Towards Love

31.idea

Neteyam pov

Scanning the horizon perched on his ikran, Neteyam was scouting with his father. Even if the times were calmer, they had not stopped the rounds. It was important to keep the clan safe. If anything happened while he let his guard down, Jake would blame himself for life. Spotting a peak higher than the others, Neteyam told the Omatikaya leader that they could land there to take a break while still keeping an eye on the area. 

Jake took the time to observe his first son. He had changed so much over the past few years. He had matured, and Lola was probably a big part of that. He had taken responsibility as a future leader. Jake couldn't believe he was a grandfather already. He never thought his son would be a father so soon. He was proud of the man he had become and the family he had started.

Putting a hand on his shoulder, they looked at the forest stretching as far as the eye could see before them. Everything was quiet, only a few animal calls disturbed the silence from time to time. "So ... how is Lola? I know morale isn't very high right now." Neteyam lowered his head for a few seconds before glancing at his father. "It depends on the day. She's happy when she's with Sylwanin. And when she's with me, I hope. But sometimes it's true that I can see she's far away in her thoughts." Jake squeezed her shoulder sympathetically. "It's normal, she had a shock. Reality has hit her hard and she doesn't have a way to make it better. She needs to accept it, but it may take some time." 

Neteyam turned abruptly to his father. "I just want her to be happy! Sometimes I think it's my fault that if we hadn't fallen in love, she would have gone back to Earth without putting herself in danger for us. She could have kept her human body. She wouldn't be sad like this today." Jake took his son in his arms. "Please don't think that. You didn't make her make all those decisions, she made them herself. She's responsible for her actions and she knows it. She's happy with us, I know it. And you know it too. If she wasn't, she wouldn't have wanted to find us in the first place, she wouldn't have wanted to help us and put herself in danger. She's only homesick but she'll get over it, she's a strong young woman surrounded by people who love her. I'm not worried about her, she will get better." 

"I hope you're right."

"You know, I've been thinking about a human tradition that might help her." Intrigued, Neteyam titled his head aside. "Yeah? What is it?" Jake took a deep breath. He couldn't believe he was going to suggest this to his own son. "On Earth, you can't do Tsaheylu with the person you love, you don't have a presence like Eywa to bond with forever. What we do is ... we propose to the other." He saw in the young Na'vi eyes that he was completely lost. "You propose? What is that?"

"Basically, you give a ring symbolically to the person you want to make your life with. It shows that you belong to each other, that you're together and that no one else can expect anything sentimental with you because you're already taken. That's a connection to each other." 

"And so you think that offering a ring to Lola would make her less home sick?" Jake scratched his head in embarrassment. It was going to be more complicated than he expected to get him to understand the concept of marriage after all. "It's not just the rign it's everything around it. You have to make the proposal a special moment for you both to remember it. I don't know, somewhere with a nice view, or a specific moment like the anniversary of your meeting. Then, there should be a big ceremony for the actual wedding. Everyone is invited, family and friends, everyone is dressed nicely, we eat a lot, we party until dawn ... you understand." 

"Did you propose to mom?" Neteyam asked skeptical. "No. But your mom hates everything related to the sky people so be sure that she would have told me to fuck off."

"Because the other can say no??" 

"Well ... it happens." 

"I don't want to live the shame of my life!"

"Lola loves you there's no reason for her to refuse."

"But mom loves you!"

"... True ... but technically she was human first so she's used to those kind of stuff." Neteyam remained thoughtful for a few moments before straightening his chest and looking determined. "Okay, I'm going to propose to Lola! If it can make her feel better and make her understand that I'm interested in her culture, I'm willing to take that step towards her. I need a ring." 

"This is great son! Oh and don't worry about the ring, I already made one."

"You already made one? Were you so sure that I would accept?"

"You love Lola and you want her to get better, of course I knew that you would accept. You're very predictable when it comes to her." Neteyam winced. Jake gave him an amused look. "Sorry son but love makes us do strange things."

"That's for sure ... So. Where is this ring?"

"Oh, right!" Jake pulled a small bundle from one of the pockets on the saddle of his ikran and handed it to the young man. This one seized it and opened it carefully. He took out a small iron ring that must have been the size of Lola's finger, knowing her father. It was set with beautiful stones that were found on the Hallelujah mountains. They were oval-shaped and purple so it would match her songcord. "Dad, it's beautiful. I'm sure she'll love it."

Jake smiled proud of him. He was happy to contribute to his son life. "You'll have thank Norm and Max as well, they helped me a lot with that."

"I won't forget."

"Now the hardest part is to be done! You need to decide when and where you are going to propose."

"And she has to say yes." Neteyam passed a hand over his face already stressed at the idea that Lola could turn him down and find their idea of bringing some of her original culture to Pandora completely stupid. "And she has to say yes." Concluded Jake smiling widely.

Author's note
Hey! So, what do you think of Jake's idea? Don't forget to vote and comment if you like this chapter it helps me a lot :)