Multifandom X Reader Stories

An arrangement - Aonung P2

Darkness surrounded me, a heavy weight pressing on my chest. There were voices, some distant, some near, but none of them clear enough to grasp. My body felt like it was floating, detached from reality, drifting in an endless abyss.

Then, warmth.

Familiar hands, rough and calloused yet trembling, cradled mine. A voice, cracking with desperation, whispered my name over and over. I tried to focus, to cling onto the sound, but my eyelids felt like they were made of stone.

"Please, Y/N. Stay with me." Aonung.

His voice was raw, filled with emotions I had never heard from him before. The same boy who had pushed me away, who had torn my heart apart, now sounded like he was on the verge of breaking himself.

"I love you. I love you. I was a fool, a coward. I thought pushing you away would protect you, but it only destroyed me." His words were rushed, desperate. "I lied. Everything I said, every cruel word—I didn't mean any of it. My parents... they tried to arrange my mating with another, but I fought them. Tsireya fought them. And when I couldn't win, I thought I had to let you go."

I stirred slightly, my breath shaky. I could hear people moving around, murmuring, but all I cared about was the way Aonung's grip on me tightened, as if afraid I would slip away again.

"Open your eyes, yawntutsyìp," he pleaded, his forehead pressing against my hand. "I need you. Eywa, I need you more than air, more than the ocean itself. I thought I was strong, but without you, I am nothing. You are my reason to live, my reason to breathe."

A shaky breath left my lips, my fingers twitching weakly in his grasp. The moment I made the smallest movement, he sucked in a sharp breath, his grip tightening.

"That's it," he whispered. "Come back to me, my love. I beg you."

I forced my heavy eyelids open, my vision hazy and blurred. The first thing I saw was him. Aonung, his beautiful face streaked with tears, his usually confident expression shattered. He looked wrecked, broken in a way I had never seen before.

"Aonung," I rasped, my throat dry and sore.

A sob of relief tore from him as he pressed a kiss to my knuckles, his hands cradling mine like I was something fragile. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

Movement from the corner of the hut drew my attention. Ronal and Tonowari stood near the entrance, their expressions unreadable. But Ronal's eyes held something softer than I had ever seen before—understanding.

Aonung turned, realizing his parents had witnessed everything. He straightened but didn't let go of me. "I will not mate with her," he said firmly, his voice hoarse but filled with conviction. "I don't care what it means. Y/N is my mate. My heart has always belonged to her."

Ronal stared at him for a long moment before letting out a soft sigh. "You are a stubborn boy, Aonung."

His jaw clenched. "I will not let you take her from me."

She looked between us, then to Tonowari, before finally nodding. "The arrangement is broken. Your heart has already chosen. It is not for us to stand in the way."

Relief crashed over Aonung so hard that he sagged, his forehead dropping to my hand as he exhaled sharply. A breathless laugh left my lips despite the pain. He had fought for me, even when I thought he hadn't.

I lifted my trembling fingers, brushing them over his cheek. "You're such an idiot," I murmured weakly.

He let out a watery laugh, lifting his head to meet my gaze. "I know. But I'm your idiot."

A tear slipped down my cheek, and Aonung wiped it away gently before leaning down, his lips pressing to my forehead, then my temple, then finally, softly, reverently, to my lips. It wasn't rushed or desperate this time. It was everything we had lost and everything we had found again.

His arms wrapped around me, careful of my injuries, holding me as if I was the most precious thing in the world.

And to him, I was.