The Breath of Water | Neteyam

33 • Exchanges

Morning came, and Neteyam was the first to wake in the clan leaders' pod. Just as Liyanin had told him, his body was not as sore as it was yesterday. He sat up, stretching his arms a little. He couldn't do it too much, because then he would feel the pain again, but he was at least able to move. He looked over at Liyanin, sound asleep. She looked so beautiful and peaceful—these last few days have been pretty stressful for her (and him, but he doesn't want to admit it), so seeing her in such a relaxed state brought comfort to Neteyam's heart. He sighed then stood up slowly, careful not to hurt himself, then began to walk out to his pod.

But the bouncy netting was not very helpful to his painful situation; once his foot landed on said netting, he could not feel his limb anymore and it ended up folding, causing him to fall flat on his face. Fortunately, he didn't make too much noise that it would wake up the sleeping family...but Liyanin was always kind of a light sleeper. She heard the commotion and sat up, only to see Neteyam was no longer laying where he was the previous night. He was now laying—on his face—right outside the front of the pod. She got out of her hammock carefully, then hurriedly walked over to him.

"Oh, my, are you okay?" she asked, holding back a laugh and helping him up off his face.

"I underestimated the soreness of my body..." he groaned, still in pain from the impact. Liyanin helped him sit up, her hand resting on his shoulder.

"I did say you would be able to sit up...but I never said walk." she said wittingly.

"I did not wish to wake you for help...I thought I would be able to do it on my own..." his eyes settled on the path. "...but I guess I am still not acclimated to this bouncy netting."

"Come on, I will help you to your Marui." she told him, lifting him up with his arm over her shoulder. He hissed lowly, his body still in pain from the fall, but it kind of subsided.

As they were walking slowly, he began to laugh. Liyanin grew confused, a nervous grin forming its way on her face. "What are you laughing at?"

"It is just...this reminds me of a familiar scene." he said.

"Familiar scene...?"

"The day you fell into the sea. I carried you back to your Marui." he explained. Her ears twitched upwards out of realization as a light bulb went off in her head.

"Ah! That is right...we keep exchanging actions..." she stated, her thinking of the time he offered to teach her to dance. Speaking of which...

"I am guessing those dancing lessons will have to wait...?" she quipped, making him burst out in laughter.

"I am so...sorry," he said between laughs. "...how long until you have to perform?"

"Around a month and a half." She replied, grinning. "Do not fret, you still have time...well, we still have time."

"I swear to you I never forgot about that." he stated affirmingly. "I just wanted to wait until after the second phase. You know? Focusing on one important thing at a time."

Liyanin nodded. "I completely understand. I was planning on doing that in the first place."

After some time of walking, they finally made it to his pod, everyone except Kiri was asleep, and Neytiri was not inside. He figured she probably went to go looking for something to make for Tuk again since she does it so much. Kiri was awake making herself what seemed to be a bracelet, but her back was facing the entrance, so she didn't see Liyanin and Neteyam walking in.

"Psst, Kiri...!" he whispered, prompting her to turn around. Her face beamed instantly upon seeing him, and so she set down her string of beads carefully, and went over to him.