•~Not the only misfit~•

Chapter 17: Neteyam pt. 1

I held the leaf above Taka'ri's head, not caring wether I got wet or not. She turned to me with her usual sweet smile and then quickly looked to the ground, avoiding eye contact.

"You shy?" I teased, leaning down to look her in her sunny eyes.

"You wish forest boy," she chuckled, pushing my face away lightly.

I laughed and readjusted the leaf so that it covered the Na'vi completely. We ended up talking and laughing like we usually did.

God, I love her sarcasm, I thought, not even trying to hide my smile. Everything this girl did interested me. I just wished I knew why.

Our huts weren't too far a part so unfortunately our conversation was cut short. I placed the fern on the ground once we reached Taka'ri's place and followed her in.

"Here, you should dry yourself before you catch a cold," she said, passing me a cloth to dry myself with.

"Thanks," I said, accepting her kind offer and drying myself. I looked around her hut. I didn't really get much of a chance to see the inside. It was really cozy and so obviously Taka'ri's room.

The walls were decorated with vines she seemed to have picked out from the forest and various little flowers and rocks. Some seashells were spread out here and there. There were two bows hung up on the wall: the one she used every day for hunting and her battle one. She told me that she hadn't really had the chance to train with it. There was a small cylindrical stand holding all her bows and a little hanger near the entrance where she hung her scabbard.

"You and your family are always so curious," chuckled Taka'ri. I turned towards her to see her smirking.

"You would be as well if you had to switch homes."

"Never said I wouldn't, but it doesn't change the fact that it's amusing to watch you all look around," she said, raising her hands, her smirk everlasting.

I chuckled.

"Is that so?"

"You look like such a baby when you're full of wonderment."

I didn't know how to take that. Taka'ri seemed to have noticed.

"It's cute," she reassured me, placing her hand on my shoulder, looking me straight into my eyes.

I hadn't noticed it until now, but this was the first time she had initiated any type of physical contact with me. I was slightly taken aback though it wasn't in a bad way. Stupefied, I caught myself staring stupidly at her hand. She suddenly got a little shy and pulled her hand away, averting my gaze.

Ugh, you dumbass, why did you react like that? I scolded myself.

I didn't want Taka'ri to take my reaction the wrong way so I placed my hands on both her shoulders which made her look back at me. I smiled reassuringly and pulled her in for a hug. It took her a couple seconds to react, but she ended up hugging me as well.

"No matter how much I'd love to stay and chat, I should probably get back to my family. Either way, we've both got an early day tomorrow," I said, gently patting Taka'ri on the back.

She looked up at me and backed out of the hug.

"Of course," she smiled sweetly, walking me to the door.

She bent down and passed me the fern I had previously placed down.

I thanked her and wished her a good night.

As I was walking back to my hut, I thought about how Taka'ri had touched my shoulder. It didn't sound like that big of a deal but it seemed like one to me. What stage was our friendship reaching? I wasn't sure wether or not I saw Taka'ri romantically. I couldn't deny that I was getting closer to her though. I really didn't want to misread the whole situation so I just decided to shrug it off.

Now that I thought about it, Taka'ri was the closest Na'vi I'd ever been with aside from my family. Even at home in the forest, I didn't have any truly close friends. I guess I was too busy training to become Olo'eyktan. Taka'ri did seem to bring me some sort of comfort, though I didn't know why. It could be because she was a forest Na'vi like me. She was the only thing that had stayed the same in this world that seemed to have changed completely.

It was also sweet of her to care about me and my problems. I wasn't sure if I showed my gratitude well enough when she took me to her treehouse. That forest may have been small and pathetic, but it was the closest thing to home I had, so I was going to treasure it.

It and Taka'ri.