𝐁𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐞𝐟 || ʟᴏ'ᴀᴋ

021

Se'aeylwa 

Once we where sure she hadn't tried to return Neytiri mounted the intricately carved bow back on it's stand, running a hand through it's material before returning to her family. 

"She's mean" Tuk whines.

"Next time she comes in I'm going to teach her a lesson!" She cutely exclaims, kicking a leg in the air as if to demonstrate her fighting skills. She lightens the tense room instantly as we all begin to slightly chuckle at the girl. 

I still can't let my mind over the ordeal as I was exposed to the Sully family, I still felt horrifically vulnerable as the familiar boy stayed by my side, wrapping an arm around me with ease as my head naturally began to slump on his shoulder. Neytiri crouched in front for us as she gave me a warm smile, opposed to the fierce gaze she had given my mother. 

"You are under our care Se'aeylwa, if she gives you a hard time, you must tell us" She demands in the parental tone I hadn't heard in years. 

"Yeah...ok" I respond softly, the corners of my lips tugging upwards. Lo'ak's arms wrap slightly tighter, and I knew it was going to be the most constant part of my life moving forward as the days would become a blur.

I smile up at his face as he returns one back, happy to be next to me as his mother left to talk with her eldest son. 

I hear a squeaky noise as my ears twitch, soon pinning to my neck as Jake rolls in a strange device. 

"I know now isn't the right time, but I woke up early this morning and though I could make you something to make moving around a bit easier" I tilt my head at the strange object as he put it right in front of me, I squeal quietly as Lo'ak swiftly picks me up and places me in the chair, his hand accidentally brushing at my upper thigh in the process. I lightly flushed at the contact as he quickly let go as fast as he had held me. 

I sit in the weird contraption as it begins moving, I scream out in horror as I think I'm about to crash into the wall but I'm turned around and lead to the middle of the marui. 

"It's a wheelchair, the thing I told you about yesterday" He affirms, I nod my head, finally understanding what he was talking about as I place my hands on the strange wooden wheels, I move them slightly only to find I'm moving by myself one again, my mood continuous to elate as I realise I wouldn't have to lay on the floor as much any more.

"It'll be hard to go through sand so you'll need someone to push you, but I assume it's going to be great around the hut" He shrugs. I give him my thanks as I continue to test out the wheelchair, I find a way to spin as a genuine laugh leaves my lips. I quickly turn to Lo'ak to find him seated as his hand holds his chin up, he looks dreamily at me as I roll forward and snap my hand in front of his face, he seems to snap out of his trance as he flushes slightly, before the natural dark blue of his face quickly returns. 

He coughs before standing completely, in an attempt to hide himself from me he sets himself behind the wheelchair, placing his hands on the handles. But I tilt my head back, so my hair connects under his chest as I beam up at him. 

He coughs once again as he faces the other way, I slightly frown in dismay but don't pay that much attention to it. 

"Do you want to swim?" I ask him. He mumbles a 'yeah sure' as he wheels me to the back dock. The front wheels are centimetres from the edge as he walks around me and slowly sips in himself. I find myself rolling back a little bit as I slide down from the chair and onto the edge of the dock. I sink into the water and as soon as it hits my waist I feel the cold and familiar feeling of home. 

My arms are well rested as they alone can keep me afloat as I smile, joyful even if I couldn't swim normally, I could still float and keep myself up in the water. 

When I'm not looking I assumed Lo'ak called an ilu as one gently twirls around us, I run a finger on the animals underbelly as it lets out a cute squeak before its head rubs the crook of my neck in delight. 

I laugh at the Ilu before I'm pulled into the boy next to me, our skin is flush as he takes the time to place me on the Ilu first. I'm seated at the front as I hold the reigns, but to my surprise I feel Lo'ak's chest behind me as he presses us against one another tightly. His hand slithers around my stomach as it rests there preparing for me to take off. 

The circumstances weren't exactly off-putting, but the act of sitting this close to one another on the same ilu was only done by mated couples, two na'vi who where dating, or friends in dire consequences, and in this instance, Ilu's where around us everywhere.

I played it off as my stupidity, Lo'ak wouldn't have known of the old custom anyway, and he was presumably sitting this close so he wouldn't fall off like a skxawng. 

I slowly begin to move the ilu as he glides on the water, before diving in at full speed mischievously. I can't help but giggle at Lo'ak's surprised scream as we dive under the water. His hands wrap around me impossibly tighter as his scared body hunches into me further and his forhead meets my shoulder. I sit amused at his baby like actions as I remember the words I said to him weeks ago. 

"You are like a baby!"

My past words where indeed correct as he clung to me like a newborn ilu to his mother. I surface and feel his chest rise and fall rapidly from my back, his grip is still very much tight as he lifts his head from my shoulder and shakes his braids wildly around, getting any sort of water weight out of his locks. He still looks slightly shaken as he moves his body slight forward and to the side, so our eyes are connecting. 

"We are never doing that again!" He desperately exclaims.