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Over the next few days, Neteyam made a point to stay by Cely's side as much as possible. Due to this, the girl barely had time to stick to her newly devised plan.

She planned on making Neteyam a gift, returning the gesture after the boy made her a lovely Riders Mask.

Finally after an entire week, she was finished making his gift. It would've taken a shorter amount of time had she not been under a certain Sully boys watchful eye.

It was midday when Cely finished and wanted to give her gift. She found Neteyam sitting by his parents at a fire, chatting about random things.

"Hi, sorry to intrude. Could I borrow Neteyam for a bit?" Cely asked as she hid her hands behind her back, the gift meant to be a secret.

"Of course. Have fun," Neytiri shooed off the boy, but Jake yelled after them, "But not too much fun!" Making his son blush from embarrassment and Cely giggle.

"Dad..." Neteyam looked away not wanting anyone to see his flushed look.

Jake raised his hands in defense. "Hey, I'm not ready to be a grandpa yet!"

Neteyam was now fully red and shouted, "Dad!"

Neytiri covered her mouth as she laughed, enjoying the banter between the father and son. Although Jake was teasing, she knew there was a level of truth behind it. She'd known they had been seeing each other and hoped they were being safe.

"Go now before your father decides to have the talk now." The boys mom ushered the two kids away from Jake, who smirked as he successfully teased his boy.

Running away fast and dragging the girl behind him, he stopped after reaching the tree line. "Sorry about him. I don't know why he thinks he's funny."

Cely couldn't hold her giggles. "He's pretty funny."

He shot her a questioning glance. "You think that was funny? You know, he was implying the both of us, right?"

Cely stopped laughing. "Yeah, that's what I thought," Neteyam replied after the girl didn't say anything, "Ok, now what did you need me for?"

She suddenly remembered why she asked for him, now tugging his hand towards the Cove.

The two jumped over and under branches, stopping to play with a few plants along with way, and jumped in puddles to splash each other.

When Cely walked past a giant leaf, she had an idea. She stood on the opposite side and held the leaf, waiting for Neteyam to walk by. She heard his footsteps nearing, then let go of the leaf as he walked into her trap. The leaf smacked him in the chest and face, causing him to lose his balance.

"Hey!" Neteyam shouted, wanting to get her back for the trick. He began chasing her through the forest, grabbing her tail every so often.

But Cely tripped over a stray vine, making Neteyam fall on top of her.

"Sorry..." She muttered, glancing from his eyes to his lips. The boy smirked as he saw this, deciding to close the gap between them. His hands rested on her hips, enjoying the soft skin on his fingers. He finally placed his lips on hers, savoring the way she tasted.

He closed his eyes as he kissed her, coming up for breath after a few moments. "You're so beautiful." He breathed out, loving this way she looked underneath him.

After another minute, the two finally stood up. But during this, Cely forget she was supposed to be hiding her gift for the boy.

"What's that?" He asked, pointing to the mystery bag in the girls hands. She quickly hid it behind her back again, as if there was no bag.

"C'mon, Cely. I saw it. What's in the bag?" He pressed again, wanting to know what was so important to hide. He wrapped his arms around her, feeling her squirm under his touch.

"No! It's a surprise, 'Teyam!" She whined back, hoping the gift wasn't ruined from the fall earlier.

Neteyam stopped, letting go of the girl. "Fine. But when can I see it?" Now she smiled, "When we get there."

The boy rolled his eyes playfully as Cely kept up the secretive act. But he didn't ask any more questions as he just followed her.

When they reached the Cove, he was confused. "Why are we here?" What was so important that she brought him here?

Cely held Neteyam's hand as she sat them next to the tree she once fell asleep on him at, which seemed like ages ago.

"I wanted to thank you, for always being there for me," Cely began, Neteyam tried to speak up but stopped as the girl kept talking, "I don't know what I'd do without you and you mean the world to me. So, I made you something."

She took a deep breath as she finally opened the bag. Neteyam's attention has never been more focused as he watched whatever the girl was doing.

Cely pulled out two brand new, handmade arm band pieces to wear just between a shoulder and elbow. They contained green and blue pieces of jewels, both of the kids' favorite colors.

"Is this for me?" Neteyam finally asked, looking at the fine pieces in awe. He knew it must've taken ages to make these.

Cely nodded, glad that the boy looked like he liked them. "This one is for you," she handed him the green one, "This one is for me." She kept the blue one.

She continued, "After you gave me my Riders Mask, I felt we should match on our arms, too. I hope you like it." She fiddled with her piece in her hands.

"Like it? Cely, I love it!" He reached over and squeezed the girl in a hug, "No one has ever done anything like this for me." He felt his eyes watering at the gift giving gesture. Cely hugged him back, happy that the first part of the mystery was a success.

"Another thing," She broke apart the hug to look Neteyam in the eye again, "I brought something else, too."

He watched her stand and beckon him over closer to the actual cave part of the Cove. Just on the edge, she pulled out two hidden bowls. They seemed to contain... paint?

Still confused, he had to ask. "What's this now?"

"I wanted to officially mark this as our spot." She smiled, holding the two bowls of paint.

Taking a step closer, he noticed the blue and green paint, similar to their now matching arm bands. He returned her smile, "You're absolutely adorable, you know that?"

"Come! We put our hand in them and press on the wall, together." She pointed out the motions. He got it.

"Okay, let's do it!" He was so excited to bond with Cely this way, knowing the Cove meant a lot to her.

Neteyam and Cely dipped their hands in the paint, this time the boy used blue and the girl used green. Glancing to each other once more, they pressed their hands firmly to the wall of the cave. After a long second of letting their hands stick, they peeled them off.

There, in the Cove, was two handprints side by side. One slightly larger than the other, but the two were happy with the outcome.

Cely laid her head on Neteyam's shoulder, taking in the artwork before her. She felt happy and content, hoping the feeling would stick for a long time to come.

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a/n

kinda proud of this one!!! lmk what you guys think. more fluff? angst???

have a good night/day/morning :)

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