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FALLING JUST AS HARD

if every memory was erased, could your mate make you fall in love with him one more time?

warnings : (18+ MDNI), neteyam x omatikaya fem!reader, mature themes, explicit s3xual content, strong language, slow burn kinda, reader has an amnesia from war & she doesnt know shes mated, yearner neteyam :((, heavy angst i think, intense effects (panic attack & more), pet names, vanilla s3x, softdomreader, praise knk, risk of getting caught, both r freaked out, reverse cg, handjob, oral (f receiving), fingering, riding, swimming s3x omagahhrrh, cckwarming, intimate s3x (i hope so umm), dirty talk, A LOT of smut (P in V), etc.

a/n : this is the third request ohgashhh the idea looked so much better in my head, i cant believe it ended up like this smh . anyways, i loved this request sm though, i had so much fun writing it... also, take note of how this couldve ended after just one smut scene, but i kept it going cuz i got way too attached to these two 😭

wc : 19k (no proofread)

You stared at the empty sheet of bark, the charcoal stick hovering uselessly above it. A knock of your knuckles against your forehead did nothing to shake loose a single idea.

Alone in your hut with no duties assigned for the day, you had eventually given up on idling, and decided to wander through in your place.

A Memory Keeper, they called you.

You had held the history of an entire clan in the palms of your hands, apparently. But to you, it felt like a joke, for your own remained locked away in the dark.

Your heart felt like it was lacking, wanting something, seeking something, though you had no name for what was missing.

After few minutes, the only thing you had managed to sketch was the outline of a panopyra. It felt sooo wrong. You knew your hands were capable of far greater than this, the image was vivid in your mind, but the moment the product touched the surface, it resulted into ugly lines.

You had drawn it only because the same flower seemed to exist in everything you had ever made. It was carved into your wooden furniture, painted along the borders of your work, woven into your loincloths. Tiny beads shaped its petals in your jewelry, a carved charm swung from your songcord, and the sheets of songs scattered across your kelku had the same symbol. Against one wall hung a massive scroll, where the detailed botanical study of the plant itself can be seen, rendered good that it looked alive.

You knew its name: Tawtsngal, the love flower.

But the longer you stared at it, the more your chest ached. It was strange to recognize something so intimately without remembering why.

“Are you there, Y/n…?”

You flinched, moving the things before pushing yourself up. Pulling back the curtain, you blinked at the tall figure standing in the doorway. Neteyam, your mentor, stood there, his cummerbund on his waist and the leather armguard tight around his right forearm. In his hands, he balanced a wooden tray with different foods.

“Yes, Sir?” A smile made its way onto your face. “Good morning! Did you need something?”

He shook his head, the beaded ends of his braids swaying against his shoulders. “I do not. I came to bring you breakfast,” He held the tray out toward you.

“Oh no, Sir, you really didn’t have to!” Your hands flew up, waving in refusal as heat entered at the back of your neck in embarassment. “I was just about to head into the village to gather my own—”

“Well, it’s here now. Surely you wouldn’t have me carry it all the way back to the cooks?”

“No… of course not.” You stepped back, holding the curtain open for him. “Please, come in.”

The moment his feet crossed the threshold, a wave of self-consciousness hit you. The hut was a disaster! Smudged pigment bowls sat tilted on the floor, dust coated the edges of the mat, and crumpled papers were scattered across the floorboards. “Sorry, Sir! Lemme just—” Panicking, you dropped to your knees, clearing the clutter off the low wooden table to make room.

“It’s alright, Y/n… Take your time,” Neteyam didn’t move away or rush you. Moving the tray onto one hand, he used his free arm to bend down and gather the ones you missed, tossing them into the bin tucked in the corner.

He moved through the space without a single glance to check his footing. Once the table was cleared, you sat on the ground, waiting as he set the wooden tray down between you. You crossed your legs, giving him a polite nod. “Thank you for the food.”

“Mhm…”

Instead of leaving, Neteyam folded his legs, sinking onto the mat directly across from you. He lifted his leg and rested his elbow on his knee, his golden gaze fixed on you as he waited. You paused, your fingers hovering over the steam rising from the wrapped leaves. “Have you… not eaten yet, Sir?”

“I’m fine,” he said. “You need to eat. You’ve been shutting yourself inside for days. The children have been asking where you are.”

A knot formed in your throat, you picked at the string binding the meal, peeling back the leaf in thin strips to avoid meeting his eyes. “It’s just… weird,” you mumbled. “Walking through the village while everyone looks at me like they know who I am… and I have to look back at them like strangers. It makes me feel ashamed.”

Across the table, Neteyam gulped. His jaw clenched, his eye twitching as his hand tightened into fist. Before you could speak, his palm reached out, fingers closing around your forearm. “Y/n… you have nothing to feel sorry for. I told you that I’ll help you through this. I meant it.”

You let out a nervous laugh, pulling your arm back just enough to break the hold, scratching at the back of your neck as you forced a smile. “Right… sorry, Sir. I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful…” You looked down at the food, missing the way his hand hovered in the air before dropping back to his knee. “Thank you, really.”

“It’s nothing, Y/n…”

Moments passed before you held out a portion of the meal toward him. He shook his head, saying he only wanted to make sure you were full, but you insisted. You gave him a look he couldn’t resist until he sighed, giving in to share the breakfast he had prepared for you.

Once the food was gone, Neteyam walked beside you toward the medical tent, matching your pace. It felt like a burden, having your temperature checked every single morning, resting your head against machinery while human face after human face hovered over you.

They called themselves Norm, Alma, and Max. You were growing to trust them, remembering how they had been the first ones to greet you through the blinding lights on day one. They were the ones who helped you when you panicked at the sight of human metal, heck, even the sight of a human itself.

To make things easier, Norm and Alma stayed inside their Avatars whenever they came to treat you so they wouldn’t startle you. Max, on the other hand, apologizes, giving you space to grow accustomed to his small frame since he lacked an Avatar of his own.

Still, your eyes always searched the room for the Tsahik, taking comfort in her familiar rituals while the science team ran their tests.

Soon, a fresh bandage was wrapped around your forehead, and you were sitting in the nursery where many children surrounded you, yapping about how much they had missed you. One girl scrambled straight into your lap, thrusting a messy painting inches from your nose as she grinned up at you.

“In here, you can see the person’s skin melting,” she exclaimed, her finger pointing at the smudges, “because like I told you before, I’ve been so into nature that it feels like it’s pulling my whole body into it! And the butterfly is shining bright because the whole forest is amazing, and the butterfly represents all of it! Oh and the swirls in the background are because I forget to hear any noise when I’m busy admiring Eywa’s work!”

“Oh…” You blinked. “That’s… remarkably well thought out.”

“Of course it is! You’re always so good at what you do, Y/n, and I want to be just like you when I grow up!” Her eyes almost disappeared when she smiled.

An ache bloomed in your chest omce again. It hurt so deeply to know you had once been so passionate about a craft. “I wish I could teach you all properly…”

The room went still as the kids began sniffling, frowns replacing their smiles. They were young, but they weren’t naive. They knew what had been taken from you, and it was hard on them, too. They had spent weeks sitting by your side, retelling stories of everything you used to do for them, how your arts had guided them, and how you also managed to save lives because people carried your wisdom.

It was early but the marketplace was already awake.

“Y/n, my dear! Have you eaten already?”

You turned toward the call, seeing an older woman beaming at you from behind a table stacked with baked goods. A smile touched your lips as you gave a nod. “Yes. I just did a few hours ago.”

“Well, if you’re hungry, you should totally eat this loaf!”

“Oh no, it’s alright! It’s your business, I don’t wanna—”

She swatted your hand away with a flick of her wrist. “Do not bother, darling! The wood you carved for me attracts half the village to my stall. The least I can do is cook your favorite!”

You paused, taking a breath as the scent of the bakery hit you, causing your stomach to betray you when it sunk. She led you into the shade of her booth, the aroma wrapping around you. Sitting back against the tree, you accepted the steaming wooden cup she pressed into your hands.

“Where’s Neteyam? Not with you?”

“I’m not sure,” you said, shrugging as you took a small sip. “He’s probably doing his usual routine… training.”

Without even trying, you had his morning memorized. Every time he finished bringing you breakfast, he would disappear, taking on tasks for the council, flying out with his ikran, or just walking deep into the woods to be alone. He had been there every step of the way since you woke up. He was the one who walked you through the forest, teaching you the names of the goods, pointing out the bioluminescent vines, and explaining the world to you piece by piece.

He had kept his promise to never leave your side.

However, whenever you dared to ask about who you were before, or your past as a whole, a barrier dropped between you. You would watch the way his jaw clenches, his eyes close then brushing the question aside. “You’re not ready yet,” he would say.

You believed him.

For he was the only person your age that you felt safe around, there’s just this wall standing between you, the line between a teacher and a student.

The old woman sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. The rest of the clan knew the truth, but out of respect for Neteyam’s plea to protect you, everyone held their tongues, leaving you in the dark.

After taking the bread and bidding her farewell, you stepped back onto the main walkway, letting the crowd carry you along.

A few stalls down, a booth belonging to a Soul Seer caught your eye. That tug hit the center of your chest again, your heart skipping a beat before leveling out again as your hand flew to your sternum.

What even awaited you in this place that your heart knew, yet your mind could not?

-

You were dreaming.

Up ahead, a man stood looking back at you, like you kept him waiting. Even across that distance you couldn’t easily cross, and without features on his face, you felt your eyes meet his.

“C’mere,” He whispered it, holding out his arm.

With all your strength, you tried to walk on the sticky ground that held your feet down, reaching out to catch his hand.

The moment your fingers were about to touch, your hand went right through his skin. You stared at your own palm, then looked up just in time to see another faceless woman running into his embrace.

“—Y/n?”

Your eyes shot open, blinking fast as the sky settled into place. You looked up to see a shadow hovering over you, his features tense against the light. “Oh, thank you, Greatmother…” Neteyam murmured, pressing both palms to his face. He sighed deeply then dragged his hands down, his golden eyes searching your face. “Are you okay? How do you feel?”

“My head is just throbbing… did something happen?” You wince, resting a palm against your temple as the forest tilts in your vision. The muscle along his jaw twitched, a telltale sign of the anxiety he was trying so hard to keep under control. “Are you okay now?”

“Yes, sir…”

“Why are you out here alone?”

“Sorry… I must’ve fallen asleep,” you confessed, pushing yourself up onto your elbows before looking at him. “I was looking for you.”

His golden eyes went wide. “You were… looking for me? Did something happen?” He repeated your question with nervousness, but you just shook your head. “No. I just wanted to see you.”

Neteyam’s heart dropped, his mouth opened to speak, then closed, an indigo settling down cheeks before he spoke. “You should’ve waited for me then. Something bad could happen to you out here.”

You frowned at his concern. “I’m sorry, Sir…”

The color on his face slowly faded. “I told you to stop calling me that.”

“Why?”

“It’s just… nothing. Let’s go,” he said, sitting up and gathering the basket beside you before holding out his hand. You looked at his palm, lifting yours to meet it. He pulled you up, and as you stood close, your heart gave that same throb. You licked your dry lips, stepping beside him. You had wanted to ask him something for days now. You didn’t know why you waited so long, but you couldn’t keep it inside anymore.

“I want to come with you.”

Neteyam stopped walking and looked back at you. “What?”

“In your mornings… I want to be there with you.”

“...Why?” You saw his hands shake a little, you wrapped your arms around yourself. “I- I don’t wanna be alone anymore. I’m scared of what will happen to me.”

“Y/n… I—”

“You cannot, right?” You cut him off, taking a step toward him. “Where you go, it’s dangerous for me. Where you go, I can’t be in it.”

“Yes, you’re right. I’m afraid I cannot protect you there.”

“I’ll take the risk,” You reached out, putting your palm on his cheek. He went still, his hand tightening on the basket at his waist.

“Why?” He held your hand against his face with his free one, biting the inside of his lip. “You would go with me to the deep sea? To the sky, and into the thorns where the ground burns?”

“Yes. I want to be with you. If you go there, then I want to be there too.”

“Oh…” He looked at you for a moment, then turned his head a little, pressing his lips to the middle of your palm. “You would put yourself in danger… just to be with me?”

“I will.”

“It’s hard to say no because I want to be with you too,” he mumbled against your skin. “But… you understand, right? We cannot always have what we want,” he said. You looked away, pulling your hand back. He held your fingers as long as he could before letting go reluctantly. “I’m sorry, y/n… I’ll bring you back whatever you want. Just tell me. I’ll get it for you as soon as possible,” You felt him step closer, but your throat was tight.

You didn’t even want things brought back to you. Your hut was already full of things you didn’t remember making. You didn’t want to be around anyone else in the clan, you didn’t want their eyes on you, or another conversation where you had to form a sentence. You just wanted to run from the way everyone tried to pull your lost memories out. Neteyam never forced you, he stayed true to his promise to stand by you and protect you from the weight of what you forgot.

You bit your lip, looking into his eyes again. “I only want you.”

His eyes eidened, releasing a breath he held for too long. He looked down at the dirt, then back up at you, setting the basket down on the ground. He reached for your hands, giving you time to pull away. When you stayed, his fingers closed around yours. “...You do?”

“I do, Sir.”

He bit his lip, watching your face. “But I… I want you safe.”

You held onto his wrist tight. “Do you not want me?” His mouth stayed open in silence, words failing him. Your heart ached again, skipping beats until it felt like it sank into your lungs. Neteyam saw the tears filling your eyes, he couldn’t stand it, pulling you fast into his arms. Your chin rested over his shoulder while he hid his face in your neck.

“I do… I want you so much,” he whispered. He felt his own heart break when you let out a cry, wrapping your arms tight around his neck to pull him closer. “Then what’s stopping you?”

“A lot…”

Your lips trembled. “I’m scared of everyone. I don’t wanna be there…”

“I know… I know,” he whispered, holding you until your shoulders relaxed, you stepped back and he wiped a tear off your cheek, before tucking a hair behind your ear. You looked up at him. “Why can’t I come with you?”

Neteyam raised his arm, wiping his eyes with his forearm before he looked back at you. “Please don’t ask that. I want you to stay where our people can watch over you. If you stay here, I can tell myself that you’re safe... and for a little while, my heart will know peace. I get that you wish to do more but until the day I no longer fear losing you... this is all I can ask of you. I hope in time you’ll understand.”

“I… undertand, Sir.”

You tried to.

Days passed in a blur, yu spent the morning putting away your washed loincloths into the carved cabinet, which, of course, was etched with the same symbol. You really must’ve loved that flower, huh?

Finishing your daily check-up with the science team, you took a break from your tasks for the rest of the day. With nothing else occupying your time, you began to reorganize the hut, only to pause, staring up with a wrinkled forehead at a row of baskets tucked onto a high shelf. You had to strain on tiptoes just to brush the undersides with your fingertips, literally out of reach.

What had the old you been thinking, putting things up there?

Moving deeper into the kelku, your gaze caught on one of the main support beams, the bamboo visibly worn and smoothed down in a deep groove. It looked as though it had been continuously rubbed raw by a rope, suggesting your hammock probably once hung there before moving to the other corner.

With the amount of work needed to fix up the space, a headache began to pulse behind your eyes. You lifted a hand, rubbing your fingers in circles against your forehead to ease the tension.

Sighing, you patted your hands clean against your tewng, blowing a puff of air to nudge away the stray baby hairs falling over your face. You had only just bathed earlier but here you were, covered in a fresh layer of dust all because you couldn’t sit still for some reason.

When you pulled back the entrance curtain, you shrieked, planting a hand over your pounding chest at the sight of your teacher standing right there. “Oh my… you scared me, Sir!” You pouted up at him, and Neteyam raised his hands, offering an apologetic wave.

“Why are you here?” you asked, raising a brow. He gave you a baffled look. “Didn’t you say you wanted to visit the Tree of Souls?”

“Oh, sh— I actually forgot! I’m so sorry! I got caught up cleaning my place…” You scratched at the back of your neck in embarassment but he only shook his head, looking past your shoulder into the hut.

“You should’ve called for me. I could’ve helped you clean inside.”

Rolling your eyes, you crossed your arms over your chest. “I wouldn’t wanna bother the Olo’eyktan’s son. Besides, you already have so much on your plate, Sir. I don’t wanna add to it when you’ve already helped me so much.”

“Y/n, I told you that I—”

“Yes yes! You will help me but I’m no damsel in distress!” You cut him off, smirking a little. “I can do plenty with my own two hands, y’know.”

To prove your point, you tapped your bicep, making a smile break across his face as he watched you. “I’m not saying you’re helpless. I just wanna be there for you.”

“It’s fine, sir. Uh, do we have to go right now? I’m kinda dirty.”

Neteyam blinked. “What?”

“I just spent the whole morning dusting, right?” You pointed to the smudges on your skin. “I have dust all over me.”

He looked away, a blush creeping up his neck before he nodded. “Oh… well, it’s no big deal to me. You can be dirty anytime.”

You tilted your head. “That sounds a little weird.”

“I-I mean— you could be covered in mud and I’d still be fine with it! It’s not in… a certain way,” he stuttered, clearing his throat as he tried to save himself. “Just forget it. Let’s go, shall we?”

The walk toward the path was peaceful, you watched his face thoroughly as he spoke, taking in the movement of his forehead, his hands, and how his gaze stayed on the ground to guide your steps.

He talked continuously as you passed through the forest, making sure that no awkward silence grew between you as he searched for things to share, and you just listened. You took mental notes of his words, noticing the times he looked toward the stone arches above, his lips pressing into a straight line.

Soon enough, you arrived at the Vitraya Ramunong. Against the fading sunset of the Pandora’s sunset, the massive spirit tree and its sprawling root system stood out in breathtaking grandeur. Your eyes shone as thousands of long tendrils began to glow in ethereal shades of pink.

Neteyam watched as you stood awestruck, you had mentioned wanting to visit the tree on your own, having heard that as a memory keeper, you frequented the sacred site, it was your favorite spot a d seeing you so captivated made his heart ache with a tender warmth, you always found a way to fall in love with the beauty of Eywa’s creation.

“This is where her roots connect to every single plant and animal on the planet,” he said, reaching out to brush a hand against a glowing tendril as he watched you examine one of your own. “Everyone’s memories and consciousness live here forever.”

He licked his lips, watching you gather several tendrils into your palm and press them against your cheek. His breath hitched for a second at the sight of you. “...We plug our queue into these so we can hear the voices, advice, and memories of those who came before. It’s the strongest place to pray to Eywa… and so much more.”

“This is beautiful,” You opened your eyes and met his gaze, a smile gracing your features. “It really is,” he replied, his gold eyes locked onto yours, unable to look away.

You swept your braid over your shoulder, bringing it to the front before glancing at him for reassurance. Neteyam stepped closer, giving a nod. Slowly, you connected your kuru to the vine, watching as the tiny filaments rose to intertwine with it. A sudden flash burned through your vision as the connection pulled you into a memory.

Rain was pouring heavily.

You looked up at the stormy sky before your gaze shifted to a woman standing nearby, her face remained blank, but her voice was clear.

She called out to someone as she looked past you. Turning around, you saw a man approaching; his face was also obscured.

He walked right through your form, passing through you, and wrapped his arms around the woman. “I told you, you’d get sick out here…”

The woman laughed, cradling his face in her hands and pinching his cheeks before leaning in closer—

A surge of energy slammed into your mind, severing the link and snapping you back to reality. You stumbled back in panic, your hands flying to your head as you collapsed into Neteyam’s arms. Groaning from the pressure, your hands moved frantically, covering your eyes, shielding your ears, then pressing against your forehead to push back the intense ache.

“—y/n! Can you hear me?”

His voice was muffled over the pounding in your ears. You couldn’t speak. You gasped and trembled against him as he lowered you to the ground, his palms cupping your cheeks. “I’m here. Take deep breaths.”

You clung to his voice, taking stuttering breaths while pressing your palm hard on your eye to block the pain. “I-It hurts, Neteyam—”

”I know— I got you,” he whispered. His hand caught your wrist mid-air before you could hit your temple again, his fingers wrapped around your joint. He pulled your shaking hands away from your face, forcing them down onto his chest so you could feel the beat of his own heart. “Stop, don’t hit yourself, y/n… look at me. Breathe.”

His other hand cupped the side of your neck, his thumb pressing right beneath your jaw to hold you while the bioluminescent dots on his face flared with his heightened stress. He leaned in close, his forehead resting against yours, blocking out the dizzying glow of the tree above until his gold eyes were the only thing in your field of vision. “In,” he commanded, taking an exaggerated deep breath himself, his chest expanding against your trapped hands. “Out. Follow me, c’mon.”

You forced your lungs to expand, a gasp tearing through your throat as the searing pressure behind your eyes began to recede into a pulsing ache. The laughter of the faceless woman and the sound of the pouring rain gradually dissolved, replaced only by the presence of Neteyam, his heat, his scent, and the tremble in his breath that he was trying so hard to hide.

“That’s it,” he murmured, his ears pinning back in relief as your breathing began to sync with his, though he didn’t let go of you. “That’s right. Stay right here with me. You’re alright?” He sighed as you nodded, his thumb stroking your cheekbone to wipe away the tear that had slipped down your skin during the panic. His eyes searched yours before he glanced back up at the glowing tendril hanging beside your heads, his jaw clenching tight. “What are you feeling right now?” he asked, his gaze dropping back down to hold yours. “Can you answer?”

You shook your head, wrapping your arms around his waist for comfort. You sniffled against his chest, your wamrth seeped into his skin as you clung to him. Neteyam’s breath hitched in his throat at the touch, his body going still before the tension melted out of his shoulders. His arm wrapped around your back, pulling you flush against him, while his other hand moved up to hold the back of your head, pressing his fingers into your hair to keep you close to him. “It’s okay,” he mumbled into your hair, “I’m right here, y/n… You’re safe with me,” he watched the way your ears dropped as you hugged him even tighter.

He moved his hand back and forth on your back, the beat of his chest pressing against your cheek as his ears twitched at the sound of your cries. He didn’t push for answers anymore, letting the silence of the clearing set over the two of you while the vines above swayed. His chin rested on top of your head, his breathing slowing as his heartbeat gradually settled to match yours.

It hurt Neteyam to see you avoiding it after what had happened. It pained him to see his lover, once so captivated by the spirit tree, now standing with shaking lips whenever her gaze went to its leaves. He couldn’t help but blame himself again. He knew he should’ve stopped you, knowing your connection to the tree would show some scenes to the surface. But he just couldn’t bring himself to refuse you, you were curious, and he didn’t wanna strip away your desire to discover the truth.

A week had passed since that night. Neteyam continued your lessons with dedication, teaching you everything you needed to know, answering your questions, and staying by your side to protect you whenever the strain proved too much.

For the meantime, you strolled past the stalls, exchanging nods and smiles with the villagers you encountered along the way. Your cheeks flushed awkwardly at the giggling children who whispered when you walked by, their big eyes following your every move. Looking out beyond the vendors, your gaze caught a flash of light reflecting off the river tucked beneath the canopy of trees.

Walking over toward the water’s edge, you spotted a young girl sitting on the grass, swaying her feet in the stream. You recognized her by her braids, it was Tuktirey, one of the younger children under your care at the nursery. But unlike the other kids who ran up to you, She always kept a distance, watching you with an unreadable look that you couldnt quite figure out.

She was humming a melody, plucking the petals off a blossom one by one. You hesitated for a second, swallowing down your nervousness as you prepared for an interaction that felt nerve-wracking. Clearing your throat, you stepped closer. “That’s a pretty song.”

Her hands froze over the flower, but she didn’t turn around to look at you. “You made it,” she mumbled under her breath. Missing the words, you took another small step forward. “Sorry?”

The young girl finally turned her head, an evident pout could be seen in her lips. “You wrote it for me…” The words hung in the air, thick with a grief that made your heart ache. You looked down, a downward smile appearing on your lips as you took a seat on the grass beside her, keeping a distance so as not to scare her. Slowly, you dipped your toes into the cool water. “Oh…” you whispered, rubbing the back of your neck. “I wish I could remember, Tuktirey…”

She pulled her dripping feet from the water, dragging her knees against her chest to make herself as small as possible. She didn’t reply to your apology and just let her eyes stay locked on the ripples expanding across the stream where a few leaves had fallen.

You took a peek at her, your heart aching at the sight of her lower lip trembling into a frown. You knew from the conversations around the village that you had once been close to your people, that they cared for you deeply, but seeing this little girl withdraw so much made the reality of your lost memories crash down on you for you had no idea what your existence meant to her.

You licked your lips, opening your mouth to try and soften the tension between you two, but she cut you off before you could speak. “That’s not even what you used to call me…” she mumbled into her knees, her voice barely audible over. She kept her face hidden with her hair, refusing to look at you, her fingers gripping her ankles that her knuckles turned pale.

The words you wanted to say stayed trapped in your throat as you sat frozen on the grass, the river dancing against your ankles while you searched for even a single fragment of a memory to hold onto. Nothing came from the hollow spaces in your mind, leaving only the realization that a child who loved you deeply had become a stranger to you. “I’m really sorry... but I know in my heart that I’m fond of you.”

Her shoulders hitched as she squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her small hands over her face to stop the tears from falling at the sound of your voice. You didn’t like when others pushed you to remember things you couldn’t reach, but you knew she wasn’t being cruel, she was just guarding her bruised heart from the pain of grieving someone who was standing right in front of her.

A rustle of leaves signaled an arrival, your ears twitching back as you turned to see Neteyam stepping out from the foliage, his golden eyes locking onto yours with a nod before he crouched down beside his sister. “Tuk? What did we talk about, hm?” She sniffled, burying her face into her big brother’s chest as her voice came out muffled against his skin. “W-Why...”

Your lips pressed into a line as your chest ached at the sight, questioning why it hurt so much to see someone weep for the person you used to be. Neteyam cradled her head, stroking her hair before lifting her up from the ground. You stood up with them, biting your lip to keep your composure while Neteyam met your gaze, giving you a reassuring look that tried to carry the weight for both of you.

Tuk’s crying quieted down after a while, her small feet nudging to be put down as she looked up at her brother. “I’ll go back to mom, you stay with her,” she mumbled, letting go of his hand and turning away without giving you a single glance. You watched her figure retreat through the trees, her shoulders slumping low while her eyes stayed fixed on the dirt paths.

Your gaze dropped to the ground, but Neteyam stepped closer, his fingers reaching out to tilt your chin up until you were forced to meet his eyes. “She’s still processing everything, y/n… you mustnt blame yourself for this, okay?”

“I just wonder... who else was I close with?” You held a hand against your chest. “Who else loved me so much that my absence makes them cry or turn away like she did?”

Neteyam stayed silent, his fingers lingering on your chin before his hand lowered to rest at his side, his jaw tightening as he looked down at you. He gestured with a turn of his shoulder toward the heart of the village, where the evening fires were beginning to spark into light and family groups gathered around shared meals.

“Look around you, y/n…” Neteyam murmured, his voice softening as his golden eyes swept over the scene before settling back on yours. “Every single person in this clan carries a piece of who you were, and they’re waiting for you to come home to it, but that doesn’t mean you have to rush. Like I said before, you’re treasured here, just as you are right now. If time is what you need, then you will have all the time in the world, and I’ll be right here beside you for every step of it.”

You held his gaze before looking down at the ground with a smile, your heart aching while a throb began to pulse behind your eyes. Your ears started ringing, the high-pitched sound growing nearly deafening, but his presence somehow moored you enough to ignore the pain. “Thank you… that’s— it makes me happy.”

“Of course,” Neteyam replied, though a flicker of bashfulness crossed his face as he licked his lips and rubbed the back of his neck under your gaze. “You always know the right things to say to make me feel better, Sir.”

The moment the title left your lips, Neteyam froze, the light in his golden eyes dimming into an exhaustion. His jaw clenched as his gaze dropped to your lips before going up to your eyes. “Oh well, that’s… what I’m good at.”

It hurt him deeply, how you unconsciously gave a divide between the two of you, turning what used to be sweet moments into a cold lesson between a master and his apprentice. His chest ached with the weight of everything he couldn’t say, but rather than letting the frustration snap, he just turned and gestured for you to follow, guiding you up the path. He brought you to a cliff hidden beneath the sweeping stone arches, a place where the mountain air blew well.

“This is Zi’ell, my traveling buddy. C’mon, meet him,” Neteyam said, a smile breaking across his features as he leaned his forehead against the ikran’s snout before giving it a pat.

Your jaw dropped, your eyes sparkling as you took in the creature up close for the very first time. The blend of green, yellow, and brown stripes across its skin was breathtaking. You pressed a hand against your mouth, flabbergasted. “Oh… he’s so cute.”

Neteyam stepped back as Zi’ell slowly approached you, you froze, unsure of what to do as the big apex predator circled your form. The ikran slid behind you, tilting its head before nudging your cheek with affection from behind. A warm flush spread across your face at the touch of such a deadly creature.

Smiling, you reached up to stroke its skin. Neteyam watched the bond forming between you and his ikran. It was just like before, you had always been so close with Zi’ell that your own ikran used to grow restless with jealousy.

“Did I… Do I have my own?” you asked, turning your gaze to him. As if you were reading his exact thoughts, Neteyam licked his lips and looked down. “Yes, you do, y/n…”

“May I see her?”

“Absolutely,” he replied, giving Zi’ell a pat before mounting the saddle. He connected his kuru to the banshee’s queue; the creature let out a huff and straightened its back. Looking down at you, Neteyam extended a hand. “Where do you wanna sit?”

“May I sit in the front?” You pointed to the space right before him. He swallowed hard, giving a nod. “Yes, you may,” He moved back on the saddle to make room, extending his hand once more to help you up. You took his hand and settled onto the ikran. Neteyam licked his lips yet again, taking in the sight of you oh so close in front of him. “Hold onto the harness here so you don’t fall.”

You turned your head, looking at him over your shoulder. “Where will you hold onto?” Neteyam met your curious gaze, suddenly choking on his own saliva and coughing. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Uhh. I can just—”

“Just hold onto me,” you said, reaching down to take his hand and resting it over yours against the leather harness. “R-Right… I’ll do that,” he stutterd, clearing his throat as his fingers tightened around yours, his chest warm against your back.

Neteyam leaned forward, his chest pressing close against your back as he wrapped his other arm around your waist to secure his grip, his breath hot against the shell of your ear. He sighed to calm his racing heart before leaning forward to speak over the wind. “Hold tight, okay?”

The ikran let out a cry before launching off the edge of the stone cliff, dropping straight into the open expanse of the valley. Your stomach leaped into your throat as the wind whipped past your face, catching your hair and blowing it back against his shoulder.

Your grip tightened over the harness, your other hand hitting Neteyam’s thigh as a gasp escaped your lips, the creature snapped its massive wings wide, and his hold on you remained hard, his fingers interlacing with yours over the strap while his chin rested against your shoulder.

Later, Neteyam slid down from Zi’ell’s saddle before offering his hand to guide you down to the ground. He brushed a strand of hair behind your back, his golden eyes sweeping over your beaming face. “How do you feel?”

You cupped your cheeks with both hands, leaning closer to him as your eyes sparkled with excitement. “That was so cool! We soared up so fast, and the wind was so cold— like— it felt like it was slapping my face!” You threw your hands up to mimic the thrill of the dive, drawing a smile from him before you pressed on. “We must race each other one day on our ikran!”

“We will. You always loved to race,” he murmured, his gaze softening as he reached out to touch your forearm then straightening the strap of your top. “Really? Was I good at riding?” You tilted your head, “I feel as though I would be terrible at it now.”

“You’re perfect,” he said without hesitation, he took hold of your wrist, his warm fingers wrapping around your skin as he led you toward the shadow of a cave. You followed closely at his heel, examining the rocky entrance with curious eyes. “Why is my ikran hidden all the way out here?”

“My father thought it best to get you to recover first and keep her away until you were ready to handle the bond again,” Neteyam explained, pulling back a leaf to clear the path. “Don’t worry. She’s well fed, and I’ve taken care of her every day.”

The sight inside took your breath away; resting in the shade was a magnificent banshee, her skin glowing with a brilliant pattern of your favorite colors. “Woah… she’s so beautiful.”

“She is,” Neteyam agreed, stepping forward to pat the creature’s neck. You approached slowly, your heart beating in your chest as the ikran tracked your movements with wary eyes. Halting a breath away, you reached out a hand, pressing your palm against her skin. The ikran closed her eyes with a huff, leaning into your touch and nudging her snout against your palm to demand more affection, making you giggle. “Oh… hello there. Does she have a name?”

“Her name is Mayì,” Neteyam answered, his eyes fixed on the sight of you two together. “But if you wish, you may give her a new one.”

You looked up, catching his smile before glancing down with a flush creeping up your neck. “I think… I’ll keep her name. I may have lost a lot, but she shouldn’t have to lose her identity because of me. Right, Mayì? You’re so gorgeous! I must’ve known exactly what I was doing when I sealed the bond with you.”

You two did end up racing on your way back to the village, and you won, loterally beaming as you teased Neteyam for coming in second. He only shrugged in response, a fond smile tugging at his lips as he watched you revel in your victory. You had no idea that in all the races you had shared before, you were always the one to take the lead, he let you have your glory, thinking it was only fair that you owned the sky, as you’ve always did.

The dreams didn’t stop there, they kept haunting you, and seeing those faceless Na’vi while being unable to recognize who they were felt like a nightmare.

This time, however, you could see their lips, and the way the woman smiled was so wide and it didn’t go unnoticed by you. You had no idea why you were being shown such a vision, watching a couple so in love that it seemed like they were the only two beings in the world, oblivious to everything else. To watch them clinging to one another, laughing, always smiling, and sharing such raw intimacy felt like having a front-row seat to a life you couldn’t reach.

You woke with a gasping cry, the sound of voices trying to rouse you as you thrash against the flat woven mat, your feet kicking at the floor while the ringing in your ears threatened to tear your eardrums apart. You opened your eyes weakly to see the healers hovering over you, their lips moving in words you couldn’t process through the noise.

You tried to sit up, staggering backward before collapsing back onto the mat, pressing your palm against your temple as the throbbing grew unbearable, even as hands tried to hold your wrists to keep you from hurting yourself, you just slapped them and forced out a plea, “It hurts— fuck, please! B-Bring Neteyam!”

One of the healers scrambled to her feet and rushed outside, while the others held your hands tightly, their eyes full of worry as they waited. And what felt like years passed before the entrance flap was shoved aside, and footsteps rushed to your side.

“Y/n? Y/n, Are you—”

You didn’t let him finish, throwing yourself into his arms the second his voice reached you. Neteyam was knocked back onto the ground by the impact, his arms wrapping around you, holding your head as he let you seek his warmth. You clung to him, your nails digging into his skin as you fought back the effects until they finally began to vanish.

Neteyam looked up at the healers, his voice deep as he asked for water. Feeling you slowly calm in his arms, he held you tight as you rested your head against his neck, sniffling before hiding your face in your hands and letting the tears fall against his skin.

“Oh, Y/n… I’m sorry I was late.”

“It hurts… W-Why does this have to happen to me? What did I do?” You cried out into his skin, your whole body trembling against his. He shook his head, pressing his hand against the back of your hair to hold you close. “You did nothing wrong, y/n… We have no one to blame for this… you’re so strong, and I’m so proud of you for coming through it once again.”

You just hugged him tighter, hiding your face in the curve of his neck as your chest heaved with sobs. “What if I’m not able to come back from it next time?” you asked, your forehead furrowing in fear as you pressed a palm to your own chest, feeling your heart.

“I’ll be right there with you when that happens,” he whispered as his fingers tightened around your back. “I’ll hold you through it every single time, as long as you want, I promise.”

You pulled away from the hug, looking at the healers with a deep frown before taking the wooden bowl of water from their hands. “Forgive me for causing trouble…”

“It’s alright, y/n… We’re only glad you were sleeping on the mat instead of the hammock, or you would’ve fallen to the floor and startled yourself even more,” they replied, glancing toward the small crowd gathering near the entrance. You followed their gaze, your heart dropping at the sight of the Sully family watching with concern written across their faces. Embarassed by the commotion you caused, you pressed your face back into the crook of Neteyam’s neck, hiding from their eyes.

Neytiri crouched down beside you, taking care not to startle your frayed nerves as she pressed a hand against your shoulder. “My dear… how does staying with Neteyam sound to you?”

Neteyam’s eyes widened, a tension seizing his body as he looked up at her. “Mother—” Neytiri just gave him a look that silenced him, her eyes holding a weight. “She needs someone nearby if these episodes strike again in the dead of night, Neteyam. The healers cannot run across the village every time her spirit is shaken, she needs a presence beside her to help her before she hurts herself.”

Jake stepped forward then, his hand coming down onto his son’s shoulder, giivng a nod of agreement. “Your mother is right, son. She trusts you more than anyone else in the clan. It makes the most sense for you to keep watch in her kelku until these spells subside.”

You tilted your head back against his collarbone, looking between the two elders before your eyes settled on Neteyam’s tense profile. You touched Neteyam’s chest as you looked up to meet his eyes. “Is that… alright with you?” you asked, your voice raspy from the crying. “I don’t wanna be a burden.”

He swallowed hard, the muscles in his face twitching as he looked down at you. “It’s no burden, Y/n…” he managed to choke out before he helped you sit upright. “You will never be a burden.”

After the healers double-checked your pulse and the Sully family offered their reassurances, the crowd dispersed, leaving the two of you in silence at your place.

You watched as Neteyam stood near the far corner of the room, staring blankly at the floorboards. His shoulders were stiff, his hands clenching and unclenching into tight fists at his sides. You hovered behind him, lips trembling. “I’m sorry, Sir… I know you didn’t ask for this… I’m sorry my weakness forced your parents to make you stay here.”

Neteyam flinched as if struck, his head snapping up to look at you, his forehead curled up. “Do not apologize. I’m not forced into this, trust me.”

“It just feels like… it,” you admitted, looking down at the woven rug as you scratched at the back of your neck in shame. “You already do so much for me during the day… and now you’re stuck sleeping in my hut too just because I can’t handle some dream.”

Hearing you call his home your hut, hearing you treat him like an assigned guard rather than the male who would’ve laid down his life to keep you safe, sent an ache straight through his ribcage. He wanted to scream, to pull you into his arms and press his lips against your neck until you remembered the way his skin felt against yours, the way you used to trace the lines on his back while falling asleep right on your mat. Instead, he stepped closer, his shadow falling over you as he reached out, his fingers hesitating for a second before cupping your jaw.

“I’m not forced, Y/n…” he murmured, his thumb brushing over your cheekbone with softness that made your breath hitch. “I choose to be here. I’ll always choose to be here. I told you that I’d stay beside you through this, and whenever you need me, I’ll be here. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

“I don’t want you doing this just because you feel obligated to, Sir,” your brow furrowing as your hand reached up, your fingers wrapping around his wrist to hold his palm against your cheek. “I want you here because you really want to stay… I don’t want to force my presence onto you when you already bear so much.”

He stared down at your hands, his fingers twitching against your cheek before he let his arm drop back to his side. The loss of his touch left an ache in your heart, but the way his golden eyes stayed with you made it throb in a good way.

“I’m not doing this out of obligation. I stay because I want to protect you. I stay because when you’re hurting, I cannot walk away and pretend my heart is at ease elsewhere. You’re not forcing yourself onto me. You could never.”

You searched his face, looking for any trace of resentment, but found only that devotion that made your ears ring. You didn’t understand why the sight of his jaw clenching or the sight of his ears drooping made your soul want to reach out and pull him close, but the pull was undeniable.

“Okay…” you whispered, stepping back to give him room, bt your eyes stayed on his face. “If you’re sure, Sir… then I’m glad you’re staying.”

Neteyam closed his eyes for a second, swallowing hard against the tight knot in his throat. “Y/n… how do I say this.”

“Hmm?” You hummed, tilting your head to the side as you searched his face. “What’s wrong?”

He gulped, licking his dry lips before stepping closer, his golden eyes dropping to your resting hands before taking them into his own. “I don’t like it when you… call me that, the Sir thing.”

“But why? You said you’re my teacher, and you’ve been the one teaching me everything since I woke up, I’m just being respectful.”

Neteyam cut off. “In this situation, maybe it feels like I’m teaching you, but I’m really not, Y/n… I’m only helping you remember what you already know, I could never teach you something you were already an expert at,” He looked into your eyes, his chest rising and falling as he tried to swallow down the hurt in his throat. “When you use those with me, it feels wrong, like there’s a wall between us when it shouldn’t be there in the first place.”

You looked at his face, sensing the sadness hiding behind his voice, though you couldn’t quite place where it came from. “I just thought it was proper. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable… Neteyam.”

Hearing his name leave your lips, made a sigh escape him as he squeezed your hands a ljttle tighter. “It’s not uncomfortable, it just… brings peace to my heart when you speak to me as myself, not as a leader or an instructor.”

You cleared your throat, feeling a heat rising up your neck at his gaze. Moving your weight from foot to foot, you gestured toward the corner where the wide sleeping mat rested on the floorboards. “Well… since you’re staying, you can take the mattress, and I’ll just sleep up in the hammock.”

Neteyam shook his head, his ears flicking back as he took a step closer. “No, Y/n, you’re still recovering and need proper support for your back, besides, the healers literally just warned us about the possibilities of you falling out of the hammock.”

“I won’t fall out,” You pouted, crossing your arms while trying to ignore the flutter in your stomach when he stepped into your personal space. “I’m not letting you sleep on there when I’m the one who caused all this commotion.”

“You’re not sleeping in the hammock either,” he said, his golden eyes scanning the wide sleeping pad before darting back to your flustered face. An indigo blush began creeping along his high cheekbones, his fingers nervously fidgeting with the leather strap at his waist as he offered a compromise. “The mat is… wide enough for two. If you don’t mind sharing?”

Your heart did a leap against your chest, the simplicity of his suggestion leaving you breathless. “Oh… well, I mean, if you’re okay with that, then sure, it’s definitely big enough so we won’t be crowding each other.”

“Well then, ready for the day?”

Your eyes widened, your shoulders tensing. “What? We have plans?”

Neteyam smiled, looking down at the wooden floorboards while his braids swayed against his shoulders. When he looked back up at you, his golden eyes held a flicker of amusement. “You said you wanted to be in my mornings, didn’t you?”

And so, you got to witness the side of him that belonged to the village. You walked beside him as he carried out his duties, delivering messages from one side of the settlement to the other and stopping by the artisans’ huts to check on their progress. He slipped into every conversation with such grace that you found yourself just staring, marvel(🕸️)ing at how he carried the weight of his place here easily.

When an elder asked for assistance with the supplies, you stepped forward to help, only for Neteyam to catch your wrist with a touch. “You can just stand prettily beside me, and you’ll be helping plenty,” he said, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips. You rolled your eyes, but the heat creeping up your neck betrayed you as you watched him lift the load, his muscles flexing.

Later, he brought you along to greet the hunters returning from their night patrol, where his behavior changed, from grinning at you to having his chin up at the class. He listened intently, offered decisive directions, and coordinated the distribution of their catch with that authority. Standing a few paces back, a sense of awe went in your chest as you realized just how respected he was, and how many people relied on his strength every single day.

By the time the sun climbed higher, the rumble of your stomach spoke between the two of you, breaking the silence of your walk. Neteyam let out a laugh, and you grabbed his forearm and dragged him toward the food stalls. You both reached for the last loaf at the exact same moment, your fingers brushing against his before you looked up, exchanging a startled glance that dissolved into shared laughter.

“I want one too!”

You looked down to see Tuktirey, her eyes fixed not on her older brother, but on you. An eager smile played on her lips. You looked at Neteyam before breaking the warm bread straight down the middle, leaning down to hand her the larger piece. Then she wrapped her arms around your waist. “Thank you, n/n!”

The nickname slipped out so easily that your heart skipped a beat, “Of course, Tuk-Tuk,” you murmured, cradling her head against your side. She gasped, looking up at you in surprise then a grin broke across her face, she grabbed your hand, tugging you toward her and leaving Neteyam standing behind with his jaw dropped, stunned by his little sister’s action.

Clearing his throat, he gave his head a shake, he took a few steps forward, folding his arms across his chest while watching the crowd of children tug at your hands.

“Is that so?” Neteyam murmured, his voice laced with a quiet warmth that made your ears twitch. “Look at you, making friends all over again.”

Tuk beamed, vibrating with excitement as she wrapped her arms around your thigh. “She remembers my name, Neteyam! Well, the short one! That means she’s gonna remember everything soon, right?”

The air grew a little still at her words, the children looked up with hopeful eyes, waiting for an answer that wasn’t yours to give. You felt a flicker of pressure rising in your chest, your fingers tightening around the hem of your top. Before the doubt could take root, Neteyam stepped in, he crouched down to Tuk’s level, resting a hand on her shoulder. “It means she cares about you, Tuk. And that’s more than enough for today. Let her take her time, alright?”

Tuk pouted for a second before nodding, letting go of your leg to run off with the other kids. As their noisy laughter faded into the background, everything settled over the two of you. You looked over at Neteyam as he straightened up, rubbing the back of his neck while a purple flush crept up to his high cheekbones.

“She gets ahead of herself, you see,” he mumbled, turning his head to hide his expression, though you caught the quick twitch of his jaw. “I hope she didn’t make you feel rushed.”

“No,” you said, a smile touching your lips as you stepped a little closer to him. “Not at all. It actually felt… nice.”

His eyes flicked back to yours, holding your gaze for a long beat. The warmth between you felt normal, stripped of the expectations that usually clouded your days. As the afternoon sun began to dip, Neteyam touched your shoulder gently. “C’mon. Let’s get out of the crowd before they recruit you for another storytelling session.”

Night fell over the village, wrapping the forest in soft bioluminescent hues of blues and violets. After the gathering dinner, you sat on the hammock, swinging back and forth as you watched Neteyam across the room. He was checking the woven ties near your hut’s entrance, his back turned to you, his braid hanging down his back.

He had finished settling his things into your space, considering he would be staying here from now on. For reasons you couldnt quite name, the kelku didn’t feel crowded at all. It was spacious, almost as if it had been built to comfortably hold more than one person, accommodating all your scattered tools and scrolls without feeling cramped. When he finished, he turned around, pausing when he caught you staring. “...Everything alright?”

“Yes. I was just thinking about today,” you muttered, looking away as you leaned over the edge of the hammock, avoiding his gaze. Neteyam looked at you, his golden eyes tracking the bamboo beam where the net was attached as you swung. “What’s up?”

“I just… I felt safe,” you admitted, looking back up to meet his eyes. “Even when everyone was watching me. Normally… I’d get this feeling inside like I couldn’t stand people always bringing up my past or who I used to be. But today just felt different. It was like I finally accepted that people are always going to see me that way but not in a forced way. I think I accepted it because… because they really believe I’m capable of remembering. It felt nice to know they have that kind of faith in me even if I dont think i’ll be regaining anything anytime soon. I feel like I’m making progress, at least… Am I making any sense?”

Neteyam’s throat moved as he swallowed, his jaw tightening under the weight of your words. “Yes. You are making progress, Y/n… To watch you grow, to see you wake up every day with that look in your eyes, that curiosity despite everything pulling at your spirit, it means everything. Seeing your dedication, how much you still reach for who you are… it feels good to see.”

A silence stretched between you, but it wasn’t heavy or tense like before, it was intimate, peaceful, and warm, like every moment with him nearby. You licked your lips before slipping off the hammock, walking toward him with slow steps. “Neteyam?”

“Yes, y/n?”

You bit your lower lip, closing the distance until your chest almost brushed against his. His gaze stayed locked onto yours, his heart beating fast in his throat at your proximity. Looking up at him, the atmosphere changed with tension, and he recognized that look in your eyes all too well. “Can I ask you something… if it isn’t weird?” you whispered.

“Of course. Anything.”

Your eyes flicked down to his lips before going back up to his gaze, catching the way his golden irises dilated under your focus. “Would it be strange… to ask what we were before? I don’t mean if we were just friends or companions, but… what actually were we to each other?”

Neteyam’s mouth parted, the words catching in his throat as he stared down at you. He pressed his lips into a cable line, licking them as his pulse quickened. Reaching up, he rubbed the back of his neck, trying to cLm himself against the bashfulness. “Not strange at all, Y/n…” he rasped out. “Well, we were… We had something special,” He licked his lips again, feeling them dry out as fast as his nerves took over.

“Special… like?”

“Very special,” he stated, looking at your lips. “It wasn’t something you shared with any other, and it certainly wasn’t something I had with anyone else. It was so special that it belonged only to the two of us.”

He watched the way your eyes sparked with life, before you looked away, ‘tucking’ a strand of hair behind your ear, even though not a single piece had fallen out, just wanting an excuse to break his state and to look cute under his gaze. Both of you were blushing furiously, like young clanmates exchanging hidden glances across a fire, timidly trying to convey feelings too fat for words.

“That puts my mind at ease,” you whispered.

“How so?” He hummed, his golden eyes filled with curiosity at your vague words. Before he could push further, you turned around, walking over to the wide sleeping mat. You dropped down onto the futon and patted the space beside you, offering him a smile. “C’mon… let us sleep, Neteyam.”

He swallowed hard, his throat going dry as he watched you move toward the cushion, every beat of his heart thumpimg so loud he was certain you could hear it. The way you did that twirl, the invitation to sleep beside you, the way your voice said his name sent a rush of heat straight up his neck. Reaching up to rub the back of his neck, he inahled to calm the oscillating in his chest, biting back the smirk threatening to break across his face as he finally moved toward you.

In the morning, you found yourself walking side-by-side with Neteyam through the lanes of the vendors’ stalls. He had taken the day off, leaving his duties behind for once so he could help you explore the village and mak sure your time together was spent well, rather than you just trailing after him as he did his tasks.

As you walked together, your eyes caught the spot where the soul seer’s booth stood. Today, it didn’t have many people surrounding it unlike before when you had passed by alone and felt that magnetic pull drawing you in.

“You wanna try it?” Neteyam grinned, catching the direction of your gaze. Your eyes widened as you looked up at him, before you chuckled, shaking your head. “No… it’s— I’m just curious, is all.”

He smiled, putting his hands on your shoulders and turning you toward the booth. “C’mon. If you’re curious, then we’ll go try it. We have all the time.”

The entrance to the area was cool and shaded by swaying mats, feeling as though a breeze hugged your skin as you went in. Your heart skipped a fast beat and a faint ringing rang in your ears, but it melted away the second Neteyam slid his hand down to rest over your wrist. “Good day! Is it possible to get a reading?” he asked on your behalf.

The elder sitting behind the low wooden table watched you two, a braid swaying over her shoulder as her brows twitched upward, if even visible. A sneer touched her lips before she pointed toward the cushions set before her table. “Well then, do get comfortable.”

Neteyam looked at you, waiting until you sat down then he took the seat beside you. The woman dipped a feather quill into a jar of dark ink, unrolling a clean sheet of parchment on her table without looking up yet. “A duo reading or solo?”

“A solo reading for the lady, please,” Neteyam answered. You looked at him with wide eyes, but he only gave you a reassuring look, covering your hands as they rested in your lap. You pressed back against his palm, drawing confidence from his touch as you turned your focus back to the woman.

“Tell me your dreams, dear.”

“Dreams as in my goals? Or dreams when I sleep?” you asked. Neteyam’s thumb rubbed his finger against the back of your hand. “Your dreams when you sleep.”

Taking a deep breath, “It’s ambiguous… but it’s been constant to the point that it feels intentional. I dream about this couple. They have no faces, at least, none that I can see. They’re so deeply connected, so wrapped up in each other… and whenever I wake up, something hits me giving me aches I can barely handle.”

Neteyam’s golden eyes flicked to your profile, so that was what was causing those painful episodes. His jaw tightened as he looked down at your joined hands, then back to the woman. She listened, her eyes scanning your face before her fingers moved over her collection of tokens. She selected three, sliding them forward into a line across the wood of her table: a shining Thanator’s tooth, a dried river stone, and a wooden carved Tawtsngal. “Pick one,” she instructed.

Your eyes locked onto the flower token of course, recognizing the curve of it. The elder noticed the immediate draw and tapped the wooden piece with the tip of her quill. “You recognize this?”

You gave a hesitant nod, unconsciously pinching Neteyam’s skin in nervousness. “I know it used to be carved into almost everything I owned… though I never understood why I was so attached to it.”

“The Tawtsngal is the love flower,” she explained, leaning back as she watched the way you nodded. “So I take it you didn’t feel pulled toward the tooth nor the stone?”

“That’s right…..?” you murmured. She hummed, her gaze moving toward Neteyam, whose fingers tightened around yours with pressure, before her eyes locked back onto you. “Then your spirit has given you your answer, dear. When people dream of those they cannot name, they often think their mind is mocking them. But by choosing this token, you confirm that the ache in your chest isn’t born from resentment, nor are you actively trying to run from it.”

“I’m… confused?”

“It just means the faceless ones who visit your dreams are born of a bond. The pain that follows is the cry of a heart that remembers what the mind has yet to acknowledge.”

You stared at the three tokens, your thumb tracing the edge of Neteyam’s hand as the weight of her words settled into the air. “Uhh I think i just picked the Panopyra because it’s what was familiar to me… what if I were to pick either of the other two?”

She chuckled before shaking her head, “Choosing the tooth would mean you carry anger toward what happened to you, and choosing the stone would mean you’re shutting your heart off to keep yourself safe. But you didn’t pick those, dear, you got pulled by the flower itself because it’s what you feel,” The elder leaned forward, her warm eyes holding yours as she tapped the wooden flower one last time.

“Your mind may be locked behind a wall, but your heart isn’t fighting what’s resting on the other side.” She glanced toward Neteyam, her eyes closing with a smile on her lips. “Sometimes… what you yearn for is standing right in front of you. You only have to open your eyes.”

-

You crouched along the forest ground with Neteyam trailing beside you, picking ripe berries from its leaves so you could crush them into pigments for painting later. You kept humming a song and let it surround you both, your mind remained tethered to the words of the woman. “What did you think of what she said?” you asked without looking up, thumbing the skin of a dark fruit to test its freshness.

Neteyam scratched the back of his neck andchuckled. “I’m gonna be honest with you, Y/n, I was lost for half of it, it has been a long time since I heard her give a reading, and I forgot how vague she can get with her words.”

You nodded before tossing the fruit into the basket, wiping your stained fingers against your loincloth. “It almost felt like she was calling me desperate for trying to piece everything together,” you mumbled, the ache in your chest tightening as you stared down at the dirt.

Neteyam crouched into the damp grass, resting his palm against your back. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting to know nor are you wrong for caring about who you were,” he said, his thumb rubbing small, reassuring circles against your spine. “Your spirit will give you the answers when you’re ready, and until that time comes, I’m right here to carry the weight with you.”

You looked at him with your lips pulled into a pout, unable to shake the bitter feeling. “And when am I gonna be ready? See? I wish it were that simple, Neteyam. I’m tired of digging through shadows and wishing I was just normal again… I just want to accept that those memories are gone so I can stop feeling like a stranger in my own life.”

His chest tightened at the pain bleeding through your words, prompting him to move closer until his knee brushed against yours on the ground. “You’re normal to me, y/n. You don’t have to drown in what the clan says, you don’t have to force open the doors that are still locked, like the elder told you, there’s a whole life waiting right in front of you if you would just look at it.”

“I know there is, Neteyam, which is why I try my best to appreciate everything and everyone around me who keeps helping me along the way,” you murmured, staring down at your stained hands. “But of course there’s still this feeling inside me that needs to know who I was, almost like I’m terrified of missing out on my own life.”

Neteyam reached out, his fingers sliding over your hands to stop its fidgeting. He squeezed them, his thumb tracing the back of your knuckles as his golden eyes held yours that made your heart skip. “Every breath you take right now belongs to you. I know the dark feels endless when you’re searching for answers, but as long as I’m alive and breathing, you will never have to walk through it alone.”

You looked up at him as he spoke, a sunbeam piercing through the trees above, bathing his features inthat golden light that caught the beadwork into his braids. His gaze struck you oh so that your heart stopped beating, pinning you to the dirt beneath your knees.

Everything seemed to drop into a stillness around you both, the chirping of the birds fading away as his hand remained against yours. You sat there with your mouth agape, your eyes locked onto his, unable to stop the flush from creeping up your neck and coloring your cheeks.

The woman’s words echoed back through your mind, reminding you of how she had insisted that what your spirit yearned for was standing right in front of you. You realized then that your hand hadn’t reached for the love flower just because of familiarity, but because that love flower was the reflection of your soul.

Neteyam…

His earlier promise flashed through your thoughts alongside her reading, repeating the exact way he had confessed that the two of you shared something so special it belonged to no one else in the world. Your mouth parted in absolute awe as you stared at him, the fog of your frustration melting as you swallowed past the sudden dryness in your throat, feeling a racing vibe that settled deep in your stomach.

You looked down at his lips before looking up into his eyes, the atmosphere between you feeling so natural. But just as the world settled into that perfect air, a tightness seized your throat and choked the breath right out of you, leaving you gasping as a deafening ring went straight through your right ear, sending a wave of dizziness crashing over you. Even though you were already crouching, the shock made your ankle slip out from beneath you, causing you to lose your footing and fall hard onto the damp ground as your hands flew up to cover your ringing ear.

“Y/n?!”

His panicked yell did nothing to soothe you, it slammed a second wave of ringing straight into your left ear, forcing you to throw both hands over your head. The high pitched noise vibrated into your skull, and in a desperate attempt to drown it out, you began hitting your own temple and rubbing your eyes, the throbbing ache punishing you for daring to look at someone in such a way.

Neteyam grabbed your wrist, holding your arm to stop you from hurting yourself, but his words were completely lost to the noise in your head. Panic took over as you swatted his arms away, forcing him to release his grip.

“Y/n— please listen to me…” he begged, cradling your cheeks as you sobbed, praying for Eywa to stop punishing you for falling in love. Your head jolted backward, almost hitting the rough trunk behind you, but Neteyam’s hand was already there, cushioning the back of your head. “Can you hear me?!”

You gave a fast nod, your legs kicking out to push him away, but he refused to budge, taking the blows without a word. “Listen to me, okay? T-Try to take a deep breath. Catch your breath, c’mon, do it for me.”

You gasped for air, forcing your twitching eyelids open to find him through the blur. Starved of oxygen, one of your hands flew to the back of his neck to hold yourself, while your other hand fisted the grass beneath you.

“Inhale— and hold it, please… then exhale. Do it again. Inhale… hold… then exhale. Can you breathe properly?”

You sniffled, shaking your head, your nails digging into his skin as you fought to gasp in air, trying your best to ignore the pressure behind your eyes and the deafening noise in your head to focus only on his voice.

“C-Can you give me five things you see?” he asked, cupping your cheek while resting his palm against your thigh to stop your kicking legs. He watched your eyes dart around the jungle to find five objects. “T-The trees… sky… the leaves… and— and your hair, and… your eyes!”

“Good. How about four things you can touch or feel? C’mon, please…”

“Your hand on my cheek… your hand on my thigh… the grass… and— your hair?” You released your grip on the earth and brought your knees up, panicking as the uncomfortable ache surged through your body. “Three things you can hear? We’re so close, keep going—”

“Neteyam, it really hurts— I-I can hear your voice… my voice… and the— the ringing in my ears that won’t stop—”

“And two things you can smell?”

“The berries I crushed— and… your skin…”

“Last one. One thing you can taste—”

Instead of naming the fruit on your palm or the salt of your tears like he expected, you leaned forward and pressed your lips to his. Your hand on his neck tightened, pulling him closer to lock your mouths together.

His golden eyes widened in shock as his mind caught up to what was happening, his gaze dropping to see your ears releasing tension, and the way your tail stopped lashing around, a sign that the contact alone was pulling you back from the edge. Neteyam allowed himself to selfishly hold still, lacking the strength to pull away or even kiss you back, still shaken by the terror of watching an episode he couldn’t stop.

You finally pulled back, a final tear slipping down your cheek, before your lips parted into a whisper. “…Your lips.”

Neteyam released the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, staring at you with twitching eyes as he licked his wet lips before his body gave out, sinking back onto the damp grass as his head dropped, burying his face in his hands to hide his expression from you. That desperate kiss felt like it had drained the remaining energy right out of his chest, leaving him breathless and just so undone under your eyes.

You held a hand against your chest, feeling your heart thumping so bad over your palm even as you tried to draw in a deep breath. You had no idea why you had kissed him, but in the blinding haze of your panic, all you could think about was him. Every single answer you had given to his questions, every sense, every breath, every response... had been Neteyam, everything at the moment had circled around him.

You stared at his state, his legs spread wide against the damp dirt, his head hanging low as his hair shaded his face, his trembling hands hiding his expression from you. You opened your mouth to speak, but no words came out, your throat was dry, and the air between you was so thick it felt like it was enough to choke on.

Licking your lips, your eyes widened slightly as you brought your fingertips up to touch them. The lingering ghost of his warmth still sat against your skin. You had touched his lips… and it had felt so normal relaxing to be held by them, to taste him, to just be near him. “Neteyam…?” you whispered shyly.

He didn’t lift his head just yet, gulping hard before pulling his trembling hands away from his face to meet your gaze. His golden eyes swept over your flushed, sweaty skin and your lips. “Yes…? H-How are you feeling?”

“...I’m fine. T-Thank you…” you managed to whisper, your throat still tight.

“Of course…”

Then silence sat again on your shoulders once more, the sunlight cutting through the leaves above and beating down on your bodies. The awkward tension hung so good in the air that you could almost feel the heat cooking your skin as neither of you dared to make the first move.

“Sorry—” you began, raising a hand.

“Are you—” Neteyam spoke at the exact same time.

You both froze, eyes meeting in a clash of nerves before you both looked down. You apologized and offered to let him go first, but he shook his head, sayng that you take the floor.

“Like I was trying to say before you spoke— umm… sorry for doing that,” you mumbled, the heat of the day was nothing compared to the blush going up your neck. “At the moment… it felt like the only thing I could think of to make it stop.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me, y/n…” His voice trailed off as he reached out, moving to give you time to pull back. But you didn’t. You didn’t want to. His fingers closed around your wrist, lifting your hand to press your palm against his cheek. “If it kept you here… if it stopped the pain, then I’d let you do it a thousand times over,” he whispered, his thumb caressing the back of your hand. Your heart skipped a beat at his words, your eyes snapping up to meet his eyes.

“I was scared… seeing you like that again, feeling like I couldn’t reach you,” Neteyam murmured, a swallow working down his throat as his eyes flicked down to your lips for a split second before forcing themselves back up to yours. He squeezed your hand, the tremble in his touch betrayed the war raging inside him. “I don’t care how you brought yourself back to me, as long as you came back.”

That night, you were able to sleep with his arm resting around your waist, his heart beating against your back. He held you with almost painful softness, making sure not to pull you too close, but refusing to let you go. Above everything, you were grateful that nothing felt awkward between you. Even with his thoughts in disarray, a conflict tore at him with the overwhelming urge to hold you tight against his chest versus the need to push you away so history wouldn’t repeat itself, neither of you chose to let go.

Sleep, however, refused to grant him the same mercy it gave you. He stayed awake, listening tk the sound of your breathing. Eyes tracing the ceiling of the kelku, the very home he had shared with you before the war shattered your peace.

Not a day went by where he didn’t wish the amnesia had taken him instead. He hated not knowing the void you lived in, however the thought also pulled him apart for the mental image of you looking at him with heartbreak as he failed to recognize you made his heart feel like it was disintegrating. Before thought could intervene, instinct took over, and his arm tightened around your waist, pulling you closer.

Only when he could feel your breathing against his chest again did he realize what he had done. His eyes squeezed shut in frustration, he had sworn to keep his distance, to protect you from the past, but every part of his being still knew you by heart.

“Please don’t do this to me, baby…” he whispered, oh so silent that even Eywa wouldn’t be able to hear it. He leaned in, burying his face in the crook of your neck to breathe in your scent. “How is it that… your soul keeps finding mine?”

Neteyam rested his forehead on the nape of your neck, the memory of you calming down from the kiss, the way you sought him out every time the panic set in… every limb of him wanted to believe that, against all odds, you were choosing him all over again. The negative thoughts haunted him nonstop until you let out a hum in your sleep, the familiar melody you had once composed just for him, he just collapsed.

He’s so in love with you, a truth he could never rewrite.

Waking up, you stretched across the mat, opening your eyes and turning around only to find Neteyam still fast asleep beside you. You cupped his cheek in your palm, your thumb tracing the skin before your gaze went to his lips, then up to his closed eyes. An ache sent to your chest like a thujderstorm as you noticed how swollen it was, a sign that he had been crying while you slept. Not wanting to disturb his rest and unable to suppress the urge to comfort him, you guided his head against your chest. Wrapping your arms around him, you held him close, letting the beat of your heart help him in his sleep.

As you held him, a sound slipped past your lips. You found yourself humming a tune into the air of the hut, your voice soothing against his cheek. You didn’t even know why you were singing it. You couldn’t recall where you had heard the melody, nor did you remember learning the notes, but your lips moved through the song like second nature. It felt too familiar, buried deep in your bones long before the war took your memories away.

The morning sun was already peeking through the walls of the hut and you didn’t feel like moving at all. The clan could have come to escort you both, and you would only do your best to kick whoever dared to disturb this moment with him. Just as you were about to go back to sleep, he stirred in your arms, letting out a sigh as he buried his face deeper into yout neck, pulling you closer, inhaling against your skin before resting his head against your breasts. “Y/n…” he whispered hoarsely, “It’s okay, you can rest,” you whispered, brushing your fingers through his braids.

“Yes, sorry… I’m just overwhelmed.”

“I missed your voice...”

He leaned back until his golden eyes could meet yours, you gave him a smile, but it faded into a frown as your fingertips reached up, tracing the skin under his eyes. “Mhm... Have you been crying?”

“With everything?” you asked, your hand resting against the side of his face. “Mhm…” Neteyam muttrred, closing his eyes as he leaned into your touch, letting out a long sigh he seemed to have been holding all night. Your heart pinched at the exhaustion in his voice, you moved on the futon, sliding your arms under his neck and pulling him closer. He went willingly, burying his face in your neck with another sigh that fanned air against your collarbone, tickling you. His arms wrapped around your waist, his grip needy.

“You don’t have to carry it all by yourself, Neteyam. I’m right here.”

He nodded, pressing a kiss against the curve of your neck. He didn’t bother putting up a front or hiding his exhaustion anymore, he just stripped his feelings bare, letting you feel every ounce of his vulnerability. His lips trailed kisses across your throat, pulling a hum from you. Neither of you made a move to start the day, content to let the rest of the world wait while you both sank deeper into the warmth of each other.

The afternoon bled into training, Neteyam adjusting your posture as you drew your bow. Crouched beside each other in the bushes, his hand rested against your thigh to ensure neither of you made a sound to startle the yerik nearby. You inhale and aim just behind the creature’s front leg, releasing the string. The arrow flew straight, piercing the heart and lungs to grant it a quick death.

Coming out of the grass, you knelt beside the fallen hexapede, resting your hand against its shoulder to feel its fading warmth. “I see you, sister. I thank you. Your spirit goes to Eywa, while your body remains to nourish the People,” you whispered into the wind, your fingers brushing over its skin.

“Good kill,” Neteyam said, kneeling beside you to offer a silent prayer for its spirit. As he finished, his hand reached out to fix the slipping strap over your shoulder, his fingers stayed for a second against your skin. He looked up, catching the smile spreading across your face, and a grin broke across his own lips, so he held out his arm. “C’mere.”

A laugh bubbled up from your chest as you grinned, throwing yourself straight into his embrace. “Oh… I was so nervous,” you muttered, burying your face into his neck. After a beat, you leaned back slightly, looking down at the fallen creature with a pout. “I feel bad.”

“You should only feel bad if you didn’t send her a prayer,” Neteyam said, his golden eyes filled with warmth as his arm caressed your waist. He hauled the kill back to the cooks to let them prepare it, earning praise for the blessing. Neither of you made a show of it, just waving off their thanks with your hands.

Soon you both decided to take a bath in the river, Neteyam had to shyly look away when you stripped off your loincloth and removed your accessories. He had no idea why he did that when he had already seen every part of you in the past. Both of you sat side by side.

Your head rested on your palm with your elbow on the ground while the water reached just above your chest, he sat with his back relaxed against the rock behind the two of you, the falls hiding you two in the shade. He talked about how your ikran had always been the jealous type and hated you getting too close to his banshee. You laughed along and said that in that case you wouldn’t go near his ikran anymore, which made him laugh harder. Your chuckling died and you just watched him laugh with no thoughts behind your eyes. You gulped, sat up straight, and crossed your legs under the water before turning to face him. Your hand found his bicep. “Hey…”

Neteyam stopped laughing and looked at you. He caught the way your face was blushing. He licked his lips before gulping. “Yes?”

“Would it be weird if I were to kiss you right now?”

He bit the inside of his lip and gulped again, he looked away like the two of you hadn’t done that a million times before. “No…”

“I want to kiss you.”

“...Don’t.”

“Hmm?” He looked down at your lips as you hummed and tilted your head. You let one hand rest at his neck while the other rested on his thigh under the water. “You don’t want me to, Neteyam?”

“I… I don’t know. Please…”

You didn’t say anything else, you just leaned in closer, still giving him time to pull away or push you back for even trying. But he didn’t, and it wasn’t long until your lips met while the water showered both of your skin. Your hand stayed on his cheek, rubbing it as he hummed into the kiss. He still didn’t kiss you back yet, fighting off the urge inside him. You pulled away only long enough to change your seat and straddle his thighs. You held his jaw with your hands while he looked up at you with half-lidded eyes and bkushing cheeks. “Y/n…”

“I want to keep kissing you, Neteyam,” you whispered against his lips before kissing him again. You wrapped your arms around his neck to pull him closer. His hands instinctively found your waist and pulled you in tighter.

You pulled away from the kiss to press a peck to his cheek, your hands staying against the skin of his neck. “Are we so special to each other that we used to do this all the time?”

Neteyam grunted under your touch, his golden eyes rolling to the back as he closed his eyes. He tried to tilt his head away to catch his composure. “Answer me…”

“Yes…” he rasped, “So special.”

Your fingers trailed down to his jawline, tilting his face back up until he was forced to meet your gaze once again. “Special as in… you’ll let me stay this close?”

A chuckle broke through his chest as he pulled you in tighter by the waist, resting his forehead against yours. “More than special,” He couldn’t ignore the fsct that you were sitting right on his cock or that your bare pussy rubbed against him through the water.

The heat of him pressed right against your folds, making you moan in the kiss, you rolled your hips once, feeling how hard he already was under you. Neteyam gasped into the kiss, his fingers dug into your waist like he was trying to hold himself back and pull you closer at the same time.

You kept moving against him, letting the water make every slide smoother. Your breasts pressed to his chest while you kissed him deeper, tongue brushing his. He finally kissed you back, hungrily, letting his hands travel down. “Y/n…” he whimpered against your mouth when you pulled back just enough to breathe. “You don’t know what you’re doing..”

You looked down at him as you kept grinding down in circles, letting the tip of his cock drag against your clit with every movement. “I know exactly what I’m doing.”

Neteyam groaned as one of his hands slid up your side until it cupped your chest. He played with your nipple while the other stayed on your moving ass, guiding the roll of your body against him. He watched the way your breasts bounced in front of him. Every time you pressed down harder, a sound left your lips and made him gulp. He kissed the corner of your mouth, then your jaw, then the side of your neck. “We shouldn’t do this…”

You reached between your bodies under the water and wrapped your fingers around the base of his cock. He jerked at the contact, hips twitching up into your hand. You stroked him slow, feeling how hard he already was. “I don’t see you stopping me, Neteyam,” you whispered, you kept touching him under the water, thumb brushing over the head each time. He thrust up into your grip, still holding your ass tight, you pinched the tip and lifted your hips, guiding him to your entrance. You wiggled against him, teasing the head along your folds while your breasts moved right in front of his face. Neteyam stared for a second before closing his mouth over one nipple, sucking hard enough to pull a shameless moan from you.

You sank down onto his cock in one slow motion, the stretch made both of you whimper. Water lapped around your joined bodies as you took him all the way to the base. Your hands rested on his shoulders for balance while you stayed still, getting used to the full feeling.

“Fuck, y/n…”

You started rolling your hips, lifting almost all the way off before dropping back down. Soft moans left your lips each time he filled you perfectly, yoour fingers dug into his shoulders as the stretch pulled more sounds from you. Neteyam stayed quiet, only breathing hard against your chest, and letting his hips push up to meet yours, matching the pace you set.

He was thankful for the nearby waterfall cascading down the river, hiding you both from sight and masking every noise. If not for the wall of crashing water, someone surely would have caught you.

One of his hands stayed on your ass, helping you bounce, while the other pinched and rolled your nipple. He kept his eyes half-lidded, focused on the way you moved on him. You leaned forward and kissed him deeply, tongue sliding against his as you kept riding.

“Oh… yeah. You’re so big, Neteyam… Mhm… fuckkk,” you whispered against his mouth. You sank down harder, taking him all the way to the base and grinding there for a second. His cock twitched deep inside you while a sound left his throat. You kept the pace, raising and dropping with rolls of your hips. Water splashed around your joined bodies each time you came down. Neteyam’s head fell back against the rock, eyes closed, mouth open as he just took everything you gave him.

“You feel so good inside me,” you said next to his ear. You squeezed around him on purpose and watched his jaw clench. You grinned, kissing along his jaw and down his neck while you fucked yoirself into him deeper.

Every time you bottomed out, a desperate noise slipped from him. He held your skin tighter, pulling you closer without speaking a word, lost in the feeling of finally having you again, his hips jerked up harder to meet you.

You kept bouncing on his length under the water, groaning leaving your lips as he rubbed your clit under with his thumb to get you to edge. “I’m close… right there,” you whispered. You grind down harder, taking him as deep as you coulx, your walls fluttering around him as the pleasure builds fast. He thrusted up to meet you one last time, burying himself over. A groan tore from his throat as he came hard inside you, filling you while he held you down on his cock.

The feeling of him spilling deep pushed you over the edge. You clenched tight around him and came with a cry, rocking through the wster while his cock kept twitching inside you. Both of you stayed locked together, breathing hard against each other’s skin.

“That felt good…”

It really did.

Neteyam couldn’t help but notice how your behavior shifted after that kiss, you clung to him more, bolder in your affection, not that he was complaining in the slightest. Whatever negative doubts had weighed on him before just disappeared, to the point that the nightmares that used to haunt your sleep began to fade, the ache in your chest easing by being near him.

The next few weeks felt better than anything you had known since waking up, the two of you lived together in the same kelku. You sneaked kisses whenever you could and spent long stretches of time wrapped around each other. You couldn’t stop making out. Hands stayed under loincloths, bodies stayed pressed close, and more often than not you ended up fucking until both of you were too tired to move, the shared home felt full.

With every day spent by his side, your lost memories resurfaced. The recurring dreams finally smoothed into clarity until the truth was unmistakable, the faceless man who had haunted your visions all along had always been Neteyam, and the woman in his arms had always been you.

Standing outside beneath the open sky, you tilted your head back and let the downpour wash over your face, laughing as the cool rain soaked your skin. The press of lips against your cheek made you open your eyes to find Neteyam slipping his arms around your waist, prompting you to turn in his hold and wrap your arms around his neck. “I told you, you’d get sick out here…” he spoke against your mouth.

“I love the rain, Neteyam…” you whispered against his mouth, pulling him closer by the nape of his neck as your bodies pressed together. He leaned into the touch, his hands resting against your waist as the water washed over you both. “I know you do, baby…”

The water washed over your skins, but between his hug and heartbeat, you had never felt more happy. “Neteyam,” you sighed, your thumb tracing his cheekbone while the rain ran down the dark strands of his braids. “I saw this… in my dream.”

He smiled down at you. “You did?”

“Yes! This exact moment, and exactly what you said… I swear I’m not losing my mind.”

“I believe you,” he said, a teasing grin breaking across his lips. “So… it was a future vision? That’s pretty cool, baby,” He leaned down, claiming your mouth in a kiss, smiling right against your lips. You pulled back with a pout, glaring up at him. “You think I’m lying.”

“Nooo, babyy,” he frowned, his hands tightening around your waist to pull you right back flush against him. “I said I believe you.”

The endearments slipped out as you stood together in the middle of sprinkle, holding each other close. It barely felt like water raining down on your skin anymore, but rather the weight of your love pouring over the two of you, washing away every last trace of the pain that had kept you apart.

At night, cuddling often turned into sex, and the affection you both carried after being away for so long from each other made every touch feel overwhelming in the best way.

Your arms stayed wrapped around his neck while your lips stayed connected. Neteyam thrusted up into you slow and deep, one hand on your ass as he raised your leg and pulled you closer. His other hand rested under your neck, holding your head against his. Both of you made tiny sounds into each other’s mouths as you moved your hips in rolls, matching the gentle pace he set.

Being wrapped around each other like this felt right, your chests pressed together so your hearts stayed close. Every slow thrust made you hold him tighter, like you never wanted any space between your bodies again. You could’ve stayed like this for the rest of your life. Just him inside you, arms locked around each other, breathing the same air. The love between you made every movement feel deeper than the physical part alone.

Neteyam kissed you while his hips kept the same pushes, you answered by squeezing around him and burying your face against his neck for a moment, neither of you rushed the heat. You just stayed connected, moving together in the dark of the kelku.

“You feel so good, baby,” he whispered against your mouth. “Just like this… nice and slow.”

You answered with a moan and rolled your hips down to meet him. “Don’t stop, my love… I need you close,” Your fingers slid into his braids, holding him there. Every time he pushed deep, a whimper left both of you. Neteyam kissed along your jaw and down to your neck. “You’re taking me so well, princess. I can feel how perfectly you fit around me.”

You pressed your forehead to his and breathed with him. “I love when you talk to me like that… keep going,” Your walls hugged him tight, making him grunt. The wet sounds of your skins slapping, made both of your bodies sweat even more.

He groaned and held you even closer. “I love you so much. Missed this… missed you, you’re so perfect, baby… Mhm… so tight too.”

You kissed him again, “I love you too. You feel so deep, Neteyam,” Your voice sounded needy and full of love. He moved to press your bodies fkush together. “You’re doing so good for me. Taking every inch like you were made for it, huh?”

Your breathing grew uneven as the pleasure built. “I’m coming… don’t pull away, ’teyam,” You clung tighter to his shoulders. He nodded against your skin and kept the same loving pace, never breaking the connection.

“Cum for me, my love,” he mumbled in your lips. “I want to feel you. C’mon…” His hand slid between your bodies to brush your clit with strokes, the added touch made your thighs tremble around him.

You came with a cry against his neck, walls pulsing tight around his cock. Neteyam held you through it, still thrusting. “That’s my good girl… Oh… squeezin’ me tight,” A few more rolls of his hips and he followed you. He buried himself all the way and came hard, painting your walls white while he moaned your name, his arms locked around you so neither of you could move even an inch apart.

It even got to the point where the two of you almost got caught more than once. One morning started the same as many others lately, you were still half-asleep on the mat when Neteyam kissed down your stomach and pushed your loincloth aside. He settled between your thighs and licked a stripe up your folds. A gasp left your lips as your hands found his braids, he hummed against you and kept going, tongue flicking fast on your clit.

“Oh, Neteyam…” you muttered, voice raspy from sleep. Your hips lifted to ride his mouth, he held your thighs open and licked deeper, he took his time. Slow circles, soft sucks, the occasional drag of his tongue that made your fingers tighten in his hair, even praises left him between licks. “You love that, baby? You taste so good, yknow…”

You kept panting, and one hand stayed in his braids while the other covered your own mouth to stay quiet. Neteyam didn’t rush, he kept eating you out with the same patient attention he gave everything involving you.

“Right there… please,” you sighed happily, he answered by sucking gently on your clit and sliding two fingers inside you. The dual feeling made your thighs tremble around his head, he curled his fingers just right and kept his mouth working.

You were getting close when the sound of footsteps approached the kelku. “S-Someone’s outside,” You hit his shoulder to make him stop eating you out but he didn’t, he gave you a few more licks to make you cum before pulling back, wiping his lips using the back of his palm.

You scrambled to fix your loincloth, when you were actively still releasing, while Neteyam went back to bed, hiding his flushed pouting face for getting interrupted with you.

The curtain swept open a second later, Mo’at stood with her back to the inside of the hut, already speaking as if she expected you both to be awake and decent. You were glad she hadn’t turned around fully. If she had walked in facing the two of you, she probably would’ve dragged her grandson out by the ear for putting his mouth on you before you had even finished your morning check-ups.

Even with you back by his side, Neteyam never shirked his duties as the Olo’eyktan’s eldest son. He still took his place on patrols, hunted for the communal feasts, and assisted the village, and as a devoted lover, he always was by your side whenever you needed help piecing together the fragments of your past.

With the aftermath of your amnesia finally fading into nothing, you menaged to ask him to tell you the truth of how it all began. Listening to him was miserable, laying on his back with your chest pressed to his skin and your arms wrapped around his neck, you felt your heart ache as he spoke about the war. He recounted how you had thrown yourself in harm’s way to save him, and how the image of your head hitting the rock had burned itself into his memory. “I kept thinking that maybe Eywa made you forget about me as a sign… now that it went to the beginning, I should stay away so it would never happen again.”

“That would be really selfish, y’know?” you murmured, frowning against his skin. “I know… that’s why I made a promise to myself. If I couldn’t protect you then, I will from now on.”

You moved off his back to lie at his side, keeping your arms on his neck as you watched the fire in his eyes. Resting your weight on one elbow, you reached up to touch his jaw. “You don’t have to beat yourself up over what happened. You have no reason to.”

“I have every reason to, angel,” he murmured, leaning his face into your palm and turning his head to brush his nose against your wrist. His other arm tightened around your waist, pulling you flush against him. “It wasn’t your fault, Neteyam,” you whispered, leaning down to kiss his cheek.

“...It wasn’t yours either.”

“I might’ve forgotten everything up here,” you said, tapping your temple then sliding your hand down to your chest, “but this never forgot. Neteyam… in every universe, I promise you, I’ll find my way back to you. I swear it, and yknow I don’t swear.”

“And I’ll keep falling just as hard for you, yawne… in every universe, too,” he promised, his face relaxing as he leaned in to catch your lips. You both breathed a shared sigh into the kiss, letting the tension melt away into the warmth of your hut. With him, the rest of the world ceased to exist, leaving only the two of you in each other’s presence.

When he finally pulled back, he couldn’t resist leaning right back in to press a kkss to the corner of your mouth, leaning back wiht that stupid grin on his lips. “Did I mention how glad I am that you didn’t look for anyone else?”

You rolled your eyes. “You’ve said that at least ten times tonight.”

“I can’t help it,” he chuckled, “I’m just that happy. Especially when you asked if you could kiss me before… all I could think was that you never have to ask me ever again.”

“So cheesy, ’teyam… have you always been like this?”

“It’s who you fell for the second time, so yes,” he grinned. He sat up on the mattress, pulling his legs beneath him, and you copied the movement to sit in front of him. Reaching out, you held his jaw once more. “I mean, how could I not? You were so perfect that I stood no chance against falling for you.”

He licked his lips, biting back a shy smile as he placed his hand over yours, pressing your palm closer to his cheek. “I can’t bear being apart from you anymore, y/n, for all I ever do is dream of you.”

“Neteyam…” you whispered, leaning in until your forehead rested against his. You nudged your nose against his and closed your eyes. He pulled you closer by the hips and kissed you deep, you moaned into his mouth as the kiss turned sloppy. His tongue pushed against yours while he let you take control of it. He whimpered shamelessly when he realized those sounds alone made you wetter.

You pulled away to catch your breath, then moved down to his neck. His hands gripped the futon for something to hold onto as you sucked hard on his favourite spot. You leaned back to examine the mark you left before grinning and kissing his cheek.

You turned around in front of him and started untying your accessories from the back, he watched as your fingers worked and your top fell to the floor. You lifted yourself on your knees to untie your loincloth from your tail, he bit his lip and held your ass while staring, making your tail slap his chest to demand him start removing his own. He rose onto his knees and pressed his hips against your ass, forcing you down onto all fours as he untied it and threw it aside.

You hissed at the pressure, then pushed him back again, your fingers trailed back to your clit from behind, giving him a view. You rubbed circles while your other hand kept you balanced on all fours, Neteyam sighed at the sight and licked his lips. His hands molded to your ass before he slapped it once, hard enough to make you whimpee. He moved your hand away and rolled his thumb over your clit, stroking your folds until everything felt slippery.

You swatted his hands away and wrapped your fingers around his cock, you aimed the tip at your entrance and teased it, pinching the head between your fingers. He groaned and watched as you rubbed the thick head along your hole. He gave your thigh a pat, silently asking you to put it in. You understood without a word and sank down onto his length, a moan left you as you took him wholly.

You started moving, lifting and dropping on his cock. He hugged your waist from behind and let you ride him. His mouth pressed open kisses along your back while his tongue dragged over your skin.

His hands slid up your sides and claimed both of your breasts, you kept moaning loud every time his cock hit that spot inside you. You held his hands tighter against your chest, then swept your hair aside to give him access to your neck. He leaned up and kissed it from behind, pushing deeper with every movement. You kept riding him hard while his hands stayed locked on your breasts and his mouth stayed busy on your skin.

You kept riding him in reverse, hips rolling needily while his cock stayed buried deep. Both of you were breathing hard like it was the first time all over again. Neteyam’s hands stayed on your breasts, thumbs brushing your nipples. “You okay?” he asked against your neck.

The simple question made your walls clench around him, you nodded and pushed back harder onto his cock. “Yeah… feels so good,” you whispered. He groaned and held your waist, his hips lifted to meet every drop of yours, still checking in between movements.

“Tell me if it’s too much,” he murmured, one hand sliding down to rest over your lower belly, feeling his cock slip inside you through your skin, the concern in his voice only made you wetter. Hou reached back and gripped his thigh, guiding him deeper. “It’s not… keep going,”

Neteyam’s forehead pressed between your shoulder blades, he kept meeting you between thrusts. “Does it hurt when I do this?” He asked as he pushed bsck into you while you jumped on his body, you shook your head fast and let his hands move to your hips.

You leaned forward for better leverage, and the new angle made him hit deeper. Both of you let out sounds like you had never done this before. “Still good, right?” he asked again, kissing along your spine. You answered by squeezing around him and grinding down, his cock twitched hard inside you at the feeling.

“Yes… s-so big and… oh—” You rode him faster, the sounds of skin slapping growing louder between your bodies. “You’re so gorgeous, y/n, so beautiful and pretty,” With his mouth close to your ear, you could feel its vibration and his deep voice made you feel yourself getting close already. “I’m gonna come r-really hard,” you warned, voice cracking. He held your hips and thrust up deeper. “Me too… can I finish inside?”

The question alone pushed you over, you clenched tight around him and came with a cry, walls pulsing hard. Neteyam followed right after, he wasn’t able to pull out with how your walls hugged him like you didn’t want him to go out at all, he then buried himself all the way and spilled deep inside you while he groaned your name. He stayed inside while both of you caught your breath. His arms wrapped around your waist from behind, holding you close, kisses landed on your shoulders.

“Baby?” he asked, panting. You hummed and leaned back against his chest, keeping him buried. He adjusted his body and stretched his legs before carefully pulling out of you and falling back onto the bed. You followed right away and guided his cock back inside you, just wanting to feel full again. You hugged his neck as he pulled you closer, he gave one teasing thrust that made both of you chuckle before you held each other tight.

You opened your eyes and found him already looking down at you, you licked your lips and cleared your throat, still dry from earlier. Neteyam’s hand came up to brush your cheek. “You alright?” he whispered. His thumb caressing your chin while he stayed still inside you. You gave a small shrug and nodded.

“Yeah… I’m good,” Your voice came out quiet as you tightened your arms around him and pressed your face against his chest to listen to his heartbeat. “I just… I missed my mate so much,” you admitted, “Having him this close again feels like I can finally breathe.”

Neteyam’s arms wrapped tighter around your waist, he pressed a kiss to the top of your head and stayed quiet for a moment. His hand rubbed on your back while he stayed buried inside you. “He missed you too. Every single day.” He whispered then moved to look at your face again. “You sure you’re not sore?”

You shook your head and hugged him closer. “Don’t pull out yet. I just wanna stay like this,” Your legs stayed hooked around him, the peace between you was so addicting. He nodded and the both of you closed your eyes. “Neteyam?”

“Hmm?”

“I meant to ask earlier. How did a flower end up as my... signature?”

A scoff made out his mouth, his thumb caressing your skin. “Long story short? We had our first kiss surrounded by those in full bloom. Right after, you looked at me and said it was the best day of your life, and you never stopped bragging about how cool that moment was.”

You licked his neck, a shy smile tugging at your lips. “I must’ve been crushing so hard on you.”

“Yeah... You had it bad, but I had it so much worse.”

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