Beneath You. 𝗡𝗘𝗧𝗘𝗬𝗔𝗠

O19. TO BE SHOT AT OR NOT TO BE

CHAPTER NINETEEN. ✧˖*°࿐
❝ TO BE SHOT AT OR NOT TO BE. ❞

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"Leave me alone."

Emea had woken up the day after the war ended.

She wasn't entirely happy to know she got shot, grumpy at being the one who had been hurting emotionally and now physically and no one else was hurt. Not that she wanted anyone to get hurt, but why her?

"Emea, we need to see how the wound looks like," Neteyam spoke from his position next to hers. Emea huffed and looked away, before standing up to help her mother with a few things, allowing Neteyam to stand aside.

"Give me that," Jake spoke, grabbing the things away from the girl who tried to hide the wince escaping her lips, standing next to his eldest.

"I am doing just fine," Emea stubbornly said. Although she was being stubborn, she was already helping her mom take off the bandage.

"This is a reminder that you shouldn't get shot," Jake spoke from the other side of the pod, knowing full well that the girl was acting the way she was because she couldn't handle defeat. She was a warrior, getting shot or having been hurt after being taught not to hurt her ego.

"Dad, be quiet," Neteyam mumbled to his father, smiling a little once both Neytiri and Emea turned to look at them both.

"That wound should be a reminder of the strength inside of you," Ronal gave Jake a small glare before glancing at her daughter, checking her wound. "You survived, my child."

"As I should have," Emea mumbled, still grumpy. She eyed her mother's bump. "When the baby comes—"

"Let's just hope it doesn't stab itself like you did," Ao'nung commented as he came to see his sister, joining the others. The Sully family turned to look at him in confusion while Tsireya and Ao'nung laughed.

"What?" Lo'ak gaped. "You stabbed yourself?"

"Oh, yeah," Ao'nung continued. "You should've seen how she did it. She just stabbed herself because she was bored and she believed that if she did it, she would be immune to it later on."

"And have I been stabbed?" Emea questioned, hiding her smile. "Have I cried after that?"

"You have been shot. Let's not forget how grumpy and annoying you have been since waking up."

"How about I stab you next out of fun?" Emea smiled sarcastically at her brother and Ronal slapped her daughter's thigh. "Why are you slapping me? I just woke up after being shot."

"As nice as I like hearing the sound of bickering again," Tonowari came forward, "the people have been wanting to see you, Emea."

The girl nodded at her father's request before glancing at Neteyam who was already staring at her. She cleared her throat and looked at her mother, moving her gaze towards the floor.

"Is it okay if I can hang out with Neteyam after I'm done?" Ronal squinted her eyes at her daughter before nodding.

Emea smiled, looking at Neteyam as he smiled at her, too.

"She scares me," Spider muttered to Lo'ak, Kiri, and Jake.

"Just wait until she teaches you how to swim," Jake tried to scare the teenager who immediately glanced at the others.

Lo'ak and Kiri nodded their heads in agreement, just trying to scare him. And they succeeded.

After some of the people came to see her, Emea rushed towards the sound of the water crashing against the rocks. She got told not to run but she couldn't handle it when Neteyam was already waiting for her.

"So, was it boring without me?" Emea teased him, judging her un-wounded should against his as soon as she appeared to his side. He chuckled before a small smile formed on his lips.

"It was," he muttered before looking down. He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" Emea frowned, making him sit down with her. "You didn't shoot me and you couldn't have prevented this from happening, Neteyam. It's not your fault."

"I could've moved you out of the way faster," Neteyam argued back. "I should've done that."

"Look, I'm just happy I took it instead of you," Emea reassured him, placing her head on his shoulder. "Thankfully, it wasn't that bad. But hey, on the good side, I'm immune to it now."

"No—" Emea shook her head, raising her hand.

"I'm immune to it now," she cut him off.

Neteyam chuckled, shaking his head. "It's very different seeing this side of you just joking around, being grumpier than usual, it's nice."

"Are you saying that my other sides aren't nice?" Emea hummed and he scoffed, laughter escaping past his lips as they both eyed the sunset in front of them.

"Do not start," he breathed out. He glanced down at her, eyeing the relaxed look on her face. He looked away. "Every side of yours is a blessing to experience. Happy, sad, excited, grumpy, it's nice to see the things that shape you and how you deal with those."

Emea smiled a little at hearing his words, nodding slowly. "It's an honor to see your growth and the way you handle yourself. Just know, your pain, it's valid. It's okay to feel sad at how your parents scold you for not taking care of your siblings. I look up to you in those terms."

He looked at her as she continued to speak. "You could've taken out on Lo'ak, yelled at him, beat him up, getting angry at him for getting you in trouble. But you never did that. That's maturity and I look up to you because of that."

Neteyam let out a shaky breath at her words before he nudged her head a little. "So the only side of me you wanted to talk about was my pain and my sadness?"

"I'm just pointing out that they're valid!" Emea backed away, playfully slapping his shoulder as he laughed loudly. "Skxawng."

"How dare you call me that," Neteyam held his chest dramatically. "I did nothing to you."

"Oh, of course you didn't," Emea squinted her eyes at him but he simply grabbed the side of her head and shushed her quietly, placing her head back on his shoulder.

"Shush," he said. "Enjoy the moment."

Emea could only chuckle at his words, placing her head back on his shoulder. She looked up at him before smiling and looking away.

Neteyam smiled, too, before he placed his head on top of hers.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

This was supposed to be updated
an hour ago but I went on TikTok to
look at clips of Neteyam edits and I
ended up looking at my fyp 😁

But now imma go back to doing hw
even though it's 2 am and I got scolded
by my bf that I can't be awake later than
that so... imma finish it :)

This is my favorite chapter so vote
(to vote, press on the screen until you
see options and on the bottom left there's
going to be a star) and comment or I'll be
under your bed 🧌