CHAPTER 29

       Neteyam was walking along the shore with Kiri one morning - he made it a point to spend time with his siblings no matter how busy he got. The two were talking about the forest, their grandmother, Spider and how they missed all of that.

Kiri was especially sad not knowing what had happened to Spider.

Neteyam placed a hand on his sisters shoulder, "He's fine. Spider is tough - after all he grew up surrounded by Na'vi three times his size. He's not easily phased."

"I know," Kiri mumbled, "I just want to hear from him."

Knowing that this conversation was going to get deep and hard for Kiri to speak about, Neteyam changed the topic. "We'll hear from him," he assured her, "But what about Rotxo?"

Kiri's ears twitched and Neteyam did not miss this. "What about Rotxo?"

Neteyam grinned, "I mean - do you think he could like you?"

"Ew! No way - he's so annoying," Kiri shook her head, all thoughts about Spider forgotten.

"I asked if he liked you not if you liked him," Neteyam laughed at his sisters reaction.

Kiri looked furious as she turned her eyes on him. She was just about to say something when they heard a group of boys approaching. They were not speaking quietly, so it was easy to determine who they were.

When Neteyam saw Ao'nung and his friends approaching, he nodded his head toward the edge of the forest, wordlessly telling Kiri that they should go there.

She did not question his intentions and instead ran toward the forest alongside him. It was obvious to her that he wished to eavesdrop on Ao'nung and she did not care one bit.

"-did you see her smiling at Ao'nung today at breakfast?" One of the boys spoke. They had not seen Neteyam and Kiri who were by now hiding behind the trees.

"Yeah! She's totally smitten," another said, "How will you get rid of her?"

Neteyam frowned and peeked past the tree. He could see Ao'nung smiling - though there was a guilty edge to his expression.

"She's just being friendly," Ao'nung told them.

"Sure she is," the first boy snickered.

"It's kind of a shame that she liked you," one of them said to Ao'nung, "I mean - have you seen the way that Neteyam guy looks at her? He's totally in love with her."

Kiri frowned and looked over at the tree next to hers, at her brother. Neteyam pressed his lips into a thin line as he met her eyes. "Are they talking about Erìhe?" Kiri mouthed.

Neteyam only shrugged and looked back to the boys. He had not admitted his crush to anyone yet - and he did not want his sister to be the very first to know.

Though it seemed like these boys were already aware.

He frowned and turned his eyes back to the group who had come to a stop rather close to the place where they stood.

"I believe he likes her too," Ao'nung agreed with his friend. "Too bad she doesn't like him back," he laughed.

Neteyam looked down at the sand. He had already known that this was the truth - but it still hurt to hear other people agreeing with his own thoughts. He wondered just how stupid he looked in other peoples eyes. Did Erìhe know of his feelings?

Kiri stepped from behind the tree and Neteyam looked over at his sister just in time to see her approaching the group of boys.

"Kiri," he hissed but she did not turn around. With a frustrated groan, Neteyam hurried to catch up with his sister. "What are you doing?" he asked once he was next to her.

Ao'nung and his two friends had seen them and Neteyam saw the wide-eyed expression on Ao'nung's face.

"What did you say?" Kiri asked Ao'nung, coming to a stop some distance from him. Neteyam walked one step forward to be slightly in front of his sister.

"I - what?" Ao'nung blinked.

"You said Erìhe likes you?" Kiri questioned.

Ao'nung looked embarrassed as he shot a glance toward his friends who stood behind him, "Um - yes?"

Kiri raised an eyebrow, "Sure she does." There was no agreement in what she'd said - it was so painfully obvious to Ao'nung and he fought to keep a cool expression on his face.

"I can assure you that Erìhe never had any romantic feelings for you," Neteyam spoke up. He knew that Ao'nung was aware of this - but embarrassing him in front of his friends was an opportunity he could not waste.

"That's not true," one of Ao'nung's friends laughed, "You should have seen her kiss him."

"The kiss at the party was a mistake," Neteyam grinned.

"We are not talking about that one," the other boy said, a taunting smile on his face, "I meant the kiss on his cheek. A very intimate action if you ask me."

"Stop it," Ao'nung waved his friends off. There had been nothing romantic about that kiss and he was aware.

Neteyam struggled to control his expression.

"That could not have meant anything," Kiri spoke once she saw her brother struggling to keep his composure. "Erìhe kisses every single one of us - it's like a sibling thing."

Neteyam's ears and face twitched. He did not know his siblings got kisses from Erìhe.

But perhaps it was a good thing - it was a sibling thing when she kissed them, after all.

The same boy spoke again, "I assure you-"

He was cut off by Ao'nung holding up a hand to silence him.

Neteyam glared at them as he placed a hand on Kiri's shoulder, "Let's go," he told her.

Kiri gave Ao'nung one last hard look before turning away, "Gladly," she said and started walking ahead.

Neteyam turned to follow behind his sister - but as he did he heard Ao'nung speak to him.

Ao'nung had already been humiliated in front of his friends - he did not think he could get more embarrassed, so he decided to talk, "Be careful, forestboy," he said with a taunting voice.

Neteyam stopped in his tracks and saw as Kiri continued her journey toward the village. He decided to turn around to face Ao'nung.

"Don't let her lead you on," Ao'nung dropped his voice as he spoke. He wore a mocking smile as he looked directly in Neteyam's eyes. "After all - she's great at that."

Neteyam's expression turned cold as he walked forward so that he towered over the Metkayina. "Erìhe felt bad about the kiss."

Ao'nung looked back at Neteyam - unflinching. "She still did it."

"And she apologized."

"After four days."

"You'll get over it," Neteyam told him through his teeth. When Ao'nung said nothing, he turned to leave once more.

Ao'nung seemed to not know when to shut up since he spoke again, "Has she kissed you yet?"

The last thing he heard was his friends laughter before Neteyam's fist made contact with the side of his face.

₊˚.༄

       "Erìhe," Lo'ak called as he stepped inside the pod.

Erìhe turned her head to look up at him. The boy stood awkwardly by the exit as she cut up fruit for Neytiri by the fire. "What's up?" She asked, setting down the knife and beckoning to sit down next to her.

Lo'ak obliged. He sat down next to her, sitting cross legged with his hand covering his other wrist.

Erìhe looked down at his hands with a raised brow, "What is it?"

Lo'ak sighed before holding up his hand, "I got this from Tsireya."

Erìhe's brows rose comically as her eyes focused on the bracelet that adorned his wrist. Lo'ak had not even managed to register the fact that she was now holding his hand, gleefully inspecting the jewelry.

"So you know what it is?" Lo'ak asked.

"Of course!" Erìhe confirmed, a wide grin spread across her face. "Are you two official now?"

Lo'ak blushed. "Not quite."

Erìhe dropped his hand, "What? Why not?"

Lo'ak held his head as he sighed. "I messed it up - she gave it to me and explained its meaning and I just froze. She walked off before I even put it on. She looked so disappointed."

Erìhe stared at him disbelievingly with her mouth hanging open dramatically, "You really are not your fathers son."

Lo'ak looked more than offended when his eyes snapped back up to hers.

"I'm sorry," Erìhe immediately apologized - she had momentarily forgotten his goal of trying to live up to his fathers reputation. "You know that's not what I meant."

Lo'ak offered a small smile before groaning, "What do I do now?"

Erìhe only had to think for a minute before the answer came to her. "I know."

Lo'ak looked hopeful once again.

"You know what we'd do back in the forest?" She asked. Lo'ak shook his head. "Of course not - well, we'd exchange the beads we have on our braids."

The young Omaticaya teenagers had adopted a tradition of braiding in a certain row of beads within the rest of their braids. It had become something of a trend - even Tuk and Lo'ak had their own signature beads without knowing what the youngsters used them for. Exchanging your series of beads with another meant that you were already spoken for - it was exactly the same as how the Metkayina girls gave their loved ones bracelets that they had made.

Even though Riik'o had done Erìhe's hair countless times, her series of beads remained in her hair, unchanging.

"Really?" Lo'ak asked, "That was a thing?"

"Of course - Nupxa knew the girl who started this tradition." Erìhe told him. "Do you know how to braid hair?"

"No."

Erìhe pushed herself to her feet, "I'll get Tuk so you can practice!" She chose the girl since she was aware that Tuk loved getting her hair styled - she would not put up a fight.

Lo'ak nodded and watched as she hurried toward the exit.

Erìhe was about to leave to track down Tuk when Neteyam stumbled in front of her. She frowned as her eyes fell on him.

When Neteyam looked at her, he looked relieved, "Erìhe," he breathed out.

When Erìhe saw the state in which she was in, she whirled around to look over at Lo'ak - who had a look of concern on his face as he was making his way toward them.

"Dad will kill you!" Lo'ak told his brother as he noticed the bruises on his body.

"You don't say," Neteyam rolled his eyes.

"Not a word about this to your father," Erìhe told Lo'ak before pushing Neteyam out of the pod.

-
A/n:
Sorry for the late update - I was taking a long nap

And thank you so much for the supportive comments omg you guys are so amazing and sweet and I truly love you all so much <33