The sun was up again and it was now Txana's second day staying in the village. People didn't seem to mind her presence, all of them seemed kind but there were also others who judged.
Today she would be going up to the market in the mountains with Tsireya and Aonung. The two were already waiting for her when she got out of her marui pod and they all began their trip to the market.
There was already a path that led there which they followed until they arrived at a bunch of huts scattered on every part of the mountain.
All of them seemed to be shops of various things she didn't have time to analyze when Tsireya immediately started talking.
"This is the marketplace, over there is where they sell jewelry and over there is where they sell clothing so let's go there first." Tsireya said, grabbing a hold of Txana's hand as she pulled her into the store while Aonung went to the other store which was the jewelry store.
Upon getting in the store, the girls saw a lot of clothes. One of them caught her attention immediately.
It was beautiful, a dress that would suit a future Tsahik. Tsireya noticed it too before looking at Txana and nodding her head, it would look good on her.
Tsireya knew that Txana would refuse to buy this so she made sure to buy it secretly and give it to her mother for when the time comes that Txana would be the next Tsahik.
They spent almost half an hour in the clothing store with Tsireya personally picking out her clothes for her, making sure all of them were of good quality before they left the store with quite a big bag full of clothes.
Txana didn't want to go to this extent but Tsireya insisted, saying it was okay and enough for her.
Then next they went to the jewelry store because Tsireya wanted to buy her accessories.
One thing caught her eyes in particular and it was a macrame necklace with a clear stone that had a color similar to the skin of the Ocean Na'vi.
She thought of one person that would look good on it and chuckled before telling Tsireya she wanted to buy it.
The girl didn't even question her and just bought it for her, she was also thankful Tsireya didn't buy a lot of jewelry before they went out of the store and came across Aonung.
Aonung presented to carry the things they had bought as they made their way back down to the village after being at the market for a whole hour.
"So what do you think of the market, Txana?" Tsireya asked beside her.
"I'm never going back there again, you buy too much stuff." she said which made the siblings chuckle.
"Oh come on, all of the stuff we bought looks good on you so i had to buy them." Tsireya replied which made the girl sigh in relief.
"What did you buy for yourself? I noticed the small separate bag you were carrying." Txana asked curiously, knowing that Tsireya didn't try anything on when they were at the store.
"It's for my mother." Tsireya's reply made her nod in understanding as she focused ahead of her.
"How about you, brother? Where did you disappear to?" Tsireya questioned her older brother who had been quiet for the whole time.
Aonung ignores the girl's question as he walks faster, getting further ahead of them as the trio made their way back down to the village.
"Rude." Tsireya mumbled while Txana chuckled at the two siblings.
—
Txana was taking her time resting inside her marui, she had become exhausted from the trip earlier so Tsireya decided to cancel their plans to go around the reef today and let her rest.
Txana glanced at the wooden box, the only thing that was packed individually from all the things that Tsireya had bought for her.
She went to open it and the necklace she had asked to buy earlier was carefully set inside the box.
The greenish blue stone never failed to amaze her, it made her think of who she wanted give the necklace to and how their charm would increase wearing it.
Her thinking was interrupted by someone calling her from outside her hut.
She closed the box before hiding it along with her new clothes and turning to face the entrance to her pod.
"Come in." she said, knowing it was Aonung just from hearing his voice.
Aonung came in and saw her sitting down on her wooden floor before approaching her.
"Come with me." he extended his hand for her to take.
"Where?" she asked curiously as she accepted his hand.
"You'll see, you can relax there." he replied while helping her up.
The pair went on their ilus as Aonung led them to a cave a little farther from the village.
Aonung took her hand again as they went into the cave until they arrived in a circular pool that had light coming in from the big hole on the roof.
It was beautiful, the first time she's ever seen such a thing.
Aonung gently pulled her into the water and she felt the warm water hug her body, making her relax as she rested her back on the edge of the pool.
"This is a pearl pool, once it is eclipse, the clams underwater open and the pearls glow." Aonung explained and he has yet to let go of Txana's hand.
"Thank you, Aonung. Thank you for taking me here." she smiled as she tightened her hold on his hand.
"I actually brought you here so i could talk with you too, i don't think we've had an actual conversation before." he confessed, making her chuckle.
"Well, what do you wanna talk about?" she tilted her head to the side while her eyes focused on his.
"You." he was at a trance as he stared at her yellow eyes and the reply came out without much thought.
"I don't know what to tell you though, my life in the forest was pretty boring." she replied when Aonung snapped out of his trance and looked away.
"Then how about the forest? What is it like?" he asked as he moved beside her.
"It's beautiful, i don't want to compare it to the ocean because both have their own beauty that shouldn't be compared to others. But as you already know, there are a lot of trees and there are also beautiful plants and creatures that add up to the forest's beauty." Aonung watched and listened as the girl spoke about her old home, the way she smiles when she talked about the forest was new unlike the smile he always sees on her face.
"How about you? Is there anything you can tell me about yourself?" Aonung snapped out of his thoughts when he heard her ask him next.
"Well.. i love hunting, i guess?" he said as if he was unsure of his own answer.
"Why do you seem so unsure?" she inquired.
"It's just my first time getting asked that question, people around here seem to always think of me as the Olo'eyktan's son so i guess i started thinking the same." Txana nodded as she looked at him, his head hanging low.
"How about we start getting to know more about ourselves then? Let me see you as not just the Olo'eyktan's son, see your true self too."
Hearing this, Aonung raised his head and saw that kind smile plastered on her face. She was beautiful, and he knew he wasn't the only one who thought of that.
His grip on her hand tightened as he stared at her beautiful face, her tantalizing yellow eyes that always drew him closer to her.
"Sure, let's do that." he returned her smile.
"All i know about you right now other than the fact that you're the Olo'eyktan's son is that you're kind, and.." she paused as her other hand grabbed his and raised both his hands up. "You have very soft hands." she said, putting his palm over to her cheeks.
Aonung watched as she closed her eyes and felt his soft hands on her face, he tried his best to stop the urge to lean down and kiss her as he stared at her lips.
He sighed and gently pinched her cheeks, it was the only thing he could do at the moment while she giggled.
"Your eyes are beautiful." his compliment brought an even bigger smile on her face as she looked at his eyes.
"I love your blue eyes too." her reply took him slightly aback as he stared at her before grinning.
"You love them?" he asked with a wide grin.
"Yes, they remind me of the blue sky." his grin got even wider as he stared at the girl who was an inch shorter than him.
"Thank you."
—
"Tsireya, where is your brother?" Ronal asked her daughter who just came home from collecting seashells.
"I don't know, mother. I didn't see him." Tsireya replied with her head tilted.
"Okay, go check on Txana, it's almost time for dinner." Tsireya immediately obeyed her mother's order without question.
She went to Txana's pod and went back to her mother shortly after finding the pod empty.
"Mother, Txana is not in her pod." Tsireya worriedly reported to her mother.
"What? Where could she be?" Ronal asked and Tsireya could only shake her head while Tonowari arrived shortly after Tsireya did.
"What is wrong?" Tonowari asked his wife and daughter.
"Have you seen your son? Or Txana?" Ronal asked him while he shook his head.
Suddenly, the trio heard laughter coming from the beach. They saw Aonung laughing while helping Txana up.
"You skxawng, why would you do that?" Txana glared at Aonung who was just laughing at her.
The boy had tripped her, making her fall face front on to the sand when she got off her ilu.
"I'm sorry, are you okay?" he asked while still laughing, but he was helping her get rid of the sand on her hair.
"My face hurts." she said while rubbing her face gently with her fingers.
"Let me have a look." he takes her hands away from her face and scans her face that was slightly red.
"I'm sorry." he apologized sincerely as he gently rubbed her face himself.
"It's fine." she reassured him, submitting to the feeling of his fingers massaging her face.
"Let's go, my parents are probably looking for us." he takes his hands away from her face and grabs a hold of one of her hands.
"We were in the cave for hours, i didn't realize it was almost eclipse." she said while walking beside him.
"At least we got closer, right?" he grinned and she playfully rolled her eyes while smiling.
Meanwhile, the trio who watched the scene from a distance now had smiling faces.
"It's a good thing you bought the dress, Tsireya." Ronal said to her daughter who had a wide grin.
"They are absolutely perfect for each other!" Tsireya exclaimed excitedly.
"Come, let us prepare for dinner. We still have to act clueless in front of them." Tonowari watched as his wife and daughter both went back to their marui pod, both having a smile on their faces.
It has been a while since he saw his wife smile like how she did ever since he found Txana and took her home.
Seeing how happy his wife was to see their son being infatuated with a girl, specifically Txana put a smile on his face.
He silently thanked the great mother for bringing the girl into their lives, now he could see the smiles on the faces of his wife and kids compared to their past days filled with tense atmosphere.