Italicize - someone's thoughts or a story from the past
Bold - sign language
Ja'lia was doing her best to enjoy the party that was held in honor of the return of the tulkun, but as time went on, her nerves grew as she realized that it was getting closer and closer to the time when she would be confessing her feelings to Lo'ak.
After all those months of doing her best to hide her feelings, Ja'lia was finally going to confess due to the kiss the two had shared the day before.
The girl wasn't sure if she was that stupid or confident that Lo'ak felt the same way she did. Hell, maybe Lo'ak only kissed her because it felt like it was the right thing to do at that moment, but Lo'ak didn't seem like the type of boy to do something like that.
Both the Sully boys were raised to respect women and as well as to never play with a woman's feelings, as that was a sign of cowardice. They were also raised to give up their seat if a woman had been standing, and to always keep their word. If Ja'lia remembered correctly, the humans called it chivalry and Jake and Neytiri combined their two drastically different parenting styles.
From where Ja'lia was sitting, she could see that Lo'ak appeared to be in a very intense conversation with Neteyam, and usually, Ja'lia would be sitting beside him, but Tsireya had asked Ja'lia to sit with her, Kiri, and Tuk. Tsireya's invitation was immediately accepted by Ja'lia because she didn't want to deal with an awkward atmosphere if she had to sit with Lo'ak.
She didn't want to be the reason anyone didn't enjoy their night.
Tuk was currently talking all three teens' ears off about what she had learned in her new training, which she was excelling at. One part of Ja'lia, the competitive part, felt jealous of how well Tuk was doing with her training, even though it could be expected. Tuk was the youngest of out all of them.
The younger someone is when trying to learn a new skill; the easier it would be for them to quickly pick up on it. So, while the teens weren't necessarily slow at learning the Metkayina way, they also weren't the quickest either.
"I can hold my breath for a long time," Tuk informed with the biggest smile on her face.
Ja'lia smiled at the youngest Sully child in pride while Tsireya told her how proud of her she was. Positive reinforcement was something that Tsireya highly encouraged, and when the Sully children started their training, it worked well on all of them, especially Lo'ak. Lo'ak had been so used to being yelled at by his father during training that when Tsireya used calm and soothing words to correct his mistake, he was extremely confused.
However, as time passed, his confusion subsided, and he started to learn at accelerated rates as well.
"I also made some new friends," Tuk said as she continued to talk about her training in excitement.
Kiri loved to see her sister so excited about something new, but if her sister continued to talk about how she could hold her breath for a 'really long time' and about her new friends, she might scream. If the youngest girl was going to continue to blabber, the least she could do was come up with something new to talk about.
"Tuk, can we please talk about something else?" Kiri pleaded, and Tuk blinked at her older sister. "What do you want to talk about?" Tuk asked as she wouldn't mind if the topic moved away from talking about herself because she was getting bored of saying the same things over and over again, but she didn't know what else to talk about.
Before she started talking, it had been completely silent, and if there was one thing Tuk hated more than anything in the entire Universe, it was silence. She knew what everyone wanted to talk about. Tuk wasn't stupid. Young? Yes. Stupid? Absolutely not.
It didn't slip past the youngest girl that something had happened between Ja'lia and Lo'ak. It also didn't slip past her that the two would most likely end up being more than friends, even if she knew about it before anyone else, including the subjects of the impending relationship she had predicted to happen within the next couple of weeks.
Tuk considered herself the captain of the Lo'lia ship, which was Lo'ak and Ja'lia's name combined, by the way. She was extremely proud of that name as she came up with it all by herself, and if the two were to ever have, say, a daughter, that's the name she would nonchalantly suggest.
"We could talk about why Ja'lia disappeared," Tuk shrugged, causing Ja'lia's eyes to widen at her bluntness. Although, being subtle had never been a strong suit of Tuk's because while she was extremely smart, she was still a kid.
"I just wanted some alone time," Ja'lia claimed, causing the other three girls to give her a 'really?' look. Ja'lia sighed when she knew that her pathetic excuse wasn't going to get her out of the conversation she knew was bound to happen.
"Fine," She said before looking around to make sure no one was close enough to hear their conversation. "I didn't go to your secret spot, Reya," Ja'lia revealed, and only two of the three girls looked surprised at her revelation.
Kiri was the one who didn't look shocked, however, that fact didn't surprise Ja'lia.
Ja'lia could lie to anyone else in the world besides Kiri, and she could never figure out why. Sure, they were close, but they weren't as close as she and Lo'ak were, nor her and Neteyam. But, then again, they were boys, and as long as Ja'lia was safe, they didn't care to know the truth.
At least, that's what Ja'lia told herself.
"Where did you go then?" Tsireya asked curiously.
"I went to go see Payakan," She said softly.
"You what?!" Tsireya raised her voice, and everyone stopped the conversations, including Lo'ak's table, to see what was going on. The four girls nervously smiled at them and waved, hoping to get the attention off of them.
They had all failed desperately as Lo'ak got up from the table where he had been sitting with Neteyam, Rotxo, and Ao'nung to come over to see what was wrong.
He had been planning to go over to their table all night, he was waiting for the perfect opportunity, and it seemed that Tsireya gave him just that. As he continued to walk toward the table where Ja'lia was sitting, he swallowed his nerves and tried to stand tall as a way to appear calm and cool on the outside, whereas he was a total wreck on the inside.
When Lo'ak finally reached the girls' table, any confidence he exuded went down the drain when Ja'lia's eyes landed on him.
The girl wasn't glaring at him, and she wasn't smiling at him either. Instead, she gave him a blank stare as he towered over all of them before taking a seat beside Kiri and Tuk. "Lo'ak!" Tuk whined as her brother pushed her for the second time that day. The first time was when he knocked her over to go hug Ja'lia after she had returned from her little adventure.
Lo'ak, of course, refused to apologize to Tuk, which started a minor argument between the two youngest siblings.
"Did you seriously have to push her again?" Kiri groaned, hoping Lo'ak wouldn't start another argument with their little sister.
"Sorry, Tuk," He apologized, causing Ja'lia to raise her eyebrows at him in surprise.
"Shouldn't you be with the other boys?" Kiri grumbled, however, the boy ignored his sister as he placed all of his attention on Ja'lia. "This table seems like more fun, and that's what this parties about, right?" Lo'ak glanced at Tsireya.
Tsireya nodded, and Ja'lia bit the inside of her cheek as she tried to keep her eyes locked with Lo'ak's to let him know that his gaze wasn't affecting her.
As time continued to pass, it seemed like the air around them grew warm and thick. It was driving Kiri insane, and she wished the two teens sitting on opposite sides would just make up and make out already. The stare-down Ja'lia and Lo'ak were having made the atmosphere suffocating, and Kiri didn't know how much more she could take.
Eventually, it all got to be too much as Kiri abruptly stood up, and dragged Tuk with her.
"If I leave and find out that you two don't talk tonight, I'm kicking both of your asses," Kiri informed, grabbing Tuk's hand before she walked toward her older brother's table. Ja'lia looked down at the hands in her lap as she felt the blush creep up to her cheeks while Tsireya got up and hurried away to catch up with Kiri.
Silence fell upon Lo'ak and Ja'lia as neither of them knew what exactly to say to the other the only thing they knew was that wanted to talk to each other. Ja'lia swallowed the lump in her throat as she built up the courage to speak, "We should go somewhere more private," She said, and Lo'ak looked at her with wide eyes before nodding.
"Okay," The boy stood up.
Ja'lia followed Lo'ak's lead as she stood up, and wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt.
Soon, the two teens were walking away from the party toward the forest to talk at their spot. The walk was awkward, and Ja'lia wanted to say something to break the silence, but every time she went to say something, the words wouldn't come out.
When they got into the cave, both teens went on opposite sides. Lo'ak looked as though he was deep in thought until he locked eyes with Ja'lia and spoke.
"I'm sorry," He apologized.
"For what?" Ja'lia questioned.
The word sorry could mean many different things when it came to what Lo'ak was apologizing for. Was he sorry for ignoring her? Sorry for kissing her? Was he sorry for breaking Ja'lia's heart? Even if it hadn't been on purpose. Ja'lia wasn't sure, which was why she needed to ask for confirmation.
"I'm sorry for ignoring you-" Lo'ak said, taking a step forward, "again," He added.
"That's all you're sorry for?" Ja'lia asked, and Lo'ak swallowed nervously. "What else should I be sorry for?" He whispered.
Ja'lia contemplated her response for a second before leaning against the rock wall behind her, "You're not sorry about kissing me?" She said, asking Lo'ak another question.
Lo'ak grew rigid when Ja'lia mentioned the kiss. He knew it was bound to happen, however, he never expected Ja'lia to be so upfront about it, never mind asking him if he were to regret kissing.
It almost made him laugh.
How could he ever regret kissing Ja'lia? She had the sweetest lips he had ever tasted, and when he remembered how her lips moved against his, goosebumps formed all over his body. If kissing Ja'lia was the last thing Lo'ak could ever do, he would die with a life fulfilled.
"Why would I regret kissing you?" Lo'ak questioned confused.
"I don't know. Maybe because you ignored me and would barely look at me after it happened," Ja'lia said, crossing her arms over her chest.
The boy anxiously rubbed the back of his neck while he tried to come up with an explanation as to why he ignored her. "I-" He started to speak, but the words got stuck in his throat.
"Do you know how much it hurt that you wouldn't even look at me after we kissed?" Ja'lia asked, and Lo'ak's head snapped up to look at her, "You took my first kiss and made me feel horrible afterward even though it was supposed to be a magical experience," She said.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel that way," Lo'ak softly said as he felt his guilt start to seep through his pores.
His last intention was to make Ja'lia feel bad about herself because he was too rude and selfish to talk about his feelings like a big boy. She didn't deserve it, and suddenly the thought he had in his mind to confess to Ja'lia crept back as his own insecurities surfaced. Lo'ak didn't feel that he was good enough for her.
He was too messed up, too broken for her. Ja'lia needed someone who could take care of her, and love her the way she needed to be loved, the way she deserved to be loved.
"You kissed me, Lo'ak. You made the first move, and I followed your lead because I wanted to kiss you too," She said, causing Lo'ak's eyes to widen.
"You wanted to kiss me?" He asked, and Ja'lia scoffed at his question.
"Trust me, if I didn't want to kiss you, Lo'ak, I would have punched you as soon as I realized what you were doing," Ja'lia said bitterly.
"Why?"
"Why what?" She furrowed her eyebrows.
"Why would you want to kiss me?"
Ja'lia blinked at her best friend as she realized this was the moment she had been waiting for. It was now or never when it came to confessing her feelings, so she might as well rip off the bandaid before her anxiety got the best of her and caused her to chicken out.
"Because I'm in love with you," Ja'lia confessed.
Lo'ak's world came to a stop as her words echoed in his head. She was in love with him? There was no way. This had to be some sort of joke. Why- How could she have such feelings towards him? He wasn't anything special. He was Lo'ak. The youngest son of Jake and Neytiri. The troublemaker. The screw-up.
Of all the people in the world, why him?
It didn't make any logical sense to him.
As soon as Ja'lia confessed her feelings, she expected to regret it, but instead, it felt like she could take her first breath of fresh air in months. It felt like the weight had been lifted on her shoulders, and all would be well and right in her life again.
She watched as Lo'ak stood frozen in his place, lost in his mind as he tried to process what she had just confessed to him, and honestly, Ja'lia considered it to be a step in the right direction because, at least this time the boy didn't run away from her, and so far he hasn't ignored her. Not that there was any time to determine whether or not he would do the latter yet.
The girl waited for Lo'ak to speak, however, when he did, his words surprised her and angered her all at the same time.
"Why are you in love with me?" He ground out, and Ja'lia's jaw fell to the ground.
Was he being serious right now? Why was she in love with him? He acted like she could control who she developed feelings for, not that her having feelings for Lo'ak was a bad thing, she was just pissed off that out of all the things he could have said, he chose to ask her such an idiotic question.
"Why am I in love with you?" She breathed out the question, and Lo'ak nodded.
"Because you're you, Lo'ak," Ja'lia started to speak, "I'm in love with everything about you. The way you're always there for your friends and family. The way you would do anything to protect your siblings. The way you smile. The way you laugh. Hell, I even love when you snore," She continued, and Lo'ak silently listened to her, "The way you were there for me when my parents died, even when I wasn't always the best of friends in return. You give, and you continue to give, without expecting anything in return,"
Lo'ak started to slowly walk towards Ja'lia, but Ja'lia didn't notice as she had stars in her eyes describing her feelings for the boy.
"And your eyes. The way they light up when you've accomplished something, they're so beautiful. Although, I think if I had to pick my favorite part about you, it would be your laugh. It's like music to my ears," Ja'lia smiled, and at this point, Lo'ak was only a couple of footsteps away from her.
"I don't think there's anything in this world you could do that I wouldn't love. I'm irrevocably, unconditionally, and hopelessly-" Her sentence was cut off as Lo'ak grabbed both sides of her jaw and pulled her in for a breathtaking kiss.
Ja'lia's breath got caught in her throat as she placed her hands on top of Lo'ak's, and moved her mouth against his, doing her best to keep up with his quick movements. This kiss was nothing like the first one they shared. It was hot. It was passionate. It was seductive.
As the two teens continued to kiss, Ja'lia moved her hands up to wrap them around Lo'ak's neck to pull him closer while Lo'ak grabbed the back of Ja'lia's thighs and hoisted her up before pinning her to the wall behind her.
The kiss was moving a little faster than Ja'lia had anticipated it too as she pulled away to catch her breath because her lungs were begging her for more air, however, this didn't deter Lo'ak because soon his lips were attached to Ja'lia's jaw as he peppered kisses up and down her neck, causing a shiver to run down the girl's spine.
When Lo'ak's lips landed on the skin between her neck and collarbone, her head fell back, and she realized that she needed to stop him before she took it too far.
But, before she could even do so, it seemed that the kisses on her neck had subsided as Lo'ak placed his lips on top of hers once more. He kissed her slowly and sensually as he tried to memorize the feel of his lips against hers, due to his own fear that her confession was only a dream.
That he had somehow heard her wrong, and she didn't just give him that beautifully crafted confession that he would want to hear for the rest of his life without ever growing tired of hearing it.
As he slowly pulled away, he rested his forehead on hers, and the two panted as they tried to catch their breath, and when Ja'lia opened her eyes, she blushed when she noticed Lo'ak was already looking at her.
"Hey, Lia," Lo'ak smiled.
"Hmm?" She responded.
"I love you."
Unedited. 07/07/23
Word Count: 3,099
Hey everyone!
Hopefully you enjoyed - This chapter had me giggling, blushing, and kicking my feet all at the same time. Like this is seriously some of my best work. It's safe to say that this is my all time favorite so far.
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