I See You

Chapter 10- Confession

It had been a week since Neteyam had passed.

The Sully's had settled down, in the Pandora's reef with the Metkayina clan.

But it was no longer the same.

Neytiri and Jake had put their feelings behind, so that their kids would not be affected. But deep down they were all hurting.

Taneya had become distant. She no longer spoke to Jake, Neytiri or any of her siblings. With all the guilt that she felt, she could not bring herself to speak or say anything.

Jake and Neytiri understood, giving Taneya some time for her to adjust everything.
-
Today was the last day of Eiywey and Taìn staying at the Pandora reef. They were due to fly back tomorrow, to the forest.

It was currently the evening, and people were going to say goodbye to Eiywey.

Taneya didn't seem to bother. Instead, she decided to get away from everyone, taking a stroll along the beach.

She sat down, leaning against a rock. She tilted her head up, looking to the sky.
"Eywa. I know you can hear my prayers. Please tell Neteyam I am sorry" she whispers to herself, as she's looking up.

She looks back down to the ocean.
Taneya sighs, as she gets flashbacks, remembering Neteyam with her, like it was just yesterday.

"What are you doing here by yourself?" Taneya heard a familiar voice speak.

She looked in his direction, "oh Aonung."
Taneya stood up, ready to walk away.

"Taneya. You can stay here, it's not a problem" Aonung says to her.

She turns around to look at him.
"Why would I want to be anywhere near you."

Aonung felt a bit taken back by her words.
"Taneya. I know you are hurting. I am here-" Aonung tries to tell her some comforting words. But she stops him.

"Here for me? I thought you don't help outcasts" Taneya says.
"I didn't mean that-" Aonung tries to speak but gets cut off by Taneya again, "I don't want to hear it Aonung. Please, leave me be."

She walks a couple of step forward.
Aonung is deciding whether or not to stop her and talk to her about it.

Knowing Taìn would be leaving tomorrow, he felt that he should tell Taneya the truth of why he was cold to her. She deserved to know.

He goes after her, grabbing onto her arm, and turning her around.

"Taneya. There's something I've been meaning to tell you" Aonung says.
She doesn't respond. But her eyes tell him all he needs to know.
Taneya is tired. She is hurt, and she needs comfort.

She waits for Aonung to speak.
But instead, he takes her back to the rock she was leaning against, and makes her sit back down.

"Wait here" he says to her.
He walks away leaving Taneya to wait for him.
-
After a minute or so, he comes back. Taneya was still in the same position. She had not moved.

She hears Aonung coming, so she stands back up, to face him.

Aonung shows the palm of his hand. He is holding the necklace. The same one he had made for her, that Taìn had stolen.

"Where did you find that? I thought I lost it" Taneya asked.
"Taìn took it" Aonung confesses.

"Why would Taìn take it?" Taneya asks.
Aonung hesitates to tell her.

She sighs at him, "stop wasting my time please" she turns the other way.

"He took it because he didn't want us to speak" Aonung says.

Taneya turns back around to face him, instead of walking away.

"Taneya. The reason I became cold was because of Taìn. He wanted me to stay away from you. He didn't like that we were close" Aonung explains to Taneya.

"But he's like a brother to me. We grew up together as siblings" Taneya felt confused.

"He told me you guys knew each other first. That I couldn't come in between and that you both promised each other you'd be there with each other" Aonung tells her.

Taneya feels confused. But also hurt. She saw him as a great brother. And he tried to get Taneya's friend to no longer speak to her.

"Taneya. He punched me in the face" Aonung confessed.

Taneya looks up straight away. She realises what the mark was on Aonung's face.

She held onto his wrist, pulling him closer.
"You should have told me what Taìn said to you. Why didn't you say anything?" She spoke in a low tone.

She was already hurting because of Neteyam. Hearing about this just hurt her even more.

"He was an old friend of yours. I didn't say anything because I knew it would upset you" Aonung explains to her.

He holds onto her arm, her hand still holding onto his wrist.

"Aonung, I am more hurt that he hurt you. Yes, he is an old friend. But you also mean a lot to me" Taneya says to him.

He looks towards her, looking into her eyes.
"I care about you" Taneya tells him.

Aonung's ears point up, and his tail wiggles. You can tell he was glad.
"I care about you too" Aonung replies to her.

He slowly takes her hand off of his wrist, and puts his arm around her waist. Aonung brings her in closer.

Without breaking eye contact, he finishes off his sentence, "more than you think."

Aonung and Taneya stare into each others eyes. He's looking down at her. She's looking up at him.

He pulls his face in closer, the bridges of their nose touching.

"Aonung" Taneya whispers.
He feels her hot breath on her lips, ask she says his name, as their faces are so close together.
He hums in response.

It felt like they were teasing each other with their lips. So close yet no one moves in first.
"Aonung. I like you" she whispers to him.

He looks down to her lips, and back to her eyes again.
"I like you too. More than a friend" he whispers back to her.

She feels her heart beat really fast.
He sees her chest moving up and down. So he knows she's got a fast heartbeat.

"More" Taneya whispers a word. It's almost like she's trying to tell him something, but she is distracted because she has the urge to let him feel her lips.

"What is it?" Aonung asks, still whispering to her.

This time, Taneya looks down to Aonung's lips, and back up, looking in his eyes again.

Unlike Aonung, she doesn't hold back.
She wraps her arm around Aonung's neck, tiptoes to reach him, and kisses him.

Aonung let's her kiss him. He does not move her back.
Taneya moves her lips away after a couple of seconds.

"I'm sorry. I kissed you and you probably didn't even want to" Taneya says to him.

Aonung cups her cheeks, and moves forward, planting another kiss on her lips, making her take back what he just said to her.

As they move away from the kiss, they both open their eyes, to look at each other.
He does not move his face. He keeps it exactly where it was.

"I like you more than a friend too" Taneya whispers back to him.

He smiles, which causes her to smile.
They are breathing very heavily, both of their chest are seen moving up and down.
Their faces still inches apart, his hand still cupping her face.

Someone behind Taneya, clears their throat.
Taneya and Aonung break eye contact.
Taneya looks back.
"Oh Taìn" she says, looking at him with an awkward smile.

-