Italicize - someone's thoughts or a story from the past
Bold - sign language
The Sully family awoke to a gloomy day. It was cold and rainy, so training was out of the question for the day. Still, the Sully children wanted to know what they could do, so they went to the Chief's tent to ask Tsireya and Ao'nung if there was anything they could do to keep themselves entertained.
Neteyam and Lo'ak were walking ahead of the group, talking about something that seemed to keep the two occupied. Kiri was walking beside Marali, and Tuk was being carried by Marali because she didn't want to walk.
Now that Kiri and Lo'ak knew that Neteyam and Marali kissed, they started teasing the two teens. Anytime the two glanced at each other for a second too long, Lo'ak would make kissy faces, and Kiri would smirk at them.
The only way Neteyam and Marali were able to get them to shut up was to mention who they liked or the fact that Lo'ak kissed Tsireya.
The walk to the Chief's pod wasn't long. However, with the wind and the rain, the children were freezing, so when they finally made it there, they immediately ran towards the fire to warm up. "Yeah, sure, come right on in. Don't knock or anything." Ao'nung says sarcastically.
"Okay! We won't, Nungie." Marali fires back with a smile on her face.
All of the children snicker at her words while Ao'nung scowls at the nickname she recently started calling him. "Nungie? No one's called you that name since you were little." Ronal says as she looks up at her son.
Ao'nung looked at his mother, embarrassed before he shot a glare over to Marali.
"Well, his name is a mouthful, so I came up with a nickname to shorten it. I don't think he likes it very much, though." Marali said with a shrug of a shoulder.
The Tsahik hums as she continues to work on the necklace that she was making when the Sully children first came in before she speaks, "So, what are your guys' nicknames then?" Ronal asks curiously.
The question takes the children by surprise as Ronal has never shown much interest in getting to know any of them. However, maybe she knows about Tsireya's feelings for Lo'ak. Or maybe she's finally starting to get used to them being there.
"Tuktirey's nickname is Tuk or Tuk Tuk, Kiri is already short, Neteyam's nickname is Teyam or Nete, Marali's is Mara, and I don't have a nickname," Lo'ak explained.
Tuk looked at him, confused. "Lo'ak, you do have a nickname! Remember what I used to call you when I first started talking?" Tuk grinned, and Marali, Neteyam, and Kiri smirked at the boy, who had a nervous look on his face.
"Tuk, please don't," Lo'ak pleaded.
"Do tell us, Tuk," Ao'nung said as Tsireya giggled at Lo'ak's face.
"When I first started talking, it was hard for me to pronounce Lo'ak's name, so instead of Lo'ak, I called him Lolo," Tuk informed.
Ao'nung immediately burst into laughter while Tsireya tried to conceal hers when she saw the look of horror on Lo'ak's face. He hadn't been called that nickname in years, and he had always hated it. When Tuk could finally pronounce his name correctly, he made her promise to never say that nickname again.
Lo'ak's look of horror soon turned into playful anger as he chased after his little sister. "I swear, when I catch you, Tuk, you're going into the water!" Lo'ak says as Tuk runs away, squealing in excitement.
Everyone watched the scene in amusement as Lo'ak was chasing after Tuk. He was having a hard time catching her because she kept hiding behind people who weren't willing to help him out, as they thought the entire situation was hilarious.
Eventually, Tuk got tired of running and sought refuge behind Marali. Lo'ak stalkingly walked toward Marali as he called out to his sister, "Marali can't protect you forever, Tuk,"
"Yes, she can!" Tuk laughed from behind Marali. "No, she can't," Lo'ak retorted as he stuck his tongue out at his little sister.
"Oh, yeah?" Tuk said and Marali snorted. This is the most childish argument she's seen since they left the forest. "Yeah!" Lo'ak said, nodding his head.
Suddenly an idea popped into Tuk's head, "And what if I told Marali who ate her leftovers that she was saving from a couple of days ago?" Tuk said, giving her brother a toothy grin from behind the teen girl she was hiding behind.
This grabbed Marali's attention as she turned her head to glance back at Tuk, "Who ate my leftovers?" Marali asked. Lo'ak looked at his sister with wide eyes.
The younger girl crossed her arms over her chest and gave her brother a look. Lo'ak put his arms up in surrender as he backed away from Marali and Tuk.
"Who ate my leftovers?" Marali repeated.
Tuk innocently smiled at her brother before pointing at him and saying, "Lolo did!"
Marali's head snapped in Lo'ak's direction, and she narrowed her eyes at him. "You ate my food?" She questioned, causing Lo'ak to gulp.
Kiri and Neteyam shot each other a look before they pulled Tuk behind them. They also signaled Ao'nung and Tsireya to come over to their side of the pod as well. Anyone who knew Marali knew to never mess with her food. Especially when she had been saving it for a different day. The last person who ate her food ended up with a bruised eye.
"How many times have I told you not to eat my food?" Marali questioned as she slowly walked towards the boy. "A lot," Lo'ak said as he shot a look to his siblings for help.
'You're on your own' Neteyam mouthed.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I'm leaving the choice up to you." Marali said as she nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders. "What's the easy way, and what's the hard way?" Lo'ak asked.
He wanted to know all of his options before he made a decision.
"Remember Azarketi?" Marali asked, and Lo'ak shuddered as he remembered the bruise that had been on the boy's eye for a week after he touched Marali's food. "Yes," He gulped.
"That's the hard way. Wanna hear the easy way?" She said as she finally stood in front of the boy, who nodded his head in return. "The easy way is I give you a noogie."
"What the hell is a noogie?" Ao'nung said, scrunching his nose.
Marali turned her head to smile at the boy before responding, "I'll give you a demonstration if that's the option Lo'ak chooses." Ao'nung nods his head before looking at Neteyam to see if they should do anything.
Neteyam simply shook his head and turned his attention back to Marali and his little brother.
"Both of those options suck," Lo'ak mumbled.
"Well, if you don't choose, then I will." Marali starts, "And you have three seconds to decide." She finished as she brought three fingers up to demonstrate.
"Three,"
"Two,"
"On-" She was interrupted by Lo'ak yelling.
"Okay!" He shouted. "I'll take the noogie." He grumbled.
The girl smirked at the boy before she brought one arm around his neck, and the other onto the top of his head and roughly moved it back and forth. All the teens and Ronal cringed as they watched the scene before them. "Poor Lo'ak." Tsireya sympathized.
Tuk snorted and looked at the older girl, "Just be happy that you aren't on the receiving end." The younger girl said.
Ao'nung watched Marali give Lo'ak a noogie with curiosity, "Oh, come on. It can't be that bad." He joked.
"You wanna be next, fish boy?" Marali called out as she slowed down to give Lo'ak a noogie.
The Metkayina boy looked at Lo'ak's head and saw that some of his braids were now messed up. "No, thanks! I'm good. I'll use my imagination." He assured as he put his hands out in front of him.
As Marali removed her hand from the top of Lo'ak's face and from around his neck, she walked back over to the other teens and Tuk. "Maybe I should've had her punch me instead," Lo'ak sighed as he rubbed the top of his head.
"That can also be arranged!" Marali said, and Lo'ak shot her a glare as he walked over to Tsireya, who inspected the top of his head.
After Marali gave Lo'ak a noogie, the group of kids sat around the fire and told stories and laughed while Ronal continued to work on her necklace. Eventually, the Olo'eyktan comes over to the Mauri and sees the group having fun. He doesn't want to worry the children, so he calls his wife out to speak to her alone.
"Ronal?" Tonowari called, and his wife immediately looked up at him. When she sees the look on his face, she knows that something is wrong.
She quickly gets up and goes out of the pod with her husband. "What do you think is going on?" Tuk asked curiously.
Marali watched the conversation from the corner of her eye and saw Tonowari, and Ronal would glance at the Omatikaya teens with worried eyes before Ronal shooed Tonowari away. Ronal soon came back into the pod as she worked on the necklace with furrowed eyebrows. Marali nudged Neteyam, who shot her a confused look.
"Come on," She whispered as she got up. The boy was confused as to why she wanted to leave, but he complied nonetheless. "Where are we going?" Neteyam asked.
"You'll know when we get there." She said as she grabbed his wrist and started pulling him out of the pod. "Where are you guys going?" Tuk called out.
This grabbed everyone's attention as now the entire pod was staring at the two Omatikaya teens, who were quietly making their escape. "We'll be right back," Marali assured.
"You guys better not be leaving to make out," Lo'ak said as he made gagging noises.
"What's a makeout?" Tuk questioned, and Tsireya hit the boy on the shoulder as she scolded him.
Neteyam rolled his eyes at his brother. "We aren't leaving to make out." He said before looking at Marali. The boy didn't know what they were doing, but he didn't think it was to have a makeout session, right? Marali wouldn't be asking him to have a makeout session right now, would she? Neteyam started internally freaking out as he was hoping that they weren't going to be doing what Lo'ak suggested. He barely even knew how to kiss her, let alone other things.
"No, we aren't. Now, let's go," Marali said as she finally dragged Neteyam away from the pod.
During the walk, Neteyam tried to ask Marali where they were going, but she ignored his questions and walked in complete silence. When he saw that they were walking back to his family's Mauri pod, his confusion only deepened.
The girl's pace slowed as she quietly walked to the edge of the pod and did her best to stay hidden. "What are we doing-" He was interrupted by Marali, "Shhh," She whispered as she pointed to her ear, signaling for him to listen.
Suddenly, the two teens heard Jake's voice, "What's wrong?" Jake asked, concerned.
"Sky People," Tonowari said severely, "They are looking for you, Jake Sully." The Chief warned.
Marali brought her hand to her mouth to suppress a gasp while Neteyam's world stopped. His eyes widened, and his jaw became tense. The girl beside him saw his reaction as she interlaced their fingers together with her other hand.
"South," He continues, "And they have a human boy who speaks Navi."
Fuck. They're talking about Spider. Marali thought to herself.
Both teens looked at each other in fear. Spider wouldn't rat them out, would he? No, that's impossible. Marali almost hit herself for thinking something so stupid about her friend. Spider would never betray the Sully family.
"Did they kill anybody?" Jake asked, breaking the silence that had fallen upon them.
"Not yet," Tonowari said, and from the tone of his voice, Marali could tell that someone had almost been killed, or at least seriously injured. "They threatened - but the villagers will not tell them where you are." The Chief paused. "By my order." He finished, and Marali let out a sigh of relief.
Neteyam pulled his hand out of Marali's as he brought his hands up to his face. Why couldn't the sky people leave his family alone? Why did they have to keep coming after them? Wasn't it enough that they had to leave their home, and give up everything?
His breathing started to quicken, and Marali quickly grabbed his hand and dragged him away from the Mari pod, making sure that no one was around. The boys' hands started to shake, and he felt tears prick at the back of his eyes.
"Hey," Marali said. "Look at me," She whispered.
It was as if Neteyam couldn't hear her, because his eyes frantically searched around the area that they were in as he tried to find something to focus on. "Look at me," Marali said more firmly. Neteyam's eyes finally met hers, but his breathing was still fast, and his hands were still shaking.
"Neteyam, you're okay," Marali assured, and he shook his head. "Remember that exercise we did the last time this happened?" She asked and the boy barely got out a 'Yes'.
"Okay, listen to my voice, okay?" She said, and he nodded his head.
"In through your nose." She breathed in and waited for him to copy, "And out through your mouth," Marali breathed out.
"In through your nose."
"And out through your mouth."
The two continued the action until Neteyam's breathing had steadied, and his hands were no longer shaking. He sighed as he pulled Marali in for a tight hug, burying his head into her neck. "We're going to be okay, Nete." She assured as she wrapped her arms protectively around Neteyam.
Neteyam quietly let the tears fall as he nodded his head at the girl's words. There was a sliver of doubt in his mind.
What if they weren't going to be okay? What if something happened to one of them? He would never forgive himself if anyone in his family got hurt. He would hate himself if something happened to Marali.
Marali silently held the boy as she allowed him to cry in the crook of her neck. She was trying so hard to fight back tears of her own as seeing the boy, who was always so strong, cry, broke something inside of her.
After a couple of minutes, Neteyam finally pulled away from the girl as he sniffled and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Thank you," He whispered.
The girl warmly smiled at him as she sat on the sand and signaled for Neteyam to sit beside her.
It was silent for a moment before Neteyam decided to break it, "Why can't they leave us alone?" He said blankly, staring at the sand below him.
"I don't know," Marali croaked as she laid her head on Neteyam's shoulder.
"They're going to find us, aren't they?" Neteyam said as he placed his head on top of Marali's.
She quietly contemplated her response to his question. "Yeah." She spoke.
"If they come here, I need you to promise me something," Neteyam said, lifting his head. Marali took her head off of his shoulder and looked at him. "What?" She asked nervously.
Neteyam sighed. "I need you to promise you won't fight," Neteyam said. Marali looked at the boy like he had two heads. "Why would you want me to promise that?" She asked, bewildered.
"Because I can't lose you," Neteyam said, and Marali scoffed. "What about me? How would you feel if I asked you to promise me that? Do you think I can lose you?" Marali said, raising her voice.
"I'm a warrior!" Neteyam exclaimed.
"Then what the hell am I? A fucking chicken?!" She said, naming an animal from Earth.
He pushed it aside that she just said an animal from a different planet and groaned in frustration. "I'm trying to protect you." The boy reasoned.
"I can protect myself." She said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I know you can! But if it came down to you saving yourself or someone you cared about, who would you choose?" Neteyam snapped.
Marali went to defend herself but dropped her shoulders as she drew her gaze away from the boy, letting him know her answer. "Exactly! You can't even say the answer, Mari! Because everyone knows that you would save someone you care about over yourself any day of the week." Neteyam stated.
"Is it so wrong for me to want to save the people I love?" Marali whispered.
"Yes, it's selfish." He said, and Marali snapped her head to look him in the eye. "Selfish? How the hell is that selfish?" She glared.
Neteyam scoffed, "Have you ever thought about how people would feel if you ended up dead protecting them? Have you thought about Tuk, Lo'ak, Kiri, my parents, or your father? Have you ever thought about me? Do you know how I would feel if I had to play a part in your funeral ceremony? It would break me, Mari. I wouldn't be able to take it." Neteyam lowered his voice.
"Now look who's being selfish," Marali said bitterly, and Neteyam closed his eyes to calm himself down.
He never wanted to argue with her. He just wanted her to understand how he felt. He wanted to protect her.
"Please, Mari." He begged as his voice broke.
The girl searched his face and saw how frightened he was. Neteyam was scared beyond belief. She saw how his body was tense, and how he was nervously biting his lower lip between his teeth.
What he was asking her was horrible. Marali was a warrior through and through. She would protect her friends and family, no matter the cost. But, when she saw the look on Neteyam's face her heart ripped in two. Marali knew that if she didn't promise to not get involved Neteyam's focus wouldn't be one hundred percent.
If she didn't promise, she would risk losing him. The boy she's had a crush on since she was a little girl. The light of her life. The love of her life.
Marali closed her eyes and took a deep breath before whispering, "I promise."
At the sound of the girl's promise, Neteyam instantly relaxed, and he pulled the girl into a hug. "Thank you." He said, wrapping his arms around her.
Marali felt the guilt build in the pit of her stomach because she lied to Neteyam. She would never sit back and watch the people she loved possibly get hurt, but if she didn't assure him, then he would get hurt.
She only hoped he wouldn't find out that she lied to him.
Unedited. 06/03/23
Edited. 08/05/23
Word Count: 3,164
Quick note-
Sorry for the late update! I had work, and I didn't feel like writing this chapter ahead yesterday. 🥲 💔
Also! Thank y'all so much for over 1.5k reads! I appreciate it so much! I love y'all!