summary: as a shy, reserved artisan for the omatikaya clan, your days consisted of crafting and exploring in the forest by your lonesome. on neteyam's rare days off from training, he liked to go into the forest to fish. when he meets you on one of those days and he doesn't catch your name, he is determined to learn it.
warnings/notes - fluff, slow burn, friends to lovers, lowercase intended, no smut but neteyam is aged up to 18 and hasn't gone through dreamhunt yet, the characters are always speaking na'vi unless it is stated otherwise, i don't own any of the gifs unless stated otherwise, and divider creds to shifterium.
na'vi words used (with translations) -
marui - woven canopy made for living in
ikran - pandoran mountain banshee
tsahìk - spiritual leader
olo'eyktan - clan leader
uniltaron - dream hunt
< part five part seven >
series masterlist main masterlist
"thank you so much, tell your parents that we appreciate their gifts." a woman smiled, taking the baskets that you and tuseya arrived with. when a na'vi has a child, the people within the clan bring them baskets filled with many things they may need. not too long ago, a mated pair had a baby and that same baby recently had their first communion with eywa at the tree of souls.
your parents decided that it would be nice to gift the parents with something and that's how you and tuseya found yourselves at their marui with baskets of freshly picked fruits and vegetables. after dropping off the baskets, the two of you bid your goodbyes and started walking back home.
you didn't really have any plans for the rest of the day and you couldn't leave high camp at the moment. the war party was still out and it was dangerous to leave during their raids.
while walking back to your own marui, a certain 7 year old ran past you rambling to everyone in earshot that the war party has returned.
"the war party's back!" the young tuktirey exclaimed as she ran past you and tuseya with kiri and spider. you looked up, watching the warriors come flying back on their banshees. your gaze averted to tuseya when she nudged your arm. she pointed and you rotated to understand what she wanted you to see. you watch as a few of the ikrans land before you notice it's the sully family. jake sully gets off his ikran before he pulls an injured body figure off of the banshee. it then becomes clear that the injured person is none other than neteyam.
it had been a couple weeks since you last interacted with neteyam. the raids that jake sully had orchestrated were becoming more frequent so that meant you saw neteyam less. it didn't really bother you because you knew he wasn't purposefully ignoring you. also, you have been questioning your feelings towards him for a while now. after the atokirina had landed on your arrow, you didn't know how to interpret that and you hadn't told anyone else about it.
"looks like your boyfriend got hurt." tuseya teased.
you sent a glare her way before turning back to the scene in front of you. since you were a good distance away you couldn't hear what was being said directly but it looked like jake was berating both neteyam and lo'ak.
kiri stood beside neteyam, examining her brother's arm while her father yelled at her brothers. your eyes were trained on neteyam though. he looked down at the ground with low shoulders as his father spoke to him.
you frowned, feeling bad for him. jake then dismissed him but continued to talk to lo'ak privately. neteyam and kiri started to walk away, towards where you were watching the whole ordeal.
"let's go." you spoke, grabbing tuseya's arm so you could go home but she pulled her arm out of your grasp.
"don't you want to say hi to him? neteyam!" she called out and your eyes widened, looking at her like she's insane. you immediately draw your hand back and hit her arm as hard as you could.
she winced as she jumped back, "ow!"
"why would you do that?"
"i thought you would want to speak to him."
"no i don't want to-"
"tuseya, y/n." a voice cut you off. you cursed lowly, turning around to see neteyam standing in front of you along with kiri. you forced a smile and brought your hand up to your forehead before bringing it back down to greet the two of them. since your back was turned when tuseya called his name, you missed the way his facial expression changed almost instantly when his eyes landed on you. you may have missed it but tuseya didn't.
now that neteyam was close to you, his injuries were clear as day. you frown, "neteyam what happened? was it lo'ak?"
he sighed and nodded, "yeah.. i'm going to my grandmother right now if you want to come."
your eyes flickered to kiri who was watching the interaction with furrowed eyebrows. she had never seen you before so the fact that you and neteyam were talking like you had known each other for ages left her puzzled.
you took your amber eyes off of kiri and put them back on neteyam, who was awaiting your answer. you finally shook your head, "no that's okay-"
an unexpected yelp left your throat as your younger sister pushed you forward, "we would love to! come on."
neteyam smiled as he took a hold of your hand and began walking to the tsahìk's tent. you turned to glare at your sister who was smiling but you were about to ruin her fun right now.
"tuseya go home." you said.
the girls smile fell, "but-"
"go. home." you repeated, more sternly this time. she groaned loudly before turning around and stomping away in the opposite direction. you rolled your eyes as you kept walking with your hand in neteyam's. you knew tuseya only wanted what's best for you but she could be a little much sometimes. after neteyam had come to your marui that one time, she started going around telling all her friends that neteyam is courting you leaving you to beg her to stop because it simply isn't true.
even though your family now knows that you are friends with neteyam, nobody else did. ri'an hadn't told lo'ak that you were the mystery girl all along so the rest of the sully family had been left out of the loop. the two of you still hung out in private. the only times you were seen at high camp together were when you met up to leave together and those moments were very brief for anyone to take notice.
"oh kiri this is y/n. y/n this is my sister kiri." neteyam said introducing the two of you to each other. you smiled and waved as she did the same.
it was then that you noticed the stares you were getting from passersby. you put your head down so nobody would see your face. the main reason why you avoid speaking to neteyam at high camp is because the last thing you want is attention drawn to you. but being seen talking to and especially holding hands with the future olo'eyktan would definitely draw some attention.
when the three of you finally arrived at the tsahìk's tent, the sully siblings already knew what to do like it was routine. kiri went to her own little corner with her supplies and neteyam sat in front of his grandmother with his back turned to her. you greeted mo'at properly and she nodded her head at you, starting to treat her grandsons wounds.
you stood there awkwardly before neteyam looked at you and patted a spot in front of him, "come, sit."
you hesitated before finally sitting down across from him with your legs crossed. you watched as he began to hiss and grimace at the pain from the healing paste mo'at spread across the open wounds on his back.
"are you okay?" you asked, concerned.
it took a moment before his face returned to normal. he nodded, "i'm fine."
mo’at glanced up to look at kiri to gauge her reaction. the younger girl was watching the pair with a confused look on her face. she shook her head and started making neteyam a drink that would help. once it was made, she tapped your shoulder. you turned slightly, seeing her holding out a small cup.
"give him this." she instructed. you awkwardly took the cup from her grasp and gave it to neteyam. he gave you a small smile before taking the cup and drinking it. it was a little distasteful so he made a face that made you laugh at him.
"oh this is funny?" he chuckled.
you shrugged, "maybe a little."
as neteyam forced himself to finish the drink, you took notice of a cut on his cheek. once the drink was finished, neteyam put the cup down.
you lifted your hand and took ahold of his chin, moving his head to the side so you could inspect the gash. it was small but you could tell that it was deep. neteyam let out a hiss when you gently brushed your thumb over it.
you laughed, "big baby."
he smiled at your teasing. for a moment, you had forgotten that his sister and grandmother were in the room with you. it was just you and neteyam, hanging out as usual.
as you were smiling at one another, the flap of the tent opened and the rest of the sully family along with spider walked in. your hand immediately dropped from his face, incredibly embarrassed that you had gotten caught basically caressing neteyam's face in front of his parents.
before anyone could speak, you looked at neteyam and spoke lowly, "i'm going to go."
neteyam frowned, "why?"
"your family is here and i don't want to intrude." you said and stood to your feet.
"y/n-"
"it is fine. plus, i have other matters to attend to. i will see you another time." you said, using your usual excuse on the boy although he knew it was just an excuse by now. you bid your goodbyes and exited the tent, leaving the rest of the sully family to process what just happened.
neytiri's eyes followed your figure as you left before turning to her gaze to her oldest son, "neteyam, who is that?"
neteyam looked up at his mother, "a friend."
"so you finally traded out your imaginary friend for a real one." lo'ak joked and spider joined in, laughing with his friend.
neteyam rolled his eyes, "that is her, she was never imaginary. i just didn't know her name before."
"is that the one you were asking me about?" jake asked. neytiri's ears perked up at her husband's words and she turned to look at him. jake internally cringed, knowing she was mad that he didn't tell her anything about that. she didn't say anything but she didn't have to, jake already knew.
neteyam nodded at his fathers question before letting out another small hiss. mo'at had finally finished with his back and instructed neteyam to turn around. once he did, she examined the cut that you did and began applying the paste there as well.
"your friend is pretty." tuk said, walking over to kiri, sitting with her. tuk had always gravitated more to kiri than her other siblings, being that's who she spent the most time with.
"yeah.. she is pretty." neteyam mumbled. his lips curled slightly as he said the words. ever since the day an atokirina landed on your arrow, neteyam had been struggling to forget about it. yeah, he's attracted to you but the sign from eywa had him thinking if there was more to your friendship with him.
neytiri and jake had left the tent a moment ago but lo'ak still looked over, making sure they were gone before he spoke, "holy shit, you like her!"
mo'at understood most english but didn't know much about the curse words so she figured it was just some useless slang he was always yelling. she just continued to put away her supplies while her grandchildren and spider talked among themselves.
"i thought that was obvious, we walked in on them about to kiss." spider said, taking a seat.
"we were not about to kiss." neteyam deadpanned.
spider laughed, "whatever you guys were doing, it definitely looked more than friendly."
"are you going to court her?" tuk exclaimed.
"stop. you guys are overwhelming him." kiri spoke up, seeing how flustered neteyam looked after tuk's question.
neteyam finally stood to his feet and made his way to the entrance of the tent, "y/n and i are just friends." and with that, he left.
once he was out of earshot lo'ak spoke, "i say they'll be mated by next year."
spider scoffs at his friend's statement, "next year? i say as soon as he finishes uniltaron."
"what do you think kiri?" lo'aks asks his sister who rolled her eyes, "i refuse to be a part of this."
lo'ak and spider gave her a bored look.
she let out a sigh, "but i say once he completes uniltaron."
they smiled at her response and began discussing and joking about how they think neteyam will go about it.
sorry for the wait, life started life-ing and then i had writers block. i made my mom watch twow with me the other day bc she hadn't seen it yet and that gave me some motivation.
warnings/notes - 1.8k words, tension if you squint, lowercase intended, characters speaking na'vi unless stated otherwise, not my gif, divider creds to shifterium.
na'vi words used (with translations) -
marui - woven canopy made for living in
ikran - pandoran mountain banshee
skxawng - moron
atokirina - seeds from the tree of souls
teylu - pandoran insect/food
< part four part six >
series masterlist main masterlist
the next few days went by slower than neteyam would have liked. upon finally learning your name, he had a plan to surprise you at your marui. but before he could put the plan into action, his father bombarded him with a bunch of training plans and he couldn’t abandon those plans.
and so he spent the next couple of days with his father, training from sunrise to sun down.
soon enough, the training halted and it was finally the boys rest day. after eating breakfast with his family, he grabbed his things and began his walk to your family’s space.
on his way there, he passed many na’vi of all ages. he greeted them kindly, knowing that one day it would be his duty to be the leader of these people. it was important that they all liked him so he always acted with kindness whenever he was in public.
meanwhile, you had just finished eating breakfast with your own family. your father and ri’an had plans and set out right after breakfast so that left the women of your family to get ready and start their own day.
you had realized you were getting slightly low on materials and supplies so you figured that you could use the day to stock up on said materials. before you could pick up your basket and be on your way, you heard someone enter the marui. your back was turned to the entrance so you didn’t see who it was but it didn’t matter much to you because this is something you usually ignored. you figured it was one of your siblings' friends or someone that needed your mother's assistance with something. nobody in the clan ever came looking for you. but this time was different and the name that left your mothers mouth as she greeted the guest made your eyes widen and your body freeze in place.
“good morning neteyam, is there something you need?” your mother spoke.
your eyes closed as you silently prayed that he was here and to relay a message and be on his way without noticing you. you stayed frozen in place, too busy waiting for this moment to pass to feel neteyam's eyes on you before he turned his attention back to your mother.
“good morning peyral. i’m actually here for y/n.” the voice you knew all too well said.
your eyes popped open as your name was said. the marui had gone quiet. figuring everyone was looking at you, you sighed and slowly turned around to face everyone in the room.
the first person your eyes made contact with was the boy standing in the entrance of your family’s space. he was staring at you with a smirk on his face.
“me?” you asked, pointing to yourself awkwardly.
neteyam chuckled, “yes. did you forget about our date?”
your mouth dropped slightly in surprise. you tore your eyes from neteyam to finally look at your family. your mother, peyral held a shocked expression on her face at the mention of a date. nanti wasn’t one to show much emotion with her facial expression but you could see the subtle amusement on her face as she looked between you and neteyam. and last but not least, tuseya was watching the entire ordeal with her mouth wide open in surprise.
you shut your mouth before opening it again to respond, “of course not. i will be out in a minute.”
neteyam sent a warm smile your way before saying goodbye to your family and exiting the marui to wait for you outside. once he left, you were immediately bombarded with questions.
“and when were you going to tell us that neteyam, the son of the olo’eyktan, is courting you?” your mother spoke loudly and you cringed, knowing neteyam heard her from where he was.
“yeah! you’re dating my crushes brother and you failed to tell me?! what kind of sister are you?!” tuseÿa exclaimed.
“neteyam is not courting me. he was only joking.” you clarified as you looked around for nanti’s spare bow and arrows. once you spotted them you walked over and grabbed them.
“can i borrow this? thanks.” you didn't wait for an answer before walking past them all and leaving, eager to get away from the sudden interrogation. once you made it outside you saw neteyam standing off to the side, waiting patiently.
"how did you find out?" you asked him as you strode right past him, making your way to the ikrans.
neteyam smiled cockily as he jogged slightly to catch up with you, "don't question my skills y/n."
"and did you have to say it was a date? now you have them thinking you're courting me."
"i just wanted to see your reaction."
you rolled your eyes, "you're a skxawng."
the two of you finally made it to your own banshees and mounted them before departing from high camp. neteyam led the way as he was taking you to the best place for target practice.
after landing, neteyam took a hold of your hand and led you to a small clearing within the flora. it was a nice amount of space and a tree with a spot painted as a target.
"okay y/n, show me how you shoot an arrow so i can see where you can make improvements." neteyam spoke.
"you don't have to keep saying my name." you muttered, noticing that he kept saying your name every chance he got.
"i like saying it. i finally know it and i think it's a beautiful name."
you stared at the taller boy for a couple seconds before shaking your head slightly, not allowing his words to marinate in your mind. you quickly positioned your body and lifted the bow and arrow towards the target. you stood there for a moment before letting go, watching the arrow travel through the air towards the tree.
unfortunately, the arrow hit the white part of the target, which was the outer part of the target, very far from the bullseye. you frowned but didn't have much time to sulk over the attempt.
"okay get in position again." neteyam instructed you.
you nodded and got back into the position you were previously in. almost immediately, you felt a warm body press up against your back. your muscles tensed when you felt neteyam slide his hand to the small of your back, a gentle signal for you to stand up straighter, which you did. then with one hand, he lifted your elbow. and with the other, he adjusted your arm that was holding the bow. he guided your posture silently.
the small touches were to improve your aim but you couldn't help but feel your body heat up as he touched you. in the corner of your eye, you spotted an atokirina floating towards you. neteyam followed your line of eyesight and recognized the seed as well. the two of you stood in place, watching the seed float, waiting to see where it was headed.
a few seconds later, the atokirina landed on your arrow. you gasped slightly as your eyes widened. you turned your head to look at neteyam who was already staring at you with the utmost intensity.
it was a sign from eywa, you knew that and so did he. but a sign for what exactly?
the atokirina finally floated away, leaving the both of you standing there in confusion. after a moment of silence, neteyam finally cleared his throat and backed away.
the sudden sound made you jump a little. snapping you out of the shock, you quickly regained your composure and focused on the activity at hand. being in the position neteyam perfected, you stood tall and let go of the arrow. it flew through the air and landed directly in the bullseye.
the grin on your face reached your eyes as you turned to neteyam, expressing your excitement.
"you did it!" he smiled.
"thanks to you!"
"you were never bad at it, you just had to stop letting your elbow get so low and your stance should always be strong and confident."
"so maybe i can fish with you now." you smiled.
"yeah, maybe."
you then began to practice a bit, shooting the rest of the arrows you brought with you. eclipse was approaching soon and you knew archery would be difficult to do in the dark, even in the bioluminescent forest.
"so.. are you ever going to tell me how you learned my name?" you asked neteyam as you both walked over to the tree to retrieve the arrows you had shot.
"oh uh i found out from your brother." neteyam said as he pulled a few arrows out of the target. you stopped your movements, "my brother?"
he nodded, "yeah, ri'an."
you eventually arrived back at high camp and you and neteyam parted ways. dinner came around and you met your family at the gathering space where they were already eating. tuseya noticed you first, opening her mouth to speak but you held your hand up, shaking your head.
"let me eat in peace." you spoke sternly. tuseya was the type to talk your head off and after what she witnessed earlier, you knew she was willing to ask you questions about it until your ears exploded if you let her.
your sister slumped at your words but continued to eat her food. you sat down next to ri'an who was eating quietly. once you were seated, he handed you a rolled leaf. you unraveled the leaf before grabbing some teylu for yourself.
for the first couple minutes it was quiet before you blurted out, "why would you tell him my name?"
ri'an stopped chewing as he looked at you, "what?"
"neteyam. you told neteyam my name.. why?"
for a moment, ri'an had no idea what you were talking about. but after a small moment of thinking, a look of realization finally washed over his face.
"you're the girl that refused to tell neteyam your name? you know, the sully's thought you didn't exist." he spoke.
you shrugged as you ate more of your dinner, "i liked it that way."
"did you really think you could be friends without him knowing your name?" you knew the question was rhetorical and when you didn't answer ri'an continued, "besides, i didn't know. lo'ak asked about my burn mark and i told him what happened. and neteyam just so happened to be in the room. i did not purposely tell him."
ri'an went back to eating while you sat in deep thought. you thought back to a few days ago when neteyam asked about your bruise. you barely spoke about your family with him but you didn't see any harm in telling him what happened.
you mentally face palmed, realizing it was that small story that outed you to neteyam.
i kind of hate this part and it’s short but if ya'll like it then that's great.
warnings/notes - 2.9k words, fluff, characters speaking na'vi unless stated otherwise, lowercase intended, not my gif, divider creds to shifterium.
na'vi words used (with translations) -
atokirina - seeds from the tree of souls
tsahìk - spiritual leader
omatikaya - na'vi clan
"oel ngati kameie" - "i see you"
marui - woven canopy made for living in
olo'eyktan - clan leader
ikran - pandoran mountain banshee
yovo fruit - pandoran fruit
utumauti - banana fruit
< part six part eight >
series masterlist main masterlist
it happened again.
this doesn't happen twice, right?
you and neteyam were hanging out in the forest, like usual. you were sitting on the mossy forest floor, with a visor in your hand. neteyam had mentioned that his ikran riding visor had been damaged so you offered to fix it for him.
neteyam on the other hand was laying on his back a foot away from you. he had his eyes closed as you quietly worked on the visor. the two of you sat in silence, just enjoying one another's presence.
the sound of the forest was calming to you, that's why you did most of your weaving here. your eyes had peeled away from the visor to look at neteyam who was laying there peacefully, his chest moving up and down with each breath he took in and let out. you weren't sure if he was sleeping or not.
you were about to put your attention back on the accessory when something came into your view. it was an atokirina. and it was floating towards you. you stayed still, waiting for it to land just like you did the first time.
when it finally did, you sat in shock. it was hovering over the visor in your hands. you felt the gentle touch of the seed for a brief moment before it floated away. your eyes watched it leave your eyesight. you didn't realize that you had zoned out until you felt a touch on your knee that nearly made you jump out of your skin.
you turned to see neteyam with his hand resting on your knee as he looked at you, "you okay? you look a little shaken up."
your parted lips sucked in a small breath before you shook your head, "yeah no, uh- i am fine."
the words seemed to have no effect on the boy in front of you as he continued to look concerned. you decided to lighten up the mood so you pushed his shoulder lightly, "but you look well rested, had a good nap?"
neteyam's face morphed into a smile, a small chuckle leaving his lips, "i really didn't expect to actually fall asleep."
"i told you, it’s soothing out here." you smiled. you brought your eyes back down to the visor in your hands, it was fixed but you could tell that it would just break again if you gave it to him now.
"hey, do you mind if i give this back tomorrow? i have something that would make it more secure." you said, looking at neteyam.
"yeah, that's fine. i really appreciate you fixing it for me, you don't have to." he spoke.
"what are friends for?"
that’s what brought you here, walking through high camp. you needed immediate answers. the first time when the atokirina landed on your arrow, you came up with an endless amount of reasons for what it meant. after many days of thinking about it, you finally came up with the conclusion that eywa simply saw something special about your friendship with neteyam.
but what did this mean? instead of an infinite number possibilities running through your mind, it was blank. you were sure netayam didn't see it being that he woke up as it was floating away.
you needed some guidance and who better to speak to than the omatikaya's tsahìk. when you finally made it to her tent there was someone leaving. you waited for them to walk away before you took a deep breath and slowly opened the tent flap.
mo'at was there with her back to you, she was putting away her things. you assumed that the person who just left was injured and she tended to their wounds.
when she finally turned around you greeted her, "oel ngati kameie mo'at."
she returned the custom and gestured for you to sit down. you took a seat and looked at her.
"uh.. i believe the great mother has sent me a sign but i am not sure how to interpret it." you said, awkwardly looking around the tent. when you heard nothing in response, you brought your eyes back to her. she made a gesture for you to continue.
"oh uhm i was out in the forest with a friend and i was holding something of theirs and an atokirina came and rested on what i was holding.. but this isn't the first time this has happened. it happened about a month ago but i just assumed the great mother was telling me something about our friendship but now i am not sure."
this is the first time you had actually voiced out the occurrence to anyone. you didn't tell any of your family members and you and neteyam definitely didn't speak about it.
mo'at sat for a moment before she started to speak, "the great mother sees the bond you have with this person but you may not.."
you sat in confusion, what does that mean?
"i may not?" you repeated, but as a question.
"you may not realize the importance of this relationship which is why you received another sign. whether it is platonic or romantic is for you to decide my child." she answered.
once you were done talking to the tsahík, you thanked her for her knowledge and guidance before leaving and heading to your family's marui. once you got there, it was empty, indicating that you were alone. you felt relieved because you needed to process this information by your lonesome.
you took a seat as the tsahík’s words continued to replay in your mind as your brain tried to make sense of them.
‘the great mother sees the bond you have with this person but you may not..’
you felt a strange sense of comfort when you were with neteyam. you were only friends for a couple months but you always felt secure and comfortable with him. your friendship felt safe. so you figured that eywa was confirming your thoughts.
but the second sign was different. it even felt different. the fact that it happened while neteyam was sleeping made it clear to you that the great mother only wanted you to see it. but what did she want you to see exactly?
'you may not realize the importance of this relationship which is why you received another sign. whether it is platonic or romantic is for you to decide my child.'
now what does that mean? was that her way of saying you take him for granted? you truly appreciated neteyam, so how do you not realize the importance of your friendship with him.
after a couple minutes of pondering, a figure entered the space which caused you to look up. ri'an walked in, bow in hand.
"what are you looking for?" you asked, watching him walk around the marui seemingly looking for something.
"my riding visor. i left it right over here yesterday." he huffed, pointing to a spot that was now empty. his words made you look to the right of you, neteyam's visor sitting right beside you. it brought your thoughts back to him and what mo'at said.
maybe ri'an could provide some insight of his own.
"can i ask you a question?" you asked the boy who was still looking around, moving things around to find his visor. "yeah." he responded without stopping his investigation.
you took a deep breath, "do you think i take neteyam for granted?"
ri'an paused, the basket in his hand being calmly being put back down. he knew that visor wouldn't be hiding under the basket but he just had to be sure. he turned to you and it was quiet for a moment before he uttered one simple word,
"yes."
OH?
it took you a couple long seconds to actually respond and when you did all you could say was, "i'm sorry, what?"
"y/n you didn't tell him your name for months.. and tuseya told me that you avoid him when you're around other people. and before you say you don’t want any unnecessary attention, if neteyam was really your friend, a few extra eyes wouldn’t matter, right?”
ri'an was right. you were so stuck on the fact that being friends with neteyam would bring unwanted attention that you're kind of pushing him away. thinking about it now, you were surprised that neteyam didn't just leave you alone altogether. especially after you didn't tell him your name right off the bat.
when you didn't respond ri'an added, "look, i don't think you mean to take him for granted but you do."
after another moment of silence, you let out a deep sigh, "i see that now."
"finally!" ri'an cheered and you glanced at him. he was smiling, holding the now found visor in his hand. you recognized it because you made it for him. a lot of the things in your family's marui were made by you. they were always grateful for the things that you provided.
"but why'd you ask me that? did somebody tell you that you take him for granted?" ri'an asked now sitting next to you.
"yeah, eywa." you responded nonchalantly.
ri'an looked confused before his eyes widened, "do you mean-"
"yes. yes i do." you interrupted him since you already knew what he was about to ask.
you spent the next couple minutes explaining to ri'an what happened and your talk with mo'at. out of all your siblings, ri'an was the one you were the closest to. even though he's an extrovert and you're an introvert, the two of you were similar in terms of personality.
maybe it was a good thing that ri'an walked in when he did, he opened your eyes a little bit more.
the next day, you were attempting to calm your nerves as you walked through high camp. your hands were clammy from the nervousness you were feeling. and in your anxious hands was neteyam's now fixed visor thanks to you.
after your talk with mo'at and ri'an, you realized you should start making an effort in your friendship with neteyam so you decided that you would go to his family's marui to give him the visor. even though you chose to do this, that didn't make you feel any less anxious.
when you finally made it to the olo'eyktan's family marui, you peered inside before making your presence known. the only people inside were his parents. the only two people you were hoping weren't there.
they were talking and laughing with one another. you would've smiled if you weren't scared shitless at the moment. after letting out a breath, you walked in.
jake and neytiri turned their heads to the figure that walked in. they both recognized you right away. you were the girl that is supposedly friends with their oldest son.
you brought your hand to your forehead before bringing it down, "oel ngati kameie jake sully and neytiri." you greeted them properly. the last thing you wanted them to think is that you aren't well-mannered. to your relief, they greeted you back.
"what brings you here y/n? are you looking for neteyam?" jake asked you. neytiri just stared at you waiting to see what it was that you came for.
you glanced back down at the visor in your hands and nodded, "uh yeah, i fixed his visor and i was just coming to return it to him."
neytiri's eyes fixated on the visor in your hands but said nothing. jake nodded, "he's out right now but you can leave it here for him if you'd like."
"sure, can you just let him know that i brought it?" you asked, placing it on a small stool near the entrance.
"we will." neytiri finally spoke, her eyes meeting yours.
even though neteyam's father is olo'eytkan, neytiri scares you the most. she was one of the most skilled archers in the clan and she always looked like she was silently judging everyone.
"thank you." you smiled awkwardly before bidding your goodbyes and leaving as fast as possible. once you were out of their eyesight, you let out a sigh of relief. you may have been a little awkward but you were respectful and you made it out alive, that's all that matters.
neteyam finally made it back to his family's marui. recently, he had asked kiri for her help on something. so they went into the forest right after breakfast to finish up what she was providing her assistance with.
it was now afternoon time when he and kiri got back and neteyam was hungry. when he got back home, he knew his parents wouldn't be cooking any meals until later in the day so he decided that he would settle for a couple of fruits for now. when he went to pick up the basket of freshly picked fruits near the entrance, he saw his visor sitting on a small wooden stool. he paused and picked up the accessory instead.
"y/n brought that here for you." neytiri spoke when she saw her son eyeing the visor.
neteyam looked up at his mom in surprise, "she came here?"
neytiri nodded and neteyam looked back down at the visor. a smile spread across his face. he knew you were shy around most people and it was clear you didn't like much attention. the way you basically ran out that day when his family showed up proved that. he just thought you needed more time opening up and he was more than patient. so the fact that you actually came by to give him his visor meant a lot to him.
"she seems nice." neytiri said, grabbing her son's attention once more.
"she is." neteyam confirmed. he then glanced over at kiri who was obviously shocked at her mom's statement but when she met neteyam's eyes, she smiled.
"go." she then mouthed. neteyam nodded before grabbing a few things he needed before setting off towards his ikran.
when neteyam arrived at his destination, he unloaded the basket of fruits off his ikran and started walking towards the lake. the lake he goes to during his free time and more importantly, the lake where he met you.
finally reaching the lake, he was not surprised at the sight. you were there, feet submerged in the water while your fingers worked on something new.
"hey." neteyam spoke, causing you to look up from what you were doing. you smiled before looking at the basket of fruits in his hand.
"what's that for?" you asked.
"i wanted to hang out with you but i'm also very hungry so i thought we could eat together." he answered, placing the basket down next to you before taking a seat as well.
"and how did you know i would be here?"
"when are you not here?"
"fair enough." you chuckled before setting your new half made anklet to the side. you grabbed a yovo fruit while neteyam picked up an utumauti. the two of you talked as you ate the fruits he brought.
"oh and thanks for fixing my visor, i really appreciate it." he said.
"you're welcome.. and to be completely honest, i was so scared going to your marui earlier."
"why?"
you looked at him, "your mom is terrifying. i feel like if i make one wrong move she'll shoot an arrow through my chest."
neteyam laughed at that. he knew his mom was intimidating but she's always been soft and endearing towards him and his siblings. it was always his father that berated them whenever they got in trouble. in some cases, neytiri was the one that saved them from jake's punishments.
"well, she said she likes you." neteyam smiled.
your eyes widened, "really?"
neteyam nodded. you put your head down to hide the smile that was peeking through. after being scared that his parents might not like you, it felt relieving to hear that you left a good impression on his mom. hopefully the olo'eyktan felt the same way.
since your head was down you failed to notice neteyam seemingly giving himself a quiet pep talk. he closed his eyes and did a silent prayer before grabbing something and turning to you.
"so i've been meaning to give you something." neteyam spoke.
you lifted your head to see him moving the basket of fruit to the side so there was an open space between the two of you now. he then scooted over so that space was now filled with his body.
you sat in silence, patiently waiting for whatever it is he wanted to give you. his hand was currently in a fist, he looked down at his hand before opening it, revealing a necklace. you followed his line of eyesight, seeing the accessory.
you smiled, gently taking the necklace from his larger hand, "did you make this?"
he nodded, "uh, yeah. but kiri helped so i can't take all the credit. i know it's not as good as the stuff you make but-"
"no no no. this is amazing. thank you." you smiled. you brought the necklace closer to your face to get a better look. it was woven nicely from a white material. you then noticed a couple of colorful pieces connected to the rim of the necklace.
neteyam seemed to already know what your next question was so he decided to answer before you had a chance to ask, "i also added some beads.. the ones from my hair."
your eyes immediately left the necklace and went to him. he looked nervous to say the least, which makes sense.
in omatikayan culture, acts such as giving gifts, giving something significant to someone else, and giving your own beads to someone are all signs of courting.
but neteyam surely isn't trying to court you.
that's not what's happening, right?
this series was originally supposed to be 7 parts so this was going to be the last one but i hate odd numbers so i expanded it to 8.
warnings/notes - 2.9k words, bruises mentioned, lowercase intended, characters are speaking na'vi unless stated otherwise, not my gif, divider creds to shifterium.
na'vi words used (with translations) -
vitraya ramunong - tree of souls
tsahìk - spiritual leader
utumauti - banana fruit
ikran - pandoran mountain banshee
marui - woven canopy made for living in
< part three part five >
series masterlist main masterlist
vitraya ramunong, the tree of souls, is a very sacred place for the omatikaya people. it was one of the sites targeted by the RDA but was fortunately kept safe after the na'vi defended it with their lives against the sky people.
today, the omatikaya people left the hallelujah mountains to gather at the tree of souls for a day of songs and prayer. there was also a new birth within the clan so it was time for the child's first communion with eywa.
you were currently seated with your family, patiently waiting for the festivities to start. nanti was seated on your left and the spot on your right was empty at the moment because tuseya was too busy chasing ri'an around. next to tuseya was your mother while ri'ans spot was next to your father.
"ri'an! tuseya!" your mother exclaimed, berating your siblings who were still messing around and chasing after one another. they halted at your mothers words and immediately sat down. ri’an sitting next to your father and tuseya taking a seat next to you. for a moment, the only sounds coming from your family was your parents talking to each other until tuseya said something that immediately peeked your interest.
"he's so cute." she gushed from beside you. your head turned to see her with her head resting on her palms, staring at someone with a small smile and eyes full of admiration.
"who?" you asked, trying to follow her line of sight. your eyes landed on the sully family. they were standing in the front which made sense. jake and neytiri were at the root of the tree with the tsahìk and the parents of the newly born child. the kids of the family were standing at the front of the crowd. since the event hadn't started, they were still standing most like other people.
"lo'ak.” she confirmed. your eyes finally landed on the known troublemaker, lo'ak sully. at the moment he was talking to spider and kiri.
"he'll never like you tuseya, give it up." the younger girl next to you sucked her teeth, "ri'an shut up!'
"make me.”
tuseya jumped up to go after him but both of your parents started yelling at them. you laughed and shook your head. you faced the front once again and your eyes landed on the same family. but this time your attention was on neteyam.
he was playing with the youngest member of the family, tuktirey. you've seen tuk numerous times when she was running around high camp, playing with her toys.
you smiled watching neteyam pick her up. the big smile on the small child's face couldn't be missed. it warms your heart to see neteyam interact with his family in such a sweet manner. you knew it was moments like these that he loved. training was a bit draining for him but you know he loves his family and cherished moments like these.
your gaze left tuk's face as you focused on neteyam. there was no denying that you found neteyam attractive but that's all he was to you before you befriended him. now that you know him personally, his looks just complimented the personality you got to see from him.
in all honesty, you expected him to call you ridiculous and leave when you proposed the idea of the little game to him. so just imagine the surprise when he actually agreed to play. after giving him the first letter of your name, you left immediately so he couldn't attempt to guess anything on the spot. after the second letter, you left his line of sight but lingered to see his reaction. you could tell that neteyam started to think for a half a second before lo'ak and spider interrupted. you smiled and your heart fluttered at the fact that he was actually interested in learning your name.
"y/n why are you smiling so hard?" nanti asked. you tore your gaze from neteyam to see nanti looking at you with questioning eyes. you looked down at the ground, knowing you probably looked similar to tuseÿa from a couple minutes ago.
"just thinking about something." you lied.
"really? because it looks like you were staring at someone."
"well i wasn't."
you didn't hear anything in response so you guessed nanti just dropped it. you closed your eyes and sighed.
'get yourself together y/n' you thought.
and what happened after that was the exact opposite. after the ceremony you couldn't get the boy off of your mind. so you did what you do best, you collected your supplies, set off into the forest and began to make a neck piece. it was only when you had finished that you noticed the next piece wasn't for you, but for him.
you looked down at the woven neck piece in deep thought. you had never been romantically involved with any boys in the clan so you were never sure what your love language was but now you were certain that it is gift giving.
as you made your way back to high camp, you decided you were going to give the piece to neteyam and just make it seem like a friendly gift. he doesn't have to know you stayed up past eclipse making it specifically for him because you couldn't stop thinking about him.
it was the next day and you were at you and neteyam's usual meeting spot. you sat on the flat rock, eating a utumauti. the neck piece sat next to your leg as you ate the sweet fruit.
suddenly, you heard the sound of an ikran landing not too far from where you were sitting. figuring that it was neteyam, you quickly finished the fruit and wiped your mouth so he wouldn't see you with food residue all over your mouth. a couple moments went past before said boy was finally in front of you.
"hi neteyam." you greeted him.
“hi ____.”
your face scrunched up at the random name that he just uttered. you turned around to see if there was someone behind you that you maybe hadn't seen, there wasn't.
"are you talking to me?" you pointed to yourself in a confused manner.
his face fell, "is that not your name?"
once the words left his lips, you burst out laughing. neteyam frowned at your reaction, slightly embarrassed. especially since he was so confident on his way over here.
"oh eywa! i gave you two letters and that's what you came up with?"
"well i asked my dad-"
you shook your head, "that was your first mistake. jake sully is not going to know my name. and just for that horrible guess i won't be giving you a letter this time."
neteyam walked over and took a seat next to you, "you don't know how excited i was on my way over here."
you chuckled in response and lightly patted his back to show some type of sympathy through your laughing fit. you swung your other arm behind you so you could lean on it but lifted it when it landed on something. you looked down to see the neck piece. you had completely forgotten about it until now.
"neteyam?" you spoke softly after your laughter finally died down. he turned his head to give you his undivided attention. your face heated up slightly, remembering how often neteyam makes eye contact when speaking to you. it was intense but you also liked knowing that he was paying attention and was interested in what you had to say.
"i have something for you." you picked up the piece of jewelry, showcasing it to him.
neteyam's amber eyes went slightly wide as he looked at the woven choker placed in your much smaller hands. it was embedded with blue beads. in the omatikayan culture, blue beads represented both trust and loyalty. it was common to be worn as jewelry and to be given as a gift.
“do you like it?” you asked, getting nervous because he still hadn’t said anything.
neteyam finally looked up from the choker and at you, “yeah of course i do! i’m just surprised you made this for me.”
“well i made my sister one and the style i made for her reminded me of you so i thought you might like one too.” you lied. not bad for something you thought of on the spot.
neteyam smiled, fingers slightly touching as he took the choker from your hands, “thank you for thinking of me."
your nerves were finally calmed as neteyam thanked you and put the woven choker on. he bought the lie and he likes the gift. once the necklace was finally secure around his neck, you watched him push off of the rock and stand up. he then extended his arm out to you.
"come on, i have to get home before eclipse today."
you nodded, putting your hand in his as he pulled you up and the two of you were on your way. walking through the pandoran forest, just talking about any and everything that came to mind. even though you were indulged in the conversation, your eyes never left neteyam's hand that was still holding yours. he hadn't let go of your hand since he pulled you up from the rock and now he was guiding you through the large flora and moving things out of the way so you wouldn't have to. you thought it was sweet that he was being a gentleman and that only caused the butterflies in your stomach to multiply by the second.
the walk finally came to a halt when the two of you came across the pond where you started your little game. your hand finally dropped from neteyam's grasp as you waltzed over to the body of water. neteyam smiled as he followed behind you.
you bent down, submerging your hands in the water and cupping them together, you then brought them up, splashing the water on your face. the cold water was nice in contrast to the warm temperature of your body. holding neteyam's hand had caused a nervousness to bubble within you and start to produce sweat in response.
as you brought the water up to your face, you missed neteyam watching you with a fondness in his eyes. he had come to really enjoy the time he spent with you despite not knowing the most important thing about you, your name.
he didn't understand why your name was such a big deal and why you couldn't just tell him but he respected your boundaries. so if he had to receive a letter at a time to keep your company, so be it.
you wiped your face and neteyam took notice of the jewelry that decorated your arms. he knew that you made all of the jewelry that you wore and it was very impressive, you were very talented in your craft. every na'vi learns how to make jewelry and clothes for themselves at a young age but it was clear that your talents exceeded most people he knew.
neteyam appreciated the fact that you actually cared about his well being and after you helped him gather plants for his grandmother, he found himself randomly thinking about you. you were fun to be around and you helped him relax and forget about whatever heavy responsibilities he had for a short amount of time.
he was distracted by his thoughts but the sound of your laughter caused him to blink rapidly, now paying attention to you.
"huh? what did you say?"
you giggled, "i said what are you looking at?"
neteyam stumbled to find an excuse before his eyes landed on a purple bruise on your arm.
the boy tilted his head, "what happened to your arm?"
you maneuvered your arm to see what he was talking about. once you realized what he was looking at, you started to say, "i accidentally spilled a little boiling water on my brother this morning and his reflex was punching me."
you have a brother? not only did neteyam not know your name but he also didn't know anything about your family life. you knew all his family members, rightfully so but he knew nothing about yours.
abandoning your crouched position and standing up straight you looked into the pond, watching all the fish swim in harmony and peace. an idea then popped into your mind and you turned to neteyam with a smile.
"show me how to fish."
"what?"
"you like fishing, right? show me how to fish." you repeated. neteyam then removed the bow and arrows that rested across his body. the string being in the front of him and the wooden part of the bow behind him.
he wanted to demonstrate it for you first so he got in position and walked through the steps before letting go of his arrow and watched it impale a small fish. the action seemed simple enough so when he handed the bow to you, you got in position and tried to mimic the actions he had done moments ago. but when you released the arrow, it missed the fish by a couple inches and made it quickly swim away.
"it's okay, that was actually very good for your first try." neteyam praised you, trying to remove the frown from your face.
"i wish i was as good as you. my family is pretty good at archery but they're all very aggressive teachers so i refuse to practice with any of them."
"i could teach you if you would like." neteyam offered.
you opened your mouth to respond but the sight of the forest darkening let you know eclipse was starting and you remembered that neteyam said he had to be home before eclipse today.
"we'll discuss the details about that the next time we see each other but for now we should head back."
neteyam nodded and the two of you returned to your meeting spot before going your separate ways.
when neteyam got back home, he sat in his family's marui sharpening his knife while tuk was doing her own thing. his parents asked him to watch tuk since it was their date night.
neteyam lifted his head as he watched lo'ak and his friend, ri'an walk into the marui, indulging in a conversation. they greeted neteyam and tuk but lo'ak's eyes lingered on neteyam's neck.
"did your imaginary friend make that for you?" lo'ak smirked, knowing the question would annoy his older brother. and it most certainly did because neteyam rolled his eyes in response.
ri'an who didn't understand the joke looked confused, "imaginary friend?"
"yeah neteyam has this new imaginary friend that makes him jewelry."
the explanation didn't make things easier for ri'an to understand so he asked another question, "but why are they imaginary?"
"because he doesn't know her name." tuk replied this time.
ri'an looked at neteyam, "you don't know her name?"
neteyam sighed and shook his head, "not yet. she won't tell me."
"which is why we think she's imaginary. you know, maybe she doesn't like you and you won't take the hint." lo'ak laughed and ri'an joined in. tuk snickered before continuing to play with her toys.
once the laughter died down, ri'an lifted his braids off his shoulder to put into a ponytail, revealing a nasty burn mark on his shoulder. lo'ak caught sight of it and stepped closer to get a better look at it.
"damn bro what happened to your shoulder?" lo'ak asked, switching from english back to na'vi mid sentence.
"my sister accidentally burned me this morning and i punched her but it was a reflex so it was an accident." he explained.
tuk looked up, "you punched your sister?"
"in the arm not in the face."
"nanti doesn't seem like the type to do that accidentally." lo’ak pointed out.
the boy had a point. anyone that knew nanti and had the opportunity to interact with her knew that she was the type to do something like that and let you know that it was on purpose. and don't expect an apology even if it happened to be an accident because she won't be bothered to give one.
"it wasn't nanti, it was my other sister."
"tuseya? hey, doesn't she have a crush on me? she's kinda hot."
ri'an pretended to gag at his friend's words before speaking, "first of all, don't call my sister hot and two, it was my other sister."
lo'aks bushy eyebrows came closer to one another to display his genuine confusion. from what he knew, ri'an only had 2 sisters. at least that's what he thought but now his friend is apparently saying that he has another sister.
"you have another sister?" he asked.
ri'an nodded, "yeah, y/n."
"how many secret siblings do you have?"
"bro i've mentioned her before."
"i don't remember that."
"of course you don't skxawng."
the two teens continued their conversation, failing to see neteyam smiling in the corner. he had stopped sharpening his knife when ri'an explained what happened to his shoulder. he almost shrugged it off as a coincidence but continued to listen to the conversation silently. when ri'an said the name, he connected it to the two letters you had previously given him and it lined up perfectly. there was no doubt in his mind that you are ri'ans sister.
