Italicize - someone's thoughts or a story from the past
Bold - sign language
Lo'ak and Ja'lia were walking hand-in-hand back to the pod as the Eclipse had happened a little over two hours ago. Neither of them had talked after they confessed to each other, however, no words needed to be spoken.
Ja'lia loved Lo'ak, and Lo'ak loved Ja'lia.
It was all either of them could have ever wished for. All their fears, worries, and anxieties went down the drain when both said, 'I love you.'
Of course, they had said 'I love you' to each other before, but this time was different. When they said it moments prior, they didn't mean it as 'You're my best friend, and I love you', they meant it as 'I'm in love with you, and I will be for the rest of my life.'
It had amazed Lo'ak and Ja'lia that their feelings were reciprocated by the other.
Although, if you would have asked anyone from back home, it was only a matter of time before feelings developed between the two. The two teens were often asked if they were waiting until they were of age to make their relationship official because everyone was convinced that they were together, even though Lo'ak and Ja'lia firmly disagreed with the notion.
Back home, they constantly had to tell everybody, besides their own families, that they were only friends, and that's all they were ever meant to be, even if Ja'lia hadn't felt that way for the past few months.
If only their past selves could see them now.
In all honesty, Lo'ak and Ja'lia from the past would probably laugh if someone's face if they told them that the two had kissed not once but twice and also confessed to each other. Ja'lia felt like she was on cloud nine with a dazed smile on her face as she walked back with Lo'ak.
He was holding Ja'lia's hand, and this time, it was in a romantic sense. The boy was thankful that it was dark because he would be embarrassed if Ja'lia could see the blush on his cheeks or hear the way his heart was pounding against his chest.
This was not the outcome he was expecting to happen.
When he originally decided to confess to Ja'lia that night, he thought that she would immediately reject him, laugh at him even, but she had been the one to say the words first. She loved everything about him. She loved him for him, and that's all he'd ever wanted. Lo'ak truly couldn't even begin to describe his feelings for Ja'lia at that moment.
At first, he was at a loss for words, but as her beautiful words started to register in his mind, it was like his body had a mind of its' own. He kissed her again. And this time, there wasn't any doubt in his mind that she kissed him back because Ja'lia did. Ja'lia put her entire mind, body, and soul into that kiss, and as Lo'ak licked his lips, he almost wished he could kiss her one more time before they returned to the pod.
So, that's what he did.
Lo'ak turned in a different direction so he could find somewhere more private to steal one last kiss before they finally went home for the night. The notion confused Ja'lia, however, she didn't pull out of his grip as she decided to follow him to see what he was doing.
"What's wrong?" She asked, and Lo'ak remained silent as he continued to walk away from his family's pod over to some palm trees that would give him and Ja'lia the cover they needed.
Once they were at the palm trees, Lo'ak stopped walking to turn and look at Ja'lia.
"Are you okay?" Ja'lia questioned.
The boy nodded as he pressed Ja'lia's body up against one of the trees and brought his head down to capture her lips in a slow and sweet kiss. Ja'lia had initially been stunned, but she quickly returned the kiss as she brought her hands up to cup Lo'ak's cheeks.
It was official.
Kissing Lo'ak was her new favorite thing to do. However, before the kiss could continue, a low whistle brought the two out of their moment, and they both looked to see Neteyam smirking at them.
"Well, well. What do we have here?" Neteyam teased, and at that moment, Ja'lia wished she could sink into a hole and never return.
"Go away, Neteyam. We're busy," Lo'ak said, glaring at his older brother.
Neteyam raised an eyebrow at Lo'ak's statement before a playful smile made its' way onto his face, "I can see that you're busy, but you might want to do it somewhere a little more private," He shrugged.
Ja'lia moved her body off the tree and sighed as she realized that while they were mostly protected behind the palm trees, people could still see them if they wanted to. The girl grabbed Lo'ak's hand and pulled him along with her.
"Come on, Lo'ak. It's getting late anyway," She sighed before glaring at Neteyam, who smiled smugly at her.
Begrudgingly, the teen boy followed Ja'lia before he slapped his brother on the shoulder as they passed him. Lo'ak was disappointed that he was interrupted in the middle of kissing Ja'lia, but maybe it was for the best because the boy didn't want to get in trouble with his Dad for not telling him where he was disappearing off to.
After a couple more minutes of walking, the two teens finally made it back to the pod and saw that everyone was still awake. Kiri was making a new outfit for Tuk while the little girl carefully instructed her on how she wanted her outfit to look.
Tuk could be very demanding when she wanted to be.
However, when Tuk noticed that Ja'lia had returned, she ran over to her, and pulled her out of Lo'ak's grasp, causing the boy to latch on to Ja'lia again, this time his grip more firm.
"What are you doing, Tuk?" Lo'ak asked.
"I want to show Ja'lia the outfit Kiri's making me," Tuk smiled, and slowly Lo'ak let go of Ja'lia's wrist so that his little sister could show his girlfriend her new outfit.
Girlfriend?
Where did that even come from?
They had kissed three times, and said that they loved each other, but did that mean that they were now boyfriend-girlfriend? He hadn't even taken her out on a date yet, so how could they be together without him doing the first step in starting their relationship?
Where would he take her out on a date? Did she want to go on a date with him? Lo'ak internally slapped himself when the last question ran through his mind. Of course, Ja'lia would want to go on a date with him. Lo'ak just had to come up with what they were going to do, and then he would ask her out, but that was the problem.
He'd never done something like this before. Lo'ak was only sixteen years old. Wooing a girl wasn't something he was exactly an expert at. And it's not like he could ask Neteyam because Neteyam hadn't asked a girl out either.
The only person Lo'ak who would be able to help him plan out a date for him and Ja'lia was his Dad. Lo'ak looked over to see his two parents sitting beside each other as they talked and laughed.
He had to ask Jake for his help, and this made the boy nervous, however, this was what he wanted to do for Ja'lia, so he had to push his feelings aside to make her happy.
Lo'ak quietly approached his parents, and when they both saw someone walking toward them out of the corner of their eye, they curiously looked up to see Lo'ak.
"Dad, can I have your help with something?" Lo'ak asked quietly.
Jake and Neytiri shared a look. Even though they were son and father, Lo'ak rarely ever asked for his Dad's help because the two weren't that close.
"Of course, son," Jake nodded, and Lo'ak let out a sigh of relief he didn't know he'd been holding in.
"Can we talk somewhere more privately?" Lo'ak questioned, and Jake furrowed his eyebrows, clearly confused about why Lo'ak didn't want to talk in the pod, but instead of arguing with him, he decided to stand up.
"Sure," Jake agreed, and the two quickly left the pod, leaving the rest confused as the where they were going.
Once the two were out of the pod, they sat down, and Lo'ak put his feet into the water as he kicked his legs back and forth. It was silent for a moment as Lo'ak tried to build up the courage to ask Jake the question he desperately wanted to. He couldn't seem to force the words to come out.
"Is everything okay, Lo'ak?" Jake asked in concern.
"Yeah, everything's fine. It's just-" Lo'ak put his head in the palm of his hands, "I don't know how to ask you this," Lo'ak sighed, and Jake's confusion continued to grow at his son's words.
What was Lo'ak so worked up about? Why couldn't he just come out and ask what he wanted to?
"What's it about?" Jake asked, trying to help lift the pressure off Lo'ak's shoulders to see if he could help his son.
"Ja'lia," Lo'ak whispered, and his father blinked at him.
"Okay, is she okay?" Jake questioned.
"She's fine," Lo'ak informed before he lifted his head to look at his father, "I wanted to ask your help to ask Ja'lia on a date," He said, finally revealing the reason he had pulled Lo'ak aside.
"You want me to help you ask Ja'lia on a date?" Jake said, bewildered.
Jake didn't think Lo'ak liked his best friend like that, let alone if Ja'lia reciprocated his son's feelings. Of course, if she did, that would be wonderful, but Jake didn't want his son to get his heart broken by the one person who understood him better than anyone else did.
"Yeah," Lo'ak nodded.
"I didn't know that you liked Ja'lia that way," Jake said, looking down at his youngest son.
The boy rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I didn't either until a few weeks ago." Lo'ak said.
"Have you told Ja'lia how you feel?"
"Yeah, well, actually, she confessed to me first, but I did soon after she did," Lo'ak stuttered over his words as he didn't think his father would be that curious about his love life.
"That's good," Jake said, and then an awkward silence fell upon the two as they were unsure of what to say next.
The two Sully men had never been that close as Jake was constantly yelling at Lo'ak, and Lo'ak was almost always in trouble, resulting in Jake having to punish them. Out of all the people Lo'ak could have talked to about Ja'lia, he least expected it to be him. But, he was glad that Lo'ak had come up to him and asked for his help.
It made him feel as though he could fix their broken relationship and they could be father and son.
Although, Jake had no idea what Lo'ak could do for a date as this wasn't back on Earth, where there were a million different things to do. Back home in the Omatikaya clan, he and Neytiri would often go flying when they went out on a date, so Jake supposed that he could suggest that to Lo'ak. But that didn't seem as special as it should be on a first date, even though Jake suspected that Ja'lia wouldn't care where they went as long as she was spending time with Lo'ak.
In all honesty, Jake wondered if Neytiri knew about their sons' feelings for his best friend, and if she did, why didn't she tell him? He could keep a secret, or at least he could try to keep a secret. However, there was a part of him that knew that it was a good thing he was just now finding out about his son's feelings for Ja'lia.
He remembered the last time he found out Lo'ak had a crush on a girl.
The father would tease the boy and nudge him whenever Lo'ak's crush was around, and it highly embarrassed Lo'ak, often getting the man in trouble with his mate.
"Did you have any ideas for your date with Ja'lia? Did you ask her what she wants to do?" Jake questioned as he tried to rack his brain for something they could do.
"I haven't asked her out yet, and I don't have any ideas. That's why I'm asking you for help," Lo'ak grumbled.
That's when it hit Jake. Ja'lia loved to look at the stars, so why didn't Lo'ak take her star-gazing? It would be the perfect first date. Lo'ak could prepare some of Ja'lia's favorite snacks, take a basket with him and have something to lay on the ground so they didn't get sand on their food. The idea was simple yet romantic, and Jake was proud of himself for coming up with it so quickly.
"Why don't you take her star gazing?" Jake offered.
"We do that all the time, though," Lo'ak sighed.
"Yeah, but it's her favorite thing to do. You could go to the beach, take some snacks and one of your mattresses, and watch the stars," Jake explained, and Lo'ak contemplated the idea for a minute.
It sounded like the perfect date to him, and he knew that Ja'lia would feel the same way. He was essentially kicking himself for not coming up with it first.
"Okay, that sounds like a good idea," Lo'ak agreed, but suddenly Jake grew serious.
"I don't have to have the talk with you two now that you're dating, do I?" Jake questioned, and Lo'ak was confused at his father's question at first before his eyes widened, and he flushed in embarrassment.
"No!" Lo'ak denied, and Jake narrowed his eyes at his son before he decided to let it go, not wanting to further his son's embarrassment. "Great, now go ask Ja'lia out on that spectacular date that we came up with," Jake patted his son on the back before standing up, and walking away.
Lo'ak shook his head as he stood up, and walked back into the pod to sit beside Ja'lia, who was stroking Tuk's name as she slept.
"Hey," He whispered, and Ja'lia glanced over at him and smiled.
"Hi," She returned his greeting.
"I have a question for you," Lo'ak informed, causing Ja'lia to raise her brow at him.
"Hmm?" Ja'lia hummed.
"Do you want to go on a date with me?"
Unedited. 07/08/23
Word Count: 2,424
Quick note-
This chapter is lowkey cute. lmao.