𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 • 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐦 𝐒𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲

the moon is she⁵

chapter five
[ the moon is she ]

     Neteyam walked outside from his maruis. the stars were shining and the moon was reflecting off the surface of the water. from a distance he could a girl sitting on a rock close to shore. he knew who it was by her hair.

Nakili sat on her shins, leading fish to and fro with the tip of her fingers as they glowed in the dark. he hesitated, but started towards her.

his pace slowed as he neared her. Nakili paused and straightened her posture as she could feel him getting close to her. she looked up at him. when she realized who it was, she simply smiled, her eyes smiling also. he smiled back at her and took that as a sign to sit down next to her.

she watched as he did so. she watched as he crossed his legs under him and rested his hands in his lap. she looked back out in the distance. "may i ask what you are doing out here?" Neteyam watched her side profile.

Nakili looked down at her fingers. she hesitated before she started to speak. "visiting my mother." her voice was low and raspy as her thick accent sounded through the air.

Neteyam watched her expression. he knew her mother was dead; it didn't take blind man to read that off of her. "how so?" he asked.

"i pretend the moon is she." to Neteyam, that mere sentence was beautiful. the way her accent made the words sound and the way her eyes looked to be connecting the stars. "isn't it crazy." she suddenly spoke and looked over at him.

"what?" he squinted his eyes.

"i've never met my mother, yet i know her so well." Nakili pushed a piece of her dark hair back over her shoulder.

Neteyam made eyes contact with her and gulped. he shook his head. "that's not crazy. i've met my mother, yet i don't know her at all." he wanted to breathe out a laugh to make the mood less... negative. but he didn't. to respect her.

She shrugged. "it still feels a little crazy." Nakili looked back out at the water. when she did, she moved closer to the water.

Neteyam watched as Nakili touch the water with her finger tips. fish slowly but surely surrounded the area—small fish, they were—and they were glowing. Nakili guided them through the water in what most would say looked like horizontal eight. but Neteyam didn't care. he only watched how the fish were hers to guide. he followed her arm up to her face and admired her only.

"Nakili?" Neteyam simply said her name.

"yes?" she spoke softly, but didn't take her eyes off the water—Neteyam not taking his eyes off of her.

Neteyam hesitated. he didn't want to interrupt her concentration. plus, she looked so very beautiful doing what she was doing. but he spoke anyways. "you remind me of my family." he said.

Nakili's ears flicked back out of her control. her fingers left the water and suddenly, the part of the fish that was glowing was no longer. she turned so that her knees were facing Neteyam's thigh. she looked at him for a only a second. then she spoke. "how's that?" Nakili asked.

Neteyam shrugged. "well, your personality, it reminds me of Kiri; you have good heart. you speak like my mother. you have the same hair as my father."

Nakili blushed a little, even though it wasn't visible to the eye. "the hair part, is it good or bad?" she smiled, flicking a dread over her shoulder.

"it's good." Neteyam nodded, his eyes smiling along with his lips.

"i'd say my dreads are smaller than his." she squinted her eyes and tilted her head. Neteyam liked her hair. i'm fact, he liked everything about her. her eyes, her nose, her accent, her ears, her lips, and of course, her hair.