22

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bonding

"It's so exciting!" Tsireya exclaimed happily as she examined the tsakarem head piece on Leyra while sitting beside the girl. "Finally my mother gifted it to you!"

Leyra was happy as she looked at herself in the reflection of the water. She gently touched the beautiful red pearl on her forehead. The Tsahik has made the head piece herself so it would perfectly fit to Leyra and her look.

"She told me the red pearl symbolizes the power I have with Eywa by my side and the success I will have in leading the clan in the future." Leyra explained what Ronal has told her a few moments ago.

"I believe, you and Aonung will be the best leaders our clan will ever have." Tsireya reassured her while putting her hand on Leyra's shoulder.

"Thank you." Leyra smiled, but her smile faded a little when she saw the small group that approached them. The only good thing was that Rotxo and Aonung were holding hands as they walked to Leyra and Tsireya. The not so good thing was that Kiri was trailing behind them with Neteyam.

Leyra hasn't spoken to him since she arrived, even though he tried to talk with her a few times. She clearly avoided talking to him because she was still upset about him hanging out with another girl that evening.

Tsireya called some ilus and only three appeared as they were the only ones near the Na'vi. Leyra watched as the couples paired up and got on the ilus.

"Guess I'm stuck with you." Leyra muttered slightly annoyed and rolled her eyes.

Neteyam was standing pretty close to her so he heard her words and glanced at her. "What's wrong? Why have you been ignoring me?"

"Not now, Neteyam." She answered while looking at their waiting friends in the ocean. In response he grabbed her wrist and dragged her with him into the water.

Leyra felt like electricity was shot through her body when he touched her and she couldn't deny that she was craving for more of his touch.

She sat behind him after he connected his queue with the animal and while she looked down at his queue she had to think about how it would like to mate with him.

"At least hold on while we're riding."

"Right..."

Leyra put her arms around his waist and her hands were laying on his stomach. While he adjusted his position, she could feel his muscles working underneath her hands. Being so close to his back she could see the back muscles flexing as well.

"Oh you're so hot." She said out loud by accident and her cheeks immediately went red when he chuckled.

"You're not so bad yourself." He said grinning when he turned his head slightly to her.

"Shut up, I didn't mean it." She rolled her eyes and avoided his gaze.

"Roll your eyes again and I will show you many different ways how your eyes can roll back when I fuck you." He dangerously said in a low voice.

Her breath got stuck in her throat and she blushed very vividly. "Just move already." she said and motioned to their friends starting to dive into the water.

"Yes, Ma'am." He grinned and held her thigh while he dived into the water.

The group of six were exploring the ocean at places they haven't seen before and they found themselves in a beautiful glowing cave. They broke through the surface and looked at the breathtaking scene.

"Wow." Leyra breathed out and looked at the bright colors from the plants on the walls. She slid off the ilu and heaved herself out of the water. "Come on guys! Let's go deeper." Leyra said to them and her voice echoed through the whole cave.

She didn't waited for the others and began walking further into the cave. The ground lit up whenever her feet touched it while she followed the path.

"Leyra!" Neteyam called after her while he followed her.

"I'm here." She said and had a happy expression on her face as she touched the wall and the plants attached there started to glow too.

"Can we finally talk?" He asked when he reached her. "Please?"

"Sure." She gave in, but continued walking.

"Why have you been ignoring me?" He asked and waited for a response while looking at her back.

"You know why." She stated and stopped to admire a beautiful pink flower on the wall. "You have been hanging out with another girl, pretty close." She added and avoided his gaze.

Neteyam stayed silent. He knew it was wrong from him to use the girl as a distraction when Leyra wasn't here. He needed to stop his thoughts of becoming dark when he thought Leyra wouldn't come back, but he was so grateful that she stood in front of him, healthy and happy.

Leyra took his silence the wrong way. "Do you like her?" She sighed and felt her heart break a little. She would understand if he did. She was beautiful with her long legs and teal skin color. Leyra, on the other hand, looked like a freak, a bad mixture of teal skin and blue stripes with weird body features.

"Yes..." Neteyam started but noticed it sounded wrong when he saw that her face expression changed. "I mean no, not like I like you." He answered and took her hand gently.

She looked down at their touching hands and then turned around to face him. "She was definitely crushing on you." She responded.

"I don't care about that. I like you." He raised his hand and put it on her cheek, bringing her face closer to his. "I like the way your body moves in the water when you ride an ilu. I like the way your body has similar features like mine. I like the way you care about Tuk and everybody else." He caresses her cheek with his thumb.

"I love the way you look at me with your beautiful green eyes, that remind me so much of home. I love your touch, your voice, your skin, your hair, your soul." He continued speaking while looking at her with pure love in his eyes.

Tears welled up in Leyras eyes as she took in his words and she tried to control her heartbeat.

"But I don't know if it's enough." Neteyam quietly said.

"What?" Leyra breathed out and looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I think you've already chosen." He answered and let his hand fall from her face while he blinked rapidly a few times.

"Chosen what?" Leyra was actually confused as she didn't know what he meant. "Tell me."

"My brother." He revealed.

"Lo'ak? Why would I have chosen him?"

"I think you like him more. I feel like you two have a stronger connection." He explained while stepping back a little, creating space between himself and Leyra.

"That's not true..." Leyra said in a whisper.

"It is. I've seen it. Everybody has seen it." He responded and looked at her sadly.

"Neteyam...-"

"I just feel like I'm not good enough for you." He said honestly and looked down to the ground.

Her eyes softened at this and she stepped closer to him.

"It's okay if you've chosen him. I understand." He mumbled but shout his mouth when her hand touched his again.

"Have you been feeling like this the whole time?" She asked softly while she put her hand on his cheek what made him look into her eyes again. He nodded in respond, which was barely visible.

"Oh Teyam..." She whispered and her eyebrows drew together in worry. He avoided her gaze as he was embarrassed that he showed his feelings to her and he was about to cry because he felt like his heart was burning inside of him.

"Listen, I would never choose him over you and the other way around. I truly believe that you are an amazing person, Teyam and I love everything about you. And I truly like you both so much it hurts. I can't and won't choose between you. It's either you both or none of you." She said truthfully while caressing his cheek as tears ran down her cheeks. She never felt so much emotion before.

The tears were glistening in his eyes as a small smile spread on his lips.

"I see you." Leyra said and looked deep into his eyes. Neteyam's heart almost jumped out of his chest at her meaningful words. He waited for so long to hear those words from the one person he truly loved the most.

He pulled her face towards his and put his lips gently on hers while putting his other hand on her waist. Her hands intervened at the back of his head while she kissed him back. It was a sweet and gentle kiss, full of emotions they shared for each other.

Leyra felt the wall against her back when he pushed her against it. It started to glow slightly at the touch of her.

The kiss got more heated while Neteyam's hands traveled down her body. She let out a gasp when he closed his hand around her breast and he took the moment to slide his tongue into her mouth.

„Leyra! Neteyam!" Tsireyas voice echoed through the cave and interrupted their make out session. They looked at each and thought the same thing. This moment was too short for their liking.

„We have to be back before eclipse!" Tsireya shouted again and splashing water could be heard in the distance. The others were going back into the water and waited for Leyra and Neteyam.

Neteyam spotted the pink flower, Leyra had examined when they arrived here, beside her head. He picked the flower from the wall and secured it in her hair.

„You look beautiful." Neteyam smiled at her while she blushed slightly.

„Thank you, and for the flower." She responded softly.

Neteyam intervened their hands and they walked back to their friends.

The group was trying to find their way back to the village but they got a little lost in the sea and didn't noticed they were outside the reef.

Leyra spotted a large animal a few meters away from them and her heart almost stopped as she thought about that the tulkun might be dead. Luckily she spotted Lo'ak beside it, so it must be Payakan.

The others spotted the pair too and swam in between some seaweed after they got off their ilu. Then they hid there to watch Lo'ak with the outcasted tulkun because they were concerned for his safety.

Leyra followed them and stayed close to Neteyam, who sneaked his arm around her waist while holding onto a piece of the seaweed and peeking through it to watch his brother.

Lo'ak was floating beside the tulkun and his whole body language screamed confusion as he looked at the animal. A few seconds passed before Payakan open his large mouth. Lo'ak's eyebrow furrowed together as he nervously swam inside his mouth. Then the animal closed its mouth again.

Neteyam shot forward to get to his brother but was stopped by a few hands holding him back. Tsireya shook her head at him because all the ocean Na'vi knew they couldn't stop what was happening with Lo'ak and Payakan.

Lo'ak found himself in darkness, seeing nothing and he slowly got anxious of the whole situation. Slowly the inside of Payakan mouth started to enlighten as the dots lit up like the ones on Lo'ak's body. He looked around in awe as the dots made a wonderful pattern.

In the middle of the mouth another thing lit up and Lo'ak made it out as his queue. He quickly understood the intention of the tulkun and grabbed his own queue from behind. He connected them both and closed his eyes while being taken back in a memory of Payakan.

Lo'ak saw everything through Payakan's eyes. How he became an outcast. He saw many tulkun and ocean Na'vi trying to escape the demon ships from the sky people. Many got murdered or captured by them and Payakan got hurt badly which resulted in loosing half of his left fin.

With their modern and too many weapons the sky people won this fight and left Payakan alone in this mess. As the only one left he got the punishment of being outcasted by the tulkun way.

After opening his eyes again, Lo'ak made his way out of Payakan's mouth and broke through the surface and catched his breath.

"I'm sorry, so sorry." Lo'ak said to his now spirit brother while hugging his head.

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