out in front of himself and slowly began to pull away from Aonung, turning to face the other male. Aonung reached between Neteyam's legs and guided his own member out of the willing body. His pale blue gaze followed a trail of clear liquid slipping free and running down Neteyam's skin until it disappeared where Aonung could no longer see it.

Aonung lay on his side, pulling Neteyam against him, holding the back of his head as they clung to each other, breathless, chests heaving. One of Neteyam's legs rested against his hip. Sand stuck to their sweaty skin, but neither seemed to notice for a while longer, lost in each other's company.

Aonung played with a strand of Neteyam's hair as golden eyes gazed at his face innocently, smiling in such a beautiful way that Aonung felt the air leave his lungs in adoration. He inhaled deeply and slowly sat them both up, holding Neteyam against himself, who just enjoyed being looked after. Aonung stood, picking the thin frame up and slowly walking into the water, letting it wash over their bodies for a while before he sank under and let Neteyam go, watching as the Omaticaya stretched his limbs out.

A smile graced his features once again as he watched Neteyam slowly spin around in the water, completely connected to the nature surrounding them.

Neteyam swam back to him and took his hand, leading the two of them back to the shore. He offered Aonung's loincloth to him, not a hint of shame on his face as he bent forward to fetch it from the ground. Aonung swallowed, but dared not say a word, afraid to break this enchanting, silent moment between them.

Aonung tied the strings securely around his hips and tail, watching Neteyam do the same. Neteyam reached into his newly found pouch, pulling something out of it and shielding it from Aonung's curious gaze.

Neteyam stepped over to Aonung, placing a hand on the other's waist. In his other hand was his gift to Aonung. A bracelet meant to complement the Metcayina's armband. It was adorned in pale, cream color shells and teal beads.

Aonung's vision blurred with raw tears, but he blinked them away. He let Neteyam slip the bracelet up his arm and tighten it to fit him perfectly before kissing Aonung's shoulder, teeth grazing the skin lightly. Aonung's gaze drifted to the faint bitemark on Neteyam's shoulder and the forming blue bruise on his neck, feeling an unfamiliar warm emotion flood his mind.

Aonung took Neteyam's hand and led him away from the water towards some softly glowing plants. He reached between its colorful leaves and pulled out a little delicately wrapped package. Aonung handed it to Neteyam, who took it, smiling without a worry in the world.

The forest Na'vi carefully unwrapped the dark green leaves and inhaled sharply at what he found hidden in their embrace. It was a necklace. In the middle was only a single shell adorned by two little beads, one on each side. The shell was magnificent, small spots decorated its surface, glowing in the dark just as Neteyam's constellation freckles did.

Aonung took the necklace from his hands and stepped behind him, moving his hair to the side and tying the soft brown string of the necklace securely. Neteyam turned to face him, chest swelling with pride as he wore his new gift. Aonung kissed him softly, caressing his face.

.

Chapter Text

Lo’ak had been carefully avoiding his dad for days now, and so Jake had yet to find him to talk to him. He could feel the frustration of it all slowly building in his chest as he now stood in the middle of the marui.

Neytiri walked in and almost laughed as she understood what was going on before she decided to give her poor mate a lead.

“The children always meet up at the food storage,” was all she said, and Jake felt like he could breathe again. He gave her a kiss on the cheek before walking out, wondering how he hadn’t thought of it sooner. He guessed he was too busy running around searching for his son to sit and think.

And sure enough, the kids were there, laughing and joking amongst each other as they ate. Jake froze as he looked at them with a smile.

He was so happy that his children had found their people here. Back in the forest, Na’vi would often choose not to associate with them, saying they were different, and he had always carried that guilt with him—because connection was such a large part of Na’vi culture. But now, as he watched them, he almost cried from relief.

He decided to give them this time and waited farther away before he straightened when he heard them approach, his eyes landing on his youngest son’s wide ones.

“Oh shit,” was all Lo’ak said before he took off running in the opposite direction, making Jake laugh.

He looked at the group and asked, “Am I really that scary?”

They gave him blank looks before answering in unison, “Yes.”

He laughed as he followed his running son, and it wasn’t that hard to catch up to him.

His hands found his son’s shoulder as he pulled him back. “Lo’ak,” he said as he steadied his son, who was looking anywhere but at him.

“Lo’ak,” he repeated, finally pulling his son’s hesitant gaze and looking into his eyes before he sighed.

“I’m sorry, Lo’ak,” he decided to say, surprising his son. “I didn’t mean to come off as being angry or disappointed. I was worried—worried about what would happen if you did it again.”

Lo’ak looked at his father like he didn’t know him. “Since when do you care enough to explain yourself?” he asked, genuinely confused, and Jake winced at the statement because he couldn’t deny it.

“Oh, my son,” he said sadly as he straightened. “I have a lot to apologize for, I see.”

“I’m so sorry,” he continued, looking into his son’s eyes. “Whenever I look at you, I see my own younger, more reckless self. And I realize now that in my attempts to shield you from the mistakes I made, I left you feeling unappreciated.”

He tightened his hand on his son’s shoulder when Lo’ak looked away.

“I’m sorry, Lo’ak. I swear to try and understand you better—to show you that I will always be proud.”

He pulled his son in for a hug, and Lo’ak met his dad’s eyes with his own sad ones.

“Really?” he asked in a small voice, making Jake freeze as his eyes stayed on him.

Jake pressed his lips together as he was forced to see the damage his own ignorance had done—again.

“Yes,” he said with conviction as he pulled his son in, and Lo’ak hugged him back, feeling the load on his shoulders lessen—even if it was just a bit.

.

Rotxo and Kiri emerged from the ocean in the late afternoon. While her brother had run off in the morning, following after Neteyam, she had snuck away to meet with Rotxo, and they had been swimming in the ocean for almost the whole day.

Rotxo extended his hand toward the girl still in the water, who took it as she lifted herself from the ocean. The two walked out to sit on the beach next to each other, neither of them breaking the comfortable silence as they looked out at the ocean, which reflected the bleeding sky.

Rotxo shifted around nervously, his hand reaching for hers before withdrawing again—again. Then he took a deep breath and summoned every ounce of courage he had as he pushed his hand onto hers.

Kiri smiled before she moved her fingers to interlace with his. She turned her head to see the boy next to her, and her smile grew as she noticed his red ears.

Gosh, she really liked this boy—she liked him so much that she found even his nerves to be cute. And all she wanted to do was tell him, just blurt it out right here and now, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Weird. Different.

Those were the words people always used to describe her, and it didn’t bother her at all. It didn’t take an ounce of confidence she had in herself. But that didn’t mean she could expect him to see her differently—not when he had seen firsthand how much of a “freak” she was when they went to the spirit tree.

So she swallowed down the words in her throat, but she couldn’t bring herself to separate their hands.

The moment was just too special to loathe, so she decided to shove down the what-ifs and turn back to the ocean, enjoying the company of the boy she just couldn’t get enough of.

Rotxo tore his eyes from the ocean once his breathing had calmed down and he didn’t feel like his ears were going to melt. His free hand reached for the accessory that he had made for Kiri, but he didn’t take it out of his pouch to give it to her.

His poor heart was already working overtime as it tried to register the fingers that were intertwined with his, so he just squeezed the pouch in his hands.

Night had settled by the time they both snapped back to reality. They rose slowly from where they were sitting, letting go of each other as they stood.

“I’m gonna go now. Dad will be pissed if I stay out too late,” she said to Rotxo, who nodded in understanding.

“Will you—” he started, halting her. “Meet me same place tomorrow?”

He forced his gaze to hers.

“In the afternoon,” he added when she just blinked at him. “Only if you’re free, of course. I mean, you can still say no, but—”

He started to spiral as his nerves took over, but Kiri’s soft laugh halted his thoughts, his eyes widening as he looked at her.

“Yes,” she said, smiling at the boy. “I’d be happy to.”

She added before turning around to leave toward her marui.

Rotxo had no idea how long he had been standing there when his brain finally realized that she was gone—but her laughter still echoed in his head.

And he knew he wouldn’t be sleeping tonight.

.

It had been two weeks since Kiri and Rotxo started meeting up in the afternoon, and it had been a blast, to say the least. Every day, they discovered something new as they swam hand in hand.

Right now, Kiri was turning around after finishing her countdown. They were playing hide-and-seek in the water, and Rotxo was obviously winning—he could swim way better and hold his breath for longer, but more than that, he knew almost all the hiding spots around here.

So Kiri had been it three times consecutively already as she swam around, trying to look for him—before she felt something soft brush against her hand.

She looked down to see small golden fish circling her wrist. She smiled as they followed her around, even when she circled her hands and did all kinds of backflips in the water, completely forgetting why she was here.

More and more creatures started to swim toward her, circling her waist and arms, making her smile more as she twirled in the water.

But her smile faltered when she saw Rotxo looking at her with a smile of his own, abandoning his hiding spot as he slowly made his way toward her. Kiri just looked around before she decided to turn her back to him and swim away as fast as she could.

Rotxo blinked at the retreating girl before he rushed to follow her.

Earlier, his heart had filled with happiness as he watched her smile and play, lost in her own world—so he didn’t understand where this was coming from. He hurried after her once they reached the shore, reaching for her hands as he stopped her from getting away.

Kiri turned to look at him reluctantly, not trusting herself to meet his eyes—or maybe she was just afraid of what she would find there.

Would he also deem her too different to handle? Too much or too scary?

The tears burned in her eyes as she tried to blink them away, which only made it worse.

All she wanted was to be like everyone else.

Why did she have to be so different?

It had never made her happy anyway.

Rotxo tilted his head as he tried to look into her eyes. The pure sadness there made it hard to breathe, but she just kept looking away, rapidly blinking as she tried to will the tears in her eyes away.

Rotxo exhaled when her eyes finally met his, and he could already see the question that came next.

“Do you think I’m a freak too?” she asked him, her voice so broken that it made his eyes sting.

He realized this wasn’t just a baseless accusation—this was the result of how childishly he had acted when the Sully kids arrived here all those months ago.

“Oh, Kiri,” he exhaled, sadness bleeding into his voice. “I’m sorry,” he apologized sincerely. “I’m so sorry.”

“I should have apologized to you a long time ago,” he said, his hands reaching for her shoulders as he turned her to face him fully.

“I acted in such a foolish way when you all got here first. I’m really sorry if it caused you any pain,” he said, feeling relieved as he saw her eyes soften.

“And of course, I don’t think that. I…” he started, but the words died in his throat.

He took a deep breath before continuing.

“I think you’re amazing, Kiri,” he said, surprising her.

“I don’t think I have seen even Metkayina enjoy the water life as much as you do. You find pure joy in things most people fail to see, and I…” he started again, gritting his teeth as he willed himself to continue.

“And I’ve always liked that about you,” he said.

Kiri blinked as she looked at the boy in front of her, his words sinking into her.

“So you…” she started. “Don’t think I’m weird?” she asked, surprising him as he rushed to answer her.

“What? No, of course I don’t think that,” he repeated, fumbling over his words.

“I mean, sure, you’re different—but isn’t everyone? That’s what makes you, you.”

“I see u kiri” rotxo said.

Kiri just smiled as she looked at this honest boy, who was trying to comfort her in any way he could—without even a hint of a lie in his words.

“Thank you,” she said, startling him as she wrapped her arms around him.

“Thank you,” she repeated breathlessly, smiling when she felt him pull her closer, mumbling, “Of course,” against her.

The two of them stayed like that, huddled against each other, before Kiri pulled back and looked into the boy’s eyes.

“Let’s go get some food,” Rotxo said, his nervous hand finding Kiri’s shoulder as he pulled her to him.

Kiri smiled, obviously seeing what he was doing, but she still let herself get tucked into his arms as the two walked to the food storage.

.

Kiri couldn’t understand what she was looking at right now.

Rotxo stood in front of her with Ao’nung next to him. Far behind them, she could see Neteyam and Virey, who had dragged her here from their morning hangout, saying she needed to take her somewhere, watching them with knowing eyes.

Her gaze made its way back to Rotxo and Ao’nung, who were intently looking at her with a burning passion of something indescribable.

She almost jumped out of her skin when Rotxo suddenly bowed down to her.

“We are really sorry,” he started, “for the way we acted and the things we said when you first got here.”

Kiri looked at him in complete awe.

It had been almost three weeks since she had that exchange with Rotxo, and she had noticed how he had been doing everything he could to apologize—even though she had reassured him multiple times.

So she figured he had just decided to do it the direct way.

The realization made her smile as she looked at the boy who was still bowing, but that quickly morphed into shock when she saw Ao’nung bow his head too.

“It was really stupid of us to act that way, and we are really sorry,” Ao’nung said sincerely before the two boys straightened to look at the girl, who was about to die from shock.

“Wow,” she said, her gaze turning to Ao’nung. “I mean, I know that love changes people and all, but I didn’t think it would be this dramatic,” she said, processing her shock.

Ao’nung just smiled as he looked at her—because whether she was his mate’s sister or not, what he did was wrong, and it was only right that he properly apologized to her.

Kiri’s eyes softened at him as she realized that too before turning back to Rotxo.

“It’s alright,” she said sincerely to the two. “I forgive you.”

The two Metkayina smiled as they heard her, Ao’nung reaching out to ruffle her hair before she pushed his hand away, laughing as she did so.

“Alright then,” Virey said as she and Neteyam approached.

Her hands found her brother’s shoulders as she turned him around.

“We’ll leave you two alone now,” she said as she and Neteyam pushed a playfully protesting Ao’nung away from them.

The two of them laughed as they watched them disappear before the silence settled, their eyes looking into each other.

Rotxo was the first to look away nervously, making Kiri’s gaze turn confused as she looked at him.

He shifted around from where he stood before he steadied himself and reached his hand into his pouch, pulling out what he had made for her before clenching it in his palm.

“Could you… close your eyes for me?” he asked, and Kiri smiled at him before she complied.

She felt him take her hands, and something cold rested on her wrist.

Rotxo’s shaky hands tied the fiber around her wrist loosely, watching the beads reflect against her skin beautifully—just like he had imagined they would.

Kiri opened her eyes when he told her to and immediately noticed his red ears before her gaze traveled to the bracelet on her wrist.

It was made of dark blue and light gray, almost glass-like beads. The beads were round and seemed to have an internal texture or sparkle.

The bracelet had a simple adjustable closure using a dark cord and two small ice-blue pearl accents that dangled. image to her bracelet

It was so beautiful that she couldn’t even blink away from it.

Rotxo laughed as he looked at her reaction, his heart full at how much she seemed to like it.

“It’s breathtaking,” she said as she finally tore her eyes away to look at the smiling boy.

“I’m glad you like it,” he said, looking into Kiri’s expectant eyes—like there was something else she was waiting for him to say.

And he saw it too.

His heart pounded against his rib cage as he calmed himself down, the ringing in his ears almost making him feel dizzy.

But he steeled himself to continue.

“I guess I wanted to tell you…” he said, his words seeming to get lost in his throat again and again as he searched for the perfect way to tell her—so he just decided to blurt everything out.

“I like you, Kiri,” he said, looking into her eyes.

“I like your smile, your laughter, even the way you roll your eyes when we say something stupid,” he chuckled as he said the last part.

“I know I’ve done and said things to you that I regret every single day, but if you would give me a chance, I want to show you that that isn’t who I am,” he concluded.

And the smile that he saw on her melted him like butter.

“Yes,” Kiri said, her heart full as she continued.

“I like you too, Rotxo, and I would love nothing more than to get to know you better—to truly see you as well,” she said before she felt his arms wrap around her as he pulled her closer to his chest.

Chapter Text

“Dad, please,” Kiri begged, Lo’ak next to her.

Tomorrow, Aonung, Neteyam, Reyam, and Virey were going on their second outing outside the reef, and the two of them wanted to join so desperately.

“You will only slow them down,” Jake sighed, repeating himself for the tenth time. “And it’s dangerous—what if something happens?” he tried to reason.

“If it does, we have four great warriors with us. Rotxo will be coming too,” she said desperately, and Jake looked back at her, considering it.

“And Virey will be there—you know what she can do,” she added, making him groan as his hands found his head.

He sighed, looking back at his eager children, knowing they were breaking down his walls.

“You will return here before the afternoon,” he said, finally giving in, and the two of them smiled, nodding repeatedly.

“Fine,” he said, and they jumped up in victory.

“Seriously, I did not think that was going to work,” Lo’ak said. “I thought we would have to sneak o—”

“Seriously, Lo’ak?” Jake interjected, and his two kids froze before running out, shouting that he couldn’t take back his words.

Jake laughed as he watched their retreating backs, questioning his life choices.

.

The day came in the blink of an eye, and all of them were at the reef, getting ready.

“I can’t believe your father agreed to this,” Aonung said, Tsireya nodding as he walked with Neteyam and his siblings.

“Clearly, he must not be thinking at all,” Neteyam said, eyeing them suspiciously.

“Believe it or not, we actually did talk to him,” Kiri said, holding her head high. “No blackmail or torture necessary,” she added, making them laugh.

“So you were prepared for that too?” Aonung asked between laughter, and they froze when they saw that she actually was.

“Oh my god, what the hell do you have on Dad?” Neteyam said, holding her by the shoulders.

“I’m not gonna tell,” Kiri said, laughing as she remembered the photo she had found of him back when he was still human.

They reached Virey and Reyam, who were in their own world—completely oblivious to them.

“Yes, but if you have good posture, the water wouldn’t push you too much,” Reyam said to his mate.

Virey just hummed before replying, “Thankfully, I don’t need to worry about that—my skimwing does all the work for me,” she said, tilting her head as she bragged about her special creature.

Reyam just hugged her tightly, making her laugh.

“Yes, yes—we get it. You two are in love,” Lo’ak said, voice full of exasperation, and Virey only tilted her head slightly—finally noticing them.

“Oh, you guys are here,” she said, making no move to leave his arms.

Lo’ak gaped at her.

“We have been here for more than two minutes, thank you very much,” he said, exasperated—making them all laugh before Rotxo pulled himself onto the reef, and they dispersed to mount their creatures.

“Man, I can’t wait till the rite of passage,” Lo’ak said, looking at his brother’s skimwing—then his ilu.

Neteyam laughed as he added, “Well, you gotta wait four months—and another six if you fail this time. So you better train well.”

He ruffled his brother’s hair as he mounted, and they all headed into the open ocean.

The ones on skimwings slowed their speeds so the four on ilus wouldn’t be left behind, but they were still having fun—diving in whenever the waves got unbearable.

“Let’s see who can reach the corals first,” Rotxo said, pointing to the ones deep down—right beneath them.

“Well—don’t kill yourself trying,” Neteyam said to his brother.

“No powers, okay, love?” Reyam said as he kissed Virey’s cheek from where they had all lined up to dive.

Virey laughed as she looked back at him.

Even though she had already cut her fingers and placed them in the water, she said, “Fine—I won’t use them.”

Aonung started the countdown, and they all raced deep into the ocean, urging their creatures to go as fast as they could.

Reyam touched the corals first, followed by his mate, then her brother and Neteyam.

Surprisingly, Kiri was the first among the ilu holders, followed by Tsireya and Lo’ak.

And, unfortunately, the one who had suggested the game came in last.

They exchanged gloating looks.

Aonung signed to his sister that it was only because of her special skimwing that she had beaten him.

And she didn’t deny it.

They raced back up because they had been underwater too long, and the way back felt longer, probably because they all felt like they were going to faint.

Their heads broke the surface as they laughed at each other, but that joy was soon overtaken by horror when they saw what was above them.

Three flying jets hovered above them.

They all raced to enter the water, but the two jets fired off something that exploded in the water, flinging them away from their creatures.

The skimwings made their way back to the four, but the ilus had been scared off.

Neteyam raced to his brother, while Aonung went to Tsireya. Reyam and Virey went to Rotxo and Kiri, taking their arms as they raced away, only for the explosion to send them in opposite directions again.

Neteyam and Lo’ak showed their heads above the water, trying to lure the humans to them, but the jets fired towards Kiri and Virey, flinging them from their skimwings.

“It’s like they are not seeing us,” Lo’ak said as the two raced to the girls.

Neteyam took Virey’s hands, who had Kiri’s in her other, as he tried to get them all away, only to be flung off by the explosion again.

Lo’ak and the skimwing were thrown in one direction, while Neteyam’s hand had gripped Virey’s, but before he could even see his approaching skimwing, the nets surrounded them, pulling them into the air.

Reyam watched in horror as Virey’s hand barely missed his from where it was stretched out to him.

Virey took as much water as she could from the ocean and tried to aim where the net was tied, but her necklace caught it and wouldn’t let her head through the net gaps.

She took it off and gave it to Neteyam, telling him to keep it safe before her head passed through the metal-coated net, her hand following as she aimed her best to cut the rope and fired, but it only cut less than half from where it was tied.

The net from Neteyam’s side fell open, and Virey pushed him out as she retracted her head, plunging him into the water. She took Kiri’s hand as the two of them stumbled to the opened hole, but they were too late.

The net was pulled into the human ship, the gap that was opened for the net was slammed shut before she saw some kind of syringe-shaped bullet stick on Kiri’s arm, only for her to look down and see she had it too, everything going dark in an instant after that.

The Na’vi in the water watched with wide eyes as the net reached the jets, and it swallowed it as the gap shut closed. Neteyam mounted his skimwing before another blast blew them away.

Aonung launched from the water as he shot the spear to the jet that was holding them, but it didn’t land, the jet was too fast.

“They changed to real bullets,” Neteyam shouted out before all of them plunged again, the bullets piercing the waters as they chased them.

Reyam jumped out of the ocean as he threw his spear to one of the jets shooting at them, piercing the human inside before he plunged back, but the other kept shooting at them blindly.

By the time it stopped to reload, they saw the ship carrying the girls fly away, their hearts dropping as they watched it get further.

Reyam held his side as he raced towards it, but the bullets forced them all to change directions.

Neteyam shot up into the air as he fired his arrow, hitting the human inside and watching as it crashed into the waves, then looked around for the ship that held the girls, but it was nowhere in sight, and what’s worse is that they have lost the direction it was even heading when they were being chased with bullets.

“You’re hurt,” he heard Tsireya say and turned around to see Reyam holding his side as he tried to bypass her.

“I’m fine, it’s just a graze—it’s not that deep,” he said, trying desperately to remember which direction it was.

“We should be following the ship,” Lo’ak said as he mounted with his brother.

“Do any of you remember which way it was—or how it even got here?” Aonung said frantically, trying to make sense of it all.

“They must have been tracking us—and approached when we were deep in the water,” Neteyam said, trying to stay as calm as he could.

Tsireya looked around at them all as she examined Reyam’s wound, and thankfully, it wasn’t deep enough to keep bleeding.

“I think we should go and inform Father,” she said, swimming closer to her brother.

“Well, they could be dead by then,” he said, agitated from all the thoughts racing in his head—but he knew there was a low chance of them happening.

“Everything about this was weird,” he said, exhaling as he brought his hands to his face.

“They were only going after the two of them—and only switched to real bullets after they were caught. Like they didn’t want to risk killing them,” Aonung said more to himself.

“I don’t think their objective was to kill us—but then why?” he said, feeling like he was losing his mind.

Reyam’s head was racing like it had something to prove—the image of barely missing her hand replaying in his head over and over again.

Neteyam’s hand on his shoulder was what snapped him out of it.

“We need to tell Dad and Tonowari,” Neteyam said, trying his best to figure out what the hell to do.

“No—we may lose the chance of figuring out the direction if we move from here,” Reyam said, racking his unwilling brain for answers.

“Okay—so half of us will go and inform them, and the ones here will try and figure it out,” Neteyam said, trying to breathe.

Neteyam, Lo’ak, and Tsireya raced back to the reef, and it took them longer to get there because they were a bit far from it.

They raced to the village once passing it, and Neteyam was the first to get there.

He didn’t wait for the two as he looked around, spotting Tonowari and Jake discussing something before racing toward them—noticing that the two had caught up.

“I can’t imagine why they haven’t attacked yet,” Neteyam heard his dad say to Tonowari as he reached them.

“Dad,” he said, making the two men turn toward him as he tried to catch his breath.

“Neteyam, Lo’ak—what’s going on?” Jake said as he looked at his panting children.

“It’s the sky people,” Tsireya wheezed out.

“They attacked us, and—” Lo’ak filled in, and the two men were filled with horror as they realized that not all eight of them were there.

“What happened to your brother and sister?” Tonowari said to his daughter, who looked away painfully—Jake asking the same.

“Aonung is fine—he’s waiting at the place we were attacked,” she began, shifting her eyes from her father to Jake hesitantly.

“It’s Kiri and Virey,” Neteyam said, wincing. “They were taken away.”

And the world was still for a moment.

“Take us to the spot,” Tonowari said as he called for the nearby warriors.

Neteyam nodded, and they all called for their rides.

Jake said nothing as Lo’ak and Tsireya followed out of the reef with about five warriors.

They reached the conversing boys, and Tonowari hugged his son before holding his shoulders as he spoke to him.

“Okay—it’s good you’re okay,” he said.

“Now—tell us which way they went,” he said, and saw all three of them wince.

And it hit him that they would have followed if they knew.

All six of them recounted everything to the two men while the other warriors spread out, looking out and watching for any clues.

They told them everything—how they were right above them, how they were aiming for the two alone, how they switched to real bullets only after they were caught, and how it felt like they were preventing them from being followed at any cost.

The two of them listened to the whole story, but all that was left in them were more questions than answers as they looked at each other.

“They must have taken them back to the new mothership they brought,” Jake said, wincing—then felt someone wrap a hand around his shoulder.

He turned to see Reyam’s face.

“Where is it?” he asked desperately, and Jake gave him a sad look before he said, “We don’t know yet. Norm just told me this morning that the humans had sent out another mothership.”

He patted Reyam’s shoulder, where Reyam’s grip loosened from his—dropping to the side—but Jake couldn’t deny the horror he was feeling for his child.

“What if they kill them while we’re just sitting and waiting for information?” Lo’ak said, his face contorted just thinking about it.

And it was obvious that thought had flashed through everyone’s minds as well.

Jake sighed after barely bringing himself back from the edge.

“I don’t think they will do that,” he said, attracting everyone’s gaze.

“Like you all said—they didn’t want to risk killing them. So I don’t think they would have gone to all that trouble just to kill them there,” he said, trying to convince himself too.

And it seemed to let them breathe again, before they realized what this meant.

“I don’t know if that’s good or bad news,” Tonowari said, pinching his nose.

“Let’s go ask Spider about this,” Tsireya said.

“He was in captivity for a long time, so he must know something about this,” she said—and all their heads shot up as they took in her words.

They all raced back toward the Sully marui, bursting in to find him and Neytiri staring back at them.

Neytiri noticed her mate’s distress and walked to him.

“Ma Jake—is something wrong?” she asked as she got closer.

Jake exchanged a look with Tonowari and told the two in the room to follow them to the chief’s marui—where they found Ronal there as well.

They told the two of them everything—watching as their eyes grew wide when they said Virey and Kiri were gone.

Neytiri covered her mouth with her hands in disbelief, while Ronal cursed everything about the damn sky people.

“No,” Spider said in horror, attracting everyone’s attention.

“No, no, no,” he repeated to himself as the news settled in him.

“Spider—we need you to tell us everything,” Jake said, stepping closer.

Spider took a moment to calm down before he told them every single thing he remembered.

How they tried to use the device to see the base in the forest. How they were willing to continue even if it meant killing him—if it wasn’t for Quaritch.

And they all listened in horror.

Reyam had to sit down on the floor as he thought about it all.

“We need to get them as fast as we can,” Tonowari said, trying his best to keep calm as he looked at Jake—knowing they didn’t even know the location.

“What could they be planning?” Ronal started.

“A ransom? Some kind of exchange?” she said, more to herself.

“I’ll go contact Norm—see if he can find their location,” Jake said, and Tonowari nodded at him as he left.

Neytiri stood up, calling for her boys.

“Me, Lo’ak, and Neteyam will fly on our ikrans from the attack point—see if we can find anything,” she said.

Aonung and Reyam followed them out, leaving Tonowari and Ronal to discuss what they could do.

Neteyam called for his ikran, then turned to look at Reyam as he waited—wincing at the thought of how he would have been if it was Aonung instead.

His hand reached for his pouch on his side as he walked to Reyam—whose worry was clear on his face.

Reyam looked at him as his hand was pulled forward, letting out a pained groan when Neteyam placed Virey’s necklace in his hands.

Then, he looked up at him guiltily—hating that he hadn’t been able to do anything to help them.

“She told me to hold on to this for her,” he said, choking up at the memory of seeing his sister and friend swallowed by the ship.

Reyam’s eyes stared at the necklace in his hands as he fought back tears—clenching it tightly before bringing it to his chest.

The thought that this might be the last thing that remained of her threatened to make his chest explode.

Neteyam bit his lip as he turned to face his mate’s pained expression.

Aonung pulled Reyam into a hug as his eyes stung from how unblinking they were.

Neteyam mounted his ikran once it arrived and shot into the sky with his brother—their mother following them as they led her to where they were attacked.

.

Reyam looked at the sunset, only giving Aonung a glance before he started walking away—stopping at his usual meet-up spot as he sat down on the sand.

"Stood you up? Me? Never."

Virey’s voice echoed as the memory of what she had said to him long ago came rushing back—his mind placing her there like she would when she waited for him.

A choked voice escaped him as he brought her necklace closer to his chest, holding it tightly as it kept replaying in his head.

.

Virey’s eyes opened slowly and were instantly blinded by the ceiling lights. Then, she heard a banging sound and looked up to see Kiri hitting the only part of the white room that wasn’t a wall.

She blinked, wondering why she was here before the memories came back to her, making her hold her breath as she realized what had just happened.

They got them, and she was now here.

The thoughts of whether the others made it out alive or not crashed onto her like cold water, but the noise that Kiri was creating snapped her out of it.

She breathed deeply, trying to calm down as fear threatened to consume her before turning to the girl.

“Just save your strength,” she said, startling her.

“The damn thing is probably bullet-fortified,” she said, sitting up from where she lay.

Kiri looked at her, then back at the glass, before walking to sit next to Virey.

“I can’t believe we were captured,” she said, and Virey’s eyes shot to the glass, then back at the girl.

“Don’t say anything identifying about yourself,” she signed to the girl instead of speaking, and Kiri understood why.

She nodded at her, and Virey continued, “The window is probably two-way, meaning they can see us, but we can’t see them,” she continued to sign, and Kiri nodded again.

“Try not to talk—I’m sure the humans know the Na’vi language,” she continued, but a loud voice in the room interrupted them from the ceiling.

“Come on now, why are you sucking the joy out of this?” the speaker said, and the voice sent shivers down Virey’s back.

Kiri realized that they probably didn’t know the sign language of the Metkayina.

But before Kiri could say anything, a door opened, and in walked a human with a mask—two people behind him had guns as they walked toward them.

Virey’s hard eyes found the man in front of her—the man she recognized all too well.

“How are you, Subject 207?” the man said, looking down at the girls, and Kiri’s eyes widened as she listened to what he had just said.

Her dad had taught her English, so it was like a second language—and the man seemed to know that.

“How could you have left me just like that a year ago?” the man said in a dramatic voice. “I thought we were closer than that.”

Kiri’s eyes grew wider, if that was even possible.

A year ago was when the first battle with the humans had happened after they came to the metkayina.

“I mean, did you really think I wouldn’t know you were alive? I heard how the Na’vi won the last battle, I had to force their hands so that they would give me this ship to finally come get you” he said like it was obvious.

And Virey exhaled.

Of course, he would figure it out, she thought, but still remained completely silent.

“Still as silent as ever, huh?” he said, his eyes turning annoyed before reverting to his playful self.

“Well, it matters not—that’s why I liked you anyway. I can’t wait for us to play like we used to,” he said, and Virey frowned as he and the men retreated, the door closing shut behind them.

Kiri looked at Virey’s hard eyes, which were still trained on the door that now looked like every other wall.

The question of what the hell that guy was talking about was on the tip of her tongue, but she physically swallowed it down.

Virey gave her a grateful look, her hands still clenched tightly—her nails almost digging into her palm—when she felt Kiri’s head land on her shoulder.

She looked down at the girl, who was trying to comfort her, and gave her a small smile before her head landed on Kiri’s.

She desperately called for sleep as the fears of tomorrow threatened to consume her.

.

The two of them jolted awake when the door opened.

They had no way of knowing if it was day or night—or if they were being drugged to sleep longer. Nothing, as the three men from what they can only assume was yesterday entered.

“Come on,” he said, clapping his hands together.

“It’s time we go have some fun—it’s been ages since I was this excited,” he said.

She felt Kiri hold her wrist from where they sat on the floor, but Virey stayed still.

The man waited as he looked down at her—like she should be just as excited.

He sighed as he crouched down in front of the two girls, then spoke—his voice low as he said,

“You don’t want me to take your friend, now do you?”

Virey’s head hung as she pressed herself against the wall as much as she could, Kiri’s grip tightening around her after hearing what he had just said.

Virey exhaled, completely fed up.

She knew he wouldn’t do that, but she also knew they would just tranquilize her if she resisted.

“Come on—up,” the man said, his hand extending toward her shoulder.

But she slapped it away, glaring at him.

He just shook his hand, like he was used to it.

“Come on—I thought you were better when you let her do it,” he said, confirming to the two girls that they were being watched like hawks.

Virey pressed her lips together as she moved to get up, but Kiri’s grip remained, trying to pull her back down.

She looked down at the girl, so terrified for her, before giving her a small smile, ruffling her hair as Kiri’s grip loosened, her hand falling back to her side.

Kiri’s eyes stayed on her until the door closed behind them all. Her knees pulled to her chest, and her head buried in her hands, left alone in the ghost-white room. It felt like forever had passed before she heard the door open again. Her head shot up to see Virey’s approaching frame as the girl slowly walked to her.

And Kiri’s eyes widened when she saw the bandages wrapped around Virey’s upper side and back.

Virey sat next to her slowly, her hands going to the bandages, her head swimming as she looked at Kiri’s watery eyes.

“Let me lean on you,” was all she said before her head fell onto Kiri’s shoulder.

And Kiri couldn’t help but pat her friend’s hair, trying to comfort her as best she could, as she fought to hold back tears.

Virey’s eyes only opened again when the door opened, and two people walked in with food for them, their guns at the ready as they approached and placed the tray on the floor.

“How did they even get this?” Kiri asked as she looked at the fruits that were very clearly from Pandora before her hands shot to her mouth.

“They are obviously desperate to keep us alive,” Virey signed to her, and her eyes made it back to the tray, packed chock full with food they could eat.

Virey signed again, “The only thing the sons of bitches did well was feed us,” she said before reaching out and taking some.

Kiri did the same, thinking of how Virey wasn’t referring to now when she said they fed them well.

They left the tray where it was, and the people would only come to take it when they brought them food.

It would be brought to them three times before the two would feel sleepy, so they concluded that they were being fed three times a day.

The three men would come into the room about once every week.

And today was one of those days.

Kiri waited for Virey to come back, not moving from the spot she was in when they left. She couldn’t help the worry that was choking her—even when she knew she could do nothing to help.

All she could do was watch for the moment the door would open and help her walk into the room. She felt so useless just sitting here. She felt like she should do something—anything—to help. But she was just as trapped here as Virey was out there.

The door opened, pulling her out of her thoughts as she walked toward her, taking her arm as she led her inside and sat her by the wall, joining her.

Virey’s head lay on Kiri’s shoulder, and she was surprised by how cold Virey was—and her hair was damp.

Kiri’s face contorted with pain as she thought of what they were possibly doing to her out there.

But she did all she could do right now—wrapping her arms around her deathly cold friend as she tried to warm her as much as she could.

Her lips pressed together as she looked into her friend’s eyes and saw just how incredibly tired they were—holding her closer, if that was even possible, as they leaned against the wall and prayed for all of this to just end.

.

“We still haven’t found anything!” Tonowari exclaimed, frustration bubbling in his chest.

It had been a month since everything had happened, and they had been searching for any clue they could find.

But it was like that ship didn’t even exist.

“There’s no ransom or exchange—they haven’t even contacted us,” Ronal said, sighing.

Jake had been conversing with Norm daily, but Norm hadn’t been able to track anything—the ocean was just too wide.

Neteyam, Lo’ak, and Neytiri had been flying out daily—only coming back for food as they searched for anything.

Reyam, Aonung, Rotxo, and Tsireya had gone back and tried to figure out the direction—even recalling the painful memory in hopes of finding something.

But they all came up completely blank.

And now, they sat in the room—looking like they hadn’t slept well in a year.

“What is going on?” Jake said, frustrated. “Is there something we’re missing here?” And they all looked down, ashamed of themselves.

Kiri and Virey could be going through god knows what right now. But all they could do was literally nothing.

“Fuck,” Aonung said, rubbing his face sharply. “What else can we do? What are we supposed to do here?” he said, his palms hitting his head.

Reyam’s hands clenched from next to him, his eyes strained as he looked down at the floor. Even as they collectively came together, none of them could figure out what to do.

Jake and Tonowari hung their heads as they hugged their children, Ronal and Neytiri, sitting next to each other as they held theirs.

And Reyam broke down in his parents’ arms as soon as he got there, asking them to just tell him what to do, that he would do anything.

His dad hugged him closer with a pained expression that mirrored his mate’s, while she rubbed her son’s back.

.

Virey and Kiri jolted awake as the door opened. Even though it had been a long time, they had yet to get used to this.

They looked up as the man, whom Kiri concluded was a mad scientist, was much happier than the other day.

“Come on, my precious,” he said, sending chills down Virey’s back. “Today is a special day,” he added.

Virey went completely still as she heard that, her breathing hitched as she looked down at the floor, bile creeping up her chest.

Kiri couldn’t help the hairs standing on the back of her neck as she saw Virey’s reaction, like she knew all too well what he was talking about.

And Virey looked more terrified than she had during the other times.

She didn’t move to get up like before—she stayed there, frozen.

“Come on—do you really hate it that much?” he said, giving the men a signal to approach her.

But Virey snapped out of it when she felt their hands on her shoulder, slapping them away as she glared up at them, before she slowly stood up, like her mind and body were fighting each other.

Kiri could feel the fear radiating off her friend in waves, and it made her own stomach flip as she watched the door shut closed.

Her hands made their way to her hair as she held her head.

She felt like all of this was making her lose her mind, even though she wasn’t the one going through it.

She couldn’t help but think her mental state was crumbling to pieces. But if hers was like this—then what about the girl who had been going through it all?

.

Virey couldn’t help her trembling hands when they reached the room she was familiar with, the sickening scent of pharmaceutical alcohol engulfing her nose as she walked in and lay down on the table.

She couldn’t help her brain that was screaming at her to run away from here, but then what?

What does she think will wait for her if she struggles out of here? more people are waiting for her out just to push her back in. The blinding light above her brought her out of her thoughts, and she looked down to see that they had already finished preparing her to open her up.

She felt the mask for the anesthetic come on to her face, and within seconds her body was paralyzed, but she knew better today.

He called it a “special day”, on other days it was much similar to awake brain surgery, she would be awake and watch as he cut her open on her side like she was a fruit unable to do anything as her body was paralized but today was gonna be different.

She knew that on “special days” they would only numb the wound enough that the shock of pain wouldn’t kill her and now as the pain coursed through her from the scalpel that was gutting into her skin, she couldn’t even scream out, even as she felt the gloved hands press to get a better look, she was paralized to do anything but watch. All she could do was curse everyone who had contributed to her being her.

.

It was roughly two years ago when the news that she would be adopted reached her.

She was going to be 18 soon, so she was no doubt suspicious of it and refused to go.

But the person in charge of the orphanage wanted to shrink the mouths to feed as much as he could, so he went and did it anyway.

Her adoptive parents were suspicious, to say the least.

Not only did they adopt a child who was soon to be 18, but they didn’t even have room for her in their tiny house—she had to sleep in the cramped storage room, where things would somehow fall on her.

She knew there was something seriously off about the couple and planned to run away a month before her 18th birthday—even though she knew it was illegal to be unaccounted for if you weren’t 18 yet.

But she did it anyway.

She lived with them for barely two months before successfully running away—only to be brought back to them in cuffs when an officer asked her to show her ID.

After that, they locked her in the cramped storage, only giving her food and water.

That was when she knew she was going to be one of those disappearance cases.

After Jake had chased them back to Earth, the news had spread like wildfire—making humans reluctant to work for the RDA.

And the RDA was already tight on money, so it couldn’t offer anything to attract workers, only people with nowhere else to go would join them.

But one thing that had been noticed was that people had somehow been disappearing from Earth—like they didn’t exist—about seven month ago.

It was obvious that the RDA was doing this for something.

And the public knew about it.

They just didn’t care—because the RDA targeted people who wouldn’t be missed.

People like Virey.

She concluded that there must be some kind of reward they were offering, and she couldn’t believe that they had adopted her just for this.

She tried to break the door once she realized all of it, hitting and slamming anything she could find until only her fear was left.

And one week before her 18th birthday, she heard the lock turn—but before she could do anything, she was tranquilized like an animal being sold.

And when she woke up—she was in a white room.

But what was drastically different was that she was in a much bluer—and much bigger—body.

She couldn’t understand what was going on—tried to wrap her head around it for weeks—and was only able to understand when she heard the scientists tell them everything.

Since she woke, she had been sitting in a big white room with others like her. Further ahead, she could see that there was some stage, but it had been empty for as long as she had been here. But today, a man wearing a white coat was standing, a screen expanding before he started speaking, and horror rose in everyone's faces as they told them what they were going to do with them, like it was nothing.

"You are all needed for a noble experiment that will make you humanity’s greatest weapon," he said, like they had any choice in the matter, like they didn’t do anything to them.

But what really made her stomach turn was how they told them that their human selves were dead.

They said it like it was common sense.

She looked around to see others like her, some even throwing up as they overloaded them with this information like it was nothing, before her eyes focused back on the man who was speaking.

He told them all about how they didn’t need to worry—how they didn’t touch their memories.

They only added the Na’vi language into them because it would alter their ego, as it would affect the experiment.

He even said, "Even though we would have liked to."

That made Virey throw up.

But the man continued, saying, "The samples of the destroyed Spirit Tree were—thankfully—sent to Earth, so what we are going to try and do is see if we can merge you with it—so that you will be like the Na’vi."

"Best case scenario—you will be able to control the planet itself, because we have reason to believe that it is alive. If not, then u will be able to control anything that can absorb ur blood, like water, earth, and plants with ease." Virey looked at him like he was crazy.

She seriously didn’t understand how someone could be this detached from reality.

"Well, once you do that—" he started, but abruptly changed his mind and just ended everything.

Virey looked around to the white smoke that was being injected into the room after the man left—

And it was only seconds before bodies started falling. And it hit her— They were starting—right now. Before everything went dark.

When her eyes opened, she looked up to see light. But her body couldn’t move.

She looked down to see the man from before pick up a scalpel and press down.

She didn’t feel any pain, but she watched in horror as he cut in deep, then changed materials as he went back in and pulled out something that looked like white strings before attaching them to the branch that was displayed on the screen earlier.

She couldn’t move—couldn’t scream—

All she could do was stare as he worked—

And stitched her up before the mask they put on her made her sleep again.

.

The next time she woke up—she was back in the white room.

Pain shot through her spine as she looked down at the bandages wrapped around her—her hands going to them as she clenched her eyes shut.

She only opened them when she heard a loudspeaker radiating through the room.

"It seems like out of 207 of you, 150 weren’t able to endure the mental test," he said, looking down at his book—like he was bored out of his mind.

"Even though we linked your emotions with your eye color, it seemed most died before their brain could make the change. So your brains must be faster," he said, looking up at the survivors.

What he said made her look around, and she saw the others do the same.

She slumped back down to the floor as she realized—

That was what he had just said was true.

The room, once packed full was almost see-through now.

“I’ve had enough of this,” a man said and raced toward the guy—but it looked like he hit an invisible wall as he was thrown back with a thud.

Glass, Virey thought.

Obviously, the man wouldn’t be so careless if not.

But he didn’t do anything as he remained on the stage.

“So then—let me explain how this will work,” he continued like nothing had happened.

“Your blood will now start to be powered by some godly energy that the Na’vi call Eywa’s presence, so you should be able to control some things like water and earth. But more than that—you should be able to control your blood on a molecular level,” he said and shut the screen in front of him.

“Report to us if you feel any different,” he said in a bored expression and was about to leave, when a girl spoke up.

“Why are you telling us all this?” she said, her eyes hard.

And Virey looked at the man expectantly, because she wanted to know too.

The guy just sighed as he turned to them.

“Because—how would you be able to try when you don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing?” he said before getting off the stage and walking away.

Silence fell in the room as they all looked around. some of them started talking, forming groups as they tried to figure out what the hell was going on.

She saw the girl who asked the question sit next to her. Virey looked at her tiredly, her eyes questioning, before another man sat in front of the two.

But they didn’t speak, they just looked down in silence.

The pattern repeated like that for a month.

He would come in once a week to do the awake brain surgery, analyzing how well they were fusing with the Spirit Tree.

And when asked why they needed to be awake, he just said,

"The psychological burden will urge the brain to accept any power it can."

Like they weren’t even human. But—he was right.

They weren’t humans anymore.

.

But today, every one of the 57 avatars’ hair stood on end as they looked up at the man, who was always extremely bored, smiling.

He was smiling as he looked at them.

“Today is a special day,” he began—and chills ran down everyone’s back. The girl next to virey held her wrist.

“Once a month—we will increase the psychological stress,” he said, demonstrating with his hands.

Virey pressed back against the wall she was leaning on, her instincts screaming at her. She looked around at the others and realized that they felt it too.

“Well—it’s better if you just see it anyway.” And before anyone could do anything, white smoke engulfed the room—

Their vision went black instantly, and when she opened her eyes—

She was looking up at the light she was all too familiar with, wearing the mask.

She saw the guy earlier sitting down and picking up a scalpel like always.

But what was different was—

She could feel it tearing into her. She tried to will her body awake—to shove him, to scream, to do anything, but her body was completely paralyzed.

All she could do was try her best to bear the crippling pain—

The gloved hands pressing at her.

The cold metal passed through her skin as it stitched it back together.

Virey’s head snapped up—her hands going around her shoulder as she shivered—

The ghost of the pain made her entire body tremble.

Her eyes squeezed shut as she tried to swallow the bile rising up her throat.

“Well,” a voice shattered her attempts.

And she turned as she emptied her stomach while holding the wall—

Dry heaving as she looked back at the man.

“It looks like only 10 of you survived this,” he said, flipping through his pages.

She looked around at the people and realized he was right, she couldn’t see the two that she sat with either.

This was why she refused to talk to anyone. She knew this would happen.

She looked at the people remaining. Some had thrown up like her—others had their heads in their hands, crouched on the floor. Virey was still trembling as she looked back at his pleased face.

“It’s less than I would have liked—but I can’t complain, huh?” he said, shrugging.

“This guy is crazy,” one of them said in disbelief. And the man just looked back at him before he left.

.

“Well, it seems like we should continue with our experiment,” said the man on the stage.

It had been five months since the surgery that shook all of them to their core.

And true to the guy’s words, they had to go through that at least once a month.

He had started talking to them as he sliced them up, telling them how precious they were and everything, as if they were dolls.

And now, he was saying there was something else.

Virey had almost lost it in the first three months. She couldn’t sleep—or speak—with how much everything was crashing down on her.

But after the third time they endured the pain, she started feeling a calm presence surround her, trying to soothe her as it coursed through her.

And she had wondered if this was what he called Eywa’s presence.

It was comforting, kind, and warm, and she would feel it wrap itself around her like a blanket, and she welcomed it.

She needed it.

“All ten of you have persisted well—I’m surprised that you all survived,” he said—much more cheerily than necessary.

But—abnormally—he didn’t say anything more as the gas started filling the room.

When Virey opened her eyes again, Her hands were bound together as she looked around—

All ten of them were there, looking around.

She saw that they were caged in by glass—but why? It didn’t make sense.

She looked down to see that the bandages had been changed, and they felt like they were glued to her skin; they were waterproof ones.

But a voice from above cut her thoughts off.

“As I’m sure you’ve noticed, you are in a glass jar,” the voice she knew all too well said.

“We have made a small cut on your fingers, so the preparations are done. This jar will fill with water from Pandora—so try and survive by summoning your powers.”

Then, a click could be heard.

Virey looked down and saw the water filling up, reaching her knees in the blink of an eye.

She thought of how they could just drown them like this, after everything they had done.

But her thoughts were swallowed by the water that reached her neck.

She took in as deep a breath as she could before it engulfed her. She tried to kick up to the surface, but it wasn’t working with her hands bound.

She looked at the others who had come to the same realization.

But she kept struggling, trying to reach the surface of the jar that was half full. But she felt her lungs burn, and she let go of the breath.

Only to suck in water.

Her chest exploded with pain, but her struggle ceased as her vision started to blur.

But she saw the person next to her. Their eyes were golden as they magically shot up from the water.

And that was the last thing she saw.

.

Virey gasped awake—

Pain radiating through her entire body as she coughed—

Thinking she was still there.

But she looked around to see that she was back in the white room.

Her knees flew to her chest as it all came back to her. Trying her best to calm down as she looked around before her eyes were pulled to the man who cleared his throat before speaking.

“It seems one of you has succeeded in tapping into the powers of Pandora,” he said—his eerie excitement back.

“This must mean our experiment is working. The one who was able to do it has been moved to a separate room. He will be going to the next stage,” he said.

And shut the screen before walking away.

Virey felt the presence she always felt calm her down from the edge.

But—it seemed that the others didn’t have that luxury. One guy ran to the glass as he tried to break it, kicking and screaming at particularly no one.

Virey’s hands flew to her ears, covering them as she fell to the floor from where she was sitting.

She clenched her eyes shut as she tried to concentrate on Eywa’s presence that was answering her call.

.

The madman walked in a week later with a sour expression on his face, making Virey frown as she looked at him.

“It seems that nine of you will have to try harder now,” the man said, his voice bitter.

Nine. He said nine of them.

Virey’s thoughts were stuck on that.

Then what happened to the last one? The one who succeeded?

And she felt like cold water had splashed onto her as she realized.

The thing about strong dogs is that you have to be able to fully control them if you want to call them an asset.

It hit her that was the last part he had decided not to tell them the day he explained everything.

And—whatever method they had tried to leash the man, had killed the person who had succeeded.

“Well then,” the guy said as smoke engulfed them.

.

Another five months have passed since their first water trial, and since then, the water trials have been held only a day before the pain awareness one, saying that they need to up the mental stress, and it has been hell, to say the least.

Virey had deliberately not even tried to tap into the presence that she knows she can, knowing that she can't survive the leashing experiment, and since then, their numbers have been decreasing.

Even though the others realized the same thing as her, it was hard not to use their power when they were literally on death’s door, so almost all of them gave in, and now she stood alone in the jar glass that once held ten, ready to drown for more times than she could count, her eyes looked down, completely devoid of light as she waited for the water to engulf her.

She waited and waited some more before a voice broke through.

"Subject 207, there has been a slight change in plans," she heard, almost sounding like he was being forced. "Approach the left glass," was all it said before clicking again, and she walked like she was a machine that was given an order.

The glass opened, and a man wearing a mask took off her binding as he led her somewhere she had never been to before. She saw a man and someone who looked like her conversing.

"She’s the only one left, you must protect her," she heard them keep talking like she wasn’t there. "Look, man, isn’t this phase supposed to make their brain understand that they need the power? What’s a better trigger than the battlefield?" the avatar said, sighing.

"The project was shut down, so I can't get any more subjects. I need to make this one succeed, so you bring her right back to the base or I will come out there myself," the man said, and Virey almost scoffed. It didn’t look like he was tight on lives when he killed 150 on the first day.

"Fine," the avatar said as he looked at her. "Come on," he said, and she didn’t need to be told twice—anything to get away from the madman.

The Na'vi led her to a narrow path, and she felt like she was on a ship before she was led to another white room and heard the door click shut behind her.

"The battlefield," she thought to herself before she scoffed. As if she would ever fight for them. She would gladly give her neck to the natives of the planet than be exposed to the experiment that killed nine of the people who had the power.

She moved and sat on the bed, thinking of the last time she had a bed—it was almost a year ago in the orphanage. They kept them like sheep in the experimentation place; the only thing they did was feed them well. She felt exhaustion crash over her as her head hit the pillow, and she gave in to it, her mind going blank as she closed her eyes.

.

She didn’t know how long she had slept when she heard the door open. She sprang up, wondering if it would still continue here without that madman, but it was just a human with a gun. She put the food tray down and turned to leave without a word.

She spent almost a month there in complete silence. They would bring her food three times a day and wouldn’t even come near her, and she didn’t question it. She gladly accepted this long-overdue break; she spent most of her time in Eywa’s presence, her mind felt like it was healing itself, and she had come to love it deeply as her wounds finally healed.

But today, an avatar was the one who brought her food, and what’s worse, he didn’t leave after.

She looked at him warily from where she sat, but the guy didn’t care as he continued. "We predict that we will find what we are looking for soon, so be ready to attack at any moment," he said before leaving, and Virey just scoffed in her head, praying that they just get crushed.

It was midday the next day when sirens started to go off in the ship before she felt it rock, but why, she thought. This couldn’t have been them coming to stop—it was like they ran into a rock or something. She heard yelling and gunfire come from above her before she heard her door click and the avatar walked in, hurrying her out.

"The ship’s controls were busted by the monkey, and now it’s all falling apart," he complained as he opened doors, leading her to the surface, but then it started to tilt, sending the two crashing into the wall.

Virey groaned as he urged her forward. She looked around for any escape she could, and then she saw it—an opening to the water as the ship fell apart.

The man paused before he started shooting at something in the distance, yelling to people that some kids were there, and when he concentrated on attacking them, she jumped into the water, swimming away as fast as she could without even looking back. Her head emerged to see the tilting ship, but she didn’t care as she swam to god knows where.

She saw a forest with big mountains and made her way there, pulling herself up out of the water.

She fell back on her back, laughing. Finally, she had made it out of there. She didn’t think she would make it out alive.

She looked down to see the white gown that she wore and stood back up, thinking that they would easily spot her in this dressing, and she started looking around at the trees.

She sighed as she started pulling down the vines with leaves. She looked around just to make sure before taking off her gown and wrapping as many vines as she could, but she still felt naked. Her face scrunched up as she looked down at herself—even though she was covering more than the Na’vi here do, she didn’t care.

.

She looked out towards where the ship was as the eclipse started and sighed before returning to the water and starting to swim towards it. She needed to see for herself that it had crumbled completely so that they would believe she had drowned.

She was hiding behind a big rock when a broken cry pulled her out of her thoughts. She turned to see a Na’vi woman crying with others surrounding her as a body lay limp in the middle.

"Neteyam," she heard a scream, and it sent chills down her spine, even with the distance between them.

.

Chapter Text

Kiri saw the door open and jumped up to walk toward Virey and took her arms. Kiri's eyes widened as she saw how badly they were trembling; she took her to the wall and sat her down, Virey's head falling on her shoulder when Kiri sat next to her, and she couldn’t help the gasp that escaped her when she felt Virey's entire body shaking against her, the girl's eyes clenched shut.

Kiri felt the tears swell in her eyes as she looked down at her violently trembling friend, she wrapped her hands around Virey, pulling her in as she desperately tried to comfort her.

For the next two months, Kiri could do nothing but watch as the life was sucked out of Virey's eyes.

On the days that the guy would call "special," Kiri's body would shake in fear until Virey limped in, holding her side with her eyes clenched before throwing her weight on the girl. Kiri couldn’t help but wonder if this was going to be their life now, and the thought alone would have bile creeping up her throat.

.

Tonowari and Jake were at their wits’ end as they sat in the chief’s marui. They had done everything they could think of to find even a clue, while Norm had been bending over backward, looking for any kind of signal he could catch.

"I don’t understand how we can’t find even a single trace. How fast could they be moving?" Tonowari said, sighing with his hand on his face, looking older than he did before.

Jake couldn’t understand anything either. At first, he had thought that they would ask for him in exchange or ask for some kind of resource, but it had been completely silent.

Aonung and Reyam just walked out, calling for their creatures, with the others behind them as they went out of the reef and toward where they were attacked.

But once they reached it, they just stood frozen, just like they always do, all of them recounting how they lost their sister and friend.

"This sucks," Lo’ak breathed out, his voice tight as he looked down. Reyam just bit his lip as he tried and failed for the hundredth time to recall anything. A hand rested on his shoulder; he turned to see Aonung’s tired face, then back at the water, before he just nodded and gripped the harness, and they all made their way back.

Reyam walked into his family’s marui to see his mom with a bowl in her hands like always. After he passed out from lack of sleep a month ago, his mother had taken him to the tsahik, who had given him something that would knock him out cold.

He took the bowl from his mother, but she didn’t leave until she saw him drink the entire thing.

The first three days, he had refused to drink it, saying, How could I possibly sleep peacefully when my other half is missing—when I failed her like that again?

He broke down for the second time that day, his mom holding him tight as she cried with him, begging her helpless mate for solutions he didn’t have. His father had to tell him how he would need his strength, telling him that he wouldn’t be able to save her if he was weakened as he desperately tried to reason with him.

Neteyam and Aonung were sitting in silence by the beach. Aonung was holding onto the armband his sister had made for him as they looked out at the ocean.

“What are we doing?” aonung choked out, turning to look into his mate's watery eyes. “what are we doing” he repeated before bringing him in his arms, wondering what the two girls were possibly going through at the moment as they held each other like the world was ending, the tears falling from their eyes on to the others shoulder.

The next day, they saw a human jet arrive, and Jake’s friend got off, greeting him with another two people. Tonowari greeted them and led them to the marui they had prepared for them, and they wasted no time setting everything up.

Norm had thought that it would be easier for him to pick up anything if he were closer to that area.

"Everything is set up," he said once they were done. "I will inform you if I get anything," and Tonowari and Jake nodded sharply before leaving and going to the chief’s marui, where Ronal and Neytiri were talking about something.

Ronal didn’t protest when Jake had raised this idea last week—she knew that they weren’t in a position to not compromise anything.

Norm and his two friends took shifts and scanned for anything and everything around the clock for a whole week, but they had still yet to cover all the areas surrounding them.

Norm startled when he heard the village erupt, and Norm said he would go out to see what it was after waking one of his friends.

The whole village was jumping into the ocean as they rushed toward the reef.

The tulkun had returned.

Aonung and his family entered the water, racing toward their tulkun as they jumped into the open sea, dragging their exhausted minds and bodies.

Tsireya swam away once she spotted her tulkun, and Aonung found Zuwin not long after, greeting his brother once he got close.

Zuwin made a worried sound as he looked at his brother’s face, and Aonung rushed to console him, saying that he was just tired.

But while he hesitated to tell him about it, he saw Mirai approach them excitedly, asking where her sister-to-be was.

It tore Aonung’s heart when he remembered how excited Virey was to bond with her—telling him how much she waited for this season to come.

His face contorted with pain as his hands reached for the back of his neck.

"Virey is…" he started to sign before hesitating. "She’s sick right now," he lied.

The tulkuns let out a collective sound of concern before he signed, "Could you two meet me in the morning tomorrow?"

Trying to buy himself time to figure out how to tell them, and the two noticed that—but they agreed to do so before Zuwin took Aonung, trying to comfort the boy as much as he could after Neteyam joined.

Reyam found Mikayra and rushed toward him.

The tulkun let out a worried noise when he noticed the man’s obvious distress, but Reyam just held onto his fin, asking him to take him away for now.

It was afternoon when Reyam sat on Mikayra’s fin, looking up at the bleeding sky—when he was asked about what was stressing him so much.

Reyam looked at his brother sadly before he sighed and turned to him—signing everything that had happened and feeling his chest grow lighter as he did.

Mikayra let out a pained cry when he finished telling him all about it, and Reyam smiled sadly before leaning his head above Mikayra’s eyes, exhaustion covering his face.

.

The next say Aonung and Neteyam made their way to where Virey would wait for Mirai and sat there as they waited.

Neteyam held onto the string of beads that Kiri had made for him.

"Kiri’s going to be so sad that she missed the season," Neteyam choked out “I miss her”, and Aonung gave him a sad look before bringing him into his arms.

"I know, I know," he said, trying his best to comfort his mate as they waited.

They saw the water rumble, and the two tulkuns emerged.

Neteyam and Aonung got on Zuwin’s fin as they left.

Mirai asked how Virey was and if she had recovered, but Aonung just looked away guiltily, not knowing how to begin—so he told them everything.

"The two of them were kidnapped," Aonung finished and clenched his eyes shut as Mirai made a sad sound, Zuwin following after.

Neteyam and Aonung assured them that they would do everything to rescue the girls, but they just sat back down on Zuwin’s fin, their heads hanging in defeat.

The two tulkun tried their best to cheer them up, but Neteyam and Aonung just asked if they could take them to the reef—and made their way to the chief’s marui.

.

Norms' feet pounded on the ground as he ran to the chief’s marui, bursting into the chief’s marui, where all of them were gathered.

"We found it," he wheezed out.

"We found out where the ship is."

The room went deathly quiet before everyone jumped to their feet, and no words were exchanged as he led them to his marui.

"They’re located way south from here. I think the ship is hidden behind some kind of mountain cave," Norm said as he showed them where it was on the expanded hologram.

Everyone’s attention turned to Aonung and Reyam, who were making their way to the door—and it was obvious what they were planning to do.

Jake caught them before they left the frame—turning them to face him.

"Boys, what are you doing?" he said, and Aonung gave him a glare.

"Isn’t it obvious? We’re going to go there," he said angrily.

"Both of you—get back here," Tonowari’s voice cut like a blade.

"This will be our one and only chance to save them, and I will not have it with any kind of act in defiance," he said, anger bubbling in his chest.

Their ears flattened as they looked down at the floor, aonung biting his lip as he faced his father, and Tonowari sighed as he looked at them.

"I understand that you want to get them out of there as fast as you can, but we all need to work together in this—not just go in with blind rage and possibly get everyone killed, including them."

The two of them looked at each other, then back at the floor as they nodded, their heads hanging as they walked back.

Tonowari wasted no time as he sent a small number of warriors to scout out the ship without being spotted, and they all discussed what they would do and how they could attack.

The warriors came back and confirmed that the location was correct.

None of them slept that night as they planned how they were going to attack.

The plan they came up with was for the second-in-command to lead the warriors on a frontal attack—with Neytiri, Lo’ak, and Neteyam giving them support—while Tonowari, Jake, Reyam, and Aonung would infiltrate the ship.

And once they got the girls—Jake would do what he did with the previous ship if he could.

It was dawn when all of them agreed, and Tonowari told his right-hand warrior about it—who said he would need only half a day to assemble everything.

.

Virey walked back into the room with her hair still damp, and Kiri helped her like she always did. The two of them hadn’t exchanged a single word since Virey asked to lean on her, and Kiri didn’t push—the girl she was holding already looked like she was walking on the edge, so even if she couldn’t do anything to help, she didn’t want to make anything worse by trying.

The two of them jolted up as the door opened, and the madman walked in with their food, making both their hairs stand.

He walked to them with the guys behind him following in with their guns. He crouched down in front of them and dropped the tray with a thud in front of them.

"You’re really testing my patience, 207," he said, his voice annoyed, before he sighed.

"Okay, then—I gave you more than enough time to show me that you were a success, so I will have to just assume you are one and continue to the next phase."

Virey stayed completely still as she took in the words that had just come out of his mouth.

The next phase.

The thought echoed in her head as images of the thinning numbers flashed through her mind, and fear filled her chest.

She wasn’t going to survive it—she knew that, even when she didn’t know what it was.

But her wide eyes calmed as she thought about it.

She would just be done with it all if she just died, right?

She wouldn’t need to feel pain—or fear—she wouldn’t need to struggle just to keep breathing without tugging at her stitches.

She would just be gone.

The realization settled in her chest, and she questioned why she had tried so hard to survive all this time.

Sure, she was extremely scared of the third phase that she knew nothing about—but wouldn’t dying in a week be better than whatever this was?

The man was still looking at her—waiting for her to say something for a while before standing up.

"Looks like we are going to part ways without you saying even a single word to me in almost a year and a quarter I’ve known you, huh, 207?" he said, looking away.

Gunshots echoed through the room, making the man turn as the ones behind him fell—pointing his own gun at the door.

Kiri and Virey looked toward it as well.

Kiri’s eyes swelled with tears when she saw her dad—his gun pointed at the man.

"Don’t move," the man said, pointing his gun at the girls behind him while his eyes stayed on Jake—who froze.

"Tell the ones behind you to come out," the man said, and shot one bullet at the floor—close to the girls—making Jake jolt before the three Metkayina emerged into the room.

Virey looked at the gun—then up at the man—who had all his attention on the people he was ordering to drop their weapons.

She brought her hands up to her mouth and bit into her finger with her canine.

She thought of how stupid the man in front of her must be—to turn his back when he knew all too well what the results of his experiment were.

The four of them in the front froze as they saw what the girl was doing.

"I said drop them," the man continued—completely oblivious to the bloodied finger pointed at him.

Virey wondered how he could have forgotten that he told them they could control their blood, he must belive that her powers hadn’t awakened, then why didn’t he want to proceed? She thought, probably because he liked torturing others, but she didn’t care enough to ask before she shot her blood right through his skull, piercing his brain.

The man’s extended hand faltered, and Jake didn’t wait as he grabbed his gun and fired at him.

Virey’s hands fell back to her side as the man’s knees hit the floor, before falling flat on his face.

This was it. The person responsible for all this was finally gone.

But even as she watched the crimson pouring out of him, she didn’t feel anything.

Not sad—or happy—just a void that refused to go away.

Kiri all but ran into her father’s arms.

"What took you so long?" she sobbed out. "What took you so long, Dad?" she asked, her head on his shoulder.

Jake’s eyes watered as he looked at his daughter.

"I’m sorry," he said, patting her head closer to him as he fought back tears.

"I’m so, so sorry."

Tonowari made his way to his still daughter, who looked up at him before he fell to his knees next to her, hugging her with Aonung and Reyam on her side.

A single tear fell down her face as she leaned into her father, biting her lip as another continued.

“Dad.” The word left her mouth in a whimper, her throat raw from not speaking for so long.

Tonowari pressed his lips together as he looked down at the girl.

“Yes,” he said, fighting back tears. “Yes, I’m here.” His chin rested on the top of her head.

"We need to leave as fast as we can," Jake said—still patting the head of the girl in his arms.

And Tonowari nodded.

Virey let out a pained groan, holding her bandaged side as Aonung pulled on it when he tried to get her off the floor.

Aonung let go of her, taking a startled step back as Kiri looked up from where her head was on her father.

"Be careful," she said, pulling everyone’s gaze.

"She’s really hurt. I don’t think she can walk on her own," she said—a sob escaping her as she looked down at the girl who was still sitting on the floor, her eyes clenched as she held her side.

Tonowari picked her up carefully, before putting her legs down on the floor slowly.

Reyam slung Virey’s arm over her uninjured side—the air returning to his lungs now that she was finally with him.

But they all stopped after reaching the door, looking back to see Virey still staring at the man's body.

Reyam tugged at her, but she stayed rooted in place. His eyes followed her line of sight to see the man on the floor, and he knew his mate well enough to understand what was happening.

He touched Ao’nung, who turned his confused gaze from his sister to her mate. Reyam took the arm Ao’nung had slung around himself and placed it on Ao’nung, directing him on how to hold her.

“What are you…” Jake started, confused as he watched the scene unfold—but his voice died as he saw Reyam take the blade from his chest, his hard eyes locked onto the man as he walked toward him.

Reyam grabbed the man by his hair, walking away from the group before turning to face them—raising the man that was already dead by his hair.

Jake watched as the face of the man he had just shot was lifted into the air, Reyam’s hard eyes focused only on his mate, who was watching silently.

Then, with one fluid motion, Reyam brought the hand holding the knife to the man's neck and cut it open.

The blood didn’t reach them as it sprayed from his throat—Reyam had walked away to ensure that—but only so he could cut again, successfully detaching the head from the body.

He saw the shift in his mate’s eyes, and without hesitation, he threw the head away and made his way to her, taking her from her reluctant brother as he pressed her as close to him as he could.

With the final closure she needed, her legs started to move as he led her to the door, following the others out.

Kiri walked on her own, trying and failing to calm herself, tears streaming down her face as they walked out.

Tonowari, Jake, and Aonung led them, slicing necks and shooting at anyone who approached them—

Before they finally reached where they entered from.

"You all need to get to safety," Jake said, reloading his gun. "I need to blow this thing up, make sure that this doesn’t happen again," he said, and Tonowari nodded, calling for his skimwings and taking his daughter from her mate.

She had yet to say a single word since they found her, and it was obvious that everyone noticed that. And on top of that, it was seriously unsettling how she would look at them like she was staring past them—her face devoid of any emotion as they made their way as far away from the ship as they could.

Tonowari sent the signal for retreat once he saw Jake jump into the water—only for the ship to crumble moments later, the water becoming unsettled under them before they reached their village.

The warriors celebrated the victory under the bleeding sky.

Kiri was inconsolable as she hugged her mother tightly—Jake and her brothers hugging her firmly—and she only stopped crying when she passed out from exhaustion.

Jake looked down at his daughter in his arms with a worried expression as he carried her to the marui—laying her on the mat that had been cold for the past three months.

Aonung hugged his sister close, but she had her arms wrapped around herself—like she couldn’t believe she was here.

Before letting go for his father to take her into his arms—Tsireya jumping in as well, and he couldn’t help but follow.

Ronal just smiled as she looked at her family—before joining in.

They stayed like that—on the family marui porch—before Tonowari saw Reyam standing there, waiting silently as he gave them this moment.

And Tonowari smiled at the man—before shaking the children off and calling him.

Reyam startled out of his haze before he approached her—Tsireya and a protesting Aonung led away by Ronal.

Reyam looked down at the girl in her father’s arms—then up at him.

Tonowari just nodded at him, and Reyam leaned down—Virey’s eyes growing incredibly sad once they found his.

And he couldn’t help the choked sound that escaped him as he brought his face close to hers—nuzzling against hers as he desperately tried to cheer her up.

"Give her time, Reyam," Tonowari said as the man leaned back up.

"We don’t even know what the poor girls have been through," he said, bringing his daughter close to his chest before he got up—Aonung and Tsireya returning.

Reyam nodded at him—not knowing what else to do.

"I’m going to go lay her down," Tonowari said—and headed to her marui with her in his arms, whispering apologies to her, Ronal following behind him and holding the cloth that covered the door open.

Tonowari laid her down on her mat—only to realize that she had already fallen asleep in his arms.

"I would have liked to check the both of them for injuries," Ronal said, worry clear on her face as Tonowari pulled her in with one hand.

"Let them rest for today—they looked incredibly exhausted," he said, wincing at the image of how the two were huddled together when they found them.

.

Jake woke up to Kiri’s voice the next day.

He jolted up to see a crying Kiri, crouching by the wall as her knees were pulled to her chest.

He stood up to walk toward her, the others waking up as well.

"Where is she?" was all that Kiri said—clearly, everything had taken a mental toll on her.

Jake slowed down—his arms stretching.

"Kiri—everything’s alright. You got out of there," he said—approaching carefully with the others behind him doing the same.

"I need to be with her. Taken. She’s going to leave."

It was obvious that she was seeing right through them—her tear-blurred eyes didn’t even register where she was.

Jake’s chest tightened as he looked at his daughter, realizing just how serious of a situation this was.

"Okay, it’s okay—I’ll take you to her, okay?" Jake said—trying his best to calm her down.

But all that did—was make her even more frantic.

"Take you to her."

The words echoed in Kiri’s head.

"Do you want me to take your friend here?" The man’s grating voice repeated in her brain.

She held her ears with her hands—as her head went between her knees— she didn’t even realise that she was screaming.

All she could think about was that the madman was going to make good on his threat.

Show her what had made her friend so shaken. She couldn’t register that it was her father. The whole family was silent.

No one understood what the hell was going on as they looked down at their daughter.

Neytiri rushed to her daughter’s side, taking her in her arms.

But Kiri just couldn’t calm down.

“What is this?” Neytiri said, looking at her daughter before turning to her mate, screaming, “WHAT IS THIS?”

Jake had to call Norm so he could give her a sleeping medicine, fearing that Kiri could break if this continued.

Her eyes finally shut—and Kiri fell into her mother’s hands.

Norm looked up at Jake—completely puzzled. "What the hell happened in there?" Jake said—to himself more than anyone.

Lo’ak and Neteyam just exchanged a horrified look. They had never seen Kiri like this—not even close.

While she was out cold—Jake carried Kiri, but Neytiri stopped him from going out—with a questioning look.

"She obviously needs to be with her. But she was horrified to even go," Jake said—trying to make sense of it but failing.

"If I don’t take her now—it might happen again when she wakes up," he said—practically just guessing—because none of this made sense.

The whole family walked out with him—as they made their way to the chief’s house at the crack of dawn.

Tonowari stepped out of the frame to see the whole Sully family standing there. He gave Jake a confused look as he glanced at the girl in his arms.

Jake sighed as he looked down at her before shaking his head at the chief. Tonowari invited them in, and they all followed him into the marui, where Ronal, Aonung, and Tsireya were waiting as well.

Jake told them everything that had happened when Kiri was awake.

"She was completely inconsolable," he exhaled. "It’s like her mind is stuck in there but nothing she says makes sense. I had to call Norm so he could put her to sleep."

Everyone’s face grew with concern as they listened.

"One thing she kept asking for was where Virey was but it just made it worse when I told her I’d take her there but nothing is making sense," his frustration bubbled up to the surface as he spoke.

Tonowari and Ronal exchanged a look before she spoke.

"Let me check her for injuries first. I don’t think she’s awake yet," she said as she walked to the frame, everyone following behind her—but only Tonowari and Aonung stepped into the room.

Ronal walked toward the girl, freezing when she jolted awake.

"Hello, child," she said as she slowly got closer to her.

But Virey said nothing, looking through Ronal.

Ronal knelt down next to her, brushing the hair on her daughter’s forehead.

"I’m going to see if you’re hurt anywhere, okay?" she said and continued when she got no reply.

She started at her head and neck, moving down to her arms and legs before she got to her waist and saw the white, tight bandage there.

She slowly undid it and moved to the final patch on her side—her eyes widening as she saw multiple new scars, but what had really shaken her was the deep cuts that had been stitched together.

Aonung covered his mouth, his eyes wide as he turned around, walked out of the marui, and brushed past Lo’ak, who tried to ask, bile making its way up as he went behind it, where he threw up the breakfast he had eaten. Neteyam and his family exchanged looks before he made his way to him.

Neteyam patted his back as he dry heaved at the image of it—drawing the concerned look of everyone who was there.

"What the fuck is going on here?" Lo’ak said, stepping back. "What the hell happened in that ship?"

His eyes glued to the boy who had just walked out—then to his sister in their father’s hands.

Jake just brought the girl closer into him—hugging her as he looked at Aonung, who was trying to calm himself.

His eyes were wide when he was finally able to push down the nausea creeping up—just enough that he could lean back up and turn to face a worried Neteyam.

"What is it, Ao’? What happened?" Neteyam asked but Aonung just bent again at the mention of it, feeling the pain in his chest explode.

Neteyam pressed his lips together as he looked at him—taking his hand when Aonung finally leaned back up again.

And the two walked back to the group—who knew better than to ask.

Ronal gave her mate a concerned look as she put the human bandage back on.

Virey's hands hit her mother's away when she accidentally tugged on it, her eyes tearing up as she groaned out.

“Please, please,” she unconsciously begged as her hands held her injured side, her eyes clenched shut as she turned her body to the side.

Ronal winced apologetically as she looked at her with worry.

“I'm sorry, my child,” she said, pushing the hair on Virey's forehead away before kissing it and waling back to her mate.

Virey curled up, her hands holding the bandaged side as she leaned on her shoulder—her mat under her.

Tonowari had to look away when he saw the wound on his daughter.

His face colored with horror, as his nose scrunched up.

The two of them walked out of the marui, facing Jake.

"Tsireya," Ronal said to her daughter. "Could you please bring Kiri a sleeping mat?" she said, and Tsireya nodded before going to her family’s marui—bringing a mat and leading Jake in as she laid it in the corner.

Jake hugged his daughter tightly to his chest before laying her on the mat, brushing her hair behind her shoulder, before he stood up.

His eyes found the curled-up girl on the other end—his brows furrowed as he looked at the two girls—before walking out of the marui.

Tonowari, Jake, Ronal, and Neytiri made their way to the chief’s marui—Aonung and Neteyam, following them as they refused to leave.

Jake sighed as he rubbed his face harshly—the whole room was completely silent.

"What happened to them in the three months that we failed them?" Jake’s voice was broken to his own ears as he spoke.

"Right now, we can’t help them," Ronal said, attracting their gazes. "We don’t know anything, we might end up making them worse if we just poke around," she continued.

"All we can do is wait," Tonowari said. "We can’t do anything but wait. Again," he stressed the last word like he hated it.

.

It was midday when the two fathers entered Virey's marui again, and both of them froze when they looked at the two in front of them.

Virey was still curled up on one side, with one of her hands wrapped around her waist, while Kiri was seated next to her, her grip tight on Virey's free wrist as she leaned against the wall, her knees pulled to her chest, her eyes fixed on them.

Jake walked to her slowly, sitting next to her as his hands wrapped around her shoulders, bringing her in. Tonowari did the same—he walked to his daughter and sat next to her, his hands finding her hair, trying to soothe her in any way.

Aonung and Neteyam walked in, their hands full of food as they laid it in front of the girls. Virey sat up like it was a reflex, her head landing on Kiri's shoulder, and Kiri laying her head on hers as they reached for the food in front of them.

Tonowari and Jake looked at them, completely horrified—they were sitting just like the day they had found them in that ship.

They looked up at the boys to see that Aonung had noticed it too, before they all got up and left.

"What was that?" Neteyam said as he got off the porch.

But Aonung just fell silent—the realization of how serious this was sinking in, and the other two had had it as well.

.

It was late in the morning when Kiri was finally able to believe that they were out of there—that it wasn’t a dream or something else.

She breathed deeply as she took in the marui, turning her head to the window.

But even then—she couldn’t help the jolt of her body when she heard someone enter the marui.

She turned to see Aonung and Neteyam walking in without a word and laying it down. She saw Virey's hand reach out from where she was laying against her.

She looked up at the retreating backs of the boys and said, "Stay."

Aonung and Neteyam froze, looking at each other before turning to see the girl behind them.

They walked back to them and sat facing them as the two ate in silence.

"Would you—" Neteyam started carefully, pulling Kiri's gaze. "Like to come with us?" he finished.

And Kiri just stared at him for a moment before looking down at the girl leaning on her, then back at her brother, shaking her head no.

And Neteyam didn’t push—already thankful for what had happened—as he walked out of the marui.

"I think the only way we can find out anything," Neteyam started once they were out of earshot, "is to wait for Kiri to tell us—even though the girl could barely speak right now," he said, wincing at the memory.

"Eywa," Aonung said, his hands finding his face. "At this point, I don’t think I even want to know," he finished.

And Neteyam just brought him to his chest, unable to deny that he felt the same way.

The two of them walked along the shore, trying to enjoy the breeze—until they found Reyam walking toward them.

The boy stopped when he reached them—and shifted around.

"She’s fine, Reyam," Neteyam just answered—and winced as he added, "Physically, anyways. For now, all we can do is wait."

And Reyam just looked at the sand—all he wanted to do was run to her marui and hug the life out of her.

But he knew this situation was much more serious. He saw it in her eyes that day.

"Please just…know that I’m here if she needs anything," he exhaled.

And the two just smiled at him—before patting his shoulder as they passed by.

.

It was midday the next day when Kiri finally let go of Virey's wrist, which didn’t go unnoticed by the two boys who were eating with them in the marui. And Virey didn’t react—she just kept her head on Kiri's shoulder as she ate, but what was different was how she went back to curl up in her own mat instead of sleeping on Kiri's shoulder.

But Kiri stayed right next to her as the girl slept, both her arms wrapped around her waist.

Neteyam and Aonung watched with wide eyes as the scene unfolded in front of them, Neteyam's eyes softening as he saw his worried sister keep checking again and again that Virey was still there.

"She’ll be okay, Kiri," he said in a low voice. "No one's going to take her anywhere," he added, before walking out with his mate, the light in Kiri's eyes returning slowly.

"I think they separated them a lot or something," Aonung said as he tried to make sense of what he had just seen.

"Yes, but would Kiri really react that badly if they just put them in different cells? She's acting like Virey would be killed if she left her alone," Neteyam concluded.

The two boys tried to shake off their theories, knowing they were useless in this situation, where mistakes could actually do irreparable damage.

The next day, Aonung and Neteyam stopped in their tracks when they saw Kiri get up with them, her face filled with worry as she looked at the door, then back at the girl.

"Don’t worry—there will be two warriors, they won’t let anyone in," Neteyam said in a hurry, trying not to lose this chance.

And Aonung didn’t waste time as he went out and fetched Reyam and Naran.

Kiri stayed rooted in place until Reyam walked in, and she saw Naran standing at the front door.

Reyam got closer to the curled-up girl, who raised her head to look at him.

His hands found her neck as he slowly took her into his arms, laying her head on his chest as he lay down with her.

But Virey didn’t move—she just took what he was offering, closing her eyes as she listened to his heart.

Reyam's eyes only left her for a moment, assuring Kiri that she would be okay.

His eyes went back to her face once the three of them walked out. His hands reached for the pouch on his side, taking out the necklace that he kept with him. He slowly tied it around her neck, laying the stones before he nuzzled his face against her, his eyes growing sad as he looked at the sleeping girl.

Kiri didn’t go too far—she only walked to the shore of the chief’s house, feeling the sand under her feet as she sat.

The two men joined her quietly, swallowing down the questions on their tongues.

Kiri didn’t speak a word to them until the afternoon came around, the sky bleeding orange as she looked up at it.

Jake walked to his daughter in surprise when he saw them sitting down next to her, with Tonowari following.

He shot Neteyam a questioning look, but the boy just shook his head.

"You want to know, don’t you?" Kiri said, startling everyone—her voice raspy and raw from not speaking for so long.

Her knees pulled to her chest as her head rested on them—her eyes finding her dad’s soft ones.

"Yes, Kiri," he said in a low and careful tone. "We need to know—so we can help you."

Kiri just silently stared at him, making everyone hold their breath, before her head faced the open ocean again.

"Okay," she said in a small voice—her eyes stayed on the ocean as she spoke slowly.

"After we were trapped in the jets, they shot us with something that made us fall asleep. When we woke up, we were in the room you found us," she said, swallowing.

"Virey told me not to say anything—and that we were being watched in sign language. I think that frustrated them—because they didn’t understand," she paused again, taking a deep breath to continue.

"Some men walked in—and I’m sure there was some mad scientist—because how he spoke was…" she said, chills running down her spine.

"He acted like he knew Virey," she said, and turned to Tonowari. "He called her Subject 207."

Jake completely froze when he heard what she had just said—his hand flying to his mouth in disbelief, desperately trying to convince himself that humanity couldn’t have fallen that far yet.

But Kiri remained oblivious as she continued. "He asked her how she could have just left him like that a year ago. But through it all, she just remained silent. He left that day, saying something about how she has always been like this, but how he couldn’t wait for them to ‘play’ like they used to.”

"Something was seriously wrong with him," Kiri said—her arms wrapping around herself at the memory of him.

"They came back the next day, the guy was all excited about 'getting started' as he urged her to get up, but when she didn’t," her voice was closing in on her as she recalled it all.

"He threatened to take me instead," she croaked out and his eyes grew wide before Jake brought her into his arms, holding her tightly around her protectively as he stared at the others.

"So she left, she stood up and walked out with them. I can still hear the door closing shut," Kiri said as her hands flew to her ears. Neteyam felt like he was being choked as he looked into his sister’s eyes.

"I don’t know how long it had been when she returned, she had a bandage on her side and I had to help her walk to the wall. She asked me that day," She said, a helpless sob tore through her chest. "Can I lean on you, and that was the last time she ever spoke."

Jake brought her closer, cradling her as he patted her back. Aonung was trying his best to swallow down the nausea that was trailing up his chest as the images of what was under that bandage came to his mind.

"They come in to take her like that at least once every week, and sometimes she would come back completely wet, even coughing up water, I don’t know what was happening, but one day the guy came in talking about how special the day was," Kiri said. The hairs on her body stood as she remembered it, her nails digging into her arms.

"I still remember how scared she was, she was so scared, but she still followed them anyway because she knew what would happen if she didn’t." Kiri was silent after that, her brain threatening to shut down, but she still continued.

"When she came back that day, she was shaking so much, even after sitting down her body trembled like the ground was shaking." Kiri made a gagging sound as her hands flew to her mouth, her body trembling as she remembered it all.

"After that day whenever the guy would take her calling it a special day, my body would shake as I waited, even though I wasn’t going through it, just the image of how she was going to be when she came back shook me to my core," she said, looking at her trembling hands before balling them into fists.

"I was there with her, alright. I watched as they threatened her with me to follow them, and every time, she came back limping with either more bandages or hair damp in water, I watched as the light left her eyes little by little."

Neteyam couldn’t help but join his father, as if the two were holding what was left of her sanity with everything they had.

"Just before you all came to save us he was talking about how he was sad that he never heard her voice in the year and quarter they knew each other as he told her about 'going forward with the next phase' like he was telling her that she was going to die and she knew it," Kiri finished as her body went limp, the night sky stretching above them.

"All I could do was watch as they killed her more and more every week," she scoffed. "We can even say that I contributed to it, seeing as to how I served as the perfect leash." Her voice was completely devoid of any humor as she said it.

Jake pulled her back in complete horror, looking into the eyes that were seeing through him instead of at him, before he hugged her back.

He made a mistake—he should have stopped her because she clearly wasn’t ready to talk about it.

"No, you’re wrong, Kiri. Neither of you could have done anything," he said desperately, but Kiri wasn’t listening; her mind shut itself down a while ago, but Jake still continued. "It was us, we were the ones," he started, but his voice died in his throat.

Tonowari and Aonung were just staring out, trying to process what the girl had just told them.

"Everything about this is just wrong," Aonung said, trying to make sense of it all, but he felt like he was losing his mind.

A sob tore through Kiris chest, pulling everyone's concerned looks before another continued, jake held her as he fought back his own tears “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry” he said, cradling her as he tried to calm her down, but her violent cry’s didn’t stop, not until norm was called again to put her to sleep.

“What is going on here?” Norm said once he was done, looking up at the faces that were looking away. Jake pulled a sharp breath before telling him everything, and Norm's eyes were wide in horror. Aonung had to leave in the middle of it, not trusting himself not to throw up then and there.

Norm looked at Jake before looking back down at the girl. “I think it's best if we keep her sedated for the time being,” he said, concern lacing his voice. “She can’t keep on exhausting herself like this,” he added as he looked up at jake, who just nodded at him.

“I think it's best if I take her back,” jake said, picking up his daughter before looking at Tonowari, who just gave him a nod, too concerned for his own daughter.

.

The next day, the food in Aonung’s hand fell when he entered Virey’s marui and saw she wasn’t there.

She wasn’t there.

He called out to his mom as he hurried towards her, his eyes wide as he told her that Virey wasn’t in the marui.

Ronal’s eyes grew in size as she listened to her son, running to her mate while Aonung went to the training ground, asking the kids there to look for her. They agreed as they jumped into the water to do so.

Tonowari and Ronal did the same as every free person went out to look for her.

Aonung found Reyam on his way back, who stopped him from jumping into the water.

"What the hell are you doing?" Aonung said from where he was stopped.

"Let’s look for her in the forest, there’s a place that she always goes to, everyone is out in the water anyway," he said, and that got through to Aonung as he made his way into the forest, Reyam leading him to the clearing that she always took him to.

And sure enough, she was there.

Aonung stared at the sight in front of him. Just like the night he found her with Kiri, the grass was moving as if the ground was breathing with the girl in the middle, pure spirits of the forest floating around her, three of them resting on her as she slept.

The spirits dispersed as Aonung and Reyam got close to her. And for the first time since she came back, the frown on her face was gone as she slept in the middle.

The two of them looked at each other, and no words were exchanged as they agreed not to disturb her.

Aonung sat next to her as Reyam went back to the village to inform them that they had found her, telling Ronal and Tonowari about the situation and how Aonung was with her.

The two of them nodded before Reyam made his way back to the forest and sat next to Aonung in the soft grass as the two waited for the sleeping girl to wake up.

Virey’s eyes fluttered open. She rose up from where she was sleeping and looked up at the afternoon sky from where she sat on the ground.

She heard rustling to her side and turned to see the boys staring back at her, wide-eyed, like they had no idea what to say.

She blinked at them, her face blank as they waited for her to say something, but sighed as they stood up.

They looked down at the girl who was still sitting as they waited for her to follow, but she just stared back at them.

Aonung’s eyes grew soft as he looked at his sister, stretching his hand out for her to use so she could get up.

But Virey just stared at the hand he extended silently.

The two of them couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on, but remained silent as they waited.

Virey held his hand in one and her bandaged side with the other as she rose up, Reyam helping her as he held her shoulders.

And the three of them made their way back to the village, matching Virey’s slow pace in silence all the way to her marui, only leaving after they saw her enter.

.

For the next two days, Aonung had entered Virey’s marui and assumed she had gone to the clearing when he didn’t find her.

But it was nighttime now as he looked out the window and saw that his sister was sitting by the shore, looking out at the open ocean, her face void of emotion as she took in the scenery.

Aonung wanted to go and join her, but he ultimately decided to give her the time alone, thinking that that was why she had been leaving her marui alone.

"Could you come help me grind some herbs?" he heard his mother call.

And with one last look out the window, he made his way to the tsahik’s section.

.

Virey sat there, looking out at the ocean as she felt the sand under her.

She couldn’t tell you how long she sat there or why, but she was just there, staring into the ocean for Eywa knows how long.

She stood up, taking off her bracelet and hair accessory as she placed them next to her.

Her hands reached for her neck—Reyam had put it back on her the day Kiri left—but her fingers paused from where they were reaching to untie it before sliding back to the rare and beautiful stone, her fingers touching it like it was something delicate as she looked down at it.

This was going to stay with her, she decided.

She took out the leather strap that held her hair back, now letting it fall down her back as some of the strands in the front hugged her cheek, before her hand fell back to her side.

A long exhale left her lips before her legs started walking, the water reaching up to her knees, then to the waterproof bandage, up to her shoulders until it finally covered her head—her thoughts fading as she gave in to the cold water.

.

Aonung was flexing his arms tiredly as he walked to his quarters, ready to crash, but something stopped him just as he was about to enter. He walked back slowly and decided to see if his sister was there. He couldn’t tell you why even if he wanted to, but something was urging him to do so.

He went back to his previous spot and sat, deciding that he would go to sleep after seeing his sister return, but he couldn’t find her when he looked out. He stood up fast, trying to convince himself that maybe she had just gone back to her marui, but he couldn’t help the resigned look on his sister’s face as she stared out at the ocean.

His hands were trembling as he walked to where he had seen her sitting, looking around the area, and his breath left him when he saw her bracelet and the other accessories she wore placed neatly on the sand.

His legs raced into the water, even though he was telling himself that it wasn’t possible—that he was just imagining things. He swam, his head going under the surface, looking around frantically before he saw a glowing golden light pull his gaze, and the air trapped in his lungs escaped him when he saw Virey just lying underwater as multiple small golden fish surrounded her, her eyes closed as her hair danced with the waves.

Aonung didn’t go back to reclaim the air. He dived in for his sister, his arms going under her shoulders as he swam back up with her.

"Dad!" he yelled out as soon as his head broke the surface, pulling his sister’s limp body to the shore.

"Dad! Please! I need your help!" he said, the tears streaming down his face.

Tonowari and Ronal raced out of the marui as they heard their son’s voice, freezing when they saw his face, then down to see who was in his arms.

Tonowari took the unconscious girl from his son’s trembling hands, Ronal passing a confused Tsireya as she quickly made her way to the tsahik’s room, Tonowari following behind as he laid his daughter on the mat, leaving his mate to do her work as he went out to console his son.

He found Aonung on the beach, where he had taken Virey from him.

The boy was sitting on the sand, the tears in his eyes clear as his hands held Virey’s accessories, looking down at them as he fiddled with them in his hands.

Tonowari looked at his son sadly before sitting down next to him silently, his hands tightening on his son’s shoulder.

"What happened?" Aonung croaked out. "What was that, Dad?" he said, the tears unleashing again.

"Oh, my son," Tonowari said as he hugged him, the boy shaking in his arms.

He knew what it was.

He knew what she was trying to do.

.

Virey’s eyes slowly opened as Ronal finished what she was doing.

Her chest radiated with familiar pain, telling her all she needed to know about what had happened.

Her eyes closed tightly shut when they landed on her mother’s worried ones, biting her lip as she turned her head away.

Ronal looked down at the girl—the way her eyes turned sad rather than relieved when she realized she was still alive was really starting to scare Ronal.

She looked out to see her daughter leaning on the frame.

She cleared her throat as she spoke.

"Go get your father and brother for me, dear."

Tsireya nodded and returned with the two behind her.

"She’s awake and well. Thankfully, Aonung got to her before it was too long," she said, and it was like the air returned to Aonung, from where it had been knocked out of him in the water.

He didn’t say anything as he passed by his parents and entered the quarters where his sister was in.

He sank down while leaning on the wall, his head tilting to look up at the ceiling, sighing as he closed his eyes.

Tonowari and Ronal said nothing—they understood that their son needed this closure.

"If anything happens, son—just call out to us, and we will be here," Ronal said.

And Aonung barely acknowledged it with a hum before Ronal and Tonowari walked away, their confused daughter tucked at their side.

.

For the past five days, Aonung hadn’t left Virey alone in any instance, even pulling a confused Reyam into his plans. The two of them literally slept on the porch of Virey’s marui, taking turns bringing food to her and themselves.

Aonung didn’t tell Reyam about what happened by the beach days ago, but Reyam still complied, and Tonowari excused the two from their duties around the village, knowing that their minds would be absent even if he forced them to work. It wasn’t that they were holding her hostage in her marui or anything, they were just following her around literally everywhere, even now as Virey sat silently on the beach, both of them sat on either side of her.

"Do you want to know what happened?" Virey said, and the souls of the two boys almost left their bodies. Her voice was low and raspy because she hadn’t spoken in nearly four months, but that was also what freaked them out, and they both swallowed as they nodded their heads, too scared to break her trance if they spoke.

"Hmmm," Virey continued, deciding where to start, so she just went all the way to the beginning, telling them how the RDA even got to her in the first place.

"He told us we were essentially dead like it was nothing," she continued. She doesn’t know what came over her to make her spill her story like some desperate man who was going to die tomorrow, but she continued telling them each and every detail.

"So 150 of us died even when we couldn’t feel the pain, just by watching," she continued, telling them how they were opened up when they were still conscious.

"But once a month, he would do something to ‘up the mental stress’, huh," she said, looking up into the sky, a broken smile spreading across her face as she turned her tilted head to her brother. "He would call it the ‘special day’, can you believe it?" she scoffed, The smile stayed on her face as she told them how they could feel the pain and gloved hands while the rest of them were paralyzed, how their minds clouded in fear and pain with no outlet. Aonung body starteled to tremble as he listened, his mind racing as his body froze.

"From 57 subjects, only 10 of us lived from the second phase," she continued to spill her guts like that, telling them that she had drowned multiple times.

"The person who had used their powers died in a week, you’d think that they would treat the success like gold, right?" she continued, laughing. "But a dog that can turn on you would best be put down if he resists the leash."

Reyam just couldn’t take it at that, he hugged her, his eyes wide from the horror story she was telling them as her life, but she continued like nothing mattered anymore.

"So from the 10 that first got in that glass jar, only I was able to resist the screams of my instincts, so the day came when I stood in it alone, ready to drown again."

A single tear flowed down from her eye, but her broken laugh remained. "I can still feel the scalpel tearing into me, even though Ronal took out the stitches," she raised her hands to her side. "His gloved hand moving my flesh as he dragged his fingers against them." Reyam gagged as he listened to her, his stomach flipping around.

"Then I found out that the project was shut down and that he couldn’t get any more subjects, he sure as hell didn’t act like it," she said, telling them how she was transferred to some ship and thankfully left alone for a whole month.

"Until, of course, they came to face you in battle, the guy fetched me from the room I didn’t leave since arriving, taking me up as he complained about how everything was going to hell," she told them how she escaped and found the forest.

"That day, if Payakan didn’t tear the ship apart, then I was going to give my neck to you guys as a final fuck you, but I guess fate said jokes on you to the humans, huh," she said, laughing out loud, but the two of them weren’t laughing, they were barely even breathing as they listened.

"So yeah, when I went back to see the ship, that was when I saw Neteyam’s body with his mom crying for him, and the rest is history as you know it," she concluded, applauding herself as she clapped her hands softly like this was a laughing matter.

Reyam hugged the girl in his arms closer, holding down the sobs that were about to spill from him, tearing his eyes from the sand to Aonung, who looked physically ill right now.

 Aonung covered half of his face with his hands as he tried to breathe, swallowing down the nausea crawling up his throat before looking up at his sister, who was looking at him with an unsettling small smile on her face. Her maniacal laugh slowly disappeared as the void returned in her eyes.

He realized then and there that they couldn’t help her, this was too big to see and try their luck at it. If Kiri was left like that by just talking about what she saw, then how was Virey going to be?

Since Kiri had told them about what happened, she had been inconsolable whenever she woke, and so Norm had been giving her a steady dose to keep her asleep so that she wouldn’t exhaust herself more than she already had. And now that he heard of what his sister had been through, it had him feeling like he was about to collapse.

To think that she was shoving down this much pain and for none of them to even have a clue about this in all the time they spent with her, it was making him feel dizzy just thinking about it. But now she was telling them everything that she had been keeping from them. Aonung looked into the eyes of the girl who was in her mate’s arms, but he couldn’t figure out anything as he looked at her.

Reyam looked at the girl in his arms, who was now leaning her head on his chest as she looked out at the ocean, the unsettling smile replaced with the stone face that she had since she came back.

Reyam’s desperate eyes found Aonung’s, who had just closed his eyes before moving to stand up. Reyam followed, carrying the girl in his hands to her marui and laying her down on her mat. She looked up at him with empty eyes before she turned to curl up, her tail going around her waist as her hands followed.

Aonung and Reyam walked out onto the porch and sat down before Aonung got up, hurrying behind the marui as he emptied his stomach from the dinner he had, but the nausea didn’t go away. Reyam looked away, not wanting to implicate the chief’s son in his moment of weakness, and who was he to judge?

The only reason he wasn’t right next to him was because he hadn’t eaten anything for dinner yet, and it seemed like he wouldn’t be eating—not after everything he had heard today.

Chapter Text

Tonowari stood in front of the boys sleeping on his daughter’s porch, looking down at them before flicking their foreheads.

The two of them startled awake—they hadn’t slept properly for the last three nights after everything they heard and had only managed to close their eyes two hours ago today.

They rubbed their foreheads as they straightened to see the chief in front of them.

Reyam stood straight as he greeted him, and so did Aonung when his brain finally caught up.

Tonowari’s eyes zeroed in on the two of them.

"Did something happen to the two of you? You haven’t been well for the past three days," he asked, concern lacing his voice, but they just shifted around from where they stood, their eyes looking anywhere but at him.

He sighed when they gave him no reply and continued with the reason for his approach.

"You’re coming with me today, son," Tonowari said, and Aonung opened his mouth to protest, but Tonowari raised his hand. "Reyam will be here with her, so she’ll be fine. Come on with me."

Aonung just looked down before he ran off to drag a warrior in training, saying it was just to be safe before he went with his father.

.

It was midday when Reyam was jolted out of his haze by Virey’s voice. It was rare these days.

He turned to see the girl who had called for him and spoke.

"Yes, my love, do you need something?" he asked softly, and Virey looked at him with sad eyes before she spoke. "I’m hungry."

Reyam paused for a moment. Of course, she was hungry; it was midday, and she hadn’t even had anything to drink yet.

He was going to make his way to the food storage before he paused and looked back at the marui and the guard at the door, hesitating before he shook his sleep-deprived head and quickly made his way to the food storage.

Virey looked at Reyam’s disappearing back before she stood up and made her way to the guard at the door, who startled when he looked at her.

"Will you please go and fetch my brother for me?" she said, and when he hesitated, she added, "There’s something important that he needs to know."

The guy just shifted around, looking away before he nodded yes and turned to leave.

"I’m sorry, brother," she muttered under her breath, taking off every accessory she was wearing except her necklace and putting it down on the porch.

Virey exhaled a long sigh before she got off the porch and looked back at the village once before she disappeared behind the trees.

.

Aonung was talking to his father and Jake about the training that the warriors should undergo. Neteyam was standing behind his dad, listening intently as they spoke and sometimes giving ideas when aerial combat came up, before Aonung paused mid-sentence.

The three others turned to see a man approaching them.

"Sir," the guy started once he closed in. "Your sister wanted me to call you because she said there was something you should know," he reported, and Jake and Neteyam looked back at him, confused by why he looked so distressed.

"Tell me," Aonung started. "Was Reyam there when you left?" his voice was barely audible as he said it like he already knew the answer.

The man sensed the tension coming off Aonung in waves and replied quickly. "Uh, no, sir, he went to fetch food because she said she was hungry."

That made Aonung’s eyes grow wide before he started to take off toward Virey’s marui, and the three of them exchanged looks before they followed.

"What is happening right now?" Jake said as he ran with him. "What is going on?"

"The last time we left her alone, she tried to drown herself, okay?" Aonung screamed out above his ringing ears, remembering everything that she told them that night.

Everyone went deathly silent as the words registered.

"I don’t know what’s gonna happen now," he croaked out as the chief’s marui came into view, and he saw Reyam walking toward it with food in hand.

He regretted not telling him about the incident in the water; maybe if he had, Reyam wouldn’t have left when it was so obvious what she was trying to do.

Reyam watched the four of them bulldoze past him with a confused pace, but he picked up his pace, his stomach unsettled as he thought about what was going on.

Aonung reached the marui, jumping up onto the porch as he burst in, and sure enough, it was empty. He hurried back out, jumping down off the porch and to his dad.

"What, Dad, what do we do?" he said, not able to form coherent thoughts right now.

He looked around and saw Reyam catch up with them.

"What’s going on, everyone?" he said, putting the food down. Aonung just looked away.

"This was the bracelet I gave her," Reyam said as he looked down, snapping Aonung’s gaze to him as the boy quickly made his way over.

"No," Aonung said in disbelief, remembering how it was the same the day he found her in the ocean. "No, no, no," he repeated, his mind racing as Neteyam made his way to him.

Aonung told them about that night and how he found her accessories just as she did when she walked into the ocean, and they all gasped as the realization set in.

Neteyam called for his ikran while Tonowari and Jake said they would alert the village and come to join them in the forest with his mate, while Reyam and Aonung ran into the forest, wishing that she were at the clearing.

Somehow, it felt like it was taking forever before reaching the clearing. The two of them separated as they looked around, even climbing trees to get a better look, but it was no use.

"Where could she be, where?" Aonung said, pacing around before he spotted his parents approaching with Jake beside them.

Aonung called out to them, waving his hands so they could see him between the trees, and they did.

"What have you two found?" Tonowari said as they approached, but the two just hung their heads.

Jake searched his brain desperately, trying to think of where she might go.

"Are there any cliffs around here?" Jake heard himself say.

Aonung looked at him as he replied, "Yeah, there are ones, but they don’t lead into the water," and Jake just knew that was where she was.

“where are they” he asked and tonowari turned to him as he answered “there are many cliffs like that, we don’t go into the forest so we don’t know”

Jake's nose scrunched as he looked down at the floor. They couldn’t possibly check each one in time.

Ronal stretched her hand for them to stop talking, and they followed her gaze to see pure spirits of the forest flying to them, before they hovered in one direction.

Ronals face relaxed as she looked back at them, “follow me quietly,” she said and walked in the direction that the spirits led, flying away once they could see the girls silhouette.

Her hair was let down as she stood close to the edge, looking out at the afternoon sky, which looked like it was bleeding deep orange before her ears flicked, and she turned in surprise to see them all behind her.

Their eyes were wide as they took in the scene in front of them before she spoke.

"I didn’t think you would find this place," she said, a gentle smile on her face. "But I guess it’s for the best since I had things I wanted to say," her eyes were soft as she looked at her family.

One of her legs went behind the other as her hand rested on her heart, and she bowed deeply to them, staying like that as she spoke.

"Thank you, truly, for everything you did. Even if it was short, I truly loved you all."

She leaned back up, looking at them as if all her worries were going to finally come to an end, as she took a step back and was at the final edge.

"As my final act of love, I will never bother you again." She said her voice was calm before she started to lean back.

Aonung's mind was racing as he looked at her, and he just spoke whatever came to mind to stop her.

"Please, think about Mirai," he said, and that made her pause, so he continued. "Please, you said your peace to us, but what about her? Please, Virey," he begged as he took a step forward, but the gap was just too big. "She was so excited to bond with you, please," tears welling in his eyes as he looked at his sister on the edge.

Virey looked down at the ground, sadness overtaking her features.

Aonung felt his legs wobble as he took another step towards her, his breath hitching as she looked back up at him.

"I guess it was for the best that I didn’t bond with her," she said with a smile before her head inclined up to the sky, her body leaning back as she finally ended everything.

Everything felt like it was in slow motion.

Aonung could feel his throat screaming, but his ears were ringing too much to hear it as he ran to her.

But his legs gave out when he saw her body disappear, and only the crimson sky was visible.

Reyam ran toward his mate with every ounce of strength he had—

But watched as she disappeared before he could reach her, his hand reaching out to her as the tears flowed from his eyes.

But his legs didn’t stop as he reached the tip, his stretched hands looking for hers as he felt the air around him.

Virey admired the beautiful sky as she felt the air playing with her hair, as everything finally calmed down.

She didn’t need to be scared—

Or in pain Or anything.

But she saw something covering her view of the sky—

Before she felt hands around her and her face found the chest she was familiar with.

It was Reyam.

He had jumped with her. Her heart tore as she hugged him back, Her hands found his back as she held him close.

It was finally over.

.

When her eyes opened, she looked up to see that she was held by some winged creature. Then she saw Neteyam’s pained face as it peeked out from where he bent to see his catch, and she couldn’t help the pressure that built in her eyes.

Neteyam flew back to the cliff where Tonowari and Ronal were holding their sobbing son, who was kneeling as his forehead lay on the ground, tears streamed down their faces, jake pinched his nose, his eyes closed as his nose scrunched. He put the two that his ikran held onto the cliff, close to Aonung, before he dismounted.

All three of them ran to the boy who was sitting up. Virey was holding onto him, pressing her face to his chest as she sobbed out.

"I can’t," she started with a shaky voice. "I can’t do this. I can’t do this."

She repeated it whenever she could, violent sobs escaping her, and Reyam held her desperately, trying to keep her together as tears flowed down his face.

Aonung just took his sister from Reyam, holding her close, the image of what had just happened replaying in his head.

That day, none of them knew how they made it back to the village or what happened after that. All they knew was that they were waking up in the chief’s marui—Virey passed out in Reyam’s hands as he slept, leaning down with his girl on his chest; Aonung slept holding onto Neteyam’s waist as his face rested on his mate’s thigh; and Tonowari slept leaning against the wall, his daughter and mate on either side of him before his eyes blinked open, looking around the room before closing his eyes again.

.

Ronal opened her eyes at midday, blinking as she took in the scene before getting up and staring into her mate’s eyes, who nodded as he stood up, laying Tsireya down carefully before they walked out—and were surprised to find Jake and Neytiri.

The four of them made their way to the shore, sluggish with everything weighing on their minds before they finally reached it.

"How is Kiri doing?" Ronal asked, concerned for the girl who had been kept asleep for the past week.

"Well, physically, she’s fine," Jake said before his eyes found theirs again.

He swallowed as he thought about how to voice his idea. "I think this is all too big for us to handle," he started. "Norm will be going back to the forest in less than a week.” his eyes peeked up to see the metkayina’s as he added, “and I suggest he take them with him," he said, and the two looked at him, horrified.

"Listen, please, there are people there who can help them. Virey tried to—" he started, but the words died in his throat. "She tried twice. Twice.” He stressed, his hands shooting up as he held 2 fingers up, “What if she succeeds next time?"

That made the girl in question’s parents look down.

"This kind of thing was common on Earth. There are people who know how to treat mental conditions that our children are showing," he said, trying his best not to choke up.

"I think it would be best for them to get away from anything that will remind them," he said, defeated.

The three Na’vi looked among themselves. Even if they were to refuse, they had no idea how to help these children. Tonowari sighed as he thought about it.

"We will… talk to Virey about this," he said, and Jake turned to Neytiri, who gave him a single nod, her ears flat.

Jake exhaled. He knew this would take a lot of time and a ton of therapy, but the girls couldn’t continue like this. They were breaking down more and more every day rather than getting better, and he was sure the others saw that too.

.

The next day, Virey’s eyes fluttered open, the light blinding her for a moment. But she could hear a slow and steady heartbeat from where her ears were pressed.

His heartbeat.

She felt him stir from under her and raised her head to look at him.

Reyam’s eyes slowly registered the girl who was looking back at him. His hands went to her face as he brushed her hair behind her ears.

"Good morning, my love," he said, his hands going to brush her cheek when her eyes softened at him before her head fell back to his chest.

He turned to see Aonung and Neteyam enter the marui, food in their hands, as he registered where he was.

"How long were we out?" he asked the two boys, who sat and laid the food in front of him.

"We were asleep for a day. It’s midday today," Aonung said, biting into his fruit.

Virey got off Reyam’s chest, her knees pulled to her chest as she ate.

Aonung looked up at his sister, swallowing the sob that almost left him as he spoke.

"Do you want to go meet Mirai tomorrow?"

Virey’s ears perked up as she listened, and Aonung chuckled when he saw her small nod, his eyes watering before he just gave in and went to his sister, hugging her as they all ate in silence.

Virey returned to her mate’s arms as soon as she was done eating, and he let her lay her head on his chest as she closed her eyes, breathing deeply as she felt her consciousness fade into the silence.

Neteyam and Aonung just looked at them and waited for Virey to fall asleep before they spoke. They had been told about the decision their parents had come to, although the girls in question had yet to agree to it. Jake was going to wake Kiri and ask her one of these days, and so would Tonowari.

"They have decided to let Kiri and Virey go to the forest," Aonung said, making Reyam’s eyes grow wide.

"There are people there who can help them, people who have treated something like this before," Aonung continued. "Just the thought that she could try again scares me," he said, balling his hand into a fist as the memory returned.

Neteyam rushed to rub his mate’s back, trying his best to cheer him up, but his own hands were trembling from Kiri’s frantic state.

"So we can go with them, right?" Reyam croaked out, wrapping his hands around his mate as he looked into Aonung’s eyes.

"No, Jake said that they need to be away from anything that might remind or trigger them," Aonung replied, clenching his fists, and silence fell in the room before Neteyam spoke.

"I think it’s for the best. It’s not like we can help them in our own fucked-up state," both the boys turned their heads to him, looking at him with their eyes wide.

"I mean, look at us—all of us," he said, pointing his hands at them and then to himself. "We have been completely exhausted from being on edge for the entire four months now, we are almost completely burnt out, and even then, we haven’t helped a bit."

 Their faces scrunched up, they all looked down as the words settled, and there wasn’t a hint of a lie in them.

"I think we need to take a step back, let the people who can help them do it. We aren’t machines, we need to think of ourselves too, otherwise, we will just be adding to their guilt," Neteyam exhaled. "So when they come back to us, we can be in our right minds. Otherwise, I’m really worried—for the two of you more than anything."

Aonung shuddered as he remembered how Reyam had jumped after her, and it was obvious that Reyam was thinking about it too. They all nodded in agreement.

"No matter how much we want to help, we can’t do it if we don’t help ourselves first," Reyam started. "Let’s just hope that the two of them agree to get the help they need."

.

The next day, Aonung had told his dad that he was going to take Virey to meet Mirai, and Tonowari had insisted that Jake and he come with them.

So now, Aonung, Neteyam, Reyam, and Virey stood by the reef with the two men behind them.

Virey rose from where she sat waiting for Mirai when she noticed the water movement, and soon enough, Mirai emerged from the water—with Zuwin splashing water everywhere when they landed back.

Virey hurried to get on Mirai’s fin, pressing her head against the tulkun as she greeted her.

Mirai let out a happy sound when she saw her, telling her how much she had missed her and asking why she hadn’t come to meet with her for the past two weeks.

Virey just choked up as she apologized.

Aonung, Reyam, and Neteyam got on with Virey, while the two men went with Zuwin as they took them away from the reef.

.

It was midday when the tulkun finally stopped, and Mirai showed her concern for her exhausted sister.

Tonowari could see where this was going and urged the three boys to leave them alone.

And so they did, climbing up onto Zuwin’s fin as they looked at the girl they had left.

Virey told her not to worry, saying that she was just tired, as she desperately searched for excuses.

But Mirai wasn’t that easy to fool.

Mirai reminded her that this was the time they had waited for so desperately—

Making Virey freeze before she turned to sign to her.

"I'm broken, do you still want to bond with me?" she asked, tears filling her eyes.

Mirai made a sad sound at the statement her sister had just said and assured her that she loved her.

"The things you will see may cause you pain, do you still want to?" she said, asking again just in case, and Mirai almost cried for her before she told her she was ready.

Virey took in a deep breath before Mirai took her underwater. Zuwin swam back to give them space.

Virey got off her fin and went in front of her, watching when Mirai opened her mouth, and she started to swim in, the darkness engulfing her as it closed shut behind her.

Soon, she saw a bright yellow light come from the ceiling, to which she went, and saw Mirai’s bond extend to her like a long leaf. She reached back for her own, bringing it forward, and hesitated.

Telling Aonung and Reyam was one thing, but showing her horrific memories to this deeply emotional creature worried her.

She heard Mirai’s assuring voice vibrate through before she closed her eyes and brought her queue forward, connecting them as she closed her eyes and she showed her everything.

The five men got off Zuwin’s fin and went behind vines as they saw Virey enter. Tonowari smiled as he heard Mirai’s assuring voice again and looked back at the children who were watching with anticipation.

A pained cry from the tulkun made his head snap back, surprising him with the pure anguish it carried, but subsequent ones followed, making Jake turn his head to Tonowari, questioning what was going on, but Tonowari was too startled to do anything.

The tulkun started to swim, crashing against corals and rocks, leaving them crumbling as it frantically moved its tail.

The Na’vi in the vines swam up to the surface.

"What is going on?" Jake said as his head broke the surface, utterly confused by what he was seeing, but before Tonowari could answer with another question, Mirai emerged from the sea, shooting the water that was previously in her as she made anguished voices.

Tonowari froze as he took in what was going on, trying his best to understand if what he had just heard was true, but looking at the others, he knew he didn’t hear wrong.

"What is it, what’s going on?" Neteyam said to his frozen mate, and Aonung was still wide-eyed as he replied.

"She doesn’t wanna give her back," he mumbled. And the group went completely silent.

Neteyam and Jake went stiff at that.

"So what, you mean she wants to eat her or something?" Jake said, utterly confused, but Tonowari just shook his head. "Whatever Virey is showing her made the tulkun decide that she is safer with her, can’t you see that she’s taking the water out of her body to make room for Virey to breathe?" he said, his eyes watching in horror.

"Oh my Eywa, what are you hiding, child?" Tonowari said as his voice broke. Aonung and Reyam exchanged worried looks, they knew that their bonding may have let Mirai feel sad for Virey, but they never thought that it was this bad.

"I guess hearing about it and seeing it are different," Aonung said in a low voice that only Reyam could hear.

Virey showed her everything that had happened, tears falling into the water as Mirai told her to just stay with her, making Virey sighed as she finished showing her the last of her painful memories by the cliff.

Then she was completely overwhelmed by the pure love that Mirai pushed through the bond, showing her how she felt in each one of her encounters with the girl, and Virey was taken aback by it all, something warm spreading in her chest, settling comfortably next to her heart.

Mirai moved on to show her all the places she had visited, the beauty of deep underwater creatures, the tallest mountains that she had seen, she showed her every adventure and song that she had.

Virey almost chuckled as the tulkun tried to convince her to just leave with her after showing everything she could take her to see, but Virey pushed in her own happy memories, her talks with Tsireya and Ronal, her banter with Aonung and her father, her friends that would play with her, and finally Reyam, the man that she loved and how happy he made her. She showed the tulkun how she wanted to see everything with the people she loved.

And the mirai wasn’t sad, she was actually quite happy for her. All she wanted was for her sister to be happy and protect her from anything that would cause her harm, and Virey told her that she wanted to go see everything that she showed her, but now was not the time, not like this when she felt like just breathing was a fucking chore, and just the sight of the sun makes her feel like she wanted to end it all, and Mirai understood that.

Virey’s eyes fluttered open as their bonds came undone, taking a breath that Mirai thoughtfully cleared out for her. She swam out of Mirai’s open mouth, gasping when her head broke the surface as she pulled herself onto Mirai’s fin, hugging the creature as best she could as she thanked her for making her feel truly comforted for the first time in a while, and Mirai just cheerily welcomed her as she slowly made her way to the reef.

"I see you, Mirai," Virey signed to the creature that had managed to help her more than all the others combined and got off her fin when she returned it.

Mirai told her that she couldn’t wait to see her all better next season as this one was already coming to an end and she needed to prepare to leave, and Virey signed to her, telling her that she couldn’t wait either and wishing her luck as to what she would show her next time, now that they were bonded. She bid Mirai goodbye, and her empty eyes stayed on her until a voice came from behind her.

"Good to see that you love us enough to not run off with a tulkun," she heard Aonung’s voice, turning to see her brother’s sad eyes. She gave him a pitying look, before she went into his outstretched hands, hugging him back.

Back when they all heard Mirai asking her to go with her, they were convinced that she was going to leave them.

Tonowari joined his children, telling her to never scare them like that as he hugged her with his son.

Reyam took his turn to try and squeeze the life out of her after her family let go, but Virey attempted the same thing as she pulled him to her by his neck.

.

Once they were back in the village, Virey spent her time sitting on the beach as she looked out at the ocean until the night sky fell on her, her face stoic like always as the three boys sat with her.

Her eyes were pulled from the ocean when Jake and Tonowari approached.

"Kiri is awake and calm, there is something that we would like to talk to you two about," Jake said, and the four of them got up and followed them to the Sullys' marui.

Jake and Tonowari walked in, stopping the boys from entering after Virey passed, and the three outside didn’t argue as they just sat on the porch.

Kiri’s eyes grew wide when she saw Virey, who was just staring back at her like she did all other times.

She extended her hand to the standing girl, who just stared at it before she took it and sat down next to Kiri, laying her head on her shoulder.

Kiri, in turn, dropped hers on the girl as the two stared at the men in front of them, who were freaked by what they just saw happen.

Earlier, Jake had thought that Virey was getting better, but he guessed that’s just how mental illness is. Sometimes they could feel like they could beat it, but only proper treatment and care can truly stabilize the girls, at least that’s what he hoped.

He breathed in deeply before he started.

"Hello girls, first I just want to tell you that you two are free to say no to us," he made it clear that they weren’t going to force anything on them, god knows they have been through that enough already.

"Okay, now that it’s clear, what do both of you think about going to the Hallelujah Mountains?"

Kiri’s ears perked up at that.

"You can get away from anything that will remind you of what happened and just take a moment to rest," Tonowari added.

Jake knew what was going through Kiri’s head, she could finally go visit the Spirit Tree however much she wanted.

"Norm has agreed to look after you and also give you some treatment that he thinks you will need, only if you want it," he added.

"Therapy is what it’s called, they have skilled people there who can help, I’m sure you know about it, Kiri," he said, knowing that he had told her about it before, and the nod from both of them confirmed it.

"So what do you say about getting treatment?" Jake started, and Tonowari added for him.

"Please let us help you, children," he said in as soft a voice as he could.

Kiri’s hand went around the girl beside her, patting her head as the two men waited for them to reply, giving them as much time as they needed.

Kiri gave a small nod, not to the men but to the girl she was leaning on.

Virey sighed before nodding back at her, and Kiri’s eyes found the frozen men.

"Help us," Kiri said in a small voice, her hand still on the girl’s head.

This almost made the two looking at them cry, they realized again just how badly they failed these kids.

"Okay," Jake said with a choke. "Okay, thank you for trusting us again," he croaked out as he fought back tears, looking up at the ceiling as he tried to blink them away.

"Don’t worry about anything, we will prepare everything since you’ll be leaving in less than two days," Tonowari said, pinching his brows together.

For the next two days, the Sullys had surrendered their marui to the two girls and kids who refused to leave them, neytiri laughing at a confused tuk, when she told her daughter that they cant go back yet.

The kids being Aonung, Neteyam, Reyam, Rotxo, Tsireya, Lo’ak, and Spider.

Two people would leave the marui three times a day to bring the whole group food and water, and they had been pretty much inseparable since then, but it’s not like they tried to be anyway.

And so the day came when Kiri and Virey were going to leave, the two of them looked back at their families, who had come out to greet them goodbye, each one of them telling them to come back soon as the jet behind them was getting readied.

Kiri had her hand around Virey’s shoulder as they looked out at them, Norm telling them that they were going to start the engine.

"I swear," Kiri said, her hands tightening around Virey. "I’m gonna be all better when I come back here," she said to Virey more than anyone else.

"Me too," Virey muttered back, and the engine started, the sand swirling around them as Norm told them to board it.

Kiri was going to turn Virey to the jet’s entrance but stopped when she followed her line of sight, which was on Reyam.

Reyam looked back at Virey, who was looking at him with sad eyes, and he smiled softly as he signed to her.

"I will wait for you” he started, his eyes going soft as he reassured his mate, “no matter how long it takes, my love."

And smiled as he saw her eyes soften at him, her hands reaching for the necklace he gave her before she turned and boarded the jet, and they all collectively just watched it disappear into the air.

"Man, this sucks," Lo’ak said, attracting their attention.

"They have been through so much, yet they don’t deserve even a fraction of it," he breathed out, sniffling, and Tsireya smiled at him before she hugged him.

"They’re gonna be okay," she said, patting his head with her tiny frame.

"Why them, bro? Out of everyone that it could have happened to, why did it have to be them?" he said, bringing his hands to his face as his face tilted to the sky, and Neteyam just looked at his brother sympathetically before he rested Lo’ak’s head on his shoulder.

"I knew that you were attached to them, but I never thought that you would voice it like this," he said, chuckling sadly.

"Come on, let’s go get some food," he said, and the parents watched as their children disappeared from sight.

"They are strong children," Ronal said as she straightened from her mate's hold. "All of them."

.

“I’m worried,” Neteyam said as he dropped all the food in his hands where the group had decided to sit for lunch.

Ao’nung looked up at his mate as he sat next to him, Reyam giving him a puzzled look as well. But Lo’ak and Neteyam knew they understood each other.

“What do you mean?” Ao’nung asked as he chose a fruit and picked it up, Tsireya doing the same.

“I’m worried about how Kiri and Virey will be in the forest,” Neteyam said, grimacing.

The three Metkayina just gave him a confused look, genuinely not understanding what he was saying before Neteyam sighed.

“The forest Na’vi aren’t as…” he hesitated, trying to mince his words. “The kids our age aren’t really as accepting, and I reckon it will be hard for them to make friends or anything.”

The four of them leaned back as they exchanged looks.

“But what about them isn’t acceptable? I mean, they don’t look different or anything,” Ao’nung questioned, and Lo’ak just grimaced as he stuck his hand out.

“It’s gonna be because of this,” Lo’ak said, wiggling his extra finger, and the others shifted their eyes around once they understood.

Lo’ak pressed his lips together as he looked down before he felt two hands hold the ones he had outstretched. He turned to see Tsireya holding his hands in hers as she lowered them, her eyes finding his before she smiled.

“I think they’re perfect,” she said softly, still holding his hands.

Lo’ak could feel the heat rise in his face as he looked at her, holding his breath as she let him go, laughing at how frozen he was. He retracted his hands and cleared his throat before he turned to see the rest of the group.

Neteyam was holding Ao’nung back from literally jumping him, while Spider was giving him a knowing smirk. Reyam and Rotxk were laughing with each other as they side-eyed the two.

Lo’ak’s ears burned as he pushed down the embarrassment creeping up, clearing his throat as he tried to redirect the conversation.

“So anyways,” he started, clearing his throat, “I just hope they don’t take it too personally.”

And Ao’nung just frowned in concern.

“Well, at least they have each other. I just hope that it doesn’t add to their stress—Eywa knows they have been through enough,” he breathed out, and the rest of the group looked to the sky as they sighed.

“Now that I think about it,” Neteyam said, attracting their gaze, “the Omaticaya’s village is like 300 miles (483 kilometers) northeast of us. I think it was about an eight-hour flight by ikran, but they needed to rest, so by jet, I would say it’s like three to four hours, right?” He said, looking at his brother, who just gave him an “I don’t know, dude” look, making him chuckle.

“They should be way up in the sky now,” he marveled, looking up. The Metkayina shivered at just the thought.

Chapter Text

Virey leaned on Kiri like they always did as they sat in the jet, Norm looking at them sadly as he thought about what could be making them shut down like this.

“So, children,” he said, pulling their unfocused gaze to him. “What do you say about staying in the human facility for a while?” He meant until they could be trusted by themselves—he had been informed of what happened with Virey.

The two girls didn’t acknowledge it nor did they object as they just stared at him.

“Their lack of verbal communication is unsettling,” Mike said, one of the humans who had come with Norm.

“What could have happened to cause them to just shut down like this?” he continued, voicing what Norm was thinking.

“I don’t know,” Norm said, his eyes still on the girls.

“We’re gonna have our hands full for a while. I think we should start small—since they don’t want to talk to us, therapy is out of the question,” Mike said as he and Norm moved away from the girls.

“Maybe we’ll start by showing them that they’re out of whatever they were trapped in before,” Norm said, and Mike nodded.

“Jake told me to avoid the white room, so they prepared that for the kids.”

“I’m digging up any information I can about the…” He trailed off, looking at Mike, who understood that he meant the experiment.

“So we should know what went down with Virey. And I already know all about what happened with Kiri, so we’ll devise a clear plan once we get there,” Norm concluded as Mike nodded along.

They sat in silence until the person flying the jet told them they would be landing soon.

Norm jumped off once they arrived, greeting his friends who had come out to meet him as the jet’s engine died. The two humans stepped out as well.

His eyes went soft as he looked at the girls still sitting there. He turned around and looked at the gathered people.

“Listen, guys—can you go back for me?” he said, and when they just gave him questioning looks, Mike stepped in, ushering them away as he filled them in on the situation.

“Come on, girls,” he said, extending his hand to them once everyone had left. “Let me take you to your room.”

Kiri’s hand went around Virey’s shoulder as they stood up slowly. She took Norm’s hand as she stepped down carefully, supporting the girl in her arms as well.

Norm looked at them before leading them to the room that had been prepared for them.

Virey and Kiri looked at the room, which had a dark green wall with two beds.

Norm turned to them as they entered—even he was surprised that his friends had been able to set this up so quickly.

“So,” he started, not knowing where to begin, “this is where you’ll be staying for a while. Mike and I will be around,” he added.

Norm just smiled at them softly before saying, “Once you are all better, what do you think about building a hut by yourselves?”

It would be good for them to have a distraction, and the two of them didn’t object, the image of it softening their eyes.

“Once you’re better, what do you think about going to see your grandmother, Kiri?”

Her head whipped up at that, making him smile before he left them alone.

Virey straightened from where she was at Kiri’s side, looking at her. Since the day she had told her not to talk, the two of them had yet to exchange a single word, and now was no different as they walked toward their beds, turning their backs to each other as they collapsed onto their chosen ones.

.

It’s been three weeks since they arrived in the forest, and Norm had decided to leave them alone until he and his friends came up with a solid plan for how they were going to treat them, but also until he could find out more about the experiment. Kiri and Virey didn’t mind as they rested, not stepping out once from their room.

But the effects of the change in scenery were already starting to show as they slowly began to talk to each other more and more.

It started by asking small things of the other, like passing the water or fruit, then they proceeded to talk about rearranging things here and there, which morphed into joking with each other when they saw a weirdly shaped fruit, and just like that, they were gradually starting to get their voices back.

And now, Kiri was smiling at Virey’s completely frozen self as she looked at Norm, who brought them food like he always did, but today he was in his human form.

Virey’s eyes were wide as they turned to Kiri, asking her if what she was seeing was real, and Kiri burst out laughing as soon as the door closed shut behind Norm.

“This was the moment I have been waiting for,” Kiri said, laughing at Virey, who was still shocked.

“No way,” Virey said as she looked at her friend but burst out laughing as she joined her friend. “He looks so different though,” she said once they calmed down and smiled as Kiri gave her the duh look.

Once their laughter settled, they started to dig in, Kiri telling her about how she couldn’t wait to show Virey the forest and how she was going to love Mo’at as Virey just listened to her friend with a smile.

.

Norm fell from the chair that he was in, attracting all his friends’ attention as they rushed to him.

“What’s wrong, what is it?” Mike said as he looked at Norm, who had a hand to his head as he got up, and the horrified look in his eyes had Mike’s stomach doing flips.

“It’s just—I finally found what we were looking for and—” Norm said, gesturing to his computer, and Mike didn’t need to hear more.

Only four people remained in the room, two of the additions were the ones that had agreed to try and treat them.

“My God,” Mike said as they all finished reading the documents.

“Written by Doctor Werner, lead scientist of Project MWS,” Norm said.

The document contained all the procedures, from how he acquired his subjects to every single thing he did with the theories of the outcomes.

“This is sick,” Denise said, who was the one who agreed to take on Virey’s case.

“How did they—how could they—” she started, her mind running on overdrive as she tried to figure out how to even start with this.

“I can’t believe this,” Ben said, the one who was going to treat Kiri.

“How could they do that to children—207 children?” His voice was laced with complete disbelief.

Norm exhaled as he leaned back in his chair.

“The project was shut down when all 206 of them failed or died without any results, except there was one that survived who had succeeded, so I’m guessing that was why they rushed to send the ship there once they realized there was one alive.”

Even as he said it out loud, he couldn’t believe it.

He hit the water bottle that was on his desk, flinging it to the floor.

“Damn them,” he said as the images of the two kids came to his mind.

He looked up to see Denise, who looked like steam was coming out of her head as she thought about her patient.

He exhaled as he turned his chair to look at them, leaning back up.

“Okay get your chairs everyone, cause this is going to take a while to figure out,” he said and they all nodded as they sat in a circle.

“For Kiri,” Ben started, “I think she feels responsible for Virey, from what you told me she was used as leverage,” he said looking at Norm for confirmation who just nodded. “Survivor’s guilt may be what we are dealing with but she’s also very protective of her,” he said, his brain empty as he looked for solutions.

“I think,” Denise started, attracting everyone’s attention. “I understand Virey now,” she said and the three urged her to continue.

“I mean from what she went through, she must have thought that no reaction to anything will just push everything down, so I think I should start with showing that it’s not a sign of weakness. And also that her emotions about everything are justified I mean,” she was baffled as she said, “look at what she went through, damn that bastard,” she cursed the man that she has never even met.

“For now,” Norm started, “I think it’s best if we give them individual therapy, with joint sessions once they get better,” he said and they all nodded.

“For Virey I will focus on reclaiming a sense of control and exploring identity beyond the trauma, since I don’t know anything about her yet,” Denise said and Ben nodded.

“For Kiri we will have to start with processing guilt and helplessness and learning that being unable to stop the abuse doesn’t mean she failed,” Ben said sadly.

“For now,” Mike said, “I think it’s best if you two converse about your patients, we can’t follow the normal way here, we need to do anything we can.”

All four of them nodded and then they all started to plan in detail, Denise and Ben talking about how they can integrate everything.

.

Today, Tonowari and Jake were going out of the reef alone. The two of them have not got a moment of rest with everything happening, so today was the day that they finally decided to take the day off.

 They stood by the reef as they prepared to mount their skimwings.

 “Well, since our mates have agreed to cover for us today,” Jake said laughing, “shouldn’t we enjoy it as best we can?”

 Tonowari just laughed as he remembered his mate’s face when he asked that of her. Thankfully, his son interjected, saying that it would be a good trial day with his mother looking out for him, and Ronal just sighing, before they both dived in, letting the water drown out their thoughts as they raced away from the reef.

 Jake gasped as his head broke the surface, looking at the water Na’vi that had already pulled himself up to the land. “I can’t believe you beat me that well,” he said, making the other laugh out loud.

 “Well, I can’t believe you challenged me. It was like yesterday when you were flung away from your skimwing,” he said, laughing as Jake grimaced at the memory, sitting beside him as he caught his breath.

 “Well, it’s been a long time since then, so I figured why not,” he added as he calmed down, and the memory of everything that happened flashed in both their minds.

 “Well, let’s make sure that there will only be peaceful moments from now on,” Tonowari said, extending his hand to Jake, and Jake took it. “Yes, let’s,” he said.

 Jake’s eyes started to dart around as he tried to summon the courage for his next question. Tonowari looked back at the hesitant man as he let him go, waiting patiently.

 “How do you,” Jake started hesitantly, “how do you understand your kids so well?” he blurted out, making Tonowari surprised.

 “Well,” Tonowari said, pulling Jake’s gaze to him, “it really isn’t much of a secret. I talk to my kids. I try to understand not just from the answers they give me, but also from the normal talks that we have.”

 He laughed as he looked at the confused man’s face. “Okay, but like how?” Jake said.

 “I don’t just talk with them when I have something to say, and I try to listen to the best of my ability,” he said.

 “Ohhhhh,” Tonowari added when he understood what he was asking. “But I guess, before all that, you need to make sure that your children can actually talk to you about things,” he said.

 Jake grimaced as he took in what he just said. That was exactly what was wrong with him. He didn’t create a space for his children to tell him about the things they so desperately wished to.

 Tonowari could see that he hit the bull’s eye with that comment, his hand reaching out to grip his friend’s shoulder.

 “You know that it’s never too late to try,” he said, shaking him, and Jake just gave him a grateful smile.

 “Just remember that you’re not entitled to their forgiveness,” Tonowari added in a more serious tone, to which Jake nodded.

 “I guess I have my work cut out for me,” he said, making them both laugh. “Although I can’t complain since I got myself here in the first place.”

 The two of them went back into the water, enjoying the rest of the day they worked so hard for.

.

Aonung was talking to the right hand of his father, as the man was telling him about how things worked, mostly all the basic stuff that he his father has already taught him.

 “Thank you, Nihan,” Aonung said once the man finished filling him in. Nihan just smiled before he added, “No need to thank me, this is my job after all.”

 Aonung just nodded back at him as he saw his mate approaching him, and Nihan noticed it too.

 “Well I’ll take my leave then. I can’t wait to see who you are going to choose as your second in command as well,” Nihan said, bowing to the chief’s son before he left.

 And Aonung just scratched his head at that. His father has always told him that choosing his second in command was one of the most important things that he could do as chief. It has to be someone that he trusted but also one that is just as capable as him.

 He groaned as his mate finally reached him, pulling him into a tight hug.

 “Why can’t I just choose you as my second in command,” he said, making Neteyam laugh as they separated. It wasn’t the first time that they had talked about this.

 “You know that you can’t do that,” he said, making him groan. “Second in command is a high status, and I’m your mate so it’s against the rules,” he reminded, making Aonung groan again.

 “Yeah well, my father may have to pick one for me ‘cause no one is coming to mind,” he said, pulling Neteyam back in.

 Neteyam just hugged him back, patting his back as he gave him a sympathetic look. “Just talk to your dad about it, you know that you need to choose one soon so that they can start training.”

 Aonung just made an affirmative noise, but didn’t move to detach himself from the man wrapped around him.

Kiri and Virey just returned to their rooms from where had fetched them in the morning. Two weeks ago Norm had introduced them both to Denise and Ben, telling them that they would be meeting them three times a week from then on forward.

 Virey and Kiri had only glanced at each other before they nodded, and for the past two weeks they have been slowly opening up to the two kind humans that have been trying to get to know them.

 They collapsed on their bed as soon as they got to, drifting to sleep as the memories tried to swallow them.

 They jolted awake when they heard the door open, that was one thing that they had yet to get better from.

 “Oh sorry,” Mike said as he saw the startled girls, Norm and him walking in.

 “Good morning, girls,” Norm said as they pulled a chair to sit on and looked around nervously. “Was there something you wanted to tell us?” Kiri said slowly and Norm exhaled as he looked at them.

 “We thought that you might miss your family so we were thinking of letting them talk to you through a video call,” he exhaled, not sure how this was going to play out.

 Their ears perked up when they took in what they said, making the two humans laugh as they hurried to nod their heads.

 “Okay, I’ll schedule it with Jake and tell you about it,” Norm said as he looked at them, and they both left them.

 “We’re finally going to talk to them,” Kiri said, her legs pulled to her chest as she sat on the bed.

 Virey laid down on the pillow, her eyes soft as she replied, “I miss them,” she said in a small voice and Kiri just smiled at the girl sadly before she abandoned her bed to join her friend.

 “I miss them too,” she said as she laid down next to her, and Virey just smiled as she looked at her friend who was trying her best to comfort her.

.

Lo’ak and Neteyam raced through the entire village as they looked for Tonowari and his kids, stopping at the training ground to ask Rotxo if they have seen them.

 “Um, no,” he said, looking at them confused.

 “What’s up?” Reyam added from beside him.

 “You guys should come with us, you will definitely want to hear what we have to say,” was all Lo’ak said before the two of them started running again. Reyam and Rotxo exchanged confused looks before they turned and bolted after them.

The chief marui came in sight, they saw Tonowari, Nihan and Aonung conversing on the porch as they neared them.

 Tonowari looked at the wheezing children in worry as they halted their talk.

 “We have a message from Dad,” Neteyam squeezed out of his throat and Tonowari hurried them in, mostly afraid that they might collapse.

Ronal looked at her mate, asking if they need her with the condition she was in, but Tonowari just sat next to her, the children plopping down in front of them as they struggled to catch their breath.

 Aonung looked at his mate with confusion as he patted his back before they were finally able to calm down.

Neteyam’s eyes found Tonowari’s confused ones, a smile breaking out on his face as he spoke.

 “Dad was talking to Norm,” he started and the whole room went silent.

 “He said that we might be able to talk to them soon, I think three days later.”

 It was like time was still before he felt Aonung turn to him.

 “Really? They’re coming back?” Aonung said in disbelief, making Neteyam laugh a little.

 “Oh no, we are going to use a human device to call them,” he said, only making his mate more confused.

 “Just— you’ll see,” was all he said before telling them to come to the Sully marui tomorrow and walked out of there.

Tomorrow came agonizingly slowly for everyone involved, and the Sully marui was packed full with everyone before Jake had enough.

 “Okay, everyone out,” he said, pushing everyone except Tonowari and Ronal, but the kids protested more than they ever had before.

 “You will get your turn, okay?” he said as he ushered them out and onto the porch, the kids sitting down as they grumbled to themselves.

Jake sighed as he made his way back, sitting next to his mate, and Ronal and Tonowari sitting down beside him as he called Norm.

The screen expanded in front of them, startling the two Metkayina as Ronal held onto her mate.

 Tonowari hurried to look at the man beside him, who apologized for not warning them.

 “Hey man,” Norm said, pulling Jake’s attention back as they exchanged pleasantries.

 “So he can hear you?” Tonowari asked, confused, and Jake just laughed as he said, “Yes, he can see us as well,” he added before all of them turned back.

“They aren’t here yet. I wanted to tell you guys something before they get here,” he said and Jake nodded for him to continue.

Norm’s hands found his neck as he looked around before he steeled himself for what he was going to say next.

 “So, we uhhh, found the documents of what went down with Virey,” he said, grimacing at the memory, and the worry in her parents’ eyes made it worse.

 “It’s a lot to unpack. To be honest, I don’t even want to tell you what we found, but that’s a conversation for another day,” he said, straightening.

 “For now, we are seeing some results with what we are doing so please just… try your best not to ask them any triggering things. I would actually prefer if you don’t ask them anything at all,” he said, looking at them apologetically.

“Tell me,” Tonowari said, startling everyone, “are they okay? Are they getting better?” he said with concern, and Norm just smiled at the man before he nodded.

 “Yes, they are actually taking all this better than we hoped,” he answered and Tonowari exhaled with relief.

 “Then that is all we need to know,” he added and the others agreed with him.

Norm’s head whipped to the door as he heard it open. He stood up, adding two chairs next to him as he gestured for them to sit down.

Kiri’s hands pulled Virey closer to her by the shoulders as they walked to the chair, and her hand didn’t falter as they sat down and turned to look at their family, instant warmth filling their eyes.

 Jake bit the inside of his cheek as he looked at the screen, and god, they already looked a lot better than they did when they left here, like they were finally able to rest.

 Ronal looked at her daughter and smiled as she saw the look in her eyes. As the tsahik, she had felt guilt about sending them to get treated somewhere, but her worries were able to finally come to rest as she saw that their decision was for the best.