“Aren’t you ment to be in a breathing lesson with my sister, Monkey lover?” I turned to see Ao’nung walking up towards me. Monkey lover was the nickname he had come to call me. It didn’t make much sense in all honesty.
He was not alone, his 3 friends followed behind like lost puppies.
“Aren’t you meant to be bullying some defenceless child?” I asked back quietly, really not having the mental energy to deal with him. My head was pounding with pain.
I was quite shocked by my response. I was not the type to talk back with my family. Maybe with others it was different?
“This freak has tongue” the short haired boy snickered as he looked to his friends. I rolled my eyes and continued to walk, I knew either way I would be stuck with the group following me, trying to hurt my feelings. But there weren’t really many feelings to be hurt.
I had been numb to the bone the past week with everything going on. The move, the constant threat, and having to learn a whole new culture. I had just been overly exhausted. So exhausted that not even being yelled at would faze me. But sleep did not come easy as always.
And the pain from the fall.
I wasn’t going to say anything to my family, but my fall in the forest had effected me more than I was giving. If I walked for too long I would start to feel faint. If I would talk for too long, I would feel faint. If I moved too quickly, I would feel faint. But the issue was, I always felt faint at every time of the day. I was worried that if I were to feel any more faint, I would.
“So, what’s your issue?” Ao’nung asked jogging up closer to me as though he was genuinely interested in my life. “why are you so…lonely?” he added, talking with his hands as always. I could hear his friends snickers. He thought he was so big. Like he was the king of the world and could do what he wished, when he wished.
“And why are you the way you are?” I asked looking up to the boy. He had his head tilted and mouth was pointed up. He wanted to know what I was going to call him to insult him “fatuous”. I spoke the word in English so he couldn’t understand.
“What-What does that mean?” he asked before turning to his friends with a scrunched nose. “what does that mean?” he spoke in a hushed tone as though I wouldn’t be able to hear him.
“It means that you are a really nice guy” I replied back to answer his question. I really was not thinking about what I was saying. I had just insulted and lied to the future Olo’eyktan. He seemed to believe it too, smiling to himself a little.
“Well, thank you. I—no. I see what you did there.” or maybe he didn’t believe me?
“You’re trying to get me off the topic of your sad and lonely life.” or he believed the wrong thing. I let my eyes roll as I continued on walking along the beach.
I didn’t understand why this boy tried so hard to be a jerk. Over the week we had been with the Metkayina clan, I had seen him in the distance with his family. I had seen how kind he was.
When his mother was not feeling well due to her pregnancy, he would pass her cups of water and take over the cooking so she could rest. He would head straight to his fathers side if he asked for help. And if his sister had asked him to go and face the greatest beast of all time just so she could find a new shell, he would do it 100 times over, without question.
So why was he such a jerk to me and my family?
More laughter erupted from behind the 2 of us. We both turned.
“who are they laughing at?” I asked quietly as I kicked my feet in the sand, feeling the grains flow together like the ocean.
“you. You’re the monkey lover…probably used to live in a tree.”
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What I Didn't See - Ao'nung X Fem Reader
FanfictionI was adopted at birth by the Sully family along with my twin sister Kiri. To say we were opposites was an understatement. My sister was connected to Eywa like no one had seen. Me, on the other hand, was not. I could never feel the great mother or...
