Can you please write Ao’nung giving shy sully reader private lessons after making fun of her fear of water? She learns when they’re alone that he’s actually really sweet and patient and he starts to grow a crush. 😭 he just acts like an ass in public to impress people
I See You
This came out a lot angstier than I expected 🙊😬😅
Summary: Ao’nung knows he’s an ass, he knows your brothers think he’s an ass but after seeing you in a vulnerable moment, he starts to develop feelings for you
Pairing: Ao’nung x Suli!Reader
Warnings: Ao’nung comes off as an ass, insecure reader from family pressures, bullying, angst
“Are you…a freak?” He’s only a foot away from you and your sister, Roxto behind him to his left, and two to his right. He’s teasing you, taunting you, and the question makes your sister Kiri pull her face out of the water.
She turns her head and looks at him, propping herself up on her elbows, while you sit nearby. Your feet are beneath the water, but you haven’t gone out or allowed yourself to be in water that goes past your waist. You hadn’t ridden an ilu, you hadn’t gone fishing or hunting, and when your siblings dove beneath the water you stayed on shore.
“What?” Kiri sits up and then stands while you remaining seated, watching her before your eyes shift to Ao’nung.
“I asked if you were freaks. You and your sister…” he looked at you then, a smirk crossing his face as he pressed on, making jokes at your expense earned him laughter from his friends. “She can’t even swim. She’s afraid of the water.”
You turn your head, cheeks darkening with embarrassment and your eyes shifting from the group of Metkayina boys to the water. You sit on the sand with your feet in the water and turn your head, facing away from them.
“I don’t like the water.” It’s a weak defence, hiding the truth that keeps you terrified of swimming. If only your dad had let you stay with your grandmother, with the Omatikaya…
“Leave her alone, leave us alone.” Kiri comes to your defence, she knows that your fear of deep water is intense, that it makes you feel as if you’re going to be swallowed whole.
For weeks you were supposed to be learning around the water. For weeks you should have been wandering into the waves and learning how to survive like Metkayina, yet at every opportunity you stay on the shore. You make excuses, you deny their attempts to help you, even if they’re only doing it to get the Olo’eyktan off their backs.
“Forest girl can’t swim, she can’t even defend herself.” Ao’nung laughs with his friends, the group of them beginning to circle you and Kiri.
Mocking her; mocking you.
“Leave us alone!” She raises her voice, she draws the attention of your brother. You know that when Lo’ak approaches, there will be a fight and you don’t want to be involved. You don’t need the lecture from your dad about getting into fights, which is counterintuitive because he also tells you to stand up for yourself.
You’re quiet, you’re shy. He thinks you’re gentle, maybe too gentle for Pandora—not that your dad would ever say it. But you know he feels it.
Gentleness, it seems, is what you inherited from your human grandmother. Your dad doesn’t talk about his life back on earth much, and he hardly ever talks about his parents. What he does mention about his mother is that you are like her—too kind and soft for a world that is cruel.
Quiet, shy, kind—too kind and gentle to be a warrior, Pandora needs strength, not gentleness. That is what your dad said, almost every time he witnessed your quietude. You felt, like Lo’ak, that you were a disappointment, like you could never make your dad proud. No matter how hard you tried.
This fight would only give him more reason to be disappointed.
You were afraid of the water because you nearly drowned. When you were a child back with the Omatikaya, you went out with your family to a waterfall and pond, one of many in your home. The waterfall wasn’t high, the pond was relatively calm. It was a place you had gone too often with your family. Nothing should have gone wrong but there were small elements of life that, when added together, had created the perfect storm.
Kiri and Lo’ak were arguing, as they usually did, over something the other wanted. Your mother was busy intervening in the fight, scolding the two of them, reminding them that they were family. Neteyam was fishing with your dad, gathering and hunting to provide the family with fresh fish.
It happened so fast, one moment you were on the smoothened rock near the edge of the waterfall, and the next you were gone. The current had shifted rapidly, your foot had slipped on the light algae coating the surface of the rock and you went under. The current carried you over the edge of the waterfall into the pond. The waterfall wasn’t dangerously high, the pond wasn’t overtly deep, but l the waterfall rushing over the edge had pushed you under the surface.
It was vivid and terrifying, not being able to breathe and panicking as your body fought. Struggling only made it worse, your panicking made you sick water into your lungs. You were young, you were scared.
And by the time you were pulled from the water, you’d passed out. Your father saved you, expelling the water from your lungs by doing CPR, a lifesaving procedure. You were sputtering and couching out the water from your lungs while your sister screamed for you.
He ask was what happened to you, thinking maybe your fear was from some stupid incident. He didn’t think that your fear came from nearly dying, from almost drowning while your family was preoccupied.
Your fear came from your near death experience, from your proximity to Eywa because you almost drowned. When Tsireya had told him what happened, the true story had come from Lo'ak, Ao'nung had felt even more like an ass than he did before. He had an ego and it drove him to be pretentiously negative toward your family.
Lo'ak and Ao'nung had made peace with each other, in their own way of apologizing without coming outright and saying I'm sorry, and that was enough for them. Ao'nung knew he would have to physically say the words to you and not just let it be brushed aside like it had been with Lo'ak.
Which is why he went to find you.
He doesn’t speak as he walked toward the end of the platform where you’re sitting. He sees you sitting with your knees pulled to your chest and your arms wrapped around your shins. Your chin is resting on your knees and your head is tilted to the side, your microbraids pulled over your shoulder while your braided kuru hangs down your back.
“I’m afraid of the water.” You speak before he does, letting the truth fall out in the open regardless of whether you think he knows or not. "I almost drowned when I was younger."
"Tsireya told me." He approaches slowly and sits beside you, afraid he might spook you. "I'm sorry."
"I don't go past my waist. I will not let water go over my head." You angle your head in the other direction, looking away from him. This let's Ao'nung look at your side profile, at the features that are subtly too human. It's a testament to your half-human, half-Na'vi DNA that runs throughout you.
You are beautiful. There is no denying how attractive you are, even with your darker skin, thicker stripes and thin tail. You are very pretty and there is a lot to be drawn to, more than he expects.
"I can help you." He offers without thinking, without hesitative resistance. "Help you learn to swim, to get over your fear of the water."
"Why?" You look at him, again. Your golden eyes are casted upon his cerulean eyes, and there is a thinly braided cord of tension that seems to hum between you. "Why would you help me after making fun of me?"
"I'm an ass." Ao'nung doesn't wait to speak, and he doesn't try and deny the reality that he's rude and egotistical. "I didn't know why you were afraid."
"You feel bad."
"Guilty, maybe." Ao'nung turns his head, he looks out upon the water and then stretches an arm behind him to lean against. "But not being able to swim in Awa'atlu, it's like-"
"-not being able to fly." You mumble, chin resting against your knee, a weary sigh falling from your lips. "I love flying."
"I'll teach you how to love the water." He looks at you, really looks at you, and feels another stab of guilt settling into him.
You are not a warrior like your mother, like your father and brothers. You feel out of place, he can see it.
"Let me help you." He speaks again and lightly nudges you with his elbow, earning another look at your pretty eyes. "Let me teach you."
"Take a deep breath," Ao'nung stands beside you in the shallow water, his shoulder brushing against your arm as he instructs you with an even, gentle voice, "the water won't hurt you."
"The ocean gives, and the ocean takes." You repeat the Metkayina's words, your voice hitching with a glimmer of fear at the edge of your words.
"You're doing really well, sevin." Ao'nung reaches for your hand, his three fingers brushing against your four, while his thumb taps yours. "Come deeper."
He leads you out further. The water passes your hips and then waist, the gentle waves touch your chest and then your shoulders. You walk deeper while he stands beside you, and your hand squeezes his. Ao'nung doesn't let you go, he doesn't leave your side.
"Take a deep breath, calm your heart." He comforts you with his voice, soft spoken words that ease your rising anxiety just enough that you take another step. The water touches your chin and then grazes the bottom of your lip before you feel the first hesitation.
Your hand jerks his and Ao'nung presses further, leaning into you with a sturdiness that you lean against. He acts as your pillar, as something to keep you grounded and safe even as the water gets higher against your body.
"You're okay, you're fine. I'm right here." He watches you and while he's trying to tell you to calm your heart down, his own begins racing.
For days and weeks during his free time, the two of you have been meeting away from prying eyes, and Ao'nung has been giving you lessons. It started with getting comfortable with the water being against your body, no higher than your waist. And now you were getting ready to dive under the water, to let it go over your head.
You were strong. Not in the way your dad or mom might have wanted but you were strong. You were brave in a way that so many could overlook, Ao'nung included. But the more time he spent with you, the more appreciative he had become of your quiet, shy kindness. Peaceful and gentility suited you.
"I'll hold your hand the entire time." He was developing feelings for you, he was steadily become more attracted to you, not just physically by emotionally. "Dive with me."
He takes a deep breath at the same time you do, the two of you breathing in synch with each other. When you’re ready, you nod your head and he takes the lead, diving beneath the water with you. He still holds your hand, he still keeps you close when you go beneath the surface, and he watches you carefully—monitoring you and your state of mind.
Your eyes remain open, you take a quick look around and allow yourself to be in the moment. This is the farthest you have come since you almost drowned, and Ao’nung is going to make sure you do okay.
When you tug on his hand, peacefulness giving way to a temporary panic, he pulls you both up. He brings you back to the surface, hand still clutching yours, and lets you inhale deep gulps of breath.
“I went under the water.” You speak breathlessly, exhaling your words with mystification. “I’ve never…that’s the first time-”
“You,” Ao’nung feels his chest tighten with every word, “are going to be swimming in no time.”
“Thank you, Ao’nung.” You turn to him, you let go of his hand under the water and press it against his chest. “This means so much to me.”
“I know.” He wants to say more but he can’t get the words formed, or maybe it’s too soon and his mind knows it. Everything he wants to say feels confined behind invisible walls and he has no choice but to let it go. Instead, he offers you another smile and rests his hand upon yours. “Want to try again?”
You nod your head and he squeezes your hand, mirroring you as he takes a slow, deep breath.
He’s startled by your scream. He’s startled by the fear that’s clearly detected from your voice, and when he looks for the source, he sees two hunters his age trying to throw you into the water. You’re scrambling, trying to fight them off as they carry you toward a platform of the path that connects all of Awa’atlu over deep water.
They think it’s fun; you’re terrified.
He sees it on your face, the look in your eyes that reflects your fear. You’re scratching at them, trying to get them to let you stand on the path and not throw you in the water.
They’re being stupid boys, like he knows he can be. What they might mean to be friendly and playful is really a nightmare for you. They think the pretty Sully girl screams to play along.
Ao’nung knows different. He knows that the Sully with big golden eyes and a dark hue to your skin, tahní’s that he can’t stop looking at, studying like the constellations, is terrified.
“Forest girl wants to go for a swim!” They laugh at you while you struggle, and Ao’nung feels an insurmountable pressure to intervene, and anger that burrows itself into his chest.
Txewi and Atxuì, hunters who are trying to prove themselves as tough in the clan, have been hanging around you any available and unmated girl. The iknimaya is passed, they have earned their place as hunters, and now they seek mates.
They notice you, as quiet and shy as you are, because why wouldn’t they? You’re beautiful. And now they’re trying to tease you.
Ao’nung only has to hear you scream once before he’s on his feet and moving toward you. It only takes one look at your scared expression for him to feel burning anger coursing through his veins.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” He calls out for them, the two hunters who think this is a game you enjoy, and reacts with a physical assault. His hand is clenched tightly and he bears no hesitation when he swings his fist toward one of the hunters.
Knuckles meet jaw, and Atxuì goes down hard. He hits the rattan path with a jarring look of surprise across his face. He stares up at Ao’nung, jaw slack and lips parted as if he can’t believe the son of Tonowari hit him.
“Ao’nung-” Atxuí says his name, still lying on the rattan path, eyes wide.
“Ao’nung, it’s just fun!” Txewi, the other hunter, reluctantly lets you stand. He holds his hands up in defence while your feet hit the platform and your arms immediately circle around your waist defensively. “It was teasing-”
“Does she look like she’s having fun?!” He reacts again, shoving Txewi’s chest with enough force that it almost knocks him on his ass too. “Does it look like she’s enjoying it?!”
You’re standing behind him, head down and your tail tucked against between your calves. He can hear the shuddery breathing, he knows your chest is rising and falling unevenly as you attempt to keep yourself calm. He doesn’t have to look at you to know you’re near tears, so frightened from nearly being thrown in that you’re about to cry.
“If you ever…” Ao’nung has to take deep breaths of his own to keep himself calm. “…try that again, I’ll break every bone in your hands.”
He shoves Txewi again, the force finally sending him over. He trips over Atxui, stunned for a minute before both hunters scramble to their feet. They leave you and Ao’nung standing on the path, and when they’re gone, he turns toward you. His hands rest on your shoulders, the contact making you raise your head and like he expects, unfortunately, he sees you crying.
“I was so scared.” You mumble, swallowing heavily and trying, failing, to keep yourself in check.
“I know.” He cups your cheek, brushes his thumb beneath your eye to catch your tears. “Are you okay?”
You don’t answer like he expects. You bite your bottom lip and shake your head, tears threatening to spill over from your eyes. He draws you against him, he hugs you and runs a hand up and down your back, comforting you while you lean into him.
“I see you, sevin.” He rests his cheek against the top of your head, crooning softly. “I see you for who you are, not who people expect you to be.”
Ao’nung promises that this will be the last time anyone tries to scare you like that again.
It’s a vow he takes upon himself, a responsibility just like teaching you to swim.
You don’t need to be strong and intimidating, he’ll be that for you.
