Seeking Refuge | Neteyam

Chapter Eight

I found Neteyam sitting at the same dock we were at earlier in the day. His head was down again as he stared off into the sea, kicking his feet in the water. My mind flashed back to the look he gave me as he left. He looked at me in a way he never did before. It worried me.

I walked over and took a seat beside him, lowering my feet into the water as well. "What's wrong, Neteyam?"

His lips thinned as he looked at me. He sighed, "I don't like how those boys were treating you."

My head tilted. "I'm a big girl, I can handle it."

"You shouldn't have to handle it, Ayn'at," he insisted. "They shouldn't be treating you... They shouldn't be treating anyone like that."

I turned away, looking through the clear veil of water and watching as fish swam around beneath us. "I know... but it's just something we have to deal with for-" I paused, feeling a warm substance trickling down my nose. A red drop fell out, landing into the water. I groaned, holding my hand under my face. "Are you kidding? It took so long to get it to stop bleeding!"

I felt a hand grab my chin and gently tilt my face upward. Neteyam directed my face towards him as he looked at the bleed with a frown. "We shouldn't have to deal with getting hit by our own people." He grabbed a cloth from a pouch and dipped it in the water before wiping at my nose, his eyes intent on looking at the bleeding area.

I lightly touched the bruise on my jaw, the pain making me wince a bit. "Well," I smacked my lips, "as long as we hit them back twice as strong, I think we should be able to handle it."

"Ayn'at," he snapped, pulling the cloth away and looking into my eyes. His lime pools held the same unrecognizable emotion from before. "You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?" I scoffed, directing my frustration towards the Metkayina boys. "Get that we are not accepted here? Get that we are outcasts? Get that no matter how hard we try, they'll never look at us right because of the labels they've put on us? The labels they have put on me? Trust me, I get it, Neteyam." I sighed, breathing in a shaky breath. "I'm just trying to make light of our situation."

His eyes softened as he moved his hand to continue wiping the blood away. "Get that you're special."

My ears twitched. "Special how?"

He stopped again, looking deep into my eyes. "Special to me." My breath hitched, and I prayed to Eywa that he didn't feel it. He sighed, cleaning up my nose again before tossing the cloth down. "You worry me, Ayn. I don't like seeing you in pain, and I don't like seeing people mistreat you. You are worth so much more than how they treated you today. You deserve to be respected, not made fun of."

My heart started beating fast again, and in trepidation, I quickly stood up. "I have to go," I muttered, rushing to get away from him. It's not that I didn't want to be around him, I was just scared--I didn't know what these feelings were. I had an idea, but I didn't want to believe it.

"Ayn'at, where are you going?" he called after me. I couldn't answer him. I wanted to, but the words wouldn't form in my throat.