Italicize - someone's thoughts or a story from the past
Bold - sign language
Neteyam's entire world came crashing down when he heard those words leave Marali's lips.
"I like someone else."
He knew that it was a long shot of her liking him back, but to hear her confess it not only in front of his parents but in front of him as well hurt.
After Marali said she liked someone else, the pod was quiet as everyone stared at the girl. No one knew what to say, especially Neteyam. Jake and Neytiri looked at the girl with wide eyes and their mouths ajar. They were not expecting Marali to utter those words.
Marali was internally kicking herself for saying she liked someone else when it was completely false. She didn't like anyone else. It was a blatant lie because she was too embarrassed by what Jake and Neytiri were saying.
The only person she had ever had feelings for was Neteyam, and she'd felt those feelings for years.
"Well, uh, that's good. I'm glad you found someone you like." Jake said, breaking the silence.
The girl looked over at Neteyam, and her heart slowly ripped in two when she saw the look on his face. "Yeah, I should go," Marali says before running out of the pod to get away.
Neteyam watched her leave the pod, and felt his ears press against his head. He felt defeated at the fact that he had realized his feelings for Marali too late. Someone else had claimed her heart, and there was nothing he could do about it.
"I'm gonna go for a ride to clear my head," Neteyam said.
Both of his parents looked at him and nodded their heads in understanding. The parents watched as their son left before they looked at each other. "Do you think I came on too strong?" Jake asked.
"Maybe a little," Neytiri says, looking at her mate. "I never expected her to say she liked someone else."
Jake crossed his arms over his chest and furrowed his eyebrows. "I know. I could have sworn that she liked Neteyam." He said, and Neytiri rolled her eyes at her mate's obliviousness.
"She does like Neteyam, but she didn't want to admit that in front of us or him." Neytiri clarified. Her mate made an 'o' shape with his mouth in understanding. The mother shook her head at her mate with a small smile on her lips.
~~~~
It's been a couple of days since the confrontation with Jake and Neytiri, and Marali had done everything to try and talk to Neteyam. She knew he was mad at her, but he didn't have to ignore her as he did when they were younger.
Marali wanted to tell him the truth. She wanted to tell him that she didn't like anyone else, that he was the only person she'd ever liked, but she couldn't even get so much as a word out before he would walk away.
His behavior towards her had gotten to the point where both of his parents would give him disapproving looks every time he walked away from Marali. He wouldn't even look in her direction when they ate together. Neteyam would quickly eat and then do his best to avoid her before he found his way to bed for the night.
If the girl were being honest, it was starting to piss her off.
She wouldn't let him ignore her again, especially not when they just started to be friends again. Young Marali would have already given up by now, but older Marali knew that giving up would be stupid.
The girl wouldn't allow him to act like a child and ignore her just because her words hurt him.
So, she made a decision that later that day, she would get him alone to talk to him.
However, for the time being, she was hanging out with Rotxo and Ao'nung surprisingly. Never did the girl expect that she would hang out with the two boys who made fun of her when they first arrived. If the Marali that first arrived at the Metkayina clan could see her now, she would probably kick present Marali's ass.
"So," Rotxo started as he looked at the girl with a smirk. "Has lover boy confessed to you yet?"
Marali rolled her eyes as she allowed a smile to play on her lips, "Yeah, he did. But he's mad at me right now." She said as she looked between Ao'nung and Rotxo.
"Why is he mad at you? What happened?" Ao'nung asked.
The girl sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck before she spoke, "I may or may not have told Neteyam and his parents that I like someone else." Marali confessed.
Ao'nung and Rotxo looked at each other before they burst into laughter. Both their laughs were loud and obnoxious, and Marali looked at them with a scowl.
"It's not funny!" She exclaimed.
Her words only seemed to fuel their laughter as they clutched onto their stomachs and rolled on the sand, tears starting to form in their eyes.
"Y- You are such a skxawng," Rotxo said between his laughter. "Why would you tell them you like someone else?" Ao'nung added on.
Marali pulled at her braids in frustration. "I don't know. I was flustered?" She said as Rotxo and Ao'nung's laughter started to calm down. "Jake and Neytiri confronted us about leaving the pod in the middle of the night, and Jake told us that he wasn't ready to be a grandparent."
"So?" Ao'nung said with a shrug of a shoulder.
"What do you mean 'so'? Do you know how embarrassing it is to have two parents insinuate that you're sleeping with their son?" Marali whisper-shouted as a group of children walked past.
Ao'nung rolled his eyes at Marali.
"Are you sleeping with Neteyam?" He asked, and Marali could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks.
"No!" She quickly defended. "Then, what do you have to be embarrassed about? Sex is a normal thing to do, Mara." Ao'nung said, and Rotxo nodded his head in agreement.
"I already planned on apologizing and confessing my feelings to Neteyam." She muttered, and Rotxo and Ao'nung hit each other's shoulders.
"Finally!" Both boys yelled. "We thought we would have to force you to confess." Rotxo teased.
"Yeah, yeah. Buy you remember our deal, don't you?" Marali said, and Rotxo looked down shyly.
"What deal?" Ao'nung questioned. "We made a deal that if Marali confesses her feelings for Neteyam, then I have to confess my feelings for Kiri." Rotxo softly said.
Ao'nung looks at his best friend with a smirk and starts to say something, but he's interrupted.
"Ao'nung! Rotxo! Mara!" A voice yells.
All three teens snap their heads in the direction of where the voice is coming from to see Tsireya and Neteyam waving them over. "We have to go! It's Lo'ak!" Neteyam yelled.
When Marali heard Lo'ak's name, she quickly got up and dove into the water, calling an ilu to come to her. Ao'nung and Rotxo were following closely behind her as they also called their ilus. As the three teens resurfaced, Tsireya explained what was going on.
Lo'ak was going to see Payakan.
Marali quickly followed Tsireya in the direction of where Lo'ak was going. She knew what Lo'ak was going to do. He was going to bond with Payakan, and Marali didn't see an issue with it, but she knew the Chief and Jake would see it differently.
As they dove in and out of the water, Tsireya told them tthey were almost there, and Marali's nerves grew.
Please don't get yourself into trouble. Marali thought to herself.
Once they arrived close to where Lo'ak and Payakan would be, all of the teens got off of their ilus and went underwater. From where they were, there was some seaweed that they could use as cover, so that's where they all hid.
It looked like Lo'ak was communicating with Payakan and suddenly the Tulkun opened his mouth, and Lo'ak swam inside. Marali could see that Neteyam was going to go and try to stop Lo'ak, but Tsireya held him back.
The only thing the teens could do was watch as the tulkun stayed below the surface with Lo'ak inside of his mouth. Marali turned to Tsireya and tapped her on the shoulder.
"He's bonding with Payakan, isn't he?" Marali signed.
Tsireya wanted to say that he wasn't, but she knew that's exactly what Lo'ak was doing and that she and Lo'ak were in deep shit when they went back home.
After a couple more minutes, Payakan finally opened his mouth, and Lo'ak swam out. The animal and Lo'ak swam back up to the surface, and from below, Marali could see Lo'ak move closer to Payakan.
"I'm going to go talk to him. Try to stall your dad." Marali signed to Neteyam.
Neteyam nodded and signaled for the Metkayina teens to follow him back ashore.
When Marali swam to the surface, she could see that Lo'ak was still hugging Payakan. "Lo'ak!" She yelled, and Lo'ak looked at her.
"What are you doing here?" Lo'ak asked. Marali gave him a look, and he sighed. "You saw, didn't you?" He questioned, and Marali responded with an 'Mhm'. For a while, the teens sat in silence, but Marali knew that they needed to make their way back soon.
"We need to go back, Lo'ak. You're going to be in trouble." Marali said as she put her hand on his arm. Lo'ak scoffed and looked at the girl he considered his sister, "When am I not in trouble?"
Marali flinched at the harshness of her words but nodded her head in understanding. "I'll do my best to help you." She whispered.
"No, I don't want you getting into trouble because of me. It was my decision to bond with Payakan." Lo'ak said.
Begrudgingly, the two teens beckoned two ilu over to them as they raced back to the beach. From the distance, Marali could see the Chief and his wife, as well as Jake and Neytiri. "Well, shit," Marali mumbled under her breath.
Marali jumped off of her ilu and waited for Lo'ak to do the same. As they made it to the beach, Ronal urged all of them, besides Rotxo, to follow her to their pod. The air was so tense that it could be cut with a knife, and Marali could feel the rage radiating off of Ronal.
Once they made it back to the pod, all hell broke loose. "You allowed this!" Ronal yelled as she took a step to the side. "You allowed him to bond with the outcast!" Ronal scolded as she walked to stand on the other side of her mate.
"Tsireya," Tonowari spoke, "You disappoint me, daughter."
Tsireya looked like she was about to cry. It wasn't her fault that Lo'ak bonded with Payakan. Lo'ak wanted to bond with the tulkun because he wanted to know why he was an outcast. Besides, Tsireya is young, and it's a lot of pressure on her to watch Lo'ak because he's quite a handful.
And a big pain in the ass. Marali thought to herself.
"And you," Tonowari said as he turned his attention to Lo'ak, "Son of a great warrior who has been taught better."
"Payakan saved my life, sir," Lo'ak informed the Olo'eyktan, "You don't know him."
Tonowari looked at him as he pointed a finger. "Sit," Tonowari said, and Lo'ak was the only one to comply. The Chief then looked at the rest of the teens who were still standing, "Sit down!" He commanded, authority laced through his voice.
Within a second, Tsireya sat down, with Ao'nung and Neteyam following. Marali was the last one to sit, as she took a seat next to Lo'ak.
"Hear my words, boy," Tonowari began, "In the days of the first songs, tulkun fought amongst themselves - for territory and revenge. But they came to believe that killing - no matter how justified - only brings more killing," Tonowari said as he continued his speech on tulkun. Marali listened tentatively while also making sure to comfort Lo'ak. "So all killing is forbidden. This is the tulkun way."
Neteyam glanced at Marali and saw she was comforting Lo'ak by rubbing her tail on his back. He felt jealousy bubble in his chest as he forced himself to look away from the scene.
Tonowari continued, "Payakan is a killer. So - he is outcast."
"I'm sorry, sir," Lo'ak started. "But you're wrong."
"Lo'ak!" Neytiri hissed, and Marali glanced over to see that Neytiri and Jake were not happy with their youngest son. "You speak to Olo'eyktan."
"I know that I-" Lo'ak started but was cut off by Jake, "That's enough!" Jake yelled.
Marali gulped and slowly placed her hand on Lo'ak's wrist as an uncomfortable silence fell upon the group. It was like a game to see who would speak first.
Evidently, Lo'ak was confident enough to break the silence. "I know what I know," He said with a shrug.
Ronal hissed at his words, and Marali stared at him in shock. It's like he was asking for an ass-whooping. "That's enough!" Jake said as he stomped behind the kids and grabbed Lo'ak by his arm to pull him away. "I'll deal with this one."
Why does he always have to get into trouble? Marali thought to herself.
The pod remained silent until Neteyam decided to leave, and Marali quickly took this as her opportunity to follow after him. When Neteyam saw that Marali was following him, he picked up his pace to get away from the girl.
"Neteyam!" She called out as they got onto the sand.
The boy continued to ignore her, so she tried to call out his name again, "Nete!"
However, he still didn't slow his pace, nor did he make any move to let her know he heard her. "Neteyam te Suli Tsyeyk'itan!" Marali yelled, hoping his full name would stop him. The girl groaned in frustration when it didn't.
As they continued to walk, they got further and further away from any Metkayina people.
"If you don't stop, I'll never talk to you again!" Marali threatened, and this is what finally got him to stop.
Neteyam slowly turned around and looked at the ground, refusing to look Marali in the eye. He held his breath when he felt Marali get closer and closer to him. "Why are you ignoring me?" She asked.
He looked up at her and sighed, trying to find the right words.
"Is it because I said I liked someone else?" Marali questioned, and Neteyam nodded his head. "That is so petty. I hope you know that." She scolded.
The teen shamefully looked up at Marali and spoke, "I know."
"Don't you want to hear what I have to say about your confession?" She asked.
"Not really. I don't think I can handle the rejection." He said, and Marali opened her mouth to respond. "Please, don't tell me, Mari. I genuinely don't think I can handle the heartbreak."
Once again, the girl went to open her mouth, but Neteyam continued to ramble on about how he didn't want to hear her rejection. The funny thing was, that she wasn't even going to reject him. She was going to tell him that she felt the same way. But the boy was too stuck in his head to even let her speak.
Anytime Marali opened her mouth to say something, he would immediately shut her down. It was starting to piss her off.
"I know that you don't like me back, and that's okay-" Neteyam was cut off when Marali smashed her lips to his.
Neteyam froze as his eyes were wide open. Marali was kissing him.
The kiss is unexpected, catching Neteyam off guard, but he quickly responds once he gets over the initial shock, reciprocating the passion at the moment.
Their lips meet forcefully, molding together in a fiery embrace. It's a collision of emotions, with a surge of chemistry and unspoken attraction igniting between them. Marali's enthusiasm and boldness manifest in the way she embraces the kiss as if she's determined to convey the depth of her feelings through this act.
Why is she kissing me? Neteyam thought to himself.
Marali brought her hands to Neteyam's chest as she slid them up to wrap them around the back of his neck. When Neteyam hesitantly placed his hands on the girl's waist, a shot of electricity was felt between the two of them.
The kiss is fervent and passionate, filled with a hunger that both teens seem to share. Time seems to freeze as they lose themselves in the moment, shutting out the outside world and surrendering to the electricity that crackles between them.
As the kiss eventually comes to an end, they pull apart, their breaths mingling and their hearts pounding.
"You kissed me," Neteyam whispered with eyes still closed as he feared that if he opened them, this would all be some sort of sick dream.
"I did," Marali whispered back.
Neteyam opened his eyes to see Marali staring back at him, her lips slightly swollen from the kiss they just shared. The boy searched her face for any sign of regret, only to be met with none. The only emotion present on Marali's face was determination.
"We need to talk."
Unedited. 06/01/23
Edited. 08/04/23
Word Count: 2,909
Quick note-
They finally kissed! AHHHH!
Also, thank y'all so much for 1.2K reads!