𝐀𝐂𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃. 𝐀𝐨'𝐧𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐱 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐦

𝟏𝟎. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭

Neteyam stood nervously along with the rest of the village people. Ao'nung noticed his nervousness by the way he kept biting his bottom lip.

"It's okay." he nudged. "He's probably just lost in plain sight."

Neteyam sighed, covering his face. He then let his hands slide down his face, stopping at his neck. Ao'nung gave him a soft smile before turning back to the ocean. Neteyam kept staring, seeing as his smile slowly disappeared.

"They found the boy!" someone shouted.

Neteyam's hands dropped as he quickly reached his dad, who was going toward the edge. Ao'nung's eyes followed him as he noticed his nervousness leave his body. Neteyam was now squatting down, watching as his brother was brought to shore.

"Are you okay?" Jake asked, grabbing his son's arm.

Lo'ak had no response, he just kept his eyes on the man standing before him.

"It is taking everything in me not to claw your face right now." Neytiri mumbled, showing her hand in Lo'ak's face.

He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, seeming annoyed by the gesture.

"I'm sorry." he sighed.

His focus went back onto the man, seeing him have a small smile on his face. Once he noticed Lo'ak looking, he just bowed his head and rubbed his forehead. Lo'ak turned over to him but was quickly stopped by his father.

"Come on." he frowned, pulling his son's arms.

Lo'ak's eyes traveled from the man to Ao'nung, and then to Tsireya, and then to Neteyam. Ao'nung looked at him, rubbing his head. He then looked at the man and his parents. The parents nodded their heads, placing their hands on the opposite shoulder of the man. His gaze landed on Tsireya, who had her eyes locked on the family. She started walking toward them, but stopped once she saw Lo'ak walking away.

"I'm going to talk to him." she mumbled, tapping her brother's shoulder.

Ao'nung nodded, watching as she quickly caught up to Lo'ak. His eyes then turned back to the family, looking at Neteyam as his head dropped in shame. He was curious and waited until the family was away from Neteyam so that he could talk to him. As he stepped forward, he felt someone touch him. He turned around to see Sari, who was staring at his hand.

"You've had bandages on this whole week." she pointed.

Ao'nung smiled, touching his hand.

"Sometimes it goes on longer than others." he said.

Sari grinned as she heard it. Ao'nung's focus was pulled off her and put on Neteyam as he noticed him covering his face again.

"I have to go talk to someone." he mumbled, looking back at her. "Go ahead." Sari said, her face slightly relaxing. "I'll see you tomorrow." she waved.

Ao'nung nodded, as he turned around, quickly making his way to Neteyam.

"Hey." he whispered, touching Neteyam's arms.

He watched as Neteyam sighed, his hands coming off his face.

"Are you okay?" Ao'nung asked.

Neteyam nodded in response, taking a deep breath. He let it out, closing his eyes as he did it.

"It was my fault that Lo'ak was lost." he mumbled.

Ao'nung looked down at him, sighing.

"You didn't know he was going to get taken out of the reef." he said. "Exactly. I should've known where Lo'ak was, but I left him alone, expecting him to be able to take care of himself." Neteyam sighed.

His head went down in shame. Ao'nung stared down at him, moving his hands up to Neteyam's shoulders. Neteyam's attention was pulled up to Ao'nung, seeing as his gaze softened.

"Neteyam. You didn't know it was going to happen." he repeated. "It isn't your fault that Lo'ak was taken out of the reef. If anyone should take the blame for it, it should be the people that led him out."

Neteyam stared at him for a second, his expression looking even sadder. Ao'nung gave him a soft smile, not knowing what else to say. Neteyam gave him the same smile back.

"How did you suddenly get so nice?" he whispered, letting out a soft chuckle.

Ao'nung smiled even bigger, taking his hands off Neteyam. The two stared at each other awkwardly before Ao'nung heard his name being yelled. They turned to see Ronal coming towards them, looking annoyed.

"I've called your name many times." she frowned, touching her son's arm.

She looked over at Neteyam, who bowed his head. She then looked back up at Ao'nung, seeing as he stared at Neteyam.

"Come on." she mumbled, her gaze switching between both of them.

She looked annoyed, which she was. She hated when her children acted as if they were deaf. She looked back at Neteyam one more time, seeing as he was still looking at Ao'nung. She stared up at Ao'nung and then looked forward. She was going to have a great talk about this with him later.