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Ao'nung's "friend"

Word count: 6,146
Ao'nung x Ailani (Metkayina na'vi)
Fluff/angst
Warnings: death

"Ailani! Wait up!" Ao'nung calls out as the girl runs down the shore.

She turns her head toward him, laughing and sticking her tongue out to mock him.

Once Ao'nung manages to catch up, they're far from the rest of the Metkayina, and out of sight. He grabs Ailani by her hips and she shrieks as she realizes she has been caught.

"Ao'! You cheated!" She laughs, knowing that wasn't true.

"I gave you a five second head-start! You cheated by making Rotxo distract me." He heaves as he turns her body around to face him.

Ailani places her hands on his chest, noticing his breathing was unsteady. "Mawey, Ao'nung." She whispers, slightly caressing his collarbone.

"I am calm." He says, trying to hide the smile on his face. "They can't see us, can they?" He whispers as he wraps his arms around her torso.

Ailani peers over his shoulder, scanning the area. "Not a Na'vi in sight." She says, wearing a proud smile.

Ao'nung smirks, lowering his face toward hers. To his dismay, Ailani dodges. "Do you ever think we should stop seeing each other in secret? Confess to our parents what we've been up to?"

Ao'nung sighs, shaking his head. "You know what my parents would think. They already have a girl chosen to mate with me when I am ready to be Olo'eyktan."

"But your parents love me, Ao'... maybe they would be considerate." Ailani voices, hopeful about the idea.

"We cannot risk them separating us. We'll run away together one day, I promise."

That is something he has been repeating to Ailani for a long time. They have been maintaining a secret relationship, one the clan should not know about. Not even their closest friends know about their relationship, though they do think they have feelings for one another.

There are times Ao'nung cannot hide his smile when watching Ailani take care of her ilu.

And there are times Ailani cannot help but laugh at the lamest jokes Ao'nung has ever made.

They tried to be secretive, but sometimes the shield would crack.

Luckily, Ao'nung's parents were the least suspicious of his family. Tsireya could tell they were very fond of one another, but that only made her happy for her brother and friend. Ao'nung's family all loved Ailani dearly, for she was his friend since they were children.

"I don't think that would be fair to our families." Ailani commented, against the idea of running away. She has tried to convince Ao'nung many times, but has not succeeded.

"What is not fair, is them deciding who I spend the rest of my life with." He responds, tightening his arms around her and pulling her into a warm embrace.

Ailani sighed, knowing this wouldn't be the last time they would have this conversation.

And it wasn't.

——————

Fast forward to the day an Omatikayan family arrives at the scene.

Ailani thought the attention would finally be pulled away from the chief's son, but it was quite the contrary.

Ao'nung was now tasked with welcoming strangers into their village, teaching them their ways and spending plenty of time with them.

This made Ailani and Ao'nung's secret outings less frequent. It was harder for them to see each other without having people around.