Ao'nung x Neteyam slow burn

Day 67

Ao'nung

Just like yesterday I visited Neteyam first thing in the morning. His mom was sitting next to him and Kiri. "Has anything happened?" She shook her head sighing. "Sadly, no. Do you want something to eat?" I thanked her but turned the offer down. Ever since my love had died my appetite had shrunk to a bare minimum. A sharp pain shot through my heart.
"How are you feeling, Neytiri?", I asked to somehow attempt to fill the silence. "I am worried sick about both of them. And I am so very tired." I felt so sorry for her in that moment. "You should go and sleep then. I can watch them and I will wake you up as soon as anything happens", I offered. She looked at me quite some time while processing my words. "Are you sure?" "Yes, I promise. Get some rest. Where is Tuk?", I asked because I hadn't seen her yet. "She's at the beach playing with some other children. You can wake me up when she comes back."
With a heavy sigh she gut up, ran her hand through my hair and stretched her legs. "You're a good boy." She smiled and then left me alone.

I took Neteyam's hand and drew invisible circles on it with my thumb. "Ma'Teyam, I miss you. You cannot keep doing things like that to me. At first I thought you'd die out there. Then I was convinced you wouldn't ever wake up. But then you did and you seemed to be fine. And then you died. Irrevocably. But somehow not because Kiri is now doing some magic things with you or whatever she's actually doing. So if you can survive all of this and come back to me and if something like this ever happens again I will single handedly rip your head off. I promise. You can't die all the time and leave me alone." Tears formed in my eyes.
"Please open your eyes. Your mom is so worried about you two and your dad is calmer than I've ever seen him. His trust in Kiri and her powers is so huge." Slowly I let my fingers trace his skin over his arm all the way to his chest.
"Lo'ak and Tsireya... well, you know how they are. And Tuk is absolutely confused about everything that happened. But to be honest, who isn't? You should be dead right now and still, we're hoping that you come back to us. Or that Kiri can help you."
My index finger drew some lines and symbols on his skin.
"I just miss you, forest boy. So damn much." The symbols turned into small hearts.

I took my time and really looked at him. His fingers and arms were so much skinnier than mine. His astonishing, now so familiar gold eyes were hidden behind his eyelids but I've seen them often enough to know exactly how they looked.
A voice in my head told me to remove the bandages from his chest and shoulder, so I did without hesitation.
As I took away the last piece I stopped breathing and didn't even realize until I almost fainted.
Just a light blue, slightly swollen scar was visible.
Very carefully I touched it with my fingers and couldn't help but smile. That was a good sign.
Just as I was still contemplating whether to wake Neytiri or not, Jake came in. "Has anything happened, my boy?" My chest swell in pride as I realized that he was talking to me. "Nothing yet, sir." Neteyam and Lo'ak have always called hin sir so it just seemed like the only right thing to say. He didn't correct me but nodded with a slight smile.
"But his wound... it's healed, look." I scooted over and he knelt down next to his son. Just like me earlier he too touched the scar tissue. "I think that's a good sign. Where is Neytiri?" "She's asleep. I wasn't sure if I should wake her up for this." He hesitated and then shiok his head. "She had to worry about so much in the past; she needs to sleep. We can tell her when she wakes up."

"So you two are together, aren't you?" Jake was visibly uncomfortable while asking. "We haven't talked about it, bit yes, i think so. I see him as my boyfriend, yes." He nodded slowly. "I would be glad to have you as a part of this family." I was sure that my heart was about to explode out of sheer pride. My face reddened and I smiled. "I'd be glad too."
We then sat in silence next to each other. Quietly I prayed to Eywa tgat Neteyam and Kiri might get through all of this alive. I wasn't quite sure what it would do to him if his sister would sacrifice her life in order for him to come back.
I would find out soon enough whether she'd heard me or not. But of course I couldn't know that at that time.

Ever since Kiri had touched Neteyam at his funeral she hadn't stopped glowing. But now a tremble went through her body. Her back was bent like hell, she opened her glowing white eyes and her head was shaking. "Kiri!", Jake exclaimed, obviously horrified. Just seconds later Neytiri joined us. "Ma'Kiri! What happened to her?" "She... she just suddenly started shaking", I said and we helplessly had to watch how this episode didn't seem to come to an end.

Tuk suddenly came into the hut and let out a scream. "Ao'nung, take her away", Neytiri hissed. I stood up, sweeped the little girl from her feet and carried her back outside. I didn't care about her kicking and screaming at me. If I had to watch that happening to Tsireya and someone would take me away, I'd be acting like this too.
"Tuk, look at me." She - of course - didn't listen to me and shouted Kiri's name over and over. "Tuk!", I repeated, this time a tad louder. She went silent and looked up to me with big eyes. One tear after the other came out of her eyes. My heart was aching as I hugged and tried to comfort her. Sobbing and shaking she pressed herself against me. "Is... is Kiri going to die, too?", she asked scared. "Oh Tuk."
I let her down to the ground and knelt down in front of her. Softly I pushed one braid behind her ear. "Your sister is very special, you know? She is connected to Eywa in a way noone could ever understand. If anyone can push through something like this, it's your big sister. Don't you think?"
She nodded slowly.
"Good. If you want to, we can go back inside. But if we do that, you have to promise me to stay calm and don't scream. Can you do that for me?" She nodded once more and I took her by the hand.
Together we went back to her family. I didn't know what to expect, but I definitely didn't expect Kiri to still be stuck in her episode. Tuk squeezed my hand - Great Mother, how strong is that little na'vi? - but I just drew lines on the back of her hand.
Neytiri turned around to face us and opened her arms. Tuk ran over to her and they hugged. "What will happen to Kiri now?", she asked her mother. She sighed. "Only the Great Mother knows. We just have to wait, Tuktuk."
The little girl nodded and suddenly seemed to have aged a bit.