*ੈ✩‧₊˚ gentle breeze •°. *࿐

feelings

"About what?" Ao'nung says, you gave him a stare that said 'are you serious?'

"Ao'nung. You make fun of Kiri, you fight with Neteyam and Lo'ak and you bring Lo'ak out of the reef? What were you thinking, I thought we made improvements. I thought I told you to be nice," you rant, your eyebrows furrowed.

He doesn't say anything back to you and looks away, looking toward the dock where everyone was previously at. You stare at him, waiting for any sort of reply.

"Why do you like them more than me?" he asks.

"I like you all equally, they just need help to adjust to how we do things."

"What about Neteyam?" your heart stops a bit at the mention of Neteyam.

"Neteyam?"

"You're always with him and I just... wish I could be too," Ao'nung says shyly.

"With me or with Neteyam?"

Another moment of silence.

"With both of you. I think I like both of you. As in I like you, (Y/n). And I like Neteyam Sully," Ao'nung confesses slowly. You send him a sweet smile, happy that he was vulnerable with you, You grab his hands and hold them in front of you, your thumbs rubbing the back of his hands.

"Ao'nung, I see you," you softly say. His head bolts up and your eyes meet for the first time in a while.

A mutual conversation held within your eyes and his, somehow being able to share all your feelings with each other.

"I see you," he says with a his stupid smirk.

"I like Neteyam too," you say without a beat and no shame. The na'vi was very pretty and easy to talk to, how could you not fall for his charm.

"Really? I couldn't tell," Ao'nung says with an eye roll.

"Was it easy to tell?"

"When I said why do you spend more time with them, I specifically meant Neteyam. You spent so much time helping only him. I don't get it."

"It's not just Neteyam! I help Kiri and Tuk. Lo'ak has a special teacher," you partly lie about only helping Neteyam. Sure, you played with Tuk and interacted with Kiri but it doesn't mean you were really helping them. It was mostly Tsirey and Rotxo who helped the two girls, and you used the excuse of being tsarakem to only help Neteyam despite liking Kiri and Tuk.

"Oh, don't remind me," Ao'nung says, groaning at the mention of his sister and Lo'ak being glued to the hip, already having to mentally deal with Neteyam and you together.

"They're cute together, you can't deny it," you say to tease him, your hands slipping out of his to shove his shoulder.

"Whatever," he shoves you back and gives you a side hug, "let's walk."

"Only a bit, we don't need a search party for us," you reply as you both start to head to the beach to walk along the shoreline.

"Okay, fine."

"I like you," you let out quietly.

"I know, and I like you. Don't think I'll stop just because I also like someone else."

"Are you going to tell Neteyam?" you ask, curiosity pricking at the edge of your mind. You get nothing but a shake of his head and you nod in understanding.

While you walked around with Ao'nung, the both of you just bantered about everything and anything. Mostly about the specialized training you both received. Ao'nung talked about following around his dad whenever he left the reef. You talked about stories that involved Ronal and Neytiri, how they clashed yet seemed to have similar values. You loved interacting with the mothers.

Suddenly a sinking feeling fell into your heart thinking about your tsakarem training, the words leaving your mouth before you could catch them, "do you think if i was born at a different time, and in a different circumstance I would not be the future tsahik. and you would not be the future olo'yketan?"

Ao'nung stops in his tracks, the waves crashing on the shore filling in the empty air.

"Why do you think that?"

"Being a tsahik means you have a strong connection with Eywa, that is why your parents chose me as tsakarem. But every time I look at Tsireya, she is the definition of a connection to Eywa."

Ao'nung stares in your eyes, holds your face in his hands and says, "my parents chose you for a reason, we were arranged to mate for a reason. Eywa must have chosen you and me for a reason. She makes choices that we do not understand, like having a person who was raised by the sky people become Toruk Makto. Do not think of such a small thing."

"Well I don't think becoming leaders of a clan is such a small thing, but thank you Ao'nung," you say with a laugh.

He chuckles a bit, "where did this even come from?"

"I'm not sure. I mean, I've always felt as if it should've been Tsireya as tsakarem," you confess, "and we're sharing our feelings so might well spill this."

"Well Tsireya is lame, you are destined to be my tsahik."

"You're just saying that because she's your sister!"

"And?"

Ao'nung somehow always knew how to change your mood for the better.

When the two of you separated for the night and headed to your respective marui pods, you saw your father waiting for you.

"Father?"

"(Y/n), you're back."

"Were you waiting for me?" your father nods his head, he then turns around and gets ready to sleep, whispering out a 'goodnight'. You silently say one back and wait to hear his breaths calm down. Seeing your father made you think of something, you weren't done being out for the night.

You walk out to the sea, silently call for any ilu who would appear and head to the Cove of the Ancestors. You savoured the salty sea along your skin, feeling yourself glow brightly, admiring the glowing coral along the reef. When you got to the cove, you found yourself entranced with the lively night sky, smiling at the ring of Polyphemus and the other two moons. The bright stars shining brightly against the beige rocks and the cove circling around you as if to protect you from all your troubles.

You take a deep breath of air and dive into the water, letting go of the ilu and disconnecting your bond to get closer to the tree. You share a small smile with yourself before you connect your queue to the Spirit Tree that illuminated your face.

"(Y/n)?"

"Hi mom," you say with a smile, walking closer to the faded figure of your mother.

Going to see your mother at the Soul Tree was something you didn't do as much as you wanted. Most of the time you wanted to indulge in seeing your mother, you desperately wanted to have her present in your actual life but you were able to control yourself to only see her when you needed to talk to someone.

Seeing her was like a breath of fresh air, one away from the salty sea and away from the humid jungle that was nearby. Pure air that erased all the self-doubt that continues to haunt your mind and lifted your spirits closer to Eywa.

You curl up beside your mother, your legs pulled close to your chest as you wrap your arms around your legs. Your mother smiles at you and waits for you to speak, a silence settled in before you do.

"Is it normal to like two people at once?"

"Hm, I think so," your mother says, unsure.

You giggle a bit at her answer, "that doesn't help."

"If you like two different na'vi, that doesn't mean you have to choose right away. Or even at all."

"Mom!"

"What? I'm just telling you the truth," you shake your head at her words.

Anxiety was just nipping at you today, from the situation with Lo'ak and the conversation you had with Ao'nung. Being with your mother and dumping all the unneeded feelings on her felt easy.

"Do you think Ronal made the right choice in making me tsahik?" you ask, holding yourself tighter.

"Do you doubt Eywa? Ronal definitely got her decision from Eywa," your mother says, you feel her ghostly hand pat your head.

"I wish you were here with me," you say, tears developing and starting to blur your vision, not quite spilling over yet.

"I always am," your mother says.

You felt water fall down your face for the first time in a while, feeling the kindness of your mother slip away as you disconnect from the tree, your face now submerged in the ocean rather than tears. You close your eyes in content, giving yourself a moment to recollect yourself, then you head to the surface to call an ilu to bring you back.

Waking up, you felt refreshed. You had slept in due to being out for so long, but you were surprised that Ronal had not stormed into your marui pod, or had gotten Ao'nung or Tsireya to get you. What surprised you the most was that your father was still in the marui pod.

"Father? What are you doing here?" you ask.

"Ah, Tonowari gave me the day off. Told Ronal to let you sleep in a bit so we could hang out a bit," he says, shucking some oysters to cook on the smoker you had in your pod.

You nod your head and scoot yourself next to your dad, stretching your arms, and grabbing the oysters to cook them.

"So, how are things? Sully boy alright?" he asks.

"Um, yeah. Lo'ak is okay," you say, not knowing what else to say since you didn't actually talk to Lo'ak much. He was a loner when it didn't come to Tsireya or his siblings.

"Good, good," an awkward silence fills the pod, the sound of the fire flickering was the only sound for a bit. You found yourself in a lot of silent situations recently, haven't you?

"Father, do you visit mom?" you ask out of the blue.

"I can't, I always feel too bad." he replies, and you didn't know what to say.

After breakfast with your father, you were outside on the rocks by the seawall, further teaching Neteyam and Tuk sign language, your father hunting some fish at the seawall so he wasn't too far. You decided that you would go by Ronal's marui pod later for training. They had picked up on it fast over the past couple of months and you were currently teaching them some signs that they would not use everyday, assisting Tuk more than Neteyam.

Facing the two of them, you show them the sign for 'sivako' (rise to the challenge). Both of your pointer finger and thumb pointing up, your arms start at the side of your body, and you quickly bring your hands closer together.

"Sivako," you say, repeating the sign, and mouthing it.

Neteyam copies you flawlessly and you smile at him, compliments spilling past your lips toward him. Meanwhile Tuk was struggling, but you couldn't blame her, sign language was completely different from na'vi. You sit closer to her and adjust her fingers, letting her go through the motions herself after repeating it for her.

"Good job guys! You're learning faster than most of the babies," you say with a laugh, Neteyam chuckling along with you.

"I'm not a baby! That's why I'm learning fast," Tuk exclaims, crossing her arms.

"Aww, but you'll always be a little baby in my eyes," Neteyam says, tickling Tuk's sides as she explodes in laughter.

You smile at the scene in front of you, happy you get to witness something so pure. From the corner of your eye you see Tsireya walking over with Kiri and Rotxo, waving. You wave back at her, motioning for Neteyam and Tuk to wave as well.

"We're heading to the Cove of the Ancestors? You guys should come!" Tsireya says.

Your eyes gloss a bit, not ready to encounter your mother again after the night before, you were about to say something but you hear your father call for you.

"(Y/n), Ronal's looking for you!" he yells, you nod your head and look at the group with a sorry look.

"Maybe next time I could go with you guys, I have my own training to do. Have fun!" you say, turning to walk away, noticing the disappointed look on Neteyam's face.

While walking away, you looked back a couple times. Seeing the group call for ilus and ride away, Neteyam lagging behind as he watches you leave. When his eyes catch you from afar, he waves and you wave back, he finally gets on an ilu and leaves quickly, trying to catch up with everyone else. 

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[a/n]: i am also a hater for this chapter !!!!!! it feel like it doesnt make sense but also it was so easy for me to write ?? i wanted a did you know abt the cove of the ancestors but there not much that i could find online )): an author did you know i learnt asl but i like forgor everything ahfdjkadhfjkds

did you know: something about the cast + stunts, there was a dry and wet stunt team ! it's funny to phrase it that way but theres a video (Making Of AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER Part 2) where they explain how stunts were done and a lot abt sigourney weaver playing kiri. actors did have to do stunts but the harder stuff - obvi stunt doubles. one of the wet actors can hold their breath for up to 11 mins and apparently many of them came from cirque du soleil so that one scene where ao'nung, tsireya, and rotox dive into the water for the first time and why it looks so beautiful and fluid is bc of cirque du soleil actors ! alicia vela-bailey did the things that sigourney weaver physically could not do and played like 3 different na'vi she's so cool. i could go on and on abt bts stuff butttttt i will stop for now