Italicize - someone's thoughts or a story from the past
Bold - sign language
Neteyam had been walking through the forest, as he knew that's probably where Marali would have gone. The teen stopped for a minute and let himself bask in the feeling of being in a place that reminded him of home, somewhere he so desperately wished he could be right now.
He was glad his father let him follow after Marali because he knew she would probably need someone to comfort her. Sure the two teens weren't that close anymore, but he still knew when she needed someone. Marali had never shown that level of rage before, so while Neteyam most likely knew her better than anyone else, he was also going into the situation blind. The two hadn't had a heart-to-heart conversation since right before their training started.
In all honesty, Neteyam felt bad about how he'd been treating Marali. He knew that she didn't deserve it, and yet, for some reason anytime he tried to be nice to her, he always ended up reverting to his old ways. At first, he tried to excuse it as him pushing her away because he had a crush on her, and she didn't feel the same way about him, so Neteyam thought he was doing what was right to protect himself. Then, when he saw her grow closer to Lo'ak, he grew jealous of the relationship she was developing with Lo'ak. Neteyam's behavior was, for lack of a better word, petty, and he knew it was.
So that's why he made himself a promise when his father decided to uproot their lives and take them away from home. It gave him the perfect opportunity for a fresh start, so he would take full advantage of it. He decided that he was going to try to be nice to Marali and that he was going to try and grow a relationship with her, even if it was just as friends. Sure, he hadn't been doing a great job of becoming her friend so far, but it wasn't like she was making it easy on him.
He thought back to the argument the two had had in front of his parents, and the boy cringed to himself. He couldn't believe that he had that strong of a reaction when she revealed who she wanted as her mate. The boy knew it was coming, and yet it still wounded him deeper than it should've.
Then he thought back to the way his father had treated Lo'ak. He felt immense guilt when Marali had revealed the truth to him and his parents, that it was Ao'nung's idea. Not Lo'ak's. It made him sick to his stomach that he thought so low of his brother. Lo'ak is his baby brother he's supposed to protect him, and stick up for him, and he couldn't even do that.
Finally, having enough of wallowing in his own self-pity, the boy continued to draw his attention back to the matter at hand. Find Marali. Comfort Marali. Befriend Marali. Three simple tasks that the boy felt would be one of the hardest he would ever have to complete in his life.
As he continued to walk, he made his way to the clearing where Marali had been once before, hoping that that was where she had gone again. When he saw her sitting on a rock with her eyes closed, and her head leaned back, Neteyam's breath caught in his throat.
She's beautiful. Neteyam thought to himself. He knew she was pretty, but seeing the way the moonlight glistened on her skin made her ethereal. Marali was one of the most sought-after Na'vi back home. Not only was she beautiful, but she was an amazing hunter and warrior. She was also kind to everyone, for the most part, and that made her the perfect package. Every day back home, all of the boys would do anything and everything to grab her attention, but she never paid them any mind.
In fact, the girl was always so focused on what was asked of her. She never paid attention to any boys, not that Neteyam was watching her or anything.
When he looked back at Marali, he saw that her head was up, and her eyes were open. She was listening to her surroundings, which meant she knew he was there. Slowly the boy walked over to the girl and brought a big smile to his face as he approached her.
After he was behind Marali, he greeted her, "Hey." Neteyam saw Marali slowly turn around to look at him, and he still left a smile on his face. He thought that it might comfort her. What he didn't expect, was for the girl to turn around and scream in his face in horror.
~~~~
When Marali turned around to see Neteyam, she screamed. Not because he was the one behind her but because he had this weird genuine smile etched onto his lips. It quite frankly freaked the girl out.
"Why did you scream?" He asks, shocked by the girl's reaction. She looked at him, bewildered that he would ask her such a question.
"I don't know, Neteyam." She starts, "Maybe it's that I'm out in the forest alone, and you quietly approached me with no warning. Or, maybe it's that you're smiling at me like you're about to plot my murder." She said, sarcasm dripping off of her lips. The smile on Neteyam's face dropped and was replaced with a scowl.
"Is this better?" Neteyam said. Marali looked at the boy and scrunched her nose. He had replaced his gorgeous smile with the scowl she had come to know as his only expression towards her in years. "Not really. I kind of liked your smile better." She deadpanned. Neteyam opened and closed his mouth a few times, looking at her with wide eyes as he tried to think of a comeback.
"Be careful. You might catch bugs if you keep your mouth open like that." She teased. The boy closed his mouth, and she half expected him to glare at her, but when she saw his lips quirk up into a small smile, her heart suddenly felt full. "Did I just make the Neteyam Sully smile?" Marali said, putting her hand over her chest in mock honor.
Neteyam looked at her as his smile widened. She hadn't been like this with him in a while, and it was a nice change of pace from the constant bickering the two usually found themselves in. The boy looked down in amusement at the girl's teasing, and when he did, he saw her hands bleeding.
"What happened?" He asked, worry filling his voice. Marali looked at him, confused, and looked down at her hands. "Oh, I uh, got into a fight with one of those trees over there." Marali joked, pointing in the direction he had just come from. Neteyam wanted to ask the girl what happened, but he didn't want her to get defensive, so he decided to play along with her.
"Who won?" He asked. Marali looked at him to see a teasing smile on his lips. She didn't know why he was suddenly being so nice to her, but she was too afraid to ask out of fear that he would go back to being an ass toward her. "I won, obviously." She said in a duh tone.
Neteyam laughed at Marali's statement, causing her to laugh in return. "What are you doing here?" She asked softly. Neteyam was silent for a few minutes, thinking about his response before he spoke, "I wanted to make sure you were okay. I've never seen you so worked up before."
Marali scanned his face, looking for anything that would tell her if he was lying, and when she came up empty-handed, she let out a sigh of relief. "I'm okay. I shouldn't have said what I said-" She was cut off, "No, it needed to be said." Marali looked at him in shock.
"Yeah, but I shouldn't have been so harsh," Marali said.
"Do you think my dad was harsh?" Neteyam asked, and he saw Marali nod. "Then that's exactly what he needed in return. I don't think you realize how much we needed to hear someone say those words." He says, grabbing a hold of Marali's hand. The girl felt a jolt of electricity run through her body, and she slightly jumped at the feel of his hand on hers.
"I just don't like that I raised my voice at your parents. They're never going to forgive me." She sighed, causing Neteyam to chuckle. "Please, Mari, if my parents do anything other than thank you, they are in the wrong." He whispered, and Marali felt a shiver run up and down her spine when she heard Neteyam say her nickname.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" She cautiously said, waiting for him to pull away, but when he didn't, she continued. "I mean, it's not like we're friends. We haven't been friends in a long time. So why now? Why here?"
Neteyam looked at her and sighed, "I'm tired of fighting with you, Marali. I just want my friend back." He said, and Marali felt like she had been stabbed in the chest. Friends. Of course, that's all they would ever be. "I want my friend back, too. But I need to know why you were so mean to me. It was like one day we were best friends, and the next day a switch flipped, and you no longer wanted anything to do with me." Marali said, putting her other hand on top of his.
"I- I can't tell you right now." He said, and Marali pulled both of her hands back and stared at him.
"Why can't you tell me?" She questioned, hurt that he was still keeping her at arm's length.
"Please, just trust me," Neteyam said as Marali scoffed.
"Trust you? I don't even know you anymore, Neteyam. We haven't had a conversation like this in years, so either give me something to go off of, or I'm leaving right now, and us being friends is off the table." Marali said, giving the boy an ultimatum.
Neteyam closed his eyes to take a calming breath. He didn't come here to fight with the girl, but he also knew she had every right to be upset with him. He had practically abandoned her due to his own childish behavior, so the least he could do was tell her why he wanted to be her friend again now.
"When Dad told us that we were leaving home and you were coming with us, I was furious." He said, gulping at the way the girl glared at him. "But, then I thought about it. You were leaving everything you had ever known behind. The forest. Your friends. Your dad. All so that you could protect my siblings, and I felt grateful. I felt this pressure being lifted off of my shoulders. It was no longer on me to protect my siblings. With you coming, I have help." He took in a deep breath, looking at the girl expectantly.
"I don't understand. I helped you protect your siblings back home, so how is this any different?" She asked, confused.
"It's different because here the only responsibilities you have are to learn the Metkayina way and protect my siblings, but back home, you had an entire list of things you did every day. I saw us coming here as a way to rebuild the friendship we had back home. It could be our fresh start." He said, further explaining his reasoning.
"Okay, but that still doesn't explain why you were an asshole." She said, causing Neteyam to throw his head back and groan. The boy looked at her to see her smiling at him teasingly, and he smiled back at her.
The two teens sat on the rock and stared at each other with smiles on their faces. This was the longest the two had been in each other's presence without an argument being started. Marali looked at the boy in front of her and shamelessly stared at his face. She looked at his forehead and saw his bioluminescent freckles glow in the night light. Then she looked down at his alluring golden eyes were shining with joy. Next, she looked at his adorable nose, which was exactly like his mother's. And finally, she looked at those captivating lips that she so desperately wanted to taste at least one time.
While Marali was observing Neteyam, the boy was observing her. It was like she was meant to be her at this exact moment in time. She practically lit up in the night light. He had set his focus on her eyes, and he saw her looking down at his lips.
The next thing he knew was that he had brought his hand up to caress her cheek, gently rubbing his thumb on her bottom lip. Both teens started to lean in. Neteyam had his right hand on the girl's cheek and his left hand trained on the girl's waist. Marali delicately placed both of her hands on the boy's shoulders and slowly pulled him closer as he tensed under her touch. After a few minutes, he relaxed.
As their faces got closer together, both of them fluttered their eyes shut, and they hoped that their bodies knew what to do. Neteyam was so close that Marali could feel his breath fanning her face. The girl anxiously waited in anticipation, and when she felt Neteyam's lips lightly brush against hers, she gasped, jolting back away from Neteyam.
"What's wrong?" He asked, worried.
"N- Nothing. We should just head back before your parents start to worry." She rambled before hopping off of the rock and heading towards the forest. Neteyam watched in amusement as the girl nervously walked away from him.
While he was disappointed that she had pulled away before he fully got to kiss her, he also felt relieved that she had even let him get so close to her in the first place. "Wait for me!" He called out, and Marali turned around and waited for the boy, praying that he couldn't see the light blush on her cheeks. Her prayer was in vain, however, as Neteyam did see the blush, and he cockily smirked to himself.
~~~~
The walk back to the Mauri pod hadn't been awkward, but it wasn't exactly comforting either. Marali's knuckles were now burning in pain, and she hoped that Neytiri or Kiri was still up to help her with her injured hands.
When they walked into the tent, no one was asleep yet, and Marali suspected that it was because everyone was waiting for her return. Everyone looked at the two teens who just entered, and Tuk hopped up, running to hug her brother and Marali. "Mara! Where did you go?" Tuk cheered, holding onto the girl's waist.
"I went on a walk." She said, smiling at the little girl in front of her. Her smile dropped as she saw Neytiri getting up to walk towards her. Neytiri had an unreadable expression on her face, and Jake hadn't yet looked up to meet her gaze. Marali put her head down, waiting to be scolded, but was pleasantly surprised when the mother pulled her into a hug.
"Thank you." The mother whispered. Marali pulled back from the hug and hissed when Neytiri's braids grazed the wounds on her hand. Neytiri looks at her worriedly as she looks her over for injuries. Lo'ak at this point had gotten up to also hug Marali but sprinted over when he heard the girl hiss. The mother finally caught sight of her hands and pulled them into her own, looking them over.
"Kiri, would you make me some medicine? Mara is hurt." Neytiri said, pulling the girl over to sit by Jake. Jake and her visibly tensed, the tension from the argument remaining, but Jake cautiously broke it to talk to the girl. "What happened?" He asked. Marali looked over at Neteyam to see a smile on his face and it reminded her of what she said to him.
"Would you believe me if I said I got into a fight with a tree?" She said half-jokingly, half-serious. Everything was completely silent before giggles erupted throughout the entire room, even Jake cracked a smile.
Marali felt happy knowing that everyone was laughing at what she said. Of course, they still needed to work things out, but for right now they could just talk and do their best to get along.
Unedited. 05/21/23
Edited. 07/20/23
Word Count: 2,782
Hey everyone!
Hopefully you enjoyed - I enjoyed writing this chapter! From now on, Marali and Neteyam's relationship is going to pick up.
If there is anything you would like to see in upcoming chapters, please comment ideas! I would love to hear from all of you.
If anyone would like to make a cover for the book, please feel free to reach out. The one on the book is generic because I have no artistic skills.
Also! Thank y'all so much for over 300 hundred reads! I really appreciate all of you!
Have an amazing day!