𝙏𝙄𝙇' 𝙒𝙀 𝙋𝘼𝙍𝙏. 𝙣𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙮𝙖𝙢

𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣. 𝙙𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩

Tears formed in eyes when i realised that Ailìtx wanted more than this. My lips quavered as his palm was still pressed on my cheek.

"Why do you have tears? did i say something wrong?" he asked with a worried look.

"This- this is wrong Ailìtx, you're a good friend & it can only stay that way. I love Neteyam with all my heart no matter what happened & nothing can change that" i said as i removed his hand.

He was silent but he nodded his head to my response, shifting his eyes away from me. Things got awkward really quickly & i wanted to leave-

Then, Lo'ak emerged from the trees behind us with his boys & my eyes widened, pulling away from Ailìtx's hand.

"What is going on between you two? why were your hands on my sister?!" Lo'ak asked with a threatening look darted at Ailìtx, dagger already in his hands ready to attack.

Ailìtx lifted both his hands up, surrendering to avoid a dagger battle with Lo'ak. "My apologies, we were just talking" Ailìtx said, looking over to the 2 boys standing behind Lo'ak.

I carefully approached Lo'ak, slowly putting my hands on his shoulders to draw his attention back to me "mawey (calm) Lo'ak, please put your dagger down" i said in a calm tone.

Lo'ak grabbed my arm, "did he hurt you? be honest, i'll skin him alive Vi" he said.

"Im okay Lo'ak" i replied.

"Then why does it looked like you just cried?" he took notice & i faced down.

"Because- ..i miss Neteyam" i said getting choked up with my words.

Lo'ak put his arm around me, telling his boys to leave us & dragging me away from the scene. I turned around once more to see Ailìtx & he faced to the side, walking away in disappointment.

He sat me down by the river where Ailìtx pushed me earlier,

"Does your brother not love me anymore Lo'ak?" i asked, tears already rolling down my cheeks as i looked down at the fishes in the water.

"Dont be silly Vi, he loves you! he's crazy about you!" he said.

"Then why isn't he here?! what is he still doing with Rheya?" i looked to face him. Lo'ak was hesitant to reply but he swallowed & took a deep breath,

"Before you, Neteyam only took one girl out.. but out of pity. When he came home from that 'date', he said that it was a waste of his time. To her, she wanted more than friends, but he didn't. While the other girls in the clan only used her to get close to my brother".

"Rheya is leaving with her brothers, to warn the other clans about that mysterious ship heading towards Pandora & they may not come back for months. After all, it is a long journey" he continued.

"Neteyam accompanied her for dinner because its her last few nights in Omatikaya, it is my big brother's duty to inform the messenger on what to do & say to the other clans-"

"But no one knew that she was gonna kiss him Vi. Swear to the great mother" Lo'ak said as he placed his hand on his chest, looking at me for a reaction.

He told me that Neteyam was looking for me after breakfast but i didn't come back to the hut, i refused to face him so Lo'ak went home without me. I never gave Neteyam a chance to explain himself last night because i was too mad at him.

"Now are you gonna tell me why you were out here with Ailìtx?" he asked politely.

I let out a sigh, telling Lo'ak about what happened at this very river in the morning when he was asleep. His eyes widened at the word 'kissed' & tilted his head,