Another Chance |Ao'nung x Neteyam|

Chapter 21: Give Peace a Chance

As soon as Neytiri learns what happened, she's marching over to Neteyam's marui, unaware of the conversation happening between the walls. She hears soft voices drifting out and pauses, ears perched forward. Her tail swishes behind her.

Ao'nung and Neteyam are inside the marui, settled atop Neteyam's army of blankets.

The omega purrs quietly and Ao'nung traces patterns onto the skin stretching along his bump, fingertips trailing over the stripes and little white spots. "I am glad you forgive me, Neteyam."

Neteyam, unaware of his mother's presence, smiles faintly and places his hand over Ao'nung's. "It has taken me a long time. Will you tell me why you agreed to it?"

"To what?" Ao'nung frowns, throat bobbing with a nervous swallow. "The mating?"

"Why didn't you stick to the original agreement?" Neteyam asks, tail swishing behind him lazily.

Ao'nung doesn't stop caressing the omega's stomach, nose twitching. "Ah. That. Mother told me if we do not do it, the clan would not accept it. I have not yet heard of a mating between Omaticaya and Metcayina."

Neteyam listens to his reasons and does not allow himself to react; he forces himself into the perspective of an outsider. "The clan does not view courting as sacred?"

Ao'nung's eyes widen. "Courting is sacred! It is a very special time in any na'vi's life."

"So then," Neteyam traces Ao'nung's thigh with a hand absent-mindedly. "How come you did not deserve to experience it?"

At his words, the alpha's hand stills its gentle caress over the bump.
"I—" his breath hitches. "It is more complex than that."

Neteyam, though holding very little love for Ao'nung, places his hand on the Metcayina's cheek, mindful of his bandages. "If courting is sacred, then it should have proven our alliance to be trustworthy without a rushed mating."

Ao'nung clears his throat, avoiding Neteyam's eyes. "But time—"

Neteyam shushes him gently, touching their foreheads together. "Time is never in anyone's favour. If we try to meddle, we get these results. Look how I cannot protect your people if I want to keep this child safe."

A shudder runs along Ao'nung's body.

"I could have grown to love you even," Neteyam whispers, gazing at Ao'nung.

Enveloped in a whirlpool of emotion, Neytiri steps away from the marui; her heart had hardened against Ao'nung, but as she listens to him talk, she recognises that he is just a young soul afraid of the cruelty of the world among the stars. Ao'nung's biggest flaw is being too weak to go against his mother.

Ao'nung's breath hitches. His eyes slowly trail up, meeting Neteyam's. "I don't expect you to."

Neteyam ghosts his lips over Ao'nung's, barely touching him. The hand he has placed on the Metcayina's cheek slips down to rest on the side of his neck, thumb caressing gently. "What are your feelings about me, Ao'nung?"

"I respect you," Ao'nung whispers, unsure. His hand is frozen on Neteyam's stomach.

"Nothing more?" Neteyam bumps their noses. "You hold only respect in your heart for me?"

Ao'nung exhales shakily. "I—"

Neteyam chuckles softly, voice barely heard even in the silence of the marui. Ao'nung's biggest fear is people reading him, seeing into his head, and knowing exactly what he thinks, what he feels.

The omega lowers his head, nosing along Ao'nung's neck. "Go on, darling. Tell me how you feel."

Ao'nung's ears twitch at the foreign word – it feels different than the previous ones, but he cannot guess what it means.