Surface| Neteyam

26.

Neteyam helped me off the ilu, carefully watching his step as we placed our feet into the sand. I couldn't help but stare back to the sea for a moment; it moved perfectly with the wind, pushing back and forth rhythmically. Little dots of light flowed from beneath the coral stretch, a variety of bizarre fishes and other creatures dashed through the open water before tucking back under the safety of their homes to avoid an ambush from possible predators.

Neteyam stood beside me, patiently waiting without asking any questions. I always loved that he never questioned me, he just obeyed, it was adorable.

My ears twitched back as I heard him walk closer to me,

"Let's not wait" I quickly respond before he gets any closer, I don't want to delay our night anymore than it has to.

He nods in agreement as we trudge through the sand towards the center of the island.
The walk was just so, perfect, he was perfect. And now the hard part, try not to stare at him.

As we strutted further and further into the thicket I found myself holding onto Neteyam's hand to keep him close.

I spin around, still walking forward, to face him. He had a beamy smile which was made it hard not to return one,

"Hurry" I giggle, turning back around; hand still tightly holding his. I start to pick up my speed, ducking under branches and swerving through vines,
He keeps up well.

Not long after we made it to the center, I held out my hand to signal 'wait' in front of him as he was about to take a step further. I observed the sky, my gaze drifted down towards Vega, then to the trees, and back to Neteyam.

The grove leaned in, almost like they were pointing towards the opening.

"Follow, quick!" I exclaimed suddenly, I strided into the middle of the sandy stretch, there was nothing but glowing stones and small pools of water that reflected the moonlight. The place was so empty yet it felt so safe, the trees secluded the area from the outside, but for those brave enough to venture through would have the whole sanctuary to themselves.

"How did you find this place?" he asked in awe, taking in the scenery as we found a place to sit.

I brought my finger to my lip in response, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you"

"Try me"

I sat crisscrossed, the most comfortable way to sit, reaching out my hand to hold my ankles as I stretched back. Neteyam sat with his knees to his chest, a less comfortable option but still practical.
Dear Eywa I sound like a maniac.
I guess that's what I was just good at, taking in the little details and evaluating them later.

"Forest boy, you act as if I had never been outside the sea, it wasn't that challenging to find" I lied, the truth was it took way too long, plus I wasn't here to tell him useless stories. I wanted to talk about something else.

"You still call me that?" Neteyam grimaced at the nickname, I guess I hadn't really thought about how much that name singled him out. Either way I wasn't going to let the opportunity to tease him pass.

"Right, you want me to call you forest baby" I giggled,

"How about, just baby?"

If I had water in my mouth I would have spat it out; gosh my head is spinning really fast, am I about to pass out? Great mother, I'm about to pass out.

As my mind was completely out of touch my mouth dropped a little, not like a cartoony gasp just like a little opened.

I struggled to stay as collected as possible, who knew words could be so powerful if they were just used right?

"Psh, too- bad" I fumbled my words, great, three words, I couldn't even say three words correctly.

I could hear him laughing, it wasn't mocking it was just a genuine laugh. Even though I managed to embarrass myself again he never made me feel bad about it.

As we sat there in a comfortable silence he reached out his hand to point at the sky, about a dozen star-like meteors falling from space. "Ohh '' I cooed, I'd seen them time and time before but never with someone's arm wrapped firmly around my waist.

"Look" I said in awe, pushing myself closer to Neteyam as I followed one of the meteors with my hand as it slowly showered down. I didn't even try to bite back a smile and I could tell he couldn't either.

"Where?" Neteyam circled around trying to see what I was pointing at. I giggled and took his hand, guiding it to the meteor I was talking about.
Instead of looking at the sky, his gaze was fixed onto me.

I turned to face him and instantly he spun his head away and concentrated on the stars. I sat back down, this time pressing my head against his chest; I felt as it slowly rose and fell as he took a breath.

He slid his hand against my back which made me jolt a bit forward,
"Woah-" He took his hands away and inspected my face to try to figure out what happened.

"Sorry" I stifled a laugh, "Just ticklish there"

"Oh really?"

His face beamed a 'up to no good' smirk as he pulled me back into a bear hug, caressing my back where I said was ticklish.

I kicked my legs up trying to escape, at the same time I tried to stay close, I felt my body get weak from giggling until I could barely get any words out.

"Stop! Stop stop stop!" I tried to retort back through fits of laughter, I hadn't even realized how sensitive to touch I was.

He instantly pulled his hands away again,

Crap was I too forceful? I quickly thought of an excuse to smooth things over.

"I mean, you can touch me anywhere but there" it was the first thing that came to mind but he seemed to like what I said as a small smile crept across his face.

"You mean I can touch you like this?" He whispered behind me, I could feel his hot breath against my neck and I did everything in my power to stay as calm and collected as possible.

He began pressing his hand on my waist, taking his time as he made his way up my torso.

I let a small gasp escape my lips, it was so surprising that it sounded more like a squeak. I practically stopped breathing. 

As his hands traveled up I could tell where they were headed, I felt a jolt of nervousness, and quickly took his hands before they could go any higher. I really wanted this but the setting just didn't feel right, maybe a more, closed in location?

I turned around to look at him and I could tell he understood my worries.

"I've never done anything like this before.."  I knelt back down beside him, I felt like a fool ruining the moment like this but I was scared. What if he didn't like it, what if I ended up doing something stupid and he never wanted to pursue me again.

"Hey, we don't need to do this" He brushed my hair back, how I loved it when he did that.

"Again, sorry, it's just all so new to me"

He kissed me gentle on the forehead and I felt myself relax,
"You don't need to do anything you don't want to"

"I do want to, it's just-"

He cut me off with another kiss, this time on my cheek. We laid down on the sand, still holding onto each other.

"Then we will when you're ready" Neteyam whispered.

A/N
OML I acc loved writing this chapter

I'm so sorry it took this long to release, I had it completed about a week ago but never posted it since I kept trying to decide if I wanted to add more

Anyways I wanted to just say that it's been about 6 months since atwow got released and I would say the hype has died down a bit but I won't stop writing until the whole story is complete

(Maybe in the future I would even consider writing about upcoming characters in the new movie the seed bearer I think)