Avatar: The Way of Water : Leila's Journey

15

Lo'ak and I made our way over to Ao'nung and his friends, the tension from earlier still simmering beneath the surface. Jake, seeing the interaction, held Neteyam back to speak to him privately, leaving us to face Ao'nung alone.

"Why did you take the blame?" Lo'ak asked, breaking the silence as we approached Ao'nung. His voice carried a mix of curiosity and admiration.

I shrugged nonchalantly, a smirk playing at the corners of my mouth. "Your father can't punish me," I replied, and Lo'ak let out a laugh, clearly amused by my nonchalance.

"Is it true?" he pressed further. "Is what true?" I countered.

"Do you actually care about us?" Lo'ak asked, his eyes searching mine for sincerity.

I raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise. "Of course. I'm not the fucking devil," I said with a sarcastic edge.

Lo'ak's grin widened. "My father said bad stuff about your dad, causing me to dislike him. But honestly, he's nowhere near what my father says," I admitted as we reached Ao'nung.

"We came to apologize," Lo'ak said, his tone genuine as he addressed Ao'nung.

Ao'nung nodded, his expression neutral. "I am sorry for hitting you... so many times," Lo'ak said with a small laugh. He then turned to me, waiting for my apology.

I crossed my arms and scoffed, my expression defiant. "Personally, I am nowhere near sorry. But, for Jake's sake, I am sorry for beating your friends' shitty asses," I said with a cocky smile, looking at each of them in turn.

Ao'nung's lips twitched in amusement, but he quickly regained his composure. "We are going fishing," he announced, casting a wary glance at his friends. "Want to come with?" he asked, looking directly at us.

I hesitated, glancing at Lo'ak. "I don't think that's a good id—" I began, but Ao'nung interrupted me.

"Ah, we must be asking the wrong brother then," Ao'nung said, cutting me off with a dismissive wave of his hand. Lo'ak looked at me questioningly, and I shook my head, signaling my reluctance. But Lo'ak was already caught up in the moment.

"Let's do this," Lo'ak said with enthusiasm, his eyes bright with excitement.

"There we go!" Ao'nung exclaimed, clearly pleased with our acceptance. He handed Lo'ak a spear gun, his expression one of approval.

We made our way to the rock where Ao'nung instructed Lo'ak on how to call the fish. Lo'ak followed the instructions, his movements fluid and practiced. He then shot a fish with the spear gun, his face lighting up with a triumphant smile.

I gave him a happy smile and a nod of encouragement. It was nice to see him succeed, and I felt a pang of pride for my friend. We then turned our attention to Ao'nung and his friends, but something was off. I noticed the group's body language shift subtly, and my gut twisted with unease.

"Holy fucking shit, those fish kissers abandoned us," I thought to myself, my irritation bubbling up. I glanced around, realizing that Ao'nung and his friends had indeed left us behind.

"We need to get back up," I said urgently, my voice tight with frustration.

Lo'ak looked around, his expression mirroring mine. "Yeah, let's go," he agreed, his tone matching my urgency.

We swam up quickly, our movements sharp and hurried. I felt a surge of anger and betrayal. "Those little fish fuckers," I yelled out, my voice carrying across the water as I flipped the sky off in exasperation. Lo'ak chuckled at my outburst, clearly finding my reaction amusing.

We reached the surface, our breaths coming in ragged gasps. "We need to call our ilu," I said, my voice still tinged with annoyance.

Lo'ak nodded in agreement, and we summoned our ilu.