~+ Outcasts +~+ Lo'ak x fem reader +~

Chapter 51 {Lo'ak's PoV}

After a few weeks of perfectly content bliss, of course my father would have to drop some news to ruin the peace.

"We will be visiting the forest for a few months," My father announces. "Now that the sky people are gone for the near future, we can safely visit."

"What?" Neteyam and I say in synch.

"Do we have to?" I ask.

"Why wouldn't you want to visit your home?" Dad asks me, sounding annoyed already.

"A few months is a bit longer than a visit." I point out.

"Son, it is not difficult to understand," Dad says, ignoring my words. "We are going to go back to the forest for a short visit,"

"Dad, a few months is not a 'short visit', we may as well be moving there!" I argue.

"You can bear to be away from your friends for a few months," My dad says. "It won't kill you to spend some time with your family."

He holds my stare and we stand in silence until Neteyam speaks. "Well, Atala is half Omaticayan. She deserves to see her other home. What if we brought her, showed her the forest?" He makes a good point.

My dad pinches the bridge of his nose as he sighs. "No, we are not bringing Lo'ak's girlfrien-"

"Don't think of her as Lo'ak's girlfriend. Think of her as a child who has never been exposed to half of her cultural identity." Neteyam presses. "Considering you were Toruk Makto, you of all people should care about that."

"I won't even put up a fight if you let her come, Da - I mean sir." I chime in.

My dad sighs and seems to deflate a bit.  "Fine. But there'd better not be any fooling around. Do you read me?"

"Yes, sir." Neteyam and I reply.

"We leave at dawn the day after tomorrow. Go tell her to pack enough things for a few months." Dad orders. "And tell her she must have her parents permission to come."

"We will, dad." Neteyam says as we leave the pod.

Once were out of my Dad's earshot, I turn to Neteyam. "Bro, that was genius! Now we can actually have fun, returning to the forest."

"I actually genuinely wanted her to get to experience her Omaticayan side," Neteyam says. "And, I was excited to go back either way. I miss it."

I turn my head away. Of course Neteyam had noble intentions while I just wanted to bring my girlfriend on our trip so I wouldn't be bored out of my mind.

We make it to Atala's pod to find she's the only one there. She's about to start cooking, but she spots us first.

"Hey guys," She says as she stands and steps up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on my cheek. "What's up?"

"Hey, Atala," I say, glancing at Neteyam. "So, we have some exciting news for you."

"Oooh, ok, what is it?" She asks, looking curious.

"Well, our family is going to visit the forest for a few months. We'd like you to come." Neteyam says with a smile.

Atala looks pleasantly surprised. I take her hand and squeeze it. "That - that sounds amazing," She says, grinning. "I would love to come!"

"We're leaving at dawn the day after tomorrow, so you have until then to convince your parents and pack up." Neteyam says. "Just say that you want to experience your Omaticayan culture. That's how we convinced our dad."

Atala grins and laughs. "I'll definitely use that. Thank you guys so much." She gives Neteyam a brief hug before wrapping her arms around me in a longer embrace. Neteyam slips out of the room, understandably not wanting to hang around. A moment after he leaves, Atala pulls my mouth to hers.

I pull away from the kiss for a moment. "I'm really excited that you'll get to see where I grew up," I mumble before kissing her again.

"Me too," Atala says in a breathless voice that's kind of hot. "I think it will be fun."

"Good luck convincing your parents. I have to go, but I'll see you soon." I say.

"Alright. Bye." Atala says.

I make my way back home. I have to watch Tuk, and I can't say I'm thrilled about it.

I swing by our pod to get Tuk. I'm on babysitting duty. She chatters all the way to where she wants to go - a beach that is particularly shallow, so she can run about in the water without actually having to swim.

A few minutes after we arrive, I spot Tsireya.

"Hi Lo'ak!" She says cheerily. I can't say I've ever seen her in a bad mood, besides the battle when Atala was shot.

"Hey," I say, striding over. I will admit, on the first day that my family came here, I saw Tsireya first and thought that I had a crush on her. But after I saw and spoke to Atala, I didn't think of Tsireya in a romantic way whatsoever.

"I heard from Neteyam that you and your family will be visiting your old village soon?" She chirps. "That's wonderful, that you're going back to your roots."

I nod. "Yeah, it will be fun. We're also bringing Atala, so she can learn about her Omaticayan side." I say. "I'm excited to show her our village."

Tsireya giggles. "I'm sure Atala is excited to spend three months with you. She's so in love with you." She sidles closer to me. "Between the two of us, she's so obsessed with you that it can get a little bit annoying at times!"

I laugh with her, hiding how good that makes me feel. As much as I love Atala, her struggles to express how she feels can leave me feeling a bit...unsure. Not that she's done anything to make me question how she feels about me, but she isn't exactly working hard to make sure I know how loved I am by her. But Tsireya telling me how much Atala loves me just makes me more excited for our trip.

"I have to get going, but it was nice chatting with you, Lo'ak!" Tsireya says as she starts backing away. "If I don't see you before you leave, have a wonderful trip!"

I nod. "It was nice seeing you too. I'll see you around."

As Tsireya leaves, I can't help wonder what it would have been like if I had ended up with Tsireya instead of Atala. The two of them are sort of polar opposites. Tsireya is more of a soft beauty, kind, open with her feelings, almost a bit timid. Atala, on the other hand, is the sort of beauty that punches you in the face when you look at her, she has a cold outer shell and can seem cold, Atala almost never gets emotional and whatever the opposite of timid is, that's what she is. I think being with Tsireya would almost be too easy, too calm. Atala and I challenge each other, and it makes our relationship exciting.

I can't wait to take her to my home.

A/N
Just a heads up, my computer is broken so I have switched to writing on my phone. I'm trying my best but it's a weird change, so I'm sorry if there's any mistakes! Hopefully I can get my computer working soon.
- Brooke