Thanatophobia | Ao'nung

⋆˚✿˖°ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙𝟞⋆˚✿˖°

Ao'nung followed the Sully family back to their pod and watched as they laid out the two girls' mattresses before gently placing them down. He knew that he shouldn't have been standing outside their pod, but for some reason, he didn't want to leave. Ao'nung wanted to know that Ni'la would be okay, and when he saw his mother walking towards the pod, a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Heaps of Metkayina people stepped to the side as they saw Ronal walking toward the Sully pod with Tsireya right behind her.

Once Ronal saw Ao'nung, she gave him a confused look but decided against asking him questions as they weren't as important as ensuring that the twin girls were okay. Almost immediately after Ronal went into the pod, everyone besides Tuk and Neytiri was sent out to give the Tsahik room to work.

Jake looked at his oldest son before speaking, "I'm going to call Norm," He informed as he walked off in a direction to find a more private place to talk. The two boys nodded before turning their attention to Ao'nung, and when they saw the Mekayina boy was still outside their pod, they glared at him.

"What are you still doing here?" Lo'ak asked.

"I want to make sure Ni'la's okay," Ao'nung said, causing the two boys to scoff.

"Why? You don't care about her. I'm confused as to why she was with you when she fainted," Neteyam said harshly, and Ao'nung took a deep breath to prevent himself from saying something he shouldn't.

He knew that Lo'ak and Neteyam were probably hurting because they didn't know what was wrong with their sisters, so it would only make matters worse if he were to snap at them. "We were talking when she fainted," The boy said.

"About what?" Lo'ak questioned, and Ao'nung sighed.

"I asked her to be my friend, so we were getting to know each other," He informed, and the two boys blankly stared at him as they tried to process his words.

"Is this some sort of prank you and your friends came up with?" Neteyam asked, causing Ao'nung to scoff at the ridiculous question.

"No," Ao'nung denied. "Why would I do something like that?"

Neteyam looked up at Ao'nung and wondered if he was being serious. The boy had taken Lo'ak out beyond the reef and left him to die, but it was too much of a stretch to assume that he could be pretending to be Ni'la's friend. Did he think either of them were that stupid? "Because you're an asshole, and you've never made any effort to be any of our friends. I don't want you anywhere near Ni'la," Neteyam said sternly.

"Well, I'm trying to be more nice to you guys, and Ni'la is the first person I'm trying to make amends with," Ao'nung stated

"Stay away from my sister, fish lips," Lo'ak said, crossing his arms over his chest, and Ao'nung rolled his eyes at him. "If your sister wants me to stay away from her, then she would have ignored me when I asked to try and be friends," Ao'nung said.

Neteyam went to say something, but before he could, his father had returned from his call with Norm, and neither of the boys wanted their father to hear how they were speaking to Ao'nung. They knew that Jake wouldn't approve of how they were treating the Chief's son. However, if their Dad knew that Ao'nung was trying to be Ni'la's friend, then maybe Jake would talk with Ao'nung and tell him to stay away from her.

Maybe they should tell their Dad about Ao'nung and Ni'la after all, especially if that was the only way to keep the Metkayina boy away from their sister.

"Norm will be here tomorrow," Jake said, and the two boys nodded.

After Jake told them Norm would be coming to the Metkayina clan the next day, they all sat in silence until Ronal came out of the pod, looking exhausted. Ao'nung walked over to his mother and asked if she was okay, to which the woman nodded before turning her attention to Jake.