chapter 23: happiness

2.3K 81 31
                                    

She couldn't sleep. Whatever she did, her mind wouldn't let her rest. Her heart was racing. Why him? Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't she just be content with Neteyam like she first intended to. She is gutted, torn between love and hate. She doesn't know what to do. Keep on pretending she wants Neteyam instead of Lo'ak for her sister? She doesn't want to hurt her. But she can't stand seeing them be all lovey-dovey every time they're together.

She was mad. Mad at herself that she caught feelings for someone so out of reach. Mad that she couldn't do anything about it. And most of all, mad that she couldn't sleep. She was so tired.

She decided to walk out of her pod and sit on the beach to wait for the sunrise, although that would still take a while.

The cold sand and the night breeze caught her off guard, clamping her arms around herself for more warmth. Maybe she should've grabbed a piece of cloth.

Somewhere in the far distance, she noticed a figure sitting on the beach. Sucked in by the purple darkness, Ngalu couldn't make up who it was. It was either Neteyam or Lo'ak, but something in her gut told her it was Lo'ak. At least he was smart enough to grab a cloth. She walked up to the boy, sitting next to him. As he looked at her, her gut was right. It was Lo'ak. 'Can't sleep?' He asked the shivering girl. She just shook her head. 'Me neither.' He said. He saw that she was cold so he put the cloth around her.

She looked up at the boy, meeting his eyes. 'What about you?'

He waved it off with his hand. 'Don't worry, I wasn't cold anyways.'

She nodded while turning her face back to the sea. The stars were bright tonight. Ngalu looked to her left, seeing Lo'ak shift uncomfortably. If she looked close enough, she could see his goosebumps. She mocked him in her mind. "I wasn't cold anyways" Liar. Ngalu lifted up the cloth to cover both of them, making their skin touch in the process. She stayed still while feeling extremely warm all of a sudden. Their shoulders were touching, nobody moved an inch.

Suddenly she felt very sleepy, she could barely keep her eyes open. Lo'ak noticed and slowly moved over to put her head onto his shoulder. While he did that, his four fingers briefly met with her cheek. Her eyes shot open without Lo'ak seeing it.

At first she was pretending, but after a while she slowly fell asleep on his shoulder while he put his head on hers, closing his eyes as well.

'What the fuck is going on over here?' Aonung towered above two sleeping Na'vi curled up in each others arms.

Rotxo stood next to him. 'I have no idea.' He said while laughing.

They stood there for a couple of seconds, processing what is happening in front of them.

'I thought they hated each other.' Rotxo said while scratching his head.

Aonung exhaled sharply. 'Apparently not.' He cursed at Ngalu in his head. In the broad daylight? Really? What if Neteyam saw or worse, what if Tsireya walked onto the beach and saw the two of them all cuddly.

Before anyone could see the pair, Aonung tried to wake Ngalu. He tried everything; shaking her, snapping his fingers next to her ear. Nothing worked on her. Figures, he thought, she's a heavy sleeper after all.

So, he tried Lo'ak. He tried to shake him awake but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his crotch, immediately putting his hands on it and jumping back. 'What the hell?' He yelled.

Lo'ak's leg spasmed as he woke up and he accidentally kicked Aonung in the nuts. He rubbed in his eyes as he opened them, getting used to the sunlight. 'Sorry bro, my bad.' He said as he slowly got up.

He didn't accidentally kick him, he did it on purpose. He was mad that Aonung disturbed his peaceful slumber with Ngalu in his arms.

'Just be happy I woke you. What if Tsireya saw this?' Aonung hissed at the boy, pulling him up by his upper arm.

Lo'ak pushed him away with one arm and dusted himself off trying to get rid of all the sand sticking to his body. His eyes fell upon Ngalu, still curled up in a ball on the sand with the cloth still slightly covering her. He thought back to the moment when she was in his arms. He had already been awake for hours just watching her chest rise and fall with every breath she took. How her eyes moved underneath her eyelids while she was peacefully dreaming. Sometimes she'd even clench his arm a little harder if he lightly moved. God, this had been the best sleep he's had in weeks. All because of her.

'What if I saw what?' Tsireya skipped over to the kids. Her eyes also fell upon Ngalu on the floor. She looked disturbed while pointing to her. 'Why is she on the floor?'

Aonung came in saving the day as Lo'ak stood there and only stared at Tsireya, not knowing what to say. 'She fell asleep here last night. Lo'ak woke up early and saw her laying here so he called us over.'

'Weird, I thought she was at home.' She still looked confused at the girl below her, making Aonung and Lo'ak clench their jaw and hold their breath hoping she'd believe it. 'You're too kind, Lo.' Tsireya said while gently clinging onto his arm.

Aonung and Lo'ak could finally exhale as Lo'ak smiled at her, trying not to blow his cover. 'I know.' He said while making Aonung roll his eyes at him.

'Are you ready?' She asked the boy, batting her eyelashes at him.

Lo'ak thought long and hard about what she meant. But he couldn't figure it out. He knew he would get a scolding for forgetting about it. 'For what?' He scratched the back of his neck.

Tsireya sighed. 'Lo'ak, again?'

He looked at her with a guilty look on his face. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, he heard his name being called. 'Lo'ak?' Ngalu batted her eyes open and held her hand in front of her eyes to block the sun. Lo'ak turned to her, seeing her stand up. 'What the hell is going on?' She asked, looking around at all of the Na'vi standing around her.

'You fell asleep here but Lo'ak woke up early and despite your relationship with him, he ran off to tell Aonung so he could wake you up.' Tsireya snickered. 'Isn't he sweet.'

Ngalu shot a questioning look over at Lo'ak who looked at her pleadingly, begging her in his mind not to say anything. She understood, thankfully. 'Oh thanks Lo'ak.' Her lips formed a thin line.

'Are you coming now or what?' Tsireya grew impatient and Lo'ak nodded.

Before the two disappeared into the ocean, Lo'ak ran back to Ngalu to ask her one last thing. 'Let's talk after I get back, alright?'

Ngalu nodded and as she did, Lo'ak ran back into the water while grabbing Tsireya's stretched out hand and dove into the ocean with her.

Making Waves | lo'ak sullyWhere stories live. Discover now